Adopting a Municipal Enterprise Form: Expectations and Outcomes – Three Cases and Dilemmas

: Kuoppakangas Päivikki

Publisher: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group

: 2014

: Journal of Change Management

: 14

: 1

: 126

: 145

: 20

: 1469-7017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14697017.2013.778895

Using the tenets of institutional and dilemma theory, this paper identifies the core

dilemmas underlying the decision making in the transformation into a municipal enterprise form

in the three case organizations. The focus is on the expectations and outcomes of the change

processes. The results show that the dilemmas as well as the isomorphic forces affect the

institutional process in diminishing or enhancing the isomorphism. The paper thus illustrates how dilemmas, together with isomorphic forces, are connected to decision making. It further

highlights the need to investigate strategic dilemma management as a tool for resolving

contradictory aims in the management of change in the public healthcare sector.