Previous research reveals the existence of social distance between the social policies that govern care work and human services that make up child welfare systems and their front-line implementation by direct service workers. The authors suggest that the nature of child welfare and human services requires discretion and flexibility that is not built into governing social policies. Our study uses qualitative ethnographic methods including participant observation, informal interviewing, and content analysis to determine the extent to which front-line barriers persist to implementing child welfare and related types of human services social policies and legal mandates. A comparison of different human services settings is presented along with a social policy analysis. A discussion of implications for front-line care work and ongoing research goals will be included.

The focus of this research is in the area of online learning policy. Online learning is rapidly gaining popularity and is becoming more and more an integral part of the K–12 education landscape. Such a study is important because there are very few policies that have been created to govern online learning differently than traditional brick-and-mortar classrooms. Utah’s Statewide Online Education Program (SOEP) has been largely marketed as policy that does transcend these barriers. This research uses a multidimensional mixed-method case study to evaluate the program. The findings from this research provide evidence that the SOEP falls short of providing policy that can guarantee implementation of the program’s goals and purposes and fails to ensure quality online learning for students. The main conclusions drawn from this study are that principals are hesitant to implement the SOEP because they are concerned about the potential loss of funding and a lack of confidence in the quality of online courses. This dissertation recommends the following: The creation of technology funding that guarantees full access to the Internet for all students, the creation of a performance-based assessment system for all students, and online learning in-service and professional development for both principals and teachers.

On the island of Gotland in Sweden, “wicked problems” related to socioeconomic inequalities are growing. These are linked to the complex social sustainability issues that are tackled in the Regional Development Strategy “Our Gotland 2040”. With this strategy, Region Gotland aims at governing and coordinating stakeholders through collaborative governance toward a more sustainable future. The purpose of our research is to understand the experiences of participating organisations in this early stage of development of the social sustainability program, through the lens of collaborative governance theory. Qualitative data was collected through semi-structured in-depth interviews that underwent thematic analysis. Within the interviewed organisations two main themes have emerged: Collaborative Process and Political Influences. Each of them is discussed with additional subthemes. Given the exploratory character of our study, the findings create a basis for further, more conclusive research. Our recommendation for the ongoing collaboration is to pay attention to the political environment and how it impacts the collaboration. Furthermore, setting shared goals should be a priority, since participants encounter both strengths and challenges during this process.

Purpose - The thesis determined how policy implementation and change management can be improved in Nigeria, with the health insurance scheme as the basis for narrative exploration. It sets out the similarities and differences in assumptions between supra-national organisations such as the World Bank and World Health Organisation on policy implementation and change management and those contained in the Nigerian national health policy; and those of people responsible for implementation in Nigerian organisations at a) the federal or national level and b) at sub-federal service delivery levels of the health insurance scheme. The study provides a framework of the dimensions that should be considered in policy implementation and change management in Nigeria, the nature of structural and infrastructural problems and wider societal context, and the ways in which conceptions of organisations and the variables that impact on organisations¿ capability to engage in policy implementation and change management differ from those in the West. Design/methodology/approach - A qualitative approach in the form of a case study was used to track the transformation of a policy into practice through examining the assumptions and expectations about policy implementation of the organisations financing the policy's implementation through an examination of relevant documents concerning policy, strategy and guidelines on change management and policy implementation from these global organisations, and the Nigerian national health policy document. The next stages of field visits explored the assumptions, expectations and experiences of a) policy makers, government officials, senior managers and civil servants responsible for implementing policy in federal-level agencies through an interview programme and observations; and b) those of sub-federal or local-level managers responsible for service-level policy implementation of the health insurance scheme through an interview programme. Findings - There are conflicts between the rational linear approaches to change management and policy implementation advocated by supra-nationals, which argue that these processes can be controlled and managed by the rational autonomous individual, and the narratives of those who have personal experience of the quest for 'health for all'. The national health policy document mirrors the ideology of the global organisations that emphasise reform, efficiencies and private enterprise. However, the assumptions of these global organisations have little relevance to a Nigerian societal and organisational context, as experienced by the senior officials and managers interviewed. The very nature of organisations is called into question in a Nigerian context, and the problems of structure and infrastructure and ethnic and religious divisions in society seep into organisations, influencing how organisation is enacted. Understandings of the purpose and function of leadership and the workforce are also brought into question. Additionally, there are religion-based barriers to policy implementation, change management and organisational life which are rarely experienced in the West. Furthermore, in the absence of future re-orientation, the concept of strategy and vision seems redundant, as is the rationale for a health insurance scheme for the majority of the population. The absence of vision and credible information further hinder attempts to make decisions or to define the basis for determining results. Practical implications - The study calls for a revised approach to engaging with Nigerian organisations and an understanding of what specific terms mean in that context. For instance, the definitions and understanding of organisations and capacity are different from those used in the West and, as such, bring into question the relevance and applicability of Western-derived models or approaches to policy implementation and change management. A framework with four dimensions - societal context, external influences, seven organisational variables and infrastructural/structural problems - was devised to capture the particular ambiguities and complexities of Nigerian organisations involved in policy implementation and change management. Originality/value - This study combines concepts in management studies with those in policy studies, with the use of narrative approaches to the understanding of policy implementation and change management in a Nigerian setting. Elements of culture, religion and ethical values are introduced to further the understanding of policy making and implementation in non-Western contexts.

Equality is one of the most debated topics of our time. In Sweden, the work on gender equality has been shaped by the strategy of gender mainstreaming since 1994. Gender mainstreaming not only affects the undertaking of gender equality issues at the national level, but also at the local level. Despite this, there is limited knowledge regarding the implementation of gender mainstreaming in municipalities, particularly from perspectives other than feminist ones. Therefore, this study focuses on the implementation of gender mainstreaming in three Swedish municipalities and also highlights the potential impact of organizational culture on gender equality efforts. The thesis is a multiple case study that aims to study the extent to which municipal organizational culture influences the implementation process. This aim is formulated based on previous research in this field, which suggests that organizational culture affects implementation processes. The organizational culture in the municipalities is extensively examined through the lens of capability to change. The research questions are answered through text analysis of gender equality policies and interviews with officials in each municipality. The findings of this thesis show that organizational cultures in municipalities have the potential to influence the implementation of gender mainstreaming in different stages of the implementation process. The study identifies differences in the organizational capability to change, both within and between the municipalities. The study also finds that certain aspects of the municipalities’ organizational culture can affect the implementation of gender mainstreaming. Additionally, the study has found that both management models and path dependency may be factors that impact gender mainstreaming efforts, even though this was not the primary focus of the study.

This descriptive case study builds on Johnsson’s (2017) The Strategic Colonels. It aims to further the understanding of the military as a political actor by studying the discretion of naval commanders. It mainly contributes by adding a naval perspective to the research on policy implementation.The study is based on Lipsky’s (2010) theory of policy implementation and supplemented with Adler’s (2001) theory of governance, which is used to include the moral dimension of discretion emphasised by Burk (2009). The study uses public documents and in-depth interviews to examine the discretion of Swedish naval commanders during the ongoing national sea surveillance operation and the contributionsto the UNIFIL and the EUNAVFOR-S.The study partly confirms the result of Johnsson (2017) by showing that naval commanders had greater discretion during international operations than during national operations. Nationally, however, naval commanders had greater discretion than expected. In addition, the study shows that moral factors limit discretion both nationally and internationally, which implies that there are previously underestimated obstacles and opportunities for policy implementation.

The policy to reduce teenage pregnancy in England has been used as a case study to explore health policy sustainability. Between 2010 and 2015 many areas across England sustained and improved their conception rate reductions following implementation of the 2000-2010 national Teenage Pregnancy Strategy. Little is known of the factors underpinning these successes in the policy context beyond 2010. This thesis investigates sustained and improved reductions in teenage pregnancy in local authority areas post 2010. The broader political and economic context in which policy is shaped is examined, and the influence of New Public Managerialism considered. The findings suggest three overarching themes which impact on policy sustainability: leadership; understanding the issue; and resources. The thesis develops a seven elements framework, identifying factors to be analysed for policy sustainability. The thesis makes a unique contribution to the understanding of teenage pregnancy policy, providing a detailed review of local actions post 2010. It further adds to the body of knowledge regarding policy sustainability with the development of the seven elements framework. In addition, the thesis is presented at a notable point in history, as the global Covid-19 pandemic takes hold across the world. This situation is considered in the light of insights from the thesis and implications for the policy context into the future are contemplated.

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