The aim of this thesis is to analyse the personal pronoun “we” in a political debate using Conversation Analysis as research method. More specifically, the thesis aims to identify and analyse how the speakers of a political debate use “we” to express different referential domains in terms of group affiliation. Consequently, to support the thesis’s aim, the following research questions have been devised: What different categories of “we” can be found in the debate? How and when are these different categories used to manifest group affiliation and what do they accomplish?

Este proyecto se centra en el estudio de la empresa “Pacifico Seguros” que opera principalmente en el sector de seguros. El desarrollo del trabajo está enfocado en el subproceso de “Emisión” que es uno de los procesos importantes de la empresa porque acá se inicia todo el proceso de las emisiones de los clientes para las afiliaciones de sus trabajadores. La oportunidad de mejora se presenta en la mayoría de actividades del subproceso de “Emisión” que suelen ser repetitivas y operativas; y en su mayoría son ejecutadas de forma manual. Por tal motivo, el proyecto contempla una solución para la optimización del sub proceso que permitirá reducir el tiempo de atención como principal objetivo. La propuesta consta de un software RPA que permita a los usuarios crear “bots” que pueden aprender, imitar y luego ejecutar procesos del negocio basados en reglas para la gestión administrativa que ayudará a la descarga y respuestas de los correos, también contará con un motor de asignación para la distribución equitativa y atención de las solicitudes de afiliación. El propósito del trabajo es llevar a cabo la gestión del desarrollo del software y la arquitectura empresarial dentro del marco de trabajo de TOGAF y PMBOK sobre el objeto estudio para la evaluación de los procesos y para una correcta arquitectura de software lo cual se podrá desarrollar en fases y actividades para formular el plan estratégico y el control de su cumplimiento. / This project focuses on the study of the company “Pacificos Seguros” that operates mainly in the insurance sector. The development of the work focuses on the sub-process “Emisión” which is one of the important processes of the company because here begins the process of customer emissions for the affiliations of its workers. The opportunity for improvement occurs in most of the activities of the sub-process “Emisión”, that tend to be repetitive and operational and they are mostly run manually. Therefore, the project contemplates a solution for the optimization of the sub-process that will reduce the attention time as main objective. The proposal consists of an RPA software that allows users to create "bots" that can learn, imitate and then execute business processes based on rules for the administrative management that help download and reply to emails also there will be a queue engine for the distribution and attention of the affiliation requests. The purpose of the work is to carry out the management of the software development and business architecture in the TOGAF and PMBOK framework on the study object for the evaluation of processes and a correct software architecture which can will be developed in phases and activities to formulate a strategic plan and control its compliance. / Tesis

1900-talets början var en tid med olika arbetsmarknadskonflikter. Det förekom strejker, demonstrationer, kravaller och agitationsmöten. Dessa konflikter utspelade sig i ett samhälle där arbetarrörelsen började organisera sig alltmer i fackföreningar och i arbetarkommuner för att få politiskt inflytande och inflytande över sin arbetssituation. Det gjorde att arbetarrörelsen hamnade i sociala konfrontationer med omgivning, myndigheter och arbetsgivare. Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka kopplingen mellan klassformering i ett identitetsperspektiv och framväxten av konfliktrepertoarer i det tidiga 1900-talets fackliga organisationssträvanden. Frågeställningarna utgår från att identifiera konfliktrepertoarer i sociala konfrontationer och vilka av dessa som används för att skapa klassamhörighet i olika sociala, fackliga och politiska sammanhang. För att studera sociala konfrontationer, konfliktrepertoarer och identitetsskapande inom arbetarrörelsen har källmaterial efter fackföreningar vid Bergslagernas järnvägar i Åmål använts. Uppsatsen är ett bidrag till arbetarhistoria och källmaterialet undersöks utifrån teorin i forskningsfältet Contentious Politics Studies. Uppsatsen har även en ikonografisk ansats eftersom källmaterialet innehåller visuella uttryck. I undersökningen har fyra olika sociala konfrontationer identifierats. Dessa är: Agitation och politisk mobilisering 1908 - 1911, Oskar Lundströms avskedande 1909, Lokmannastrejken 1919 och Den stora järnvägsstrejken 1922. Ett antal konfliktrepertoarer identifieras och uppsatsens resultat är att konfliktrepertoarerna utvecklas och förfinas över tid. Kraven blir mer tydligt formulerade och handlingar tillsammans med visuell kultur stärker den politiska identiteten. Konfliktrepertoarer, handlingar och identiteter blir därigenom meningsskapande i klassformeringen. / The beginning of the 20th century was a time of various labor market conflicts. There were strikes, demonstrations, riots and agitation meetings. These conflicts took place in a society where the labor movement began to organize itself in trade unions in order to gain political influence and influence over their work situation. As a result, the labor movement ended up in confrontations with the environment, authorities and employers. The main purpose of the essay is to investigate the connection between class affiliation in an identity perspective and the emergence of contentious repertoires in the early 20th century trade union organizational efforts. The essay is based on theories of Contentious Politics Studies. The investigated material is archives of trade unions at Bergslagernas railways in Åmål. Four different contentious politics have been identified. These are: 1. Agitation and political mobilization 1908 - 1911, 2. Oskar Lundström's dismissal 1909, 2. The engine driver strike in 1919 and 4. The great railway strike in 1922. The result of the essay is that the contentious repertoires are developed and refined over time. The claim making are more clearly formulated and contentious performances together with visual culture strengthen the political identity. Contentious repertoires, contentious performances and political identities thereby create meaning in class affiliation.

Det ställs idag högre krav på arbetsgivare att uppfattas som attraktiva och intressanta för att kunna särskilja sig från sina konkurrenter och således attrahera kvalificerad arbetskraft. Detta eftersom arbetsmarknaden inom vissa yrken har förändrats vilket innebär att utbudet av kompetent arbetskraft inte speglar de behov som finns. Genom att arbeta med Employer Branding kan arbetsgivare lättare tillgodose kompetensförsörjningen och undvika brist på kompetenta medarbetare. Syftet med denna undersökning var att genom en fallstudie undersöka hur arbetsgivare kan utveckla en enhetlig strategi inom Employer Branding, genom att identifiera delarna i ett Employer Value Proposition. Studien ämnar ge insikter hur organisationer kan stärka attraktiviteten som arbetsgivare samt hur denna strategi kan kommuniceras till nuvarande och potentiella medarbetare. Den metod som användes var kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer med sex informanter på ett Umeå-baserat fastighetsbolag. Studien visade att delarna i ett Employer Value Proposition bör innehålla fem delar för att ses som komplett; affiliation, work content, compensation, benefits och career samt att det kan kommuniceras såväl online som offline. Fallorganisationen bör vid marknadsföring av deras kommande Employer Value Proposition uppmärksamma deras värdegrund, de varierande och utvecklande arbetsuppgifterna, den stora möjligheten att påverka, förmånerna, den trygga anställningen samt de långsiktiga möjligheterna till utveckling inom sin arbetsroll och meningsfullheten att bidra till Umeås utveckling. Dessa faktorer lyfts fram som mest attraktiva och unika samtidigt som de är sanna, tydliga och konkreta vilket är något som rekommenderas i utvecklandet av ett Employer Value Proposition.

Efterfrågan på hållbarhetsinformation är något som ökar i dagens samhälle. Samtidigt visar tidigare studier att det finns allvarliga brister i företags hållbarhetsrapporter. Forskare har dessutom konstaterat att revisorer har en kvalitetssäkrande roll för hållbarhetsrapporters trovärdighet. I takt med samhällsutvecklingen växer hållbarhetstjänster inom revisionsbranschen, och det går att skönja ett proaktivt hållbarhetsarbete hos revisorer. Något som oss veterligen inte studerats tidigare är vad som driver revisorers proaktiva hållbarhetsarbete. Syftet med studien är att förklara vad som driver revisorers proaktiva hållbarhetsarbete utifrån fyra individ- och byråspecifika faktorer. Dessa faktorer är byråtillhörighet, kompetens, individens hållbarhetsengagemang och hierarkisk position. Frågeställningen är: I vilken utsträckning kan revisorers proaktiva hållbarhetsarbete förklaras utifrån fyra individ- och byråspecifika faktorer? Legitimitetsteorin, professionsteorin och institutionella teorin har använts som teoretisk ram för att uppnå studiens syfte. Även litteratur som behandlar hållbarhetsrapportering, autonomi, proaktivt agerande och de fyra faktorerna har använts. Med utgångspunkt i litteraturen har sex hypoteser bildats, vilka sedan testats empiriskt. För att samla in data konstruerades en webbenkät som sedan skickades ut via mejl till revisorer runtom i Sverige. Resultaten av studien visar att det finns ett positivt samband mellan revisorers proaktiva hållbarhetsarbete och kompetens, yrkesmässigt såväl som privat hållbarhetsengagemang respektive hög hierarkisk position. Däremot gick det inte att påvisa att byråtillhörighet och tid i branschen skulle vara förklarande faktorer till revisorers proaktiva hållbarhetsarbete. Studiens viktigaste bidrag är att ge revisionsbranschen insikter i vad som driver proaktivt hållbarhetsarbete bland revisorer. Studien upplyser också samhället om att revisorers proaktiva hållbarhetsarbete kan gynna hållbarhetsutvecklingen i samhället. / Demand for CSR information is increasing in today’s society. At the same time, previous studies show some serious deficiencies in CSR reporting. Researchers have also found that CSR reports certified by a financial auditor are perceived as more credible. CSR services are a growing business area in the audit industry, and a proactive CSR work among auditors can be discerned. As far as we are aware, there has yet to be any research conducted on what influences auditors’ proactive CSR work. The purpose of this study is to explain what influences auditors’ proactive CSR work based on four individual- and agency specific factors. The research question is: To what extent are auditors’ proactive CSR work explained by four individual- and agency specific factors? Legitimacy-, professional-, and institutional theory, and literature that deals with CSR reporting, autonomy, proactive behavior and our four factors has been used as a theoretical framework. Based on the literature, six hypotheses have been formed, which later have been empirically tested. Data was collected through a web-based survey which was sent via e-mail to Swedish auditors. The results show that there is a positive relationship between auditors’ proactive CSR work and competence, dedication to sustainability issues – professionally as well as private, and high hierarchical position. It was not possible to demonstrate that agency affiliation or time in the industry would be an explanatory factor for auditors’ proactive CSR work. The main contributions of this study are to provide the audit industry with insights into what influences auditors’ proactive CSR work. The study also informs society that auditors’ proactive CSR work can benefit the sustainable development.

Syftet med detta examensarbete har varit att undersöka vilken betydelse närområdesstudier ochutomhuspedagogisk undervisning knuten till lokalsamhället har för lärare i samhällskunskap,att skapa variation i undervisningen och om samt hur lärare använder närområdet i sinundervisning i årskurs 4–6. Det finns tidigare forskning kring främst natur- och äventyrsinriktadutomhuspedagogik som fokuserar på yngre elever, men mindre kring närområdesstudier,studiebesök och besök från samhället, för ämnet samhällskunskap.De teoretiska utgångspunkterna var Vygotskijs sociokulturella perspektiv och pragmatismenenligt Dewey, som användes för att analysera empirin. Undersökningen genomfördes med hjälpav kvalitativ metod och semistrukturerade intervjuer. Sex respondenter från fem skolor deltogi undersökningen. I analysen av resultatet framkommer att lärarna ger många exempel påmöjligheter till undervisning utomhus och i närområdet men att det finns hinder att övervinnainnan man kommer ut ur klassrummet.En slutsats som kan dras utifrån undersökningens engagerade lärare och tidigare forskning äratt vi kan drista oss till att konstatera, att utomhuspedagogiken och närområdesstudierna görstor nytta för de flesta elever. Det som återstår att göra är, att ”kavla upp ärmarna”, utmanahindren och ta med eleverna på deras livsresa både i klassrum och utomhus, för att ge demminnen och kunskaper för livet. / The purpose of this master thesis has been to examine which meaning neighborhood studiesand outdoor education attached to local society has to teachers in the subject of civics, to createvariation in teaching and if and how teachers use the local area in their teaching in classes 4–6.There is earlier research mainly around nature and adventure oriented outdoor educationfocusing on younger pupils, but with less focus on neighborhood studies, study visits and visitsfrom society, in the subject of civics.The theoretical starting points was Vygotskijs sociocultural perspective and pragmatismaccording to Dewey, that was used to analyze the empirics. The survey was conducted by usingqualitative method and semi-structured interviews. Six respondents from five schoolsparticipated in the survey. In the analysis of the result, it emerges that the teachers give manyexamples of outdoor and neighborhood teaching, but there are obstacles to overcome beforegetting out of the classroom.A conclusion, that can be drawn based on dedicated teachers of this survey and former researchis, that we dare to note, that outdoor teaching and neighborhood studies do great good to mostpupils. What remains to be done, is to “roll up the sleeves”, challenge the hindrances and bringthe pupils on their journey of a lifetime in both classrooms and outdoors, to give them memoriesand knowledge for life.

The aim of the study was to explore internet use among individuals that were children at the beginning of the 2000s. We wanted to understand what being one of the first children on the internet meant to them, what type of platforms they used, how they used them and in relation to whom. These research questions were formulated: - What initiated children in the early 2000s to start using the internet and how did they interpret their own internet use? - What did children in the early 2000s do on the internet and how were internet platforms used? - How could children’s internet use in the early 2000s be understood in relation to a sense of belonging and group affiliation? To collect the material, we conducted four focus group discussions with Swedish and German adults, we then transcribed and analyzed the collected data with the help of a thematic analysis. We identified three main themes and seven subthemes. Our results indicated that the first child-generation on the internet enjoyed playing games and interacting with friends. The most popular platform among the participants was the chat forum MSN. The results also showed an increase in internet use due to its development in terms of better internet connection and the internet gaining a more acceptable place within the homes of the general public as well as within education. We also found that socioeconomic status had an impact on the children’s interpretations of the internet. Further our study showed that the use and the development of the internet had an important impact on the children, both in terms of maintaining relationships but also in terms of learning and bettering life prospects. Internet platforms were fun to use alone, as well as in the company of others. They were thus places where children could connect with other children with similar interests as themselves and gain a sense of belonging.

Most recent literature that analyzes parties from an organizational perspective focuses often on the concepts of intra-party democracy and party organizational democratization (Scarrow, 1999a; Scarrow and Kittilson, 2003; LeDuc, Niemi and Norris, 2002; Bosco and Morlino, 2007). Le Duc (2001) and Rahat and Hazan (2007) underline that the most used instrument for implementing this ‘democratization’ process is the enhancement of the inclusiveness of the methods for candidate and party leadership selection. The actors endowed with candidate and leader selection powers are the central actors in the functioning of the party according to many authors (Gallagher and Marsh 1988, Marsh 1993; Massari, 2004; Hazan and Rahat, 2010). At the moment, the most inclusive method identified by the literature for selecting candidates for elections or the party leader is represented by party open or closed primaries, i.e. internal direct elections by party members and, in the case of open primaries, supporters and voters (Cross and Blais, 2011; Kenig, 2009b).<p>In this study, we explore two specific dimensions of party politics: membership and internal activisms, on the one hand, and on the other hand the internal democratization processes and in particular those dealing with broadening the inclusiveness of leadership selection procedures. Therefore, this study integrates in particular the debate on the nature and consequences of party organizational democratization. The debate finds its origins both in the influential work of Michels on the “iron law of oligarchy” thesis but has been more recently boosted by the theories of May (1973), Mair (1994) and also the studies on intra-party democracy in the British Labour (Shaw, 1994; Russell, 2005).<p>However, we are interested in the point of view of members themselves on the consequences of internal democratization. We are interested on how members perceive these organizational changes, in whether they are frustrated form the actual consequences on their role and powers and whether they perceive them as a potential threat that could undermine their organizational position within the party. In order to respond to the debate on the consequences of intra-party democracy at individual level, we rely mainly on three questions. The main research questions of this study are thus the following: to what extent party organizational changes in the sense of greater democratization affect the membership role at individual level? How are these organizational changes perceived by members? To what extent members’ perceptions of their own role affect their behaviors and in particular their internal activism?<p>The aim of this study, thus, is to empirically assess the impact on members’ activism of party internal democratization and in particular of the perception of membership role. We are interested in whether party members’ attitudes are changing as a result of parties’ organizational changes, particularly if these changes are giving members more say over outcomes. This is a study of how (and whether) perceived roles affect behaviour. The independent variable is constituted by the members’ perception of their own role within party organizational structures and in particular with regard to the leadership selection methods, whilst the dependent variable is represented by the level of activism of party members, in terms of participation to party activities in general. In fact, the impact of party rules at individual level will be addressed, as well as how the perception of organizational rules affects individual attitudes and behaviors. In particular, the focus is on leadership selection methods that integrate party members at some point in the overall process (Lisi, 2009), such as direct elections (Hazan and Rahat, 2006). The case selection is thus implemented on the basis of the research question: the comparison is developed across parties (and not across time) using different instruments for enhancing intra-party democracy.<p>Therefore, we analyze the role perception, attitudes and behaviors of grass-roots members of three contemporary Western European parties: the Belgian French-speaking socialist party (Parti Socialiste, PS), the British Labour and the Italian Democratic Party (Partito Democratico, PD). Among the selected parties, one (PD) holds primaries open to all voters for selecting their leader and one (Belgian PS), on the contrary, has chosen the closed primary (OMOV) system. The British Labour Party uses an electoral college for electing its leader since 1981. The Electoral College method refers to a system in which specific groups are allocated a specific share of the leadership vote. In the case of the UK Labour, the votes are equally divided among its constituency members, the parliamentary caucus and the trade union members.<p>Concerning the first research question of our study, our empirical results underline that in the three selected cases organizational changes affect indeed the membership role at individual level and that grass-root members perceive very clearly this impact on their status and organizational rights, obligations and privileges. When grass-roots members evaluate their role within the party, in particular with regard to the procedure for selecting the leader and the involvement of non-members and passive members within party organization, their perceptions take into account their organizational power as defined, among other factors, also by their share of votes in leadership selection. Thus, we expect that PD members perceive their role as more blurred than Labour members and particularly than PS members. In the case of parties, such as the PS, adopting direct elections of the party leader only by the affiliates, the majority of the members are expected to perceive clearly the distinction of the position, privileges and functions between members and non-members and the extensive role reserved for the affiliates.<p>Our data show that the perception of own role vary among members, but also that many members perceive their own role as being rather blurred. They display in fact nuanced but generally negative attitudes towards the integration of voters and supporters within the selection of party leader. On the basis of our survey data, the observed variation in the perception of membership role within and between the three parties seems to correspond to what we expected. A higher proportion of PD surveyed members declare to perceive their role as blurred, while smaller proportions of PS and particularly labour respondents share this evaluation. In general, our data confirm that party members do not evaluate positively the fact that these formal privileges are extended not only to all individual members, not only to activists but even to passive ones, but also to party voters and supporters. Mair’s “activists’ disempowerment” thesis (Mair, 1994) seems to be supported by our data, at least in terms of individual perceptions.<p>Moreover, our data show that the degree of satisfaction with intra-party democracy significantly vary among parties and is generally not nearly as high as could be expected on the basis of party politics literature. If in the British Labour survey the responses of grass-roots members seem to form a more positive picture, with a great majority of member declaring that the party leader is not too powerful, the level of dissatisfaction with party functioning is rather higher in the other two parties. Nevertheless, PS members are fairly more convinced than PS members that the party internal decision-making is democratic. This is what we expected to find on the basis of our first hypothesis. In fact, our first hypothesis postulated that the perception of the role of party membership by affiliates in terms of (lack of) distinction between members and non-members affects inversely their level of satisfaction with the internal functioning of the party and their degree of perceived political efficacy. The stronger the perception of the blurred role of membership, the lower will be the level of political efficacy and specific support for the party. According to our data, among PD members the perception of the blurred, undefined role of members is rather high and so is the degree of dissatisfaction with intra-party functioning. On the contrary, within the other two parties and especially within the Labour, the role perception by grass-roots members is rather positive and well-defined and the level of specific support for the party is also higher.<p>The expectations formulated on the basis of our first hypothesis appear to be supported by the empirical data also with regard to the variations in the sense of external political efficacy of members. Our data seem consistent with the hypothesis, developed by several scholars (Katz and Mair, 1995; Carty, 2004; Bolleyer, 2009), that expanding the leadership selectorate and granting formal powers to party members and supporters may hide, on the other hand, the perception by enrolled members to be actually loosing power. On the basis of our data, it is possible to assert that grass-roots members seem to be aware of the possibility of a trade-off between extreme inclusiveness of decision-making procedures and actual centralization of organizational power in the hands of party elites.<p>With regard to the third research question of this study, our results confirm that indeed members’ perceptions of their own role, in relation to internal democratization, affect their behaviors and in particular their internal participation. The three parties appear to have different features in terms of internal activism, at aggregate but in particular at individual level. Secondly, not only the overall level of intra-party activism of grass-roots members vary between and within the three selected parties, but appears to be influenced by members’ attitudes towards the party. In fact, our second hypothesis postulated that the levels of specific support for the party and political efficacy of party members impact directly on their level of activism. The lower the level of political efficacy and specific support for the party, the lower will be the degree of activism of all members (as well as the quality of the activities they perform) and vice-versa. In a party holding open and direct elections to choose its leader, party membership is thought to be divided between a highly active avant-garde and a larger mass of inactive affiliates, feeling inefficacy, frustrated with intra-party democracy and perceiving their own role as blurred and undefined. Consequently, dissatisfied or low efficacy members are argued to participate less.<p>Our data only partially support the expectations. In fact, the impact of the sense of external efficacy is clear and strong in all the three cases, while on the contrary the relationship between specific support and intra-party activism is less clear-cut than expected. The results are therefore nuanced with regard to the expectations formulated in the second hypothesis of this study. The explanatory power of external efficacy and specific support in terms of internal mobilization is only partially supported by our data. Therefore, the evaluation of the consequences of the implementation of party organizational changes such as the adoption of open primaries depends on what party elites are interested in: if the goal is to assure membership loyalty, adopting open primaries is not a good way to strengthen membership involvment in the party.<p>We believe that real intra-party democracy is normatively impossible with regard to the position of members. Organizational power cannot be too dispersed among different units without jeopardizing not only effective functioning of the party, as the old debated on the trade-off between democracy and efficacy asserted (Duverger, 1951; Panebianco, 1988), but also the incentives for internal participation of the party base. Party members are well aware that internal power cannot be too dispersed. From the point of view of members, a party should have a clear chain of command and should be composed by elites, activists and members. Each one of them should also be endowed with clearly defined tasks and responsibilities. In conclusion, we believe that intra-party democracy is a symbolic element of party organization but not as actually implementable.<p>In sum, intra-party democracy does not mean the same for different party units. For party elites, it represents a process for either legitimizing the party, changing party image, mobilizing electoral support, managing internal faction or even indirectly increasing their own organizational room for manoeuvre. For party members, intra-party democracy represents an incentive for mobilizing and a political identification tool until a certain point. After that, it becomes a threat to their rights and their status. For grass-roots affiliates, intra-party democracy is not a value per se, but it depends on its real intensity and actual implementation. In conclusion, at theoretical level, we can conclude that party organization theories should increasingly take into account membership’s point of view. On the contrary, at practical level, we can conclude that parties should adapt their strategies with regard to intra-party democracy according to their goal. If party elites are interested in tightening their grip on internal decision-making while increasing their room for manoeuvre and legitimizing party image at the same time, increasing intra-party democracy could be the best organizational strategy. On the contrary, if the leadership’s aim is to mobilize members and guarantee a stable and loyal membership, then it should be noted that increasing intra-party democracy is not always the best choice. To this regard, it might be useful for party elites to find other and more effective ways to loyalize member.<p><p> / Doctorat en Sciences politiques et sociales / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

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