why do governmental agencies communicate
TRANSCRIPT
Public sector organizations in Sweden
• Have the largest budgets for communication compared to
other types of organizations
• Are the largest buyer of services from PR-consultants and
advertising firms
• A majority of communicators work in the public sector
Traditionally two aims of communication
• Inform about central and current aspects of the society, how
it works and how it is organized, the rights and
responsibilities of the citizens, provide specific information
related to extraordinary events or situations
• To influence, promote but also reduce certain types of
behavior and activities
Historical context
• The first governmental agency in Sweden was etsablished
1539 (National Chamber of Commerce)
• A central position is society
• Administration and control central tasks
• Fully financed by taxes
Governmental agencies in Sweden (I)
• 252 agencies including:
o Defence
o Police,
o Social security, taxes, employment
o County Administrative Boards (21)
o Universities (24)
o Museums
o Evaluation
o Ombudsman
o And others…
Governmental agencies in Sweden (II)
• 232 600 employees (5 % of the total workforce)
• 0 – 25 342 employees
• Five largest agencies:
1. Swedish police (25 342)
2. Swedish Armed Forces (19 557)
3. Swedish Social Insurance Agency (11 461)
4. Swedish Employmeent Agency (10 208)
5. Swedish Tax Agency (9 584)
Governance of
governmental agenicies in Sweden
• The Government establish the objectives to be achieved by
the agency, the budget and how the money is to be
distributed between the agency's different assignments.
• The minister has no right to intervene directly in the day-to-
day operations of government agencies. Such 'ministerial
control' is prohibited.
• Suspected cases of unlawful ministerial interference are
dealt with by the parliamentary Committee on the
Constitution.
Trasformations for the last 30 years
• Changed relationships between the public sector, the state,
markets and citizens (New public management)
• Changed political, economical and social conditions
• New principles for coordination, evaluation and control
o Orientation towards goals and results
o Control via evaluation rather than regulation
o Marketization (some governmental agencies are self-
funded, some others function on quasi-markets)
Other transformations
• Extend interactions with new stakeholders (media,
customers, competitors and others)
• New ways for defining and forming the regulative and
normative conditions
• Contradicting and inconsistent requirements and
expectations steaming from different logics
Institutional logics
• Taken for granted assumptions, values, and beliefs
• Provide meaning to what we do
• Organize time and space
• Governs individuals and organizations
• Create expectations
Six logics
• Market
• Civic
• Industrial
• Fame
• Tradition
• Creativity
Renown Civic Market Industrial Tradition Creativity
Assess-ment Popularity,
recognition,
fame
Equality,
collective
welfare
Competitiv-
eness, price,
costs
Compe-tence,
reliability,
efficiency
Trust, esteem Passion,
singularity
Relevant
proofs
Apprecia-tion Officiallity Money Statistics Insignias Uniqueness
Actors “Celebrities” Citizens Consumer,
customer,
producers
Professional,
experts
Authorities Geniuses
Timeframe Trends Continuing Short-term,
flexibility
Long-term,
predictability
History Revo-lutionary,
visionary
What logic(s) govern the use of communication
in Swedish governmental agencies?
Our study
• Content analysis
• Including all Swedish governmental agencies with steering
documents for communication
• Corporate identity manual, policies and strategies for
communication, media work, branding, social
media, marketing etc.
• Number of organisations: 179
• Number of documents: 357
• Seen as an expression of granted assumptions, values, and
beliefs (i.e. logics), not practice
Four logics governing communication
in governmental agenicies
• Renown (85 %)
• Industrial (82 %)
• Civic (65 %)
• Market (22 %)
Renown Civic Market Industrial
Principles Attention, visibility,
public opinion
Laws, democracy,
transparency,
accessibility
Exchange, profits Predictability, control,
distribution of
responsibilities
Aims of communication Express identity, create
distinctive image,
formation of public
opinion
Enlightenment, service, Positioning, persuade Co-ordination, efficiency
Concep-tualizations of
stakeholders
The public Citizens, journalists,
politicians
Customers, competitors Employees, specified
groups, target groups
Concep-tualizations of
communication
Branding, corporate
identity
Public information,
statements
Marketing Strategic
communication,
integrated
communication
Ideal communication Distinctive, expressive,
monophonic
Open, true,
understandable, official
Persuasive enticing,
seductive
Effective, planed,
evaluated,, professional
Role of communicator Conductor Distributor, teacher Salesperson, seducer Expert, co-ordinator
Number of logics governing communication
in governmental agenicies
• One (16)
• Two (28)
• Three (43)
• Four (13)
Three most common conflicts
• Industrial – Renown
• Industrial – Civic
• Renown – Market
Industrial vs Renown
• Our work has to be professional, thoroughly prepared and rest on evidence based practices.
• Visibility or popularity has no value in itself if it doesn’t contribute to the overall goal of the organization
• We must be prepared to accept new trends and take a chance when it comes
• We must be visible and gain attention from the public
Industrial vs Civic
• The aim of communication is - first and foremost -something used to uphold and organize the activities of the organization.
• We have to be efficient and reach our goals
• We must uphold the democratic processes and support collective interests.
• First and foremost we have to take the public interest into account
Renown vs. Market
• Reputation and trust can’t be
reduced to customers.
• We have to express our
identity and what we stand
for
• The brand is an obstacle if
we want to make a good
deal
• We have to seduce our
customers and tell them
what they want to hear
Concequences for communicators?
• Have to use different arguments to get support from different
groups of colleagues or stakeholders
• Are evaluated by different standards
• Have to transform their results to other ”currencies”
• Avoids evaluations and focus on production and process
Conclusions
• Communication in governmental agencies is governed by
several different logics
• Communication is supposed to fulfil a number of different
and contradictive goals
• Creates inconsistencies
• Limits the room for maneuverers