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While critical approaches have enriched research in proximate fields, their impact has been less marked in studies of healthcare management. In response, the 2016 Organizational Behaviour in Health Care Conference hosted its first-ever session dedicated to the emergent field of critical healthcare management studies (CHMSs). The purpose of this paper is to present five papers selected from that conference.

In this introductory paper, the authors frame the contributions as “green shoots” in a field of CHMS which contains four main furrows of activity: questioning the taken-for-granted; moving beyond instrumentalism; reflexivity and meanings in research; and challenging structures of domination (Kitchener and Thomas, 2016). The authors conclude by presenting an agenda for further cultivating the field of CHMS.

The papers evidence the value of CHMS, and provide insight into the benefits of broadening theoretical and methodological approaches in pursuit of critical insights.

CHMS works to explicate the multiple and competing ideologies and interests inherent in healthcare. As pragmatic imperatives push the provision of health and social care out of the organisational contexts and into private space, there is a particular need to simultaneously understand, and critically interrogate, the implications of new, as well as existing, forms of care.

This paper reviews, frames and details practical next steps in developing CHMS. These include: enhanced engagement with a wider range of actors than is currently the norm in mainstream healthcare management research; a broadening of theoretical and methodological lenses; support for critical approaches among editors and reviewers; and enhanced communication of critical research via its incorporation into education and training programmes.

The paper contributes to an emerging stream of CHMS research, and works to consolidate next steps for the field.

In light of advances in the theory of cognition (Anderson, 1996, 2000; Anderson & Fincham, 1994; Anderson & Lebiere, 1998) and research on learning from worked examples (Atkinson et al., 2000; Cooper & Sweller, 1987; Sweller & Cooper, 1985), this study extends earlier research findings that auditors need practice and certain kinds of feedback to acquire procedural knowledge to identify causes of variations between expected and actual financial ratios. We test an alternative form of instruction: worked examples. As predicted by Anderson's ACT-R 4.0 theory, the results indicate individuals’ pre-test declarative knowledge interacts significantly with learning method (with or without examples) on procedural knowledge acquisition. In contrast to prior findings, this study shows that improvements in auditing procedural knowledge can be achieved by passive instruction in worked examples, a potentially more efficient (cost-effective) method than practice and feedback for auditor training.

This paper uses Gramsci’s theory of hegemony to analyse the development of the public sector accounting profession and accounting practices in the UK since the nineteenth‐century. Three periods of hegemony and accounting development are identified and the relationship between the two phenomena is discussed. The analysis emphasises the non‐teleological development of the public sector accounting profession and accounting techniques and clearly places them within an ideological framework which is itself the outcome of a complex interrelation between economic crises, class interests and the state. The paper concludes that the public sector accounting professional body in the UK has played an important hegemonic role in constituting and reflecting ideologies and in reflecting the coercive and consensual approaches adopted by the state. The paper also sets an agenda for a research programme which looks at specific crises and hegemonies in more depth.

Reports the product innovation activities of 30 British manufacturing SMEs, all with aggressive growth ambitions. Shows that ten of these companies meet their aims by repeatedly introducing innovative new products that open up new market niches, which they successfully exploit. This is seen to contrast with the remaining, larger group that performs less well by introducing incremental improvement products into their current markets only. A longitudinal study identifies managerial approaches typical to the more successful group. These include a multi‐functional approach to decision making and the use of market and competitor analysis in strategic product planning. This is supported by effective cross company communication of decisions and plans. Concludes that this combination of approaches offers ambitious small firms a potentially powerful competitive advantage over their larger rivals.

Despite the high level of investment in information systems by many retailers, senior management expectations are frequently not being met. The value of the information now available to the business seems not to be readily translated into commercial advantage. The challenge is to recognise that the value of information depends on the way that decisions are taken and the next level of return from systems investment may require cultural changes in how decisions are taken within the business. This in turn will require extension to existing retail systems architecture and a proposed model is presented. Senior management backing is often cited as a key success factor for operational systems; for senior management systems, however, the level of involvement and commitment will need to be proportionately greater.

This article aims to evaluate the integration level of a quality management system (QMS) and an environmental management system (EMS) in a tire manufacturer and propose a guide to evaluate the integration of these systems in companies.

The methodological strategies used in this research were literature review; and case study, with interviews to verify professionals' perception about benefits from integration. Data from interviews were analyzed through Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS).

The results showed that the studied company has a simple level of integration, observing only some low intensity benefits. Thus, it was recommended that the company partially integrate its management systems (MSs) before evolving into something more complex. The literature and the findings of case study were used as basis for proposing a guide to evaluate MS integration.

Lessons learned throughout the study and the suggested guide can support other companies to assess the integration level of their QMS and EMS. Thus, the findings presented here can be useful for researchers and managers.