Johan Quist

Process management in healthcare: investigating why it's easier said than done

The purpose of this paper is to investigate what happens when a new management idea with manufacturing origin is implemented in a healthcare organization. In this paper, it is focussed on process m ...

The Contextualization of Human Resource and Quality Management : A sensemaking perspective on everybody´s involvement

The principal idea of this paper is that human resource management (HRM) and quality management (QM) ideas require contextualization when used to change organizations. Here, contextualization stands for the process that leads to a shared meaning, i.e. the majority of the co-workers in an organization understand and define a concept or change in terms that are shared and accepted. In the present paper, we study a strategic change project, based on HRM and QM ideas, conducted at the County Council of Värmland (CCV), the public healthcare authority in the County of Värmland in Sweden, where the focus was on everybodys involvement. Our interpretation of the project shows that a shared meaning of the concept of everybodys involvement was not reached in this particular case, i.e. contextualization did not occur. One important result of the study is that contextualization is a prerequisite for realizing HRM and QM thoughts. The paper also stresses how important it is that general and ‘non-contextualized’ HRM and QM ideas are adapted to local practices when used to direct organizational change.

Process Management as a Contagious Idea: A Contribution to Røvik's Virus-Inspired Theory

‘Travelling ideas’ denotes the fact that virtually identical management ideas crop up more or less simultaneously in similar organizations. Røvik, who recently launched his ‘virus-inspired theory’ approach, seeks to pinpoint the possibility that the encounter between idea and practice may be lasting, ideas may affect practice, and leaders in organisations may play a more active role than the one often depicted in management fashion theory. This article is a contribution to his virus-inspired theory. It focuses on processes in their pragmatic form, as value-creating flows in organisations. We have studied Process Management (PM) as an idea, and how it has penetrated and flourished in the Swedish Customs Service. We argue that the empirical test in this article supports Røviks belief that a virus-inspired theory gives a richer picture than the fashion theory. Through our analysis we show that four of our six hypotheses, derived from the virus-inspired theory, are strengthened by the empirical story from the Customs Service.