The principal aim of this dissertation is empirically todevelop and test a collaboration model for how to operatesystematically with the work environment at school. Ontheoretical grounds, a case is made that collaboration betweendifferent groups (various professions and pupils) should beinvestigated despite different conditions, qualifications andages.“School Environment 2000”is a model for theongoing monitoring of the work environment at school. It isdesigned for integration into school-based activities, and itsmaterial offers an opportunity for any stakeholder involved toparticipate in activities concerning conditions at school. The“School Environment 2000”have been used by pupilsand personnel (totally 2,383) at 36 schools in 8 municipalitiesin Sweden. Three of the four studies are follow-up studies; thefourth study had matched control schools. All studies usedquestionnaires; the fourth were completed with other methods asdiaries, observations and interviews. The result showed that amajority of pupils specified both sickness-related andpsychosocial reasons for absence from school. The second(pupils) and third (personnel) study show associations betweenthe work environment and ill-health, especially by females.Among women, all the items describing self-reported complaintscorrelated significantly with the Work at school index and Workclimate index. In the fourth study, in which a work environmentintervention was tested, the participants adopted a morelimited concept than that contained in School Environment2000-questionnaire. A clear desire was expressed, for morestructure and order in school work. The participants attainedin the intervention program, compared with the controller, weremore engaged in greater collaboration with others, had becomemore active in managing problems and conflicts, had greaterinternal effectiveness and perceivedfacilitating factors inwork for change as depending less on personal attributes andbehaviours of personnel. The discussion focus the need forfollowup changes and their effects on health; collaboration topromote objective and subjective scope for action; andcollaboration for goal fulfilment. Special care must beconsidered pupils work environment. The school situation is agood time for learning how to create a good work environmentand to prevent ill-health. / <p>QC 20161027</p>

The following project is a compilation of three separate articles all utilizing a database extracted from the UNUM/Provident Life Insurance Company, including all consecutive short-term disability (STD) claims filed with UNUM from January 1, 1994 to December 31, 1996 from claimants who were also insured for long-term disability (LTD) by UNUM. The resulting sample includes 77,297 claims.The results of these studies are part of a larger investigation that documented the Progression of Disability Benefits (PODB) phenomenon. PODB refers to the migration of workers with work-limiting disabilities through a system of economic benefits resulting in their placement onto Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). Claimant and employer demographics were found to influence the PODB. The following articles study three unique ways in which the PODB measure can be informative.The first of the articles tracts the experience of 400 individuals with neurological impairments through the PODB, and compares them with a general disability population on key demographic characteristics. In general, it is found that persons with neurological conditions have greater progression on to advanced disability levels than other types of disabilities. Individual claimants are also younger and male.The second article explores the relationship of integrated disability management(IDM) practices with PODB. It proposes that while the efficacy of IDM programs has been measured by the bottom line, that PODB can be used as an additional tool to assess effectiveness of DM programs. It finds that employers with higher levels of IDM activity will experience a reduced PODB rating.The third and final article examines one industry, Healthcare. It studies how demographics can be used to predict claimant industry as well as PODB performance. Findings reveal that men were more likely to move on to advanced disability benefits while workers in the Healthcare industry were less likely to move on to advanced statuses than employees in other industries. Furthermore, disability type is the greatest predictor of PODB, followed by age for all but one category in which employment sector was the next predictor of PODB. This finding leads to questions regarding how the workplace may contribute to disability and the PODB.

D.Phil. / The major part of what is known about women in leadership positions, and the challenges they are facing, is based on studies conducted in first-world countries. There clearly is a gap in the literature in terms of studies that focus on female leaders in Africa. Much has still to be said about the role that cultural practices and prejudices play in hampering the growth and progress of these women. This authentic study of a South African Zulu female manager provides a unique insight into the way she negotiated the challenges of climbing the corporate ladder in a male-dominated environment. Its postmodernist approach challenges the writer to use herself as a research subject while applying the principle of reflexivity in stepping back and analysing lived experiences from a researcher‟s perspective. In opening up her innermost feelings to the world, the researcher reveals who she really is, and how she, as a Zulu woman, wife, mother, and manager, negotiated her way between her own traditional culture and the Western corporate world. This creates real challenges to the researcher, as she has to keep sliding between being the subject and being the researcher at the same time. This narrative of "self" is recreated through interviewing people who had been part of the researcher‟s life during the period which was the focus of the study as well as the researcher recalling significant events. The research focuses on the challenges of being a minority leader in a South African workplace. The resistance to a black female as their superior by black males is highlighted, as is the manner in which these cultural prejudices result in discrimination against women by members of their own culture. The research also illuminates the impact of legislation aimed at transforming the local workplace and the leadership fraternity in a post-apartheid South Africa.

M.Com. / The labour market in South Africa is currently experiencing a serious shortage of high-level manpower, specifically trained people in management. Management is at present manned mainly by white males, but projections show that this group will not be able to meet future needs. Women are an important alternative source of manpower, having the potential to be trained in order to alleviate the shortage of managerial talent. Considering the urgency of the problem it is necessary to investigate the possible obstacles which effectively prevent women from reaching positions of high status and responsibility...

Aktivitetsbaserade kontor blir allt vanligare men de har blivit kritiserade av ett flertal anledningar för att inte fungera effektivt och det behöver läggas mer fokus på att ta reda vad som blir problematiskt. Syftet med denna studie var bidra med kunskap hur den aktivitetsbaserade arbetsmiljön har för påverkan på arbetsmotivation, samverkan och kommunikation hos medarbetare som arbetar på ett sådant kontor. Med en kvalitativ undersökningsansats har jag utfört elva semistrukturerade intervjuer tillsammans med observationer på medarbetare som arbetar i Kungälvs stadshus. Litteraturöversikten innehåller tidigare forskning över aktivitetsbaserad kontorsmiljö och dess påverkan på faktorerna: arbetsmotivation, samverkan och kommunikation. Studiens resultat visade att motivation positivt av kulturen och arbetsmiljöns utseende tillsammans med det flexibla arbetssättet. Oväsen hade däremot en negativ påverkan på arbetsmotivationen när medarbetare inte kunde arbeta i en helt lugn arbetsmiljö och koncentrera sig. Fokuserade och hängivna ledare motiverar medarbetare till att vilja arbeta. Medarbetare kan sitta var som helst på kontoret och ledarna behöver lita på dem då de inte ser dem lika mycket, när medarbetarna känner att ledaren förlitar sig på dem ökar deras motivation. De grupporienterade ytorna på kontoret skapar en fysisk kontakt som stimulerar samverkan och höjer motivationen. Motivationen har ett samband till både samverkan och kommunikation. Grupporienterade ytor stimulerar även kommunikationen på kontoret men den överstimuleras inte. Kontoret som är kreativt på ett flertal sätt effektiviserar samverkan. Medarbetare kommunicerar mycket med hjälp av modern teknik på aktivitetsbaserade kontor för att ta kontakt med kollegor och ledare, men tekniken överanvänds inte. Avsaknaden av väggar på kontoret gör det öppet och synligt för medarbetarna att se varandra, då förbättras samverkan och effektiviseras kommunikationen mellan medarbetarna. / Activity-based offices are becoming more common, but they have been criticized by a number of reasons for not function effectively and it needs to be focused on finding out what the problems are. The purpose of this study was to contribute knowledge how the activity-based working environment has influence on work motivation, cooperation and communication among employees working in such offices. With a qualitative research approach, I have done eleven semi-structured interviews together with observations on employees working in Kungälvs Hall. The literature review includes previous research on activity-based office environment and its impact on the factors: motivation, collaboration and communication. The study results showed that motivation positive culture and work environment appearance along with the flexible working. Noise other hand, had a negative impact on work motivation when employees could not work in a completely peaceful environment and concentrate. Focused and dedicated leaders motivate people to want to work. Employees can sit anywhere in the office and leaders need to trust them when they do not see them as much, when employees feel that the leader relies on to increase their motivation. The group-oriented surfaces in the office creates a physical contact that stimulates cooperation and increase motivation. The motivation is related to both cooperation and communication. Group-oriented surfaces also stimulate communication in the office but not over stimulated. The office that is creative in numerous ways streamlines cooperation. Employees communicate a lot with the help of modern technology on activity-based office to get in touch with colleagues and leaders, but the technique of not used. The lack of walls in the office makes it open and visible for the employees to see each other, which improves cooperation and efficient communication between employees.

Virtual work environments (VWEs) have been used in the private sector for more than a decade, but the United States Marine Corps (USMC), as a whole, has not yet taken advantage of associated benefits. The USMC construct parallels the bureaucratic organizational culture and uses an antiquated information technology (IT) infrastructure. During an effort to upgrade the Marine Corps Combat Development Command's infrastructure to a VWE, the change-agent noticed an immediate resistance towards the VWE and new work methodology. The problem identified for investigation was to discover why a bureaucratic organizational culture, matured through IT savvy and cognitively adept personnel, resists the VWE and new work methodology introduced by the evolution of IT. The explanatory, single case study documented the resistance towards the VWE and new work methodology and recommended a solution to the problem. Due to a noticeable resistance geared towards the adoption of the VWE, the case study and pre-trial preparation began in Fall, 2009 and the data-collection period occurred in the Spring of 2010. The preparation phase entailed developing extensive instruments that burrowed into the participants' technical expertise and willingness to accept change on an individual level. The instruments were validated by an expert panel from the following disciplines: knowledge management, information technology, and psychology, as part of the groundwork. Analysis of the data showed resistance towards the VWE, both collectively as a group and on the individual level. The final report articulates that the data proves the study successfully accomplished the goal. Resistance was found at the user level in the work environment. It stemmed from several key areas: lack of user input, lack of training, user ignorance, and absence of a vision statement. Leadership should review the implementation methodology and decide upon a new course of action. Training in the use of the VWE at entry and advanced levels should be offered to newcomers and be available on a continuous basis. Future change agents must examine the outcomes of similar, previous work in order to gain a better understanding of what makes an initiative fail or succeed.

Submitted in Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree of Doctor of Technology: Nursing Sciences, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2012. / Introduction While investigating alleged unprofessional conduct involving nurses, SANC collects a wealth of information which is used as the basis upon which to determine the nurses’ guilt or innocence in respect of unprofessional conduct. No evidence exists that such information is ever used to determine how similar acts of unprofessional conduct could be prevented and/or be used in mitigating the impact of such acts on patient safety. Given that nurses have most interaction with patients, there is much to learn from practice breakdown involving nurses. Methods A four phase cross sectional sequential exploratory mixed method approach using a modified soft system methodology (SSM) methodology was utilised to develop a framework for the integrated management of practice breakdown. Purposive sampling was followed to select five districts in KwaZulu-Natal for inclusion in the study. In addition Operational Nursing Managers, members of the Professional Conduct Committee of the South African Nursing Council, and representatives of organised labour were purposively sampled. Qualitative data regarding causes and current practices in the management of practice breakdown in the nursing profession was gathered from key groups via focus groups, and individual phone calls. Then a survey instrument used to test the elements of the emerging theory was developed. Finally, a framework for integrated management of practice errors is suggested. Results The study found that practice breakdown was a product of both environmental factors such as fallible managerial decisions, and unintended acts committed by nurses. In addition, the types of errors and consequences of error management were identified. Finally, conditions requisite for the integrated approach in the management of practice breakdown were identified and used to develop a framework for an integrated approach in the management of practice breakdown in nursing. Conclusion Creation of a positive practice environment for nurses is requisite for an integrated approach in the management of practice breakdown. / Appendices only available in the Hard copy of the Thesis / D

Syftet med denna kvalitativa uppsats var att, utifrån ett hermeneutiskt perspektiv, ta reda på hur socialsekreterare inom socialtjänsten upplever den psykosociala arbetsmiljön. Vi ville undersöka hur socialsekreterare fann glädje i sitt arbete och vilka utmaningar socialsekreterarna upplever i arbetet. Vi valde att intervjua sex socialsekreterare med varierande längd i yrket, verksamma i två kommuner. Intervjumaterialet tolkades med hjälp av KASAM och krav-kontroll-stödmodellen. Resultatet visade att en bra arbetsgrupp och bra kollegor var avgörande för att känna trivsel på arbetsplatsen, vilket vi tolkade som att socialsekreterarna upplevde en meningsfullhet med sitt arbete. Även klienterna var en faktor som bidrog till att socialsekreterarna kände glädje i arbetet, men var också något som de upplevde som en utmaning i arbetet. Andra utmaningar var att de inte hann med sina arbetsuppgifter på grund av dokumentationskraven och att det fanns brister i rutiner och riktlinjer vilket försvårade arbetet. / The purpose of this qualitative study was, through a hermeneutic perspective, to find out how social workers in the social services, experience the psychosocial work environment. We wanted to explore how the social workers found joy in their vocation and which challenges the social workers experienced in the work. We chose to interview six social workers with varying length in the profession, active in two municipalities. The interview material was interpreted with Sense of Coherence (SOC) and the demand-control-social support model. The result of the study shows that a good working group and good colleagues was important to experience wellbeing at the workplace, which we interpreted as the social workers experienced a meaningfulness of their work. The clients were also a factor that contributed to the social workers satisfaction in their work, but also something that was a challenge in their profession. Other challenges were that they didn´t have time for their duties because of the documentation requirements and that there were flaws in routines and guidelines that complicated their work.

BAKGRUND: Sjuksköterskor bär ansvaret över patienters omvårdnad och säkerhet. Arbetsmiljön är direkt kopplad till sjuksköterskors tillfredställelse över arbetet. När sjuksköterskor tappar kontrollen över arbetet riskeras patientsäkerheten. SYFTE: Att belysa sjuksköterskors upplevelser av arbetsmiljön och hur den inverkar på arbetet inom somatisk slutenvård. METOD: En litteraturöversikt baserad på sex kvalitativa artiklar och fem kvantitativa artiklar. RESULTAT: Fem teman uppkom under analysprocessen; En jämställd relation med läkare tillåter sjuksköterskor att tillämpa sin kompetens, Stödjande relationer och tid för kompetensutveckling, Att få sina röster hörda och att få delta i beslut, Möjlighet att tillämpa sitt omvårdnadskunnande, samt Försämring av hälsan. DISKUSSION: Ungefär varannan sjuksköterska är missnöjd över sin arbetsmiljö vilket innefattar underbemanning och icke-stödjande relationer. Detta leder till en ohälsosam arbetsbelastning som skapar stress. När sjuksköterskor inte har kontroll påverkas patienters omvårdnad vilket gör att sjuksköterskor upplever att de utfört ett dåligt arbete. KONKLUSION: Kvalitativ omvårdnad uppnås genom en god arbetsmiljö. Sjuksköterskor och sjukhusledningen behöver därför införa åtgärder för att motverka en dålig arbetsmiljö.

This Master thesis is an exploratory study that had the initial aim to research leadership in distributed teams, but, which ended up changing the focus as a result of unexpected findings. Therefore, the study refocused on collaboration in distributed teams with the purpose to explore the work environment of distributed teams from a collaborative perspective, with the aim of trying to develop an in‐depth understanding of the factors that contribute and challenge the cohesion in these teams. Furthermore, our aim was to present our findings in a model, which would describe the collaborative environment in distributed teams. Our research design was a single case study with embedded cases, overall 13 interviews were conducted representing leaders and members of hybrid distributed teams, which gave rich and descriptive data of their collaborative environment. Our empirical findings showed that structure has a significant impact on collaboration. This led to another finding, which states that management skills are more relevant than leadership skills in the virtual context. Furthermore, we could also identify several challenges, which were not explicitly approached in previous literature. Limitations/Implications: Our research is limited to a single case study, therefore future investigations including several cases or companies from different industries would be advised to strengthen the findings. Our research project contributes to the existing literature, by extending the research field of collaboration in distributed teams, while also having implications for companies, which have employees across the world and thus, consider developing or implementing this specific work unit.