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This study aims to contribute to an increased understanding of intra-organizational city brand resistance by identifying and discussing different types of counter-narratives emerging from the political and administrative arenas.

The empirical material consists of secondary data as well as six in-depth semi-structured interviews with Danish mayors and city managers in three different municipalities in Denmark.

Intra-organizational counter-narratives differ from inter-organizational counter-narratives but resemble a number of issues known from extra-organizational resistance. Still, significant differences are found within the political arena: lack of ownership, competition for resources and political conflicts. Lack of ownership, internal competition for resources and distrust of motives play an important role within the administrative arena. Mayors are aware of the needs for continued political support for branding projects but projects are nonetheless realized despite resistance if there is a political majority for it.

This study points to the implications of city brand resistance and counter-narratives emerging from the “inside” of the political and administrative arenas in the city, here defined as “intra-organizational counter-narratives”.

It is suggested that politicians and municipality staff should be systematically addressed as individual and unique audiences and considered as important as citizens in the brand process.

So far little attention has been paid to internal stakeholders within the municipal organization and their impact on the city branding process approached from a narrative perspective.

In the twenty-first century, societies around the world are facing a wide range of daunting global mega-challenges: poverty, unemployment, income inequality, unequal distribution of political power, ageing populations, uncontrolled migration, segregated urbanisation, increasing greenhouse gas emissions and a massive decrease in biodiversity. In recent years, politicians, journalists and academic observers have singled out the Nordic countries, Denmark in particular, as model societies of trusting and happy people that have handled many of these challenges with remarkable effectiveness. And yet others warn against ‘becoming Denmark,’ painting a picture of a dysfunctional, socialist nightmare with high taxes, low job motivation and a general lack of private initiative. In this introductory chapter, the editors cut through the noise of the international debate and set the scene for the nuanced analyses presented here of contemporary public governance in Demark and its capacity to tackle some of the most pressing problems of our time. Specifically, the chapter discusses various conceptualisations of the Danish welfare state, delineates some of its most important historical and structural traits and outlines the main empirical features of contemporary Danish public governance. Finally, it outlines the structure of the book and briefly introduces each of its subsequent chapters.

The purpose of this paper is to explore Norwegian pig farmers' motivation for improving animal welfare, and to develop the rudiments of a more general understanding of farmers' animal welfare discourses related to motivation for improving animal welfare.

The paper presents a discourse analysis of qualitative interviews with 60 Norwegian pig farmers. Supplementary sources are governmental policy documents, research reports and statistics.

The pig farmers' motivation for improving animal welfare is a moral, economic and regulatory question. Their discourse on animal welfare must be interpreted in light of the specific contextual factors, such as public regulation and the market situation of agro‐foods in Norway, which contribute to shaping the farmers' practices.

An implication of the study of interest for policy makers is that many pig producers currently look upon animal welfare as a “competitive‐free” zone. This appreciation impacts their attitudes towards animal welfare schemes and other measures that are intended to improve animal welfare. However, since the farmers' discourse is highly context‐specific, their motivation for entering specialised animal welfare schemes is also expected to change with future changes in the economic, political and regulatory context within which they are embedded.

The paper is a first‐of‐its kind investigation of farmers' conception of animal welfare in Norway. It provides novel insights into the Norwegian pig farmers' definition of animal welfare, and suggests how their motivation can be understood in analytical terms.

This paper aims to focus on how organisational capabilities, enhancing the dynamic capability perspective, evolve during a more than five-year offshoring process in four Danish small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The strategic decision to offshore some manufacturing activities meant that capabilities were ruptured and had to be rebuilt.

The empirical investigation took the form of qualitative case studies with a longitudinal orientation focussing in on a few events in the four cases (strategic change in the sourcing configuration) as a process research design (Pettigrew, 1990; Van de Ven, 2007). Interviews were transcribed and coded in NVivo.

The four cases followed distinct trajectories, but they all changed their routines regarding how to handle knowledge, including both technology and human resources. A need for specific human resources acting as boundary spanners arose, transforming both intra- and inter-organisational practices in all four cases. More complex activities were moved offshore to enhance the dynamic capabilities of the companies regarding both product development as well as specific processes, thereby transforming/reconfiguring the organisational capabilities of the companies. However, in the two small-sized cases, more complex/less routinised activities were backsourced, demonstrating a significant problem over time with the development of sufficient organisational resources to maintain seizing and sensing capabilities within these companies in comparison with the two other medium-sized cases.

The fact that most of the data were generated from an inside-out perspective, taking the point of departure in the core firms, can be viewed as a limitation. The authors’ data on the wider network are also limited. Finally, the authors’ interviews are conducted relatively infrequently when considering the length of the process.

The four longitudinal cases show that the longer-term offshoring journey does not involve a single path or a single best practice. The cases show captive as well as outsourcing arrangements and even enterprise transformations. The cases demonstrate a common focus on finding and nurturing core suppliers and core business processes, which can be characterised as continual learning and development of organising capabilities.

The study contributes to the growing body of research into dynamic (organisational) capabilities in an offshoring and SME context.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the transfer of experiences to improve the basis for overcoming the dilemma of trying to achieve analyses and systems that are both good and simple. The quality of decisions relating to projects depends on how well the assumed basis for the project actually fit the reality of the situation in which the consequences occur. Good value and cost estimations support good decisions about projects insofar as the assumptions on which they are based mirror the reality, and the decision makers can understand the analysis.

The paper uses a longitudinal case study and qualitative analysis. Data relating to a large number of cases have become available to the authors through many years of research and consulting activities. Through joint experience and discussion the patterns are analysed. This paper is descriptive with respect to the challenges and empirical examples. The analysis itself ends with a rather normative conclusion.

There is a dilemma embedded in the processes used to analyse uncertainty and risks associated with projects. On the one hand, an important task is to reduce the complexity of a given situation to render the issues sufficiently simple for them to be understood and assessed. On the other hand, the models and assumptions upon which an analysis is based have to be sufficiently precise and detailed in order to make sense. The same dilemma is found when considering actions to address risks and uncertainties, as well as in designing management systems. It is concluded that the dilemma is real. Solutions have to be found among both good and simple options.

The paper does not answer questions on “how to” and does not dig deep into theoretical perspectives on the current dilemma. More research to understand all aspects of the issue is needed.

Uncertainty analysis and management systems have to be good (precise enough) and at the same time simple (practical). There is no value unless it is used. Practical examples in the paper are intended to help practitioners identify alternative options.

The dilemma of good and simple has not been explicitly addressed before in light of practical experience and theory. The value added is increased awareness of an important problem in analytical processes.

The 25th annual seminar of the European Library Automation Group (ELAG) was held in Prague in June 2001. This report provides an overview of the papers presented, including those describing relevant developments in the Czech Republic, those covering the theme of the seminar (the integration and linking of electronic resources), as well as papers on the functional requirements for bibliographic records (FRBR). Workshops are a key feature of ELAG seminars and the paper also reports on those held during the 2001 meeting.

The purpose of this paper is to examine people’s understanding and evaluation of uncertainty intervals produced by experts as part of a quality assurance procedure of large public projects.

Three samples of educated participants (employees in a large construction company, students attending courses in project management and judgment and decision making, and judges of district and appeal courts) answered questionnaires about cost estimates of a highway construction project, presented as a probability distribution.

The studies demonstrated additivity neglect of probabilities that are graphically displayed. People’s evaluations of the accuracy of interval estimates revealed a boundary (a “cliff”) effect, with a sharp drop in accuracy ratings for outcomes above an arbitrary maximum. Several common verbal phrases (what “can” happen, is “entirely possible” and “not surprising”) which might seem to indicate expected outcomes were regularly used to describe unlikely values near or at the top of the distribution (an extremity effect).

All judgments concerned a single case and were made by participants who were not stakeholders in this specific project. Further studies should compare judgments aided by a graph with conditions where the graph is changed or absent.

Experts and project managers cannot assume that readers of cost estimates understand a well-defined uncertainty interval as intended. They should also be aware of effects created by describing uncertain estimates in words.

The studies show how inconsistencies in judgment affect the understanding and evaluation of uncertainty intervals by well-informed and educated samples tested in a maximally transparent situation. Readers of cost estimates seem to believe that precise estimates are feasible and yet that costs are usually underestimated.

A manager's role is to increase organizational knowledge creation. The concern is not that individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) do not have the performance skills; the concern is they do not socialize well with others (McIntosh, 2016), and it is the social environment that impacts knowledge creation (Amabile, Conti, Coon, Lazenby, & Herron, 1996). According to Baron-Cohen (1988), cognitive theory is a better predictor for how we socially interact with each other than how we feel toward each other. Cognitive Style, according to Zhang and Sternberg (2005), “is one's preferred way of processing information and dealing with tasks.” The abilities and behaviors of individuals with autism are highly linked to their cognitive style (Grandin, 1995). According to Zhang and Sternberg (2005), cognitive styles are at least partially socialized, suggesting that styles can be cultivated and modified to fit the social and organizational environment. According to Downs and Smith (2004), individuals with ASD are capable of cooperative behavior, and the best news of all is that all individuals with ASD's cognitive styles are trainable to fit the social, organizational environment.

The purpose of this study is to analyse the extent of the integration between manufacturers and third party logistics (TPL) providers at present and how the integration is expected to develop in the near future. The focus is on studying what tasks are part of the cooperation, what information and communications technology (ICT) tools are used for support, and what types of services are supplied and are expected to be supplied by TPL providers in the future.

A multiple case study of seven manufacturers and TPL providers is conducted. As the basis for the study a literature review is presented focusing on supply chain management and TPL provider integration as well as operationalisation of the integration concept. A framework is chosen for developing a detailed interview guide.

Cooperation is primarily found in sub‐processes of three out of the eight business processes studied. Further integration in the same processes is expected, based on ICT tools and with a focus on cost. ICT competences are primarily seen as a qualifier not a differentiator. Because the future TPL industry is expected to be characterised by more standardised services, more segmented markets for the various services and more intense competition, the manufacturers do not expect increased dependence on the TPL providers.

Managerial and behavioural components are not part of this study and their effect on integration will require further investigation.

From a supply chain management perspective, the study sheds light on a rarely explored area concerning the integration between manufacturers and TPL providers and its future development.