Eric Breit

WORK: A Journal of Prevention, Assessment & Rehabilitation 81(2) s. 2651-2661 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/10519815251320275

Shaping Inclusive Workplaces for Persons with Disabilities: A Management and HRM Practitioner Perspective s. 153-163 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-96315-5_12

Abstract This book offers inspiration and knowledge for promoting workplace inclusion for people with disabilities (PWD). The aim of the book has been to provide a practitioner-oriented (executive) teaching resource on this topic, thus placing managers and HRM professionals as practitioners at the heart of attention. While there is an increasing literature on workplace inclusion of PWD and other disadvantaged groups, the actions of managers and HRM practitioners is where new attention is needed. Hence, the overall goal of the book has been to make readers better understand the key ingredients for successful workplace inclusion, along with practical ideas for implementation and strategies to overcome potential challenges.

Shaping Inclusive Workplaces for Persons with Disabilities: A Management and HRM Practitioner Perspective s. 1-14 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-96315-5_1

Søkelys på arbeidslivet 41(3) s. 1-17 Doi: https://doi.org/10.18261/spa.41.3.1

This article investigates employers’ experiences of collaborating with employment services when recruiting individuals with reduced work capacity. The study is based on qualitative interviews with 21 companies that have experience with the inclusion of this target group. We identify four main types of collaboration: unilateral, ad hoc, co-creation, and strategic. These differ from each other based on the proximity to the services and how proactive a role the companies themselves take with the services. The findings indicate that many companies take a significant initiative to ensure that the collaboration works according to the company’s own needs. Where collaboration is challenging, several managers take on the role of social workers and go to great lengths to succeed with inclusion. For employment services, the insights from this article are important to develop good and various types of collaboration depending on the needs of employers.

Nordic Social Work Research 14(2) s. 1-24 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/2156857X.2024.2310110

Public Administration s. 1-26 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/padm.13035

Individualized services are provided under complex conditions, as a variety of factors can affect the ability of a street-level organization to adapt its services to individual needs and circumstances. Especially challenging are tensions between the means of control and standardization following new public management (NPM) and post-NPM ideas of holistic and coordinated services. Through a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis of Norwegian sector-spanning street-level organizations, we show three different configurations that can promote individualized services. These consist of variations of structural circumstances (size, service variety); organizational responses (goal coherence, cross working); and manager capacity (professional background, managerial orientation). Service individualization is not an outcome of the interaction between street-level workers and clients alone, but an outcome of street-level organizations and their managers' use of measures and competencies across service sectors, and of their capacity to develop a shared perception of goals and an organization that handles institutional complexity.

Journal of occupational rehabilitation Doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10926-024-10228-5

Purpose The purpose of the scoping review presented in this article is to map the state-of-the-art and development of empirical research of organizational practices designed to include people with disabilities. It contributes to debates on demand-side approaches in promoting the labour-market participation of people with disabilities. Methods A literature search took place in PsychINFO, Web of Science, Sociological Abstracts and Sociological Index. Articles included empirical studies published between 2000 and 2023. Results The search resulted in 10,535 unique articles of which 146 were included in the review. Organizational inclusion practices have received increasing attention in academic journals in a variety of research fields. In terms of content two groups of studies can be distinguished: hiring studies and studies focusing on organizational practices aimed at employees with disabilities. Hiring studies include studies analysing relationships between a large range of factors and actual hiring or intention to hire as well as studies of a more exploratory nature. Studies focusing on employees with disabilities look at outcomes of specific organizational practices; the conditions promoting their implementation; or explore practices in organizations employing people with disabilities. Discussion Based on the findings of the review three suggestions for future research are discussed: (i) internationally comparative studies; (ii) specific attention to small and medium sized enterprises in studies of inclusion; (iii) systematic reviews as follow-ups to scoping reviews.

The Oxford Handbook of governance and public management for social policy

Journal of Academic Ethics 21 s. 471-495 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10805-022-09469-x

Research integrity is fundamental to the validity and reliability of scientific findings, and for ethical conduct of research. As part of PRINTEGER (Promoting Integrity as an Integral Dimension of Excellence in Research), this study explores the views of researchers, research managers, administrators, and governance advisors in Estonia, Italy, Norway and UK, focusing specifically on their understanding of institutional and organisational influences on research integrity. A total of 16 focus groups were conducted. Thematic analysis of the data revealed that competition is pervasive and appeared in most themes relating to integrity. The structural frameworks for research such as funding, evaluation and publication were thought to both protect and, more commonly, undermine integrity. In addition, institutional systems, including workload and research governance, shaped participants’ day-to-day work environment, also affecting research integrity. Participants also provided ideas for promoting research integrity, including training, and creating conditions that would be supportive of research integrity. These findings support a shift away from individual blame and towards the need for structural and institutional changes, including organisations in the wider research environment, for example funding bodies and publishing companies.

Samhandling og inkludering i arbeidslivet s. 41-71

Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory (JPART) 32(4) s. 736-749 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/muac004

Managers of street-level organizations play an important role in the successful implementation of public reforms. A prevailing view within the public administration literature is that this work involves the adaptation between reforms and local contexts, where divergence is viewed as a form of resistance to change. The paper challenges this prevalent reform-centric view by introducing a situation-centric perspective and coining the concept of situational work as a significant form of managerial work during implementation. Situational work encompasses managerial actions that ensure functional and well-ordered service delivery in local street-level organizations by accomodating everyday situational contingencies, including reform objectives, but also the interests and expectations of workers, clients, and local service partners. The concept of situational work, then, broadens the recognized scope of managerial activities that contribute to successful reform implementation, reconceptualizing divergence from reform design as constructive rather than as resistance to change. The paper draws on an extensive multi-wave study of a major organizational reform in Norway, based on observations of meetings as well as qualitative interviews of managers, union representatives, frontline workers and collaborating partners in six welfare service offices at three points in time (altogether 23 observation sessions and 173 interviews).

Samhandling og inkludering i arbeidslivet s. 266-288

Public Management Review Doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2022.2095004

This paper examines the role of street-level managers in the development of hybrid professionalism. Based on a longitudinal analysis of an organizational reform, we highlight the work of street-level managers in promoting a hybrid ‘social work-like’ professionalism to reconcile social work professionalism with managerial bureaucracy. We highlight four managerial activities – organizational design, discursive reconstruction, R&D project mobilization and legitimization in reform documents – and connect these to enabling and constraining conditions in the reform. Overall, we found that the development of hybrid professionalism is contingent on enabling reform conditions providing material and discursive resources that proactive managers can employ to transform professionalism.

Tidsskrift for velferdsforskning 24(1) s. 7-20 Doi: https://doi.org/10.18261/issn.2464-3076-2021-01-02

Til tross for at samarbeid innebærer organisering, utføres i organisasjoner og utgjør et organisatorisk virkemiddel for myndighetene, benyttes organisasjonsteoretiske begrepsapparat sjelden for å forstå og analysere samarbeid i velferdstjenestene. I denne artikkelen argumenterer vi for at teoriutvikling eller teoriutdyping er nødvendig for å utvikle forståelsen av samarbeid på tvers av ulik empirisk forskning og forskningstradisjoner, og i særlig grad for nytten av organisasjonsteori i dette henseendet. Vi gjør dette ved å beskrive et rammeverk bestående av seks ulike organisatoriske ‘blikk’ på samarbeid: mikroblikket, mesoblikket, makroblikket, det vide blikket, det lange blikket og det dype blikket. Innenfor hvert blikk beskriver vi utvalgte organisasjonsteoretiske perspektiver og hvordan de kan anvendes i studier av samarbeid i velferdstjenestene.

Public Management Review s. 1-23 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2021.1882542

A key challenge for contemporary public service organizations is the requirement to incorporate different, at times conflicting, demands into their operations. Such demands and the organizational challenges they impose have been described in theories of institutional complexity, organizational paradox(es) and conflicting public values. In this paper, we complement these existing theories by developing an analytical framework based on the ‘double bind’ theory. The framework enables understandings of conflicting demands stemming from double communication and elusive mixed messages. We demonstrate the usefulness of the double bind framework by examining the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration.

Social Policy & Administration Doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/spol.12757

Evidence-based standards are becoming increasingly influential in frontline services connected to labor market inclusion of vulnerable citizens. To increase our understanding of standardization in such public service delivery, this study draws on interviews and ethnographic fieldwork from two frontline offices in the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (2017–2018) that use the evidence-based Individual Placement and Support (IPS) standard. Adopting a theoretical perspective of organizational practices, the study highlights two distinct approaches to practicing IPS in the frontline organizations: as a “practice shift” in one organization (i.e., creating and legitimizing radically new service practices involving closer collaboration with employers) and as a “practice revival” in the other (i.e., reinstating more traditional service practices involving a holistic client orientation). Each approach relates to a specific constellation of recruitment practices, dynamics between frontline supervisors and staff, and team integration. The study contributes to the literature in two ways. First, it shows the underlying flexibility embedded in standardization and how standards may be implemented and adapted in ways that may either promote more radical change or revive traditional practices. Second, it nuances positions in the literature on the impact of standards on professional service work. On this basis, the study suggests broadening the attention in research on evidence-based standards in public service delivery from discussions of “what works” to understanding the broader organizational dynamics involved in “making it work.”

Science and Engineering Ethics 26 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-020-00202-8

While attention to research integrity has been growing over the past decades, the processes of signalling and denouncing cases of research misconduct remain largely unstudied. In this article, we develop a theoretically and empirically informed under-standing of the causes and consequences of reporting research misconduct in terms of power relations. We study the reporting process based on a multinational survey at eight European universities (N = 1126). Using qualitative data that witnesses of research misconduct or of questionable research practices provided, we aim to exam-ine actors’ rationales for reporting and not reporting misconduct, how they report it and the perceived consequences of reporting. In particular we study how research seniority, the temporality of work appointments, and gender could impact the likeli-hood of cases being reported and of reporting leading to constructive organisational changes. Our findings suggest that these aspects of power relations play a role in the reporting of research misconduct. Our analysis contributes to a better understanding of research misconduct in an academic context. Specifically, we elucidate the pro-cesses that affect researchers’ ability and willingness to report research misconduct, and the likelihood of universities taking action. Based on our findings, we outline specific propositions that future research can test as well as provide recommenda-tions for policy improvement.

Social Policy & Administration Doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/spol.12597

Research on networked services aimed at the (re)employment of groups marginalised from the labour market has gained momentum in different scholarly traditions (e.g., public administration, healthcare and social policy), but the topic remains somewhat fragmented. In this paper, we systematise and synthesise this research with the aim of outlining distinct research approaches, facilitating increased cross-disciplinary understandings and promoting interdisciplinary research. Based on a systematic review of the literature (1990–2018, n = 273), we highlight four dominant research approaches: rehabilitation, disability, welfare and governance. We show that these research approaches involve distinct conceptualisations of labour market inclusion, networked services and the target groups. Nevertheless, the research approaches also apply similar terms and concepts (e.g., partnership, collaboration) but with different (more or less implicit) connotations, which lead to fragmentation. We do not suggest that there be a unified use of concepts across traditions; however, we argue for the necessity of increased awareness of the similarities and differences between these research traditions in order to increase understanding of the networked employment services available to marginalised groups.

Social Policy & Administration s. 1-15 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/spol.12664

This article addresses how frontline workers cope when dealing with digitally mediated service encounters. It draws on a qualitative study of frontline workers’ experiences in an increasingly digitalised work environment in the context of employment assistance services. The material shows that digitalising service encounters leads to two overall types of change for frontline employees, and the article explores related coping responses. First, the technology leads to an increased availability of the frontline workers to the clients. This is coped with by handing over, or ‘outsourcing’, responsibilities to clients through digital platforms, and by reducing what is experienced as ‘noise’ related to incoming enquiries. Second, the technology leads to increased transparency of the service interactions, which is coped with by being careful about the content of client communications. The analysis of these changes and their related coping responses contributes to the research on digital public service encounters and highlights avenues for empirical studies and theoretical development within a topical, yet little studied, field.

Tidsskrift for velferdsforskning 22(3) s. 184-197 Doi: https://doi.org/10.18261/issn.2464-3076-2019-03-01

In this article, we discuss the challenges of developing knowledge-based practice within a network governance model, i.e. whereone’s activities dependon collaboration with others. We do this through ananalysis of the initiative «Practice and knowledge development in NAV offices», which was initiated to stimulate local service development in cooperation between NAV (i.e. the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration), users, researchers, and universities. We find significant tensions between the institutional actors involved, and point to three different knowledge conceptualisations that have affected the implementation and outcomes of the initiative: (a) an open knowledge conceptualisation in the ministry, based on cooperation, local initiatives and national coordination; (b) a targeted knowledge conceptualisation in the directorate, which has prioritized the development, testing and dissemination of evidence based interventions; and (c) a dispersed knowledge conceptualisation in the university sector, where parts of the sector emphasise the need for dialogue and reflection, while others operate with more theoretical and evidence-based understandings. The experiences from this study show that the development of knowledge-based practice can be a controversial issue, and that different views of knowledge challenge central elements of network governance, such as dialogue and collaboration.

Big Data: Promise, Application and Pitfalls Doi: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781788112352.00012

Trygd i aktiveringens tid s. 311-324

Science and Public Policy 46(3) s. 415-429 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/scipol/scy068

While a substantive literature has emerged on the prevalence, causes, and consequences of scientific misconduct, little is known about the organisational perspective in cases of (alleged) misconduct. We address this knowledge gap by employing a comparative case study approach to describe and assess the handling of four cases of alleged misconduct by their university, respectively in the Netherlands and Norway. We propose a theoretical model that explains how organisational responses to misconduct emerge and evolve as iterations of the processes of sensemaking, sensegiving, and sensehiding. In addition, we link these iterations to a set of background premises that nurture the organisational responses and to the responses’ outcomes and consequences. We conclude that several aspects of the organisational responses hinder effective learning processes within organisations and their members. Our analysis provides fruitful heuristics for organisations to reflect on, or plan their response strategies to allow for optimal learning.

International Social Security Review 71(4) s. 13-32 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/issr.12187

Although policy-makers and scholars have directed increasing attention towards collaborative innovation and knowledge development between frontline agencies and workers and other stakeholders such as citizens and researchers, empirical research has not focused on the (varying) assessment of collaborators regarding what knowledge would be ‘appropriate’ to develop. In this paper, we examine such knowledge assessments by drawing on a comparative case study of two local innovation projects conducted by the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV) in a four-year service innovation programme. Although they responded to the same call, the projects involved development of two very distinct types of knowledge; one dealt with practice-based knowledge and the other with evidence-based knowledge. We show that whereas the former knowledge type was contested and difficult to transform into practice, the latter involved few (if any) contests and was implemented on a relatively large scale. These two projects point to the possible existence of a hierarchy of knowledge in the labour and welfare services, where evidence-based forms of knowledge and methods are regarded as more legitimate and appropriate than forms of knowledge placed ‘lower’ in the hierarchy. We discuss the reasons for and implications of this apparent hierarchy of knowledge for frontline labour and welfare services.

Journal of Professions and Organization 5(1) s. 28-44 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/jpo/jox013

Journal of Social Policy 45(4) s. 709-728 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047279416000246

Søkelys på arbeidslivet 33(1/2) s. 5-23 Doi: https://doi.org/10.18261/issn.1504-7989-2016-01-02-01

En sentral forklaring på NAVs manglende måloppnåelse om flere i arbeid og aktivitet og færre på trygd har vært omstillingsprosessen med den lokale etableringen av NAV-kontorene. I denne artikkelen drøfter vi en alternativ forklaring som involverer mer langsiktige strukturelle utfordringer for NAV-kontorene. Basert på kvalitative og kvantitative data fra ti NAV-kontorer skisserer vi tre strukturelle utfordringer: (a) Arbeids- og velferdsdirektoratets forenklingsarbeid har ikke ført fram, (b) lokalkontorene klarer fortsatt ikke å ta i bruk den statlige styringen, og (c) statlige og kommunale målsetninger og virkemidler for lokalkontorene og deres oppgaver drar ikke i samme retning. Vi diskuterer implikasjonene av vår analyse for forståelsen av NAVs manglende måloppnåelse og for lokalkontorenes utviklingspotensiale.

Ephemera : Theory and Politics in Organization 15(2) s. 319-336

Corporate governance. An International Review 23(1) s. 42-59 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/corg.12088

Public Administration 93(2) s. 290-306 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/padm.12144

In this article, we explore how public front-line service organizations respond to contradictory demands for institutional reform and the types of hybridization this entails. Our research context is a major administrative welfare reform in Norway characterized by a dominant New Public Man- agement (NPM) logic of uniform user service and central administrative control, and a subordinate post-NPM logic of holistic user service and local organizational autonomy. We elucidate four types of responses by the front-line organizations as they have incorporated these contradictory demands: ‘non-hybridity’ (ignoring post-NPM demands), ‘ad hoc hybridity’ (indecisive adherence to both demands), ‘negative hybridity’ (separation of the demands), and ‘positive hybridity’ (integration of both demands). On the basis of these findings, we argue that hybridization and agency are possible in fields of public reform characterized by a highly institutionalized NPM logic and explore the key organizational characteristics that facilitate hybridization in such fields.

Organizations and the media: Organizing in a mediatized world s. 48-61

Å bekjempe et samfunnsonde. Om korrupsjon, varsling, granskning og organisasjonskultur s. 52-66

Management Communication Quarterly 28(4) s. 585-608 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/0893318914548896

This article examines how members of publicly discredited organizations discursively construct senses of internal legitimacy. Drawing on a case study of the Norwegian Labor and Welfare Administration—an organization that has been subject to lengthy and persistent public criticism—four paradoxical relations between discourses are identified and critically examined: acknowledgment/ denial, voice/silence, unity/fragmentation, and image/substance. Based on the findings, three arguments are made: First, talk by members of discredited organizations about their organization, their organizational selves, and the criticism offers crucial resources for the construction of internal legitimacy. Second, constructions of internal legitimacy require members to relate to and navigate between paradoxes. Third, despite the complexity they impose, paradoxes provide members of discredited organizations with significant room for managing their internal legitimacy

Scandinavian Journal of Management 30(2) s. 231-241 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scaman.2013.08.003

Acta Sociologica 57(4) s. 325-340 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/0001699314552736

Social Policy & Administration Doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/spol.12093

Lean blir norsk : Lean i den norske samarbeidsmodellen s. 197-210

Lean blir norsk : Lean i den norske samarbeidsmodellen s. 211-221

Nordic Journal of Working Life Studies 3(4) s. 109-111

Culture and Organization 17(1) s. 47-64

Journal of Business Ethics 92 s. 619-635