Misa Sjöberg

Indirect leadership in a military context: a qualitative study on how to do it

Purpose – To develop a theoretical understanding of how indirect leadership is done in a military context.Design/methodology/approach – A grounded theory approach was used. Twenty-two high-level Sw ...

Leadership in complex, stressful rescue operations: a qualitative study

Purpose – To develop a theoretical understanding of leadership in stressful, complex rescue operations.Design/methodology/approach – A grounded theory approach was used. Twenty rescue operation com ...

Moral stress in international humanitarian aid and rescue operations : a grounded theory study

Humanitarian aid professionals frequently encounter situations in which one is conscious of the morally appropriate action but cannot take it because of institutional obstacles. Dilemmas like this are likely to result in a specific kind of stress reaction at the individual level, labeled as moral stress. In our study, 16 individuals working with international humanitarian aid and rescue operations participated in semistructured interviews, analyzed in accordance with a grounded theory approach. A theoretical model of ethical decision making from a moral stress perspective was developed. The practical implications of the study are discussed.

Leader development in natural context: A grounded theory approach to discovering how military leaders grow.

Despite an increasing number of programs that aim to develop or educate leaders, the underlying processes involved in leader development or growth are not well understood. This study was undertaken to discover what factors or processes are involved in leader development for junior military officers, from their own perspective and in the natural context of their career and life experiences. Military officers (N = 51) from 5 different countries were interviewed using a standardized approach, and interview transcripts were analyzed according to the constant comparative method of grounded theory, as elaborated by Glaser and Strauss (1967). Consistently across the 5 countries, the core of the process model of leader development is the social interaction between the young officer and his or her significant others (soldiers, peers, and superiors). In the favorable case, officers end this process feeling secure, being able to flexibly adapt their overt behavior on an underdistanced–overdistanced continuum according to situational demands, and have a firm professional identity.

Trust at first sight : Swift trust in leaders in temporary military groups

Purpose – The study seeks to illuminate factors that benefit, or do not benefit, the development of swift trust towards leaders in temporary military groups.Design/methodology/approach – The study ...

A civil contingencies agency management system for disaster aid: a theoretical model

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a deeper theoretical understanding of a civil contingencies agency that, as part of its ordinary task, executes humanitarian aid and rescue operations following disasters in an international milieu, from a management perspective.Design/methodology/approach – The approach taken is a qualitative interview study using a grounded theory approach to analysis.Findings – A theoretical model was developed consisting of a hierarchical system of codes, categories, and superior categories. One superior category labelled underlying conditions consists of factors influencing the operative organisation abroad, such as political rule, availability of financiers, and the everyday activities of the organisation. Another superior category labelled the operation contains the dimension of time (before, during, and after the operation). Two core variables underlying rationale and resource structure of the operation were identified, whereby underlying rationale may be efficienc...

Leadership in complex, stressful rescue operations: A quantitative test of a qualitatively developed model

Purpose - The purpose of the paper is to explore the universality of a qualitatively (grounded theory) developed model of leadership in complex and/or stressful rescue operations.Design - The model ...

Trust in a military context: What contributes to trust in superior and subordinate leaders?

The aim was to explore which components military personnel in peacekeeping operations perceive as contributing to trust in their superior and subordinate leaders during international or national operations or exercises. Data were collected among 591 military officers and cadets from Norway and Sweden using a questionnaire with open-ended questions. Two superior categories emerged: Individual-Related Characteristics and Communication- and Relationship-Related Characteristics. The former is made up of the higher-level categories Personal attributes and Experience and competence. The latter is derived from the higher-level categories Consideration and inspiration and Effective communication. In turn, all higher-level categories are underpinned by a number of subcategories (13 altogether). When comparing trust in superior leaders with trust in subordinate leaders, the results show that trust in superiors is characterised to a greater extent by Communication- and Relationship-related characteristics and also by Experience and professional knowledge. Trust in subordinate leaders is characterised to a greater extent by Personal attributes and Management competence.

Indirect leadership: a quantitative test of a qualitatively developed model

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the applicability of a previously developed model of indirect leadership (qualitative Grounded Theory case study) in a broader military context.Des ...

A civil contingencies agency management system for disaster aid: Qualitative validation of an empirically grounded model

Purpose – The aim of this article is twofold: (1) validation of a theoretical model of a civil contingencies agency management system, and (2) methodological development by employing qualitative me ...