International Public Management Review

Between National Guidance and Local Autonomy: Competence-Based Immigration Policy in Finland

Marjukka Hourunranta, Pekka Kettunen — Fri, 19 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0300

This article examines the multi-level governance of competence-based immigration (CBI) in the Finnish context. International talent attraction and retention strategies going beyond traditional immigration policies have become an economic imperative for many countries, but cities interpret and implement the desired national policy in a varied manner. Using qualitative, empirical data from interviews with governmental and case city representatives, this article analyses the CBI approaches adopted by three case cities at the time of considerable policy changes in Finland. The results indicate that the cities’ policy objectives are well aligned with the national policy, but their strategies to reach the objectives vary greatly, as does the involvement of the regional CBI ecosystem as a whole. National institutions are not considered capable enough to support cities sufficiently, and this combined with challenges in resource allocation have become a sore point in the current CBI development in Finland.

Understanding the Quality of Administrative Action: Who and What Counts?

Anna Steidle, Julia Kaesmayr, Michael Schorn — Fri, 19 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0300

To understand the quality of administrative action, it is crucial to incorporate the perspectives of those affected. This paper introduces and demonstrates a method for identifying stakeholders based on their urgency, legitimacy, and power, and examines stakeholders' interests using theories from motivational psychology. In the context of constitutive administrative acts, stakeholders were identified as applicants, third parties, public managers, elected officials, and the legislature. A combination of user experience sampling, interviews, and legal source reviews was used to determine stakeholders’ urgencies, motives, and values, highlighting common priorities and potential conflicts. This approach advances the conceptualization and measurement of good administration.

Productization of Academic Research Services – A Framework for Business, Service, and Operational Models

Mirva Juntti, Harri Haapasalo — Fri, 19 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0300

Collaboration in research between universities and industry is crucial for national development and innovation. However, as public organizations undergo restructuring and align with private sector advancements, navigating this transition can be challenging. Our approach aims to describe the essential components of academic service productization in response to new public management, aligning them with private sector needs. We adopted an integrative literature review, drawing from literature on new public management, public–private partnership logic, service-dominant logic, service design, design thinking, and service productization. Our framework, based on the objectives of the socio-economic learning economy—competence renewal, development acceleration, obtaining appropriate services, and increasing awareness and trust—forms the basis of our analysis. The main contribution lies in a framework that delineates the connection between business, service, and operational models. This study posits that new public management-oriented universities should consider private partners as co-creators in research and design service models that optimize processes for efficient collaboration. To ensure mutual understanding of research service deliverables and achieve joint desired outcomes, the productized operating model needs to be established to scale the delivery of service items.