This study employs competitive dynamics theory, upper echelon perspective, power perspective, and strategic human resource management perspective to examine how executives matter with organizational outcomes. It argues that CEO dominance and executive human resource management system will affect top management team social integration, and the latter will promote aggressive competitive behavior. It also explores the performance implications of aggressive competitive behavior. Finally, it endeavors in opening the black box between executive human resource management system and firm performance. Anonymous questionnaires were distributed to firm executives, and the unit of analysis is firm level. Analyses with structural equation modeling confirmed most of our hypothesized relationships. CEO dominance is found to be negatively associated, but teamwork-oriented executive human resource management system is found to be positively related, with top management social integration. Top management team social integration will facilitate aggressive competitive behavior, and action speed matters with firm performance significantly. Finally, top management social integration and aggressive competitive behavior partially mediate the relationship of executive human resource management system and firm performance. Although strategic leadership research is prevalent, only few studies investigated the psychometric characteristics of top management team, even fewer paid attention to the impact of CEO power dominance on top management team¡¦s interaction. At the same time, strategic human resource management studies also put very few efforts on the topics of competitive behavior and top managers, although these issues should be critical sources of an organization¡¦s competitive advantage. This study is initiated to fill in these research gaps. Implications and limitations are discussed.

A qualitative study of how Småland local media depict Florence Stephen's declaration of invalidity This is a study that deals with the way in which Florence Stephen's declaration of affairs is viewed from the perspective of the local press. Previous research done in the field shows that Stephen was declared invalid on February 23, 1957, and the proposal for this was already taken on October 27, 1956. To complete the study, a qualitative text analysis has been conducted. This has been done with help from the newspapers Smålandsposten, Kronobergaren and Växjöbladet. Lukes and Focault's power perspective has been used as theoretical tools to analyze the results of the study. The result of the study shows that the papers depict the course starting from the first hearing on January 17, 1957 until Stephens asks himself unauthorized. Until her declaration of confidentiality, the newspapers write partly why the decision on her declaration of invalidity was taken and partly who made the decision. In newspapers, it is also possible to read that Stephen opposed the decision and fought for his authority. In addition, historical perspectives are presented regarding the negative development that occurred during her time as a user owner.

The aim of this study is to adress how preschool teachers reason about children's opportunities and difficulties for influence in preschool and how preschool teachers describe that this is shown in the preschool pedagogical environment. The questions that this study is based on are, how preschool teachers reason about children's opportunities for influence in preschool, in what way preschool teachers describe that they work with children's influence in everyday life at preschool and what difficulties and obstacles preschool teachers experience when it comes to working with children's influence in preschool. This qualitative study is based on the interviews of nine preschool teachers in the Stockholm area. The research approach has been a hermeneutic perspective and the results have been analyzed in accordance with power perspective and child perspective.   The result has shown that preschool teachers have a common view of what children's influence is and that they, in accordance with the preschool's control documents, are working consciously with children´s influence in their preschool practice. On the other hand, it has been proven that working with children's influence in preschool is complicated. As the preschool teachers expressed there are several factors that affect what working with children's influence can look like. Some of these factors are time, routines, staff shortage and the approach of educators. The result also showed that the preschool teachers express that children do gain influence in small and large choices, but that this is constantly done within the frame of what preschool teachers think is reasonable.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how the legal protection against sexual harassment at work functions, and where to draw the line. The study is limited to focus on the sexual harassment directed at women from men, because it usually occurs that way even though only a few report the incidents. The results are discussed from a gender perspective on how the distribution of power is between men and women as a way to explain sexual harassment.Sexual harassment is currently protected by the discrimination law and the EU principle of equal treatment for men and women. For a behavior to be considered as sexual harassment it has to be unwanted by the receiving party and the person practicing the harassments must be aware that the behavior is perceived as offensive. The behavior shall be of a sexual nature and contribute to a disadvantage for the victim in the form of a violation of that persons integrity.It is the victim that determines whether the behavior is perceived as sexual harassment or not, what one person believes is a friendly behavior may be perceived as offensive by another. Therefore, it becomes difficult to know where to draw the line, it is not defined in law and it is a subjective assessment. There are some behaviors that clearly are sexual harassment, but when it's not as clear, a notice is needed to the person performing the harassments. If the behavior continues after the warning it counts as sexual harassments.It is the employer's responsibility to ensure that sexual harassment doesn’t take place in the workplace and to investigate the incidents when it occurs. Only the employer can be held accountable in court for not fulfilling its investigation duty. A worker can’t be sentenced for sexual harassment if it doesn’t involve serious crimes which are regulated in the Penal Code.Sexual harassment is usually carried out by men against women and is therefore an important gender issue. Sexual harassment must be understood from a gender power perspective and it’s a way to maintain gender power relations between the sexes, where men have the power and are superior to women. The creation of gender power relations are both conscious and unconscious and maintained from both men and women, where sexual harassment is only a small part of a larger societal problem. / Syftet med denna studie är att utreda hur det rättsliga skyddet mot sexuella trakasserier ser ut i arbetslivet idag samt var gränsen går. Studien är avgränsad till att endast fokusera på de sexuella trakasserier som riktar sig till kvinnor från män, då detta förekommer i störst utsträckning även om få anmäler. Resultatet diskuteras sedan ur ett könsmaktsperspektiv då detta är ett sätt att förklara företeelsen sexuella trakasserier mellan män och kvinnor.Sexuella trakasserier skyddas idag genom diskrimineringslagen och genom EU-rättens lika-behandlingsprincip. För att ett beteende ska räknas som sexuella trakasserier ska det vara oönskat från den mottagande parten och den som utför trakasserierna ska ha insikt i att beteendet uppfattas som kränkande. Handlingarna ska vara av sexuell natur och bidra till ett missgynnande för den drabbade i form av en kränkning.Det är den utsatta som avgör om handlingarna uppfattas som sexuella trakasserier eller inte, det som en person uppfattar som ett vänskapligt beteende kan uppfattas som kränkande av en annan. Därför blir det svårt att veta var gränsen går, det definieras inte i lagtexten och det är en subjektiv bedömning. Det finns handlingar som uppenbart är sexuella trakasserier, men när det inte är lika enkelt behövs en tillsägelse till den som utför trakasserierna, fortsätter beteendet även efter anmärkningen är det att räkna som sexuella trakasserier.Det är arbetsgivarens ansvar att se till att sexuella trakasserier inte förekommer på arbets-platsen och att utreda händelserna när de ändå uppkommer. Endast arbetsgivaren kan ställas till svars inför domstol för att inte fullgjort sin utredningsplikt, en arbetstagare kan inte dömas för sexuella trakasserier om det inte rör sig om grövre fall som är reglerade i brottsbalken.Sexuella trakasserier sker oftast från män mot kvinnor och är därför en viktig jämställdhets-fråga. Sexuella trakasserier måste förstås ur ett könsmaktsperspektiv och ett sätt att behålla könsmaktsordningen mellan könen, där männen har makten och är överordnade kvinnorna. Skapandet och behållandet av könsmaktsordningen sker både medvetet och omedvetet från båda könen, där sexuella trakasserier bara är en liten del i ett större samhällsproblem.

Gender equality and gender equality work is relevant for today's working life, and previously male-dominated occupations may be increasingly under pressure to become more equal. This paper aims to explore and understand how the firefighters at a station are experiencing gender and gender equality in rescue services. Using theories of how sex is done, how a power perspective and a structural approach can show men's and women's different conditions in an organization, and theories that are more specific to gender and change management the firefighters talk about gender and gender equality are analyzed. Essay results were collected through interviews with seven firefighters and then analyzed and interpreted with the help of theories. The analysis shows that there is a perception among the firefighters that men and women are biologically different and that required physical strength legitimizes the exclusion of women. Inequality is seen as something natural and by pursuing an active gender equality women are given unwarranted benefits. When physical strength becomes a legitimate reason for exclusion, the responsibility for gender inequality is put on women and that women don’t have what it takes. There is also a resistance against gender equality analyzed in the paper, and it's stated opposition seems to be directed against the management's way of recruiting women. Respondents argue that management must reduce requirements for the employment of women, and therefore risk their and society's safety. Deeper analysis shows however, a perception that a woman can´t do the physical requirements and that women are not suitable as firefighters. The physical strength is not an individual characteristic that women can have, but it becomes part of the social performance of masculinity. It is not strength that firefighters are demanding but male firefighters, and resistance therefore appears to be directed against the representation of women in the profession that increases.

This study aims to highlight the power dynamics in the interaction between social workers specialized in working with people with disabilities and clients with disabilities, as well as how these social workers use themselves to manage these power differences. The study was conducted using a qualitative method where six social workers from three different municipalities were interviewed through semi-structured interviews. The empirical material was then analyzed using thematic analysis. The results are presented and analyzed with the support of selected theoretical frameworks, and the findings are further discussed in relation to previous studies. The results of this study show that the informants are aware of the power perspective in their interactions with clients, as well as the challenges and beneficial factors identified to attempt to create a more equal relationship in meetings with clients. The study demonstrates how the informants use their room for manoeuvre to improve a safe atmosphere, implement individual adjustments, and apply helping aids in their meetings. The results also show that informants experience challenges in influencing power differences towards a more equal relationship—where complexities in role distribution, difficulties in building relationships with clients, and varying degrees of participation affect the interactions. The challenges also include individual difficulties in using and managing the room for manouevre that the social workers possess. / Denna studie belyser maktrelationen i mötet mellan LSS-handläggare och klienter med funktionsnedsättning, samt hur LSS-handläggare använder sig själva för att hantera dessa maktskillnader. Studien genomfördes med en kvalitativ metod där sex LSS-handläggare från tre olika kommuner intervjuades genom semistrukturerade intervjuer. Det empiriska materialet analyserades sedan med hjälp av en tematisk analys. Resultatet redovisas och analyseras med stöd av valda teoretiska utgångspunkter, vidare diskuteras resultatet i förhållande till tidigare forskning. Resultatet av denna studie visar att deltagande LSS-handläggare är medvetna om maktperspektivet i mötet med klienter, samt vilka utmaningar och främjande faktorer som identifierats för att försöka skapa en mer jämlik relation i mötet. Studien visar på hur informanterna använder sitt handlingsutrymme för att främja en trygg atmosfär, genomföra individuella anpassningar samt tillämpningar av hjälpmedel i mötet. Resultatet visar även att informanter upplever utmaningar för möjligheterna att påverka maktskillnader i mötet till en mer jämlik relation - där en komplexitet i rollfördelningen, svårigheter att bygga relation med klienten och varierande grad av delaktighet påverkar mötet. Utmaningarna utgör även individuella svårigheter med att använda och förvalta det handlingsutrymme som handläggare besitter.