Managing a Global Workforce: International Human Resource Management as a Strategic Tool

The aim of this thesis is to gather existing literature regarding the challenges senior human resource managers face in multinational corporations when managing a global workforce, as well as to discover the strategies that are used within the field of international human resource management. The systematic literature review revealed several main challenges and strategies and by building on those a framework was created. This framework demonstrates the outcome of applying geocentric strategies to achieve the best strategic position to manage the challenges and the complications that globalization brings to the business environment

Историческая антропонимия сербско-хорватского языка как источник реконструкции праславянской лексики

(uk) Статтю присвячено словотвірно-етимологічному аналізу групи слов'янських особових імен, засвідчених у пам'ятках писемності сербсько-хорватської мови. Результатом аналізу виступає реконструкція архаїчних лексем, які зникли зі слов'янського апелятивного словника.(ru) Статья посвящена словообразовательно-этимологическому анализу группы славянских личных имен, засвидетельствованных в памятниках письменности сербско­хорватского языка. Результатом анализа стача реконструкция ряда архаичных лексем, утраченных в славянском апеллативном словаре.(en) The article is devoted to the word-formative etymological analysis o f a number o f Slavonic personal names, verified in the historical papers o f serbo-croatian language. The result o f the analysis is the reconstruction o f a series o f archaic lexemes lost in the Slavonic appellative vocabulary

Scandcleft randomised trials of primary surgery for unilateral cleft lip and palate: 10. Parental perceptions of appearance and treatment outcomes in their 5-year-old child

© 2017 Acta Chirurgica Scandinavica Society. Background and aim: Few studies have explored children’s emotional and behavioural reactions to cleft surgery and treatment-related stress. The objective was to investigate parents’ evaluations of appearance and treatment outcomes in their 5-year-old child with unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP), and their perceptions of how their child was coping with treatment, comparing this information with recorded postsurgical complications. Design: Three parallel group randomised clinical trials were undertaken as an international multicentre study by 10 cleft teams in five countries: Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway, and the UK. Methods: Three different surgical procedures for primary palatal repair were tested against a common procedure in the total cohort of 448 children born with a non-syndromic UCLP. A total of 356 parents completed the Scandcleft Parent Questionnaire, and 346 parents completed the Cleft Evaluation Profile. Results: The results indicated that the majority of parents were satisfied with cleft-related features of their child’s appearance. Further, most children coped well with treatment according to their parents. Nevertheless, 17.5% of the children showed minor or short-term reactions after treatment experiences, and 2% had major or lasting difficulties. There were no significant relationships between parent perceptions of treatment-related problems and the occurrence of post-surgical medical complications. Conclusions: Most parents reported satisfaction with their child’s appearance. However, treatment-related problems were described in some children, urging cleft centres to be aware of potential negative emotional and behavioural reactions to treatment in some young children, with a view to preventing the development of more severe treatment-related anxiety. Trial registration: ISRCTN29932826

Manual till LINUS 2.0 : LINköpingsUnderSökningen 2.0: Ett fonologiskt bedömningsmaterial för barn från 3 år

När ett barn med misstänkta tal- och språkavvikelser kommer till logoped för bedömning är det viktigt att samtliga aspekter av tal och språk beaktas. Under de år som svensk logopedi har vuxit fram, har ett flertal instrument för bedömning av barns tal- och språk tagits fram. Ett av dessa, Stora fonemtestet, som skapades i mitten av 1980-talet, har länge varit det enda vitt spridda testet av barns fonologi i landet. Testet fanns under flera år inte att beställa på förlag, vilket var ett av motiven till arbetet med att ta fram ett nytt fonologiskt bedömningsmaterial. Ett annat var att Enheten för logopedi vid Linköpings universitet sedan 2010 ingår i en större multicenterstudie med syftet att jämföra fonologiska avvikelser hos barn i olika länder. Inom ramen för detta projekt och genom några magisterarbeten i logopedi färdigställdes LINUS 2014. Som en direkt följd av det fortsatta internationella forskningssamarbetet och av feed-back från kollegor som använt materialet i sin kliniska vardag, kommer nu en ny version av materialet, LINUS 2.0. och finns för gratis nedladdning på http://phonodevelopment.sites.olt.ubc.ca/practice-units/swedish/. Vi hoppas att det även fortsatt skall komma till användning vid utredning av tal- och språkförmåga hos barn. Linköpings universitet, 2019 Inger Lundeborg Hammarströ

Word-initial /r/-clusters in Swedish speaking children with typical versus protracted phonological development

The present study investigated word-initial (WI) /r/-clusters in Central Swedish-speaking children with and without protracted phonological development (PPD). Data for WI singleton /r/ and singleton and cluster /l/ served as comparisons. Participants were twelve 4-year-olds with PPD and twelve age- and gender-matched typically developing (TD) controls. Native speakers audio-recorded and transcribed 109 target single words using a Swedish phonology test with 12 WI C+/r/-clusters and three WI CC+/r/-clusters. The results showed significantly higher match scores for the TD children, a lower match proportion for the /r/ targets and for singletons compared with clusters, and differences in mismatch patterns between the groups. There were no matches for /r/-cluster targets in the PPD group, with all children except two in that group showing deletions for both /r/-cluster types. The differences in mismatch proportions and types between the PPD group and controls suggests new directions for future clinical practice

“Använd timer på bastun!” : En multimodal analys av Skistars hållbarhetskommunikation

Denna studie syftar att belysa hur ett svenskt skidanläggningsföretag multimodalt kommunicerar hållbarhet mot konsumenter respektive intressenter samt att klargöra vilken avsändarroll som företaget försätter sig i vid denna kommunikation.  Studien undersöker det svenska företaget Skistar. Materialet består av Skistars hållbarhetssida och dess undersidor på deras hemsida samt av hållbarhetskapitlet i Skistars årsredovisning från 16 november 2022 som täcker perioden 1 september 2021 – 31 augusti 2022. Materialet delas upp i två kategorier, text och bild. Den textuella delen av materialet analyseras med den interpersonella metafunktionen i systemisk-funktionell grammatik (SFG). Den bildliga delen av materialet analyseras med hjälp av en kvalitativ multimodal analys.  Resultaten visar att Skistar främst kommunicerar hållbarhet genom påståenden ur en givande talarroll. Det förekommer andra språkhandlingar i deras hållbarhetskommunikation, som uppmaningar och erbjudanden, men påståenden är i majoritet. Det är i stort sett enbart när Skistar uppmanar turisten som besöker deras destinationer att agera hållbart som de intar en krävande talarroll. Vidare går det att konstatera att Skistar, som ledande aktör på den nordiska skidanläggningsmarknaden, tydligt kommunicerar sitt hållbarhetsarbete och sina hållbarhetsmål.

Manual till LINUS 2.0 : LINköpingsUnderSökningen 2.0: Ett fonologiskt bedömningsmaterial för barn från 3 år

När ett barn med misstänkta tal- och språkavvikelser kommer till logoped för bedömning är det viktigt att samtliga aspekter av tal och språk beaktas. Under de år som svensk logopedi har vuxit fram, har ett flertal instrument för bedömning av barns tal- och språk tagits fram. Ett av dessa, Stora fonemtestet, som skapades i mitten av 1980-talet, har länge varit det enda vitt spridda testet av barns fonologi i landet. Testet fanns under flera år inte att beställa på förlag, vilket var ett av motiven till arbetet med att ta fram ett nytt fonologiskt bedömningsmaterial. Ett annat var att Enheten för logopedi vid Linköpings universitet sedan 2010 ingår i en större multicenterstudie med syftet att jämföra fonologiska avvikelser hos barn i olika länder. Inom ramen för detta projekt och genom några magisterarbeten i logopedi färdigställdes LINUS 2014. Som en direkt följd av det fortsatta internationella forskningssamarbetet och av feed-back från kollegor som använt materialet i sin kliniska vardag, kommer nu en ny version av materialet, LINUS 2.0. och finns för gratis nedladdning på http://phonodevelopment.sites.olt.ubc.ca/practice-units/swedish/. Vi hoppas att det även fortsatt skall komma till användning vid utredning av tal- och språkförmåga hos barn. Linköpings universitet, 2019 Inger Lundeborg Hammarströ

Oral Motor Function, Voice, Speech and Language in Children with Tonsillar Hypertrophy in Relation to Surgical Outcome

The aim of this thesis was two-fold: first, to evaluate four different functional aspects of the speech and language spectrum; oral-motor function, voice, /s/-articulation and phonology in preschool children with tonsillar hypertrophy before and after surgical treatment. The second aim was to investigate weather the outcome of surgery was equal for two surgical techniques; tonsillectomy or tonsillotomy combined with adenoidectomy when necessary. In all included publications (I-IV), 67 children on waiting list for tonsil surgery and randomized to either tonsillectomy (33) or tonsillotomy (34) participated. The children were assessed and audio-recorded within a month before surgery and six months postoperatively. Results were compared to age-matched control groups. In the first study, oral motor function was assessed using the Nordic Orofacial Test-Screening, NOT-S, consisting of a structured interview and a clinical examination. Before surgery, the children in the study group differed in all domains of the structured interview in comparison to age-matched controls and in the clinical examination regarding the parameters deviant lip position and trouble nose-breathing. Postoperatively oral motor functions were normalized in both surgical groups and no differences to age matched controls were observed. In study two, recordings of three sustained vowels (/α , u, i/) and 14 words elicited by picture naming were analysed both perceptually and acoustically. Compared to the controls, significant differences were found in the study group preoperatively with higher ratings on Visual Analogue Scales (VAS) for the voice quality parameters “hyponasality” and “compressed/throaty” and also lower for pitch. Significantly higher values on all studied perturbation measures (jitter, shimmer and Noise to Harmonics Ratio) were found. Regarding center frequencies of formants, the study groups had lower F3 values for /u / and also lower F2 and F3 for / i / compared to age-matched controls. After surgery there were no significant differences between the perceptual ratings of voice quality of the two surgical groups and there were no significant differences between the children in the surgical groups and the corresponding controls. The acoustic analyses showed a decrease in all the measures of perturbation for the study group after surgery with a slight difference between the two surgical groups. The children in the tonsillotomy group had higher shimmer value for /u/ and higher NHR for /α/. In comparison to the older controls significantly higher values were found an all perturbation measures and the difference seen regarding formant frequencies for the /i/-sound in comparison to controls still remained. The significantly lower third formant (F3) of the /u/-sound also remained. When comparing pre- versus postoperative results for the surgical group as a whole, a decrease was found on all perturbation measures postoperatively, however the differences were not statistically significant. A significant increase was found in formant 3 for /α/ and /u/ was found. The material used in the third study were speech samples containing the /s/-sound and elicited by picture naming and sentence repetition. Before surgery the study group was rated to have more indistinct /s/-sounds than agematched controls. The acoustic analyses showed that the study group had lower spectral peak values for the /s/-sound than controls. After surgery the operated children’s /s/-production did not differ perceptually from the older controls, neither as a whole group nor when divided according to surgical methods. Regarding the acoustic analyses however, the study groups differed from the age-matched control group showing that noise duration was longer and the peak location higher in the study groups. In study four, a Swedish phonology test was performed and transcribed phonetically. The transcription of each child was analyzed in terms of phonological processes and categorized into one of six developmental stages according to the model developed by Nettelbladt (1983) and adapted by Sahlén, Reuterskiold-Wagner, Nettelbladt & Radeborg (1999). A majority of the children in the study group (62.7 %) showed a slowed phonological development preoperatively (developmental stages 0-4), compared to the age-matched control group. Postoperatively the children in both surgical groups had improved their phonological skills. However, they were still behind in comparison to age-matched controls and the difference was even larger than before surgery. The results of this thesis project have clinical relevance for both speech and language pathologists (SLP’s) and ear-nose and throat-surgeons (ENT-surgeons). SLP’s must be aware of the potential impact of tonsillar hypertrophy on oral-motor function and the speech and language spectrum to be able to help affected children adequately and ENT- surgeons should include oral motor and speech and language problems as additional indications for tonsillar surgery

Lika studenter leka bäst? : En kvantitativ studie om normativ isomorfism hos Uppsalastudenter

Organisationer blir allt mer homogena, inte bara organisationen i sig utan även individerna inom den. Homogeniteten kan förklaras med isomorfism. Studien syftar till att undersöka den normativa isomorfismen genom att mäta attityder till och förväntningar på Human Resources hos studenter. Av intresse är studentgrupperna jurister, civilingenjörer och lärare. Attityder och förväntningar undersöktes genom konstruerade påståenden. Dessa påståenden skickades även ut till en kontrollgrupp med icke-studerande för att undersöka om det fanns en skillnad mellan studenter och icke-studenter. Variansanalyserna visade på att det inte fanns någon skillnad mellan de olika studenterna. De två chi-två-testen visade på att det inte fanns någon skillnad mellan studenter och icke-studenters attityder till Human Resources medan det fanns en erhållen skillnad när det kommer till deras förväntningar