Dr Tim Freeman

Link to Researchgate citations; link to Google Scholar citations

Research interests concern governance and leadership in public institutions.  Under this broad heading, discrete themes include;

• Leadership and organisational culture(s), especially in relation to governance and the ‘performance’ of leadership within executive boards;
• Discourse and leadership, particularly the availability of discursive frames and their use in the construction of leadership persona;
• Organisational development and service improvement

Authored Books

6, P., Peck, E., Goodwin, N., and Freeman, T.  (2006) Managing networks of twenty-first century organisations. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles (selected recent)

Millar R., Freeman, T., Mannion, R., Davies, HTO (2019) ‘Meta Regulation meets Deliberation: Situating the Governor within NHS Foundation Trust Hospitals, Journal of Social Policy, 48(3): 595-613  [ABS 3*, Impact Factor 1.593]

Mannion, R., Jacobs, R., Davies, H., Kasteridis, P., Freeman, T., and Millar, R. (2017) Do hospital Boards matter for better, safer, patient care? Social Science and Medicine,177: 278-87  [ABS 4*, Impact Factor 2.814]

Mannion, R., Freeman, T., Millar, R., and Davies, HTO. (2016) Effective board governance of safe care: a (theoretically underpinned) cross-sectioned examination of the breadth and depth of relationships through national quantitative surveys and in-depth qualitative case studies. Health Services and Delivery Research, 4 (4). ISSN 2050-4349

Freeman, T., Millar, R., Mannion, R., and Davies, HTO. (2016) Enacting corporate governance of safety and quality: a dramaturgy of English hospital boards’, Sociology of Health and Illness 38(2): 233-51 [ABS 4*, Impact Factor 2.112]

Millar, R., Freeman, T., and Mannion, R. (2015) Hospital boards and patient safety in England: examining the potential of trust and intelligence, BMC Health Services Research, 15: 196-207 [Impact Factor 2.548]

Mannion R., Davies HTO, Freeman T., et al. (2015) Overseeing oversight: governance of quality and safety by hospital boards in the English NHS. J Health Serv Res Policy; 20(1S): 9-16

Freeman T. (2013) Comparing the content of leadership theories and managers' shared perceptions of effective leadership:  a Q-method study of trainee managers in the English NHS,Health Services Management Research, 26: 43-53

Millar, R., Mannion, R., Freeman, T. and Davies, H. (2013)  Hospital Board oversight of Patient Safety: A Narrative Review & Synthesis of Recent Empirical Research,Milbank Quarterly, 91(4): 738-70 [ABS 4*, Impact Factor 4.897]

Robinson, S. Williams, I., Dickinson, H., Freeman, T., and Rumbold, B. (2012) Priority setting and rationing in health care: evidence from the English NHS, Social Science and Medicine, 75(12): 2386-93 [ABS 4*, Impact Factor 2.814 ]

Dickinson, H., Freeman, T, Williams, I., and Robinson, S. (2011) Resource scarcity and priority setting: from management to leadership in priority setting? Public Money and Management, 31(5): 363-70 [ABS 2*]

Mabey, C. and Freeman, T. (2010) Reflections on leadership and place, Policy Studies 31(4): 505-22 [ABS 2*]

Freeman, T. and Peck, E.  (2007) Performing governance: a partnership board dramaturgy. Public Administration 85(4):907-929 [ABS 4*]

Book Chapters

Freeman, T. (2020) Critical leadership, In I. Roper, R. Prouska and U. Chatrakul Ayudhya (eds) Critical HRM, London: Red Globe Press, pp. 189-205

Freeman, T., Millar, R., Mannion, R. and Davies, H. (2018) Decentring patient safety governance: Case studies of four English Foundation Trust hospital Boards, In M. Bevir and J. Waring (eds) Decentred Health Care Governance, London: Palgrave / Macmillan

Freeman, T., Millar, R., Mannion, R., and Davies, HTO. (2016) Enacting corporate governance of safety and quality: a dramaturgy of English hospital boards, In D. Allen, J. Braithwaite, J. Sandall and J. Waring (Eds.) The sociology of healthcare safety and quality, London: Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 52-68

Mabey, C. and Freeman, T. (2012) Four readings of place leadership.  In FM. Go and G. Govers (eds.) The international place branding yearbook: Smart growth and sustainability, pp. 33-44, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan

Mabey, C. and Freeman, T. (2010) 'Reflections on leadership and place'. In Collinge, C., Gibney, J. and Mabey, C. (eds.) Leadership and Place, London: Taylor Francis

Freeman, T. and Peck, E. (2009) Culture made flesh: discourse, performativity and materiality.  In J. Braithwaite, P. Hyde and C. Pope (eds.) Culture, climate and teams in health care organizations, pp. 31-41, Basingstoke: Palgrave

Freeman, T. (2006) Performance measurement and improvement, in  Walshe K. and Smith J. (eds) Healthcare Management, McGraw-Hill/Open University Press pp. 300-320

Freeman T. (2005) A critical introduction to clinical governance, in Sallah, D. and Clark M (eds), Research and development in mental health.  Oxford: Elsevier pp. 223-250

Papers in Refereed Conference Proceedings

Freeman, T., Millar, R., and Mannion, R. 11th International conference on Organisational Behaviour in Health Care: ‘Co-ordinating care across boundaries and borders’ April 2018 (Montreal, Canada) Paper presentation: ‘Meta Regulation meets Deliberation: Situating the Governor within NHS Foundation Trust Hospitals’

Freeman, T., Millar, R. Annual conference of the British Academy of Management (BAM) September 2017 (Warwick, UK) Paper presentation: ‘Board Governance of Patient Safety – Leadership Fantasies’

Freeman, T., Millar, R., Mannion, R. and Davies, H. Annual conference of the European Group for Organizational Studies (EGOS) July 2016 (Naples, Italy) Paper presentation: ‘Decentring patient safety governance: Case studies of four English Foundation Trust hospital Boards’

Millar, R., Freeman, T., Mannion, R. Annual conference of the International Research Society for Public Management (IRSPM) April 2015 (Birmingham, UK) Paper presentation: 'Corporate Governance vs. New Public Governance: a case study of Board and Governor interactions within the English National Health Service'

Freeman, T. Annual conference of the European Group for Organizational Studies (EGOS)July 2014(Rotterdam, Netherlands) Paper presentation: 'Leadership as performative regulatory fiction'

Freeman, T., Millar, R., and Mannion, R.   Annual conference of the European Health Management Association (EHMA), June 2014 (Birmingham, UK) Paper presentation: 'Enacting corporate governance of safety and quality: a dramaturgy of English hospital boards'

Millar, R., Freeman, T., and Mannion, R. Annual conference of Organisational Behaviour in Health Care (OBHC) April 2014 (Copenhagen, Denmark) – Paper presentation: 'Patient safety – a review of the empirical literature'

Freeman, T. Annual conference of the International Research Society for Public Management (IRSPM) April 2014 (Ottawa, Canada) Paper presentation: 'Priority setting as governance in the English NHS'

Freeman, T., Williams, I., Dickinson, H., and Robinson, S.  9^th Annual conference of the International Society on Priorities in Health Care (ISPHC), September 2012 (Vancouver, Canada) Paper presentation: 'Accountable and reasonable? Priority setting in the English National Health Service (NHS)'

Millar, R., Freeman, T. and Mannion, R. Annual conference of the European Health Management Association (EHMA), June 2012 (Berne, Switzerland) Paper presentation: 'Understanding Board governance and patient safety – a programme theory perspective'

Freeman, T. Annual Conference of the European Consortium for Political Research (EPCR) August 2011 (Reykjavik, Iceland) Paper presentation: 'Managing to lead? The affective realm of the trainee health manager'

Freeman, T. 7^th International Critical Management Studies Conference July 2011 (Naples): Paper presentation: 'Let me think about that for a minute: deliberative priority-setting as governance within the English National Health Service'

Freeman, T. Robinson, S., Dickinson, H. and Williams, I. Social Policy Association conference July 2011 (Lincoln) Paper presentation: 'Disinvestment decisions in the UK NHS'

Williams, I., Robinson, S., Dickinson, H. and Freeman, T. Annual Conference of the International Health Economics Association (IHEA) July 2011 (Toronto, Canada) Paper presentation 'Implementation of disinvestment decisions: evidence from the English NHS'

Robinson, S., Freeman, T., Williams, I., and Dickinson, H. Annual Conference of the European Health Management Association (EMHA) July 2010 (Lahti, Finland) Paper presentation 'Priority setting in the English NHS: what lessons can we learn?'

Freeman, T., Dickinson, H., Williams, I. and Robinson, S. 10^th International Society of Priorities in Health Care Conference 'Priority Setting in Difficult Economic Times' April 2010 (Boston, MA). Paper presentation 'Priority setting as governance in the UK National Health Service'

Freeman, T. 7^th International conference on Organisational Behaviour in Health Care: 'Mind the gap? Policy and practice in the reform of health care' April 2010 (Birmingham) Paper presentation: 'PDPs as cultural performance'

Robinson, S., Dickinson, H., Williams, I., and Freeman, T. 10^th International Society of Priorities in Health Care Conference 'Priority Setting in Difficult Economic Times' April 2010 (Boston, MA). Paper presentation 'Priority setting in difficult times: the English experience'

Robinson, S; Freeman, T; Dickinson, H; and Williams, I. 14^th IRSPM conference April 2010 (Berne): Paper presentation: 'Priority-setting, commissioning and governmentality: A case of 'clinician, manage thyself'?

Freeman, T. 8^th International conference on Leadership December 2009 (Birmingham): Paper presentation: 'Politicians, moral champions, guardians and charismatics: NHS management trainees make sense of leadership theory'

Freeman, T. and Robinson, S. Interpretive policy analysis.  (ESRC funded) October 2009 (Manchester): Paper presentation: 'Evidence and expertise: a narrative analysis of the application of priority setting in UK primary care'

Freeman, T., Dickinson, H. and Robinson, S. Qualitative Heath Research October 2009 (Vancouver): Paper presentation: 'Follow the leader? Identity construction, control and the health service manager'

Dickinson, H., Freeman, T., Robinson, S., Williams, I. and Parker, H.Qualitative Heath Research October 2009 (Vancouver): Paper presentation: 'A longitudinal theory-based evaluation of a culture-change initiative in an English community health service'

Freeman, T. 6^th International Critical Management Conference July 2009 (Warwick): Paper presentation: 'UK public-sector leadership discourses: a Q-method study'

Robinson, S., Freeman, T., Dickinson, H. and Williams, I. Social Policy Association conference June 2009 (Edinburgh) Paper presentation: 'What's the story? A narrative analysis of priority-setting in the area of world-class commissioning'

Freeman, T. and Peck, E.  6^th International conference on Organisational Behaviour in Health Care: 'Organisational culture – cracking the code?' March 2008 (Sydney, NSW) Paper presentation: 'Culture made flesh: discourse, materiality and performativity'

Peck, E., Freeman, T., and Dickinson, H. 5^th International Critical Management Conference July 2007 (Manchester): Paper presentation: 'Re-conceptualising leadership development: honouring the contested nature of the self'

Robinson, S., and Freeman, T. 6^th European Conference on Health Economics [ECHE] July 2006 (Budapest):  'A qualitative investigation to explore the validity of the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), Time-Trade-Off (TTO) and Person-Trade-Off (PTO) techniques'

Freeman, T. International partnership Symposium 'Effective Partnership Working' May 2006 (Birmingham) Paper presentation: 'Evaluating partnerships: a case study of integrated specialist mental health services'

Freeman, T. and Peck, E.  5^th International conference on Organisational Behaviour in Health Care: 'Speaking truth to power- who speaks to whom?' April 2006 (Aberdeen) Paper presentation: 'Power & politics in strategy formation: a case study of a public sector partnership'

Freeman, T. and Peck, E.  3^rd International conference on corporate governance, June 2005 (Birmingham) Paper presentation: 'Board games: the interplay of instrumental and symbolic in the governance of a public sector partnership'

Papers in Professional Journals

Freeman, T., Kunter, A., Douglas, C., and Roper, I. (2015) Ethics and spirituality in the workplace, Human Resource Management International Digest, 23(5): 43-44

Freeman, T. and Peck, E. (2008) Adult care joint ventures: the art of the possible Journal of Integrated Care 16(1):10-17

Freeman, T. and Peck, E. (2008) Adult care joint ventures: Some possible futures Journal of Integrated Care 16(2):13-18

Other Reports (indicative selection)

Miles, L. and Freeman, T. (2019) Strategy Paper: SDG #5 Access to sexual and reproductive health and rights and Violence against women services by migrant workers in Malaysia, UN Women

Mannion, R., Freeman, T., Millar, R., and Davies, HTO. (2016) Effective board governance of safe care: a (theoretically underpinned) cross-sectioned examination of the breadth and depth of relationships through national quantitative surveys and in-depth qualitative case studies. ISSN 2050-4349

Freeman, T., Miller, R., Davidson, D., and Glasby, J. (2015) A social care compendium of approaches to organisational change, London: School for Social Care Research

Robinson, S., Dickinson, H., Williams, I., Freeman, T., Rumbold, B. and Spence, K. (2011) Priority setting: an exploratory study of English PCTs.  Birmingham: Health Services Management Centre, University of Birmingham

Freeman, T. and Chapain, C. (2010) Evaluation of 'Streets Ahead on Safety' project: final report.  Birmingham: University of Birmingham

Freeman, T., and Peck, E. (2007) Provision of adult services in partnership between health and social care: Considering the options Birmingham: Health Services Management Centre, University of Birmingham

McIver, S., Freeman, T., and Dickinson, H. (2007) Healthcare associated infections: an evaluation of the engagement tools developed by the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement, Birmingham: Health Services Management Centre, University of Birmingham

Freeman, T. and Dickinson, H.  (2007) Improvements and innovations in healthcare: a literature review Birmingham: Health Services Management Centre, University of Birmingham

Freeman, T., and Peck, E.  (2006) Adult care joint-ventures: aspirations, challenges and options, Birmingham: Health Services Management Centre, University of Birmingham

Glasby, J., Freeman, T., Durose, J., and Shapiro, J.  (2006) Cornwall Partnership NHS Trust: confidential external Board review, Birmingham: Health Services Management Centre, University of Birmingham

Smith, JA, Freeman, T., Parker, A., and Parker, H. (2006) Options for primary care trust providers: an evidence-based policy analysis for the NHS West Midlands Birmingham: Health Services Management Centre, University of Birmingham

Spurgeon, P., Barwell, F., Freeman, T., and Mazelan, P.  (2006) Improving quality and safety: progress in implementing clinical governance in primary care trusts (confidential report to the National Audit Office) Birmingham: Health Services Management Centre, University of Birmingham

Freeman, T., Dickinson, H., McIver, S., and McLeod, H. (2006) Innovation in Service delivery: Final Report to the NHSI Birmingham: Health Services Management Centre, University of Birmingham

Wade, E., Smith, J., Freeman, T., and Peck, E. (2006) Commissioning in the reformed NHS: Policy into practice.  Birmingham: Health Services Management Centre, University of Birmingham

Peck, E., and Freeman, T. (2005) Reconfiguring PCTs: Influences and options, Birmingham: Health Services Management Centre, University of Birmingham, 2005

Freeman, T., and Peck, E.  (2005) The commissioning and provision of adult mental health services in Hertfordshire, Birmingham: Health Services Management Centre, University of Birmingham

McLeod, H., Freeman, T., Williams, I., Harley, M., Robinson, S., and Peck, E.  (2005) Stepping-stones: evaluation of the Action-On General Surgery Programme, Birmingham: Health Services Management Centre, University of Birmingham

Freeman, T., McLeod, H., Robinson, S., Williams, I., Harley, M., and Peck, E.  (2005) Stepping-stones: evaluation of the Action-On Neurology Programme, Birmingham: Health Services Management Centre, University of Birmingham

Goodwin N, 6 P, Peck E, Freeman T and Posaner R. (2003) Managing Across Diverse Networks of Care: Lessons from other sectors. Final Report.  Birmingham: Health Services Management Centre, University of Birmingham

Spurgeon P, Freeman T and Wallace L. (2002) Developing options for a programme of external evaluation of CHI's impact and performance: preliminary scoping paper. London: Commission for Health Improvement

Freeman, T., Walshe, K., and Spurgeon, P.  (2002) Achieving improvements through clinical governance: a survey of trust managers' views for the National Audit Office. London: NAO

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