Att delegera ansvar till sina medarbetare är närmast självklart i det moderna ledarskapet. Detta har lett till ett ökat behov av tillit mellan ledare och medarbetare. I en väl fungerande ledar-medarbetar-relation har medarbetarens tro på sin förmåga i arbetet – arbetsrelaterad self-efficacy – visat sig vara viktig. I föreliggande studie var syftet att undersöka betydelsen av medarbetarens arbetsrelaterade self-efficacy för ledarens tillitsintention. Avsikten var också att jämföra denna med betydelsen av medarbetarens objektiva kompetens, vilken traditionellt framhållits som viktig i tillitsbedömningar, samt medarbetarens kön. Deltagarna bestod av 44 ledare från ett industriföretag samt 28 ledare från ett vårdföretag. Resultatet visade en stark huvudeffekt av medarbetarens arbetsrelaterade self-efficacy. Detta talar för vikten av att investera i medarbetarnas personliga utveckling.

Team leadership research has largely relied on traditional dyadic models (i.e., those capturing one-on-one relationships between a leader and follower) to explain team-level phenomena. Despite recent advancements, much of this research falls short of addressing the complexity inherent to teams. One promising alternative to the traditional perspectives, functional leadership theory, moves beyond the constraints of dyadic models and instead advances a needs-based approach for understanding team leadership (i.e., effective leaders are those that meet any and all team needs). Although intuitive, the ambiguous nature of simply meeting team needs does not provide sufficient specificity as to how exactly leaders meet team needs. In an effort to address this issue, I introduce a multi-dimensional construct, called leader focus, to explain how leaders meet team needs by focusing their efforts on teamwork or taskwork (i.e., person-task focus) as well as different relational entities in the team (i.e., entity focus). In total, I propose six unique foci of team leadership: individual task-focus, team task-focus, subgroup task-focus, individual person-focus, team person-focus, and subgroup person-focus. Next, using social interdependence theory, I hypothesize that individual-focused leadership is most effective when task interdependence is low, whereas team- and subgroup-focused leadership are most effective when task interdependence is high. Further, person-focused leadership is hypothesized to influence team effectiveness by way of interpersonal processes; task-focused leadership is argued to influence team effectiveness via task-related processes. In a sample of 89 firefighting crews, partial support is found for the multi-foci model of team leadership. Team task-focused leadership influences team task performance indirectly through task processes; team person-focused and subgroup person-focused leadership influence team helping behaviors through interpersonal processes. Moreover, the relationship between individual task-focused and subgroup task-focused leadership on team processes is contingent on task interdependence. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

This thesis deals with the physical modeling of the initiation and propagation of upward positive leader discharges from grounded structures during lightning strikes. It includes the analysis of upward leaders initiated under the influence of the electric field produced by a dominant negative cloud charge and due to the combined action of a negative thundercloud and a descending downward stepped negative leader. Thus, a self-consistent model based on the physics of leader discharges is developed for the evaluation of the attachment of lightning flashes to any kind of grounded structure. The predictions of the model have been found to be in good agreement with the results of laboratory long air gap experiments and with classical and altitude rocket triggered lightning experiments. Due to the high application level and predictive power of the developed model, several contributions to the physical understanding of factors influencing the initiation and propagation of upward positive leaders during thunderstorms have been made. For instance, it has been found that the initiation of upward connecting leaders is strongly affected by the average velocity of the downward stepped leader. Similarly, it is shown that the switching voltage impulses used in the laboratory do not “fairly approximate” the electric fields produced by a descending downward leader, as claimed by supporters of Early Streamer Emission (ESE) devices. Furthermore, it is found that the space charge layer created by corona at ground level significantly increases the thundercloud electric fields required to initiate upward lightning leaders from tall objects. On the other hand, it is also shown that the upward leader velocity depends on the downward leader average velocity, the prospective return stroke current, the lateral distance of the downward leader channel and the ambient electric field. By implementing the model to the analysis of complex structures, it has been observed that the corners of actual buildings struck by lightning coincide rather well with the places characterized by low leader inception electric fields. Besides, it has been found that the leader inception zones of the corners of complex structures do not define symmetrical and circular regions as it is generally assumed.

Syfte: Syftet var att undersöka ledares syn på hälsa och hälsofrämjande arbete samt hur det eventuella hälsofrämjandet arbetet såg ut på deras företag. Vidare undersöktes ur ledarens synvinkel, hur, vad och varför ledaren och företaget arbetar som de gör med hälsa på sin arbetsplats. Metod: Författarna har genom intervju frågat ledare vid fyra företag med kontorsverksamhet vad de anser om hälsa och hälsofrämjande arbete och hur företagets hälsoarbete ser ut. Resultat: Resultatet visade att ledarnas syn på hälsa och hälsofrämjande arbete påverkar hälsoarbetet på företaget. Resultatet visade även att tre av fyra företag hade ett välutvecklat hälsofrämjande arbete. Slutsats: Samtliga ledare visade intresse för hälsa och hälsofrämjande arbete om än i olika grad och ledarnas intresse har en påverkan på det hälsofrämjande arbetet.

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Purpose/Aim: The comprehensive purpose is to study how the political journalism is framed, and how the party leaders, with focus on the authority, are constructed in the press. Material/Method: Firstly 84 articles articles printed in the swedish newspapers Aftonbladet, Dagens Nyheter and Svenska Dagbladet have been analysed. Secondly, a textual analysis by means of a critical discourse analysis. Main results: Media are inclined to frame politics as a game or a strategic race. The partyleaders are ascribed authority in different ways. This ascribed authority can also be deconstructed. Key words: Media and politics, party leader, discourse, democracy, framing theory

Purpose:            The purpose of this study is to investigate the importance of having an employee structure with mixed genders in an accounting firm.  This study answers the following questions: ·        How important is an employee structure with mixed genders in an accounting firm? ·        What are the differences in the employee structure of a Gibraltarian and a Swedish accounting firm?                                                 The roles of the genders in an organisation are becoming more and more important in today’s society. This is why I have studied this subject for my Master thesis and I think it can be interesting for the companies today to become more aware of the importance of mixed gender’s.   Method: To be able to complete my study I have collected data from questionnaires and interviews in the relevant companies and I have also looked for information in books and on the Internet. After gathering the information I analyzed it according to the theories, which are presented in the theory chapter. This study was presented to an opinion group from Högskolan i Gävle from abroad.     Result & Conclusion:        The importance of mixed genders is to be able to run the company as successfully as possible with the means necessary looking from both a feminine and a masculine perspective in a highly competitive market.                           I believe that PwC has succeeded with having a good working environment because they have mixed genders in the company. All the theories prove that mixing genders is important and I believe it is the reason that Sweden has a law about it and also is the reason why PwC have a policy for quota of genders.   Suggestions/future studies: For future studies it would be interesting if more accounting companies from a greater selection of countries could be compared. This comparison would be interesting if it was between a country with similar culture or even with the extreme opposites. It would also be interesting to compare the different PwC branches within Sweden to see if the policy for quota of genders varies in different parts of Sweden. Another suggestion to further studies would be to see if there is a link between masculine cultured countries having less female managers than feminine cultured countries.   The studies contribution: My study and the suggested future studies can be used to improve the working environment and outcome for company’s which do not already have a quota policy for genders.

The increasing importance of informal relationships derives from the steadily evolving and proceeding conditions in which we are involved in on a daily basis. These conditions range from the overall environment we are living in, over to our organizational working context and end up in our very own personal setting, namely our minds: in the end, we as human beings are the primary cause for the forming of such relationships, as they are established through our needs, concerns, wishes and fears. Furthermore, we are also highly influenced by our surrounding conditions, and so are the causes, types and effects of the so formed relationships. Our research offers an analytical as well as personal approach to bring the increasing importance of informal relationships to the minds of our readers. Especially leading figures in various organizational contexts are our target audience, as they have to cope with the also growing responsibilities and requirements that are accompanied by this process. Among scholars of this research field, there are many terms and expressions existing of such informal elements and happenings. Some speak of them as the ‘hidden assets’ of organizations, others entitle them as their ‘underlying powers’ and there also exist highly analytical notations, like for example ‘secondary adjustments’. However, all of them cannot entirely reproduce the thoughts and feelings we connect with our work. As we are now acting within the circle of these scholars, we take the liberty to add our own expression, which is best able to demonstrate our perception of such informal forces. We have given them the term ‘Lurking Lions’. They are powerful but also hard to encounter, as they are very well hidden behind the bushes of the formal organization and present without any noise. However, if our entitled lions realize some changes, threats or incentives in their environment, they are likely to reveal themselves and exert a drastic influence on the ones who caused them. By getting in contact with them, most people are likely to be overwhelmed as no one really knows about their thoughts, intentions and upcoming actions. Therefore, we tempt you to listen carefully, observe deeply and find out the nature of these ‘Lurking Lions’. By doing so, you can get a new powerful informal ally on your side.

Sedan införandet av förskoleklassen har denna frivilliga skolform blivit omdiskuterad. Olika utredningar och forskningsprojekt visar att det finns otydligheter kring syfte och uppdrag för förskoleklassens verksamhet som i sin tur påverkar lärarens roll i förskoleklassen. Förskoleklassen betecknas som någonting mellan förskolan och skolan och befinner sig i ett gränsland i vilket förskolans och skolans kultur möts. Syfte med den här studien är att undersöka hur skolledare uppfattar och funderar över lärarens roll i förskoleklassen. Skolledare tillhör en beslutformande yrkesgrupp inom skolvärlden och därmed utövar inflytande på vem som arbetar i förskoleklassen. Studien är baserad på öppna och kvalitativa intervjuer med fem skolledare och analysen är utförd utifrån ett fenomenografisk och hermeneutisk forskningsansats. Som teoretisk utgångspunkt för studien används gränslandsteori. Resultatet visar att skolledares uppfattningar kring lärarens roll kopplas till uppdraget för förskoleklassens verksamhet. Andra centrala begrepp som diskuteras i samband med lärarens roll i förskoleklassen är kompetens, samverkan, yrkesstatus och läroplanen. Skolledares uppfattningar visar båda likheter och skillnader. Samtidigt framkommer det att i sina resonemang skolledare rör sig i gränslandet.

Syftet med denna studie är att förmedla insikt i hur funktionärsledarna kan leda föratt få ideellt arbetande funktionärer att känna en meningsfullhet med det ideellaarbetet. Festivalorganisationerna menar att funktionärer är ovärderliga för att festivaler skavara möjliga att genomföra. Samtidigt uppstår under sommaren 2012 ett missnöjehos funktionärerna som menar att de arbetar under orimliga förhållanden och för-bises av deras funktionärsledare. I denna studie framkommer det att det råder olika syn på relationen mellan funk-tionärsledare och funktionärer. Funktionärer anser att funktionärsledare är förstressade och inte kan delegera och funktionärsledaren anser, i sin tur, att funktion-ärerna inte har något intresse för att arbeta under festivalen då de endast är ute efteren gratis biljett. Studien visar att det råder en omedvetenhet kring funktionärsledares ledarroll ochpå grund av det uppstår det ett bristfälligt ledarskap. Funktionärsledare bör, för attkunna reducera funktionärers missnöje, förstå funktionärers grundläggande driv-kraft till att arbeta på festivalen; att deras arbete ska få visad uppskattning, att dehar ett engagemang till de uppgifter de tilldelas samt att den huvudsakliga motiv tillatt arbeta som ideell funktionär är att få vara en del av en gemenskap. Denna studie har undersökt hur temporära funktionärsledare 1 och temporära,ideella funktionärer2 ser på ledarskapet under en festival och vilka problem ochutmaningar som finns i relationen mellan dessa. Uppsatsen vänder sig till personersom har ett intresse av fenomenet temporära ledare som arbetar med temporära,ideella funktionärer. / Festival organisations argue that volunteers are indispensable for the festival performance.However, in the summer of 2012, dissatisfaction among the volunteers appears when theyargue that they are working during bad conditions and also are mistreated during thefestivals. The purpose with this study is to provide insight in how volunteer leaders can lead thevolunteers so that they will be satisfied and feel that their work is important for the festival. In this study, it appears that there are different views on the relationship between volunteerleaders and volunteers. Volunteers believe that the volunteer leaders are too busy andtherefore are not able to delegate. Volunteer leaders believes, in turn, that the volunteershave no real interest in working at the festival when they are only looking for a free ticket. The study shows that the volunteer leaders are unaware of their leadership and also theirrole as leaders. Because of the lack of awareness, it displays a sort of unconsciouslyleadership. Volunteer leaders should, in order to reduce volunteers displeasure, understand thevolunteers fundamental driving force to work at the festival; that their work will beappreciated, that they have a commitment to the tasks and that the main motive to work asa volunteer is to be part of a community. This study examines how the temporary volunteer leaders and temporary volunteers viewat leadership during a festival and also the problems and challenges that exist in therelationship between them. This thesis is intended for people who have an interest in thephenomenon of temporary leaders working with temporary volunteers.