Doctoral Theses / Doktorsavhandlingar Institutionen för arbetsvetenskap

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    Det tekniska spelet. Förhandlingar om arbete, teknik och kön i relation till införande av nya informationssystem
    (2011-02-01) Wikstrand, Frida
    This thesis aims to study how information systems are received and interpreted by the employees of two organizations: the Hospital and Electricity company. I am interested in how work tasks and professional identities at these workplaces are coded by class and gender, and whether - and if so how - these encodings or constructions affect how employees perceive the information sys-tems and the changes brought about by the new information system. Furthermore, the aim is to explain how the organizational context affects the way in which a new information system is re-ceived and interpreted, and how this is affected by the construction of masculinities and feminini-ties. 35 life story interviews were conducted at the two workplaces. The interviews were focused on the effects, on the everyday- and working life of employees, brought about by the introduc-tion of new information systems: the electronic journal Melior at the Hospital and the business system SAP at the Electricity Company. Another focus dealt with if – and if so, how, -the new technology had impact on the relationship with other occupational groups and professionals at the workplace. As its starting point, the dissertation adopts a theoretical patchwork based on Hardings’ three processes: genders symbolism, gender structure and individual gender. The concepts femininities and masculinities are used to discuss and analyze constructions of identities at work. The process of division of labor and concepts of professional closures are used to analyze negotiations within and between different groups. A theoretical concept, mirroring processes, is used to show how different parts of an individual’s life are linked together and how structures in different part of life repro-duce and strengthen each other. The thesis argues that various organizational circumstances have an impact on how em-ployees receive and interpret the new technology. From the perspective of class and gender, it becomes evident how technology is not simply ascribed different roles at different workplaces. These roles are also assigned a symbolic value that is largely based on gender. It is also clear that the role assigned to technology depends on the division of labor and may, in turn, influence the current division of labor at the workplace through negotiations concerning the new technology. It becomes clear that gender- and class structures are produced and reproduced through negotia-tions and the employees' handling of the new information systems. The thesis argues that the interviewees’ construction of professional identities influence their understanding of changes in their own work when new information systems have been introduced. The dissertation also ar-gues that the way femininities and masculinities are constructed within professional identities affect how employees view their work and the new technology.
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    Engagemang efterfrågas: Hur tre tillverkande företag söker medverkan från sina medarbetare när de inför Lean
    (2010-05-24T06:13:47Z) Berglund, Richard
    Organizations and their management want committed and engaged co-workers. Involvement, participation and active contribution from workers are particularly sought when lean production is introduced. Researchers and external stakeholders often question the motives behind these aspirations from managers and question whether they deserve to be regarded as sincere. Thus, it is of interest to investigate the balance between speech, action and effect. Three manufacturing companies have been followed during a four-year period via interviews, observations and workplace investigations. These companies work with the lean concept and their managements have explicitly declared the importance of their workers’ participation. The thesis investigates the intentions and actions within these companies and seeks to understand the reasoning behind their actions, and the effect of these actions. The guiding question for the research is: How does management seek to elicit commitment within the organization, and what practical steps does it take to achieve this aim? Ten themes were derived from mental models and guiding principles for organizational development in the industrial environment, mainly but not wholly related to the lean concept: 1 Vision and strategy 2 Mutual trust 3 Top management’s active participation 4 Long-term thinking 5 Individual adaptation 6 Responsibility and authority in teams 7 Influence 8 Challenge 9 Learning 10 Sharing the benefits Within each of the themes previous research and thinking are reviewed, core observations and other data are discussed and conclusions are reached for that theme. The companies are active in all theme areas, but to a different extent. There are also large differences between and within the companies and during the time span of the project. At some occasions, shortcomings have been observed when it comes to putting intentions into practice, not least due to the influence of external factors. At other times, substantial progress in implementation has been recorded. The themes must not only be taken separately, but are also interdependent. Progress, in terms of high commitment and involvement in the company’s development, is associated with a consistent line of action within management and key personnel over a long time period, and covering a large part of the theme areas. On the other hand, a single significant departure from such a line may give rise to negative effects very rapidly. The situation within the companies is very complex. Their history needs to be acknowledged, as does the impact of current events in the external environment, as well as the challenges anticipated in the future. The market, the customers, the owners, the technological system and the organization’s social structure are all in constant change. Accordingly, one of the important factors for success lies in the way in which management are able to minimize harmful disturbances, and handle external events in a way that is acceptable for the organization. All in all, commitment and sustainable change requires a reasonable degree of stability of aim and of direction.
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    Individualiseringens villkor: unga vuxnas föreställningar om arbete och självförverkligande
    (2010-03-31T08:41:42Z) Gillberg, Gunnar
    This thesis has a dual objective: one is to contribute to the discussion concerning the theory of individualization and relate that discussion to the ontology of critical realism. The other is to increase the knowledge concerning the conditions of life for young adults and their concerns, projects and practices, toward work and self-realization. This is seen in relation to a theoretical frame of reference, in which Margaret S. Archer’s terms internal conversation and modes of reflexivity play a key role. The conclusions are primarily theoretical, as the design and empirical material of the study did not allow for empirical generalizations. Against the backdrop of a series of biographically-oriented interviews, the thesis highlights a number of examples of the notions of young adults concerning work and self-realization. The thesis concludes that these notions are closely associated with the structural conditions under which individuals live. The analysis results in three reflexive patterns – ambivalence, autonomy and resistance – which reflect the ways in which young adults strive to reconcile work, self-realization, and the resources they have at their disposal. The thesis argues that individualization is an effect of changing contextual conditions, rather than being an explanation per se. In line with the work of Margaret S. Archer, this conclusion has consequences in the lives of young adults. Changing contextual conditions force individuals to relate reflexively to themselves and their environments. There is also a strong link between the different modes of reflexivity of the young adults and the social environments in which they live. In order to understand the conditions of life of young adults, we must study the relationship between their psychobiographies and the environments in which they live, and relate them to the overall structural changes taking place in society. This becomes particularly important in times when self-confidence and the individual’s ability to navigate between choices and options are becoming increasingly important selection mechanisms. Modes of reflexivity are emergent, but they are always established in relation to resources generated on different structural levels (or domains). These resources evolve within the frameworks of the stratified, yet in practice intertwined, social domains in which individuals live their lives
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    "Det ska ju vara lite äventyr" - styrning av svensk forskarutbildning utifrån reformen 1998
    (2010-01-27T13:37:56Z) Haraldsson, Jennie
    This thesis focuses on a politically initiated change of academia, that is, the 1998 reform of Swedish graduate studies and how the reform influenced the organization of the education/programs. The aim of the thesis is twofold. First it aims to study how the political governing of graduate studies has been carried out in the reform. Second it aims to study how the political governing of graduate studies has been translated or adapted to local activities on the department level. The thesis investigates how governing is understood by the people who are responsible for graduate studies at eight departments at Gothenburg University. It also goes more deeply into studying one of the reform’s measures or governing techniques, that is, the intensification of the use of individual study plans and how this has been translated into practice. The theoretical framework uses a Governmentality perspective that focuses on different types of governing and exercise of power. I have also chosen to use Bruno Latour’s concept of “translation” in the analysis to show what happens with the reform on a local level. The reform can be seen as the Government’s programme for change. Here, graduate studies are first problematized, and the Government then presents new techniques of rule as solutions to the problems. The proposed changes are thereby legitimized. The techniques of rule that are used are both concrete and more indirect or disciplinary in their character. The reform creates a new regime of government for graduate studies at the same time as the graduate programs’ regimes of practices are left more or less untouched. The analysis shows that those people responsible for graduate studies have an ambivalent attitude toward the political governing. In some areas they seek more regulation or structure, in others they want less. In the same sense they express ambivalence towards the use of the individual study plans. The thesis also shows how traditional academic norms meet and sometimes collide with new ideals. The analysis reveals several paradoxes or goal conflicts that have emerged in the framework of graduate studies.