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This thesis examines how problems regarding cohesion are understood in official statements and reports from the SAF (Swedish Armed Forces) and in employee and conscript surveys. Based in James S. Coleman’s theory of social capital, it uses an abductive research design and the WPR method (What is the problem represented to be) to analyze and compare framing across the SAF yearly review, the Conscript Council yearly review, and employee satisfaction surveys.

The results indicate a difference between how the SAF views certain internal problems and how employees, surveys, and conscription reports view them. The largest discrepancies concern salaries and the workplace environment, where SAF leadership views most issues as marginal, while the rest of the organization sees them as institutional problems. This suggests a fragmented view of the problems, which, according to the theory, could signal weaker social capital that may affect organizational cohesion and trust.

This thesis contributes to the study of military organizations by examining different perspectives on the organizational challenges that affect employee development and cohesion. The results show that a more unified view of organizational issues could benefit SAF development in the long term.