Högre seminarieserie i företagsekonomi
Nyhet: 2012-02-02
Högre seminarieserien i företagsekonomi är gemensam för sektionerna inom Företagsekonomiska institutionen. Vid det högre seminariet presenteras och granskas forskning av inbjudna gäster/forskare. Ämnen som behandlas är företrädesvis sådana som berör många och som är sektionsöverskridande. Det högre seminariet i företagsekonomi skall vara ett forum för utbyte av kunskap och erfarenhet som kan bidra till forskningen vid Företagsekonomiska institutionen.
Vi är stolta att kunna presentera Professor Christine Cooper som presenterar på vårens första seminarium.
Före seminariet serveras kaffe och smörgås. Vänligen meddela kristina.jonall@handels.gu.se om du tänker komma.
Presentatör: Professor Christine Cooper, University of Strathclyde (Co-Editor Critical Perspectives on Accounting)
Titel: A prison with two heads - longitudinal reflections on the implications of key performance measures on prison staff.
Datum: 28/2
Tid: 13-15
Sal: CG-salen
Varmt välkomna,
Alexander, Gunnar och Kristina
Abstract:
A prison with two heads - longitudinal reflections on the implications of key performance measures on prison staff.
Christine Cooper & Joanne Johnston
This paper presents a longitudinal study of a private prison in Scotland and the impact of key performance measures (which form part of the contract between the Scottish Prison Service and the owners of the prison) on the operation of that prison paying particular attention to their impact on prison officers. Despite an increasing amount of research into prisons over the past 35 years, little has been written about the role of the prison officer, and yet, on operational grounds, no prison system can develop without the role of the prison officer. It is probably fairly obvious that "staff morale" is always important. Arguably, staff morale in prisons is especially important. Extant research on the issue of performance measurement systems (PMS) appears to suggest that formalised PMSs fail to engender commitment, innovation and effectiveness. Rather, measurement induces a technocratic rationality into operations that tends to transform substantive evaluations (such as is he/she dangerous or is the prison calm?) into formal procedures (is his/her drug test positive? Have any officers/inmates been attacked?) Drawing from, and building upon Adler and Borys' (1996) conceptualisation of types of bureaucracy alongside work on organisational learning, we reflect upon the rationale behind the inclusion of key performance measures in the contract. We buttress Adler and Borys' (1996) typology with insights drawn from Lacan and Bourdieu to discuss why and how management control systems might be used to support rather than constrain operational management. In terms of constraint, the power asymmetries found in the case means that those in power are able to deflect responsibility. In the case of private prisons, the government ministers involved can use key performance indicators in this way. In organizations characterized by significant power asymmetry, we can therefore hypothesize that the possibility of enabling formalization will tend to appear utopian and naive and that the coercion logic will appear as inevitable in spite of the profound negative consequences.