Annika Härenstam

Multilevel analyses of organizational change and working conditions in public and private sector

The aim was to investigate organizational impact on working conditions and to explore the associations between sector, different types of organizational change, and working conditions. A strategic selection was made of representative staff members from 72 work sites. Data pertaining to organizational factors were collected from managers, and to working conditions from employees. Multilevel analyses were performed, with 10 aspects of self-reported and expert assessed psychosocial and ergonomic/physical working conditions as the dependent variables, and patterns of organizational change and sector as the explanatory variables. The results showed that the variance in working conditions was significantly attributed to organizational level (16 – 65% of the variance), and that both the pattern of change and the sector were important. Organizations that had not undergone change provided the best work conditions. The “standardizing” and “market-adjusting” patterns of change had deleterious effects, while the “lean” and “centralizing” patterns led to dual outcomes. Organizational change was perceived as having more negative consequences in the public sector than in the private sector. The results indicate that organizational change contributes to increased differentiation of working conditions, as different types of changes congregate in specific areas of the labour market and affect groups of employees differently.

Differences in the Association Between Psychosocial Work Conditions and Physical Work Load in Female- and Male-Dominated Occupations

This study investigated whether there is a relationship between high physical work load and adverse psychosocial work factors, and whether this relationship is different for women and men. Separate analyses for female registered nurses and assistant nurses were made because these are common occupations involving high physical and psychological demands. This study was part of the MUSIC-Norrtälje study, a population study with the overall aim of identifying risk factors for musculoskeletal disorders. The respondents, 1423 gainfully employed men and women, were randomly selected from the study population. The exposure assessments referred to a typical workday during the previous 12 months. Physical exposure was investigated by interview, psychosocial work factors by interview and questionnaire. For the women, but not the men, mainly routine work and a job strain situation, according to the model of Karasek and Theorell, increased the probability of having a high physical work load, assessed as a time-weighted average of energy expenditure in multiples of the resting metabolic rate. Results indicated that in female-dominated occupations, high physical work load might also imply adverse psychosocial conditions. A higher frequency of high physical work load and job strain was observed among assistant nurses compared with registered nurses. Covariance between physical and psychosocial demands makes it difficult to determine the relative influence of each in health problems. Results of the present study imply that this is a larger problem in studies of women than men.

Coping with anger-provoking situations, psychosocial working conditions, and ECG-detected signs of coronary heart disease.

This study explored the association among coping, psychosocial work factors, and signs of coronary heart disease (CHD) among prison staff (777 men, 345 women). Electrocardiogram (ECG) recordings at rest, health examinations, and a questionnaire were used. A high level of covert coping in men and a low level of open coping in women showed the strongest association with signs of CHD. Among several traditional biological and lifestyle risk factors, only age and systolic blood pressure in men and none in the case of women were significantly associated with CHD signs in the final multivariate regression analyses. A coping style of repressed emotions and actions in anger-provoking situations, independent of traditional risk factors, seems to be associated with a prevalence of ECG signs in male and female prison staff.

Work Life and Organizational Changes and How They are Perceived by the Employees

The aim is to investigate the association between different kinds of organizational changes during the last years and how the working conditions have been affected. In a study of working conditions for women and men in Swedish work life of today (the MOA-study1), data were collected on the organizational as well as on the individual level. Characteristics of 72 private and public work sites were assessed by using interviews with managers and written documents about the organizations. More changes were identified in the public compared to the private sector. Five different patterns of organizational changes were identified by means of a cluster analysis. 104 women and 104 men were selected for the investigation of working conditions by using open personal interviews and questionnaires regarding perceived consequences of the changes. The results of logistic regressions showed that the pattern of organizational changes was significantly associated with self-reported work load, development and control possibilities, job security and salary in relation to effort. Organizational changes directed at lean production systems seem to have a great impact on psychosocial working conditions, particularly for women.