This paper aims to examine the cycle of labour protests in Sweden, comparing the contentious actions of trade unions in public and private sectors over 40 years. Prior studies…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the cycle of labour protests in Sweden, comparing the contentious actions of trade unions in public and private sectors over 40 years. Prior studies have focused on industrial conflicts or labour protests, but a long-term perspective on the broad protest repertoire across sectors is lacking. The goal is to test the argument of diversification of action repertoire and differences between the public and private sectors.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors apply the grievance and political opportunity theories of social movement research for explaining the cycles of labour protests and differences between sectors in Sweden over 40 years (1980–2020). The unique protest event data are combined with the official strike statistics. The research period includes the globalisation of the economy and two economic crises.
Findings
Although unions in both sectors have decreased protest mobilisation over time, private sector unions have resigned the most, whereas public sector unions continue to mobilise a diverse set of protest actions. Swedish unions have not replaced strikes with other protest repertoires. The open opportunities have allowed them to use various protests as part of “routine” operations.
Research limitations/implications
Protest event data are derived from newspapers, leading to an over-representation of large events in the urban areas. Future studies should combine data from newspapers with data about online protests.
Originality/value
By thoroughly examining all protest events mobilised by all trade unions in different sectors over 40 years (1980–2020), the paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the cycles of labour protest. The findings should interest industrial relations and social movement scholars.
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Jean-Paul Peronard and Jacob Brix
The purpose of this study is to consolidate existing research on ‘service networks’ and to frame this literature as a new ‘context for learning’. Research from…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to consolidate existing research on ‘service networks’ and to frame this literature as a new ‘context for learning’. Research from inter-organizational learning is used to qualify this consolidation and advances from inter-organizational learning are used to operationalize how service network actors in this new context can organize for inter-organizational learning to create more value for themselves and their customers.
Design/methodology/approach
By conceptualizing the learning context of a service network and the interrelated dimensions, an overview of the learning challenges for improved service performance is provided.
Findings
Inspired by the service triangle, the proposed framework highlights the learning challenges among two or more actors and the knowledge and skills needed for them to organize the service network. To build a collaboration characterized by trust, behaviors associated with transparency and receptivity are argued to be imperative.
Practical implications
The framework can increase the opportunities for inter-organizational learning in a service network. Knowing the learning context and the challenges associated with this learning allows for a more accurate intervention and allocation of resources to improve service network performance.
Originality/value
The novelty lies in the consolidation of the literature of service networks and the extension of the literature on inter-organizational learning hereto.
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Asa Malmstrom Rognes and Mats Larsson
The purpose of this study is to examine whether regulations can prevent financial crises based on the case of Sweden in the 20th century. The evolution of banking regulation…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine whether regulations can prevent financial crises based on the case of Sweden in the 20th century. The evolution of banking regulation relies heavily on learning across borders as well as responding to recent and remembered crises. Sweden went from being an open economy with a highly protected national banking system with several banking crises under the Classical regime, through the Statist regime with no crises followed by abrupt liberalisation in the 1980s as the country changed to a more market-based regime. This study examines the regulatory responses to crises in each of these periods to assess how, and whether, an often backward-looking regulatory framework can address forward-looking risks.
Design/methodology/approach
This study is a qualitative study using a historical method. The authors use archival material, official publications and statistical data as well as secondary literature to succinctly analyse crises and regulatory responses in different regulatory regimes in the 20th century. The theoretical framework builds on three macro- and microeconomic policy regimes, the Classical, the Statist and the Market regime.
Findings
The authors find that regulations can play a decisive role in alleviating a banking crisis, but the relationship between regulations and economic development is complex, and regulations alone cannot prevent a crisis.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first longitudinal study of banking regulations in Sweden and how these change in response to crises with the aim of improving the role of banks in financial intermediation and financial stability. This study contributes to a body of literature on financial crises with a long-term perspective and an assessment of regulations as a policy response.
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Isak Hammar and Hampus Östh Gustafsson
The purpose of this article is to investigate attempts to safeguard classical humanism in secondary schools by appealing to a cultural-historical link with Antiquity, voiced in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to investigate attempts to safeguard classical humanism in secondary schools by appealing to a cultural-historical link with Antiquity, voiced in the face of educational reforms in Sweden between 1865 and 1971.
Design/methodology/approach
By focusing on the content of the pedagogical journal Pedagogisk Tidskrift, the article highlights a number of examples of how an ancient historical lineage was evoked and how historical knowledge was mobilized and contested in various ways.
Findings
The article argues that the enduring negotiation over the educational need to maintain a strong link with the ancient past was strained due to increasing scholarly specialization and thus entangled in competing views on reform and what was deemed “traditional” or “modern”.
Originality/value
From a larger perspective, the conflict over the role of Antiquity in Swedish secondary schools reveals a trajectory for the history of education as part of and later apart from a general history of the humanities. Classical history originally served as a common past from which Swedish culture and education developed, but later lost this integrating function within the burgeoning discipline of Pedagogy. The findings demonstrate the value of bringing the newly (re)formed history of humanities and history of education closer together.
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Peter Korp, Mikael Quennerstedt, Dean Barker and Anna Johansson
Over the last couple of decades, health has become a central part of the subject content in physical education (PE) curricula in many countries. As a result, issues of health have…
Abstract
Purpose
Over the last couple of decades, health has become a central part of the subject content in physical education (PE) curricula in many countries. As a result, issues of health have been foregrounded much more clearly in the teaching of PE. The aim of this study was to explore how Swedish PE teachers make sense of health in relation to their teaching practices. This was done through investigating conceptions and theories about health in the teachers' descriptions of their teaching practices.
Design/methodology/approach
The data analyzed in this paper were collected through focus group and individual interviews with PE teachers in the grades 7–9 within compulsory schools in Sweden. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis.
Findings
Four dominant themes were identified in the data: 1) Health as a healthy attitude, 2) Health as a functional ability, 3) Health as fitness, 4) Health as mental wellbeing. There is a clear impact from healthism and obesity discourses on the teachers' accounts of health, but there is also an impact from holistic views and approaches to health. The authors contend that teachers should be explicit in what they mean by health in relation to what they teach, how they teach and why they teach health in a certain way.
Originality/value
The knowledge produced by this study is crucial since teachers' assumptions regarding health affect the subject content (what), the pedagogies (how), as well as the reasons (why) they teach health and therefore what students learn regarding health.
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Quality improvement has developed and spread, and today, all Swedish Regions emphasize that their strategies are based on systematic improvement. This paper aims to describe and…
Abstract
Purpose
Quality improvement has developed and spread, and today, all Swedish Regions emphasize that their strategies are based on systematic improvement. This paper aims to describe and illuminate the development of Quality Improvement (QI) in Swedish healthcare and welfare organizations by using publications in a Swedish context.
Design/methodology/approach
The overview synthesis is inspired by a scoping literature review approach of relevant literature. All publications relevant to Swedish healthcare and welfare settings between 1992 until 2020 were included.
Findings
In all, 213 papers, 29 books and chapters and 34 dissertations related to QI and research in Swedish healthcare and welfare context were identified. From 2011 to 2020, the publication rate increased rapidly. Six different focus areas emerged: systematic and value-creating improvement work; collaboration between organizations and healthcare providers; use of improvement methods and (theoretical) models; leadership and learning; measurements, quality registers and follow-up; and involvement and patient safety. Further QI development in Swedish healthcare and welfare points to an increased importance of collaboration between organizations and coproduction with beneficiaries for the healthcare and welfare services.
Originality/value
This paper is one of the first to describe and illuminate the QI development in the healthcare and welfare sector in a country. The trajectory also points to a need for coproduction to handle future challenges.
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Rob Elkington, Robyn Ruttenberg-Rozen and Nadia Worthington
This paper aims to explore virtual simulations, merging artificial intelligence with real-world simulations, supporting Canadian armed forces (CAF) junior military leaders (JMLs…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore virtual simulations, merging artificial intelligence with real-world simulations, supporting Canadian armed forces (CAF) junior military leaders (JMLs) leadership development. Our research questions are: (1) How do virtual simulations support CAF junior military leadership development within a globalized and complex environment in the 21st century? (2) Could virtual simulations support a leadership culture change through efficacious “soft skills” training? In this paper, we explore the efficacy of virtual simulations for enhancing or developing leadership in JMLs in the CAF through a four-day pilot project with twenty JMLs (n = 20).
Design/methodology/approach
To assess the efficacy of virtual simulations for leadership development, we designed and studied a four-day leadership workshop for JMLs in the CAF using several virtual artificial intelligence leadership role-play simulations developed by McGraw Hill in their smart book textbook (Manning & Curtis, 2022) and several non-virtual in-class simulations for comparison. We selected four twenty to thirty-minute virtual role-play simulations that synergized with the in-person morning leadership workshop. We facilitated the three-hour leadership workshops and virtual/in-class simulations over four consecutive days. We emulated the ELESS model (De Freitas & Routledge, 2013) to assess soft and leadership skills.
Findings
The participants (JMLs) reported beneficial learning utility associated with the virtual simulations. Participants also expressed that further utility might be leveraged through virtual simulations incorporating greater complexity with multiple potential outcomes. They also suggested that leadership simulations designed around military situations would prove highly beneficial, something that was outside of the scope of this small pilot project.
Research limitations/implications
Since this phase of our research is a pilot project, we secured a small amount of funding to test our hypothesis that simulations enhance leadership development for JMLs. These funding limitations resulted in several constraints in the research, such as the availability of virtual simulations articulating leadership from a military perspective. However, we believed the assigned organizational leadership simulations in the McGraw Hill Smart Book ecosystem would approximate generic leadership situations enough to test the hypothesis with the JMLs. As a pilot project, our sample size was relatively small (n = 20 JMLs) since participation was voluntary amidst a busy spring season for the JMLs. Since this is a pilot project, we suggest that twenty JMLs are an adequate sampling to test the hypothesis that simulations enhance JML leadership development. We will expand the sample size in the next phase of our research as we work with the CAF to expand the pool of participants to at least forty JML participants (n = 40). We also plan to secure further funding to collaborate with subject matter experts to design virtual simulations based on Canadian military leadership scenarios.
Practical implications
The CAF host robust simulations capabilities for combat training, but have not exploited the potential training and analytical capacity of virtual leadership simulations for leadership development within the CAF. We believe that virtual simulations provide an opportunity for the CAF to effect desired culture change through leadership development that leverages the substantial pedagogical benefits of simulations.
Social implications
The CAF encountered several detrimental leadership scandals that eroded the reputational capital of the CAF. In the current geo-political climate of an expanding North American Treaty Organization (NATO) and threats from several international actors, the CAF seeks to expand its capabilities by adding and enhancing its human capital. However, the CAF currently experiences a significant gap in its human capital aspirations. There is a unanimous consensus that the endemic traditional culture of the CAF, as expressed in the recent explosive leadership scandals, is a deterrent to recruitment and thus weakens the CAF’s capability. The CAF targets leadership development with new leadership paradigms as pivotal to culture change. The CAF suggests that by enhancing leadership development in the CAF the new cadre of leadership will change the culture of the CAF and thereby enhance the reputational capital of the CAF. It is believed that this rejuvenated culture will lead to greater recruitment and retention, leading to a strengthened military. A strengthened military is important to provide effective support and protection for the Canadian people in these volatile and uncertain times. This expanded capacity will enable the CAF to address external military threats more effectively and also the increasing operations other than war (OOTW), such as the military support of long-term care facilities during COVID-19 or the military’s support in fighting record wildfires and the military’s support in climate change related disasters such as flooding.
Originality/value
The satisfaction measures indicated by the participants are typical evaluative measures of leadership development (Noe, 2023). These satisfaction ratings do not, however, indicate whether training has produced a change in behaviour (Brown, 2022). The implications of these outcomes for leadership education are that role-player simulations are useful leadership education and development tools because they provide a theatre of practice in which mistakes are not detrimental and serve as learning moments (Moore, 2012; Piro and O’Callaghan, 2021; Riotto, 2021). Further, the importance of role-player simulations that closely approximate the sector where leadership is experienced and practiced is perceived to enhance the experience. While the CAF invest in combat related simulations, but leadership development simulations are not as evident in the training and development array. This study seeks to assess their potential value as a leadership development tool within the wider context of character development as a leadership competency.
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Yucong Lao and Yukun You
This study aims to uncover the ongoing discourse on generative artificial intelligence (AI), literacy and governance while providing nuanced perspectives on stakeholder…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to uncover the ongoing discourse on generative artificial intelligence (AI), literacy and governance while providing nuanced perspectives on stakeholder involvement and recommendations for the effective regulation and utilization of generative AI technologies.
Design/methodology/approach
This study chooses generative AI-related online news coverage on BBC News as the case study. Oriented by a case study methodology, this study conducts a qualitative content analysis on 78 news articles related to generative AI.
Findings
By analyzing 78 news articles, generative AI is found to be portrayed in the news in the following ways: Generative AI is primarily used in generating texts, images, audio and videos. Generative AI can have both positive and negative impacts on people’s everyday lives. People’s generative AI literacy includes understanding, using and evaluating generative AI and combating generative AI harms. Various stakeholders, encompassing government authorities, industry, organizations/institutions, academia and affected individuals/users, engage in the practice of AI governance concerning generative AI.
Originality/value
Based on the findings, this study constructs a framework of competencies and considerations constituting generative AI literacy. Furthermore, this study underscores the role played by government authorities as coordinators who conduct co-governance with other stakeholders regarding generative AI literacy and who possess the legislative authority to offer robust legal safeguards to protect against harm.
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Hongjuan Wu, Queena K. Qian, Ad Straub and Henk J. Visscher
The recent promotion of prefabricated housing (PH) in China has resulted in a prosperous period for its implementation. However, transaction costs (TCs) cause low economic…
Abstract
Purpose
The recent promotion of prefabricated housing (PH) in China has resulted in a prosperous period for its implementation. However, transaction costs (TCs) cause low economic efficiency to stakeholders and hinder the further promotion of PH. No relevant study has yet been made to investigate the TCs and their causes in the PH field. This paper identifies critical TCs and explores the influencing factors from the developers' perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
Semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire survey were used to collect data about TCs and influencing factors. The most influential factors are identified with their impacts on particular TCs, yielded from correlation analysis and logistic regression.
Findings
From the developers' perspective in China's PH market, this study identified that the most concerning sources of TCs are: hidden costs arising from disputes, extra workloads from design changes, learning costs, intensive communication and coordination in assembly and unexpected information costs in decision-making. The use of an ordered logistic regression approach indicates that the four most influential factors are: qualification of the general contractor, mandatory local policies, owner type and competitiveness of the developer.
Practical implications
To reduce the TCs, experiencing learning and ensuring the design scheme's complicity are recommended to save information searching and exchanging costs. The implications for the PH developers are for them to: (1) professionalize their own organization and (2) procure high-qualified general contractors. For the policymakers, this means they should improve the clarity of the mandatory local policies for PH step-by-step.
Originality/value
By applying the TCs economic theory, this study explores factors that influence TCs in the PH industry. It sheds light on the influencing mechanism behind the TCs in the context of prefabricated housing.