Podcast in danish

1931 is the world's most interesting year, believes historian Per H. Hansen. With the 30s depression there can be drawn many parallels to the current financial crisis. Over a few months in 1931 the world situation changed and people's perception of the economy was forever changed. Per H. Hansen has gained access to the archives of the Bank of International Settlements, the U.S., British and Scandinavian central banks, and has over thousands of documents seen how central bank policy makers were desperately trying to understand what was happening in the world around them. An attempt to avert the crisis and the impending depression, but it might have been much worse ...

In her research Associate Professor Betina W. Rennison addresses the question of how we speak about diversity management and how this communicative circumstance inscribes itself in the practice of diversity management. Learn how diversity management is a question about becoming conscious of the diverse meanings in the concept in order to become a form of management that is reflexive about its own practice.

In his research Anders Lacour digs into controversial sides of the self-understanding of society. He questions how the political spreads to ever new spheres, where the challenge of formulating a politic for the non-political is described. For instance: how is a language which does not entirely adapt to the discourse of the public sector created for volunteer organizations?

Playful games

Games have been used by corporations for many years, but their characteristics have changed quite a bit over the years. Niels Åkerstrøm explains how social games of creation can meet the need for innovation in modern corporations, as the game does linger to the past. Games can stir up the often rigid decision structure of the corporation and is therefore interesting for corporations that have to adapt to constant change. But games are not just for fun and gags, they are also used as decision making processes and it is binding to play along.

The role and history of the state
What is the purpose of the nation state in a functionally differentiated society in which systems as the economy and science etc. have their own criteria of success? Ole Thyssen explains, how the purpose of the nation state is to balance and tame exactly these self upholding and spreading rationalities of success. This role is non the less challenged by the territorial limits of the nation state versus the systems transnational functionality which constitutes a ‘world society’. Interestingly, as Thyssen points out, the nation state is intimately related to the systems, as it seems that they demand and need the nation state to support their functioning.

The typical understanding is that the manager is the governing authority of the organization. Challenging this understanding Niels Thygesen points out how steering technologies like performance management, value based management and accounting conditions- and govern management. The steering technologies creates specific forms of management and organizing. Thus the question is how you can obtain a critical reflexive approach in relation to the utilization of these and how you activate organizational potential without pushing and pulling the organizations with these technologies that subscribe on causal understanding. Here trust becomes an interesting research theme.

The borders between economics and aesthetics seem to become more and more blurry as we witness how the need to experiment and experience in the post industrial economy takes the place of more plain consumption. Daniel Hjorth stresses the importance of reawakening the aesthetic human as he presents his research agenda on the politics of organizational creativity.

’Work’ is a key institution in society. With work environment and the legal regulation of the same as prism Kurt Jacobsen takes a closer look at how values, the view of human nature and the understanding of work have changed over the last 150 years. What has the notion of ‘the psychological work environment’, which has not been aim for regulation previously, meant for regulation and work environment. And what has the founding of The Danish Work Environment Service meant for the work environment in corporations, work and society?

As the production and implementation of new knowledge is put in front, the research manager becomes a central figure in securing efficiency and legitimacy of the knowledge production. Maja Horst explains how the research management – being the mediator between the organization and external stakeholders - has to address the political question concerning what role research should play in society. This question demands attention in a time, when the authority of university researchers is challenged.

The notion of the entrepreneur has become very important in the conceptualization of the economy, the individual and the citizen. But from where does this concept originate and which inherited tought constructs is it founded on. Bent Meier Sorensen lays out how crist-figure can be traced in the entrepreneur, which in spite of the secularization is driving and empowering the modern narrative of the entrepreneur. Hear how Stein Bagger surprisingly can be interpreted as an exemplary case on this (duration: 11:46)

Evaluation in the Folkeskole can be addressed as a new form of culture management in relation to values and ideals. Justine Pors outlines how the evaluation campaign of the previous years are presented in easily digested consensus form and mobilizes ideals, that everyone can approve of. But without us noticing, these concepts and ideals take on a life of their own and make possible specific forms of knowledge, in which some things are excluded and others valorized (duration: 10:45)

How are narratives about the past used in the present to create identity and brands? We create our identity thru our consumption patterns and corporations find themselves forced to and in need of creating strong brands. Mads Mordhorst Explains how Arla are caught between a national identity and the need to navigate globally. But strikingly is the fact that branding today also occurs on nation level, which is in entirely unproblematic (duration: 11:19, in Danish).

How are organisations able to detach from something that has been successful for them, and to get enough away from it to go for something completely different? Robert Austin pursues this question through a case study of Miles Davis as a great innovator. He additionally discusses how innovation might be a matter of challenging the habit of striving for better performance in the same direction. Innovation might spur from defeating habits and expectations (duration: 10:31 min.).

Something strange happens when we single out talented people. Suddenly possibilities arise for those less talented. What is this and what does it imply? Listen to Christine Mølgaard Cleemann talk about the concept of talent in organisations and the issues it raises (duration: 08:58 min, in Danish)

Are we reinventing the public sector are we shutting it down? Or are we creating something altogether different than our contract politics and keynote speeches would have us believe? Hear Dorthe Pedersen discuss the concept of New Public Management (duration 9:59 minutes, in Danish)