This study examines the implementation of Balanced Scorecard (BSC) in health care organisations. BSC, a management control model based on measurements in different perspectives, has become one of the most popular performance measurement models during the last two decades and widely adopted in practice. However, studies have noticed that models are rarely used in the same way in different settings. From the perspective of Scandinavian institutionalism, a model that is moved from one place to another has been "translated." Translation is a process in which an abstract idea is transferred into an object, developed into practical use, and stabilised into an institution. The purpose of this study is to contribute to the understanding of how a management control model influences and is influenced by the medical professional context. The ambition is to investigate how BSC has been translated in the Swedish and the Canadian health care contexts. Furthermore the purpose is to develop our understanding of measurements in professional organisations and to develop our understanding of the translation process. The study shows that the main purpose of implementing BSC in the health care organisations is to support improvements in the quality of care. Whereas a free translation process in the Swedish case allowed actors to interpret and reinterpret the model and to create specific performance measurements for reporting professional performance, a controlled translation process in the Canadian case resulted in medical professionals being unable to reinterpret the model. Instead, BSC came to represent the private company's way of acting, declaring disciplinary accountability and shifting interest from public administration and towards the business firm. Based on the findings, this study stresses that a model can materialize both in the forms of practical use and talk, and that different translations can result in disputes and negotiations among actors with different interests. This study also analyses and develops the concept of transparency, and suggests that actors will use different performance measurements depending on what type of transparency (openness, visibility or hyaline) is requested. Finally, it is suggested that disciplinary accountability may result in actors focusing on finding the perfect measurements, whereas socializing form of accountability may create a greater focus on reciprocal accountability for improvements.

Nowadays actors within the business context are presented with a vast menu of different ideas which they can potentially adopt. This begs the question why actors choose to adopt a specific idea out of all the other available options. Our study explores the theoretical topic concerning travel of ideas, through the empirical context of leaders who practice extreme athleticism. The research question is: How and why do leaders adopt the idea of extreme athleticism? To answer this question, we assort several theoretical insights into six themes that are foremost predicated upon Scandinavian institutionalist contributions. The six themes are translation, previous practices, strategic purposes, fashion, legitimacy, and field, which is synthesised into a novel conceptual framework to help us understand how and why actors adopt an idea. The study is qualitative and collects data from 12 semi-structured interviews and 48 newspaper articles. Our main finding is that each of the six themes explored in this study are salient and helps us understand how and why actors adopt an idea, with a particular emphasis on the interplay between the intrinsic and extrinsic benefits. A suggestion for further research is therefore to develop and refine the conceptual model presented in this study.

The aim of this study was to comprehend and explain the idea and function of Case Management and its diffusion in Swedish municipalities. More specifically its aim was to investigate factors for the diffusion of Case Management and its differences to similar professional roles. The study was based on interviews with four managers at various levels and two case managers representing two municipalities in Sweden. Five themes were identified that were especially interesting when discussing the function of Case Management, its differences to similar professional roles and its diffusion in Swedish municipalities. The themes were: shortcomings in the welfare system, the functions of Case Management, differences to similar professional roles, descriptions of Case Management and factors for the diffusion. The analysis was based on organizational institutionalism and translation, as well as previous research on Case Management and the diffusion of ideas. As a conclusion Case Management was described as a revolutionizing method that would import evidence based social work in the organization. That, and the obvious effort to adapt and integrate Case Management in the institutionalized metods and values of Swedish welfare organizations were factors for the diffusion. Case Management also turned out to be a similar method to the already established profession personligt ombud, wherefor Case Management can be seen as a relaunch of personligt ombud.

This study explains the process of how Kista bibliotek, a library in Stockholm, evolves from being an idea to a running activity. The library is created in a time of change, both political and economical and is supposed to meet many different goals set from many different actors. The library is placed in one of Stockholm’s biggest shopping centres, Kista galleria and close to Kista science city which is an important midpoint for international businesses and science. Kista is also an area of segregation and socioeconomic problems and the library want to connect the different ‘worlds’ and together; the local people, businesses and the community create an environment which to be proud of. With new institutionalism as theoretical frameworks and with the use of qualitative interviews and unobtrusive observations, this paper shows how the original idea transforms throughout different levels of the organization. How the library evolves to be both traditional and progressive, how it meets the needs of the locals and work with the commercial environment to fulfil their mission to be a public place in the middle a commercial shopping centre. This study portrays a picture of a library which is moves between different organizational fields, between the private and public sector to achieve the goal of being a modern library in a modern world.

We live in a turbulent environment in which the unpredictability of crises is unprecedented. Following this, crisis management literature has shifted from traditional planned and process-based approaches to contemporary concepts that emphasize reactivity. Although contemporary scholars label traditional approaches as outdated, it remains unknown if real organizations agree. The question thus becomes, how do different organizations apply crisis management theory in practice and what influences the design of their systems? This qualitative study relies on focus groups and interviews from SMEs, large, and state-owned organizations. The empirical findings show that predominantly traditional crisis management systems are utilized. The systems are mainly proactive when crisis vulnerability is limited but extend to include a reactive and flexible strategic element when the organization is large and faces unpredictable crises. Relying on a purely contemporary crisis management system is rare but possible, as demonstrated by one small organization. Overall, the crisis management design is influenced by size, organizational structure, crisis vulnerability, identity, expert opinions, similar organizations and where the responsibility for crisis management is placed in the organization.  Practitioners can use this study to understand how to apply traditional and contemporary crisis management systems. Scholars can use this study to understand the gap between theory and practice, which opens several avenues for further research that concern influences and characteristics of real crisis management systems.

The rise in popularity of the concept of sustainability has brought along many theoretical models and tools that promise to facilitate the sustainability transition of those who use them. One of those tools is the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development, which several organisations have already used. However, what happens to this framework once it leaves its written format and is used by actual organisations? To help us answer this question, we have conducted semi-structured interviews with six organisations with the support of documentary research. All of which have used the framework. We then used thematic analysis to analyse the data. To interpret the results, we combined the perspectives of Scandinavian Institutionalism theory with a focus on translation and Change Management. The findings suggest that the motivation before selecting the framework plays a critical role in the way it is translated to practice. Early communication efforts may also influence the way the employees of an organisation perceive the framework and hence influence if they will resist its adoption. The framework does not maintain its integral theoretical form when organisations adopt it. Most of the organisations completely discarded one of its components. One organisation changed another almost beyond recognition. But at the same time, they recognise it as a uniquely good guiding tool. It also appears that among the components, the sustainability principles and the ABCD-procedure are almost always effectively translated and serve organisations’ sustainability objectives.

Rapid technological development and change in modern society is unprecedented in history.Digitalization and automation of business processes is widely seen as a way of streamliningorganisations and changing institutional settings in them. The impact on individuals andorganisations raison d’etre increases as they face stronger institutional pressure from differentstakeholders. As with every thought that comes to mind, the process of translation tries to remedythe gap in individuals and organisations different outlooks. Grounded in theory of institutionallogics and translation, the authors of this paper set out to approach this institutional complexity byinvestigating it through a lens of these theories. We find that the market and corporate logic areinfluencing all of the organisations, but which of the logics that is most likely to be constituteddepends to a high degree on the local translation process. The translation that is produced dependson the institutional environment that is predominant in the organization. For the organization to besuccessful in rapid technological development and change, a thorough understanding of theincremental institutional complexity is paramount. / Snabb teknisk utveckling och förändring i det moderna samhället är oöverträffad i historien.Digitalisering och automatisering av affärsprocesser ses allmänt som ett sätt att effektiviseraorganisationer och ändra den institutionella sammansättningen i dem. Påverkan på individer ochorganisationers existensberättigande ökar när de står inför starkare institutionellt tryck från olikaintressenter. Översättningsprocessen försöker här avhjälpa klyftan i individers och organisationersolika perspektiv som uppstår när nya idéer får fäste. Grundade i teorin om institutionella logikeroch översättning, försöker författarna till denna uppsats att närma sig denna institutionellakomplexitet genom att använda en lins av dessa teorier. Vi finner att marknads- och företagslogikenpåverkar alla organisationer, men vilken logik som sannolikt kommer att få fäste beror i hög gradpå den lokala översättningsprocessen. Översättningen som produceras beror på den institutionellamiljön som dominerar organisationen. För att organisationen ska lyckas med en snabb tekniskutveckling och förändring, är en grundlig förståelse för den inkrementella institutionellakomplexiteten är avgörande.

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In the context of New Public Management, concepts such as lean have had a major impact among organizations in recent years with efficiency ideas based on customer focus. Moreover, the benefits of lean have served as solutions to the problems and challenges facing the public service. However, previous research is limited in public authority contexts to understand its applicability. The Swedish Social Insurance Agency is a public authority that started implementing lean in 2012 with the aim of streamlining its flow with continuous improvements based on customer value. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to examine how lean is expressed from idea to practice in two departments of the Swedish Social Insurance Agency as a public authority context. This, by illustrating the translation process of the management idea as a strategy based on a strategic and an operational department as an overall level and the everyday work within the core activity at the micro level. Thus, lean is a broad and flexible concept, but the focus of this thesis is on the concepts flow and value. Institutional theory and Scandinavian institutional theory, especially translation theory have been used to apply a model of decontextualization, translation arenas and contextualization, as well as central translators. This to understand how ideas are raised from a practice through various arenas and translated into another practice. To achieve the purpose of this thesis, a two-case study was conducted by the lean introduction of these two departments. Semi-structured interviews have been conducted with central managers and employees in the departments as well as with external consultants who have been involved in and influenced introduction of lean. This, in order to understand how the concepts have been translated from arenas and translators at two comparative levels. This thesis also contains internal documents and annual reports as well as observations that have been studied. Results presented in the paper contribute to existing research, with the translation of lean at the strategic and operational level within a public authority context. As such, the results indicate that translation is ongoing everywhere where a link between public and private activities is a way of how ideas are disseminated and translated. In addition, the introduction of lean in the departments had been introduced and tested to a minor extent at the strategic department before the introduction as a top-down process of the entire authority through informal relationships with Scania and Toyota. Analysis shows that the local translation process in both cases is an adaptation between lean and practice. Furthermore, lean did not change the everyday work completely, but was translated in a way that supported how the departments were organized before, rather than radically changing them. Additionally, the analysis shows that the translation of lean was affected by the private sector and other organizations in the area. The various arenas and translators play an important role in how lean is translated into practice. Adaptation to the organizational context is also important for the idea to be successful. However, the thesis shows that a formal actor is required to add energy to maintain the commitment with lean. / I en kontext av New Public Management har idéer som lean fått en stor genomslagskraft bland organisationer på senare tid med effektivitetstankar utifrån ett kundfokus. Vidare, har fördelarna med lean fungerat som lösningar på de problem och utmaningar som offentlig tjänsteverksamhet står inför. Därutöver är tidigare forskning begränsat inom myndighetskontexter för att förstå dess tillämpbarhet. Forskning belyser att empiriska och teoretiska studier efterfrågas på mikronivå inom kärnverksamheters vardagliga arbete i kombination med en övergripande nivå vid införande av management-koncept. Försäkringskassan är en myndighet som påbörjade implementeringen av lean år 2012 i syfte att effektivisera sitt flöde med ständiga förbättringar utifrån kunden i centrum. Av den anledningen är uppsatsens syfte att undersöka hur lean kommer till uttryck från idé till praktik på två av Försäkringskassans avdelningar som en offentlig myndighetskontext. Detta genom att belysa översättningsprocessen av managementidén som verksamhetsstrategi utifrån en strategisk respektive en operativ avdelning som arbetar med övergripande strategi och kärnverksamhet på mikronivå. Lean är således ett brett och flexibelt begrepp, men fokus i uppsatsen är på koncepten flöde och värde. Institutionell teori, skandinavisk institutionell teori och i synnerhet översättningsteori har använts för att tillämpa en modell av dekontextualisering, översättningsarenor och kontextualisering samt centrala översättare. Detta för att förstå hur idéer lyfts från en praxis via olika arenor och översätts till en annan praxis.  För att uppnå syftet har en tvåfallstudie genomförts av lean-införandet på dessa två avdelningar. Semistrukturerade intervjuer har gjorts med centrala chefer och medarbetare på avdelningarna samt med externa konsulter som varit med och påverkat införandet. Detta för att förstå hur koncepten översatts utifrån arenor och översättare på två jämförande nivåer. Uppsatsen innehåller även interna dokument och årsredovisningar samt observationer som studerats. Uppsatsens resultat ger bidrag till existerande forskning, med översättning av lean på strategisk och operativ nivå inom en myndighetskontext. Resultaten tyder på att översättning pågår ständigt överallt där en koppling mellan offentlig och privat verksamhet är ett sätt för hur idéer sprids och översätts. Införandet av lean testades i mindre omfattning på den strategiska avdelningen innan införandet en top-down process på hela myndigheten genom informella relationer till Scania och Toyota. Analyserna visar på att den lokala översättningsprocessen i båda fallen är en anpassning mellan lean och praxis. Dessutom förändrade inte lean det vardagliga arbetet helt utan översattes på ett sätt som avdelningarna sedan tidigare varit organiserade, istället för att radikalt förändra dem. Vidare visar analysen att översättningen av lean påverkades av privat sektor och andra organisationer i omgivningen. De olika arenorna och översättarna fyller en viktig funktion i hur lean översätts till praktiken. Anpassning till den organisatoriska kontexten är även viktig för att idén ska bli framgångsrik. Emellertid visar uppsatsen att en formell aktör krävs för att tillföra energi för att behålla engagemanget för lean.