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| 2. |
- Alexius, Susanna, 1976-, et al.
(författare)
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A chain of gold? A comparative study on intermediaries, trust and control in complex global aid chains
- 2019
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In this paper, we aim for a better understanding of the roles of intermediaries in complex anduncertain contexts. The quest for faith and certainty is constantly pressing the actors in thepoliticized global field of development aid. Operating on the taxpayers’ money and faced withconditions which render knowledge of previous results and prediction of future results a realchallenge, what do they do? To what extent and how are results extrapolated from the use oforganizational structures and management technologies? To what extent and how are resultsrather extrapolated from interpersonal and interorganizational trust? How are the two related?We explore these research questions empirically in a comparative study of two “aid chains”consisting of numerous organizations interlinked in the coordination and operations of aidprojects (in this case aimed for capacity building in unions and universities in the globalsouth). Intermediaries are often criticized for adding “unnecessary” transaction costs to aidprojects. Based on our preliminary findings, we suggest that the understanding of theintermediary and its roles should be reconsidered. Analyzing the messiness and dynamics ofhow intermediaries handle trust and control opens up for a more nuanced understanding, notonly of the roles played by intermediaries but also of how complex systems are coordinated.
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| 5. |
- Alexius, Susanna
(författare)
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Assigning responsibility for gambling-related harm : scrutinizing processes of direct and indirect consumer responsibilization of gamblers in Sweden
- 2017
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Ingår i: Addiction Research and Theory. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1606-6359 .- 1476-7392. ; 25:6, s. 462-475
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study is an inquiry into how actors in the Swedish gambling industry, gambling problem prevention and support structures articulate responsibility for the problems that arise from gambling. A main point made in the study is that responsibility for the gambling-related harm is actively constructed and reproduced in a hegemonic way that situates the main responsibility for the emergence and handling of gambling-related harm on the individual gambler and that relies heavily on the individual's capacity to control and adjust his/her consumption to prevent gambling related harm. Drawing on extensive ethnographical fieldwork on responsible gambling practices in the Swedish context, the author brings attention to the often-unproblematized view of contemporary responsible gambling measures, and the need to develop a self-reflexive critical analysis of the ways in which responsibility is divided and assigned in this politicized market and wider policy field. As a conceptual contribution, an analytical distinction is suggested between measures of direct responsibilization (teaching and training gamblers to be responsible) and measures of indirect responsibilization (teaching and training intermediaries in the market, such as gambling agents and support association staff, to relinquish responsibility on behalf of the gambling consumer). The results indicate that such a distinction is fruitful for a nuanced understanding of contemporary responsibility policies and practices.
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| 6. |
- Alexius, Susanna, 1976-
(författare)
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Att leda komplexa uppdrag
- 2021
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Bok (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- I takt med att pandemins undantagstillstånd övergår i mer normal vardag växer förväntningarna på oss att ta upp tråden igen, i fråga efter fråga som satts på vänt under coronatiden. Agenda 2030, barnperspektivet, arbetsmiljö, utveckling, IT-säkerhet och samverkan tar plats igen tillsammans med så mycket annat. Höga ambitioner, mål och visioner trängs om uppmärksamheten och trots möten från tu till sju är det många som känner sig otillräckliga i detta race. I takt med att att-göra-listan fylls på och tempot trissas upp ser vi hur många ledare - till synes reflexmässigt – kavlar upp ärmarna och tar upp jakten på ”det perfekta systemet”, där allt gott på något mirakulöst sätt ska kunna genomsyra alla delar av verksamheten. Det är synd när denna speciella tid borde erbjuda ett gyllene tillfälle att stanna upp och fundera på förutsättningarna för ett mer situationsanpassat och inte minst hållbart ledarskap.Det finns en otålighet i vår kultur och en övertro på smidiga och enkla lösningar. I Susanna Alexius bok Att leda komplexa uppdrag, synar hon orealistisk förhärskande ledarskapsideal som riskerar att bryta sönder ambitiösa ledare. Med grund i organisationsforskning och genom många exempel från samtida organisationer visar Alexius att allt gott omöjligt kan genomsyra allt, och att vad som är ”rätt” i ledarskap och organisering varierar över tid och rum. Så är det bara och det måste vi acceptera och förhålla oss till.
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| 7. |
- Alexius, Susanna, et al.
(författare)
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Att organisera lite eller mycket, för en kväll eller för alltid? En organisationsteoretisk belysning av integrationsinitiativ
- 2018
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Den här studien syftar till en fördjupad förståelse för integration av nyanlända genom en sociologisk och organisationsteoretisk analys av utvalda integrationsinitiativ i Flens kommun. Två dimensioner graden av organisation (teori om partiell organisation) och typen av temporalitet (kronologisk respektive kvalitativ tidsuppfattning), har varit huvudspår i analysen av tre initiativ: Språkvän, Flen Världsorkester och Fester. De empiriska redogörelser som presenteras för att illustrera våra teoretiska resonemang vilar på insikter från intervjuer, dokumentstudier samt informella samtal i samband med studiebesök och deltagande observationer i Flen under hösten 2017- hösten 2018. Alla sätt att organisera har sina fördelar och nackdelar. Att sträva efter långsiktig och höggradig organisation har sina fördelar – men också sina nackdelar. Vår främsta slutsats är att det idag verkar finnas för lite insikt och diskussion om detta och om möjligheten att medvetet och strategiskt uppmuntra till en ”portfölj” av initiativ med varierande grader av organisation och temporalitet. Rapporten berör också förutsättningar för integrationsstrateger, integrationssamordnare och andra liknande formella positioner i offentlig sektor. Särskilt intresse riktas mot dessa gräsrotsbyråkraters förutsättningar att vara de ”möjliggörande byråkrater” som civilsamhällets ”eldsjälar” lovordar.
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| 10. |
- Alexius, Susanna, 1976-, et al.
(författare)
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Contestation in transition : Value-conflicts and the organization of markets. The cases of alcohol, gambling and coal
- 2011
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In this paper an historical comparative approach is applied to analyze how value conflict discourse and organization have evolved from the 1800s onward in three contested commodity markets – the alcohol, gambling and coal market. Situated mainly in the Swedish context, the three case studies demonstrate that the values at stake as well as the organizational arrangements brought forth in response to underlying value conflicts have changed significantly over time in all three markets. The commodities have stayed contested but for more or different reasons. Analyzing a dozen transformative moments in total we conclude that it matters to the organization of a market if there is an underlying value conflict and how this value conflict is configured. The comparative analysis sheds light on four processes in which value-conflict underpinnings of contested commodity markets may be shaped and altered: value addition, value expansion, value accumulation and value relocation.
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| 11. |
- Alexius, Susanna, et al.
(författare)
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Dealing with Values
- 2005
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Ingår i: Dealing with Confidence. - Copenhagen : CBS Press. - 8763001462
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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| 12. |
- Alexius, Susanna, et al.
(författare)
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Dealing with Values
- 2005. - 1st Edition
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Ingår i: Dealing with Confidence: The Construction of Need and Trust in Management Advisory Services. - Frederiksberg : Copenhagen Business School Press. - 9788763099660 - 8763099667 - 9788763099660 - 8763099667 ; , s. 201-216
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Several chapters in this book (chapters 8, 9 and 10) have emphasized individualism as a convenient strategy for reducing uncertainties for buying organizations in choosing a reliable supplier of management advisory services (MAS). In the previous chapter, however, it was shown that collectivism, in terms of professional norms in management consulting, also had considerable impact on the construction of a buyer's expectation of what a trusted supplier could look like. This suggests that individualism and collectivism are not mutually exclusive strategies. It is more likely that deals involving MAS in general, and management consulting in particular, can be understood as the result of both individual- and collective mechanisms in different combinations.
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| 13. |
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| 14. |
- Alexius, Susanna, 1976-, et al.
(författare)
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Decoupling in the age of market-embedded morality : responsible gambling in a hybrid organization
- 2018
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Ingår i: Journal of Management and Governance. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1385-3457 .- 1572-963X. ; 22:2, s. 285-313
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper contributes to the understanding of hybrid organizations by refining the concept of decoupling as a strategic response to conflicting objectives and institutional expectations (Meyer and Rowan in Am J Soc 83:340–363, 1977). In today’s popular responsibility discourse one notes a hopeful “win–win” ideal that invites attempts, by companies in particular, to realize and balance conflicting values and to strive to fulfil both profit objectives and responsibility objectives. Although institutional theory has long acknowledged the strategic response of decoupling in organizational contexts, the potential of exploring and refining how this concept may be used to analyse strategic responses in the contemporary era of market-embedded morality has yet to be explored (Shamir in Econ Soc 37:1–19, 2008). There are good reasons to do so as the present-day discourse on the relation between the economy and morality offers a new set of options and challenges for legitimately responding to institutional demands. This paper draws on an explanatory, rich ethnographic and longitudinal case study of a Swedish fully state-owned company operating in the post 1990s gambling market. We suggest that contemporary hybrid organizations positioned at the crossroads of bureaucratic and market schemes of organizing, may find themselves in a particularly tight spot and seek legitimacy by decoupling—not only by adopting certain legitimizing structures, but also and increasingly with reference to market-embedded morality, a commoditizing of responsibility in their contested market setting. Based on the case findings, we suggest a distinction between organization-based decoupling and market-based decoupling and propose that market-based decoupling may be attractive to hybrid organizations owing to it being less sensitive to scrutiny and accountability claims. But at the same time, our findings indicate that market-based decoupling poses a risk to hybrid organizations, as it does not offer the same degree of legitimacy with key stakeholders/the general public as organization-based decoupling does.
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| 16. |
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| 17. |
- Alexius, Susanna, 1976-, et al.
(författare)
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Enabling Sustainable Transformation : Hybrid Organizations in Early Phases of Path Generation
- 2020
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Ingår i: Journal of Business Ethics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0167-4544 .- 1573-0697. ; 165:3, s. 547-563
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The rapidly growing research on hybrid organizations in recent years suggests that these organizations may have particular abilities to facilitate institutional change. This article contributes to our understanding of change and, in particular, sustainable transformation in society by highlighting the importance of organizational forms. Looking more closely at the role of hybrid organizations in processes of path generation, we analyze the conditions under which hybrid organizations may enable path generation. A retrospective (1988–2017) exploratory case study of the Swedish hybrid organization The Natural Step confirms how hybrids can take part in- and may facilitate the early phases of path generation: assimilation and coalescence. The conclusion drawn is that hybrids have multivocal abilities that enable them to earn trust and authority to open up “neutral” spaces for orientation and connection between actors in separated sub-paths, and that this in turn may ease tensions and trigger dialogue and exchange, also between former opponents. Yet, as also seen in the case, this enabling position of the hybrid may be both fragile and temporary.
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| 18. |
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| 19. |
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| 20. |
- Alexius, Susanna, 1976-, et al.
(författare)
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Exploring Constitutional Hybridity
- 2019
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Ingår i: Managing Hybrid Organizations. - Cham : Palgrave Macmillan. - 9783319954851 - 9783319954868 ; , s. 1-25
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Hybrid organizations are topical in contemporary society, and literature in this area is growing. One neglected dimension is, however, empirically based theorizations of management and governance in hybrid organizations. Moreover, the literature tends to be based on observations of “new” forms of hybrid organizations, often referred to as social enterprises. We argue that if we want to learn about what managing hybrid organizations means, it is important to compare different types of hybrids and also to compare hybrids with as long history with those established relatively recently. Based on earlier literature, hybrid organizations are discussed as placed in contexts of institutional pluralism, at the cross-roads between institutional orders and institutional logics. Special focus is placed on exploration and comparison of what is defined here as constitutional hybrid organizations, thus hybrid organizations founded with the explicit purpose of fulfilling their mission by integrating either different institutional orders such as the market, the public sector and civil society or structural traits from the logics of different ideal-typical organizations such as the business corporation, the public agency and the association. We argue that multivocality is a concept that can explain why some hybrid organizations manage to remain hybrids over time while others face de-hybridization. A common analytical frame for the volume is developed, where six dimensions of hybridity are defined (institutional order, logics of organizational forms, ownership structures, purpose, main stakeholders and main sources of funding). The aim of this chapter is to introduce why it is timely to theorize on management and governance in hybrid organizations, to develop the theoretical frame for the book, and to introduce the explorative multidisciplinary approach behind the book and the selection of cases. The chapter ends with a brief discussion of the chapters to come.
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| 21. |
- Alexius, Susanna, et al.
(författare)
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Förpliktigande samspel som vardagsrutin – en fallstudie av Borlänge kommun
- 2018
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Ingår i: Styra och leda med tillit: forskning och praktik. - Stockholm : Norstedts Juridik AB. - 9789138248058 ; , s. 167-195
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Förändringsarbetet mot mer tillitsfulla relationer i den kommunala förvaltningen i Borlänge initierades 2008 och pågår fortfarande aktivt ett decennium senare. Studien belyser centrala förutsättningar för att bygga och underhålla tillitsfulla relationer inom den kommunala förvaltningen. Teoretiska utgångspunkter är dels teori om medarbetarskap och ömsesidigt ansvar genom ”förpliktigande samspel”, dels teori om förändringsarbete som vardagsrutin. Metodologiskt har dokumentstudier, deltagande observationer, intervjuer och fokusgruppsintervjuer genomförts. En fördjupning har gjorts till upplevelser hos personalen på Individ- och familjeomsorgen (IFO) inom socialtjänsten. En central slutsats är att tillitsfulla relationer tar tid, både att utveckla och att underhålla. Ambitionen att minska misstro och öka tillit kräver både uthållighet i en kultur- och organisationsförändring över tid och en mellanmänsklig tillgänglighet i vardagen. I Borlänge har ett framgångsrikt värdegrundsarbete skapat goda förutsättningar för detta.
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| 22. |
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| 23. |
- Alexius, Susanna, 1976-, et al.
(författare)
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Hybrid Challenges in Times of Changing Institutional Conditions : The Rise and Fall of The Natural Step as a Multivocal Bridge Builder
- 2019
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Ingår i: Managing Hybrid Organizations. - Cham : Palgrave Macmillan. - 9783319954851 - 9783319954868 ; , s. 267-285
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This chapter reports on a life story of a hybrid organization, The Natural Step (TNS), that was founded in order to foster sustainability in society as a necessary philosophy for saving the planet. The organization was established as a hybrid that blended the logics of science, activism and consulting. Staying in this position was, however, not without challenge. The chapter contributes to discussions on management in hybrid organizations by highlighting when and why hybrids face particular challenges and how managers may struggle to deal with them. Over time, TNS gradually became de-hybridized into a management consultancy. The chapter concludes with a section on dilemmas faced by hybrid managers in cultivating and maintaining a hybrid identity over longer periods of time.
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| 24. |
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| 25. |
- Alexius, Susanna, 1976-
(författare)
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Hybridorganisering som social innovation : En historisk fallstudie av RFSU
- 2022
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Ingår i: Social innovation för hållbar utveckling. - Lund : Studentlitteratur AB. - 9789144151465 ; , s. 53-66
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- I tider av gränsöverskridande utmaningar behövs djupare kunskap om organisationsformer för gränsöverskridande samverkan och social innovation. I det här kapitlet studeras hybridorganisering inom ramen för en föreningsägd koncern, som ett innovativt sätt att organisera sådan samverkan. Sedan 1933 har RFSU framgångsrikt kombinerat politisk aktivism i föreningsform, medicinsk vetenskaplig praktik på egen klinik och kommersiellt företagande i sina bolag i en och samma koncern. Sådan höggradig hybriditet kan betraktas som en social innovation i sig. I kapitlet beskrivs hur RFSU:s hybriditet har möjliggjort stora framsteg inom sexual- och familjepolitiken, både i Sverige och internationellt. Genom sin speciella hybrida form har RFSU verkat för frågor relaterade till god hälsa och välbefinnande, långt innan de paketerades som ”mål 3” i Agenda 2030. För att hitta lovande vägar framåt när det gäller social innovation och hållbar utveckling behöver vi lära av historien. Inte minst behöver vi återuppliva kunskap om föregångares organisering och betydelsen av äldre organisationsformer som kan vara högaktuella än idag.
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| 26. |
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| 27. |
- Alexius, Susanna, 1976-, et al.
(författare)
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In Proper Organization We Trust : Trust in Interorganizational aid relations
- 2020
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The aim of this study is to contribute to our knowledge of how donors and recipients of aid cope with the uncertain world in which development aid takes place. When and how does trust become a substitute for certainty and what makes donors and recipients of aid actually trust one another? What may explain current trust patterns and what are their implications for the organization of aid? In recent years, management trends associated with New Public Management have been increasingly criticized. As a response to this criticism, in 2016, the Swedish government launched a “Trust Delegation” (Tillitsdelegationen) with interest in “trust based management”, which partly has been seen as a response to the NPM criticism. Even though the development aid sector has not formally been targeted by the Trust commission, it is clear that ideas on trust and alternative management styles have spurred a lot of interest and discussion, also in the aid sector. One of the intentions for this study is to bring empirical input and theoretical nuances to this discussion.Relations in the aid field are characterized by three particular coordination conditions: distance, inequality and complexity, which all contribute to perceptions of uncertainty. In an uncertain setting such as that of development aid, trust becomes a precious substitute for the much sought after certainty. Therefore, it is not surprising to find that trust has long been regarded a key component for successful aid projects and a fundamental component for all aid relations, and operations. However, somewhat paradoxically, distance, inequality and complexity also present challenges to interpersonal trust.In this report we show that actors involved in aid relations attempt to solve or at least handle their uncertainty by transferring trust from a range of different sources of trust. We argue that a prominent such source of trust is formal organizing following ideal-typical characteristics of what we here call the “proper organization”. Our empirical studies indicate that there is a general ideal for how an actor involved in an aid project should be organized. This ideal emphasizes formal organizing and conformity among different types of organizations and projects, for example conformity stemming from using similar control systems and management technologies.We conclude that most often, actors involved in aid relations try to solve the paradox of distance, inequality and complexity by putting their faith in a range of different sources of trust, where a strong – and dare we say – dominating source of trust is trust in formal organizing and organizations, or structures and processes of “proper” organizations, such as certain management technologies or control structures. The three field conditions; distance, inequality and complexity, help to determine not only the need for trust to coordinate aid relations, but also how trust is assessed, maintained, at times lost and then hopefully restored. Our analysis suggests that the greater the distance, inequality and complexity – the lower the chances are to achieving certainty, which in turn implies a greater need for trust to bridge this gap. However – and somewhat paradoxically: our data also suggests that the greater the distance, inequality and complexity, the more likely is trust transference from an impersonal source of trust, such as a management technology or a particular legitimate organizational structure or process.The core of our analysis concerns who trusts whom on what grounds, that is “What makes a certain trustor in the aid field trust a certain trustee?” What are preferred sources of trust and how are they used to transfer trust onto trustees? What general patterns of trust can we identify and how may these be explained? We examine the following key questions: 1. What makes a donor trust a recipient? What makes a donor not trust a recipient? 2. What makes a recipient trust a donor? What makes a recipient not trust a donor? In our empirical study we are interested in intermediary organizations in so called aid chains (or as we will later claim: aid nets). In these nets of relations, organizations often play dual roles, being both a donor and a recipient of aid, both a rule-follower and a rule-setter, both an auditor and an auditee. In one situation, the organization will play the role of the donor, in another, the role of the recipient of aid. As a recipient, the organization interprets what its needs to do in order to receive further financing. As a donor, it regulates what the next actor in line needs to do in order to obtain financing. Theory as well as empirical data suggest that these social roles and how actors switch between them have an impact on trust patterns in aid. We therefore call for more studies as well as practitioner reflection on these issues. Our research design departs from Sida’s categorization of different actor groups who receive Swedish public aid funding; a) civil society organizations b) private sector actors, c) Swedish authorities in the public sector and d) research cooperation (see www.sida.se). The first intermediary in the case organizations studied are thus always located in Sweden, which means that we have been able to keep the aid providing country a constant variable (Sweden, a high trust country). Thereby we have also been able to study whether there are any differences in how trust is experienced inbetween the different actor groups, since the four groups formally have the same amount of rules and requirements. The actor groups represent different institutional contexts in society; public sector, market and civil society, all with different organisational forms, owners, purpose, stakeholders and sources of financing.In our empirical study we have thus departed from the organizations based in Sweden, implying that the majority of our illustrative examples are taken from such Sweden based organisations. As a second step however, we have also studied whether and how the empirical findings are applicable in a few intermediary organizations acting as both donors and recipients in the aid net, i.e. the empirical material covers intermediary organizations from the Ministry of Forein Affairs to final recipients of aid. Interestingly, despite differences in origin, size etc. we have found the social role scipts of the donor and recipient to apply and to be interepreted in a similar fashion by the organizations studied.Providing “food for thought” on how trust influences aid, the study draws upon theory as well as illustrative examples from case studies (including ongoing case studies) in the four actor groups. However, the report makes no claims to give a fully representative picture of every donor and recipient involved in the aid nets in development aid. We do however earnestly believe that the propositions and tentative findings put forth here are well-worth considering. We also welcome further testing and elaboration of our tentative findings by both researchers and practitioners in the field. The reader should bear in mind that exploring to generate promising hypotheses, as we do in this report, is not the same as designing exloratory studies to test such hypotheses on a larger sample. Needless to say though, without exploratory research of this kind, there would be far less interesting hypotheses around to test and elaborate further.Empirical findings on sources of trustWe discuss seven sources of trust in aid relations: control systems and management technologies; external experts and expertise; the VIP-partner status; the institutional context; thematic and domain specific knowledge; results and interpersonal relations. The sources of trust have been mentioned by the interviewees in our case studies. Our main findings concerning these are listed below: Control systems and management technologiesOur empirical cases demonstrate that control systems such as the management technology The Logical Framework, is a prominent source of trust from which donors frequently transfer trust onto recipients of aid. First, we have found that being without such a system or technology is generally not a viable option for a recipient, since not having one would affect the recipient’s assessed trustworthiness negatively. Having and using a management technology is generally seen as a sign that the recipient is a rational decision maker, a core characteristic of a “proper organization”. Second, we have noted that there has in several cases been a discrepancy between an organization’s formal decision to trust (or not) and the informal trustworthiness assessments made by individual employees of the same organization. Third, we have found that different social roles (donor or recipient) may explain differences in the perception of a certain control technology. Despite recent calls for simplification and less of control exercise, the tendency seems to be that this is not happening, since the intermediary organizations act according to different social scripts in their roles as donors and recipients. While happy to drop and criticize control measures in the role of the recipient, the same organization may perceive the same control measures as very reasonable, necessary and also expected in the role of the donors. Fourth, in some of the case studies, we have seen that trust in a control system or a management technology has developed over time. A recipient organization might thus both learn to use the technology and find it beneficial, for example to gain legitimacy and trustworthiness from the donor.External experts and expertise Experts and expert knowledge play a crucial part in many aid relations and to demonstrate expertise is a means for the recipient organization to demonstrate its ability. First, we have found that recipients and donors have different perceptions in regard to the value of third parties. While hiring
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| 28. |
- Alexius, Susanna, 1976-
(författare)
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Konsulter utan spelregler
- 2019
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Ingår i: Kurage: idétidskrift för det civila samhället. - 2001-175X. ; :33, s. 17-19
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Tidskriftsartikel (populärvet., debatt m.m.)
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| 29. |
- Alexius, Susanna, et al.
(författare)
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Logics and mechanisms of board appointment in hybrid organizations
- 2018
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The relevance of the paper to the panel topic The management and governance of hybrid organizations involve a range of challenges and critical issues. One such issue concerns the people that embody the hybrid and their capabilities to represent and handle the complex missions and potential value conflicts at stake in a hybrid organization. Looking closer at processes of recruitment and nomination of key actors such as CFOs, managers and board members is relevant as it sheds light on high held ideals for hybrid management and governance and the human resources seen fit to handle complex hybrid missions.The significance of the research (why it is distinctive and its contribution to the field)Our case gives a micro illustration of the governance challenges involved in attempts to design the nomination process to reflect a wider range of goals and values. We also wish to briefly discuss how this shift in appointment logics – from “political discretion” (PA), over “professionalism as in efficiency and economization” (NPM) to “political correctness” (NPG) may affect the boards and management of the SOEs.The research question(s) and methodThe Swedish state has an outspoken aim to be an “active and professional” owner by generating economic value in its 49 state-owned enterprises. At the same time, there is a political ambition for these firms to be seen as national and international “role models”, in the forefront of gender equality and sustainability. In addition, for about 25 SOEs, there are specifically Government commissioned social “public policy assignments” to be taken into consideration. The aim of this paper is to analyse the logics (political vs. professional) in the Swedish Government offices concerning the mechanisms of appointment of board members of Swedish State-owned Enterprises (SOEs) with Government commissioned social public policy assignments.Findings are based on qualitative analyses of documents, observations and interviews with key actors. Focusing foremost on the daily work of civil servants responsible for board nomination in the Ministry of Commerce and Innovation the study also acknowledges the role of external head hunters and executive search firms, politically appointed civil servants, politicians and board chairs and members in the nomination process.The theoretical/conceptual foundations for the researchThe backdrop to our case story is the historical transition from traditional Public Administration (PA), over new public management (NPM) regimes to the emerging post-NPM era of “New Public Governance” (Osborne, 2010; Almqvist et al., 2003; Ivarsson Westernberg, 2017), their dominant institutional logics and the effects on the appointment of public representatives, such as board members of SOEs.The results to be reportedOur claim is that in the emerging NPG era, the previously dominating professional (and typically economical) logic of NPM-inspired governance of State-owned enterprises is challenged. Public appointment officials now face increasing external pressure to demonstrate that the multiple social values at stake for the hybrid organizations are reflected in the nomination of their board members, without compromising business efficiency, public accountability and the public income derived from SOEs.
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| 30. |
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| 31. |
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| 32. |
- Alexius, Susanna, 1976-
(författare)
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Making up the responsible gambler : Organizing self-control education and responsible gaming equipment in the Swedish gambling market
- 2011
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Ingår i:
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Responsibilization permeates the various corners of society - not least the markets where responsibility is shifted down from states and organizations to individuals in their role as consumers. How then is responsibility (re)constructed and (re)distributed amongst market actors? This empirical paper contributes to our understanding of the ‘preventive turn’ in governance and more specifically the current trend towards self-control, and self-management by an analysis of consumer responsibilization at the market level. The paper is empirically based on interviews with key informants involved in attempts to organize rational, responsible consumers in the contested Swedish gambling market, a dozen participant observations of responsible gaming education (offline) and Internet studies of on-line equipment and education designed to motivate and teach gamblers to assume responsibility for gambling related problems. Drawing on a market constructionist perspective a model of responsibility in the making is presented. The paper then contributes with empirical illustrations of consumer responsibilization practices carried out in the Swedish context. Findings suggest that the responsible gambler is made up both directly and indirectly, both positively and negatively and by employment of a subtle yet powerful discourse of care.
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| 33. |
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| 34. |
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| 35. |
- Alexius, Susanna, 1976-, et al.
(författare)
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Market Means to Political Mission Ends : Scrutinizing the Social Meaning of Moneyin the Swedish Federation for Sexual Education (RFSU)
- 2019
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In the nonprofit debate, there is an assumption that market means lead to market ends, oftentimes with grim consequences for nonprofit organizations. By drawing on a theoretical framework related to the social meaning of money in hybrid organizations, and by applying the framework to a longitudinal mixedmethod single case study ofmoneymanagement in the Swedish Federation for Sexual Education (RFSU), we argue in this paper instead that management of market means may also promote political mission ends. Empirical findings suggest that there are different social currencies at play that help explain why some money (income of a lower perceived social status) may be used by the organization simply as a means to get access to higher status money (and the legitimacy that comes with it). Hence, contrary to common assumptions of mission-drift as a consequence of market means, in this case study, business dividends and royalties commercially generated in fully owned subsidiaries have been informally and formally earmarked as lower status money and then used as means to secure higher status political mission ends.
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| 36. |
- Alexius, Susanna, 1976-, et al.
(författare)
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Med kritisk blick på delningsekonomin
- 2020
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Ingår i: Organisation & Samhälle. - 2001-9114 .- 2002-0287. ; :1
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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| 37. |
- Alexius, Susanna, et al.
(författare)
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Mission(s) impossible? Configuring values in the governance of state-owned enterprises
- 2015
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Ingår i: International Journal of Public Sector Management. - 0951-3558 .- 1758-6666. ; 28:4-5, s. 286-306
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to contribute to theory of hybrid organizations, with particular regard to state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and their ability to contribute to sustaining value pluralism in the public sector.Design/methodology/approach – The paper offers a qualitative case concerning ongoing performance management reforms in the corporate governance of SOEs in Sweden, which is analyzed using theory on valuation and evaluation.Findings – It is found that the number of non-financial values is reduced with reference to categorization. Attempts are made to change the perception of the potential value conflict at hand between financial and non-financial missions by adding a number of neutralizing “meta values” such as transparency and efficiency to the performance language in use. There is a risk of mission drift as a clear hierarchization of values, prioritizing financial values, is created and sustained in “investment teams.” Processes, standards and dialogues are all dominated by an economic logic despite formal aspirations to balance the values at stake. The few remaining non-financial values are translated into economic language aiming for a commensuration of the performance of the different missions. In addition, the ambition of the public policy assignment may be further reduced by de-coupling.Originality/value – The paper suggests a novel approach to hybrid organizations in general and SOEs in particular when exploring how the values underlying complex missions are configured in “value work” performed by government officials in Swedish government offices. Such analyses of value work in the micro-practice of hybrids offer a more fine-grained understanding of organizational dilemmas that are commonly acknowledged, but more seldom explained in empirical detail.
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| 38. |
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| 39. |
- Alexius, Susanna, et al.
(författare)
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Obsessive Measurement Disorder or Pragmatic Bureaucracy? : Coping With Uncertainty in Development Aid Relations
- 2024. - 1st
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Bok (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Complex coordination across time, space, and cultures involves a great deal of uncertainty. This uncertainty may be accepted and handled with judgment and pragmatism, but more often in contemporary modern society, it is treated as a technical problem to be solved. This is a book about the paradoxical implications of the quest for certainty in interorganizational relations in the complex field of development aid. Authors Alexius and Vhmki scrutinize questions related to the concept Obsessive Measurement Disorder, i.e. what causes an increase in control mechanisms, and how and when can this prove counterproductive? They further investigate the question on why performance management - and measurement requirements seem in some instances to hinder, and in others to support the implementation of aid projects and programs. Drawing on 80 original interviews with aid bureaucrats working at different levels and in different organizations, including public agencies, companies, non-government organisations, and universities all involved in development aid projects financed fully, or in part, by the Swedish taxpayer, they identify coping mechanisms and responses that may help to prevent the extremes of obsessive measurement disorder, and foster instead pragmatic, constructive organizing and learning that benefits not only aid organizations and their employees, but also - and more fundamentally - the societies in need.
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| 40. |
- Alexius, Susanna, 1976-
(författare)
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Om värdet av organisatorisk mångfald
- 2017
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Ingår i: Nordisk Försäkringstidskrift. - 0348-6516 .- 2001-1741. ; :3
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Tidskriftsartikel (populärvet., debatt m.m.)
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| 41. |
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| 42. |
- Alexius, Susanna, et al.
(författare)
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Profit-Making for Mutual Benefit : The Case of Folksam 1945–2015
- 2017
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The contribution of this paper centers on organizational conditions and mechanisms for long-term justification and survival of constitutional hybrids—organizations that not only integrate various institutional logics, but also integrate structural elements, ideal-typical of different types of organizations and societal spheres. Responding to calls for studies that relate macro-, meso-and micro-level analyses, we draw on Boltanski and Thévenot’s theory of justification and a 70-year mixed-method case study of the mutually owned Swedish insurance firm, Folksam. We describe how this mutually owned enterprise went from justifying its profitmaking during the social-democratic regime to justifying its principle of mutual benefit in the decades following amarket turn in the 1980s. Our multi-level, longitudinal analysis suggests that constitutional hybrids like Folksam may survive and avoid isomorphism by making flexible use of their two-sided “Janus face”of civic and market logics of justification.
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| 43. |
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| 44. |
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| 45. |
- Alexius, Susanna, 1976-, et al.
(författare)
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Shaping the Consumer : A Century of Consumer Guidance
- 2018
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Ingår i: Organizing and Reorganizing Markets. - Oxford : Oxford University Press. - 9780198815761
-
Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Although market organization is typically directed at organizations, it is common to legitimize it with reference to individuals. Because clever and active consumers constitute an often-assumed precondition for well functioning markets, there is much ado about maintaining this ideal. Thus reorganization aimed at increased competition and a greater supply of goods is encouraged, because the consumer is assumed to have free choice—to be willing and able, when faced with a range of options, to decide what to buy and from whom tobuy it. To date, the hopes of maintaining the fragile pipe dream of the clever and active consumer, so fundamental to much of market organization, has taken little advice from scholars demonstrating that real individuals lack the capacity to anticipate all possible options and evaluate all available information (Simon 1982; March and Simon 1958). As this chapter demonstrates,however, the discrepancy between these highly held ideals and humbler human capacities is contributing to a broad range of organizations engaging in efforts to shape ‘proper consumers’. Through a chronological historical account of a century of these efforts (c.1900–2015), we provide insights into the development of consumer guidance in Sweden. Beginning in 1900, pioneering attempts at shaping proper consumers targeted members of established organizations and offered basic knowledge on ways to save money and make informed choices between product categories—not to spend one’s daily wages on alcohol, for example, but to save and invest in a new harrow. In the state-centred, post-WWII period, beginning in the mid-1940s, there were increased standards and monitoring aimed at guiding consumers to choose not only between but also within product categories—how to calculate the price/quality ratio of different kinds of hosiery, for example. This era also saw the establishment of many specialized organizations aimed at consumer guidance. The contemporary global era, beginning in the 1990s, has seen a sharp increase in standards, labels, and consumer guidance. In the late 1990s, a third and somewhat unexpected type of advice went a step beyond the choice among and within product categories to provide advice among consumer guides. We offer a wide range of empirical examples of consumer guidance, organizedby such diverse market organizers as agricultural societies, savings banks, cooperatives, municipalities, government agencies, businesses, and bloggers. The content of the advice is analysed and, most important for this volume, we exemplify the range of market elements and information and technology usedby those engaged in the task of upholding the fragile construction of the active and clever consumer. Our account is based on three sets of empirical data collected primarily in 2012: (a) relevant secondary data from historical research and (b) our qualitative content analyses of historical and contemporary materials related to Swedish consumer guidance, such as stakeholder documents and information made publicly available through archives and the media. In addition, (c) three key informant interviews contributed to our general understanding of the contemporary Swedish field of consumer guidance (Alexius and Löwenberg 2012). In all, we see an overwhelming number of attempts to shape consumers during a period of more than one hundred years.
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| 47. |
- Alexius, Susanna, 1976-
(författare)
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Social impact through 90 years of Hybrid Organizing : The case of the Swedish Federation for Sexual Education
- 2022
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Through a longitudinal mixed method case study, this paper’s general aim is to contribute to the organizational analysis of the intricate relations and mutual influence between manifold forms of organization involved in tackling grand societal challenges (Alexius and Furusten, 2020; Brès et al 2018; George et al, 2016; Gray and Purdy, 2018; Gümüsay et al, 2022; Kaufmann and Danner-Schröder, 2022). As noted in the call for abstracts, many previous studies have highlighted confusion, contradiction and conflict in organizations with heterogeneous expectations. And among the fewer, more positive studies, a great number are conceptual rather than empirical (Segnestam Larsson and Wollter, 2020). That is to say that in these studies, hybrid or other alternative organizational forms, are treated as promising a priori (Greenwood and Freeman, 2017).These insights may make one wonder whether there is solid empirical evidence to suggest that alternative forms of organizing are capable of tackling grand societal challenges. In this paper, drawing on an historical case study, I claim that the Swedish Federation for Sexual Education (RFSU) has potential to qualify as an interesting success case in this regard. An old saying goes: “All good things come in threes”. It all started in the 1930s. Internationally renowned journalist and social activist in sexual education and parental planning, Elise Ottesen Jensen, founded the Swedish Federation for Sexual Education (RFSU) in 1933. Missions like free and legal abortion, an acceptance of homosexuality and sexual education and access to contraceptives for all teenagers, were among those that motivated Ottesen Jensen to set up RFSU (Lennerhed, 2002).Ottesen Jensen realized early on that her mission to extend sexual and reproductive rights in society could not be achieved solely on public funding, since the political ideas she and her co-founders (medical doctors and representatives from the workers’ movement) wanted to push were radical. There was a need for own “free cash” able to finance political sexual rights advocacy that in 1930s Sweden was seen as provocative to many.From the start, Ottosen Jensen therefore had the idea of an organization made up of three different organizational “bodies” – a nonprofit parent organization for political advocacy and education, a clinic for therapy and treatment and a fully owned limited enterprise (RFSU Limited), producing and selling a product that was closely in line with the core political mission of sexual education and rights: condoms. Although each of the three had their particular institutional conditions, they also shared the same mission and were able to cooperate on their respective fronts, using different means (Lennerhed, 2002; Alexius and Segnestam Larsson, 2019).Theoretically then, RFSU may be defined as a constitutional hybrid: an organization that is hybrid by constitution, hence an organization that was established for the explicit purpose of integrating not only different institutional logics but also structural elements typically found in different societal spheres, to fulfill its mission (Alexius et al, 2017; Alexius and Furusten, 2019). Examples of constitutional hybrids include limited enterprises fully owned by the public, cooperatives, mutually owned enterprises and the category of organizations focused in this paper; limited enterprises fully owned by civil society organizations.The paper is a development of a recently published Swedish essay (Alexius, 2022) and describes how the “holy trinity“ of radical political mission, clinical care and own market income, has been at the heart of RFSU and vital to its success during its 90 years in operation for the sexual health and rights in Sweden and abroad. In terms of data, the case study draws on previous historical volumes on RFSU and their founder (Lennerhed, 2002; Lindahl, 2003; Thorgren, 2014), as well as own document studies and 12 interviews conducted 2015-2021 with previous and current RFSU leaders and staff.An important conclusion is that the common assumption in previous literature on hybrids, that power asymmetries will lead to mission-drift towards company-ization and marketization, should not be taken for granted. Rather, these processes must be scrutinized empirically using theoretical concepts like that of constitutional hybridity that opens up for recognition of the mutually strengthening mechanisms that have enabled RFSU to tackle grand societal challenges by achieving important social and sexual reforms.ReferencesAlexius, S. (2022). Hybridorganisering som social innovation: En historisk fallstudie av RFSU. I Bonnedahl, K J; Egan Sjölander, A and Lindberg, M. (eds). Social innovation för hållbar utveckling. Lund: StudentlitteraturAlexius, S., Gustavsson, M., & Sardiello, T. (2017). Profit-making for mutual benefit: The case of Folksam 1945–2015. Score Working Paper Series, no 2.Alexius, S., & Furusten, S. (2019). Exploring Constitutional Hybridity. I Alexius, S & Furusten, S. (eds.) Managing Hybrid Organizations. Palgrave Macmillan, p. 1-26.Alexius, S. & Furusten, S. (2020). Enabling Sustainable Transformation: Hybrid Organizations in Early Phases of Path Generation, Journal of Business Ethics, no. 165, p. 547-563.Alexius S. & Segnestam Larsson, O. (2019). Market Means to Political Mission Ends: Scrutinizing the Social Meaning of Money in the Swedish Federation for Sexual Education (RFSU), Essay presented at the conference Political Resources: Autonomy, Legitimacy, Power, Södertörn University, Sweden, 17 May, 2019.Brès, L, Raufflet, E. & Boghossian, J. (2018). Pluralism in organizations: Learning from unconventional forms of organizations. International Journal of Management Reviews, vol. 20, no. 2, p. 364-386.George, G., Howard-Grenville, J., Joshi, A., & Tihanyi, L. (2016): “Understanding and Tackling Societal Grand Challenges through Management Research.” Academy of Management Journal, vol. 59, no. 6, p. 1880–1895.Gray, B., & Purdy, J. (2018). Collaborating for our future: Multistakeholder partnerships for solving complex problems. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Greenwood, M., & Freeman, R. E. (2017). Focusing on ethics and broadening our intellectual base. Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 140, no. 1, p. 1-3.Gümüsay, A. A; Marti, E; Trittin-Ulbrich, H. and Wickert, C. (eds), (2022). Organizing for Societal Grand Challenges, Research in the Sociology of Organizations, vol. 79.Kaufmann, L J & Danner-Schröder, A. (2022). Adressing Grand Challenges Through Different Forms of Organizing: A Literature Review. In Gümüsay, A. A; Marti, E; Trittin-Ulbrich, H. and Wickert, C. (eds), (2022). Organizing for Societal Grand Challenges, Research in the Sociology of Organizations, vol. 79, p. 163-186.Lennerhed, L. (2002). Sex i folkhemmet. RFSUs tidiga historia. Stockholm: Gidlunds förlag.Lindahl, K. (2003). Sex – en politisk historia. Stockholm: RFSU/Alfabeta Anamma.Segnestam Larsson, O. & Wollter, F. (2020). Vad kännetecknar de organisationer som studeras med hjälp av begreppet hybridorganisation? Score report series 2001:7Thorgren, G. (2014). Ottar och kärleken: En biografi. Norstedts förlag.
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- Alexius, Susanna
(författare)
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Spela lagom!
- 2014
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Ingår i: Alla dessa marknader. - Göteborg : Makadam Förlag. - 9789170611421 ; , s. 159-172
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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