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Staff councils in hospitals as co-managers? A blind spot in codetermination research
[Agieren Personalräte in Krankenhäusern als Co-Manager? Ein blinder Fleck in der Mitbestimmungsforschung]

Author

Listed:
  • Bär, Stefan
  • Starystach, Sebastian
  • Hess, Heike

Abstract

New Public Management (NPM) has triggered far-reaching transformations within hospital sectors worldwide and professionalized hospital management has put employee representation under pressure. In this context the current state of research points out that codetermination actors are taking increasingly over the role of co-managers. To test this hypothesis, the cognitive and normative structures in the mind-sets of staff council members at four German university hospitals have been reconstructed on the bases of problem-centered interviews. The results show that the structural change in the German hospital sector affects employee representation in university clinics extensively. However, there is no clear-cut development towards a co-management orientation within the mind-sets of the staff council members. On the contrary, co-management is rejected in varying degrees. The reason for that being is that staff councils in German university hospitals, in addition to their institutional codetermination function, see themselves closely linked to the institutional mission of providing a public good. This is firmly embedded in the cognitive and normative structures of the mindsets. Although the study focusses on a very specific area of co-determination, it exemplifies how the political agenda of the NPM can irritate and break institutionalized patterns in industrial relations.

Suggested Citation

  • Bär, Stefan & Starystach, Sebastian & Hess, Heike, 2021. "Staff councils in hospitals as co-managers? A blind spot in codetermination research [Agieren Personalräte in Krankenhäusern als Co-Manager? Ein blinder Fleck in der Mitbestimmungsforschung]," Industrielle Beziehungen. Zeitschrift für Arbeit, Organisation und Management, Verlag Barbara Budrich, vol. 28(4), pages 407-430.
  • Handle: RePEc:zbw:indbez:298090
    DOI: 10.3224/indbez.v28i4.04
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kotthoff, Hermann, 2013. "Betriebliche Mitbestimmung im Spiegel der juengeren Forschung (Plant-level Co-determination as Reflected in Recent Research)," Industrielle Beziehungen - Zeitschrift fuer Arbeit, Organisation und Management - The German Journal of Industrial Relations, Rainer Hampp Verlag, vol. 20(4), pages 323-341.
    2. Ian Greer & Thorsten Schulten & Nils Böhlke, 2013. "How Does Market Making Affect Industrial Relations? Evidence from Eight German Hospitals," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 51(2), pages 215-239, June.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Public hospitals; commodification; staff councils; co-management; New Public Management; Öffentliche Krankenhäuser; Ökonomisierung; Personalräte; Co-Management; New Public Management.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J53 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Labor-Management Relations; Industrial Jurisprudence
    • L39 - Industrial Organization - - Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise - - - Other

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