At the centre of this study lies one of the critical questions faced by (late-)modern society, namely that of taking care of the long-lived radioactive waste from nuclear power production. The problems of nuclear waste management are pictured as embracing a complex web of essential issues for society today, in terms of both its capacities and its shortcomings – so called core issues. The principal aim of the thesis is to examine the nuclear waste discourse in Malå, Västerbotten, from a critical discourse analytical perspective, through applying the approach developed by Michel Foucault in The Order of Discourse. During the 1990s, the municipality of Malå played a prominent role as a candidate site for the geological disposal of Sweden’s spent nuclear fuel. A five-year process culminated in a local referendum on whether detailed site investigations should be permitted within the community. Following the result no further investigations have been undertaken. The discourse analysis is carried out through a study of opinion formation in the municipality during the period October 1992 to October 1997. Two main types of empirical material have been collected: interviews with opinion leaders (politicians, activists, journalists, information professionals, etc.) and contemporaneous mass media content (the local newspaper and regional television news). In the empirical analysis, a review is made of the workings of the external and internal control mechanisms within the discourse; that is to say, how they serve to set limits on the content and form of the sense-making process concerning nuclear waste management. Important themes in the opinion forming process in Malå include information and expertise, opposition and legitimacy, the centre/periphery relationship and the themes of mistrust, partitioning and rejection. Among other themes identified as being marginalised or absent, one example is the Samish citizens’ views on the nuclear question. Four actors play a prominent role as authors of the discourse, namely the nuclear industry, the experts, Greenpeace and the mass media. The voices of resistance groups are also significant. Representatives from authorities and civil servants were most likely to take the commentary role in the discourse, along with journalists. In the concluding analysis of the nuclear waste discourse in Malå, two main types of desire for truth, which form the discourse’s main order, are identified. The stronger concerns the will to know, which places the expert with a scientific background as the principal truth-teller. The other is ‘ordinary’ people’s desire, which influences the content and form of the opinion formation. It is also concluded that the mass media institutions play a significant role in this context, not least as mediators. Reflections on contemporary ‘core issues’ to which the analysis bears witness, such as the crisis of democracy, are also included. In addition, the implications of applying the Foucaultian research programme to a study of the nuclear question have been considered.

In Zusammenhang mit der Einführung des Pflegeversicherungsgesetzes stellt die Arbeit die stationäre Altenpflege in Deutschland besonders dar. Im analytischen Rahmen der Arbeit wird der klassischen sozialwissenschaftlichen Unterteilung: Makro-Meso-Mikro eine zusätzliche Meta-Ebene hinzugefügt, welche den epistemologischen Hintergrund umfasst. Mit Hilfe des Modells der narrierenden Organisation kann so gezeigt werden, wie - am Beispiel der stationären Altenpflege - narrative Sinnstiftung in Organisationen abläuft. Dabei liegt ein Fokus darauf, was vom Außerorganisationalen des analytischen Rahmens in den sechs verschiedenen Fällen zur Sinnstiftung beiträgt. Nach einer sehr umfassenden qualitativen Auseinandersetzung schließt die Arbeit mit einem allgemeinen Modell, welches als Vorschlag zur Erforschung von Organisationen gesehen werden kann.

The starting point for this study is the question of why organizational visions are often interpreted by employees as unintelligible and insignificant. The knowledge gap in this area makes the study of communication about vision and goals both urgent and interesting. Accordingly, the purpose is to advance knowledge on communication processes in organizations through description and analysis of communication about strategy, encompassing vision, strategic objectives and common values, in a company. A case study design was chosen and a longitudinal qualitative study was conducted in the company, from April 1998 to January 2000. A combination of methods were used, including participant observation, discourse analysis and interviews. Communication about the strategy followed a typical top-down model, starting on group level and ending on department level. In this process, Balanced Scorecard was used as a tool to communicate the strategy. It was concluded that visions formulated by top managers met different realities constructed by managers at lower levels in the company. Managers’ attitudes, knowledge and interpretations were important individual factors that influenced communication about the strategy. Employees did not have the same detailed knowledge of the strategy as the managers, nor were they given the same opportunities to obtain it. The discourse analysis reveals power structures, conflicts, individual attitudes and perspectives. The study thus results in a deep understanding of communication problems in the organization.

Det finns lagar som reglerar hur företagen ska upprätta och slutföra sin redovisning och hur redovisningen utvecklas är ett ständigt pågående arbete. Bokföringsnämnden har sedan 2004 arbetat med att ta fram förenklade regler för svenska onoterade företag som benämns K-regelverket och har som syfte att underlätta för företagen i sin redovisning. Studien fokuserar på hur materiella anläggningstillgångar ska redovisas efter anvisningarna i K3.Värderingsförutsättningarna för materiella anläggningstillgångar har ändrats i och med en reglering i K3. Tillgångens anskaffningsvärde ska fördelas på komponenter istället för att redovisas som en helhet, detta för att tydligare spegla tillgångens förbrukningskapacitet. För att dela upp en tillgång ska komponenterna ha betydande värde i förhållande till tillgångens totala anskaffningsvärde. K3 är ett principbaserat regelverk vilket innebär att företagen får göra egna bedömningar och tolkningar i redovisningen vad det gäller uppdelning i komponenter. Då K3 inte ger någon vidare vägledning kan implementeringen bli en omfattande och problematisk process.Implementeringen kan komma att se olika ut för alla berörda företag eftersom förutsättningarna för företagen varierar. Vi använder oss i huvudsak av teorin meningsskapande för att studera hur implementeringen kan ske på ett meningsfullt sätt för företaget. I tidigare studier beskrivs det att när det handlar om att leta efter en kontext och göra en situation mer förutsägbar är meningskapande av betydelse. Syftet med studien är att försöka beskriva en tänkbar arbetsprocess som skapar mening vid implementeringen av komponentavskrivningar. I studien används den kvalitativa metoden i form av intervjuer, observationer och fokusgrupper för att få djupgående information för studiens genomförande. Vi utförde en fallstudie på Santa Maria som är ett företag som tillämpar K3 och som under 2014 ska införa komponentavskrivningar i sin redovisning.För att studera hur meningsskapande kan användas vid implementeringen har vi utgått ifrån Weicks sjustegsmodell för att beskriva en process som blir meningsfull för företagen. Beroende på företagets utgångspunkter kan olika delar vara mer eller mindre relevanta. I studien var fyra delar särskilt framträdande för Santa Maria. Studiens resultat visar att individens erfarenheter och kunskaper är förutsättningar för en meningsfull process. Det är också viktigt att individen får utrymme att visa sina kunskaper och bidra till organisationens utveckling. Processen utgår ifrån individens perspektiv för att sedan riktas mot organisationen. Studiens resultat lyfter främst fram delarna identitet, hur tidigare erfarenheter kan användas i nya situationer och fokus på ledtrådar, att det är viktigt att individernas kunskaper kombineras för att nå ett bättre resultat. Uppfylls dessa delar finns det förutsättningar att processen blir meningsfull. / Swedish unlisted companies face new accounting rules as the laws evolve. One example is the K-project which has been published by Bokföringsnämnden who decide the rules in Sweden to facilitate companies in their accounting. The tangible assets should be accounted for according to the instructions in K3 which this study focus on.Instead of reported an asset as a whole it will be allocated in components because of the new rules in K3. If the component has a significant value in relation to the total cost it will be divided into components in order to show the asset´s consumptions capacity more clearly. How companies are going to divide an asset in components is not regulated in K3 because it’s a principles-based regulatory framework. This means that the companies need to make their own judgment and interpretation when they identify theirs components. The implementation of component deprecation can therefore be a considerable and problematic process.Companies have different conditions and the implementation will vary between companies because of their own assessments. When we study how the implementation can be meaningful we use the theory sense making. Sense making can be used to understand and get knowledge about a situation, according to previous studies on the subject.The aim of the study is to describe a meaningful process when companies implements component deprecation in their accounting. The study was made with a qualitative method in order to get much information for the execution, we did interviews and observations. We have study Santa Maria who is preparing the implementation of component deprecation during 2014 by following the rules in K3. We have used Weick´s model with seven properties to show how sense making can be used when we describe a meaningful implementation process. The different part can be more or less relevant depending on the companies promises. In this study with Santa Maria there are four properties that are emphasized. The result shows that individual´s experience and knowledge are important elements for a meaningful process. Individuals should also use their knowledge and get the opportunity to be involved in the organization´s work. The process started from an individual perspective and during the process the focus shifted to the organization. The result of this study focus on the parts identity and plausibility over accuracy which shows how earlier knowledge are useful in a new situation and a combination of the experience is important for a better result. A condition to make the process meaningful is to make a combination of these two elements.

Cette recherche explore le sens que la « génération de l’information » (20-35 ans) donne à l’engagement. Alors que sociologues et médias ont longtemps brandi des chiffres alarmants concernant la désaffection électorale des jeunes et leur rejet des associations ou groupes de pression usuels, le développement du Web 2.0 semble donner lieu à de nouvelles formes d’action visant le changement social, qui sont particulièrement prisées par les jeunes. Analysant leur recours à des pratiques de manifestations éclairs (flash mobs), de cyberdissidence, l’utilisation du micro-blogging et des réseaux Facebook et Twitter dans le cadre de mobilisations récentes, des enquêtes suggèrent qu’elles témoignent d’une nouvelle culture de la participation sociale et politique, qui appelle à repenser les façons de concevoir et de définir l’engagement. Or, si nous assistons à une transformation profonde des répertoires et des modes d’action des jeunes, il demeure difficile de comprendre en quoi et comment l’utilisation des TIC influence leur intérêt ou motivation à « agir ». Que veut dire s’engager pour les jeunes aujourd’hui ? Comment perçoivent-ils le contexte social, politique et médiatique ? Quelle place estiment-ils pouvoir y occuper ? Soulignant l’importance du sens que les acteurs sociaux donnent à leurs pratiques, la recherche s’éloigne des perspectives technocentristes pour explorer plus en profondeur la façon dont de jeunes adultes vivent, expérimentent et interprètent l’engagement dans le contexte médiatique actuel. La réflexion s’ancre sur une observation empirique et deux séries d’entretiens en profondeur (de groupe et individuels), menés auprès de 137 jeunes entre 2009-2012. Elle analyse un ensemble de représentations, perceptions et pratiques d’individus aux horizons et aux modes d’engagement variés, soulignant les multiples facteurs qui agissent sur la façon dont ils choisissent d’agir et les raisons qui les mènent à recourir aux TIC dans le cadre de pratiques spécifiques. À la croisée d’une multiplication des modes de participation et des modes d’interaction qui marquent l’univers social et politique des jeunes, la recherche propose de nouvelles hypothèses théoriques et une métaphore conceptuelle, le « murmure des étourneaux », pour penser la façon dont les pratiques d’affichage personnel, de relais, et d’expérimentation mises en avant par les jeunes s’arriment en réseau à celles d’autrui pour produire des « dérives culturelles » : des changements importants dans les façons de percevoir, d’agir et de penser. Loin d’une génération apathique ou technophile, les propos soulevés en entretiens suggèrent un processus réflexif de construction de sens, dont l’enjeu vise avant tout à donner l’exemple, et à penser ensemble de nouveaux possibles. La recherche permet d’offrir un éclairage qualitatif et approfondi sur ce qui caractérise la façon dont les jeunes perçoivent et définissent l’engagement, en plus d’ouvrir de nouvelles avenues pour mieux comprendre comment ils choisissent d’agir à l’ère du Web. / This research explores the complex relationship between Web 2.0 technologies and how a younger “information age generation” (20-35 years old) makes sense of social and political engagement. While scholars and pundits have long underlined youth’s low electoral turnouts and its rebuff of traditional organizations, Web 2.0 tools seem to provide a younger generation with interactive platforms that have become crucial components of many social change projects. Analyzing movements supported trough e-mail lists and e-petitions, observing the orchestration of flash mobs, commenting on cyberactivism and the use of social network sites (such as Twitter and Facebook) during recent uprisings, studies suggest networked-based technologies have not only opened up opportunities and repertoires of action, they indicate a new participatory culture. One that calls into question the very meanings and definitions associated with “political engagement” and “social change”. Yet, if a large amount of studies now stress the importance of better understanding such practices, it remains difficult to grasp how and if the web is changing young people’s sense of “engagement”. Very little attention has been given to the evaluative weighting of alternatives, values, and meanings that motivate or impede young people to participate in specific actions for social change. How do young people define “engagement?” How do they perceive the general political, social and media context? How do they perceive their own situation within this context? Suggesting that the ways in which actors choose to mobilize cannot be fully understood without taking into account the meanings and activities they associate with social change, the research explores how engagement is actually experienced, how it looks and feels like for young adults in a complex media environment. Drawing on empirical fieldwork and two series of group and in-depth interviews conducted with 137 young adults (20-35 years olds) between 2009 and 2012, the analysis underlines the multiple factors that shape young people’s perception of political and social participation, how they choose to transform their own societies and how they use social media and Web 2.0 applications when striving to convey change. At the crossroad of two important factors that mark their social and political world – a multiplicity of interaction modes and a multiplicity of participatory practices – the research brings new thoughts to this growing field of study. It offers new theoretical hypotheses that help take into account the role played by virtual networks in the circulation of interpretations and meanings. It also suggests a conceptual metaphor, the “murmur of starlings”, to illustrate how practices of “posting”, “forwarding” and the relational dimensions involved in the everyday sharing of experiences, may translate into “cultural drifts ” – important shifts in collective ways of thinking, acting and perceiving. Looking beyond typical characterizations of a techno-savvy or apathetic generation, the picture emerging from the interviews reveals reflexive sense-making processes that inspire to widen new fields of possibilities. Overall, the research provides qualitative and in-depth insights into what characterizes the way young people perceive and define engagement and opens new perspective for better understanding how they choose to “act” in the Web 2.0 era.

Made available in DSpace on 2010-04-20T20:51:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 3 113649.pdf.jpg: 16610 bytes, checksum: eda331d79771633a415277266073f8e3 (MD5) 113649.pdf: 908029 bytes, checksum: c199e48e73267fa8bcc531d04ba4bdb5 (MD5) 113649.pdf.txt: 429085 bytes, checksum: fe95b877840bfcd2f7f3af85881fb9af (MD5) Previous issue date: 2004-12-16T00:00:00Z / Os processos de downsizing tornaram-se tão freqüentes que é raro atualmente conhecer alguém que nunca tenha sido demitido. As demissões em massa se intensificaram no final da década de 80, atingiram seu ápice na década de 90 e continuam ocorrendo com freqüência (TOMASKO, 1992; CALDAS, 2000; WEISENFELD, BROCKNER e THIBAULT, 2000). Poderíamos pensar que, já que ser demitido tornou-se quase corriqueiro, isso tornaria as demissões menos traumáticas para as pessoas. Porém isso não é atestado por vários estudos sobre demissões, que mostram que os processos de downsizing trazem, em geral, conseqüências bastante dramáticas para os indivíduos. Vários estudos já foram realizados sobre os efeitos das demissões para os demitidos e para os remanescentes. Este trabalho visa entender como as pessoas que demitem dão sentido à prática de demitir, ou seja, quais as justificativas que usam ao praticarem atos que geralmente causam dor e sofrimento a outras pessoas. A pesquisa investiga também como os profissionais de recursos humanos, responsáveis pelas políticas e práticas relacionadas às pessoas dentro das organizações, dão sentido às demissões em massa, atividade que hoje é, muitas vezes, mais comum do que a própria contratação de pessoas. Para desvendar os sentidos produzidos pelos demissores e profissionais de recursos humanos em processos de downsizing, foram analisadas, com a metodologia de análise de conteúdo, entrevistas com 12 demissores e 13 profissionais de recursos humanos, no total de 25 entrevistas. A coleta do material de pesquisa ocorreu com entrevistas em profundidade semi-estruturadas. A análise das entrevistas nos permite dizer que as demissões, em geral, trazem conseqüências muito dramáticas para as pessoas: demitidos, remanescentes e demissores. Para que seja possível lidar com as demissões, os demissores constroem sentidos e percebem as práticas de downsizing como resultado da objetivação da globalização. Além disso, os demissores reforçam a promessa de ajuda aos demitidos na busca de uma nova posição, seja por meio de programas de recolocação profissional, seja no esforço individual dos demissores. Os demissores revelaram também sua percepção de que, de alguma maneira, os demitidos encontrarão novas oportunidades de trabalho. Nossa pesquisa também desvendou maneiras de legitimação dos processos de downsizing, com a contribuição da retórica da administração de recursos humanos diante desses processos. Para praticar atos que, em geral, trazem dor e sofrimento, os demissores precisam amenizar, de alguma maneira, as conseqüências do próprio ato. / Firms downsize their work force so frequently that it is rare to meet someone nowadays who has never been fired. The number of layoffs increased at the end of the eighties and had their pick in the nineties, and layoffs continue to be commonly implemented (TOMASKO, 1992; CALDAS, 2000; WEISENFELD, BROCKNER e THIBAULT, 2000). One could think that since layoffs have become so common, this would make dismissals less traumatic to individuals. However, this has not been verified in many studies about dismissals. These studies show that downsizing processes usually have dramatic consequences to individuals. Many studies have been conducted about dismissal effects on layoff victims and survivors. The objective of this work is to understand how managers who fire their employees in downsizing processes make sense of their dismissal practices, which are their explanations for implementing actions that usually bring pain and suffering to other people. This research also investigates how human resources professionals, responsible for policies and practices related to employees in the organizations, make sense of layoffs, activities that have become more common than recruiting and selection in many firms. To review the meanings produced by managers and human resources professionals in downsizing processes, twenty-five people were interviewed and the content of the interviews analyzed: twelve layoffs implementing managers and thirteen human resources professionals. We used the content analyses methodology to analyze the material, which was colleted via semi-structured interviews. The interview analysis allows us to say that usually the layoffs consequences are very dramatic to individuals: victims, survivors and implementing managers. To be able to deal with dismissals, managers make sense and perceive layoffs as a result of objectivation of globalization. Besides that, managers usually promise to help dismissed employees to find other work positions, via outplacement programs or via their own individual help. The implementing managers also reveled their perception that, somehow, the dismissed employees would find new work opportunities. Besides that, our research reveled that the human resources rhetoric is a mean to legitimize layoffs. To implement actions that usually bring pain and suffering to individuals, implementing managers need to find ways that somehow diminish the consequences of their own actions.

A growing body of research has emphasised the social processes by which teachers – who are curriculum policy implementing agents – are trained and supported on how to practically implement policies in the classroom. Yet, little attention has been paid to the factors that influence teachers’ interpretation of curriculum policy and how their understanding of policy implementation influences the ways in which they respond to policies. Some research has already been done on the implementation of curriculum policies in schools, with findings centred largely on the disjuncture between policy and practice. Research has also established that much of what teachers are doing in the classroom does not reflect policy. Although teachers have opportunities to enhance the implementation of policy, there are also factors that negatively influence their implementation of educational policy. This is basically because of the gap between the policy makers and the implementing agents. The lack of a shared understanding between these two stakeholders’ results in a perception of policy as a set of strict rules and procedures meant to be followed by teachers. This study aims to develop an understanding of what influences teachers in their attempts to implement the curriculum policy on environmental education in the classroom. The study further aims to gain an understanding, from the practitioners’ perspectives, of how policy implementation challenges their habitual patterns of teaching and schooling and whether, to them, this implementation seems to threaten the conventional disciplinary curricular structures of fixed timetables and depending on textbooks, and leaves little room for outdoor or hands-on activities. The focus on teachers is motivated by the fact that they are the primary curriculum implementers in schools and as such, are expected to play a significant role in implementing the curriculum according to policy. This study advocates an interdisciplinary approach to implementing environmental education policy in teaching and learning in the Natural Sciences. This entails environmental education becoming part of the curriculum, and being taught as a cross-curricula component. In this context, environmental education will form part of teaching and learning in every learning area of the curriculum for the General Education and Training band of the South African education system. What this means for teachers is that they have to integrate environmental concepts or topics within their respective learning areas, and that they have to follow a learner-centred approach that allows learners the opportunity to become active participants, responsible for their own learning. This implies that, for learners to develop knowledge, skills, and correct attitudes regarding the environment, teachers have to use available, local teaching materials or resources. As the classroom becomes free from traditional teaching styles, learners become active and take responsibility for their own learning. They discuss and share ideas with one another, and the teacher becomes the facilitator of the teaching and learning process. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / D. Ed. (Curriculum Studies)

Submitted by Rodrigo Miranda (rodmiranda02@gmail.com) on 2013-12-09T18:33:48Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Rodrigo Miranda.pdf: 612478 bytes, checksum: 71e496507dd2bce8ec290a067a967714 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Suzinei Teles Garcia Garcia (suzinei.garcia@fgv.br) on 2013-12-10T17:29:52Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Rodrigo Miranda.pdf: 612478 bytes, checksum: 71e496507dd2bce8ec290a067a967714 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-12-10T17:31:55Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Rodrigo Miranda.pdf: 612478 bytes, checksum: 71e496507dd2bce8ec290a067a967714 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-11-08 / The creative industries became to be focus of studies in the business field due to the interest awaken by the so called new economy, in the end of the 90’s. However, little has been explored about their forms of organization, in special the daily work of the people working in these companies. These people by lifestyle seek in the creative process your core activity. The notion of common sense one gets is that creative organizations are more flexible and dynamic than those of other sectors. Thus, studying how is the process of organizing and sense making in these organizations can bring practical and theoretical contributions on this perception. Considering this context, our goal in this thesis is to investigate the creation of meaning in the process of organizing companies in the creative industry in São Paulo. We surveyed 18 companies and four professional freelancers, adding up the total of 32 women working directly in the creative economy, in order to seek understanding about what they do, how they do and what meaning they attach to the creation and (re) creation their daily work and companies. This thesis greatly influenced by the ethnomethodological studies of the everyday life. Keeping this in view, we used the Process Theory and Ethnomethodology as foundations, which begins with the idea that the routine phenomenon and imperceptible day to day activities are fundamentals to understanding a larger temporal and spatial reality. It is in the everyday life that social relations are truly built. Following this guidance, this study sought to identify biographical elements of the participants of these companies and in the everyday life of creative industries, through non-participant observation, semi-structured interviews and document analysis. With this, we seek to establish an understanding of the process of organizing and sense making in this specific sector of the economy in order to contribute to the understanding of these organizations and the complexity of their dynamics. As a result, we could identify the sense making about the process of organizing in different occupational groups: professionals who work as managers move away from the creative process, artists deviate from the activities of management and organization, and managers seeking management activities for the development of organizations. We also observed that complex relationships are established in informal networks and new forms of labor exploitation that makes the sector is weak. Some organizations achieve stability because they are organized around networks of relationships, knowledge and action, so that the information and experiences circulate enabling reflections on what is made. Despite the perception that these organizations are flexible, the professionals themselves need much effort to keep the group together in the face of environmental uncertainties and difficulties. The organization, the people and the creative process remain uncertain and susceptible to changes that impact negatively in the maintenance of groups and social relations. / As indústrias criativas passaram a ser foco de estudos na área de Administração em virtude do interesse despertado pela chamada nova economia, no final dos anos 1990. No entanto, pouco foi explorado a respeito de suas formas de organização, em especial, o cotidiano do trabalho das pessoas que trabalham nessas empresas e que, por opção de vida, buscam no processo criativo sua atividade principal. A noção de senso comum que se tem é que as organizações criativas são mais flexíveis e dinâmicas do que aquelas de outros setores. Assim, estudar como se dá o processo de organizar e a criação de sentido nessas organizações pode trazer contribuições práticas e teóricas sobre essa percepção. Considerando esse contexto, nosso objetivo nesta tese é investigar a criação de sentido no processo de organizar em empresas da indústria criativa no município de São Paulo. Foram pesquisadas 18 empresas e quatro profissionais free-lancers, somando o total de 32 mulheres atuantes diretamente na economia criativa, com o intuito de buscar entendimento sobre o que fazem, como fazem e qual o sentido que atribuem ao à criação e (re)criação do seu cotidiano de trabalho. Esta tese teve grande influência dos estudos etnometodológicos sobre o cotidiano. Tendo isso em vista, utilizamos a Teoria do processo e a Etnometodologia como fundamentos, na qual se parte da ideia de que os fenômenos rotineiros e imperceptíveis do dia a dia são fundamentais para a compreensão de uma realidade espacial e temporal maior. É no cotidiano que as relações sociais são verdadeiramente construídas. Seguindo essa orientação, este estudo buscou a identificação de elementos biográficos dos participantes dessas empresas e do cotidiano das indústrias criativas, por meio de observação não participante, entrevistas semiestruturadas e análise documental. Com isso, buscamos estabelecer um entendimento sobre o processo de organizar e a criação de sentido nesse setor específico da economia, a fim de contribuir para o entendimento dessas organizações e da complexidade de sua dinâmica. Como resultados, podemos identificar a criação de sentidos no processo de organizar em grupos profissionais distintos: profissionais que trabalham como gestores se distanciam do processo criativo, artistas se afastam das atividades de gestão e organização, e gestores buscam atividades de gestão para o desenvolvimento das organizações. Observou-se também que relações complexas se estabelecem em redes de informalidade e de novas formas de exploração do trabalho que faz com que o setor se enfraqueça. Algumas organizações conseguem a estabilidade pelo fato de se organizarem em torno de redes de relacionamentos, de conhecimento e de ações, de modo que as informações e as experiências circulem possibilitando reflexões sobre o que se faz. Apesar da percepção de que essas organizações são flexíveis, os próprios profissionais necessitam de muito esforço para manter o grupo coeso frente às incertezas e dificuldades ambientais.

The purpose of this study is to understand how business intelligence and the information it provides is interpreted by two different groups of people - the business users and the technical team in a BI system. To fulfill the purpose of the research an analytical process with an interpretive approach has been used. Through the Gioia methodology the study was conducted as a single case study at a staffing agency located in Sweden with approximately 800 employees. Eight interviews were conducted at the company with four members from the technical team and four members from the business users. The findings of this study shows that two aggregated dimensions have emerged - Use of BI and Nature of BI. The empirical investigation show a clear difference between the technical team and the business users perception of BI, which is highlighted by the emerged aggregated dimensions and the coherent second order themes. To conclude, this demonstrates that there are not only technical challenges with BI, but also intangible challenges. This means that there are disparities in understanding BI, as well as there are disparities in interpreting the information it provides. / Syftet med denna studie är att förstå hur Business Intelligence och den tillhörande informationen tolkas av två olika grupper av människor - the business users och the technical team i ett BI system. För att uppfylla syftet med forskningen har en analysprocess med en tolkningsmetod utförts. Genom Gioia-metoden har studien genomförts som en enskild fallstudie hos en bemanningsbyrå i Sverige med cirka 800 anställda. Åtta intervjuer genomfördes på företaget med fyra medlemmar från the technical team och fyra medlemmar från the business users. Resultatet av denna studie visar att två aggregerade dimensioner har uppstått - Use of BI och Nature of BI. Den empiriska undersökningen visar en tydlig skillnad mellan the technical team och the business users uppfattning om BI, vilket framhävs av de uppkomna aggregerade dimensionerna och de sammanhängande andra ordningens teman. Avslutningsvis visar detta att det inte bara finns tekniska utmaningar med BI utan även immateriella utmaningar. Det betyder att det finns skillnader i att förstå BI, och att det finns skillnader i tolkningen av den information som BI tillhandahåller.

Purpose – This study aims to explore, and suggest solutions to, the gap between the supply of information from organic meat producers and the demand of information from consumers regarding traceable characteristics (attributes) of meat in a limited geographical area in order to maximize the utilization and value of collected data. Design/methodology/approach – A mixed methods research design is applied to collect both quantitative data from consumers and qualitative data from suppliers to produce empirical results of the supply and demand of information. A theoretical framework of organic food purchase intent is used for the quantitative study as well as the correlation between consumers’ perceived importance of attributes and their willingness-to-pay for meat. The results of the empirical studies are compared to each other in an effort to expose a possible gap using a gap analysis. Findings – Meat is shifting from a price based commodity to a product based on characteristics. This study reveals that there is now a gap between the information made available by organic meat producers and the demand of information from consumers that needs to be recognized in order to maximize the value of collected data. Information regarding environmental impact of raising and transporting the animals is not extensively collected. A substantial amount of data about attributes of perceived importance, such as safety and handling, animal welfare and medication or other treatments is collected but not extensively shared with consumers. Research limitations/implications – The small sample size in a unique area and the scope of the survey data does not provide a result that can be truly generalized. It is therefore suggested that future studies produce results from a larger sample that incorporates the perceived accessibility of important information for consumers. Practical implications – This contributes to the emerging literature of organic food production by comparing both the supply and the demand of information regarding attributes of meat. This information is valuable to organic meat producers and marketers as well as developers of agricultural systems and databases that should shift their focus to consumer oriented traceability systems. Originality/value – This study goes beyond the substantial body of literature regarding attributes of organic food and consumers preferences by comparing these factors to the available supply of information by meat producers and by suggesting solutions to bridge the gap between them. Keywords – Organic meat, Organic agriculture, e-Agriculture, Traceability, Traceability systems, Consumer oriented, Consumer behavior, Willingness-to-pay, Supply and demand, Information gap, Gap analysis, Business development, United States of America, Sense-making theory, Mixed methods Paper type – Research paper, Bachelor’s thesis