The competition on the business market is constantly growing among entrepreneurial organizations. Competitive advantages and strategies is a must in order to survive the environmental triggers of change. One of those strategies is to increase the entrepreneurial activity. However, entrepreneurial adaption is a phenomenon that is represented by continuous change. It is rather an on-going strategy for organizations than a conclusion or a settling point. The entrepreneurial activity needs to flourish through the whole organization i.e. in the people, groups and hierarchical levels. Therefore, other organizational elements affect in how successful an organization can operate in an entrepreneurial way. Organizational structure is one of those elements, which not only lay the foundation for the operation but also affect other organizational factors. Hence, organizations require the knowledge on which factors that can impact the entrepreneurial activity, before it is even essential to change the strategies. This qualitative research aims to gain knowledge in how organizational structure affects the entrepreneurial orientation. Three different dimensions, of both organizational structure and entrepreneurial orientation, are going to be acknowledged in order to measure the elements and find a relation between them. This will not just enhance the understanding of the area, but also fulfil the thesis purpose and research question. The focus of the study lies within one large entrepreneurial organization, namely Scandic Hotels that operate in an industry with an immense competition, which do not possesses the most evident entrepreneurial business market. The empirical findings are based on semi-structured interviews, which will be analysed in conjunction with the theoretical frame of references. Further, the empirical findings are thus used to analyse the research results to then answer the purpose of this thesis. The study showed that the organizational structure at Scandic Hotels is represented by high complexity, formalization and centralization. Besides that, the main structural approach is that the operation is run by a concept driven strategy. Through the analysis it was shown that these findings affected the entrepreneurial orientation within the organization. The entrepreneurial dimensions of innovation, proactiveness and risk- taking proved degrees that were considerably lower. On this basis, the study finds that organizational structure has an impact on entrepreneurial orientation. The relation between the dimensions is highly complex and not a clear line i.e. they all affect each other in some matter. However, a structural change is difficult for a large organization as Scandic Hotels. But there are structural strategies that can be made to increase the entrepreneurial orientation through the whole organization. / Entrepreneurial orientation

This exploratory case study used observations and interviews to investigate how the structure of an organization impacts its ability to adopt agile software development methodologies. It also aimed to identify the agile practices that are perceived as helpful or unhelpful by the individuals practicing them. It examined an organization’s attempt to adopt agile methodologies for the first time in a new software product development project. Twelve employees from different teams working on this project participated in the study. . The participants were asked about their perception of the agile process. They were also asked to identify the various teams with which they regularly interact and to provide examples of the helpful and unhelpful patterns of behavior they exhibit. The findings suggest that the structure of the organization was a major limiting factor that affected its ability to adopt agile methodologies. Agile practices rely on the level of flexibility that an organization can demonstrate. However, the organization attempted to adopt agile practices without redefining the project members’ roles, work processes, or departmental affiliations. Participants perceived many aspects of the agile methods negatively, and various symptoms of a misfit between the existing organizational structure and the requirements of agile methods were observed, including poor communication and multiple conflicts between the different project teams, which caused the project to go over time and over budget. Furthermore, it was observed that the teams struggled to follow the agile practices and found various ways to alter and work around them to fit the existing structure, rather than adhering to them and welcoming the new practices. Several potential areas for future research are identified, including: using longitudinal case studies to examine organizations and the relationships between their members before and after adopting agile methodologies, in order to identify and attribute any observed behavioral patterns to the appropriate cause; examining organizations in which the structure was altered to accommodate agile methodologies; and examining how organizations define the roles of highly specialized employees who possess very specific abilities and must be shared across different development projects.

This exploratory case study used observations and interviews to investigate how the structure of an organization impacts its ability to adopt agile software development methodologies. It also aimed to identify the agile practices that are perceived as helpful or unhelpful by the individuals practicing them. It examined an organization’s attempt to adopt agile methodologies for the first time in a new software product development project. Twelve employees from different teams working on this project participated in the study. . The participants were asked about their perception of the agile process. They were also asked to identify the various teams with which they regularly interact and to provide examples of the helpful and unhelpful patterns of behavior they exhibit. The findings suggest that the structure of the organization was a major limiting factor that affected its ability to adopt agile methodologies. Agile practices rely on the level of flexibility that an organization can demonstrate. However, the organization attempted to adopt agile practices without redefining the project members’ roles, work processes, or departmental affiliations. Participants perceived many aspects of the agile methods negatively, and various symptoms of a misfit between the existing organizational structure and the requirements of agile methods were observed, including poor communication and multiple conflicts between the different project teams, which caused the project to go over time and over budget. Furthermore, it was observed that the teams struggled to follow the agile practices and found various ways to alter and work around them to fit the existing structure, rather than adhering to them and welcoming the new practices. Several potential areas for future research are identified, including: using longitudinal case studies to examine organizations and the relationships between their members before and after adopting agile methodologies, in order to identify and attribute any observed behavioral patterns to the appropriate cause; examining organizations in which the structure was altered to accommodate agile methodologies; and examining how organizations define the roles of highly specialized employees who possess very specific abilities and must be shared across different development projects.

This thesis examines the role of school teachers and their experienced prerequisites for working against bullying and harassment among students. Previous research shows that teachers play an important role when it comes to bullying intervention and therefore the aim of this study has been to further examine how school teachers look upon their own role in regards to the work against bullying. What factors do they perceive as support for their work and what difficulties do they encounter are questions that has been asked. The data that has been used consists of in-terviews with teachers from six Swedish schools and the responses has been analyzed through an organizational perspective. The results show that school teachers experience of their prereq-uisites for dealing with bullying and harassment among students vary depending on different organizational factors. The relationship between the organisations structure and culture has been identified as playing an important role for the teachers perceived prerequisites. Future research is necessary to further understand the complexity of bullying and the work necessary for reduc-ing its occurrence.

In a world where multinational cooperation and cross-cultural challenges are part of daily life, understanding cultures has become increasingly important. That people and organizations develop together might seem obvious, but that culture can be studied to understand the structure and approach of organizations, is perhaps less so. In this paper, a major structural difference in the armed forces of Germany and Sweden is examined; having to sign a contract to serve for 13 years or not having to sign a contract with service length restrictions. Hofstede's theory Dimensions of National Culture is applied to the case to see whether the cadets' motivation and behavior is affected by this major difference in the two otherwise very similar organizations. The study aims also to explore whether the findings can be considered correct given that semi-structured interviews were conducted to see if the thoughts of the cadets are in line with what the theory claims. The conclusion is that the theory can be used to understand how cadets' motivation and behavior supports the structural organizations present in Germany and Sweden. However, the interviews show that the theory is very generalizing and that not all cadets' thoughts are consistent with what the theory states in every case. / <p>Erasmus</p>

This thesis explored healthcare quality improvement, considering the general question of why the last decade's worth of quality improvement (QI) had not significantly improved quality and safety. The broad objective of the thesis was to explore how hospitals perform when completing QI projects and whether any organizational characteristics were associated with that performance. First the project evaluated a specific QI collaborative undertaken in the Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare system. The goal of the collaborative was to improve patient flow throughout the entire care process leading to shorter hospital length of stay (LOS) and an increased percentage of patients discharged before noon. These two goals became the primary outcomes of the analysis, which were balanced by three secondary quality check outcomes: 30-day readmission, in-hospital mortality, and 30-day mortality. The analytic model consisted of a five-year interrupted time-series examining baseline performance (two-years prior to the intervention), the year during the QI collaborative, and then two-years after the intervention to determine how well improvements were maintained post intervention. The results of these models were then used to create a novel 4-level classification model. Overall, the analysis indicated a significant amount of variation in performance; however, sub-group analyses could not identify any patterns among hospitals falling into specific performance categories. Given this potentially meaningful variation, the second half of the thesis worked to understand whether specific organizational characteristics provided support or acted as key barriers to QI efforts. The first step in this process involved developing an analytic model to describe how various categories of organizational characteristics interacted to create an environment that modified a QI collaborative to produce measureable outcomes. This framework was then tested using a collection of variables extracted from two surveys, the categorized hospital performance from part one, and data mining decision trees. Although the results did not identify any strong associations between QI performance and organizational characteristics it generated a number of interesting hypotheses and some mild support for the developed conceptual model. Overall, this thesis generated more questions than it answered. Despite this feature, it made three key contributions to the field of healthcare QI. First, this thesis represents the most thorough comparative analysis of hospital performance on QI and was able to identify four unique hospital performance categories. Second, the developed conceptual model represents a comprehensive approach for considering how organizational characteristics modify a standardized QI initiative. Third, data mining was introduced to the field as a useful tool for analyzing large datasets and developing important hypotheses for future studies.

Purpose:The purpose of this thesis is to examine how organizations work with crisismanagement in practice, with a focus on lower and middle level managersin the organizations. Background:Crisis within corporations and governmental institutions happens around usmore and more commonly. A survey made by the insurance company IFclaims that Swedish companies are badly prepared within the area of crisismanagement. A more globalized world also increases the effects of crisesfrom all over the world to affect Swedish corporations. We claim thatorganizational structure is a key factor to be able to have a developedcrisis management throughout the whole organization. Method:In order to answer the purpose we have used a qualitative deductiveresearch method. We have conducted semi-structured face to faceinterviews within two different types of Swedish organizations. Therespondents were chosen randomly from a division- or group managementlevel. Conclusion:The empirical study claims that there is a difference when defining a crisis,depending on previous experiences and education. To have the sameeducation and an overall common understanding of crisis management alsoincreases the efficiency when handling a crisis. Organizational structure and hierarchy is vital when it comes to crisismanagement. To have a clear structure and standardized meetings withinthe organization will help vigorous information to be communicated fromtop-bottom as well as from the bottom-top. However it might decreasethe flexibility and entrepreneurial spirit and our findings suggest that thisis an area that needs to involve within further researches.

This research is taking a comprehensive view to discuss the case of one leading IT company for its organizational structure change that has spanned for nearly five years. Using narrative analysis, the research¡¦s thorough discussion covers facets of the organizational structure change. The critical findings of the thesis are as follows: 1.Because the goal of an organizational structure change is to accommodate the organization¡¦s new mission statement, the new CEO is thinking of starting an organizational structure change in order to place staff with the right skills in the right jobs, clarify lines of authority and eliminate duplicate functions. 2.The new CEO¡¦s background and familiarity with the organization will affect the organizational structure change¡¦s scope and activities. 3.An organizational structure change is itself unable to reveal the change status. However, owing to its extraneous characteristics, the CEO is apt to declare his authority by building a new organizational structure and quickly formulating a plan to implement it.

The research method of this thesis is Case study and Yulon Motor Co. is an example for this case study. In order to find out the Yulon motor Co.¡¦s organization, constitution of departments and each different situation at that time, I collect the organizational charts which are about fifty years from the beginning of this company until now and the other inside historic data. By analyzing these data, I summarize the process of the organizational growth and change of Yulon motor Co. Therefore; there are some key points as the following: To begin with, the main organizational structure of Yulon motor Co. is by function. It sets up the benchmark of the complete organizational systems for motor industry in Taiwan, including: research & development, manufacturing and marketing system. Second, organizational tasks at each period would affect the adjustment of organizational structure. There are some main periods as the following: 1.The period was from 1951 to 1971-----Making the Wheel for Taiwan According to this task, the organizational structure was established at manufacturing and increased a few departments and responsibilities based on the needs of production. 2.The period was from 1981---Designing the automobile for Chinese and regain the rights of dealer business When the manufacturing technology was achieved to some level, the designing capability of motor outline was the main competition with the other motor companies. Immediately, Yulon Motor Co. set up the first design center compared with the other motor companies. In the meanwhile, it closed the relationship of dealer business with China Auto Co. Therefore, Yulon Motor Co. rebuilt the network of dealer business all over the Taiwan. It also led the inside of Yulon Motor Co. to reorganize the organizational structure of marketing system. 3.The period was from 1991----relocating the factory and office and reducing the business cost At the end of the 1994, Yulon Motor Co. relocated the other factories, center and office at San-Yi. At the same time, Company combined the same function on the organization and integrated the organizational structure into four systems, including: research & development, manufacturing, marketing and management system to reduce the business cost. This adjustment of the organizational structure made the Yulon Motor Co. abbreviate its original organizational structure and got a positive response from market. 4.The period was from 2001---to be a leader of motor moving value chain at Chinese market Owing to open market in Mainland China, designing the Chinese style on automobile is the main competition in the future. That¡¦s the reason why Yulon Motor Co. focuses on Chinese market as a company¡¦s vision. Third, the history of changing process on the organization of Yulon Motor Co. matches the research of Lawrence & Lorsch. From the history of Yulon Motor Co., it¡¦s easy to find out that the adjustment of organizational structure such as manufacturing, research & development and marketing would be changed by timing, environment and productive technology to achieve the organizational goals or to deal with the competitive outside environment. This kind of adjustment of organizational structure matches the survey¡¦s outcomes of Lawrence & Lorsch. It said that each department on the organization would develop its own function and structure to deal with the variety of outside environment. This survey investigates the ten companies at three different departments, including manufacturing, research & development and marketing department. At last, there are two main strategies for Yulon Motor Co. to overcome the obstacle of communication at different departments: 1.Set up a committee or a meeting of cross function team. 2.Do job rotation.

The controller role is a principal part of all bigger organizations and through the years ithas been discussed whether the controllers main responsibility is towards the highermanagement or if its priorities should be towards the local management. The differentinterests can in its turn be incompatible which leads to the view that the controller canbe seen as having problematic dual responsibilities. As a result the role has been definedin many different ways in regards to its involvement in management control as well asits work content. A problematic discussion regarding the dual responsibilities arisewhen a controller is to balance commitments towards both the higher management aswell as its own division, and also the handling of these responsibilities within thecompany. The aim of the study is to shed a light on, and increase the understanding, of thecontroller role in a Swedish, multinational industrial company regarding itsresponsibilities and work content. A contributing aim of the study is to create anunderstanding of the interplay between the controller, its organizational counterpartsand the management of these interactions. The study is conducted with a qualitative method due to an interest towards a greaterunderstanding of the controller role. To better comprehend the controllers’ ownunderstandings of the role, a case study with six semi-structured interviews have beenconducted with active controllers. The results of the study indicate that the role of the controller isn’t affected by the issuesregarding its dual responsibilities as the discourse suggest. A close cooperation with thedivision as well as a hierarchical distance from the higher management results in thecontroller having a supporting role rather than a controlling one. Finally the study pointsto a great deal of significance regarding the controller role and its placement within theorganizational structure of the company. / Controllerrollen utgör en central del inom alla större organisationer och med tiden hardet inom litteraturen diskuterats huruvida controllerrollens huvudsakliga ansvar är atttillgodose intresset hos den högre ledningen inom en organisation eller om den iställetska prioritera den lokala ledningens intressen. Dessa olika intressen kan i sin tur varaoförenliga vilket leder till att controllern på så sätt kan ses ha en dubbelsidig roll medavseende på dess ansvarsområden. Controllern har som en följd beskrivits med enmängd olika benämningar inom litteraturen och det råder således en övergripandeproblematik kring controllerrollen och forskningen på området är inte överens huruvidadubbelsidigheten även är ett problem för controllern i praktiken. Syftet med studien är att skapa en ökad förståelse för controllerrollen inom ett svenskt,multinationellt industriföretag med avseende på controllerns arbetsinnehåll ochansvarsfördelning. Syftet med studien är även att belysa samspelet mellancontrollerrollen och de olika relationer som råder i anslutning till rollen. Undersökningen utgår från ett kvalitativt metodsynsätt då en ökad förståelse förcontrollerrollen är av intresse. För att fånga controllerns egen uppfattning av rollengenomfördes en fallstudie bestående av sex semistrukturerade intervjuer medverksamma controllers. Resultaten av studien indikerar att controllerrollen inte innehar problematik angåendedubbelsidigheten på samma sätt som den beskrivs i den rådande diskussionen påområdet. Genom ett nära samarbete med den egna divisionen och ett hierarkiskt avstånd till den högre ledningen innehar controllern snarare en stödjande funktion än enstyrande. Avslutningsvis pekar studiens resultat på den stora vikt som ligger påorganisationsstrukturen och controllerns placering inom denna.