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The purpose of this paper is to examine the shaping of public libraries as an infrastructure for a sustainable public sphere through a comprehensive literature review.

In order to capture the whole picture of this research field, we utilize comprehensive review methodology. The major research questions are: first, to what extent have research topics regarding libraries as public sphere institutions expanded and diversified? Which theoretical perspectives inform research? Second, which challenges and topics does the research focus upon, such as: social inclusion and equal access to information; digital inequalities; censorship and freedom of expression; and access to places and spaces with a democratic potential and the role of libraries in that respect? Third, what influence has social media exerted on libraries in the context of the expanding digital world?

The authors identified mainly four themes regarding the public library and public sphere, such as: the importance of public libraries by using Habermas’s theory; the function of meeting places within the public library and setting those places in the center of the library in order to enhance and encourage democracy; the relationship between social inclusion and public libraries and its functions in current society such as diminishing the digital divide; and the emerging electronic resources and arena of SNS in public libraries and utilizing them to reach citizens.

Capturing the recent history of this research field through comprehensive review is valuable.

The purpose of the study is to describe the activities initiated based on participation in a quality award process and with the intention to improve performance.

This study presents a case study of three organisations that have participated in the Swedish Quality Award process. The cases were selected in order to clarify how this award process could be used to improve organisational performance.

Several examples of activities on how to improve organisational performance are provided. Specifically, the areas of customer orientation, process orientation, continuous improvement, committed leadership and participation by everyone have been improved due to the initiated activities. Furthermore, the studied organisations have been successful in their development and communication of visions, and in their empowerment of employees.

An interesting area of further research would be to compare different methodologies for performance improvement with one another.

Findings from the case studies, and of importance for organisations applying for quality awards, indicate that, if the goal is to get lasting results, it is not sufficient to participate in a quality award process only once. Instead one should participate in the process several times, with enough time in between the applications in order to complete as many as possible of the improvement projects resulting from the evaluations.

It is the authors' intention that the guidelines presented in the paper might be helpful for organisations considering a participation in a quality award process.

During the last decades, different quality management concepts, including total quality management (TQM), six sigma and lean, have been applied by many different organisations. Although much important work has been documented regarding TQM, six sigma and lean, a number of questions remain concerning the applicability of these concepts in various organisations and contexts. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to describe the similarities and differences between the concepts, including an evaluation and criticism of each concept.

Within a case study, a literature review and face‐to‐face interviews in typical TQM, six sigma and lean organisations have been carried out.

While TQM, six sigma and lean have many similarities, especially concerning origin, methodologies, tools and effects, they differ in some areas, in particular concerning the main theory, approach and the main criticism. The lean concept is slightly different from TQM and six sigma. However, there is a lot to gain if organisations are able to combine these three concepts, as they are complementary. Six sigma and lean are excellent road‐maps, which could be used one by one or combined, together with the values in TQM.

The paper provides guidance to organisations regarding the applicability and properties of quality concepts. Organisations need to work continuously with customer‐orientated activities in order to survive; irrespective of how these activities are labelled. The paper will also serve as a basis for further research in this area, focusing on practical experience of these concepts.

The purpose of this article is to describe how the training of healthcare professionals in improvement work can be performed, and evaluate potential changes in attitude as a result of the initiative.

The study was carried out at a University Hospital in Sweden. There were 443 participants in the study. The response rate before the intervention was 55 per cent (242 respondents) and six months later, it was 43 per cent (190 respondents). A two-day training program about quality improvement was performed on seven different occasions and after the training had been concluded, participants were encouraged to translate their newly acquired knowledge into improvement projects. Surveys on attitudes toward improvement work were completed by the participants right before the training and six months afterwards. The results were analyzed using a Mann-Whitney test.

The analysis showed some statistically significant changes in attitude among the participants. There were also differences between groups of participants based on their profession and the number of years in their current position.

A limitation of the study is that it was solely based on attitudes expressed during the survey and did not include any observed changes in behavior. Another limitation is that attitudes after the intervention were only measured once.

It is possible to use training to change attitudes toward improvement work. The result differs among groups of participants, which raises the question as to whether training should be tailored to better suit the needs of different groups to create positive change. Further research is needed regarding how to reach and fully implement a quality improvement mindset.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the maturity of quality management and digital innovation in an organisation. Furthermore, the purpose is to analyse the relationship between and learning opportunities of the two concepts based on that maturity.

An explorative case study was carried out by conducting in‐depth interviews with both quality management and IT professionals, complemented with a document study.

The findings of this research show the maturity of quality management and digital innovation in an organization using a set of principles. The analysis shows that, on an overall level, the majority of the principles studied concerning quality management and digital innovation are categorized as “uncommitted” or “initiators”. The study shows that there is an interrelationship between quality management and digital innovation and they are dependent on each other.

This is a case study and focuses on one context where the interrelationship between quality management and digital innovation is studied.

The results can provide insights on the importance of working cross‐functionally when developing the organisation. The maturity of quality management in an organisation can either inhibit or facilitate digital innovation, and similarly, digital innovation can improve or deteriorate service quality for both internal and external customers.

This study contributes to the service quality literature by empirically investigating the maturity of quality management and digital innovation, and discussing how they can relate and what they can learn from each other.

Why did peasants in old-regime Europe scatter their land in small strips within open fields? According to an influential theory advocated by Deirdre McCloskey, the system’s main aim was risk reduction. By spreading out land, peasants were less exposed to the caprices of nature: heavy rains, droughts, frost, or hailstorms. In a time when other insurance institutions were lacking, this approach could be a rational solution, even if, as McCloskey suggests, it could be achieved only at the expense of overall agricultural productivity.

Over the years, McCloskey’s theory has repeatedly been debated. Still, it has never been empirically established to what extent the open fields actually reduced risk. McCloskey offered only indirect evidence, based on hypothetical calculations from short series demesne level yields. Risks on enclosed and open-field land farms were thus never compared.

This chapter presents farm-level harvest variation series, including observations from both types of land. It is based on tithe records of 1,700 farms in Southern Sweden from 1715–1860. Results show that scattering had a limited effect on agricultural risk. The system did protect against small-scale local crop failures. It was less efficient, however, when it came to the large-scale regional harvest disasters that constituted a much more serious threat to peasants of the time. From this perspective, the inner logic of the open-field system is taken up for renewed consideration.

Aims to discuss the role of information technology (IT) governance in corporate strategy.

Examines the four elements of IT governance, including value delivery, managing risk, maintaining accountability, and measurement of ongoing programs and activities, in the context of a case study of a warship, the Vasa, commissioned by King Gustavus, that sank shortly after it sailed.

The legacy of the Vasa helps in understanding the elements of value, risk, and measurement in the broader context of governance and management. The Vasa illustrates the significance of alignment and architectural competency to an enterprise.

Shows that managements' commitment and involvement with IT development at the senior management level, the IT management level, and the project management level significantly enhances the probability of success.

This paper aims to analyse the construction of gender in business media through identification of media discourses in terms of vocabulary and vocabulary structures.

The authors conduct critical discourse analysis and linguistic text analysis of media articles in two Swedish business magazines, focussing on vocabulary and vocabulary structures used to describe men and women as managers.

Media texts fall into traditional, gender-stereotyped patterns. The use of metaphors, choice of words and sentence structures construct and maintain stereotyped models of gender. The linguistic practices and use of specific and gender-biased vocabulary shape discursive practices, contributing to the construction and reconstruction of institutionalised gender-stereotyped patterns of behaviour and established social norms.

The focus on vocabulary and vocabulary structures extends the technique and application of critical discourse analysis, enabling fine-grained analyses, in this case of media texts. This research also indicates a need for future studies that adopt a critical discourse analysis to take into account analytical procedures that shed light on micro-mechanisms that support the materialisations of gender inequalities.

Texts that portray both men and women show gender bias that is deeply rooted in the vocabulary and vocabulary structures and thus help to reinforce established discursive practices and gender inequalities. Therefore, there is a need for a fundamental change in the media reports on managers.

The research contributes to the analysis of media texts and representations of men and women as managers by providing a detailed analysis of discursive practices that takes into account vocabulary and vocabulary structures. The findings show the deeply rooted structure of gender-stereotyped patterns in media texts.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of sharing and utilizing remaining shelf life (RSL) information from grocery stores by the use of age-based replenishment policies for perishables.

The performance is evaluated through a discrete event simulation model, which mirrors a part of one of Norway’s largest grocery retailer and uses their POS data to reflect a realistic demand pattern of 232 stores for one year.

The findings indicate that a current age-based replenishment policy (EWA policy) provides a significant improvement of 17.7 percent increase in availability for perishables with a shelf life between 4 and 11 days, but suffers from high inventory levels and only reduces waste by 3.4 percent compared to a base stock policy. A proposed adjustment to the EWA policy, EWA_SS, provides a more balanced performance in the conducted study with a reduction of 10.7 percent waste and 10.3 percent increase in availability by keeping the same average inventory level.

Sharing and utilizing RSL information for replenishment of perishables with a predetermined shelf life between 6 and 11 days can be beneficial, and could enable the replenishment processes to be automated. However, for products with longer shelf life, the benefits slowly diminish.

The study proposes a new age-based replenishment policy which in the conducted study showed a more balanced performance improvement, in both waste and availability, compared with previous replenishment policies.