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- Hansson, Johan
(författare)
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Design of organizational procedures for working environment planning
- 2005
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis consists of studies on organizational procedures for the development of working environment conditions. The first section concentrates on implementation of standard operating procedures for organizational management of working environment. The following section focuses on development of refined procedures, intended for planning at the work unit level. Section I. An action program with procedures for analysis and management of risks at workplace team meetings was designed. The systems requirements were derived from the Provisions on Systematic Work Environment Management (AFS 2001:1). The program aimed at integration of the different levels of working environment management. The procedures were implemented in three organizations for elderly care. Systematic observation and interviews were carried out in the field, and qualitative data analysis was used to infer patterns of planning behaviour. The results showed that the work units completed risk assessments according to program instructions. Subsequent evaluations inquired into the first line managers’ cognitive prerequisites for applying the procedures. The results showed that the managers acknowledged the characteristics of the procedures (e.g., strengths and weaknesses in methods). Evaluations of the executive boards’ prerequisites showed that the representants had indistinct perceptions of the procedures: The majority failed to communicate specific strategies for operative management. In later phase, the sustainability of the procedures was examined at the department level of elderly care and at the executive board. The results showed that only fragments of the program were sustained. The board reported hindrances in getting access to vital information to act upon. Financial savings and restrictions were stated as reasons for not acting on work environment problems. Despite the initial positive reception of the conventional program with its apparently well-formed working environment procedures, the approach must therefore be considered as insufficient. One reason for this may be the lack of functional integration of work environment issues with other important activity aspects. Hence, the results suggest that more refined work environment procedures need to be integrated into the organizational standard operating procedures for economy and quality assurance, especially at the work unit level. Section II. Refined procedures for inclusive working environment planning were designed and implemented in a series of test studies in another organization for elderly care. The program included a communicative structure for integrative working environment planning at the workplace team meeting. The communicative structure was applied as a hypothetical link relating the standard procedure to the individuals’ cognitive representations. Four different project approaches to integrated activity planning were tested. The projects were directed towards either development planning or problem solving. There were two contrasting primary project domains: A nursing care task or a working environment issue. However, integrative analysis and planning was emphasized in all projects. The participants’ application of the procedures was registered by means of observations and interviews, including qualitative data analysis. The results indicated that complementary planning procedures are required, since the appropriate procedure is contingent on the specific problem or goal at hand. Repeated training sessions are required for acquisition of appropriate procedural skills. By refined communicative skills and job training of economic, working environment and quality topics, the work teams will be able to advance their participatory decision-making and work satisfaction. This kind of functional integration at the work-level should be the key to improved vertical organizational integration.
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| 2. |
- Hansson, Johan
(författare)
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The fundamental structure of matter
- 1998
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The subject of this thesis is "the fundamental structure of matter, that is, the quest of understanding the deepest level of the physical world, and the interactions relevant at that level. The hope is that, as one goes deeper, the laws are going to be simpler, not necessarily in mathematical terms, but in conceptual terms. The goal is fewer and fewer ad hoc assumptions, inspiring and driving the pursuit for the fundamental structure of matter. The thesis consists of an introductory part, giving a broad overview of where the subject stands today, and of a more detailed part, containing our own contributions to the advances of this knowledge. Six reproduced papers are appended at the end. There we treat the fundamental structure of matter on three different levels. The first three papers are concerned with the inner structure of particles (hadrons) that interact via the strong nuclear force. Here we have investigated the interactions of the so-called quarks inside hadrons, taking into account also their spin structure. Besides protons and neutrons, we have also studied more exotic particles containing quarks, so-called mesons, that are only produced in high-energy collision processes. Om a more fundamental, but speculative, level we have constructed a new model for an underlying substructure common to both quarks and leptons (particles unaffected by the strong interaction), i.e., all particles that build up matter. We also investigate some of the physical consequences of this model, particularly the possibility of radiative neutrino decay. On the large scale, we analyse the origin of the so-called dark matter in the Universe, which we propose is composed out of enormous lumps exclusively made of quarks, without any "normal" hadrons. We also explore the connection of this phenomenon to the mysterious bursts of gammarays seen in astrophysics.
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