The dissertation addresses men and change, intergenerational transmission, historical change and agency, employing as a case a longitudinal follow-up study over two generations of men, where the fathers participated in an experimental research project, the Work-Sharing Couples Project, which aimed to promote egalitarian work–family adaptations in Norway in the early 1970s. The original project was based on both spouses working part-time and shift parenting. The summary presents a multidimensional analysis of the work–family adaptations of the two generations of men: the untraditional adaptation of fathers in the 1970s; and the neo-traditional adaptations of sons in the 2000s. Their different work–family adaptations are discussed as situated agency, taking into account different aspects of time and space, personal biography, discursive and material structures of opportunity, and intergenerational dynamics at the family level as well as at social level. The five articles present the empirical material: Bjørnholt (2009a) presents the impact on the couple relation and the family of the the parents’ work–sharing arrangement, concluding that the work-sharing arrangement was perceived by the participants to have been beneficial for their couple relationship as well as for the family as a whole. Bjørnholt (2011) explores the motivations of the work-sharing men to act as agents of change towards gender equality, concluding that personal biography, an authoritative way of being and new masculinity ideals, notably a partner- oriented masculinity, were important. Bjørnholt (2010b) analyses the consequences of the work-sharing arrangement on the work-sharing men’s careers, concluding that there were few negative career effects. They were rather successful, and their house-father experiences tended to be valued by employers as management skills. Bjørnholt (2009b) concludes that a father–son design is insufficient in explaining intergenerational transmission and Bjørnholt (2010c) finds that the untraditional work–family arrangement had not been passed on to sons.

Background: Dementia presents challenges for whole families requiring on-going adaptation. Family relationships provide important benefits, thus understanding the impact of dementia for families is critical to facilitating their wellbeing. Behavioural variant Frontotemporal Dementia (bvFTD) brings specific challenges for relationships, however little is understood about how these are experienced or how families adjust. Aims: This research sought to develop an in-depth understanding of the inter-generational family experience of bvFTD over time. Method: Using a qualitative design, nineteen people were interviewed from seven families, including people living with bvFTD. Interviews occurred over three time points. Narrative analysis and grounded theory were used to understand how relationships are affected and the psycho-social coping processes involved in adjustment over time. Results: Four themes emerged; - Cohesive and connected --- distant and disconnected - Challenges to we/ I - Assimilating, adjusting and reconstructing --- resisting, denying, being stuck - A changing we / I --- an entrenched we / I Results illustrate the influence of pre-existing relationships on family experiences of bvFTD. Challenges to family relationships occurred, including changes in mutuality and increased responsibility. Levels of awareness and understanding, influenced by factors such as proximity impacted upon individual and family adjustment. Assimilating these changes was critical to developing strategies for managing the impact on the relationship and adapting to ‘a changing we’. For closest family members including partners, grief and loss were experienced resulting in the need for a parallel adaptation to a changing ‘I’. Acceptance and adaptation was critical to supporting the wellbeing of the person with bvFTD.

Background: Dementia presents challenges for whole families requiring on-going adaptation. Family relationships provide important benefits, thus understanding the impact of dementia for families is critical to facilitating their wellbeing. Behavioural variant Frontotemporal Dementia (bvFTD) brings specific challenges for relationships, however little is understood about how these are experienced or how families adjust. Aims: This research sought to develop an in-depth understanding of the inter-generational family experience of bvFTD over time. Method: Using a qualitative design, nineteen people were interviewed from seven families, including people living with bvFTD. Interviews occurred over three time points. Narrative analysis and grounded theory were used to understand how relationships are affected and the psycho-social coping processes involved in adjustment over time. Results: Four themes emerged; - Cohesive and connected --- distant and disconnected - Challenges to we/ I - Assimilating, adjusting and reconstructing --- resisting, denying, being stuck - A changing we / I --- an entrenched we / I Results illustrate the influence of pre-existing relationships on family experiences of bvFTD. Challenges to family relationships occurred, including changes in mutuality and increased responsibility. Levels of awareness and understanding, influenced by factors such as proximity impacted upon individual and family adjustment. Assimilating these changes was critical to developing strategies for managing the impact on the relationship and adapting to ‘a changing we’. For closest family members including partners, grief and loss were experienced resulting in the need for a parallel adaptation to a changing ‘I’. Acceptance and adaptation was critical to supporting the wellbeing of the person with bvFTD. / The Florence Nightingale Foundation; The General Nursing Council for England and Wales Trust; The Atkinson Morley and Amandus Club Neuroscience.

La divulgation d’informations sur les risques est une problématique centrale de la communication des entreprises cotées. De nombreuses dispositions réglementaires ont été mises en œuvre aux Etats-Unis et en Europe pour promouvoir la transparence sur les risques et les dispositifs de contrôle mis en place pour leur gestion. Les exigences de certification de l’efficacité de ces dispositifs conduit à la question de savoir si ou comment les entreprises non-financières françaises, ayant une double cotation aux Etats-Unis et en France, sont conformes à ces règlementations. Dans ce contexte, il est soutenu que la mise en évidence des différents niveaux de formalisation des dispositifs de contrôle des risques, à travers la communication des entreprises, permet de dégager des typologies originales de mise en conformité et de gouvernance des organisations. La démarche de recherche adoptée est basée sur l’étude de cas longitudinale qui permet de suivre les entreprises du lancement des projets de mise en conformité, à la stabilisation des processus de production de la certification des procédures de contrôle des risques. Les données recueillies (entretiens, rapports annuels) font l’objet d’une analyse de contenu à travers le COSO2. Une seconde étape est leur traitement statistique pour discriminer les réponses stratégiques dans le temps et entre entreprises. Les observations empiriques mettent en exergue différentes réponses stratégiques en fonction de deux périodes et des préoccupations économiques et stratégiques des entreprises. / Risk oriented disclosure is a central issue of listed companies communication. Many Risk-based regulations have been implemented in the US and Europe to promote transparency about risks and controls mechanisms. Under the requirements of the SOX, executives must certify the public company’s financial results (section 302) and have to issue a report on the effectiveness of the company’s internal controls over financial reporting (section 404). The increase of mandatory risk reporting leads to the question of whether or how the French non-financial companies cross-listed in the US and France are compliant with these regulations. In this context and across corporate communication, it is argued that different levels of risk control’s formalization can highlight original typology of compliance and corporate governance. This research uses a longitudinal case study in order to explore the implementation of risk control measures and the risk narrative disclosure strategies to enhance organizational legitimacy. The collected data (interviews, risk disclosures within annual reports) are subject to a content analysis through COSO2. A second step is a statistical analysis to discriminate strategic responses over the time and between companies. Empirical observations point to different strategic responses to institutional processes based on two periods as well as economic and strategic business concerns. The first phase shows that risk control process is structured in order to build the auditability of organization. While, in the second phase companies develop different strategic responses more consistent with their concerns.