Akkreditering og klinisk praksis: en STS-analyse af forandring

There is a growing awareness of a gap between the worlds of theory and practice within the field of organizational thinking, particularly when it comes to organizational change. Scholars are looking for methods to study practice and practitioners are looking for theories reflecting the real world and the problems they experience. Why is there no overarching paradigm for change?, is a question often asked. Organisations in the public sector in Denmark, among which are the hospitals, have experienced an endless stream of changes through many years, mainly aimed at improving effeciency, effectivenes and quality. This dissertation addresses quality improvement and organizational change, generally considered to be inseparable. In spite of strong efforts to produce guidelines for change projects, strategies and plans are often said to fail.But is there such a thing as a failing project? I find that this way of thinking about ʹfailing to fullfill plansʹ reflects a modern approach to research, a conception of the world as real and thruth as something objective, i.e. a rationalistic mode of thinking about relations between subjects and objects, stimulus and response. With a pragmatistic, interactionistic approach the concept of change and success migth be different. This approach will allow thinking of change as emerging and more or less out of control. Thinking of the world as real in context only and truth as a local phenomenon opens up a different way of making theory and hence a different way of thinking about the relations between theory and practice. In the field of Science and Technology Studies researchers focus on practice, this is the very idea, no theory without practice and no practice without theory. This dissertation is based on field studies in danish hospitals, where accreditation systems for quality and patient safety have been implemented.