Sweden’s accession to NATO entails a logistical institutional transition for the Swedish Armed Forces (SAF). This thesis examines how NATO’s logistical ideas are institutionalized within the SAF following accession. The study applies to a qualitative single-case study design based on semi-structured interviews. The analysis is guided by Richard W. Scott’s institutional framework, focusing on regulative, normative, and cultural-cognitive mechanisms.
The findings show that NATO’s logistical ideas are not implemented through full adoption, but through a gradual and selective process of institutional translation. Institutionalization is driven by perceived requirements and expectations associated with NATO membership. The process is shaped by professional ideals, administrative legacies, and a risk-averse organizational culture. The concept of sustainment is reinterpreted through existing Swedish understandings of logistics, resulting in adaptation rather than replacement. Institutionalization proceeds largely through exercises, improvisation, and individual agency.
The thesis concludes that NATO integration in military logistics depends less on formal acceptance of alliance ideas than on alignment between institutional structures, professional norms, and broader societal coordination.