Constructing managerial manoeuvring space in contradictory contexts

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HRM ved et veiskille: Hvordan kan vi tette gapet mellom forskning og praksis?

Source at https://nye.econa.no/faglig-oppdatering/medlemsbladet-magma/.Den internasjonale forsningslitteraturen tegner et bilder av at HRM står ved et veiskille. Dette aktualiserer debatten om forskning/praksis gap, situasjonen der praktikerne er opptatt av sine ting og forskerne sysler med sitt, fordi det kan hemme kunnskapsutvikling. Vi har undersøkt utfordringene for HRM-praksis og HMR-forskning som løftes fram i forskningslitteraturen, hvordan disse utfordringene impliserer forskning/praksis gap, og hva som løftes fram som forslag for å tette det. Vi gjennomførte en litteraturstudie av artikler publisert i høyt rangerte HRM-tidsskrifter. Vi fant at utfordringsbildet kan knyttes til fire hovedtema; (1) revitalisere HRM-funksjonens rolle som de ansattes talerør, (2) nye HRM-praksiser, (3) positivistisk forskning med utilstrekkelige teorier og (4) utvidet verktøykasse for forskning. Utfordringene illustrerer ulike typer forskning/praksis-gap som beskrives i litteraturen. Vi finner imidlertid et fremtredende gap som ikke i særlig grad har vært diskutert, og som antyder at verken forskning eller praksis har gode nok verktøy for å møte dagens utfordringer. Dette representerer et kunnskapsproduksjonsproblem. For å møte dette problemet kreves mer samarbeid og samhandling mellom praksis- og forskningsfeltet. Artikkelens kunnskapsoppsummering er et godt verktøy for å drøfte tiltak i samarbeidet mellom forskning og praksis

When sensemaking remains local: implications for distributed sensemaking in reform implementation

Source at https://www.emerald.com/insight/publication/issn/1366-5626Purpose - This paper aims to contribute to the literature on distributed sensemaking by studying how the police establish and develop their new position as police contacts during the police reform. Design/methodology/approach - The authors studied how the position of police contact, a cornerstone of the recent Norwegian police reform, was interpreted and practised. The authors interviewed police contacts at two different times during reform implementation to explore how they made sense of and practised their job. Findings - The authors identified three interpretations of the position of police contact and describe them as ideal types: an administrative position, a professional position and a strategic position. The ideal types were reinforced rather than developing towards a shared understanding. Our data demonstrate that the sensemaking processes and experimentation to settle into the new position involved local actors internally in the police and externally in relation to local authorities, and reinforced local interpretations. Originality/value - This study supports the notion of sensemaking as distributed but extends previous research by suggesting that “ideal types” help us understand the content of interpretations. This study also extends the understanding by showing that distributed sensemaking takes place as individuals make sense of more open-ended problems. This challenges the understanding of the term distributed, because unless challenged, distributed sensemaking in isolated pockets of the organization remain local, and the authors suggest that the term local distributed sensemaking captures this phenomenon

The art of untangling : High North SME board directors’ challenges in understanding strategy, control, and service tasks

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The role of leadership in organizational learning in multinational companies

Purpose - This paper aims to conceptualize the role of leadership in organizational learning processes in multinational companies (MNCs). The authors present a model describing how managers in an MNC facilitated transitions between sub-processes of organizational learning at several organizational levels. Design/methodology/approach - The authors collected data from the plants of a global process company in Norway, Brazil and China. Observation, in-depth interviews and archival material enabled one to reconstruct the organizational learning process over a period of 30 years as the company developed its own tailor-made improvement programme. Findings - Based on the data, the authors describe the role of leadership in linking the sub-processes of organizational learning as orchestration, sponsoring and persistence. Orchestration included creating faith and optimism and designing the organization to allow close cooperation between operators and managers in the sub-process of experimenting. This eased transferring and institutionalizing in the global organization. Sponsoring included structural changes to support transferring and the demonstration of dedication to improvement programme values. These factors were important for institutionalizing. Persistence involved the continuous focus on adjustment of the improvement programme, which then facilitated further experimenting. Originality/value - Firstly, this study suggests that activities and decisions in one sub-process have important implications for the following sub-processes. Secondly, this study indicates that leaders’ role in facilitating the transitions between sub-processes extend beyond their individual traits and behaviour, which previous research had focused on, and includes decisions concerning organizational structure and culture that help link social and organizational learning

Changes in the power balance of institutional logics: Middle managers' responses

The purpose of this paper is to explore how middle managers respond when an existing institutional logic is reinforced through radical organisational change. We analyse documents and interviews with middle managers in three public sector contexts (hospitals, upper secondary schools, municipal agencies) in which the power balance between the managerial and professional logics changed through mergers. Contrary to expectations from previous research, we found a variety of responses across contexts. Our data suggest that the middle managers chose whether to acknowledge available information about the managerial logic, and that they either accepted or rejected the new power balance between the logics. There were two different ways of accepting the new power balance: by showing loyalty or through resignation. Its rejection took the form of strategically adhering to the managerial logic as a novice, even though a middle manager was, or should have been, familiar with this logic

Den kyndige økonomisk/administrative fagutøverens helhetsforståelse

En kyndig fagutøver i økonomisk/administrative fag må evne å se sammenhenger og helhet mellom eget og andres fagfelt. Studieplanene er bygd opp for å ivareta bedriftsøkonomiske fag, samfunnsøkonomi, administrasjonsfag og metodefag. Det kan imidlertid synes som om spesialisering får større fokus i utdanningen, og at det i stor grad overlates til studenten å utvikle en helhetsforståelse for det økonomisk/administrative fagfeltet. Arbeidet med helhetsforståelsen må fortsette også etter at studenten har fått sitt vitnemål. I denne artikkelen diskuterer vi den kyndige fagutøverens refleksjon i praksis og betydningen av å se egen spesialisering i en større faglig helhet

Learning to learn differently

Purpose: This paper aims to investigate whether the formal and informal learning patterns of community health-care nurses changed in the wake of a reform that altered their work by introducing new patient groups, and to explore whether conditions in the new workplaces facilitated or impeded shifts in learning patterns. Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected through interviews with experienced nurses in community health care to learn whether and how they changed their learning patterns and the challenges they experienced in establishing new work practices. Findings: In established learning patterns among nurses, the most experienced nurse passes on the knowledge to novices. These knowledge boundaries were challenged and they created new contexts and tasks calling for more cross-disciplinary cooperation. The informants acknowledged the need for formal and informal learning activities to change their learning pattern in addressing new knowledge challenges. Structural and cultural factors in community health care impeded changes in individual and collective learning patterns. Research limitations/implications: This paper reports a single case study. Further study is needed on how changes in structural and contextual conditions challenge the established formal and informal learning patterns. Practical implications: It is crucial that managers facilitate the development of new routines, structures and cultures to support individual initiatives and the growth of necessary changes in established practice to implement a new reform. Originality/value: This study’s contribution to the literature primarily concerns how changes in structural conditions challenge formal and informal learning patterns, and the structural and cultural conditions for these learning patterns