Trust as a key for strategic management? The relevance of council–administration relations for NPM-related reforms in German local governments

ABSTRACT

This paper contributes to the discussion about varieties in the implementation of New Public Management (NPM) ideas. The example of strategic management in German municipalities is used to point out the relevance of council–administration relations for the implementation of NPM-related management concepts. Based on ideas from institutional theory and public-service bargain models, a concept of trust is used for the analysis of implementation processes. Results are drawn from qualitative research in five case studies. It is shown that trust is a useful concept for understanding the implementation of management instruments in the public sector.

KEYWORDS:

• Local government
• strategic management
• trust
• relations between council and administration
• Neues Steuerungsmodell

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jens Weiss

Jens Weiss is professor of Public Management at Harz University of Applied Science in Halberstadt, Germany. His research focuses on change processes in local governments, the transformation of policy decision in administrative action and e-government.