The aim of this research was to develop a competency model for auditors by identifying those characteristics and behaviours that predict success as an auditor. The Work Profiling System (WPS), the Repertory Grid Technique (RGT) and the Critical Incident Technique (CIT) were the tools and techniques used to achieve this aim. This research was conducted in two groups: trainee accountants (year 1- 3) and chartered accountants (year 4-5+). The results of the research, which was conducted within one of the Big 5 auditing firms, indicated that the competencies required of a trainee accountant are largely consistent with those of registered chartered accountants, working in the same environment. The most noticeable difference was the change in focus from cognitive or technical skills during the earty years to a focus on managerial competencies in later years. The competencies identified in this research compare well with reported models in literature. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.A. (Industrial Psychology)

The aim of this research was to develop a competency model for auditors by identifying those characteristics and behaviours that predict success as an auditor. The Work Profiling System (WPS), the Repertory Grid Technique (RGT) and the Critical Incident Technique (CIT) were the tools and techniques used to achieve this aim. This research was conducted in two groups: trainee accountants (year 1- 3) and chartered accountants (year 4-5+). The results of the research, which was conducted within one of the Big 5 auditing firms, indicated that the competencies required of a trainee accountant are largely consistent with those of registered chartered accountants, working in the same environment. The most noticeable difference was the change in focus from cognitive or technical skills during the earty years to a focus on managerial competencies in later years. The competencies identified in this research compare well with reported models in literature. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.A. (Industrial Psychology)

Leadership is a problematic topic at universities and it is therefore difficult to isolate a leadership theory that is applicable to Heads of Department (HODs). The manner in which HODs construe their leadership roles is the focus of this research project and the study is conducted from a constructivist perspective The university context in which HODs lead is explored in the literature overview. Definitions of leadership, general leadership theories and leadership issues in academe are investigated. The research findings are integrated into a leadership model for HODs, consisting of constructs (leadership behaviours, actions and values) and elements (leadership situations). The following contributions are made by the study: * The variety roles an HOD has to fulfil is confirmed by the study. However, this study indicates that leadership is interwoven with everything an HOD undertakes. * HODs construct their roles uniquely, but in general terms most HODs consider academic and scholarly work (own and that of the department) as part of the leadership role they fulfil. Leadership at HOD level at university incorporates both managerial and leadership ideas. * HODs consider their leadership environment to have qualities of the following known university environments: collegial, enterprise, bureaucratic and corporate. * This study identifies eight leadership themes with reference to the leadership role of an HOD at university; providing academic guidance, being a figurehead, determining the strategy and positioning the department, liaising with internal and external stakeholders, being a change agent, being a general manager, and being involved in student and staff relations. The following leadership themes can be added to the current body of literature: being a figurehead, own scholarly profile, as well as being involved in staff and student relations. Leadership at academic departments is at the heart of everything in which an HOD is involved. Leadership is thus becoming indispensable at academic departments at university. / Industrial & Organisational Psychology) / D. Com. (Consulting Psychology)

Leadership is a problematic topic at universities and it is therefore difficult to isolate a leadership theory that is applicable to Heads of Department (HODs). The manner in which HODs construe their leadership roles is the focus of this research project and the study is conducted from a constructivist perspective The university context in which HODs lead is explored in the literature overview. Definitions of leadership, general leadership theories and leadership issues in academe are investigated. The research findings are integrated into a leadership model for HODs, consisting of constructs (leadership behaviours, actions and values) and elements (leadership situations). The following contributions are made by the study: * The variety roles an HOD has to fulfil is confirmed by the study. However, this study indicates that leadership is interwoven with everything an HOD undertakes. * HODs construct their roles uniquely, but in general terms most HODs consider academic and scholarly work (own and that of the department) as part of the leadership role they fulfil. Leadership at HOD level at university incorporates both managerial and leadership ideas. * HODs consider their leadership environment to have qualities of the following known university environments: collegial, enterprise, bureaucratic and corporate. * This study identifies eight leadership themes with reference to the leadership role of an HOD at university; providing academic guidance, being a figurehead, determining the strategy and positioning the department, liaising with internal and external stakeholders, being a change agent, being a general manager, and being involved in student and staff relations. The following leadership themes can be added to the current body of literature: being a figurehead, own scholarly profile, as well as being involved in staff and student relations. Leadership at academic departments is at the heart of everything in which an HOD is involved. Leadership is thus becoming indispensable at academic departments at university. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology) / D. Com. (Consulting Psychology)

Värdering av kommersiella fastigheter handlar om att samla in, analysera och bedöma information. Förutom att fastigheternas marknadsvärden har betydelse för samhället i stort är de av vikt för dem som fattar beslut som grundas på värdeutlåtanden. Syftet med denna licentiatavhandling är a) att kartlägga hur svenska auktoriserade fastighetsvärderare ser på de faktorer som avgör värdet på kommersiella fastigheter när värderingen görs inför upprättandet av årsredovisning samt b) att jämföra och dra slutsatser om fastighetsvärderarnas tanke­mönster vad gäller innehåll, komplexitet och homogenitet samt i vilken omfattning tankemönstren skiljer sig åt mellan olika grupper av fastighets­värderare. För att kartlägga fastighetsvärderarnas tankemönster använder jag mig av Kellys (1955) gridteknik och kompletterande semistrukturerade intervjuer. Jag har intervjuat nära hälften (67) av Sveriges auktoriserade fastighetsvärderare. Resultatet visar tre tolkningsbara dimensioner som kan anses centrala i fastighetsvärderarnas tankemönster. Den första dimensionen avser värderingens fokus. Den handlar om att fastighetsvärderare uppfattar att olika sorters information och bedömning har olika påverkan på fastighetsvärdering på mikro- respektive makronivå. Med mikronivå menas då fastigheter i relation till deras fastighets­ägare och makronivå avser fastigheter i relation till marknaden i stort. Den andra dimensionen ger uttryck för att fastighetsvärderare uppfattar att viss information är mer eller mindre verifierbar utifrån informationens karaktär. Den tredje dimensionen avser bedömningens komplexitet. Fastighetsvärderare uppfattar att olika typer av information är komplexare respektive enklare att bedöma. Resultaten tyder på att fastighetsvärderare har ett flerdimentionellt tankemönster. När de auktoriserade fastighetsvärderarna delas upp i grupper utifrån olika bakgrunds­variabler återkommer de tre dimensionerna i samtliga gruppers tankemönster. Detta tyder även på att auktoriserade fastighetsvärderare har relativt homogena tankestrukturer. Vissa skillnader i komplexitet och homogenitet framkommer dock. Dessa skillnader visar sig främst utifrån de auktoriserade fastighets­­värderarnas verksamhetsorter och vid vilka lärosäten de studerat. / The valuation of commercial properties is about collecting, analyzing and assessing information. In addition to the fact that the properties' market values ​​are important to society as a whole, they are important to those who make decisions based on value statements. The purpose of this thesis is a) to identify how Swedish professional property valuers certified by ASPECT look at the value-influencing factors that determine the values of commercial properties when valuation is made prior to preparing financial statements and b) to compare and draw conclusions about the ASPECT certified property valuers´ thinking in terms of content, complexity and homogeneity and to what extent the thought patterns differ between different groups of property valuers. To map property valuers´ thought patterns I use Kelly´s (1955) Repertory Grid technique and complementary semi-structured interviews. I have interviewed nearly half (67) of the professional ASPECT certified property valuers in Sweden. The result shows three interpretable dimensions that can be considered central in the property valuers´ thought patterns.  The first dimension relates to the focus of valuation. It is about property valuers understanding that different kinds of information and assessment have different effects on property valuation on micro and macro levels. The micro level refers to the relation between properties and their property owner and macro level refers to the relation between properties and the market at large. The second dimension shows that verifiable information reflects that the property valuer understands that some information is more or less verifiable by the nature of information. The third dimension is related to the assessment´s complexity. It is about property valuers perceiving that different types of information are simpler and more complex to assess. The results indicate that ASPECT certified property valuers have relatively complex thought patterns. When certified property valuers are divided into groups based on different background variables, the three dimensions are in all groups. This indicates that property valuers also have relatively homogeneous thought structures. Some differences in complexity and homogeneity emerge, however. These differences are mainly based on the property valuers´ place of business and what universities they studied at. / Centrum för forskning om ekonomiska relationer (CER)

In Sweden upper secondary school education is organised in programmes. One of these programmes is the Technology programme that covers five orientations, one of which is Design and Product Development. This thesis is based on the idea that a clearer link between upper secondary school and the demands of professional life in the area of product development is beneficial to both students and industry. Product development is performed in cross-functional teams were understanding of others competences is important. It is therefore argued that, in order to enhance both teaching and learning, interdisciplinary considerations need to be explored. In this thesis, we turn to engineers and industrial designers. The aim of the present study is to get professional actors’ views on knowledge and skills needed within the field of design and product development and to examine whether there are key areas that facilitate an interdisciplinary approach suitable to focus on for educational purpose. As artefacts play a central role in product development the informants’ views on different products/artefacts are also examined. This reasoning results in an a two-part overall research question (a) What thoughts do professional engineers and industrial designers express regarding necessary knowledge and skills, and (b) what relevance does this have for upper secondary school teaching of product development? This overall research question is examined through two sub- studies, both performed at the same time, one conducted as a semi- structured interview and the other using the repertory grid technique. Twelve engineers and industrial designers are interviewed. The first study examines the informants’ thoughts on knowledge and skills required in their work. The same informants’ interpretations and valuations of artefacts are examined in the second sub-study. In sub-study 1 two topics of significance to the informants are identified. These topics are: [1] To act within the team (Figure 4). The ability to navigate and position oneself within a team is, according to the interviewees, a necessary skill in design and product development work. Its character can be described as including specific vocational knowledge and skills as well as issues of general and interdisciplinary nature as collaborating, compromising, communicating, and leadership. The second topic [2], to CAD (Figure 4) includes both skills with CAD software and the ability to understand relationships between a CAD model on screen and the final product. The third topic [3] - a valuation of artefacts - is the outcome of sub- study 2 (Figure 4). This topic was found interesting and further analysed, resulting in the development of a comparison procedure. The result demonstrates how the interviewees interpret and discuss artefacts’ functionality linked to cultural values. These three topics are found to be relevant for technology education at upper secondary school level geared towards design and product development to explore. To act within the team can inspire the development of activities in which project and teamwork are in focus. The purpose of the CAD model in product development is to visualise a product that does not yet exist. To CAD highlights the complexity of this visualisation ability. In the educational context the students can train this ability by developing digital models into physical models or prototypes. Valuations of artefacts, the interviewees associate artefacts’ functionality with certain characteristics. In education students should learn that we are not neutral in our relations to products and other artefacts. In conclusion, a need for teachers to discuss artefacts from different perspectives such as sustainability, usability, identity and so on is also pointed out. / <p>QC 20150212</p>

Years of psychotherapy practice at university, state, and military hospitals developed the author's interest in the presentation of love relationship problems. Mood and anxiety disorders, as the most prevalent pathologies, were often co-morbid with or secondary to partner relationship issues. Most vexing for clients was a situation of repeated dysfunctional partner selections in which similar problems arose each time. This incubated the idea of a process, probably outside of awareness, that functioned to perpetuate self-defeating partner selection patterns. The author was introduced to Money's `lovemap' concept during studies and identified readily with its principles and mechanisms. The lovemap is defined as a highly individualised, developed, mental template or cognitive blueprint of the ideal lover. It is assumed that every person has a lovemap, and would be able to describe it if asked the right questions. The concept promised to be a useful vehicle for studying self-defeating partner selection patterns, as `errors' might be coded into the lovemap that are expressed in such a presentation. The author identified the need to ground the lovemap concept in recognised psychological theory in order to motivate for its relevance. Kelly's theory of cognitive constructs provided robust links for lovemap as a sophisticated construction system, and the developmental theories of Freud and Erikson situated lovemap genesis within recognised periods of emerging human capacities to love and relate sexually; the stages of puberty to young adulthood. Lovemaps are assumed to function optimally when love and lust co-operate in pairbonding, or the capacity to couple. Extensive literature reviews cover the research fields of romantic love, human sexuality, and pairbonding, affording hypotheses as to lovemap pathology. A qualitative, Phenomenological research design of case studies with six adult persons, who had experienced radical contradictions of original lovemaps, identified when and how lovemap change took place. Thematic analysis of the attributions for change distilled a number of implications for therapy that would encourage certain indicated change processes. An integrative psychotherapy model recognises the cognitively- and socially constructed nature of lovemaps and proposes intervention components that blend cognitive-behavioural and narrative approaches. This model will be tested extensively with a suitable client population. / Psychology / D. Litt. ET Phil. (Psychology)

Years of psychotherapy practice at university, state, and military hospitals developed the author's interest in the presentation of love relationship problems. Mood and anxiety disorders, as the most prevalent pathologies, were often co-morbid with or secondary to partner relationship issues. Most vexing for clients was a situation of repeated dysfunctional partner selections in which similar problems arose each time. This incubated the idea of a process, probably outside of awareness, that functioned to perpetuate self-defeating partner selection patterns. The author was introduced to Money's `lovemap' concept during studies and identified readily with its principles and mechanisms. The lovemap is defined as a highly individualised, developed, mental template or cognitive blueprint of the ideal lover. It is assumed that every person has a lovemap, and would be able to describe it if asked the right questions. The concept promised to be a useful vehicle for studying self-defeating partner selection patterns, as `errors' might be coded into the lovemap that are expressed in such a presentation. The author identified the need to ground the lovemap concept in recognised psychological theory in order to motivate for its relevance. Kelly's theory of cognitive constructs provided robust links for lovemap as a sophisticated construction system, and the developmental theories of Freud and Erikson situated lovemap genesis within recognised periods of emerging human capacities to love and relate sexually; the stages of puberty to young adulthood. Lovemaps are assumed to function optimally when love and lust co-operate in pairbonding, or the capacity to couple. Extensive literature reviews cover the research fields of romantic love, human sexuality, and pairbonding, affording hypotheses as to lovemap pathology. A qualitative, Phenomenological research design of case studies with six adult persons, who had experienced radical contradictions of original lovemaps, identified when and how lovemap change took place. Thematic analysis of the attributions for change distilled a number of implications for therapy that would encourage certain indicated change processes. An integrative psychotherapy model recognises the cognitively- and socially constructed nature of lovemaps and proposes intervention components that blend cognitive-behavioural and narrative approaches. This model will be tested extensively with a suitable client population. / Psychology / D. Litt. ET Phil. (Psychology)

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