27 Days of Managerial work in the police service

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to uncover the realities of managerial work in the Norwegian police service. Observation and interview of 27 police managers showed that managerial work emerged and unfolded through specific practices, which occurred within a shared organisational practice shaped by police culture, context and mission. Managers practiced in a variety of ways rather than according to a universal set of managerial practices. Individual police managers developed proficiency by carrying out day-to-day work duties. These managerial practices were dependent on dynamic actions and interactions and were subject to expectations and pressures. Police managers earned legitimacy primarily through being foremost among equals. The current findings supported studies suggesting that managers face complexity and uncertainty in their work as well as those that downplay what managers ought to do, focussing instead on what it is possible to achieve. The implication of these findings for practice is that individual police managers need to develop their own ways of tackling personal, strategic, relational and operational challenges.

KEYWORDS:

• Managerial work
• police
• leadership-as-practice
• police managers
• practice

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Tom Karp

Tom Karp is a professor in leadership and management at Kristiania University College and adjunct professor at Nord University Business School and Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences. He has a PhD within change management, a masters degree in leadership, a bachelors degree in engineering and a diploma in economics. He has prior to present career held top-level positions within the oil & gas industry, led consultancy companies and co-initiated entrepreneurial start-ups. As a former top-athlete and solider, he has also worked a lot with performance improvement, mastery and self-development. His research interests include leadership, idenity, power dynamics, managerial work in practice, change processes, leadership development and personal mastery. Karp has publised five books, chapters in books, as well as many scientific publications in international journals.

Cathrine Filstad

Cathrine Filstad is Professor in Leadership and Organizational Behaviour at BI Norwegian Business School and Professor II at the Police University College, Norway and the University of Tromsø, Norway. She has a PhD within leadership and organizational learning. Her research focus is on leadership, middle-management organizational learning, knowledge creation and knowledge sharing, identity work, power and politics, newcomers learning processes and how to create a strong learning culture. She has a substantial number of scientific publications, book chapters and a total of seven text books.

Rune Glomseth

Rune Glomseth is an associate professor in leadership and management at The Police University College. Glomseth has broad experience from the Norwegian police, he is educated as a police officer, and has later taken an MPA. He has been responsible for several leadership development programs at the Police Service. Glomseth is a board member of The International Police Executive Symposium (IPES). He is also member of the Advisory Board for the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, who will develop a Master’s degree in International Security and Police Management. He is the co-editor of one book.