[pt] A partir de inquietações surgidas em grupos de reflexão realizados em algumas creches privadas do Rio de Janeiro, procuro compreender a influência da atual crise do trabalho na relação entre os pais e seus filhos pequenos. Recorro à investigação bibliográfica sobre a história das relações família /trabalho no capitalismo, incluindo suas recentes transformações. Realizo também uma pesquisa qualitativa na qual são feitas entrevistas com pais de crianças de classe média.Constato que, com o nascimento da sociedade industrial, opera-se uma cisão entre a esfera privada tida como íntima e de cuidado e a esfera do trabalho industrial vivida na impessoalidade. O modo de vida da primeira é então concebido de modo a ser útil às prescrições da segunda. Observo que as transformações mais recentes na esfera produtiva fazem emergir o ideal de um trabalhador tanto mais autônomo quanto menos dependente de empregos estáveis, o que intensifica a contradição entre os ideais de proteção na esfera privada e de absoluta desproteção na esfera pública. Procuro entender como esse novo modelo repercute sobre as expectativas que os pais hoje dirigem às crianças, trazendo com ele certos impasses. Um contraponto para os mesmos é pensado à luz do conceito de experiência transicional desenvolvido por Winnicott, que permite uma crítica à dissociação operada desde a modernidade entre o cuidado aos filhos e o campo cultural mais amplo . / [en] Following some issues raised in reflection groups carried out in private nurseries in Rio de Janeiro, I ve tried to understand the influence of the current crisis of labor on the relationship among parents and their little children. I have recurred to a bibliographical research about the relationship between family and work in capitalism, including its recent changes. It was also accomplished a qualitative research in which mid-class parents were listened in interviews. I have verified that the emergence of the industrial society brought about a split between the domestic and the work environments; the former is considered the space of care and intimacy whereas the latter is seen as cold and impersonal. The domestic environment will start, then, to be defined in a way as to satisfy the requirements of the industrial organization. I ve also verified that the most recent transformations in the productive process destroy stability and in this way create the ideal of a completely - independent worker, so enhancing the contradiction between the ideal of protection in the domestic environment and that of absolute exposure in the public one . I ve also tried to understand how such new model influences the expectations that parents have about their children , with all their intrinsic difficulties. A counterpoint to that is thought in the light of the concept of transitional experiencedeveloped by Winnicott, that allows a critic to the modern concept of parenthood that reduced it as being disconnected from the wider cultural field.

Esta tese analisa o processo de organização do trabalho de pesquisa e desenvolvimento de inovações, com foco nas competências requeridas dos diferentes profissionais envolvidos, tanto no ambiente interno como externo das organizações. Assim, o objetivo desta tese é analisar como a organização do trabalho de pesquisa e desenvolvimento de inovações se relaciona com as competências requeridas para realizar as atividades, exigindo, em muitos casos, que as empresas busquem as competências não desenvolvidas internamente, junto a empresas e instituições externas, para garantir o alcance de resultados. A metodologia adotada envolveu primeiramente a revisão da literatura nos temas de P&D de inovações, modelos de organização do trabalho, gestão de competências, aprendizagem organizacional, para entender a relação entre os construtos. Escolheu-se uma abordagem exploratória de natureza descritivo-qualitativa, com análise de múltiplos casos. Os dados foram obtidos por meio de entrevistas em profundidade, aplicadas de forma presencial, através de roteiro semi-estruturado, junto a diretores, gestores e coordenadores da área de inovação, que foram analisados através de cruzamento com a teoria. Para compor um quadro mais abrangente sobre a questão de pesquisa foi realizado um survey com profissionais da área de P&D de diferentes empresas através de questionário autoaplicado. Buscou-se analisar como as empresas procedem na combinação de diferentes competências para organizar o processo de P&D de inovações, um processo extremamente complexo e que envolve grandes investimentos por parte das empresas. Os resultados apontam que há vantagens e desvantagens em buscar competências externas através de parcerias, contratos, acordos de cooperação, com instituições públicas e privadas. A pesquisa também revelou que as parcerias ou acordos de cooperação variam entre os setores e entre as empresas, dependendo da cultura própria de cada organização; de forma geral as dificuldades são maiores nas parcerias com instituições públicas. Por fim, os resultados mostram que as competências requeridas na P&D de inovações podem mudar ao longo do tempo e por isso, as empresas não conseguem desenvolver todas as competências internamente ou acham mais oportuno buscar estas competências já desenvolvidas por outros atores do ambiente externo, complementando as competências internas de seus pesquisadores. Além disso, as empresas conseguem ganho de escala e redução de custos com pessoal e com a estrutura. / This thesis examines the process of work organization in research and development of innovations, focusing on the required competencies of the different professionals engaged in both the internal and external environment of the organization. The objective of this work is to analyze how the work organization of the research and development of innovations is related to the competencies required to perform activities. It requires, in many cases, that companies search for the skills not developed internally in other companies and institutions to ensure the achievement of results. The research begins with a review of the literature in the areas of Research and Development (R&D), models of work organization, competencies management and organizational learning, to understand the relationship between the constructs. An exploratory and descriptive research method of multiple cases study was chosen. Data were gathered through in-depth interviews, apply in person, through semi-structured script, along with directors, managers and coordinators in the area of innovation, which were analyzed by crossing with the theory. To form a more comprehensive picture of the research question a survey was conducted with professionals in R&D of different companies through self-administered questionnaire. We sought to analyze how companies are making the combination of different skills to organize the process of R&D innovation, a highly complex and that involves large investments by companies. The results show that there are advantages and disadvantages to search external expertise through partnerships, contracts and cooperative agreements with public and private institutions. The survey also revealed that partnerships or cooperation agreements vary between sectors and between firms, depending on the particular culture of the organization. Generally, the difficulties are greater in partnerships with public institutions. Finally, the results show that the required competences in R&D innovations can change over time and therefore companies cannot develop all the skills internally or find it appropriate to seek these skills already developed by other actors in the external environment, complementing internal expertise of its researchers. In addition, companies can gain scale and reduce costs with personnel and structure.

O estudo parte do reconhecimento da crescente disputa por materiais recicláveis no atual estágio de alargamento das formas desregulamentadas, degradadas e precarizadas de trabalho, condicionadas pelo imperativo da sobrevivência. Situa o trabalho intensivo da pré-reciclagem no circuito inferior da economia urbana e discute o incalculável custo humano deste trabalho que alimenta as indústrias recicladoras e traz enaltecidos benefícios ambientais à coletividade. Partindo do entrecruzamento da Economia Solidária e do campo de Saúde do Trabalhador, procurou-se identificar as potencialidades e limites da organização do trabalho cotidiano pelos trabalhadores da Cooperativa de Reciclagem de Matéria-Prima de Embu (Coopermape) e suas repercussões à saúde dos trabalhadores. O trabalho de campo permitiu reconhecer a complexidade do contínuo replanejamento do trabalho cotidiano e as dificuldades de construção da autogestão para compatibilizar a logística e o faturamento capazes de assegurar as expectativas de retirada mensal dos cooperados e, ao mesmo tempo, construir um processo horizontal de tomada de decisão que considere também a atenção às condições de trabalho e saúde. Na Coopermape, esse desafio é potencializado ainda por limitações impostas pelas constantes oscilações e condicionalidades do mercado da reciclagem e pelas pressões sofridas pela prefeitura de Embu. Num ambiente em que estão em jogo pesadas forças e interesses divergentes aos da cooperativa, o aprendizado do grupo se faz \"a duras penas\". Apesar da configuração exógena do processo de trabalho, a experiência de campo mostrou que existe uma margem residual, mas importante, de decisão dos cooperados sobre o processo cotidiano de trabalho. As experiências de reconfiguração de algumas etapas de trabalho e atitudes preventivas identificadas indicam que em algumas situações os cooperados conseguem compatibilizar a agilidade do processo e a minimização da sobrecarga e desgaste os trabalhadores. Ainda que a maioria destas pequenas mudanças não tenha sido promovida com a intencionalidade deliberada e explícita de poupar a saúde dos trabalhadores, elas permitem alimentar esperanças de reorganização do trabalho a favor dos trabalhadores. / The study begins by recognizing the increasing struggle for recycling material at the actual period of extension of unregulated, decreased and precarious work occupations, determinated by mandatory survival. Associates the intensive work made before the recycling process to low urban economy circuit and discusses the incommensurable human price of the this work that feeds recycling industry and brings exalt environment profities to society. Leaving from the crossing of Solidarity Economy and Workers\' Health field, the objective was to identify the possibilities and limits of work organization conducted by Cooperativa de Reciclagem de Matéria-Prima de Embu (Coopermape)\' workers and its effects to workers\' health. The empiric work allowed recognizing the complexity of day-by-day continuous replanning of work and the difficulties to build workers\' self-management. These difficulties are connected to the need to consider both the logistics and invoicing able to assure the workers expected rewarding and the construction of an even decision making process that also considers the regard to work and health condition. At Coopermape, this challenge is even bigger because of the limits imposed by the constant variation and conditionality of recycling trade and by Embu\'s city hall pressure. On a surrounding involving heavy power and disagreeing interests in relation to the ones of the cooperative, the learning takes a high cost. Although the exogenous conformation of work process, the empiric experience showed that there is a remaining, but important, border of decision of the day-by-day work process by the workers. The experiences of changing conformation at some work stages and provident attitudes demonstrates that in some situations the cooperative\' workers can consider the process agility and the reducing of workload and workers consuming. Though the majority of these little changes were not encouraged with the premeditated and explicit intention of guarding workers\' health, they allow feeding hopes of work rearrangement in favor of workers.

O tema desta dissertação é o trabalho em equipes com autonomia no Brasil. Percebe-se um ressurgimento do interesse pelo assunto a partir da década de 1990, no país e no exterior, movimento acompanhado pela produção científica nacional, em caráter qualitativo. Esta pesquisa adota uma abordagem quantitativa, do tipo survey, aplicada a uma amostra não-aleatória, intersetorial, de 49 empresas que reconhecem adotar o conceito de trabalho em equipes com autonomia. A partir da revisão da literatura foram desenvolvidas algumas questões de pesquisa e hipóteses, as quais estruturaram o questionário da pesquisa. Utilizando um instrumento já testado em estudos de caso, o questionário tem a capacidade de medir a abrangência e profundidade da autonomia das equipes, bem como: resultados obtidos, caracterização das empresas respondentes, iniciativa para adotar o conceito de autonomia e outras condições de contorno. O questionário foi concebido para ser enviado tanto pelo correio como por meio eletrônico e preenchido sem a presença do pesquisador. A partir da avaliação dos dados coletados, com auxílio de estatística descritiva e testes estatísticos indutivos, percebe-se equipes com grande autonomia, como no modelo Sociotécnico. A condição predominante, no entanto, é a transferência parcial de prerrogativas e responsabilidades às equipes, como no modelo Toyotista/Ohnoísta. Algumas evidências objetivas confirmam elementos da teoria, como a correlação positiva entre o grau de autonomia das equipes e resultados associados à capacidade superior de aprendizado e resposta a variações no ambiente. Informações relevantes sobre as características da amostra foram reveladas: a predominância de empresas de manufatura em grande escala, a significativa presença de empresas de capital nacional, a pequena participação do sindicato nos processos de implementação de equipes com autonomia, o crescente interesse pelo conceito, com demonstrado pelo perfil de \"idade\" dos projetos. As informações obtidas por meio desta pesquisa, bem como a experiência metodológica, podem servir de subsídio para futuros trabalhos sobre o tema, ou mesmo para outros temas, mas em pesquisas que utilizem o survey como método. / The subject of this dissertation is teamwork in Brazil. There has been a growing interest for the issue since the 1990 decade, in this country and abroad, followed by the national scientific production, of qualitative approach. This research project assumes survey-based approach, applied to a non-random, inter-sectorial sample, composed of 49 firms that recognize to adopt the concept oh teamwork. Some research questions and hypotesis were proposed, based on the literature review, as structure to the questionnaire. Making use of an instrument that was already tested by former case study, the questionnaire has the capacity to measure the deepness and the span of teams\' autonomy , as well as: results achieved, characteristics of the firms in the sample, initiative for the introduction of teamwork, and other surrounding conditions. The questionnaire was designed to be sent either by mail or by e-mail, and filled in the absence of the researcher. From the data evaluation, using descriptive statistics and also inductive statistics tests, are found some cases of teams with high degree of autonomy, in the fashion of Sociotechnical systems. The prevailing condition, nevertheless, is the partial transference of power and responsibilities to the work teams, like in the Toyota Production System. Some evidence were found that confirm theoretic elements, like the positive correlation between the degree of autonomy of work teams and specific results associated to the superior ability of learning and answering to variations of process or business conditions. Relevant information regarding the characteristics of the sample were also shown: the prevalence of large scale manufacturing companies, the significant incidence of national capital firms, the timid role that unions play on the introduction of teamwork, and the growing interest for the concept, as demonstrates the \"age\" profile of the teamwork initiatives. The information obtained by this research project, as well as the methodological experience, may serve as foundation to future projects regarding the subject \"teamwork\", or even to others that aim to use the survey approach.

<p>Indirect Management Consulting (IMC) is a new concept within organizational change management consulting. The basic principle is to make the client more active in the change effort compared to conventional management consulting where the consultant actively drives the change. With IMC, the client is provided with a tailored set of skills and methods that makes him able to lead a change project and to make sure that the new organization is sustained. The IMC-model is a combination of management consulting and e-learning, where the consultant has an indirect role in supporting the client.</p><p>This study has shown that the IMC-model increases the chance for successful change implementation by increasing knowledge and involvement of the managers in the client organization. A common problem with conventional consulting is that the new organization fails to persist some time after the change project has ended and when the consultants have left the organization. This is overcome by the IMC-model since it transfers necessary knowledge and tools to the client’s managers who then can drive the change as well as ensure sustainability long after the project itself is completed.</p><p>The IMC-model is more cost-efficient than conventional consulting since less involvement is required by the consultant and since the customization of the e-learning systems can be made efficient by modularization. The lower costs make it possible to compete with a lower overall price and the combination of high quality of the organizational change with low prices makes the IMC-model an attractive complement to conventional management consulting.</p> / <p>This study is a part of an evaluation of the potential of a new business concept within the field of management consulting. The study is written to give insight of the functionality of the concept as well as the market barriers that a new company can expect to encounter if it decides to start up a business based on the concept.</p><p>Indirect Management Consulting (IMC) is a new and unproven concept within change management consultancy and can in a simplified manner be described as a mix between e-learning and traditional management consultancy. The basic principle is that the client is given instructions and tools to be able to lead the change project by following a model similar to an e-learning program. The contents of the program are custom-built by a management consultant according to the needs of the change project. The consultant monitors the progress of the organizational change and adapts the model and gives feedback to the client as the project progresses. By following the IMC model, the client does the majority of the work while he does not require initial knowledge of change management since he is continuously provided with the information, tools and templates needed to analyze the organizational performance and implement the change successfully.</p><p>The functionality of the IMC concept was evaluated in two ways: First by comparing the contents of the IMC-model with existing change management theories in order to find out if the model covers the most critical aspects of the theories. Secondly, the market for the IMC model was analyzed mainly by using Porter’s five-force theory.</p><p>This study has shown that IMC can be an efficient method for implementing organizational change. Its efficiency comes from a number of sources, mainly related to the fact that the organization’s own managers have, compared to conventional management consulting, a high degree of involvement in the analysis of the organization and the implementation of the change. This in turn leads to better communication of the change plan and makes it easier to motivate employees to accept to the organizational change and make them feel a ‘sense of urgency’ for participating to successfully implement the project. The model was also found to make it easy for the manager to formulate a change strategy and to implement the change in a structured manner.</p><p>For the consulting company, IMC means that costs (and consequently prices) can be kept much lower than for conventional consultant services. One main reason is that the model does not have to be built from scratch for each client. The contents of the model are relatively easily adjusted to suit most types of organizational changes. A second reason for the lower cost is that time the consultant spends at the client’s offices is minimized or eliminated. This gives an advantage compared to conventional management consulting.</p><p>While the management consulting industry have relatively low entry barriers, that is however not equivalent that it is easy for a company to enter the market based on the IMC-model. A high quality of the services is crucial and, if that cannot be proven, the advantage of having a low price is diminished. It is therefore important for a new starter in this industry to have a portfolio of successfully implemented projects. For the IMC concept, this is problematic since the model is new and unproven. It can therefore be difficult to find the first clients and alternative entry strategies such as partnering or simply advocating a “non-profit” strategy for the first clients might be necessary.</p>

<p>Postal work is performed in very different settings, and the works are e.g., drivers, letter carriers, postal sorters, and counter clerks. A finding that a small group of parcel sorters with a good psychosocial work situation had much lower health complaints than comparable workers with a worse psychosocial situation at work, indicated that it might be possible to improve mental and physical health among postal employees by improving work organization.</p><p>The theoretical framework for this thesis is the demands-control-support (DCS) model by Karasek, Theorell, and Johnson. Two cross-sectional studies were performed with questionnaires. In a study on 144 workers at a postal terminal it was found associations between low support from superiors and high psychological work demands, on one hand and gastrointestinal and sleep problems on the other. In another study on 655 postal workers in 6 different occupations, high psychological work demands and low skill discretion was associated with low-back pain, and low social support at work with neck pain. In this study, the associations differed significantly between men and women.</p><p>A follow-up study on the postal terminal (136 persons) was performed 8 and 12 months after an organizational change took place. The changes were aimed at improving the shift system, and psychosocial work situation. Authority over decision and skill discretion increased, and sick-leave decreased during the follow up period. Changes in contact with superiors, team-mates, and skill discretion were associated with changes in gastrointestinal and sleep complaints. In another follow up study, 82 individuals were studied before and 1 year after improvement of the psychosocial work environment. Musculoskeletal complaints were significantly reduced in the intervention group but not in the control group. Increased support from superiors was associated with less symptoms. Younger age and higher authority over decisions at baseline was associated with reduced symptoms at follow-up.</p><p>The main findings of this thesis are that there are significant associations between psychosocial work situation among postal workers and psychosomatic and musculoskeletal symptoms, and that it is possible to reduce symptoms and sick-leave, by changes of organization, and improvement of the psychosocial work situation </p>

Företagens konkurrenskraft beror allt mer på förmågan att attrahera, tillvarata och utveckla de mänskliga resurserna. Hur kan då arbetets organisation förändras för att åstadkomma delaktighet, kompetensutveckling och lärande? En del av detta handlar om att hitta, ge utrymme för, stödja och utveckla eldsjälar. Eldsjälar är personer som engagerar sig starkt i en verksamhet. De drivs av brinnande entusiasm. I företag och organisationer spelar eldsjälar ofta en avgörande roll för förändring och förnyelse. Det gäller inte minst i utvecklingsarbeten som berör arbetets organisation. Men vad gör egentligen eldsjälar i ett arbetsorganisatoriskt utvecklingsarbete? Vilka problem möter de? Varför engagerar de sig? Varför agerar de som de gör? Kan de lära av sina erfarenheter och vidareutvecklas som eldsjälar? Denna avhandling redovisar resultaten av en studie av eldsjälar och deras insatser. De eldsjälar som har studerats var huvudaktörer i försök med nya sätt att organisera arbetet i början av 1970-talet. I boken identifieras två grundläggande dilemman som eldsjälar måste hantera för att utvecklingsarbete ska leda till förändring och lärande. De handlingsmöjligheter eldsjälar har, beskrivs i termer av fyra metoder för aktörsskap. I avhandlingen diskuteras hur eldsjälar kan vidareutveckla sitt agerande och sin kompetens för att åstadkomma arbetsorganisatorisk utveckling. För personer som på olika sätt är involverade i organisatoriskt utvecklingsarbete erbjuder avhandlingen både praktisk och teoretisk vägledning. Avhandlingen är av speciellt intresse för chefer, fackliga företrädare, aktionsforskare, konsulter samt personer sysselsatta med personal-, organisations- och utbildningsfrågor. / <p>Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögskolan, 1988</p>

Postal work is performed in very different settings, and the works are e.g., drivers, letter carriers, postal sorters, and counter clerks. A finding that a small group of parcel sorters with a good psychosocial work situation had much lower health complaints than comparable workers with a worse psychosocial situation at work, indicated that it might be possible to improve mental and physical health among postal employees by improving work organization. The theoretical framework for this thesis is the demands-control-support (DCS) model by Karasek, Theorell, and Johnson. Two cross-sectional studies were performed with questionnaires. In a study on 144 workers at a postal terminal it was found associations between low support from superiors and high psychological work demands, on one hand and gastrointestinal and sleep problems on the other. In another study on 655 postal workers in 6 different occupations, high psychological work demands and low skill discretion was associated with low-back pain, and low social support at work with neck pain. In this study, the associations differed significantly between men and women. A follow-up study on the postal terminal (136 persons) was performed 8 and 12 months after an organizational change took place. The changes were aimed at improving the shift system, and psychosocial work situation. Authority over decision and skill discretion increased, and sick-leave decreased during the follow up period. Changes in contact with superiors, team-mates, and skill discretion were associated with changes in gastrointestinal and sleep complaints. In another follow up study, 82 individuals were studied before and 1 year after improvement of the psychosocial work environment. Musculoskeletal complaints were significantly reduced in the intervention group but not in the control group. Increased support from superiors was associated with less symptoms. Younger age and higher authority over decisions at baseline was associated with reduced symptoms at follow-up. The main findings of this thesis are that there are significant associations between psychosocial work situation among postal workers and psychosomatic and musculoskeletal symptoms, and that it is possible to reduce symptoms and sick-leave, by changes of organization, and improvement of the psychosocial work situation

Indirect Management Consulting (IMC) is a new concept within organizational change management consulting. The basic principle is to make the client more active in the change effort compared to conventional management consulting where the consultant actively drives the change. With IMC, the client is provided with a tailored set of skills and methods that makes him able to lead a change project and to make sure that the new organization is sustained. The IMC-model is a combination of management consulting and e-learning, where the consultant has an indirect role in supporting the client. This study has shown that the IMC-model increases the chance for successful change implementation by increasing knowledge and involvement of the managers in the client organization. A common problem with conventional consulting is that the new organization fails to persist some time after the change project has ended and when the consultants have left the organization. This is overcome by the IMC-model since it transfers necessary knowledge and tools to the client’s managers who then can drive the change as well as ensure sustainability long after the project itself is completed. The IMC-model is more cost-efficient than conventional consulting since less involvement is required by the consultant and since the customization of the e-learning systems can be made efficient by modularization. The lower costs make it possible to compete with a lower overall price and the combination of high quality of the organizational change with low prices makes the IMC-model an attractive complement to conventional management consulting. / This study is a part of an evaluation of the potential of a new business concept within the field of management consulting. The study is written to give insight of the functionality of the concept as well as the market barriers that a new company can expect to encounter if it decides to start up a business based on the concept. Indirect Management Consulting (IMC) is a new and unproven concept within change management consultancy and can in a simplified manner be described as a mix between e-learning and traditional management consultancy. The basic principle is that the client is given instructions and tools to be able to lead the change project by following a model similar to an e-learning program. The contents of the program are custom-built by a management consultant according to the needs of the change project. The consultant monitors the progress of the organizational change and adapts the model and gives feedback to the client as the project progresses. By following the IMC model, the client does the majority of the work while he does not require initial knowledge of change management since he is continuously provided with the information, tools and templates needed to analyze the organizational performance and implement the change successfully. The functionality of the IMC concept was evaluated in two ways: First by comparing the contents of the IMC-model with existing change management theories in order to find out if the model covers the most critical aspects of the theories. Secondly, the market for the IMC model was analyzed mainly by using Porter’s five-force theory. This study has shown that IMC can be an efficient method for implementing organizational change. Its efficiency comes from a number of sources, mainly related to the fact that the organization’s own managers have, compared to conventional management consulting, a high degree of involvement in the analysis of the organization and the implementation of the change. This in turn leads to better communication of the change plan and makes it easier to motivate employees to accept to the organizational change and make them feel a ‘sense of urgency’ for participating to successfully implement the project. The model was also found to make it easy for the manager to formulate a change strategy and to implement the change in a structured manner. For the consulting company, IMC means that costs (and consequently prices) can be kept much lower than for conventional consultant services. One main reason is that the model does not have to be built from scratch for each client. The contents of the model are relatively easily adjusted to suit most types of organizational changes. A second reason for the lower cost is that time the consultant spends at the client’s offices is minimized or eliminated. This gives an advantage compared to conventional management consulting. While the management consulting industry have relatively low entry barriers, that is however not equivalent that it is easy for a company to enter the market based on the IMC-model. A high quality of the services is crucial and, if that cannot be proven, the advantage of having a low price is diminished. It is therefore important for a new starter in this industry to have a portfolio of successfully implemented projects. For the IMC concept, this is problematic since the model is new and unproven. It can therefore be difficult to find the first clients and alternative entry strategies such as partnering or simply advocating a “non-profit” strategy for the first clients might be necessary.

The goal of this study is to understanding ethnic discrimination by employing a complex theoretical approach which allows for an understanding of ethnic relations and ethnic discrimination as a social process. The study includes a case study at Volvo Torslandaverken in Gothenburg, and focuses on ethnic discrimination against the background of both structural conditions and situational factors. The analysis results from studying personnel statistics and interviews with salaried employees, union elected representatives, and workers. The study includes two technical and organizational environments. The first environment, manual systems, demands loyalty of individuals to the technical and organizational system. The other environment, integrated mechanization, has a decentralized group organizational structure. Both environments are studied with consideration taken to recruiting, leadership, and solidarity among workers. The results show that ethnic discrimination appears to be a very complicated phenomena, the expression of which is a consequence of dynamic interplay between structure and action. New forms of work have meant that workers' professional skills are now organized to compliment one another and they work more in groups. This has resulted in an increased need for familiar cultural and social skills within the groups. Such a development risks encouraging varying degrees of negligence, aversion, and exclusion of ethnic views. / digitalisering@umu