Purpose: This paper aims to further our understanding of policy-practice gaps in organizations from an organizational learning perspective. The authors conceptualize and analyze policy-practice gaps in terms of what they label the "dual challenge of organizational learning," i.e. the organizational tasks of both adapting ongoing…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine learning and employee-driven innovation (EDI) in the public sector, with a particular focus on the interplay between employee engagement and organisational conditions. Design/methodology/approach: The material consists of qualitative interviews with 23 participants from three municipal sites of…

Studies on academic recruitment processes have demonstrated that universities evaluate candidates for research positions using multiple criteria. However, most studies on preferences regarding evaluative criteria in recruitment processes focus on a single country, while cross-country studies are rare. Additionally, though studies have documented…

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…

Universities are allocated considerable public resources and are expected to fulfil societal mandates through teaching, research and service to local, national and international communities. University strategic plans are public documents that express how university leaders, students, academic and administrative staff are expected to aspire to…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine and discuss conditions for workplace learning in gender-segregated workplaces in the public sector, how social constructions of gender contribute to (or constrain) the workplace learning conditions within two workplace contexts. Design/methodology/approach: The research was carried out through an…

This article explores organisational routines introduced in schools and preschools in a Swedish municipality and analyses the relationship between ostensive and performative aspects of improvement work. We take our theoretical point of departure in organisational psychology and an organisation development (OD) perspective by integrating the…

Many organisations declare that the ability for employees to speak out about organisational matters is important for organisational development. However, recent literature reports a widespread fear of retaliation among employees if they express themselves -- especially within the police. The point of departure of the present article is the tension…

Fika is the Swedish practice of assembling for a coffee break at work or home. This paper investigates the material, social and temporal investments in fika in accelerated and accountable organizational cultures, and asks what purpose it serves in neoliberalised academic employment regimes today. Analysis of our thirteen interviews with…

This article focuses on job and career coaching provided by a multinational company, as a means of learning how to become employable. On the basis of a critical discourse analysis informed by Fairclough, we interrogate tips and advice in blog posts written by job and career coaches on the company's website. The aim of the article is to examine the…

This study investigates how Denmark, Norway, and Sweden approach issues of gender equality in research differently. Based on a comparative document analysis of gender equality activities in six Scandinavian universities, together with an examination of the legislative and political frameworks surrounding these activities, the article provides new…

This article addresses the conceptual question "what is lesson study?" as an issue that arises in the context of the globalisation of lesson study as a method for improving teaching and learning beyond its presumed origins in the Japanese education system. To what extent can adaptations of the method in different national settings be…

Education systems around the world have experienced a rise in the number of newly arrived students. This article explores the manner in which the Swedish education system responds to the diverse needs of these students. Using the concept of post-migration ecology, the authors outline and critically discuss the legal, organisational, and…

Leadership is considered to be significant for creating a developing and learning school organisation. In Sweden, distributed leadership and teacher teams are an "institutionalised practice"; despite this, sustainable school improvement is difficult to achieve. This article presents findings from a case study of three schools that…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to shed light upon the connections between quality management, employee health and organisational learning in a school setting. Design/methodology/approach: The study is based on a quantitative survey. Items measuring health status and values of quality management were included in a questionnaire addressed to…