Thomas Andersson
Professor of Business Administration
The aim of the project is to enhance understanding of how politics can serve as a health-promoting factor in municipal operations. Other structural conditions are also studied to relate the impact of politics to other factors.
The research project Chefios and the tool Chefoskopet have highlighted the work environment of managers in public organisations and how it is influenced by structural factors such as the number of subordinates, administrative support, and dialogue arenas.
However, one aspect that has not been addressed is the impact of politics on municipal managers' work environments. As politics has become more direct in its governance, and populist rhetoric has become part of everyday life, this has created new challenges for managers.
The direct role of politics is often problematised and identified as a work environment risk for managers in the public sector.
In this project, however, we aim to explore politics as a potential organisational health factor. This includes the absence of politics as a risk factor as well as political elements that may have positive effects, such as clarity or vision.
The project's goal is to enhance understanding of how politics can function as a health factor in municipal operations. The study will be conducted as case studies in three municipalities, where managers from various levels and sectors will be interviewed. We will build on the structural factors identified in Chefios but complement them with managers' experiences of how politics influences their work environment both positively and negatively. Other structural conditions will also be studied to contextualise the impact of politics relative to other factors.
The project is expected to provide a deeper understanding of how politics affects the work environment of municipal managers. The focus is on identifying the characteristics of situations where politics contributes positively. At the same time, it is important to understand the risk factors associated with politics, as the absence of these can function as health-promoting factors.