Verhandlungsmanagement als organisationale Kompetenz in der öffentlichen Verwaltung. Empirische Untersuchung der deutschen Ministerialverwaltung

Negotiations represent a fundamental aspect of ministerial work in Germany. However, there is a paucity of research concerning systematic support mechanisms that take into account the specific organisational and contextual characteristics of public administration. This thesis addresses this gap by conceptualising negotiation management as an organisational capability in the public sector and tailoring it to the specific context of German ministerial administration.

Building on a comprehensive review of extant literature, the study develops a theoretical framework and applies a mixed-methods design to investigate support measures for negotiations in German government authorities. Semi-structured expert interviews with eleven senior officials from federal and state ministries were examined through qualitative content analysis and complemented by a nationwide online survey (n = 555) capturing the state of negotiation support. This combination provides both descriptive evidence on the prevalence of support measures and deeper insights into the mechanisms of organisational negotiation management in the public sector.

Findings indicate that negotiations are primarily driven by individual behaviour, whereas structural resources and institutionalised frameworks are underdeveloped. Concurrently, there is a pronounced demand for organisational support. The qualitative analysis identifies context-sensitive measures across five levels: individual, process-related, knowledge-based, structural, and strategic. The results highlight the necessity of adapting measures to the specific conditions of public sector organisations—such as the heterogeneity of ministerial negotiations and political sensitivity—which limit the transferability of standardised tools and prescriptive approaches.

The dissertation contributes to the advancement of the field by transferring and adapting concepts from business and management literature, in which negotiation management has been examined predominantly in private-sector contexts, to the environment of public administration. In addition, it offers an evidence-based and practice-oriented component model to systematically institutionalise negotiation capability across the organisation.