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Browsing Doctoral Theses /KS US by Title
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Browsing Doctoral Theses /KS US by Title
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Arbetstidens symbolvärde: om historisk kontinuitet och förändring i s... 
Rosengren, Calle : Royal Institute of Technology School of Industrial Engineering and Management
Trita-IEO-R;2 (2009)DOCTORAL
THESIS
English abstract: The point of departure of the present thesis is what happens to working time in sections of the labor market where the content of production is becoming more knowledge-intensive, that is, where production is largely based on creativity, knowledge development and communication – processes that are difficult to control and locate in time. Paired with the rise in information and communication technology (ICT), room for interpretation is created by necessity as concerns the boundaries of work and what constitutes a satisfactory work effort. The thesis argues for the need to pay attention to social norms if we are to comprehend what guides action in such ”free” job situations – free in the sense that there is room for individual control of work hours. From a historical perspective, an understanding is sought of what constitutes the social norms surrounding working time and in what way they contribute to the temporal patterns the worker gives to his/her workday. In order to grasp the nature of temporal norms, two papers presented in the thesis study historical sources reflecting the way in which working time has been valued and debated in Sweden during the 20th century. In order to elucidate the relationship between work and work hours in knowledge-intensive jobs, two groups of wage earners with great influence over when, how and where their work is to be carried out have been studied. On the basis of these two cases, the thesis discusses on what grounds work expectations are created and how these expectations are handled. The results indicate that, in a historical perspective, working hours have been surrounded with normative conceptions. However, it was not until the formal employment contract was loosened that these norms had any real impact on the temporal pattern the individual gives to his/her working day. This is explained by the fact that, under this kind of loose contract, the worker is exposed to social expectations in a more direct way. The title, “On the symbolic side of working time”, implies that in giving working time a specific temporal pattern, the individual is expressing his/her identity, loyalty, commitment and status. Further, the thesis increases our understanding of the ways in which social norms both facilitate and limit our relation to working life; how these norms are refracted against a changing world, and how they are manipulated, debated and ever changing in content. At the same time, the thesis shows how different forces are working to restructure our conception of what is to be viewed as a satisfactory work effort and in the long run also how and when we work. Swedish abstract: Avhandlingen tar sin utgångspunkt i frågan om vad som händer med arbetstiden i de delar av arbetsmarknaden där innehållet i produktionen blir mer kunskapsintensivt? Kunskapsproduktion som i mycket utgår från kreativitet, kunskapsutveckling och kommunikation, processer som är svåra att kontrollera och tidfästa. Tillsammans med framväxten av informations- och kommunikationsteknologin (IKT) har utvecklingen bidragit till att de tidsliga och rumsliga dimensionerna av arbete har förändrats. Ramarna för vad som utgör en fullgod arbetsinsats är många gånger är tve- och mångtydiga och inte alltid explicita. I avhandlingen framhålls vikten av att, i detta sammanhang, betrakta arbetstidens gestaltning som ett utslag av sociala förväntningar på beteende.Ur ett historiskt perspektiv söks en förståelse för hur de normer som omgärdar arbetstiden skapas, samt i förlängningen vilket inflytande de har på arbetstidens gestaltning. I syfte att sätta in vår syn på tid i ett större perspektiv genomförs i avhandling två delstudier av historiskt källmaterial vilket reflekterar hur arbetstid värderats och debatterats i Sverige under 1900-talet. I syfte att belysa förhållandet mellan arbete och arbetstid i kunskapsintensiva arbeten studeras två grupper lönearbetare vars arbete kännetecknas av ett stort inflytande över när, hur och var arbetet skall utföras. Utifrån dessa två case diskuteras dels hur förväntningar på arbetet skapas, dels hur arbetaren hanterar dessa förväntningar.Resultatet av avhandlingens delstudier visar att arbetsdagens längd sedd i ett historiskt perspektiv, varit förknippad med normativa föreställningar, men det är först när det formella avtalet luckras upp, som dessa föreställningar får ett större genomslag i praktiken. Detta då vi på ett mer direkt sätt exponeras för olika normer. Begreppet ”Arbetstidens symbolvärde” söker fånga hur individen i relation till omgivningens förväntningar uttrycker identitet, lojalitet och hängivenhet samt status beroende av hur arbetstidens hanteras. Avhandlingen bidrar till en ökad förståelse för normer som möjliggör och begränsar vårt förhållande till arbetslivet; hur dessa normer bryts mot en ständigt föränderlig värld, hur de manipuleras, debatteras och byter innehåll. Samtidigt visas tydligt hur olika krafter verkar för att omstrukturera synen på vad som ska betraktas som en fullgod arbetsinsats och i förlängningen även hur och när vi arbetar. 
FULLTEXT01[1].pdf
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Att bära världen på sina axlar : miljövetares uppfattningar av och fö...
Johansson, Magnus : Lunds universitet, Pedagogiska institutionen. (2008) DOCTORAL
THESIS
English abstract: The aim of the thesis is to investigate experiences of and ways of relating to environmental issues and towards their profession among a group of environmentalists with a degree in environmental science. The respondents were either in the end of or had completed an educational program in Environmental sciences with a social science perspective offered at Malmö University. Those who had completed the program has recently begun to work with environmental issues in different professional settings. The methodology of the thesis is based in the phenomenological notion of intentionality. According to this line of thought, our consciousness is characterised by being directed towards the world. This direction confers certain content to our experiences of the world, which we then relate to. These experiences will here be studied using a phenomenographic methodological approach. Within the phenomenographic approach, variations in people’s experiences of different phenomena are explored, in other words, qualitatively different ways of experiencing the same situation or phenomenon. Experiences are seen as possible to describe by means of verbal statements. These statements may in turn be considered analytically as expressions for different aspects of expereiences of a phenomenon. The interview material allowed four distinct ways of experiencing environmental problems and three distinct manners of relating to these environmental issues to be identified: approaching them as administrative and organisational problems, as lifestyle problems in a mass consumption society, or as global, moral and existential challenges. Two groups of experiences about the profession could be distinguished in the material: those that concerned conceptions of practice in their own profession and those that concerned conceptions of their own professional identity. Lastly, the following manners of relating to the profession could be identified in the interview material: a profession where it is necessary to deal with existential issues; a profession where it is important not to come across as being extreme; and finally, a profession that is part of an inevitable societal change. Starting in the experiences and approaches identified above, three abstract professional scenes could be described. These scenes constitute different descriptions of fields of potentiality that frame the experiences and approaches in the interview material. The scences are the administrative and organisational scene; the scene for educating and informing individuals; as well as the scene for ‘environmental sermons’. The profession the environmentalists’ in this study were striving to acquire could be described as comprising two levels: a global and a local level. The environmentalists’ could therefore see him/herself as more or less competent to deal with environmental issues in different professional practices depending on which level was related to. Within the two levels, environmental problems were formulated starting in different point of departure, which in turn meant that different types of solutions could be formulated. At a global level, problem formulation was based on scientific knowledge and general policy discussions. At a local level, the problem formulation was based in the established norms, traditions and routines of local practice. A graduate in Environmental Science may therefore perceive his/her mission as ‘bringing down’ global problem formulations into a local practice. Graduates in Environmental Science need to develop a reflexive attitude, and become aware of their own view of the causes and possible solutions to environmental problems.
Johansson.pdf
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Conceptions of crisis management capabilities - Municipal officials' ...
Nilsson, Jerry : Department of Fire Safety Engineering and Systems Safety, Lund University
Report;1044 (2010)DOCTORAL
THESIS
English abstract: In the Swedish crisis management system, the municipalities have a great responsibility. One part of this responsibility concerns preparing for crises by making risk and vulnerability analyses as well as plans for how to handle extraordinary events. Such preparedness planning involves municipal officials and consequently their conceptions of their organisations’ crisis management capabilities. This makes it vital to look into these conceptions more closely and establish whether specific characteristics can be identified. This thesis aims at gaining understanding of how officials involved in preparedness planning in general and vulnerability analysis in particular explicitly conceive of their organisations’ crisis management capabilities. The thesis poses six specific research questions, pertaining to three themes: vulnerability, dependencies and learning. The results show specific characteristics in how officials conceive of their organisations’ crisis management capabilities. These characteristics appear as similarities, variations, and even disagreements. It is argued that the characteristics as well as what explains them must be considered in the development of society’s crisis management systems. Swedish abstract: I det svenska krishanteringssystemet har kommunerna ett stort ansvar. En del av ansvaret handlar om att förbereda sig för kriser. Lagstiftningen kräver bland annat att kommunerna genomför risk- och sårbarhetsanalyser och upprättar planer för hur de skall hantera extraordinära händelser. I detta krisberedskapsarbete involveras främst tjänstemän och politiker. Deras föreställningar om sina organisationer och deras krishanteringsförmåga påverkar såväl analyser som de ställningstaganden som görs inom beredskapsplaneringen. Därför är det viktigt att studera dessa föreställningar mer specifikt. Avhandlingens syfte är att öka förståelsen för de föreställningar som tjänstemän och politiker, som involveras i beredskapsplaneringen, uttrycker om sina organisationers krishanteringsförmåga. Framför allt fokuseras kommunala tjänstemän och deras uppfattningar i sårbarhetsanalyser. Den övergripande frågan som ställs i avhandlingen är: vad karakteriserar tjänstemäns och politikers uttryckta föreställningar om sina organisationers krishanteringsförmågor? Tre teman behandlas: Sårbarhet, beroenden och lärande. För varje tema ställs två specifika forskningsfrågor. Temat sårbarhet behandlar först frågan vad tjänstemän i olika organisationer anser vara skyddsvärt. I avhandlingen anses det vara grunden i en sårbarhetsanalys att ha klarlagt vad som är skyddsvärt. Därefter analyseras vilka svagheter tjänstemän och i en del fall politiker anser att deras organisationers krishanteringsförmåga har. Temat beroenden studerar möjligheten, utifrån information som ges vid sårbarhetsanalyser av framför allt tjänstemän, att identifiera i vilken grad deltagande aktörer är beroende av aktörer som inte representerats vid analysen. I samband härmed studeras i vad mån det är möjligt att identifiera aktörer som är särskilt viktiga i hanterandet av det scenario som analyseras. Slutligen behandlas frågan om tjänstemän som representerar olika aktörer i beredskapsarbetet är överens om de beroendeförhållanden som råder mellan de aktörer de representerar. Temat lärande tar upp frågan vad olika tjänstemän som deltar i en sårbarhetsanalys lär sig om sin organisations krishanteringsförmåga och hur den kan utvecklas. Därefter studeras fall där en uppenbar tröghet kan skönjas vad gäller spridandet av kunskap och förståelse till övriga delar av den kommunala organisationen. Frågan som ställs är, i de fall där problem med kunskapsspridning från den kommunala beredskapsgruppen kan skönjas, vad som karakteriserar de tjänstemän som valts ut för att ingå i dessa beredskapsgrupper. Agerar de på ett sätt som ligger i linje med de teorier som finns kring lärandeprocesser i organisationer? För att besvara forskningsfrågorna studerades framför allt föreställningar som uttrycktes av tjänstemän, och i några fall politiker, i eller i samband med, sårbarhetsanalyser. Metoder som användes för att samla in information var enkäter, intervjuer, seminarier och ”tabletop-övningar”. Informationen analyserades genom att systematisera och kategorisera den, samt att försöka se mönster i vad de tillfrågade uttryckte gällande sina organisationers krishanteringsförmågor och deras utvecklingsmöjligheter. Resultatet visar att: 1) Tjänstemän i olika organisationer tar upp olika saker när de identifierar vad som är skyddsvärt. Samtidigt fokuserar de och utvecklar vissa aspekter mer än andra såsom infrastrukturer och fastigheter liksom processer och funktioner; 2) De problem som tjänstemän och politiker identifierar i sina organisationers krishanteringsförmågor kan oftare relateras till vissa delar av organisationen och vissa processer än andra, t ex organisationens strukturer och operativa processer; 3) Tjänstemäns (och i något enstaka fall politikers) kvantitativa bedömningar gjorda vid en tabletop övning gällande vilka aktörer den egna organisationen är beroende av vid en kris kan användas för att identifiera i vilken grad deltagande aktörer är beroende av aktörer som inte representerats vid övningen. Bedömningarna kan också användas för att identifiera aktörer som bedöms vara särskilt viktiga i hanterandet av scenariot. En klassificering kan göras av aktörer och kategorier av aktörer (som t ex informationsaktör, kommunal ledningsaktör) i olika typer såsom Nyckelaktörer, Specialister, Stödjande aktörer och Bakgrundsaktörer; 4) Det finns stora mått av oenighet mellan tjänstemän i deras syn på hur beroende de aktörer de representerar är av varandra. Bara i vart tredje fall där två tjänstemän bedömer sina aktörers respektive beroenden är de helt överensstämmande och i vart sjätte fall kan en stor eller mycket stor diskrepans identifieras; 5) Tjänstemän som deltar i tabletop-övningar lär sig aspekter av krishantering som relaterar såväl till dem själva som individer som till organisationen i stort. Varje individ lär sig emellertid olika brett och olika djupt; 6) I de fall där det finns en uppenbar tröghet i kunskapsöverföringen i en kommun, är det tydligt att individerna som valts ut för att ingå i den kommunala beredskapsgruppen inte tar på sig rollen att sprida kunskaperna vidare i sina egna organisationer.
kappa.pdf
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Den självorganiserade staden: appropriation av offentliga rum i Rinkeby
Olsson, Lina : Institutionen för arkitektur och byggd miljö, LTH, Lunds universitet (2008) DOCTORAL
THESIS
Olsson.pdf
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Impartial legal counsel in real estate conveyances : the Swedish brok...
Jingryd, Ola : Royal Institute of Tecnhology (KTH)
TRITA-FOB-PHD;5 (2012)DOCTORAL
THESIS
English abstract: Real estate conveyances are accomplished differently and by different players across Europe. The European Union houses four basic regimes, related to the classical “legal families”: 1) The Latin-German notary regime, where the public notary plays the central role, 2) the partly deregulated Dutch notary regime, 3) the lawyer/solicitor regime, prevalent on the British Isles, where conveyances are traditionally accomplished by solicitors, and 4) the Nordic regulated real estate broker regime. The comparative studies that have been conducted with respect to these regimes have focused on the economic impact—with particular regard to transaction costs—of regulation, particularly that concerning the Latin-German notary profession. The studies, while having great merit, are incomplete insofar as they fail to properly take into account, inter alia, the legal framework of the respective regimes and the functions performed by the key players. The present dissertation examines, compares, and analyzes the nature and scope of the non-litigious legal counsel that buyers and sellers of real estate can expect to receive—without hiring lawyers to represent them—under the Latin-German regime and the Swedish regime. To that end, the Swedish real estate broker and the Latin notary are examined and compared with respect to the role they play in real estate conveyances and their duty to give counsel to the contracting parties. The study is conducted in two steps: first a general overview of the professions’ duties and roles, followed by a more detailed juxtaposition of their duty to counsel. The first part comprises Sweden and nine notary regime countries: Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, France, Germany, Mexico, Portugal Puerto Rico, and Spain. The second part focuses on Sweden and France. The two professions share two main traits: a duty of impartiality and a duty to counsel. The duty to counsel of the Swedish broker and the French notary are strikingly similar and consists in four sub-duties: 1) to conduct verifications to ascertain facts, 2) to disclose relevant information, 3) to give adequate advice, and 4) to draw up all necessary deeds in a manner that is tailored to the instant transaction. The duty of impartiality and the duty to counsel amount to a specific function in real estate conveyances, common to both professions—namely that of impartial counsel. The desirability of the different regimes can be assessed and discussed from several perspectives, including but not limited to the economic perspective. In general terms, a regime can be said to be desirable if the produced utility exceeds the costs. The question is how to properly measure utility and costs. In limiting studies to such factors as can be readily measured, mainly pecuniary costs, one obtains an incomplete picture since there may be utility and costs that remain unaccounted for. For instance, the extent to which the state should interfere in the marketplace is not merely an economical issue but also an ideological issue. How does one account for ideologically conditioned utility and costs? One way to obtain more solid information is to study the regimes’ institutional robustness; that is, their ability to produce the desired results. For instance, harmful incentives for key players such as brokers and notaries may have an adverse effect on the performance of their assigned functions. Future research should focus on these issues. Swedish abstract: Fastighetsöverlåtelser sker på olika sätt och med inblandning av olika aktörer i Europas länder. Behandlingen av fastighetsöverlåtelser i EU:s medlemsstaters rättsordningar kan grovt delas in i fyra kategorier, som har nära samband med de klassiska rättsliga ”familjerna": 1) Den latinsk-tyska notariemodellen, där notarius publicus spelar en central roll, 2) den delvis avreglerade holländska notariemodellen, 3) solicitormodellen, som förekommer på de brittiska öarna och där överlåtelser av hävd genomförs av advokater samt 4) den nordiska modellen med ett reglerat fastighetsmäklaryrke. De jämförande studier som har genomförts med avseende på dessa modeller har främst fokuserat på de ekonomiska effekterna, särskilt med avseende på sambandet mellan reglering och transaktionskostnader, med stort fokus på den latinsk-tyska notariens roll. Även om dessa studier odiskutabelt är av stort värde, är de ofullständiga i så måtto att de inte tar hänsyn till de rättsliga och institutionella ramarna för respektive modell. Inte heller beaktas de funktioner som respektive modells nyckelaktörer fyller. En av dessa funktioner är juridisk rådgivning, vilket kan omfatta allt från enkla upplysningar till normativa råd om hur kunden lämpligen bör agera. Föreliggande avhandling undersöker, jämför och analyserar vilken juridisk rådgivning köpare och säljare av fastigheter kan räkna med att få – utan att anlita juridiskt ombud – enligt den latinska-tyska modellen respektive den svenska modellen. Mer specifikt jämförs den svenska fastighetsmäklaren och den latinska notarien med avseende på den roll respektive profession spelar i fastighetsöverlåtelser samt deras skyldighet att ge råd och vägledning till parterna. Studien genomförs i två steg: först en allmän översikt över respektive professions skyldigheter och ställning gentemot parterna, följt av en mer detaljerad redogörelse för deras rådgivningsplikt. I den första delen studeras Sverige och nio notarieländer: Argentina, Belgien, Brasilien, Frankrike, Tyskland, Mexiko, Portugal Puerto Rico, och Spanien. I den andra delen studeras Sverige och Frankrike på ett mer djuplodande sätt. De två professionerna har framför allt två gemensamma huvuddrag: en skyldighet att vara opartisk och en rådgivningsplikt. Den svenska fastighetsmäklarens och den franska notariens respektive rådgivningsplikt är förbluffande lika och består i: 1) att genomföra kontroller för att fastställa vissa fakta, främst rörande säljarens förfoganderätt och rättsliga belastningar i köpeobjektet, 2) att lämna relevant information, 3) att ge adekvat rådgivning, och 4) att upprätta nödvändiga handlingar på ett sätt som är anpassat till den enskilda transaktionen. Skyldigheten att vara opartisk och rådgivningsplikten utgör tillsammans en specifik funktion i fastighetsöverlåtelser, som i Sverige utövas av fastighetsmäklaren och i Frankrike och övriga notarieländer av notarien: opartisk rådgivning. Önskvärdheten och ändamålsenligheten i de olika modellerna kan bedömas och diskuteras ur flera perspektiv, inte minst ett ekonomiskt perspektiv. Generellt uttryckt kan en modell sägas vara önskvärd om den producerade nyttan överstiger kostnaderna. Frågan är hur man på ett adekvat sätt mäter nytta och kostnader. Genom att begränsa rättsekonomiska studier till sådana faktorer som lätt kan mätas, främst pekuniära kostnader, riskerar man att få en ofullständig bild eftersom det kan finnas nytta och kostnader som man inte lyckats mäta och därmed inte tagit hänsyn till. Exempelvis är frågan om i vilken utsträckning staten bör ingripa på marknaden inte bara en ekonomisk fråga, utan även en ideologisk fråga. Hur mäter man sådan nytta och sådana kostnader? Ett alternativt sätt att utvärdera de olika modellerna är att studera deras institutionella robusthet, det vill säga deras förmåga att ge de önskade resultaten. Till exempel kan skadliga incitament för nyckelaktörer såsom mäklare och notarier ha en ogynnsam effekt på utförandet av deras tilldelade uppgifter. Framtida forskning bör fokusera på dessa frågor.
Olas doktor SLUTLIG.pdf
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Organizational and economic aspects of housing management in deprived...
Blomé, Gunnar : School of Architecture and the Built Environment, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH)
Trita-FOB-PHD;2011:4 (2011)DOCTORAL
THESIS
English abstract: This dissertation consists of five papers with different objectives. The overall objective is to improve knowledge of effective policies regarding socially deprived large housing estates. All studies deal with the real estate context from a housing company decision-making perspective. The first two papers focus on organisational issues and the following three papers deal with economic issues related to the development of a specific housing area. The research is based on case studies which involve specific methodologies such as interviews, direct observation and collecting data from company accounts. The main message of this thesis is that landlord policies and resources spent on operation and maintenance contribute to local area development. It is also underlined that there is a need for a paradigm shift in Swedish housing, since the regulatory framework appeared to be inadequate. The experience from this study shows that many problems can be solved within the existing laws and through efficient customised property management, but landlords need more effective incentives to improve their policies further. The first two papers address issues about how to organise local management resources in large housing estates. Three different functions were identified: customer service, (e.g. fault-reporting); the letting process; and caretaking (day-to-day management and control over indoor and outdoor areas). The models where more decisions are decentralised lead to better information about the local conditions, make it easier to coordinate work in an area, create more motivation for the staff and make it easier to involve the tenants. This was particularly valuable for socially deprived estates, but the decentralised model raised some moral hazard problems, e.g. the local team create their own agenda, are pressured by certain tenants to give them advantages and that the result is lack of control and consistent housing policy in the company. The third paper deals with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in housing management. Different types of costs are identified and related to the estates’ social condition. The results indicate that a CSR-based management policy leads to approximately 4.5 percent lower annual operation and maintenance costs which improved the company’s profitability, especially if the higher standard of maintenance, made higher rents possible. The study also identified three other benefits of CSR; improved tenant relationship, goodwill and business opportunities and the study is a first step towards a better understanding of the economic consequences of CSR in a real estate-context. The fourth paper analyses the return of the Swedish slumlords, with a focus on a specific area in Malmö. The tenants stayed even though the rent was higher and the quality was lower than in neighbouring areas because of a combination of three factors; rents were paid by different forms of welfare payment, lack of alternatives because of queues to other areas and because some tenants saw an advantage in the “no questions” asked policy that the slumlord followed. It is further argued that the property owners found this slum strategy as profitable either because they hoped to find a “bigger fool” to sell to or because the decision makers in the company had not invested their own money. The study concludes that both tenants and investors were in the end losers, but not the company managers. The fifth paper is an economic evaluation of renovation in socially deprived housing estates. The empirical data indicates that it is profitable to use a clear and active housing management strategy, especially if the rent levels are affected by the standard of management by the landlord. The results also show that the landlord’s policy had positive social effects, both in the form of tenant welfare and in the form of lower costs for Police and the Fire department. The study also indicates that it can be difficult to justify large scale investment purely from a business perspective. -
Projektformen och det industriella arvet : med exempel från sjukvården Edvik, Anders : Malmö högskola, Institutionen för urbana studier Göteborgs universitet, Institutionen för arbetsvetenskap (2008) DOCTORAL
THESIS
English abstract: It is not an exaggeration to say that the idea of organizing work task in a project similar form hasnowadays become an institutionalized understanding in work life in general. Many organizationscombine the permanent organization with temporary such, in purpose to cope with the ongoingchanging environment. Arguments as increased need for more flexible ways of organizing and a more customer oriented production, are often used to explain the important role that projects fill in organizations. Although arguments as those above are not applicable for all kinds of businesses and corporations, they have a legitimizing function in relation to the organizational field. Above all this concerns the demand of rational ways of organizing work, which the idea of projects is part in; especially when the conceptions of project carries an industrial inheritance. Single organizations are acting in accordance with societal conceptions and values (existing patterns) even if the ordinary activities are organized along with the understanding of a professional bureaucracy. Using project as an organizational form can therefore be seen not only as a way of reaching a certain achievement or coping with an uncertain environment, but also as a response to socially constructed circulating managerial ideas.The projectification of work life could be understood in terms of travelling managerial ideas in time and space. The content of the idea is however translated, while it is travelling, both by carriers and receivers which enables translation to local conditions. If the idea is not picked up by any actor, the translation and materialization processes will end. The way in which content will be translated,depends on the individual s biographical position. Experiences, hierarchical and social position, are examples that influence the individual s way of conceptualize the idea of project organization. At the same time the single actor is a part in a social context in which he or she, through socialisation processes, internalizes objectified conceptions. The individual is acting in accordance with the socially constructed conceptions which leave him or her with experiences that influence future actions. The translation of the project idea along with local conditions is therefore based on the social context in terms of an institutionalized local environment. The actions performed by the individuals make sense due to previous experiences. This means that the translation of the project organization idea is based on experiences in accordance with internalized local conceptions that enable individuals to act in a way that makes sense. The problem is however the strength of the institutionalized project idea and the environment in which the individual is acting. To be translated the idea, in terms of the industrialinheritance, has to be opened up for adaptation by acting individuals. Otherwise the materialization will end and the project idea will not be adjusted to the environment it has been spread to; the idea of project will stay as an island without connections to the organizational context. The aim of this doctoral thesis is to discuss how the institutionalized concept of project is translated and materialized when this organizational form is applied in an organization which normally is not associated with temporary organization. The focus is on the translation and materialization processes of the project as an idea and the empirical examples are three operational renewal projects in the healthcare sector. Since these three projects are aimed to end in some sort of organizational change, the doctoral thesis also discusses which function the project form has in relation to the operational and mostly professionalized bureaucratic organization.Key words: project management, project organizing, renewal projects, temporary organizations, health care, public sector, professions, professional bureaucracy, institutions, institutionalization,organizational fields, translation, materialization, interpretation, work life, operation businesses,development, change. -
Transaction cost and transparency on the owner-occupied housing marke...
Lindqvist, Sylwia : School of Architecture and the Built Environment, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH)
Trita-FOB-PHD;2011:5 (2011)DOCTORAL
THESIS
English abstract: This dissertation consists of four essays with specific objectives. The overall objective is, however, to seek a further understanding of the issue of cross-border residential transaction markets. While the first two essays focus specifically on transaction processes and costs in a number of selected countries, the two subsequent essays shift their attention towards the EU’s Internal Market and the impact of differences between the countries, with relation to the transparency of transaction markets. The research is primary based on studies of written sources, subject-specific literature and legislation. The main message is that organization of the transaction process affects transaction costs in different ways. It can be argued that efficiency is associated with a lowering of transaction costs. The efficiency of different structures depends on our perspective. Transparency is associated with the organisation of transactions and their needs, though the term is somewhat unclear. Generally, the term may refer to the ability of transaction participants to observe information concerning the transacting process, thereby increasing their knowledge to make informed decisions. Thus it can be argued that a better basis for the decision-making process presupposes information disclosure, more standardized transaction practices, synchronized legal systems, and both legible and transparent regulations. This leads to the design of a transparency system, which is based on an understanding of the need for the system and its goal. Although reaching transparency will be both complex and time-consuming, this study draws attention to certain key aspect of the need to encourage transparency. The first two essays focus on how residential transactions are organized in selected countries and on the costs for carrying out these transactions. Essay II works with two hypotheses concerning the relation between the organizational structure and the transaction costs. The study shows that transaction processes and costs differ considerably between the countries and as a result it is difficult to arrange the countries in a clear way according to their rules. Moreover, there is no clear connection between a broker’s education level and how large a part in the process s/he plays. The total transaction costs excluding taxes vary from approximately 3 up to 8.5 percent. The costs are lower when the recording system is well arranged, when a broker has a bigger part in the process and when a conveyancer is impartial. In the countries where a broker has a higher education level and plays bigger part in the process, the broker’s commission is not any higher when compared to other countries in the study. The study shows also that transaction costs are lower in the countries where the broker has a more neutral role and where fewer parties are involved in the process. Thus in order to avoid high transaction costs, it is important to avoid situations where both buyer and seller have their own agents. Furthermore, the availability of standardized information about properties may increase the efficiency of the market even though it increases the short run transaction cost. Essay III provides a theoretical framework for an analysis of the concept of transparency in residential property transactions within the EU’s internal market and tries to identify the essential factors that need to be addressed with respect to transparency of procedural, regulative and economic features. Essay IV seeks a further understanding of the issue of transparency in the residential property transaction market and attempts to define the state of transparency on the basis of selected EU-countries, in accord with five specific dimensions. The essential points are that an increase in cross-border transactions increases demand for easy access to information in other countries, and that the studied literature focuses on the coordination of legal systems, which produces systems that are more uniform and legally secured, and on broadening the mortgage market. Some of the aspects analysed in the study are far from transparent while others may be considered relatively transparent. The degree of transparency in the EU’s internal market is determined by how transparency is defined, since something may be transparent based on a certain criteria but not on others, especially when the concept is a relative one and subject to changes. The study raises some key aspect as a basis for discussion about the encouragement of transparency.
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