Abstract : Using a quantitative research design and survey data from 83 supervisor - employee dyads working in North American facilities of a large multinational healthcare organization, this study explores the critical role of first line supervisors in a lean environment. Many organizations have adopted the Toyota Production System (TPS, also known as lean management or the Toyota Way) in an effort to improve organizational effectiveness. Implementation success has been surprisingly limited. The predominantly negative effects documented in the scientific literature are attributable to the introduction of lean as a series of tools and techniques for cost cutting. In environments that truly manage according to the TPS, all share the belief that the development and participation of all employees is essential to maintain competitiveness. Increased emphasis on teamwork and worker involvement in a lean environment places rising demands on the first - line supervisor. The supervisor role in a lean environment is considered critical and becomes one of encouraging more participation, and creating an environment of continuous improvement. Given that leadership is a complex construct, the current paper uses a multi - domain approach proposed by Graen and Uhl - Bien (1995) to study the effect of empowering leadership behaviours (leader domain), leader - member exchange (relational domain) and psychological empowerment (follower domain) on individual performance (measured as in - role performance and organizational citizenship behaviours) through the mediating variable of job involvement in the work setting. Findings indicate that the role of the first line supervisor in a lean environment is critical. The follower (psychological empowerment) and relational (leader - member exchange) domains of leadership are significant in predicting variations of job involvement in the work setting, and job involvement mediates the relationship between the relation domain variable of leader - member exchange and individual performance (organizational citizenship behaviours targeted at the individual). Empowering leadership behaviours are significantly related and directly related to in - role performance. Development of first line supervisors should emphasize building high quality relationships, facilitating employee psychological empowerment, and demonstrating empowering leadership behaviours in order to enhance involvement in a team setting and individual performance. // Résumé : En utilisant une méthode de recherche quantitative ainsi que les résultats de sondages auprès de 83 dyades superviseur-employé travaillant dans des établissements nord-américains d’une grande organisation multinationale du domaine de la santé, cette étude explore le rôle clé des superviseurs de premier niveau dans un environnement de production « lean ». Plusieurs organisations ont adopté le Système de production Toyota (SPT, aussi connu sous les vocables de « lean management » ou de « méthode Toyota ») dans le but d’améliorer l’efficacité organisationnelle. De façon surprenante, le succès de l’implantation de cette méthode de production s’est montré limité. L’effet négatif prédominant documenté dans la littérature scientifique est attribuable à l’introduction du « lean » comme une série d’outils et de techniques pour réduire les coûts. Dans les environnements véritablement gérés selon le SPT, on partage la croyance que le développement et la participation de tous les employés est essentielle pour maintenir la compétitivité. L’accent sur le travail d’équipe et sur l’implication des travailleurs dans un environnement « lean » place des attentes élevées sur les superviseurs de premier niveau. Le rôle du superviseur dans ce type d’environnement est considéré comme critique et consiste à encourager la participation et la création d’un environnement d’amélioration continue. Étant donné que le leadership est un construit complexe, la présente étude utilise une approche multi-domaines proposée par Graen and Uhl-Bien (1995) pour étudier l’effet des comportements de leadership habilitant (empowering leadership; domaine du leader), de l’échange leader-membre (leader-member exchange; domaine de la relation) et de l’habilitation psychologique (psychological empowerment; domaine de l’employé) sur la performance individuelle (performance dans le rôle et comportements de citoyenneté organisationnelle) via la variable médiatrice de l’implication au travail, et plus spécifiquement dans l’environnement de travail (job involvement in the work setting). Les résultats indiquent que le rôle du superviseur est crucial. Les domaines de leadership de l’employé (c.-à-d. l’habilitation psychologique) et de la relation (c.-à-d. l’échange leader-membre) sont significatifs lorsqu’il s’agit de prévoir les variations de l’implication au travail, et l’implication au travail agit comme médiateur entre les variables des domaines de leadership et la performance individuelle (comportements de citoyenneté organisationnelle). Le développement des superviseurs de premier niveau devrait mettre l’accent sur la formation de relations superviseur-supervisés de grande qualité et faciliter l’habilitation psychologique des employés afin d’encourager l’implication dans le travail d’équipe, et par le fait même, la performance individuelle.

This dissertation evaluates the vision of empowering African elites iQ the International Church of Pretoria and suggests the ways to successfully train and empowers these Africans for the positive socio-political transformation of Africa. Such Christian empowering is so complex that it has to deal with the spiritual, psychological, intellectual and/or technical and socio-political aspects of the life of the trainee. After describing the problems that prevent these elites from behaving adequately and the portrait that can facilitate the successful selection of their trainers the dissertation proposes the guidelines of the empowering programmes for different elite groups. In the main the curriculum comprises a four-level conversion component for proper Christian life, and a psychotherapy empowerment coupled with horizontalisation for their liberation from psychological and socio-political evils, and a programme for the selection and the training of the spiritual leaders of the African elites. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M.Th. (Missiology)

Consumers demand for sustainable and ethical products; products that protect the environment as well protect the well-being of workers in every way. Ethical products are a part of sustainability development where companies are obliged to follow guidelines and provide workers with good daily wages and various possibilities to enhance their life. The thesis focuses on ethical consumption and specifically takes a closer look at fair-trade tea. Fair-trade products are produced in a fair way and follow strict guidelines to make sure every worker is cared and provided a respectful life. Due to increase of sustainable products in the market, consumers have become largely aware of the consequences caused by products to the environment. However, when it comes to ethical products, consumers have a disbelief towards unfair situations workers experience. Some consumers believe labor malpractices are often exaggerated and some consumers believe that the victim actually deserves the situation. Even though some consumers would like to contribute, others tend to turn away with a thought that their purchase would not make any significant difference which leads them to not purchase fair- trade products. The thesis explores how and what factors influence such consumers’ minds, with the focus to increase PCE - Perceived Consumer Effectiveness (consumer’s belief that their purchase contributes to a positive outcome). The thesis further examines if PCE directly influences purchase intentions if Belief in Just World and empowering statements influence PCE. Results show that high belief in Just World negatively influences Perceived Consumer Effectiveness. Empowering statements increase awareness on ethical issues and decreases skepticism towards ethical products. The thesis contributes to the theory of PCE and in-store marketing techniques. Triggering PCE at the stores during the point of purchase influences consumers intentions to buy a certain product.

Disengaged employees typically cost U.S. corporations $350 billion annually. The purpose of this case study was to explore strategies that some communication business leaders used to engage their employees that resulted in increased profits. The target population consisted of 4 communication business leaders located in Jackson, Mississippi who possessed at least 1 year of successful employee engagement experience. The self-determination theory served as the study's conceptual framework. Semistructured interviews were conducted and the participating company's archived documents were gathered. Patterns were identified through a rigorous process of data familiarization, data coding, and theme development and revision. Interpretations from the data were subjected to member-checking to ensure trustworthiness of the findings. Based on the methodological triangulation of the data collected, prominent themes emerged from thematically analyzing the data: rewards and recognition, empowering employees, and building a bond between leaders and employees. The implications for positive social change include the potential to improve employee engagement. Enhanced employee engagement could create social innovation and foster goodwill among employees, customers, and community members.

Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka hur bloggens innehåll reflekterar bloggarens syn på vad som är privat och vad som är offentligt. Detta har skett genom att först urskilja följande ämnen i bloggarna: vänner, jobb, sömn, mat, hälsa, nöje, familj, sex och pengar, och sedan undersöka vilka av dessa ämnen som respektive bloggare använder sig av och vilka som utelämnas från bloggen. De ämnen som används av bloggarens blir då offentliga, medan de som utelämnas förblir privata. Funktionerna av självutlämning – självförtydligande, social bekräftelse, social kontroll och relationell utveckling - har analyserats och slutligen har skillnaderna mellan de manliga och kvinnliga bloggarna undersökts.   Den teoretiska ramen består av kategorierna; privat och offentligt, medierad voyeurism, empowering exhibitionism samt ett renodlat likhetsperspektiv inom genusdiskurs. Medierad voyeurism som är konsumtionen av avslöjande bilder och information om andras verkliga liv, leder ofta till empowering exhibitionism vilket sker då individen tar kontroll över framställningen av sig själv och går emot den skam som är kopplad till konceptet privat. Det empiriska materialet för undersökningen består av sju dagars utdrag av Cimon Lundberg, Isabella Löwengrip, Johanna And och Simon Leisjö’s bloggtexter från sista veckan i augusti 2012. Kvalitativa samtalsintervjuer med And och Leisjö har fungerat som ett komplement till textanalysen av bloggarna. Genom en kvalitativ metod har ett narratologiskt perspektiv tillämpats i analysen för att besvara följande frågeställningar: 1. Hur reflekterar bloggarnas innehåll gränsen mellan den privata och den offentliga sfären? Vilka ämnen tas upp och vilka utelämnas? 2. Skiljer sig förhållandet till det privata/offentliga mellan kvinnliga och manliga bloggare? 3. Vad kan de olika graderna av självutlämning säga om bloggens betydelse för individen? Vilken funktion fyller olika texttyper hos dessa bloggare? Undersökningen har visat att även om flera ämnen som tidigare var privata offentliggörs i bloggarna, så dras gränsen för det privata än idag vid ämnet; sex. Familj och vänner har flyttats till den främre regionen samtidigt som gränsdragningen för ämnena jobb och ekonomi skiftar hos de olika bloggarna. Skillnaderna mellan de kvinnliga och de manliga bloggarna har varit obefintliga eller minimala, vilket kan hänvisas till att bloggarna formas inom samma sociokulturella sammanhang. I samtliga bloggar sker självutlämning i olika grader och högre grad av självutlämning har visat sig fungera som empowering exhibitionism. Större självutlämning kan kopplas till att ämnet blir mer privat.

Teorinė vaiko dalyvavimo, tenkinant specialiuosius ugdymo(si) poreikius, analizė parodė, kad aktyvinant vaiką dalyvauti specialiųjų ugdymo(si) poreikių tenkinime, galima padėti jam atrasti mokymo(si) prasmingumą, mokykloje perteikiamų žinių koreliaciją su savo interesais, vertybėmis. Suaugusieji, norintys padėti vaikui dalyvauti, turi mokėti pripažinti kiekvieno vaiko gebėjimus. Edukologiniuose mokslo šaltiniuose vaiko dalyvavimas neatsiejamas nuo humanistinio ugdymo idėjos, kurios esmė kiekviename vaike matyti augantį žmogų. Vaiko dalyvavimas tenkinant jo specialiuosius ugdymo(si) poreikius turi būti vientisas, o ne epizodinis. Vaikas turi suvokti šios veiklos tikslus, žinoti, kodėl jis turi tą daryti. Svarbu, kad komandoje, kurioje modeliuojamas specialiųjų ugdymo(si) poreikių tenkinimas, vaikas netaptų „dekoracija“, o užimtų prasmingą vaidmenį. Magistro darbe iškelta hipotezė, kad mokinio, turinčio specialiųjų poreikių, aktyvesnis dalyvavimas ugdymo(si) problemų sprendime atveria platesnes galimybes įtakoti jo mokymo(si) motyvaciją bei suaugusių ugdymo proceso dalyvių tikėjimą vaiko galimybėmis bei kurti palankesnes, vaiko įgalinimą skatinančias, ugdymosi aplinkas. Empiriniam tyrimui atlikti buvo pasirinkti kokybinio tyrimo metodai: interviu su tyrime dalyvaujančiais mokiniais, turinčiais specialiųjų ugdymo(si) poreikių, diskusija grupėje (Focus grupė) su mokinių, dalyvaujančių tyrime, tėvais bei mokytojais, dirbančiais su minėtais mokiniais, atvejo tyrimas natūraliame... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The theoretical analysis of the participation of a child in satisfying the special needs of education has shown that it is possible to help the child to discover the meaningfulness of learning, the correlation between knowledge given at school and his or her interests and values while encouraging the child to participate in satisfying the special needs of education. The adults, who want to help the child to participate, must be aware of recognizing the abilities of every child. The participation of a child is related to the idea of humanistic education in the academic literature of education. The essence of this idea is to see the growing person in every child. The participation of a child in satisfying his special educational needs must be integral, not episodic one. The child has to perceive the aims of this activity and to realize why he has to do that. It is very important that a child would not become a “décor” and would have a significant role in the team in which the satisfaction of special educational needs is being designed. In Master’s degree paper hypothesis was raised-more active participation of children with special needs in educational problem solving process opens wider possibilities to influence their learning motivation. Thus adult educational process participants start to believe in children’s abilities and then they create a more congenial educational environment, which induces a child’s capacities. The methods of qualitative research (interview with the... [to full text]

Recent international scholarship has placed new emphasis on women’s formative role in the social, economic, political and cultural lives of their respective communities. Some researchers have suggested the greatest legacy of women’s organised contribution to those communities can be found in the history of their voluntary work. Others have urged greater recognition of that contribution through landmark recognition and historic preservation programs. To date, women’s voluntary work in Queensland has drawn limited scholarly interest and it is not well represented on the State Heritage Register. Attempts to establish links between cultural heritage and women’s history generally have been restricted to national heritage agencies in North America and Australia. However, methodologies tended to rely on existing historiography which was traditionally non-inclusive of women, and gaps in the record remained a problem. This thesis seeks to address these developments by undertaking a comprehensive gender-sensitive study of women’s voluntary work and its associated place-based dimensions, across ninety-four groups in Queensland between 1859 and 1959. A central hypothesis asserts women’s formative role as historical agents and community builders, and argues that participation in voluntary work provided opportunities to enrich and empower lives. A social history approach emphasises the diversity of women’s volunteer experiences over time and their manifestation in the built environment. The capacity of cultural heritage to effectively and comprehensively represent those experiences and map key contributions to building and shaping communities is also tested. Research confirms a direct correlation between broader historical developments and women’s volunteer responses in groups. Women reacted proactively, spontaneously and creatively to changing community needs. They committed their collective voluntary labour to address shortcomings in government policies and emerging inequalities in society, to support a nation at war and the work of various Church denominations. These findings validated women’s creative and progressive agency in volunteer-based groups to building and shaping communities, and confirmed their contribution was sustained and consistent over time. Although most volunteer experiences reflected traditional definitions of gender, more expansive opportunities were available to office-bearers, as well as those involved in self-development groups, the suffrage movement and mobilising for the war effort. Government policy did, however, attempt to restrict women’s voluntary wartime work to conventional roles, as did male-dominated ecclesiastical views within church-affiliated groups. Regardless of work or group type, evidence suggests that participation was nevertheless an empowering process. It enriched the lives of many women and facilitated their transition from the private domain of home and family to the public arena. The pioneering nature of women’s voluntary work, especially in nineteenth century Queensland, further enhanced that journey. While voluntary work over this period was dominated mostly by married upper- and middle-class women, single women were well represented. All groups benefitted from career volunteers, who displayed high levels of participation within and across groups. Many participants were motivated by strong altruist ideals, although patriotism and government propaganda played a major role during the war years, as did the influence of the Church and strong Christian beliefs for those involved in groups with a religious affiliation. A key outcome of the study is the identification of some 700 cultural heritages sites, just over half of which appear on an indicative list of places by theme. They reflect the diversity and development of women’s volunteer experiences in Queensland between 1859 and 1959 and provide tangible evidence of their sustained contribution in volunteer-based groups to processes that build and shape communities over time. Collectively, however, these sites tend to strengthen the conservative view of women’s roles, in that they were associated with services which often reflected concerns about issues impacting on home and family. Groups pursuing social or political reform were also disadvantaged in that their sites were restricted in number and frequently limited to public space and bureaucratic or ministerial offices. Likewise, the efforts of Church-based groups were diffused, given their sites of association were, in many cases, not their own. As the first of its kind in a Queensland setting, this study provides substantive findings in an area not well served by scholarly researchers in the past. It also offers an alternative gender-sensitive approach to establishing links between women’s history and cultural heritage. In addition, it has the potential to lift the visibility of women’s voluntary work through landmark recognition and historic preservation programs, whether as new entries on heritage registers, additional information for existing listings, plaque placement or memorial programs and heritage trails.

Recent international scholarship has placed new emphasis on women’s formative role in the social, economic, political and cultural lives of their respective communities. Some researchers have suggested the greatest legacy of women’s organised contribution to those communities can be found in the history of their voluntary work. Others have urged greater recognition of that contribution through landmark recognition and historic preservation programs. To date, women’s voluntary work in Queensland has drawn limited scholarly interest and it is not well represented on the State Heritage Register. Attempts to establish links between cultural heritage and women’s history generally have been restricted to national heritage agencies in North America and Australia. However, methodologies tended to rely on existing historiography which was traditionally non-inclusive of women, and gaps in the record remained a problem. This thesis seeks to address these developments by undertaking a comprehensive gender-sensitive study of women’s voluntary work and its associated place-based dimensions, across ninety-four groups in Queensland between 1859 and 1959. A central hypothesis asserts women’s formative role as historical agents and community builders, and argues that participation in voluntary work provided opportunities to enrich and empower lives. A social history approach emphasises the diversity of women’s volunteer experiences over time and their manifestation in the built environment. The capacity of cultural heritage to effectively and comprehensively represent those experiences and map key contributions to building and shaping communities is also tested. Research confirms a direct correlation between broader historical developments and women’s volunteer responses in groups. Women reacted proactively, spontaneously and creatively to changing community needs. They committed their collective voluntary labour to address shortcomings in government policies and emerging inequalities in society, to support a nation at war and the work of various Church denominations. These findings validated women’s creative and progressive agency in volunteer-based groups to building and shaping communities, and confirmed their contribution was sustained and consistent over time. Although most volunteer experiences reflected traditional definitions of gender, more expansive opportunities were available to office-bearers, as well as those involved in self-development groups, the suffrage movement and mobilising for the war effort. Government policy did, however, attempt to restrict women’s voluntary wartime work to conventional roles, as did male-dominated ecclesiastical views within church-affiliated groups. Regardless of work or group type, evidence suggests that participation was nevertheless an empowering process. It enriched the lives of many women and facilitated their transition from the private domain of home and family to the public arena. The pioneering nature of women’s voluntary work, especially in nineteenth century Queensland, further enhanced that journey. While voluntary work over this period was dominated mostly by married upper- and middle-class women, single women were well represented. All groups benefitted from career volunteers, who displayed high levels of participation within and across groups. Many participants were motivated by strong altruist ideals, although patriotism and government propaganda played a major role during the war years, as did the influence of the Church and strong Christian beliefs for those involved in groups with a religious affiliation. A key outcome of the study is the identification of some 700 cultural heritages sites, just over half of which appear on an indicative list of places by theme. They reflect the diversity and development of women’s volunteer experiences in Queensland between 1859 and 1959 and provide tangible evidence of their sustained contribution in volunteer-based groups to processes that build and shape communities over time. Collectively, however, these sites tend to strengthen the conservative view of women’s roles, in that they were associated with services which often reflected concerns about issues impacting on home and family. Groups pursuing social or political reform were also disadvantaged in that their sites were restricted in number and frequently limited to public space and bureaucratic or ministerial offices. Likewise, the efforts of Church-based groups were diffused, given their sites of association were, in many cases, not their own. As the first of its kind in a Queensland setting, this study provides substantive findings in an area not well served by scholarly researchers in the past. It also offers an alternative gender-sensitive approach to establishing links between women’s history and cultural heritage. In addition, it has the potential to lift the visibility of women’s voluntary work through landmark recognition and historic preservation programs, whether as new entries on heritage registers, additional information for existing listings, plaque placement or memorial programs and heritage trails.

Abstract Title: The Relationship between Leadership and Organizational Culture Level: Master Degree in Business Administration  Authors: Al Hareere, Rafeh and Bekic, Kenan Supervisor: Maria Fregidou- Malama  Examiner: Ehsanul Huda Chowdhury Date: 2018-10-10 Aim: The aim of the study is to explore the relationship between leadership and organizational culture in a financial organization. The study has been conducted in Handelsbanken, Sweden. Method: The study is based on ten qualitative interviews with managers and employees in Handelsbanken, Mid-Sweden offices. We used inductive approach by comparing findings with existing theory. Result & Conclusions: Leadership depends mostly on corporate values and individuals´ personalities within SHB.  We noticed predominantly notion of transformational leadership, consisting of democratic, empowering and participative leadership. SHB´s corporate culture is strong and cohesive, resembling mostly guided missile type of culture. We argue that leadership and corporate culture affect each other, in case of Swedish Handelsbanken through employee motivation and empowerment and internal recruitment and development of future managers. Suggestions for future research: We suggest a study where the possible existence of transactional and laissez faire leadership could be proven within a financial organization as well as studies on other types of corporate culture and conducting similar studies within financial organizations to make comparisons between the organizations. Contribution of the thesis: This study contributes to theoretical knowledge development about leadership and corporate culture and the interconnection between them within a financial organization, as presented in case of Handelsbanken, Mid-Sweden offices. Key words: Leadership, corporate culture, transformational leadership; democratic, empowering, participative leadership; guided missile corporate culture, financial organization

Orientador: Wilza Carla Spiri / Resumo: Introdução: a Liderança Transformacional (LT) é um processo em que o líder é capaz de compreender a importância do seu papel como agente de mudanças e transformação nas organizações. Conduz a equipe na realização de mudanças positivas e na forma como desempenham suas atividades. Assume responsabilidades, oferece aos liderados conhecimento e fortalecimento, conduzindo-os na motivação, empoderamento, busca de desafios, visibilidade e desenvolvimento de forma a modificar comportamentos, formando profissionais e pessoas focados para melhores resultados por meio de seus próprios exemplos e atitudes. Objetivo: compreender o significado de LT e propor um ambiente de aprendizagem por meio de uma intervenção educativa com discussão de temas sobre liderança. Método: Realizado em duas etapas. Na primeira etapa adotou-se a análise de conteúdo como estratégia metodológica, segundo o referencial de Graneheim e Ludman. A segunda etapa utilizou a pesquisa-ação como estratégia de construção coletiva de uma intervenção educativa para a reflexão sobre a prática gerencial e sua interface com a liderança transformacional. O cenário da pesquisa foi a rede de urgência e emergência de um município paulista. Os participantes foram os nove enfermeiros que ocupavam a posição de gerentes, três desses eram enfermeiros assistenciais que substituem os gerentes das unidades de Pronto Atendimento e do Pronto Socorro Municipal. Todos os participantes eram do sexo feminino, com tempo na função variando de três... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Doutor