Creating social change in a municipality using a Total Quality Management approach

• Published in: Total Quality Management & Business Excellence
• Main Authors: Bergvall-Kåreborn, Birgitta, Bergquist, Bjarne, Klefsjö, Bengt
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Luleå tekniska universitet, Innovation och Design 2009
• Subjects: bottom–up perspective; Project CIVIC; societal development; Soft Systems Methodology; TQM; Information Systems; Social aspects; Systemvetenskap; informationssystem och informatik med samhällsvetenskaplig inriktning; Reliability and Maintenance; Tillförlitlighets- och kvalitetsteknik; Jokkmokk; Mansfield
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:ltu:diva-10721; https://doi.org/10.1080/14783360903248948

This paper describes a joint project started by citizens, trade life and local government of the Swedish municipality of Jokkmokk to create a positive societal development based on the tenets of Total Quality Management. The project had a duration of two years, and also included a parallel effort made in Mansfield in the United Kingdom, although this paper describes the Jokkmokk part of the project. The evaluation was based on surveys and interviews analysed using Soft Systems Methodology. The analysis shows that most respondents thought that the project was successful in changing attitudes of the people of Jokkmokk and of creating valuable networks. The project also had an aim to create involvement of ordinary citizens and many activities were addressed to let citizens develop and generate ideas and participate in societal activities and decision making. The evaluation showed that the leaders and politicians of Jokkmokk were not ready for the used bottom-up approach. The analysis also underlines the importance of communicating the mission and goals of the project. We consider the achievements, due to the short duration of the project, substantial and both the positive and the negative outcomes present valuable lessons from a societal development perspective. Denna artikel beskriver ett projekt som gemensamt startades av medborgare, handel och myndigheter i Jokkmokk för att skapa en positiv samhällsutveckling baserad på offensiv kvalitetsutvecklings grundläggande värderingar. Projektet löpte under två år, och även ett parallellt arbete i Mansfield, Storbritannien ingick i projektet. Detta dokument beskriver enbart Jokkmokkdelen av projektet. Utvärderingen av projektet är baserad på enkäter och intervjuer som analyserats med hjälp av Soft Systems Methodology. Analysen visar att de flesta tillfrågade tyckte att projektet lyckats förändra attityden hos folket i Jokkmokk och skapa värdefulla nätverk. Projektets målsättning var också att skapa delaktighet för medborgarna och många aktiviteter riktade sig att låta ...