Tales of the unexpected? Stirring things up in health care management

Abstract

Purpose

Received wisdom about management and leadership in health care takes it for granted that better management is, by definition, a good thing. Aims to raise some doubts about this received wisdom and suggest that perhaps better management may be unconditionally “better” for only a few people.

Design/methodology/approach

These doubts are raised mainly via accounts of the author's personal experiences of being a manager in the UK National Health Service.

Findings

Author's attraction to some parts of a body of literature called critical management studies is discussed that was subsequently used to make sense of these experiences.

Originality/value

The accounts are offered in the belief that they will be of interest to other people who are wrestling with their own ways of making sense of personal experiences in and around better management in health care.

Citation

Learmonth, M. (2005), "Tales of the unexpected? Stirring things up in health care management", Journal of Health Organization and Management, Vol. 19 No. 3, pp. 181-188. https://doi.org/10.1108/14777260510608925