Sveriges arbetsmarknad står inför utmaningar då framtidens arbeten förväntas ersättas av mer komplexa tjänster som följd av att samhället blir mer högteknologiskt. Denna näringslivsförändring förväntas vidare generera högre krav på anställda till att bli mer självgående, flexibla och kompetenta – samtidigt förväntas organisationer möjliggöra detta för sina anställda. Denna näringslivsförändring går att koppla till begreppet och management-tekniken empowerment, som syftar till att anställda ska få möjlighet till större delaktighet genom ökade befogenheter och därigenom generera positiva utfall för anställda såväl som organisationer. Kunskapen inom empowerment består övervägande av internationell forskning och främst av kvantitativa data. Vi har därför identifierat ett kunskapsglapp i litteraturen som avser självledandet och empowerment i en svensk kontext. Studiens frågeställningar går ut på att undersöka hur dagens självledande anställda, det vill säga anställda som jobbar i en kontext av empowerment, upplever behovet av en chef och vilket stöd de eventuellt känner att de behöver.    För att besvara våra frågeställningar genomförde vi en kvalitativ fallstudie hos en ledande aktör inom fastighetsbranschen som nyligen genomgått en omorganisering med syfte att öka kunskapsnivån hos de anställda och därigenom skapa självledande anställda. Det empiriska materialet består av tio semistrukturerade intervjuer med anställda inom olika befattningar som före och efter omorganisering har blivit självledande.    Det empiriska materialet analyserades med förankring i teorin om empowerment. Resultat visar att majoriteten av informanterna upplever ett behov av en chef. Behovet vi har identifierat hos informanterna har analyserats på både mikro- och makronivå. Sammantaget handlar det om ett behov av att chefen tydliggör riktlinjer avseende anställdas arbetsroller och arbetsuppgifter. Men likaväl grundar sig behovet i mjuka värden – så som att chefen ska vara lyhörd, relationsskapande, engagerad och hjälpa de anställda med deras utveckling.

Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka mellanchefers strukturella- och psykologiska empowerment i en kommunal verksamhet. Metod: Vi har baserat denna studie på kvalitativ forskningsmetod. Empirisk data har samlats in genom nio semistrukturerade intervjuer med mellanchefer i en kommunal verksamhet i Sverige där mellancheferna har olika positioner i verksamhetens organisationshierarki. Resultat och Slutsats: Studiens resultat visar på att empowerment inom denna kommunala verksamhet inte används som ett styrande verktyg men att mellancheferna upplever olika nivåer av empowerment i sin arbetsroll. Två slutsatser har dragits i denna studie. Den första är att verksamheten är toppstyrd då mellancheferna är uppdelad i tydliga hierarkiska nivåer. Den andra slutsatsen är att upplevd empowerment beror på hierarkisk nivå där empowerment hos mellanchefer på lägre hierarkisk nivå hindras på grund av att de inte ges strukturella befogenheter. Examensarbetets bidrag: Studiens teoretiska bidrag är att strukturell empowerment skapar förutsättningar för individer att uppleva psykologisk empowerment. Studien bekräftar också tidigare studiers resultat på att empowerment hindras i offentliga organisationer. Studiens teoretiska bidrag är att mellanchefer med lägre hierarkiska positioner inte ges tillräckliga befogenheter genom information, resurser och möjligheter. Fortsatt forskning: Organisationen genomgår en omorganisering till en plattare organisationsform. En uppföljande studie hade varit intressant för att undersöka om mellanchefernas empowerment har förändrats. För att göra studien generaliserbar ges också förslag på att genomföra en större studie inkluderande mellanchefer från olika kommuner. En studie med kvantitativ metod skulle ge exakta mätvärden för upplevd empowerment hos mellanchefer på de olika hierarkiska nivåerna vilket är ett ytterligare förslag på vidare forskning.

The purpose of this research was to identify motivational factors that would predict organisational commitment and citizenship behaviour. One important motivational factor is empowerment, which is an intrinsic motivator (Spreitzer, 1995, p. 121 table 5 ), this study examined the contribution of each of its four dimensions in predicting affective commitment and citizenship behaviours targeted towards both individuals and the organisation. I also investigated the association that leader-member exchange and three personality factors (extraversion, emotional stability and openness to experience) had with both empowerment and organisational outcomes (affective commitment, citizenship behaviours). I further examined empowerment mediation effects. This research was conducted among ten occupational groups at The Waikato District Health Board in New Zealand. 872 questionnaires were distributed and a final sample of 306 responses (35.1%) was obtained. The results, consistent across all occupational groups and other demographics, suggested that although extraversion, emotional stability and openness to experience individually contributed to empowerment, affective commitment and citizenship behaviours, when their contribution towards affective commitment and citizenship behaviour was examined simultaneously with empowerment and LMX contributions, personality contribution decreased. The regression equation results showed emotional stability as the only significant personality contributor towards citizenship behaviours. In addition, leader member exchange contribution was significant only towards affective commitment whereas empowerment was the strongest predictor of the three organisational outcomes explored. Moreover, two of the four empowerment dimensions were also found to mediate the relationship between LMX and affective commitment. However, no empowerment mediation effects were found between LMX and citizenship behaviours. Overall, this research provides valuable information on how to increase employee's affective commitment and extra role behaviours by adjusting organisation's structures and policies and fostering employees' perception of empowerment. Recommendations for further research and practical implications for organisations are discussed in the final chapter.

Our world is not equal, and women are in a greater extent affected by the inequalities. Extra vulnerable for the inequalities are women in developing countries. In order to empower women and strive towards gender equality, female entrepreneurship has shown positive effects for women in developing countries. Entrepreneurial development programmers are implemented by both organizations and governments, with the aim of engaging women into business. In order to study the entrepreneurial motivations and outcomes of women in a developing country, a field study was conducted in Zambia. Organizations, working with entrepreneurial business training, as well as female entrepreneurs who took part in an entrepreneurial business training programme, were interviewed during a ten-week stay in Zambia. A comparison between women with a low level of education and a high level of education was done, in order to see whether their entrepreneurial motivations and outcomes deviate or correlates. From the findings of this study, it was concluded that women with different educational background have different motivations for entering entrepreneurial activities. Women with a higher level of education had personal motivations for entering, such as personal fulfilment, the wish to actualize an idea and the wish to leave a legacy. On the other hand, women with a low level of education were forced into entrepreneurship, in order to support for their family and mainly their children. However, regarding the entrepreneurial outcomes, they correlate, showing that entrepreneurship and business training has given Zambian women self-confidence and a business-mind. / Vi lever i en ojämlik värld. Världens ojämlikheter påverkar kvinnor i större utsträckning än män, och extra utsatta är kvinnor i utvecklingsländer. I arbetet för att sträva mot jämlikhet och kvinnors uppnådda egenmakt har kvinnligt företagande visat positiva effekter för kvinnor i utvecklingsländer. För att vidare studera kvinnors motivationer och uppnådda effekter utav kvinnligt företagande i utvecklingsländer har en fältstudie utförts i Zambia. Organisationer som arbetar med utbildning inom företagande, i kombination med kvinnliga entreprenörer som tagit del av ett sådant utbildningsprogram har under tio veckor intervjuats på plats i Zambia. En jämförelse mellan kvinnor med hög respektive låg utbildningsnivå hargenomförts för att ta reda på om utbildningsbakgrund har påverkat deras motivationer och effekter av entreprenörskap. Resultaten av studien visar att kvinnor med olika utbildningsnivåhar olika motivationer för att starta företag. Kvinnor med högre utbildning startar företag av personliga skäl, så som önskan om självförverkligande, viljan att göra en idé till verklighet och viljan att lämna något efter sig. Kvinnor med lägre utbildningsnivå, startar å andra sidan företag på grund av att det är deras enda val. De tvingas in i entreprenörskap för att kunna försörja sina familjer, främst sina barn. Däremot visar effekterna av entreprenörskap likheter mellan kvinnorna, trots ojämn utbildningsnivå. Effekterna av entreprenörskap och företagsutbildning har gett zambiska kvinnor självförtroende och har hos dem utvecklat ett nytt företagstänk. Hädanefter kommer uppsatsen att presenteras på engelska.

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This study is focusing on the conflict-induced internally displaced Kurdish women&rsquo / s experiences. There has been an ongoing internal armed conflict in Turkey since 1984 and one of the consequences of this conflict is the internal displacement that occured in 1990s. In the displacement process, women and other family members were victimized. They did not only loose their homelands, but they also had to struggle in the city centers with poverty and discrimination. After they started to live in the city centers, women may become both marginalized and empowered. The aim of the study is to understand the situations that lead Kurdish women to be marginalized and/or empowered in the cities to which they have been forced to migrate. After the displacement process, which is one of the major victimization processes for these women, some of them may be trapped in ethnic and gender-based discrimination and may become more marginalized in the city centers. But marginalization and empowerment are not fixed categories and there is always a possibility for these women to transform their marginalized position into empowerment. By political engagement, working outside house and/or being head of the househod these women may break the cycle of their marginalization and becomes empowered in the city centers.

This research project has established a new measurement model for User Empowerment as an enabler to Enterprise Systems 1 success. This study was inspired by the reported relationship between Empowerment and improved work outcomes. From this, it was hypothesised that empowering the users of Enterprise Systems during the implementation process would improve the reports of post implementation system success. A new related concept of system oriented User Empowerment was conceived. The outcomes of empowering users (increased worker effectiveness; (increased work satisfaction) conceptually resonates very closely to the outcomes of individual performance, quality of system outputs, goodness of system functionality and, on a broader level, effective use of the system to yield successful business outcomes. These latter outcomes represent the measures of Enterprise Systems success. Thus Empowerment as an independent variable, and Enterprise Systems success as a dependent variable, provided a launching platform for the study. The research model was built upon the existing research into Empowerment as articulated by Spreitzer (Spreitzer, 1996) and Thomas and Velthouse (Thomas & Velthouse, 1990) and its derived systems related construct of User Empowerment, first explored by Doll, Deng and Metts (Doll, Deng, & Metts, 2003). It used a current and validated measure of Enterprise Systems Success as developed by Gable, Sedera and Chan (Gable, Sedera, & Chan, 2003); this measure is a refinement of the Information Systems Success Model of DeLone and McLean (DeLone & McLean, 2002). 2 In order to test the relationships of Empowerment to (Enterprise) System success, the following research sub-problems were explored: * What types of Empowerment are relevant in the Enterprise System context? * Is User Empowerment different from Psychological Empowerment and if so, how? * What is the relationship between Psychological Empowerment and User Empowerment? * How can User Empowerment be measured? * What is the effect of Psychological Empowerment on Enterprise Systems success? * What is the effect of User Empowerment on Enterprise Systems success? This research project was a PhD study funded by the Australian Research Council through an industry linkage program. The industry partner in this project was SAP - the most successful vendor of Enterprise Systems. Although limited in analysis the study spanned across two industry sectors, with two Enterprise Systems (Oracle and SAP). This research was a multimethod study and involved both qualitative and quantitative phases. The multimethod included content analysis, survey, and case study. This research was led by an explorative research strategy and paid considerable attention to analysing each research method in relation to other research methods, and also in relation to the demands of the research problem. A comprehensive literature review established extant definitions and constructs for Psychological Empowerment, User Empowerment and, Enterprise Systems success. The literature review employed a formal qualitative research method, using open coding supported through the use of Nvivo, a Qualitative software package, in order to identify and derive key themes in the referent disciplines. The responses from the email survey of Information Systems researchers, and Enterprise Systems consultants were triangulated with the findings from the categorised literature review on Empowerment. This sub-study utilised WordStat software and the findings were presented at the QualIT conference (Sehgal & Stewart, 2006). Drawing from the existing perspectives on Empowerment a contextbased perspective on Empowerment was proposed by the researcher. From this work, a new working definition of (User) Empowerment was derived. This construct proposed that User Empowerment involved Computer Self-efficacy, Perceived Usefulness, Intrinsic Motivation, User Autonomy, and Problem-solving and Decision support. Psychological Empowerment involves Meaning, Self-determination, Competence, and Impact. The research project then empirically tested the relationship of both Psychological Empowerment and User Empowerment to Enterprise Systems success using a quantitative enquiry. The new User Empowerment construct was statistically tested for validity and reliability. This quantitative study found no statistical evidence for a relationship between Psychological Empowerment and Enterprise Systems success. The study findings suggest significant statistical evidence for a relationship between User Empowerment and Enterprise Systems success. Statistical analysis showed that the construct for User Empowerment was different from the construct of Enterprise Systems success. These relationships held regardless of the level of the user: senior management, operational, end users or technical. This phase of the study was presented at the Americas Conference of Information Systems (Sehgal & Stewart, 2004). This exploratory survey was followed by another industry based case study, which confirmed the results for a different industry sector and different Enterprise System. This latter study was used in an independent confirmatory factor analysis of the Enterprise Systems success measurement which was presented at the Americas Conference on Information Systems (Sehgal & Stewart, 2004) and International Conference on Information Systems (Sedera, Gable, & Chan, 2004) by fellow researchers. This research has demonstrated that User Empowerment, rather than Psychological Empowerment was significantly related to Enterprise Systems Success. The study findings identified potentially significant benefits to the Enterprise System implementing organisations as well as the Enterprise System vendor from empowering Enterprise System users. Of the reported benefits one of the relevant one was improved and positive reports about the implemented Enterprise System. Further, the study highlights the importance of context when measuring a construct such as Empowerment. There are clear practical implications for the research outcomes. These include a recommendation that training programs should ensure that users have a high degree of computer self-efficacy when using the enterprise system. The validated User Empowerment instrument will be utilised as a diagnostic tool for organisational readiness prior to an ES implementation. This would assist in benchmarking the level of empowerment and predicted Enterprise Systems success. Future research will explore the effects of an Enterprise System on the components of User Empowerment as it is conjectured that there is a reciprocal relationship between the system and user attributes of Computer Self-efficacy, Problem-solving Decision Support, and understanding of business logic.

Syfte: Empowerment handlar om att stärka personalens motivation och arbetstillfredsställelse genom att bland annat delegera ansvar och att dela information inom företaget. Detta kan ske med hjälp av olika verktyg varav belöningssystem är ett av de mest effektivaste verktygen inom empowerment. Denna studie söker efter att belysa hur belöningssystem kan påverka personalens motivation i arbetet.   Metod: Studien har ett hermeneutiskt och socialkonstruktivistiskt perspektiv. Vi har använt oss utav en kvalitativ forskningsstrategi med semistrukturerade intervjuer för att samla empirisk data. Den teoretiska referensramen består av sekundär data från tidigare forskning. Vår forskningsprocess utgår ifrån den teoretiska referensramen, vi söker efter logiska paralleller mellan teori och empirisk data.   Resultat & slutsats: Vårt resultat visar både likheter och motsägelser mellan befintlig teori och vår empiriska undersökning. Vårt empiriska resultat har stärkt antagandet om att belöningssystem stärker personalens motivation. Vårt resultat avviker dock från befintlig teori angående att icke-finansiella belöningssystem bäst främjar personalens motivation.   Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Vi rekommenderar att undersöka hur företag kan använda sig av icke-finansiella belöningssystem för att bibehålla sin personal motiverad.   Uppsatsens bidrag: Vi bedömning är att andra studenter kan finna vårt resultat intressant för framtida studier med tanke på att vårt empiriska resultat har avvikit från befintlig teori. Vi anser även att resultatet kan vara intressant för en företagsledning. / Aim: Empowerment deals with increasing employee motivation and job satisfaction by delegating responsibility and sharing information within the organization. This can be done through various tools including reward systems, which is one of the most effective tools within empowerment. This study is searching for understanding around how reward systems can influence employee motivation.   Method: The study takes a hermeneutic and social constructionist perspective. We conducted a qualitative research strategy using semi-structured interviews to collect the empirical data. The theoretical framework consists of secondary data from researchers who have previously touched the subject. We sought logical parallels between the theory and the empirical data.   Result & Conclusions: Our study has found both similarities and differences between existing theory and our interpretation of the empirical data. Our empirical results have strengthened the assumption that reward systems reinforce staff motivation. However, our results differ from existing theory which discuss which reward systems best encourages increased motivation. According to the prevailing theory, should non-financial rewards motivate more than financial rewards.   Suggestions for future research: We recommend examining how companies can use non-financial reward systems and still keep their staff motivated.   Contribution of the thesis: we believe that other students may find this interesting for future studies as our empirical results differed from the existing theory. We also believe that the results can be interesting for an enterprise.   Key words: Empowerment, reward systems, motivation, total reward and decentralization.

This study is focused in a Guatemalan small village, Loma Linda, and on the local association ASODILL that is working for sustainable agriculture and alternative employment possibilities.   Many rural areas throughout the world, including Guatemala, have been exposed to neglect by the government, political exclusion, and socioeconomic inequalities. The civil war that roared in Guatemala from 1960 to 1996 left behind psychological suffering, mistrust for the government, socioeconomic weakening and infrastructural destruction. Currently Guatemala suffers from rural poverty, environmental destruction and from an unaccountable state prioritizing economic before an environmentally sound alternative development. Presently, pesticides are encouraged by the Guatemalan government and sold below the market price.  The pesticides are, however, destroying the soil and decreasing soil fertility to the point that it turns unusable for agriculture. There have been records of farmers protesting demanding change: requiring the government to halt environmental damaging actions and financial assistance for sustainable agriculture. I am examining if the local association, ASODILL, has contributed to a social, political and economic empowerment through their main objectives of sustainable agriculture and increasing employment alternatives Loma Linda. John Friedmanns Empowerment theory is the main helping device for understanding the empowerment effects of ASODILL in the village better. Ethnography as interpersonal method enabled me to construct a view on how the village has generally changed through the association, by participatory observation and interviews. The conclusion suggests that the association, through its work for sustainable development, has contributed to a social empowerment. This is mainly because Loma Linda already has the necessary prerequisites. With a stable social infrastructure ASODILLs external networking and expansion made the association grow which included them in a wider political community that aims for similar objective and thereby are politically empowered. The association has not yet achieved any economic empowerment.  If a long-term empowerment is to be achieved the Guatemalan government must start to take the farmers political demand seriously or there is a risk that the local prosperity will not be long lasted.

Published Article / This paper seeks to problematise the discourse of social justice in education and engage educational practitioners in tensions that exist in understanding the theory of social justice. I argue that social justice in education is constructed in a way that seeks to disturb not only the tensions of conceptualisation but the traditional power relations present in educational practice as well. This paper is influenced by an eclectic mix of theoretical sources; I have adopted, as a critical lens, poststructuralist, postmodernist, feminist as well as postcolonial theories to interrogate the social justice discourse. While the paper argues that the concept social justice is dynamic and fluid, it attempts to draw the discomforting truths or tensions of conceptualizing social justice. The debates around the conceptualisation of social justice will enable us to better understand the theoretical position which would take us closer to understand social justice in education.