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- Nyström, Monica E., 1959-
(författare)
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Contrasting perspectives on the subjective managerial role
- 2005
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Managerial behavior often differs between individuals and situations. To understand this variation the manager’s own interpretation of the role, context and role behavior is especially important. In this thesis several managers’ subjective views and understandings of their role during an organizational change period were investigated in great detail. The organizational changes were assumed to put pressure on the managerial role, exposing adaptive and dynamic role aspect and thereby shed light on differences in behavior. The general purpose was to thoroughly investigate the concept of ‘subjective managerial role’ by two contrasting approaches. One was influenced by concepts and methods used in social constructivism and constructionism (Study 1-3), and the other was a rational/cognitive approach influenced by theories and methods used in cognitive psychology (Study 4-5). Multiple case studies with subjective reports from five managers during a period of sixteen months were chosen as the empirical base. In the constructivist approach three judges were used to interpret the managers’ verbal reports during the beginning of the change period, focusing on indications of ‘subjective role projects’. ‘Subjective role projects’ involved reflections on situations, actors, purposes/goals and action strategies, all within a time frame of the past, present and future. This qualitative content of the role was investigated, and support for the existence of subjective role projects was tested (Study 1). The variation between the managers’ subjective role projects and their general project strategies were explored (Study 2). The judgment and construction process pursued by the three judges was analyzed (Study 3). In the rational/cognitive approach the focus was on role problems. A control model was used to represent subjective role conflicts, on both group and individual levels. Difficult situations described by the managers were complemented with goals and actions strategies, and the managers rated conflicts between these role components, while thinking-aloud (Study 4). Role conflict patterns and dimensions were further analyzed using two quantitative data models (Study 5). Finally, the subjective role construct was compared with a contextual interpretation of the role, based on information from the organizational and social role context (Study 6). The results supported the basic components in both the project model and the control model of the subjective role, but the latter approach would benefit from a more elaborated stimulus sampling. In both approaches the differences between the managers were assessed, but in the constructivist approach it was difficult to separate variation stemming from managers from variation between judges. In the rational/cognitive approach the variation was restricted to conflicting aspects in a specific model. The control model features and the quantitative conflict data made it easier to estimate variance. A major conclusion was that the two approaches complemented each-other in their descriptions of the subjective role. The project model was adequate for investigating the first sense-making phases in the organizational change process, while the control model approach could describe role conflicts and problems, especially on individual levels. However, they both could fit within a framework of a subjective role process model. Using these two approaches in role analysis can provide more information on the subjective role processes of the role incumbent.
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| 2. |
- Pettersson-Strömbäck, Anita, 1965-
(författare)
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Chemical exposure in the work place : mental models of workers and experts
- 2008
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Many workers are daily exposed to chemical risks in their work place that has to be assessed and controlled. Due to exposure variability, repeated and random measurements should be conducted for valid estimates of the average exposure. Traditionally, experts such as safety engineers, work environment inspectors, and occupational hygienists, have performed the measurements. In self assessment of exposure (SAE), the workers perform unsupervised exposure measurements of chemical agents. This thesis studies a prerequisite for SAE, i.e. the workers’ mental models of chemical exposure. Further, the workers’ mental models are contrasted with experts’ reasons and decision criteria for measurement. Both qualitative and quantitative data generated from three studies (Paper I, II, and III) were used to describe the workers’ mental model of chemical exposure. SAE was introduced to workers in three different industries; transports (benzene), sawmill industry (monoterpenes), and reinforced plastic industry (styrene). By interviews, qualitative data were collected on the workers’ interpretation of measurement results and preventive actions. To evaluate the validity of worker measurement, the measurements were compared with expert measurements. The association between each worker’s number of performed measurement and mean level and variability in exposure concentrations was calculated. Mean absolute percent/forecast error (MAPE) was used to assess whether the workers’ decision models were in accordance with a coherence or correspondence model. In Paper IV, experts (safety engineers, work environment inspectors, and occupational hygienists) were interviewed to elucidate their mental models about the triggers and decision criteria for exposure measurements. The results indicate that the workers’ measurement results were in agreement with experts’. However, the measurement results were not a strong enough signal to induce workers to take preventive actions and sustained exposure measurements even if the measurement result were close to the occupational exposure limit. The fit was best for the median model, indicating that the workers’ mental models for interpretation of measurement data can best be described by the coherence theory rather than by the correspondence theory. The workers seemed to mentally reduce the variation in the exposure to a measure of central tendency (the median), and underestimated the average exposure level. The experts were found to directly take preventive actions instead of performing exposure measurements. When they performed exposure measurements, a worst case sampling strategy was most common. An important trigger for measurement for the experts was “request from the employer” (safety engineers), “legal demands” (work environment inspectors), and “symptoms among workers” (occupational hygienists). When there was a trigger, all experts mentioned expectations of high exposure level as a decision criterion for measurements. In conclusion, the studies suggest that workers’ mental interpretation model is best described in terms of a coherence model rather than a model of correspondence. The workers reduced the variation mentally in favor of an estimate of average exposure (median), which may imply that they underestimate short-term, high exposure health risks. A consequence is that interpretation of measurements such as SAE cannot be given to the individual worker without some support, e.g. from an expert. However, experts often chose to directly take preventive actions, without measuring the exposure. The results indicate that also the experts need support e.g. from the legal system if exposure measurements are to be done.
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| 3. |
- Wikberg, Per, 1964-
(författare)
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Eliciting Knowledge from Experts in Modeling of Complex Systems : Managing Variation and Interactions
- 2007
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The thematic core of the thesis is about how to manage modeling procedures in real settings. The view taken in this thesis is that modeling is a heuristic tool to outline a problem, often conducted in a context of a larger development process. Examples of applications, in which modeling are used, include development of software and business solutions, design of experiments etc. As modeling often is used in the initial phase of such processes, then there is every possibility of failure, if initial models are false or inaccurate. Modeling often calls for eliciting knowledge from experts. Access to relevant expertise is limited, and consequently, efficient use of time and sampling of experts is crucial. The process is highly interactive, and data are often of qualitative nature rather than quantitative. Data from different experts often vary, even if the task is to describe the same phenomenon. As with quantitative data, this variation between data sources can be treated as a source of error as well as a source of information. Irrespective of specific modeling technique, variation and interaction during the model development process should be possible to characterize in order to estimate the elicited knowledge in terms of correctness and comprehensiveness. The aim of the thesis is to explore a methodological approach on how to manage such variations and interactions. Analytical methods tailored for this purpose have the potential to impact on the quality of modeling in the fields of application. Three studies have been conducted, in which principles for eliciting, controlling, and judging the modeling procedures were explored. The first one addressed the problem of how to characterize and handle qualitative variations between different experts, describing the same modeling object. The judgment approach, based on a subjective comparison between different expert descriptions, was contrasted with a criterion-based approach, using a predefined structure to explicitly estimate the degree of agreement. The results showed that much of the basis for the amalgamation of models used in the judgment-approach was concealed, even if a structured method was used to elicit the criteria for the independent experts’ judgment. In contrast, by using the criterion-based approach the nature of the variation was possible to characterize explicitly. In the second study, the same approach was used to characterize variation between, as well as within, different modeling objects, analogical to a one-way statistical analysis of variance. The results of the criterion-based approach indicated a substantial difference between the two modeling subjects. Variances within each of the modeling tasks were about the same and lower than the variance between modeling tasks. The result supports the findings from the first study and indicates that the approach can be generalized as a way of comparing modeling tasks. The third study addressed the problem of how to manage the interaction between experts in team modeling. The aim was to explore the usability of an analytical method with on-line monitoring of the team communication. Could the basic factors of task, participants, knowledge domains, communication form, and time be used to characterize and manipulate team modeling? Two contrasting case studies of team modeling were conducted. The results indicated that the taxonomy of the suggested analytical method was sensitive enough to capture the distinctive communication patterns for the given task conditions. The results also indicate that an analytical approach can be based on the relatively straightforward task of counting occurrences, instead of the relatively more complex task of establish sequences of occurrence.
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