De-Cermonialisation for Success - Institutions, Reforms and Individuals

Abstract

Differences in the ways in which organizational units progress might be explained by existing institutions and their organization: the institutional arrangement. Research has indicated the importance of institutional change while being unable, however, to predict the conditions that trigger change. In order to understand and increase our knowledge of how to increase efficiency, it is important to understand the transition from the instrumental to the ceremonial and how and why ceremonial values are questioned and dismantled. This paper contains the condensed results of studies of different types of municipalities. It describes the characteristics and discusses the ways in which changes were implemented. The paper shows that different types of municipalities appear to contain strong ceremonial values, which prevent them from adapting to changed circumstances and to maintain efficiency over time. The existing institutional arrangement needs to be challenged, for example by implementing organizational changes.