Denna studie behandlar mellanchefer inom vården i den offentliga sektorns arbetssituation. Mellanchefer inom vården innehar ofta en roll som sjuksköterska och en roll som avdelningschef. Den dubbla rollen kan vara problematisk då man ska tillgodose den etik och moral som professionen innebär samtidigt som resultat ska levereras till verksamheten. Syftet med studien var att söka ökad förståelse för om det finns en konflikt mellan profession och verksamhetskrav samt hur denna konflikt uppstår. Intentionen var också att undersöka om det kan leder till brott mot Det psykologiska kontraktet. Resultatet visade att professionen som sjuksköterska kommer i konflikt med verksamhetskraven och att detta kan leda till brott mot Det psykologiska kontraktet. Av studien framgick även att konflikt kan uppstå mellan de olika professionerna på sjukhusen, framförallt mellan sjuksköterskor och läkare. Även politisk påverkan har en effekt på verksamheterna dock leder det troligen inte till upplevt brott mot Det psykologiska kontraktet. / The purpose of this study is to seek greater understanding of middle managers in public sector work situation. This is by studying whether there is a conflict between their profession and business requirements and how this conflict can arise. The intention was also to investigate whether or not this could lead to violations of the psychological contract. The study deals with middle managers in healthcare that often has a role as a nurse and a role as the manager. The dual role can be problematic as they are aimed to satisfy the ethics and morals that the profession means and at the same time deliverer result to the business. The results showed that the profession as a nurse comes into conflict with the business requirements and that this may lead to violations of the psychological contract. The study also showed that the conflict may occur between the different professions in hospitals, particularly between nurses and doctors. Also the political influence has an effect on operations; however this does not lead to violations of the psychological contract.

Background:  Making customers loyal to the brand have become a key issue for marketers to achieve since it acts as a major contributor to competitive advantage. The brand image is argued to be the main source for brand loyalty and organizations continuously seeks for ways to achieve brand loyalty through enhancing their image. Employee branding makes it possible for organizations to consistently deliver a desired brand image to the customers, through its employees, and it could therefore be of importance to explore the relationship between employee branding and brand loyalty.  Research questions: RQ1: How does the organization’s management communicate its desired brand image to the employees? RQ2: How do the various sources of messages contribute to employees’ knowledge of the desired brand image? RQ3: How do the various sources of messages contribute to the upholding of the psychological contract between the employees and the organization? RQ4: How does the image projected by employees influence brand loyal customers? Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to explore the relationship between an organization’s employee branding and brand loyalty. Methodology: Conducted as a single embedded case study, semi-structured interviews Conclusion: The empirical investigation revealed that employee branding activities could strengthen customers’ loyalty towards the brand. Employee branding therefore influence customers’ satisfaction, commitment, trust, and identification to the brand.

This study examines how temporary agency workers experience the working climate in client firms, i.e. how their psychological climate is affected. The study has a qualitative approach based on semi-structured interviews with temporary agency workers. The purpose of the study is to contribute with knowledge about the triangular relationship between the temporary worker, the temporary employment agency and the client firm. Another purpose is to describe how the temporary workers experience the working climate and how this experience is influenced by a number of circumstances. The research question this study aims to answer is How do temporary agency workers experience the working climate in client organisations? And What factors influence this experience? The conclusion of this study shows that the volun- tariness of the psychological contract positively influence the psychological climate, and also whether the temporary workers’ expectations correspond to those of the client firm or not. The treatment of the temporary worker in the client firm as well as positive social relations with other employees, also have an impact on the psychological climate. Finally, a temporary employment agency that has a prominent role in the triangular relationship might intensify the role stress of the temporary agency worker, particularly if the psychological contracts between the temp and the two firms lack in congruence. / Bemanningsbranschen har sedan 1993, då det blev lagligt att hyra in arbetskraft, expanderat kraftigt, något som kommit att bli ett kontroversiellt ämne. Vissa menar att företag utnyttjar bemanningsanställda för att undvika lagen om anställningsskydd och att det innebär en otrygg tillvaro på arbetsmarknaden för bemanningsanställda. Andra menar att bemanningsbranschen behövs för att företag ska klara marknadens krav på flexibilitet.  Något som komplicerar saken är den triangulära relationen mellan bemanningsföretag, bemanningsanställd och kundföretag, då den bemanningsanställde har två chefer. En fråga som uppstår är hur den bemanningsanställde förhåller sig till denna triangulära relation, samt rollen som tillfällig resurs hos kundföretagen. Med bakgrund av detta avser uppsatsen besvara följande frågeställningar:  • Hur upplever bemanningsanställda arbetsklimatet hos kundföretag?  • Vilka faktorer påverkar denna upplevelse?  Syftet med uppsatsen är bidra till en större förståelse av den triangulära relationen mellan kundföretag, bemanningsföretag och bemanningsanställd som uppstår då en organisation hyr in personal. Uppsatsen syftar även till att bidra med kunskap om hur arbetsklimatet påverkas, utifrån den bemanningsanställdas perspektiv, samt vad som påverkar deras upplevelse. För att kunna svara på frågeställningen har kvalitativa intervjuer genomförts med tre personer som arbetar som bemanningsanställda.  Som teoretisk referensram har dels Eisenhardts (1989) agentteori använts för att förklara den triangulära relationen, där den bemanningsanställde är agent till två principaler; kundföretaget samt bemanningsföretaget. Fokus i uppsatsen är på relationen mellan bemanningsanställd och kundföretag, och det psykologiska kontrakt som gäller mellan parterna. Det psykologiska kontraktet handlar om den subjektiva tolkningen av ömsesidiga löften och åtaganden, och dess utformning har betydelse för den anställdes attityder och beteende (Isaksson & Bellaagh 2005). Arbetsklimatet har analyserats utifrån ett individperspektiv, och definieras då som psykologiskt klimat (Baltes et al. 2009). Locke (1976) menar att det finns fyra underliggande faktorer som påverkar det psykologiska klimatet, nämligen önskan om (1) klarhet, harmoni och rättvisa, (2) utmaning, självständighet och ansvar, (3) stöd, erkännande och underlättande i arbetet samt (4) varma och vänskapliga sociala relationer.  I studien framkommer det att ett psykologiskt kontrakt präglat av frivillighet ha en positiv inverkan på det psykologiska klimatet. Även hur väl en bemanningsanställds förväntningar i det psykologiska kontraktet överensstämmer med kundföretagets, är av betydelse. Ett positivt bemötande från ordinarie personal och chefer på kundföretaget samt goda sociala relationer till övrig personal, påverkar det psykologiska klimatet positivt. Slutligen kan det vara av betydelse huruvida bemanningsföretaget har en framträdande roll eller inte, dvs engagerar sig i den bemanningsanställdes situation, då detta kan leda till rollstress ifall den bemanningsanställdes psykologiska kontrakt till de två principalerna inte är kongruenta.

The contract is essential for the employment, the labor contracts standardize the right and duty for the employment, but the psychological contract is another type of contract. A psychological contract is an employee's belief about the mutual obligations, and it balances the relationship between the employee and his/her organization. In order to promote the corporation's competition, the corporation carries out the restructuring and downsizing strategies, but these strategies are contrary to the critical role that people play in successful organization. Under this condition, the employee's belief and loyalty become more important to maintain the balance of relationship between employee and his organization. When the psychological contract was violated, it may lead to reduce the employee's belief, loyalty, job satisfaction and performance, citizenship behavior, even the employees will turn- over. However, the react may be affected by the individual's discrepancy and external circumstances. The case study is based on the employees in Yueng Foong Yu Paper MFG. CO., LTD. so as to prove if the psychologial contract violation will reduce the employee's performance, and some factors deal with how to affect the violation of psychological contract and work performance. The result is shown as the following: 1. In different SEU(Strategic Entrepreneurial Units¡^, the performance of the employees in the general management office is better than the Fine Paper and Board SEU. 2. In the sexual difference, the task performance of the female employees is better than that of the male ones. 3. In the workage, the employees whose contextual performance are from 11 to 15 years are better than the ones whose workage are over 25 years. 4. The difference between psychological contract violation and work performance is insignificant. 5. When the employees whose orgnizational commitment is higher feel more satified with the organizational benefits, his/her task performance becomes worse. 6. The difference between employability, personal characteristics and work performance is significant. 7.The differecne between relationship of employers and employees and contextual performance is significant.

ABSTRACT This study employed components drawn from Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT), the person agency and environment, to investigate the determinants of career-relevant knowledge/skills learning. Three types of psychological contract (PC) and self-efficacy (SE) were represented the person agency, and the job availability in free labor market (FLM) and commitment-oriented human resource management (HRM) were represented environment components. Based on the data from 990 employees from 62 firms analyzing, the findings revealed that relational and balanced PCs are positively related to firm-specific knowledge learning aspiration (KLA), whereas transactional one has negative relation with firm-specific KLA. FLM is positively correlated with self value-added KLA. SE is positively related to both KLAs. The three way interaction of relational and balanced PC, FLM, and SE has significant impacts on self value-added KLA. HRM has no direct impact on KLAs , but moderates the relationship between relational/balanced PC and firm-specific KLA. This study contributes to the psychological contract and SCCT researches, and the findings enhance the understanding of employees¡¦ concerns about their learning decisions which assist employer to consider their knowledge management strategy and practices.

The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to examine HR executives' perspectives on employability enhancement for employees and how it is operationalized in their workplace. The exploratory questions that guided the study were, What are the perspectives of HR executives regarding employability enhancement for employees, and In what ways and under what conditions is organizational support of employability enhancement demonstrated through workplace learning initiatives? The conceptual framework for this study is based on Clarke and Patrickson's (2008) list of assumptions concerning employability as the premise for the new employment contract. Data collected consisted of background questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, organizational documents, and researcher reflective journal notes. Cross case analysis yielded four major themes of "Shared Responsibility," "The Power of Learning Attitude," "Assessment for Growth," and "Resource Availability." These four themes include discussions of the roles and responsibilities for employability, desired employee learning attitudes, recommended assessment activities, and conditions affecting development opportunities provided by organizations. Implications for organizations, their employees, and HRD professionals are described. This study contributes empirical research on today's employment contract based on an employability model from the organization's perspective. It also adds to the body of literature on employability rarely focused on, employability enhancement for employees.

Syfte: Vi vill med vår studie utforska hur utbrett missnöje är på arbetsplatser. Genom att studera det psykologiska kontraktet vill vi förklara hur det påverkar missnöje när kontraktet bryts. Metod: Vår studie är en kvalitativ metod med en abduktivt forskningsstrategi. Vi har utfört både kvalitativa intervjuer och enkäter för att samla in vårt empiriska datamaterial. Teoretiska perspektiv: Vi har grundat vår teori inom psykologiska kontrakt, organisationscynism och kommunikation. Dessa tre områden har vi relaterat till vårt insamlade empiriska material Empiri: Vi har intervjuat tre stycken personer på tre olika företag  inom företagsledning för att få ett perspektiv på hur arbetsgivare upplever missnöje på arbetsplatsen. Intervjuerna har vi sedan kompletterat med enkäter från 91 stycken respondenter som vi slumpmässigt har valt ut. Resultat: Studien har visat att missnöje är ett utbrett problem på arbetsplatser. Vi anser att arbetsgivare inte uppmärksammar missnöje i den bemärkelsen de borde göra. Enligt vår studie visar det sig att arbetstagare har fler förväntningar på arbetsgivaren än vad denne tror och att arbetstagare också känner mer missnöje över arbetsgivarens agerande än vad arbetsgivaren är medveten om. Slutligen kan vi konstatera att arbetsgivare borde arbeta mer aktivt med psykologiska kontrakt och att uppmärksamma när missnöje uppstår. Stort Tack! / Purpose: The purpose with this study is to create an understanding in how widespread dissatisfaction is in worklife. By studying the psychological contract we want to understand how dissatisfaction appears when the contract has been broken. Methodology: The study has a qualitative and abductive approach. We have collected our empirical data through qualitative interviews and forms. Theoretical perspectives: Our theoretical material has been grounded in theories about the psychological contract, organizational cynicism and communication. These three areas have we connected with our empirical data. Empirical foundations: We have done three interviews with three people with leading position at different companies to get their view on the matter of dissatisfaction. As a complement to the interviews we have done questionnaire studies to understand the perspective of the employees. Conclusion: The result of the study has shown us that dissatisfaction is a widespread problem in the workplaces. We argue that the employer does not give enough attention to this type of matter and that they should. Our results show us that the employee have more expectations, so called psychological contracts, than the employer is aware of. Also we have seen that the employer’s way to act has been a strong contributor to the employee’s dissatisfaction, which therefor needs to be considered. Finally we can establish that the employers should work more active with psychological contract and give more attention to dissatisfaction.   Thank you!

This study analyses the process that an IT refurbishing organisation used to socialise 15 IT graduates to the norms of the working world. In addition, 5 IT industry and 2 governmental agency interviews were used, and 60 online job advertisements were analysed to develop a System Dynamic model. The main motivation for this study was to develop a system dynamics model of the graduate socialisation process, in an attempt to understand the cause and effect of practical exposure, to bridge the IT skill-expectations gap. The main source of data for the model was from a-priori coding and content analysis of job adverts, online blogs and reports created by the students, supported by a review of the existing literature. System dynamics modelling and simulation uses computer generated software to test the behaviour of real world cross discipline problems over time (Sterman 2000). System dynamic studies have been conducted in project management, education, engineering, geography, sustainable fuel development and agriculture, etcetera. System dynamics is a flexible approach, as it uses both qualitative and quantitative data to model and address a problem situation, gathering data from intellectual and observation experiences, as well as written and verbal databases. This research advises on the successful integration of IT graduates into industry by identifying the relevant casual relationships. It recognises that graduates are genuinely interested in a career in IT, despite initial difficulties of adapting to a new career. The study was further strengthened by showing that organisational and governmental requirements vary and that they occasionally recruit based on these varying requirements. Primary and secondary data was combined to model a casual loop diagram as well as a stock and flow diagram, which could benefit curriculum advisors in academia, professors, human resource managers in industry and most importantly recently graduated IT graduates. / Magister Commercii - MCom

Research problem This research revolved around the problem: Which management strategies could be formulated and used in the caring role of the principal with regard to the educators? Research aims Arising from the problem, the aim of the research was firstly to describe the nature and determinants of the caring role of the principal with regard to the educator. Secondly, to determine empirically to which extent school principals fulfil their caring role with regard to educators in primary schools of the North–West Province. Finally the aim was to develop management strategies in order to optimise the caring role of the principal. To address the aim of the research, a comprehensive literature review was undertaken, followed by an empirical investigation. Research methodology In the empirical investigation, quantitative methodology was used in the format of survey research, which is embedded in the post positivist paradigm. The instrument used for data collection was a postal questionnaire, based on the literature review. The validity and reliability of the instrument was determined. Collected data was analysed by means of different statistical techniques, these techniques included frequency analysis, t–tests, ANOVA's, post hoc t–tests and paired t–tests. In the discussion of the results descriptive and inferential statistics were used. Development of management strategies The results of the literature review as well as the empirical investigation were taken into account during the development of the management strategy. Separate management strategies were developed in addressing the three main determinants of the caring role, as identified in the literature review. In the management strategies, the identified problems were focussed in specific aims, which were then addressed by action steps. The success of the strategy were then determined with specific evaluation measures. Main findings Finding with regard to the expansion of the theory That the caring role of the principal establishes a managerial leadership approach within the human capital theory, where the principal cares in a self–sacrificing way about the well–being of the educator in the school as organisation. Finding with regard to the improvement of caring practice That the levels of emotional intelligence of principals need to be developed and that emotional intelligence should be taken into account during the selection process with the aim of appointment of school principals. Finding with regard to optimising the caring relationship between the principal and the educator That educators want principals to cross the professional line to a greater extent towards a more personal (work–) relationship with them. Recommendations Finally the recommendation is when new principals are appointed, apart from the usual interviews, psychological evaluations by qualified industrial psychologists should also be used. With regard to current principals, the recommendation is that they use self–evaluation questionnaires which should be filled in by both themselves and the educators. From the results of these evaluations, actions such as further psychological interventions or attending development opportunities can follow. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Education Management))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

Workplace change is caused by the utilization of new technology, changing legislation, globalization and competitive markets. Employees are exposed to new management techniques as well as altered Human Resource policies and activities which consequently lead to an altered employment relationship. The psychological contract plays a major role in the relationship between an employee and employing organisation. The aim of this study was to determine employees' work outcomes associated with the psychological contract within private training institutions. The research method included a comprehensive literature review and an empirical study. The measuring instrument the Psychological Contract of Employment Survey (PSYCONES) "Questionnaire on the perceptions of work was used to attain the research objectives. Through target sampling 218 employees participated in the study. The SSPS programme was utilized for statistical analysis and it was found that no significant relationship between job satisfaction, health, well-being and organisational commitment existed. There was a correlation found between job satisfaction and health and well-being. Regression analysis indicated that variance in job satisfaction and organisational commitment is practically significant but not statistically significant. The same type of analysis indicated that health and well-being did not have a significant amount of predictive value with regard to organisational commitment. Relatively high levels of job satisfaction, health, well-being and organizational commitment were confirmed for workers in private training institutions. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Sociology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2007.