Logo: to the web site of the Swedish Defence University

The hypothesis was that post-Cold War downsizing of the military defense is associated with low levels of public anchoring, and that better anchoring is associated with a perception of a better performance by the Swedish Armed Forces (SAF) and with a SAF connection and military experience. An additional research question concerned the level of concordance between the military and political elites and the population on these issues. A questionnaire was sent to 3,000 randomly selected residents. The results showed that post-Cold War downsizing was only partly associated with low levels of anchoring. Better anchoring was associated with a perception of a better performance by the SAF and with SAF connection and experience. There was significant concordance between the elites and the public. The study shows that anchoring is best supported by increased communication of the results and benefits of the military defense to all subgroups of the population.

This study aims to deepen the understanding of processes that affect collaboration between professions and organisations in the crisis preparedness domain from a gender perspective. A total of twenty-three Swedish duty officers participated in the study. The analysis of the interviews show that collaboration can be understood as (a) the militarisation of civil crisis management actors, which means that many of the work processes and cultures that originate in military organisations can now be found in the security and crisis management sector; (b) the masculinisation, which means that when male dominance appears to prevail, active strategies are used against women, civilian personnel and also inexperienced colleagues and (c) organisational exclusion which emerges particularly in situations where collaboration between female-dominated and male-dominated organisations are required. The findings are important for crisis preparedness research and practice and should work in favour of evening out asymmetries in collaborative crisis management.

The purpose of this study is to examine, explain and interpret concepts of gender in relation to information management, crisis communication and collaboration within the framework of (crisis) communicator tasks. Since the crisis management realm is malecoded and the communications profession is female-coded, there is reason to gain more knowledge of how these relate to each other. The ambition is to contribute to an underdeveloped area of theory. A total of nineteen participants joined the study. All the interviews were processed according to the guidelines for the thematic analysis method. Analysis showed that three themes are central to understanding the role of communicators in the crisis management system. These are a) crisis communication as a temporary organization; b) requirements imposed on, and expectations from, the role and the individual and c) organizational greed. Results are discussed theoretically from a gender perspective, and practical implications are given as well as proposals for further studies. 

Lately, scholars have been engaging in studies on the crossroads between collaborative public management and crisis management, but our knowledge on how organizations work together with interorganizational goals in times of crisis or in relation to the threat that crises pose, is still limited. This study aims to illuminate how interagency horizontal collaboration plays out in practice. An interview study with twenty‐three Swedish duty officers in three organizations with critical tasks in the institutional crisis management system is carried out to unearth impediments to interagency collaboration that emerge when organizations from different policy subsystems engage in crisis collaboration. Empirically, the study contributes with new knowledge on how a crucial function in crisis management carries out work and deals with challenges. Theoretically, it contributes to the literature on crisis management collaboration by shedding light on processes of horizontal collaboration in the area of crisis management.

Power displacement and recapture: A qualitative study of regional duty officers in government agency interaction

This study highlights and discusses challenges organizations face when collaborating in the field of crisis management. We study how Swedish County Council duty officers experience collaboration with external government agencies. Our interview study is based on thirteen interviews with duty officers from six County Councils. In the analysis we discuss our results from a gender perspective. Furthermore we lay the foundation for an analytical model that can be used to better understand problems with collaboration in the field of crisis preparedness and management.

The purpose of this thesis is to gain knowledge about how leaders holding the role as crisis manager at the Swedish municipal level perceive and experience crisis management in different phases.

The thesis comprises four papers (Papers I-IV) based on empirical data. The sample consisted of relevant municipal leaders. Paper I, Paper II and Paper IV were based on qualitative methods of data collection and analysis, and Paper III on quantitative data. Paper I presents a theoretical model that highlights the complex evaluations underlying managers’ decisions and actions in real-life crisis situations. Paper II  contributes further knowledge on how to improve evaluation and thus how  learning from crisis experience can be developed. In particular, the importance of evaluation and the value of group reflection in evaluation are demonstrated. Additionally,  Paper II identifies motivational aspects during an event. In Paper III perceived preparedness is analysed in terms of three aspects: perceived municipal preparedness, perceived individual preparedness and motivation. These aspects are explained by different psychological theories and concepts and may serve to understand the  driving forces for motivation to work with and to develop crisis  preparedness.  Paper IV focuses on motivation for preparedness efforts and contributes a model demonstrating the close links between different motivational factors and how these  influence one another, as well as emphasizing the central role of experience and the strong role of personal factors in both supporting and diminishing motivation.

In sum, this thesis demonstrates how psychological theories and concepts are  important for understanding the municipal leaders’ perceptions of their role as crisis managers. In addition, the knowledge gained in this thesis can be useful for  promoting crisis preparedness.

I Sverige liksom i många andra länder har fokus på krishantering ökat. Detta beror till stor del på kriser som har inträffat nationellt och internationellt. Dessa kriser har bland annat föranlett nya lagar inom krishantering. I Sverige är ansvaret decentraliserat till den kommunala nivån och principerna i krishanteringssystemet innebär att kommunala chefer ska planera för och kunna hantera de kriser som inträffar.  Efter krisen förväntas de också lära av händelsen. Totalt har ansvaret och  förväntningarna ökat på dom som ska hantera kriser. Krishantering är dock bara en av många  uppgifter som kommunala chefer har.

Syftet med denna avhandling var att få kunskap om hur chefer på den kommunala nivån uppfattar och upplever krishantering (crisis management) i olika faser.

Avhandlingen består av fyra artiklar (Paper I-IV) med empiriska data som  underlag. Datamaterialet (bland annat intervjuer) i Paper I, II och IV har analyserats med  kvalitativa metoder, medan Paper III (enkätstudie) har analyserats kvantitativt.  Paper I har bidragit med en teoretisk modell som belyser de komplexa bedömningar och värderingar som ligger till grund för chefernas beslut och agerande i en  verklig krishändelse. Paper II bidrar med en ökad kunskap om hur  utvärderingar för  lärande efter en kris kan utvecklas. Analysen visar på att reflektion i grupp  tillför  andra aspekter än gängse myndighetsutvärderingar. I Paper II identifieras också motivations faktorer under en kris. I Paper III har tre olika faktorer av upplevd  beredskap analyserats: upplevelse av kommunens beredskap, upplevelsen av den  individuella  beredskapen samt motivation för beredskap. Dessa faktorer förklaras med olika psyko logiska  teorier och koncept. Resultatet bidrar till förståelsen för drivkrafter för motivation att arbeta med och utveckla krisberedskap. I Paper IV fokuseras motivation för beredskapsarbete. Artikeln bidrar med en modell som visar de nära kopplingarna mellan olika motivationsfaktorer och hur de påverkar varandra. Vidare synliggörs erfaren hetens centrala roll samt betydelsen av personliga faktorer för motivationen.

Sammantaget visar avhandlingen hur psykologiska teorier och begrepp kan bidra till förståelsen för de kommunala ledarnas uppfattning om sin roll som krishanterare. Kunskap framtagen i avhandlingen är användbar vid utveckling av krishantering.

The need for communities to be prepared for a wide variety of critical events places considerable responsibility on local municipal leaders. However, few studies have examined how these leaders themselves view crisis, preparedness issues. The purpose of this study was to examine factors that contribute to three aspects of preparedness among municipal leaders: perceived municipal preparedness, perceived individual preparedness and motivation for preparedness work. Six hypotheses were formulated. The research questions were investigated using data from a questionnaire sent out to all Swedish municipalities (N = 290) and four categories of municipal leaders respectively (N = 1101). The response rate was 67%. Data were analyzed by linear regression and logistic regression. Different factors predicted the three outcome variables, which indicates different mental concepts. The hypotheses were partly supported and the results are discussed using self-efficacy theory. The findings have implications for understanding perceived preparedness and motivation, and can be used to e.g. develop crisis management exercises.

Much of the responsibility for societal safety and crisis preparedness rests with local municipal leaders. These tasks are demanding, and often insufficiently prioritized and supported. The purpose of this study was to identify factors influencing motivation to work with these issues, and to explore relationships among such factors. Two datasets, formed the basis of the analysis. From the qualitative analysis, a model was developed describing three main categories of motivational factors: person-related, organizational and activity-related. Actual crisis experience was found to influence factors in all three categories. Differences regarding motivational forces could be identified among different roles among officials. Self-determination theory is applied to the model, illustrating possible ways to influence motivation for work with preparedness issues.