New sources of military change – armed forces as normal organizations |
| |
Authors: | Per M Norheim-Martinsen |
| |
Institution: | Norwegian Institutefor Defence Studies, Oslo, Norway |
| |
Abstract: | The literature on how European states have adapted to the post-cold war security environment ffocuses invariably on different understandings of military transformation, a process which is seen as inherently different from other forms of organizational change. However, as this paper argues, new management practices, going back to the introduction of so-called New Public Management (NPM) reforms throughout Europe in the 1980s, have eventually penetrated also the last bastion of the old state – the defense sector. Taking a critical approach to the idea of military transformation and existing theories of military change, the paper demonstrates how other international developments have pushed towards what may be seen as a “normalization” of Europe’s defense sectors. This has important implications for how we approach and understand change in contemporary defense organizations. |
| |
Keywords: | Defense reform New Public Management transformation innovation military change |
|
|