The Organizational Valuation of Valuation Devices: Putting Lean whiteboard management to work in a hospital department

Abstract

This paper is about the interplay between multiple modes of valuation. The paper engages with the question of how a valuation device intersects with the working values of an organization. While the many studies of valuation practices have drawn attention to the pervasive effects of valuation devices, only a few studies have taken into account the fact that many spaces, including organizations, are already filled with practices and ideas that constitute what is valuable. Revisiting classical organization theory, this paper shows that organizations comprise multiple, more—or less—integrated modes of valuation. Empirically, the paper draws on an ethnographic study of Lean management at a children’s hospital, which is presented through analytical snapshots. The paper suggests that an organizational turn is relevant for valuation studies, as this fi rst allows an analytical expansion to include less ‘deviced’ valuations, contributes to the ongoing culture vs. device debate offering an alternative to the causal analysis of devices and effects without making the ‘ineffable culture’ what makes or breaks the causality.

All the good care: Valuation and task differentiation in older person care

“…Within organisations, different modes of doing good can co-exist and interact, and individual actors can engage with and enact diverse modes in their practices (Hauge, 2016;Stark, 2009). Rushforth et al (2018), for instance, show how principal investigators affiliated with universities and research institutes engage with different systems of values simultaneously, that is, one of academic excellence and another of social impact, to decide which projects to invest in for future success.…”

“…Within organisations, different modes of doing good can co‐exist and interact, and individual actors can engage with and enact diverse modes in their practices (Hauge, 2016; Stark, 2009). Rushforth et al.…”

The Irony of Rankings

“…Reviewing the literature review opens up the possibility to compare and contrast the academic literature and paves new ways for possible research avenues. Many ranking scholars discuss the academic future for ranking studies and suggest lots of research avenues (among others, Hauge, 2016, and Lamont, 2012. Two themes that have been highlighted are studying the (1) Production of rankings; and (2) Reconfiguration of rankings.…”

“…Such conceptual challenges directed management and organisation scholars toward: (1) emphasising the role of devices in the construction of the social (Latour, 2005;; and (2) adopting a practice approach to the study of valuation (e.g. Doganova et al 2014;Hauge, 2016;Heuts & Mol, 2013).…”

“…First, especially scholars from Science and Technology Studies (STS) started to emphasise the role of devices within valuation. Devices are not only present in a social local setting that "constitute value and, at the same time, enable its measurement" (Callon, 2009, p. 252), but they are also capable to "qualify goods, create calculative agents, and facilitate valuations" (Barman, 2015, p. 10;Callon, 1998;Hauge, 2016;Muniesa et al, 2007). For example, Hauge (2016) explores a valuation device in a healthcare organisation.…”