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An underlying and fundamental aim of the new public management (NPM) reform program is to transform the organizational identity of public organizations into a business‐like identity. In this paper the construction of organizational identity as an effect of NPM initiatives is analyzed from a sensemaking perspective. The study draws on data from a two‐and‐a‐half‐year study of the introduction of NPM at the public health care authority in the region of Värmland in Sweden. It is concluded that NPM creates heterogeneous, conflicting and fluid organizational identities rather than the uniform and stable business identity it is supposed to.

The purpose of this research is to explore the role of accounting in the reform process of a continuously evolving governmental agency in the Australian state of New South Wales.

Drawing on two complementary organizational change models, the paper investigates how the shifting objectives of the Department of Public Works and Services (DPWS) rendered its financial management and accountability systems inadequate and how “new” accounting technologies introduced to anchor the reform process clashed with bureaucratic procedures to create a very challenging context for the organization's management. The paper uses multiple research methods including interviews, archival material and observation to understand the reform process at the DPWS and its implications for public sector accounting and public sector management.

The paper finds that the unique history and continuously evolving nature of the DPWS makes it an important context for re‐examining the dynamics of change processes and the contribution of accounting technologies within that context. Since the late 1980s, the DPWS has transformed itself from a budget‐dependent bureaucratic governmental agency to a business‐oriented commercialized agency operating in a competitive environment.

Future research could be directed at understanding how cultural fragmentations are mended in this extremely challenging reform process. Further case studies employing the two organizational change models could provide additional insights in this area.

The paper argues that the cultural fragmentation that is introduced by the reform of the Public Works Department and the diverse and often conflicting obligations of the sector have added to the complexities of managing the organization. Perhaps a transformational leadership‐style might be appropriate for managing such a challenging context.

This paper would be of value to researchers and practitioners with an interest in public sector reform and management.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the complicated characteristics of the environment, the relationship between complicated organization and organizational transformation, and the coupling domino effect between the complication of external environment and organizational complexity by making conceptual systematic analysis.

The relative stability and certainty of the organizational structure are being replaced by uncertainty and complexity. Organizational learning and its reform are becoming all the more important to gain organizational competitive advantage. This paper designs the system analysis method to discuss the complexity of organizational environment, the relationship between organizational complexity and organizational structure reform, and also the coupling effect of the complexity of external environment and that of the organization.

It is found that organizational learning, the ways of strategic reform, and the focal point must remain consistent under the complicated environment.

The main limitation is how to construct the mathematical models describing complicated characteristics of the environment.

The paper contains very useful advice for human resource managers.

The paper focuses on the selection of learning patterns and strategic management of different organizational learning and the reform of organizational structure.

The purpose of the paper is to examine the metaphors used by senior managers and clinicians in the delivery of healthcare reform.

A study of healthcare reform in England carried out a series of semi structured interviews with senior managers and clinicians leading primary and secondary care organisations. Qualitative data analysis examines instances where metaphorical language is used to communicate how particular policy reforms are experienced and the implications these reforms have for organisational contexts.

The findings show how metaphorical language is used to explain the interactions between policy reform and organisational contexts. Metaphors are used to illustrate both the challenges and opportunities associated with the reform proposals for organisational change.

The authors provide the first systematic study of patterns and meanings of metaphors within English healthcare contexts and beyond. The authors argue that these metaphors provide important examples of “generative” dialogue in their illustration of the opportunities associated with reform. Conversely, these metaphors also provide examples of “degenerative” dialogue in their illustration of a demarcation between the reform policy proposals and existing organisational contexts.

The purpose of this paper is to explain how and why the initially ambitious reform of the Dutch water sector turned into a moderate pace of change. The explanations are based on institutional theory.

This paper is a case study at the organizational field level of the Dutch water sector.

In order to enhance efficiency and transparency, Dutch Central Government initially attempted to enforce top‐down radical changes, including the formation of integrated water chain companies. However, after discussions and reactions of the interested parties, the central government authorised a bottom‐up approach, giving discretional powers to the individual water organizations. This transition to a bottom‐up approach can mainly be explained by the limited pressure exerted by the central government to change and the powerful position of the relevant organizations within the water sector, as well as their ability to establish strong coalitions to avoid mandatory radical changes.

The theoretical background is useful in analysing the change processes in other public sectors.

The Dutch way of consensus seeking might be threatened by its own inertia, and in the case of ineffectiveness, it could be replaced by a more top‐down and radical reform package.

Unravelling public sector reform into goals, means and approaches is useful, because although goals can remain the same during the change process, the means and approaches may be altered. Resistance to radical changes might stimulate convergent change options, such as reinforcement of the existing means of reform and may also decrease the embededdness and impermeability of the institutional fields.

Process management is a managerial approach characterised by the focus on business processes that can provide an important contribution to the management of public sector organisations. The significance of this approach for the management of inter‐organisational relations in the public sector is highlighted. A model for the analysis of the factors enabling the implementation of process management in the public sector is proposed. The Italian experience of the one‐stop shops for businesses is studied; the relevance of process management approaches for the success of this reform is shown. Implications for public managers at all levels of government are discussed.

Although much attention has been paid to understanding employee resistance to reform, little study has been done to explore the effect of employee resistance to public service units' (PSUs) reform in China. To address this need, this work aims to investigate the antecedents of employee resistance to PSUs' reform, especially from the perspective of the heterogeneity of the employees' age.

This study considers the PSUs in Harbin, China, as an example and uses survey questionnaires to analyze the factors influencing employees' resistance when PSUs reform. Besides, the authors developed a research model based on the status quo bias theory, the equity-implementation model.

According to the applied research model, employee resistance to PSU change is primarily influenced by perceived switching costs and benefits. According to their age, this survey also confirms how the employees responded to the reform implementation.

The results of this empirical study inform suggestions for the sustainable development of PSUs and organizational transformations. Overall, this work advances the theoretical understanding of employees' resistance to PSUs’ reform, thereby offering practical insights for managing employee resistance during organizational change.

Overall, given that employee resistance emotion exists in an organization, this study offers theoretical and practical implications for change management strategies.

The purpose of this paper is to address the question of coordination by comparing two recent reforms schemes in Norway: internal security and the welfare administration. Both concern typically transboundary “wicked” policy problems where horizontal and vertical coordination is difficult. What kind of coordination problems did the reforms address, what kind of coordination solutions were provided, and what can explain the observed pattern?

The paper draws on organizational theory, distinguishing between a structural-instrumental and a cultural-institutional perspective. A comparative case study design is applied. The analysis combines insights from four large research projects.

Both cases represent broad government efforts to tackle “wicked” coordination problems when there is a mismatch between the problem structure and the organizational structure. In both cases, reorganization and structural changes resulted in hybrid and complex organizational arrangements. The welfare administration reform tried to solve a tension between ministerial responsibility and local self-government by introducing One-stop-shops. Within the area of internal security, coordination problems related to lacking ministerial capacity was tackled by introducing a formal principle of collaboration, a lead agency approach and network arrangements.

Effective coordination might ease wicked problems by enhancing the understanding of the problem and its underlying causes, increasing the probability of finding agreed-upon solutions and help implementation. Enhanced communication and strengthened mutual trust and commitment among actors might be a positive outcome. However, coordination implies dilemmas and trade-offs, and reformers often have to balance different interests.

The paper shows that different instruments of coordination are central for handling “wicked problems”.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the strength of organisational strategy, technology intensity and entrepreneurial orientation as predictors of managerial global mindset intensity in the Indian and Chinese service industry.

A pluralist research design that captured quantitative and qualitative data from 239 Indian and 210 Chinese indigenous managers was evaluated to test the hypothesised relationships of a conceptual model that was developed from the contemporary relevant literature.

The results of the investigation demonstrate that technological intensity and entrepreneurial orientation were significant determinants of managerial global mindset intensity. Qualitative information that revealed technological intensity and entrepreneurial orientation were dominant drivers from developing and nurturing managerial global mindset intensity.

In spite of both study countries having large populations, the evaluated sample sizes were of reasonable magnitude. The evidence of indicators that strongly reform the domain of global managerial mindsets has considerable application for corporations operating in the international marketplace.

The rising dominance of the service sector as well as the changing economic, political and social landscape are compelling organisations to more fully understand the dynamics of the dramatic shifts in managerial thinking.