Flexibilitetens frammarsch, en studie om den intermittenta anst��llningen

Flexible working conditions is used extensively in organizations today as a way to create flexibility for the employer. Recently we���ve been reading in the newspapers that this approach is a growing problem and the EU has warned Sweden twice that abuse of these forms of employment must be stopped. The Government has recently submitted a proposed rule change to reduce the possibility of stacking one temporary contract after another. Borl��nge kommun makes themselves more flexible with the intermittent employments. This study aims to examine why infrequent employments, such as the intermittent employment is used and preferred by Borl��nge kommun and how it���s perceived by affected employees in the organization. The questions related, besides why the intermittent employment is used by the organization and how its perceived by those involved, also includes the management of intermittent employment and how the organization is handling work contracts. The background information on the employment law implications gives the reader an insight into how the regulatory framework works surrounding the topic. The theory section highlights the main theories about flexibility and its different shapes and perspectives. For the study a qualitative approach is used. A case study with semi-structured interviews was performed. The respondents were employees involved in the staffing of intermittent employees and also members of the staff with an intermittent employment. The results show that the employment and contracts is correctly handled by labour law regulations. This study shows that Borl��nge kommun uses intermittent employments extensively, with its 1 320 intermittently employees. If this is abuse, or not, is not clear from the result. The authors discuss, however, if that is the case. The intermittent employment is used mainly because of the great needs. This is because society is changing and the average age is increasing, both by those using the services and the employees. All respondents perceive the intermittent employment as most flexible for the employees. Respondents working in the staffing department say that they are not flexible enough. The intermittent employees��� working today does not cover the great need. Borl��nge kommun think that the flexibility should benefit them more and is currently trying to become more flexible. The employees were generally satisfied with their work situation. Some tendencies of insecurity and uncertainty could be inferred from the intermittent employees answers. The author���s conclusions are that flexibility and the intermittent employment contracts mainly benefit the employer and the employees who actively choose this type of work, such as students. This kind of employment affects, however, the society and those who need a secure lifestyle. The necessary permanent contracts are becoming fewer and replaced by precarious and flexible employment conditions.

Swedish Primary Teachers' Attitudes towards Integrating Gaming in the EFL Classroom

A current topic in Swedish schools is the use of computer games and gaming. One reason is because computers are becoming more and more integrated into the schools, and the technology plays a large role in the everyday lives of the pupils. Since teachers should integrate pupils��� interests in the formal teaching, it is of interest to know what attitudes teachers have towards gaming. Therefore the aim of this empirical study is to gain an insight into the attitudes Swedish primary teachers have towards online and offline computer games in the EFL classroom. An additional aim is to investigate to what extent teachers use games. Five interviews were conducted with teachers in different Swedish schools in a small to medium-sized municipality. After the interviews were transcribed, the results were analyzed and discussed in relation to relevant research and the sociocultural theory. The results show that teachers are positive towards games and gaming, mostly because gaming often contains interaction with others and learning from peers is a main component in sociocultural theory. However, only one out of the five participants had at some point used games. The conclusion is that teachers are unsure about how to use games in their teaching and that training and courses in this area would be valuable. More research is needed within this area, and it would be of value to investigate what suggested courses would contain and also to investigate exactly how games can be used in teaching.

Factors that Motivate Pupils in Grades 4-6 in Sweden to Speak English as a Foreign Language

This is an empirical study about factors that motivate pupils to speak English as a foreign language. The aim of this study is to investigate when pupils in the classroom situation, in Grades 4-6 in a school in Sweden, are motivated to speak English as a foreign language, and why they are motivated to speak English in these situations. To implement this study, questionnaires and interviews have been chosen as methods. 51 pupils in Grades 4-6 took part of the study. Since being able to communicate orally in a foreign language is of great advantage for one, and creates opportunities both for work and for study abroad, it is important for pupils to learn how to communicate orally in English. It is important to be able to use the language. In the English curriculum in Swedish schools, speaking English is a skill pupils must possess. Since this is the requirement it is important that teachers in Sweden relate to this. Many pupils do not like to speak in front of the rest of the class and some pupils only like to speak in informal situations. Therefore, teachers must use various strategies to create a willingness to communicate among pupils and various strategies to motivate them to speak English. The results show that pupils are motivated to use the language in class when they have recently been abroad. It also shows that they are motivated when they can decide the topic and speak about something they are interested in.

The effects of Ikea and external shopping centers on regional trade and retail growth : A comparative analysis of Ikea���s establishment in Kalmar and Karlstad

This paper examines the effects of Ikea store establishment in Kalmar and Karlstad on the trade and retail inside the two cities, and as well on the trade and retail in the close neighboring municipalities and in further peripheral municipalities in both regions. After the establishment of Ikea store, Kalmar and Karlstad have experienced significant growth in trade and retail. The question, however, is how big this growth is in both cities? And how different locations on different distances from Ikea have been affected? What impact there was on different segments of the retail? How different business branches have been affected? How large the catchment area for the emerging new large-scale retail locations is? These questions, in addition to few others, are investigated in this paper. The thesis starts with an introduction chapter containing a background of the topic, problem description, the investigated questions, the purpose, and the outline of the paper. The next chapter includes the frame of reference which consists of literature review and theoretical framework about the external shopping centers and their impact on retail and regional trade development. It includes also information gathered from previous studies technical reports and other available sources about the subject. The third chapter includes description for the methods used to collect the primary and secondary data needed for the purpose of this study. Then the empirical framework which demonstrates the results of the conducted research followed by analysis and concluded in discussion and conclusion. Mixed methods are used as research strategy in this thesis, and the method to conduct the research is based on telephone interviews for the primary (qualitative) data, and documents and desk research for the secondary (quantitative) data. The gathered data is analyzed and designed in a way that allows the usage of comparative analysis technique to present the findings and draw conclusions. The results showed that new established Ikea retail store outside the city boundaries results with many effects on the city center and on the neighboring municipalities as well. The city center seems not to be affected negatively, but on the contrary positive effects were witnessed in both regions, these positive effects are linked to the increase inflow of customers from the external retail area which is known as spillover effect. III On the other hand, the neighboring towns and municipalities are more negatively affected especially with the trade of con-convenience goods as the consumers in these towns and municipalities start to go to the area of Ikea and the large external retail center to do their purchasing, the substitution effect is then said to be occurred. Moreover, the further far municipalities do not seem to be significantly affected by the establishment of Ikea. These effects whether positive or negative could be monitored by looking to few trade parameters such as the turnover, the sales index, and the consumers��� expenditure, these parameters can be very useful to measure the developments and changes in the trade and retail in a given place.��

Shared decision-making in mental health care : a user perspective on decisional needs in community-based services

BACKGROUND: Shared decision-making (SDM) is an emergent research topic in the field of mental health care and is considered to be a central component of a recovery-oriented system. Despite the evidence suggesting the benefits of this change in the power relationship between users and practitioners, the method has not been widely implemented in clinical practice. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to investigate decisional and information needs among users with mental illness as a prerequisite for the development of a decision support tool aimed at supporting SDM in community-based mental health services in Sweden. METHODS: Three semi-structured focus group interviews were conducted with 22 adult users with mental illness. The transcribed interviews were analyzed using a directed content analysis. This method was used to develop an in-depth understanding of the decisional process as well as to validate and conceptually extend Elwyn et al.'s model of SDM. RESULTS: The model Elwyn et al. have created for SDM in somatic care fits well for mental health services, both in terms of process and content. However, the results also suggest an extension of the model because decisions related to mental illness are often complex and involve a number of life domains. Issues related to social context and individual recovery point to the need for a preparation phase focused on establishing cooperation and mutual understanding as well as a clear follow-up phase that allows for feedback and adjustments to the decision-making process. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The current study contributes to a deeper understanding of decisional and information needs among users of community-based mental health services that may reduce barriers to participation in decision-making. The results also shed light on attitudinal, relationship-based, and cognitive factors that are important to consider in adapting SDM in the mental health system.

Topic- and mode-sensitive interaction strategies : Functions of ellipsis in oral communication

In this article, we discuss ellipsis as an interactive strategy by analysing the author���s textchat corpus and the VOICE corpus of English as a Lingua Franca. It is found that there were fewer repetitions in the textchat data, and this is explained as a consequence of the textchat mode. Textchat contributions are preserved as long as the chat is active or has been saved, and therefore users can scroll through and review the discussion, compared to the more fleeting nature of oral conversation. As a result, repetition is less necessary. The frequency of other functions identified could be attributed to the topic of discourse. Discussions involve much ellipsis used to develop discourse, although some were self-presentations with repetition used to confirm details. Back-channel support and comments were often low because speakers instead used forms like yeah as supportive utterances.

Healthcare providers balancing norms and practice : challenges and opportunities in providing contraceptive counselling to young people in Uganda - a qualitative study

BACKGROUND: Pregnancies among young women force girls to compromise education, resulting in low educational attainment with subsequent poverty and vulnerability. A pronounced focus is needed on contraceptive use, pregnancy, and unsafe abortion among young women. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to explore healthcare providers' (HCPs) perceptions and practices regarding contraceptive counselling to young people. DESIGN: We conducted 27 in-depth interviews with doctors and midwives working in seven health facilities in central Uganda. Interviews were open-ended and allowed the participant to speak freely on certain topics. We used a topic guide to cover areas topics of interest focusing on post-abortion care (PAC) but also covering contraceptive counselling. Transcripts were transcribed verbatim and data were analysed using thematic analysis. RESULTS: The main theme, HCPs' ambivalence to providing contraceptive counselling to sexually active young people is based on two sub-themes describing the challenges of contraceptive counselling: A) HCPs echo the societal norms regarding sexual practice among young people, while at the same time our findings B) highlights the opportunities resulting from providers pragmatic approach to contraceptive counselling to young women. Providers expressed a self-identified lack of skill, limited resources, and inadequate support from the health system to successfully provide appropriate services to young people. They felt frustrated with the consultations, especially when meeting young women seeking PAC. CONCLUSIONS: Despite existing policies for young people's sexual and reproductive health in Uganda, HCPs are not sufficiently equipped to provide adequate contraceptive counselling to young people. Instead, HCPs are left in between the negative influence of social norms and their pragmatic approach to address the needs of young people, especially those seeking PAC. We argue that a clear policy supported by a clear strategy with practical guidelines should be implemented alongside in-service training including value clarification and attitude transformation to equip providers to be able to better cater to young people seeking sexual and reproductive health advice.

Master Index of Keywords for Kennebec County Interviews

This document lists keywords for searching the collection of Kennebec County Interviews. Keywords are arranged in classic, hierarchical index style.

A viabilidade do teletrabalho na PROCEMPA

Dentre as profundas modifica����es experimentadas na Sociedade e, em especial, as que se produzem no mundo do trabalho, observamos movimentos em dire����o a formas de trabalho flex��vel, entre as quais se insere o Teletrabalho. Sem ser propriamente novo no cen��rio mundial, no Brasil ele surge com maior express��o recentemente, passando a ocupar espa��os na m��dia em geral e nos ambientes universit��rios. Todavia, s��o poucas as refer��ncias acad��micas brasileiras ao assunto e estudos se fazem necess��rios. Com a pretens��o de contribuir com conhecimentos a respeito do assunto, sob o prisma da realidade brasileira e de uma situa����o particular, o estudo utilizou refer��ncias te��ricas e emp��ricas para examinar a viabilidade do Teletrabalho na Companhia de Processamento de Dados do Munic��pio de Porto Alegre. Abrangeu a an��lise de condi����es organizacionais, t��cnicas, humanas, legais e sindicais compreendidas na proposta e incluiu, igualmente, uma sugest��o para um projeto de demonstra����o. O estudo, notadamente qualitativo, valoriza as perspectivas de segmentos potencialmente envolvidos num processo de ado����o de Teletrabalho pela Empresa, como elemento para a sua compreens��o. Foi desenvolvido mediante a realiza����o de entrevistas com representantes dos sindicatos da categoria, dos funcion��rios e chefias, Diretoria da Empresa e especialistas em assuntos jur��dicos e seguran��a de informa����es. O estudo concluiu ser a introdu����o do Teletrabalho vi��vel em parte, num sistema de voluntariado, em regime de tempo parcial e, pelo menos inicialmente, em ambientes de telecentros. Mesmo existindo uma s��rie de condi����es favor��veis, o atendimento de certos pr��requisitos e o equacionamento de d��vidas e dificuldades s��o essenciais para promover uma implementa����o adequada, considerando as condi����es internas da Empresa, seu papel institucional e o contexto social onde est�� inserida. A pesquisa, na verdade, pode ser considerada um passo inicial dentro de um processo mais amplo, que integra o dom��nio da tecnologia do Teletrabalho para uso interno na Empresa, se assim for desejado, ou como uma alternativa para proposi����o de novos servi��os a clientes e �� comunidade.

The human side of project management - an investigation of critical chain concepts in the Argentinean Project Environment

The global marketplace is rapidly intensifying. Longer product sales lives, greater profit margins or simply survival, is dependent on management��s ability to create and lead change. Project Management has become an important competency, combined with other business practices to adapt to the trend of changing conditions. Critical Chain is a relatively new project methodology, elaborated by Eliyahu Goldratt in order to complete projects faster, make more efficient use of resources and securing the project deliverables. The methodology is based on the assumption that traditional project techniques such as CPM and PERT, do not recognize critical human behavior. The methodology claims that many project failures are a direct result of how safety is built into the task delivery times, and then wasted by human behavior such as Student Syndrome, Parkinson Law and Multitasking. However, there has been little or no previous research regarding this topic in the Argentine marketplace. This study intended to investigate to what extent the human behavior concepts of critical chain project management are present, by performing in-depth interviews with Argentine project stakeholders. It appears that the four human behavior concepts are present in Argentina and that the majority of Argentine companies are yet to apply project management techniques.

Racial discrimination in Brazil: interviews with leaders of the black movement

Racism in Brazil has some specificities when compared to other countries, for, differently from, for instance, South Africa and the United States, Brazilian Constitutions, ever since the Independence (1822), have never distinguished the citizens according to race or color. Furthermore, since the mid-1900s, Afro-Brazilian cultural manifestations, such as, for example, samba and capoeira, started to be valued as a part of our ���national identity���. These specificities make race relations in Brazilian society a much more complex issue. This paper is focused on selected parts of interviews that deal with the nature of racial discrimination in Brazil, extracted from interviews with leaders of the black movement produced within the scope of the project ���The History of Black Movement in Brazil: organization of a collection of Oral History Interviews���, developed by CPDOC, Getulio Vargas Foundation (Rio de Janeiro). These ���histories within history���, as told by our interviewees, may be transformed into images that will be able to condense a given reality, thus allowing us to evaluate the gains obtained by oral history methodology.

Regendo a atividade regulat��ria: a nova legisla����o das ag��ncias reguladoras federais no Brasil

Os processos e as institui����es regulat��rias s��o assuntos priorit��rios da agenda governamental, por tratarem-se de assunto din��mico que envolve uma mudan��a na cultura administrativa do pa��s. Um dos grandes desafios das ag��ncias reguladoras brasileiras tem sido desempenhar suas fun����es de forma aut��noma e imparcial com o objetivo de promover confian��a e transpar��ncia ao mercado e �� sociedade. Este estudo buscou realizar uma an��lise do conte��do e das repercuss��es das mudan��as ora em curso no Brasil, em especial daquelas contidas na proposta enviada pelo governo federal brasileiro ao Congresso Nacional dispondo sobre a nova Lei Geral das Ag��ncias reguladoras (Projeto de Lei 3337/2004), com o fito de promover mudan��as no modelo de organiza����o institucional e funcionamento desses entes regulat��rios. Com esse fim, de in��cio, foram descritos os fundamentos te��ricos da regula����o, com a apresenta����o do processo de cria����o das ag��ncias reguladoras federais brasileiras e suas caracter��sticas determinantes. Ap��s a fundamenta����o, foram detalhados os pontos principais do Projeto de Lei 3337/2004, e seu substitutivo, elaborado pelo Deputado Leonardo Picciani. O pr��ximo cap��tulo, Governan��a Regulat��ria, apresentou as pol��ticas de reforma regulat��ria, seus desafios no Brasil, e delineou o Programa de Fortalecimento da Capacidade Institucional para Gest��o em Regula����o (PRO-REG). O estudo deu prosseguimento �� an��lise por meio da apresenta����o das boas pr��ticas �� qualidade regulat��ria, enfatizando a import��ncia da participa����o social no processo regulat��rio, e tamb��m da abordagem da experi��ncia internacional. Item complementar para a compreens��o e vis��o geral do estudo, a supervis��o regulat��ria foi tamb��m conceituada e justificada, seguida pela abordagem da cria����o da Unidade de Supervis��o Central e da experi��ncia internacional. Por ��ltimo, em an��lise final do tema, apoiada por grande pesquisa bibliogr��fica e documental, e por entrevistas concedidas pelos ocupantes dos dois maiores cargos da Superintend��ncia de Abastecimento da Ag��ncia Nacional do Petr��leo, G��s Natural e Biocombust��veis, procurou-se mostrar a imprescindibilidade do desenvolvimento e implementa����o de uma estrat��gia de qualidade regulat��ria que permita uma abordagem consistente.

As dificuldades da reforma tribut��ria como um jogo de elites na vis��o das elites pernambucanas

O presente texto est�� focado na tem��tica da Reforma Tribut��ria e, em particular, na sua dificuldade em ser aprovada pelo Congresso Nacional. Sendo o Sistema Tribut��rio a base da manuten����o do federalismo, j�� que sem a partilha das receitas tribut��rias entre os entes federados n��o h�� como assegurar sua independ��ncia financeira e, portanto, tamb��m sua autonomia, o contexto federativo se apresenta como um dificultador. A Reforma, al��m de tratar de aproximar o atual Sistema Tribut��rio de um sistema ideal, tem que procurar manter uma autonomia m��nima dos entes para que o Estado Federal ��� cl��usula p��trea de nossa Constitui����o Federal - n��o se converta em Unit��rio. Nesse panorama, a rela����o entre o Executivo Federal, os Executivos Estaduais e o Congresso Nacional, no que tange �� aprova����o de assuntos ligados �� agenda da Reforma Tribut��ria, se reveste de fundamental import��ncia para o entendimento dos obst��culos que t��m levado �� paralisa����o os principais projetos a ela ligados. Importante, tamb��m, se afigura o entendimento do jogo entre as elites que ocorre dentro e fora do Congresso Nacional, resultando substanciais altera����es nessas propostas. Nesse sentido, a teoria das escolhas racionais se mostra uma ferramenta adequada para ajudar nessa compreens��o. Para se alcan��ar o objetivo proposto - levantar os obst��culos que t��m impedido o avan��o de projetos que visem promover ampla reforma no Sistema Tribut��rio brasileiro -, foram realizadas 28 entrevistas que tiveram com requisitos b��sicos para a sele����o dos sujeitos: o de estarem exercendo suas atividades no Estado de Pernambuco; e de terem participado direta ou indiretamente em processos de Reformas Tribut��rias amplas, em particular, da proposta que foi apresentada em 2008 por meio da PEC 233/08. Foram entrevistados Ex-ministros de Estado, Ex-governadores, Secret��rios e Ex- Secret��rios das Receitas das tr��s esferas de Poder, Deputados Federais, l��deres empresariais, l��deres de ��rg��os e entidades de classe, advogados tributaristas e agentes do fisco estadual. Os resultados obtidos sugerem que, embora existam diversos obst��culos de dif��cil supera����o e que devem ser esgotados em mesas de negocia����o antes de a proposta ser remetida ao Congresso Nacional, o conflito distributivo entre os entes federados se apresenta como o principal problema a ser observado. A sua presen��a parece ter a capacidade de romper o tecido partid��rio e dissolver as coaliz��es de apoio e de oposi����o ao Governo, repercutindo sobre o eixo da negocia����o que, para processos dessa natureza, passa a ser entre os Executivos Federal e Estaduais e n��o mais entre o Executivo Federal e sua coaliz��o de apoio, como normalmente ocorre.

Pol��ticas de recursos humanos da Funda����o Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estat��stica (IBGE) e a eleva����o da faixa et��ria m��dia de seus servidores

Este estudo teve como objetivo conhecer as expectativas dos servidores do Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estat��stica (IBGE) em rela����o ��s pol��ticas de recursos humanos, dada a eleva����o da faixa et��ria da popula����o dos servidores desta institui����o. Tomou como ponto de partida os resultados das pesquisas do IBGE - Censo Demogr��fico e a Pesquisa Nacional de Domicilio - que v��m demonstrando ao longo dos anos a tend��ncia de aumento da esperan��a de vida da popula����o brasileira. Tend��ncia essa que se reflete na eleva����o da faixa et��ria m��dia dos trabalhadores dentro dessa institui����o. E ainda, considerou a evolu����o do papel da ��rea de Recursos Humanos ao longo dos anos e a sua import��ncia dentro da gest��o p��blica brasileira, dado que sempre teve um lugar de destaque nas diversas reformas administrativas implementadas. Assim, baseado em tr��s vetores: eleva����o da expectativa de vida do brasileiro, administra����o de recursos humanos e administra����o p��blica brasileira, identificou como o IBGE e seus servidores t��m vivenciado a realidade de um quadro de trabalhadores cada vez mais velhos. As entrevistas realizadas com os servidores, analisadas a partir do m��todo da An��lise de Conte��do, revelaram que a quest��o do envelhecimento, apesar de ter reflexos fortes dentro da institui����o, ainda n��o �� claramente destacada dentro das pol��ticas de recursos humanos, o que faz com que os servidores n��o consigam perceber pol��ticas de RH focadas no envelhecimento do quadro, mostrando-se desmotivados e decepcionados quanto ao tema e ao mesmo tempo ansiosos por mudan��as claras e radicais no que tange a gest��o das pol��ticas de RH.