The primary objective of this paper is to advance our understanding of inter-organizational learning by introducing evidence of illegal learning across organizational boundaries. By drawing upon data from a largely unexplored area of management and organization studies, that of economic and...

Purpose – This paper aims to communicate the challenges and tensions faced by front‐line workers in negotiating the demands of performance targets and those of the young people they work with. Design/methodology/approach – An in‐depth study, over a two‐year period, of a number of...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss the impact of contracts on general practise in the UK National Health Service. In particular, it is concerned with the response of practitioners to the apparent flexibilities offered in the new contract with its focus on outcomes rather than...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether, or to what extent, the audit society influences the professional context of Swedish pre‐hospital care. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected through an in‐depth case study of public supervision within ambulance...

Purpose – This paper reflects on the output of four ethnographic research projects examining the implementation of the Dutch Inspection for Work and Income. These four reports were to open up the “black box” concerning the everyday negotiations involved in implementation and particularly...

Purpose – This paper attempts to replace the understanding of public sector accountability as a linear and hierarchical process with one in which accountability occurs within a network of social relationships. It associates the former approach with the introduction of New Public Management...