International Collaboration in the Danish Tax Agency: An Organizational Analysis Inspired by the Cum-ex Scandal

Abstract

Inspired by the Cum-ex scandal this research set out to look into the Danish Tax Agency and find out how the structure of the organization impact international collaboration. With the findings from this case, the paper hopes to contribute to the academic conversation surrounding collaboration across border, and more specifically that the paper will shed some light on why the international collaboration did not work better during the Cum-ex scandal, if not in this specific case, then possible weaknesses of the collaboration in general. To answer the research question it was chosen to focus on the structure of the Danish Tax Agency (as this needed to be defined to determine its impact on international collaboration), the processes of the organization (as these can impact how the collaboration works and if it is even a priority), and lastly, the collaboration itself (as it is what the analysis revolves around). The theories of Max Weber, Henry Mintzberg (structure), Jørgen F. Bakka and Egil Fivelsdal (processes), and Ann Marie Thomson and James L. Perry (collaboration) were utilized for this. To answer the research question seven interviews were conducted with employees working with international collaboration, and documents explaining the structure and collaboration were used. They were analyzed with first and second cycle coding. Here, descriptive coding was used for the first cycle and pattern coding for the second. Findings showed that the formal structure of the Danish Tax Agency impacts their international collaboration in the sense that the structure of the organization is mirrored in the collaboration. More than that it is impacted by the differences in structure between the organizations and the misalignments in terms and definitions. The informal structure impacts the collaboration in the sense that it helps create trust, which makes the collaboration easier.