A qualitative study on how young employees value employer branding attributes in agriculture business context

Governments and organisations have set targets for increased food production as a result of an increasing population. In order to increase food production, the capacity of agricultural enterprises needs to be expanded. The Swedish agricultural industry expresses difficulties in finding labour, which prevent businesses from expanding, or that companies must settle with less skilled employees. In order to respond to the set targets of increased food production, agricultural companies need to be better able to attract and retain employees. The average age is high among employees in Swedish agriculture while the portion of young employees is declining. Since young peoples are the new generation of employees, they are of particular interest to agricultural companies to hire. One way to address the problem of finding and retaining workforce is through marketing. Employer branding is a marketing concept that includes how companies can attract and retain employees. Businesses can develop its employer brand by knowing what attributes of employer branding that are valued by their existing employees. This study aims to investigate how young employees value employer branding attributes in the Swedish agricultural sector. This study applies a qualitative approach with case study design. The case studies consist of nine cases involving nine different young employees from agricultural companies in the region of Mälardalen. Data has been collected through semi-structured interviews based on an interview guide with questions to get the young employees' thoughts and answers. A conceptual framework has been developed to analyze the collected data. The framework is evolved from existing knowledge of employer branding. The framework is based on the analytical categories; work content, affiliation, compensation, career, benefits, all of which are considered to contain attributes that affect a company's Employer brand. The collected data has been analyzed with thematic encoding and divided into themes. The study shows that young employees value several attributes of employer branding in their employment. Identified attributes that are valued are found in all analytical categories from the developed framework. In addition to identifying valued attributes and making suggestions for how employer branding practices can be developed, the study contributes to an expanded understanding of employer branding in the context of agricultural companies. Most attributes can be influenced by the employer. By using the results of this study, agricultural companies can develop their employer brand. This can lead to development and increase of agricultural businesses' production.Regeringar och organisationer har satt upp mål om en ökad livsmedelsproduktion till följd av en stigande befolkning. För att livsmedelsproduktionen ska kunna öka behöver kapaciteten hos lantbruksföretag utvecklas genom nya investeringar. Nya investeringar är beroende av input resurser så som tillgång till relevant arbetskraft. Den svenska lantbruksbranschen uttrycker svårigheter i att hitta arbetskraft, vilket leder till att expandering av verksamheten hindras, eller att företag får nöja sig med sämre kompetens bland. För att kunna bemöta den framtida förväntansbilden om en ökad livsmedelsproduktion behöver lantbruksföretag bli bättre på att attrahera och bibehålla anställda. Det råder idag en hög medelålder bland anställda i svenskt lantbruk, samtidigt som andelen yngre i lantbruket minskar. Eftersom unga personer är den nya generationen anställda, är de av speciellt intresse för lantbruksföretag att anställa. Ett sätt att adressera problemet med att hitta och bibehålla personal är genom marknadsföring. Employer branding är ett marknadsföringsverktyg som innefattar hur företag kan attrahera och bibehålla anställda. Företag kan utveckla sitt employer brand genom att förstå vilka egenskaper av employer branding som värderas av deras befintliga anställda. Den här studien syftar till att undersöka hur unga anställda värderar egenskaper av employer branding i den svenska lantbrukssektorn. Den här studien tillämpar ett kvalitativt angreppssätt med fallstudiedesign. Fallstudierna består av nio fall innehållande nio olika unga anställda från lantbruksföretag i Mälardalen. Empiri har samlats in genom semistrukturerade telefonintervjuer. Ett konceptuellt ramverk har utvecklats för att analysera den insamlade empirin. Det konceptuella ramverket bygger på existerande kunskap om employer branding. Ramverket baseras på de analytiska kategorierna; arbetsinnehåll, erkännande, kompensation, karriär, förmåner och utveckling, som alla anses innehålla egenskaper som påverkar ett företags employer brand. Den insamlade empirin har analyserats med tematisk kodning och delats in i teman. Studien visar att unga anställda värderar flera egenskaper av employer branding i sin anställning. Identifierade egenskaper som värderas återfinns i alla analytiska kategorier från det framtagna ramverket. Förutom att identifiera värden, och komma med förslag till hur utövande av employer braning kan utvecklas, bidrar studien till en utökad förståelse av employer branding i kontexten av lantbruksföretag. Genom att använda resultaten i den här studien, kan lantbruksföretag utveckla sitt employer brand. Detta kan leda till att lantbruksföretag kan utvecklas och öka sin produktion

Evaluation of cultural ecosystem services using GIS

This master project has been carried out in collaboration with a research project named “Valuation of cultural ecosystem services based on contributions to quality of life” at Lund University. In this thesis, Cultural Ecosystem Services (CES) are evaluated from people’s own perceptions. The very aim of the study is to develop a method to assess CES non-monetarily by using a bottom-up perspective. People’s direct emotional response and CES are connected to locations and land cover classes. Gullåkra mosse, located close to Staffanstorp, was used as study site. A smart phone application was developed for collecting data. It registers answers from participants, GPS coordinates and participants direction of view. All data was analysed statistically and spatially. 18 people participated in the study and each participant was asked to choose three locations which were special and positive according to their own perceptions. Four types of questions were asked regarding physical elements, environmental qualities, activities and emotional response. The questions capture CES and the affective well-being of the participants. The location and view direction of each participant were obtained from the registered answers. The CES and its qualities were connected to specific land cover classes. Qualities of CES most closely related to affective well-being where established by selecting the area with the highest perceived affective well-being. A CES index, which makes it possible to rank CES, was developed. The conclusion is that CES can be evaluated by considering people’s own perceptions. It suggests that it should be possible, with more research, to rank ecosystems in terms of CES on the basis of land cover classes.Inom ramen för ett masterarbete har en metod utvecklats som kopplar människors upplevelser av natur med den fysiska miljön i form av marktäckning. Deltagarna fick välja tre platser inom ett rekreationsområde som de tyckte var speciella. Med hjälp av en applikation i mobiltelefonen svarade de på frågor om vilka fysiska element som var viktiga, hur de uppfattade miljön, vilka aktiviteter som platsen lämpade sig för och hur de kände sig på platsen. Svaren analyserades tillsammans med klassificeringar av marktäckningen inom området som utgick från flygfoton och observationer på plats. Studien visar att det är möjligt att särskilja och värdera platser utifrån upplevelse i kombination med den fysiska miljön med hjälp av GIS i ett specifik och småskaligt område. Projektet är utfört inom ramen för Kulturella ekosystemtjänster och livskvalitet, ett forskningsprojekt finansierat av Naturvårdsverket

The fate of the missing spores

It is well-known that many species with small diaspores can disperse far during extended temporal scales (many years). However, studies on short temporal scales usually only cover short distances (in, e.g., bryophytes up to 15 m). By using a novel experimental design, studying the realized dispersal, we extend this range by almost two orders of magnitude. We recorded establishment of the fast-growing moss Discelium nudum on introduced suitable substrates, placed around a translocated, sporulating mother colony. Around 2,000 pots with acidic clay were placed at different distances between 5 m and 600 m, in four directions, on a raised bog, with increased pot numbers with distance. The experiment was set up in April-May and the realized dispersal (number of colonized pots) was recorded in September. Close to the mother colony (up to 10 m), the mean colonization rates (ratio of colonized pots) exceeded 50%. At distances between 10 and 50 m colonization dropped sharply, but beyond 50 m the mean colonization rates stabilized and hardly changed (1-3%). The estimated density of spores causing establishments at the further distances (2-6 spores/m2) was realistic when compared to the estimated spore output from the central colonies. Our study supports calculations from earlier studies, limited to short distances, that a majority of the spores disperse beyond the nearest vicinity of a source. The even colonization pattern at further distances raises interesting questions about under what conditions spores are transported and deposited. However, it is clear that regular establishment is likely at the km-scale for this and many other species with similar spore output and dispersal mechanism

Constructing Transit Corridors : The Politics of Public Transport Policy and Planning in Malmöhus and Skåne 1970-2020

Planning local and regional public transport in so-called ’transit corridors’ – i.e., to concentrate infrastructure and resources to few, but more attractive corridors in a city or a region – is commonplace in contemporary public transport planning. This has not always been the case, however. In this thesis I analyze how transit corridors have come to dominate the policies and planning practices of public transport governance through a case study of Malmöhus County and Region Skåne between 1970 and 2020, and show how the organization of decision-making, planning practices and the spatial configuration of public transport have been central sites of an ongoing struggle between different actors and levels over influence over ideas and resources. Understanding the fundamental values and processes that shape public transport system and the conflicts that arise when values and actors collide can contribute to increased possibilities to shape a just and inclusive public transport system that enables sustainable mobility for people.The research is based on qualitative analyses of archival records and interviews with individuals who were involved in the planning and politics of public transport in Malmöhus County and Region Skåne. Through an analysis of how change and permanence in the public transport system have been motivated and turned into institutional practice, the thesis shows how the transit corridor paradigm evolved in through an interplay between the regional political dynamics and the wider societal context. A recurring tension exists in public transport policy and planning between values of equity and efficiency on the one hand, and how these values are translated into the organization of public transport governance through policies of coordination and competition on the other. These values and policies have been decisive for the motivations to the organizational and spatial re/configurations of public transport since the introduction of regional public transport authorities in Sweden since the end of the 1970’s.Initially, spatial and economic equity were leading principles that motivated a rapid expansion and distribution of the regional public transport system. At the turn of the 1990’s, a set of interlinked policy processes assisted the formulationof transit corridors as a strategic development policy for public transport in Malmöhus County. These ideas were institutionalized through a reorganization of public transport governance with a stronger regional mandate and a moreperipheral role for the municipalities and was materialized through infrastructure investments in train and express bus systems at the expensive of areas with weaker demand. When Region Skåne was formed in 1999, the transit corridorparadigm was fully developed and contributed to shaping spatial relations in the new region and has continued to be a core in public transport policy in Skåne. However, despite (or perhaps because of) the dominance of transit corridors,conflicts persist between the parts of the region that have gained the most from transit corridor planning, and those that remain concerned over declining public transport supply from the planning orientation

Linkage in the chain of care: a grounded theory of professional cooperation between antenatal care, postpartum care and child health care

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to present a Swedish study exploring health care professionals’ cooperation in the chain of care for expectant and new parents between antenatal care (AC), postpartum care (PC) and child health care (CHC). Furthermore, the rationale was to conceptualise barriers and facilitators of cooperation in order to generate a comprehensive theoretical model which may explain variations in the care providers’ experiences. <br><br> Methods: Thirty-two midwives and CHC nurses were interviewed in five focus group – and two individual interviews in a suburb of a large Swedish city. Grounded Theory was applied as the research methodology. <br><br> Results: One core category was discerned: linkage in the chain of care, including six categories with subcategories. Despite the fact that midwives as well as CHC nurses have common visions about linkage, cooperation is not achieved because of interacting barriers that have different influences on the three links in the chain. <br><br> Conclusions: Barriers to linkage are lack of professional gain, link perspective and first or middle position in the chain, while facilitators are chain perspective, professional gain and last position in the chain. As the last link, CHC nurses promote a linkage most strongly and have the greatest gain from such linking

The human mandible: Lever, link, or both?

Hylander ('78) recently published important new data on bite force in humans, and showed that the human mandible cannot function purely as a link during incisal biting. He concluded instead that the mandible acts as a lever. Reexamination of Hylander's data suggests that the mandible cannot function purely as a lever either, and in fact it probably functions simultaneously as both lever and link during incisal biting.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/37592/1/1330510116_ftp.pd

Patch area and current coffee management determine woody plant diversity in patches of semi-forest coffee embedded in an agricultural matrix

AbstractEffective conservation of biodiversity in patches of (semi-) natural vegetation is dependent on an understanding of the influence of management as well as spatial and temporal factors. In southwestern Ethiopia coffee generally grown under a rather dense layer of indigenous trees (so called semi-forest coffee - SFC) often in patches embedded in an open agricultural landscape. The aim of the study was to disentangle what governs the variation in species richness of woody species among such patches. We collected data on species and possible explanatory factors in 40~×~40 m plots centered in 40 SFC patches, measured the patch area for 1987 and 2013, and the amount of surrounding SFC-area for each patch. We recorded the number of coffee stems and the level of disturbance caused by slashing of the understory vegetation. Species richness of large coffee shade trees (>20 cm in diameter) was higher in larger patches with even slightly better fit of the statistical models when the historical area was taken into account. However, most species of large trees also occurred as seedlings showing that there is still a potential to conserve these species in the patches. Coffee management negatively affected the richness and density of woody species, especially in the intermediate size class (1.6–20~cm diameter). Disturbances accompanying coffee management such as slashing of the ground vegetation also negatively affected tree seedling density as well as species richness. There was no effect of connectivity on species richness. Based on the combination of these results we conclude that small patches of semi-forest coffee had fewer species of large trees, not because of a lack of tree seedlings, but probably because of differentiated local extinctions, perhaps during the time when the species were intermediate sized. To maintain the species richness of large trees in semi-forest coffee patches, the sites need to be actively managed