Browsing Department of Business and Politics (DBP) by Title
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Et essay i forbindelse med fagbladet Folkeskolens 125 års jubilæum.Pedersen, Ove K. (København, 2008)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Lærernes fagblad Folkeskolen fylder 125 år. Tillykke med det! Hermed kan vi fejre et af de mest citerede fagblade, som udgives af en af de mest indflydelsesrige, danske interesseorganisationer, og samtidig en af de vigtigste af alle faggrupper, nemlig folkeskolelærerne. Først af alt kan vi dog fejre den danske folkeskole. Uden den, ingen lærere, og uden lærere ingen forening og intet medlemsblad. Sammen med fagbladet Folkeskolen kan vi derfor også tillade os at fejre skolen; også selvom det er usikkert hvornår folkeskolen opstod, og hvorfra den skal dateres. Opstod den med kirkeordinantens om ”børneskoler” i 1539, med anordningen om ”almueskoler” i 1814, eller med lov om forskellige forhold vedrørende folkeskolen i 1899? Svaret er ikke ligegyldigt, men irrelevant i denne sammenhæng. I dette bidrag skal jeg hylde Danmarks Lærerforening, dets medlemmer, og deres fagblad, og jeg vil gøre det ved at påstå, at der er ét forhold, som i alle bladets 125 år og i alle DLF’s 134 år har optaget medlemmerne mere end noget andet - og det er folkeskolens formål. Folkeskolen fik sin første egentlige formålsparagraf i 1937, men lang tid før var dens opgaver fastsat ved ordinants, ved forordning, anordning eller lov. Det er derfor også ved sådanne bestemmelser, at skolen har fundet sin berettigelse og lærerne deres mission. Ligesom det er ved sådanne bestemmelser, at lærerforeningen har defineret, hvad der udmærker dens medlemmer, hvad der gør dem til en særlig profession, eller giver dem deres kaldelse. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7326 Files in this item: 1
wp cbp 2008-49.pdf (235.9Kb) -
Nedergaard, Peter (København, 2005)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to address two normative and interlinked methodological and theoretical questions concerning the Open Method of Coordination (OMC): First, what is the most appropriate approach to learning in the analyses of the processes of the European Employment Strategy (EES)? Second, how should mutual learning processes be diffused among the Member States in order to be efficient? In answering these two questions the paper draws on a social constructivist approach to learning thereby contributing to the debate about learning in the political science literature. At the same time, based on the literature and participatory observations, it is concluded that the learning effects of the EES are probably somewhat larger than what is normally suggested, but that successful diffusion still depends on a variety of contextual factors. At the end of the paper a path for empirical research based upon a social constructivist approach to learning is suggested. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7364 Files in this item: 1
eu-coordination.pdf (183.4Kb) -
Methodological and Theoretical ConsiderationsNedergaard, Peter (København, 2007)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is solely to address two interlinked methodological and theoretical questions concerning the Open Method of Coordination (OMC), using the European Employment Strategy as a case: First, what is the most appropriate approach to learning in the analyses of the processes of the European Employment Strategy (EES)? Second, how is mutual learning processes diffused among the Member States? In answering these two questions the paper draws on a social constructivist approach to learning thereby contributing to the debate about learning in the political science literature. At the same time, based on this concept of learning, it is concluded that the learning effects of the EES are probably somewhat larger than what is normally suggested, but that successful diffusion still depends on a variety of contextual factors. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7338 Files in this item: 1
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Competency and Change in Public Sector Work PracticesHull Kristensen, Peer; Bojesen, Anders (København, 2005)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This paper invites to discuss the processes of individualization and organizing being carried out under what we might see as an emerging regime of change. The underlying argumentation is that in certain processes of change, competence becomes questionable at all times. The hazy characteristics of this regime of change are pursued through a discussion of competencies as opposed to qualifications illustrated by distinct cases from the Danish public sector in the search for repetitive mechanisms. The cases are put into a general perspective by drawing upon experiences from similar change processes in MNCs. The paper concludes by asking whether we can escape from a regime of competence in a world defined by a rhetoric of change and create a more promising world in which doubt and search serve as a strategy for gaining knowledge and professionalism that improve on our capability for mutualism. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7376 Files in this item: 1
organizing process.pdf (581.6Kb) -
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Abstract: There is a great deal of confusion about the meaning of the concept public-private partnership (PPP). Much is written on the subject but only rarely do authors give an adequate account of what they mean when they talk about PPP, nor do they acknowledge that there exist qualitatively different PPP research traditions. The lack of conceptual clarity leads to false statements about PPP, since what is true for one specific PPP-type does not necessarily apply to other forms of PPP. This paper reviews the literature on PPP and argues that there exist at least five distinct approaches in the burgeoning PPP literature with different origins and that it is vital for analytical clarity that authors place themselves within one of these traditions when doing research on PPP. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7348 Files in this item: 1
ppp_approaches_guri_16.pdf (180.8Kb) -
Ideological Continuity and the Organization of Anti-Socialist Propaganda in the Danish Business Community, 1945-1974Lund, Joachim (, 2009)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: In Denmark, only minor changes took place in the economic elite after the liberation. Retributions with economic collaborators were dealt with in the legal system, and business managers who had been involved in pro-German political activities during the occupation withdrew to their executive offices and kept a low profile. With Nazism defeated, other ideational forces of integration surfaced as prewar anti-Socialist feelings and activities were invigorated. As an integral part of a general fight against economic regulation and for free trade, anti-Socialism became an important integral factor among Danish business leaders during the immediate postwar years. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7917 Files in this item: 1
WP CBP 2009-68.pdf (183.4Kb) -
The European Commission; INGINEUS; The Nordic Institute for Studies in Innovation, Research and Education (NIFU); Department of Business and Politics; DBP; Department of Business and Politics; DBP (, 2011)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The main objective of WP9 was to provide insights into inter-sectoral differences in drivers, degree and patterns of global innovation network formation. Three different sectors, each representing their own category in the influential Pavitt (1984) taxonomy, are chosen as cases. Thus, the WP provided insights into GIN formation in each of these sectors on their own and, by way of comparative analysis, lifted the analysis to a more general European level perspective. The main research questions were: What GIN patterns are forming in the selected sectors, and to what extent are these influenced (driven, constrained) by contextual conditions specific to these sectors? The point of departure for this work package was the recognition that sectors diverge with respect to knowledge, cumulativeness and opportunity conditions. Existing empirical work e.g. show that the “global footprints” of different industries diverge according to the degree of tacitness and complexity of involved knowledge; according to degree of modularity of the product; and with the distribution of actors and environments globally which can be identified and towards which relevant linkages may be formed. Thus, different sectors face different tensions between centrifugal and centripetal forces of internationalization; which result in different patterns of international search, sourcing and collaboration. Understanding these are critical to the formulation of innovation policy in a context of globalization, as the patterns of GINs forming will determine home and host implications. National and EU level innovation policy must simultaneously account for the firm level need to interact and use the most competent and cost-effective partners world-wide; while ensuring that the linkages formed at this level strengthen rather than hollow out innovative capabilities at those same national and EU levels. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8635 Files in this item: 1
haakonsson2011_wp9 report.pdf (3.408Mb) -
Seabrooke, Leonard (København, 2006)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Since the Asian financial crisis of 1997-1998 the International Monetary Fund (the Fund) has been embroiled in an international crisis of legitimacy. Assertions of a crisis are premised on the notions that the Fund’s voting system is unfair, and that the Fund enforces homogenous policies onto borrowing member states and that loan programs tend to fail. Seen this way, poor institutional and policy design has led to a loss of legitimacy. But institutionalised inequalities or policy failure is not in itself sufficient to constitute an international crisis of legitimacy. This article provides a conceptually-driven discussion of the sources of the Fund’s international crisis of legitimacy by investigating how its formal "foreground" institutional relations with its member states have become strained, and how informal "background" political and economic relationships are expanding in a way that the Fund will find difficult to re-legitimate. The difference between the Fund's claims to legitimacy and how its member states, especially borrowers, act has led to the creation of a "legitimacy gap" that is difficult to close. However, identifying the sources of the Fund's international crisis of legitimacy allows us to explore what avenues are available to resolve the crisis. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7321 Files in this item: 1
wp35_imf_ls.pdf (172.3Kb) -
The Case of U.S. Chambers of CommerceCrawford, Brett (Frederiksberg, 2012)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Much of the organizational institutionalism literature suggests that the phenomenon of interests is a central construct, however, portrays interests in an overly deterministic, rational, and liberal way. In this thesis, I challenge those views and suggest that interests are a complex and interdependent socially constructed phenomenon. Accordingly, interests represent an actor’s recognition, perceived importance, and participation in a number of figurations and social games. Illustrated through the institution of U.S. chambers of commerce, I explore how chambers of commerce have withstood a changing American culture to become both the world’s largest business federation and public-private partnership. Moreover, even as the United States represents the most liberal of liberal market economies, chambers of commerce represent a context where capitalists have set aside market competition and unified their interests to become one of the largest and most influential institutions in the world. Following a brief introduction of interests and chambers of commerce, this thesis begins with the first paper, which is a critical review of the phenomenon of interests within the organizational institutionalism literature. Tracing the conceptual variety of both the origins and functions of interests in institutional studies, I illustrate how an overly deterministic and rational view of interests is problematic. The critical review continues with a discussion of my critiques of the extant literature followed by an introduction of a less rational and calculative approach to interests by coupling Bourdieu’s (1998) conceptualization of interests with Elias’s (1978) sociology emphasizing figurations and social games. The three subsequent empirical papers test this approach to interests on macro-, meso-, and micro-levels of the institution of chambers of commerce. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8452 Files in this item: 1
Brett_Crawford.pdf (9.887Mb) -
Standards of Civilization in the Development of International Financial OrdersSeabrooke, Leonard (København, 2005)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The use of a ‘standard of civilization’, a preferred form of socio-political organization, in global capital markets presents both constraints and opportunities for creditors and borrowers. When imposed, civilizing standards may change how a borrower would prefer to conduct their affairs. Creditors, after all, do not have the time and money to check every little detail and want clear performance benchmarks in economic life. At the same time, borrowers may present themselves as conforming to a civilizing standard to access capital and give themselves a greater capacity to conduct their own affairs. As long as they stay within the parameters of legitimate financial practice to signal institutional isomorphism, the ‘groove’, creditors may well allow borrowers room for change in self-determined ways. This paper maps out the historical and conceptual terrain concerning civilizing ideas about the legitimacy of financial practices within global capital markets, and investigates relationships between Western ‘civilizers’ and Emerging Market Economies during the last two periods of financial globalization, the late-nineteenth/ early-twentieth centuries and the late-twentieth century. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7322 Files in this item: 1
room_to_groove_13.pdf (110.1Kb) -
A Neoinstitutional Analysis of the Emerging Organizational Field of Renewable Energy in ChinaHøyrup Christensen, Nis (Frederiksberg, 2013)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Today, China is the world leading investor in renewable energy. At the heart of this effort lies China’s ability to shape markets through industrial policies. Through a neoinstitutional theoretical perspective this dissertation views China’s efforts within renewable energy as the emergence of a new organizational field. Despite the importance of organizational fields as a key concept in the neoinstitutional literature, there is a lack of studies on exactly how they emerge. Throughout four articles this dissertation scrutinizes therefore the emergence of the field of renewable energy in China and the mechanisms driving this emergence. Firstly, the relation between state and market is examined, and it is argued that Chinese state interventions in markets, for instance through subsidies, are based in deeply rooted historic grounds. Thus, the article explains the general context in which the Party-state handles subsidized markets, like renewable energy. Secondly, the specific development of the idea of sustainable development, and how it evolves into an institutional logic of its own, is analysed. It is around this institutional logic that renewable energy emerges as a field. The key mechanism in play is the idea work of the Party state by which sustainable development is positioned in the Partystate discourse. Thirdly, subsidization of renewable energy in China is examined as an important feature of the increasing institutionalization of the organizational field. It is shown how negotiation between companies and Party-state is the vital mechanism by which subsidies are determined.... URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8627 Files in this item: 1
Nis_Høyrup_Christensen.pdf (1.412Mb) -
The role of the state in the development and reproduction of "the Danish model”Kaspersen, Lars Bo; Schmidt-Hansen, Ulrich (København, 2006)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: In the literature on the establishment and development of the Danish variant of corporatism, emphasis has most often been on the role of the social partners. Scholars rarely stress the crucial role which the state has played in the development of the system. We argue that several actors contributed to the development of the ‘Danish model’, but that these actors were often orchestrated by the state. At crucial moments the direction of these different actors was even determined by the state. In the first part of the article, it is argued that the state has been under-theorized and to some extent neglected in corporatist theory. In particular, we draw upon a conceptualization of the state developed by Michael Mann and Eric Nordlinger’s different forms of state autonomy. We propose a state-centered theoretical focus enabling us to grasp the role of the state in the dynamics of the corporatist system. In the second part of the article, we present an analysis of the establishment and evolution of the Danish corporatist system seen from this distinctively state-centered perspective. In the third part we look into the current system during the last decade of the 20th century. By newly- conducted empirical research, we examine the role of the state in the corporatist system during the 1990s in the labour market and within immigration integration policy. We conclude that due to its autonomous power, the state is still a key player in the corporatist system. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7362 Files in this item: 1
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Pedersen, Ove Kaj (København, 2008)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: For blot 15 år siden var det ved at blive en veletableret kendsgerning, at den suveræne stat eller den nationale stat var blevet ”svækket”, ”udhulet”, eller på anden vis ændret i retning af at blive en mindre vigtig faktor i organiseringen af sociale, økonomiske og politiske – nationale såvel som internationale - relationer. Den australske politolog Linda Weiss kritiserede denne trend og kaldte den for ”The State Denial”1. Hun henviste til en lang tradition for at trivialisere statens samfundsmæssige rolle indenfor samfundsvidenskaberne, men fremhævede også, hvordan trivialiseringen i 80`erne og 90`erne skabte en udbredt skepsis over for, at de nationale stater havde ressourcer og handlerum til at modstå kapitalstrømmenes globalisering og politikkens europæisering. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7372 Files in this item: 1
wp cbp 2008-59.pdf (167.4Kb) -
En kortlægning af styringsmæssig kontekst, strategisk tilgang, samt anvendte redskaber og teknologier for udvalgte danske statslige styrelserFroholdt, Morten (Frederiksberg, 2013)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Siden begyndelsen af 1980erne har den offentlige sektor i Danmark, og flere andre vestlige lande, været genstand for en moderniseringsproces. En moderniseringsproces, der har ført til nye måder at tænke og bedrive offentlig administration og ledelse på, herunder anvendelsen af organisatorisk strategi i en offentlig kontekst. Formen, sådanne organisatoriske strategier antager i en offentlig kontekst, er dog i høj grad et uudforsket område, hvilket er omdrejningspunktet for nærværende afhandling og følgende fundamentale forskningsspørgsmål: Hvordan tager strategi og strategisk ledelse form i en dansk offentlig kontekst? For at besvare ovenstående forskningsspørgsmål, er der udviklet et konceptuelt framework, som tillader en analyse og kortlægning af specifikke variable med relevans for den form, strategi og strategisk ledelse antager i en offentlig kontekst. De variable, der anvendes som analytisk linse i det konceptuelle framework, vedrører en organisations styringsmæssige kontekst, strategiske tilgang samt anvendte redskaber og teknologier. Analysen og kortlægningen af den styringsmæssige kontekst trækker på en række forskningsmæssige bidrag omkring eksisterende styringsparadigmer og deres karakter. Den strategiske tilgang er analyseret og kortlagt med udgangspunkt i Whittingtons (2001) strategiske perspektiver samt yderligere forskningsmæssige bidrag vedrørende de enkelte perspektiver.... URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8700 Files in this item: 1
Morten_Froholdt.pdf (2.731Mb) -
Kaspersen, Lars Bo; Gabriel, Norman (København, 2005)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Relational social theory can be found in the works of Hegel, Marx, Simmel, Mannheim, Mead, Saussure, Lévi-Strauss, Althusser, Foucault and Bourdieu. However, one of the most consistent relational thinkers is Norbert Elias. In order to develop his figurational and relational social theory Elias makes two claims: 1) the only theoretically sustainable point of departure for a social theory is to study human beings, human society (and maybe also other animals but we leave this aside for the moment!) in a relational perspective! This claim is justified by a number of arguments among others his critique of methodological individualism, methodological holism, individual-society categories and the homo clauses perspective. 2) The other important assumption that Elias makes concerns the smallest social unit – a survival unit. In other words, the first social relation to be studied is not the single individual or a man-woman relation (family) or man-nature (subject-object). The first unit of analysis is the double relational binding of human beings in social groups. In the first order we find the relation between survival units (‘state’-‘state’). In a second order we find relations between families and individuals within each of the survival units. We accept these two claims and we intend to contribute to a further substantiation of these two claims. Moreover, we shall raise a particular problem which is not sufficiently addressed in Elias’s work or in the critical literature on Elias. In particular we shall explore the problem of survival units. Elias assumes that human societies from very early on were divided into survival units (it is plausible that this can be traced back to approx. 4 million years ago when Australopithecus afarensis and upright walking began to spread). These survival units have been demarcated; in other words, they have demarcated themselves towards other units, and units from outside have generated a demarcation. The questions we need to address concern the problem of demarcation: a) Why are these survival units demarcated towards each other? Why has this been the case for at least 4 million years? b) Why has the world not at any point been one survival unit? Is it a plausible future development? Can the world turn into one state/survival unit? We shall argue that although Elias has given an explanation for this demarcation, he has overlooked another mechanism sustaining the separation between units. Furthermore, by incorporating Hegel and Clausewitz into Elias’s relational theory we shall demonstrate that an answer to these two questions is possible. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7361 Files in this item: 1
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Hull Kristensen, Peer; Lotz, Maja (Frederiksberg, 2010)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This paper suggests that it is time to take the agency of teams seriously. Whereas the debate has previously focused on how firms may function more effectively by using team-based work-organization, our aim is to discuss and understand how teams effect the evolutionary dynamic of companies. Fieldwork in four Danish manufacturing companies helped us discover that firms as “communities of teams” are highly dynamic entities with complex layers of different team forms that operate, innovate and improve by constantly recombining work, collaborating across organizational divisions and redistributing authority, thereby challenging some of the existing “idioms” of team research and theories of the firm. The paper builds on these findings as we attempt to rethink research on teams by re-describing the evolutionary dynamics of firms and suggesting some themes that call for comparative research. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8205 Files in this item: 1
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Lotz, Maja (København, 2008)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: In this paper I explore the constructive links between co-operation, rivalry, and learning within the structure of team communities. Drawing upon social learning theory, the main purpose of this paper is to argue that both co-operation and rivalry are important triggers for mobilizing learning processes within and between teams. However, social learning theory tends to disregard the positive aspects of rivalry. Consequently, this paper will argue for the need to extend social learning theory beyond its rather harmonious learning perspective. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7369 Files in this item: 1
wp cbp 2008-55.pdf (340.5Kb) -
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Abstract: It has become common over the last 25 years to formulate general ethical standards for management of public administration, not only in developing countries, but in most western democratic societies too. Standards of ethical conduct currently exist for public managers in USA, England, New Zealand, Canada, Australia5, and a number of other countries6. They apply to members of the civil service on the basis of professional merits (meritocracy) as well as to public officials on the basis of their political appointment (politocracy). URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7791 Files in this item: 1
WP CBP 2009-64.pdf (159.2Kb) -
A Market-Based Alternative to Government?Hodge, Graeme; Greve, Carsten (Frederiksberg, 2011)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: One of the paradoxes of the past few decades has been the continuity and even growth of infrastructure Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) despite the loud voices of critics and harsh judgments of some academics. Indeed, there is little doubt about the success of PPPs judging on the basis of increasing global interest, the frequency of use in countries such as the United Kingdom or Australia, or by the spectacular delivery of timely new infrastructure. There has been considerable work undertaken to date on the multiple meanings of PPP more generally, on the multiple disciplinary languages spoken by commentators and on the evaluation challenges faced by those interested in assessing PPPs as projects or activities. There has been less work undertaken, however, on the meanings given to how PPP has been judged as ‘successful’ by implementing governments. Indeed, the criteria on which governments might judge PPP as a success story seems to be inherently ambiguous and as politically oriented as it is oriented towards more traditional utilitarian policy goals concerned with project delivery or efficiency. In view of the continuity of PPPs post-GFC, the very nature of ‘PPP success’ needs serious rethinking. This paper explores the notion of ‘success’ for PPP and argues that short of embarrassing and large scale corruption or widespread incompetence, PPP and PPP projects are inevitably judged as ‘successful’ in government. This is not only because the PPP concept itself is so wonderfully amorphous and ambiguous, but because each strand of PPP has multiple goals. Infrastructure PPPs for example, have fifteen or so different goals. The criteria for success are therefore multi-faceted and themselves incorporate the very goals of government itself. It is inevitable that PPPs are seen by government to help create public value as well as private value. The paper uses theories of policy success and evaluation studies to assess how ‘success’ is interpreted. The paper concludes that many of the claims for PPP success and failure are therefore, to an extent, self defining exercises. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8573 Files in this item: 1
Greve_2011_c.pdf (320.9Kb) -
European and Nordic Experiences in the Employment FieldNedergaard, Peter (København, 2005)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This paper analyses and compares the transnational learning processes in the employment field in the European Union and among the Nordic countries. Based theoretically on a social constructivist model of learning and methodologically on a questionnaire distributed to the relevant participants, a number of hypotheses concerning transnational learning processes are tested. The paper closes with a number of suggestions regarding an optimal institutional setting for facilitating transnational learning processes. Key words: Transnational learning, Open Method of Coordination, Learning, Employment, European Employment Strategy, European Union, Nordic countries. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7382 Files in this item: 1
wp2005-3 mutual_learning.pdf (254.4Kb)