<p> </p><p> </p><p><em>The interest in the concept of corporate reputation is growing. Prior research has recurrently shown that a good corporate reputation has a positive relation to organisational performance and gives organisations competitive advantages. Because of this, understanding the antecedents and how to manage corporate reputation is important. The industry of PR consultancies has grown on the Swedish market over the last decades and their services offered aims to help organisations with their communicative efforts. The purpose of this study is to examine how the work of PR consultants relates to their clients’ corporate reputation. The empirical findings are based on qualitative interviews to get a deeper understanding of the services provided by PR consultants. In the analysis the interviewees’ understanding the concept of corporate reputation is linked to a theoretical background of the antecedents and management of corporate reputation.  In our conclusions we propose that the PR consultants’ work, seeking to affect the comprehension of stakeholders’ minds about organisations through corporate messages, also relates to the forming of corporate reputation. </em></p>

The study was conducted to evaluate the use and perceived effectiveness of occupational safety and health consultative services among Oregon corporations. The three types of consultative services examined: workers' compensation insurance; private; and Oregon Occupational Safety and Health. The research examined if corporations, categorized by corporation size, within the four high-risk industry classes used each of the three types of consultative services. The four high-risk industry classes included: agriculture; construction; manufacturing; and wood products. Based on the results of the study, fewer than one-half of the respondents reported they had used consultative services; however, two out of three respondents indicated they were aware that consultative services were available. Of the three types of consultative services, workers' compensation insurance consultative services were used most frequently. In contrast, private consultative services were used least frequently even though respondents were most aware of the availability of the services. Overall, small corporations, primarily from the agriculture industry class, used consultative services the least whereas large corporations were most likely to use consultative services. Almost half of all respondents, who were aware of the availability of the consultative services and indicated that they had not used or would not use these services in the future, reported that they believed these services were unnecessary for their corporation. In addition, over half of the respondents cited cost as a prohibitive factor in requesting private consultative services. Among those respondents who implemented the recommendations of occupational safety and health consultants, over 84 percent of the respondents felt that the recommendations were either very effective or somewhat effective for all three types of consultative services. Although this percentage of perceived effectiveness was high, the percentage of respondents who reported that consultative services were instrumental in loss reduction was considerably lower than the perceived effectiveness. This finding indicates that respondents' perceived effectiveness of occupational safety and health consultative services include more than loss reduction elements. Future studies need to discern what these additional elements include. / Graduation date: 2000

The emergence of modularized curriculum in community college career and technical education (CTE) programs has received substantial attention over the last decade, with researchers suggesting that this type of curriculum redesign may assist with student retention and success. The purpose of this study was to describe advisory committee member involvement in modularizing CTE programs. This study was undertaken for three reasons: (a) to address the limited research on the topic of advisory committee involvement in modularizing curriculum; (b) to respond to the increased momentum to expand working lifetime opportunities, in which modularization may play an integral part; and (c) to explore the suggestion that employers must take a leadership role in shaping the workforce and that this may be done effectively through work on an advisory committee. The research was designed as a quantitative descriptive study using survey methodology. The study focused on community college CTE advisory committee members in Oregon and Wisconsin who were identified as being engaged in developing career pathways. The primary research question asked respondents to describe their involvement in modularizing curriculum, and the secondary question asked them to specific the degree to which their involvement had occurred in the various aspects of modularizing curriculum. The key findings of this descriptive study suggest that responding CTE advisory committee members in Oregon and Wisconsin are aware of the concept of curriculum modularization but have little involvement in the actual process of breaking down associate degree programs into smaller certificates. This study also shows that these same advisory committee members endorse more than they assist with developing the various aspects of modularizing curriculum, such as defining skills sets for various jobs, developing courses for appropriate content, reordering courses in an existing program, adding or deleting courses, and developing measureable outcomes. Implications for practice from this study are: 1) provide more information and training to advisory committee members involved in modularizing curriculum in order to increase their level of understanding and thus strengthen their ability to participate effectively in reviewing and endorsing work already done by faculty, 2) provide advisory committee members with complete and detailed instructions regarding their work on the committee, and 3) develop a mandatory advisory committee orientation for all members to provide the needed information and training. / Graduation date: 2013

The interest in the concept of corporate reputation is growing. Prior research has recurrently shown that a good corporate reputation has a positive relation to organisational performance and gives organisations competitive advantages. Because of this, understanding the antecedents and how to manage corporate reputation is important. The industry of PR consultancies has grown on the Swedish market over the last decades and their services offered aims to help organisations with their communicative efforts. The purpose of this study is to examine how the work of PR consultants relates to their clients’ corporate reputation. The empirical findings are based on qualitative interviews to get a deeper understanding of the services provided by PR consultants. In the analysis the interviewees’ understanding the concept of corporate reputation is linked to a theoretical background of the antecedents and management of corporate reputation.  In our conclusions we propose that the PR consultants’ work, seeking to affect the comprehension of stakeholders’ minds about organisations through corporate messages, also relates to the forming of corporate reputation.

Introduction: Over half of the Swedish IT-projects get delayed and more expensive than budgeted. Large corporations and governmental institutions stand before the process of investigating in new IT-systems in intervals of three to five years. In order to decrease the cost, an external consultant with large experience in IT-purchases could be used by the customers. These consultants does today work solely for the customers, helping them to find the best solution. We want to see if an external consultant instead could act as an inde-pendent moderator between the supplier and customer in the IT-systems lifecycle. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to describe and analyze problems and possible solutions related to the involvement of third party consultants in larger IT-projects. In particular, we will investigate when and where in the project cycle it could be beneficial to use an independent moderator. Method: We have conducted semi-structured interviews with six organizations to get an understanding about consultants in IT-projects. Four of the interviewed were IT-managers at organizations were large IT-systems are bought and implemented. Then, two of the in-terviewed represented the supplier companies that sell large IT-systems. Frame of reference: Transaction cost theory and agency theory has been used. Transac-tion cost theory is a theory on whether you should conduct the service internally or purchase it from external firms. Agency theory describes problems in the relationship between a principal and an agent. The agent has a diversified interest towards the principal. In our case, the agent is a consultant. Conclusion: The implementation phase benefits from using an external moderator who monitors what the customer needs, and then in a continuous interval measures if the project is aligning towards the stated goal. This can lower the failure of information and identify problem areas early and thereby prevent costly adjustments later in the project. An in-dependent moderator with a high degree of routine and specific knowledge could enhance communication, create a better fit of the implemented system and foresee opportunistic advices from suppliers. In the pre-study phase there are benefits for the customer with evaluating the need, stating specific demands and define a clear goal.

Introduktion Det har pågått en diskussion om konsultverksamhet är ett yrke eller en hel industri. Många tänkare har kommit fram till att det är både och. Konsultfirmorna erbjuder idag också många olika typer av service, den här uppsatsen har sitt fokus på förändringsledningsområdet samt att beskriva managementkonsultens roll som förändringsagent. Trots att det ofta är svårt att se vilka effekter förändringar har på organisationer så är det viktigt att förändra. Förändringsledning är dock mycket svårt och därför misslyckas många förändringsprojekt. Syfte Syftet med denna uppsats är att beskriva managementkonsultens roll som förändringsagent samt att identifiera problem i och omkring förändringsprocessen. Vidare hoppas man kunna hitta exempel på problem och framgångsfaktorer för att förbättra förändringsledning. Metod Den här studien är gjord utifrån ett deduktivt synsätt. De empiriska data har sedan insamlats genom användandet av kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer. Det främsta skälet till valet av en kvalitativ undersökning var att få en djupare kunskap inom undersökningsområdet samt att det ansågs vara bästa sättet för att uppnå syftet. Författarna undersökte tre olika projekt genom att intervjua en konsult och en klient inom vart och ett av projekten. På grund av uppsatsens fokus på förändringsagenter så säkerställdes att alla tre konsulterna hade denna roll när de ansvarade för ledning av förändring. Resultat Många faktorer påverkar implementeringen av förändringar i organisationer. I konsultens roll som förändringsagent är det viktigt att inte bli en implementerare, i slutändan är det klientens organisation som ska förändras. För att uppnå framgångsrik förändring har författarna kommit fram till några slutsatser som är vitigare än andra, bland dessa finner man, skapandet av involvering och gemensamt engagemang för förändring, hitta det verkliga problemet samt att man inte glömmer vikten av att involvera chefer och ledare.

The objectives of the study were to examine (1) employees' experiences in using mental/life skills and (2) sport psychology consultants' experiences in teaching mental/life skills to employees in business settings. The study was conducted through qualitative interviews. Two interview guides were created to answer the objectives. Six participants, three employees who used mental/ life skills and three consultants who worked both in sports and in business took part in the study. The interviews were analysed inductively. The results pointed towards that mental/ life skills can beneficially be used at workplaces in order to increase effectiveness, improve communication between employees and to develop the employees further. The results also indicated that sport psychology consultants can successfully work in business but additional educations is an advantage. The results of the study are discussed from the point of related theoretical frameworks and research in sport and work psychology.

School psychologists have increased their practice of consultation within the schools due to mandates by the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) and positive outcomes associated with the service. Previous research has examined how training directors at school psychology graduate programs viewed consultation training. The current study investigated how school psychologists view their training in consultation and how they view the practice of consultation in school systems. A random sample of 510 school psychologists from across the country was sent a survey to obtain their perspectives on consultation. A 46% return rate was achieved. The respondents were divided into two groups based on the practitioner’s years of experience (i.e., more than 10 years experience and less than 10 years experience) in order to make comparisons based on when the school psychologists received their training. Results indicated that recent graduates reported more comprehensive training in consultation, a heavier emphasis on collaborative and problem-solving consultation and significantly higher levels of satisfaction with consultation training and practice. However, recent graduates did not perceive their skills with consultation to be higher than school psychologists with less training, but more experience.

There has been nothing written, as far as we researched, about the decision-making when a family manager decides upon the advice of an external consultant. With this research we tried to build an understanding on the topic with a special focus to the role of emotions in the process. Five family managers of five different family businesses in Sweden were interviewed. The interviews were semi-structured so that the factors that play a role in the decision-making could be explored. The factors that were identified were coded and afterwards further analyzed, together with the help of new gathered theory. In other words an abductive approach was used. We found that emotions in the decision-making mainly arise when the advice is given in the field of expertise of the family manager concerned. The emotions arise from a psychological ownership of the family manager over a pre- formed solution or approach to the issue the consultant is hired for. In order for the advice to be accepted, the advice has to be in the line of the preformed solution or approach. We believe these findings to be valuable to encourage more research on the topic, but also the findings can contribute to the everlasting field of research to find the optimal technique to consult to family businesses.

<p>Introduction: Over half of the Swedish IT-projects get delayed and more expensive than budgeted. Large corporations and governmental institutions stand before the process of investigating in new IT-systems in intervals of three to five years. In order to decrease the cost, an external consultant with large experience in IT-purchases could be used by the customers. These consultants does today work solely for the customers, helping them to find the best solution. We want to see if an external consultant instead could act as an inde-pendent moderator between the supplier and customer in the IT-systems lifecycle.</p><p>Purpose: The purpose of this study is to describe and analyze problems and possible solutions related to the involvement of third party consultants in larger IT-projects. In particular, we will investigate when and where in the project cycle it could be beneficial to use an independent moderator.</p><p>Method: We have conducted semi-structured interviews with six organizations to get an understanding about consultants in IT-projects. Four of the interviewed were IT-managers at organizations were large IT-systems are bought and implemented. Then, two of the in-terviewed represented the supplier companies that sell large IT-systems.</p><p>Frame of reference: Transaction cost theory and agency theory has been used. Transac-tion cost theory is a theory on whether you should conduct the service internally or purchase it from external firms. Agency theory describes problems in the relationship between a principal and an agent. The agent has a diversified interest towards the principal. In our case, the agent is a consultant.</p><p>Conclusion: The implementation phase benefits from using an external moderator who monitors what the customer needs, and then in a continuous interval measures if the project is aligning towards the stated goal. This can lower the failure of information and identify problem areas early and thereby prevent costly adjustments later in the project. An in-dependent moderator with a high degree of routine and specific knowledge could enhance communication, create a better fit of the implemented system and foresee opportunistic advices from suppliers. In the pre-study phase there are benefits for the customer with evaluating the need, stating specific demands and define a clear goal.</p>