Linna Sai

Bio: Linna Sai is an academic researcher. The author has contributed to research in topics: Ambivalence & Fieldnotes. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 1 publications receiving 15 citations.

Understanding Ambivalence as an emotional response to organisational change under New Public Management: A study of English housing associations

Abstract: This thesis uses the concept of ‘emotional ambivalence’, understood as a dynamic emotional response to change that unfolds over time, to explore the complex emotions experienced by employees and managers under New Public Management (NPM). The qualitative empirical study is based on two in-depth case studies of English housing associations. Thirty-five semi-structured interviews were conducted across hierarchical levels and organisational documents and research fieldnotes were analysed using thematic and narrative methods. The analysis demonstrates that NPM involves a cultural change from a traditional public sector to a more ‘business-like’ organisational culture. This thesis critiques dualistic representations of emotion, as either positive or negative, and the use of ‘mixed emotion’ to explore the complex emotions experienced by organisational members during change. It argues that the emotions experienced by organisational members during NPM-related change are inherently ambivalent. Emotional ambivalence arises from multiple sources and has contradictory emotional elements. A key conclusion of this study is that engaging with organisational members who experience ambivalent emotions in response to change offers an important resource which can be utilised by change managers.

Death and dying

Abstract: Death is the new sex, last great taboo in Western society and Western medicine, as Richard Smith discusses in his editorial (p 129). In the trinity of births, marriages, and deaths, only death does not have glossy magazines devoted to stylish consumption at the attendant ceremonies. On the web, of course, …

Which champions, which people? Public and user involvement in health care.

Abstract: This paper concerns two practices, public consultation and user involvement, whose adoption has been urged upon the UK National Health Service in recent years. Public consultation is a local attempt to seek the views of a broad constituency of persons. User involvement is a local attempt to include organized groups of service users in the planning, and occasionally the management, of such services. The paper has four objectives. First, it locates the topic in the context of several related current debates. Second, it outlines the main findings of a recent empirical study of public consultation as they relate to the above debates. Third, it summarizes the relevant findings of an empirical study of user involvement. Finally, it examines these two practices as "technologies of legitimation" which can be seen as a means by which managerial legitimacy is maintained in the context of an increasingly pluralistic policy arena.

Kurt Lewin and the Planned Approach to Change: A Re-appraisal

Abstract: The work of Kurt Lewin dominated the theory and practice of change management for over 40 years. However, in the past 20 years, Lewin's approach to change, particularly the 3-Step model, has attracted major criticisms. The key ones are that his work: assumed organizations operate in a stable state; was only suitable for small-scale change projects; ignored organizational power and politics; and was top-down and management-driven. This article seeks to re-appraise Lewin's work and challenge the validity of these views. It begins by describing Lewin's background and beliefs, especially his commitment to resolving social conflict. The article then moves on to examine the main elements of his Planned approach to change: Field Theory; Group Dynamics; Action Research; and the 3-Step model. This is followed by a brief summary of the major developments in the field of organizational change since Lewin's death which, in turn, leads to an examination of the main criticisms levelled at Lewin's work. The article concludes by arguing that rather than being outdated or redundant, Lewin's approach is still relevant to the modern world.