Abstract
This thesis deals with the issue of basic management principles that can be found in the governance of the public sector. They are often presented as management principles of the professionals, bureaucratic, new public management (NPM) and human relation management (HRM).
The armed forces of Denmark has since the end of the Cold War been faced with significant political ambitions for developing expeditionary forces and improves resource utilization. These ambitions are being handled by the defence executive in the strategic management of the Danish armed forces. This thesis examines, which management principles the defence executive in recent time has chosen to intensify in the introduction of new management tools for leadership and employee development in the armed forces.
The problem being investigated is more precisely formulated as follows: What management principles can be identified in the latest management tools around leadership and employee development issued by the defence executive.
The result of the investigation can be summed up to the following bullets regarding dominating management principles in the selected management tools:
• Employee development tool is dominated by the Human Relations Management and New Public Management approach.
• Employee advancement is dominated by the bureaucratic principle.
• Leadership development is dominated by the Human Relation Management principle