Projekt Columbus - Ett samverkansprojekt med individuella lösningar

Syftet med studien är att undersöka vad det är i projekt Columbus arbetsmodell som bidrar till att deltagarnas hälsotillstånd och förmåga till arbete alternativt studier förändras samt hur samverkan mellan myndigheter fungerat för deltagarna. Studien utgår från ett brukarperspektiv, med fokus på att förstå deltagarnas upplevelser av medverkan i projekt Columbus. Frågeställningarna är därför följande: Hur upplever deltagarna att medverkan i projekt Columbus har förändrat deras hälsotillstånd och förmåga till arbete och/eller studier? Vad i projekt Columbus arbetsmodell upplever deltagarna möjliggör förändring? Hur upplever deltagarna projekt Columbus i avseende på samverkan mellan olika myndigheter? Forskningsansatsen i studien är kvalitativ och bygger på sammanlagt sju intervjuer, varav fem är med personer som tidigare medverkat i projekt Columbus verksamhet och två är med personer som arbetar som personal i verksamheten. De teorier som används är KASAM och Watzlawicks, Weakland och Fisch teori om förändring av första och andra graden samt samverkansteori. Samtliga deltagare upplever att deras hälsotillstånd och förmåga till arbete och/eller studier förändrats dramatiskt till det bättre efter deltagandet i projekt Columbus. Det som i projekt Columbus arbetsmodell har möjliggjort förändring hos deltagarna är kombinationen av individuellt stöd i form av kontakt med både coach och psykolog. Coacherna har hjälpt deltagarna med det praktiska medan psykologerna har arbetat med att lära deltagaren att hantera bl.a. tankemönster och ångest. Vad det gäller samverkan menar flertalet deltagare att detta har fungerat bättre under tiden i projektet än vad det gjort innan. Rundgång har upphört och deltagarna har fått det stöd de behöver från olika myndigheter

The Swedish Community School of Art – Municipal Responsibility and National Corncern? : A qualitative analysis of national and local cultural policy discussions and decisions in relation to the community school of art

The aim of this thesis is to investigate how the conditions for the Swedish community school of art is affected by how it is organized and by political discussions and decisions on a national as well as on a local level. Additionally, how this affects children’s accessibility to the school. A qualitative content analysis of political documents was implemented through a mixture of Dorte Skot-Hansen’s model and Per Mangset’s definitions of cultural political rationalities, with the aim to both distinguish different rationalities used for giving the community school of art legitimacy, as well as discern possible tensions between economical, administrative and creative cultural political rationalities. The results show that there are various opinions about whether or not there should be a national strategy for support of the community school of art. Furthermore, that municipals have differences and similarities between their community schools of art. In conclusion, these different opinions and local variations in conditions affect the school’s accessibility to children

Individualism meets altruism : A qualitative study on board members interplay with the non-profit organization

Research in volunteer work commonly either focuses on underlying motives and reasons why people volunteer or a macro-perspective on the non-profit sector as an organizational field. The purpose of this study is to investigate the link between the volunteers and the humanitarian non-profit organization they participate in. We conducted interviews with 12 board members from Amnesty International Sweden and the Swedish Red Cross Youth Organization to investigate how volunteers experience the formal and informal structures within the organizational context. The data is analyzed with Thornton and Ocasio’s theory of institutional logics and organizational theory with focus on the definition of formal structures. Blau’s social exchange theory is also used throughout the study to identify the interaction and mutual exchange between the volunteers and the organization. The results show that these volunteers value informal structures such as flexibility, the internal communication, group dynamics and autonomy within the organization to a greater extent than the formal structures the organizations provide. However, some volunteers have expressed feelings of confusion and lack of directives in relation to the responsibilities of their role and say they would benefit from more formal guidelines. On the other hand, a more formal structure within the organizations could clash with their ability to see the organization as adaptable. To further complicate the issue, many non-profit organizations portray themselves to prospective volunteers as flexible and emphasize on individualistic motives when recruiting for volunteers, such as future career and employability. As a result of this, many volunteers enter the organization with the expectation that they’ll have the freedom to do work which aligns with their personal motives. This in turn means they may be unprepared or run into issues with executing the work and responsibilities the organization expects from them. The most significant conclusion we reached is how the interplay between the volunteer and the organization is dependent on the individualistic volunteer’s ability to identify with the organization and by extent the purpose of the organization. This to balance out working solely off of personal motives which does not automatically get the organization to reach their mission

Individualism meets altruism : A qualitative study on board members interplay with the non-profit organization

Research in volunteer work commonly either focuses on underlying motives and reasons why people volunteer or a macro-perspective on the non-profit sector as an organizational field. The purpose of this study is to investigate the link between the volunteers and the humanitarian non-profit organization they participate in. We conducted interviews with 12 board members from Amnesty International Sweden and the Swedish Red Cross Youth Organization to investigate how volunteers experience the formal and informal structures within the organizational context. The data is analyzed with Thornton and Ocasio’s theory of institutional logics and organizational theory with focus on the definition of formal structures. Blau’s social exchange theory is also used throughout the study to identify the interaction and mutual exchange between the volunteers and the organization. The results show that these volunteers value informal structures such as flexibility, the internal communication, group dynamics and autonomy within the organization to a greater extent than the formal structures the organizations provide. However, some volunteers have expressed feelings of confusion and lack of directives in relation to the responsibilities of their role and say they would benefit from more formal guidelines. On the other hand, a more formal structure within the organizations could clash with their ability to see the organization as adaptable. To further complicate the issue, many non-profit organizations portray themselves to prospective volunteers as flexible and emphasize on individualistic motives when recruiting for volunteers, such as future career and employability. As a result of this, many volunteers enter the organization with the expectation that they’ll have the freedom to do work which aligns with their personal motives. This in turn means they may be unprepared or run into issues with executing the work and responsibilities the organization expects from them. The most significant conclusion we reached is how the interplay between the volunteer and the organization is dependent on the individualistic volunteer’s ability to identify with the organization and by extent the purpose of the organization. This to balance out working solely off of personal motives which does not automatically get the organization to reach their mission

“We make it possible” : A multi-method research study on norm criticism in preschool

Syftet med studien var att få en fördjupad kunskap om hur arbetet med normkritik sker i förskolan. Metoden som användes var en flermetodsforskning och datainsamlingen skedde genom en enkätundersökning för att kunna besvara studiens frågeställningar. Studien utgick från det normkritiska perspektivet. Resultatet visar att majoriteten av förskolepersonalen ansåg att vara normkritisk, rör sig om deras människosyn och hur de bemöter barn, kollegor och vårdnadshavare. De ansåg även att det handlade om att vara normmedveten och ifrågasätta vanligt förekommande normer. Resultatet visar även att arbetet med normer i förskolan sker bland annat genom diskussioner tillsammans med barnen och kollegor. Vi drar slutsatsen att normkritik är en viktig del av förskolans arbete och göra barnen delaktiga i arbetet med normer är en central del av arbetet

SHE entrepreneurs : The challenges of female Swedish entrepreneurs in international business

Entrepreneurship is the key to a functioning society and global economy. To be entrepreneurial means not only to see and discover opportunities, but also to develop and refine these opportunities. There is evidence saying that entrepreneurship is not equal for men and women. Sweden is considered a strong and stable country with values that promote gender equality, but even in this country there are societal structures and phenomena that sometimes hinders female entrepreneurs from reaching the same success as male entrepreneurs. The aim of this thesis is therefore to explore Swedish female entrepreneurs and the challenges they face when conducting international business. Furthermore the thesis will try to explore what challenges they face in foreign market entry due to their gender as well as try to provide future female entrepreneurs with information on how to avoid or handle the challenges they might face due to their gender. There is a gap in literature regarding this subject.  The reviewed literature presents the international business environment and internationalization as well as entrepreneurship and the opportunities thereof. It also presents the occurrence of gender inequality in business. The conceptual framework is to illustrate how all parts are connected to the subject and to each other like a circular cycle. To ensure thorough research a qualitative method with an abductive approach is used. Both primary and secondary data have been used. The empirical data was collected through interviews with five Swedish international female entrepreneurs from different industries. The analysis was made by cross examination of the empirical data and the literature. Female entrepreneurs face challenges in international business but can often choose to use it as an advantage. There are social structures that need to change for the business environment to become more equal both in Sweden and internationally.

Nock-Off : Ett resurs-/uppgiftsbaserat projekthanteringsverktyg för spelföretag

To plan is something that can be a real hassle for any company, especially for software companies focused on game development. There exists many different methods to plan by and for each a tool to ease the task. These tools do not suit everybody, including the external stakeholding company for this project. They have created their own planning method which suits their planning situation better. The goal of this project is to implement the method devised by the stakeholding company into a network-based tool which is both visually and functionally pleasing. This tool is called Nock-Off and satisfies the demand for a planning tool at a amateur level. For now, the tool does not meet the requirements for commercial use. Through tests it was revealed that Nock-Off, for now, works better with modifying an, in the tool, already existing project than to create a new one. This comes from the fact that the tool is missing some functionality for streamlining the work at the initialization of a project. The functionality missing is mainly aimed at minimizing the switching between mouse and keyboard.Att planera kan vara mycket svårt för företag, inte minst inom spelindustrin där det finns många olika metoder att planera enligt. Till varje metod finns även, i regel, en rad olika verktyg. Dessa verktyg passar inte alla och däribland inte intressentföretaget för detta projekt. Intressentföretaget arbetar inom spelindustrin och har skapat en egen planeringsmetod som passar deras sätt att planera. Målet med projektet var att implementera intressentföretagets metod till ett nätverksbaserat verktyg som både är visuellt och funktionellt tillfredsställande. Resultatet blev ett verktyg som går under namnet Nock-Off. Verktyget tillfredsställer efterfrågan för ett planeringsverktyg på en hobbynivå men uppfyller i dagsläget inte kraven för ett kommersiellt bruk. Genom tester framkom det att Nock-Off för tillfället fungerar bättre vid modifiering av ett redan, i verktyget, existerande projekt än för att skapa ett projekt från grunden. Detta på grund av att verktyget saknar vissa funktioner för att underlätta arbetet vid initiering av ett projekt. De funktioner som saknas är bland annat ämnade för att minska behovet av mängden mus- eller knapptryckningar