The Nordic countries consistently rank in top positions of the best places to live and work in the world. They have resilient economies, a well-educated workforce, high labour market participation, job security, and encompassing welfare systems and are facilitated by an institutional context characterised by trust and transparency. Nordic HR practices are embedded in a tradition of workplace democracy, flat organisations, low power distance, open and informal communication, codetermination, and close cooperation between management and labour unions. But the Nordic countries are also embedded in the global economy. This book offers insights into how Nordic HRM responds to global challenges, such as demographic changes, migration, or skills shortages that necessitate inclusionary HR strategies focussed on workforce development.

Ett samtal om motivation och vuxnas lärande med Helene Ahl, professor i företagsekonomi vid Encell och Högskolan för lärande och kommunikation. Helene har skrivit boken 'Motivation och vuxnas lärande - En kunskapsöversikt och problematisering', på uppdrag av dåvarande Myndigheten för skolutveckling. Nu går hon igenom området igen, utifrån var vi står idag, och slår hål på allmänt vedertagna sanningar om motivation. Intervjuar gör Karin Havemose, universitetslektor i arbetsorganisation vid Jönköpings tekniska högskola.

Adults' motivation to participate in continued education is of immediate interest, as lifelong learning is now considered as the solution to the pressing problems of increased levels of unemployment, not least among unskilled workers. Many theories concerning motivation and adult education maintain that individuals are innately motivated to learn, and conclude that motivation problems result from various dispositional, situational and structural impediments. If such barriers are removed, adults will be naturally motivated to educate themselves. This article argues against these theories and maintains that motivation should not be regarded as something residing within the individual. It is rather a construct of those who see it lacking in others. A critical reading of the literature shows how motivation theory stigmatizes people held ‘unmotivated’ in that the theories ascribe motivation problems to the individual, while assuming the basis upon which the problem is formulated for granted, and making those who formulate the problem invisible. Instead of a problem solver, motivation becomes a euphemism for direction and control. This article suggests that motivation should be seen as a relational concept, rather than as residing within the individual. Adults' motivation, or lack of this, is best understood in relation to those who formulate the problem. Instead of asking what motivates adults to study, research should focus on who states that this is a problem, and why, and the reasons for this conclusion. This approach makes the operations of power visible, and demonstrates how the discourse of lifelong learning, as a necessary political response to economic and technological determinism, constructs adults as inadequate.

Föreliggande artikel är en narrativ analys av ett praktikfall som används ientreprenörskapsundervisning. Analysen utgår från ett post-strukturalistisktfeministiskt perspektiv, där kön ses som socialt konstruerat. Analysen finner attpraktikfallet reproducerar en könsordning där kvinnor, och kvinnligt, systematisktnedvärderas. Praktikfallet avser att lära studenterna hur det kan gå till att starta ettföretag, men det lär samtidigt kvinnor att de inte hör hemma i affärslivet. Män lärsig att entreprenörskap är till för dem, samtidigt som de lär sig att kvinnor är tillför att gifta sig med och föda deras barn. De lär sig också att behandla kvinnorrespektlöst. För att förändra detta föreslås praktikfall med huvudpersoner som ärkvinnor, ett könsneutralt språk, samt berättelser som medvetet utmanartraditionella könsordningar. För att ytterligare berika lärandet från praktikfallföreslås vidare att studenter och lärare själva gör narrativa analyser av praktikfall.

Many civil society organizations (CSOs) were originally formed to address social problems that governments did not address, and often in direct opposition to government. In contemporary society, governments instead look to CSOs to help solve social problems, for example by providing project funding. However, by financing and evaluating these organizations, the state also risks co-opting them, changing their mission and perhaps also the level or type of voluntary engagement. The paper discusses this dilemma by following sixteen state-sponsored projects carried out by Swedish CSOs aiming at integrating refugees after the refugee wave in 2015. However, most of the projects were discontinued after the original project period. Using institutional theory to interpret these results, it is suggested that the projects were too decoupled from the core activities of the organizations to be integrated long term. The concept “inefficient decoupling” is consequently introduced to institutional theory. If governments want to successfully engage CSOs, programs must align with their core activities, and evaluation criteria must meet their core values. However, when the state co-opts civil society organizations for the aims of the state, their potential for social transformation risks getting lost.  

This article is a narrative analysis of an entrepreneurship case performed from a post-structuralist feminist perspective. Acknowledging the social construction of reality, gender is conceptualized as performed rather than as an essential quality attached to male and female bodies. The analysis finds that the case reproduces discriminatory gender relations. While using such cases in entrepreneurship training may teach pragmatic lessons, they also teach women that there is no place for them in business. Suggestions for improvement include cases with female protagonists, gender-inclusive language, stories that challenge received entrepreneurship ideas, and the introduction of narrative analysis to enrich students' learning opportunities.

Gender inequality continues to exist in many organisations, which leads to dysfunctional workplaces and an underexploitation of existing competence. The chapter discusses the most common failures in enforcing gender equality and explains terms such as glass ceiling and vertical-, horizontal-, and internal gender segregation. The chapter examines and deconstructs the most common arguments that are present in the debate on gender equality and ends with an argument for justice, but with a new twist: people who feel that they have been treated unjustly also take up an adversarial stance towards the organisation, irrespective of their gender. Justice is thus a matter of proper resource utilisation.