The universal nature of conscription ties or anchors broad segments of society to the military. What happens to societal anchoring after the draft ends? Using in-depth interviews with two groups of elites, this article explores factors that promote and hinder the Swedish Military’s societal anchoring post-conscription. The first group consisted of 18 executives at the Swedish Armed Forces (SAF) headquarters with strategic positions in relation to societal anchoring. The second group consisted of 15 representatives from the corresponding political level: members of the parliamentary Committee on Defense and their officials. The interviews were semistructured and analyzed according to a grounded theory-inspired approach. Main themes concerning obstacles were the public’s low interest and dated knowledge, an unclear political debate resulting in vague expectations concerning the SAF, as well as unclear responsibility for informing the public, and confidence gaps between the military and the political elite.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the armed forces' ability to implement an unpopular decision while maintaining commitment and job satisfaction among its personnel, as well as examine what factors affect the perceived outcome of a decision process in a military context. In line with earlier research, it was hypothesized that a fair process, knowledge (about the circumstances and objectives of the decision) and trust (in the decision-makers) will promote decision acceptance. An additional hypothesis was that a higher hierarchal position will promote understanding of the decision. A specific decision process was chosen - that which led to the 2010 choice to make service on international military missions mandatory for all personnel in the Swedish Armed Forces. An ad hoc questionnaire was constructed with the intention to measure the perception of the decision's input values, the decision process, the organization and decision-makers, as well as of the outcome. The questionnaire response rate was 48% (N = 229 respondents). The respondents were (predominantly middle-aged, mid-career, male) Swedish military officers and civilian employees. Knowledge about the decision, its perceived timing, and trust in the decision makers - but not the respondents' hierarchical position - significantly contributed to the outcome : its degree of acceptance. The study shows much dissatisfaction with the decision and its implications, but also a lack of knowledge about the decision-making process involved.

Försvarsmaktens (FM) och Försvarshögskolans (FHS) projekt Metodutveckling för effektivare rekrytering av särskilda målgrupper (MER) syftar till att utveckla och utvärdera aktiviteter som attraherar och rekryterar målgrupper som FM har svårt att nå via de vanliga rekryteringsmetoderna. Under 2014-2015 var kvinnor som klarat rekryttestet den särskilda målgrupp som var i centrum. Det övergripande målet med projektet var att öka antalet och andelen kvinnor som tar anställning eller tecknar avtal efter genomförd grundläggande militär utbildning (GMU). Detta skedde bland annat genom kontaktskapande och aktiviter i perioden från godkänt rekryttest via antagningsprövning och fram till GMU, det vill säga jobba med individer som visat intresse och potential för FM, vilket också är kostnadseffektivt. Kontaktskapandet och aktiviteterna bidrar till att kvinnorna känner sig inkluderade och kan skapa sig ett bättre beslutsunderlag för vidare avancemang i FM eller inte.

Sammanfattningsvis demonstrerar projektet att det verkar vara effektivt att arbeta i rekryteringsfasen med personer som har visat intresse och potential. Projektet bidrar med ny kunskap för ökad rekryteringseffekt. Genom att utveckla metoder, mäta utfall av kontakt, arbetssätt och aktiviteter kan vi mäta rekryteringseffekt och därigenom utveckla styrande dokument, metoder samt arbetssätt. En erfarenhet är att många som söker sig till FM är osäkra på vad ett jobb i FM innebär och många söker till FM utan att veta vad de vill eller kan göra inom organisationen. De individer som kontaktas av projektet har ofta frågor som relativt enkelt kan besvaras.

Aktiviteterna i projektet är uppskattade och anses värdefulla av deltagarna. Aktiviteterna stärker intresset för att fortsätta i rekryteringsprocessen och ta anställning eller teckna avtal i FM och undanröjer onödiga hinder för att fortsätta mot anställning/avtal.

The aim was to gain a deeper understanding of individual emotion-focused coping strategies and institutionalised norms as regards emotion regulation in a short-and long-term perspective in relation to acute stressful situations that contain moral dilemmas. 15 participants at different hierarchical levels in the Swedish Armed Forces (SAF) were interviewed. Several individual emotion regulation strategies and organisational norms for emotional expressiveness were identified. These were integrated into a theoretical model. The study contributes by explicating a context-specific emotion culture that gives limited space for emotional expression as it is necessary to remain firm and cold in acute situations that include moral dilemmas. Leaders must be able to minimise emotional displays in order to contribute to operational efficiency (termed emotional containing capacity). Potential conflicts between a well-developed emotional containing capacity in acute situations and long-term adaptation to organisational norms in daily life after missions and practical implications are discussed.

Purpose

Globalisation of working life means that many organisations are manned by people from different countries. A potentially critical factor is how members from various nations are looked upon by their partner countries. Such perception may be more or less accurate and affect organisational outcomes. The military is no exception as modern warfare is characterised by multinational composition of task forces. The aim of this paper was to gain a deeper understanding of how military officers from other nations perceive Swedish military officers and their leadership qualities in particular.

Design/methodology/approach

Interviews were conducted with 20 military officers representing ten nations. Interview questions were deduced from the Developmental leadership model. Responses were first coded inductively according to the constant comparative method. Generated categories were then deductively related to this leadership model.

Findings

The analysis resulted in positive and negative patterns. The positive picture included Swedish officers being perceived as calm, competent and generally good at exhibiting exemplary leadership behaviour, showing individualised consideration and creating an inspiring atmosphere. The negative side included opinions such as Swedish officers being too emotionally restrained, exhibiting poor self-confidence, discussing too much before making decisions and having difficulties giving negative feedback. The results are discussed in relation to the Developmental leadership model and the stereotype concept.

Research limitations/implications

Small sample size and a focus on military organisations imply a low degree of generalisability.

Practical implications

Three suggestions regarding Swedish officer education are presented: officer students should be given an increased awareness of how they are perceived by others, decision-making without group support and giving negative feedback in a constructive, straight forward, but still considerate way, should be practiced and more attention should be paid to emotion management.

Originality/value

The paper addresses an increasing tendency in work organisations – a multinational composition of the work force. The foundation of study in leadership theory and the stereotype concept is new.

Purpose– Supporting and communicating with citizens is a vital part of societal crisis management. Training exercises may offer an opportunity to develop capabilities among managers in this regard. The purpose of this paper is to examine this potential in an analysis of how citizens were portrayed and perceived by participants in a major crisis management exercise.

Design/methodology/approach– Observation, document analysis and short interviews during the exercise were used as data collection methods. Data were subjected to thematic analysis to capture core themes in relation to the research aim.

Findings– Patterns in how citizens’ reactions were portrayed in the exercise were identified to form a citizen behaviour typology. Observations during the exercise also demonstrated some of the challenges in incorporating the citizen perspective. However, findings regarding the perception of the citizen perspective also demonstrate the ability of exercise participants to meet and respond to public behaviours with respect and seriousness.

Originality/value– Variation is an important condition for learning in exercises, and the identified typology is suggested as a starting point for achieving this in incorporation of the citizen perspective in training scenarios. The results of the study are discussed in terms of a learning framework with the aim of explicitly developing crisis managers’ ability to interact and communicate with citizens in crisis situations.