With a culture focused on leadership, the purpose in this study was to explore untested assumptions about followers and their being ignored as independent productive actors in the workplace. The lived experience of followers and their impact on the success or failure of organizations during periods of absent leadership was explored via 4 independent situations. A qualitative, phenomenological research design based primarily on the theoretical framework of Moustakas and the research design of Patton guided the study. The 3 key research questions were explored with regard to followers during periods of absent leadership: how they respond, what actions they take to fill the void, and the purpose of their actions and reactions. The qualitative data were coded and centered around 4 themes: (a) productivity, (b) morale, (c) direction, and (d) interpersonal behavior during periods of absent leadership. The results indicated that followers did not descend into chaos without leaders, thus refuting a primary conjecture about their assumed workplace behavior. Instead, emergent consensual self-managing teams arose, and this research resulted in a proposed organization-member exchange (OMX) construct for further research to account for the environmental context as a potential substitute to the traditional leader-follower relationship. Social change may occur by increasing efficiencies if additional training is provided for followers to prepare themselves for absent leadership and for leaders to realize the full potential of followers. Attempts at developing self-managed groups to fully utilize the leadership potential might serve to negate negative effects of the departure of a designated leader and promote employee wellbeing as contributing and valued members of the organization.

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Sammanfattning Titel: ”Det är bara narcissister och diktatorer som inte gillar platta organisationer”- En fallstudie om arbetsmiljö i en medarbetarstyrd organisation Författare: Madeleine Brolin, Mattias Vall och Sandra Permerud Institution: Ekonomihögskolan vid Linnéuniversitetet Kurs: Företagsekonomi III - organisation, examensarbete 15 hp Handledare: Hans Wessblad Examinator: Mikael Lundgren Syfte: Syftet med vår uppsats är att inventera på vilka sätt arbetsmiljön påverkas av medarbetarstyrning. Metod och teoretisk referensram: Studien är en fallstudie av en medarbetarstyrd organisation. Studien har en deduktiv ansats och har antagit en kvalitativ forskningsstrategi då syftet varit att få en djupare förståelse för hur respondenterna upplever sin arbetsmiljö. Studiens datainsamlingsmetod består av primärdata i form av tio semistrukturerade intervjuer. Studiens teoretiska referensram utgår från Krav- Kontroll-Stödmodellen. Slutsats: Vi har kommit fram till att medarbetarstyrning innebär höga krav på delaktighet, engagemang och beslutsfattande. Vår studie har visat att den höga kontrollen som råder i den medarbetarstyrda organisationen kan upplevas som ett krav. Medarbetarstyrning ställer även krav på individen att finnas tillgänglig för att ge stöd åt sina kollegor och individen förväntas att själv be om stöd vid behov. Vi har därmed kunnat konstatera att det sociala stödet är avgörande för att kunna hantera de höga krav och den höga kontroll som råder inom den medarbetarstyrda organisationen. Nyckelord: Medarbetarstyrning, Självstyrande team, Arbetsmiljö, Krav-Kontroll- Stödmodellen. / Abstract Title: “Only narcissists and dictators dislike decentralized organizations”- A case study of working environment in an employee controlled organization Authors: Madeleine Brolin, Mattias Vall and Sandra Permerud Institution: School of Business and Economics at Linnaeus University Course: Business Administration III - Organization, bachelor thesis, 15 credit Supervisor: Hans Wessblad Examiner: Mikael Lundgren Purpose: The purpose of our candidate essay is to investigate in what ways working environment is affected by employee controlled organisations. Method: This is a case study of an employee controlled organization. The study has a deductive approach and has assumed a qualitative research strategy with the purpose of achieving a deeper understanding of how respondents perceive their working environment. The primary data has been collected through ten semi structured interviews. The theoretical framework derives from the job demand-control-support model. Conclusion: An employee controlled organization amount to high demands of participation, commitment and decision making. Our study has shown that high levels of control that prevails in an employee controlled organisation can be perceived as demands. An employee controlled organization also postulates that individuals is available to and support colleagues, it is also expected of individuals to ask for help when needed. Accordingly we find that the social support is crucial to be able to handle the high demands and high control of an employee controlled organization. Keywords: Self-managed work teams, Work environment, Demand-Control-Social support model

The thesis describes and analyses a long-term transformative change program conducted at ICI (Australia) Botany Site between the years 1987 - 1997. The change program is unusual in that, after a massive and destructive confrontation between management and the unions, a new collaborative approach to change was developed which led to significant organisational renewal. Change interventions developed in the program have diffused through Australian industry over the decade. The program is analysed within the framework of a theoretical model which describes a path taken towards achieving a capable organisation which can sustain productive performance. The thesis uses evidence from the case to investigate issues of management style, governance, flexibility, 'bundled interventions', productivity, work organisation, downsizing, reward systems, skills acquisition and self-managed teams. A theoretical model of organisational change is developed which suggests how the treatment of these contingencies can lead to organisational capability.

Benzodiazepines have been widely prescribed since the 1960s for the management of adverse symptoms related to anxiety, depression, and sleep problems. They were regarded as an efficacious medication when compared with their predecessor, barbiturates. Within 10 years of their introduction, concerns began to be raised regarding their potential to produce dependence and withdrawal symptoms when ceased, including symptoms not present prior to their being prescribed. Subsequent research focussed on establishing effective strategies to ameliorate the adverse symptoms experienced even when the daily intake was slowly reduced. The aim of the work undertaken for this doctorate was to establish whether there was a role for cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) in benzodiazepine cessation. The initial step in conducting the research for this doctorate was to obtain a detailed understanding of the current state of research on benzodiazepine cessation. Study 1 therefore focussed on establishing the effectiveness of treatment approaches used to assist individuals to cease benzodiazepine use. A Meta-analysis of treatment strategies undertaken in general practice and outpatient settings established that brief intervention resulted in superior cessation rates at post-treatment than routine care. Gradual dose reduction plus CBT was slightly superior to gradual dose reduction alone. However, substitutive pharmacotherapies in combination with gradual dose reduction did not result in a superior outcome to gradual dose reduction alone, and substitutive pharmacotherapy plus abrupt benzodiazepine cessation was less effective than gradual dose reduction. While, providing CBT in conjunction with gradual dose reduction offered a superior outcome than gradual dose reduction alone, current evidence does not identify the CBT strategies that contributed to the superior outcome. The next step in the development of the CBT intervention involved obtaining a deep appreciation of the issues relating to cessation from the perspective of General Practitioners (GPs) and Benzodiazepine Users (BzUs). Accordingly, Study 2 administered semi-structured interviews about benzodiazepine use and its cessation to 28 GPs and 23 BzUs. Responses were analysed using the Consensual Qualitative Research approach, as it enabled comparisons to be made between the views of the two groups of interviewees. The study identified commonality between GPs and BzUs on reasons for commencing use, the role of dependence in continued use, and the importance of lifestyle change in its cessation. BzUs felt there was greater need for GPs to routinely advise patients about non-pharmacological management of their problems and potential adverse consequences of long-term use before prescribing benzodiazepines. Few GPs had assisted a patient to cease use reportedly due to the required time and the expectation of a poor outcome. There was a perception that patients wanted a pharmacological solution to their problems. A critical gap in assessment instruments that are needed for a comprehensive assessment of the outcomes from a treatment trial was identified. In particular, there was no measure of benzodiazepine expectancy or self-efficacy concerning maintenance of benzodiazepine dose reduction. Therefore, Study 3 adapted existing expectancy and self-efficacy measures form other substance domains to verify their applicability to benzodiazepines. Current BzUs (n = 155) were invited to complete two questionnaires either online or via hard copy. Principal component analysis (PCA) of a newly developed Benzodiazepine Expectancy Questionnaire (BEQ) resulted an 18-item, 2-factor scale, while a Benzodiazepine Refusal Self Efficacy Questionnaire (BRSEQ) formed a 16-item, 4-factor scale, Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in a second sample (n = 139) confirmed these internal structures, reducing the BEQ to 12 items and the BRSEQ to 14 items respectively. The qualitative study suggested that many GPs would be reluctant to engage in psychological support for benzodiazepine cessation and it was evident that specialist services would be unable to provide substantial support especially in rural and remote areas. Accordingly, it was decided to develop a treatment that was remotely delivered. The initial pilot used a correspondence-based approach, delivered via the postal service. Study 4 comprised a small pilot comparing GP managed gradual dose reduction, plus CBT via mail (M-CBT), which was either delivered immediately (IM-CBT) or after 3 months (DM-CBT). Despite substantial efforts over a 2 year period to recruit GPs and BzUs, only 6 received the allocated intervention. It was decided to trial the intervention as an internet-delivered program to enhance its accessibility to BzUs. Access to the program was promoted through the project website and links from high profile support websites. Study 5 was an uncontrolled trial of internet-based CBT (I-CBT). Access was provided to all newsletters, although, participants were given a suggested sequence for access. Despite placement on the internet and cross-listing on several key websites, the study still only recruited 35 participants (3 of which received the program by mail). Of the 32 undertaking the program via the internet, 21 completed the 3-month assessments and 14 the 6-month assessments. Eight participants reduced their weekly benzodiazepine intake by at least 50%, by 3 months, with five ceasing use at 6 months. A significant increase in self-efficacy, and a decrease in depressive symptoms and dependence were seen. Providing CBT either via mail or the internet assisted some participants to reduce or cease long-term benzodiazepine use. Recruitment to both M-CBT and I-CBT was limited, despite substantial attempts to market the intervention. The studies undertaken for this doctorate make a unique contribution to improving treatment outcomes for people wishing to cease long-term benzodiazepine use. They also provide direction for more extensive studies to definitively establish the nature of effective treatment. The current evidence clearly supports the importance of gradual dose reduction and the role of CBT in further improving treatment outcomes. However, engagement of both BzUs and GPs remains challenging. Remote delivery of CBT via mail or the internet may assist with improving access to CBT, but it does not solve the problem of GP and BzU engagement. An effective system-wide program to address long-term benzodiazepine use will require that incentives for GP involvement (a disincentive for long-term prescription) are in place.

Les domaines de recherche actuels, tels que l'informatique ubiquitaire et l'informatique en nuage (cloud computing), considèrent que ces environnements d’exécution sont en changement continue. Les applications dynamiques, où les composants peuvent être ajoutés et supprimés pendant l'exécution, permettent à un logiciel de s'adapter et de s'ajuster à l'évolution des environnements, et de tenir compte de l’évolution du logiciel. Malheureusement, les applications dynamiques soulèvent des questions de conception et de développement qui n'ont pas encore été pleinement explorées.Dans cette thèse, nous montrons que le dynamisme est une préoccupation transversale qui rompt avec un grand nombre d’hypothèses que les développeurs d’applications classiques sont autorisés à prendre. Le dynamisme affecte profondément la conception et développement de logiciels. S'il n'est pas manipulé correctement, le dynamisme peut « silencieusement » corrompre l'application. De plus, l'écriture d'applications dynamiques est complexe et sujette à erreur. Et compte tenu du niveau de complexité et de l’impact du dynamisme sur le processus du développement, le logiciel ne peut pas devenir dynamique sans (de large) modification et le dynamisme ne peut pas être totalement transparent (bien que beaucoup de celui-ci peut souvent être externalisées ou automatisées).Ce travail a pour but d’offrir à l’architecte logiciel le contrôle sur le niveau, la nature et la granularité du dynamisme qui est nécessaire dans les applications dynamiques. Cela permet aux architectes et aux développeurs de choisir les zones de l'application où les efforts de programmation des composants dynamiques seront investis, en évitant le coût et la complexité de rendre tous les composants dynamiques. L'idée est de permettre aux architectes de déterminer l'équilibre entre les efforts à fournir et le niveau de dynamisme requis pour les besoins de l'application. / Current areas of research, such as ubiquitous and cloud computing, consider execution environments to be in a constant state of change. Dynamic applications—where components can be added, removed and substituted during execution—allow software to adapt and adjust to changing environments, and to accommodate evolving features. Unfortunately, dynamic applications raise design and development issues that have yet to be fully addressed. In this dissertation we show that dynamism is a crosscutting concern that breaks many of the assumptions that developers are otherwise allowed to make in classic applications. Dynamism deeply impacts software design and development. If not handled correctly, dynamism can silently corrupt the application. Furthermore, writing dynamic applications is complex and error-prone, and given the level of complexity and the impact dynamism has on the development process, software cannot become dynamic without (extensive) modification and dynamism cannot be entirely transparent (although much of it may often be externalized or automated). This work focuses on giving the software architect control over the level, the nature and the granularity of dynamism that is required in dynamic applications. This allows architects and developers to choose where the efforts of programming dynamic components are best spent, avoiding the cost and complexity of making all components dynamic. The idea is to allow architects to determine the balance between the efforts spent and the level of dynamism required for the application's needs. At design-time we perform an impact analysis using the architect's requirements for dynamism. This serves to identify components that can be corrupted by dynamism and to—at the architect's disposition—render selected components resilient to dynamism. The application becomes a well-defined mix of dynamic areas, where components are expected to change at runtime, and static areas that are protected from dynamism and where programming is simpler and less restrictive. At runtime, our framework ensures the application remains consistent—even after unexpected dynamic events—by computing and removing potentially corrupt components. The framework attempts to recover quickly from dynamism and to minimize the impact of dynamism on the application. Our work builds on recent Software Engineering and Middleware technologies—namely, OSGi, iPOJO and APAM—that provide basic mechanisms to handle dynamism, such as dependency injection, late-binding, service availability notifications, deployment, lifecycle and dependency management. Our approach, implemented in the Robusta prototype, extends and complements these technologies by providing design and development-time support, and enforcing application execution consistency in the face of dynamism.

The theoretical part of the dissertation focuses on the describtion of the modern trends in the development of the organizational structure of the company and specific evolutionary phases of the entrepreneurial subject. The practical part is based on the application of the skills obtained in the theoretical part on the particular entrepreneurial subject, the ASECCO company.

This research investigated how self-managed teams get the information they need to perform their job tasks. Two important factors prompted this study: the growing importance of self-managed teams in the workplace and the impact of the information system on team performance.

Vi har funnit fyra övergripande kategorier med förutsättningar för implementering av självstyrande team. Organisatoriska förutsättningar, ledarskapets påverkan på självstyrande team, förutsättningar gällande de anställda inom arbetsgrupperna samt motstånd till förändring och självstyre. Relevansen av förutsättningarna varierande i praktiken. Även om organisationer inte idag har alla de förutsättningar som nämns i studien, finns möjligheten för lyckad implementering, speciellt om organisationen har en öppenhet till utveckling och vill lägga resurser på att förbättra förutsättningarna. / We have found four overall categories surrounding prerequisites for implementation of self-managed teams. The organizational qualifications, leadership impact on self-managed teams, qualifications surrounding the employees within workgroups, as well as resistance against change and self-management. The relevance of the qualifications varied in practice. Even if organizations do not have the qualifications mentioned in the study at the moment, there is a possibility of a succesfull implementation. Especially if there is an openness for development and willingness to put resources into bettering the prerequisites.

Open online courses provide a unique opportunity to examine learner preferences in an environment that removes several pressures associated with traditional learning. This mixed methods study sought to examine the pathways that learners will create for themselves when given the choice between an instructor-directed modality and learner-directed modality. Study participants were first examined based on their levels of self-regulated learning. Follow-up qualitative interviews were conducted to examine the choices that participants made, the impact of the course design on those choices, and what role self-regulation played in the process. The resulting analysis revealed that participants desired an overall learning experience that was tailored to personal learning preferences, but that technical and design limitations can create barriers in the learning experience. The results from this research can help shape future instructional design efforts that wish to increase learner agency and choice in the educational process.