We set out to compare two different categories of workers: the, so called, white- and blue collar workers. The studies aim was to measure if there were any observable differences between the two in means of optimism and sense of coherence. There are two tools created for measuring optimism and sense of coherence, the Life Orientation Test ? Revised (LOT-R) measures an individual?s level of optimism and Aaron Antonovsky devised a test for measuring an individual?s level of sense of coherence (SOC). Optimism is best explained like a way to measure anticipation, how an individual expect future events to fall out.

Blekinge Hospital suffers from a budget shortage of 100 million SEK, while the government now requires that hospitals will no longer be running a deficit. Blekinge Hospital will then use their limited resources to survive in the future and the activity must be enhanced in order to keep costs low without having to lay off personnel. The idea is that the organisation should be more efficient with a more efficient resource usage. Performance measurement systems are important tools for achieving the policies set out within an organization, measuring and evaluating performance is a way to see where improvements in efficiency may be necessary in the business. Balanced Scorecard (BSC) is one of several measuring systems, where the focus is on measuring non-financial performances.

The purpose of this study is to explain how shame can be experienced by women with the stigmatizing illness of alcoholism. Another aim is to illustrate how this shame can be affected in social interaction with others and by other circumstances. The following questions will be highlighted in this essay: How can shame be experienced by female alcoholics? What can affect shame in interaction with other people, from the view of female alcoholics? What other circumstances can affect the shame, from the view of female alcoholics?This study features interviews with women who have successfully gone through the process of rehabilitation from the illness of alcoholism, have a long going and stable sobriety and arecurrently part of the work force. The study also features interviews with therapists specializing in the field of addiction recovery and have considerable experience in their fieldof working with women suffering from alcoholism.The subject matters shame and stigma form the theoretical/analytical tools for this research.

Moisture damage in kitchens is an area that many people believe to be irrelevant andnot a subject to concern, however the problems encountered might be larger thananticipated.The purpose of this essay is to get a view of how problematic moisture damagecurrently is as well as what can be done to prevent damage during the constructionand building of new housing.Statistics regarding moisture damage as well as several tools for damage preventionhave been studied and investigated. Industrial regulations have been reviewed tounderstand the requirements construction companies must legally follow during theconstruction and building of new kitchens. Home manufacturers and largerentrepreneurs have been contacted in order to get their point of view regarding theproblems with moisture damages in kitchens.The knowledge of moisture safe constructions is prevalent by home manufacturers,insurance companies and entrepreneurs. Despite this knowledge, the constructioncompanies predominately follow the industries regulations, which normally onlyimplement the minimum requirements.In order to get construction companies to design and build kitchens with increasedmoisture security, stricter industrial regulations might be needed to be implemented.Unlike bathrooms and laundry rooms, kitchens are not defined as a ?wet room? andthe regulations for the construction of kitchens are more lenient.It is difficult to detect water leaks in an early state and the moisture damage is usuallyextensive before it is discovered and repaired if the kitchen lacks moisture securedconstruction and water security.

The aim with this independent degree project of master thesis is to find what the user opinions of the intranet in a county council is. The paper seeks how the question about how the culture in the organisation was affected by the use of the intranet. An important part is to explore the expectations and acceptance of the intranet and get a picture of which functions and services support day-to-day work with good quality. One goal is to find out how the intranet users feel that the communication, information and usability can be developed.The focus group interview is a qualitative method that has been applied for gathering data from the respondents, who participate in the investigation from the county council. The used method is unstructured focus groups containing the three dominating categories of staff in the county council.

This report deals with the theory and empirical evidence of how knowledge generated within a project is to be captured and shared with other projects and the surrounding organization, after the end of a project. A number of authors have highlighted knowledge management within a company as a key component in building a unique competitive advantage and knowledge should therefore be considered a very important resource within companies. The difficulties of ensuring that knowledge generated within a project can benefit other projects are many. The nature of the project form has been highlighted as one of the biggest problems, due to the fact that budget and time requirements often restrict the propensity to work with knowledge transfer. Other difficulties that this report highlights are in particular the lack of a knowledge sharing culture within the organizations, as well as human cognitive and psychological limitations and lack of tools design for knowledge transfer.

Laser scanning is a method of surveying that has evolved rapidly in recentyears. The technique is based on a laser scanner set up, which can document a structureusing pulsed laser beams. Each time the laser hits a surface it is partly reflectedback to the scanner that stores the point. By using strategically placed targets, storedpoints from different scans can be merged into a point cloud. A point cloud is avisualization of the scanned object with a very high accuracy.

Patienter som står inför ett operativt ingrepp upplever ofta oro och stress i den perioperativa miljön. Oro förbrukar stora mängder energi som kan ge sig uttryck i huvudvärk, irritabilitet, olust och vanmaktskänsla. Tidigare studier har dock visat att anestesisjuksköterskan har genom det goda mötet möjlighet att lindra patientens lidande i dessa situationer. Syftet med denna studie var att beskriva anestesisjuksköterskans lugnande förhållningssätt i mötet med vaken patient som visar tecken på oro. Åtta kvalitativa intervjuer genomfördes med anestesisjuksköterskor som har minst fem års erfarenhet av perioperativt vårdande.

The study aims to investigate student?s attitudes and experiences of information retrieval on the Internet, as tools for learning. I have been interested of their own views about their own knowledge and experience in the subject, information seeking on the Internet. The focus is on what they perceive as problematic, what skills they consider they have and what needs they have in terms of teaching. Data were collected via questionnaires.

The practice of landscape architectural involves forming the space in our cities and suburbs, as well as the landscape surrounding. The need of exploiting green environment leads up to, among other issues, flood problem during heavy rain and overfed water environments. The problem is partially caused by the shortage of knowledge, how the environment is responding of the innovations made by the city- urban planning and how to get sustainability. Research and knowledge how to take care of our environment, in a natural way, is increasing. The object of the thesis is to propose control and balance in urban wetlands, and discuss the difference a plant design can do. The thesis deals with discourses in the field of landscape architecture, biological diversity, dam construction, limnology, planting design and management, pollution of the environment and urban design practice.

Distributed system development is a common occurrence in today?s technological and global world. Because the consequences of its geographically distributed nature it creates barriers between people that affects their communication and collaboration efforts in the distributed context. Despite a lot of technological breakthroughs over the last decades and the occurrence of video-conference applications and other tools for communication and collaboration, cultural and geographical issues have so far not yet been completely resolved. In this study I have made a literature study over distributed system development to form a set of central factors that affects the distributed development process.

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.

AbstractTitle: Network communication for equal opportunities (Nätverkskommunikation för jämställdhet)Number of pages: 47 (54 with enclosures)Author: Hillevi GoodTutor: Ylva EkströmCourse: Media and Communication Studies DPeriod: Spring Semester 2007University: Division of Media and Communication, Department of Information Science, Uppsala UniversityAim: The aim of this essay is to study the possibilities to bring about change by the means of communication in two networks, focusing on the implementation of the Swedish Equal Opportunities Act.Material and method: The study draws on data collected in an electronic survey among representatives of two networks consisting of representatives from trade unions and employer?s associations. The material is analyzed using descriptive tools, cross tables and correlation matrices in which general characteristics as well as individual understandings of the network communication are presented and discussed.Main results: The general results indicate that the network communication serves important purposes, such as providing support and motivation for the members and changing attitudes towards equal opportunities. The analysis suggests that the network members have good communicative possibilities to serve as agents of change within their organisations. Moreover, there is an observed relation between, on the one hand, organizational context and, on the other hand, the network members? own communicational behaviour and their experienced possibility to influence their organizations.Keywords: network communication, diffusion of innovations, behaviour change, Equal Opportunities Act.

Each time you pass a stand full of magazines it?s hard not to absorb the many exhortations that are being thrown at you. The range of different lifestyle magazines have more or less exploded during the last years. All magazines, each one trying to outmatch the other, want to help you improve to be the best you can.People get affected by their surroundings including what they see and what they read. Therefore we chose to do this study, as an opportunity to get a closer look on what the Swedish lifestyle magazines Cosmopolitan and Café tell us about women and men.

The development of productivity in the construction industry has long been at a steady state compared to the manufacturing industry. Studies have shown that, amongst other things, waste on construction sites can reach up to one third of the total production cost. This has been observed from different aspects, and change is forthcoming.This thesis aims to provide a foundation for an increased productivity at production sites of building bridges. It is primarily based on a field study at Skanska, at a bridge construction site near Grängesberg. Via continuous interviews with the whole production crew, construction workers and management, information on interference and possibilities of improvement at the work site has been documented.