The purpose of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of the experience of Swedish officers when serving as the only Swedes in a multinational staff context. The methodological approach was qualitative and inductive according to the Grounded Theory method, and the empirical material is based on twenty completed interviews. The informants possessed a wide range of experience in a number of leadership positions as well as extensive participation in international operations.The building of contextual self-esteem is the central theme that emerged inthe data analysis that may improve our understanding of officers serving as the only Swedes on an international staff. Contextual self-esteem and its structure can be understood through the following four processes: interpretation, adaptation, influence, and withdrawal. These occur to a greater or lesser extent depending upon both the individual and the context. Contextual self-esteem increases over time as experience of international operations expands. The longer the duration of a mission, the greater the influence becomes in contrast to adaptation, although all the processes are significant.The findings may be valuable in educational settings regarding challenges faced while serving alone during international military missions in multinational contexts.
The article problematizes decision-making in the health and care sector during the Covid-19 pandemic. This is done deductively by applying an empi-rically developed decision model to new data that consists of media articles. The decision model can be divided into two dimensions; an employee-orien-ted and an organization-oriented. Each dimension indicates the direction of the decision and ranges from anti to pro. This means that decisions can be made pro/anti employees/organization. We have found evidence for the models’ various dimensions, which are the basis of an analysis of the con-sequences decisions may have on employees, the working life and the civil society as a whole.
Military organizations have a long tradition of autonomy in relation to other groups. Most positions in military organizations, at least those at the higher levels, are reserved for military officers. However, given the increasing complexity of modern society, civilian specialists have become more common in high-level military staff contexts. The purpose of this study was, through an inductive approach, to gain a deeper understanding of the role of civilian and military advisors in a high-level military staff context. A grounded theory approach was used. The empirical material is based on 10 interviews with advisors in high-level military staffs, three of which were with women. The qualitative analysis resulted in a theoretical model that describes that the trustworthiness of advisors is established through two types of action-logics: (1) through the advisor’s individual strategies - that is, what the advisors themselves do and (2) through an “allowing” structure, which permits an increased freedom of action for advisors. Advisors' positions and skills are unique in a staff environment, which is important in a decision-making process. These two logics influence one another as well as the credibility of the advisor’s agenda. Research limitations/implications are the following: small sample, lack of representativeness, and lack of illumination of possible gender-related aspects. The suggested model may be valuable in military educational settings.
Ett antal faktorer som Försvarsmaktens (FM) volymminskning, värnpliktens vilande och avsaknaden av en mera akut nationell hotbild, har lett till att försvarets förankring i samhället inte är lika självklar som tidigare. Detta kan bland annat ge negativa effekter på FM personalförsörjning liksom på förståelsen i samhället för FM verksamhet och i förlängningen befolkningens stöd för verksamheten. Syftet med denna studie var att hos företrädare för FM högre nivåer kartlägga uppfattningar av vad som är viktiga faktorer för förankringen i samhället. I rapporten redovisas informanternas uppfattningar om bland annat allmänhetens syn på FM, om relationen mellan FM och den politiska nivån samt politikernas respektive FM ansvar för myndighetens förankring i samhället. Rapporten lämnar förslag på åtgärder som FM kan göra för att positivt förbättra förankringen. Inom projektet har det tidigare tagits fram en forskningsöversikt och gjorts en intervjustudie med informanter från näringsliv, andra myndigheter, lokala politiker och politiska ungdomsförbund.
This paper discusses reactions and experiences of temporary residents and transients in a community struck by a major natural disaster. A retrospective questionnaire study was conducted among a group of Swedish citizens who were resident in Kobe during the Great Hanshin-Awaji earthquake. Respondents describe aspects of their behavior before, during, and after the earthquake. The findings indicate that, as a group, the Swedes appear to have coped well, even though they were not well-prepared for this type of situation. One factor found to be related to the behavioral responses was ability to speak the local language, in this case Japanese. On the basis of the study results, some particular needs and resources of foreign residents are discussed.
The Swedish Armed forces has been transformed to an all-volunteer force where the first soldiers began their employment in May 2011. The number of applicants has been satisfying but experiences from other countries indicate that it has been easier to recruit soldiers than to retain them. The aim of this study was to investigate factors affecting the job satisfaction of soldiers. Twenty-one informants who had been employed as soldiers for about a year participated in the study. They came from all three fighting services (army, air force, navy). The data was analyzed according to a grounded theory approach.
The results show that the soldiers’ job satisfaction is related to their inner motivation to join the armed forces. The inner motivation can be divided into: (a) primarily searching for a job and a steady income, (b) a great interest in the armed forces and military tasks, and (c) an aim for a certain education/position. Factors that appear to affect the job satisfaction are, for example: co-workers, salary and experienced meaningfulness. Another result from the study is that strategic decisions at the Head Quarter level that involve unexpected readjustments at the local level tend to have a negative effect on of the soldiers’ motivation and job satisfaction because the leaders at the local units are poorly prepared to handle the changes. This will be more thoroughly discussed during the presentation.
Föreliggande bok har ambitionen att sätta samman tre års forskningsresultat (2016-2018) inom ramen för det av Försvarsmakten (FM) finansierade forskningsprojektet Ledarskap och ledning i en förändrad organisatorisk kontext och omsätta kunskaper till ett pedagogiskt och lättillgängligt material som kan användas i såväl Försvarshögskolans ordinarie kurs- och utbildningsprogram, som enskild läsning eller som utgångspunkt för gruppdiskussioner, seminarier och förberedelser inför något av de teman som tas upp i boken. Bokens innehåll speglar forskningsprojektets sammansättning som består av forskare från Ledarskapsavdelningen i Stockholm, Försvarshögskolans Ledarskapscentrum i Karlstad, och Ledningsvetenskap i Stockholm. Att bokens empiri kommer från militär kontext hindrar inte att bokens innehåll även kan vara av stort intresse för civila läsare, särskilt inom ramen för dem med intresse för civil-militär samverkan i såväl nationella som internationella insatser.
The aim of the study was to obtain a deeper understanding of the force commander role in modern multinational and multifunctional missions. Several sources of data were collected: (1) a focus group interview with five former Swedish force commanders having served in Afghanistan, (2) nine individual in-depth interviews with the same sample of commanders, (3) one in-depth interview with a Swedish Civilian Representant (an ambassador) serving in Afghanistan, (4) facts on selection ciriteria and education/training of force commanders, and (5) formal documents where the role of the commander is dealt with. The results were related to a theoretical leadership model which implies that a number of individual and contextual characteristic interact and shape a commander’s appraisal or sensemaking of a given situation. This meaning, applied to what is taking place, in turn generates a number of leadership behaviours which, to a greater or lesser degree, affect the outcome. Conclusions and research suggestion for the future focus on the following:
- civilian leadership of the military operation
- task complexity
- culture
- end state
- self-management.
This article is built upon a doctrinal and literature review of comprehensive approach (ca) concepts and the larger international actors that currently use them, such as the un, eu and nato. It also focuses on how small actors, such as Sweden, can contribute within this collaborative framework. There is a focus on possible leadership challenges and suggestions of individual characteristics that would be desirable to handle these types of challenges. Examples of leadership challenges from Swedish informants were used to enrich the text from a Swedish perspective.The findings can be summarized with the following:(1)The un, eu and nato differ on how far they have developed ca core conceptual documents and to what levels they have implemented the approach within their international missions.(2)Sweden does not currently have a comprehensive approach of its own but seems to be headed in that direction. Small actors, such as Sweden, can mainly contribute to the larger actors with “plug-in” capabilities.(3)Possible challenges and competencies were identified and compared to the current leadership model used for the Swedish Armed Forces, Developmental Leadership.Our analysis indicates that although the current theoretical model of the Swedish Armed Forces holds up well to several ca factors, it could benefit to incorporate new concepts within the model that were identified as specific to a comprehensive approach context.
In this article we explore how Swedish citizens perceive security threats, and how threat perceptions overlap with ideology, trust and demographics. The results show that concerns over security threats are foremost connected to an authoritarian outlook. In addition, four typical groups of security orientations were identifed. On the one end of the spectrum, we found one group with anti-immigrant, anti-feminist and anti-egalitarian opinions and low confdence in media and institutions. At the other end, we identifed a group dominated by women with university degrees, who believe in egalitarian tolerance and display trust in societal institutions. Even though the findings are in line with previous research on the radical right globally, we were intrigued by the existence of a clearly defned group of respondents that oppose feminism to the extent that it is even seen as a security threat. This is particularly striking given that Sweden is thought of as one of the most equal countries in the world, with a government pursuing a feminist foreign policy.
Purpose - The purpose of the paper is to explore the universality of a qualitatively (grounded theory) developed model of leadership in complex and/or stressful rescue operations.
Design - The model was operationalised and tested on leaders (n = 385) from the ambulance service, the police force, and the rescue services in Sweden. A questionnaire was operationalised from the codes and categories of the previously developed model.
Findings - The study showed that the most important factors in explaining the outcome of complex rescue operations were organisational climate before the incident, positive stress reactions, and personal knowledge of the co-actors during the episode. Cases where the leader appraised that the situation could not be resolved with the available resources were characterised by less favourable ratings, irrespective of whether humans were perceived as being threatened or not. The strength of this controllability aspect was interpreted in terms of a professional action-oriented identity.
Research limitations/implications - The results were affected by a high dropout rate and the fact that there were comparatively few large-scale rescue operations.
Practical implications - The results may be valuable in both training and exercises with rescue operation commanders.
Originality/value - The paper presents a validation of a new, integrative, theoretical process model of leadership in complex, stressful rescue operations.
The purpose of this paper is to review the scientific basis for claiming any effect of foreign information operations. The literature on information operations is reviewed, as well as other kinds of persuasive communication (advertising, risk and health communication) that aims to change attitudes or behaviour. Most research indicates that persuasive communication in general has little effect on receiver attitudes and/or behaviour. Some hypothetical strategies that may increase the effect are formulated, such as hiding the sender’s intent, sending messages not too distant from the receiver’s present views, or using the emotional, rather than the rational, route.
The overall purpose of the thesis was to increase knowledge concerning how people adapt psychologically when faced with a real danger incident, and what implications these reactions and adaptation mechanisms have upon immediate performance.
The thesis is based on three empirical studies concerning people with personal experience of dangerous incidents. Swedish peacekeeping personnel who were involved in shooting incidents or other highly threatening events participated in two of these studies. Swedish citizens who were living in Kobe, Japan, during the earthquake of 1995 participated in the third study. Retrospective self-reports included both qualitative and quantitative approaches. More specifically, the research questions focused on the subjective descriptions of personal reactions and performance during dangerous situations, the frequency of various reactions, and the individual and situational factors that influence reactions and functioning.
On a general level, all groups seem to have performed well during the dangerous encounters they experienced. Severely dysfunctional reactions were rare, but general feelings of invulnerability were commonly reported. During these threatening situations, a partial loss of emotional balance and cognitive functioning was also common. Different individual and situational factors appeared to interact with reactions and performance. Factors that were associated with lower performance included whether the danger incident implied a loss of control or if it demanded complex cognitive activity.
A fourth and purely theoretical study addressed how assumptions from Darwian, Freudian, and cognitive psychology are supported by empirical disaster research in explaining why people occasionally fail to adapt when danger is present. It was suggested that the different theories could be integrated into a model, in which adaptation mechanisms on different psychological levels could be included; from processes that are consciously controlled to automatic processes.
Are humans rational? Do we generally choose the alternative with the best balance between costs and benefits when making decisions? Or are we to a large extent guided by our emotions and impulses? This book argues that it can be both ways. The latter may, however, be more frequently the case than we ourselves want to believe. Our emotions - and our way of coping with them - are important explanations for decisions that do not have the results that were anticipated, as well as to enemy images, violence and evil.
It may be reasonable to use gut instinct in everyday decisions that affect only one self and has no dramatic consequences. But the focus in this book is primarily in different contexts in which decisions may have - or may be expected to have - large effects. The first part addresses the question if we are rational in relation to different types of threats - from risks in the community to life-threatening situations and war. The second part analyzes whether political decision makers and various political movements are rational – ranging from the average local politicians to more extreme and violent movements.The book also includesa theoretical part, with a discussion about how our lack of rationality can be explained and understood.
During life-threatening danger people may react in ways that decrease their chances of surviving or coping with the event. Several empirically demonstrated reactions have a potentially maladaptive effect on performance, due to limitations in our cognitive and emotional processing capacity or the activation of obsolete adaptation mechanisms. The possible psychological explanations for this are discussed in terms of assumptions derived from three major psychological paradigms: Darwian, Freudian, and cognitive psychology. These theoretical models all illustrate useful concepts and assumptions, which do not logically exclude one another, necessary to understand more thoroughly how psychological adaptation occurs in danger situations. However, no theory alone explains the empirical findings and the various theories should be integrated into a model that includes different levels of psychological function, from consciously controlled processes to emotional and automatic process.
Syftet med föreliggande studie var att med kvalitativ metodik fånga in de upplevelser av GMU som finns hos rekryter och utbildningsbefäl. Intervjuer utfördes därför med 25 rekryter och befäl under GMU 2 2011 på Amf 1 och I 19. Synen på Försvarsmakten präglades av att organisationen har en viktig uppgift samt att den erbjuder gemenskap och frihet i arbetet. Negativt är bland annat att FM upplevs som byråkratisk och att alla förändringsprocesser leder till osäkerhet. Inställningen till GMU var i stort positiv men vissa problem upplevdes kring själva omställningsprocessen. Rekryterna uppfattades generellt som motiverade men de ådrog sig många skador och att de fysiska kraven vid rekryteringen ansågs lågt ställda. Utbildningstiden är kort och GMU blir därför väldigt komprimerad. Då GMU-rekryterna är frivilliga och blivande kollegor menade flera att det krävs ett annat förhållningssätt och ett mjukare ledarskap. Detta kan dock kontrasteras mot att det beskrevs en förväntan om att det ska vara en viss grad av tuffhet i en militär utbildning. Vardagliga glädjeämnen var att få vistas i naturen, möjligheten att få åka på internationell tjänst, kamratanda och att ha möjlighet att förändra något i samhället. Irritationsmoment var oro för utbildningens krav och för examinationer.
Outcomes of leadership are traditionally attributed to the leader's individual characteristics and leadership style. One aspect that has been less visible in leadership models is how the decision-making process affects perception of leadership quality. Another aspect that probably exerts an impact is the difficulty level of the decisions, how they affect subordinates and the organization. The purpose of this study is to obtain a deeper understanding of decision challenges in relation to the strategic leadership level. Data were collected through qualitative, semi-structured interviews. In total, nineteen leaders at strategic organizational level were included who all possessed previous experience of decision-making within national and international staff work. The interviews were analysed according to a thematic analysis. Several decision-making challenges were described in the interviews. The study supports the conclusion that the objective, and especially the subjective, outcome of leadership is dependent on decision difficulty.
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.
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.