Abstract Title: A democratic organisation - one click away? A quantitative content analysis which studies the potential of democratic communication through intranet use. Authors: Stina Gabrielsson and Jill Johansson Vennelin Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether there is potential for democratic communication within the NGOs through intranet use. Key questions to be answered were: To what extent is authority versus members represented on the intranet Klick’s discussion forum? What/which communication-related functions out of social function, knowledge transferring and debate are featured in the posts published on the intranet Klick’s discussion forum? Are deliberative discussions being practiced in the discussion forumthreads on the intranet Klick? The thesis is based on the theory of deliberative democracy. In order to substantiate the theory has theoretical perspectives concerning participation and involvement also been applied. These perspectives are derived from organizational theory and internal communication. Method/Material: This study consists of a quantitative content analysis of the 477 posts and the 129 discussion threads available on the NGO RFSU’s intranet Klick the 29th of november 2012. Main results: The results show that 63, 4 percent of those who were active in the discussionforum represented the category authority, while the category members were formed by 36, 6 percent. The result of the communicational functions of the forum’s posts were 75, 7 percent knowledge transferring, 33, 3 percent debate and 23, 3 percent social function. 86, 6 percent of the discussion threads were considered neutral, 13, 2 percent deliberative and no, 0 percent, were considered non-deliberative. The study has found many examples of the presence of democratic communication within Klick, showing that this is possible through intranet use. However, the low participation in terms of members as a whole and the over-representation of authorities can be argued to not form democratic communication with reference to the chosen definition of democracy, the model of participatory democracy with deliberative qualities. Course: Media and Communication studies C University: Division of Media and Communication, Department of Information Science, Uppsala University Period: Fall 2012 Tutor: Josef Pallas Keywords: Employee empowerment, Employee participation, Intranet, NGO, Deliberative democracy / Sammanfattning Ansatsen med denna uppsats var att undersöka huruvida det finns potential för demokratisk kommunikation inom frivilligorganisationer via intranät. Detta undersöktes genom en kvantitativ innehållsanalys av intranätet Klicks diskussionsforum, vilket tillhör frivilligorganisationen RFSU, med frågeställningen: I vilken utsträckning representeras auktoriteter respektive medlemmar på intranätet Klicks diskussionsforum? Vilken/vilka kommunikationsmässiga funktioner av social funktion, kunskapsöverföring och debatt har inläggen publicerade i intranätet Klicks diskussionsforum? Praktiseras deliberativa diskussioner i diskussionsforumets trådar på intranätet Klick? Uppsatsen utgår från teori om deliberativ demokrati. För att underbygga teorin har teoretiska perspektiv som berör medbestämmande och deltagande tillämpats, vilka härstammar från ämnesområdena organisationsteori samt internkommunikation. Resultatet visar att 63,4 procent av de aktiva på diskussionsforumet utgjordes av kategorin auktoriteter medan kategorin medlemmar utgjordes av 36, 6 procent. Resultatet för de kommunikationsmässiga funktionerna var att den kunskapsöverförande funktionen återfanns i 75, 7 procent av inläggen, funktionen debatt i 33, 3 procent och den sociala funktionen i 23, 3 procent av inläggen. För deliberativ diskussion studerades, istället för enskilda inlägg, hela diskussionstrådar. Den största delen av diskussionstrådarna bedömdes vara neutrala vilka utgjorde 86, 6 procent medan deliberativa diskussioner utgjorde 13,2 procent. 0 procent av diskussionstrådarna ansågs vara icke-deliberativa. Undersökningen har funnit många exempel på förekomst av demokratisk kommunikation på Klick vilket visar att denna är möjlig via intranät. Dock kan det låga deltagandet sett till medlemmar som helhet samt överrepresentationen av auktoriteter argumenteras för att inte tolkas som demokratisk kommunikation med hänvisning till den valda definitionen av demokrati, modellen deltagardemokrati med deliberativa kvaliteter. Nyckelord: Employee empowerment, Employee participation, Intranät, Frivilligorganisation, Deliberativ demokrati

<p><strong>Purpose:</strong> The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between job satisfaction among hotel employees as well as the relationship between employee empowerment and contextual performance behaviours.</p><p><strong>Background: </strong>Most managers and scholars emphasize that an organization’s most important tool for gaining a competitive advantage is its people and; in order for the firm to attain success employees must be involved and active. It has been argued that success within the hotel industry lies with customer satisfaction, of which is the result of overall job satisfaction of the employee. Most hotels strive to empower their employees in order to deliver better quality service. In addition, contextual performance behaviours are also common practice in such places where employees have a broad range of duties and tasks. Both empowerment and contextual performance behaviours are thus seen to provide overall job satisfaction.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>The research approach used was that of a single case study, using a survey instrument to collect data on facets empowerment and contextual performance behaviours. The Scandic Hotels of Jonkoping were used for this purpose. The data collected were then analysed by way of factor analysis and multiple regression methods to validate the hypotheses formed in the theoretical framework.</p><p><strong>Findings and</strong></p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Based on the results of the analysis, the majority of the hypotheses were supported.  Training and rewards showed a significant relationship with overall job satisfaction. Job dedication behaviours also showed similar results. In addition, information sharing and trust and training and rewards proved to have interrelationships as facets of empowerment.  Interpersonal facilitation and job dedication behaviours were also proved to be distinct behaviours within contextual performance.</p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Auburn University, 2008. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 110-125).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 95-107). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 190-205). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 132-142). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 132-142). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 190-205). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 95-107). Also available on the Internet.

Kanter’s theory (1993) maintains that access to empowerment structure would lead to positive organizational behaviour and that individual differences are inconsequential. This study proposed that Chinese cultural value of social orientation needs to be considered when applying the theory to nursing practice in Hong Kong. Based on the perspective of person-situation interaction, it was also hypothesized that need for empowerment and self-esteem would act as moderators in the empowerment process. In this study, job satisfaction and psychological well-being were used as outcome measures to evaluate the empowerment process. A cross-sectional survey research was conducted to test the hypotheses formulated in this study. Reliability and validity of the measuring instruments were first established in a preliminary study. All measurements were incorporated in a standardized questionnaire which also contained items on sociodemographic characteristics. The participants were Chinese frontline nurses (N = 556) from different areas of practice in an acute hospital, of which 83% of them were aged between 25 and 39. Education of the participants ranged from hospital-based training to Master degree. A great majority (86%) of the respondents were females. Confirmatory factor analysis supported Kanter’s four-factor model (i.e., opportunity, information, support, and resources) of nursing empowerment. Availability of formal and informal power was found to facilitate access to empowerment structure. Measures of empowerment were of satisfactory reliability and construct validity. Access to empowerment structure was associated with subjective feelings of being empowered. This feeling of psychological empowerment mediated the impact of structural empowerment on outcome measures. Nurses with higher education or higher nurse rank reported greater access to empowerment structures. They also exhibited greater job satisfaction and better psychological well-being. Less experienced nurses reported greater access to opportunity and supports, whereas more experienced nurses exhibited greater job satisfaction and psychological well-being. The association of structural empowerment with job satisfaction was less significant among nurses who held stronger view of social orientation, but these nurses enjoyed better positive well-being with greater access to empowerment structures. Structural empowerment was associated with positive outcomes among nurses who reported high need for empowerment, but not among those whose need was low. With access to empowerment structure, nurses with high self-esteem reported a higher level of job satisfaction than did those with lower self-esteem. However, structural empowerment promoted positive well-being among nurses with moderate self-esteem, but not among those of high self-esteem. The impact of structural empowerment was negative among nurses of low self-esteem. This study confirmed the applicability of Kanter’s theory of structural empowerments among Hong Kong frontline nurses whose ecological culture was predominantly collectivistic. However, to implement structural empowerment effectively, the model needs to be expanded to include cultural-personality factors such as social orientation, need for empowerment, and self-esteem. In view of the substantial contribution of global empowerment to positive outcomes, an integration of structural and psychological empowerment was proposed. Findings of the present study were discussed with reference to relevant issues and compared with findings reported in the West. Limitations of the study were considered and suggestions for future research made. / published_or_final_version / Social Work and Social Administration / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy