The aim of this study is to investigate how employees in consulting companies develop their competence in order to perform their daily work. The focus is on informal competence development. The theoretical framework consists of theories concerning learning and competence development in working life, theories on organizational change and evaluation, a well as professional reflection. The methods applied are narrative research and interviews based on the assumption that knowledge about reality is only obtainable through language and communication.The main results show that competence is developed through experience, social interaction, communication and dialog with co-workers and customers. The post-modern conceptions of the rapid (technical) development and need to be up-to-date has a strong hold on the informants apprehension of working life, as does the notion of not having enough time for all the competence development they would like.

The meaning of the concept of psychosocial treatment is ambiguous. The purpose of this study was to examine how professionals within some care institutions, which provide methadone, buprenorphine or naloxone treatment, regard and carry out the psychosocial features of such treatment. Central issues discussed were; how personnel approach the psychosocial features of the treatment, what personnel regard as a focus in the psychosocial treatment, what conditions personnel consider affect treatment positively in order for it to be successful and how personnel see the relation between the medical and psychosocial features of the treatment. The method used was interviews with nine professionals in six qualitative interviews. The theoretical perspectives and concepts used in our analysis were; the theory of biological dependence, an organizational perspective, Prochaska and DiClemente's Stages of Change Model, the concept of individual reality and the concept of marginal conflict.Results show that the conditions most important for successful treatment are; that the patient has a place to live, an occupation, motivation, that the patient take responsibility for his/hers progress and have realistic expectations about the effects of the medicine.

The study seeks to clarify a cultural change in the armed forces (FM). The study is based on the hypothesis that repeated operations in war-like environment, where the FM sends professional combat units, develop a warrior culture. The empirical results indicate that there is an existing warrior culture at all three units surveyed.The subculture is verified by the constants of western warrior culture described in theory. The cultural change leads to ethical / moral and leadership challenges for FM..

Abstract This thesis is based on a case study of the drawn out legal process on the question of establish a limestone quarry in Bunge Ducker in north Gotland (Sweden). The current fields are located next to areas that are protected by virtue of being EU-certified Natura 2000-areas. Despite this, the Swedish governments and courts have not agreed in witch national interest that should be prevail when decisions are made on this issue. This phenomenon are reflected in the judicial process and different court have evaluate information differently in the case. A change among governmental actors where priority is given to the importance of national interest have occur in the later part in the process.

Organisationsförändringar är något som sker dagligen inom organisationer. Vid större organisationsförändringar uppstår det ofta personalrelaterade problem som organisationsledningen måste ta hänsyn till. En av de största förändringarna en organisation kan genomgå är en så kallad fusion, när en organisation går ihop med en annan. Under de senaste åren har det blivit allt vanligare med fusioner mellan lärosäten.Författarnas syfte med denna uppsats är att undersöka vilka personalrelaterade problem som kan uppstå när två lärosäten med olika förutsättningar går samman genom en fusion. Detta har gjorts med hjälp av av en fallstudie.Resultatet av undersökningen visar att kontinuerlig information från ledning till personal är av yttersta vikt för att i största möjliga mån undvika och dämpa personalrelaterade problem.

The European Union's work on equal opportunities for women and men can be described historically in three eras; equal treatment, positive action and, most recently, the gender perspective. In accordance with the latter, gender mainstreaming is the latest method in dealing with these issues. Its aim is the implementation of the gender perspective in all policy processes and to challenge the male norm that permeates all decision making. EU:s work on equal opportunities, though, persists not only of gender mainstreaming but has a double approach also including special actions.This thesis bases its argumentation on discourse analysis of communications from the Commission regarding employment and social affairs. It argues that the two components of the double approach; gender mainstreaming and special actions, are incompatible and even becomes contra productive put together.

The myth of the user - a study of the user discourse and its visionariesThis study is a discourse analysis of the visions that implicitly are expressed in different texts about user-centered library theory. Several other studies have analyzed the discourse and conceptualization of how the user is expressed in the library debate. Therefore we have chosen to analyze the visions that are expressed by three different sources: the evaluation of the Swedish GÖK project, which was an reorganization of three different libraries in Sweden (Greenhalgh, Worpole & Landry 1995). The influential book by Michael E. Casey and Laura C.

The background to this work was to see if there was a connection between large woody debris (LWD) and the presence of brown trout in our Swedish forest streams. Previous researches by Degerman et al. (2004) have shown that there is a strong correlation between the amount of dead wood and the presence of brown trout. The goal was then to find a way to restore, maintain and increase the trout habitats by constructing and adding manmade wooden structures that would mimic natural deadwood and its features in flowing water. The inspiration was partially taken from a water restoration program in the Klamath River of northern California, USA.

The aim of this study was to design short interventions based on the literature study, which will change the pupils? posture on mathematics and connections between problem-solving in mathematics and everyday life. An experimental group of 17 pupils in fifth grade participated in the study and were educated in everyday mathematics 20 minutes a day during four weeks. The intervention was measured in a pre- and after questionnaire, in order to control the design and discover possible changes in the pupils? posture on mathematics and connections between problems and everyday life.

SJ is a government-owned passenger train operator in Sweden. SJ currently uses asystem called Ford for control and monitoring of maintenance. Technical andorganizational factors have given Ford the character of a monolithic system withoutflexibility and conditions to meet SJ's increased requirements.The main purpose of this master's thesis is to investigate how data quality can bedefined at SJ and to examine the data quality in Ford. This will give SJ an indication ofwhat their quality efforts should focus on in the future.The technical data quality parameters found are: accuracy, timeliness, completenessand consistency. The user centred data quality parameters are: accessibility,understandability and reliability.

The aim of our study is to explore which norms that exists in the home care service, who is sending those norms, how are they maintained and how do they affect the interactions between staff and manager? We want to deep en our knowledge about home care service as an organization and increase our understanding for the psychosocial work environment and also the importance of leadership. We mean to read the organizational culture that exists which allows us to deal with the values that influence the behavior in the organization.The study is based on a qualitative method. The data consists of two focus group interviews, one with managers from the home care service - organization and one with staff from the same organization. T he interview with the managers consisted of five participants and the corresponding figure for the second interview with the staff was eight participants.The theoretical viewpoints have been communication - theory, organizational theory and Foucault´s th eory of power.Our result indicate that norms are something that unconsciously controls us and that we have learned that there are consequences when you step out of what is normative for the group.

AbstractTitle:The Impact of Management Control Systems on the Purchaser Function - A study of Scania and Sandvik Authors: Mohammad Reza Akhbari and Johanna Sullivan Svensson Published: 2011 Keywords: Management control, purchasing function, impact, control, control instruments, Key Performance Indicators, measurement, communication and organizational structure. Background and problem formulation: In order for a company?s business idea or vision to be fulfilled, the management of a company needs assistance from various means to intentionally affect the operation in the desired direction. Management control concerns activities of both financial and non-financial character in order to implement the strategy of a company and to reach profitability. Since the purchaser function is responsible of spending 50 percent of a company?s total revenue, the function has an optimal starting point to be a key actor in the shaping and execution of a company?s strategic plan.

The study was performed based on a qualitative method using a hermeneutical approach used to interpret the semi-structured interviews. The study aimed to investigate the Multisystemic therapy (MST) team in Halmstad municipality perceptions on the treatment method multisystemic therapy for youths from the ages of 12-18 years old.The questions were: Does the MST therapists experience that the MST is a method that leads to an improved situation for young people who receive the method? What do the MST therapists describe as opportunities and obstacles in the work with the method?The study builds on previous research on MST and empowerment based on MST. The study shows three therapists and an MST leader's experiences of the treatment and how it is aimed at influencing the parents and the youth for a change. From therapists statements it highlights how the MST method is designed for the young people?s motivation to change by means of the internal and external networks.

The purpose of this study is to make a qualitative evaluation of the MTFC-program (Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care) on the basis of six youth´s experiences of the program. The study will investigate what the youth experienced as positive and negative about the program as well as finding out what has helped them or inhibited them from the aim of getting out of their criminal lifestyle. A secondary purpose of this study is to make the youth´s voices heard in the research world. The research question is: Which factors in the MTFC-program have helped or inhibited the youth towards the aim of getting out of their criminal lifestyle? For this purpose, a qualitative research method has been used where semistructured interviews have been performed on six youth who have gone through the MTFC-program.

Gender mainstreaming has been an internationally dominant policy since the mid 1990?s. In 2004, the Swedish government decided to implement gender mainstreaming within the Government Offices of Sweden. However, little research seems to have focused on the reasons for an organization's decision to implement gender mainstreaming. Consequently, the purpose of this study is to answer the question why the Government Offices of Sweden have decided to use gender mainstreaming.