Call for Papers and Invitation

Call for Papers

Call for Papers and Invitation     

What difference do different settings in residential care make for young people? A comparison of family‐style homes and institutions in Sweden

Residential care in Sweden has undergone great change in recent decades. With new small family-style institutions, the boundaries between residential care and foster care have been blurred. Almost all residential care used to be run by the public sector. Today about 80 per cent is privately run. This study compares three different settings in residential care: institutions run by the public sector, privately run institutions and family-style homes. Among other things, it is found that the institutions run by the public sector have better educated staff and a higher staff–resident ratio than privately run institutions. Despite this, they are more restrictive in their intake and they have youths with fewer problems, especially delinquency and other antisocial behaviour. The results are discussed in relation to developments in the residential care sector in Sweden and in relation to the balance between care and treatment.     

The Business Case of Gender Equality in Swedish Forestry and Mining ‐ Restricting or Enabling Organizational Change

Forestry and mining constitutes an important part of Swedish basic industry. These industries are heavily male‐dominated and are expressing an ambition to become more gender equal and less gender‐segregated, arguing that this could strengthen their competitiveness in a number of areas. In this article we explore how company representatives construct gender equality as a business case and discuss how these constructions restrict and/or enable gender equality in these organizations. Departing from a social constructivist understanding of how language (re)produces gendered power relations in the workplace, the empirical basis of this paper consists of eight interviews with respondents who possess special insights into, and being of strategic importance to, gender equality issues in forestry and mining companies. In our analysis we found three dominant dimensions of the business case of gender equality Marketing (as) gender equality, Uncovering the male norm and Gender equality as a depoliticized value. We conclude that the business case framing facilitates for the companies to engage in issues of gender equality. However, issues concerning conflicting interests and power relations seem to be difficult to address within the business case discourse. This we argue affects and shapes the terms for gender equality in these organizations.     

Advocacy Compromised: How Financial,Organizational and Institutional Factors Shape Advocacy Strategies of Civil Society Organizations

Key functions of civil society organizations (CSOs) are to criticize governments and to hold them to account. Recent trends of privatization and contracting out challenge CSOs’ opportunities to voice such criticism. The purpose of this article is to analyse whether and why CSOs ‘hold back their criticism’ of public authorities, and how a compromised advocacy can be linked to financial, organizational and institutional factors. The article draws on an original survey of 2678 Swedish CSOs. The analyses show that certain levels of funding make CSOs more likely to hold back in their criticism, but also organizational and institutional factors play a role. The results identify the importance of distinguishing between objective and subjective factors related to how dependency is framed. It is the felt needs, experiences and perceptions of CSOs themselves that make hem prone to the strategic choice to hold back criticism of public authorities.     

Differences in cashiers work technique regarding wrist movements when scanning groceries

Checkout cashier work can be repetitive and hand-intensive. Differences in workstyle might explain why some cashiers develop symptoms and other do not. Work technique is one part of the workstyle concept. The aim of this study was to analyze if there were differences in work technique among cashiers in to what extent they use large or small wrist movements when scanning groceries. Wrist movements of 17 cashiers were video recorded. The results revealed large variation among the cashiers in if they use large or small wrist movements when handling the groceries. This indicated there is a potential for some cashiers to improve their work technique.     

An Exploratory Study of the Impact of e‐Service Process on Online Customer Satisfaction

Although extensive academic research has examined the dynamics of interpersonal interactions between service providers and customers, much less research has investigated customer service encounters through technological interfaces such as the Web in electronic commerce transactions. Corporate websites have become an important point of contact with customers for many companies. Service has been described as one of the most important attributes for online business to influence traffic and sales. However, more research is needed to understand how Web‐based technological capabilities of services affect customer satisfaction. In this paper, we propose viewing the interface between online buyers and sellers through the lens of service management to identify possible determinants of online customer satisfaction. A company's website is considered its electronic service delivery system. We look at this electronic service delivery system from its process point of view. Our findings indicate that as the electronic service delivery system process improves, a customer's perception of the website's ease of use increases, leading to increased service value and perceived control over the process, which increases customer satisfaction. The research provides evidence that the technological capabilities embedded in the website processes are an important factor in determining service quality and ultimately online customer satisfaction.     

On the Definition and Age-Dependency of the Value of a Statistical Life

The value of preventing a fatality or (saving) a statistical life is an important question in health economics as well as environmental economics. This paper adds new insights to several of the issues discussed in the literature. It is shown that the conventional way of measuring the value of a statistical life yields a biased estimate, in general. The major exception is the case where the estimate can be based on an infinitely short drop in the hazard rate. This is so in both life cycle models with and without actuarially fair annuities. Moreover, the claim that there are strong theoretical reasons for believing that the value of statistical life declines with age is shown to be wrong.