The association of the name of Francis Bacon with that of Niccolo Machiavelli is no novelty to the modern reader. But in most instances this association is brief and fleeting, possessed of a will-o'-the-wisp character that is at once unsatisfying and challenging. The natural conclusion to which one is tempted to leap is that Bacon, since he is the more recent in point of time, was influenced by the great Florentine in matters of philosophy and style. A second possibility is that both men were influenced by similar conditions of political and cultural backgrounds. A still further consideration lies in the belief that certain ideas are "in the air", so to speak, and descend upon different minds in various times and places without implying any necessity of relationship. It seems advisable to study the two men and their works in the light of these three possibilities. It is not the purpose of this thesis to assert the influence of Machiavelli upon Bacon's philosophy as a whole. This study is rather an attempt to bring together in comparative consideration the personalities and philosophies of two outstanding minds of their respective ages, and to draw such conclusions as seem logical. To this end I propose to examine the theories of Machiavelli set forth in The Prince and the Discourses on Livy, and from this background to view Bacon's philosophy relating to civil business as set forth in his Essays, especially "Of Truth," and "Of Great Place," and in the Advancement of Learning. I have here used the term, philosophy, to refer to the principles of human conduct by which Bacon's life was governed, rather than in a metaphysical sense.

Our work and the organization in which we work play significant roles in many of our lives. Yet, theoretically grounded understanding of when is it that the relationships with our work and that with our work environment make a great place to work is almost non-existent. So far the organizations that feature in the Fortune Best Companies to Work For, or the Forbes the Happiest Companies to Work For, or the Glassdoor Best Places to Work, etc., are considered as proxies for great places to work. However, the characterizations of the antecedents of these workplaces are fragmented, idiosyncratic, and confounding, as they cover a wide span of factors (e.g., pride, job satisfaction, flexibility, inspiring leadership, camaraderie, trust, work-life balance, etc.), and adopt a one-size fits all approach, without a theoretical underpinning, limiting their generalizability and usefulness. In my dissertation, I addressed these shortcomings through the fit perspective and through the mechanism of meaning in and at work. I proposed the meaning-through-fit model of great places to work, underpinned by identity (Stryker & Berke, 2000), social identity (Ashforth & Mael, 1989), and social information processing theories (Salancik & Pfeffer, 1978). The model hypothesized that the employees’ perception of a great place to work is built and sustained by meaning in work (from the relationship with the work itself) based on the underlying person-work fit, and by meaning at work (from the relationship with the work environment) based on the underlying person-supervisor, the person-group, and the person-organization fits. I tested the proposed model using a mixed methods approach, with the help of three Studies. In Study 1, I conducted 26 semi-structured interviews to assess the face validity of the model and to obtain inputs for the survey instrument and for the scenario descriptions to be used in Study 2. In Study 2, I tested the hypothesized model with the help of quantitative data gathered through a three-wave Main Survey with participants from MTurk (N=481), after two Pilot Surveys (N=95 and 247). I confirmed the results through Scenario Analysis with participants from MTurk (N=399). Out of the seven main variables in the proposed model, I developed scales to measure three variables (employees’ perception of a great place to work, meaning at work, and person-group fit), and refined the scales to measure four variables (person-work fit, person-supervisor fit, person-organization fit, and meaning in work). In Study 3, I conducted 45 structured interviews in order to gain a deeper understanding of the findings from Study 2. The quantitative data gathered in Study 2 provided partial support to the proposed model, indicating that meaning in work partly mediated the relationship between person-work fit and employees’ perception of a great places to work, and meaning at work partly mediated the relationship between person-organization fit and employees’ perception of a great place to work. The data also indicated that meaning at work is the more significant predictor compared to meaning in work. Among the fits, person-organization fit mattered the most. Study 3 provided interesting insights and explanations about the findings from Study 2. The meaning-through-fit model of great places to work works around the problematic one-size fits all approach, acknowledges the differences among the employees in the understanding of and expectations from a great places to work, offers increased generalizability and a pathway to leaders to build great places to work from the employees’ perspective, and contributes theoretically and empirically to Positive Organizational Scholarship. / Graduate / 2019-08-26

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Studien har genomförts på en svensk organisation som står inför en branschomställning vilket innebär att rekryteringsbehovet ökar och fler medarbetare behöver anställas. Syftet med studien är att undersöka vad en attraktiv arbetsplats är, hur attraktiva arbetsplatser skapas, om det går att mäta och hur den studerade organisationen förhåller sig till det.   Datainsamlingen bestod av marknadsundersökningar som behandlar vad som utgör attraktiva arbetsplatser, organisationens egen medarbetarundersökning samt intervjuer med ledning och medarbetare. Data analyserades med teorier och tidigare forskning inom organisatorisk förändring, ledarskap och sensemaking, offensiv kvalitetsutveckling, attraktiv arbetsplats samt arbetsgivarvarumärke.   Organisationens medarbetare trivs väldigt bra, men organisationen har ett arbete framför sig för att bli mer attraktiva bland potentiella arbetstagare. Förbättringspotential ligger i att skapa delaktighet bland medarbetarna, ökad transparens i kommunikation och beslutsfattande, ledarskap och sensemaking samt att arbeta aktivt med ständiga förbättringar och innovation.   Med hänsyn till hur en attraktiv arbetsplats kan mätas presenteras en mognadsmodell med fem dimensioner. Dessa är sociala värderingar, maximera potential, effektivt ledarskap, ömsesidig tillit samt utveckling och innovation. Organisationen utvärderas med hjälp av modellen och nuläge identifieras. Slutligen presenteras förbättringsförslag som organisationen kan använda sig av för att göra en förflyttning mot att bli en mer attraktiv arbetsplats. / The study has been conducted at a Swedish organization facing industry changes and scaling, meaning the organization need to reconsider their strategies for attraction and retention of employees. The study aims to investigate what makes a workplace attractive, how great places to work are created and how this can be measured. Further, the study investigates where the specific organization fits into this and how they can create a workplace to attract more talent.   Data for the study was collected through market research, the organization's employee survey and through interviews with top management as well as employees. The data was analyzed using theories and previous research within organizational change, leadership and sensemaking, total quality management, great place to work and employer branding.   There is an overall high satisfaction amongst employees of the organization, however, there are areas of improvement. The organization needs to work with involving and engaging employees at all levels, increase transparency in communication and decision making, leading through sensemaking, and working actively with continuous improvements to innovate.   In regards of measuring how attractive a workplace is, a maturity grid has been presented. The maturity grid is based on five dimensions for creating a great place to work. These are social values, maximizing potential, efficient leadership, mutual trust in addition to continuous improvement and innovation. The studied organization has been evaluated in the maturity grid and suggestion for improvement to create a better workplace has been presented.