Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2005. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 141-181).

The purpose of the thesis is to make a contribution to the development of an empirically informed theory of identity work in organisations on the basis of a gestalt paradigm. Since its emergence almost three quarters of a century ago, gestalt has been applied to therapy, personal development, leadership education and organisational consulting. Gestalt remains, however, fundamentally a paradigm, which preferentially projects onto and deals with complex and dynamic organisational phenomena at individual, dyadic or small group levels. It can be argued that, with its focus on phenomenology and awareness, the gestalt paradigm is predominantly methodological, with only ambiguous or weak links to explicitly articulated epistemology or ontology. A long-term professional, consulting relationship with a trade union branch enabled conducting action research in order to explore the constituents and dynamics of its organisational identity, prior to and following significant change. The subsequent dismantling and closure of the branch demanded an adjustment of research design. The new situation offered a unique opportunity to follow the existentially challenged organisation as its members reacted to and made sense of the closure. The research is contextualised in three analytical clusters: identity and identity work, gestalt paradigm, and trade unions as organisations, institutions and social movements. An ontology of the intersectional field is posited, and on this foundation, four statements, seen as fundamental conditions for identity work, are operationalised through six propositions explicating identity work in a gestalt paradigm perspective. Methodologically, the overall design is informed by a constructivist grounded theory approach, moving abductively - iteratively and even recursively - between inductive and deductive analysis and reflection. The empirical component of the thesis comprises participant observation, field notes, in-depth interviews during and subsequently two years after the closure, and memos. The data proved relevant and informative in terms of identity work in the organisation. The result of the research is a hypothesis about identity work in organisations, firmly anchored in and commensurate with a present-day revised gestalt paradigm, which contribute to a formal development of a gestalt organisational theory. The hypothesis states that: “Identity work in organisations is a dialectical positioning, both individual and collective, between the existential polar opposites of inclusion and exclusion. The processes through which identity work is enacted are cognitive, affective, and conative, instrumentally served by the contact boundary dynamics of egotisming, confluencing, projecting, retroflecting, introjecting, and deflecting. “ The empirical findings are considered robust, and the theory formulation meaningful. Acknowledging the specific circumstances of the study organisation and empirical design, however, a more general application of the hypothesis requires further research in diverse contexts for verification and possibly refinement of the gestalt theoretical concepts at the organisational level. The research results are of interest to gestalt practitioners who teach or work in or with organisations, and equally so for those interested in dynamic process perspectives in which attention shifts - whether at the level of the individual, group, or organisation - from static assessment of reified identity to real-time identity work; from structure to mutual interaction and influence, in order to balance the well-being of the human beings “in” and “profitability” of the organisation.

This qualitative interview study aims to examine the work of change regarding IntimatePartner Violence (IPV), through the voices of seven change workers at Non-GovernmentalOrganizations (NGO) in Nairobi, Kenya. The focus lies on identifying worker’s expresseddefinitions and comprehensions of violence and in what ways those affect the work of changein sectors as victim support, awareness creation & changing societal attitudes and norms. Athematic analysis reveals two themes of social and cultural norms, which emerges as themain comprehensions of violence; as well as essential components of the work of change.Feminist theory enables the image of gendered, embodied norms that supports the hierarchalstructure of marriage and women’s subordination. Findings of social and cultural normsinclude IPV as a loving form to discipline a woman, marital rape does not exist and womenshould stay in marriage. Furthermore, this study presents a mutual understanding of IPV bythe change workers, but with various ways to create change. Obstacles for the eradication ofIPV is presented as lack of shelters, lack of legal implementation, as well as lack ofknowledge within the police force. Key findings include an ambivalent perspective from thechange workers concerning women’s subordination. Most worked against it, while sometaught it, so women could “escape” violence by becoming more submissive. Throughout, IPVis expressed in gender-neutral terms, but interviews reveal the perspective of genderasymmetry and that IPV is a form of violence directed towards women by men.

This study explored employees' perceptions of organisational change as a stressor within a public sector work place undergoing significant change. A number of major stress-producing factors in that environment were examined and data collected of employees' perceptions of the nature of stress, changes in health status and data gathered of stress-related compensation claims. Data was also collected of employees' perceptions of effective strategies for coping with change from an individual and organisational perspective. The research design was a case study with embedded units of analysis incorporating elements of quantitative analysis. The method was chosen to flesh out the limited choices offered by many standard questionnaires. A case study approach and various categories of stress-related factors were selected measures to evaluate the perceived effects of work place change on stress levels. The eight females and three males, aged 27�50 were each interviewed for an hour for their perceptions of stress and reports of stress related illness, relationship changes and other reported changes�diet, sleep, heart disease, asthma, anxiety and headaches. Workplace changes to the Division were analysed, Departmental claims officers were interviewed and Comcare data analysed. Results show participants appeared to feel or experience "stress" in a way which they distinguished as different from feelings or experiences which were nonstressful states and they appeared able to separate these states and ascribe to each particular qualities. They also seemed able to identify that the stressful state occurred in response to some form of demands. Some subjects (36%) reported developing strategies for managing their stress. The majority of subjects (82%) believed work place change was inevitable and a number of subjects (45%) reported they believed implementation of change to be poorly managed, while some subjects (36%) perceived change impacting negatively on the work place. On the basis of the results, it would appear that a human resource management framework may enable more successful implementation of change in public sector organisations.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin, 1961. / Extension Repository Collection. Typescript (carbon copy). Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [105]-108).

This study examines the Swedish Basketball Federations work with Strategy 2025 as a means for gender mainstreaming. The aim of this study was to examine how the Federation constructs gender equality within their organization and how that becomes evident in their daily work. The aim was also to investigate which opportunities and challenges emerges during this process. By analyzing project documents as well as other documents related to the organizations gender policy and interviews, the study investigates how the concept of gender equality is understood and implemented. The analysis of the material was inspired by Carol L. Bacchi’s method “What’s the problem represented to be?”. The method examines which problems are explicitly presented as well as what is left as ‘unproblematic’. This is meant to identify which and if there are any silences within the problem description. The study exposes a construction of gender equality based on quantitative measures and within a future perspective, as something that will be achieved over time. And through Strategy 2025 two dominant problem representations emerge. These problem representations are an unequal representation and a gendered view on coaches and recruitment. The results indicate that gender mainstreaming becomes an administrative routine as a result of gender equality being understood as a qualitative measure.

Bakgrund: Samhället genomgår just nu en övergång till mer datadrivna verksamheter och dåblir kopplingen mellan IT och verksamhetsstyrning högst relevant att undersöka. Den ökade digitaliseringen verkar påverka företags sätt att bedriva verksamhet och den skapar både möjligheter och utmaningar. Digitaliseringen är inte längre en fråga för endast IT- avdelningen utan för hela organisationen. Det handlar inte om att digitaliseringen påverkar företag, utan hur den gör det. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att förklara på vilka sätt digitaliseringen kan förändra och påverka verksamhetsstyrningen. Genomförande: Denna studie har en kvalitativ karaktär med utgångspunkt i ett realistiskt perspektiv. De empiriska data är insamlade genom sex semistrukturerade intervjuer med respondenter från sex olika företag som befinner sig i olika branscher. Slutsats: Det går att konstatera att digitaliseringen har påverkat fallföretagens verksamhetsstyrning i en mängd olika avseenden. För att lyckas i det nya och mer föränderliga företagsklimatet som digitaliseringen bidrar till krävs det omstrukturering av organisationen och nya roller i företagen samt nya typer av kompetenser. Den digitala transformationen underlättar bland annat informationsflöde, transparens och skapandet av mer effektiva kedjor samt bidrar till ökad kundorientering tack vare möjligheterna att analysera kundmönster genom data. Det leder i sin tur till att företag kan bredda och förändra sina erbjudanden och det finns en strävan efter att utgå från kärnprodukten. En viktig aspekt kopplat till detta är att understryka att digitalisering av aktiviteter inte nödvändigtvis leder till positiva resultat för företagen och det gäller därför att företagen vet vad de vill få ut av den digitala transformationen innan investeringar görs. Slutligen verkar det som att företagens digitala mognadsgrad får påverkan för i vilken grad verksamhetsstyrningen förändras. / Background: The society is currently going through a change to more data-driven companies which makes the connection between IT and control most relevant. The increased digitalization affects companies’ ways of managing and creates both possibilities and challenges. Digitalization is no longer a question for the IT-department alone, but for the entire organization. It is not a question if digitalization affects companies, but how. Purpose: The aim of this study is to examine in which ways digitalization can change and affect operating control. Completion: This study is characterized by a qualitative methodology and has a realistic perspective. The empirical data has been collected through six semi-structured interviews with respondents from six different companies within different industries. Conclusion: The digitalization has affected the studied cases’ operating control in many ways. To be able to succeed in the new and constantly changing environment, companies need to restructure their business and create new roles within the organization. Companies are also searching for new competencies. The digital transformation facilitates the flow of information, transparency and the creation of more effective value chains and contributes to increased customer orientation thanks to the possibilities of analyzing customer behavior through data. This in turn leads to companies being able to broaden and change their offerings, and here there seems to be an endeavor to start from the core product. An important aspect connected to this, is that the digitalization of activities does not necessarily lead to positive results for companies and therefore they need to know what they want to achieve with a digital transformation before making investments. Finally, it seems like companies’ degree of digital maturity has an impact on the extent to which operating control change.

<p>Företag kan behöva förändra sitt sätt att arbeta av flera olika skäl. Marknaden ställer krav på billigare lösningar med bibehållen kvalitet. Myndigheter ställer krav på större miljö­hänsyn. Syftet med den här uppsatsen är att granska tre olika företags förändringsarbete i samband med att RoHS-direktivet föreskrev att bly inte skall användas vid lödning. Ett företag har helt ställt om sin produktion, ett företag kör blandad produktion och ett av företagen endast en liten produktion med blyfritt eftersom dess kunder omfattas av de undantag som finns i direktivet. Undersök­ningen har utförts som kvalitativa intervjuer med miljö- och processansvariga på de olika före­tagen och visar att företagen haft olika strategier för att lyckas med omställningsarbetet. Mina huvudsakliga slutsatser är att förändringsarbetet påverkas av kontakter med olika nätverk samt möjligheten att praktiskt prova en ny process och i betydligt mindre utsträckning av formellt ledningsarbete såsom miljöledningssystem.</p>

Företag kan behöva förändra sitt sätt att arbeta av flera olika skäl. Marknaden ställer krav på billigare lösningar med bibehållen kvalitet. Myndigheter ställer krav på större miljö­hänsyn. Syftet med den här uppsatsen är att granska tre olika företags förändringsarbete i samband med att RoHS-direktivet föreskrev att bly inte skall användas vid lödning. Ett företag har helt ställt om sin produktion, ett företag kör blandad produktion och ett av företagen endast en liten produktion med blyfritt eftersom dess kunder omfattas av de undantag som finns i direktivet. Undersök­ningen har utförts som kvalitativa intervjuer med miljö- och processansvariga på de olika före­tagen och visar att företagen haft olika strategier för att lyckas med omställningsarbetet. Mina huvudsakliga slutsatser är att förändringsarbetet påverkas av kontakter med olika nätverk samt möjligheten att praktiskt prova en ny process och i betydligt mindre utsträckning av formellt ledningsarbete såsom miljöledningssystem.

Sweden is adapted to a certain type of climate. The conditions that the climateprovides determine how buildings are constructed and designed. In 2018 the Swedishgovernment introduced a national climate adaption strategy to adapt Sweden toclimate change. As a result of this the municipalities in Sweden need to increase theirdemands on developers in new construction work. The climate adaptationrequirements can, among other things, lead to increased costs.The purpose of this thesis and the research questions answered are to investigatewhat climate adaptation requirements Swedish municipalities impose in the detailedplanning process and how they affect developers' investments in new constructionwork.An interview-based, qualitative method with an abductive approach have been used.Four municipalities, three developers and two other actors were interviewed. Theresults obtained were that the requirements set were based on the conditions of thesite and that the property should be suitable for development. The most commonproblems the municipalities said they had are rainfall, flooding, and sea level rise.Hence, the stormwater issue becomes important and demands are placed ondevelopers to follow the municipality's stormwater strategies.Further, there are also shared opinions about what type of requirements themunicipality may impose, which has led to ambiguities regarding procedures, divisionof responsibilities and funding. The requirements that may be imposed can also havean impact on revenue and costs that form the basis of the developers' computation.Furthermore, this is one of several factors that influence their investmentassessments.The climate adaptation work is at an early stage and therefore there is lack ofexperience which makes the work more difficult. Over time, municipalities anddevelopers will gain more knowledge about climate adaptation. This will eventuallymake the climate work easier in ways that municipalities, developers, and other actorswill get a better picture of the future climate conditions and the approaches that shouldbe used.