Forskningsfältet som omfattar hur militärt indirekt ledarskap genomförs under påfrestande förhållanden och i extrema miljöer är mycket begränsat. Studiens syfte har därför varit att kartlägga indirekt ledarskap i ett svenskt förband som genomförde skarp insats i Afghanistan 2010. Studiens teori har utgjorts av en svensk preliminär hierarkisk top-down modell som beskriver hur indirekt ledarskap utförs. 220 respondenter har deltagit i enkätstudien som genomförts i tre nivåer, hög, mellanliggande och lägre organisatorisk nivå. Kvalitativ empiri kompletterar den kvantitativa empirin. Resultatet av studien innebär att det indirekta ledarskapet inte upplevdes koherent i den studerade miljön. Kontingentschefens bidrag till förbandets resultat, geografiska avstånd, olika ledningsstrukturer samt graden av utsatthet är aspekter som påverkar hur dennes indirekta ledarskap upplevdes av förbandet. Studiens bidrag till krigsvetenskapen och den militära professionen utgörs av att ny empiri tillförts med nya perspektiv som påverkar utövandet av indirekt ledarskap i denna typ av kontext. Perspektiv som skulle kunna adresseras en liknande framtida militär insats.

The purpose of this thesis is to reach a deeper understanding of how boundary spanners are bridging boundaries between uniformed bureaucratic organisations and their environment, characterised by demanding conditions. The main part of this thesis is based upon empirical data gathered through 71 interviews with Swedish civil and military informants from several uniformed organisations. Four articles have been included in this thesis in order to address the overarching aim. The results show that boundary spanners are crucial to the adaption of uniformed organisations to demanding conditions. A number of aspects that are included in the process of organisational adaption have been identified. One of the tasks is to balance between structuring and improvisation where much is at stake. The other task is to create confidence among the involved actors and contribute in different ways to create a sense of symmetry between partners. Finally, the third task for boundary spanners is to recognise improvised roles such as spontaneous links in order to maintain stressful conditions and bridge a gap in the bureaucratic organisation.  The present thesis contributes to sociological theory of emotions, disaster management and military studies through a common denominator, namely the demanding context. Taken together, the findings increase awareness of how organisations act towards their environments and how individuals, especially boundary spanners, adapt the organisation to its environment. For leaders and managers, it is important to make decisions, provide mandates and authorisation, as well as invest confidence in boundary spanners. The hierarchical chain may remain in existence, but it can be made shorter and more transparent through this kind of knowledge. / BAKSIDESTEXT: Organisational adaption to the environment is a complex area of research, necessitating enquiry into how such adaption may take place. The purpose of this thesis is to reach a deeper understanding of how boundary spanners are bridging boundaries between uniformed bureaucratic organisations and their environment, characterised by demanding conditions such as disasters and war. The main body of the thesis is based upon interviews with Swedish civil and military informants. The results show that boundary spanners are crucial to the adaption of uniformed organisations to demanding conditions. Their tasks involve balancing between structuring and improvisation, creating confidence among the involved actors and recognising improvised roles such as spontaneous links in order to maintain stressful conditions and bridge a gap in the bureaucratic organisation.  Taken together, the findings increase awareness of how organisations act towards their environments and how individuals, especially boundary spanners, adapt the organisation to its environment. For leaders and managers, it is important to make decisions, provide mandates and authorisation, as well as invest confidence in boundary spanners. The hierarchical chain may remain in existence, but it can be made shorter and more transparent through this kind of knowledge. The present thesis contributes to sociological theory of emotions, disaster management and military studies through a common denominator, namely the demanding context.

Syftet med denna studie var att studera sjukvårdsledares upplevelser av beslutsfattande under påfrestande förhållanden inom den prehospitala särskilda sjukvårdsledningen. Frågeställningarna bestod av vilka aspekter sjukvårdsledare upplevde som ogynnsamma respektive gynnsamma för beslutsfattande under påfrestande förhållanden. Totalt har 13 sjukvårdsledare intervjuats semistrukturerat med stöd av Critial Decision Method. Intervjumaterialet har databearbetats genom tematisk analys. Detta resulterade i två huvudteman samt sju subteman som redogör ogynnsamma samt gynnsamma aspekter för sjukvårdsledares beslutsfattande under påfrestande förhållanden. Den huvudsakliga slutsatsen i denna studie är att erfarenhet är gynnsamt för beslutsfattande under påfrestande förhållanden. De andra ogynnsamma och gynnsamma aspekterna står i kontrast gentemot varandra. / The purpose of this study was to study medical incident commanders experiences of decision-making under demanding conditions within the special major incident medical management- and support team. The research questions consisted of which aspects medical incident commanders experienced as unfavorable and favorable for decision-making under demanding conditions. A total of 13 medical incident commanders were interviewed semi-structured with the support of the Critial Decision Method. The interview material has been data processed through a thematic analysis. This resulted in two main themes with seven subthemes that describe unfavorable and favorable aspects of medical incident commanders decision-making under demanding conditions. The main conclusion of this study is that experience is beneficial for decision making under demanding conditions. The other unfavorable and favorable aspects stand in contrast to each other.

De senaste åren har flera fall av skolattacker och grova våldsdåd i skolan inträffat i Sverige. Dödligt skolvåld utgör en särskild problematik för skolan eftersom elevers och personalens liv och hälsa hotas. Det ställer därmed stora krav på ledarskapet att hantera en sådan påfrestande situation, både under och efter händelsen. Trots detta saknas i stor utsträckning forskning på området, både i en internationell och skandinavisk kontext. Den här studien bidrar till ökad kunskap inom det här forskningsfältet. Syftet med den här studien var att undersöka ledarskapsrelaterade krav och utmaningar som lärare och skolledare har upplevt vid dödligt skolvåld i Sverige. En kvalitativ forskningsmetod användes, där datainsamlingen skedde genom semistrukturerade intervjuer och analyserades med en tematisk analys. Genom att ha intervjuat fem skolledare och en lärare har fyra olika teman identifierats som belyser ledarskapsrelaterade krav och utmaningar vid dödligt skolvåld. Dessa teman är organisering av krisarbete, kommunikation, anpassa ledarskapet samt hantera konsekvenserna. Slutsatser från studien är att många av de krav och utmaningar som ställs på ledarskapet återfinns i tidigare forskning om ledarskap under påfrestande förhållanden. Den tidigare forskningen fokuserar dock på ordinarie krishanteringsaktörer som polis och räddningstjänst. Till skillnad från ordinarie krishanteringsaktörer saknar dock många skolledare och lärare övning och utbildning i krishantering, samt upplever bristande organisatoriska förutsättningar och otydliga ansvarsförhållanden. Andra utmärkande aspekter av ledarskap vid dödligt skolvåld är att media upplevs som en stor utmaning att hantera och att efterarbetet kan pågå i flera år efter den aktuella händelsen. / In recent years, Sweden has experienced several incidents of lethal school violence. However, there exist a knowledge gap in the research literature concerning leadership in stressful and demanding situations in relation to a severe school crisis. This study contributes to fill this gap by examine leadership demands and challenges that teachers and school leaders have experienced during and after an incident of lethal school violence in Sweden. A qualitative method has been used in the study. Data collection was made through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using a thematic analysis method. By interviewing five school leaders in management positions (e.g. principal) and one teacher, four different themes has been identified; organization of crisis management, communication, adapt the leadership and handle the consequences. The result of the study indicates that many of the leadership demands and challenges that teachers and school leaders experience in situations of lethal school violence are similar to those that have already been identified in previous studies regarding leadership in stressful and demanding situations. However, most of the previous research have been focusing on ordinary crisis management actors such as the police. An important difference in relation to ordinary crisis management actors is that many school leaders and teacher do not have the prerequisites to handle such a demanding crisis due to a lack of practice and training. Organizational conditions and unclear responsibilities are other challenges. Additionally, many interviewees found the media coverage and handling of it very demanding. Noteworthy is also the aspect of time, where the consequences of the crisis can take years to recover from.