Making Sense of Business.Reorganizing Processes in Swedish Rail

Abstract

In Sweden like in many other countries in Europe there is an ongoing process of making old, bureaucratic public service organizations, such as Vattenfall (heat and electricity generation), Sweden Post, Swedish Rail and Telia (telecommunication), more business like and capable of operating in a deregulated market in competition with other service providers.

This paper focuses on Swedish Rail and its line maintenance operations in particular. We analyse the efforts of line maintenance management to construct a business organization in accordance with the intentions and values expressed by top management and within the web of interdependences which constitute Swedish Rail.

We see (re)organizing as an ongoing process of social construction among actors both internal and external to the organization. Internally interaction cuts across hierarchical levels which cause problems of translation and interpretation. (Czarniawska&Sevón,1996). The social construction of a new business organization includes several dimensions such as redefining the relations to important others such as top management, internal and external customers and suppliers which will determine its autonomy, boundaries and social identity, the construction of internal coordination and control and the definition and measurement of results.

Social reconstruction is interactive which also means that ideas and initiatives must be reciprocated by others for the new identity of the organization to gain legitimation. We will illustrate and analyse texts, talk and rituals in the line maintenance management team and face-to-face interaction between managers at the division level with those at the shop level. We will also analyse texts from top management and the views which are expressed mutually by the line maintenance and its customers and suppliers. Our analysis will show the process of sensemaking (Weick, 1995) in action to deal with the confusion of identity and the dilemmas created by the new ideals.

The main dilemmas we define as - being businessminded without doing business - being customeroriented without any customers - being in control without having control