Research has been conducted regarding what relationship demographic diversity have to organisational ambidexterity and team resilience; however never at the same time. This research adds a new context, to this field of research since research has never, to our knowledge, been conducted in a school context. The purpose with this thesis is to explain what relationships gender, age, cultural and tenure diversity have on organisational ambidexterity and team resilience. A cross-sectional research design was used, because of the positivist and deductive approach. The method consisted of a quantitative part in the form of a web based self-completion questionnaire mediated by email, to upper secondary schools, in five Counties, with a minimum of three managers. The qualitative part was in the form of three in-depth interviews, two with School Directors and one with a registrar. The findings shows that gender, culture have a negative relationship to organisational ambidexterity, and age have a positive relationship when moderated by shared vision. The limitations are that only schools with a minimum of three top managers were chosen; the results thereby lack generalisability in other contexts. The implications are that shared vision, when applied to an upper secondary school context seem to decrease in importance and suggestibility. The original value of the conducted study is new insights regarding the relationships demographic diversities have on organisational ambidexterity and team resilience; the choice to conduct the test in a school context.

This report has focused on how important a buyers eWOM is compared to his/her visual information when sellers decide if they can trust this buyer. A focus company was Airbnb, an online P2P platform where private individuals can rent out their living quarters to other private persons. The method involved sending out online web surveys to approximately 200 students in Högskolan Kristianstad. Results from these surveys suggests that a buyer’s eWOM and visual information had little or no impact upon if a seller decides to trust this buyer or not. The variable that had the most significant impact upon trust and thus the host’s intention to rent was the variable risk propensity.

Decisions concerning psychiatric medication are complex and often involve a protracted process of trial and error. The serious and enduring nature of side effects associated with psychiatric medication demands that medical and experiential expertise is shared in a way that is supportive of the longer term recovery journey. Historically poor concordance rates point to a lack of trust and difficulties in sharing decisions constructively. This Ph.D. explores views and experiences of shared decision making for psychiatric medication management amongst mental health service users and practitioners. The study was conducted in a community mental health service, in the UK. A participatory methodology was employed, within a social constructionist paradigm. Service users and a carer were involved in all phases of the research process. Thirty qualitative interviews were undertaken with different stakeholders: psychiatrists, community psychiatric nurses, and service users. A thematic analysis was employed. In addition, an applied conversation analysis was undertaken on four recorded outpatient medication related meetings. Enablers of and barriers to shared decision making were found at three levels of analysis: the interaction, the relationship, and the system. Many divergent discourses were apparent across these levels, both within and between the different stakeholder groups. A typology of involvement is proposed and discussed, from fractured passivity through to active self- management. The barriers to collaborative practice identified in these findings, and the structural factors at work in the mental health system in particular, were seen to explain the gap between policy ideals and current practice. Strong therapeutic relationships were found to be a vital enabler, comprising of: a formation of trust, practitioners knowing and believing in service users’ potential, and ‘walking the journey together’. Shared decision making in this study is found to be a dynamic process over time, involving two (or more) participants in a complex interplay. The thesis emphasizes the interaction between structure and agency in shared decision making in psychiatric medication management and highlights how power is enacted in the context of shared decisions in a community setting. Original theoretical, methodological and practical contributions to knowledge are presented and discussed.

Purposes/Aims: The aim of this study was to create a web-based brokerage of patient decision-making aids, titled Split Decision™, and to evaluate student nurse and student nurse practitioners' intent to use and recommend the prototype website based on their perceived usability, usefulness and satisfaction. Rationale/Background: Adult patients frequently report confusion about treatment options, hindering their ability to fully participate in healthcare decision-making. Over 500 patient decision-aids exist on the internet, but are scattered across dozens of websites. Creation of a web-based decision-aid platform would utilize the existing information-seeking habits of patients, but provide them with evidence-based information when evaluating treatment options. Methods: Exemplar decision-aids were chosen from the 563 decision-aids published in the Ottawa Research Institute database and posted on a decision-aid brokerage website. Online access to the website was offered to study participants (n=29) from May to June 2016. Demographic information, quantitative and qualitative responses were collected from each website user and analyzed to evaluate perceived usability, satisfaction, and intention to use the pilot website. Results: Usability of the Split Decision™ website was found to be above average on Systems Usability Scale ratings. Participants rated the website highest on visual appeal and clear terminology on quantitative measures. Qualitative responses cited confusion with the navigation of pages and hyperlinks as areas of future improvement. Conclusion: Study participants expressed a hope for future expansion of the website to other topics and patient populations. Further study of the Split Decision™ website will be planned to test revisions suggested during by participants during this doctoral project.

Introduction: Shared decision making (SDM) has been advocated as an optimal approach to medical decision-making. Yet, little is known about how patients perceive SDM and whether patient-defined SDM is associated with patient outcomes. Methods: This three-manuscript dissertation used a mixed-methods approach including a systematic literature review and both qualitative and quantitative research methods. The aims were to: (1) systematically review the patient outcomes studied in relation to SDM and identify under what measurement contexts SDM is associated with which types of patient outcomes; (2) use in-depth, qualitative interviews to develop a conceptual model of patient-defined SDM and compare this to recent decisions that patients labeled as shared; and (3) apply the model of patient-defined SDM to the context of colorectal cancer screening. Results: Study 1 found that 39 studies measured SDM and evaluated it with a patient outcome, and only 43% of patient outcomes assessed were significantly associated with SDM. Patient reports of SDM were most likely to be associated with outcomes. Study 2 found that patients’ conceptual definition of SDM included four components: exchange of information, active listening, patient-self advocacy, and a personalized physician recommendation. Patient descriptions of recent decisions labeled as shared ranged from very simple recommendations through complex interactions, with the only commonality among shared decisions being that the patient and physician ultimately agreed. Study 3 found that the most commonly observed component of patient-defined SDM was patient self-advocacy (76%) and least common was a personalized physician recommendation (23%). Only 9% visits contained all four patient-defined SDM components. In adjusted models, physician provision of information around the process and potential side effects of colorectal cancer screening was associated with an increase in screening. There were differences in screening rates by the patient’s initial verbal response to the physician recommendation with those who initially refused being least likely to be screened (40%) and patients who did not verbalize a response to the recommendation being most likely to be screened (70%). Discussion: Findings across the three studies highlight the complexity of studying and measuring SDM and emphasize the importance of the patient’s perspective on SDM.

Solar photovoltaic (PV) energy has become a topic of intense policy debate at the state level in the United States (U.S.). Solar supporters have pointed to the economic development, environmental, and public health benefits this technology can provide. However, electric utilities and other interests have fought to scale back or cut favorable state PV policies as grid-connected solar PV installations have increased, due to decreased profits, grid complications, and customer fairness, among other reasons. This research first uses a hierarchical regression analysis with cross-sectional data from the years 2012–2013 to examine the suite of state-level policies used to encourage state non-utility PV installations. Comparing the impact of various policy approaches to other factors such as electricity costs, electricity market deregulation, per capita income, and the availability of solar energy resources, this research finds net energy metering to be the most important policy driver of non-utility PV installed capacity. Given this finding, the research shifts its focus to community net energy metering or shared solar, which is an innovative policy approach that allows multiple consumers to share the costs and benefits of ownership in an off-site solar PV facility, opening market access to a wide variety of individuals. Using the punctuated equilibrium framework and semi-structured telephone interviews with policy experts across the U.S. from the solar industry, environmental groups, government, and electric utilities, this research discovers that electric utility lobbying and an overall lack of attention have hindered community solar enabling legislation. However, opportunities exist for future development via increased participation, collaboration, and key events that may alter the policy equilibrium. Finally, this method is utilized in Virginia to more narrowly study why the state has dismissed community solar legislation multiple times. Such an approach is useful in understanding how other historically laggard states may adopt community net energy metering or shared solar legislation in the future.

This paper applies the methods of multi-dimensional mathematical demography to project national populations based on alternative assumptions on future, fertility, mortality, migration and educational transitions that correspond to the five shared socioeconomic pathways (SSP) storylines. In doing so it goes a significant step beyond past population scenarios in the IPCC context which considered only total population size. By differentiating the human population not only by age and sex - as is conventionally done in demographic projections - but also by different levels of educational attainment the most fundamental aspects of human development and social change are being explicitly addressed through modeling the changing composition of populations by these three important individual characteristics. The scenarios have been defined in a collaborative effort of the international Integrated Assessment Modeling community with themedium scenario following that of a major new effort by the Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital (IIASA, OEAW, WU) involving over 550 experts from around the world. As a result, in terms of total world population size the trajectories resulting from the five SSPs stay very close to each other until around 2030 and by the middle of the century already a visible differentiation appears with the range between the highest (SSP3) and the lowest (SSP1) trajectories spanning 1.5 billion. The range opens up much more with the SSP3 reaching 12.6 billion in 2100 and SSP1 falling to 6.9 billion which is lower than today's world population.

Master of Arts / Department of Communication Studies / Sarah E. Riforgiate / Leadership is a phenomenon studied in all cultures (Murdock, 1967), yet representation in the diversity of influential leaders is often limited (Moon, 1996). In order to understand the full breadth of leadership scholarship, it is essential that research focuses on how leadership is both enacted and communicated in underrepresented groups. A group that is currently facing marginalization from dominant culture is the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community. With no national anti-discrimination law in place to protect the individuals belonging to this community (American Civil Liberties Union, 2016) it is vital to understand how leaders within this marginalized group are motivating others to fight to enact change. While influential organizations like The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) are fighting for social justice on a national level, it is important to understand how local organizations are engaging in communicative leadership to motivate others to enact change in their own community. This study seeks to understand how leadership is communicated within a local LGBT rights organization (given the pseudonym the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Campaign, or LGBTC) and to identify the ways LGBT leaders motivate others to enact social change. Using ethnographic methodology, the researcher observed four monthly board meetings held by this group (lasting approximately an hour and a half each) and conducted a focus-group interview where the participants confirmed observations and answered follow-up questions from the ethnographic observations. A qualitative thematic analysis revealed two common themes: the first theme, cohesive communication, was exemplified through organizational procedures that allowed for collective discussion and expression of individuality by emphasizing and depending on group members’ personal expertise. The second theme, proactive communication, emerged through group members’ communication to evoke tenacious defense strategies to counter the opposition and engage in outreach with external organizations. These leadership communication behaviors resulted in two critical implications on the theoretical and practical levels. In regards to the theoretical implications, LGBT leaders, who have been typically characterized as predominantly transformational, were found to enact leadership outside of that typology, actually engaging in relational styles through shared leadership, communicating in a way that relies on interaction and emotional expression. On a practical level, other marginalized groups could benefit from inclusivity, or the mode of collective leadership this particular LGBT Rights Group engaged in. By including multiple voices and having a variety of minority representation, the LGBTC was able to successfully motivate community change. Other marginalized groups experiencing social injustice may be able to motivate others to enact change by adopting this mode of collective communication through shared leadership.

In this dissertation, I investigate predictors and consequences of transactive memory system (TMS) development. A transactive memory system is a shared system for encoding, storing, and recalling who knows what within a group. Groups with well-developed transactive memory systems typically perform better than groups lacking such memory systems. I study how communication enhances the development of TMS and how turnover disrupts both TMS and its relationship to group performance. More specifically, I examine how communication networks affect the amount of communication, how the structure of the communication network affects the extent to which the group members share a strong identity as a group, and how both of these factors affect a group’s TMS. I also analyze how turnover disrupts the relationship between transactive memory systems and group performance. In addition, I examine how the communication network and turnover interact to affect group performance. I analyze these effects in three laboratory studies. The controlled setting of the experimental laboratory permits me to make causal inferences about the relationship of turnover and the communication network to group outcomes. Results promise to advance theory about transactive memory systems and communication networks.

Samverkan mellan olika fastigheter kan vara centralt för att skapa ändamålsenliga fastigheter. Samverkan kan exempelvis ske genom bildandet av gemensamhetsanläggning bestående av väg som tillgodoser behov för flera fastigheter. När en gemensamhetsanläggning bildas ska kostnader för anläggningens utförande respektive drift fördelas genom andelstal. Ett andelstal kan avse hela gemensamhetsanläggningen eller del av gemensamhetsanläggningen. När olika andelstal avser olika delar av gemensamhetsanläggningen är gemensamhetsanläggningen sektionsindelad. Sektionsindelning är rent lagtekniskt möjligt men har lyfts fram som olämpligt i många sammanhang av flera källor, vilket gör det viktigt att studera. Syftet med denna studie var därför att beskriva användandet av sektionsindelning utifrån förrättningslantmätarens och ett rättsligt perspektiv. Studien syfte besvarades med hjälp av fyra frågeställningar. Frågeställningarna besvarades med hjälp av två metoder. För det första användes en juridisk metod där lagen, förarbeten, rättsfall och doktrin undersöktes. För det andra genomfördes en intervjustudie där sex förrättningslantmätare intervjuades. Resultatet från den juridiska metoden pekar på svårigheter i den senare förvaltningen som ett av huvudskälen till att sektionsindelning inte används i så stor utsträckning. Vägar är den typ av anläggning som sektionsindelning är mest lämplig för. Resultatet från intervjustudien visar att förrättningslantmätare i större utsträckning använder sektionsindelning för utförandeandelstalen än driftandelstalen. Samtidigt spelar ett antal faktorer in om sektionsindelning används eller inte som storleken på kostnader och relationen mellan de medverkade i gemensamhetsanläggningen. Samtidigt pekar resultat mot att sektionsindelning för olika kostnadsslag inte används i så stor utsträckning. / Collaboration between different properties can be central for creating suitable properties. Collaboration may be through the creation of joint facilities that for example meets the real estates need of roads. Once formed the costs for a joint facilities operation and execution must be divided among its members. These costs are distributed through the awarding of "shared numbers" (andelstal). Shared numbers may refer to the whole joint facility or a part of the joint facility. When shared numbers refer to a part of the joint facility the facility is divided into sections, which is called sectiondivision. Sectiondivision is made possible by the way the law is formulated but has been highlighted as inappropriate in many contexts by multiple sources, making it important to study. The purpose of this study was to describe the use of sectiondivision based on cadastral surveyor’s perspective and a legal perspective. The purpose of this study was answered with the help of four questions. The questions were answered by two methods. Firstly, a legal method was used in which the law, preliminary work of the law, legal cases and doctrine was examined. Secondly, interviews where conducted with six cadastral surveyors. The results of the legal method indicate that difficulties in the latter management of the joint facility are one of the main reasons why sectiondivision should not be used as much. Roads are the type of facility that sectiondivision is most suitable for. The results from the interviews show that cadastral surveyors are making greater use of sections of execution than sections of operation. A number of factors are central for the use of sectiondivision. The size of the joint facility is one important factor. Another is the relations between the participants in the joint facility. Sectiondivision for different types of costs are not used in a wide extent.