| 1. |
- Adman, Per, et al.
(author)
-
171 forskare: ”Vi vuxna bör också klimatprotestera”
- 2019
-
In: Dagens nyheter (DN debatt). - Stockholm. - 1101-2447.
-
Journal article (pop. science, debate, etc.)abstract
- DN DEBATT 26/9. Vuxna bör följa uppmaningen från ungdomarna i Fridays for future-rörelsen och protestera eftersom det politiska ledarskapet är otillräckligt. Omfattande och långvariga påtryckningar från hela samhället behövs för att få de politiskt ansvariga att utöva det ledarskap som klimatkrisen kräver, skriver 171 forskare i samhällsvetenskap och humaniora.
|
|
| 2. |
- Anell, Barbro, 1942-, et al.
(author)
-
The impact of internationalisation on the Swedish food industry : Competition and countervailing power
- 2004
-
In: Journal of International Food & Agribusiness Marketing. - : International Business Press. - 0897-4438 .- 1528-6983. ; 15:1/2, s. 23-52
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The European integration process has changed the competitive landscape in many industries. The questions raised in this paper concern the reactions of national firms that are subjected to this process of internationalisation of competition.This study highlights the vertical inter-dependence within a system of production and distribution. In internationalisation theory, most studies have focused on how firms become international or global players, where entrance into new markets is seen as a result of strategic decisions.To illustrate this process, three industries in food production, that is the baking, the brewing and the confectionery industries, were chosen.The results indicate that a supra-industrial strategic recipe exists, with a core content of specialised volume production. The discussion on company strategies focussed on the retail sector. The findings might be interpreted in the light of Galbraith's theory of countervailing power.
|
|
| 3. |
- Bonnedahl, Karl Johan, 1963-
(author)
-
An economy beyond instrumental rationality
- 2021
-
In: Sustainability beyond technology. - Oxford : Oxford University Press. - 9780198864929 ; , s. 203-229
-
Book chapter (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Treating technology in a broad sense, including elements of social organization, this chapter discusses the role of technology as part of the dominant economic discourse and the instrumental perspective which characterizes modern exploitative human–nature relations. A key point is that values and assumptions of the conventional economy are very influential in determining what development is and should be. As such, they also determine technology and drive unsustainability. Hence, the solutions proposed build on alternative values and assumptions which can lead to a new economy beyond instrumental rationality. Here, the role of technology as respectful and fair social organization increases. Artefacts that create distance between humans and nature are given much less room, while technology as expansionist and exploitative means is dismantled.
|
|
| 4. |
- Bonnedahl, Karl Johan, 1963-, et al.
(author)
-
Beyond an absolving role for sustainable development : Assessing consumption as a basis for sustainable societies
- 2019
-
In: Sustainable Development. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0968-0802 .- 1099-1719. ; 27:1, s. 61-68
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Three decades after the launch of sustainable development as a key objective for the global community, the unsustainable exploitation of the planet's species, spaces and systems continues. This paper examines this failure by discussing the strategy of control over nature, and the idea of balance between human endeavour and nature, inherent in the term sustainable. The relevance of such ecological balance is assessed by comparing how consumption typically appears in modern human societies versus nature. This presents traits of the human actor which depart significantly from the traits of actors in typified natural settings, from which ideas of ecological balance are taken. Calling for an alternative framing of the relationship between human society and nature, possible adaptation towards a biological understanding of such a relationship is discussed through features of today's consumption, including its connection to needs, the role of labour, and the use of energy and technology.
|
|
| 5. |
|
|
| 6. |
- Bonnedahl, Karl Johan, 1963-
(author)
-
En företagsstrategisk analys av ekonomisk integration : konsekvenser av Europas inre marknad för svenska mindre tillverkande företag
- 1999
-
Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Since the mid-eighties, progress in European economic integration has contributed to changing conditions for the conduct of business in many sectors of the economies. Such is the case in Sweden, whose commitment to the formal integration process also has changed in recent years, from a free trade arrangement (EFTA) via the European Economic Area (The EFTA states' affiliation to the European Union's Internal Market), to membership in the European Union.A theoretical point of departure for this thesis was the finding that although economic integration entails strategic consequences for firms, studies treating economic integration with a general business strategy perspective were rare. Hence, the main purpose has been to achieve knowledge about the European Internal Market's strategic consequences for Swedish firms, with the focus on manufacturing SMEs.Empirically, it is examined how integration has been experienced in firms through two questionnaires, sent in earlier and later stages of the formal integration process. Although the responses indicate a limited impact from the Internal Market, they present some arguments for an increased internationalisation. There are, however, reasons to believe that factors other than political initiatives were behind such a development.In the theoretical part of this thesis, obstacles to international competition, and the corresponding competitive advantages, are seen as being central for understanding integration effects as well as for the possibilities to respond to them. An essential distinction is made between different types of obstacles, based on origin or main causes. One or other of these categories may be crucial for a firm when defending a strategic market position, or may hinder the firm from competing in other markets. Furthermore, obstacles in the different categories are in principle influenced by integration measures to a varying degree, and the survey indicated that the type of obstacle that is primarily influenced by integration measures is the one with the least perceived influence on firms' competitive strength.In the last part of the thesis, and with several different points of departure - trade and integration theory, international business, strategic management, and the Internal Market's institutional framework - a model for analysis of integration effects in business strategy terminology is developed and presented. The model is constituted by a geographic dimension and a dimension concerning the product and distribution in a broad sense. For firms with strategic positions which are affected according to the analysis, two principal strategic responses are discussed: to re-establish former competitive advantages or to adapt to the new situation by re-orienting the business.
|
|
| 7. |
|
|
| 8. |
|
|
| 9. |
- Bonnedahl, Karl Johan, 1963-
(author)
-
Från efterfrågedriven tillväxt till behovsdrivet välbefinnande : en roll för social innovation?
- 2022
-
In: Social innovation för hållbar utveckling. - Lund : Studentlitteratur AB. - 9789144151465 ; , s. 167-184
-
Book chapter (other academic/artistic)abstract
- I ett modernt samhälle som det svenska är ekonomisk tillväxt ett övergripande mål och efterfrågan en central styrmekanism. Båda begreppen är problematiska när man med hållbarhet menar att det finns planetära begränsningar att respektera och att utveckling inom dessa bör styras av behov och sikta på välbefinnande. Motsättningen blir kritisk genom vårt systematiska överutnyttjande av naturen. Detta utreds i kapitlet som också undersöker hur social innovation kan bidra till samhällsförändring i riktning mot hållbarhet genom att lyfta fram mer relevanta mål och former för styrning.
|
|
| 10. |
|
|
| 11. |
|
|
| 12. |
- Bonnedahl, Karl Johan, et al.
(author)
-
Internationalization of the Organizational Field : Swedish Grocery Retailers in the European Integration Process
- 2007
-
In: The International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0959-3969 .- 1466-4402. ; 17:3, s. 283-302
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This article describes how import of ideas and practices influence an industry that is in an early stage of internationalization, as well as part of European integration. By using institutional theory, such a situation is depicted as an expansion of the organizational field, in which international isomorphism between organizations has commenced. Studying Swedish grocery retailing, a new set of ideas was found regarding what constitutes an efficient organization. This included centralization, vertical integration and brand management, and it was strongly influenced by foreign actors and markets. We conclude that isomorphism occurs in a decreasingly national field, although not entirely pan-European in character, and that international diffusion of ideas and practices reshape markets, partly independent of goods and capital flows.
|
|
| 13. |
- Bonnedahl, Karl Johan
(author)
-
Local Management of a Global Commons? : The Case of Climate Standard Development in the Swedish Food Sector
- 2014
-
In: International Journal of Business and Management. - : Canadian Center of Science and Education. - 1833-3850 .- 1833-8119. ; 9:11, s. 31-47
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Focusing on climate change, this article discusses possibilities of a local approach to complex globalenvironmental problems. Due to failures of markets and international politics as strategies to govern theatmosphere, an alternative approach could be voluntary initiatives in which the complexity of the globalcommon-pool resource (CPR) is reduced. Assessing such an approach through a case study of food standarddevelopment in Sweden, the outcome is two-sided. By means of scientific explanations and stakeholder dialogue,standards were produced, but attentiveness to CPR management diminished as focus turned towards producerinterests and efficiency increasing measures. Although the climate issue was promoted, the outcome was farfrom the needed change and illustrates difficulties to deviate from prevailing priorities. In order to balance localinterests and power with global and intertemporal values, and reach absolute emission cuts, change in norms andgovernance on every level would be needed.
|
|
| 14. |
|
|
| 15. |
- Bonnedahl, Karl Johan, 1963-, et al.
(author)
-
Social innovation för hållbar utveckling
- 2022. - 1
-
Book (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Brännande samhällsutmaningar i form av bland annat segregation, ohälsa och ekologisk obalans skapar efterfrågan på nytänkande lösningar som inte bara följer en ekonomisk logik utan också är socialt och miljömässigt hållbara. I antologin presenteras aktuell svensk forskning om social innovation för hållbar utveckling, med koppling till Agenda 2030. Forskare från olika discipliner och lärosäten belyser detta i förhållande till exempelvis stadsutveckling, arbetslivsinkludering, naturbaserad rehabilitering och skola. Hybridorganisering, samverkan mellan olika aktörer och en ny samhällsekonomisk styrning tas också upp. Tillsammans ger antologins kapitel en bild av det växande forskningsfältet social innovation, med tillämpning mot hållbar utveckling. Därmed diskuteras potentialen i att sammanföra dessa perspektiv för att stärka bidragen till vetenskaplig och praktisk utveckling. Social innovation för hållbar utveckling riktar sig till forskare, studenter och praktiker inom innovationsområdet, exempelvis innovatörer, innovationsfrämjare, politiker och tjänstepersoner, samt andra intresserade.Boken är framtagen i samarbete med Mötesplats Social Innovation.
|
|
| 16. |
- Bonnedahl, Karl Johan, 1963-
(author)
-
Strategic implications of European economic integration : The relative importance of barrier categories
- 2011
-
In: European Journal of International Management. - : InderScience Publishers. - 1751-6757 .- 1751-6765. ; 5:3, s. 235-252
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Investigating strategic implications of economic integration for firms, this paper presents and discusses a framework for assessment of barriers to intra-community competition. The case is the European internal market, from the perspective of Swedish SMEs. The dismantling of certain barriers as well as remaining barriers to intra-community transactions is acknowledged. Both circumstances influence competitive advantages on the domestic market and the need for resources and experience abroad. Opportunities and threats are related to the initial exposure to barriers of different categories: whether barriers build on political measures, market behaviour, culture or nature. Data from Swedish SMEs, including perceived distance to other markets, underline limitations in policymaking's reach as well as the importance of geographic and lingua-cultural distance.
|
|
| 17. |
- Bonnedahl, Karl Johan, 1963-, et al.
(author)
-
Strongly sustainable development goals : Overcoming distances constraining responsible action
- 2022
-
In: Environmental Science and Policy. - : Elsevier. - 1462-9011 .- 1873-6416. ; 129, s. 150-158
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Sustainable development has been an important policy goal for the international community for over threedecades. Still, the state of the planet continues to worsen. This conceptual article considers the failure largely aresult of structural obstacles and the so-called weak sustainability discourse, popularized by the Brundtlandreport and manifested today in The 2030 Agenda. The article adopts a strong sustainability perspective forexamining structural distances between actors and the consequences of their acts. We argue that these impederesponsible action and that policy should aim to reduce or eliminate distances in the four dimensions of space,time, functions and relations. The article concludes by suggesting Strongly Sustainable Development Goals,which could help transitioning humanity towards sustainability, lower the anthropogenic environmental impacton the planet, and enable the continuity of diverse life on Earth.
|
|
| 18. |
- Bonnedahl, Karl Johan, 1963-, et al.
(author)
-
Sustainable economic organisation : simply a matter of reconceptualisation or a need for a new ethics?
- 2007
-
In: International Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development. - : InderScience Publishers. - 1740-8822 .- 1740-8830. ; 2:1, s. 97-115
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Today's increasing environmental problems are closely related to how we organise economic activities. This paper departs from the assumption that in order to reach sustainable economic organisation, we must address the dominating Market Discourse (MD), guiding mainstream organising. To understand whether reconceptualisations are sufficient or if changes in underlying ethics are needed, we compare the MD with strong and weak sustainability discourses. The analysis suggests that there is a need for changes in underlying assumptions as well as reconceptualisation of economic organisation that coheres with these assumptions. We also discuss how the related concepts of allocative, governance and throughput efficiency permeates MD, and, as principles for organisation, contribute to the inertia in working towards sustainable economic organisation.
|
|
| 19. |
- Bonnedahl, Karl Johan, 1963-, et al.
(author)
-
The case for strong sustainability
- 2018
-
In: Strongly sustainable societies. - Abingdon : Routledge. - 9780815387220 - 9780815387213 - 9781351173643 ; , s. 1-20
-
Book chapter (other academic/artistic)abstract
- This book is written after three decades of global policy and discourse on sustainable development (SD). Regrettably, these decades did not meet the iconic Brundtland Report's call to display 'environmental strategies for achieving sustainable development by the year 2000 and beyond' (WCED, 1987: Chairman's foreword). Instead, humanity's combined efforts have made an already strained Earth even hotter and fuller.
|
|
| 20. |
- Bonnedahl, Karl Johan, 1963-
(author)
-
The European Internal Market: An Assessment of its Strategic Importance for Swedish Manufacturing SMEs
- 2015
-
In: Proceedings of the 1997 world marketing congress. - Cham : Springer Nature. - 9783319173191 - 9783319369440 - 9783319173207 ; , s. 66-71
-
Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- As progress in regional economic integration brings new conditions for marketing strategy, one implication is a change in relative importance of factors impeding international competition. In this paper, an extended categorisation of such impediments is given in company strategic terminology. Empirically, data comparing earlier and later stages in the European Internal Market process are presented, indicating relatively low impact and giving support to the view behind the differentiation of obstacles.
|
|
| 21. |
- Bonnedahl, Karl Johan, 1963-, et al.
(author)
-
The role of discourse in the quest for low-carbon economic practices : A case of standard development in the food sector
- 2011
-
In: European Management Journal. - : Elsevier. - 0263-2373 .- 1873-5681. ; 29:3, s. 165-180
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This article explores a collaborative initiative aiming to set standards for low-carbon practices in the Swedish food sector. Examining stakeholders’ comments and considerations during formative stages of standard development, the process is explained in terms of how it is influenced by discursive activity. Findings illustrate diverging assumptions and interests, but also how science partly bridges economic and ecological perspectives. However, while more critical arguments serve to validate the initiative, the resulting compromise does not question the canon of market discourse, including consumer sovereignty and the legitimacy of established economic interests. When acknowledging the role of consumers and mainstream business as causes to climate change, voluntary initiatives such as our case could, nevertheless, influence discourse through the spread of knowledge and awareness, and finally facilitate change in practices and acceptance for stricter regulation.
|
|
| 22. |
- Boström, Gert-Olof, et al.
(author)
-
Growth ambitions and internationalization among newly started small Swedish firms
- 2017
-
In: Motivating SMEs to cooperate and internationalize. - New York : Routledge. - 9781315412603 - 9781138220577 ; , s. 191-203
-
Book chapter (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Small firms are essential for any national economy due to their aggregate number of employees, their role in technological change and productivity growth, and essentially in economic development (Boter and Lundström 2005; Glower 1999; Eurostat 2016). Whereas much research takes departure in the broader SME category, an explicit delimitation to the smaller firms means that we will find many self-employed and enterprises where the main intention is to secure a livelihood for the owner/manager rather than to expand business operations. Nevertheless, small firms hold important roles for employment and income generation not least in local and regional settings. The smallest category of firms naturally also contains many new ventures, firms which have not yet proven if they will survive or fail in the long run. As such, they constitute crucial components in development and change on a societal level: New ventures are needed for a dynamic and developing economy. Such processes could relate to the development of new technologies, new forms of organization and marketing, and to various ways to approach sustainable development, not least by the use of new business models (e.g. Bocken et al. 2014).
|
|
| 23. |
|
|
| 24. |
- Eriksson, Jessica, 1972-, et al.
(author)
-
Hållbar konsumtion : (Hur) är det möjligt?
- 2009
-
In: Entreprenörskap och innovationer för hållbar utveckling. - Stockholm : Entreprenörskapsforum. - 9189301315 ; , s. 61-81
-
Book chapter (other academic/artistic)
|
|
| 25. |
- Haskell, Lucas, et al.
(author)
-
Social innovation related to ecological crises : A systematic literature review and a research agenda for strong sustainability
- 2021
-
In: Journal of Cleaner Production. - : Elsevier. - 0959-6526 .- 1879-1786. ; 325
-
Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- New technologies, market-based solutions, and regulation have proven inadequate in remedying today's human caused ecological crises. This suggests that detrimental social practices need to be fundamentally changed. While social innovation is one possible approach for such change, a comprehensive picture of research on social innovation in relation to ecological challenges is missing. Therefore, with an emphasis on so-called strong sustainability, this article's purpose was to investigate social innovation's potential in relation to ecological crises, to identify important gaps, and advance research implications. A systematic literature review of social innovation research that address environmental issues was carried out, and the resulting literature was analyzed according to sustainability and five dimensions of social innovation. To reap more of social innovation's potential in our time of ecological crises, we suggest a move in social innovation research towards strong sustainability and propose such research avenues within each of the five dimensions of social innovation: conceptualization, environmental needs and challenges, key resources, capabilities, and constraints, types of governance, networks and actors, and, finally, process dynamics for strongly sustainable social innovation.
|
|
| 26. |
- Heikkurinen, Pasi, et al.
(author)
-
Corporate responsibility for sustainable development : A review and conceptual comparison of market- and stakeholder-oriented strategies
- 2013
-
In: Journal of Cleaner Production. - : Elsevier. - 0959-6526 .- 1879-1786. ; 43, s. 191-198
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper reviews and compares two mainstream business theories, namely market and stakeholder orientations, as contending strategies of corporate responsibility for sustainable development. We argue that even though stakeholder orientation offers a broader inclusion of values and expectations than market orientation , they share considerable similarities in terms of sustainability assumptions and how the role of the corporation becomes perceived in the quest for sustainable development. Both strategies leave responsibility outside the firm by emphasising the role of either customers or stakeholders as the basis of strategizing. Both strategies are also based on assumptions consistent with weak sustainability (at best), which is argued to be insufficient in order to achieve sustainability over time and space. Therefore, this article suggests that a new orientation is needed if corporations are to contribute to sustainable development, namely sustainable development orientation. We call for further research in outlining a business strategy that admits corporations’ responsibility for sustainable development and departs from the strong sustainability assumption.
|
|
| 27. |
- Heikkurinen, Pasi, et al.
(author)
-
Dead ends and liveable futures : a framework for sustainable change
- 2018
-
In: Strongly sustainable societies. - Abingdon : Routledge. - 9780815387220 - 9780815387213 - 9781351173643 ; , s. 289-301
-
Book chapter (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The lack of organised human effort to change the course of unsustainable development can be characterised 'Our common failure'. In 1987, the Brundtland commission successfully made famous the concept of sustainable development, but unfortunately also legitimised the idea of weak sustainability. Even though people around the world are increasingly exposed to the discourse and initiatives of sustainable development, little – if any – evidence is available today to indicate that human societies would be on the 'right track'. That is, humankind is not any less environmentally destructive than it was in the 1980s. In fact, the opposite can be considered to be true. All the way back from the Industrial Revolution, the overall amount of production and consumption has risen more rapidly than improvements in efficiency, which signifies that more natural resources are used and more human-induced waste (e.g. climate emissions) are generated than ever in the recorded history of the Earth (Rockström et al., 2009; Barnosky et al., 2012; IPCC, 2014). Further, the expansion of human settlements and excessive mobility on the planet has resulted in an unseen invasion of this single species of ours, and its domination over the rest of nature. This process, which is sometimes also referred to as the Great Acceleration, has come to denote that humankind is now a main driver of the global environmental change, including the sixth mass extinction wave (Steffen et al., 2015; Ceballos et al., 2015).
|
|
| 28. |
|
|
| 29. |
- Jansson, Desirée, et al.
(author)
-
Intestinal spirochaetes (genus Brachyspira) colonise wild birds in the southern Atlantic region and Antarctica
- 2015
-
In: Infection Ecology & Epidemiology. - : Informa UK Limited. - 2000-8686. ; 5
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- INTRODUCTION: The genus Brachyspira contains well-known enteric pathogens of veterinary significance, suggested agents of colonic disease in humans, and one potentially zoonotic agent. There are recent studies showing that Brachyspira are more widespread in the wildlife community than previously thought. There are no records of this genus in wildlife from the southern Atlantic region and Antarctica. Our aim was therefore, to determine whether intestinal spirochaetes of genus Brachyspira colonise marine and coastal birds in this region.METHOD: Faecal samples were collected from marine and coastal birds in the southern Atlantic region, including sub-Antarctic islands and Antarctica, in 2002, 2009, and 2012, with the aim to isolate and characterise zoonotic agents. In total, 205 samples from 11 bird species were selectively cultured for intestinal spirochaetes of genus Brachyspira. To identify isolates to species level, they were subjected to phenotyping, species-specific polymerase chain reactions, sequencing of partial 16S rRNA, NADH oxidase (nox), and tlyA genes, and phylogenetic analysis. Antimicrobial susceptibility tests were performed.RESULTS: Fourteen unique strains were obtained from 10 birds of three species: four snowy sheathbills (Chionis albus), three kelp geese (Chloephaga hybrida subsp. malvinarum), and three brown skua (Stercorarius antarcticus subsp. lonnbergi) sampled on the Falkland Islands, Tierra del Fuego in Argentina, South Georgia, South Shetland Islands, and the Antarctic Peninsula. Five Brachyspira strains were closely related to potentially enteropathogenic Brachyspira sp. of chickens: B. intermedia (n=2, from snowy sheathbills), and B. alvinipulli (n=3, from a kelp goose and two snowy sheathbills). Three strains from kelp geese were most similar to the presumed non-pathogenic species 'B. pulli' and B. murdochii, whereas the remaining six strains could not be attributed to currently known species. No isolates related to human strains were found. None of the tested strains showed decreased susceptibility to tiamulin, valnemulin, doxycycline, tylvalosin, lincomycin, or tylosin.CONCLUSIONS: This is the first report of intestinal spirochaetes from this region. Despite limitations of current diagnostic methods, our results, together with earlier studies, show that Brachyspira spp., including potentially pathogenic strains, occur globally among free-living avian hosts, and that this genus encompasses a higher degree of biodiversity than previously recognised.
|
|
| 30. |
- Lindberg, Malin, et al.
(author)
-
Social innovation och hållbar utveckling : hur hänger det ihop?
- 2022
-
In: Social innovation för hållbar utveckling. - Lund : Studentlitteratur AB. - 9789144151465 ; , s. 13-36
-
Book chapter (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Denna antologi ger en inblick i aktuell forskning i Sverige om social innovation, det vill säga nya sätt att möta samhällsutmaningar och förbättra människors livsvillkor. Särskilt uppmärksammas forskning om social innovation för hållbar utveckling, med koppling till de globala hållbarhetsmålen i FN:s Agenda 2030. Syftet med antologin är att göra akademisk kunskap inom området tillgänglig för studenter, forskare, innovatörer, innovationsfrämjare och andra intresserade. I detta avsnitt ges en inledande överblick över områdena social innovation och hållbar utveckling, som en inraming till antologins olika kapitel.
|
|
| 31. |
- Mbelwa, Latifa, 1981-
(author)
-
Determinants of the use of accounting information in the public sector budgetary decision-making processes : the case of Tanzanian Local Government Authorities (LGAs)
- 2014
-
Licentiate thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Since the 1980s, public sector entities have been exposed to accounting reforms under an umbrella of New Public Management (NPM). The main purpose of adoption of accounting reforms is to increase efficiency in decision-making by producing useful accounting information. However, it is argued that the adoption of accounting reforms by public sector entities in developing countries is attributed to the seeking of financial legitimacy, rather than increasing organisational efficiency (Mzenzi, 2013; Mkasiwa, 2011; Adhikari and Mellemvik, 2011; Tambulasi, 2007; Sarker, 2006). Therefore, it is the interest of this study to research the use of accounting information by public sector entities in developing countries. This study is based on an interpretative approach and employs an exploratory case study strategy with two cases (LGAs) in order to accomplish four specific objectives. The roles and responsibilities of LGAs and their multiple actors in delivering public services to the citizens, and their roles in budgetary decision-making attributed by the adopted accounting practices, represent the major motivation of this study. Institutional theory and its three branches, which are Old Institutional Economics (OIE), New Institutional Sociology (NIS) and New Institutional Economics (NIE), were used in the process of developing the initial model, and the overall interpretation of findings.The findings of this study revealed three dimensions of instrumental-conceptual use, which included conceptual use, decision relevant, and recommendations use of accounting information in decisions related to estimations and collections of own source revenue. Furthermore, the study’s findings showed that legitimating use was the main dimension of the symbolic use of accounting information in the budget approval, as well as in the decision about estimating and collecting revenue from external sources. It further identified 22 factors influencing the use of accounting information in the budget decision-making processes. The study findings also revealed that instrumental-conceptual use of accounting information increases both an organisation’s budget efficiency as well as its external financial legitimacy. On the other hand, the symbolic use of accounting information decreases the organisation’s budget efficiency and the actual external financial legitimacy but increases the promised external financial legitimacy. This is attributed, mainly, by external institutional pressures that result in decoupling behavior in the use of accounting information in budgetary decision-making processes. In addition, the findings revealed that budget efficiency and acquired financial legitimacy are interdependent. This means that the high financial legitimacy acquired can indicate high budget efficiency in the situation the instrumental-conceptual use exists than the symbolic legitimating use of accounting information.The study proposes a model of the determinants of the use of accounting information in budget decision-making processes for budget efficiency and external financial legitimacy. It informs reformers, practitioners, policy-makers and researchers about the necessary measures to undertake to make sure that NPM reforms, especially accounting reforms, enhance both efficiency and financial legitimacy in the public sector organisations through the use of accounting information.
|
|
| 32. |
|
|
| 33. |
- Rockert Tjernberg, Anna, et al.
(author)
-
Celiac Disease and Serious Infections: A Nationwide Cohort Study From 2002 to 2017
- 2022
-
In: American Journal of Gastroenterology. - : LIPPINCOTT WILLIAMS & WILKINS. - 0002-9270 .- 1572-0241. ; 117:10, s. 1675-1683
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- INTRODUCTION: Patients with celiac disease (CD) have an increased risk of encapsulated bacterial infections. Less is known about other serious infections in CD, especially in patients diagnosed in the 21st century. METHODS: We contacted all 28 pathology departments in Sweden through the Epidemiology Strengthened by histoPathology Reports in Sweden (ESPRESSO) cohort study and identified 20,088 individuals with CD (defined as villous atrophy) diagnosed in 2002-2017. Patients were matched for sex, age, and calendar year to 80,152 general population comparators and followed up until December 31, 2019. Serious infections were defined as having a hospital-based (inpatient and outpatient) diagnosis in the National Patient Register. Cox regression yielded adjusted hazard ratios (aHR) controlling for education, country of birth, and comorbidities. RESULTS: During 173,695 person-years of follow-up, 6,167 individuals with CD (35.5/1,000 person-years) had a serious infection. This was compared with 19,131 infections during 743,260 person-years (25.7/1,000 person-years) in matched comparators, corresponding to an aHR of 1.29 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.25-1.33). aHR were similar when restricted to infection requiring hospital admission (1.23; 95% CI = 1.17-1.29). The excess risk of serious infections also persisted beyond the first year after CD diagnosis (aHR = 1.24; 95% CI = 1.20-1.29). Patients with CD were at risk of sepsis (aHR = 1.26; 95% CI = 1.09-1.45) and gastrointestinal infections (1.60; 95% CI = 1.47-1.74). Mucosal healing during CD follow-up did not influence the risk of subsequent serious infections. DISCUSSION: This nationwide study of patients with celiac disease diagnosed in the 21st century revealed a significantly increased risk of serious infections. While absolute risks were modest, vaccinations should be considered during CD follow-up care.
|
|
| 34. |
-
Strongly sustainable societies : organising human activities on a hot and full Earth
- 2018
-
Editorial collection (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The response of the international community to the pressing socio-ecological problems has been framed around the concept of 'sustainable development'. The ecological pressure, however, has continued to rise and mainstream sustainability discourse has proven to be problematic. It contains an instrumental view of the world, a strong focus on technological solutions, and the premise that natural and human-made 'capitals' are substitutable. This trajectory, which is referred to as 'weak sustainability', reproduces inequalities, denies intrinsic values in nature, and jeopardises the wellbeing of humans as well as other beings.Based on the assumptions of strong sustainability, this edited book presents practical and theoretical alternatives to today's unsustainable societies. It investigates and advances pathways for humanity that are ecologically realistic, ethically inclusive, and receptive to the task's magnitude and urgency. The book challenges the traditional anthropocentric ethos and ontology, economic growth-dogma, and programmes of ecological modernisation. It discusses options with examples on different levels of analysis, from the individual to the global, addressing the economic system, key sectors of society, alternative lifestyles, and experiences of local communities.Examining key topics including human–nature relations and wealth and justice, this book will be of great interest to students and scholars of environmental and development studies, ecological economics, environmental governance and policy, sustainable business, and sustainability science.
|
|
| 35. |
- Stål, Herman, 1977-, et al.
(author)
-
Conceptualizing strong sustainable entrepreneurship
- 2016
-
In: Small Enterprise Research. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1321-5906 .- 1175-0979. ; 23:1, s. 73-84
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This conceptual article focuses on the environmental dimensions of sustainable developmentwhich are essential for satisfying current and future human needs. It assesses ecologicaleconomics (EE) as an alternative base for a “strong” version of sustainable entrepreneurship(SE). EE recognizes the biophysical base of economic activity, critical natural capital (nonsubstitutability)and limits to market valuation and exchange. Contemporary entrepreneurialdefinitions, however, as well as recent SE framings, pre-suppose that functioning marketswill achieve sustainable development. As discussed in this paper, natural processes are nonlinearand critical, and as thresholds are impossible to anticipate, markets are unreliable andprincipally at odds with the objectives of sustainable development. Our proposed alternativeconstitutes a way forward.
|
|
| 36. |
|
|
| 37. |
- Stål, Herman I., 1977-, et al.
(author)
-
Micro-level translation of greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction – policy meets industry in the Swedish agricultural sector
- 2015
-
In: Journal of Cleaner Production. - : Elsevier. - 0959-6526 .- 1879-1786. ; 103, s. 629-639
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is an urgent challenge for mankind. However, as aggregate emissions continue to rise, necessary changes in industrial practices are lagging behind. The article addresses this discrepancy by exploring how the issue of GHG reduction is channeled from policy to industry, in one of the more GHG intensive sectors, agriculture. We adopt the translation perspective to analyze and discuss how the climate issue travels between contexts. Our study explores the activities involved as advisors, functioning as translating agents within Swedish agri-policy, inform producers about the issue of GHG reduction. The study sheds new light on the effectiveness of mitigation policy in promoting practice change and illustrates how translation is an analytical framework suitable for studying this within different industries.
|
|
| 38. |
- Stål, Herman, 1977-
(author)
-
Inertia and practice change related to greenhouse gas reduction : Essays on institutional entrepreneurship and translation in Swedish agri-food
- 2014
-
Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- To avoid dangerous climate change a massive reduction in greenhouse gas emissions is required in a relative short time span. However, as development is moving in the wrong direction, there appears to be great inertia in changing activities. This dissertation’s overarching purpose is, from an institutional perspective, to advance the understanding of greenhouse gas-related inertia, as well as change, in industrial agri-activities. This purpose is addressed in four individual but related papers and an introductory chapter. A case study methodology is utilized to advance knowledge regarding greenhouse gas-related inertia and change. Two change initiatives involving the Swedish Board ofAgriculture, the designated expert authority on agricultural matters, were chosen and explored with qualitative methods. The first case consisted of a project to create at an Action Plan, a policy suggestion regarding strategies to reduce emissions from agriculture. The second case focused on the Swedish Board of Agriculture’s co-owned agricultural extension service, Greppa Näringen. More specifically, the case consisted of the provision of climate advice to farmers. The analyses of the initiatives focused on assessing, discussing and explaining the types of change advanced within them. The papers show how and why convergent rather than divergent change was pursued, describing different mechanisms generating this inertia.
|
|
| 39. |
- Stål, Herman, 1977-, et al.
(author)
-
Micro-level translation of GHG reduction - policy meets industry in the Swedish agriculture sector
-
Other publication (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Reducing GHG emissions is an urgent challenge for mankind. However, as aggregate emissions continue to rise, necessary changes in industrial practices are lagging behind. The article addresses this discrepancy by exploring how the issue of GHG reduction is channeled from policy to industry, in oneof the more GHG intensive sectors, agriculture. We adopt the translation perspective to outline how the climate issue travels between contexts. Our study explores the activities involved as advisors, functioning as translating agents within Swedish agri-policy, inform producers about the issue of GHG reduction. The study sheds new light on the effectiveness of mitigation policy in promoting practicechange and illustrates how translation is an analytical framework suitable for studying this within different industries.
|
|
| 40. |
- Stål, Herman, 1977-, et al.
(author)
-
Provision of Climate Advice as a Mechanism for Environmental Governance in Swedish Agriculture
- 2015
-
In: Environmental Policy and Governance. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 1756-932X .- 1756-9338. ; 25:5, s. 356-371
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Climate mitigation is both a pressing and complex task, and one that frequently requires both participation to involve stakeholders and capacity building to enable them to change their practices. This paper considers whether the provision of climate advice to affected parties could be an effective policy activity in both respects. The article investigates the feasibility and potential influence of providing climate advice by examining the role that such advice has played in the discursive activities of agriculture extension consultants in Sweden. This case demonstrates that, rather than promoting substantial change in practices, the climate issue is used to support conventional efficiency-increasing measures and to change the descriptions of prevailing agricultural activities. We find that the embedding of climate related discourse within agricultural extension and the lack of clear climate mitigation goals for the agricultural sector reduced and adapted the climate issue to enable it to be easily accommodated in the narratives prevailing among farmers, which are well aligned with conventional economic, rather than climate, policy goals. This lock-in could be addressed by establishing clear and radical reduction targets and through the broader involvement of a wider range of stakeholders.
|
|
| 41. |
- Stål, Herman, 1977-, et al.
(author)
-
The challenge of introducing low-carbon industrial practices : institutional entrepreneurship in the agri-food sector
- 2014
-
In: European Management Journal. - : Elsevier. - 0263-2373 .- 1873-5681. ; 32:2, s. 203-215
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Contemporary agricultural practices account for a significant share of greenhouse gas emissions. Inspired by the emergent literature on institutional entrepreneurship, we seek to explore mechanisms that affect an actor’s propensity to act in ways that imply suggesting and promoting emission-reducing practice changes. As influences originating outside the organizational field are assumed to constitute such mechanisms, the paper explores their role through a case study of a project run by a public agency. Unlike extant theory, results show that the agency’s propensity to act is not necessarily enhanced by extra-field influences but that such influences also limit the scope for suggesting change that challenges existing industrial practices.
|
|
| 42. |
- Stål, Herman, 1977-, et al.
(author)
-
Translating GHG reduction : Case studies from the Swedish agricultural sector
- 2013
-
In: Proceedings of the 19th Annual International Sustainable Development Research Conference – 2013 in Cape Town, South Africa.
-
Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Justification of the paperReducing GHG emissions is a fundamental part of the transition to a sustainable society. However, necessary changes in industrial practices are lagging behind as emissions, in the aggregate, continue to rise (World Bank 2012; UNEP, 2012). This paper addresses the discrepancy between needed and actual changes in industrial practices by exploring how the issue of GHG reduction is channelled through policy to industrial producers in a sector of relative importance: Swedish agriculture. We depart from the translation model which sets out to explain how entities, e.g., issues, ideas, practices and problematizations travel within and between contexts (Sahlin & Wedlin, 2008). Our application of the translation model sheds new light on the attempt to understand inertia in climate change-related practice change and should provide researchers and decision makers, particularly within policy, with new information. PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to explore how translation of the issue of GHG reduction affects the meaning of industrial practice. Following Zilber (2002; 2006; cf. Hardy and Maguire, 2009) we consider the shared meanings that underpin practice to be of pivotal importance to explain practice change. Thus we suggest that how or if this issue will spur practice change depends on how translation affects such meanings.Theoretical frameworkThe translation model Somewhat simplified, translation assumes that a) entities change as they travel within and between contexts, b) the activities of translating agents are central for this and c) the process never starts nor stops but over time results in taken-for-granted simplifications (Jensen, Sandstrom, & Helin, 2009). Thus it is not mainly the advantages of a particular entity or the power and prestige of some original source (e.g. IPCC) that explain spread but rather the efforts of a multitude of translating agents that: “may act in many different ways, letting the token drop, or modifying it, or deflecting it, or betraying it, or adding to it, or appropriating it” (Latour, 1986: 267).In applying this model to (agricultural) practice and practice change, we follow Hardy & Maguire (2009; cf. Zilber, 2002; 2006) who stresses the pivotal role of the shared meanings that underpin practice. Seen from this perspective, an emerging issue such as reduction of GHG emissions, could introduce radical change in practices through accompanying problematizations, e.g., claims, arguments, stories, that challenge the legitimacy of the practices prevailing in an industry (Maguire & Hardy, 2009).Results and conclusionsOur results stem from two case studies exploring how the issue of GHG reduction is channeled through Swedish agro-policy. Our cases show how translation results in new meanings for GHG reduction as well as current agro-policy and practice. However, changes occur mainly at the level of discourse rather than at the level of practice. The argument of “biological complexities”, rendering agricultural emissions special and more difficult to reduce, takes on a status as a taken-for-granted truth that precludes substantial emission cuts and radical practice changes. Framing GHG reduction as concerning efficiency in agricultural practices reconciles possible opposing interests and protects the legitimacy of existing practice. Subsequently, arguments for radical practice changes are weakened. Implications for Just TransitionsThe results shed light on some of the reasoning that explains inertia in transitions to a sustainable production in advanced nations. It is troublesome if advanced nations, e.g., Sweden, by reducing a complex issue to a matter of efficiency of production, refrain from assuming responsibility and making required radical changes. Further, results illustrate the limitations of the eco-modernist principles that currently guide policy making, especially in addressing global issues e.g., climate change. Such principles effectively preclude discussions of equity and fairness in terms of how much emission a sector and its producers have capacity for.
|
|
| 43. |
- Vlasov, Maxim, 1991-
(author)
-
Ecological embedding : stories of back-to-the-land ecopreneurs and energy descent
- 2020
-
Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- This thesis starts with the premise that to address ecological and climate crises, we need to understand their psychological and cultural roots found in the separation of modern societies from the natural world. This separation permeates mainstream approaches to sustainability that either sustain business-as-usual of the unbridled economic growth, or reform it with greener markets and technologies. At the same time, there is an emerging interest in alternative transitional ecopreneurs who have a different relationship with the natural environment and an agency with potentially more radical consequences for societal change. I look at ecopreneurs within the contemporary back-to-the-land movement, asking the following question: How do ecopreneurs reconnect with the land, and what does this mean for degrowth?My exploration was grounded in a dialogue between the literature on degrowth, ecopreneurship, critical organisational studies, and ecological embeddedness; and the ethnographic study of eleven back-to-the-landers who started small-scale ecological farms and permaculture enterprises in Sweden. I adopted a critical, narrative, and ethnographic research approach. The empirical research consisted of two studies that relied on narrative interviews and deep observations. The result was four essays that together, with the help of stories of back-to-the-land ecopreneurs, develop a process theory of ecological embedding.Ecological embedding is a process by which an ecopreneur is becoming more rooted in the land that provides the ecological conditions for life and economic activity. This process may be catalysed by psychological suffering in modern societies – an inner revolt – with examples of burn-out from the “rat race”, experiential deprivation of the office work, and ecological anxiety. The way back-to-the-land ecopreneurs develop, nurture, and negotiate their physical, emotional and spiritual ties with the land shapes the ongoing sensemaking and organising that is central to the formation of their alternative livelihoods and enterprises. It is also established that ecological embedding requires physical and psychological work on behalf of the back-to-the-land ecopreneur who navigates the contested terrain between the mainstream economy and alternative degrowth futures.The overall contribution consists in using the voices of back-to-the-landers in order to present their everyday experiences and critical knowledges about ecological embedding and transitions to a society that lives within planetary boundaries. Back-to-the-landers practice alternative forms of ecopreneurship that depart from the discursive and material conditions of the modern growth economy, and that revolve around a different set of values and objectives such as a more grounded life, non-materialist conceptions of well-being, regenerative ethos, post-capitalist relations, conviviality, resilience, alternative food economies and forms of local development. It is important to recognise the critical role of this new generation of individuals and families who enter alternative agriculture based on environmental and lifestyle aspirations, and who work hard to realise these aspirations on a daily basis, in spite of immense personal challenges and systemic hurdles that come from lacking institutional and political support.If we take seriously the ecopsychological crises of the modern civilisation and growth capitalism, to reconnect with local ecologies and to creatively downscale our economies becomes crucial. And this is not going to be an easy task.
|
|
| 44. |
- Vlasov, Maxim, 1991-, et al.
(author)
-
Entrepreneurship for resilience : embeddedness in place and in trans-local grassroots networks
- 2018
-
In: Journal of Enterprising Communities. - : Emerald Group Publishing Limited. - 1750-6204 .- 1750-6212. ; 12:3, s. 374-394
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Purpose: This paper aims to contribute to the emerging entrepreneurship research that deals with resilience by examining how embeddedness in place and in trans-local grassroots networks influences proactive entrepreneurship for local resilience.Design/methodology/approach: Three theoretical propositions are developed on the basis of the existing literature. These propositions are assisted with brief empirical illustrations of grassroots innovations from the context of agri-food systems.Findings: Embeddedness in place and in trans-local grassroots networks enables proactive entrepreneurship for local resilience. Social-cultural embeddedness in place facilitates access to local resources and legitimacy, and creation of social value in the community. Ecological embeddedness in place facilitates spotting and leveraging of environmental feedbacks and creation of ecological value. Embeddedness in trans-local grassroots networks provides entrepreneurs with unique resources, including globally transferable knowledge about sustainability challenges and practical solutions to these challenges. As result, entrepreneurship for resilience is explained as an embedding process. Embedding means attuning of practices to local places, as well as making global resources, including knowledge obtained in grassroots networks, work in local settings.Research limitations/implications: Researchers should continue developing the emerging domain of entrepreneurship for resilience.Practical implications: The objective of resilience and due respect to local environment may entail a need to consider appropriate resourcing practices and organisational models.Social implications: The critical roles of place-based practices for resilience deserve more recognition in today’s globalised world.Originality/value: The specific importance of the ecological dimension of embeddedness in place is emphasised. Moreover, by combining entrepreneurship and grassroots innovation literatures, which have talked past each other to date, this paper shows how local and global resources are leveraged throughout the embedding process. Thereby, it opens unexplored research avenues within the emerging domain of entrepreneurship for resilience.
|
|
| 45. |
- Vlasov, Maxim, 1991-, et al.
(author)
-
Suffering catalyzing ecopreneurship : Critical ecopsychology of organizations
- 2023
-
In: Organization. - : Sage Publications. - 1350-5084 .- 1461-7323. ; 30:4, s. 668-693
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The article bridges the gap between ecology and mind in organization theory by exploring the role of psychological suffering for sustainable organizing. In particular, it shows how burn-out, experiential deprivation, and ecological anxiety prompt ecopreneurs within the Swedish back-to-the-land movement to become ecologically embedded. Three counter-practices illustrate how this suffering represents an inner revolt against the exploitative structures of modern society and growth capitalism, and a catalyst for alternative ecopreneurship. The article takes the first steps toward critical ecopsychology of organizations, which offers an ecocentric ontology and a moral-political framework for degrowth transition.
|
|
