Publikationer från Uppsala Universitet
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Flexible work in a Municipal Administration
No full textThis study explores the possibility for a municipal department to implement a flexible work modelwhere cross-functional collaboration between different units is achievable. The case study wasconducted within the Department of Culture and Leisure in Mullsjö Municipality. The aim was toexamine current working conditions, identify organizational challenges, and propose tools andmethods for creating a more flexible work model.The theoretical framework is based on TQM (Total Quality Management), change managementtheories including Kotter’s 8-Step Model and the ADKAR model, as well as organizational cultureand leadership theory. The study used a qualitative approach supported by quantitative methods.Data was collected through literature review, semi-structured interviews with management, adigital survey distributed to employees, and participation by the author in a workshop.The results show that employees generally enjoy their current work environment but feel thatstaffing levels are inadequate and unevenly distributed. Challenges to implementing a flexiblemodel include lack of shared understanding of goals, differences in competencies, and unclearorganizational structure. Leadership and communication were highlighted as essential forsuccessful change as they enable trust and direction across departments.The study concludes that flexible work across units is possible but requires structured changemanagement, clear vision, and employee involvement. The findings may be transferable to othermunicipal departments or organizations facing similar challenges provided they share similarstructural or resource-related constraints.Studien undersöker möjligheten för en kommunal förvaltning att införa en flexibel arbetsmodelldär arbete över verksamhetsgränser är möjligt. Fallstudien genomfördes inom Kultur- ochfritidsförvaltningen i Mullsjö kommun. Syftet var att undersöka medarbetarnas nuvarandearbetssituation, identifiera organisatoriska utmaningar och föreslå verktyg och arbetssätt för attskapa en flexibel arbetsmodell.Det teoretiska ramverket bygger på TQM, (Total Quality Management), förändringsledning enligtKotters 8-stegsmodell och ADKAR samt teorier om organisationskultur och ledarskap. Studien haren kvalitativ ansats med kvantitativa inslag. Datainsamlingen skedde genom litteraturstudier,semistrukturerade intervjuer med tillförordnad chef för Kultur- och fritidsförvaltningen, en digitalenkät till medarbetare samt deltagande av författaren i en workshop.Resultaten visar att medarbetarna över lag trivs men upplever otillräcklig bemanning och ojämnarbetsbelastning. Utmaningar med en flexibel arbetsmodell inkluderar bristande samsyn om mål,skillnader i kompetensprofiler och verksamhetslogik samt otydlig struktur. Ledarskap ochkommunikation pekas ut som avgörande faktorer för en lyckad förändring eftersom de möjliggörförtroende och samverkan mellan verksamheter.Studien drar slutsatsen att arbete över verksamhetsgränser är genomförbart men kräver struktureratförändringsarbete, en tydlig vision och medarbetarnas delaktighet. Resultaten kan vara överförbaratill andra kommunala förvaltningar eller organisationer med liknande förutsättningar exempelvisinom andra mindre kommuner med liknande bemanningsutmaningar.
Qualitatively exploring inter-organizational networks within Swedish cluster organizations
No full textThis thesis investigates how connections between formal and informal networks facilitate membership growth in Swedish cluster organisations, to provide a research based foundation for traditional cluster organizations to grow nationally. In an era where regional innovation systems are increasingly complex and driven by multiple stakeholders, cluster organizations must navigate strategic growth while maintaining cohesion, legitimacy and adaptability. Existing research often treats formal governance structures and informal social relations as separate domains; however, this study argues that it is the interaction between the two that most significantly shapes organizational development. Through a qualitative research design, the study draws on interviews with key actors across multiple Swedish cluster organizations and employs a theoretical framework grounded in network theory, institutional logics and social capital theory. The findings show that formal mechanisms such as structured governance models, funding agreements and strategic plans provide necessary infrastructure and legitimacy. Yet it is informal mechanisms like trust based relationships, shared norms and unstructured interactions that enable adaptability, stakeholder alignment and long-term strategic engagement. The research contributes theoretically by refining the understanding of how bonding and bridging social capital support growth, and by showing how network and institutional structures evolve together. Practically it offers guidance for cluster managers, policymakers and members by identifying governance practices that promote resilient and adaptive growth. Key words: Cluster Organizations, networks, informal networks, formal networks, membership growth, governance.
Igneous layering and magma dynamics in alkaline intrusions : textural evidence for gravitational settling and compaction within cumulates
No full textMechanisms responsible for igneous layering and the concentration of critical minerals within alkaline intrusions remain debated. The IlÃmaussaq complex, South Greenland, is a layered alkaline intrusion containing economically important rare earth element (REE) deposits. Based on geochemical and petrological data, the two leading hypotheses for the formation of igneous layering at IlÃmaussaq are: (1) repeated magma recharge and in situ nucleation of minerals; or (2) gravitational settling of crystal mats within a closed magmatic system. We provide novel field, rock magnetic, and crystallographic preferred orientation (CPO) data from two representative outcrops of igneous layering at IlÃmaussaq to test these hypotheses. Our rock magnetic data show that both arfvedsonite and magnetite contribute to the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) fabrics, with magnetite defining a sub-vertical foliation across igneous layering. Our data show that the AMS fabric is inverse to the silicate fabric (i.e. the magnetic foliation is normal to the silicate foliation), and records consistent sub-horizontal mineral foliations and lineations vertically through the layers. Critically, the silicate fabric is often oblique in both strike and dip to the modal igneous layering. Our measured fabrics best support a closed system crystal mat model and subsequent phases of differential and intrusion-wide compaction
Quantifying flexibility from a system perspective using limited information : An index to rank electricity users' potential value
No full textAs an increasing number of public actors both in the EU and in Sweden-from the highest political level to local operational levels-request greater flexibility and understanding of electrical power systems, additional methods and tools are necessary to identify potentially valuable sources of flexibility. In this study, we developed the Flexibility Value Index (FVI) to quantify and rank the system perspective-value of different electricity users' potential flexibility. Previous studies have mainly concentrated on either broad system levels, assessing total flexibility across an entire sector, country, or technology, or on a very detailed level, analyzing individual buildings based on specific appliance data on a case-by-case basis. However, there is a lack of studies between these two sides that, with limited information, aim to identify users whose consumption behavior or patterns would be valuable to change. This paper presents a quantification method based on five indicators demonstrated by evaluating electricity users from seven categories in Uppsala Municipality, Sweden. The results showed that the largest average FVIs were typically found in the later afternoon and early evenings during weekdays, coinciding with higher grid loads, but also in the mornings and weekends for individual users. Grid owners, public entities, or private businesses can use the developed index in strategic decision-making to identify users who might provide the most valuable flexibility for the power system for further investigations
Alcohol Intake and Cardiovascular Outcomes in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation : RE-LY AF Registry Analysis
No full textBackground Alcohol intake increases recurrence of atrial fibrillation (AF), but its relationship with cardiovascular outcomes is less well characterized. We aimed to study the association between different levels of alcohol intake and cardiovascular outcomes in a global cohort of patients with AF. Methods This is a cross-sectional analysis of the RE-LY AF registry, including 15,400 patients with AF who visited emergency departments in 47 countries. Patients were categorized into abstainers, light (< 7 standard drinks [SD]/week), moderate (7–13 SD/week), and heavy drinkers (≥ 14 SD/week). Outcomes were stroke/systemic embolism, heart failure (HF) hospitalization, and major bleeding at 1-year follow-up. Logistic mixed-effects regression models were used to calculate multivariable-adjusted odds ratios (aOR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI). Results In total,14,058 patients (mean age = 65.9 ± 14.7 years, 48.0% women) with available alcohol intake level data were included. This consisted of 12,091 (86.0%) abstainers, 1150 (8.2%) light, 458 (3.3%) moderate, and 359 (2.6%) heavy drinkers. The odds of stroke/systemic embolism were not significantly different in light (aOR = 0.88, 95% CI: 0.60–1.28), moderate (aOR = 0.91, 95% CI: 0.53–1.57) or heavy drinkers (aOR = 0.79, 95% CI: 0.41–1.54) compared to abstainers. Major bleedings were numerically, but not statistically significantly, higher among heavy drinkers (aOR = 1.52, 95% CI: 0.82–2.80). Compared to abstainers, alcohol intake was associated with fewer HF hospitalizations (light: aOR = 0.73, 95% CI: 0.58–0.92; moderate: aOR = 0.53, 95% CI: 0.35–0.78; heavy: aOR = 0.63, 95% CI: 0.41–0.98). However, this protective association was observed only in upper-middle and high-income countries (p-interaction < 0.001). Conclusion Alcohol drinking is unlikely to be associated with increased thromboembolic events in patients with AF, but may be associated with a lower risk of HF hospitalizations
Narrative Matters : Investigating the Effects of Sustainability Storytelling in Tourism Destinations
No full textStorytelling is central to tourism, valued for its ability to create memorable experiences and convey knowledge across cultures and generations. Its potential to make complex ideas more relatable makes it particularly relevant to sustainable tourism development, where fact-based communication often fails to motivate behavior change. Yet, despite the natural intersection between tourism and storytelling, little empirical research has explored how sustainability storytelling in destination marketing videos influences viewers. This thesis addresses this gap by asking: What effects does sustainability storytelling in DMO videos have on viewers? Through four qualitative focus group discussions and thematic analysis, the study examines how viewers comprehend, emotionally respond to, and form attitudes toward sustainability messages conveyed through narrative formats. Findings reveal that storytelling facilitates understanding of sustainability topics even in the absence of explicit terminology, relying instead on narrative structure and visual cues. Narrative immersion and emotional engagement were key to fostering positive attitudes toward sustainability, indicating that narrative formats have persuasive potential. These results underscore the value of storytelling as a tool for promoting sustainable tourism. Specifically, co-creating authentic stories with local communities and embedding narratives across digital and physical touchpoints can enhance both communication strategies and tourists’ attitudes towards sustainability messaging. In conclusion, narrative matters for sustainability.
Daglig styrning och förbättringsarbete inom småskalig taktisk drift : En kvalitativ fallstudie inom energibranschen
No full textEvaluating Visual-Language Models for Handwritten Text Recognition on Historical Swedish Manuscripts
No full textOptical character recognition - and by extension, handwritten text recognition - has a long history of research and development. While text recognition for printed text has become a mature and widely adopted technology, handwritten text recognition remains a challenging task due to the high variability in human handwriting. Over time, the field has shifted from rule-based systems to more adaptable neural network-based approaches. Recently, the emergence of large language models and, subsequently, visual-language models has introduced new possibilities for tackling this problem. This thesis investigates the viability of visual-language models for handwritten text recognition on Swedish historical manuscripts, using Microsoft's Florence-2 as a case study. The model is evaluated against traditional computer vision models across individual tasks, such as text region detection and segmentation (using YOLO) and text recognition (using TrOCR). Additionally, end-to-end text recognition pipelines composed of these models are compared on text recognition accuracy. The findings show that Florence-2 performs comparably to, and in some cases surpasses, task-specific models in isolated tasks. Furthermore, a Florence-based two-step pipeline (line detection followed by text recognition) outperforms the traditional three-step pipeline (region detection, line segmentation, and text recognition) in standard text recognition metrics. However, the study also reveals that Florence-2 demands significantly greater computational resources than conventional models. As a result, while visual-language models such as Florence-2 demonstrate strong performance, at the current stage, they are not well-suited for large-scale text annotation projects. At the same time, this study is subject to several limitations, including imbalanced training data, limited exploration of multi-task training, and the use of a model not trained on a Swedish corpus. Future work may address these issues by applying data augmentation techniques to mitigate the imbalance, investigating simultaneous multi-task training strategies, and fine-tuning the language model component of the visual-language model with a corpus of historical Swedish texts
Storasystertipsregimen : En kvalitativ innehållsanalys av en normativ gemenskap för tjejer på plattformen TikTok
No full textTikTok är en stor social medieplattform som många unga svenskar använder dagligen. Ett fenomen som trätt fram på TikTok är Storasystertips, där unga kvinnor ger råd till en antagen yngre tjejpublik. Denna uppsats undersöker hur tonårstjejen konstrueras som ett styresubjekt genom Storasystertipsens utifrån vilka problem och lösningar som formuleras i TikTok-klippen. Studien tar avstamp i detta fenomen från teorier av Michel Foucault och Judith Butler. Foucault används för att analysera hur makt, sanning och subjekt tillsammans verkar inom dessa Storasystertips, och Butler används för att förstå hur tipsen uppmanar till performativa handlingar i linje med en slags heterosexuell matris för tjejpraktiker. Metodologiskt bygger studien på en kvalitativ innehållsanalys med en induktiv ansats, där trettio TikTok-klipp har transkriberats och kodats i syfte att identifiera återkommande teman. Resultatet visade att Storasystertipsen rör sig kring tre centrala teman med olika underkategorier: det Sociala (killar, vänner och beteende), det Kroppsliga (utseende, hygien, intimvård) och det Mentala (mental hälsa och självbild). Genom dessa tre teman produceras ett idealiserat tjejsubjekt som uppmanas till ständig förbättring. Studien belyser hur dessa tips kan förstås som normbärande praktiker och tolkas som krav. För sina unga följare riskerar de också att skapa helt nya förväntningar och problemställningar beträffande hur de sköter kropp och utseende samt sociala relationer och mentalt mående. Följaktligen hur tipsen kan förstås som normbärande praktiker och regimer som bidrar till skapandet av ett tonårstjejsubjekt
The Role of (Aspired) Energy Resilience in Developing Energy Communities in Sweden : An Analysis of Stakeholder Perspectives
No full textThe relevance of energy resilience in energy systems is increasing nowadays because of political insecurity and environmental disasters, but also because of an increasing electrification of industries and society. Potential power outages and blackouts can lead to direct and indirect consequences on social, environmental and economic dimensions. Besides this, the trend of local decentralized energy systems is increasing, the concept of Energy Communities is one of them. This work analyses the connection between energy resilience with Energy Communities, specifically on how the aspiration of energy resilience is driving the development of Energy Communities in Sweden. Different perspectives of multiple stakeholders were analyzed, from Energy Communities to national institutional perspectives. This research was conducted with the method of a document analysis on relevant reports and EU-Directives, a systematic literature review, and semi-structured stakeholder interviews while using the (reflexive) thematic analysis by Braun & Clarke. As for results, they show that energy resilience is, besides other objectives, a driving factor for Energy Communities on local level. This was especially found for the stakeholders of NGO and Energy Community representatives, however also the institutional representatives stated Energy Communities as potential asset for the Swedish energy system for local systems. On Swedish national energy policy, the concept of Energy Community appears to have limited significance, especially in enhancing energy resilience in Sweden. In connection with academic studies on increasing energy resilience with local energy systems, this work argues that Energy Communities could be stronger considered in national debate for enhancing local energy resilience