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Purpose – This viewpoint paper reflects on Burmester et al.’s (2026) “Rules or No Rules: International Business in the Time of Trump” published in this journal. Inspired by the arguments in that article, the authors suggest that political power and multinational enterprises (MNEs’) capacity to exercise such power to shape their political environments are often neglected in calls for a more political approach to international business (IB). The authors therefore take the first step in presenting a political theory of the MNE through their “Self-Preservation Perspective of the MNE, ” rooted in international relations theory, which puts political power at the center of the analysis, as power is an inseparable element of politics. Design/methodology/approach – The new “Self-Preservation Perspective of the MNE” is based on insights from established international relations theory, applied to the political behavior of MNEs. It adopts the central role of relative power between the MNE and other actors, and the concept of “self-preservation” behavior in the face of perceived threats in an anarchical geopolitical environment. This study identifies four types of self-preservation behaviors and illustrates them through four examples, respectively: Pharmacia’s lobbying activity in the USA; Tesla’s clash with Swedish labor unions; ExxonMobil’s threat of withdrawal from the European Union (EU) market; and Uber’s reentry into the Danish market to comply with regulation. Findings – The self-preservation perspective of the MNE suggests that anti-societal outcomes, such as environmental degradation and anti-trust violations, are not anomalies but expressions of the MNE’s intrinsic drive for survival in an uncertain geopolitical environment. By foregrounding insecurity, survival and relative power as central drivers of MNE behavior, it also suggests that MNE entrepreneurial behavior and innovation may be outweighed by self-preserving behavior aimed at defending existing business models and strategic advantages. The authors identify four fundamental self-preservation behaviors: influencing behavior, avoiding behavior, exiting behavior and adapting behavior. Taken together, the perspective is a response to recent calls for a more political theory of the MNE. Originality/value – To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study takes the first step in presenting a political theory of the MNE through the “Self-Preservation Perspective of the MNE, ” rooted in international relations theory, which puts political power at the center of the analysis. The perspective enables IB researchers to analyze and explain why MNEs seek power, how they exert it and how such power is counterbalanced by other actors. It also provides a new perspective on “anti-societal” MNE behaviors, such as environmental degradation and anti-trust violations, as fundamentally driven by “self-preservation.”

Social hållbarhet utgör tillsammans med ekologisk och ekonomisk hållbarhet tre dimensioner av hållbar utveckling och innebär ett rättvist, jämlikt, inkluderande och demokratiskt samhälle för nuvarande och kommande generationer. Boken utforskar hur social hållbarhet och folkhälsa hänger samman, både inom forskning och i praktiken, och hur dessa komplexa utmaningar kräver samverkan mellan olika aktörer för att skapa långsiktiga lösningar.

Den inledande delen introducerar centrala begrepp och följs av kapitel som beskriver social hållbarhet genom livets olika faser. Därefter belyser kapitlen socialt hållbarhetsarbete hos olika aktörer och inom olika arenor, såsom skolan, arbetsplatsen och lokalsamhället. Med konkreta exempel visar boken hur socialt hållbara lösningar kan bidra till ett mer jämlikt och hälsosamt samhälle, där alla har möjlighet att leva ett gott liv utan orättvisa skillnader.

Boken vänder sig främst till studenter inom folkhälsovetenskap, beteendevetenskap, sociologi och statsvetenskap samt till yrkesverksamma och beslutsfattare inom kommun, region och civilsamhälle.

Objective

Research shows worsening working conditions for nurses in Swedish elderly care with shortcomings exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although extensively debated during the pandemic, work environment and service quality improvements are needed. Registered nurses have a key role in elderly care, balancing medical and care responsibilities for older people. However, more knowledge is required about the expectations and organisational conditions for nurses executing the role in elderly care. Therefore, the study aims to explore first line managers’ role expectations of nurses in municipal elderly care and their perceptions of barriers to nurses’ role fulfilment.

Methods

A qualitative approach was used with the study set in two Swedish municipalities. We used purposeful sampling and recruited thirteen first line managers from municipal and private care providers with experience being responsible for nurses working in elderly care. Data was collected using semi structured interviews with the managers, and the data was analysed using thematic analysis.

Results

Two themes were identified in the analysis describing Role expectations in care practice and Barriers to fulfilling role expectations. The first theme highlights the expectations of nurses in elderly care to deliver evidence-based care, foster effective team collaboration, and demonstrate strong leadership in the care work. Together, these elements should ensure a supportive environment and high quality for the residents in elderly care. The second theme addresses barriers to meeting role expectations, including excessive administration, staffing shortages, and illegitimate tasks, resulting in high workloads for nurses.

Conclusions

There is conflicting logic between nurses’ role expectations in elderly care and the possibilities for nurses to execute the role due to organisational barriers. Heavy work and administrative tasks hinder nurses’ ability to focus on core responsibilities and deliver optimal elderly care. Improving the organisational conditions for nurses requires political action.

Objectives: Public health work involves diverse types of writing to communicate health messages to various audiences. Clear, concise, audience-oriented writing is essential, yet public health practitioners often receive little training in effective writing. This study explores the writing public health practitioners do in their everyday work.

Methods: We emailed a web-based questionnaire in April 2024 to a sample of public health practitioners working in municipalities, regional health departments, governmental agencies, and nongovernmental organizations in 5 regions in Sweden. The questionnaire asked about writing, support, professional development, and writing self-efficacy. We analyzed data using descriptive statistics and content analysis.

Results: Seventy-two public health practitioners responded to our questionnaire. The most common types of writing that respondents reported engaging in were presentations (88.9%), reports (59.7%), and decision-making documents (47.2%). Scientific articles (75.0%), blog posts (69.4%), and opinion pieces (56.9%) were the least common. The most common target audiences were politicians, followed by managers and citizens. Colleagues provided the most common source of writing support, followed by communication officers and managers. Most practitioners reported a desire to develop their professional writing skills and achieve high self-efficacy in public health writing.

Conclusions: Public health practitioners in Sweden write more for politicians and managers than for the public. Expanding practitioners' writing skills beyond operational and technical document writing to include public-facing writing will benefit the public health profession by opening communication channels to diverse audiences. Communicating more clearly with public audiences can improve health literacy, promote health for all, and strengthen the effectiveness of public health initiatives.

Background

Physical activity (PA) promotes health in adults as well as children. At the same time, a large proportion of children do not meet the recommendations for PA, and more school-based efforts to increase PA are needed. This study investigates the effectiveness and feasibility of lesson-integrated PA in a Swedish primary school.

Methods

We evaluate a new method called ‘Physical Activity and Lesson in Combination’ (abbreviated FALK in Swedish) using a mixed methods approach; a quasi-experimental study followed by qualitative interviews. Two schools participated in the study, one constituting the intervention group (I-school, n = 83) and the other the control group (C-school, n = 81). In addition to regular physical education, the I-school had three 30-minute FALK lessons each week. A total of 164 students aged 7–9 years wore pedometers for a whole week, four times over two semesters, and the number of steps per day (SPD) and the proportion of students with < 10,000 SPD were compared. Statistical differences between the schools were tested with ANOVA, Chi2, t-tests, and ANCOVA. Interviews with students (n = 17), parents (n = 9) and teachers (n = 9) were conducted and analysed using qualitative content analysis.

Results

The results show that FALK led to the I-school getting more SPD and fewer students with < 10,000 SPD. Also, FALK was experienced as a positive, clear, and flexible method, simultaneously encouraging PA and learning. Challenges experienced concerned the teachers’ work situation, time, finding suitable learning activities, outdoor school environment changes, and extreme weather conditions.

Conclusions

This study indicates that FALK has the desired effects on PA and is a feasible method of integrating PA into theoretical teaching. We conclude that FALK is worth testing at more schools, given that implementation and sustainment of FALK considers both general enablers and barriers, as well as context-specific factors at the individual school.

Detta kapitel tar sin utgångspunkt i ett hälsofrämjande perspektiv på det nutida och framtida arbetslivet. I kapitlet beskrivs framväxten av hälsofrämjande arbete och idéer om arbetsplatsen som en arena för hälsofrämjande initiativ. Beskrivningen utgår ifrån vad som krävs för att skapa hälsofrämjande arbetsplatser för anställda och chefer och hälsofrämjande organisationer som är hållbara för både anställda och organisationen i stort. I kapitlet beskrivs aktuell forskning om hälsofrämjande organisationer som tar fasta på möjliggörande och hindrande faktorer vid genomförande av hälsofrämjande insatser, liksom insatsernas hälsomässiga och organisatoriska effekter. Därtill innehåller kapitlet resonemang om policyer och ett praktiskt exempel som illustrerar hur idéer och prat om hälsofrämjande i organisationer kan omsättas i konkret handling. Avslutningsvis belyses även delar av den kritik som ibland riktas mot hälsofrämjande initiativ i organisationer, som bland annat handlar om ansvar och att hälsa ges alltför stort utrymme och blir för styrande i organisationer.