As You like It! How Performance Measurement Affects Professional Autonomy in the Norwegian Public Theater Sector

Abstract

The aim of this article is to study the effects of performance measurement on professional autonomy in the Norwegian theater sector and how these effects have changed over two decades, from the 1990s to the 2010s. We do this by introducing the concepts of decoupling and disciplinary power and by studying the dialogue between five case theaters and the Ministry of Culture as part of the system of Management by Objectives. We find effects both related to processes of decoupling and disciplinary power in this period, but the decoupling effects seem to be most notable in the first part of the period of the study. Consequently, we must also conclude that - though not totally in danger - the professional autonomy of the theaters was increasingly challenged during this period.