It has been suggested that localised attempts at change may fail because of organisational defences that are sustained through bureaucratic systems. Mental health workers face specific threats arising from the nature and context of their work. The resulting anxieties lead to defensiveness in the...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to compare the evidence from a range of reviews concerned with the links between human resource management (HRM) and performance. The aim of the paper is to review this diverse literature, and to derive human resource (HR) implications for healthcare...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe a hybrid approach to the research developed during a multi-researcher, ethnographic study of NHS management in the UK. Design/methodology/approach This methodological paper elaborates a hybrid approach to the sociological analysis – the...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine National Health Service (NHS) employee perspectives of how high performance human resource (HR) practices contribute to their performance. Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on an extensive qualitative study of the NHS. A novel...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the use of stories in a mental health environment. It includes an account of learning to read and recognise stories as a particular form of organizational narrative in the National Health Service (NHS). Design/methodology/approach – The study...