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The purpose of this study is to explore how current trends in organization – government regulation, authoritarian governance and digitalization acts specifically to stop relevant change of a Nordic model. These trends unfold in organizational contexts by revoking mandates, stopping information sharing and eroding trust. When these elements of what is often seen as core characteristics of different Nordic models are hindered, this also means that change is stoked, such as it is understood by organizational learning theory. Hopefully, this more conceptual analysis can inspire fieldwork.

This viewpoint article investigates how recent trends may act in the ability of a Nordic model to change and remain relevant. Core elements of the abstract concept of a Nordic model are defined. These elements are related to organizational learning. In as far as the Nordic model can be seen as capable of organizational learning, it may be able to develop and change in response to external influence. Examples of current trends in society are presented. It is found that these new current trends act on the ability of the Nordic model to change. This poses an existential threat to the longevity of that model. Suggestions for further work is included.

The paper finds that core elements of the Nordic model are influenced in such a way that the ability of the model to work as learning organizations (at least in the sense of Senge’s theory) is inhibited or even prohibited. The way this unfolds in principle may inform choices for fieldwork.

A major limitation of this topic is that it discusses emerging changes that have only recently become apparent in the Nordic countries. The number of cases is yet limited and recent. This is why more conceptional approaches might be useful.

The digital realm is changing society, and this change has been catapulted by the pandemic. This may impact on how Nordic organizations are able to deliver on the purposes of co-decision legislation, how organizational culture based on “Nordic” values such as trust (as defined by the WVS), information sharing and mandate can develop, how organizations that abstain distributed information and mandates are able to adapt.

Recent (2020) estimates indicate that between one in three and one in two jobs will be directly impacted in the Nordic countries. This is likely to have implications, but the nature of these is still under debate. This paper points to the possibility that core values and ways to deliver productivity may be challenged.

The originality lies in linking some core elements of different versions of a very abstract construct (“a Nordic” model) to one specific theory of organizational learning (in this example, Senge). This allows for a discussion about how societal change may be relevant specifically for the ability of Nordic model(s) to change. The discussion is current as the chosen trends are all recent phenomena in Nordic society.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the role of ALM organizations within a Nordic model of the public sphere.

This is a conceptual paper discussing the role of archives, libraries and museums in light of a societal model of the Nordic public sphere. Throughout the discussions, the author draw on empirical and theoretical research from sociology, political science, media studies, cultural policy studies, archival science, museology, and library and information science to help advance our understanding of these organizations in a wider societal context.

The paper shows that ALM organizations play an important role for the infrastructure of a civil public sphere. Seen as a cluster, these organizations are providers of information that can be employed in deliberative activities in mediated public spheres, as well as training arenas for citizens to use prior to entering such spheres. Furthermore, ALM organizations are themselves public spheres, as they can serve specific communities and help create and maintain identities, and solidarities, all of which are important parts of a civil public sphere.

Future research should investigate whether these roles are an important part of ALM organizations contribution to public spheres in other regions of the world.

Through introducing a theoretical model developed within sociology and connecting it to ongoing research in archival science, museology, and library and information science, the author connects the societal role of archives, libraries, and museums to broader discussions within the social sciences.

The purpose of this paper is to show evidence of the divergence of welfare outcomes in the European Union (EU) during the economic crisis, which made the European social model fail, and the convergence among European countries halt. This study reviews Sapir’s model for classifying European welfare state systems and adapts it to the new reality, taking into account Europe 2020 targets on poverty reduction and employment growth.

Two variables are used in the application of Sapir’s graphical analysis to European social models: the employment rate as efficiency indicator, and the people At Risk Of Poverty and/or Exclusion rate as equity indicator. Both efficiency and equity are present in Europe 2020 targets. In addition, a cluster analysis is applied.

The division of EU member states into four geopolitical social models has proved to be dynamic, changing in the period under analysis. As a consequence of the economic crisis and the fiscal consolidation, efficiency and equity levels across the EU are polarised between the Mediterranean and the Nordic models.

This paper shows the effects of the economic crisis in the EU, analysing the evolution between 2008 and 2014, and incorporating Eastern Europe new member states into the analysis.

The increasing engagement in corporate social responsibility (CSR) potentially indicates an attempt to “re‐embed” the economy in a wider societal context, following a period of neoliberal market exposure, deregulation, and separation of commercial and societal concerns. The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between this new social embedding of the economy and older traditions of social embeddedness, such as the welfare state, neocorporatist arrangements, and other socio‐political and labour market arrangements.

The paper explores the relationship between old and new embeddedness by examining how 17 West European nations and the USA are ranked on “old” embeddedness dimensions and comparing this ranking with “new” CSR rankings of nationally aggregated industrial performance.

The overall findings at an aggregate level provides some support for the idea of a symmetric relationship between the “old”, politically‐driven embeddedness and the “new”, industry‐driven embeddedness. However, a finer inspection of the results reveals interesting diversity and variation between countries and between scores, indicating more complex national story lines.

Despite the limited set of countries and some measurement challenges, the analysis illustrates that the patterns of national industrial adaptation to the CSR agenda is strongly shaped by regional and national institutional contexts. While some of the institutional patterns shaping CSR in the “old” EU 15++ have been analysed in this paper, much work still remains to be done in extending and deepening our knowledge in this field.

The findings may help understand how a general framework like CSR interplays with political and institutional contexts as it trickles down into different West European political economies.

The systematic analysis of old political and new corporate social embeddedness of the economy based on a broad set of indicators is new and sheds light on the institutional preconditions for‐ and shaping of CSR.

Highlights the specific library management roles and responsibilities concerning ISO 9000 implementation. It is based on practical experiences from the 1993‐1994 Nordic quality management project. Explains the purposes of quality management models and evaluates different quality management models. Identifies key management roles using Mintzberg’s approach and presents an implementation model for an ISO 9000 project emphasizing the managerial functions and tasks.

The purpose of this paper is to examine young people’s attitudes toward social welfare and their perceptions of who is responsible for providing social welfare benefits.

Social welfare attitudes were examined related to three themes: government responsibility, trust in society, and individual responsibility. A sample of 725 students from 12 high and vocational schools in south Finland was used for analysis.

The data suggest that young people have a high regard for the importance of the government’s role as a social support and a mechanism of social welfare for all citizens. In addition, the results show that women highlight government responsibility more than men, and that men highlight the individual’s own responsibility for social issues. According to the results, there is a weak relationship between cultural values and social welfare attitudes. Collective values relate positively to an emphasis on trust in government and government responsibility for social problems, and relate negatively to an emphasis on individuals’ personal responsibility.

The study shows that the main principles of the welfare state are still accepted by the Finnish youth, although recent speculations about the future of welfare states.

The purpose of this paper is to compare the recent social welfare performance of old and new members of the European Union, and to establish whether a specific East‐European social model (ESM) is emerging.

The concept of social model is explored in the context of the historical development of economic and social policy integration in the European Union, with emphasis on reform measures and the EU enlargement process post‐1990. Guided by Sapir's typology of ESMs, the performance of 15 West‐European countries is analysed and compared with that of ten East‐European countries, relative to key economic and social indicators. The results are then used to determine whether a typology of East‐ESMs could be produced.

Social welfare performance in the new EU members indicates two different patterns and levels of development, which at this stage separate East‐European countries into two distinct groups. While two divergent trends may be emerging, it is perhaps too soon to conclude that any specific East‐ESM is taking shape. Results so far suggest that, in Eastern Europe, the influence of a welfarist social model appears more beneficial than that of market liberalism.

This paper is limited to the comparative analysis of social welfare performance in six country groups. To obtain a full picture of the current development of social models in the European Union, it should be complemented by a separate examination of deliberate efforts by national governments towards in integrating economic and social policies in normative social models. The analysis itself could be expanded to include other significant social indicators, such as the level of employment protection or the Human Development Index.

While deliberate policy efforts are not always necessary for a social model to emerge, public awareness of cultural and regional trends in social welfare performance, analysed through the filter of social model typology, can significantly inform future social and cultural practices, as well as national government policies, directed towards improving national welfare.

This analysis can provide a theoretical basis for the integration of national economic and social policies in a coherent philosophy of multi‐dimensional development in Eastern Europe.

The paper selects historically relevant indicators of economic and social performance, undertakes a comparative analysis of six European country groups, draws conclusions on the current state of social welfare in East‐European countries relative to their Western counterparts and makes recommendations regarding the development of social model conceptions in Eastern Europe.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the relative importance of various service‐quality dimensions in explaining customer satisfaction; and to examine whether this assessment is affected by the measurement instrument that is used.

A new (“servicescape”) model for directly measuring the physical and the interactive features of a service is proposed and tested against the SERVQUAL measurement model and Nordic conceptualisation. Data are collected from a structured questionnaire survey of 434 passengers at the port of Piraeus in Greece.

The findings reveal that the widely used SERVQUAL instrument fails to fully capture the role of “tangibles” in determining overall customer satisfaction in the service under examination. The new proposed “servicescape model” attaches more importance to the role of physical environmental attributes than has been reported in most previous studies.

Service providers should pay more attention to the physical environment in which they are operating. They should also note that different measurement instruments provide different results.

This paper proposes and tests a new (“servicescape”) measuring instrument that has not been previously developed or operationalised.