title: Reforms and clinical managers' responses: a study in Norwegian hospitals.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This paper seeks to explore the legitimacy of budgets as management control processes in hospitals after comprehensive reforms were implemented in the Norwegian hospital sector in 2002.
  
  
  METHODS
  The paper employs qualitative interviews with top level clinical managers in three large hospitals.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The study shows a variety of practices among the clinical managers as to management control adjustments. The managers use different strategies in order to cope with the budget frames.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This paper contributes to the current debate and research relating to the budgeting and performance management practices in hospital settings.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings contribute to contextual knowledge that is relevant in understanding the diverse practices of clinical managers in hospitals as complex service producing organizations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings give information to decision makers as to the diversity in management practices within knowledge intensive organizations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The paper challenges the idea that the strategies used by managers can be understood by the concepts of the means-end rationality prescribed in most of the reforms introduced into the hospital sector.
authors.affiliation: Trondheim Business School, Trondheim, Norway. Inger.Johanne.Pettersen@hist.no
authors.forename: Inger Johanne
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Pettersen
authors.forename: Kari
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nyland
mesh_terms: D002017:Budgets; D003659:Decision Making, Organizational; D018166:Health Care Reform; D006740:Hospital Administrators / Q000523:psychology*; D006779:Hospitals, Public; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D009664:Norway