Implementation of New Public Management in Norwegian Universities

Abstract

AbstractThis article analyses the implementation of market‐type mechanisms in the management of universities. The question of which cultural biases have been used in the implementation of New Public Management (NPM) in Norwegian universities is discussed. Cultural theory, institutional theory, and public policy studies are applied to the analysis of a case study of policy formulation and implementation of Management by Objectives (MBO) in two Norwegian universities as part of a New Public Management reform. The research design is a narrative approach in the context of a case study methodology. The article gives an analytical description of New Public Management reform in the Universities of Bergen and Oslo based on a content analysis of a large amount of related documentation. Beginning with the presentation of a four‐culture rationale that provides the methodological tools of analysis, the author goes on to describe in detail several stages of decision‐making processes and implementation queries in the two universities under study.