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- Wihlman, Thomas, 1949-, et al.
(författare)
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Employee-driven Innovation in Welfare Services
- 2014
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Ingår i: Nordic Journal of Working Life Studies. - Roskilde University, Roskilde : Det Kgl. Bibliotek/Royal Danish Library. - 2245-0157. ; 4:2, s. 159-180
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- There is a growing interest in both employee-driven innovation (EDI) and innovation in welfare services, but a lack of empirical studies addressing innovation from the employee perspective.Accordingly, this study was designed to contribute with well-grounded empirical knowledge, aimingto explore the barriers to and opportunities for participation in innovation experienced by employees of the Swedish welfare services. In order to reach the aim, a qualitative thematic analysis of27 semi-structured interviews with employees in four municipalities was performed.The study identified three main themes, with a great impact on the innovative performance of the studied organizations: support, including leadership and innovation processes; development, including creativity and learning; and organizational culture, which includes attitudes and communication, all essential ingredients in EDI. Experienced barriers for innovation were unclear or non-existing innovation processes with ambiguous goals, insufficient learning, and deficient organizational slack, thus creating a tension between day-to-day work and innovation and hindering reflection and exploration.Attitudes of colleagues and lack of communication were also barriers to implementing innovation, suggesting the need for better management support for a communicative and open culture.Opportunities were found, including commitment to innovation and willingness to try new ideas, but the employees must be given the mandate and sufficient time to develop the potential that emerges from continuous learning, time for reflection, and user dialogue. The conclusion was that incremental innovations existed, but the full potential of these did not benefit the entire organization due to inadequate communication and lack of innovation processes.The study improves our understanding of how employees regard their involvement in innovation.It also discusses how to make better use of employees’ resources in innovation processes andcontributes to important knowledge about EDI in the public sector. On the basis of our results, we suggest a model of EDI for use in practice.
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| 2. |
- Wihlman, Thomas, 1949-, et al.
(författare)
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Innovation Management in Swedish Municipalities
- 2016
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Ingår i: European Journal of Workplace Innovation. - : University of Agder. - 2387-4570 .- 2387-4570. ; 2:1, s. 43-62
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Research on public sector innovation is still limited, and increased knowledge of innovation processes is needed. This article is a based on a study of the implementation of innovation policies in Swedish municipalities, and gives a first-hand, empirical view of some of the complexities of innovation in the public sector. The study took place in four municipalities in central Sweden. The municipalities varied in size and organisational forms. Interviews and policy documents were used for data collection.The results showed that the innovation policies were not followed by action, which may be described as not mobilizing dynamic capabilities to create innovativeness. Thus, dynamic capabilities, such as learning and HRM, Human Resource Management, were not used in conjunction with innovation. Particularly amongst senior management there was a negative attitude towards the innovative capacity of their organization. Middle management saw possibilities. However, barriers such as extensive control systems removed the focus from innovation. There was a lack of communication between senior management and middle management regarding innovation. The conclusion was that innovation, as both concept and practice, was not fully embraced by the municipalities.It is suggested that generative leadership, opening up communication within the organisations, especially between employees, could be beneficial, and that a common understanding and definition of the innovation concept is needed. Integration of top-down processes with bottom-up processes, such as employee-driven innovation, is also suggested.
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| 3. |
- Wihlman, Ulla, et al.
(författare)
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Barriers of inter-organisational integration in vocational rehabilitation
- 2008
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Ingår i: International Journal of Integrated Care. - : Ubiquity Press, Ltd.. - 1568-4156 .- 1568-4156. ; 19:8, s. 1-12
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- INTRODUCTION: A project of vocational rehabilitation was studied in Sweden between 1999 and 2002. The project included four public organisations: the social insurance office, the local health services, the municipal social service and the office of the state employment service. The aim of this paper was to analyse perceived barriers in the development of inter-organisational integration. THEORY: Theories of inter-professional and inter-organisational integration, and theories on organisational change. METHODS: In total, 51 semi-structured interviews and 14 focus group discussions were performed with actors within the project between 1999 and 2002. A thematic approach was used for the analysis of the data. RESULTS: THREE DIFFERENT MAIN THEMES OF BARRIERS EMERGED FROM THE DATA: A Uncertainty, B Prioritising own organisation and C Lack of communication. The themes are interconnected in an intricate web and hence not mutually exclusive. CONCLUSIONS AND DISCUSSION: The barriers found are all related partly to organisational change in general and partly to the specific development of organisational integration. Prioritising of own organisation led to flaws in communication, which in turn led to a high degree of uncertainty within the project. This can be seen as a circular relationship, since uncertainty might increase focus on own organisation and lack of communication. A way to overcome these barriers would be to take the needs of the clients as a point of departure in the development of joint services and to also involve them in the development of inter-organisational integration.
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| 4. |
- Wihlman, Ulla, et al.
(författare)
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Organizing vocational rehabilitation through interorganizational integration : a case study in Sweden
- 2011
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Ingår i: International Journal of Health Planning and Management. - : Wiley. - 0749-6753 .- 1099-1751. ; 26:3, s. E169-E185
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study describes and analysis five years of experiences from organising an interorganisational project on vocational rehabilitation. A qualitative case study approach was used based on interviews, focus group discussions and documents. The aim was to analyse how and why the project was organised in the way it was in relation to theories of integration, organisational change and learning. The results show that the vocational rehabilitation project was initiated mainly for financial reasons. It was organised as a mechanistic system with the aim of producing different activities, where financial control and support from all the levels of the organisations involved was important. A new bureaucracy between the different authorities involved was built up, where the vertical (top-down) integration was more important than the horizontal. The result was scattered islands of interprofessional work in different teams, but without contacts between them. The project did not influence the processes or workflows of the organisations involved in the project, which would be important from a service-user perspective. It may therefore be questionnable to organise the development of interorganisational integration for vocational rehabilitation in a separate project organisation. Instead, interorganisational networks with focus on interconnections of processes and workflows may be more flexible and adaptable. Copyright (C) 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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