Modernism and the dominating firm—on the managerial mentality of the Swedish model
Rationalism, modernism and managerial thought dominate action in Swedish social life. The study of management education provides a way of understanding the workings of the Swedish model. Swedish managerialism is reproducing old collectivist and corporativist values with German rather than Anglo-Saxon intellectual roots. The task of the manager is to realize capitalism without capitalists. The concept of the "firm" has taken on the meaning today that was previously given to "Nature" or "People". Families and the state are both simply seen as different types of firm, to be run by loyal managers. This Swedish version of the "firm" has therefore become a dominant institution, entrenched in a mentality beyond political facts and fashions.
This is the second in a series of working ::: papers published by the Higher Education ::: Academy to disseminate information about ::: the project entitled 'What is learned at ::: university: the social and organisational ::: mediation of university learning' (SOMUL). ::: This second working paper focuses on the ::: organisational mediation of learning, i.e. how ::: institutional characteristics shape the ::: student experience and resultant learning ::: outcomes within an increasingly diverse ::: higher education system.