Accountable Management Reforms: Why the Norwegian Hospital Reform Experiment Got Lost in Implementation

There is an international tendency to replace governmental funding based on fixed grants by different reforms implying accountable management methods. In this article we focus on the implementation problems of New Public Management reforms in the Norwegian hospital sector. These reforms are built on a belief that more accountable methods will improve efficiency and better resource allocation. The term New Public Management includes different cost-improvement programmes like Prospective Payment Systems, which were introduced as a new basis of funding in four Norwegian hospitals during a three year experimental period. The studies presented here support the findings from similar reforms in other countries, stating that there are very few, if any, documented efficiency gains by these reforms. The explanation may be that the reforms have disregarded the importance of internal organisational processes, like high quality management, communication and participation as parts of the implementation phases.     

Combining work and informal care: the importance of caring organisations

Population ageing and rising costs of long‐term care mean that organisations will be confronted in the future with a growing number of employees who combine paid work with providing informal care to a relative or non‐kin. Combining work and informal care successfully partly depends on job and care‐related features, but more information is needed on the importance of organisational aspects in this regard. The impact of organisational support on work outcomes (work–care balance and perceived need for job adaptations) was studied among 1,991 employed informal caregivers in 50 different organisations. Multilevel logistic regression analyses revealed that a heavy care burden decreased the odds of combining work and care successfully. Caregivers who felt supported by colleagues and supervisors, and who worked in supportive organisations had higher odds of good work outcomes. The findings imply that organisations should be explicit about their concern for informal caregivers and be particularly aware of colleagues with heavy care responsibilities.     

Doing by learning: Embedded application systems

We argue that the computerized information system should not look like a system on its own. Rather, it should be conceived as an inherent part of the work of its users. We therefore introduce the concept of an embedded system, which describes work tasks and organization. Computer‐supported information tasks are embedded in this environment: They are not parts of a system separated from other activities. This concept is based on the experiences gained during the development of a user‐interface prototype, derived from a theoretical frame of reference, called act orientation, to information systems, in which all computerized tasks are interpreted as acts performed by the actual user. Our suggestion continues the tradition of on‐line help and support, reaching radically deeper than usual in related approaches. We expect that our suggestion will, when applied, improve the control, productivity, quality of the outcome of work, and quality of working life, assessed from the user's point of view.     

Televised Consumption: Women,Advertisers and the Early Daytime Television Industry

This article looks at ways in which the US broadcasting and advertising industries conceptualized the female consumer in the immediate Post War period. It explores the emergence of daytime television and discusses broadcasters' views of their predominantly female audience. The article argues that by grasping the underlying principles that were developed in the early daytime television industry, one can gain a better understanding, not only of the manner in which female audience members were addressed in the 1950s, but also, to some extent, of the ways mass media address women today.     

Managerialism and Profession‐Based Logic: The Use of Accounting Information in Changing Hospitals

The hospital sector has undergone significant management reforms over the last decades. These reforms include more use of accounting information. This paper focuses on the kinds of logic that guide clinical managers’ perception of their management control practices when including accounting information in decisions. A survey study was undertaken among clinical managers, and it was completed by interviews to go deeper into the management control processes in three large hospitals in the middle and northern parts of Norway. We found that there is a triangle of logic which may change and form different patterns, according to different contexts and variations in professional background.     

Appetizing learning in Swedish comprehensive schools: an attempt to employ food and tasting in a new form of experimental education

The word taste has several meanings: biopsychological, and cultural and social. Taste also influences food choice, though there is a widespread belief that tasty food is not synonymous with healthy eating patterns. In Sweden compulsory school daily meals are provided and Home Economics is a compulsory subject, while tasting lessons form an additional experimental form of education. The aim of this study has been to make a general evaluation of tasting lessons in four fifth‐year classes. The focus of the results is on pupils’ learning about, and interest in, food, and the opinions and reflections of teachers, catering staff and school heads. The participants were three professional focus groups comprising staff from four schools, and 48 pupils (eight groups with boys and girls in separate groups) from the same schools. Results showed that the children were prepared to be exposed to different foodstuffs, and the adults were prepared to be exposed to new educational methods. Two stages of children's learning have been described in connection with tasting: practice and experience, and verbalization and reflection.     

Diverse management practices— a study of clinical managers

This article examines whether changes in the governance of public hospitals in Norway have affected the perceived practices of operational managers. A study involving a survey of and interviews with clinical managers in Norwegian hospitals has shown that managers considering themselves highly involved in management control practices. The managers' perception of their control activities was related to such institutional pressures as budget deficits, as well as to contextual variables such as department size. This article shows that clinical managers also use accounting information for purposes other than simply being accountable for meeting budgets.     

Women and Employee-Elected Board Members,and Their Contributions to Board Control Tasks

We present results from a study about women and employee-elected board members, and fill some of the gaps in the literature about their contribution to board effectiveness. The empirical data are from a unique data set of Norwegian firms. Board effectiveness is evaluated in relation to board control tasks, including board corporate social responsibility (CSR) involvement. We found that the contributions of women and employee-elected board members varied depending on the board tasks studied. In the article we also explored the effects of the esteem of the women and employee-elected board members, and we used creative discussions in the boardroom as a mediating variable. Previous board research, including research about women and employee-elected directors, questions if the board members contribute to board effectiveness. The main message from this study is that it may be more important to ask how, rather than if, women and employee-elected board members contribute, and we need to open the black box of actual board behavior to explore how they may contribute.