The Transformation of Gendered Work: Dualistic Stereotypes and Paradoxical Reality

The article focuses on the paradoxes of gender stereotypes: how they need to be understood in order to make sense of the situation and how at the same time and for the same reason they need to be dissolved. Three stories derived from an ethnographic study of a Swedish housing company provide insights into both the absurdity and necessity of gender stereotypes. The process of men entering traditionally female work was neither the same nor the reverse process as women entering male arenas. Totally different patterns emerged when men entered traditionally female work arenas from when women entered traditionally male ones. Also, in this transformation process, traditional dualistic gender stereotypes were present and absent, being the very ground and dissolved at the same time. The stories challenge traditional dichotomous views of gender; to highlight this, three genders are introduced. Through this narrative device of creating three genders, a paradoxical process of resistance to change and real change becomes clearer. This article regards gender stereotypes as an invisible interpretive screen enabling theoretical sense-making; such a screen is both real and not real, functioning as resistance to change and allowing change to occur at the same time. Through this paradoxical complexity, the stories become as easy to understand as they actually are from a more practical, ethnographic perspective.     

Trends in Development Aid,Negotiation Processes and NGO Policy Change

Non-governmental organizations (NGO) and government donor agencies (GDA) are often caught in a dilemma; an NGO between responsiveness to its target group(s), expectations of individual donors and demands of its GDA; GDA between its policy to respect NGO’s integrity, its wish to keep NGOs accountable for received fund and its operation within the bounds of its general policies. This dilemma is mirrored in the NGO–GDA negotiation for funds. Based on negotiation theory and using three explanatory approaches, 18 years of negotiations between an NGO, Vi Skogen (ViS) and its GDA, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), are analyzed in order to demonstrate how organizational structures, power relations and the context influence the outcome of the negotiations. All three approaches help to explain how ViS managed, mainly in the interest of its individual donors, to resist changes demanded by Sida and also to explain how the agendas of ViS and Sida finally converged.     

Intercultural Learning in a Multicultural Society

In this contribution the author describes intercultural education as education for higher order skills, that go beyond traditional teaching methods. Intercultural education emphasises interactive skills, it strengthens the self‐esteem of children by giving them a solid foundation to encounter the unknown.     

Job characteristics as predictors of ill-health and sickness absenteeism in different occupational types--a multigroup structural equation modelling approach

The objective of the present study was to test for multigroup invariance in measurement models and structural models between job characteristics, psychosocial intervening variables, health outcomes and sickness absenteeism. Four types of occupation were represented in the study: blue-collar workers ( n = 241), white-collar workers ( n = 209), elderly-care workers ( n = 338) and child-care workers ( n = 336). A first-order, six-factor multigroup confirmatory factor analysis model (i.e. measurement model) composed of two perceived job characteristics ( job autonomy and skill discretion), appraised workload, job satisfaction, stress-related ill-health and sickness absenteeism provided a good model fit. Invariance tests showed that the six-factor model fits well for all occupations. A partially recursive mediated multigroup structural model showed both similarities and differences across occupations as regards the relationships between independent latent variables ( job autonomy, skill discretion), intervening latent variables (appraised workload, job satisfaction) and dependent latent variables (stressrelated ill-health, sickness absenteeism). By comparing a generic model with occupation-specific models across occupations, this study showed that occupation-specific models were more plausible. The results indicate that it is important to examine different occupational contexts in detail to better understand how certain psychosocial factors at work influence strain in different occupations. Since job characteristics can potentially be amended, the findings have important implications for the differentiation of prevention and intervention in different occupations.     

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.     

Informal Caregiving for Elders in Sweden: An Analysis of Current Policy Developments

The purpose of this study was to conduct a systematic review of the literature related to state policies concerning older drivers and to draw policy conclusions about which policies appear to work to reduce older driver crashes and to identify areas needed for further research. Specific policies examined in this paper concern medical reporting and medical review, license renewal processes, and driver testing. A study was included in the systematic review if it met the following criteria: published in English between 1991and January 2013; included data on human subjects aged 65 and older residing in the United States; included information on at least one policy related to older drivers; and had a transportation-related outcome variable (e.g., crash, fatality, renewal). A total of 29 studies met inclusion criteria. Twenty-two studies investigated license renewal and seven articles examined medical reporting. In-person license renewal requirements were associated with reduced risk for fatal crashes. Restricted licenses were associated with reduced number of miles driven per week. More intensive renewal requirements and being the subject of a medical report to the licensing authority was associated with delicensure. Given the importance of driving to mobility, quality of life, and public safety, more research is needed.     

Sales and operations planning: responding to the needs of industrial food producers

This paper investigates sales and operations planning (S&OP) at four Scandinavian industrial food producers in order to explore how the use of S&OP might help leaders to deal with the challenges set by the planning environment. Variables connected to the product and market, e.g. frequency of new product development, customer service levels and supply uncertainty, were identified as particularly critical for the S&OP process. It was found that there is great potential for S&OP in the food industry, foremost to cope with the imbalances between demand and supply and to create prerequisites for a stable production process.     

Saving Lives in the Present Versus Saving Lives in the Future—Is There a Framing Effect?

This study considers how to compare programs which are designed to save lives. "To estimate the discount rate for lives saved in the future a number of studies have been carried out on the trade-off between saving lives now and in the future. A telephone survey is administered to about 1,700 individuals [in Sweden] to test if the framing of the question affects the estimated trade-off. In one sample the question is framed as saving 100 lives today versus saving x future lives and in one sample the question is framed as saving 100 future lives versus saving y lives today. The result shows that the framing has a major impact on the trade-off."