New forms of knowledge challenge NPM-based management technologies

This article compares the management models of four Danish municipal sectors
based on documentation and evaluation.

The article sees the models as instances of interventional communication and
sectors are compared with a view to determining at which level the interventions
take place, i.e. first-, second- or third-order management.

The empirical results demonstrate that, historically, the models have shifted from
a primary focus on first-order process intervention towards a stronger emphasis
on second- and third-order intervention – yet without abandoning first-order intervention. In other words, a symbiosis has evolved between the various types of intervention.

To put the analysis into perspective, the discussion adopts a cybernetic point of
view and explores to which extent differences between the various sector models
are associated with different systemic consequences to flexibility at the local level. Furthermore, the article discusses new trends in the management models Applied in the municipal sectors since 2007. The empirical analysis demonstrates that New Public Management (NPM) remains very much alive in Denmark. However, results also suggest that a new agenda for public administration is emerging and indicate that a new paradigm seems to be driven forward by the need for a new type of knowledge allowing us to address the complex issues associated with the future’s welfare generation.

The article provides empirical support for theories claiming that we have not yet
gone »beyond NPM«, nor are we in a »post NPM« era. The development is at a
crossroads and the question is if a new paradigm is developing incrementally or if the NPM models are simply being adjusted to better accommodate the solution of the complex issues associated with the generation of welfare.
The four municipal sectors studied are: eldercare services, primary and lower
secondary school services, employment services and nature & environmental
services.