Kinesiska affärsetableringar i Sverige : Kartläggning över områden som förbättrar chanserna att lyckas

Aim and starting point: The aim of the Bachelor thesis is to examine and define the paramount knowledge Chinese businessmen need in order to succeed with their establishment in Sweden. The authors also seek to answer what incentives attract Chinese businessmen to come to Sweden, as well as how Chinese establishments in Sweden can be predicted to appear in the future. Results/conclusions: The study outlines key areas in which Chinese businessmen should have knowledge in order to succeed with their establishment in Sweden. The results also gives an indication on how Chinese business establishments in Sweden will appear in the future, into which areas the Chinese mainly invest/establish in, as well as why and how these are done. On the basis of this material the authors generate proposals for educational packages which among others can be sold to Chinese businessmen. Knowledge overview: Here relevant theory connected to the area of study is presented. The knowledge overview presents the Swedish in relation to the Chinese perspective in areas such as: culture, hierarchy, relations, Face, communication, HRM, education, CSR and labour law. The knowledge overview can itself contribute to fostering an understanding of differences between Sweden and China. Method: The area of research has been accessed by a combination of methods. The study is both deductive and explorative. The main channel of information and data collection are in-depth interviews which are used as a deductive starting point, an expert investigation and as a Grounded Theory. As a complement the authors have also conducted a delphi study in which an expert panel answered questions concerning the future of Chinese establishments in Sweden. The deductive and explorative parts have been analyzed individually and have each generated a conclusion. These conclusions have then been interwoven in a synthesis that highlights and creates new knowledge.

Patient participation : what it is and what it is not

In general, patient participation is regarded as being informed and partaking in decision making regarding one’s care and treatment. This interpretation is common in legislation throughout the Western world and corresponding documents guiding health care professionals, as well as in scientific studies. Even though this understanding of the word participation can be traced to a growing emphasis on individuals’ autonomy in society and to certain dictionary defi nitions, there are other ways of understanding participation from a semantic point of view, and no trace of patients’ descriptions of what it is to participate can be found in these definitions. Hence, the aim of this dissertation was to understand patients’ experience of the phenomenon of patient participation. An additional aim was to understand patients’ experience of non-participation and to describe the conditions for patient participation and non-participation, in order to understand the prerequisites for patient participation. The dissertation comprises four papers. The philosophical ideas of Ricoeur provided a basis for the studies: how communication can present ways to understand and explain experiences of phenomena through phenomenological hermeneutics. The first and second studies involved a group of patients living with chronic heart failure. For the fi rst study, 10 patients were interviewed, with a narrative approach, about their experience of participation and non-participation, as defi ned by the participants. For the second study, 11 visits by three patients at a nurse-led outpatient clinic were observed, and consecutive interviews were performed with the patients and the nurses, investigating what they experience as patient participation and non-participation. A triangulation of data was performed to analyse the occurrence of the phenomena in the observed visits. For paper 3 and 4, a questionnaire was developed and distributed among a diverse group of people who had recent experience of being patients. The questionnaire comprised respondent’s description of what patient participation is, using items based on findings in Study 1, along with open-ended questions for additional aspects and general issues regarding situations in which the respondent had experienced patient participation and/or non-participation. The findings show additional aspects to patient participation: patient participation is being provided with information and knowledge in order for one to comprehend one’s body, disease, and treatment and to be able to take self-care actions based on the context and one’s values. Participation was also found to include providing the information and knowledge one has about the experience of illness and symptoms and of one’s situation. Participation occurs when being listened to and being recognised as an individual and a partner in the health care team. Non-participation, on the other hand, occurs when one is regarded as a symptom, a problem to be solved. To avoid non-participation, the information provided needs to be based on the individual’s need and with recognition of the patient’s knowledge and context. In conclusion, patient participation needs to be reconsidered in health care regulations and in clinical settings: patients’ defi nitions of participation, found to be close to the dictionaries’ description of sharing, should be recognised and opportunities provided for sharing knowledge and experience in two-way-communication.

Supervision as control system : the design of supervision as a regulatory instrument in the social services sector in Sweden

In this article, the prevailing official view of supervision as a regulatory instrument is examined as it applies to the social services sector in Sweden. The study is based on a comparison of the views expressed on the design of supervision as a regulatory instrument by two government commissions, the Supervision Commission and the Commission on Supervision within the Social Services (UTIS), and on the positions taken by the Government regarding the definitions of the concept of supervision proposed by these commissions. The view of supervision as a regulatory instrument expressed in these policy documents is analysed with the help of a theoretical framework describing the components, their functions and the governance characteristics of control systems. In the framework separate interrelated characteristics of the components are identified and summarized into two models of control systems. The analysis shows that supervision in the Swedish social services sector can be described in terms of both a disciplinary and non-disciplinary system. By its system theoretical basis and the identification of interrelated characteristics the study contributes to a broadened understanding of the construction and functions of supervision as a regulatory instrument and of how supervision within the Swedish social sector is meant to be designed.