Failing NPM Reforms: Is it about resistance or lack of creative tensions? The case of the state-owned Hellenic Railway Organization

‘New Public Management’ reforms promote a new form of governance for state-owned enterprises that is based upon managerial independence from ministerial authority. However, there is substantial evidence in the academic literature that questions the applicability and the efficiency of such reforms in the various social contexts where they are applied. Using the Hellenic Railway Organization (OSE) as a case study, this paper attempts to provide a ‘Structuration’ analysis of the NPM reforms in the Greek Public Sector. The paper, seeks to depict the reasons why the strategic and operational plans, were incorporated as formal accountability mechanisms and the reasons why these failed to become integrated parts of the ongoing organizational action or to shift patterns of accountability.