University of Gothenburg, School of Business, Economics and Law, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Int J Health Plann Manage. 2013 Jan-Mar;28(1):122-37. doi: 10.1002/hpm.2120. Epub 2012 Jun 26.
Organizational design is considered in policy literature as a forceful policy tool to put policy to action. However, previous research has not analyzed the project organization as a specific form of organizational design and, hence, has not given much attention to such organizations as a strategic choice when selecting policy tools. The purpose of the article is to investigate the project as a policy tool; how do such temporary organizations function as a specific form of organization when public policy is implemented? The article is based on a framework of policy implementation and is illustrated with two welfare reforms in the Swedish public sector, which were organized and implemented as project organizations. The case studies and the analysis show that it is crucial that a project organization fits into the overall governance structure when used as a policy tool. If not, the project will remain encapsulated and will not have sufficient impact on the permanent organizational structure. The concept of encapsulation indicates a need to protect the project from a potential hostile environment. The implication of this is that organizational design as a policy tool is a matter that deserves more attention in the strategic discussion on implementing public policies and on the suitability of using certain policy tools.
组织设计在政策文献中被视为将政策付诸行动的有力政策工具。然而，先前的研究并未将项目组织分析为一种特定的组织设计形式，因此，在选择政策工具时，并未给予此类组织以足够的重视。本文的目的是探讨项目作为一种政策工具；当实施公共政策时，这种临时组织作为一种特定的组织形式是如何运作的？本文基于政策实施框架，并以瑞典公共部门的两项福利改革为例进行说明，这两项改革是作为项目组织来组织和实施的。案例研究和分析表明，当项目组织作为政策工具使用时，将其融入整体治理结构至关重要。否则，项目将仍然被孤立，对永久组织结构不会产生足够的影响。“封装”的概念表明需要保护项目免受潜在敌对环境的影响。这意味着，作为政策工具的组织设计是在关于实施公共政策以及使用某些政策工具的适宜性的战略讨论中值得更多关注的问题。
