Professionalism, Managerialism and Reform in Higher Education and the Health Services


Book Description

Over the past three decades, professions across the European Union have faced significant and radical challenges. This book analyses three professional groups involved in the academic and health sectors and how they are affected by different national Welfare State models such as Mediterranean, Scandinavian and Anglo Saxon.




The Routledge Companion to the Professions and Professionalism


Book Description

The Routledge Companion to the Professions and Professionalism is a state-of-the-art reference work which maps out the current developments and debates around the sociology of the professions, and how they relate to management and organizations. Supported by an international contributor team specializing in the disciplines of organizational studies and sociology, the collection provides extensive coverage of this field of research. It brings together the core concepts and issues, and has chapters on all the key aspects of professions in both the public and private sectors, including issues of governance and regulation. The volume closes with a set of international case studies which provide valuable practical insights into the subject. This Companion will be an indispensable reference source for students, scholars and educators within the social sciences, especially within management, organizational studies and sociology. It will also be highly relevant for those working and studying in the area of professional education.




Reforms, Organizational Change and Performance in Higher Education


Book Description

This open access book investigates the effects of changes in leadership and managerial structures of Nordic universities resulting from reforms in the last decade. It builds on a rich, comparative dataset across a multiplicity of system-wide (macro) and organisational (meso and micro) dimensions, namely: reform or policy initiatives; drivers, aims, instruments and actors; structural changes within universities; strategic and performance management; the rise of accountability regimes; incentive and evaluative systems; and perceived changes/effects by the key actors involved, at various levels. The volume provides critical insights to the larger phenomenon of change and adaptation within the public sector. Its findings and implications are of relevance to social science researchers, policy makers, managers/administrators, and external stakeholders.




Management Research


Book Description

Management Research: European Perspectives brings together experts in the field to take stock of European management research and reflect on its distinctiveness. Building on a successful series of papers published in the European Management Journal, this book contains international contributions providing a range of scholarly perspectives on the reality of European management research. The state of management scholarship has recently been a topic of great interest, focusing on such matters as the role of universities versus businesses in shaping research agendas, the so-called ‘rigour–relevance’ debate, the use of measurements in quality assessment of research outputs, the role of journal rankings, and the merits of the journal review system. Missing, however, is any discussion of what, if anything, constitutes a European approach to management research, how does it differ from other styles used in the rest of the world and why is there a need for such distinctiveness? It has been noted that European management scholars have a lower success rate for publishing theoretical papers than their North American counterparts, which is surprising given that Europe has been the cradle of many generative intellectual traditions. European scholars may be the heirs to those traditions, but they are sometimes criticised for failing to channel this legacy into authoritative theoretical contributions in elite US-based management journals. This book provides insightful contributions to the debate and offers critical reflections on what European-based scholars have to offer the study of management.




Under Pressure


Book Description

A core position in the knowledge economy policies has been ascribed to higher education. This has enhanced the complexity of the environment in which higher education institutions operate. These deal with a wide range of pressures stemming from the State, the corporate world, the society at large and political interests, let alone those arising from the constituencies of higher education institutions (academics, students and non-academics). Institutions are expected to cope with these pressures by developing strategies involving quality management, performance and assessment, innovation, while reconfiguring the relationships between research, teaching and learning. The core business of higher education is being reshaped, challenging institutions’ internal life to strategically respond to the reconfiguration of their role and missions. Topics such as governance and management, strategies and strategizing, budget control, performance and assessment, quality management, local and regional innovation come to the fore front. Under Pressure: Higher Education Institutions Coping with Multiple Challenges addresses these topics by convening approaches to the understanding of the interactions between policy drivers and institutional practices in governance, funding, performance indicators, regional innovation, strategy and strategizing, quality and management, and professionals.




Towards a Comparative Institutionalism


Book Description

The volume examines ongoing dynamics within the organizational fields of health care and higher education, as seen from an institutional theory perspective. To date, few studies have attempted to compare developments across these two critical societal sectors and actors.




The Palgrave International Handbook of Higher Education Policy and Governance


Book Description

This state-of-the-art reference collection addresses the major themes, theories and key concepts related to higher education policy and governance on an international scale in one accessible volume. Mapping the field and showcasing current research and theorizations from diverse perspectives and authoritative scholars, this essential guide will assist readers in navigating the myriad concepts and themes involved in higher education policy and governance research and practice. Split into two sections, the first explores a range of policy concepts, theories and methods including governance models, policy instruments, institutionalism and organizational change, new public management and multi-level governance. The second section addresses salient themes such as institutional governance, funding, quality, employability, accountability, university rankings, widening participation, gender, inequalities, technology, student involvement and the role of higher education in society. Global in its perspective and definitive in content, this one-stop volume will be an indispensable reference resource for a wide range of academics, students and researchers in the fields of education, education policy, sociology, social and public policy, political science and for leadership.




Professions and Professional Service Firms


Book Description

Professions are increasingly linked with enterprise at a number of interrelated levels. By considering the relationship of professions to the enterprise contexts in which they work, this book reveals the dilemmas posed to professional groups, and the opportunities and constraints that can arise in their organisational frameworks. Addressing both private and public sectors, this collection explores questions including: what are the implications for the culture, practices and identities of professions of working in enterprise contexts, including with increased globalisation? Are professions becoming more entrepreneurial in a knowledge economy? What are the tensions between professionalism and enterprise and how are these resolved? These are themes that are extremely important to professionals and their managers, especially with the rise of large-scale professional service firms serving corporate clients with truly global reach. This cutting-edge collection will be of interest to researchers, educators and advanced students studying professional behaviour in fields such as business studies, management, organisational analysis, public administration, political science, social policy and sociology, as well as students on focused programmes of professional study in fields such as health, law and social care.




Epidemics and the Health of African Nations


Book Description

News footage of disease in Africa is a familiar sight. Yet these outbreaks are often presented out of context, with no reference to the conditions that have triggered them. MISTRAs new book, Epidemics and the Health of African Nations, aims to redress that. Researchers and practitioners from within the continent explore why Africa is so vulnerable to disease, and show how this vulnerability is closely linked to political and economic factors. They demonstrate how these same factors determine the way epidemics are treated. Authors extract lessons from case studies in different parts of Africa; challenge conventional frameworks about disease to argue for a syndemics approach that takes into account the interrelationship between disease and political and socio-economic contexts; explore challenges of Africas future. They argue that a well-functioning health system is at the core of a countrys capacity to counter an epidemic. This volume brings African experts together to probe possible solutions to the continents heavy burden of disease. The insights offered will be helpful in devising policy for the control of disease and the combatting of epidemics in Africa.




Gendered Success in Higher Education


Book Description

This book examines higher education institutions that exemplify gendered success whether in terms of the presence of women in senior positions or attempts to change a gendered organisational culture. It reflects a global perspective, drawing on case studies from eleven countries: Australia, Austria, Ireland, India, New Zealand , Portugal, South Africa, Sweden, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom. In each country an organisation has been selected that demonstrate best practice in terms of gendered outcomes or processes. Gendered Success in Higher Education highlights both the importance and the limitations of indicators such as the proportion of women in senior positions. It proposes a new gender agenda, identifies the factors that need to be included in a model of gendered change, and provides important insights into the nature of gendered change globally and how it can be achieved.