This master thesis concerns itself with the actual work of knowledge workers, consultants to be specific. We have through interviews and observation tried to get inside of the ?black box? of the consultants firm Consult in an effort to describe their way of working through a theoretical framework. In this framework we attempt to combine knowledge work theory with that of organizational development, OD. We try to introduce the situation of the individuals we study, the consultants, through Alvesson (2004) and Løwendahl (2005).

This diploma work was conducted in collaboration with the Swedish civil engineeringconstruction company Skanska Construction in Stockholm. Their interest is todevelop a number of type approved form constructions which can be used during theconstruction of concrete walls. Skanska focuses on improving safety on their projectsand both supervisors and workers have a need for approved form constructions inthe current situation.The study is focused on safety and the purpose is to facilitate the preparation beforethe form work can begin. By studying the literature of the subject and conductinterviews with employees at Skanska Construction, the understanding of the issueand knowledge will be increased.Literature studies, interviews together with production and design have been thebasis for a successful study. The work has resulted in three types of approved formconstructions to Skanska Construction and the drawings can be used of employees atthe company.

The purpose of this study is to use a qualitative approach to highlight the western involvement in Thai orphanages and, on basis of Western moral development workers and volunteers, enlighten how Western colonial heritage can be recreated in the humanitarian economic aid.The study is based on the recent tsunami disaster in 2004 which led to a huge voluntary effort by Western volunteers and organizations who wanted to rebuild the country. Now, seven years after the disaster, the country has recovered well and thanks to a strong turism, and industrial growth, the country has now reached the position of a middle income country with regional power.The study presents a selection of previous ressearch in the area from different critical perspectives. It is a field study based on qualitative interviews with six informants that highlights the individual engagment in humanitarian assistance. Theories based on Post-colonialism and globalization have been used in order to analyze and reach the result of this study..

Background: Liquidity and the management of liquidity are of great importance for companies. Cash management is not a new term, but the need for it has increased recently, for one thing because of the internationalisation and growing harmonisation between the countries in Europe. Netting is a cash management technique, where receivables and liabilities are netted. This technique can be used to release capital and increase the company?s cash flow by reducing the number of transactions in the internal payment system.

This paper analyses the potential extent of labour mobility in the European Union after the eastern enlargement that took place in 2004, but focuses on movements from the 10 new member countries to the old EU -members. In this study, a number of economic models are used to investigate if there is a large potential for labour mobility in the enlarged EU and also if this potential has large effects on mobility in reality. The potential for labour mobility is, to a large extent, discussed in terms of theoretical migrating incitements for workers and different types of labour migration obstacles. Many factors indicate that such large potential for migration actually exists, mainly due to high difference in wages and unemployment and because of the common EU market. At the same time, the presence of natural and constructed obstacles is likely to restrict migration for a long period of time..

The aim of this qualitative study was to explore which inner conceptions about the abused older women the professional social workers had and how they experienced the enconter of an abused old woman in an intimate partner relation. The theoretical background is social construction by Berger and Luckmann. This theory was uset to analyze the transcribed interviews. This study is based on nine interviews with five professionals in social services, three volunteers from the voluntary sector and one social worker who worked in a community based support group for abused older women. The result of this study shows that older women were often abused, by a relative they were dependent on, in their home.

Literature describes what it is like to be a leader in the healthcare and what is looked upon as the most characteristic quality for female leadership. Women often use a leadership technique that motivates the employee and they allow themselves to develop a humanitarian leadership. The aim of this study was to describe female head nurses? experience of their leadership in healthcare. The collection of data has been carried out from interviews.

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether social counselling via chat conversations could meet the criteria for a professional conversation, and how the six social workers who were interviewed felt that it had affected the profession and the clients who are seeking their help.Communication, professionality, power, roles and regions are the key topics of this study. A hermeneutic approach has not only influenced the interviews but also the content analysis that was used to encode the results.The interviews revealed that the chat conversations was a successful tool but not entirely without difficulties. The initial contact making between the client and the social worker favours the client, since she/he remains anonymous and that was the main advantage of the method. The biggest concern however was that in the anonymity it is not possible to report cases that the social worker are obligated to. The changing of forum does not necessarily affect the professionality but due to the faceless chat conversation an entire dimension of communication disappears because the loss of body language.

AbstractThe purpose of this essay was to study the parental education for adoptive parents. It´s provided by law since 1/1-2005 that parents have to participate in this education-program before they adopt. We wanted to look at what caused the change and made the education compulsory and to find out where the initiative came from, what purpose the education is supposed to fulfil, if it can facilitate for adopted children during their growth and whether the parental education can support the idea of what is best for a certain child always has to come first, according to the UN convention on the Rights of the child and the Haag-convention.The study was based on eight qualitative interviews, four with social workers, three with representatives of adoption-organisations and one with a representative of the public authority of international adoption (MIA). The conclusions of our study are that there is a risk that the education can not fulfil its purpose to prepare parents for their task, that it looses the idea of what´s best for the child and focuses on the parent instead. It seems to be more of a try out to not violate conventions signed and thereby fulfil a symbolic purpose..

The purpose of this study has been to investigate how individuals with reading- and writing disabilities and dyslexia handle their information need in the workplace. The method that has been used is a qualitative study made with interviews with individuals who have these problems, to see how they think and feel about the flow of information on their everyday basis. The study?s respondents are working women between the ages of 27 and 47 years old and they have reading- and writing disabilities and dyslexia. The most interesting results of this study are that the respondents are avoiding jobs where they need to read and write much and where they also do not like changes in their job situation.

The aim was to examinehow managers, based on similar education and policy background, perceive their leadership today, and how it according to them, maybe developed in the future. The sample consisted of younger and older managers within the same organization, with diverse experience in managementand leadership roles. Data were collected by two focus groups interviews and analyzed bya thematic analysis. The results indicated that managers, regardless of age and experience, have similar views on their management role and are in general positive regardingtheir leadership, despite stressand time pressure related issues. They have also suggested similar changes for future management and leadership roles.

The purpose of this essay was to describe the opinions of different religious and non-religious ideologies and aspects of treatment, concerning use of drugs and drugsaddiction, and with a special focus at Narconon. We also wanted to try to understand the connection between professionalism and ideology in their treatment.Our central questions where;· How does the treatment Narconon's provides, look like?· What is Narconon's opinion on use of drugs and drugaddiction?· What is Narconon's connection to the Scientology?· Is there any scientific proof that Narconon's treatment is functioning?· How can we understand the connection between professionalism and ideology in treatment?We made intervjues with six social workers and six intervjues with staff at Narconon. Added to the intervjues, we studied articles and Internet research.From our work and through information we have got from Narconon, we have discovered the need of further research concerning their treatment. Narconon does continuous following-ups when the treatment is finished.

This study will chart the changeover work, with a standpoint in the SMED-theory, at the company Peter Ernst AB in Värnamo. They are suppliers in plastic moulding industry and delivers to amongst other Saab in Trollhättan and Scania. The company are in a very competitive market, and they have to make manufacturing more efficient and rationalise their costs to be able to compete. A big problem, which the company has identified, is their long changeovers. It brings higher costs, a more stressful work climate and holds back the company from becoming more efficient.Field studies will be conducted on the changeover, which will be observed and filmed.

HIV/AIDS is a chronic disease that has increased and will continue to increase. Most health care workers will one way or another come into contact with it. The purpose of this literature review was to describe factors contributing to nurses' attitudes towards patients with HIV/AIDS. Sixteen articles were analyzed and quality assessed. The results revealed gaps in knowledge among nurses.

The purpose of this study was to explore the approach of the personal in residential care homes, legal guardians and Refugee secretaries consider as effective in their efforts to care for and guide unaccompanied boys in the Swedish society. With the help of qualitative method and semi-structured interviews, we have taken note of eleven informants? perspective on what approach they believe to be essential in the work of integration process with unaccompanied boys. We used Empowerment and the Swedish Integration Board´s proposal on indicators of integration as a theoretical base. The results show among other things, that our informants believe the keys to integration in Sweden for the unaccompanied youth are the Swedish language, education and a stable social network.