Carl Hult

Organizational Commitment and Person-Environment Fit in Six Western Countries

The connection between work environment and organizational commitment (OC) is investigated and compared across six western countries, using data from the 1997 International Social Survey Program (ISSP). Differences in work environment are examined on two levels: (1) with reference to theoretical literature and empirical findings in comparative research and (2) with reference to how individuals perceive their workplace situation in relation to their personal evaluations of different workplace features (person-environment fit). Although no connection between work environment and OC is found when countries are compared on the basis of literature on the differences in the organization of production, the connection proves to be salient with respect to individual and group levels. The result suggests that the most important factor for OC in all countries is a job that the individual finds interesting. A control for job satisfaction makes it clear that the effect of finding the work interesting is independent of satisfaction with work. Other similarities and differences between the countries are also identified and discussed. New avenues for further comparative research are suggested.

Timing of retirement and mortality - A cohort study of Swedish construction workers

Recent studies indicate that early retirement per se may have a negative effect on health to such an extent that it increases mortality risk. One type of early retirement often referred to in these studies is retirement with disability pension/benefit. Given the overall objective of disability benefit programmes--to help the disabled live socially and economically satisfactory lives, freed from exposure to employment health hazards and thus avoid further declines in health--the finding is challenging. This paper examined the relationship between timing of retirement and mortality using a cohort of Swedish construction workers. The mortality risk of disability pensioners--excluding those with diagnoses normally connected to increased mortality--was compared with the risk of those continuing to work. Although initial indications were in line with earlier results, it became obvious that the increased mortality risk of disability pensioners did not depend on early retirement per se but on poor health before early retirement not explicitly recognized in the diagnosis on which the disability pension rested. The results indicate that there are no general differences in mortality depending on timing of retirement. Future studies of mortality differences arising from working or not working must sufficiently control for health selection effects into the studied retirement paths.

GENDER, CULTURE AND NON-FINANCIAL EMPLOYMENT COMMITMENT IN GREAT BRITAIN AND SWEDEN

ABSTRACT The main question this paper seeks to tackle is whether men and women, as some argue, commit themselves to employment differently or for different reasons. The focus is thus on the mechanisms behind non-financial employment commitment (such as the possible effect of family situation, occupational position, and of different work-related preferences and experiences). The question is comparatively investigated in Sweden and Great Britain, where, in spite of many similarities, the existence of different societal/cultural contexts with relevance for gender and work has been suggested. The results in this paper suggest that the most important motivator for non-financial employment commitment is interesting work, which was found to have a positive effect both as a work goal and as experienced in the workplace. Although women and men in both countries displayed quite similar patterns, some country and gender differences appeared in the way occupational position and degree of education relate to this type of commitment. Higher occupational position and education where more clearly related to higher degrees of commitment for British women than for British men, while the Swedish gender pattern was reversed. In the concluding discussion, possible explanations and implications are discussed, and avenues for further research are suggested.

Administrative burdens and over-exertion in Swedish short sea shipping

ABSTRACT Despite significant changes in work tasks performed on board, towards more sedentary monitoring and administrative work, the incidence of occupational injuries and disorders remains high among seafarers. In order to improve safety standards, industry stakeholders increasingly require written documentation of numerous routines, procedures and tasks performed on board. These increased demands have however added to the administrative burden. Some say, to the extent that administrative work has become a safety risk in itself. This paper presents the result of a survey investigating how Swedish seafarers perceive their own level of fatigue, stress and over-exertion related to work. The material consists of 1309 respondents originating from a random selection procedure, of which 651 reported to be employed in short sea shipping. Multiple regression analysis (OLS regression), allowing adjusted effects, were applied in several steps of the analysis. The highest levels of exertion were reported by employees in the catering department, positions not generally associated with high administrative burden. Perceived high levels of administrative work do increase the level of exertion, but cannot explain the observed pattern. Future ship and trade-specific studies on physical and mental well-being and complementary studies on the catering department’s working conditions and work environment are necessary.

Organizational commitment and conflicting values : The impact of systems of norms in six Western Countries

This study compares organizational commitment in six western countries: USA, Great Britain, New Zealand, Germany, Norway, and Sweden. The main focus is on the hypothesized existence of conflicting values due to different systems of norms. The assumption made is that the central norms, values, and expectations in any particular work organization, originate in a more general technical/economic system of norms; and that subordinated groups, supporters of left-wing values, those identifying with lower social classes, and union members all espouse other systems of norms, which are not entirely compatible with this technical/economic system, and that these groups are therefore likely to display lower organizational commitment than other groups. The results in this paper do suggest the existence of conflicting norms and that this has implications for organizational commitment. The most noteworthy finding is that organizational commitment correlates with right-wing political values in five of the six countries. Other similarities and differences between the countries are also identified and discussed, and new avenues for further comparative research are suggested.

Have a Healthy Lifestyle or Organize Work – Creating Healthy Shipboard Work Environments

This paper presents findings from a study concerning the work environment on board Swedish passenger vessels. The study explored work-related experiences of personnel in the service department (hotel, restaurant, catering, shops) based on individual and group interviews, observations, survey data and social insurance statistics concerning sick leave longer than 60 days. The results of this paper are based on ten semi-structured individual and group interviews with 16 respondents. The respondents were HR personnel from six shipping companies and crewmembers working onboard.

Underlying Causes of and Potential Measures to Reduce Long-term Sick Leave Among Employees in the Service Department on Board Swedish Passenger Vessels

This paper presents findings from a workshop focused on the physical, social and organizational work environment in the service department on board Swedish passenger vessels. Twentyseven maritime p ...

The Impact of Family and Job Content on Swedish Seafarers' Occupational Commitment : A Gendered Issue?

Ongoing research has indicated important effects on seafarers’ occupational commitment due to gender and family situation. In this study, these findings have been elaborated further by controlling for the effect of perceived work content. Statistical analyses were employed, using a survey material of Swedish seafarers collected from a national register in 2010. The results showed that the effect on occupational commitment of having children at home is strongly positive and statistically significant for women. However, the significance was dependent on the level of satisfaction with the job content. It was suggested that the seafaring occupation could be viewed as a coping strategy, although only appropriate if the job content is agreeable. Another important family effect was, as expected, the positive effect of having a relative working, or having worked, at sea. This effect was, however, only significant for male seafarers in the age group below the early 40’s. It was concluded that this effect is mainly emotionally driven and not particularly influenced by the actual job content. The results further showed that working in the catering department comes with a strong negative effect on commitment to the seafaring occupation for women. This effect, however, lost its significance after control for job content. It was concluded that the effect of satisfaction with job content on occupational commitment is generally important, with the exception of women, without children, working in the catering department.

How Do You Measure Green Culture in Shipping? : The Search for a Tool Through Interviews with Swedish Seafarers

Today, the shipping industry faces important environmental challenges to reduce the impact of sea transport to the marine environment. In order to enhance compliance and encourage safe and efficient maritime operations, the implementation of a safety culture in both shore organisation and on board ships has been advocated. Similarly, it can be argued that a conscious ‘greening’ of an organisation’s culture may be necessary in order to meet legislative and societal demands, as well as embrace environmentally responsible values, beliefs and behaviours. The present pilot study describes the development and evaluation of a model designed to capture attitudes and perception among seafarers with regards to proactive environmental work in the shipping industry. The overall aim of the model is to enable measurement of the extent to which a ‘green culture’ is present within the shipping industry, and to identify factors that either facilitate or act as barriers to a green culture. Evaluation of the model was done through qualitative individual and focus group interviews with, in all, 13 active Swedish seafarers during the autumn of 2014. The findings show that the model captures the sought after mechanisms fairly well and shows some promise. Future work is needed to further refine and test the model in a larger setting, in order to provide a robust picture of the seafarers’ view on ‘green’ shipping.

Swedish Seafarers’ Occupational Commitment in Light of Gender and Family Situation

The present study focuses on the pattern of Swedish seafarers’ occupational commitment relative to gender and family situation. Statistical analyses are employed, using a survey material of Swedish seafarers randomly collected from a national register in 2010. It was hypothesized that the effect from having children at home should be negative on commitment to seafaring occupation. However, the effect was found to be strongly positive and statistically significant for women and close to significant for men. Another important family effect was, as expected, the positive effect of having a relative working, or having worked, at sea. This effect was, however, only significant for male seafarers in the age group below the early 40’s. When controlling for possible mediating effects due to gender distribution in the onboard departments, it became clear that working in the catering department comes with a strong negative effect on commitment to the seafaring occupation, but only so for women. This effect did not, however, alter much of the already observed gender patterns. In the concluding discussion, the findings are discussed in more details and recommendations put forward.