For Sweden there is also membership of the European Union and possibly of EMU. ·  Analytical requirements are heightened in general. Matters are becoming increasingly complex. Another factor here is the new technologies with electronic payment systems, for example. ·  In our case there is also the crisis in the early 1990s and the lessons we have tried to learn from it. I shall now say something about the work we have done in recent years in three respects: Concentrating on cores activities; Strength and security; and Management with an executive board. BIS Review51/2001  1  Concentrating on core activities A good performance presupposes that we concentrate our resources to what is really important. The starting-point here is, of course, our main statutory functions, namely to maintain price stability and promote a safe and efficient payment system. For three hundred years the Riksbank has owned a paper mill and a note-printing works in Tumba and a mint in Eskilstuna. These are largely manufacturing operations. Through the Tumba works, in the past decade the Riksbank has been active in export markets and produced banknotes on behalf of a number of countries. Besides manufacturing notes and coins, we distribute them. Like McDonalds and the food chains, we send our products, wrapped in plastic though not deep-frozen, to everywhere in Sweden. In our case the security requirements are, of course, considerably higher. But is this really something we should be doing? At the Riksbank we decided it was not.
This is something that has to be renounced to enable us to perform our tasks properly and both attract and retain the best university graduates. An open internal dialogue with management is needed to promote an informal exchange of ideas. Taking responsibility and meeting deadlines must also be rewarded. It is easy to say that some mistakes are acceptable provided things get done but that attitude is by no means customary in a central bank. Last but not least, we must have an open attitude to the outside world, accept impulses and explain what we are doing. So what have we done in recent years to make the Riksbank a more modern place to work in? Here are some examples: ·  We have aimed for a better organisation by making it flatter and delegating more to heads of department and division. That in turn means that general objectives and tasks must be formulated clearly for all concerned so that everyone is aware they are not just piling stones on top of each other but actually helping to build a cathedral. ·  We have accentuated the analytical and academic profile. Our advisers are world-class academics and members of the staff have access to further education in Sweden as well as abroad. We have also made the basic operations more efficient. ·  Another aim has been to give staff a more flexible working life.