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The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether dialogue groups for physicians can improve their psychosocial work environment.

The study assessed the impact of eight dialogue groups, which involved 60 physicians at a children's clinic in one of the main hospitals in Stockholm. Psychosocial work environment measures were collected through a validated instrument sent to all physicians (n=68) in 1999, 2001 and 2003. Follow‐up data were collected after the termination of the groups.

The overall score of organizational and staff wellbeing, as assessed by the physicians at the clinic, deteriorated from 1999 until 2003 and then improved 2004. This shift in the trend coincided with the intervention. No other factors which might explain this shift could be identified.

In a naturalistic study of this kind it is not possible to prove any causal relationships. A controlled survey of management programmes concerning the work environment among physicians would be of interest for further research.

The results suggest that dialogue groups may be one way to improve the psychosocial work environment for physicians.

There is a lack of intervention studies regarding the efficacy of management programmes directed toward physicians, concerning the effects on professional and personal wellbeing. This is the first time dialogue groups have been studied within a health care setting.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the aspects of being a physician that such medical professionals mention in dialogue groups when given the opportunity to choose their own topics of discussion.

Over a period of two years, 60 physicians participated in eight dialogue groups at one of the main hospitals in Stockholm, Sweden. Five focus group interviews were performed after the final dialogue group session.

Qualitative content analysis showed that three themes dominated in the physicians' perceptions of their role: hierarchy and subgroups; understanding of learning and knowledge; clinical work. Very little time in the dialogue groups was spent discussing the third theme, i.e. problems or issues related to patients or their families. The hierarchy among doctors seemed to influence many aspects of the role of these individuals, their healthcare organisation and their work environment. The methodology in the dialogue groups challenged the prevailing hierarchical structures and seemed to improve the relations between different groups of doctors in the hierarchy. For some of the physicians, this also resulted in a new way of perceiving and acting in their professional role.

The results of this study represent only one hospital.

The findings may help healthcare managers understand physicians' conceptions of their role.

Few intervention studies have considered management programmes directed towards physicians. The present investigation is the first qualitative analysis of the use of dialogue groups within a healthcare setting.

The purpose of this article is to study the impact of two leadership programmes for healthcare managers regarding their attitudes to, and views on, their leadership.

A total of 53 managers participated in two different leadership programmes i.e. one‐week (OW‐DGL) intensive leadership course and long‐term support groups. Of those, 39 (74 per cent) responded to the Wheel Questionnaire, both soon before and six months after the end of their respective leadership programmes. Overall, eight focus group interviews were conducted, and the data were analysed through content analysis.

Both leadership programmes seem to have strengthened the managers in their leadership roles. The OW‐DGL course supported the managers in learning about group dynamics and relationship‐orientated leadership. The programmes' methods differed, but the conclusion is that they complemented each other. The long‐term support groups helped the managers to structure and cope with everyday leadership situations in their occupational environment.

The OW‐DGL course was found to be good for inexperienced managers and the long‐term support groups for more experienced managers.

There is a lack of intervention studies regarding the efficacy of leadership programmes directed toward managers in health care. Two different approaches to leadership training are compared in this paper, using both quantitative and qualitative methods.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the adequacy of the common individual creativity vs organizatonal innovation dichotomy in a complex real-life context.

The paper is based on a retrospective case study of a R&D project in a large industrial company.

The paper shows that understanding the relationship between creativity and innovation as a matter of individual creativity followed by subsequent collective innovation, fails to account for the inherent collective, and improvisational nature of innovation projects. To deal with this weakness, the paper proposes a reconceptualization of the relationship in terms of a capacity/activity distinction which views creativity as an individual and collective integral part of the complex innovation activity.

This paper does not discuss challenges regarding collaboration between people representing a variety of expertise, interests, and organizational belongings.

The paper points out that continuous collective creativity is more important than initial individual creativity in complex real-life projects. The paper provides specific examples of work forms and approaches encouraging the collective creativity of researchers and practitioners in an innovation project. The work forms and approaches show how people continually deal with complexity, uncertainty and “the unexpected.” As such, the paper may be valuable to managers of complex real life-projects involving people with a great variety of expertise.

The paper contributes to a reconceptualization of the relationship between creativity and innovation which forms a contrast to the most common ways to distinquish between the phenomena. The capacity/activity distinction reflects the common assumption of a close relationship between creativity and innovation, but does not restrict creativity to the individual level or initial stage of innovation projects only. As such, the reconceptualization of the relationship between creativity and innovation can form the basis for practice-based theories in project management.