Lead factory operationalisation and challenges

Abstract

This paper deepens the understanding of the lead factory concept by examining how the lead factory role is operationalised and what challenges are associated with it. The research is based on an explorative case study of eight Swedish lead factories in the manufacturing industry. The empirical findings suggest that the understanding of the lead factory concept should be extended as it is not restricted to one type of set-up. The findings show a spectrum ranging from an entire manufacturing plant, parts of a plant, to a virtual plant considered to be the lead factory. The research also shows a broad range of challenges experienced by lead factories. Several of these are related to and originate from unclear role, responsibility and mandate of the lead factory. The lack of dedicated resources for lead factory activities, specifically long-term development and difficulties in measuring the benefits of the role, were other challenges faced.     

Caring while living apart

In recent years, researchers have paid increasing attention to the issue of care in the new types of family and partner relationships. The aim of this study is to examine expectations and attitudes concerning care among elderly people in LAT (Living Apart Together)- relationships in Sweden, that is, people who have a long-term intimate relationship, but who do not share a common home. Questionnaires were completed by 116 elderly people in LAT-relationships. Partners are ranked as the main providers of care, especially by men, but there is considerable variation in the answers. This seems to be principally related to the degree of flexibility in this type of relationship. Some individuals see a LAT-relationship as a marriage-like relationship, while others see it primarily as a type of relationship that guarantees them the possibility of maintaining their own independent way of life.     

Personal assistance in Sweden

This article provides an overview of the Swedish personal assistance program for persons with severe impairments, introduced in 1994. The personal assistance program makes it financially possible for people with severe disabilities to appoint a personal assistant, by themselves or through a provider, to create support adapted to the individual and to optimize the person's influence over how the support is arranged. The article describes how the reform has increased the opportunity for people with severe disabilities to choose their own way of living. Overall, the personal assistance has enhanced the quality of life for people with severe disabilities and their families.     

On the Value of Changes in Life Expectancy: Blips Versus Parametric Changes

We estimate the value of a ‘blip’, i.e. an immediate small reduction, in the hazard rate for a random sample of Swedes. Since the risk reduction is age-independent (2 ‘extra saved lives’ out of 10,000 during the next year), we can examine how the value of a statistical life varies with age. We also show how blip data can be used to obtain a lower bound for the value of a permanent change in an individual's hazard rate. The value of a life exhibits an inverted-U shape with respect to age, peaking at the age of 40, and lies within the $3 to $7 million interval where most reasonable estimates are clustered according to Viscusi's (1992) survey.     

The value of private safety versus the value of public safety

In this study, one group of respondents is offered to purchase a safety device to be installed in their cars, while another group is offered a public safety program (improved road quality) which results in the same size risk reduction. In terms of the value of a statistical life, our results are very reasonable. However, the WTP for the private safety device ishigher than the WTP for the public safety measure. Drawing on a model developed by Jones-Lee (1991), we show that some types of altruists may, but need not, be willing to pay more for a private risk reduction than for a uniform risk reduction of the same magnitude. Still, our empirical results are surprising, and further empirical research seems warranted.     

Who runs the mill? The distribution of power in Swedish social service agencies

The aim of the article is to describe how significant actors in Swedish social service agencies perceive their own and other groups' influence over central areas of their agencies, and also to investigate the correspondence between these actors' perceptions of influence and what is said about the distribution of influence in the legislation and in the literature on social service organisations. The investigation is based on a questionnaire sent to politicians, managers and social workers in Swedish municipalities.

The analysis shows a concordance between the actors' own perceptions of their influence, and the ‘real’ distribution of influence, as perceived by the same actor groups. The general picture is that the politicians feel they have a strong influence on policy, delegation and, partly, also on organisational issues, but it is noteworthy that the top managers feel they have a stronger influence over all these areas. Social workers' influence is limited to the choice of working methods and operational procedures. The results indicate that some core elements of the New Public Management (NPM) model of governance exist in Swedish municipalities and seem to be generally accepted among significant actors. However, the results raise important questions about who should be held accountable for neglect and mismanagement and for failure in implementation of reforms in the social services.     

Re‐Forming the School: Taking Swedish Lessons

In the context of government decentralisation and integration of services, over the last 15 years Sweden has been developing an all‐day school based on inter‐professional teamworking and adopting a holistic approach to working with children. The article describes these recent educational reforms in Sweden, which have sought to re‐structure the school and develop new ways of working, offers some evaluative comments on this process and considers possible implications of these reforms for other countries. It compares Swedish school reforms with recent English policy developments intended to make ‘extended schools’ a universal provision by 2010.     

Bridging the Gap: How do EU-Based Civil Society Organisations Acquire Their Internal Representation?

In recent decades, the emergence and development of pan-European civil society organisations have been prominent, including those representing interests of marginalised groups and raising related social issues. Typically composed of national and European level umbrella organisations, some of these organisations have grown as important interlocutors between EU institutions and civil society, and derive legitimacy for their advocacy and lobbying activities by claiming broad representativeness. Through a comparative study of five principal EU-based civil society organisations, the present article analyses how these organisations, operating at multiple levels with their membership based on extensive geographical areas, acquire internal representation of members and beneficiaries.     

Gender,Foreignness and Academia: An Intersectional Analysis of the Experiences of Foreign Women Academics in UK Business Schools

This article explores the experiences of a growing but hitherto under‐researched category of academics employed within UK higher education: women of non‐UK origin. Drawing on an intersectional approach, we examine how gender and foreignness act as dynamic, interrelating categories in producing particular subjectivities in the context of UK business schools. We employ a qualitative methodology based on narrative interviews with 31 foreign women academics. In the analysis, we outline the broader global forces that have shaped their trajectories in choosing the UK as their destination, and the place of gender and foreignness in the participants' narratives of their experience. Our findings point to how the discourse of internationalization conceals intra‐categorical differences among non‐national staff, further supported by a merit‐based system that promotes an individualized view. However, participants' narratives provide examples of how gender and foreignness are mobilized in different ways by different actors — including themselves — in the production of social locations. As such, the paper contributes to critical debates regarding the academic workplace and the changing conditions of UK academia.     

Non-parametric inference for the effect of a treatment on survival times with application in the health and social sciences

In this paper we perform inference on the effect of a treatment on survival times in studies where the treatment assignment is not randomized and the assignment time is not known in advance. Two such studies are discussed: a heart transplant program and a study of Swedish unemployed eligible for employment subsidy. We estimate survival functions on a treated and a control group which are made comparable through matching on observed covariates. The inference is performed by conditioning on waiting time to treatment, that is, time between the entrance in the study and treatment. This can be done only when sufficient data are available. In other cases, averaging over waiting times is a possibility, although the classical interpretation of the estimated survival functions is lost unless hazards are not functions of waiting time. To show unbiasedness and to obtain an estimator of the variance, we build on the potential outcome framework, which was introduced by J. Neyman in the context of randomized experiments, and adapted to observational studies by D.B. Rubin. Our approach does not make parametric or distributional assumptions. In particular, we do not assume proportionality of the hazards compared. Small sample performance of the estimator and a derived test of no treatment effect are studied in a Monte Carlo study.