I
NTRODUCTION
As this thesis is comprised of three distinct research questions on the topic of managerial work that are presented in three stand alone papers, it is important to provide an overview of the contents and interrelatedness of the papers before proceeding with them independently (See Bevort (2012) for another example of a three-paper thesis using this structure). To this end, this short chapter briefly summarizes the presentation history and publication status of the three papers (See Table 4), outlines the essential elements of each of the three papers, and discusses some of the comments and suggestions that have been provided from journal editors and anonymous reviewers in the review process.
Table 4: Overview of presentations and publications
Title Presentations and Publication Status
Paper #1: Historical developments in research on managerial work: A critical overview
Versions of the paper were presented at the Journal of Management Studies conference on the evolution and future of management (March 26-28, 2012) and the Academy of Management conference (August 3-7, 2012). This paper has also been reviewed by three anonymous
reviews at International Journal of Management Reviews
and has been offered the opportunity to revise and resubmit for possible publication.
Paper #2: Is managing in the public and private sectors really ‘different’? A comparative study of managerial work activities
This paper has been reviewed by three anonymous reviewers at Public Administration and has been offered the opportunity to revise and resubmit for possible publication.
Paper #3: Ethical issues and dilemmas in shadowing research: Lessons from the field of managerial work
This paper has been reviewed by three anonymous reviewers, revised, and resubmitted for possible
publication in Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management.
PAPER #1
Historical developments in research on managerial work - A critical overview
The aim of this paper is to document how research in the field of managerial work has developed methodologically, theoretically, and empirically since Sune Carlson’s Executive Behaviour (1951) to develop a new plateau from which managerial work
can be taught and theorized. The empirical study conducted on managerial work, the results of which are presented in Paper #2, developed out of a gap presented in this paper. This gap was that there has been relatively little investigation into the work activities of public sector managers.
Drafts of this paper have been presented at two conferences (Journal of
Management Studies and Academy of Management), and the version of the paper
included in this dissertation has received a revise and resubmit from the International Journal of Management Reviews. Reviewers of the draft included in
this thesis have acknowledged that previous literature reviews trying to encompass the whole research field of managerial (e.g. Hales, 1986; Stewart, 1989) are getting old, and that this paper and this paper fills a gap in the literature by taking stock of how the field has developed since inception. With regards to further development, the reviewers indicated that the systematic approach taken in this review has resulted in some literature on managerial work being excluded from the paper (notably from the field of Critical Management Studies), and that the paper could benefit from more theorization (in the discussion section). Suggestions from the review are being
carefully considered and the present draft of the paper is being revised in collaboration with the co-authors, Dr. Maja Korica and Professor Davide Nicolini.
PAPER #2
Is managing in the public and private sectors really ‘different’? A comparative study
of managerial work activities
Developed out of a gap in managerial work research that was uncovered in the literature review (Paper #1), this empirical paper presents structured data on the work activities of four top managers (CEOs). Through replication of data collection and analysis practices set out by Mintzberg (1973), empirical data collected using the shadowing method in the Canadian public sector is compared to a similar study conducted in the Swedish private sector (Tengblad, 2006) with the aim of determining the extent to which managerial work is similar and different between the public and private sectors.
This paper has been submitted to Public Administration, reviewed by three
anonymous reviewers and offered the opportunity to revise and resubmit. Reviewers of this paper have indicated that “plenty of interesting material” and that this paper “adds to the substantial literature on public private management by examining the content of managerial work (an area where little empirical research on the topic exists”. The reviewers offered a number of ways in which this paper could be strengthened. Some of the notable suggestions include: providing information on how national and socio-cultural factors could explain similarities and differences
between Swedish and Canadian managers; providing further emphasis on why understanding differences between the public private sector is important; stipulating how the analysis was conducted; and injecting more theory into the article.
PAPER #3
Ethical issues and dilemmas in shadowing research - Lessons from the field of
managerial work
This paper focuses on the ethical issues and dilemmas that were encountered during a 12-week field study, which captured data on the work activities and practices of Canadian healthcare CEOs. Contributing to literature on research ethics, this paper aims to provide researchers considering using the shadowing method with insight into some of the issues they may encounter ‘in situ’, and provide them with suggestions as to how ethical practice can be attained.
This paper has been submitted to a special issue on shadowing in Qualitative
Research in Organizations and Management, reviewed by three anonymous
reviewers, and been given the opportunity to revise and resubmit with minor revisions. This article has been revised and the present version has been resubmitted to the journal.
CHAPTER FOUR (PAPER #1): HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN