| 1. |
|
|
| 2. |
- Härenstam, Annika, 1949, et al.
(författare)
-
Understanding the organisational impact on working conditions and health
- 2006
-
Ingår i: Arbete och Hälsa. - 0346-7821. ; :4, s. 1-81
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The transfer of knowledge about risk factors from traditional occupational health research into prevention requires insight into the organisational context. When the organisation of work changes, our understanding of how organisations, work practices, and working conditions affect health must be scrutinised. This report discusses some suggestions for the design and methodology of empirical studies aimed at bridging the gap between research on organisations and research on individual working conditions and health. This approach in work-life research can be described as organisation-oriented work and health research. The main aim is to discuss the conceptual, theoretical, analytical, and empirical difficulties and options involved with such an approach. Using the examples of a number of research projects with different specific questions and different empirical designs, attempts are made to detect some of the most common stumbling blocks and to find some pragmatic solutions to the problems which arise in this type of research. Some specific problems with the integration of organisational studies and health research are discussed, and conclusions drawn about the application of such research results to prevention and intervention. The observations have arisen as a consequence of an attempt to empirically explore contemporary organisations. One conclusion is that selection mechanisms should be taken into account, as many individuals move between occupational conditions. Additionally, these changes may be very different for different groups, depending on individual and organisational conditions. As a consequence of this insight, workers and managers cannot be seen as passive victims of conditions at the workplace or in the organisation, but must be viewed as elective and active humans. This is the case even when there are strong restrictions on their room for manoeuvre.
|
|
| 3. |
- Härenstam, Annika, et al.
(författare)
-
Understanding the organisational impact on working conditions and health.
- 2006
-
Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- It has long been known that organisational conditions affect working conditions and occupational health. However, the transfer of knowledge about risk factors from traditional occupational health research into prevention requires insight into the organisational context. Moreover, there is a breach between organisational research and health research in terms of concepts, theories, and methodologies, and there is a lack of useful theories and models for how organisational conditions are linked to working conditions and health. One argument for the development of concepts, theoretical models, and methodological tools for studies of the organisational impact on psychosocial working conditions and health is that working life is changing. Another argument is that organisation at the meso level and work practices at the worker level are greatly interdependent. Thus, when the organisation of work changes, our understanding of how organisations, work practices, and working conditions affect health must be scrutinised. We cannot take it for granted that traditional theories are still valid. This report discusses some suggestions for the design and methodology of empirical studies aimed at bridging the gap between research on organisations and research on individual working conditions and health. This approach in work-life research can be described as organisation-oriented work and health research. Our main aim is to discuss the conceptual, theoretical, analytical, and empirical difficulties and options involved with such an approach. Using the examples of a number of research projects with different specific questions and different empirical designs, we attempt to detect some of the most common stumbling blocks and to find some pragmatic solutions to the problems which arise in this type of research. We discuss some specific problems with the integration of organisational studies and health research, and draw conclusions about the application of such research results to prevention and intervention. There are several conceptual and theoretical challenges associated with the design of studies that try to integrate organisational-level data with working conditions and health data at the individual level. Firstly, there is a wide gap between organisational research and occupational health research in the use of theoretical concepts, in the choice of focal units of analysis, and in data treatment. Secondly, in relation to intervention and prevention, not all factors that affect working conditions and health may be equally easy to change, and there is thus a need to focus on factors that the employer and the representatives of the workers may be willing to adjust. Finally, although powerful statistical techniques such as multilevel analysis are available to link organisational and micro-level data, understanding of the causal mechanisms becomes even more complicated when individual and organisational conditions are to be interpreted. Thus, there is a need for improved analytical tools in order to understand such complex associations. There are also a number of empirical issues involved in the linking of organisations and individuals. One is the determination of what aspects at the organisational level are important and another is how such organisational aspects can be measured and assessed. It is also important to decide what level within organisations is most relevant to a specific study. Another problem that is particularly important, as many contemporary organisations are volatile and have diffuse boundaries, is how organisations should be defined and how individual employees should be linked to a specific part of an organisation. This means, for example, that formal and informal power and responsibility structures for coping with the psychosocial work environment are very complex in contemporary organisations. Some of our most important observations have arisen as a consequence of an attempt to empirically explore contemporary organisations. One conclusion is that selection mechanisms should be taken into account, as many individuals move between occupational conditions. Additionally, these changes may be very different for different groups, depending on individual and organisational conditions. As a consequence of this insight, workers and managers cannot be seen as passive victims of conditions at the workplace or in the organisation, but must be viewed as elective and active humans. This is the case even when there are strong restrictions on their room for manoeuvre.
|
|
| 4. |
|
|
| 5. |
|
|
| 6. |
|
|
| 7. |
- Marklund, Staffan, et al.
(författare)
-
Changing organisations and work-related health : Technical report of methods, sample and design of three studies.
- 2006
-
Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This report is presenting the methodological designs of different studies aiming at the investigation of the relationship between organisational characteristics and individual working conditions and health. The theoretical background to this line of research is summarized in Härenstam and collaborators (2006). The report displays methods, samples and designs of three studies. Three different methods were used in the studies and different focal units were chosen. In the first presented study “The Healthy Workplace Study”, the Organisation was used as the focal unit. In the second study, “The National Working Life Cohort”, individuals were set as focal units, and in the final study, “Power over Working Conditions” -Case studies of organisational responsibility, interpersonal relations were set as focal units.In the Healthy Workplace Study the aim was to explore the importance of organisational conditions and individual characteristics for the variation in working conditions and health for employees. The study was designed as a longitudinal, multilevel analysis, of a two-step data collection of organisations, and of the individuals working within the studied organisations. About 5,000 employees, in 90 establishments in 32 parent organisations were included.The National Working Life Cohort examined how work career and changes in employment and working conditions affect health and well-being. The study also covered aspects of how individuals' ambitions and plans change over time and how this affects working life behaviour. The study was representative and longitudinal and comprise d a representative sample of 4,929 individuals living in Sweden between the ages of 25 and 50.In the third study called “Power over Working Conditions” - Case studies of organisational responsibility, two multiple case studies were used to explore mechanisms of power and responsibility within public and private organisations. The first of the two studies explored mechanisms of power and responsibility within private multinational industry and service organisations. The second study explored a similar complex of relations in the public sector. Critical-Incident interviews, semi structured interviews and workshops with about 140 employees, managers, labour union representatives and politicians, were conducted in one company group and two municipalities between 2004 and 2006.
|
|
| 8. |
|
|
| 9. |
|
|
| 10. |
|
|
