Staffan Furusten

Commercialized professionalism on the field of management consulting

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore and construct a model for the mechanisms for authorization of actors in contemporary society performing in the role of the expert.Design/methodolog ...

Institutional Theory and Organizational Change

Whether or not they are aware of it, managers do not fully control the nature and timing of their decisions. Their framework of action is limited by institutional constraints in the surrounding environment – what is technically, economically, socially and culturally possible in different contexts. With a better understanding of their environment – and how it affects how they think, what they do and why they do it – decision-makers are also better able to make more carefully considered decisions about organizational change. In this book Staffan Furusten discusses why it is difficult for organizations around the world to resist the pressures of the institutional environment and how organizations worldwide – big and small, private and public – are becoming increasingly alike.

The Creation of Popular Management Texts

In the 1980s the interest in manifestations of management and leadership in modern Western society increased considerably. This means in practice that many individuals and organizations in the international community spent a great deal of money on management books, magazines, consultants, training programmes, executive seminars and conferences. Furthermore, large numbers of people all around the world were involved in producing and distributing these manifestations. The popularity of managerial manifestations can therefore be seen as a phenomenon, or rather an element in organizations’ environments which embodies modern thoughts of managerial and organizational life. In this respect it can be argued that popular manifestations articulate modern beliefs of what good and bad management is supposed to be. However, are these rooted in knowledge or ideology? And what does it mean for organizations to be characterized as having roots in one or the other cognitive category? The purpose of this chapter is, if not to answer these questions, to at least give reasonable explanations.

As Flies around Goodies—The Rise of Experts and Services in the Emerging Field of CSR and Sustainability

As flies around goodies : The rise of experts and services in the emerging field of CSR and sustainability