How incentive systems arrived in Sweden - a tale of travelling ideas and ghost myths in action

Abstract

This paper describes and explains how and why incentive systems began spreading in Sweden, despite the differences between the dominating values in American (where incentive systems originated) and Swedish business life. However, a ghost myth in Sweden's national business system explains why it happened when it did. Theories on travelling ideas underemphasize the fact that organisations/countries hold different and competing ideas of suitable practices at the same time. Ghost myths are important complementary concepts which focus on the activation of alternative ways of acting (ghost myth) when contextual circumstances allow for a shift in practices. This research is based on a hermeneutic and qualitative approach using texts and interviews and highlights the role of ghost myths in terms of how ideas travel and how they are translated in different contexts.