The Ambiguity of Idea Bearers - A Study of a Translation Process within the Swedish Health Care System

Abstract

The journey of ideas has fascinated researchers within the management field with different beliefs concerning its stability or unpredictability. Hitherto, studies have been made to explore the journeys’ complexity with focus on their different phases and results. However, it is argued that the role of the actor responsible for spreading an idea has been disregarded. In this article, by using a descriptive approach, an idea’s travel from an international context to local care units in Sweden is followed, with the aim to illuminate how organisations act when spreading an idea and the effects they may have on the development of the original idea. The findings display ambiguities in the organisations’ roles as one of the actors takes part in the implementation process. This diverges from the traditional actions of an idea bearer, hence, the organisation’s status as an idea bearer can be questioned. As an implementer at the care units, the organisation’s role is shaped by different factors, which in the end influence the development of the idea being spread, and especially the degree of freedom in the terms of translation.