Leadership in a small enterprise

Leadership is often seen as the premier force behind the success and failure of enterprises and the well-being of the personnel. In spite of the vast amount of studies on leadership, leadership in small enterprises has seldom been in focus in leadership research. The increasing importance of small firms to the economic growth and competitiveness raises questions about the role and practice of leadership in small enterprises. This study aims to deepen our understanding of leadership as a social phenomenon and a human activity in small, entrepreneurial enterprises. The study is based on an analytical review of leadership research and studies on small firms, family businesses, and entrepreneurship relevant to the investigation of leadership in small enterprises. A case study in a small, entrepreneurial enterprise builds up the empirical part of the study. It utilizes the phenomenographic framework as a constructivist-interpretative research approach to leadership. The data was generated during a one-year development project, and consists of interviews of the company managers and the owner-manager, a life-story of the company and company documents. The managers' interviews function as the primary data. Through the phenomenographic, contextual analysis twelve different categories of leadership conceptions are generated that describe the qualitatively different ways in which the managers experienced leadership. The relationships between the conception categories are further analyzed and five categories that reveal the central themes of leadership in the small enterprise are generated. By utilizing a novel methodology in examining leadership in a small enterprise this study contributes an alternative perspective to leadership compared to the mainstream leadership research and produces a tentative, conceptual model of leadership in a small enterprise. The study raises concerns about the taken for granted conceptions of leadership as something good and indispensable and their power related implications in organizations; particularly in small, owner-run enterprises, where employees are dependent on the owner-manager. The practical contribution of the study is associated with such issues as consciousness about the social construction of leadership and leadership ideals, their interpretation and utilization in the everyday life in organizations and their implications to organizations and organizational members. Suggestions for meeting leadership expectations and developing participatory approach to leadership in small enterprises are provided

Economic Underdevelopment and the Population Explosion: Implications for U.S. Immigration Policy

Background: Prediction of timing for the onset and peak of an influenza pandemic is of vital importance for preventive measures. In order to identify common spatiotemporal patterns and climate influences for pandemics in Sweden we have studied the propagation in space and time of A(H1N1)pdm09 (10,000 laboratory verified cases), the Asian Influenza 1957-1958 (275,000 cases of influenza-like illness (ILI), reported by local physicians) and the Russian Influenza 1889-1890 (32,600 ILI cases reported by physicians shortly after the end of the outbreak). Methods: All cases were geocoded and analysed in space and time. Animated video sequences, showing weekly incidence per municipality and its geographically weighted mean (GWM), were created to depict and compare the spread of the pandemics. Daily data from 1957-1958 on temperature and precipitation from 39 weather stations were collected and analysed with the case data to examine possible climatological effects on the influenza dissemination. Results: The epidemic period lasted 11 weeks for the Russian Influenza, 10 weeks for the Asian Influenza and 9 weeks for the A(H1N1)pdm09. The Russian Influenza arrived in Sweden during the winter and was immediately disseminated, while both the Asian Influenza and the A(H1N1)pdm09 arrived during the spring. They were seeded over the country during the summer, but did not peak until October-November. The weekly GWM of the incidence moved along a line from southwest to northeast for the Russian and Asian Influenza but northeast to southwest for the A(H1N1)pdm09. The local epidemic periods of the Asian Influenza were preceded by falling temperature in all but one of the locations analysed. Conclusions: The power of spatiotemporal analysis and modeling for pandemic spread was clearly demonstrated. The epidemic period lasted approximately 10 weeks for all pandemics. None of the pandemics had its epidemic period before late autumn. The epidemic period of the Asian Influenza was preceded by falling temperatures. Climate influences on pandemic spread seem important and should be further investigated

Vaikuttava TANO-toiminta

Tämä on raportti TANO-tutkimushankkeen neljännestä ja viimeisestä osatutkimuksesta, TANO-vertailututkimuksesta. Siinä selvitettiin tapaus-verrokki -asetelmassa hankkeen edellisessä osatutkimuksessa kehitetyn TANO-toimintamallin vaikuttavuutta, toimivuutta ja hyödyllisyyttä asiakkaille. Vertailututkimusraportissa kuvataan tapaus- ja verrokkitutkimusasetelman lähtökohdat, tutkimuskysymykset, osallistujat, TANO-toimintamallia soveltavat interventiot ja niiden tavoitteet sekä tulokset ja niihin perustuvat johtopäätökset

Yrittäjän työterveyshuolto ja työturvallisuus

Mitä hyötyä työterveyshuollosta on yrittäjälle ja työntekijöille? Miten työturvallisuutta voi edistää? Mitä laki sanoo työterveyshuollosta ja työturvallisuudesta? Yrittäjän kannattaa pitää huolta omasta ja työntekijöidensä terveydestä ja työturvallisuudesta. Laki velvoittaa työnantajaa huolehtimaan työntekijöidensä työturvallisuudesta ja järjestämään heille työterveyshuollon palvelut. Työterveyteen ja työturvallisuuteen panostaminen vaikuttavat myönteisesti myös työntekijöiden työkykyyn ja työmotivaatioon ja auttavat näin yritystä menestymään. Tämä opas tarjoaa yrittäjille perustietoa sekä työterveyshuollosta ja sen järjestämisestä että työturvallisuuteen liittyvistä seikoista

Pienten yritysten ja työterveyshuollon yhteistyö : tutkimusraportti yhteistyöstä, siihen liittyvistä käytännöistä ja niiden kehittymisestä kahden vuoden seuranta-aikana

Toimiva yhteistyö yritysten ja työterveyshuollon välillä auttaa huolehtimaan henkilöstön terveydestä ja työkyvystä. Samalla onnistuu huolehtiminen työyhteisön työhyvinvoinnista ja työturvallisuudesta yrityksessä. Työterveysyhteistyöstä on tietoa suurempien organisaatioiden ja niiden työterveyshuoltojen väliltä, mutta pienten yritysten ja niiden työterveyshuoltojen yhteistyöstä ei ole aikaisemmin tuotettu kattavaa tutkimustietoa. Tätä tiedon puutetta täydentää Työterveyshuollon tuki pienille yrityksille – yhteistoimintakäytännöt ja niiden vaikuttavuus (2015- 2018) -tutkimushankkeen raportti. Raportissa tarkastellaan yksityiskohtaisesti pienten, alle 20 henkilön yritysten ja niiden työterveyshuoltojen yhteistyötä yrittäjien, työntekijöiden ja työterveyshuollon näkökulmista. Yhteistyötä, siihen osallistumista ja sen kehittymistä kuvataan yritysten työturvallisuutta ja työkykyä tukevassa toiminnassa sekä työterveyshuollon prosesseissa. Lisäksi raportissa kuvataan kehittämisen vaikutuksia yrityksissä

Työterveysyhteistyöllä vaikuttavuutta työkyvyn tukeen

Tavoitteellinen työturvallisuuden, terveyden ja työkyvyn edistämiseen tähtäävä toiminta luo mahdollisuuden työntekijöiden parempaan terveyteen ja työkykyyn. Toiminnan avulla on saavutettavissa myös myönteisiä taloudellisia vaikutuksia. Samalla luodaan hyvää ilmapiiriä sekä lisätään luottamusta ja työmotivaatiota. Tavoitteet toteutuvat työpaikan, työterveyshuollon ja tarvittavien muiden toimijoiden yhteistyöllä. Onnistunut yhteistyö lisää keskinäistä luottamusta

Zdravstveno obrazovanje i informiranje koje provode službe medicine rada u Finskoj

This article discusses health education and communication in Occupational Health Services (OHS) based on a questionnaire study conducted in Finnish OHS in 2005. The study focused on educational activities carried out by OH professionals and directed at individual employees, work communities and groups, and representatives of client organisations. The questionnaire was sent to 1132 OH professionals - physicians, nurses, physiotherapists and psychologists - working in 130 OHS units, and representing different OHS providers in Finland. 635 respondents (162 physicians, 342 nurses, 96 physiotherapists, 35 psychologists) returned the questionnaire. The overall response rate was 58 %. There were statistically significant differences in educational activities by different professional groups; differences were also related to the length of working experience in OHS. For all OH professionals, individual employees were the primary clients of health education and communication. Education was less often directed at work communities and representatives of client organisations. However, many issues related to health and well-being at work are not within the reach of individual employees. The impact of health education would be more evident if it also reached those organisational stakeholders with discretion in decision-making. Furthermore, OH personnel should pay attention to the social aspect of learning and work more with groups and work communities.U ovome se članku raspravlja o zdravstvenom obrazovanju i informiranju koje provode službe medicine rada, a na temelju istraživanja provedenog među tim službama 2005. U središtu su ispitivanja bile obrazovne aktivnosti medicinara rada usmjerene na radnike kao pojedince, radne zajednice i skupine te predstavnike korisničkih organizacija. Upitnik su dobila 1132 medicinara rada, uključujući liječnike, medicinske sestre, fizioterapeute i psihologe zaposlene u 130 jedinica koje pružaju usluge medicine rada u Finskoj. Ispunjene je upitnike vratilo 635 sudionika (162 liječnika, 342 sestre, 96 fizioterapeuta te 35 psihologa). Ukupni odgovor iznosio je 58 %. Zamijećene su statistički značajne razlike u obrazovnim aktivnostima između pojedinih zanimanja, a one su bile povezane i sa stažem u medicini rada. Svim medicinarima rada pojedinačni radnici primarni su korisnici zdravstvenoga obrazovanja i informiranja. Obrazovanje se rjeđe usmjeravalo na radne zajednice i predstavnike korisničkih organizacija. Međutim, mnoga otvorena pitanja vezana uz zdravlje i dobrobit na radu nisu u nadležnosti pojedinačnih zaposlenika. Utjecaj zdravstvenoga obrazovanja bio bi stoga svrhovitiji kada bi ono obuhvatilo i one strukture koje donose odluke. Osim toga, osoblje medicine rada treba obratiti pozornost na socijalni aspekt učenja te treba više raditi sa skupinama i radnim zajednicama

Importance of wild birds in the spread of Salmonella

Salmonella is one of the most important enteropathogenic bacteria. It is responsible for about 5000 reported cases of human gastroenteritis each year in Sweden. Salmonellosis is a zoonotic disease, and the bacterium has the ability to infect a variety of both domestic and wild animal species. In studies of Swedish wild bird populations, we found that Black-headed gull may be the main reservoir for Salmonella in birds, and that Salmonella infection is expressed as carriage with no obvious disease manifestations. Black-headed gull is a migratory bird and can transport strains of Salmonella with virulence traits like antibiotic resistance, from sources outside Sweden. Genetic molecular methods, PFGE and IS200, also demonstrate that Black-headed gull play a role in the transmission chain of Salmonella in Sweden. In a study of the Swedish Peregrine Falcon population, Salmonella amager and Campylobacter jejuni were found. There were indications, based on serotyping of Salmonella and genetical typing by PFGE of Campylobacter that these isolates were transmitsted to the falcons from a human or domestic animal source. This bird of prey has sparse contact with humans but may be infected by Salmonella of human origin by feeding on other birds, like gull. Salmonella was found in penguins, albatrosses and mainly in seals in a study in Antarctica. Several features of the Salmonella serotypes found indicate a human source for Salmonella infection in these animals, and also a spread of Salmonella within and between animal species in Antarctica.Diss. (sammanfattning) Umeå : Umeå universitet, 2002digitalisering@um