Browsing by Person "Klarner, Patricia"

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A Multi-dimensional Analysis of Managers' Power - Functional, Socio-political, Interpretive-discursive, and Socio-cultural Approaches
(Rainer Hampp Verlag, 2009) Diefenbach, Thomas; By, Rune T.; Klarner, Patricia
Managers' power within organisations has been analysed by several approaches: Orthodox management and organisation studies ('functional approach'), Critical Management Studies ('socio-political approaches'), interpretive, discourse-oriented and constructivist concepts ('interpretive-discursive approaches'), and anthropological, socio-psychological and sociological approaches ('socio-cultural approaches'). In organisational reality functional, socio-political, interpretive-discursive, and socio-cultural aspects are closely related and intertwined. However, because of division of intellectual labour, probably more because of different worldviews, researchers often make use of these approaches quite selectively. Such focussing has its advantages but also weaknesses. This paper therefore argues that it often helps to investigate complex phenomena such as managers' power in multi-dimensional ways.
Getting Organizational Change Right in Public Services: The Case of European Higher Education
(2008-03) By, Rune T.; Diefenbach, Thomas; Klarner, Patricia
The purpose of this article is to instigate further debate on why organizational change is currently being initiated and how it is being managed in European Higher Education. It provides suggestions on how to avoid major downsides that come with managerialism and how to enable managers and academics in the sector to concentrate on what Higher Education should be all about: to contribute to the further development of society through knowledge generation and transfer. The article is based on observations of the current developments triggered by the rise of the audit culture and adoption of managerialism. It suggests that not all change currently initiated in Higher Education is required - or indeed in the best interest of the sector or wider society - but rather, based on personal interests resulting in less efficiency and a waste of resources. Furthermore, the article argues that the audit culture and managerialism have created an environment that encourages opportunistic behaviour such as cronyism, rent-seeking and the rise of organizational psychopaths. This development will arguably not only lead to a waste of resources, change for the sake of change, further centralization, formalization and bureaucratization but, also, to a disheartened and exploited workforce, and political and shortterm decision-making. The article proposes ways of managing organizational change in Higher Education successfully by providing a new conceptual change management model and a decision-maker's change manifesto.
Managers' multi-dimensional power and ideology of persuasion during organisational change.
(2009) By, Rune T.; Diefenbach, Thomas; Klarner, Patricia