Performance Management Systems in Swedish Banks

This thesis focuses on performance management systems (PMSs) in the Swedish banking industry. More specifically, it presents a longitudinal study of how and why the PMSs of Swedish banks have changed over the deregulations ’ first quarter of a century i.e. from 1985 until 2010. The study is based on the findings of previous literature and interviews with top managers in Swedish banks. Since the Swedish banking industry primarily consists of commercial banks and savings banks the study has been divided into two essays. Essay 1 deal with the savings banks, whereas Essay 2 deals with the large commercial banks. A summary of the main results of the two essays is given at the end of the chapter. The aim of this introductory chapter is to give the reader a glance at my research process, which naturally has not been as linear as it may appear from the text outlined below. The importance of history has been formative to my understanding and has led me to indulge in a broad reading of literature that deals with times and events that are outside the timeframe of the study. It is in this vein that the present chapter starts with an introduction that takes us back to the early 20 t