Institutional work across multiple levels: The case of strategic public facilities management in the making

The research in this thesis deals with the implementation of strategic planning measures inpublic facilities management organizations (PFMOs) and the development of strategic publicfacilities management (SPFM). The aim is to increase the understanding of how individual andorganizational actors work with strategic public facilities management and how this influencesboth public facilities management organizations and the institution of public facilitiesmanagement.Data were collected through interviews, observations, shadowing, a survey, notes from aworkshop and readings of organizational documents. The practice-oriented theoretical lensesof institutional work, institutional logics and sociomateriality have been applied whenanalyzing the data.In the thesis it is discussed how old practices, characterized by short-term measures as responseto urgent maintenance needs of buildings, is associated with negative connotations. Togetherthese practices constituted the old practice of public facilities management (PFM) andassociations to lack of planning makes it an unwanted practice. On the other hand, the newpractice of PFM, characterized by planning for the future, is associated with positiveconnotations of strategic and long-term planning measures. For SPFM to be realized, it isargued that these two practices, and the logics associated with them, can co-exist. Theinstitutional logics of PFM are discussed in relation to when the new and the old practice oPFM are imbricating each other. The findings show how it is not the logics presence per se thatis of importance for actors and for how practices change and develop, but how these logics areunderstood and acted upon.In addition, findings show how different types of actors engage in different types of institutionalwork, at different organizational levels, in both external and internal dimensions during theimplementation and development of SPFM. Positioning work, a specific type of institutionalwork prevalent in PFMOs, has been highlighted. Positioning work includes taking new spaceand placing it in the organizational nexus and is aimed at providing PFMOs with a new positionwithin their institutional field. Moreover, together with humans, several objects were found tobe part of the change processes in several ways; objects were shown to attack and, thereby,disrupt established institutions and were also found to justify preferred routes. Through acts ofsafeguarding and emotional regulation, objects also took part in maintaining practices.The focus has been on conceptualizing current challenges for PFM as a multi-logic challenge,i.e. the challenge is to integrate different perspectives in practice. The importance ofrecognizing the aspects of pre-reflexive agency for successful change work in an institutionalsetting constituted by several different logics and professional backgrounds is acknowledged.How actors’ levels of agency are not constant but dependent on their social positions and theirabilities to identify and combine different forms of institutional work has also been shown.Different objects were shown to be part of the change processes studied as institutionalimplements and emotional implements and, as such, actively involved in institutional work

Change in public facilities management organisations: The connection between emotions, humans and objects

In this paper, the interest lies in increasing the understanding of how individual actors\ua0(both human and objects) within public facilities management organizations respond\ua0to the changes in their organizational context that is imposed on them, and how this is\ua0affecting their institutional work (IW). Data was collected through a workshop and\ua0interviews with officials from public facilities management organizations. Data was\ua0analysed using a framework that focused on the interaction between humans,\ua0emotions and objects. The findings present three types of objects, that have in\ua0common that they are used to reduce anxiety; past objects, used a \u27soft blankets\u27,\ua0future, imaginary objects used for concretizing the future perfect and current objects\ua0as shields to prevent \u27reality\u27 from being managed. The findings further indicate that\ua0humans believe that they conduct institutional work to create new practices in public\ua0facilities management organizations, when they are in fact maintaining current\ua0practices, for example by relaying on future imaginary objects to solve current\ua0problems. The paper complements previous research that has shown how individuals\ua0engage in creating new or disrupting old practices if the current situational order\ua0threatens their psychological wellbeing. Instead, it is argued that people engage in\ua0activities that maintain the institution of public facilities management when their\ua0psychological wellbeing is threatened

Exploring the connection between emotions, artefacts and institutional work: the case of institutional change for public fadlities management

Public Facilities Malmanagement (PFM) is currently moving from being an institution driven by ad-hoc practices to now introducing long-term and strategic practices. During this institutional change, human actors engage in institutional work to create new practices. However, old practices seem to be maintained within PFM to a large extend. Why? Data were collected through case studies in two public facilities management organizations, an interview study in eight organizations from the institution of PFM and a workshop with representatives from the institutional field of PFM. Findings show how the changing institutional setting for the institution of PFM produce negative emotions. To manage these, human actors engage in institutional work and here they employ artefacts as means to drive change. These artefacts functioned in various ways to reduce negative feelings by inducing a sense of safety (as soft blankets), by enabling the avoidance of dealing with \u27the truth\u27 (as shields) and by offering hope (as a vision of perfect future). Thereby, they did not take part in creating change, as much as they took part in maintaining current practices. The unintended consequences of the usage of artefacts, explain why practices are maintained during institutional change for PFM

The role of gender in students’ ratings of teaching quality in computer science and environmental engineering

Students’ ratings of teaching quality on course units in computer science and environmental engineering at a large Swedish university were obtained using the Course Experience Questionnaire; 8,888 sets of ratings were obtained from men and 4,280 sets were obtained from women over ten academic years. There were differences in the ratings given by students taking the two programs; in particular, teachers tended to receive higher ratings in subjects that were less typical for their gender than in subjects that were more typical for their gender. There were differences in the ratings given to male and female teachers, differences in the ratings given by male and female students, and interactions between these two effects. There was no systematic trend for students to give different ratings to teachers of the same gender as themselves compared with teachers of the other gender. Nevertheless, without exception even the statistically significant effects were small in magnitude and unlikely to be of theoretical or practical importance. It is concluded that the causes of differences in the career progression of male and female teachers in engineering education need to be sought elsewhere.   

Materiality in action: the role of objects in institutional work

Public property owners currently face a great backlog of renovation work at the same time as there is a need to build new, increase cost-efficiency, and comply with new environmental regulations on energy efficiency. To manage these challenges many public property owners have initiated change processes to develop new strategic ways of working with their properties, often aligned with a project portfolio approach. This involves a quite radical shift of practices in these organizations, which requires individuals to engage in institutional work. Recent studies have highlighted how institutional work is shared between humans and objects. To increase understanding\ua0of objects’ role in institutional work through which public property owners develop new practices that support a holistic, long-term, and sustainable property management,\ua0we analyzed observational data of strategy project meetings in three Swedish public property owner organizations. Findings show how objects have an active role in institutional work through acts of attacking, justifying, and/or safeguarding to maintain, create and/or disrupt institutions. Objects take on multiple roles and both unite and divide human actors as well as evoke emotions that guide actions. Three types of agency are highlighted: relational, discursive, and emotional. Increased knowledge on the role of objects in institutional work and how objects (can) influence human agency assists actors in making better-informed decisions in strategic change processes

Navigating the logics of changing public facilities management

Abstract Purpose–The purpose of this paper is to explore how a multitude of demands and challenges faced bypublic facilities management organizations ’(PFMOs) particularly in relation to a large building stock in need of measures ’are acted upon and negotiated in practice. Specifically this study asks: What are the institutional logics (IL) that constitute the organizational context of PFMOs? How does an institutional worker navigate to create change in PFMOs?Design/methodology/approach–Data were collected through a case study of a public facility management organization and include interviews, a questionnaire, observations and organizationaldocuments. The analytical focus is the work of a single actor, a project manager portrayed as “the navigator” and his institutional work (IW) of developing and implementing new organizational practices, to meet current challenges and develop a more “strategic” facility management.Findings–The complex institutional landscape faced by officials in PFMOs enforce officials responsible for implementing and developing new practices to become navigators.Originality/value–The findings offer a rich practice-based account of the day-to-day IW carried out by actorsthat try to navigate complex institutional landscapes, consisting of multiple and, at times, conflicting IL. Current challenges for PFMOs are to be portrayed as multi-dimensional and the actual work to transform organizational practices in this context is highly complex, unordered and messy. The findings point towards a need for new competences and roles to tackle current challenges; geared towards integrating different logics and perspectives

Changing practices for public facilities management

Public facilities management organizations are currently facing several challenges both external and internal. New regulations regarding sustainability (including energy efficiency targets), a transition to a business-like approach/form of governance and changing demographical conditions are examples of outer challenges. At the same time, inner challenges such as need for new knowledge and competencies among the employees and buildings in bad shape, in urgent need of renovation, need to be managed. These aspects enforce public facilities management organizations and their pertaining institutions to change their way of working.The aim of the thesis is to increase the understanding of the change processes through which public facilities management organizations reconsider and revise their existing facilities management practices in order to support long-term goals and sustainable development.\ua0The research presented in this thesis builds on a qualitative research design. The practice-oriented theoretical lenses of institutional work, institutional logics and sociomateriality are used in order to examine changing practices for public facilities management. The thesis is based on one main empirical case study, in one organizational context. Within this context, a strategy project was followed, where actors were developing new practices in relation to sustainable facilities management. When investigating the role of objects for public facilities management, the thesis is also informed by two other organizational contexts encompassing projects related to sustainable facilities management. \ua0Three papers are included in this thesis. Relating to the aim to increase the understanding of the change processes that public facilities management organizations undergo, findings show that several actors are involved in the work to transform public facilities management organizations in order to meet current challenges. They reside at and travel between different organizational levels and develop practices related do different logics. These actors are not only human, they are also non-humans (objects). The actors are not perhaps “obvious” change agents, rather they are “ordinary” employees doing their jobs, albeit in a good manner. As such, this thesis adds to the body of practice-oriented literature on institutional work, institutional logics and sociomateriality. It also contributes to organizational research that investigates sustainable public facilities management

Municipal facilities managers as strategists

Purpose: This study aims to investigate practitioners’ perceptions of strategic work in municipal facilities management: how public facilities management is changing, what is included in strategic public facilities management and who leads the strategic work. Design/methodology/approach: A literature review begins with mainstream studies of strategy management, ultimately concentrating on municipal facilities management. Findings are based on a 2020/2021 questionnaire targeting 356 practitioners in municipal facilities management across Sweden (50% response rate). The statistical treatment includes factor analysis. Findings: Most respondents indicated changed ways of managing facilities in the past five years; most reported that they were in an organization with an explicit goal of working more strategically. Respondents associated strategic facilities management with governance, facilities, sustainability, technology change and communication. Frequently, it was the management team of the facilities management department that led strategic work. Research limitations/implications: Research into municipal facilities management is dominated by studies in Northern Europe, and more studies from other regions are needed. How strategies and work roles evolve in parallel appears to be a fruitful direction of further research. Practical implications: Facilities managers need stronger competences and more resources to engage in strategic facilities management. Findings indicate a need to integrate sustainability aspects better into long-term strategic work. Social implications: More strategic municipal facilities management is of obvious social value. Originality/value: This is the first study of practitioner perceptions of work on strategic facilities management in municipalities

Assessment of glial fibrillary acidic protein and anti-glial fibrillary acidic protein autoantibody concentrations and necrotising meningoencephalitis risk genotype in dogs with pug dog myelopathy

BackgroundPugs commonly present with thoracolumbar myelopathy, also known as pug dog myelopathy (PDM), which is clinically characterised by progressive signs involving the pelvic limbs, no apparent signs of pain and, often, incontinence. In addition to meningeal fibrosis and focal spinal cord destruction, histopathology has confirmed lymphohistiocytic infiltrates in the central nervous system (CNS) in a considerable number of pugs with PDM. Lymphohistiocytic CNS inflammation also characterises necrotising meningoencephalitis (NME) in pugs. This study aimed to investigate the potential contribution of an immunological aetiology to the development of PDM.MethodsThe concentrations of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in serum and CSF and of anti-GFAP autoantibodies in CSF were measured with an ELISA. In addition, a commercial test was used for genetic characterisation of the dog leukocyte antigen class II haplotype, which is associated with NME susceptibility.ResultsThis study included 87 dogs: 52 PDM pugs, 14 control pugs, four NME pugs and 17 dogs of breeds other than pugs that were investigated for neurological disease (neuro controls). Anti-GFAP autoantibodies were present in 15 of 19 (79%) of the PDM pugs tested versus six of 16 (38%) of the neuro controls tested (p = 0.018). All 18 PDM pugs evaluated had detectable CSF GFAP. Serum GFAP was detected in two of three (67%) of the NME pugs and in two of 11 (18%) of the control pugs but not in any of the 40 tested PDM pugs. Male pugs heterozygous for the NME risk haplotype had an earlier onset of clinical signs (70 months) compared to male pugs without the risk haplotype (78 months) (p = 0.036).LimitationsThe study was limited by the lack of healthy dogs of breeds other than pugs and the small numbers of control pugs and pugs with NME.ConclusionsThe high proportion of PDM pugs with anti-GFAP autoantibodies and high CSF GFAP concentrations provide support for a potential immunological contribution to the development of PDM