Andelen företag som erbjuder distansarbete har ökat både på grund av yttre förutsättningar i form av utvecklad teknologi samt att samhällets inställning till distansarbete ändrats. Ett ökat intresse för distansarbete skapar även nya sätt att utforma organisationer. Arbete på distans finns i olika omfattning på olika företag, därmed kan man säga att företag erbjuder distansarbete i olika grad. Organisationers val gällande i vilken omfattning företaget jobbar på distans kan i allt större utsträckning ses som ett resultat av ett strategiskt beslut. Med allt mer komplexa organisationer skapas även nya möjligheter och utmaningar, där tillit beskrivs som grundläggande för att få team på distans att prestera och känna jobbtillfredställelse. Samtidigt har tidigare studier sett att det är svårt för ledare att skapa tillit i virtuella organisationer och att det fortfarande behövs mer kunskap om hur team uppfattar de aktiviteter som ledarna gör närdet kommer till de nya typer av organisationsformer som uppkommit. Enligt problembakgrunden identifierades ett forskningsgap kring hur olika arbetssätt påverkar teams tillit till ledare. Baserat på det syftar studien till att beskriva hur teamets tillit till ledaren ser ut i företag som har olika grader av distansarbete genom att besvara frågeställningen: Hur påverkar distansarbete teamets tillit till ledaren i ett remote-first bolag och i ett remote-friendly bolag? För att besvara frågeställningen har en kvalitativ jämförelsestudie genomförts där vi undersökt ett remote-first bolag och ett remote-friendly bolag inom samma bransch (konsultbranschen),med liknande storlek (små företag) och som båda är lokaliserade på samma plats (Sverige) utifrån 12 semistrukturerade intervjuer. Två operativa ledare och fyra teammedarbetare intervjuades i varje bolag. Av studiens resultat framgår det att grad av distansarbete påverkar teamets tillit till ledaren. Vikan se att olika typer av tillit påverkas där organisationens utformning i remote-first ger förutsättningar för högre institutionsbaserad tillit än inom remote-friendly. Vidare kan vi se att det inom remote-friendly finns en större affektiv tillit än inom remote-first vilket underlättar för att skapa en personlig relation, sammanhållning och feedback. Inom remote-first används i huvudsak information- och kommunikationsteknologi med låg mediarikedom och vi kan se att det finns färre fysiska träffar vilket försvårar aktiviteter som skapar affektiv tillit.

Knowledge-sharing practices are all the actions aimed at improving the internal flow and use of knowledge within a virtual team. The collective knowledge of team members only becomes powerful if it is shared among those who possess common goals. The main purpose of this study was to explore the knowledge-sharing practices of Hogan Lovells’ virtual team of legal information professionals and establish how these practices could be enhanced in order to provide a superior information service to the firm’s lawyers. Hogan Lovells is a multinational law firm with offices in South Africa and England, and its virtual team of legal information professionals were experiencing challenges in sharing knowledge. The study adopted a qualitative methodology and a case-study research design. Interview guides were used to collect qualitative data from study Participants. Out of the 23 potential interviewees from the London and Johannesburg team who were purposively selected as the target population for the study, the researcher interviewed 14 on reaching the point of saturation. The Participants interviewed were in possession of suitable information related to the objectives of the study. Qualitative data collected were analysed using content analysis; findings were then made from the completed analysis. From the findings, it emerged that there were several gaps in the knowledge-sharing practices. Several enablers to the knowledge-sharing practices by legal information professionals were identified. The study recommended several ways by which the knowledge-sharing practices at Hogan Lovells’ virtual team of legal information professionals may be enhanced, amongst which are: formalising team meetings as a virtual community of practice, stimulating informal peer mentoring, valuing storytelling and regularly conducting After-Action Reviews. In addition to this, the virtual team should use other knowledge-sharing practices, such as brainstorming, subject-matter experts, and face-to-face virtual meetings. The study suggested that additional studies, particularly surveys and quantitative studies, be conducted on other virtual teams of legal information professionals in South Africa in order to explore their knowledge-sharing practices. / Information Science / M. A. (Information Science)

[pt] Apresenta-se uma metodologia de análise numérica para dutos enterrados usados no transporte de petróleo e gás, considerando não-linearidades geométricas e não linearidades de material baseada na formulação Lagrangeana Total. Emprega-se uma modelagem com base em uma discretização com elementos especiais de viga. As equações de equilíbrio são formuladas a partir do principio dos trabalhos virtuais, segundo as componentes de tensão e deformação no elemento viga-duto, com emprego da técnica do Módulo Reduzido de Integração Direta (RMDI), na qual incorpora-se o comportamento plástico do material. Esta técnica exclui da análise os efeitos da flambagem local nas paredes do duto. As matrizes para resolução por elementos finitos destas equações são derivadas. Incorporam- se, nesta metodologia os efeitos de pressão interna constante no duto assim como a interação solo-duto através da modelagem do solo por meio de molas elasto-plásticas verticais e horizontais. Na modelagem desenvolvida as cargas distribuídas são consideradas como constantes no sistema global de eixos. Desenvolve-se um programa para computador segundo a metodologia apresentada. São estudados alguns exemplos com o objetivo de avaliar numericamente os resultados de análise obtidos e formular algumas conclusões sobre o comportamento de dutos enterrados. / [en] This work presents a numerical methodology for the analysis of buried pipes employed by the transport of oil and gas. Both geometric and material nonlinearities are considered in a total Lagrangean formulation. A special type of beam element is employed in the finite element discretization. The equilibrium equations are formulated based on the virtual work principle considering the stress and deformation components of the beam-pipe element. The Reduced Modulus Direct Integration (RMDI) technique is employed through which the plastic material behavior is incorporated. This technique excludes from the analysis the local buckling effects of the pipe walls. The corresponding finite element matrices for this element are obtained. In this methodology the effects of the constant internal pressure as well as the soil-pipe interaction by means of elastic-plastic uplift, bearing and longitudinal springs are included. Distributed loads are considered constant with respect to the global axis. A computer code is developed according to the methodology presented. Some examples are studied with the objective to evaluate numerically the analysis results and to formulate some conclusions to the behavior of buried pipes.

O Design Participativo (DP) originou-se na Escandinávia em meados dos anos 70, em um momento em que os trabalhadores, por meio de sindicatos trabalhistas, reivindicavam um maior empoderamento no processo de tomada de decisão para a adoção da tecnologia em seu ambiente de trabalho. O DP tornou-se uma metodologia que aborda o envolvimento de designers e não designers trabalhando em conjunto nas atividades de design de um projeto por meio de práticas participativas. Tais práticas de DP são comumente exploradas de forma presencial, que por sua vez, utilizam técnicas de DP que auxiliam a mediá-las. Justificado pela carência de práticas de Design Participativo Distribuído (DPD), em que os stakeholders envolvidos estão dispersos geograficamente, esta dissertação de mestrado apresenta os benefícios, limitações e adaptações necessárias para adoção de técnicas de DP em práticas de DPD por meio de sistemas colaborativos. Escolheu-se a técnica de BrainDraw para ser investigada no escopo deste estudo e buscar respostas para as questões desta pesquisa. Os resultados desta dissertação envolvem uma analogia entre as fases da metodologia de DP definida por Spinuzzi e o estudo sobre práticas de DP no ciclo de vida do desenvolvimento de software de Muller, Hallewell e Dayton, que propicia condições para que pesquisadores e desenvolvedores decidam sobre quais técnicas de DP são mais indicadas para serem empregadas em contextos distribuídos. Também foi realizada a análise de requisitos, por meio de oficinas participativas, para um sistema colaborativo denominado de Sistema DEA (Design Participativo em Ação), para adoção de práticas de BrainDraw em contexto distribuído. O desenvolvimento do protótipo do Sistema DEA e a avaliação empírica e participativa do mesmo foram realizadas com o propósito de buscar respostas para o objetivo desta pesquisa. A partir dos resultados coletados durante a avaliação, apresenta-se os benefícios, diferenças e adaptações para a adoção do BrainDraw por meio de sistemas colaborativos. Por fim, detalhe-se também as principais contribuições desta pesquisa para a computação e para a sociedade, além de discussões sobre suas respectivas limitações e trabalhos futuros. / Participatory Design (PD) originated in Scandinavia in the mid-1970s, in a period that workers, through labor unions, were requesting more empowerment in the decision-making process related to adoption of technology in the workplace. PD became a methodology that addresses involvement of designers and non-designers working together in design activities of a project through participatory practices. Those PD’s practices are commonly explored with co-located participants, using PD’s techniques to support and mediate interaction across participants. Justified by absence of Distributed Participatory Design’s practices (DPD), which stakeholders are located in different geographic spaces, this master’s thesis presents the benefits, limitations and adaptations necessary to adopt PD’s techniques in DPD’s practices through collaborative systems. The BrainDraw technique was chosen to be investigated in the scope of this study and to help finding answers for this research questions. The results of this research involve an analogy between the phases of the PD methodology defined by Spinuzzi and PD practices in the software development life cycle by Muller, Hallewell and Dayton, that helps researchers and developers to decide about which technique of PD is more suitable to be used in distributed contexts. It also presents three participatory workshops for requirements analysis of a collaborative system called DEA System (Participatory Design in Action) to adopt practices of BrainDraw in a distributed context. The development and empirical and participatory evaluation of DEA System were conducted with the purpose of seeking answers to the objective of this research. Based on this research’s results, we present benefits, differences and necessary adaptations identified to conduct BrainDraw practices in distributed contexts through collaborative systems. Finally, we present the contributions of this research to Computer Science area and to society, and also some discussions about its limitations and future works.

This project extended COLLDESIGN, an interactive collaborative modeling tool that was developed by Mr. Hara Totapally. The initial version included a collaborative framework comprised of configurable client and server components. This project accomplished a complete implementation of the Class Diagram view. In addition, extending the framework, text messaging and audio conferencing features have been implemented to allow for real-time textual and audio communication between team members working on a particular project. VideoClient is the GUI of the application.

The purpose of this project is to use Java technology to create an instant messenger application that could be used by any person who has the basic knowledge of working with a graphical user interface. The goal here is to develop an application that provides communication to users running different operating systems.

Práca sa zaoberá mechanikou kontinua. Konkrétne je zameraná na lineárnu elasticitu homogénnych izotropných pevných telies. Pre dve rôzne kontinuá – klasické kontinuum a mikropolárne je odvodená silná aj slabá formulácia. Cosseratovo (mikropolárne) kontinuum predstavuje rozšírenie ku klasickému, kde je uvažovaný ďalší stupeň voľnosti - nezávislá rotácia. Mikropolárne kontinuum definuje ďalšie dve materiálové konštanty, ktoré súvisia s rotáciou. V súčasnosti je metóda konečných prvkov veľmi populárny spôsob približného riešenia rovníc lineárnej elasticity. Pre účely diplomovej práce bol vyvinutý program pre MKP riešenie 2D rovinných úloh. Pre lepšiu predstavu o vplyvu rôznych parametrov na správanie sa oboch kontinuí analyzujeme jednoduchý príklad konzolového nosníka. Riešenia analyzujeme s využitím 4-uzlového štvorhranného elementu, ktorý je jedným z najpoužívanejších pre MKP. V Cosseratovom kontinue by mali byť rotácie previazené skrz parameter vnútornej dĺžky, čo by sa malo odzrkadliť zvýšenou tuhosťou telesa. Úlohou práce je porovnať výsledky z oboch kontinuí a potvrdiť tento predpoklad.

This master thesis highlights employees’ perceptions and experiences of working remotely in the presence of the Covid-19 pandemic. The aim of the thesis is to understand how remote work during pandemic times impacts employees’ perception of their overall working life. In addition to that, it highlights employees’ experience of their social interaction, impression exchange, feedback sharing, trust-building, and performance at work. It strives to illuminate employees’ impression of their work-life balance and the specific company’s organizational culture when working remotely in pandemic times. The research problem is built upon possible reductions of informal interaction between employees when working remotely, which further on can cause separation of teams and a decreased employee identification with the organization. The research problem also has its foundation in the possible blurring of boundaries between two components, personal- and professional life, when working from home. The thesis was formed by a qualitative research approach where the empirical data was collected through semi-structured interviews with employees at a specific company. The analysis illuminates insightful findings with support from previous research, theories, and concepts. The empirical results show that employees have a variety of opinions about their work situation. Some argued for positive work-life balance, workflow, and collaboration, whereas other interviewees pointed out that informal interaction, trust-building, and feedback-sharing suffer when working remotely. Empirical data claim that remote work influences employees’ identification and sense of belonging within organizations, especially for new employees. Additionally, work-life balance became more balanced for some but challenging for others. Another finding shows that the perception and experience about the overall work life and organizational culture might not only be impacted by Covid-19 but also by the fast-growing company size.

As mental health care increasingly embraces recovery principles, the role of peer support workers (PSWs) has gained recognition. The work that mental health PSWs do became particularly important during the COVID-19 pandemic, when increased needs for mental health care became apparent but were often unmet. This article-based doctoral thesis adopts an interdisciplinary perspective that combines research on management and organization with research on health care and systems. The thesis examines the mental health peer support role and its integration within teams, organizations and health systems. It also considers the peer support role as it was enacted in a virtual space, which became a requirement due to pandemic work-from-home mandates. Within the context of the virtual space, PSWs confronted work-life boundaries that they had to navigate as they enacted their work roles. The virtual space also presented technological and social challenges to and opportunities for peer support, which are examined in this thesis from the points of views of PSWs and peers. Overall, this thesis attends to the PSW role more generally, and to peer support work in the specific context of a virtual environment. The thesis is composed of three studies, the second and third of which had to be adapted to the unexpected challenges and opportunities posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Study 1 (presented in Chapter 2) is a narrative review that synthesizes the literature on factors influencing formal PSW role implementation in mental health systems. The findings are synthesized in a multilevel framework consisting of macro, meso and micro level influences. The analysis reveals that macro-level influences on PSW role implementation include socio-cultural, regulatory, political and economic factors, most of which act as obstacles. At the meso level, organizational culture, leadership, and human resource management policies play a significant role. Micro-level influences center around PSWs' relationships with team members. Interlevel interactions are also discussed. This study is co-authored with Professor Samia Chreim and was published in Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services in February 2022. For Studies 2 and 3, qualitative data were collected from members of a peer support organization situated in Ottawa. This organization is a publicly funded, not-for-profit organization that provides services free of charge to people experiencing mental health and addictions challenges. Due to the pandemic, all services and operations of this organization transitioned to remote services involving virtual platforms. Study 2 (presented in Chapter 3) is a qualitative case study that delves into the work-life boundary challenges and management of PSWs who were providing virtual mental health support during the pandemic. The study identifies temporal, physical, and task-related boundary challenges in work-life domains. Strategies employed by PSWs to manage these boundaries include segmenting and integrating work and personal domains. The study highlights the importance of self-care and the need for training on work-life boundary management for mental health workers. This research is co-authored with Professor Samia Chreim and is published in BMC Public Health. Study 3 (presented in Chapter 4) focuses on the transition from in-person to virtual mental health peer support services. Through semi-structured interviews with PSWs and service users (or peers), the research examines how technological factors act as bridges and boundaries to mental health peer support services, and whether and how a sense of community can be built or maintained among PSWs and peers in a virtual space when connections are mediated by technology. The findings highlight the mental health peer support needs that were (un)met through virtual services, the technology-based boundaries that were manifested and the steps taken to remove some of these boundaries, and the strategies employed by the organization and its members to establish and maintain a sense of community in a virtual environment marked by physical distancing and technology-mediated interrelations. The manuscript pertaining to this study is co-authored with Professor Samia Chreim and will be submitted soon to an academic journal. Overall, this thesis presents a unique and multi-faceted exploration of the implementation of peer support worker roles in mental health systems and their adaptation to virtual environments. It makes a number of contributions. The multilevel framework developed in Study 1 not only advances knowledge in the field but also offers a structured approach for policymakers and organizations to enhance the formal incorporation of PSW roles into mental health systems. Study 2 provides valuable insights into the nature of work-life boundaries in a virtual space, an important topic at a time when peer support workers and organizations are considering whether and how to maintain some form of virtual work post-pandemic. Study 3 adds to knowledge by highlighting the significance of virtual peer support beyond pandemic conditions. It also enhances understanding of the need for technological adaptation in mental health services and for community building regardless of the model of service. Limitations and implications for research, practice and policy are addressed.

In this project a collaboration multimedia toolkit, JSCMT (Java Synchronized Collaborative Multimedia Toolkit) was developed which is intended to connect a group of people located in different geographical locations who are working on the same project.