Syftet med undersökningen är att beskriva hur levnads- och arbetsförhållanden inom svensk sjöfart har förändrats till följd av MLC-2006. Undersökningen visar hur dessa förändringar till följd av MLC-2006 upplevs av sjökaptener och representanter från Seko, SFBF och Transportstyrelsen. Examensarbetet har genomförts med hjälp av intervjuer för att ge en bild av hur MLC-2006 upplevs i svensk sjöfart. Informanternas upplevelse är att svensk sjöfart inte har förändrats nämnvärt till följd av MLC-2006. Däremot medförde MLC-2006 en högre standard på fartygen i hela världen, för att främja en mer rättvis konkurens mellan olika flaggstater samt för att tillgodose sjömännens rättigheter. / The purpose with this study is to describe how standard of living and working conditions in Swedish ships has changed as a result of the MLC-2006. This study shows how the changes have been experienced by the Swedish crews unions, the Swedish ship officers associations and the Swedish transport agencies representatives and two captains as a result of MLC-2006 implementation. The study was carried out by means of interviews in order to display implementation of MLC-2006 has been experienced in Swedish shipping. Results show that the representatives experienced no significant change in Swedish shipping after the MLC-2006 implementation. MLC-2006 resulted in higher standards in ships, a fair competition between flag states and to the advancement of seamen's rights in global shipping.

Sedan 2006 har barn och ungdomar som flyttat till Sverige utan sina föräldrar eller annan vårdnadshavare ökat kraftigt. Till skillnad från vuxna är ensamkommande flyktingbarns livssituation mer komplex eftersom det saknas en ansvarig vuxen som kan tillgodose deras behov. Enligt svensk lag har dessa barn och ungdomar samma rättigheter som alla andra svenska barn vilket är anledningen till att det finns väl samordnat stöd från olika myndigheter. Socialtjänsten är en av dessa myndigheter som har en central roll i mottagandet av ensamkommande barn. Hela socialtjänsten står inför nya utmaningar som är en påföljd av förändringar i klienters demografi. Mycket internationell forskning har gjorts utifrån barnen men väldigt lite om socialsekreterarna. Denna uppsats bygger därför på en kvalitativ studie, gjord på intervjuer av tre socialsekreterare som ansvar för mottagandet av ensamkommande barn. Syftet med studien är att undersöka deras arbetsförhållande samt identifiera de utmaningar som förekommer. Studien visar att socialsekreterare upplever arbetet med ensamkommande barn som väldigt intressant och givande samtidigt som de möter olika utmaningar i arbetet, exempelvis kommunikationssvårigheter, kulturella skillnader samt arbetsmetoder som inte är riktigt anpassade till klientens behov. Vi kom fram till att användning av tolk inte alltid är tillförlitligt och att utredning enligt BBiC inte är optimalt. Trots svårigheterna tycker de intervjuade att de lyckas tillgodose barnens behov tack vare stöd från sina medarbetare och deras engagemang.

Sedan 1990- talet har de offentliga organisationerna genomgått flera stora förändringar som medfört att enhetschefer inom den kommunala verksamheten fått ökat ansvar och befogenheter, vilket gör enhetschefsrollen mer komplext. Rapporter visar på svårigheter att rekrytera och behålla chefer, därför är viktigt att undersöka hur enhetschefens arbete ska kunna utvecklas till ett mer attraktivt arbete. Ett attraktivt arbete skapas genom att ge medarbetarna bra förutsättningar inom arbetsinnehåll, arbetstillfredsställelse, samt arbetsförhållanden. I chefsyrket ingår tre roller varav en är medarbetarrollen som enligt teorin inte är speciellt prioriterad eller synliggjord. Studiens syfte är att identifiera vad som gör enhetschefyrket till ett attraktivt arbete samt hur det kan utvecklas. I studien har en kvalitativ forskningsmetod används för att uppnå en djupare förståelse kring enhetschefernas arbetssituation. Detta har bidragit till att ett hermeneutiska synsätt valts, då vi strävar efter att få en ökad förståelse. Studien genomfördes på Falu kommun, där sex enhetschefer inom omvårdnadsförvaltningen intervjuades. Resultatet visar att enhetscheferna är tillfredsställda med sin arbetssituation och upplever arbetet som attraktivt. Faktorer som varierande, handlingsfrihet, problemlösning, sociala kontakter och delar av erkänsla hör till attraktivitetsfaktorer i yrket. Enhetscheferna beskriver tre utvecklingsområden för att öka attraktiviteten. Det första innefattar ledarskapet i organisationen där brister förekommer inom kommunikation och planering. Andra utvecklingsområdet handlar om arbetstakten genom att individanpassa arbetsgruppernas storlek samt tid för reflektion och återhämtning. Tredje utvecklingsområdet enhetscheferna belyser är bristen på erkänsla från organisationen. Utöver enhetschefernas brister har vi identifierat ytterligare ett utvecklingsområde för att öka attraktiviteten. Under intervjuerna har det framkommit att det råder stor avsaknad av kollegor att "bolla idéer" med vilket i sin tur medför att arbetet upplevs som ensamt. För att motverka ensamheten är chefsgruppshandledning ett alternativ, där reflektion och feedback ingår. Forskningen visar att detta även leder till ökad självkänsla, engagemang. / Since the 1990s, public organizations underwent several major changes that led to unit managers within the municipal activity increased responsibility and authority, making the unit manager role more complex. Reports indicate difficulties in recruiting and retaining managers. Therefore, it is important to examine how the Head of Unit's, work to develop a more attractive job role. An attractive role is created by giving employees good prospects in the job content, job satisfaction and working conditions. The manager’s positon includes three roles of which the employee role of the theory is not especially priority or made visible. The study aims to identify what makes the unit manager’s profession an attractive job, and how it can be developed. In the study, a qualitative research method has been used to achieve a deeper understanding of the Heads of Unit working situation. This has contributed to a hermeneutic approach being chosen, as we strive to get a better understanding of the phenomenon. The study was conducted in the municipality of Falun, where six heads of units in nursing management were interviewed. The result shows that unit managers are satisfied with their work situation and find their work attractive. Factors as diverse as, freedom, problem solving, social contacts, and portions of the recognition belong to the attractive factors. Heads of Unit describe, three development areas to increase the attractiveness. The first relates to the organization as a whole, where weaknesses exist in the communications and planning. Other development area is about the pace of work by personalizing the working groups as well as time for reflection and recuperation. The third development field the unit managers highlight, is the lack of recognition from the organization. Besides the Heads of Unit shortcomings, we have identified a development area to increase the attractiveness. Lack of colleagues to "bounce ideas" means that work is perceived as lonely. To counteract loneliness we can manage group guidance as an alternative, where reflection and feedback is included. The theory indicate that this also leads to increased self-esteem, commitment.

Hotel and restaurant industry have always been seen as an industry with low status and poorworking conditions. Low wages, temporary contracts, illegal work, and sexual harassment are the rule rather than the exception when the employee’s working conditions discusses. By using the right dogmatic approach together with a social science perspective the purpose of the study has been answered. The purpose has been to contribute to a greater understanding of how it is that the hotel and restaurant industry’s poor working conditions can be maintained, the extent to which the working conditions of the employees is ensured and why mostly young people, women and people with foreign backgrounds are employed in the industry. Among people with a foreign background also includes third country nationals who come to Sweden to work. Because the hotel and restaurant industry serves as a steppingstone into the labour market it employs both young people with Swedish background as young people with foreign background. The industry has employed women for a long time and expectations of how staff within the profession should look like has led to it is common that women are employed in the industry. Because of rouge entrepreneurs who, for their own personal gain, indulged in financial crime, illegal work, fiddling with staff ledge and high incidence of temporary contracts, the poor working conditions in the industry successfully have been maintained. The injustices of the industry have over time become a kind of norm and because of this, the labour exploitation continues. The low degree of organization restricts HRFs opportunities to control the collective agreements and it tends to be the authorities who have the greatest responsibility to ensure that employees work on reasonable terms. The problems also become even greater when third-country nationals’ rights and working conditions should be checked. This is because Sweden has not ratified several important conventions about third country nationals labour conditions while statutory regulation opened up for employers to employ third country nationals. Ensuring working conditions are also affected by the individual employees’ tendency to report injustice, an example is sexual harassment from outsiders persons. In summary, conclusion is drawn that ensuring the working conditions in hotel and restaurant industry is problematized by employees’ unwillingness or fear to take action andauthorities, often inadequate, control possibilities.

Denna studie avser att undersöka hur arbetsförhållanden för sportjournalister i Sverige ser ut. Den avser även att se huruvida det skett några förändringar över tid, i takt med ett förändrat medieklimat med teknisk utveckling och en hägrande "tidningsdöd". Uppsatsen bygger på frågeställningen "Hur ser yrkesverksamma sportjournalister på sina arbetsförhållanden i relation till det föränderliga medieklimatet?" och "Hur ser sportjournalister på nya digitala verktyg såsom sociala medier och ökad profilering i samband med den digitala utvecklingen? Arbetet baseras på sju stycken kvalitativa intervjuer som konstruerats efter teori kring sportjounalistik, mediekonvergens, samt en tidigare studie av David Hesmondhalgh & Sarah Baker om arbetsförhållanden i de kreativa näringarna i Storbritannien. Intervjurespondenterna bestod avav sju stycken sportjournalister, med minst tio års erfarenhet av yrket. Studiens huvudsakliga resultat visar att sportjournalister idag ofta har väldigt späckade arbetsdagar, med många timmar och fler arbetsuppgifter än tidigare. Detta är speciellt tydligt under stora evenemang, såsom fotbolls-VM och OS, då arbetsdagarna blir extremt hektiska och långa. Journalisterna känner också en, i olika grad, oro och osäkerhet kring deras arbete, i takt med en ökande konkurrens och tidninsbranschens kris. Tidningars steg till webben har gjort att journalisterna upplever en ökad stress att leverera snabbt och det finns tankar om en försämrad kvalité. Uppkomsten av social media har gjort att journalisterna har funnit nya sätt att hämta information på, men det har även betytt att det blivit lättare för läsare att bedöma och kritisera deras arbete, vilket kan drabba dem hårt. / Title: “Are we live now?” - A study about the role of the sports journalist and the working conditions in the changing media landscape Author: Joakim Almén & Joacim Clarin Tutor: Lowe Hedman Purpose: The purpose of this thesis was to study how the working conditions for sports journalists in Sweden appear and whether there have been changes in relation to the changing media landscape, with the upcoming of new technologies and the emerging crisis within the media business. The key question to answer is how the sports journalist feel about their working situations? In which way have the movement towards the web and the newspaper crisis affected them? Method/Material: The material in this paper consists of seven interviews with prominent sports journalists, all with ten or more years experience in the business. The interviews were all based on theory regarding sports journalism and media convergence, and a former study by David Hesmondhalgh & Sarah Baker, regarding the working conditions in the "creative business" in Great Britain. Main Results: The main results shows that the sports journalists often have long working days, especially during big events such as the World Cup in football and the Olympic Games, with little time for rest. The journalists have also been assigned more tasks than before, which makes their work very hectic. The journalists feel an uncertainty, in various degrees, regarding their job and the crisis within the business, with economic cuts and the increasing competition. The movement towards the web has made their work more stressful in regards to needs to write and publish faster, which in turn has created a concern for poor quality in what they create. The upcoming of social media works in two ways, either as a journalistic tool or a way in wich the public can share their critizism or abuse the journalists.

New Zealand initiatives to address supply-chain labour conditions are tending towards reliance on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), a form of private regulation. This thesis explores the effectiveness of private regulation for improving labour conditions, and reasons for its emergence, using the case study of the New Zealand-China relationship. It is argued that CSR brings only cosmetic improvements to a minority of workers in China. It is no replacement for strengthened law enforcement and organisation of workers for affecting significant improvements. CSR can also undermine improvements, and should be approached with caution. The trend towards CSR in New Zealand can be explained by businesses‘ gradually-increasing need and capacity to defend and pursue competitive advantage. However, the trend is best explained as a result of the constraints and power imbalances resulting from the neoliberal political context. For New Zealand to make a genuine commitment to social responsibility would require a shift in power, to groups that will challenge existing constraints and demand explicit action from the Government. It would also require New Zealand consumers and businesses to assume a greater share of the true costs of production. For New Zealand to contribute to improved labour conditions in China would require greater support for the Chinese labour movement and state enforcement. This support could take the form of increased cooperation, highlighting non-compliances, union collaboration and development aid.

Purpose – The purpose of this work is to examine the actual CSR situation in low wage countries of the textile industry and to identify obstacles and suggestions for improvements of the working conditions. In order to achieve that approach, different sources and various articles, magazines, books and related websites are being researched to get a wide range of information and to avoid a partial reflection. Furthermore an exemplary discussion of the CSR activities of two leading fashion retailers, Bestseller and H&M will be implemented by having a look on their company homepages as well as their current and previous annual reports and stated CSR activities. In addition, interviews with international operating NGO’s, fair trade unions and human right foundations will be conducted to receive widely independent information, deeper insights and critics concerning CSR and Human Development in the textile business. These interviews are of crucial importance for this work, since they provide widely independent assessments of the actual state of CSR implementation within the industry. By considering all the different information, this work provides ultimately indications for grievances and proposals for improvements in Human Development. Methodology – Using a qualitative research strategy, this work begins with a definition of CSR and Human Development, which provides a necessary background knowledge to approach CSR in the textile business. In order to get an idea of some of the industry wide activities and obstacles, this work contains an exemplary description of the CSR work of the two leading fashion retailers, Bestseller and H&M, using their company home pages as well as their current and previous annual reports and an outline of their reflection of the current stage of affairs regarding Human Development. Based on the findings from the homepages of H&M and Bestseller and the companies’ claim, different researched articles and the latest accidents in the news, eleven different interview questions were developed, regarding the actual textile production situation in the RGM industry. These questions are being used for semi-structured in-depth interviews with three different experts of the International Labour Organization, the German NGO Südwind Institute and the Confederation of the German Textile and Fashion Industry to get first hand information about the already achieved progress of the working conditions, as well as crucial driving forces and challenges within the Human Development “sector” of CSR in low wage countries. By considering all the different information, this work finally reveals grievances in CSR and gives proposals for improving the working conditions of the textile factory workers in emerging countries. Findings – The findings show the complexity and necessity of a controversy about CSR approaches in the textile and garment sector of developing countries. Recent accidents and different investigations by independent organizations are supporting the impression of an existing gap between the CSR policies of fashion companies on the one hand and the reality in the firms on the other hand. Different NGO’s are complaining about insufficiently implemented approaches and Codes of fashion brands and retailers within the supply chain. This work provides different suggestions for improving the working conditions of the textile factory workers in emerging countries. Possible ways for a human friendlier textile production are for example the strengthening of trade unions and worker advocacies, the ensuring of a social dialogue and closer collaborations between all the different stakeholders within the industry - including the governments, as well as more legal bindings and stricter regulations. Research limitations/ implications – The findings from this study are limited to the “sector” of Human Development and most of the results or hypotheses are not conclusively audited, due to the difficult validation. Additionally, the study is mainly focusing on the worker situation in selected low wage countries and does not provide global conclusions. Further research should aim to gain even further insights, for instance on a local company or local supplier level.

Bakgrund I den nutida forskningen är det essentiellt att företag tar hänsyn till medarbetarnas motivation så att de gynnas av det arbetssätt som tillämpas. En arbetsmetod som blivit allt vanligare är konceptet Lean som ursprungligen kommer från den japanska bilindustrin. Lean har idag utvecklats till ett allmängiltigt koncept som tillämpas i flertalet branscher världen över. Trots att konceptet innebär flertalet positiva aspekter har det fått utstå stark kritik när det kommer till de mänskliga aspekterna och forskare har ställt sig frågan om Lean är "Mean". Kritiken härleds främst till medarbetares arbetsmiljö i form av stress och brist på variation, självbestämmande, hälsa och välmående. Få empiriska studier har däremot genomförts som undersöker konsekvenserna som Lean får på medarbetares upplevda motivation. Syfte Vårt syfte är att undersöka och öka förståelsen för medarbetares upplevelser av motivationen i företag som tillämpar Lean. Vidare har studien för avsikt att utreda om det föreligger en paradox mellan Lean och vad som motiverar medarbetare på en arbetsplats. Metod Studien har utgått från en kvalitativ metod via intervjuer. För att göra en djupare undersökning och analysera hur vårt fenomen, motivation, upplevs i en kontext med Lean tillämpade vi Små-N-studier. Vi har även haft en iterativ forskningsansats som förenat den deduktiva och induktiva ansatsen där studien pendlat mellan teorier och empiriska observationer fram tills det slutgiltiga resultatet. Slutsatser Utefter medarbetarnas upplevelser har vi identifierat att det inte föreligger någon paradox mellan Lean och motivation eftersom övervägande antal medarbetare upplevde att de är motiverade även om företaget tillämpar Lean. Dock har studien kunnat urskilja både stödjande och motverkande faktorer när det kommer till medarbetarnas upplevda arbetsförhållanden som i sin tur inverkar på motivationen. De motverkande faktorerna menar vi främst beror på att arbetsförhållandena i somliga fall innehåller höga prestationskrav, målstyrning samt standardiseringar. Vidare upplevs motivationen överlag som mer positiv när företagen använder en mjukare form av Lean där samtliga medlemmars intressen beaktas. / Background In modern research, it is essential that companies consider employees’ motivation so that they benefit from the applied practices. A working method that has become increasingly common is the concept Lean, which has its origin in the Japanese automotive industry. Today, Lean has evolved into a universal concept that is applied in many industries worldwide. Although the concept involves numerous positive aspects it has endured strong criticism when it comes to the human aspects and researchers have raised the question if Lean is "Mean". Criticism is derived primarily to employees’ working conditions in terms of stress and lack, variation, autonomy, health and wellbeing. However, few empirical studies have been carried out that examines the impact that Lean has on employees’ experienced motivation. Aim The aim is to increase the understanding of employees’ experienced motivation in companies that practice Lean. Further on the study has the intention to investigate if there is a paradox between Lean and what motivates employees on work. Methodology The study has been conducted through a qualitative method by interviews and to be able to do a deeper examination and analyze how our phenomenon, motivation, is experienced in a Lean context we applied small-N-studies. Our strategy has been iterative, combining both a deductive and inductive approach, where the study has varied between theories and empirical observations until the final result. Conclusions We have identified that there is no paradox between Lean and motivation since the majority of employees’ experienced that they are motivated even though the company practice Lean. Nevertheless the study shows that there are both supportive and counteractive factors when it comes to the employees’ experienced working conditions. The counteractive factors consists foremost of high performance standards, goal steering and standardizations, and have in some cases a negative influence on the working conditions. Furthermore the experienced motivation is more positive overall when the companies use a softer form of Lean where all the members’ interests are taken into account.

Syfte: Det nya arbetslivet har inneburit en rad förändringar för den lönearbetande populationen i Sverige, gällande allt ifrån tid, rum och tillgänglighet i de alltmer flexibla arbetsvillkoren. Syftet med denna studie är därför att undersöka ett antal faktorer i det nya arbetslivet som kan ha inverkan på den lönearbetande populationens livsbalans. Studien undersöker också om det finns skillnader mellan chefers och övriga anställdas livsbalans samt även om chefens nivå i hierarkin påverkar livsbalansen. Metod: Datamaterialet som används i denna kvantitativa studie är hämtat från European Social Survey 2010. Studien bygger på en svensk population bestående av 832 lönearbetande respondenter. Den beroende variabeln är ett index som mäter livsbalans. Kontroll- och oberoendevariablerna mäter bakgrund, familjesituation samt arbetsförhållanden. Analyserna består av medelvärdesjämförelser, korrelationer samt multipel regressionsanalys. Resultat/slutsats: Den huvudsakliga slutsatsen av denna studie är att den faktor som inverkar mest negativt på livsbalansen hos den lönearbetande populationen är om den anställda har personalansvar eller inte. Resultatet av studien visar även en negativ inverkan på livsbalansen för anställda som har barn. En positiv inverkan på livsbalansen är om den anställda har möjlighet att påverka arbetets tempo. Genom denna studie kan även slutsatsen dras att chefsnivå inte har någon inverkan på livsbalansen. / Purpose: Todays changed work-life has caused a number of changes to the wage-earning population in Sweden, regarding everything from time, space and availability in increasingly flexible working conditions. The purpose of this study is to examine a number of factors in the changed work-life that may have caused an impact on the life balance of the wage-earning population. The study also examines whether there are differences between managers and other employees' work-life balance, and also if the manager's level in the hierarchy affects life balance. Methodology: The data used in this quantitative study is taken from the European Social Survey of 2010. Study is based on a Swedish population consisting of 832 wage-earning respondents. The dependent variable is an index measuring life balance. The control and independent variables measures the background, family situation and working conditions. The analyzes consist of mean comparisons, correlations and multiple regression analysis. Results: The main conclusion of this study is that the factor that has the largest impact negatively on work-life balance of the wage-earning population is whether the employee is responsible for supervising other employees or not. Results of the study also shows a negative impact on work-life balance for employees who have children. A positive impact on work-life balance is if the employees are allowed to choose/change pace of work. influence the work. Through this study can also be concluded that the managerial level has no impact on work-life balance.

Health and safety is of the utmost importance for any company or institution to be successful. There is quite a negative perception regarding the health and safety of rural hospitals and clinics. Rural hospitals are most of the time overcrowded due the large amount of patients that has no medical aid, thus increases the risk for health and safety issues. Patients sit in long queues for hours to receive medical attention and their medication and are therefore exposed to all kinds of diseases, which is a high risk for these patients’s health. The employees working in these rural areas are also exposed to life-threatening diseases on a daily basis and have a good chance of being infected. Employees leave the public sector because of these unsafe working conditions and find themselves either working in the private sector or may even immigrate to foreign countries for better and safer working conditions. During this research done, there were a few shortcomings identified for the management to improvement on and to ensure a safe working environment. There are quite a lot of negativities surrounding the patients and employees in these rural hospitals, because patients get raped by nurses, babies get stolen from maternity wards, doctors are attacked by patients and much more horrific incidents happening in these hospitals. Cultural differences are also a main concern for management, because there are a lot of different races working together in the same department and not everyone has the same beliefs and ways in doing tasks. These cultural differences may lead to clashes amongst employees and result in a negative working environment. This quantitative research was done in selected rural hospitals, due to cost and time consumption. Only 80 employees (doctors, nurses and pharmacists) participated in the research done and the research was not an in-depth research, but enough evidence was compiled to make the necessary assumptions that all is not well in the public sector. With the new National Health Insurance (NHI) to be implemented from 2012, there may a lot of changes in the rural hospitals for the better. Hospitals all over the country are being upgraded and the working conditions are being attended to by the government which may attract more health professional to rural hospitals and clinics. / Thesis (MBA)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012