Management learning in public healthcare during pandemics

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to explore the management learning during a long-term crisis like a pandemic. The paper addresses both what health-care managers have learnt during the COVID-19 pandemic and how the management learning is characterized. Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on a qualitative case study carried out during the COVID-19 pandemic at two different public hospitals in Sweden. The study, conducted with semi-structured interviews, applies a combination of within-case analysis and cross-case comparison. The data were analyzed using thematic deductive analysis with the themes, i.e. sensemaking, decision-making and meaning-making. Findings The COVID-19 pandemic was characterized by uncertainty and a need for continuous learning among the managers at the case hospitals. The learning process that arose was circular in nature, wherein trust played a crucial role in facilitating the flow of information and enabling the managers to get a good sense of the situation. This, in turn, allowed the managers to make decisions meaningful for the organization, which improved the trust for the managers. This circular process was iterated with higher frequency than usual and was a prerequisite for the managers’ learning. The practical implications are that a combined management with hierarchical and distributed management that uses the normal decision routes seems to be the most successful management method in a prolonged crisis as a pandemic. Practical implications The gained knowledge can benefit hospital organizations, be used in crisis education and to develop regional contingency plans for pandemics. Originality/value This study has explored learning during the COVID-19 pandemic and found a circular process, “the management learning wheel,” which supports management learning in prolonged crises.

Special issue guest editorial: Perspectives on sustainable learning and organizing, part one

“…The sixth article is written by Ritva Rosenbäck and Ann Svensson (Rosenbäck & Svensson, 2024) and contributes to an understanding on how management learning is supported during a long-term crisis like a pandemic, characterizing what health-care managers have learnt, and how the management learning is characterized, during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the study, the authors have carried out a qualitative case study pandemic at two different public hospitals in Sweden, including a combination of a deductive within-case analysis and a cross-case analysis.…”

How does learning facilitate development?

“…By studying and comparing the practice of two hospitals in Sweden, Rosenbäck & Svensson (2024) found that it was difficult for managers to grasp the new situation during the declared pandemic. They gathered information from their international colleagues and their own hospitals to assess capacity needs and select treatment methods.…”

“…For this reason, distributed management was required, incorporating the perspectives of different stakeholders. In such cases, Rosenbäck & Svensson (2024) suggest the use of a framework that proposes five management tasks during a crisis situation: sense-making, decision-making, meaning-making, crisis management and learning. However, after the crisis has ended, further sense-making and learning are needed to determine what has been learned and what benefits it has for future work, so that some work practices are permanently changed.…”