When studying the voting behaviour of the Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) concerning the Services Directive within the EU, what patterns can be observed? With a starting point in previous findings about voting behaviour, this study analyses the results of the given Roll-call votes in the European Parliament in regards to the Services Directive. Here I focus on the division of votes within and between the member states and the parliamentary political groups; with the aim to identify patterns that might show clash of opinion concerning this issue. I found that ideology seems to play a role in the MEPs voting behaviour. Parties on the far left reach the highest level of cohesion and together with the party on the far right, they voted against the Directive, but due to different reasons.

This paper examines the interpersonal and intercorporate networks of interlocking boardmembers among Sweden's 50 largest publicly traded companies in 1985 and 2005. We find that both the interpersonal and intercorporate networks of 1985 are considerably more coherent and densely connected than those of 2005. The observed changes in social network structure are compared to changes in company ownership in Swedish publicly traded companies during the same period, and it is found that the observed changes in network density and cohesion can be related to a notable increase in the number of foreign board members. These results imply that the social organization of the Swedish system of corporate governance has changed notably during the period. Social network theory suggests that these changes can explain the greater demand for external regulation, decreased homogeneity of board members and increase in board member compensation observed under the period.

The purpose of this thesis is to achieve a greater understanding of how the social workers at the family unit in one of Stockholm municipalities comprehend the work environment at the workplace. Our aim is also to find out how the work environment can affect the health of the social workers in the form of their wellbeing and comfort at the workplace. In order to answer our purpose we conducted interviews of all social workers at the family unit in one of Stockholm municipalities that describe how they experience the work-environment in the workplace and how it influences their health.  We have analyzed the interview material in a thematic analysis based on three theoretical perspectives; SOC, claim ? control - support and Human relations. We have also coupled the interview material to the background chapter in this thesis that describes how a good working environment should be structured.  The chosen method characterizes an abductive process.

Utifr?n ett planerings- och policyperspektiv finns det en stark uppfattning om att bostadsblandning p? grannskapsniv? kan bidra till en ?kad social sammanh?llning och en h?gre livskvalitet f?r de boende i dessa grannskap. Bland forskare r?der det d?remot en oenighet kring hur starkt sambandet mellan bostadsblandning och social sammanh?llning verkligen ?r, d? studier uppvisar varierade resultat. Denna studie ?mnar att unders?ka social sammanh?llning i urbana grannskap som tidigare dominerats av hyresr?tter, men som sedan millennieskiftet blandats upp med andra bostadstyper.

This thesis explores how the city of Gothenburg integrates and use social capital, defined through factors such as trust and cooperative networks, in its crisis preparedness strategies and how this can enhance the city's collective resilience. The study aims to contribute to the understanding of how social capital can be leveraged to strengthen crisis management and resilience in urban environments. The research analyzes existing quantitative data from the SOM-Institute regarding residents perceptions and self-reported preparedness actions and reviews Gothenburg's official civil defense plan for 2024?2027. By examining various aspects of social capital, including levels of trust and cooperative networks across different city districts and age groups, the analysis focuses on how social bonds and community contexts are considered in planning for handling and recovering from potential crises.

Aim: Team spirit is a concept often used in both managerial literature and in other contexts where the efficiency of a group is discussed. Despite the fact that team spirit is used as a selling point for courses, books and seminars, no unambiguous definition of the term is available. The purpose of this thesis is to clarify what team spirit means to individuals within companies and team sports. Method: The thesis has been carried out using studies of available literature, which has been compiled into a conceivable model of what team spirit may imply. From this model a poll has been made, and handed out to individuals within companies as well as team sports. After having compiled the 37 replies, correlating answers has been sought after within each group of respondents. Result & Conclusions: The result shows us that there are varying opinions of what team spirit is, and generally accepted definitions of closely related ideas like cohesion and group development has to the respondents not been able to form a satisfying description of what team spirit means.

The purpose of this study was to explore how interpersonal relationship can be affected by groing up in a New Religoius Movement such as Jehovah?s Withnesses and how it has affected them both in their youth and today. The aim was also to explore if there were people in the respondents' environment that was significant to them during their childhood and which support our respondents have received if they were in need of it.We have not found any previous research on children's social relationships within the Jehovah's Witnesses. We therefore believe that this study is of high relevance to both society and also for all the professionals who come into contact with these children. To discover a child in need, knowledge about how their social environment looks like is crucial.

Title: Social media as a communication tool - A case study on social media influencecorporate cultureLevel: Final assignment for Bachelor degree in Business and EconomicsAuthor: Jessika Klintsbacka & Oskar BergeSupervisor: Pär Vilhelmsson, Ernst Hollander & Maria Fregidou-MalamaDate: 2014-06-13Purpose of Study: The aim of this study is to inquire into Swedish companies internalcommunication, their approach to social media as an internal communications tool, and if itaffects the corporate culture.Method: The study is a multiple case study with a qualitative research design. The study'sinterview questions were designed by a operationalization of based on theory in the areas ofinternal communication, corporate culture and social media. The interviews took place inApril 2014. The interviews were recorded and then analyzed to bring out the similarities anddifferences between the companies.Results & Conclusion: The study shows that Swedish companies corporate cultures haveconnections with internal communication, and implementation of social media as acommunications tool. The study found that connections to companies with a comprehensiveone-way positive consider social media as alternative communication tool to strengthen theunity and community within the company.Suggestion for further research: One of the study's three companies is owner-led and thiscompany showed a high level of corporate culture.

Storbritannien har traditionellt sett bejakat kulturell mångfald som en del av det brittiska samhället, ?en gemenskap av gemenskaper?. De våldsamheter som uppstod mellan asiatiska och vita ungdomar, polis och medlemmar ur högerextrema organisationer i flera nordengelska städer sommaren 2001 markerade emellertid en brytpunkt i den brittiska diskursen om integration och kulturell mångfald, vilken förstärktes ytterligare i de politiska svaren på självmordsbombningarna i Londons tunnelbana 2005. En rad utredningar och rapporter publicerades som signalerade ett tydligt politiskt skifte från fokus på antirasism och skillnadstänkande till en betoning av en gemensam nationell identitet över de kulturella skillnaderna och vikten av att skapa sammanhållning kring en uppsättning ?brittiska värden?.Med hjälp av Laclau och Mouffes teorier identifikation, gruppbildning och makt och Foucauls fokus på problemformulering, analyserar jag hur makt på olika sätt aktiveras i den nya sammanhållningsagendan och problematiserar de processer genom vilka den brittiska regeringen försöker skapa en förstärkt nationell gemenskap.

AbstractIn the literature on multiculturalism and group rights there is a strong tradition that sees diversity as something directly paradoxal to unity. In this tradition, scholars put forward a view of multiculturalism as a divisive and exclusionary process which breaks down the cohesion and unity of society. Related to this notion is that of a neutral and universally valid frame of reference in which political dilemmas can be solved; for example a neutral civil sphere where the ?true essence? of society lies. In this essay I attempt to criticise these two notions.

Syftet med studien var att undersöka elitsatsande handbollsgymnasieelevers upplevda sammanhållning i deras respektive klubblag samt i deras träningsgrupp vid skolan. Vidare studerades handbollsspelarnas upplevelser av skillnader eller likheter i lagsammanhållningen i klubblag och träningsgrupp. Undersökningsdeltagarna bestod av tio män (M = 18,5) som går på ett elithandbollsgymnasium i Sverige. Datainsamlingen skedde med hjälp av en intervjuguide baserad på Carron´s (1982) konceptuella ramverk. Resultaten redovisades i huvudteman där positiva och negativa påverkansfaktorer för lagsammanhållningen klargjordes i träningsgrupp på skolan respektive klubblag.

The purpose of this study was to explore how interpersonal relationship can be affected by groing up in a New Religoius Movement such as Jehovah?s Withnesses and how it has affected them both in their youth and today. The aim was also to explore if there were people in the respondents' environment that was significant to them during their childhood and which support our respondents have received if they were in need of it.We have not found any previous research on children's social relationships within the Jehovah's Witnesses. We therefore believe that this study is of high relevance to both society and also for all the professionals who come into contact with these children. To discover a child in need, knowledge about how their social environment looks like is crucial.

Speech intervention for children with language impairment aims to both strengthen specific language skills and to reinforce the ability to participate in interactional contexts. Children with language impairment often have problems in interaction; therefore the contributions of the conversational partner are of great importance. Thus, the demands are high on the speech and language pathologist (SLP) for sense and cohesion in intervention. The aim of the present study was to examine how SLPs and children with language impairment interact in language intervention. An approach influenced by Conversation Analysis was used in order to identify various phenomena that occurred, and their effect on the structure of the interaction was analyzed.Four SLPs, two men and two women, were enrolled in the study.  They participated in intervention with two children with language impairment each, i.e.

Syftet med studien var att få kunskap om vilka motivationsfaktorer, inre och yttre, som är viktiga hos personal inom serviceyrken. Vidare studerades den uppfattade sammanhållningen inom målgruppen. Av speciellt intresse var att studera korrelationer mellan sammanhållning och inre/yttre motivationsfaktorer samt om kontroll i arbetet och socialt stöd inverkar på dessa faktorer. I undersökningen deltog 88 individer, 38 män och 50 kvinnor, i åldrarna 18-65 (M=34,63 Sd=12,40). Datainsamlingen skedde med hjälp av ett frågeformulär baserat på QPS Nordic och Group Environment Questionnaire (GEQ).

In 1988 the Swedish Social Democratic Party decided to reform the tax system. In this essay I analyse the motives behind their acting on a basis of the party strategic theories of Przeworski and Sjöblom. The reform commonly referred to as the tax reform of the century, was although they considered that it was a high risk project pursued together with the Liberal Party. The new tax system implicated a less progressive income tax scale, actions against tax avoidance and raised value-added tax. The empirical analysis is primarily based on memoirs written by the key actors.