Summary: | While conducting our practical training we experienced how the structure and the complexity of the municipal administration could, from a white-collar workers perspective, become a limitation and burden for efficient work. Deriving from this experience we found an interest in how politicians reasoned with regards to their relationship with supervisor in municipal old-age care. Kouzes och Micos (1979) “Theory of organizational behavior in human service” became our point of departure. Their framework was therefore the foundation for our research and work throughout this paper. Our aim with this research was to examine how politicians viewed their relationship with supervisor in municipal old-age care. On the basis of the problem definition we conducted a qualitative research by interviewing eight politicians from eight different municipalities. The result showed that most of the respondents were satisfied with the current administrative structure and their relationship with the supervisor in municipal old-age care. Much effort was focused on working and communicating through the formal and hierarchal structure established within the municipality. However, some of the respondents had a different perception. Primarily, they viewed territorial thinking and self-centred behaviour as obstacles for efficient work. Keyword: collaboration, politics, supervisor in municipal old-age care, structure of municipal administration.
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