Research
Sven Siverbo is currently conducting research in two main areas. The first area focuses on the growing interest in trust within public organizations. Siverbo examines how trust spreads as a "magical concept" in municipalities and regions, creating pressure for changes in management and control. As part of a Forte-funded project, he explores how increased responsibility and greater autonomy for managers and employees affect their well-being in the workplace.
The second area of research concerns how verbal rewards, such as praise, function as control instruments in workplaces. Particular attention is given to understanding the significance of different types of praise and how they affect men and women differently.
Previously, Siverbo has researched market-oriented control, performance measurement, budget control, process-oriented management, management of private providers, and control systems.
Teaching
Siverbo teaches management control and research methodology at both undergraduate and advanced levels, as well as in doctoral programs. He is currently supervising four doctoral students, two of whom he serves as the primary supervisor.
Selected publications
Bentzen, T. Ø., Siverbo, S., & Winsvold, M. (2024). Keeping the magic alive: The multiple functions of magic concepts. Public Administration Review (In press).
Siverbo, S., Johansson-Berg, T., Bentzen, T. Ø., & Winsvold, M. (2024). On the diffusion and implementation of trust-based management in Scandinavia: cross-country survey evidence. International Journal of Public Sector Management, 37(1), 1-19.
Siverbo, S. (2023). Verbal rewards and public managers’ autonomous motivation. Financial Accountability & Management, 39(3), 534-553.
Siverbo, S. (2023). The impact of management controls on public managers’ well‐being. Financial Accountability & Management, 39(1), 60-80.
Cäker, M., Siverbo, S., & Åkesson, J. (2022). Performance measurement systems, hierarchical accountability and enabling control. Accounting and Business Research, 5 2(7), 865-889.
Siverbo, S., Cäker, M., & Åkesson, J. (2019). Conceptualizing dysfunctional consequences of performance measurement in the public sector. Public Management Review, 21(12): 1801-1823.