Den digitala utvecklingen i samhället har under lång tid påverkat redovisningsbranschen och redovisningskonsulters arbete i form av att det gått från pappersarbete till att använda datorer och digitala hjälpmedel för att utföra arbetet. Denna utveckling har även inneburit ett mer effektivt och noggrant arbete tack vare digitaliseringen. Tidigare forskning har behandlat hur redovisningsbranschen påverkas av den digitala utvecklingen, det som däremot inte har studerats tidigare är den inverkan Covid-19 har i relation till digitaliseringen och redovisningskonsulters arbete. Samhället påverkas av den pågående Covid-19-pandemin i flera avseenden där redovisningsbyråer berörs av de restriktioner som uppkommit till följd av pandemin.  Syftet med studien är att öka förståelsen för hur digitaliseringen påverkar redovisningskonsulters arbete under rådande Covid-19-pandemi. Syftet är även att studera om det föreligger skillnader mellan redovisningskonsulter från små, medelstora och stora redovisningsbyråer gällande dess arbete. För att besvara syftet har en kvalitativ studie tillämpats där det empiriska materialet samlats in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer. Totalt intervjuades elva redovisningskonsulter från redovisningsbyråer av varierande storlek runt om i Sverige.  Resultatet visar att redovisningskonsulters arbete påverkas av både Covid-19 och digitaliseringen där konsulterna även anser att Covid-19 har påskyndat digitaliseringen till viss del. Samtliga redovisningskonsulter är positiva till den digitala utvecklingen och menar att det bidrar till ett mer effektivt arbete. En slutsats som framkommit är att Covid-19 ökat distansarbetet bland redovisningskonsulter på medelstora och stora byråer, medan majoriteten från små till största del fortfarande arbetat från kontoret. Även det fysiska mötet har minskat bland samtliga redovisningskonsulter till följd av Covid-19, vilket har resulterat i att digitala hjälpmedel används i större utsträckning. Enligt konsulterna har distansarbetet fungerat tack vare att digitaliseringen gett de förutsättningar som krävs för att kunna arbeta digitalt och på distans. Ytterligare presenterar även studiens resultat att redovisningskonsulter från små byråer generellt sett är mer positiva till att ta hjälp av andra i branschen, medan de från medelstora och stora snarare anser att det handlar om att följa med i konkurrensen. / The digital development in society has for a long time affected the accounting profession, where the accounting consultants' work has changed from working with papers to the usage of computers and digital technologies. This has led to more efficient and accurate work, owing to the digitalization. Previous studies have investigated how digital development impacts the accounting profession, however, the effect of Covid-19 has not been investigated in relation to digitalization or the work of accounting consultants. The restrictions which arose as a result of Covid-19 have affected companies, including accounting firms. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to increase the understanding of how the digitalization affect the work of accounting consultants during the Covid-19 pandemic. Also, to observe if there are differences between accounting consultants from small-, medium- and large-sized accounting firms regarding their work. A qualitative method has been used to answer the purpose, where the empirical material has been collected from semi-structured interviews. Eleven consultants from accounting firms of different sizes located in Sweden have been interviewed.  The result of the study shows that the accounting consultants' work is affected by both Covid-19 and the digitalization, furthermore the consultants also imply that Covid-19 has accelerated the digitalization to some extent. All consultants are positive regarding digital development and its contribution to more efficient work. A conclusion that has emerged among consultants from medium-sized and large accounting firms, is that Covid-19 has led to more work from other places than the offices. Those from small firms have instead had the opportunity to work from the office to a higher degree. Physical meetings have decreased due to Covid-19, which has resulted in the use of more digital technologies. According to the consultants, digitalization has provided the conditions needed to be able to practice the work more digitally and from other places than the office. Further, the result shows that consultants from small accounting firms are generally more positive to exchange experiences with others in the profession, in comparison with those from large and medium-sized firms.

As the risk society has evolved, crisis management has become significant in order to survive a crisis. Crisis consultants have an important role in the risk society and organizations expects a whole lot from the profession. There is a gap in the research about the perceptions of crisis consultant’s role and expectancies in the risk society. Additionally, there is no research connected to the impact of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic on the profession of crisis consulting. The study aims to explore the crisis consultants view of and their role in the risk society. It also seeks to investigate how the crisis consultants have adapted to the Covid-19 pandemic. The study has been conducted through a qualitative case study consisting of various crisis consultants from diverse consultancies. The primary data consisted of eight semi-structured in- depth interviews. Crises in the risk society has become more complex due to the developing technology which has had an effect on the dispersion of information and personal exposures. Crisis consultants are expected to act as change agents who provides an outside perspective and pushes the client forward during crises. The Covid-19 pandemic has had no effect on the types of crisis and neither on the processes used by the crisis consultants. The shift lies within tools and certain procedures where social distancing and digitalization has become the new standard. Although the alterations have been challenging in some situations, the crisis consultants have still managed to fulfill their tasks and increase their workload.

Den teknologiska utvecklingen är i ständig gång och företag arbetar hårt för att stanna i dess framkant och att vara konkurrenskraftiga. En central del i företagsverksamhet blir därmed produktutveckling. För att lyckas med sin produktutveckling förekommer det att organisationer anställer konsultfirmor för att få tillgång till dess kunskap och kompetens. Men hur ser detta samarbete ut? Vilka kunskaper bidrar konsulterna med? Vilka faktorer får denna roll att variera? Denna rapport syftar till att redogöra för den tekniska konsultens roll i produktutvecklingsprojekt, vilka faktorer som påverkar denna roll, samt hur de gör det. Rapporten är dels uppbyggd på en litteraturstudie för att skapa en teoretisk referensram angående vad den tekniska konsultrollen innebär och dess grundpelare. Fortsättningsvis är rapporten även baserad på en kvalitativ intervjustudie vilken utfördes hos tre organisationer och med fyra respondenter. Samtliga organisationer är konsultfirmor i Sverige och samtliga respondenter är tekniska konsulter inom produktutveckling och dess erfarenheter är därmed högst väsentliga för arbetet. Respondenterna fick i enskilda intervjuer berätta om sina erfarenheter och svara på frågor utformade ur rapportens forskningsfrågor. Resultaten från denna empiriska studie samt den teori som hämtades ur litteraturstudien har jämförts och analyserats. De slutsatser som framgick ur studien är att små uppdragsgivare medför en bredare roll för konsulten, stora uppdragsgivare medför en smalare roll för konsulten, uppdragsgivare efterfrågar främst tekniska kunskaper från konsulter, uppdragsgivare bestämmer nivå av autonomi samt att tät och kontinuerlig kommunikation främjar ett gott samarbete mellan interna och externa parter.

In the United States, there has been a shift towards a more competency-based recruitmentprocess, where soft skills such as attitude and personality are more important than highereducation. The increasing digitalization has resulted in a shortage of trained IT skills in thelabor market. This study therefore aims to investigate how Swedish recruiters view differentcriteria in the recruitment process of software developers with a particular focus on highereducation. This is a qualitative interdisciplinary study in business administration andinformatics. This study is based on 10 interviews with recruiters from various consulting firmsacross Sweden. A thematic analysis was conducted on the collected data. The results have beenanalyzed in accordance with human capital theory and signaling theory to shed light ondifferent perspectives on the function of higher education, and resource-based theory toexamine its relevance from a market perspective. The results show that education still plays acentral role in entering the labor market, especially among junior consultants, while it varies toa greater extent among seniors. University education is generally considered more valuablethan vocational training, as it signals a broader skill set in both hard and soft skills. Educationcan be seen as a prerequisite for advancing in the recruitment process and demonstrating theseskills and attributes. However, several recruiters claim that their requirements are a result ofcustomer expectations and the situation of the market. If this is the case, it means that theserequirements may be subject to change. / I USA har det skett en förändring mot en mer kompetensbaserad rekryteringsprocess, där mjukavärden som attityd och personlighet får större betydelse jämfört med högre utbildning. Denökande digitaliseringen har resulterat i en brist på utbildad IT-kompetens på arbetsmarknaden.Denna studie syftar därför till att undersöka hur svenska rekryterare ser på olika kriterier vidrekryteringen av mjukvaruutvecklare med särskilt fokus på högre utbildning. Detta är enkvalitativ tvärvetenskaplig studie inom företagsekonomi och informatik. Den baseras på 10intervjuer med rekryterare från olika konsultföretag runt om i Sverige, och utifrån insamladdata genomfördes en tematisk analys. Resultatet har analyserats i enlighet medhumankapitalteorin och signaleringsteorin för att belysa olika perspektiv på utbildningensfunktion, samt den resursbaserade teorin för att granska utbildningens relevans ur ettmarknadsperspektiv. Resultaten visar att utbildning fortfarande spelar en central roll för att tasig ut på arbetsmarknaden, särskilt bland juniora konsulter, medan det varierar i högre gradbland seniorer. Universitets- och högskoleutbildning anses generellt mer meriterande änyrkesutbildningar, då det signalerar en bredare kompetens och förvärvning av både hårda ochmjuka värden. Utbildning kan därmed ses som en förutsättning för att ta sig vidare irekryteringsprocessen för att därefter få visa på dessa förmågor och egenskaper. Flerarekryterare hävdar dock att deras krav är ett resultat av kundernas förväntningar ochmarknadens situation. Om så är fallet innebär det att dessa krav kan vara föremål förförändringar.

The focus of this study was the unconscious dynamics in the consultant-client relationship as industrial and organisational psychologists seek to achieve change in client organisational systems. Twelve psychodynamic themes were used to interpret a journal maintained by the consultant throughout one consulting assignment, in an effort to understand the unconscious processes influencing the effectiveness of the consulting relationship. Analysis found that the client system imported the consultant to carry nurturing and healing on behalf of the system, but projected onto and into him the confusion, pain, hostility and incompetence in the system, stripped him of authority and manipulated him out of his role as change agent. The consultant unconsciously accepted the projections, failed to contain the system’s anxiety, gravitated towards the paranoid-schizoid position and was unable to effect meaningful change. Recommendations where made for the use of this form of psychodynamic analysis as a self-evaluative tool in the consulting context. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.A.

Lean management is becoming the standard for systematic productivity improvement, but the majority of implementations fail to sustain. Hence, the critical success factors for lean were the focus of this work. Literature review showed that the causality for lean success was not empirically developed beyond case study contextualisation. A multifaceted work was developed with contextualisation studies, survey of lean knowledge (758 responses), and a comprehensive case-study questionnaire (1253 responses from 44 countries). The statistical methods included exploratory factor analysis and path analysis by structural equation modelling (SEM). The first questionnaire revealed two different understandings of lean, and the second explored the underlying causality for lean success, including contingency for business size and product variety. Many contributions to the body of knowledge issued from this work. First of all, there was a methodological contribution, pioneering explorative structural modelling of full scope lean implementation. Second, SEMs of the lean knowledge-based view showed the profound positive effects of management knowledge on the primary factors for lean success. These factors were shown to be leadership and employee development. Third, the most beneficial lean methods were highlighted for specific scenarios. Fourth, the negligible and negative effects of a consultant-based approach to lean were uncovered. The results showed that the majority of consultants did not aid the long-term performance and sustainability of lean but significantly hindered it, except where masterful consultants acted as coaches. Fifth, a shortage of lean knowledge was observed in New Zealand; their participants averaged only half of what the USA�s did. Sixth, as culture has been emphasised in current literature, the present danger of overly focusing on it was discussed. Seventh was a conceptual contribution integrating lean and risk management, and a practical application with a risk analysis. This developed a risk matrix for the assessment and prioritisation of implementation components. Eighth, some adjustments to government lean strategies were proposed. And finally, the work integrated the findings in a tangible stage process model for implementation in SMEs. The dissemination of this knowledge has the potential to enhance productivity and commercial success of industries in New Zealand and abroad through successful lean implementations. Lean is not a weak methodology but it has been misunderstood and misapplied.

My original contribution to theory and practice formulates management consultancy as a social act evolving within interaction with clients whereby identity, as an emerging process, can form and be formed within consultant-client relationships. Drawing on Stacey's work on complex responsive process thinking, I have described a reflexive, social self, highlighting the implications for management consultants of this open-ended responsiveness of identity formation. Within the prevailing management literature there is a sense that consultants design interventions that change organisations, whether through working on leadership development, executive coaching, providing expertise or facilitating organisational change. As part of my original contribution I pick up on the emotional, relational and occasionally messy nature of consulting, which is frequently overlooked in the literature. My research into the emergence of intentions and the formation of identity within consultant-client relationships analyses my work as a researcher-practitioner working within large financial service organisations through a variety of consulting projects. The inquiry examines my professional practice, researched through a social, iterative and temporal method centring on reflexive, narrative inquiries. I illuminate the fundamental conversational nature of consultant-client relationships; challenging the view of consulting as a transaction whereby the consultant provides a service, withdrawing relatively unchanged. I postulate consulting as a series of conversations with interdependent people wherein emerging themes organise new ways of relating and novelty evolves. Drawing on Elias' process sociology I extrapolate the fundamental interdependence of consultant-client relationships; conceptualising management consulting from a complex responsive processes way of relating. I challenge the notion of intention as located in the individual; an independent, disembodied, thought before action predicated on an 'if-then' notion of causality, underpinned by an assumption of human beings as autonomous and rational. I develop the work of Joas arguing that intentions are emerging, social and embodied; a theme organising conversations. In particular I detail how strong emotions and embodiment occur in those arresting moments, where experiences of inclusion and exclusion, can alert the consultant to new ways of relating. My inquiry has highlighted the significance for management consultants of realising the fundamentally social nature of human interaction and the importance of responsiveness in the living present. With reference to Mead's view of conversation as a pattern of gesture/ response I highlight the consultant-client relationship as co-created and therefore not to be ordered by the consultant who can, nevertheless, pick up on and influence new patterns of relating as they evolve.

Problématique. Basée sur les constats effectués lors d’un essai clinique randomisé qui visait à évaluer les effets du lait maternel de fin d’expression sur la croissance et le développement de nouveau-nés prématurés et qui s’est soldé par un recrutement infructueux, une intervention de soutien à la lactation chez les mères de nouveau-nés prématurés a été développée. La mère d’un nouveau-né prématuré est en effet trois fois plus à risque qu’une autre de présenter une production lactée insuffisante. Il est donc crucial de soutenir ces mères dans l’établissement et le maintien d’une production lactée adéquate. Le but de cette étude pilote est d’estimer les effets d’une intervention de soutien à la lactation sur l’expression de lait maternel et la production lactée de mères ayant donné naissance prématurément ainsi que d’évaluer les aspects d’acceptabilité et de faisabilité de l’intervention, de l’étude et de ses procédures. Hypothèse de recherche. Les mères de nouveau-nés prématurés qui reçoivent une intervention de soutien à la lactation expriment leur lait significativement plus longtemps et plus fréquemment et produisent significativement un plus grand volume de lait à plus grande concentration lipidique sur une base quotidienne que celles qui reçoivent les soins usuels. Méthode. Devis : Projet-pilote de type essai clinique randomisé. Échantillon: Quarante mères de nouveau-nés prématurés de <30 semaines de gestation admis à une unité de soins intensifs néonatals. Procédures: Les mères du groupe témoin reçoivent les soins usuels alors que celles du groupe expérimental reçoivent une intervention de soutien à la lactation. Cette dernière comporte quatre volets: une séance d’enseignement portant sur l’établissement et le maintien d’une production lactée suffisante, un suivi téléphonique, une ligne d’aide téléphonique et le prêt d’un tire-lait électrique double pompage. Dans les deux groupes, les mères sont amenées à tenir un journal de bord de leurs séances d’expression et du volume de lait maternel exprimé. Résultats. L’étude et ses procédures de même que l’intervention de soutien sont acceptables et faisables. Les résultats observés en lien avec l’hypothèse de recherche sont orientés dans la même direction que cette dernière à l’exception de la concentration lipidique du lait maternel. Recommandations. Une étude à plus grande échelle doit être réalisée afin d’évaluer les effets de l’intervention de soutien à la lactation sur la production lactée de mères de nouveau-nés prématurés. Quant à la clinique, des actions concertées doivent être menées afin de créer un contexte propice et des conditions favorables à l’expression de lait maternel chez les mères de nouveau-nés prématurés. / Problem statement. Based on observations from an unsuccessful randomized clinical trial that aimed to evaluate the effects of hindmilk on the short-term growth and development of preterm infants, a lactation support intervention for mothers of preterm infants has been developed. Mothers who give birth prematurely are three times more likely to have an insufficient milk output compared to those who give birth at term. It is therefore crucial to support these mothers in order to facilitate the establishment and maintenance of their milk supply. The aim of this pilot study is to estimate the effects of a lactation support intervention on the expression of breast milk and milk output of mothers who gave birth prematurely and assess the acceptability and feasibility of the intervention, study and its procedures. Research hypothesis. A lactation support intervention in mothers who deliver prematurely enables them to express their milk significantly longer and more frequently, and produce a greater milk output with a higher lipid concentration compared to mothers who deliver prematurely and receive usual care. Method. Design: A pilot study of a randomized clinical trial. Sample: Forty mothers of preterm infants born at <30 weeks of gestation and admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit. Procedures: The mothers in the control group receive usual care while those in the experimental group receive a lactation support intervention. The intervention has four components: an education session on the establishment and maintenance of an adequate milk supply, a telephone follow-up, a telephone helpline and the loan of a double electric breast pump. In both the intervention and control groups, mothers kept a logbook of the frequency, duration and volume of their breast milk expressions. Results. Both the study design and the intervention are feasible and acceptable to mothers of preterm infants. With the exception of milk lipid concentration, the results are oriented in the same direction as the research hypothesis. Recommendations. A larger scale study should be conducted to evaluate the effects of the lactation support intervention on the frequency, duration, and volume of breast milk expression among mothers of premature infants. As for the clinical practice, concerted interprofessional actions must be undertaken to create the environment and conditions conducive to breast milk expression in these mothers.

2008年全球金融海嘯與近年持續動盪的歐債危機，使得多數民眾在這兩次金融風暴中遭受鉅額損失，對於金融商品及銀行也產生了疑慮，導致出許多投資者與銀行端之間的消費糾紛，經過多次險峻的經濟波動及金融危機，投資市場中仍然有許多頂尖財富管理業務人員，他們歷經多次金融危機仍屹立不搖，績效穩定及深受客戶信賴，這其中差異值得深入研究探討。 本文主要探討台灣財富管理頂尖業務銷售成功關鍵因素，利用「三特質」問卷方式收集資訊並分析，藉此了解頂尖業務平日的工作內容、專業能力、人格特質、銷售行為及投資決策模式。研究最終可得知以下幾點結論：(1)透過MBTI性格分類法，頂尖業務以發明家、記者型、學者型為最多。(2)頂尖業務特質若具備積極負責、誠信、易於溝通，較容易與高端客戶產生長久互動與黏著度。(3)頂尖業務多具備強烈企圖心，不斷設定目標突破自我極限。(4)歷經過1~2次金融危機及景氣循環的頂尖業務，相對危機處理能力較強，能適時判斷投資進出時機，協助客戶完成理財目標機率也會比較高。 / Due to the global financial disasters in 2008 and the recent European debt crisis, domestic investors had suffered tremendous losses in investment. Consequently, concerns of financial products' profitability have raised drastically among investors and occasionally led to disputes between banks and investors. However, there are still many wealth managers who excelled at their job and were trusted by their customers even after going through several devastating economic events. The purpose of this paper is to determine the distinguishing characteristics of the top asset managers in D bank. With Myers-Briggs Type Indicator questionnaire we would portray and analyze their personalities, work capabilities, sales methods, and investment process. In conclusion, most elite financial advisors have characteristics of an inventor, a journalist, or a scholar. They also tend to have a proactive mindset toward their job and communicate with compassion. Because of these qualities, clients would deem their advisor as trustworthy and were satisfied with the services that they received. And most of all, they have the ability to support clients through financial difficulties and reach their financial goals.

This thesis uses a case study approach and investigates how the institutional environment has an impact on decision making regarding sales within three departments at WSP Management in Sweden. With the application of neo-institutional frameworks, the study explains how decision making is constrained by the institution and the actors that make up the institutional environment, as well as how a pursuit for stability and legitimacy isolate engineering consultant companies from other sectors within the market.   The study concludes that the institutional environments inducements have created a sales structure within the departments that is solely focused on the public sector and acquiring contracts through public procurement. This sales structure is heavily imprinted within the departments and has created a culture where employees rely in department management to solely sell their services to potential customers. The success and efficiency within this institutional environment has made it that the departments key performance indicator-demands from upper the upper management are based on a sales structure that requires little or no proactive sales. The inducements within the regulative institutional environment thus has a big impact on their decision making when they are trying to maintain a financial stability in relation to the company’s upper management. With the current structure they have been placed in an institutional comfort zone in which they will be stuck within if no change is made.