O presente trabalho analisa as metodologias de projeto de arquitetura de informação de websites sob o foco das abordagens de Design Centrado no Usuário da Ciência da Informação e da Interação Humano-Computador. A metodologia adotada foi uma revisão da literatura, para formular um quadro de referência para análise das metodologias de projetos de arquitetura de informação, e duas pesquisas de campo. A primeira pesquisa foi quantitativa, baseada em um questionário on-line, e teve por objetivo levantar o perfil do arquiteto de informação das listas de discussões brasileiras. A segunda pesquisa foi qualitativa e seguiu a abordagem do Sense-making, tendo como objetivo levantar as dificuldades, técnicas e metodologias encontradas nos projetos de arquitetura de informação de websites. Como resultado da revisão da literatura foi formulado um quadro de referência composto de cinco fases (Pesquisa, Concepção, Especificação, Implementação e Avaliação). Os princípios das abordagens de Design Centrado no Usuário são aplicados nas duas fases iniciais, sendo que na primeira é aplicada a abordagem da Ciência da Informação, e na segunda a abordagem da Interação Humano-Computador. A primeira pesquisa de campo retratou um profissional jovem, que vive nos grandes centros metropolitanos, com formação predominante na área de Humanas e que desenvolveu seus conhecimentos sobre Arquitetura de Informação de maneira autodidata. Quase metade deles não segue qualquer metodologia nos seus projetos e, entre os que seguem, a maioria utiliza uma metodologia própria. A segunda pesquisa mostrou que os arquitetos de informação experientes adotam uma metodologia nos seus projetos e dedicam mais atenção às três primeiras fases do quadro de referência (Pesquisa, Concepção e Especificação). As metodologias vistas na prática não seguem a abordagem de Design Centrado no Usuário da Ciência da Informação, pois raramente são feitas pesquisas com usuários. Com relação à abordagem da Interação Humano-Computador, ela é pouco seguida porque os contratantes desconhecem a importância dos testes de usabilidade e porque os arquitetos não dominam as técnicas desses testes mais adequadas à Arquitetura de Informação. Com relação às dificuldades enfrentadas nos projetos, foram identificados três focos: o contratante, o próprio trabalho de Arquitetura de Informação e o contexto tecnológico em que o website está inserido, sendo o primeiro o mais citado. Conclui-se que as metodologias de projetos de arquitetura de informação precisam evoluir na adoção das abordagens de Design Centrado no Usuário, para que consigam produzir websites que satisfaçam plenamente as necessidades dos usuários, e nas formas de avaliar os resultados, para verificar se os objetivos dos projetos foram plenamente alcançados. / The study analyzes information architecture projects methodologies of websites under the focus of User Centered Design approaches of Information Science and Human-Computer Interaction. The adopted methodology included a literature review, to formulate a theoric model to analyze information architecture project methodologies, and two empirical researches. The first one was a quantitative research, based on an on-line questionnaire which aimed at mapping the profile of information architects in Brazilian discussion lists. The second one was a qualitative research, in which the Sense-making approach was applied to map the difficulties, techniques and methodologies found in information architecture projects of websites. As result the revision of literature review a theoric model with five phases was formulated (Research, Conception, Specification, Implementation and Evaluation) in which the approaches of User Centered Design should be applied in the two initial phases, in the first one should be applied the approach of Information Science and in the second one the approach of Human-Computer Interaction. The first research showed a young professional, that lives in the great metropolitan centers, which is often graduated in Human area and developed their knowledge of Information Architecture in an autodidactic way. Almost half of them doesn\'t follow any methodology in their projects and, most of the ones that follow uses theirs own methodology. The second research showed that seniors information architects adopt a methodology in theirs project and they dedicate more attention to the first three phases of the theoric model (Research, Conception and Specification). The methodologies found in practice don\'t follow the User Centered Design approach of Information Science, because they rarely make researches with users. The Human-Computer Interaction approach is little following because the clients are not convinced of the importance of usability tests and because information architects don\'t really know the techniques of usability tests more appropriate to information architecture projects. It were identified three focuses of difficulties faced in the projects: the clients, the own work of Information Architecture and the technology context in that the websites is inserted. It concludes that the methodologies of information architecture projects need to increase in the adoption of User Centered Design, to produce websites that fully satisfy the users, and in ways to evaluate the results of the projects, to verify if its objectives had been reached.

O presente trabalho analisa as metodologias de projeto de arquitetura de informação de websites sob o foco das abordagens de Design Centrado no Usuário da Ciência da Informação e da Interação Humano-Computador. A metodologia adotada foi uma revisão da literatura, para formular um quadro de referência para análise das metodologias de projetos de arquitetura de informação, e duas pesquisas de campo. A primeira pesquisa foi quantitativa, baseada em um questionário on-line, e teve por objetivo levantar o perfil do arquiteto de informação das listas de discussões brasileiras. A segunda pesquisa foi qualitativa e seguiu a abordagem do Sense-making, tendo como objetivo levantar as dificuldades, técnicas e metodologias encontradas nos projetos de arquitetura de informação de websites. Como resultado da revisão da literatura foi formulado um quadro de referência composto de cinco fases (Pesquisa, Concepção, Especificação, Implementação e Avaliação). Os princípios das abordagens de Design Centrado no Usuário são aplicados nas duas fases iniciais, sendo que na primeira é aplicada a abordagem da Ciência da Informação, e na segunda a abordagem da Interação Humano-Computador. A primeira pesquisa de campo retratou um profissional jovem, que vive nos grandes centros metropolitanos, com formação predominante na área de Humanas e que desenvolveu seus conhecimentos sobre Arquitetura de Informação de maneira autodidata. Quase metade deles não segue qualquer metodologia nos seus projetos e, entre os que seguem, a maioria utiliza uma metodologia própria. A segunda pesquisa mostrou que os arquitetos de informação experientes adotam uma metodologia nos seus projetos e dedicam mais atenção às três primeiras fases do quadro de referência (Pesquisa, Concepção e Especificação). As metodologias vistas na prática não seguem a abordagem de Design Centrado no Usuário da Ciência da Informação, pois raramente são feitas pesquisas com usuários. Com relação à abordagem da Interação Humano-Computador, ela é pouco seguida porque os contratantes desconhecem a importância dos testes de usabilidade e porque os arquitetos não dominam as técnicas desses testes mais adequadas à Arquitetura de Informação. Com relação às dificuldades enfrentadas nos projetos, foram identificados três focos: o contratante, o próprio trabalho de Arquitetura de Informação e o contexto tecnológico em que o website está inserido, sendo o primeiro o mais citado. Conclui-se que as metodologias de projetos de arquitetura de informação precisam evoluir na adoção das abordagens de Design Centrado no Usuário, para que consigam produzir websites que satisfaçam plenamente as necessidades dos usuários, e nas formas de avaliar os resultados, para verificar se os objetivos dos projetos foram plenamente alcançados. / The study analyzes information architecture projects methodologies of websites under the focus of User Centered Design approaches of Information Science and Human-Computer Interaction. The adopted methodology included a literature review, to formulate a theoric model to analyze information architecture project methodologies, and two empirical researches. The first one was a quantitative research, based on an on-line questionnaire which aimed at mapping the profile of information architects in Brazilian discussion lists. The second one was a qualitative research, in which the Sense-making approach was applied to map the difficulties, techniques and methodologies found in information architecture projects of websites. As result the revision of literature review a theoric model with five phases was formulated (Research, Conception, Specification, Implementation and Evaluation) in which the approaches of User Centered Design should be applied in the two initial phases, in the first one should be applied the approach of Information Science and in the second one the approach of Human-Computer Interaction. The first research showed a young professional, that lives in the great metropolitan centers, which is often graduated in Human area and developed their knowledge of Information Architecture in an autodidactic way. Almost half of them doesn\'t follow any methodology in their projects and, most of the ones that follow uses theirs own methodology. The second research showed that seniors information architects adopt a methodology in theirs project and they dedicate more attention to the first three phases of the theoric model (Research, Conception and Specification). The methodologies found in practice don\'t follow the User Centered Design approach of Information Science, because they rarely make researches with users. The Human-Computer Interaction approach is little following because the clients are not convinced of the importance of usability tests and because information architects don\'t really know the techniques of usability tests more appropriate to information architecture projects. It were identified three focuses of difficulties faced in the projects: the clients, the own work of Information Architecture and the technology context in that the websites is inserted. It concludes that the methodologies of information architecture projects need to increase in the adoption of User Centered Design, to produce websites that fully satisfy the users, and in ways to evaluate the results of the projects, to verify if its objectives had been reached.

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how change processes created under abrupt conditions are experienced and how they function, by studying the change process from an employee perspective, with connection to sensemaking. Theoretical framework: The theories in this study are based partly on previous research of organizational change, where we bring up factors for success and failure on different levels and partly on crisis management that gives an understanding of changes created under abrupt and unplanned circumstances. Also, previous research on e-learning and distance examination is used to gain an understanding of the organizational changes which this study is based on. The three theoretical foundations of this study are regarded though a sensemaking perspective which is recurring throughout the whole study. Method: The thesis is a qualitative case study which take an interactive approach. The result is collected throughout 8 semi-structured interviews from employees who worked during the time of the change. The result is processed and analyzed through transcription, thematization and coding. Result: The result of the thesis shows how the respondents experienced and perceived the change from a past, present and future perspective, where the factors that influenced the experience are described together with the problems and difficulties that emerged. Conclusion: The teachers perceived the change as positive and successful so far. It was perceived as sudden and intense but though a great understanding, empathy, community and humility towards the change, the situation and each other, they managed the situation beyond expectation. The main conclusion is that the factors that have influenced the employees' experience were the attitude towards change, their feelings and understanding of the situation as well as shared opinions and past experience. It is through these factors that the respondents saw the change as feasible and meaningful. Conclusions about the difficulties that arose were to design materials digitally and that there was a perceived lack of interaction between teachers and students. Implementation was also perceived to have a high learning speed to learn the technique and the increased workload was perceived as a difficulty. / Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur förändringsprocesser skapade under oplanerade förhållanden upplevs och fungerar, genom att studera förändringsprocessen ur ett medarbetarperspektiv, med koppling till sensemaking (meningsskapande). Teoretiskt perspektiv: Teorierna i denna studie grundar sig dels från tidigare forskning kring förändringsarbete, där faktorer för framgång och misslyckande på olika nivåer beskrivs och dels kring förändringsarbete under kris som ger en förståelse för förändringar som sker under oplanerade och plötsliga omständigheter. Även tidigare forskning kring e-lärande och distansundervisning ingår i den teoretiska referensramen för att få en förståelse för det förändringsarbete som studien bygger på. De tre teoretiska grunderna i denna studie behandlas sedan ur ett sensemaking perspektiv som är genomgående i hela studien. Metod: Studien är en kvalitativ fallstudie med en interaktiv ansats. Empirin är insamlad genom 8 semistrukturerade intervjuer från medarbetare som arbetat under tiden för förändringen. Empirin är bearbetad och analyserad genom transkribering, tematisering och kodning. Empiri: Empirin i studien redovisar hur respondenterna upplevde och uppfattade förändringen ur ett dåtids-, nutids- och framtidsperspektiv där de faktorer som påverkade upplevelsen beskrivs tillsammans med de problem och svårigheter som dök upp. Slutsats: Generellt sett uppfattade lärarna förändringen som positiv och hittills lyckad. Förändringen upplevdes som plötslig och intensiv men att de genom en stor förståelse, empati, gemenskap och ödmjukhet inför både förändringen, situationen och varandra klarat av situationen över förväntan. Den huvudsakliga slutsatsen är att de faktorer som har påverkat medarbetarnas upplevelse var inställningen till förändring, deras känslor och förståelse kring situationen samt delade meningar och tidigare erfarenhet. Det är genom dessa faktorer som respondenterna sett förändringen som genomförbar och meningsfull. Slutsatser kring svårigheterna som uppstod var att utforma material digitalt och att en upplevd avsaknad av interaktion mellan lärare och studenter upplevdes. Implementeringen upplevdes även ha en brant inlärningskurva att lära sig tekniken och den ökade arbetsbelastningen upplevdes som en svårighet.

A component part of modern project management practice is the ‘lessons learned’ activity that is designed to transfer experience and best practice from one project to another, thus improving the practice of project management. The departure point for this thesis is: If we are learning lessons from our experiences in project management, then why are we not better at managing projects? It is widely cited in most project management literature that 50–70% of all projects fail for one reason or another, a figure that has steadfastly refused to improve over many years. My contention is that the current rational approach to understanding lessons learned in project management, one entrenched in the if–then causality of first-order systems thinking where the nature of movement is a ‘corrective repetition of the past in order to realise an optimal future state’ (Stacey 2011: 301), does not reflect the actual everyday experience of organisational life. I see this as an experience of changing priorities, competing initiatives, unrealistic timescales, evaporation of resources, non-rational decisions based on power relations between actors in the organisations we find ourselves in; and every other manner of challenge that presents itself in modern large commercial organisations. I propose a move away from what I see as the current reductionist view of lessons learned, with its emphasis on objective observation, to one of involved subjective understanding. This is an understanding rooted in the particular experience of the individual acting into the social, an act that necessarily changes both the individual and the social. My contention is that a narrative approach to sense making as first-order abstractions in the activity of lessons learned within project management is what is required if we are to better learn from our experiences. This narrative approach that I have termed ‘thick simplification’ supports learning by enabling the reader of the lessons learned account to situate the ‘lesson learned’ within their own experience through treating the lessons learned as a potential future understanding .This requires a different view of what is going on between people in organisations – one that challenges the current reliance on detached process and recognises the importance of embedded phronesis, the Aristotelian virtue of practical judgement. It is an approach that necessarily ‘focuses attention directly on patterns of human relating, and asks what kind of power relations, ideology and communication they reflect’ (Stacey 2007: 266).

The risks and opportunities that climate change presents for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) have been largely overlooked by previous research (Schaefer et al. 2011, Williams & Schaefer 2013). The subsequent lack of knowledge in this field makes a meaningful, profitable and sustainable engagement of SMEs with climate change challenging. Current research has difficulty explaining (1) why SMEs rarely engage with climate change (2) how climate change is currently communicated to SMEs and (3) how SMEs overcome the knowledge gap between business practice and climate change science (cf. Hoffman 2004, 2006, Hart 2007, Goodall 2008). In this thesis I critically examine 31 SMEs which engage with climate change knowledges, 5 Innovation-Support-Organizations (ISOs) which communicate climate change knowledges and 2 business-led communities of practice that discuss climate change-related business practices. Over a three-year period, I explore why and how business leaders approach the knowledge gap between climate change science and business practice, drawing on a variety of ethnographic research methods: (1) in-depth semi-structured and open interviews; (2) participant observations; (3) practitioner's workshops; and (4) an online survey. My research demonstrates that the participating ISOs communicate climate change in an overly simplistic way. The participating ISOs focus on persuading business leaders to engage with climate change. The participating business leaders who hear this persuasive message are already willing to engage with climate change. Their motivations to engage are lay-knowledge-dependent, derived from personal values, space and place identity. What the participating business leaders require is practical advice on how to mitigate the impact of, and adapt to, climate change, and they therefore try to overcome the limitations of current climate change communication through forming and joining communities of practice. By doing this, they can make sense of climate change in specialist niche communities and benefit from social belief systems. To enhance the number of SMEs engaging with climate change, I recommend that the participating ISOs target the personal values of business leaders and actively use these specialist niche communities niches within which the participating business leaders develop business practice to learn about climate change-related business practices themselves. Overall, my PhD shows that to create meaningful, profitable and sustainable engagement with climate change, business leaders and ISOs, as well as governments and society, need to address their "confusion and anxiety about the goals, ambitions and destinies [they] foresee" for themselves (Hulme 2013: 298).

Can interorganisational relationships be managed for effective functioning? This is the problem investigated in this research. Organisations world-wide are adopting co-operative relationships with other organisations. These interorganisational relationships are viewed as a way to enhance their own business performance (Williamson 1985, 1991; Dyer 1997; Gulati 1998; Barringer & Harrison 2000; Das & Teng 2000; Quinn 2000; Stuart 2000; Johnson, Korsgaard & Sapienza 2002). Despite this, the success rate for interorganisational relationships is not high (Hutt, Stafford, Walker & Reingen 2000; Quinn 2000; Hitt, Ireland & Vaidyanath 2002) with many of them failing to achieve their objectives. Understanding how to manage these boundary-spanning arrangements is important to realising the objectives of the business strategy. The research setting is a large private hospital in Australia. It works with a network of external service organisations that provide the Hospital with a range of clinical and non-clinical support services including: Diagnostic Imaging, Pathology Pharmacy, Food Services, Environmental Services, and Human Resources support. This research explores how these different relationships were managed in their operating period: 1998 to 2002. It reveals the dynamic and often ad hoc way, in which managers made sense of the collaborative service context, and how managers influenced the process of interorganisational relationship formation. Extant research about interorganisational relationships comes from a variety of fields. For this research it is most relevant to draw from the research fields of organisational theory, organisation behaviour, sociology, psychology and management. These fields contribute findings that provide useful knowledge upon which to build further understanding about how managers contribute to construct interorganisational relationships functioning (Ring & Van de Ven 1992, 1994; Walsh 1995; Chikudate 1999a, 1999b; Boddy, Macbeth & Wagner 2000; Hutt, Stafford, Walker & Reingen 2000; Lasker, Weiss & Miller 2001). This research uses an interpretivist methodology that enables the researcher to explore the dynamic nature of the Manager's sense-making in the construction of six interorganisational relationships. For the purposes of this research, interorganisational relationships are defined as new structures that emerge through the social interaction of actors involved in shared service delivery. The collaborative context of interorganisational relationships stimulates managers' sense-making by challenging institutionalised ways of behaving. This sensemaking process builds new knowledge stores and contributes to emerging, new management routines. The process is transformative and enables the emergence of interorganisational relationships. It emerges from this research that managers take cues from their context. These cues are used to interpret and make assessments that enable decisions about those actions that they take to construct the interorganisational relationships. A manager's processing of contextual cues, through interpretive frames and dispositional sense-making filters, is an inter-subjective, socially constructive process. The 'self' is a dimensional influence in the managers' sense-making and management behaviours and is implicated through the notion of contextual interpretive frames and dispositional sense-making filters. A model of interorganisational relationship management as a transformational process is developed. The association between contextual influences and managers' behaviours will raise awareness for professional practitioners of the challenges involved in managing across organisational boundaries and in turn, may contribute to more successful implementation of interorganisational business relationships.

How do people construct shared views of what the organization is all about in the international, complex; company? Within a cultural perspective, organizational identity can be tmderstood as organizational members' shared views and definitions of the organization. As people make sense of actions, events, decisions, etc., shared meanings develop which provide organizational members with a sense of organization. Through an ethnographic study in the corporate setting of lKEA I have tried to create an understanding of the processes tluough which organizational identities become constructed across borders. In the study it is shown how organizational members through the processes of sense-making construct collective self-views. By drawing borders against the outside world, mirroring themselves and talking to the self, organizational members come to create definitions of what the organization is all about. In the international, complex organization, these processes take place in different national contexts and in various local spheres of meaning. In order to offset divergent views and differentiation of meanings, managers try to create a global supra-identity through the fabrication of culture. At the same time, however, there is a heterogenization of meanings as predefined meanings from the top are constantly interpreted, rejected, recreated or adopted in the local spheres. Thus, in the complex organization, there are many collective selfviews and multiple identities. The organization, then, is to be Wlderstood as an arbitrary boundary around a set of spheres of meaning that overlap and interact.Index

The thesis introduces the concept of ‘sense-making of risk’ (riskförståelse) for the purpose of the theoretical and empirical study of the individual’s sense-making of risk. Particular weight is attached to an examination of the term’s various components, its compass, and the relationship between sense-making of risk and behaviour. The premise is that risk is created and defined by the common conceptions that exist within the framework of a specific social context; the effect is to focus attention on the significance of social and cultural contexts. To provide a full picture of sense-making of risk, and risk behaviour, and to study these phenomena using a variety of methodological perspectives, the data was gathered from both polls and focus-group interviews. It is in the first article, based on a focus-group interview study, that the concept of sense-making of risk is introduced: the empirical results demonstrate that it can be used to chart how young people with similar risk perceptions differ in their understanding of a variety of risks. A theoretical model is proposed that establishes that there are two dimensions to the individual’s sense-making of risk. The second article considers young people’s risk behaviour in traffic milieus. The principal conclusion drawn in this study is that the individual’s sense-making of risk is insufficient to explain behaviour in relation to risk: the spatial context must also be taken into account. The third article focuses on the relationship between place attachment and sense-making of risk, and demonstrates that various aspects of place attachment have implications for the individual’s sense-making of risk. The fourth and final article offers a cluster analysis. The article’s most important result is its refinement of the theoretical concepts.  Structure of meaning is singled out as the basis for the individual’s sense-making of risk. In its empirical application the concept was shown to be useful in studying the behavioural differences between various social groups, since grouping by structure of meaning furnishes an explanation for variations in risk and risk-reducing behaviour. The introductory and concluding chapters assemble the studies’ findings and offer a full account of the concept of sense-making of risk. The thesis’ most important conceptual contribution is to the question of how the individual arrives at a personal sense-making of risk. However, it will fall to future studies to establish the concept’s general applicability by considering its theoretical ramifications and empirical implementation. In this way, sense-making of risk can take its place in a specifically sociological conceptual apparatus that focuses on how the individual relates to risk. / Föreliggande avhandling introducerar begreppet riskförståelse (sense-making of risk) och dess syfte är att teoretiskt och empiriskt studera detta begrepp. Särskild vikt har lagts vid att undersöka riskförståelsens olika beståndsdelar, dess rumsliga dimensioner samt relationen mellan riskförståelse och beteenden. Med utgångspunkt i att risker definieras och skapas med utgångspunkt i gemensamma föreställningar inom ramen för ett specifikt socialt sammanhang fokuseras betydelsen av sociala och kulturella kontexter. Med detta som grund har begreppsutvecklingen i avhandlingen bland annat inspirerats av Karl Weicks och Alfred Schütz teorier om individens meningsskapande. I de olika delstudier som ingår i avhandlingen studeras olika aspekter av individens riskförståelse och risk-/riskreducerande beteenden. Genom att utgå ifrån Weicks teorier om meningsskapande illustrerar riskförståelsebegreppet individens personliga förståelse för olika risker. De normer och värderingar som omger individen i det sociala och rumsligt definierade sammanhang som hon befinner sig i är avgörande för vilken förståelse hon kan skapa för en risk. Genom att använda bland annat Schütz teorier om sociala relationer betydelsen och funktionen av individens meningsstruktur synliggjorts som bas för individens riskförståelse. Meningsstrukturen består av flera olika beståndsdelar och i avhandlingen lyfts fyra av dessa fram: egna erfarenheter, värderingar, platsanknytning och social skiktning. Genom att individen relaterar den risk hon möter till den egna meningsstrukturen skapas förståelse för den specifika risken. Meningsstrukturens funktion är att bistå individen med förenklingar av verkligheten för att göra det möjligt att skapa mening kring olika risker. En viktig aspekt vad gäller meningsstrukturen är att den i hög grad är socialt konstruerad genom socialiseringsprocesser i det specifika rumsliga sammanhang som individen befinner sig i. Detta innebär att individens förståelse av risk relateras till olika sociala och rumsliga sammanhang; individens riskförståelse är således platsbunden. Avhandlingen bygger på fyra delstudier vilka presenteras i artikelform. Datamaterial samlats in genom både enkätundersökningar och fokusgruppsintervjustudier för att undersöka detta fenomen utifrån olika metodologiska perspektiv. I den första artikeln, baserad på en fokusgruppsintervjustudie, introducerades begreppet riskförståelse. De empiriska resultaten visade att begreppet kan användas för att synliggöra hur ungdomar med liknande riskperceptioner skiljer sig åt i sin förståelse av olika risker. En teoretisk modell utformades som beskriver individens riskförståelse med utgångspunkt i två dimensioner. Den första dimensionen relaterade till i vilken grad individens riskförståelse är platsbunden och den andra till om individens riskförståelse främst kan beskrivas som kollektivt eller individuellt orienterad. Empiriskt åskådliggjorde resultaten att ungdomarna i studien uppfattade samma risker som allvarliga men att deras riskförståelse skilde sig åt och att dessa skillnader kunde härledas till boendemiljö. I den andra artikeln studerades ungdomars riskbeteenden i trafiken. I studien gjordes logistiska regressionsanalyser på ett datamaterial hämtat från Trafiksäkerhetsundersökningen 2001. En viktig slutsats från denna studie var att det är viktigt att inte bara ta hänsyn till individens riskförståelse, utan också till rumsliga sammanhang vad gäller att förklara individens beteenden i relation till risk. Den tredje artikeln, som baserades på en fokusgruppsintervjustudie, var en tillämpning av begreppet riskförståelse med avseende på risker i trafiken. Undersökningen fokuserade på relationen mellan platsanknytning och riskförståelse. Studien visade att olika aspekter av platsanknytning har betydelse för individens riskförståelse. Social tillhörighet hade särskilt stor betydelse vad gäller riskförståelse hos de ungdomar som deltog i studien men också de andra dimensioner av platsanknytning som studerades (yttre förhållanden, ömsesidigt beroende och värdegemenskap) hade betydelse för riskförståelse hos respondenterna i studien. I den fjärde delstudien genomfördes klusteranalys på ett datamaterial från undersökningen Samhälle och värderingar 2008. Det viktigaste resultatet från denna studie var den teoretiska begreppsutveckling som presenterades. Denna innebar att meningsstrukturen lyftes fram som bas för individens riskförståelse. Vidare gjordes en operationalisering av individens meningsstruktur, vilken användes för att gruppera individer. Den empiriska tillämpningen visade sig vara användbar vad gäller att studera skillnader i beteenden mellan olika grupper i samhället då gruppering utifrån meningsstruktur bidrog till att förklara skillnader i risk-/riskreducerande beteenden. I kappan förs de olika delstudierna samman och begreppsutvecklingen i fråga om riskförståelse beskrivs. Begreppet är av särskild vikt vad gäller att beskriva hur sociala och rumsliga sammanhang ingår i individens riskförståelse. Den begreppsutveckling som gjorts har också visat att individen baserar sin riskförståelse på en meningsstruktur vilken också kan användas för att undersöka risk- och riskreducerande beteenden. Avhandlingens viktigaste bidrag är den teoretiska begreppsutvecklingen ifråga om hur individen skapar sin personliga riskförståelse. Ytterligare teoretisk begreppsutveckling och empiriska tillämpningar bör dock göras i kommande studier för att säkerställa begreppets generella användbarhet. Genom detta kan riskförståelse bli en viktig del i en specifikt sociologisk begreppsapparat med fokus på hur individen förhåller sig till risk.

[pt] Um dos grandes focos da literatura atual em Gestão tem sido a identificação de caminhos para a implementação eficaz de mudanças organizacionais. Diante das dificuldades que as organizações encontram em lidar com a gestão de mudanças freqüentes e intensas, diversos autores têm se empenhado na busca pela descoberta dos fatores que afetam a possibilidade de sucesso nos processos de transição. Entre tais fatores, a comunicação tem sido apontada como aquele que mais pode contribuir ou criar dificuldades para o engajamento das pessoas ou, como alguns preferem afirmar, para a redução de suas resistências. O que se observa, entretanto, é que, em grande parte desses textos, prevalece ainda um conceito de comunicação como um mero instrumento para a divulgação das intenções institucionais e para elevar o nível de compreensão das pessoas com relação aos objetivos das mudanças projetadas. Essa visão instrumental, inspirada em um modelo balístico de comunicação (Giordano, 1998), tem sido muitas vezes acompanhada de uma crença de que as resistências humanas são o maior obstáculo a ser vencido pela organização no processo. A tese aqui defendida é a de que esta é uma visão simplista, que não dá conta da complexidade do processo de mudança nas organizações. Assim, o presente trabalho procura modificar essa forma de abordar a problemática que envolve a mudança, a comunicação organizacional e as pessoas, adotando um enfoque interpretativo (Giordano, 1998) para a análise da comunicação. O pressuposto básico é o de que a comunicação é a arena na qual as pessoas e a própria organização podem criar sentido e reconstruir as suas identidades (Ford e Ford, 1995; Giddens, 1984; Taylor, 1993; Weick, 1995), bem como os indivíduos têm a chance de tornarem-se sujeitos na mudança (Olivier, 1995). Utilizando- se a metáfora do texto e da conversação proposta por Taylor (1993), construiu-se, então, um quadro referencial sobre os diversos aspectos que caracterizam a comunicação organizacional multidirecional, para responder a seguinte questão: de que modo os aspectos relativos à comunicação afetam os processos de subjetivação, de criação de sentido e de reconstrução das identidades das pessoas que participam das mudanças organizacionais? O quadro privilegia três dimensões: os indivíduos e suas identidades; as percepções sobre o contexto; as relações com as outras identidades presentes na organização. Com base no quadro mencionado, foi realizada pesquisa em cinco importantes organizações que atuam em diferentes ramos de atividades no Brasil e que vivem momentos de intensas mudanças. A partir dos resultados obtidos por meio de entrevistas semi-abertas realizadas com 75 pessoas do conjunto dessas organizações, no período compreendido entre maio e dezembro de 2000, foi possível concluir que os processos de subjetivação, de criação de sentido e de reconstrução das identidades das pessoas, no contexto de mudanças, estão fortemente ligados, entre outros aspectos: ao nível de clareza com que os indivíduos percebem as definições quanto ao conteúdo e às prováveis implicações das mudanças; ao modo como as pessoas percebem que as mudanças afetam a identidade, o papel social, a ideologia e as chances de sucesso da organização; ao modo como os indivíduos percebem que a mudança afeta as suas identidades pessoais e sociais; à história do relacionamento entre a instituição e os indivíduos, sobretudo em termos da confiança e do respeito mútuos; ao modo e à intensidade com que a organização cria oportunidades para que as pessoas possam fazer uso da palavra; às políticas e práticas de gestão de pessoas e aos recursos disponibilizados pela organização para que os indivíduos possam desenvolver o seu perfil pessoal e profissional, de modo a que percebam ter chances de suce / [en] One of the most important focuses, in recent Management literature, has been on searching ways for achieving an effective organizational change implementation. Facing organizations difficulties to manage very frequent and intensive changes, several authors have focused their researches on trying to identify factors which can improve transition processes possibilities of success. Among such factors, communication has been claimed as the one which is most supposed either to contribute or to create difficulties for people engagement or, as some people prefer to affirm, for reducing people resistances. However, what can be observed in such texts, is that they still privilege a concept of communication as a mere instrument for internally diffusing institutional intentions and for increasing people comprehension level about planned change objectives. Such instrumental vision, inspired in a ballistic model of communication analysis (Giordano, 1998), has been accompanied by an old belief in human resistances as the biggest obstacle to be faced by organizations in their change processes. This study supports the thesis that this is a simplistic vision, which doesn t take into account the complexity of change processes in organizations. Therefore, the study tries to modify this way of approaching the issues involving change, organizational communication and people, adopting an interpretative focus (Giordano, 1998) for communication analysis. The basic supposition is that communication is the arena in which the people and the organization can create sense and reconstruct their identities (Ford and Ford, 1995; Giddens, 1984; Taylor, 1993; Weick, 1995), as well as individuals have the chance to reconstitute themselves as subjects in change situation (Olivier, 1995). Using the text and conversation metaphor proposed by Taylor (1993), it composes, then, a referential picture about the several aspects that characterize organizational multidirectional communication, in order to answer the following question: How do the aspects related to communication affect subjectivity, sense making, and identities reconstruction processes for people which participate in organizational changes? The pictures addresses three basic dimensions: individuals and their identities; their perceptions about context; and their relationship with other identities present in organization. Based on the mentioned picture, a research was accomplished in five important organizations from different areas of activities in Brazil, which pass for moments of intense changes. From results obtained by means of semi-open interviews with 75 people that work for those organizations, accomplished between May and December 2000, it was possible to find that people`s subjectivity, sense making and identities reconstruction processes, in a context of organizational change, are, among other aspects, strongly related to: the level of clearness by which individuals access the definitions related to the content and the probable implications of change; the way people perceive that change affect organizational identity, social role, ideology, and chances of success; the way individuals perceive that change affects their personal and social identities; the historical relationship between the institution and individuals, mainly in terms of trust and mutual respect; the way and the intensity with which organization creates opportunities for people to make use of words; people management policies and practices, as well as the resources allocated by organization, in order to permit that individuals can develop their personal and professional profile, in a way they can perceive to have chances of success in the new context; the level of equality of conditions offered to the different actors in change process; the emphasis and the way organization creates opportunities so that the people can reconstruct its coexistence space and solidarity.

By conducting this theory-based empirical study, gathering data from working negotiators in the US and Canada, I have determined what primary dynamic activities, communication skills, and negotiation tools are used by hostage/crisis negotiators. Negotiators implement their negotiation and decision strategies differently depending on whether the situations they deal with are instrumental or expressive. I have determined which elements of negotiations and factors affecting negotiations differ while handling instrumental and expressive hostage situations. I found that the collected data did not reveal any significant relationship between handling instrumental/expressive hostage situations differently and belief in the elements of Brenda Dervin's and Shannon-Weaver's theories. I have also determined that the belief in the elements of the Dervin's and Shannon-Weaver's theories is workable and practical for negotiators to use. Based on the above findings, the model suggested by this research adds the elements and directives of Dervin's and Shannon-Weaver's models to the common approach used by the negotiators. This revised model suggests that the negotiators pay attention to the dynamics of the interactions presented between the two parties: the negotiators themselves and hostage takers. The revised model also recommends that the negotiators focus on not only the hostage takers behavioral characteristics, psychological conditions, and criminal history but also on the meaning of the sent message and the interaction itself as performed between the two parties. This perspective enables the negotiators to look at the negotiation process as information and communication process. We are not ignoring the fact that hostage negotiation is a format of extreme information management. By looking at such an extreme case, we can add to our understanding of Dervin's and Shannon-Weaver's perspectives in order to see the hostage negotiation process from a wider perspective. The revised model is not an alternative approach to the common approach most negotiators use. Instead, the revised model uses the perspective and directives of the common approach and extends its meaning and content by also focusing on Dervin's sense making theory and Shannon-Weaver's communication model perspectives. The use of the perspective of this revised model is one more tool for the negotiators to use in order to promote new ways of looking at hostage negotiation resolutions.