Academic interests
My academic interests and research areas exist at the intersection between political science, organizational theory, political theory, working life studies and public policy and administration. I am also a member of the research group CC: PPO (Complex Connections: People, Places and Organizations). Some key words that capture my research and my professional interests are:
- Organization theory and decision theory
- Public sector reforms
- The relationship between politics and administration, and how organization affects this relationship.
- Institutional theory: What role does institutional design play in the relationship between stability and change in organizations and society?
- The normative basis for democracy and the public sector
- The importance of technology for organizations' structures and functioning
- Popular management ideas: Where do they come from, how do they spread, how are they implemented, and what effects do they have?
- Organizational hypocricy and loose couplings: How talk, decision and action are linked and not linked in organizations
- Organizational Misbehaviour
Teaching and Supervision
I am responsible for our master in organization and leadership. I teach "Introduction to Organizational Theory", "Myths and Fashions in Organizations", "Decision Theory", "Digitization of Working Life", "Democracy: Ideas and Institutions" and "The Dark Side of Organizations". I supervise master students in a wide range of subject areas connected to my teaching and research. I am also a co-supervisor for our two Ph.D. students, who are admitted to the Department of Work Science at the University of Karlstad.
Research
In May 2022 I contributed to the Swedish edited anthology Framtidens arbetsliv (Working life in the future) with the chapter "Intet nytt under solen? Ledarskap i ett komplext, sammansatt och varierat arbetsliv" ("Nothing new under the sun? Leadership in a diverse, complex and varied working life"). For the time being I'm working on a paper with the title "Alexis deTocqueville as an organisation theorist", combining my interests in political theory and organisation theory. The point is to show how many of deTocquevilles observations on the french revolution and early democracy in USA foreshadowed and indirectly contributed to the emergence of organisation theory as we understand it today.
Awards
As a young university lecturer, I received the "Pedagogical Prize" at Molde University College in 1998
Partners
Karlstad University, University of Oslo, Innlandet University College and VID University College.
I am also a deputy representative for Forskerforbundet at HVO, a deputy member of the Appointments Committee for the university college, and a member of the Culture and Welfare Committee for the Remmen campus. In addition, I am responsible for Gilda film club.