Title: The significance of small talk on leadershipDate of seminar: 13 October 2010Course: Bachelor paper in Business, in Organization, 15 ECTSInstitution: Swedish Business School at Orebro UniversityAuthors: Linda Andersson & Ebba HallbergAdvisor: Gabriella WennblomPurpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify and describe how leadership is affected by the small talk, with these three managers. This with the manager?s perspective as a starting point, within the three services we examined.Research methodology: This paper is based on a qualitative method. Targeted open interviews were carried out with three respondents. Literature in the organizational field has been searched through to give a base for the study.Theoretical framework: This paper uses the theory of communication, the theory of leadership and the theory of small talk.Conclusion: The conclusion we make is that the small talk makes it easier for the modern leadership, this is because the small talk, among other things, allows the manager to spread information and to avoid misinterpretation, and that the manager become more involved in the company.Keywords: Communication, small talk, leadership.

AbstractTitle: Course:Authors: Advisor: Keywords:Problem formulation: Purpose:Target group:Theoretical perspectives:Methodology: Result:Enterprise 2.0 - A qualitative approach of how leadership can be affected by Enterprise 2.0 - Bachelor dissertation - Business Administration, LeadershipDavid Ingvarsson, Markus Rengman and Maria Verdin Jenny StåhlLeadership, managers, Enterprise 2.0, impact, communication, empowerment and motivationHow can managerial leadership in the service sector be affected by Enterprise 2.0?The purpose of this study is to create a better understanding of how managers are affected by the implementation and use of Enterprise 2.0. We examine whether managers who figures in organizations where Enterprise 2.0 applications, have adapted their leadership according to the development. The study is based on leadership changes that may be critical for Enterprise 2.0 to generate internal and external competitive advantages.Our study is addressed for leaders who want to create a better understanding of what implementation of Enterprise 2.0 requires from a leadership perspective.We have compiled three subareas in our theoretical framework; communication, empowerment and motivation. In previous research, we found that each area affects Enterprise 2.0 and leadership.

Abstract Title: Coaching Leadership - A win-win situation? Level: Final assignment for Master Degree in Business Administration Author: Helena Gustafsson Supervisor: Pär Vilhelmson Date: 2012 ? mars Aim: The purpose of this study is to examine how companies use the coaching leadership and how the employees perceive to have a manager who uses this way to lead. Method: The study was conducted as a qualitative study in which interviews was an important feature. The information I gathered is the basis for analysis and final discussion. The material has been collected through personal interviews with two managers and then I send questions to the employees by e-mail that they responded. This is to get such an interesting empirical data as possible.

When a leader changes to a new post in another kind of organisational culture, what happens then? Could a leader use the same kind of leadership when leading different kinds of groups? Different cultures have different needs and ways to handle things and in the end it all comes to situational leadership. Both leaders and theorists claim that the leader must adjust to what the organisation and its members needs. This paper contains an inquiry of how officers have handled their new assignments as leaders in the civilian world of the municipality. The research shows that a former military leader must also be able to lead another kind of group if they change to a civilian career.

AbstractPolitical Science, level III thesisSpring semester 2010Author: Emelie AlfredssonSupervisor: Tomas Mitander"A Changed Leadership? - A study of the EU leadership from a institutional standpoint, related to multilateral environmental negotiations"The EU has for a relatively long time considered itself a leader in the environmental policy area as a whole as well as in multilateral environmental negotiations. This study attempts to classify and identify the European leadership with the purpose of relating it to the institutional framework of the Union. The treaties of the European Union decide its ability to act and its institutions the right to engage in different policy areas, the environmental area being the focus of this study. With the recent ratification of the Lisbon treaty this study aims to make out if the type of leadership the Union showed during the Kyoto negotiations has changed with the new treaty, into a new type during the COP-15 meeting in Copenhagen.

The aim of this master thesis is to examine how leadership in public libraries is constructed discursively in the Swedish library field of today. The empirical material reviewed is job postings and articles from three library related journals.The thesis seeks to identify what different leadership discourses can be found by looking at definitions, forms of address, present actors and themes emerging. It also aims to examine the contingent presence of late modern leadership theories in the order of discourse. The leadership theories primarily investigated are New Public Management (NPM) and value-based leadership.The theoretical starting point of the thesis is discourse theory, developed by Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe. In the analysis a model of four phases is used; in which central concepts of discourse theory help identify the discourses.

This work is a study of how the principal's educational leadership designs in two different forms of organization. I have chosen to do a comparative study between how two headmasters identify educational leadership, and to what level they feel they can act as educational leaders in their school. The comparison is made between two educational organizations, and two principals? image, one in Sweden and one in New Zealand. I have chosen interview as method and I have only two respondents on the grounds that is the person's unique perception I want to bring into focus.

Date: June 10, 2011Level: Bachelor Thesis in Business Administration, 15 credits.Authors: Erica Halvarsson Caroline Lundberg Moa RydbeckSupervisor: Peter SelegårdTitle: A comparison between a traditional and a new bank ? from a leadership perspectiveProblem: The study focuses how different organizational structures and leadership styles appear in a traditional bank compared to a young bank. The questions we asked ourselves in this study is whether there is any differences?Purpose: The purpose of the study is to from a leadership perspective see if there are any differences between organizational structures, leadership and communication depending on whether it is a traditional or a new bank.Method: In this study, primary and secondary data was used to best obtain comprehensive information, which was analyzed on the basis of a set of question. In order to obtain our raw data, interviews with staff from Swedbank and IKANO bank were conducted.

Abstract Title: Coaching Leadership - A win-win situation? Level: Final assignment for Master Degree in Business Administration Author: Helena Gustafsson Supervisor: Pär Vilhelmson Date: 2012 ? mars Aim: The purpose of this study is to examine how companies use the coaching leadership and how the employees perceive to have a manager who uses this way to lead. Method: The study was conducted as a qualitative study in which interviews was an important feature. The information I gathered is the basis for analysis and final discussion. The material has been collected through personal interviews with two managers and then I send questions to the employees by e-mail that they responded. This is to get such an interesting empirical data as possible.

Title: A study about conditions for leadership in knowledge-intensive firms.Authors: Cecilia Ekström and Niklas SandbergKeywords: Leadership, knowledge-intensive firm, hierarchies, followers.Background: Leadership is becoming one of our greatest social myths and is considered a total solution for many problems that occur in an organization. The view of leadership is usually from a top-down perspective, which contributes to an often underestimated view of the follower. Just as it is important to understand the leader's view of leadership, it is important to understand how employees view the structure from which the leader derives its legitimacy. The existing conditions in knowledge-intensive firms, such as autonomy, place special demands on the formal leadership.Purpose: The purpose of this study takes an employee perspective, to understand what the conditions are for formal leadership in knowledge-intensive firms.Method: A qualitative research method was used and empirical material was collected through interviews with employees in knowledge-intensive firms. The empirical material was analyzed by the respondents? mental images which were set against the theoretical framework of the thesis.Conclusions: The conditions for formal leadership in knowledge-intensive firms make it advantageous to have a leader with a withdrawn role.

Over the past thirty years the political parties in Sweden have lost five out of six members. In order to retain existing members leadership in these organizations has become increasingly important. The aim of this paper is to identify what group leaders for party groups within the municipal council believe are the driving forces that underlie the councillors' voluntary commitment, identify the group leaders' leadership style and identify whether there exist a relationship between these driving forces and the leadership style. The approach applied is qualitative consisting of twelve interviews with twelve group leaders from six different municipalities in Stockholm county. The theoretical framework of this paper includes the Volunteer Functions Inventory and the Full Range Leadership Theory.

Background: At this present moment, one of the largest changes in the Swedish employment market is occurring, as the people born in the 1940's are retiring. The Generation Y, people born in the 1980's, will enter. Will this have an affect on motivation and leadership, and in that case, in what way Aim: The purpose of this essay is to investigate whether or not Generation Y (born in the 1980's) has an effect on the perceptions on how to lead and motivate employees. Based on research and our empirical results from qualitative interviews at one of Sweden's largest banks, our research questions are:1. Are executives' and employees' perceptions regarding Generation Y in line with previous research 2.

Culture is seen as an abstract phenomenon, not easily defined. It is cathegorized as something that affects every person, though it is seldom described how. This study adress how culture, in the form of basic assumptions and accepted behaviors and ways to think affected how young coaches formed their leadership under the influence of their organization. The possible implications for the importance of knowing about ones culture in an organization affect both the recruitment process in organizations and what the organization stands for and what is conveyed through values and ways to act in the organization. The purpose of this study was, through the use of semi-structured interviews with young coaches and organizational leaders and a review of policys, to get the perspective and experiences of young coaches regarding cultural influence on their leadership.

Title: A study about conditions for leadership in knowledge-intensive firms.Authors: Cecilia Ekström and Niklas SandbergKeywords: Leadership, knowledge-intensive firm, hierarchies, followers.Background: Leadership is becoming one of our greatest social myths and is considered a total solution for many problems that occur in an organization. The view of leadership is usually from a top-down perspective, which contributes to an often underestimated view of the follower. Just as it is important to understand the leader's view of leadership, it is important to understand how employees view the structure from which the leader derives its legitimacy. The existing conditions in knowledge-intensive firms, such as autonomy, place special demands on the formal leadership.Purpose: The purpose of this study takes an employee perspective, to understand what the conditions are for formal leadership in knowledge-intensive firms.Method: A qualitative research method was used and empirical material was collected through interviews with employees in knowledge-intensive firms. The empirical material was analyzed by the respondents? mental images which were set against the theoretical framework of the thesis.Conclusions: The conditions for formal leadership in knowledge-intensive firms make it advantageous to have a leader with a withdrawn role.

Trough the contact with the HR (Human Resources) department of home care management in Halmstad municipality, emerged from the management a wish for a documentation for what should be included in leadership at middle management level in the future. People in middle management positions have a large impact on the operation staff and are also in charge of the individual corporate performance and its success. As we have previously been active in the management of multiple role configurations, including middle-management positions, we have some prior understanding of the complexity of this position. The study was conducted with the aim to investigate different aspects of what leadership for middle managers in home care management in Halmstad municipality may mean to them. With the help of different theories and models various aspects were analyzed due to the impact of leadership.Due to the studies purpose and questions, two focus groups was conducted and interviews with respondents from both the lower and superior positions in home care management in Halmstad municipality was done.