Charlotte Marie Morland

Financial Accountability and Management s. 1-20 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/faam.70053

Digital technologies influence social and organizational structures, materializing visions of desirable futures that both authorize and constrain how societies and organizations are organized, and how control is exercised. Drawing on Science and Technology Studies (STS), this paper examines how sociotechnical imaginaries of “modern and integrated healthcare” are articulated in national policy, materialized in Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems, and enacted within municipal management control. We investigate how these imaginaries become embedded within the evaluative grammar of new public management (NPM), shaping which forms of control appear visible, comparable, and legitimate while rendering others peripheral. The study employs an interpretive single‐case design of a regional public EHR pilot in Central Norway, based on an analysis of policy documents, observations, and interviews. Empirically, we explore how management control is sustained under conditions of partial vertical fit and the conditions for comparability in decentralized, capacity‐constrained settings. We show how technological imaginaries interact with resource constraints, requiring ongoing managerial mediation and legitimation. The study extends inscription‐based accounts of control by showing how sociotechnical imaginaries operate as upstream legitimizing frameworks that define which forms of control become legitimate and visible. It further describes how control depends on ongoing managerial mediation and legitimation when technical fit is partial. Together, these insights illuminate how digital infrastructures embed normative visions of control, making certain forms of control thinkable and actionable.

International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management 67(6) s. 1000-1015 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPPM-08-2016-0157

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand how changes in technological devices, implemented to increase productivity and enhance performance are translated by medical professions in their clinical work. As organizations become more technology dependent by digitalization, deeper understanding of change processes will enhance change outcomes. Design/methodology/approach A case study based on interviews, observations, on site and document analyses is undertaken to study the use of electronic speech recognizer (SR). An actor network theory (ANT) approach is used to address practice. Findings Doctors diversely adjust to the new technology. The use of the SR technology was negotiated and translated by the doctors. The technology was continuously re-designed and interacting with the human actors. In the translation process, powerful actors (doctors) influence outcome of changes, and thus, they affect the effectiveness of the change initiatives. Research limitations/implications The theoretical approach enables a detailed and rich understanding of the sociology of technology. Future research should go deeper into case studies in other contexts. Practical implications Technology is not deterministic entities, and politicians and managers should pay attention to how technology interact with key actors in implementation of system (technology) changes. The design and use phases implicate on the effect of such changes. Social implications In order to successfully manage change processes, powerful actors should be motivated to actively participate in the design and the implementation phases in order to design and redesign the functions and roles of technologies. Originality/value The theoretical approach (ANT) addresses technology according to the concept of sociomateriality. This approach enables understanding technology, people and organizations as entangled (integrated). The theoretical concepts developed knowledge to gain deeper and wider understanding of the role of technology in managing of performance and productivity initiatives.

Qualitative Research in Accounting and Management 14(4) s. 467-495 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/QRAM-08-2017-0076

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore two hospital departments, one of which is laterally dependent on the other to function, but which are subject to distinct vertical managerial controls. This complexity in vertical–lateral relations generates tension amongst the hospital’s senior managers and a perception of coordination difficulties. However, this paper shows how the interplay between managerial and non-managerial controls, plus important employee “work”, moderates tension and facilitates day-to-day lateral coordination at the patient-facing level. Design/methodology/approach This is a case-study, relying mostly on the findings of semi-structured interviews. Theoretically, the paper draws from previous insights on inter-organisational relations (but informing the focus on intra-organisational coordination) and an “institutional work” perspective. Findings Consistent with much extant literature, this paper reveals how non-managerial controls help to moderate tensions that could emerge from the coercive use of managerial controls. However, the authors also show a maintained influence and flexibility in the managerial controls at patient-facing levels, as new circumstances unfold. Research limitations/implications The findings of this paper could generalise neither all laterally dependent spaces in hospitals nor patterns across different hospitals. The authors recommend future research into the dynamics and interaction of managerial and non-managerial controls in other complex settings, plus focus on the purposeful work of influential agents. Originality/value The paper has two primary contributions: extending our knowledge of the interplay between managerial and non-managerial controls inside complex organisations, where non-managerial controls reinforce rather than displace managerial controls, and highlighting that it is seldom just controls per se which “matter”, but also agents’ purposeful actions that facilitate coordination in complex organisations.

Perspektiver på økonomistyring s. 147-175

20th Biennial CIGAR Conference 25-27/6 2025

This study investigates how sociotechnical imaginaries embedded in national health policies shape management control practices through the implementation of a large-scale electronic health record (EHR) system in Norwegian municipalities. Utilizing an interpretive case study of "Helseplattformen," a high-profile digital transformation initiative, we explore how managerial visions of integrated, data-driven governance are operationalized, negotiated, and contested at the municipal level. Our analysis reveals that municipal managers play a crucial mediating role by actively translating national policy imaginaries into concrete control practices. While the central government presents the EHR system as a tool for enhancing accountability, efficiency, and transparency, its practical enactment exposes significant tensions between these imagined futures and local operational realities. Municipal managers not only implement digital infrastructures; they also engage in considerable emotional, symbolic, and institutional labour to maintain legitimacy and stabilize these visions of control. Conceptually, this paper contributes to management accounting and control literature by highlighting how sociotechnical imaginaries function as upstream authorizing frameworks, shaping what is subsequently inscribed into calculative practices and translated in organizational settings. By explicitly linking imaginaries to empirical processes of digitalization and control, we illustrate how these visions materially reshape public sector management practices and redefine managerial accountability.

European Network for Research in Organisational & Accounting Change (ENROAC) – 14th Conference

This study investigates how sociotechnical imaginaries embedded in national health policies shape management control practices through the implementation of a large-scale electronic health record (EHR) system in Norwegian municipalities. Utilizing an interpretive case study of "Helseplattformen," a high-profile digital transformation initiative, we explore how managerial visions of integrated, data-driven governance are operationalized, negotiated, and contested at the municipal level. Our analysis reveals that municipal managers play a crucial mediating role by actively translating national policy imaginaries into concrete control practices. While the central government presents the EHR system as a tool for enhancing accountability, efficiency, and transparency, its practical enactment exposes significant tensions between these imagined futures and local operational realities. Municipal managers not only implement digital infrastructures; they also engage in considerable emotional, symbolic, and institutional labour to maintain legitimacy and stabilize these visions of control. Conceptually, this paper contributes to management accounting and control literature by highlighting how sociotechnical imaginaries function as upstream authorizing frameworks, shaping what is subsequently inscribed into calculative practices and translated in organizational settings. By explicitly linking imaginaries to empirical processes of digitalization and control, we illustrate how these visions materially reshape public sector management practices and redefine managerial accountability. This study offers implications for broader discussions on New Public Management and digital governance, emphasizing the critical role managerial actors play in mediating policy-driven digital transformations.

NFF Nordic academy of management