Gry Cecilie Lunder Høiland

About

Associate professor at the Department of Industrial Economics and Technology Management, Faculty of Economics and Management, NTNU - Norwegian university of science and technology.

Organizational sociologist with a PhD in Management

Research focus on management of organizational change, impact, innovation, and implementation processes in complex organizations.

Study program manager for Master in management of innovation and digital security

https://www.ntnu.no/studier/miids

Research areas

Organizational change and management

Implementation in complex organisations

Organisational case studies

Innovationprocesses

Impact of research on innovationprocesses

Institutional theory

Integrated services and interprofessional collaboration

My research expertise and interest lie in the organization and leadership of change, with a particular focus on what causes implementation gaps when policy initiatives, regulatory requirements, and new technologies are to be put into practice within organizations. The topics I work with range from organizational readiness, digital innovation processes, and service development to top-down implementation of new policies, regulations, and technologies. I am also concerned with how organizations apply research and knowledge in the development and execution of new strategies and services.

Thematically, my work addresses the interplay between technology, people, organizational change processes, and institutional logics, and is relevant across the public sector, industry, and cyber and information security.

A key question in my research is how change actually unfolds in practice, and what it means for those tasked with making it happen. I focus particularly on the roles of senior leaders, middle managers, and operational staff in adopting and implementing new policies or solutions, and on how experience, everyday knowledge, and collaboration across professional boundaries influence the process.

The development of new technologies, digital security threats, emerging directives, and increasing regulation create continuous pressure for change and growing complexity. In this landscape, people within the organization—especially professionals and operational staff working close to the core of the organization—play a crucial role in calibrating governance demands against technological systems, organizational frameworks, and the real purpose of the services being delivered.

PhD title: Frontline policy implementation in public organizations - a sociological analysis of the 'how and why' of implementation gaps

Selected publications

Organizing professional work and services through institutional complexity – how institutional logics and differences in organizational roles matter.

Høiland, G. C. L. and Klemsdal, L. (2022) ‘Organizing professional work and services through institutional complexity – how institutional logics and differences in organizational roles matter’, Human Relations, 75(2), pp. 240–272. doi: 10.1177/0018726720970274.

Abstract

How is the complexity of contemporary professional work and services organized differently by management at the strategic level and professionals at the operational level? And what are the implications for managing this complexity? Drawing on literatures on institutional complexity, organizational roles and the analyses of case study data from interviews, observations and documents at a large public service provider in Norway, this article advances the understanding of management in complex organizations and makes the following three contributions to the institutional logics literature. First, we show how multiple institutional logics have different functions at strategic and operational levels, resembling a dynamic interplay in organizing professional work and services. Second, we show how these differences in handling multiple logics are contingent upon the different roles of the strategic managers and operational professionals. Finally, we advance the understanding of what institutional complexity may involve in organizations by disclosing how the significant conflicts stem not only from the presence of multiple logics, but also from differences within the organizations in how multiple logics are handled. Our findings have implications for the planning and management of organizational design and implementation strategies and demonstrate the utility of the institutional complexity perspective for managing complexity in contemporary organizations.

The relationshisp between research an innovation in the public sector - an analysis of five cases from labour and welfare services.

Gulbrandsen, M. and Høiland, G. C. (2021) “The relationship between research and innovation in the public sector – an analysis of five cases from labour and welfare services ”, Nordic Journal of Social Research, 12(Special issue), pp. 46–69. doi: 10.7577/njsr.3687.

Abstract

Many public agencies promote renewal in the public sector through projects that require a productive combination of research and innovation activities. However, the role of research in innovation processes is a neglected theme in the public sector innovation literature. We address this gap through an analysis of five cases from the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration. We find few examples of innovations based directly on research, but several examples of research on innovations and on more complex co-evolutionary processes of the two activities. Research seems to be particularly important for the diffusion and scaling up of innovations. We find that research has an impact on innovation in later phases of the innovation process through the formalisation of practice-based and unsystematic knowledge, codification of experiences, and legitimation to ensure political support and funding. This new conceptualisation contributes to the public sector innovation literature and may help improve policies that set up a rather limited role for research.

Frontline Policy Implementation in Public Organizations : A Sociological Analysis of the ‘how and Why’ of Implementation Gaps

Høiland, G. C. (2018). PhD Thesis no. 416. Universitetet i Stavanger.

Abstract

Background and aims Innovation is promoted in politics and public service organizations as an essential factor for meeting the demands of society. How new policies or strategies can be implemented as intended in complex multi-level public organizations is a major practical and academic puzzle. We know from extensive research that there is often a gap between central policy formulations and their implementation in practice (Hill & Hupe, 2003; Hupe, 2014) created by frontline workers exercise of discretion and their outcomes (Lipsky, 1980, 2010). However, there is a need for empirical research on the ‘how and why’ of street-level implementation (Hupe, 2014) such as ‘how the workers actually arrive at their decisions’ (Goldman & Foldy, 2015 p.169), as well as the use of multi-leveled perspectives to investigate the problem of implementation gaps (Hupe, 2014). The thesis aims to investigate mismatches between centrally directed policy measures and their implementation on the operational level. Introducing the concept of ‘resistance-driven innovation’, the thesis challenges the normative tendency of viewing implementation gaps as implementation failures (Hupe & Hill, 2016).

Resistance-driven Innovation? Frontline Public Welfare Workers’ Coping with Top- down Implementation

Høiland, G. and Willumsen, E. (2018) “Resistance-driven Innovation? Frontline Public Welfare Workers’ Coping with Top- down Implementation”, Nordic Journal of Working Life Studies, 8(2). doi: 10.18291/njwls.v8i2.106153.

Abstract
Employee-based innovation researchers point to the important role of welfare workers in public service innovations. Bureaucratic and New Public Management inspired managerial agendas, still widely present in Nordic welfare organizations have been tied to an increase in feelings of inau- thenticity and use of coping strategies by welfare workers. At the same time, post-NPM principles of collaboration and service tailoring are more in line with professional values of welfare workers. Drawing on a critical realist informed case study comprising qualitative interviews and observations in the Norwegian public welfare and employment services, we describe types of revision and resis- tance practices used by frontline employees when faced with top-down implementation instructions, linking them to different types of innovations. The article adds to literatures on employee-based innovation by conceptualizing resistance practices as value-motivated resistance-driven innovation that may have a function of calibrating public value creation in welfare organizations submerged in bureaucratic and NPM-inspired managerial regimes.

Publications

Høiland G & Klemsdal L (2022) Organizing professional work and services through institutional complexity – how institutional logics and differences in organizational roles matter. Human Relations, 75(2), 240-272

2016

Høiland, Gry Cecilie; Willumsen, Elisabeth. (2016) Understanding implementation in complex public service organizations – implication for practice. Journal of Comparative Social Work
Academic article

2015

Høiland, Gry Cecilie; Willumsen, Elisabeth. (2015) Innovasjon for mer integrerte tjenester : samarbeid på tvers i arbeidsinkludering. Fagbokforlaget
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper

Journal publications

Gulbrandsen, Magnus; Høiland, Gry Cecilie Lunder. (2021) The relationship between research and innovation in the public sector – an analysis of five cases from labour and welfare services. Nordic Journal of Social Research
Academic article
Magnussen, Siv; Andfossen, Nina Beate; Høiland, Gry Cecilie Lunder. (2021) En oppsummering av kunnskap: Kommunal medvirkning og samarbeid med forsknings- miljøer om innovasjon og forskning i omsorgssektoren. Omsorgsbiblioteket
Academic literature review
Høiland, Gry Cecilie Lunder; Klemsdal, Lars. (2020) Organizing professional work and services through institutional complexity – how institutional logics and differences in organizational roles matter. Human Relations
Academic article
Høiland, Gry Cecilie; Willumsen, Elisabeth. (2018) Resistance-driven innovation? : frontline public welfare workers’ coping with top-down implementation. Nordic Journal of Working Life Studies
Academic article
Høiland, Gry Cecilie; Willumsen, Elisabeth. (2016) Understanding implementation in complex public service organizations – implication for practice. Journal of Comparative Social Work
Academic article

Part of book/report

Høiland, Gry Cecilie; Willumsen, Elisabeth. (2015) Innovasjon for mer integrerte tjenester : samarbeid på tvers i arbeidsinkludering. Fagbokforlaget
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper

Report

Høiland, Gry Cecilie. (2018) Frontline policy implementation in public organizations. A sociological analysis of the 'how and why' of implementation gaps. . Universitetet i Stavanger Universitetet i Stavanger
Doctoral dissertation

Outreach

2024

Academic lecture

Høiland, Gry Cecilie Lunder; Obstfelder, Aud Uhlen; Landheim, Anne Signe. (2024) Understanding mechanisms for coordinating healthcare - the case of mental healthcare services in rural Valdres, Norway. Handelshøyskolen BI OBHC 2024 , Oslo 2024-04-03 - 2024-04-05
Academic lecture

Storvik, Bjørn Steinar; Høiland, Gry Cecilie Lunder; Obstfelder, Aud Uhlen; Landheim, Anne Signe. (2024) Understanding mechanisms for coordinating healthcare - the case of mental healthcare services in rural Valdres, Norway. Handelshøyskolen BI OBHC 2024 , Oslo 2024-04-03 - 2024-04-05
Academic lecture

Woolley, Richard; Tellmann, Silje Maria; Karaulova, Maria; Høiland, Gry Cecilie Lunder; Saidi, Trust. (2024) Societal impact of research from the societal perspective: Exploring the impact process in detail. Universitetet i Oslo R-QUEST and OSIRIS final conference , Domus Bibliotheca, Oslo, Norway 2024-11-08 - 2024-11-08

2021

Academic lecture

Tellmann, Silje Maria; Gulbrandsen, Magnus; Høiland, Gry Cecilie Lunder. (2021) Finding the right research. Articulating and implementing demands for academic policy advice. . ECPR ECPR Joint Sessions 2021-05-26 - 2021-05-28

2020

Academic lecture

Høiland, Gry Cecilie Lunder. (2020) Hvordan forstå avstanden mellom planlagt implementering og faktisk bruk i hverdagen. Helsedirektoratet Leve hele livet - Fra plan til handling , Oslo/digitalt 2020-11-18 - 2020-11-18

2019

Academic lecture

Høiland, Gry Cecilie; Gulbrandsen, Magnus. (2019) 'An easy match? Evidence-based policy meets science-based impact' Working paper for EU-SPRI conference 2019. EU-SPRI 2019 , Roma 2019-06-05 - 2019-06-07
Academic lecture

Høiland, Gry Cecilie; Gulbrandsen, Magnus. (2019) Better together A critical discussion of the relationship between research and innovation in policy and practice. Høgskolen i Innlandet / NEON NEON 2019 , Lillehammer 2019-11-27 - 2019-11-28
Academic lecture

Tellmann, Silje Maria; Gulbrandsen, Magnus; Høiland, Gry Cecilie. (2019) Practices in Public Agencies’ R&D Departments. ECPR 2019 2019-09-04 - 2019-09-07

2017

Academic lecture

Høiland, Gry Cecilie; Willumsen, Elisabeth. (2017) Frontline public welfare employees’ resistance practices as value-driven, employee-based innovation? . Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences Pubsic 2017 (Public service innovation conference 2017) , Lillehammer 2017-11-15 - 2017-11-18
Academic lecture

Høiland, Gry Cecilie. (2017) Applying critical realism in public service implementation research. ESWRA ESWRA 2017 (EUROPEAN CONFERENCE FOR SOCIAL WORK RESEARCH) , Ålborg 2017-04-19 - 2017-04-21

2016

Academic lecture

Høiland, Gry Cecilie. (2016) Researching a specific innovation process in NAV. Center of Innovation Research, UiS, IRIS Speed-date seminar. Innovation in public sector , Stavanger 2016-11-22 - 2016-11-22
Academic lecture

Høiland, Gry Cecilie. (2016) Street-level bureaucrats and the paradox of embedded agency in a public policy implementation study. EGOS EGOS 2016 , Napoli 2016-07-06 - 2016-07-09
Academic lecture

Høiland, Gry Cecilie. (2016) Street-level bureaucrats and the paradox of embedded agency through the lens of critical realism. International Association of Critical Realism IACR 2016 , Cardiff 2016-07-20 - 2016-07-22
Academic lecture

Høiland, Gry Cecilie. (2016) Innovasjon i arbeidsinkluderingstjenester.Top-down implementering i NAVs frontlinje. UiS Velferdstjenesteprogrammet , Stavanger 2016-10-25 - 2016-10-25

2015

Academic lecture

Høiland, Gry Cecilie. (2015) Implementeringsprosesser i NAV. Fra ledelsesnivå til frontlinje. UiS Kickoff Forskningsprogrammet Organisasjons Design , Kvinesdal 2015-08-13 - 2015-08-14
Academic lecture

Høiland, Gry Cecilie. (2015) Understanding and researching work inclusion policy implementation in NAV. Constructing an analytical and methodological framework. Center for Innovation Research, UiS, IRIS Center for Innovation Reserach Lunch seminar series , Stavanger 2015-05-13 - 2015-05-13

2014

Academic lecture

Høiland, Gry Cecilie. (2014) The need for interorganisational and interprofessional collaborations for service innovation in work inclusion for young people with asperger syndrom. UiS RIP 2014 - 9th Regional Innovation Policies Conference , Stavanger 2014-10-17 - 2014-10-17

Språkvelger

Gry Cecilie Lunder Høiland