M.A. (Psychology) / The purpose of this study was to establish whether stress at various levels of management􀌀 namely Executive 1 Senior and Middle Management levels and between various Companies differed depending on personality related. environment related and family related variables. The theoretical basis for this study was that potential causes of stress (independent variables) such as person, environment, and family related variables manifested in stress (dependent variables) leading to physical and emotional ill-health and certain behavioural manifestations ...

M.Ed. (Education Management) / The subject of this investigation is the management function of the provincial administration clerk in the school. The investigation is limited to schools within the ambit of the Transvaal Education Department and has been aimed, primarily, at determining the responsibilities and position of the administration clerk in the effective functioning of the school. As the administration office forms the nerve-centre of the school's activities and due to its staff consistence of administration clerks, a clear indication of their duties and responsibilities is an essential management function of the school principal. The investigation in regard to the functions of the senior provincial administration clerk demonstrated that the school principal as the management leader, must possess a thorough knowledge of administrative matters. This is essential as he, being the in-service trainer, has to suitably equip the senior provincial administration clerk with the required knowledge and skills in order that she, in tum, can easily perform as management leader of the school's administrative section. In order to keep pace with change and modernisation, the school principal and administration clerks must be prepared to attend in-service training courses. Moreover, they must gain knowledge on their own accord through the reading of circular letters, catalogues, manuals and also keep abreast of technological development such as the modern micro computer, word processor as well as facsimile and duplicating machines. The services of a good administration clerk are indispensable to the school principal as well as the educator. Qualities which the administration clerk must possess include reliability, loyalty, responsibility, willingness to help, tact, courtesy, charm, enterprise and patience. AIthough the educator cannot be relieved of all administrative responsibilities, the school principal must nevertheless reflect seriously about administrative responsibilities that should not really be undertaken by the educator. By entrusting responsibilities such as the processing of marks, compiling of class lists, raising of funds, transport arrangements, controlling of stock, duplicating work...

Abstract It is valuable in large organization with multiple hierarchical levels that the general goals are communicated at all levels of the organization. Organizations usually have an overall business plan, which should serve as a guide and indicate the organization’s direction. Middle managers have an important part in communicating the overall business plan since they are a link between upper management and employees.   The purpose of this study was to examine how middle managers, in their role as a link between upper management and employees, communicate the overall business plan. The study was conducted at the County council in Värmland, which represents a large hierarchical organization. The overall business plan was landstingplanen. The theoretical framework used was primarily theories and previous research in organizational communication, communicative leadership and communication and structure. Eight middle managers were selected through a variety selection. The eight respondents were interviewed to examine in what way they are communicating and establishing the County council's overall business plan.   The results showed that the overall business plan is established and communicated in the different levels of the organization since it is broken down in two steps. The overall business plan functions as a support and gives guidance in how to accomplish the goals that are conveyed. The balanced scorecard that is a part of the overall business plan fills an important role in what middle management choose to priorities and communicate to their employees. However, the results indicated that the general formulation in the overall business plan resulted in a relatively free interpretation among the middle managers. Furthermore, the results showed that the attitudes against the County council’s vision among the respondents were fairly negative. The results also indicated that the middle managers are operating from a communicative leadership in communicating the overall business plan to their employees, but for this to be realized there must be a communicative empowerment.  The results also showed that discrepancy between the upper management and the employees was perceived as large, which may obstruct the middle managers to establish the overall business plan.

Psykosocial arbetsmiljö är något som påverkar oss alla i vårt dagliga yrkesliv. Vår undersökning syftar till att studera just den psykosociala arbetsmiljön som avdelningschefer upplever på Högskolan Dalarna. Studien är en kombination av semistrukturerade intervjuer och en medarbetarundersökning som man fyllt i på Högskolan Dalarna. Semistrukturerade intervjuerna är 5 till antalet och tjänar till att få mer djup i undersökningen. Intervjuerna genomfördes på plats och kommer att vara anonyma. Den insamlade data från medarbetarundersökningen kommer att testas mot KASAM teorin. Undersökningen påvisar att den generella psykosociala arbetsmiljön på Högskolan Dalarna är bra hos avdelningscheferna. Undersökningen påvisar även att kvinnors psykosociala arbetsmiljö var lite bättre än männens på Högskolan Dalarna. Undersökningen påvisar att det är främst inom KASAM-byggstenen hanterbarhet som Högskolan Dalarna har en utvecklingsresa att göra. / The psychosocial work environment is something that affects all of us in our daily working life. Our study will seek to look at the psychosocial work environment for departments heads at Dalarna University. The studies method is a combination of both questionnaire survey of the psychosocial work environment sent to all department heads and semi-structured interviews with five of the department heads. The collected data will be tested against both KASAM theory and gender perspective theory. The study shows that according to our research the psychosocial work environment is in general good at Dalarna university. The study also shows a difference between the genders in how they experience their psychosocial work environment. Women are happier in their work environment than men. Women find that they receive more help from their colleges and department heads than men do. The research points to a few number of areas where improvements are needed to make the psychosocial work environment better at Dalarna University.

Svåra samtal förekommer på samtliga arbetsplatser, dock resulterar de oftast i misslyckanden (Bradley & Campbell, 2016). Därför krävs det av ledare att anamma vissa strategier för att nå ett tillfredsställande resultat. Studiens fokus är att från ett ledarskapsperspektiv öka förståelsen om hur mellanchefer hanterar svåra samtal på sina arbetsplatser och hur de hanterar möjliga risker av svåra samtal både för sig själva och organisationen. Således utgår studien från tre frågeställningar där den första berör mellanchefernas användning av empati för svåra samtal och den andra om vilka strategier mellancheferna använder för svåra samtal. Vidare handlar den tredje frågeställningen om att undersöka vilka risker mellancheferna upplever kan uppkomma av svåra samtal både för sig själva och organisationen. Studiensempiri har samlats in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer samt att den bygger på en hermeneutisk forskningsansats. Empirin har vidare analyserats med hjälp av SCARFmodellen som handlar om den neurologiska påverkan hos anställda baserat på vilka strategierledare använder sig av under svåra samtal. Resultatet visar att mellanchefernas upplevelse av svåra samtal är både positivt och negativt, för både dem och för organisationen. Exempelvis upplever mellancheferna en känsla av obehag inför svåra samtal men att det i efterhand ofta resulterar i en förbättring, både på ett personligt och organisatoriskt plan. Resultatet visar även de strategier mellancheferna tenderar att använda sig av under svåra samtal samt hur de använder sig av empati för att öka sin kommunikationsförmåga under svåra samtal. Till exempel visar studien att mellancheferna använder den empatiska kompetensen för att bättre förstå sina medarbetares situation. Vidare använder mellancheferna sig av olika strategier, som exempelvis att visa att de förstår situationen genom att agera på det medarbetarna berättar. / Difficult conversations occur at all workplaces, although they tend to result in failure (Bradley & Campbell, 2016). Therefore it is required that leaders embrace certain strategies in order to reach a satisfying result. The aim of the study is to, through a leadership perspective, increase the understanding regarding how middle managers handle difficult conversations both for themselves as well as the organization. Thus, the study utilizes three questions whereas the first one refers to the middle managers adaptation of empathy during difficult conversations and the second refers to what strategies the middle managers adapt during difficult situations. Furthermore, the aim of the third question is to examine what risks middle managers believe can occur from difficult conversations both for themselves as well as the organization. The empiric was gathered through semi-structured interviews and is based on a hermeneutic research approach. The empiric has been further analyzed by dint of the SCARF model about how the employees neurologic influence is affected by the strategies used by the middle managers. The result shows that the experience of handling difficult conversations affects the middle managers both positively and negatively, for both themselves and the organization. For example, the middle managers experience a sense of discomfort before difficult conversations but in the end it results in improvement, both on a personal level and an organizational level. In addition, the result shows how those strategies the middle managers tend to adapt during difficult conversations as well as how they use empathy in order to increase their communication skills. For example, the study shows how the middle managers use their empathic competency as a way of increasing their understanding of the employees situation. Furthermore, the middle managers use different strategies, for example they show understanding of the employees situation by reacting to what they say.

I Sverige är socialtjänsten formellt underställd politiken. Denna studies syfte var att undersöka socialtjänstens enhetschefers perspektiv på socialnämndpolitikernas roll och möjlighet att påverka socialtjänstens arbete. Studien hade en kvalitativ ansats och datamaterialet samlades in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med fem enhetschefer för olika myndighetsutövande enheter inom socialtjänsten. Tematisk analys, rollteori och teori om social makt valdes ut till analysen. Studiens huvudresultat visade att enhetschefer ansåg att socialnämndspolitikerna ska sätta övergripande mål och riktlinjer för socialtjänstens arbete utan att detaljstyra. Tillit till tjänstepersonernas kompetens är viktigt. Politikerna har makten över strukturella beslut som exempelvis budget, medan socialsekreterarna har störst inflytande över individärenden. Enhetscheferna önskade högre budget för att kunna öka antalet anställda. Till skillnad från tidigare forskning visade resultatet i denna studie att tjänstepersonerna oftast är de som står för yrkesetiken. Goda relationer och tätare samarbete beskrevs som gynnsamma faktorer för framtida samarbete vilket är relevant för yrkesutövande att stäva efter. / Swedish social services are formally subordinated to municipal politics. This study’s purpose was to examine the perspective of middle managers in social services regarding the role of social committee politicians and their capacity to influence the work of social services. This qualitative study obtained data through semi-structured interviews with five middle managers. Thematic analysis, role theory and theory of social power were chosen for the analysis. Main results of the study showed that managers expect politicians to set the overall goals and guidelines, but not control in detail. Politicians have power over structural decisions such as budget, while social secretaries exert the greatest influence over individual matters. In contrast to previous research, this study showed that social workers more common than politicians take responsibility for professional ethics. Good relationships and closer cooperation were described as favorable factors for future cooperation, which is relevant for professionals to strive for.

This study is an attempt to improve job satisfaction and work motivation of the Egyptian textile managers and to fill the gap in the managerial literature regarding the Egyptian textile working context. The main objective of this study is to explore the motivation and job satisfaction of the Egyptian senior and middle managers. A research model was developed in order to explain and to understand the satisfaction and motivation process of senior and middle managers and was empirically tested in the actual textile context. Egyptian textile managers¿ motivation and job satisfaction were explored by using a total of 247 survey questionnaires and 33 interviews. The major findings indicated that the personal, organisational, and cultural factors were found to influence managers¿ job satisfaction and motivation. Managers were satisfied with their working conditions, job security, and their personal relationships. However, managers were dissatisfied with their pay, promotion, company policies, training, and their appraisal system. Moreover, managers have placed more concern for job content factors rather than for job context factors. The Egyptian culture was positively related with managers¿ concern for good personal relationships, achievement, responsibility, and for seeking to more knowledge. However, it negatively affected women managers¿ status as it led to a gender-biased discrimination towards them. The findings suggest a need to consider the personal differences between managers, improve the promotion system, review salary structure, adopt a results-focused appraisal system, pay more attention to the content job factors, improve training system, increase coordination and delegation of authority, give women equal rights, and increase managers¿ involvement in decision-making process. / Appendices files are not available online.

Amidst a world grappling with escalating environmental and social crises, this paper delves into how sustainability can be integrated into the fabric of organizations. In this context, we specifically want to understand the dynamic interaction between organizational and individual sustainability narratives in German SMEs in their contribution to decision-making. By taking the perspective of the Communicative Constitution of Organizations Theory and integrating Weick's Sensemaking Theory with the Osgood-Schramm Communication Model, the study analyzes how these sustainability narratives influence sensemaking which is integral to decision-making. We collected our data by conducting nine semi-structured interviews with representatives from five medium-sized food production companies in Germany. Our findings highlight the dynamic interplay between organizational and individual narratives that shapes decision-making in German SMEs. We find that both types of narratives significantly impact the sensemaking process. This process is integral to forming organizational and individual identities that influence perspectives on sustainability and ultimately decisions. Individual and organizational narratives are interdependent, continuously influencing and reshaping each other. Individual narratives, rooted in personal experiences and values, not only solidify personal identity but also affect organizational narratives, aligning with or challenging them to steer strategic sustainability focus. Organizational narratives, meanwhile, provide a framework that shapes individual actions and perceptions, molding the collective identity and guiding culture. Middle managers are key in this ecosystem, serving as sensegivers and moderators who navigate and mold these narratives within the company. The study offers both theoretical contributions and practical recommendations for enhancing sustainability in small and medium sized companies, emphasizing the importance of personal and organizational narratives.

This study set out to explore the strategising practices of middle managers and thereby expand the body of knowledge in terms of middle management practices in strategising in general, and makes an original contribution at the frontiers of middle management practices in a university context in South Africa. Although some research has been done on middle managers and strategy, a knowledge gap still exists, especially regarding strategising in emerging economies, such as South Africa. More specifically, the actions of middle managers at universities are open for exploration. Universities are increasingly exposed to new challenges in a competitive environment due to declining state funding, changing student demographics, new technological developments and increased market pressures. The sustainability of universities is also threatened by changes inside the universities, such as the drive for corporatisation and a changing internal focus. The way universities respond to and pre-empt dealing with these challenges will influence the sustainability and competitiveness of the university and subsequently the nations it serves. However, very little is known about the university managers who are powerful in terms of the administrative systems and decision processes. In order to understand strategy work viii and to know what enables or constrains it, it is necessary to look at middle managers at universities. This research puts forward three main arguments: firstly, strategy is dispersed throughout the entire organisation and includes middle managers’ strategising activities. Secondly, a need exists for practically relevant research founded in the organisational realities. Thirdly, universities present a relevant context within which to study strategising practices. An exploratory qualitative case study was followed to answer the research questions. Findings indicate that university middle managers, who operate within a machine bureaucracy, create systems within systems in order to cope with the organisational demands. Middle managers are mostly responsible for strategy implementation and the support role of university managers is prominent. Findings also indicate that the strategy loses its meaning and in an environment where the strategy textual artefacts and talk are abundant. In such an environment compliance takes precedence over buy-in. Finally, this study identified the enablers of and constraints on the strategy work of university middle managers. This research confirmed that strategy and strategising are human actions and confirmed that knowledge of what people do in relation to the strategies of organisations is required. / Economics / D. Com. (Business Management)

Mellanchefer intar en allt mer central roll i organisationer vilket resulterar i ökat ansvar både operativt och strategiskt. Huruvida mellanchefer bör rekryteras internt eller externt är svårt att fastställa. Då arbetsmarknad och samhället kräver en ständig utveckling och förnyelse av organisationer bör ledning arbeta strategiskt med att främja en ständig utveckling. Syftet med denna studie blir därför att öka kunskapen om hur intern respektive extern rekrytering av mellanchefer kan påverka organisationers innovationsförmåga och hur mellanchefsrekrytering, ur en strategisk synvinkel, kan bidra till innovation.Vi har genomfört en kvalitativ analys med semistrukturerade intervjuer där respondenter med erfarenhet av chefsrekrytering i organisationer från tre olika branscher har deltagit. Branscherna som studerats är industribranschen, servicebranschen och detaljhandelsbranschen för att fastställa eventuella skillnader i synen på innovation och mellanchefens roll i strävan mot denna i de olika branscherna. Studien har en komparativ design med ett målstyrt urval. Totalt deltog sex respondenter i studien med sina berättelser och erfarenheter kring chefsrekrytering. I analysen har vi arbetat utifrån en abduktiv ansats inspirerat av ett hermeneutiskt perspektiv. Den teoretiska referensramen har utvecklats med hjälp av tidigare litteratur kring mellanchefsrekrytering, innovation samt intern och extern rekryteringens för- och nackdelar som sedan används som utgångspunkt för att kategorisera de textavsnitt som identifierades i respektive analys.Vår forskning om hur intern respektive extern rekrytering av mellanchefer kan påverka organisationers innovationsförmåga leder till resultatet att majoriteten av respondenterna förespråkar karriärsutveckling genom intern rekrytering. Detta skulle leda till ökad innovation i högre grad än den externa rekryteringen. Att värna om befintliga medarbetare och låta dem växa och utvecklas gynnar organisationens innovationsförmåga och anses vara en mer effektiv rekryteringsmetod i strävan efter innovation. Något avvikande från detta är resultatet från analysen av serviceorganisationen som är medvetna om fördelarna med intern karriärutveckling men anser att den externa rekryteringens fördelar ändå väger tyngre utifrån innovationssynpunkt. Detta då de utifrån innovationsperspektivet ser nyskapande som resultat av att rekrytera externa individer som bidrar med nya idéer och tankesätt. Vår forskning bidrar med att öka kunskapen om hur intern respektive extern rekrytering av mellanchefer kan påverka organisationers innovationsförmåga. / Middle managers today have an increasingly central role in business organizations resulting in increased responsibility both operationally and strategically. Whether it is advisable to recruit middle managers internally or externally is a debated topic and seemingly a situation driven decision. As the labor market and society requires a continuous development and innovation of organizations the management should work strategically to promote a continuous development. The purpose of this study is therefore to increase the knowledge of how internal and external recruitment of middle managers can affect organizations' ability to pursue innovation and how recruitment of middle managers, from a strategic point of view, can contribute to innovation.We have conducted a qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews where respondents with experience of executive recruitment in organizations from three different sectors participated. The sectors studied were; the industrial sector, the service sector and the retail sector in order to determine the possible differences in views on innovation and the manager's role in pursuing this in their respective industries. The study has a comparative design with a purposive sampling. A total of six respondents were interviewed and their stories and experiences were included in this study. In the analysis, we have worked with an abductive approach inspired by a hermeneutic perspective. The theoretical framework has been developed by using previous literature on middle management recruitment and innovation and the internal and external recruitment advantages and disadvantages which later on have been used as the basis for structuring the text in the analysis.Our research of how the internal and external recruitment of middle managers can affect organizations' ability to pursue innovation leads to the result that most respondents advocate career development through internal recruitment. This would lead to greater innovation, to a greater extent than the external recruitment. Our results suggests that by retaining existing employees and allow for them to grow and develop, the organization promotes innovation and could be assumed to hold a more effective recruitment method in the pursuit of innovation. In contrast, the result of the analysis of the service organization shows that the respondents are well aware of the advantages of internal career development however despite these benefits they still debate that numerous advantages do prevail from an innovation perspective when recruiting middle managers externally. This due to, from an innovation perspective, the external recruitment would allow for the organization to host new objective individuals contributing with innovative ways of working and perhaps new sought after perspectives previously unknown to the organization. To summarize this study shall aim to contribute to an increased knowledge of how internal and external recruitment of middle managers affect organizations' ability to pursue innovation.This paper is written in Swedish.