No description available.

There is a need to learn more about how managers use accounting information. This thesis investigates how managers make use of business reports; as they are one of the ways managers receive information. Previous research was found to broadly correspond to four important aspects affecting how managers make use of business reports; aggregation, timeliness, flexibility and dimensions. A case study was conducted at NCC Construction. The main findings from this study are that managers have the possibility to view information in the reports at their desired level of specificity and they are not concerned about the issue of timeliness. Furthermore they are satisfied with flexibility in reports, but wish for more capabilities and do not desire non-financial information in reports. Therefore the four aspects are found to no longer be a hindrance to managers in their use of business reports as much as could be expected from previous studies. Technological developments and business practices are found to have changed managerial work. Reporting has become faster and is more accurately reflecting the real world operations, making business reports more useful to managers.

Since the inception of economic reform, China has undergone comprehensive changes which have stimulated substantial research on various aspects of Chinese society. In recent years, research on management and organisation in China has grown rapidly, but with relatively little attention being devoted to the ethnographic analysis of private enterprises, despite the fact that such enterprises play a crucial role in China’s economy and make a significant contribution to labour employment. A lack of close, personal and meaningful access to everyday organisational activities is often cited as one of the main reasons preventing such research. This thesis attempts to fill the gap through investigating the everyday nature of management and managerial work in seven large private shipbuilding enterprises in China. In so doing it seeks to provide ethnographic answers to one main question – what are the characteristic features of the emerging management systems employed in private enterprises in contemporary China? In so doing the research investigates how such systems have evolved and the ways in which they impact on the nature of everyday managerial work.Research that seeks to understand the reality of management and managerial work however is not research that deals exclusively with static or structural organisational phenomena. Instead it is also research that requires sensitivity to changing events and processes – ones that interact constantly with elements of a complex and dynamic environment. It is argued here that such research demands a theoretical framework capable not only of appreciating the diversity of formal management systems in contemporary China, but which can also incorporate informal social and cultural factors into its analysis. To establish sensitivity both to structural and cultural phenomena the research approach developed here is one that combines two, very different, sociological theories - labour process theory (LPT, derived from Braverman, 1974) and Chaxugeju theory (derived from Fei, 1947). On the one hand, LPT offers a framework for appreciating structural forces stimulating changes to management systems and managerial work. On the other hand, Chaxugeju theory facilitates appreciation of how cultural, historical and social factors are synthesized in rules and principles that characterise the operation of society and the values and logics that guide human action, Taken together, the combination of LPT and Chaxugeju facilitates the analytical connection of micro and macro forms of analysis, and thus the appreciation of a range of interacting systems (economic, ideological, social etc.) of relevance to understanding the nature of management and work organization in contemporary China.Given the nature and form of both the research questions and theoretical framework, a research design based on ethnography is chosen as the primary methodological approach. As the research not only studies the systems of management in China’s private enterprises, but also managerial experiences, behaviour and subjectivity in relation to changing circumstances, an ethnographic approach that commits extensive time to the field, interacts extensively with actors, generates rich data, and detailed and ‘thick’ description of the observed works well for this research. As to the case study organisations, shipbuilding companies were chosen for three main reasons: (i) the importance of shipbuilding industry to the Chinese economy, (ii) the rapid growth and significance of private enterprises in the industry, and (iii) (at a more personal level) the extensive connections and previous work experience of the researcher in the shipbuilding sector. At a general level, the findings reported in the thesis reflect that the evolution of management systems in China’s private enterprises is the product of the interaction of a range of internal factors specific to the firm and many external forces related to China’s transitional economy. As such, issues of cultural, social and historical inheritance are assessed together with those of economic interaction/processes of globalisation to document how these forces influence events at the organisational level. On the one hand, the research describes trends towards convergence with the status and nature of ‘global’ managerial work, despite a Chinese firm’s specific ownership origins, current ownership status, and (re)structuring strategies. In so doing the data demonstrate how managerial work in China’s private enterprises is experiencing fundamental changes; for example, the on-set of greater job scope, knowledge/skill levels, organizational control, responsibilities, incentive mechanisms, and relationship-based managerial ethics. On the other hand, the findings also suggest that within China’s transitional economy, private firms still incorporate aspects of traditional Chinese management. Such methods are often reminiscent of erstwhile state-owned practices and can function as a strategy for minimizing internal resistance to change. Findings suggest that the current ‘hybrid’ character of management in private enterprises in China will endure for a considerable period of time. China’s traditional management and its values still have a strong influence on firm practices, especially in terms of people management. In many respects the social character of the workplace functions in the spirit of Chaxugeju, with the fundamental organisational rules and behavioural patterns remaining largely unchanged, as individual-based social relationships substitute for formal institutions in the firm. These findings are all explained through detailed ethnographic description and analysis. Finally, perhaps the major contribution of the research which underpins this thesis is to reduce the gap between the perception and reality of management and managerial work in China’s private firms. Insights into the daily working lives of managers are provided which reveal the deep philosophies underlying apparently rationalized practices and behaviours. Research on such intimate management phenomena is of benefit to organizational research in that it supplements the more ‘global’ style of analysis common in appreciations of Chinese corporate behaviour. The study thus adds a deeper, qualitative level of analysis to the mainstream managerial research landscape on China. Theoretically it shows the practicability and value of combining an indigenous Chinese theory (Chaxugeju) with an established western paradigm (LPT) to analyze and interpret ethnographic organisational phenomena. It thus reminds us of the importance of looking beyond the boundary of specific academic theories when developing and applying our ideas, especially when exploring international and transitional economies.

Cette thèse examine le travail des cadres intermédiaires, leur expérience subjective du travail et leur construction de réalité(s) organisationnelle(s). Le matériau empirique provient d’un travail de terrain ethnographique réalisé sur plusieurs sites au sein d’une entreprise Brésilienne d’audit et de consulting de taille moyenne. Le cœur de cette thèse est constitué de trois articles indépendants. Le premier de ces articles conceptualise l’émergence et la nature du travail-frontière des cadres intermédiaires comme un moyen de favoriser le travail collaboratif entre des acteurs organisationnels multiples, aux perspectives et intérêts souvent divergents. Le travail-frontière est à la fois un transfert de connaissances, une traduction d’interprétations et une transformation d’intérêts au départ incompatibles entre différents groupes organisationnels. Un cadre conceptuel – composé de huit conditions structurelles, sept types de travail-frontière des cadres intermédiaires et neuf conséquences structurelles – est proposé et mobilisé, illustrant par ses implications pratiques et théoriques la compréhension de l’effort de stimulation de la collaboration trans-fonctionnelle réalisé par le cadre intermédiaire. Le deuxième article de cette thèse étudie l’expérience subjective des cadres intermédiaires lorsqu’ils ont à réaliser un tel travail-frontière d’adaptation mutuelle de différents groupes organisationnels. Nous réalisons cette étude en nous appuyant sur le concept de « sujet-frontière » proposé par Huzzard et al. (2010), lequel intègre les responsabilités professionnelles des cadres intermédiaires, et nous montrons les répercussions ambivalentes de la situation d’entre-deux du travail des cadres intermédiaires dans leur expérience subjective du travail. Le troisième article se penche sur la plus importante des branches de l’entreprise observée afin d’étudier comment les travailleurs intermédiaires de cette branches se détournent des directives du siège. Nous avons recours au concept Baudrillardien (1983) de simulacre afin de mettre en évidence trois pratiques de simulation mises en œuvre dans cette branche, chacune d’entre elles appartenant à un ordre dont le degré de prise de distance est toujours plus élevé relativement aux pratiques du siège auxquelles elles se réfèrent. Cet article met en lumière les rôles et les buts des cadres intermédiaires dans la création et le maintien de pratiques simulées, et avance que le management simultané de « réalités » alternatives peut fournir aux cadres intermédiaires un moyen d’augmenter leur champ d’influence, à la fois symboliquement et matériellement. / This dissertation investigates middle-managers’ work, experience of work, and construction of organizational reality. It draws its empirical material upon a seven month multi-site ethnographic fieldwork within a medium-sized Brazilian auditing and consulting firm. The core of this dissertation is constituted of three independent papers. The first of these papers sets out a conceptualization of the emergence and nature of middle-managers’ boundary work as a means of fostering collaborative work among distinct, and often divergent, organizational actors. Boundary work consists of the transference of knowledge, the translation of understandings, and the transformation of interests that are mismatched across organizational groups. A conceptual framework composed of eight structural conditions, seven types of middle-managerial boundary work and nine structural consequences is advanced and mobilized, illustrating its theoretical and practical implications for understanding middle-managers’ work of fostering cross-functional collaboration. The second paper of this dissertation studies the subjective experience of middle-managers while performing such a boundary work of interfacing different organizational groups. This is done by building upon the concept of ‘boundary subjects’ proposed by Huzzard et al. (2010), which encapsulates such work responsibilities, and by demonstrating the ambivalent repercussions of the in-betweenness of middle-managers’ work in their subjective experience of performing this work. The third paper focus on the most important of BAMA’s branches to study how the middle-managers from this branch deviate from headquarters directives. The Baudrillardian (1983) concept of the simulacrum is drawn upon to structure the demonstration of three distinct simulated practices engaged in at the branch, each pertaining to an order defined by an increasingly distance from the corresponding headquarters practices. This paper highlights middle-managers’ roles and purposes in creating and maintaining simulated practices, and posits that the simultaneous management of alternative ‘realities’ may provide a way for middle-managers to expand their power, in both symbolic and material terms.

This thesis is concerned with the work of business leaders. The interest lies in the holders of positions as Chairpersons, Boardmembers and Managing Directors. This study, however, goes beyond the position holder to consider the actions of actors, as they operate within networks with concurrent multiple business activities. The purpose is to generate knowledge and understanding of the activities and relations of multibusiness leaders involved in managing small and medium-sized companies. Major schools of thought on the manager's job are described. The review relates the scientific debate about different schools and emphasises the need for more inductive research. The call for processual and contextual analysis leads to an epistemological position grounded in understanding through interpretation. The method used in this study adopts such an approach, and thus aims to discover qualities of the studied phenomenon based on social constructivism. Empirical reality is approached by means of intensive studies of a few cases. Case descriptions of the work of multibusiness leaders in the National, Regional, Intermediary, Independent, and Developing Networks are undertaken, where the inter­action processes of the different actors are described according to the working life his­tory of the actor, and to the networking and work activities carried out. The analysis is based upon four themes (the actor's 'task legitimacy', 'economic legi­timacy', 'idea development' and 'network'). The first two themes have been given the generic term 'legitimacy concept', not only to reflect the interactive and changeable aspects of work, but also to illustrate how work in itself is intimately interwoven in an institutional context. The creation of 'task legitimacy' and 'economic legitimacy' of the leaders is analysed. The analysis of the actors' idea development results in a description of differing visions in the individual networks. This description takes up visions covering long-term industrial leadership, regional co-operative leadership, restructuring leadership, flexible market-adaptive leadership and network-based leadership. In a survey of the existing literature, the role of a leader is seen as one of many managerial roles, a view that is based upon the work of Mintzberg (1973). This study contrasts with the above picture, by discussing a reciprocal dependency between the leader's leadership role and his/her other roles. This reciprocity and concurrency is dealt with by introducing the concept of identity as a theoretical aid, thus reflecting in a more appropriate way the complex and interactive actor. The social identity concept (Tajfel, 1982) is used, in order to answer more profoundly the research questions. As leaders are reciprocally dependent on a network for their own existence, we must both look inward in order to be able to understand at a deeper level the actors' motives, and look outward to be able to look at identity creation in a wider industry context. What I have termed näringslivsledaridentitet (the Identity of Multibusiness Leaders), is a substantial part of this study's findings. The concept is used in order to be able to describe how the actors' inner and outer motives merge in identity creating processes. The actors' different patterns of interaction are absorbed into a composite whole. / digitalisering@umu

This thesis deals with how managerial work sets the agenda for managerial learning in small firms. Although studies of learning in organizations are numerous, research on managerial learning in the small-firm context is limited. In particular, our knowledge of managerial learning suffers from an insufficient understanding of what top managers in small firms do. The primary purpose of this thesis is to describe how the work of small-firm managers sets the agenda for managerial learning, and how their learning can be supported. Additionally, the thesis explores the use of so-called “Action Technologies” in supporting managerial learning in small firms.Drawing on an observational study of six owner-managers in small (17-43 employees) manufacturing firms, and a synthesis of earlier studies, this thesis shows that three features of managerial work shape managerial learning in small firms: The small firm’s top manager (i) operates in context with specific structural conditions that affect his/her behavior, (ii) have certain cognitive predispositions guiding his/her behavior, and (iii) have certain behavioral preferences directing his/her behavior.The main argument in this thesis is that managerial learning in small firms is made difficult due to features that make it hard to come to a point where learning (in terms of reflection and conceptualization) is given time and resources, as the manager has trouble in finding time for learning, and as learning risks to become low-priority. Learning is also difficult due to barriers related to the learning process: the work of the manager fosters a superficial learning orientation, makes it difficult to probe deeply into and to develop complicated understandings of issues at hand, and makes peer-learning rarely possible.Drawing on an action research project of managerial learning in four networks of small-firm owner-managers, the thesis also explores, in a concrete manner, how managerial learning might be supported in a way that circumvents the deficient situation for managerial learning in this kind of firm. More specifically, it seems that Action Technologies by their design constitute a learning context that supports the learning of the small-firm top manager by dissolving the barriers to learning identified above. / <p>Original papers included. Paper III, "Managerial behavior in small firms - a critical analysis of evidence from observational studies" changed title to "Managerial work in small firms: summarising what we know and sketching a research agenda".</p>

Managerial work has been described as fragmented, action-oriented, and highly interpersonal, leaving limited room for formal planning and analysis. Even so, managers are expected to engage with accounting information for planning and analysing their area of responsibility. Accounting information has, however, been found to be tardy, aggregated, and incomplete, leading managers to rely on a wide set of additional informational resources. Still, managers’ doings and concerns tend to remain largely in the background in much management accounting research, which leaves us with limited knowledge of how accounting information comes into play in managers’ work. Moreover, technologies aimed at accommodating managers’ information needs are becoming increasingly sophisticated, and allow for timelier and more precise accounting information. This gradual transformation of technologies has led to questions concerning how management accounting is practised, and how it is related to accounting information systems. The aim of this dissertation is to identify roles of accounting information in managerial work in order to better understand the link between managerial work and management accounting systems. The dissertation consists of two volumes, each with three papers and a summary appraisal. The empirical material consists of interviews with a cross-sectional sample of mainly first-line managers, and a study of a construction firm including interviews with higher- and lower-level managers, observations of workshops where higher-level managers and staff discuss the management accounting systems, and internal documents. Overall, this dissertation suggests four roles of accounting information, based on its capacity to serve as representation, translation, key and perspective. Essentially, these roles reflect the ability of accounting information to both aggregate and disaggregate “reality”. The potential of each of these roles is shaped by managerial, organisational and technological issues, and is not always easily realised. The potential of these roles is particularly challenged in an environment with many local contexts. By accentuating what makes accounting information more and less valuable vis-à-vis other informational resources, this dissertation adds clarity to the emerging body of literature on managers’ situated use of accounting information, and to the debate on information technologies and management accounting.

Since the early 1990s, the rapid growth of international hotel chains and its effects on managerial work have drawn the attention of researchers (Gilbert & Guerrier, 1997 and Ladkin & Juwaheer 2000). There is a current need to investigate how management in hotels is adapting to the significant change in the last decade (McKenney, 2016). The contemporary Hotel General Manager’s (HGM’s) role, responsibility, and ultimately autonomy, are seen to be largely influenced by the owners, management companies or the franchise the hotel is operating under. “Understanding the scope and limits of HGMs decision autonomy is an understudied yet important topic for hospitality research” Hodari & Sturman, 2014 p.434 How management is practiced at the highest level in the hotel is the research problem to be investigated. Kotter (2010), Whitley (1989) and Hales (1986) emphasised how the nature of managerial work is closely linked to its organisational context. Accepting that managerial work is shaped and exercised in context (Dierdorff et al, 2009; Akrivos, Ladkin and Reklitis 2007), the aim of this research is to explore and understand the way in which contemporary HGMs manage and what influences how they manage. This work aims to shed light on hotel general management across three contemporary business models in the operating environment of Aberdeen city and Aberdeenshire. The research strategy will be interpretivist, with a qualitative approach taken to elicit HGMs’ experiences about their working life and chosen activity to understand the influences on their management practice. Dann (1990), credits Hales (1987) with providing a methodology, which allows the conduct of managerial work to be placed within the context of the management process. On account of this Hale’s five broad questions are built into the interview schedule. Semi-structured face-to-face interviews are held with HGMs who were members of the Aberdeen City and Shire Hotel Association. This Association has a membership of thirty-eight hotels operating through private, chain and franchise models. In total 21 HGMs are interviewed. From this data a profile of the HGM is provided, as found in each of the three ownership/business models (private, chain and franchise). The data were analysed by the constant comparison method. This study contributes to the body of research through looking at what HGM’s actually do, and how these individuals practice management. This work provides new knowledge in the form of a model, which maps out the identified management context (characteristics) that influence HGM behaviour/activity and the consequences for management across business models surveyed. The business model under which the HGM manages is found to be the primary influence on HGM activity and behaviour. The work sheds light on the meaning of work, and why it is the way it is. At the first level of analysis management context across three business models is identified. These then map onto the second level of analysis, which explains how these influences shape management behaviour and activity. The model identifies consequences for management across the business models. The proposition in the study is that HGMs have not been de-skilled; they have instead prioritised skills and activity in line with the demands of the business model and the ownership style under which they manage. In effect new skills have been learnt, and behaviour and activity tailored to meet the contemporary demands in context of the business model. This research has found that although HGMs have the same title, they are found to be very different managers that are managing different things. Not only do the HGMs manage differently the priorities of management are also quite different. The contribution to knowledge is considered at theoretical and practical levels. At the theoretical level a modern take on Taylorism shows that specialisation is relevant to contemporary hotel management. Silos are created on account of the business models, with markedly different ways of hotel services being delivered. The priorities of HGMs, dictated by the business model, are different. The extreme cases being the people centric, long term focus of the private sector manager juxtaposed with the short financial term focus by the chain HGMs. At the practical level, accepting that hotel general management is not homogeneous, and driven by the business model, hotel organisations need to develop their own organisationspecific competency framework for their HGMs. Success across the business models is measured differently; for chain and franchise HGMs there is a need to generate higher gross profits and for results to reported frequently, and for the private sector HGMs success is linked to long term sustainability, serving the community and providing a personal service. A challenge for each HGM in each of the models is managing stakeholders. These stakeholders vary with the model; managing the owners and operating company superiors are vital in chains, while the customers and staff are more important to HGMs in private model. For HGMs in both chain and franchise business models activity and behaviour is influenced by the need to ensure brand compliance through standard operating procedures.

The Diploma Work analyses problems connected with the stimulation of creative invention in managerial work of managerial employees at public administration of Municipality at Sternberk.It contains advancement proposals and strategies motivating managerial employees, which will increase the productivity of all employees and improve working relationship between the management and employees.

Este estudo versa sobre a construção do saber gerencial e a conformação de competências gerenciais ao enfermeiro na formação acadêmica. Tem como objetivos: analisar as demandas gerenciais na práxis profissional do enfermeiro inserido no processo de organização do trabalho em saúde e em Enfermagem, determinadas pelas Políticas de Saúde, e analisar o processo de construção das competências gerenciais do acadêmico de Enfermagem, apreendendo as limitações e estratégias advindas do processo ensino-aprendizagem, em face das Diretrizes Curriculares Nacionais. Trata-se de uma pesquisa fundamentada na Hermenêutica-dialética. Utiliza na coleta de dados a técnica por grupo focal com o aluno, o docente e o enfermeiro de serviço, partícipes do processo ensino-aprendizagem do saber gerencial, no espaço intercessor, nos campos de prática e dos estágios curriculares, no ambiente hospitalar e nos serviços básicos de saúde. A análise de conteúdo aplicada sobre os resultados identifica duas grandes categorias empíricas. Na categoria formação, englobam-se as subcategorias: - construção das dimensões do saber gerencial: processo ensino-aprendizagem nos recortes da relação teoria e prática, das estratégias de ensino-aprendizagem e, das competências dos sujeitos neste processo; - conformação de competências gerenciais, em face das Diretrizes Curriculares Nacionais, abarcando o perfil do profissional: o exigido e o possível e, as parcerias ensino e serviço. Na categoria atuação profissional, identifica-se a subcategoria: organização do processo de trabalho em saúde e em Enfermagem, desmembrada no processo de trabalho gerencial do enfermeiro e nas políticas administrativas institucionais. As categorias analíticas estão fundamentadas nos três eixos teóricos, sendo que, na dimensão estrutural, consideram a proximidade dos dados empíricos ao contexto das transformações determinadas pelas Políticas de Saúde em relação à organização do trabalho em saúde e na Enfermagem e aos modelos assistenciais e gerenciais existentes. Na dimensão particular, a Política da Educação por meio das Diretrizes Curriculares Nacionais e do Projeto Pedagógico do curso, que delineiam a formação do enfermeiro, procurando ajustar a formação à práxis, numa perspectiva transformadora, atendendo às demandas sociais e da vida. Assim também, na dimensão singular, o Ensino da Administração em Enfermagem, nas competências técnico-científica, ético-política, comunicativa e de desenvolvimento da cidadania, em que se consideram as práticas e o Estágio Curricular Supervisionado como momentos intercessores entre a teoria e a prática para a conformação de novas competências gerenciais e a consolidação das adquiridas. Os resultados apontam que, na formação e na práxis do enfermeiro, coexistem os paradigmas antagônicos nas instituições de ensino e de serviço, que ainda atendem aos modelos hegemônicos, na saúde e na Educação. Apresentam alguns avanços para a integralidade na dimensão cuidadora, aplicando a estratégia pedagógica da problematização das situações vivenciadas no cotidiano, e para a integração ensino e serviço. Considera-se que, para a conformação de competências gerenciais, numa perspectiva transformadora, é necessário fortalecer a parceria ensino e serviço, no âmbito inter-institucional, aumentar a adesão entre os sujeitos deste estudo, e criar uma rede de sustentação, aproximando os demais profissionais, os usuários/clientes, construindo no coletivo a formação e a práxis, voltadas para as demandas sociais e da vida / This study is about the construction of managerial knowledge as well as the configuration of managerial competences for nurses during their academic graduation. It aims: to analyze the managerial demands of nurses? professional praxis involved in the process of organizing the health and Nursing work, determined by Health Policies, and to analyze the process of building managerial competences upon Nursing academicians, understanding the limitations and strategies occurred from the teaching and learning process. It is a research founded upon dialectic-Hermeneutics. The technique of the focal group is used in the data collection with, the student, the professor and the nurse on shift, participants on the teaching-learning process of the managerial knowledge, in the interceding space, in the fields of practice and curricular training, in the hospital environment and in the basic health-care services. The analysis of the contents applied to the results identifies two great empirical categories. Within the formation category the following subcategories are embodied: - building up the managerial knowledge dimensions: a teaching-learning process comprising the relation between theory and practice, the strategies of teaching-learning and the individuals? competences in this process; as well as the conformation of managerial competences, face the National Curricular Directives, comprehending the professional?s profile: the required and the possible, and the teaching and service partnerships. Within the professional performance category, it is identified the subcategory as follows: the organization of the working process in health and Nursing, dismembered in the nurse?s managerial work and in the institutional administrative policies. The analytic categories are founded on three main theoretic axis; so that, in the structural dimension it is considered the proximity of empirical data to the context of the transformations determined by the Health Policies regarding the work organization in health and Nursing, and also the present assistance and managerial models. In the private dimension, the Education Policy through the National Curricular Directives and the Pedagogical Project of the course, that outline the nurse?s graduation profile seeking to adjust education to praxis, under a transforming view, attending to social and life demands. And also, in the singular dimension, the Administration Teaching in Nursing, in the techno-scientific, the ethic-politics and the communicative competences as well as in citizenship development in which the Supervised Curricular Training Program is considered as an interceding space between theory and practice for the configuration of new managerial competences and the consolidation of those already acquired. The results point out that in the nurse?s background and praxis coexist the antagonistic paradigms in the teaching and service institutions, which still follow hegemonic models, in health and Education. They present some improvements towards integrality in the caring dimension applying the pedagogic strategy of shaping the problems from the daily situations, and towards the teaching-service integration. It?s considered that for the configuration of managerial competences, under a transforming perspective, it is necessary to strengthen the teaching and service partnership, within the inter-institutional ambit, to increase adhesion between the subjects to this study, and create a new supporting network, approximating the other professionals, and the customers, building up collectively the graduation and the praxis, turned toward social an life demands