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Article
Publication date: 7 August 2017

Victoria Blom, Pia Svedberg, Gunnar Bergström, Lisa Mather and Petra Lindfors

Focusing on 420 women employed within the woman-dominated health care sector, the purpose of this paper is to investigate how any variation in their total workload (TWL) in terms…

Abstract

Purpose

Focusing on 420 women employed within the woman-dominated health care sector, the purpose of this paper is to investigate how any variation in their total workload (TWL) in terms of paid and unpaid work relate to various subjective health complaints (SHC) (n=420) and the neuroendocrine stress marker cortisol (n=68).

Design/methodology/approach

The authors explored how any variation in their TWL in terms of paid and unpaid work related cross-sectionally to SHC (n=420), and the neuroendocrine stress marker cortisol (n=68).

Findings

Hierarchical regression analyses showed that stress of unpaid work was most strongly related to diurnal variations in cortisol. Both stress of paid and unpaid work as well as TWL stress, but not hours spent on TWL, were related to SHC.

Practical implications

Taken together, objective measures of hours spent on various TWL domains were unrelated to outcome measures while perceptions of having too much TWL and TWL stress were linked to both cortisol and SHC, i.e. how individuals perceive a situation seem to be more important for health than the actual situation, which has implications for research and efforts to reduce individual TWL.

Originality/value

This study is unique in showing that unpaid work and perceptions having too much TWL relate to stress markers in women working in the public health care sector.

Details

International Journal of Workplace Health Management, vol. 10 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1753-8351

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 June 2010

Gunnar Aronsson and Victoria Blom

The aim of this paper is to investigate which work‐ and private life factors are associated with long‐term health, operationalized as low sickness absence and low sickness…

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Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to investigate which work‐ and private life factors are associated with long‐term health, operationalized as low sickness absence and low sickness presence.

Design/methodology/approach

A representative sample of 2,297 individuals responded to a questionnaire on two occasions at an interval of one year. In total, 28 percent were classified as having good long‐term health.

Findings

Univariate and multivariate analyses showed that some quality‐related work environment factors were rather strongly associated with long‐term health. For some variables women showed a clear dose‐response pattern on the three‐level scale alternatives in relation to health, while men had a more asymmetric response pattern. The results are discussed in relation to the symmetry in the work environment factors, i.e. if there are different factors that explain health and illness.

Practical implications

Issues concerning health and health‐enhancing factors are of considerable interest to practitioners concerned with management issues, organizational structure, and rehabilitation.

Originality/value

The paper shows the importance of including a positive health variable within the health research paradigm to supplement the dominance of variables focusing on illness and disease.

Details

International Journal of Workplace Health Management, vol. 3 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1753-8351

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 March 2016

Victoria Blom, Lennart Bodin, Gunnar Bergström and Pia Svedberg

The purpose of this paper is to study the demand-control-support (DCS) model on burnout in male and female managers and non-managers, taking into account genetic and shared family…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to study the demand-control-support (DCS) model on burnout in male and female managers and non-managers, taking into account genetic and shared family environmental factors, contributing to the understanding of mechanisms of how and when work stress is related to burnout.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 5,510 individuals in complete same-sex twin pairs from the Swedish Twin Registry were included in the analyses. Co-twin control analyses were performed using linear mixed modeling, comparing between-pairs and within-pair effects, stratified by zygosity and sex.

Findings

Managers scored higher on demands and control in their work than non-managers, and female managers seem to be particularly at risk for burnout facing more demands which are not reduced by a higher control as in their male counterparts. Co-twin analyses showed that associations between control and burnout as well as between demands and burnout seem to be affected by shared family environmental factors in male non-managers but not in male managers in which instead the associations between social support and burnout seem to be influenced by shared family environment.

Practical implications

Taken together, the study offers knowledge that shared environment as well as sex and managerial status are important factors to consider in how DCS is associated to exhaustion.

Originality/value

Using twin data with possibilities to control for genetics, shared environment, sex and age, this study offers unique insight into the DCS research, which focusses primarily on the workplace environment rather than individual factors.

Details

International Journal of Workplace Health Management, vol. 9 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1753-8351

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 13 October 2022

José Adalberto França, Nicolette Lakemond and Gunnar Holmberg

The purpose of this paper is to explore earlier stages of complex products and systems (CoPS) innovations, investigating how technology development can be coordinated.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore earlier stages of complex products and systems (CoPS) innovations, investigating how technology development can be coordinated.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper uses a case study methodology, adopting an abductive logic, characterized by a nonlinear and iterative process of systematic confrontations between theoretical framework, empirical fieldwork and case analysis. Specifically, the authors study the Swedish aerospace network, which distinctly represents the CoPS characteristics of intense technology development with long-term goals and project-based activities with universities, research institutes, small medium enterprises and leading firms.

Findings

By adding the network perspective in the CoPS literature, the authors found that technology development can be coordinated within the technological and the business dimensions and according to different strategic nets. Also, the authors found that strategic nets co-evolve when their related projects are connected and advance in maturity, and their actors change their network position.

Originality/value

Current research on CoPS often recognizes that the survival and growth of a firm depend on its ability to coordinate innovative projects that are usually implemented during technology development. The findings contribute to this literature by showing how such projects can be implemented through agenda construction and the simultaneous coordination of strategic nets, leading to the synchronization of resources and activities. As such, this study’s framework offers a novel and integrative view of how the short-run and long-run strategies of leading firms can be aligned, and how other actors can contribute to the direction of the innovation path.

Details

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, vol. 37 no. 13
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0885-8624

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 June 2021

Arelia E. Gudmundsdottir and Svala Gudmundsdottir

This paper aims to present the case of Jón Gnarr's leadership as he served as a mayor of Reykjavík, the capital of Iceland. The authors’ view is that his leadership style…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to present the case of Jón Gnarr's leadership as he served as a mayor of Reykjavík, the capital of Iceland. The authors’ view is that his leadership style illustrates a case study of how a “new” leadership style can emerge in times of crisis. Iceland was significantly affected by the financial crisis in 2008, which led to political and economic crises, which were fuelled by the public's anger and lack of trust. In 2010, Jón Gnarr and his new party, the Best Party, were unexpectedly elected. Before he became known as an unorthodox leader, he worked as a comedian. However, he influenced the discourse in politics in the country and raised trust in the system again while empowering the public managers and simplifying the system while downsizing it. This paper explores and sheds light on the leadership abilities that crises can birth.

Design/methodology/approach

This research uses qualitative methods. Seven in-depth interviews were conducted, and the interviewees included Jón Gnarr, three key political leaders who were in office at that time and three executive-level leaders from the city administration.

Findings

Evidence suggests that Jón Gnarr and his political party became a part of the political arena due to extreme social and economic factors, which might indicate the factors that can give rise to an unorthodox leader. At the same time, the research portrays the image of a leader that closely matches the theories of authentic leadership, and his leadership style at the time made a lasting impact. When Gnarr stepped into the role of mayor of Reykjavík, he used novel tactics. His political discourse was different; his manner with the public as well as within the system was different. When he became mayor, he demonstrated trust, respect and care as his underlying values. His unorthodox political behaviour appears to have empowered public officials. Thus, gradually, he inspired his followers to change their own communication style. He also addressed traditional political issues such as downsizing, mergers and financial undertakings.

Research limitations/implications

Its limitation is that it is difficult to generalize based on one case.

Practical implications

The case can shed a light on how unorthodox leadership style can unlock the potential of empowering and trust in a traditional political system. Leaders who dare to be different can raise awareness of those who work within the system as well as the public.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the understanding of authentic and unconventional leadership as an efficient vehicle in unusual circumstances in a public leadership position.

Details

International Journal of Public Leadership, vol. 18 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-4929

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 September 2011

Gunnar Aronsson, Klas Gustafsson and Christin Mellner

The purpose of this paper is to compare sickness presence (SP) and sickness absence (SA) regarding the strength of their relationship to health/ill‐health. In a previous Canadian…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to compare sickness presence (SP) and sickness absence (SA) regarding the strength of their relationship to health/ill‐health. In a previous Canadian study a stronger association between SP and health/ill‐health than between SA and health/ill‐health was shown.

Design/methodology/approach

Five Swedish data sets from the years 1992 to 2005 provided the study populations, including both representative samples and specific occupational groups (n=425‐3,622). Univariate correlations and multiple logistic regression analyses were performed. The data sets contained questions on SP and SA as well as on various health complaints and, in some cases, self‐rated health (SRH).

Findings

The general trend was that correlations and odds ratios increased regularly for both SP and SA, with SP showing the highest values. In one data set, SRH was predicted by a combination of the two measures, with an explained variance of 25 percent. Stratified analyses showed that the more irreplaceable an individual is at work, the larger is the difference in correlation size between SP and SA with regard to SRH. SP also showed an accentuated and stronger association with SRH than SA among individuals reporting poor economic circumstances.

Practical implications

The results support the notion that SA is an insufficient, and even misleading, measure of health status for certain groups in the labor market, which seem to have poorer health than the measure of SA would indicate.

Orginality/value

A combined measure of sickness presence and absence may be worth considering as an indicator of both individual and organizational health status.

Details

International Journal of Workplace Health Management, vol. 4 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1753-8351

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 22 December 2006

Torben Beck Jorgensen

While Norway, Sweden, and Denmark share many historic, political, and cultural features, their state systems and public administration exhibit important differences. Likewise…

Abstract

While Norway, Sweden, and Denmark share many historic, political, and cultural features, their state systems and public administration exhibit important differences. Likewise, Nordic administrative sciences reflect a significant degree of ethnocentric diversity. Although as a whole, since the 1960s, Scandinavian academic public administration has witnessed rapid growth, an emphasis on local–regional government, and highly sophisticated scientific-empirical research, as opposed to professional training or narrow application of technical–legal methodologies.

Details

Comparative Public Administration
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-453-9

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 21 January 2021

Marcus Bengtsson, Lars-Gunnar Andersson and Pontus Ekström

The purpose of the study is to test if it, by the use of a survey methodology, is possible to measure managers' awareness on, and specifically if there exist preconceived beliefs…

2198

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the study is to test if it, by the use of a survey methodology, is possible to measure managers' awareness on, and specifically if there exist preconceived beliefs on, overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) results. The paper presents the design of the survey methodology as well as a test of the survey in one case company.

Design/methodology/approach

Actual OEE logs from a case company are collected and a survey on the data is designed and managers at the same case company are asked to answer the survey. The survey results are followed-up by an interview study in order to get deeper insights to both the results of the survey as well as the OEE strategy at the case company.

Findings

The findings show that the managers at this particular case company, on a general level, does not suffer too much from preconceived beliefs. However, it is clear that the managers have a preconceived belief that lack of material is logged as a loss much more often than what it actually is.

Research limitations/implications

The test has only been performed with data from one case company within the automotive manufacturing industry and only the managers at that case company has been active in the test.

Practical implications

The survey methodology can be replicated and used by other companies to find out how aware their employees are on their OEE results and if possible preconceived beliefs exists.

Originality/value

To the authors' knowledge, this is the first attempt at measuring if preconceived beliefs on OEE results exist.

Details

Journal of Quality in Maintenance Engineering, vol. 28 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2511

Keywords

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