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The purpose of this study was to examine the social relationship and social support at the daily work. Furthermore, this study aimed to create an understanding of the importance of social relations and support between employees and supervisors within an organization. For this purpose, 10 interviews were conducted with employees and supervisors from one municipality and two authorities.

The study showed that strong working relationship and social support within a workplace and between supervisors and employees can create the prerequisite for a higher efficiency and better health among employees. Furthermore, the study showed that a good relationship and support between supervisors and employees can increase the motivation and feeling of a strong entity among employees. The result of the study also indicated the importance of a strong structure build buy a good dialogue and support between supervisors and employees within an organization.

In today's modern work environment, the demand for innovation and creativity is crucial for the survival and success of organizations. The role of leadership is central in creating an environment that promotes creativity and idea generation among employees. This study aims to investigate the role of transformational leadership in creating an environment that promotes creativity and idea generation among employees in technology companies. The method section carefully describes the research methodology and the selection of respondents, as well as the conduct of the interviews and the J&D test. In the study, three different respondent groups were interviewed: two employees, two managers and an informant, in order to answer the research question. The results of these interviews provided insights into how transformative leadership promotes creativity and idea generation in the workplace. Furthermore, issues related to research ethics and how these have been handled and taken into account during the research process are also discussed. In the theory section, the concept of leadership is defined and three different leadership styles are discussed: transformative, transactional and servant leadership. Furthermore, the concept of creativity is explored, including individual, group and organizational creativity, as well as innovation and idea generation. In the empirical section, the results of the interviews and the J&D test are presented. The interviews have been analyzed using the thematic analysis method and organized under different themes, each of which is linked to a specific overarching theme. The analysis from the interviews shows that transformative leaders create an environment that inspires and engages employees, while challenging traditional thought patterns and encouraging divergent thinking. The results of the J&D test provide further insight into the creative abilities of the participants and show that these technology companies with a transformative leadership have a favorable work environment for individual creativity and idea generation. The conclusion is that transformative leadership is crucial for fostering creativity and idea generation within technology companies, and such a leadership style is a key factor for successful innovation processes.

In the realm of work environment improvements, the Nordic countries have led the way in demonstrating that employee participation is a key requisite for achieving improvements. Despite this, there is a lack of precision as to what ‘participatory’ in a participatory work environment intervention means. In this study, the authors present a conceptual model for participation in work environment interventions and apply it to protocols and manuals from eight participatory interventions to determine the form of participation used in each intervention. The authors suggest that the conceptual model can be applied in the design and assessment of participatory work environment interventions. 

Background: Registered nurses’ work-related stress, dissatisfaction and burnout are some of the problems in the healthcare and that negatively affect healthcare quality and patient care. A prerequisite for sustained high quality at work is that the registered nurses are motivated. High motivation has been proved to lead to better working results. The theory of inner work life describes the dynamic interplay between a person's perceptions, emotions and motivation and the three key factors for a good working life: nourishment, progress and catalysts. Objectives: The aim of the study was to explore registered nurses’ workday events in relation to inner work life theory, to better understand what influences registered nurses to remain in work. Design: A qualitative explorative study with an ethnographic approach. Methods: Participant observation over four months; in total 56 h with 479 events and 58 informal interviews during observation; all registered nurses employed at the unit (n = 10) were included. In addition, individual interviews were conducted after the observation period (n = 9). The dataset was analysed using thematic analysis and in the final step of the analysis the categories were reflected in relation to the three key factors in theory of inner work life. Results: Nourishment in a registered nurse context describes the work motivation created by the interpersonal support between colleagues. It was important to registered nurses that physicians and colleagues respected and trusted their knowledge in the daily work, and that they felt comfortable asking questions and supporting each other. Progress in the context of registered nurses’ work motivation was the feeling of moving forward with a mix of small wins and the perception of solving more complex challenges in daily work. It was also fundamental to the registered nurses’ development through new knowledge and learning during daily work. Catalysts, actions that directly facilitate the work, were highlighted as the possibility to work independently along with the opportunity to work together with other registered nurses. Conclusion: This study has a number of implications for future work and research on creating an attractive workplace for registered nurses. Working independently, with colleagues from the same profession, integrated with learning, visible progress, and receiving feedback from the work itself, contribute to work motivation. 

This chapter makes the case for a processual approach to understanding ethical change leadership in order to develop a more fine-grained understanding of how leadership matters. It starts with a vignette taken from current empirical studies on digitalization, leadership, and organizing. This vignette is utilthere isized as an illustration of the theoretical argument made. The argument is presented in three steps. First, the vignette is reread and some critical questions as posed. Second, it delves deeper into the perspective that leadership may be understood as a process, and what this means for understanding leadership for change. Third, a processual conceptualization of ethics that is not centered on individuals, but focused on what is produced, re-produced, and not-produced in the doing of leadership for organizational change, is presented. This leads to the introduction of the concept of care, and propose the idea of care-ful co-directing change.

Studiens syfte var att utifrån krav-resursmodellen undersöka hur förskolerektorer uppfattade sina arbetsförhållanden samt hur detta påverkade deras ledarskap för att skapa en bild av rektorers syn på sin arbetsbörda och dess påverkan på ledarskap. Detta undersöktes med hjälp av semistrukturerade intervjuer av åtta kvinnliga förskolerektorer mellan 48 och 63 år som sedan tematiserades. Resultaten visade att rektorerna upplever emotionella krav av ensamt ansvar, påfrestande samtal, brist på kontroll och bristande öppenhet i organisationen att synliggöra problem, men även en hög grad av administrativa arbetsuppgifter samt tidsbrist. Utöver det upplever alla rektorer att det finns flertalet uppgifter som inte bör vara deras ansvar, varav flera de känner sig tvungna att utföra då de är ytterst ansvariga för sin enhet. I diskussionen sammanfattas slutsatsen att rektorerna har för hög kvantitativ och emotionell arbetsbörda, vilket innebär att bland annat ledarskapet blir lidande och att det finns en tystnadskultur som motverkar förändring av problemen.

This report addresses the management innovation and how shared leadership is a form of it. The report is a compilation of what shared leadership means and how two municipal organizations works with shared leadership. The two minicipal organizations are Strängnäs and Vällingby. One municipality (Strängnäs) is meanwhile this report produced during insertion of shared leadership. The other (Vällingby) has about two years experience of working with this form of leadership. The main question for this work is why does a local organization implements shared leadership? Other questions are how does shared leadership work? How does one avoid confusion and ambiguity for employees? What advantages and disadvantages are there with shared leadership? And what can be done better ? Through well- selected literature in the form of books, articles, reports, etc. a picture of how shared leadership is part of a management innovation has been created. To complement this, there have been interviews with unit managers who are working or will be working with shared leadership. The reason for writing this report is that in today's situation there is not much information about shared leadership, much less on shared leadership in the local organizations. The results of this work show that there are many different forms of shared leadership, that there are several different ways to implement shared leadership in a local organization. A form does not need to fit all businesses, but it is important to adapt the leadership mold after their own business. We have listed a number of pros and cons of shared leadership  the opportunities and risks there might be and how best to way implement shared leadership in a organization.

Instances of professional misconduct, such as sexual harassment, mobbing and bullying, have become increasingly common, particularly in male-dominated industries like the video games industry. This has led to work-life balance problems and a high turnover rate among employees, especially females. Despite existing policies, female workers continue to face unwelcome situations and feel marginalized by their colleagues. The lack of robust measures from authorities to address professional misconduct adds to their insecurity and intention to leave their jobs. This workplace unrest and role conflicts also prevent employees from fulfilling their emotional, social, and familial responsibilities. A mixed methods research study was conducted to understand the reasons behind the increase in professional misconduct and the factors contributing to its severity at the workplaces in the gaming industry. The study found that employees, particularly females, are subjected to bullying, mobbing, and sexual harassment. They are often not considered integral to the industry by their co-workers, but male employees also experience professional misconduct, but to a lesser degree. Urgent attention and effective measures are needed to create a safe and inclusive work environment for all employees, regardless of gender, and to address the rising incidence of professional misconduct, thereby improving work-life balance.

Studiens syfte är att via fallstudier av socialtjänsten undersöka konkreta ledningspraktiker som kan sägas falla inom ramen för Tillitsdelegationens definition av tillitsbaserad styrning och ledning och som har betydelse för att åstadkomma hållbara arbetsmiljöer i välfärden. Analysen visar att hållbar arbetsmiljö via tillitsbaserad styrning och ledning kan kopplas till organisationens säkerställande av förmåga, integritet och hjälpvillighet. Konkreta ledningspraktiker för säkerställande och hållbar arbetsmiljö var uppdragsdialog, systemperspektiv, integrering av arbetsmiljö och verksamkvalitet samt långsiktig ekonomisk styrning. Genom att ledningen agerar tillitsvärdigt via säkerställande av tillitsvärdigheten hos dem som är satta att utföra arbetet närmast medborgarna, erhålls goda arbetsmiljöer.

Kapitlet syftar till att beskriva hur en mer tillitsbaserad styrning och ledning kan gestalta sig inom socialtjänstens verksamheter genom en analys av individ- och familjeomsorgen i Nyköpings kommun. Resultaten visar att grunduppdraget, det vill säga det ansvar som verksamheten förväntas ta gentemot medborgarna utifrån lagstiftningen har stort utrymme i styrningen snarare än mål, som de för tillfället styrande politikerna formulerar. Kvantitativa mått kompletteras med kvalitativa verksamhetsbeskrivningar och kontinuerlig dialog om verksamhetens kvalitet, brister och utvecklingsbehov. Ansvarsavgränsningar som inte gynnar klientens bästa kan motverkas genom hur ekonomistyrningen används. Här framstår det som väsentligt att undvika konkurrens, incitament och repressalier i styrningen som leder till fokus på den egna enhetens ekonomi snarare än verksamhetens kvalitet. Styrning och ledning som söker säkerställa förmåga, integritet och hjälpvillighet hänger intimt samman med arbetsmiljöfrågorna. När organisationen identifierar och åtgärdar reella hinder som försvårar ett professionellt socialt arbete är det tydligt att organisation tar ansvar för både verksamhetskvalitet och arbetsmiljö. Att säkerställa integritet och hjälpvillighet innebär också en konsekvent hållning till principer och värderingar som speglar ett offentligt ämbetsmannaetos. Via öppenhet och dialog i organisationen är det de gemensamma värdena som bidrar till ett gemensamt ansvar för verksamhetens kvalitet och en hållbar arbetsmiljö.

Extensive staff turnover within the statutory social services is a serious problem in Sweden and in other European countries. This study examines which work conditions predict social workers’ willingness to stay in their organisation. A web-based questionnaire was used to gather data. The participating social workers responded to two questionnaires over a one-year period. To identify the social workers who wanted to stay and also remained in the organisation, the group ‘Stayers’ (n = 1,368) consisted of social workers who reported low intentions to quit at T1. The group ‘Leavers’ (n = 1,182) were social workers who had actually resigned at T2. The data were analysed using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses. The multivariate analysis shows that the work conditions that predicted staying in the organisation were low degrees of conflicting demands and quantitative demands, high degrees of openness and human resource orientation in the organisation and a high degree of perceived service quality. The results are discussed in relation to public management and managerial responsibility to create sustainable work conditions that facilitate the provision of good social services for citizens.

This article explores the local governance of poverty alleviation in a marginalised Hungarian rural community, with over 50 per cent Roma inhabitants, most of whom were either unemployed or participated in public work projects. Kisbalog is among those marginalised rural communities which are characterised by increasing social polarisation and ethnic cleavages as a result of selective outmigration and a municipal leadership which negotiates access to public work along racialised notions of deservingness. Hungary follows the EU concept of public private partnerships for local governance. This article unravels the room for manoeuvre for NGOs working for poverty alleviation in the context of the racialised narratives of a paternalistic local welfare state. Utilising Young's notions of social justice it explores the complicit nature of recognitional, associative and distributional justice in order to understand the interplay in partnerships between public and private agencies. From among three types of strategies, coercive, isolated and deliberative, the last one has the potential to bring about transformative changes.

Background: The workplace has been suggested as an important arena for health promotion, but little is known about how the organizational setting influences the implementation of interventions. Purpose: The aims of this study are to evaluate implementation fidelity in an organizational-level occupational health intervention and to investigate possible explanations for variations in fidelity between intervention units. Method: The intervention consisted of an integration of health promotion, occupational health and safety, and a system for continuous improvements (Kaizen) and was conducted in a quasi-experimental design at a Swedish hospital. Implementation fidelity was evaluated with the Conceptual Framework for Implementation Fidelity and implementation factors used to investigate variations in fidelity with the Framework for Evaluating Organizational-level Interventions. A multi-method approach including interviews, Kaizen notes, and questionnaires was applied. Results: Implementation fidelity differed between units even though the intervention was introduced and supported in the same way. Important differences in all elements proposed in the model for evaluating organizational-level interventions, i.e., context, intervention, and mental models, were found to explain the differences in fidelity. Conclusion: Implementation strategies may need to be adapted depending on the local context. Implementation fidelity, as well as pre-intervention implementation elements, is likely to affect the implementation success and needs to be assessed in intervention research. The high variation in fidelity across the units indicates the need for adjustments to the type of designs used to assess the effects of interventions. Thus, rather than using designs that aim to control variation, it may be necessary to use those that aim at exploring and explaining variation, such as adapted study designs. 

Titel: Personalinvolverat förändringsarbete i industriföretag: Ett verksamhetsledande perspektiv

Författare: Axelsson Tobias

Examinator: Lindhult Erik

Handledare: Sjödin Carina

Ämne/Kurs: Innovationsteknik, KIN190

Nyckelord: innovation, Ledarskap, Personal, Personalinvolvering, organisation, Industri 

Inledning och problembakgrund: Skandinaviska företag har länge haft en tradition av att engagera och involvera personal och det är essentiellt att ha en engagerad personal för att hantera och implementera innovation. Personalinvolverat innovationsarbete kan ha många direkta och indirekta positiva effekter på en organisation, detta område är dock relativt nytt för industriföretag. Vad behöver då en personalstyrka på ett industriföretag för att kunna hantera förändringsarbete och vad krävs av verksamhetsledare. Vilken möjlighet har egentligen en personalstyrka att skapa unika idéer om företaget?

Syfte: meningen med studien är i huvudsak att öka kunskapen om personalinvolverad innovation i industriföretag. Studien antar ett managementperspektiv, vilket innebär att stor vikt läggs vid vad en verksamhetsledare upplever för värdeskapande vid ett genomförande av en mindre förändringssatsning.

Metod: Studien följer ett mindre förändringsinitiativ där två grupper, en extern och en personalgrupp arbetar med samma material för att finna företagsförbättringar i workshops. Studien är upplagd som ett kvalitativt aktionsforskningsprojekt. Metoden fokuserar i huvudsak på en verksamhetsledares kunskapsskapande av genomförandet.

Resultat: Studien visar på att den interna gruppen har lätt att finna mindre idéer vilka är lättare att implementera. Det är dock inte enkelt att genomföra förändringssatsningar. Organisationer måste vara beredda att involvera flera nivåer i organisationen för att satsningar skall ge resultat. En verksamhetsledare som leder dessa processer måste vara beredd på att ta kritik och det kan vara svårt att hinna med. Om företaget skall genomföra längre satsningar kan de även behöva hjälp. Studien visar även att intern personal behöver stöd genom hela processen av tidiga innovationssatsningar, även om de arbetar med sin egen miljö och egna idéer. De slutsatser som gjorts ses förenklat i understående punktlista.

• Personal behöver stöd genom alla delar i en innovationsprocess. Detta stöd bör vara både personligt och genom funktioner som ramverk eller hjälpmedel.
• Verksamhetsledare måste kunna lägga tid på förändringssatsningar. De måste även medvetengöra sig att det kräver den tid det gör.
• Verksamhetsledare som hanterar personalinvolverande satsningar bör vara beredda att ta kritik och reflektera över sin egen uppfattning om situationer.
• En organisation som står inför en satsning kan behöva förändras, nyanställa eller hyra in hjälp för att avlasta och/eller sköta satsningen.
• Personalinvolvering bör resultera i ett bättre fungerande företag både genom faktiska lösningar men även anställdas engagemang.

Personalinvolvering ökar företagets interna transparens.

Syftet med denna studie är att få en fördjupad kunskap om förskollärares beskrivningar av den pedagogiska inomhusmiljön i förskolan samt hur de upplever att den pedagogiska inomhusmiljön påverkar barns lärande. Studien är en kvalitativ undersökning med halvstrukturerade intervjufrågor som genomfördes med åtta förskollärare från två olika förskolor. Studiens teoretiska utgångspunkt är det sociokulturella perspektivet där samverkan och interaktion är centralt. Resultatet belyser vikten av att som förskollärare vara medveten om vilket material som barnen erbjuds och ett problem kan vara lokalernas utformning som ger en försämrad överblick över alla barn samtidigt. Slutsatsen som kan dras utifrån studien är betydelsen av att anpassa den pedagogiska inomhusmiljön efter barns olika behov och förutsättningar.

Work environment has been an important part of the Swedish working life for a long time and with the help of the Working Environment Law the work environment is mandatory. The purpose of this study was to gain a deeper insight into how the system of middle managers systematic work environment looks like. The question was: How do six middle managers perceive and deal with systematic work environment? A qualitative study was conducted with six middle managers from a global company. During the analysis, there were three main themes to be recognized (cooperation and support facilitates the work environment, problem with the systematic work and difficulties with staff) and six sub themes. The results showed that respondents felt great support from management and safety representatives, which according to the respondents made ​​their systematic work environment easier. In contrast, respondents indicated that work environment was extensive and because of that the experience was that the work never gets finished. It also emerged in the results that the systematic work environment is about trying to change staff attitudes. The conclusion is that systematic work environment is not an easy task for middle managers. Moreover, it seems that systematic work environment also involve working to change attitudes and behaviors. The study wants to contribute to a greater understanding of how the system of middle managers work with the systematic work environment looks like.

Following an actor-centred approach to institutional change, the aim of the study was to explore the process of ‘greenfield organising’ through which unions and collective bargaining structures are established in workplaces where there are none initially. A qualitative theory-oriented single case study, using some principles of the grounded theory, analysed the organising process and negotiations at Foodora in Sweden that resulted in a collective agreement. Besides, a phenomenographic approach was employed to understand participants’ conceptions of an organising success. Riders and union officials of the Transport union were interviewed for both parts of the study. The empirical material of the case study also included a survey conducted by the union, the Transport and Foodora collective agreements, media reports and articles, organisational webpages, social media, and legal acts. The results showed that workforce fragmentation and isolation were obstacles to the riders’ mobilisation but social interactions, through which pre-existing networks were mobilised and new relations were built, were central to the organising process. These bonds facilitated the transformative agency exerted by the riders and the union, which was based on intense involvement, learning and strategy. Thereby, they were able to influence influential factors and to build new social structure through increased union membership and a new collective agreement. These outcomes might be considered emerging components of an organising success, which the participants conceive mainly in terms of high level of union membership, workers’ solidaristic engagement and knowledge of their rights, reaching a collective agreement, working conditions improvement. The main conclusions of the study are, firstly, that a relational approach to social reality is required to understand the mobilisation of actors and the significance of institutional contradictions for them. Secondly, resources mobilisation and strategic capabilities were key dimensions of the agency exerted by actors. Finally, this agency, albeit embedded in constraining structural conditions, was able to some extent to achieve institutional change.

From the Polanyian perspective on the double movement of labour commodification and self-protection of Society, the aim of this study was to examine how unionists perceive and problematise precarious employment and what are their practices for unionising and thereby securing precarious workers. A double case study was conducted in the hotel-restaurant and construction sectors in Sweden with the participation of blue-collar unionists with diverse backgrounds and experiences.

The results show that precarious work is associated with labour market segmentation, subcontracting and fragmentation of economic organisations, deskilling of work, loss of autonomy and sometimes over-qualification of workers. Perceived difficulties for unionisation are fear, lack of knowledge of precarious workers about their rights, membership cost, status frustration and lack of interactions with other workers. Reported practices for unionising precarious workers consist of dealing with these barriers in order to build trustful relations and empowering workers through education and inclusion in leadership positions. Actions taken to protect and secure precarious workers are strongly interlinked with their unionisation and seem to rest mainly on negotiations.

The main conclusions of the study are that precarious work means a loss of control by workers over their work life stemming from labour commodification and flexibilisation due to increased management control and lack of rights and protections surrounding work. The formation of solidarities needed for unionisation is hindered by the detachment of precarious workers from the work community and by inequality regimes. The domination of fear manifests the prevalence of emotions. Therefore, the care and emotional work of unionists is essential for making workers feel confidence. Unions practices tend to lean also, to some extent, towards organising and community building models. Thereby, union agency appears to be able to engage in an interplay with structures to exert some influence on employment and industrial relations.

Employee wellbeing and good mental health is essential for good business. Identifyingpsychosocial work factors, assessing their potential effect and treating psychosocial risks before harm has occurred are recommended as a proactive measure to prevent harm and promote wellbeing in the workplace. To compare these theories to practice, five 45 – 60 min telephone interviews were carried out with respondents working with health and safety processes on a national level from 5 large companies in Sweden. Thematic Analysis and Direct Content Analysis were used to analyze the data. The results indicate that the respondents identify the same work factors in their workplace as those in the Stress Indicator Tool, a questionnaire operationalizing psychosocial risks. The participant’s name three additional work factors to those included in the Stress Indicator Tool as relevant for the psychosocial work environment; availability, identification with work and self-leadership. Risk assessments appear to be carried out in companies using e.g. employee satisfaction index and manager/employee dialogue. The respondents also described risk treatment being carried out on the primary, secondary and tertiary levels. A novel finding was that the new legislation (AFS, 2015) in Sweden has had an impact on company’s actions to manage the psychosocial work environment. All five companies named actions related to increased dialogue as a direct result of the new legislation in Sweden. The main limitation of this study is the very small sample size which restricting its generalizability. Future research could investigate the process from identification of a psychosocial work factor to the treatment chosen by the company. 

This study explores how management addresses psychosocial risks in seven teams of engineers and technicians in the midst of the fourth industrial revolution. The sample is from an ongoing quasi-experiment about psychosocial risk management in a manufacturing company in Sweden. Each of the seven teams belongs to one of two clusters: a positive cluster or a negative cluster. The positive cluster reports a significantly positive change in psychosocial risk levels between two time-points and the negative cluster reports a significantly negative change. The data are collected using semi-structured interviews. The results of the computer aided thematic analysis show that there are more differences than similarities when comparing the risk treatment actions taken between the two clusters. Findings show that the managers in the positive cluster use more enabling actions that foster and support formal and informal relationship building. In contrast, managers that use less enabling actions hinder the development of positive group processes and contribute negative changes in psychosocial risk levels. This exploratory study sheds some light on how management can influence significant positive and negative changes in psychosocial risk levels during a risk management process.

Many knowledge workers in the manufacturing sector from IT, research and development, sales, finance, customer care and management transitioned to work from home because of COVID-19 (Eurofound, 2020). We investigated how such an abrupt transition affected productivity. Data were collected from 138 white-collar workers using a survey shared on social media. Most of the respondents stated that working from home affected their productivity positively due to fewer interruptions and more efficient meetings. Some employees reported decreased productivity due to problems with the organisational, social and physical working conditions. The work environment should be actively managed when working from home.

To investigate the relationship between personality and multi-source feedback, we assessed 190 health care managers by applying the Understanding Personal Potential personality test, which provides comprehensive measurement of the Big Five dimensions and eight narrower personality traits. Managers' leadership behaviors were assessed by colleagues, supervisors, a random sample of each manager's subordinates as well as the managers themselves using a 360-degree change, production, employee (CPE) instrument. Hierarchical multivariate regression analysis showed that the Big Five variables were significantly related to the Managers' leadership behavior in all CPE dimensions. Also, addition of narrow personality variables to the Big Five increased explained variance in leadership behavior. This study is the first of its kind to include the full range of viewpoints in a 360-degree instrument, along with a large number of subordinate assessments. We found that both the strength of the relationship between personality and behavior and the configuration of different predictors varied depending on who did the rating and what leadership orientation was investigated, and this observation merits further investigation. 

Lönearbete utgör en väsentlig del av de flesta människors liv. Därför är det viktigt för individen och samhället att det finns mening med arbetet, och att det upplevs som meningsfullt. Barnmorskor tillhör en yrkeskategori som upplever sitt arbete som meningsfullt. Syftet med denna kvalitativa intervjustudie var att undersöka vad sex kvinnliga barnmorskor upplever som meningen med sitt arbete ur ett individ- och samhällsperspektiv samt vad de upplever som meningsfullt i arbetet. Genom en fenomenologisk metod framställdes essensen från barnmorskornas upplevelser. Med begreppet Mening i studien avses syftet eller värdet med arbetet och begreppet meningsfull betyder att arbetet har en djupare innebörd. Den teoretiska och begreppsliga referensramen bygger på tre övergripande meningar med arbetet, att arbeta för: 1) Ekonomiska resurser. 2) Sociala behov och självförverkligande. 3) Andra människors behov. Resultatet av studien visar att ur ett individperspektiv upplevde barnmorskorna att meningen med arbetet var att det var omväxlande, vilket innefattar variation i arbetstempo och möten med olika kollegor och patienter. Meningen med arbete ur ett samhällsperspektiv var att skapa positiva upplevelser, som handlar om ett gott bemötande av patienter, vilket skapar positiva bilder i samhället av vården och att få barn. Upplevelser av meningsfullhet består av att det finns ett behov av barnmorskornas kompetens, och att de är involverade i andra människors unika händelse i livet. Barnmorskorna värdesätter att arbeta för andra människor och samhällets nytta, vilket gör att de intar en altruistisk attityd till arbetet. Barnmorskorna arbetar nära livet självt och med sin kompetens gör de viktig skillnad i människors liv, något som bidrar till upplevelsen av ett meningsfullt arbete.

Lagerarbete innefattar en hög risk för medarbetares hälsoproblem jämfört med många andra typer av arbeten då arbetsdagarna präglas av ett högt arbetstempo, monotona arbetsuppgifter och tunga lyft, samt mycket ensamarbete. Tidigare studier visar att chefer och ledare spelar en stor roll för de anställdas välbefinnande på arbetsplatsen. Syftet med studien var att undersöka lagerarbetares upplevelse av ledarskapets betydelse för deras arbetstillfredsställelse. Studien baserades på fyra ledarskapsstilar, vilka ansågs utmärkande i tidigare forskning. Vidare baserades studien på semistrukturerade intervjuer med tolv lagermedarbetare som var mellan 22 och 30 år, varav fyra var män och åtta var kvinnor. Vidare analyserades materialet tematiskt och resultatet visade på att den uppgiftsorienterade ledarskapsstilen varken främjade eller hindrade den upplevda arbetstillfredsställelsen baserat på deltagarnas upplevelser. Resultatet visade även på att den relationsorienterade ledarskapsstilen, samt den autentiska ledarskapsstilen var de som primärt upplevdes främja deltagarnas arbetstillfredsställelse, medan den destruktiva ledarskapsstilen endastupplevdes hindra deltagarnas arbetstillfredsställelse.

Ledarskapet på arbetsplatsen har i flertalet studier visat ha en betydelse för medarbetarnas psykiska hälsa. En till synes, relativt outforskad yrkesgrupp inom området är kriminalvårdare. Kriminalvårdare beskrivs vara en komplex arbetsgrupp med en tudelad yrkesroll vilket kan innebära upplevda höga krav i arbetet. Till följd av detta har föreliggande induktiva studie intresserat sig för hur kriminalvårdare förstår sina upplevelser av ledarskapets i förhållande till deras psykiska hälsa. Genom en fenomenologisk metod genomfördes en intervjustudie med åtta stycken kriminalvårdare. För att skapa förståelse för kriminalvårdarnas upplevelser har krav – resursmodellen, tillsammans med tidigare forskning utgjort ett teoretiskt ramverk för studien. Resultatet talar för att vårdarna förstår ledarskapet inom kriminalvården som en extern resurs i arbetet som kan förklaras som ett direkt - och ett indirekt stöd med påverkan på vårdarnas psykiska hälsa.

Studies repeatedly find that women and men experience life in academia differently. Importantly, the typical female academic portfolio contains less research but more teaching and administrative duties. The typical male portfolio, on the other hand, contains more research but less teaching and administration. Since previous research has suggested that research is a more valued assignment than teaching in academia, we hypothesise that men will be ranked higher in the peer-evaluations that precede hirings to tenured positions in Swedish academia. We analyze 861 peer review assessments of applicants in 111 recruitment processes in Economics, Political Science, and Sociology at the six largest Swedish universities. Our findings confirm that the premises established in previous research are valid in Sweden too: Women have relatively stronger teaching merits and men relatively stronger research merits, and also that, on balance, research is rewarded more when applicants are ranked by reviewers. Accordingly, male applicants are ranked higher compared to female applicants.

Den här kvalitativa intervjustudien syftar till att undersöka svenska yrkesverksamma tjänstemäns erfarenheter av att balansera arbete och fritid i relation till ny teknik. Den nya tekniken i form av bärbara datorer och smarta telefoner med mera har inneburit att förutsättningarna för den arbetande befolkningen att hantera gränser mellan de två sfärerna arbete och fritid kan ha förvanskat, med ökade risker för konflikt som följd. Hur förhåller sig yrkesverksamma tjänstemän, som är en yrkesgrupp som till stor del använder sig av ny teknik, till ett allt mer gränslöst arbetsliv? Resultaten visar att tjänstemän från tre olika sektorer i en mellansvensk kontext anpassar sitt användande av den nya tekniken utifrån tre olika kategorier i syfte att balansera arbetslivet och privatlivet. Tjänstemännen anpassar sitt användande utifrån sin yrkesmässiga rutin och genom självinsikt. De anpassar sitt användande utifrån olika personliga preferenser och till sist anpassar de sitt användande utifrån de förväntningar som ställs från till exempel kunder och familj. Konsekvenser av detta som framstår som viktiga att ta med sig i förståelsen för yrkesverksammas önskemål gällande den nya tekniken och dess betydelse för balans diskuteras.

Syftet med studien är att fördjupa förståelsen för unga människors föreställningar kring en ny icke-traditionell chefsroll: Den entreprenöriella chefsrollen. I tillvägagångssättet har inspiration erhållits från metoden Grundad teori. Urvalet har bestått av tio respondenter mellan 17-22 år med skillnader i egenskaper som kön, gymnasieprogram och nationalitet. Samtliga har i mindre skala kommit i kontakt med den entreprenöriella chefsrollen genom en entreprenöriell utbildning. Studiens kärnkategori är kontroll och kommer i uttryck genom fem kategorier som påvisar fem olika aspekter av kontrollen. Kategorierna är: Självbestämmande i arbetslivet; Oförutsägbarhet kring tid & pengar; Begränsad kunskap; Viljan att lära mer; Den avgörande affärsidén. Vidare presenteras min mini-teori som förklarar relationerna mellan kategorierna. Mini-teorin avslöjar hur det är att inneha den entreprenöriella chefsrollen och hur vägen till denna chefsroll tenderar att se ut. Den entreprenöriella chefsrollen medför både för- och nackdelar. Vidare har unga människor begränsade föreställningar kring denna chefsroll. Därför vill de lära sig mer om dess verkliga innebörd innan de storskaligt vågar inta den. Vad som dock avgör om rollen intas är affärsidén. Studien avslutas med en diskussion om syfte, metod och forskarens roll. Vidare diskuteras resultatet i relation till tidigare forskning samt Charons och Goffmans rollteorier. Avslutningsvis ges förslag på framtida forskning.

Nio procent av svenskarna uppger att de har blivit mobbade på sin arbetsplats. För det mesta är det en överordnad som är förövaren. Mobbningen yttrar sig genom olika handlingar men gemensamt för de individer som drabbas är att det innebär stora konsekvenser för hälsan, och det är inte ovanligt att de slås ut ur arbetslivet helt. Mobbning innebär också stora ekonomiska kostnader för organisationen där den sker och för samhället i stort. Syftet med denna studie har varit att genom en diskursanalytisk ansats med retoriska inslag studera hur bilden av mobbning bland vuxna i arbetslivet konstrueras i och genom media. Genom en retorisk analys har det identifierats hur vuxenmobbning kan legitimeras som ett socialt problem, men också vad som skrivs om fenomenet och vilka orsaker som antas vara bakomliggande. Vilken bild som presenteras och reproduceras i media skapar villkor för hur vi pratar om mobbning och hur vi tror att problemet kan lösas. Det har betydelse för hur arbetsgivare och kollegor agerar när mobbning uppdagas på arbetsplatsen - tar man tag i problemet eller blundar man för det som sker? Resultatet visar att den bild som ges i media i stort sett går i linje med mobbningsforskningens. I media pekas arbetsorganisationen och ledarskapet ut som de viktigaste faktorerna till fenomenets uppkomst och existens. Men det finns de som menar att individuella egenskaper också är bakomliggande, vilket bidrar till att bekräfta att vissa egenskaper och personlighetsdrag ökar risken för att utsättas för mobbning. 

Trots den påtagliga utsattheten för förskollärare och barnskötare återfinns en brist på studier och litteratur som behandlar yrkesgruppernas arbetsvillkor inom svensk kontext. Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur förskolepersonal upplever den sociala arbetsmiljön. Frågeställningarna var: “Hur upplever förskolepersonal arbetskrav i den sociala arbetsmiljön?” samt “Hur upplever förskolepersonal arbetsresurser i den sociala arbetsmiljön?”. Tio deltagare intervjuades genom semistrukturerade intervjuer som sedan transkriberades och tematiserades. Subteman som besvarade frågeställningen var: kvantitativa arbetskrav, kvalitativa arbetskrav, emotionella arbetskrav, rollkonflikter, otydliga mål, socialt stöd från rektor/chef, socialt stöd från kollegor, inflytande, belöning/lön samt återkoppling. Resultatet visade på höga arbetskrav, medan arbetsresurserna skiftade mellan arbetsplatser. Arbetskraven härstammade exempelvis från tidspress, otydlighet kring läroplanen samt emotionella hämningar, medan arbetsresurserna innefattade socialt stöd från chef och kollegor samt inflytande. Studiens resultat, baserade på Jobb-krav-resurs-modellen, indikerade en obalans mellan arbetsresurser och arbetskrav. Obalansen grundades i skiftande arbetsresurser samt organisatoriska utfall, som sjukskrivningar och intentioner till arbetsplatsbyte. 

Organizational constraints (OCs) represent work conditions that interfere with employees’ performance. Although employees share the same work environment, perceptions of OCs may vary among team members. In this study, we examined employee–teammate perceptual congruence and incongruence regarding three types of OCs (i.e., social, structural, and infrastructure) and the associated consequences for employee work engagement among health care employees from two Spanish hospitals (N = 141). Multilevel polynomial regression with response surface analyses revealed that the perceptual congruence and incongruence effects depended on the type of OCs. Congruence in perceptions was linked with greater work engagement only for social OCs. Incongruence had an effect in cases of social and structural OCs, but not infrastructure OCs: work engagement was worse when an employee rated OCs as higher (i.e., more problematic) than their teammates did. Our findings suggest that the negative effects of OCs are additionally exacerbated by perceptual incongruence with teammates and indicate the need to include social contexts in the study of work environment perceptions.

Kombinationen höga krav, låg kontroll och lågt socialt stöd leder, enligt krav-kontroll-stöd modellen, till de högsta stressnivåerna. Självledarskap ger individen möjligheten att, genom en inre kontroll, återta kontrollen och minska stressnivåerna. Genom att använda sig av självledarskapsstrategier kan individen förändra sina tankemönster och ageranden för att på så vis förhoppningsvis förbättra sin stresshantering. Studiens syfte var att studera relationen mellan självledarskap, stress och arbetets uppbyggnad. Med arbetets uppbyggnad menas här kombinationen av krav, kontroll, stöd samt tydlighet. Totalt besvarade 107 deltagare, varav 69 kvinnor, en enkät. Analyserna visade på samband mellan stress och samtliga 4 arbetsmiljövariabler (krav, kontroll, stöd samt tydlighet), vidare på positivt samband mellan självledarskapsvariabeln självbestraffning och stress samt positiva samband mellan strategigruppen naturliga belöningar och 2 av arbetsmiljövariablerna. Hypotesen, att goda självledarskapskunskaper medför bättre stresshantering, fick dock inte stöd. Det behövs ytterligare forskning för att tydliggöra sambanden mellan självledarskap, stress och arbetsmiljö, exempelvis genom experimentella studier.

Skilled migrant workers often experience downward career mobility post-migration. We investigate how diversity climate as an organizational response to support migrants affects the career satisfaction of migrant employees. Survey data from 179 skilled migrants working in Sweden reveal that perceived diversity climate impacts career satisfaction through a dual-path model. It negatively affects perceived overqualification, which correlates with lower career satisfaction, while positively relating to perceived organizational justice, which correlates with higher career satisfaction. These effects are contingent on individual factors. Lower career adaptability amplifies the negative impact of perceived overqualification, and higher career adaptability strengthens the positive influence of perceived organizational justice. The findings highlight the boundary conditions of workplace diversity climate-career outcome relationships and underscore the interaction of organizational and individual factors and, in particular, the agency and proactivity of skilled migrants through career adaptability.

Fastighetsmäklare arbetar med en provisionsbaserad lön där den som presterar bäst även tjänar mest. Det är ett yrke med hård konkurrens och långa arbetsdagar. Ändå finns det 6000 registrerade fastighetsmäklare i Sverige. Syftet med studien var att undersöka vad som leder till motivation och arbetstillfredsställelse bland fastighetsmäklare.  Den här kvalitativa studien är baserad på semistrukturerade intervjuer med åtta fastighetsmäklare från fastighetsmäklarbyråer i Stockholm med omnejd. Teoretisk utgångspunkt i studien är Herzbergs tvåfaktorteori (2010) samt McClellands motivationsteori (2009). En tematisk analys av intervjudata gjordes för motivation respektive arbetstillfredsställelse. Resultatet visade att feedback/bekräftelse tillsammans med behovet att prestera var en gemensam nämnare för vad i arbetet som motiverade deltagarna samt vad i arbetet som ledde till arbetstillfredsställelse. Arbetstillfredställelsen påverkades av i vilken utsträckning deltagarna fick bekräftelse och feedback, hur privatlivet påverkades samt resultatet av arbetet. För att motiveras i arbetet ställde deltagarna krav på feedback, bekräftelse, belöning, lön och eget ansvar. 

The aim of this thesis is to investigate how production employees at an industrial company in Sweden experience their work-life balance and to investigate work-related factors that may affect their work-life balance in the workplace. A qualitative method was used with semi-structured interviews to find out how production employees experience work-life balance. A total of 13 people participated in the interviews and a manifest content analysis was used for data analysis. In conclusion, production employees experience poorer work-life balance when production increases its rates as they often have to work overtime on weekends and receive information late about overtime work. The results indicate that participants experience a decrease in work-life balance when they do not have material to work with and hence are forced to become stagnant in production and experience uncertainty as to whether they will need to work overtime. When material enters employees feel that they need to work to catch up with what could not be produced, and become more stressed, which affects their well-being in the workplace. 

This thesis explored the working conditions and professional well-being of preschool staff in Sweden, particularly in settings with a high proportion of early second language learners (L2 learners). The thesis is timely and significant, considering the growing diversity in Swedish preschools and the increasing presence of L2 learners. The research problem is rooted in the unique societal mission of preschool staff, who are pivotal in introducing young children to the Swedish education system and fostering their development and care. They also have a compensatory mission to support children who have less favourable conditions than other children. However, there are indications that the preschool staff are working in a vulnerable context. Preschool staff are among the occupational groups in Sweden exhibiting among the highest frequency of sick leave and are characterized by a significant staff turnover. The preschool staff has also experienced changes within their organisation.  Concurrently, it remains unknown how working in groups with a high proportion of L2 learners (L2 groups) affects the preschool staff. The thesis aimed to understand the specific working conditions in L2 groups and how these conditions impact the professional well-being of preschool staff, defined as the perception of doing a professional and correct job, which included adhering to the curriculum and maintaining positive relationships with children, organisational commitment, and job satisfaction.

The theoretical framework that guided this research was the bioecological systems theory and the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model. This framework helped to understand the overall social interactions and working context of the preschool staff, as well as to categorise and define psychosocial working conditions. It emphasises the interplay between job demands, job resources, and professional well-being. The thesis adopted an exploratory sequential design, initially employing mainly qualitative inductive interviews (Study I and II) to map the uncharted territory of the preschool working context, its social interactions, and working conditions in L2 groups. This was followed by a deductive, analytical phase using questionnaires in cross-sectional studies (Study III and IV).

Study I adopted an exploratory sequential mixed-methods design. It explored the preschool staff’s support of children’s engagement in L2 groups, combining qualitative content analysis and independent T-tests. In individual interactions with children, the preschool staff aimed to establish closeness and acknowledge each child's presence. In these respects, no notable differences were observed among preschool staff across different groups. However, disparities emerged in group interactions with children. Preschool staff working in L2 groups encountered challenges in managing routines, imparting values, and facilitating peer learning among children.

Study II focused on preschool staff's experiences of their working conditions in L2 groups, utilising qualitative content analysis based on interviews. Preschool staff working in L2 groups encountered a context that was more complex and challenging compared to their counterparts in L1-groups. This increased complexity primarily stemmed from a lack of adequate organisational resources, difficulties in establishing professional relationships, and constrained opportunities to effectively utilize their educational background and work-life experience. These layers of complexity were experienced to challenge their professional well-being.

Study III utilised a cross-sectional design. It used Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) to examine preschool staff responsiveness and child engagement in relation to child behaviour difficulties and staffing. Behavioural difficulties and lower levels of engagement, characteristics associated with L2 children, were found to be negatively associated with the responsiveness of the preschool staff. Conversely, the responsiveness of the preschool staff exhibited a positive association with child engagement.

Study IV was a cross-sectional questionnaire study. It employed random forests, and quasi-Poisson regression analysis to identify which working conditions predicted preschool staff’s professional well-being in L2 groups. The study extended the analysis from the qualitative phase to a quantitatively analysed context. It was predominantly the job resources, particularly the support from the preschool staff’s principal and colleagues, that most confidently predicted professional well-being. In contrast, job demands such as role conflicts and quantitative demands were less significant predictors. Additionally, individual factors, including formal education and work-life experience, did not significantly predict professional well-being. Likewise, structural factors such as the proportion of L2 learners also did not predict professional well-being.

The findings of these studies highlight the complexity of working conditions in L2 groups and their relationship to professional well-being. They suggest that professional well-being is influenced by a balance of job demands and resources, the quality of relationships with children and their caregivers, and the ability to navigate organisational changes and diversity management effectively. The thesis underscores the need for policy and practice changes to support preschool staff in L2 groups, including enhanced formal education in diversity management, and increased organisational support to reduce job demands and bolster job resources. The proportion of L2 learners itself was not a significant predictor of professional well-being in any study, however. In conclusion, this thesis contributes to a deeper understanding of the unique challenges faced by preschool staff in L2 groups and offers insights for enhancing their professional well-being, which is crucial for the quality of early childhood education and care in multicultural settings.

Research on childrenofethnicminoritiesin Swedish preschoolsand theirengagementhas beena mainfocus area for research, eventhoughEuropeis facinga migration crisis. Child engagement predicts, amongotheroutcomes, futureacademicperformanceand mental well-being. Child engagementshouldbe promotedby the staff accordingto the curriculum for preschool. More research on ethnicity, engagementand staffingis needed.

Introduction: The aim was to understand how multitasking is experienced by registered nurses and how it relates to their everyday practice in the emergency department. Method: Interviews with open-ended questions were conducted with registered nurses (n = 9) working in one of two included emergency departments in Sweden. Data were analyzed using Schilling's structured model for qualitative content analysis. Results: Three core concepts related to multitasking emerged from the interviews: 'multitasking - an attractive prerequisite for ED care'; 'multitasking implies efficiency' and 'multitasking is not stressful'. From these core concepts an additional theme emerged: '. and does not cause errors - at least for me', related to patient safety. Discussion: This study shows how the patient load and the unreflected multitasking that follows relate to nurses' perceived efficiency and job satisfaction. It also shows that the relationship between multitasking and errors is perceived to be mediated by whom the actor is, and his or her level of experience. Findings from this study add value to the discourse on multitasking and the emergency department context, as few studies go beyond examining the quantitative aspect of interruptions and multitasking and how it is experienced by the staff in their everyday practice.

Psykosocial arbetsmiljö är något som är prioriterat av den svenska regeringen och riksdagen. Det finns fortfarande kopplat till detta ett antal arbetsområden som är relativt outforskade. Efterforskningar visar att personal som hanterar IT-hot verkar i Sverige vara ett av dessa områden. Med detta som bakgrund genomfördes en undersökning av den psykosociala arbetsmiljön vid en enhet i Försvarsmakten. Denna genomfördes med fallstudien som angreppssätt. Iakttagelser av arbetsplatsen för en övergripande beskrivning av denna och semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes. Totalt intervjuades nio personer under tre dagar. Data från intervjuerna analyserades sedan tematiskt och utifrån detta redovisas resultatet. Undersökningen visar att det till största del finns resurser att möta de krav som arbetet ställer på den enskilde individen. Det är dock i dagsläget en viss obalans vilket leder till en känsla av upplevd stress. Individerna är mycket resursstarka utanför arbetsplatsen vilket hjälper till att ge balans. Vidare framkommer att ett arbete med målsättningar i förhållande till arbetets krav troligen är ett sätt att reducera den upplevda stressen och därmed uppnå en bättre balans mellan krav och resurser. En möjlig bieffekt av detta är en effektivare verksamhet och hälsofrämjande av personalen. För att ge mer erfarenhetsvärden inom området är ytterligare studier av enheter som hanterar IT-hot vid andra myndigheter och företag värdefullt.

While there is strong support for the benefits of working in multi-professional teams in health care, the implementation of multi-professional teamwork is reported to be complex and challenging. Implementation strategies combining multiple behavior change interventions are recommended, but the understanding of how and why the behavior change interventions influence staff behavior is limited. There is a lack of studies focusing on the functions of different behavior change interventions and the mechanisms driving behavior change. In this study, applied behavior analysis is used to analyze the function and impact of different behavior change interventions when implementing multi-professional teamwork. Methods. A comparative case study design was applied. Two sections of an emergency department implemented multi-professional teamwork involving changes in work processes, aimed at increasing inter-professional collaboration. Behavior change interventions and staff behavior change were studied using observations, interviews and document analysis. Using a hybrid thematic analysis, the behavior change interventions were categorized according to the DCOM® model. The functions of the behavior change interventions were then analyzed using applied behavior analysis. Results: The two sections used different behavior change interventions, resulting in a large difference in the degree of staff behavior change. The successful section enabled staff performance of teamwork behaviors with a strategy based on ongoing problem-solving and frequent clarification of directions. Managerial feedback initially played an important role in motivating teamwork behaviors. Gradually, as staff started to experience positive outcomes of the intervention, motivation for teamwork behaviors was replaced by positive task-generated feedback. Conclusions: The functional perspective of applied behavior analysis offers insight into the behavioral mechanisms that describe how and why behavior change interventions influence staff behavior. The analysis demonstrates how enabling behavior change interventions, managerial feedback and task-related feedback interact in their influence on behavior and have complementary functions during different stages of implementation. 

In this study, a stress management program based on cognitive behavioural therapy principles was compared with a Kundaliniyoga program. A study sample of 26 women and 7 men from a large Swedish company were divided randomly into 2 groups for each of the different forms of intervention; a total of 4 groups. The groups were instructed by trained group leaders and 10 sessions were held with each of groups, over a period of 4 months. Psychological (self-rated stress and stress behaviour, anger, exhaustion, quality of life) and physiological (blood pressure, heart rate, urinary catecholamines, salivary cortisol) measurements obtained before and after treatment showed significant improvements on most of the variables in both groups as well as medium-to-high effect sizes. However, no significant difference was found between the 2 programs. The results indicate that both cognitive behaviour therapy and yoga are promising stress management techniques.

Syftet med denna uppsats har varit att med kvalitativ metodik erhålla en fördjupad förståelse för relationen mellan expertis och ledarskap i chefsrollen. Jag har velat identifiera de för- och nackdelar som finns i denna kombination samt identifiera de strategier som finns för att hantera relationen. Detta har studerats genom nio intervjuer i tre naturvetenskapliga kontexter- statligt, akademi och privat. Analys av intervjumaterialet identifierade följande kategorier: Ledarskap- en outforskad terräng för experten, Expertkunskap krävs för ledarskapet, Ledarskapet är expertens karriärväg, Balansen mellan expert och ledare i chefsrollen samt För- och nackdelar med att vara expert och ledare. Resultaten visade att expertchefer förväntas prestera både som experter och ledare. De erhåller dock olika tysta signaler från sin omgivning om att expertisen står över ledarskapet. Frånvarande direktiv från ledningen hur chefen bör prioritera sin tid och sitt engagemang mellan sina roller gör att chefen väljer mellan tre strategier: att kombinera sitt ledarskap och sin expertroll eller lägga tyngden på antingen ledarskapet eller expertisen. Dessa strategier kan medföra olika effekter på ledarnas upplevda situation, medarbetares arbetssituation och verksamhetens arbetsklimat. Resultaten beskrevs i relation till tidigare forskning och Goodalls teori om expertledarskapets betydelse för ledarskapet. En avslutande diskussion fördes om resultaten i relation till syftet och frågeställningen.

I fokus för denna uppföljningsstudie står de studentgrupper som påbörjade det beteendevetenskapliga programmet vid Mälardalens högskola i Eskilstuna/Västerås under perioden 1999–2003. Hur stora var grupperna? Hur var köns- och ålderfördelningen bland dem? I vilken utsträckning fullföljde studenterna utbildningen med examen? Hur gick det sedan på arbetsmarknaden för dem? Vad har de fått för jobb och hur fick de tag i det? Hur värderar de utbildningen och vilken nytta har de haft av den i arbetet?

För att besvara dessa huvudfrågor redogörs i studien för en analys av uppgifter hämtade från högskolans studiedokumentationssystem LADOK och från enkätsvar som inkommit från personer som varit registrerade på programmet.

This study focuses on how ideas of ‘digitalization’ are discursively constructed in the Swedish steel industry. Using a discursive psychology approach, we identify seven interpretative repertoires in the discursive practicing of digitalization: everyone-else, speed, competition, job loss, control, safety, and equality. Examining their functions and effects, we show that not only is digital transformation constructed as more productive, efficient, competitive, technologically advanced, safe, and equal, it also involves a shift towards the blue-collar worker being more vulnerable; a construction where she is able-minded but lonely, physically fragile, obtuse and unreliable, and a victim of a development beyond her control, forcing of her to acquire new competence. We conclude that this reproduces asymmetrical power relations between workers and companies, pushing the challenges of digital transformation to the workers. At the same time, we also see how these local discourses hold a possibility of tempering this asymmetry through the construct of togetherness of different contexts, bodies, and hierarchal levels, thus connecting steel industry workers of the future through the use of digital technology. 

This research was conducted during the Covid-19 pandemic. In an attempt to bridge a knowledge gap, a phenomenological study was carried out to answer the question “What is shared between people’s experiences of doing home-based telework during the Covid-19 pandemic?”. Four people who were currently working from home participated in the study of which three were women. A method of empirical psychological phenomenology or EPP was used in both research process and analysis. The results were that a digital adjustment had been made and digital communication was used in place of regular social interactions. These interactions were not as satisfactory as regular social interactions. The work was more flexible which lead to blurred boundaries and a greater ability to structure the workday after personal needs. A reduced work motivation and personal impact of Covid-19 was found. Also, there were new insights on the viability of telework and digital solutions going forward. This study contributed to a gap in research by providing insight into what the experience of teleworking during the Covid-19 pandemic may look like, which was an unexplored field.

The aim of this study was to investigate management and leadership at a distance during the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden. Eight managers from a large industrial company in Sweden currently working full time from home participated in the study, of which six were women. Semi structured interviews were carried out and the data was analyzed through thematic analysis which yielded 7 themes accompanied by 5 subthemes. Not being in the same physical space removes informal interactions, and to combat this, formalization has increased. Tasks that do not lend themselves well to formalization, such as getting a feel for co-worker’s emotional state or creative work, were found to be more difficult. The managers workdays had a high number of digital meetings, and their way of working was changed through digital adaptations. While the availability of quality social interactions with co-workers was down, digital meetings were used to keep interactions up within the work group. While work environment management was harder, work requiring heavy focus was described as more efficient when teleworking. Overall, the situation surrounding COVID-19 has been challenging for managers, but the digital space has evolved quickly, and work has still been able to function surprisingly well.

Dagens ledare har en avgörande roll i att främja kreativitet bland sina medarbetare för organisatorisk konkurrenskraft och framgång, i och med omvärldens höga förändringstakt. Det kreativitetsfrämjande ledarskapet är ännu ett outforskat område och kräver ytterligare forskning för att få en utökad förståelse för dess innebörd. Syftet med denna studie var att identifiera vilka ledarskapsfaktorer som är avgörande för att främja kreativitet i förbättringsarbeten inom tillverkande leanorganisationer. För att besvara syftet genomfördes en fallstudie med både kvantitativ och kvalitativ metod. En egen enkät utformades utifrån den tidigare forskningen om hur ledare kan skapa ett kreativt organisationsklimat. Enkäten besvarades av 84 industriarbetare och fyra produktionsledare intervjuades, för att ta del av upplevelser och uppfattningar kring ledarskapet i förbättringsarbetet ur olika perspektiv. Den kvantitativa undersökningen resulterade i sex ledarskapsfaktorer som hade ett signifikant samband till kreativa prestationer. Den kvalitativa undersökningen resulterade i ytterligare fyra avgörande faktorer som nämndes av samtliga intervjupersoner. Den avgörande faktorn var ledarens förmåga att (1) själv uppvisa och främja motivation bland medarbetarna.  Resterande nio identifierade kreativitetsfrämjande ledarskapsfaktorer är följande: (2) Kunskaper och kreativa förmågor hos ledare och medarbetare. Ledarens förmåga att (3a) tillämpa ett närvarande och stödjande ledarskap (3b) ge feedback och uppmärksamma resultat, (4) främja ansvars- och initiativtagande, (5) få medarbetare att vilja utmana sig själva, (6) skapa en jämn arbetsbelastning, (7) eliminera upplevda organisationshinder, (8) skapa förståelse och samsyn kring mål, (9)  stimulera tvärfunktionellt arbete, (10) skapa relationer av tillit och trygghet.

Både de kvantitativa och kvalitativa resultaten visar på att den studerade organisationen brister i samtliga ledarskapsfaktorer och har stora möjligheter att uppnå utökad framgång i förbättringsarbetet vid utveckling av ledarskapet. Organisationen bör särskilt beakta medarbetarnas motivation samt de ledarskapsfaktorer som har likheter med det transformativa ledarbeteendet. Andra organisationer bör även kunna öka den organisatoriska kreativitetsnivån vid hänsyn till samtliga identifierade ledarskapsfaktorer. Studien anses bidra till forskningen med en ökad förståelse för innebörden av vilka ledarskapsfaktorer som kan vara av betydelse för att främja kreativitet inom leanorganisationer.