Dialect change in South‐East Norway and the role of attitude in diffusion

A common claim in the literature is that the local dialects in South‐East Norway are being leveled towards the dialect of the upper social classes in Oslo. A meta‐analysis of previous studies on dialect change in this region demonstrates that this assertion is incorrect, and that linguistic features have diffused from the dialect of the lower social classes in Oslo. Attitude studies show that people in South‐East Norway have strongly negative views on the upper Oslo speech community, and this can largely explain why they do not adopt new linguistic features from this community. Within Oslo, however, linguistic features diffuse from the upper classes down to the lower classes, and the overall picture that can be drawn from these diffusion patterns is that the lower‐class dialect of Oslo is spreading its features outwards from the capital, at the same time as it is gradually disappearing as a distinct sociolect. Det er vanleg å hevda at dei lokale målføra i Søraust‐Noreg vert tiljamna talemålet i dei øvre sosiale laga i Oslo. Ein metaanalyse av tidlegare språkendringsundersøkingar i dette området syner at den påstanden ikkje er rett, og at måldrag i staden spreier seg frå talemålet i dei lægre sosiale laga i Oslo. Haldningsundersøkingar syner at folk i Søraust‐Noreg tykkjer ille om dei frå dei øvre sosiale laga i Oslo, og då kan dét vera mykje av grunnen til at dei ikkje tek imot nye måldrag frå talemålet deira heller. Men innanfor Oslo spreier måldraga seg frå dei øvre til dei lægre sosiale laga, og hovudbiletet frå desse observasjonane vert då at måldrag frå talemålet i dei lægre sosiale laga i Oslo spreier seg utetter Søraust‐Noreg samstundes som det same talemålet noko om senn vert borte i hovudstaden. [Norwegian]     

Communicating risk to parents and those living in areas with a disaster history

This study explored how publics respond to risk communication in high probability but time-indeterminate natural disaster situations when parts of the area have been involved in a similar disaster before. An impending rockslide is expected to produce a tsunami in the fjord around Åknes in Norway. Waves may run up above sea level as high as 82 m or 269 ft. All residents (18 and older) of the four most threatened communities received a questionnaire to determine what they perceived to be useful risk information. Three hundred and eighty-two (43.6% of 875) responded. Results indicated that parents of children living within the tsunami risk zones perceived the risk information to be the most useful. Those who lived in communities that experienced a similar disaster in 1934 reported public meetings less useful than written or mediated information. Publics who lived in communities with such disaster history and those who were not parents posed special challenges in risk communication because they perceived information from the government agencies as lacking in usefulness. Therefore, committing the resources necessary to foster dialogues with a diversity of publics exposed to risk would be well served to fully understand the nature of risk communication responses, and to be able to save human lives.     

Problematizing ‘Relevance’ in the Business School: The Case of Leadership Studies

In recent years, the discourse of ‘relevance’ has risen to prominence in the university‐based business school. At the heart of this discourse is the suggestion that management researchers should align their research practices more closely with the needs of practitioners in external organizations. One important but under‐researched strand of this debate focuses on the way in which ‘relevance’ is pursued by business scholars via forms of practitioner engagement such as management consulting, corporate presentations, executive education and personal coaching. Drawing on extensive semi‐structured interviews, this paper explores the motivations, rewards and tensions experienced by leadership scholars in the process of engaging with practitioners. This study suggests that the pursuit of ‘relevance’ may come into conflict with norms of scholarly conduct, which in turn gives rise to a series of trade‐offs and compromises. Ultimately, the authors argue that the prevailing discourse of relevance provides an alibi for scholars to orient themselves towards practitioners in ways that contravene their academic identity and research ethos (whether post‐positivist, interpretivist or critical).     

Crowding Effects and Work Ethics

Abstract. This paper analyses optimal contracts in a principal–agent model where the agent is intrinsically motivated, and there is an endogenous relationship between the structure of incentive payments and intrinsic motivation (crowding effects). The analysis shows that crowding effects have implications for the optimal contract, and that, under some conditions, the principal can make better achievements without implementing any economic incentives. Furthermore, it is shown that when high‐powered incentives reduce intrinsic motivation (crowding‐out), the first‐best solution in a principal–agent framework is unattainable.     

The Regime of Excellence and the Erosion of Ethos in Critical Management Studies

The regime of excellence – manifested in journal rankings and research assessments – is coming to increasing prominence in the contemporary university. Critical scholars have responded to the encroaching ideology of excellence in various ways: while some seek to defend such measures of academic performance on the grounds that they provide accountability and transparency in place of elitism and privilege, others have criticized their impact on scholarship. The present paper contributes to the debate by exploring the relationship between the regime of excellence and critical management studies (CMS). Drawing on extensive interviews with CMS professors, we show how the regime of excellence is eroding the ethos of critical scholars. As a result, decisions about what to research and where to publish are increasingly being made according to the diktats of research assessments, journal rankings and managing editors of premier outlets. This suggests that CMS researchers may find themselves inadvertently aiding and abetting the rise of managerialism in the university sector, which raises troubling questions about the future of critical scholarship in the business school.     

Complex challenges should be approached by a multitude of theories and models

The ongoing pandemic may be regarded as a wicked problem. Therefore, it should be analyzed by a multitude of theories and models. Approaching the complex set of challenges posed to individuals and society by singular methods, can lead to suboptimal decisions. Good decisions must take into account the large set of uncertainties we are facing, by using well established procedures, as for example health technology assessment (HTA) and a nuanced ethical framework.