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The Role of Organizational Identities for Policy Integration Processes – Managing Sustainable Transport Development

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Abstract

Sustainable transport development is a complex, but necessary issue to manage if the use of fossil energy will decrease and transportation become more energy-efficient and environmental friendly. The contemporary public organization is organized into policy sectors and tiers of government, but the issue of sustainability is not confined to one single sector or level, it transcends all these traditional boundaries. To address this complexity policy integration has been suggested as a way for public organizations to open up the sectoral and vertical boundaries in policymaking. This paper discusses a case study of a political committee on the regional level in Sweden, which has been formed for integrated policymaking between sectors and local and regional authorities to manage sustainable transport development. The analysis of the case shows that vertical and sectoral integration are dependent processes and that the relation between different organizational identities either strengthens or undermine them. Vertical integration is not resulting in sectoral integration, rather it works prohibiting against sectoral integration.

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Acknowledgements

The work which this article is based on was funded by the Swedish Energy Agency. An earlier draft of the article was presented at the Study Group on Governance of Public Sector Organizations at the EGPA Conference in Toulouse 26-28 August 2015 and the author wish to thank all participants for their comments. The author also would like to thank Lisa Hansson, Jenny Palm and Dick Magnusson for their careful reading of the text.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Thematic Studies - Technology and Social Change, Linköping University, SE-58183, Linköping, Sweden

    Linnea Eriksson

Authors
  1. Linnea Eriksson
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Linnea Eriksson.

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Funding

This study was funded by the Swedish Energy Agency

Conflict of Interests

The author declares that I have no conflict of interest.

Appendix 1. Empirical Sources

Appendix 1. Empirical Sources

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SDDC Notes (2012) 04/12/2012

SDDC Notes (2013) 29/01/2013

SDDC Notes (2013) 05/03/2013

SDDC Notes (2013) 23/05/2013

SDDC Notes (2013) 25/06/2013

SDDC Notes (2013) 03/09/2013

SDDC Notes (2013) 15/10/2013

SDDC Notes (2013) 03/12/2013

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Interviews

I1, RVG Culture Committee representative in the SDDC, 4 December 2012.

I2, RVG Regional Development Committee representative in the SDDC, 19 November 2012.

I3, Skaraborg subregion representative in the SDDC, 19 February 2013.

I4, RVG Regional Development Committee representative in the SDDC, 14 January 2013.

I5, RVG Environment Committee representative in the SDDC, 5 December 2012.

I6, RVG Regional Development Committee representative in the SDDC, 14 January 2013.

I7, Sjuhärad subregion representative in the SDDC, 18 December 2012.

I8, Gothenburg subregion representative in the SDDC, 21 January 2013.

I9, RVG Environment Committee representative in the SDDC, 4 December 2012.

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I14, RVG Public Transport Committee, no representation in the SDDC, 3 December 2012.

I15, RVG official at the Public Transport administration, 27 November 2012.

I16, RVG Public Transport Committee, no representation in the SDDC, 20 November 2012.

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Eriksson, L. The Role of Organizational Identities for Policy Integration Processes – Managing Sustainable Transport Development. Public Organiz Rev 17, 525–544 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11115-016-0348-0

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