Framing quality (management systems): private providers and the promotion of self-serving evaluations in Swedish eldercare
PMR — pp. 1-26 2026-04-18 Original Framing quality (management systems): private providers and the promotion of self-serving evaluations in Swedish eldercare
Peter Edlund
Abstract
I examine how private service providers deploy framing processes to influence the activities of public sector regulators. Studying Swedish eldercare, my findings indicate private providers launched three frame types in response to regulations requiring that all providers devise quality management systems (QMSs) for evaluation purposes. Over and above regulations, private providers promoted their own QMSs by self-servingly framing them as tools emphasizing problems with current quality measurements, offering solutions to inaccurate measurements, and outlining actions through specific measurements. These findings advance management scholarship by highlighting how private providers deploy framing processes as largely self-serving responses to influence regulators’ activities.