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Article
Publication date: 15 May 2018

Ewa Wikström, Ellinor Eriksson, Lejla Karamehmedovic and Roy Liff

The focus of this study is on the knowledge retention process, including knowledge capture, knowledge codification and the internalising of knowledge in organisations – a key…

1906

Abstract

Purpose

The focus of this study is on the knowledge retention process, including knowledge capture, knowledge codification and the internalising of knowledge in organisations – a key aspect of age management. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to an understanding of the difficulties in this process to discuss implications for organizational measures to retain knowledge.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is based on field research on a Swedish multinational company from the perspective of senior employees.

Findings

The findings indicate that knowledge retention is a complex phenomenon, partly because valued knowledge is tacit and knowing is highly subjective and transferred through learning in collaboration with others in the process of undertaking assignments and acting together in work situations.

Research limitations/implications

Knowledge retention is considered only from the perspective of senior, white-collar employees in this study; it would be of interest to consider other employees’ perspectives as well. A second limitation is that the data were collected at a single site. It could be argued, however, that a single case study research format provides an opportunity to gain deep knowledge and allows for explanations about observed phenomena, thereby contributing towards transferable scientific knowledge.

Practical implications

Knowledge retention is hindered by focusing solely on senior workers and on an explicit and commodified view of knowledge.

Social implications

Knowledge retention should be an on-going way of working throughout the organization in which tacit knowledge and knowing are important.

Originality/value

This study shows the importance of considering knowledge and knowing retention as a matter of continual interaction between actors. Retention of tacit knowledge and knowing is not merely a matter of capturing and codifying knowledge. This study contributes to an understanding of the internalisation of tacit knowledge and knowing in continual interaction and cannot be preceded by a step-wise process.

Details

Journal of Knowledge Management, vol. 22 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1367-3270

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 27 August 2021

Roy Liff and Ewa Wikström

The purpose of this paper is to investigate and theoretically explain how line managers and lower-status experts work together in public health-care organizations. Hence, this…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate and theoretically explain how line managers and lower-status experts work together in public health-care organizations. Hence, this study explores how lower-status experts influence line managers' decision-making and task prioritizing in order to guide staff experts' cooperation and performance improvements.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors used a qualitative method for data collection and analysis of the experts' and line managers' explanations about their cooperation. A theoretical approach of experts' identity positioning, in terms of differences and similarities, was used in analyzing the interaction between managers and experts.

Findings

This study shows that similarities and differences in positioning acts exist simultaneously. Similarity is constructed by way of strategic and professional alignment with the line managers' core tasks. Differences stem from the distinction between knowledge-grounded skills and professional attributes such as language, analytical tools, and jargon. Lower-status experts need to leave their entrenched positions and match the professional status of line managers in both knowledge aspirations and appearance to reach a respected approach of experts' identity positioning.

Originality/value

Unlike many previous studies, this study demonstrates that similarities and differences in positioning acts exist simultaneously.

Details

Journal of Health Organization and Management, vol. 35 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7266

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 March 2020

Roland Kadefors, Ewa Wikström and Rebecka Arman

This work was undertaken in order to develop a conceptual model for identification of the capability of an organization to implement age management measures.

Abstract

Purpose

This work was undertaken in order to develop a conceptual model for identification of the capability of an organization to implement age management measures.

Design/methodology/approach

Barriers to delayed retirement were reviewed; observations retrieved from a research consortium study were used to identify main attributes that needed to be taken into consideration in the development of the model.

Findings

The capability of organizations to react to the demographic challenge by introduction of age management measures can be classified operatively as “proactive”, “reactive”, “passive” or “chained”, depending on their resources and preferences.

Practical implications

The model may be useful to HR as a point of departure in the development of a business case for age management and a didactic tool to be used in internal marketing.

Originality/value

The concept “organizational capability” was developed as a corollary to the individual aspects of capability; recognizing preference and resource as main drivers made it possible to develop a typology that is new and is easy to understand and apply.

Details

Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance, vol. 7 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2051-6614

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 7 September 2021

Nanna Gillberg and Ewa Wikström

This study was undertaken in order to show how talent management (TM) was performed in practice in a multinational organization as well as how the TM practices affected both…

1672

Abstract

Purpose

This study was undertaken in order to show how talent management (TM) was performed in practice in a multinational organization as well as how the TM practices affected both different groups of workers and the perception of talent within the organization.

Design/methodology/approach

Performing talent management was reassessed in the relationship between TM practices, view and identification of talent, attributed positioning and self-positioning of older and younger workers; retrieved from an exploratory single case study in a multinational organization, based on interviews.

Findings

The findings illustrate that despite the struggling to fill key positions with skilled workers, the studied organization adopted approaches to TM that excluded older workers' talent. First, central to performing TM was how talent was viewed and identified, and second, two types of positioning acts were important: the organizations (re)producing of talent management through attributive positioning acts on older/younger workers and older workers' self-positioning of their own talent. The two sides of performing talent management were complex and intertwined resulting in an age-based devaluation of talent at work.

Practical implications

The study points to important issues in designing and performing TM that may be useful to HR and managers as a point of departure in the development of more inclusive approaches to TM.

Originality/value

The concept “performing talent management” was developed as an intertwined relationship between on-going positioning acts and (re)production of status, talent and age at work; recognizing preferences of what was viewed and identified as valued talent as main drivers made it possible to develop an understanding of exclusion and inclusion mechanisms in performing TM.

Details

Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance, vol. 8 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2051-6614

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 27 December 2021

Ewa Wikström, Jonathan Severin, Ingibjorg H. Jonsdottir and Magnus Akerstrom

Process facilitation as part of a complex intervention for changing or improving practices within workplaces is becoming a common work method. The aim of this study was to…

1648

Abstract

Purpose

Process facilitation as part of a complex intervention for changing or improving practices within workplaces is becoming a common work method. The aim of this study was to investigate what characterizes the process-facilitating role in a complex intervention.

Design/methodology/approach

The present study focuses on a complex work environment intervention targeting eight organizational units (workplaces) in the Swedish healthcare sector. The study applies a mixed-method approach and has been carried out in two steps. First, a qualitative process evaluation was performed. Secondly, an evaluation was conducted to see to what extent these identified conditions and mechanisms affected the quantitative intervention effect in term of sickness absence.

Findings

The analysis shows that the facilitating role consisted of three overlapping and partially iterative phases. These phases involved different activities for the facilitating role. Depending on how the facilitating role and the intervention were designed, various supporting conditions were found to significantly affect the outcome of the intervention measured as the total sickness absence.

Research limitations/implications

It is concluded that the facilitation is not static or fixed during the change process. Instead, the facilitation role develops and emerges through the process of support during the different implementation phases.

Practical implications

The facilitative role of performing support is based on a combination of support role activities and expert role activities. The support role focuses on support activities, while the expert role includes capacity building through knowledge- and legitimacy-oriented activities.

Originality/value

This study contributes to earlier research by developing a methodological approach for carrying out process facilitation in complex interventions.

Details

Journal of Health Organization and Management, vol. 36 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7266

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 4 August 2023

Ewa Wikström, Rebecka Arman, Lotta Dellve and Nanna Gillberg

The purpose of the paper is to contribute to an understanding of the relational work carried out in mentoring programmes and the implications for learning capabilities in future…

1097

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to contribute to an understanding of the relational work carried out in mentoring programmes and the implications for learning capabilities in future practices.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is based on field research of a mentoring programme bringing together senior and newly graduated workers in a large Swedish health care organisation. In total, 54 qualitative interviews with mentors, mentees, HR, managers and union representatives are included.

Findings

The findings point to the role of trust and a psychological sense of community in the socialisation work that goes on in relationships between the mentor and the mentee. This in turn leads to increased social capital in the form of learning and retaining workers. The conditions for being vulnerable and asking questions, as well as daring to be independent, are an essential and decisive part of constructing bonding within the professional group and bridging out to other professions and parts of the organisation.

Practical implications

The practical contribution from this study is the workplace conditions that are central to organising mentoring programmes, with implications for learning capabilities in future practices.

Originality/value

With its theoretical focus on social capital, the study shows the importance of relationships for learning and retaining both newly graduated and experienced employees in a context of high employee turnover. It is central to achieving strong and mutually beneficial relationships through continual and trustful interaction between actors. By using the concepts of social capital, socialisation agents and psychological sense of community, this study contributes to an understanding of mentoring and workplace learning.

Details

Journal of Workplace Learning, vol. 35 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1366-5626

Keywords

Content available
Article
Publication date: 1 June 2010

Inga-Lill Johansson, Lars Noren and Ewa Wikstrom

831

Abstract

Details

International Journal of Public Sector Management, vol. 23 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3558

Article
Publication date: 9 May 2008

Ewa Wikström

This purpose of this paper is to examine the ways in which one occupational group used boundary work to increase their influence and power with more influential occupational…

1640

Abstract

Purpose

This purpose of this paper is to examine the ways in which one occupational group used boundary work to increase their influence and power with more influential occupational groups in a medical setting.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative interview study is used to investigate an occupational group (hospital dieticians) as it tried to increase its influence in a setting of established occupational groups. Data were collected through semi‐structured interviews with dieticians and managers at a university hospital, and by the examination of selected hospital documents.

Findings

This study concludes that the dieticians' boundary work to become more influential in a setting of established groups was characterized by their boundary setting actions as inner dialogue and their boundary spanning actions as outer dialogue. In the inner dialogue, the dieticians established a professional group and a vocabulary for the continuous communication of their unique competence that could relate to the existing medical knowledge. In the outer dialogue, the dieticians structured and made sense of their setting by the labelling of roles as power entities and by using self‐images and metaphors.

Research limitations/implications

This research was designed to describe the dieticians' efforts and experiences in the studied setting. Therefore, the data provide access to one occupational group but not to the other groups in that setting. A second limitation is the absence of observations.

Practical implications

This research contributes to the knowledge of the relevance of practitioners involved in boundary work aimed at improving professional collaboration. The study is helpful in identifying important boundaries that facilitate the establishment of collaborative relationships, and the development of accounts, procedures and routines.

Originality/value

The research focuses on how influence on practice is constituted through boundary work.

Details

Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International Journal, vol. 3 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-5648

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 November 2011

Ellinor Tengelin, Rebecka Arman, Ewa Wikström and Lotta Dellve

The purpose of this paper is to explore managers' boundary setting in order to better understand their handling of time commitment to work activities, stress, and recovery during…

1450

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore managers' boundary setting in order to better understand their handling of time commitment to work activities, stress, and recovery during everyday work and at home.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper has qualitatively‐driven, mixed method design including observational data, individual interviews, and focus group discussions. Data were analyzed according to Charmaz' view on constructivist grounded theory.

Findings

A first step in boundary setting was to recognize areas with conflicting expectations and inexhaustible needs. Second, strategies were formed through negotiating the handling of managerial time commitment, resulting in boundary‐setting, but also boundary‐dissolving, approaches. The continuous process of individual recognition and negotiation could work as a form of proactive coping, provided that it was acknowledged and questioned.

Research limitations/implications

These findings suggest that recognition of perceived boundary challenges can affect stress and coping. It would therefore be interesting to more accurately assess stress, coping, and health status among managers by means of other methodologies (e.g. physiological assessments).

Practical implications

In regulating managers' work assignments, work‐related stress and recovery, it seems important to: acknowledge boundary work as an ever‐present dilemma requiring continuous negotiation; and encourage individuals and organizations to recognize conflicting perspectives inherent in the leadership assignment, in order to decrease harmful negotiations between them. Such awareness would benefit more sustainable management of healthcare practice.

Originality/value

This paper highlights how managers can handle ever‐present boundary dilemmas in the healthcare sector by regulating their time commitments in various ways.

Details

Journal of Health Organization and Management, vol. 25 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7266

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 May 2015

Christina Grill, Gunnar Ahlborg Jr, Ewa Wikström and Eva-Carin Lindgren

This paper aims to illuminate and analyse the participants’ experiences of the influences of a dialogue intervention. Cooperation and coordination in health care require planning…

1121

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to illuminate and analyse the participants’ experiences of the influences of a dialogue intervention. Cooperation and coordination in health care require planning of dialogically oriented communication to prevent stress and ill health and to promote health, well-being, learning and efficiency in the organisation.

Design/methodology/approach

An intervention method based on dialogue theory, with Socratic provocations and concrete workplace examples enhanced authenticity of conversations. A qualitative study, using qualitative content analysis, entailed interviews with 24 nurses, assistant nurses and paramedics, strategically selected from 156 intervention participants.

Findings

Two themes emerged, dialogue-learning processes and dialogue-promoting communicative actions. The first includes risk-taking to overcome resistance and fear of dialogue, expressing openly thoughts and feelings on concrete issues and taboo subjects, listening to and reflecting on one’s own and others’ perspectives and problematising norms and values. The second comprises voicing opinions, and regarding one’s own limits; requesting support and room for manoeuvre; and restraining negative emotions and comments in the interest of well-being. Findings depict strengthened awareness and readiness regarding dialogue and multiple balancing of dialogue at work.

Research limitations/implications

This study implies further observing and examining of communicative patterns during workplace dialogue.

Practical implications

A useful approach to communication development for occupational health and personnel in health care and other workplace contexts.

Originality/value

Previously, arenas have been created for dialogue, but close-process studies of dialogue in health-care work are scarce. This study provides insights into how workplace communication can develop towards dialogue.

Details

Journal of Workplace Learning, vol. 27 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1366-5626

Keywords

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