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It has been claimed that job satisfaction is the most important and frequently studied attitude in organizational behaviour research. However, as most studies relate to lower hierarchical levels, the purpose of this paper is to gain a deeper understanding of job satisfaction and organizational commitment among high-level managers – military leaders in this case.

A grounded theory approach was used. The empirical material is based on 12 interviews, two of which were with women. The informants had wide experience of a number of leadership positions as well as participation in international operations. Their ranks ranged from Colonel to Brigadier General, and they represented army and naval units, the Armed Forces Headquarters and Swedish Defence University.

The qualitative analysis resulted in a theoretical model that describes the job satisfaction of military leaders at the strategic level, which concerns establishing and balancing organizational commitment. This means that top level managers develop, manage and recreate a “sense of oneness” between themselves and the organization – a strong identification that is established, challenged, changed and renegotiated in a continuous process. Establishing and balancing organizational commitment is built on two overarching categories: keeping up the organizational image and responding to organizational greediness.

Research limitations are as follows: small sample, lack of representativeness and lack of elaboration on possible gender-related aspects.

The suggested model may be valuable in educational settings when evaluating the job satisfaction and organizational commitment of high-level officers. The model may have practical implications when it comes to selection, retention and leader development of high-level military officers.

A new integrative, theoretical model of job satisfaction and organizational commitment of high-level officers is developed and discussed.

Previous studies show that the implementation of gender equality encounters resistance in military organizations, but it is often invisible or seen as confined to anonymous structures or troubled individuals. This paper aims to show how the Swedish Armed Forces (SAF) use organizational principles to resist implementing gender equality measures.

The study is a qualitative analysis of discursive strategies in the SAF’s 2013–2018 annual reports to government.

The organizing principles of instrumentality and distance, while existing in parallel with gender equality efforts, actually pursue logics that prevents the SAF from implementing gender equality. The principle of instrumentality in this context means that gender equality in the SAF is of secondary interest to organizational members. The principle of distancing from the problem includes strategies that alienate female from male officers.

The contribution of this paper is the finding that the use of organizing principles represents conscious organizational resistance to gender equality efforts. This kind of use needs to be revealed and criticized to change military organizations.

This paper aims to systematically review the extant research on social psychological aspects of civil-military inter-organizational collaboration, particularly in a total defense context.

A systematic scoping studies review was performed. Peer-reviewed articles were searched in PsycInfo and Sociological Abstracts. Inclusion criteria were met by 25 articles.

Four higher-order categories with underpinning categories were derived in the analysis. They were modeled as follows: antecedent conditions affect, informal processes and practical efforts, which, in turn, affect inter-organizational trust and collaboration. These higher-order categories are all influenced by formal organizational aspects and the society in which they are found.

The existing literature covering the chosen study focus is limited. Further studies are needed and the presented model can serve as a road map.

A series of questions derived from the categories of the model is presented. The questions are included as a tool for practical reflection for collaborating actors in common education, training or exercise settings or in after-action reviews.

The focus on social psychological aspects of civil-military inter-organizational collaboration, particularly in a total defense context, is new. The suggested relationship between superior themes adds knowledge to a research field dominated by sociological and political science approaches.

The study aims to gain a deeper understanding of what leadership skills are important for leaders in gaining adaptability in a hierarchical organization along with antecedent factors that influence the potential development of these skill sets.

A qualitative study was conducted by interviewing fifteen high-level military officers (Brigadiers and Colonels). Data were analyzed according to the grounded theory method and a theoretical model was generated.

A core variable was identified in the data analysis, the leader's use of organizational smooth power, using structural, emotional and relational smoothness, to gain organizational adaptability. The leader's professional background, experience and the organizational environment characteristics respectively interact as antecedent variables shaping the leader's contextual appraisal in order to implement smooth power. Further research suggestions are pointed out and practical and ethical implications are included.

The study was completed in a specific context, a higher-level military staff, which makes it context specific. We hypothesize that similar behaviors may be found in other organizations but further research should be conducted to test this. The sample size is relatively small due to the chosen qualitative research method.

Practical considerations should be given to ethical and moral reflection within leadership training for ongoing use in leadership praxis, such as implementation and ongoing reflection of ethical leadership (Treviño et al., 2000; Treviño et al., 2003). Other practical impacts of this research may be for selection and retention efforts of high-level military staff workers. The model may also be useful for education purposes in order to increase awareness and abilities of smooth power concepts in an attempt to increase adaptability in military leadership. It may increase their awareness of skills rendered as necessary for collaborative efforts in multinational staff environments.

The research contribution is the detailed descriptions of the ways high-level leaders use organizational smooth power in order gain organizational adaptability.

The purpose of this paper is to model factors that contribute to job satisfaction among university professors.

The approach was qualitative; 12 in-depth interviews were conducted with Swedish university full professors representing 11 different academic subjects.

Five facets of job satisfaction were identified: distal environment (e.g. impact on society and the scientific community), proximal social environment, self (e.g. receiving external credit and experiencing internal pride), the uplifts of daily life and formal conditions (e.g. pay and opportunities to continue after retirement). A model was inductively developed according to which professors’ job satisfaction is influenced by interacting contextual and individual antecedent conditions.

Because a qualitative approach was used, with a limited number of informants, there is a lack of representativeness and the concepts generated are of a sensitizing rather than a definitive character.

Attention should be paid to university professors’ need for autonomy, otherwise public management control strivings may become counter-productive.

A new model of professors’ job satisfaction with a richness of details was developed.

Swedish healthcare has undergone continuous development over several decades. Today, legal responsibility is shared on the local and regional levels, i.e. between municipalities and county councils. The purpose of the present study is to gain a deeper understanding of boundary spanning roles and strategies involved in municipal and county council collaboration. A grounded theory approach was used. Fifteen informants from several Swedish health care authorities were interviewed. A tension exists between preserving boundary strategies that stifle collaboration and boundary spanning strategies that facilitate it. The way boundary spanners manage their role is assumed to influence the centre of gravity for this tension and thus the combination of favourable boundary spanning strategies and favourable boundary spanning roles is one way of getting the current form of collaboration to work.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a deeper understanding of how leaders manage their own and others’ emotions in professional crisis management organizations during severely demanding episodes. The empirical case is a hostage drama that occurred in a small Swedish town. Although staff at the local prison were situationally prepared and trained in incident exercises, two inmates with knives fled the prison after taking a warden hostage.

A grounded theory approach was used. In all, 14 informants from four Swedish authorities were interviewed on the basis of their involvement in the hostage drama.

According to the analysis, an emergency response leader’s emotion management is framed by an organizationally embedded emotional regime which is summed up in two core themes: focus on the task and do not let emotions interfere; and provide the task force with maximum physical and psychological security. The leader’s emotion management within this framework consists of two interdependent processes, one more organization oriented and one more individual oriented.

Small sample, lack of representativeness, and lack of illumination of possible gender-related aspects.

The suggested model may be valuable in educational settings.

A new integrative, theoretical process model of leadership and emotion management in complex, stressful operations.

The purpose of this research is to develop a theoretical understanding of indirect leadership in a severely stressful peacekeeping context, focusing on the perspective of subordinates. Peacekeeping missions in recent decades have led to increased exposure to acute danger.

Retrospective in‐depth interviews were carried out with 17 Norwegian officers and soldiers, who were involved in the handling of a violent riot in Kosovo during a peacekeeping mission. The interviews were analyzed using a grounded theory approach.

A model emerged with three categories: Situational Characteristics, Organizational Characteristics, and the Commander's Intent. A related core category was labelled Subordinates' Appraisal or Sensemaking. During the climax of the riot, a strict following of the ordinary chain of command was impractical. Local initiatives at lower organizational levels were needed, but these, in turn, required competence and a trustful organizational environment.

Not representative of the entire population. Given the male‐dominated military context under consideration, there could be no meaningful analysis of possible gender‐related differences. The results related to a general model of indirect leadership and specific stress. Organizational theory‐related additions and limitations are suggested.

The proposed model may be a practical tool for management education.

The study's identification of key aspects of indirect leadership in severely stressful contexts is a useful addition to the literature.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the applicability of a previously developed model of indirect leadership (qualitative Grounded Theory case study) in a broader military context.

The model was operationalised to specific questionnaires for high‐level managers, middle‐level managers, and lower‐level employees. Data were obtained from 147 Norwegian and 134 Swedish military officers, representing all three levels, and serving in the Army and Air Force respectively.

The theoretical model of indirect leadership was partly supported. Higher importance was attributed to image‐oriented top‐down influence, rather than to action‐oriented influence via directly subordinate commanders, which may be understood using developmental, transformational, and authentic leadership formulations. Meaningful patterns of subgroup differences were obtained.

Indirect leadership is complex and bottom‐up influences were not taken into account, not all aspects of the top‐down influence process were covered, only military contexts were studied, and no meaningful analysis of possible gender‐related differences was possible in this male‐dominated context.

The obtained support of the theoretical model legitimises its use as a tool in higher military management education and coaching.

The measurement tools of indirect leadership and the quantitatively based support of a Grounded Theory model with a how‐focus on indirect leadership.

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

The organizational smooth power consisted of structural smoothness, emotional smoothness and relational smoothness. Four distinct superior categories emerged from the data: the professional background of the leader, professional name-branding, contextual appraisal and organizational smooth power.

The briefing saves busy executives, strategists and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.