Sustaining the Future of the Public Sector: Insights into a Swedish Municipality’s Dealing with Knowledge Management and Succession Planning

Susanne Durst () and Guido Bruns ()
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Susanne Durst: School of Business, University of Skövde, Skövde, Sweden
Guido Bruns: Incipere, Heresbachstr. 20, 40223 Düsseldorf, Germany

Journal of Information & Knowledge Management (JIKM), 2016, vol. 15, issue 02, 1-19

Abstract: The ageing workforce soon leads to a number of retirements in government organisations that will put the knowledge basis at risk. Addressing this point the present study provides an analysis and evaluation of a Swedish municipality’s dealing with the aspects of knowledge management and succession planning against the background of demographic developments and the increased relevance of knowledge. It reports findings based on semi-structured interviews conducted with executive staff of the municipality. Results of data analysed show that the municipality is far from being ready to master the challenges ahead. To date the municipality follows a sporadic approach rather than a strategic and planned one when addressing the issue of succession planning. Indeed, the findings suggest that a muddling through approach prevails. Based on the findings some suggestions were derived that may help both municipalities facing similar circumstances as well as policy makers drafting suitable policies.

Keywords: Knowledge management; succession planning; knowledge retention; knowledge attrition; public sector (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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DOI: 10.1142/S021964921650012X

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