Purpose: Organizations will be key to realizing the "transformative change for humanity" now being called for. However, the complexity calls for new ways of facilitating change and organizational learning; it also calls for moving beyond sustainability to develop practices that restore and regenerate the world in which we live. Above…

Classifications of higher education institutions into categories that are more or less clearly differentiated through prestige and status are legion in the world of higher education. The notion of parallel categories with comparable statuses, such as those of different types of universities, is however much less well understood. This paper…

Purpose: This study explores the organisational dynamics in a change process across work units in a Swedish municipality. The purpose of this study is to understand how and why co-creation unfolds during efforts to bring different units into one united work unit. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative longitudinal study was designed using data…

Trade union collaboration on issues of social justice connects workers to each other and to their wider communities and is therefore considered a strategy of union renewal. Prior to their amalgamation on 1 January 2023, Lärarförbundet (Swedish Teachers' Union) and Lärarnas Riksförbund (National Union of Teachers in Sweden) collaborated…

Educational leaders are responsible for educational change, and many scholars have argued that academic developers (ADs) have expertise with the potential to influence educational change. We argue, however, that ADs' influence depends on how educational leaders perceive educational change and position ADs' roles and responsibilities in relation to…

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to expand knowledge on Swedish principals' professional development (PD) from the perspectives of superintendents. In particular, the article analyzes how superintendents understand and organize PD for principals. Design/methodology/approach: Empirical data are derived from a strategic sample of ten (n = 10)…

Understanding and implementing educational reform policies is a daily practice in the professional lives of school actors. The discrepancy between how reforms are intended and later realised in the local context constitutes an ongoing discussion spanning multiple areas of research. This article adds to prior research by exploring the role of…

The relation between the concepts and practices of gender mainstreaming and organisational learning, and its prerequisite for change, is not well understood in either research or practice. Drawing on a participatory design process of a model for assessing the potential of gender equality interventions to change gendered organisations, this study…

In this paper, we explore possibilities and challenges for deliberative academic development. Deliberative academic development refers to a practice that engages members of the university in dialogue about its purposes, ways of organizing and leading higher education, as well as teaching and learning. The paper critically analyses data from focus…

This paper deals with organizational change and contributes knowledge about the experiences of a local educational organizer when introducing and putting managerial shared leadership into practice in some schools and pre-schools. The organizer's aim with the change was to achieve better results by means of improved pedagogical leadership, better…

Purpose: This paper aims to contribute to discussion around the need for improved models for change in a rapidly changing world. It also aims to provide insights for further discussion around how a Nordic management approach can relate to the need for new change ideas. Since Lewin proposed that change requires unfreezing, moving and refreezing,…

Purpose: This paper aims to examine how a social entrepreneurial organisation in Sweden collectively learned to adapt itself to the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach: Using an abductive approach, this study conducted single case fieldwork on a social entrepreneurial organisation called SFE. The following research questions were asked:…

Purpose: 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…

In this contribution we describe and reflect on the organization of Chalmers University of Technology and how it benefits education development and innovation. Chalmer's matrix organization with a buyer-supplier management model for education has proven to be a driving force for change and quality enhancement and promotes the agility necessary for…

During the last decade, the Swedish School-age Educare has been the object of multiple government-enforced reform initiatives in order to clarify its purpose and increase educational quality and equivalence. In 2019, a teacher certification reform was imposed on the educational programme, concretizing responsibilities between categories of staff…