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This paper describes a sourcing decision process and how that process is done in order to achieve high commitment in and of sourcing decisions. It can be stated that it is important with high commitment in and of sourcing decisions for the process as well as the result to be successful. The study uses a decision-making process in a Swedish municipality to describe the importance of having high commitment and how high commitment can be achieved. The sourcing decision process was a decision-making process where the final result was an internal reorganisation in the municipality regarding hosting of software applications. From an outsourcing point of view this can be described as internal outsourcing. The structure of the hosting was before the decision highly decentralised. The objective and the goal of the decision were to centralise hosting of software applications. There was weak motivation for changing the structure and thereby low commitment among involved stakeholders at the start of the process. The case shows how the decision-makers conducted the decision-making process in order to increase commitment of the already taken decision. That the decision already was taken at the start of the process indicates that the decision could be described as a decision-making paradox. From the case it can be concluded that the decision-making process was successful and that the high commitment existing after the process indicates that the outcome of the decision will have high potential to be successful as well.

In the introduction to Minima Moralia (1951) Theodor Adorno reflects on the dubious choice to set out from the (bourgeois) subjective experience. Adorno defends his enterprise, arguing (with and against Hegel) that what is disappearing is historically essential. Today the subject is the obvious point of departure not only for aphoristic philosophy, but also for literature and art in general, and even academic research. Autobiographical fiction has become so frequent that it is hard to find counterexamples. In a trivial sense the subject has obviously all but dissolved, as Adorno feared it would. If there is still a need to defend it is thus debatable. In the theoretical discourse of today, the discussion is normally centred on processes of subjectivation, performativity, storytelling, recognition etc. In a way this can be seen as a consequence of postmodern thinking: the subject is no longer a ?natural?, self-evident entity, but something constructed, something we are free to ?do?. On the other hand there is a tendency that this constructed subjectivity becomes as natural, positive, simple and good-natured as any ?pre-postmodern? subjectivity. The question is, in other words, if we in reality have come any further than Adorno; if our historical situation really differs from his. How then should we understand subjectivity today, in a literary context? In my paper I will discuss this in relation to the theories of Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze, Judith Butler, Slavoj Zizek and Jacques Ranci?re. In the beginning of The Ticklish Subject Slavoj Zizek remarks that the Cartesian subject is a spectre that all philosophical schools are combating today ? somehow this is an ironic indication of the vitality of the Cartesian subject. To a certain extent I believe Zizek is right; on the other hand the need to rethink the form of subjectivity Adorno (or Descartes) presupposes seems obvious. In a way I think this is what Ranci?re does when he focuses ?an interval for political subjectivization? between man and citizen, rather than a fixed individual subject. These questions are both aesthetically and politically relevant. F x one could ask if the amount of autofiction published during the last decade is an expression of the dissolved subject, or on the contrary of a kind of hyper-individualism. Or do those options in reality amount to the same powerlessness?

The political discourse that has emerged as a consequence of establishing a European regulatory framework for GMOs has not been without problems. This dissertation addresses the political and regulatory challenges created by the development and use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the EU. The underlying hypothesis in the dissertation is that the emergence of a European policy in the field of GMOs has appeared through new reflexive forms of governance. The aim of this research is to understand how these reflexive forms of regulation have emerged and operate within the EU, with a particular focus on the two GMO directives 90/220/EEC and 2001/18/EC. However, the study scrutinises the regulatory regimes from the 1970s onwards by investigating how the regulatory framework regarding GMOs has been developed and implemented in the EU. This is done through an analysis of the notion of 'risk' and the 'precautionary principle' since these concepts have been at the forefront of the GMO regulation debate. The empirical approach focuses on how the European Commission, the European Parliament and the European Council as well as other actors and institutions articulate ambivalence, interpretations and uncertainties in the decision-making processes regarding regulative measures for GMOs, with an accent on risk and the precautionary principle. The main empirical material has been documents concerning the inter-institutional process involved in the regulatory process of making the two directives. The analysis indicates that during the process of implementing GMO regulations, new steering strategies have appeared within the EU's decision-making institutions when the objective of the regulation has taken centre stage in political and scientific controversies. ; Den politiska diskursen som har uppstått som en följd av upprättandet av ett europeiskt regelverk för GMO har inte varit utan problem. Denna avhandling behandlar de politiska utmaningar som alstrats av skapandet och tillämpningen av genetiskt modifierade organismer (GMO) inom EU. Den underliggande hypotesen i avhandlingen är att framväxten av en europeisk politik på området för GMO har uppstått genom nya reflexiva regleringsformer. Syftet med denna forskning är att förstå hur reflexiva regleringsformer har uppkommit och opererar inom EU, med särskilt fokus på de två GMO direktiven 90/220/EEG och 2001/18/EG. Studien analyserar lagstiftning från 1970-talet och framåt genom att undersöka hur lagstiftningen om genetiskt modifierade organismer har utvecklats och implementerats i EU. Detta görs genom en analys av begreppen 'risk' och 'försiktighetsprincipen' eftersom dessa begrepp har varit centrala för debatten om GMO lagstiftningen. Den empiriska metoden fokuserar på hur Europeiska kommissionen, Europaparlamentet och Europeiska rådet samt andra aktörer och institutioner har uttryckt ambivalens, tolkningar och osäkerhet i beslutsfattandet gällande reglerings åtgärder för genetiskt modifierade organismer, med tonvikt på risk och försiktighetsprincipen. Det huvudsakliga empiriska materialet är dokument gällande den interinstitutionella processen som ägde rum när de två direktiven skapades. Analysen visar att implementeringen av GMO lagstiftningen har skapat nya styrningsstrategier i synnerhet i de fall där ändamålet med lagstiftningen har varit föremål för politiska och vetenskapliga kontroverser.

Clostridium perfringens, an anaerobic Gram-positive bacterium known to be a common pathogen in humans, domestic animals and in wildlife, is the primary cause of clostridial enteric disease in domestic animals. C. perfringens can lead to both clinical and subclinical disease in poultry. Due to the diminished use of growth-promoting antibiotics in the European Union, C. perfringens associated necrotic enteritis and subclinical diseases have become serious threats to poultry health. The objectives of this PhD project were to learn how C. perfringens causes necrotic enteritis in broilers. The genetic diversity of C. perfringens in a wider perspective was also determined. It is of great importance that the plasmid-borne toxin genes are stable, both when the bacteria are transported to the laboratory and at the laboratory, in order that toxin typing of C. perfringens isolates should be accurate. Our results demonstrate that the plasmid encoded genes cpb1, cpb2 and etx are indeed stable under normal laboratory conditions and under conditions normally applying during transportation. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) was used to explore the genetic relatedness of C. perfringens. The genetic diversity was found to be wide among C. perfringens isolates from different animal species, from food poisoning outbreaks and sewage sludge. Epidemiologically related isolates showed a close genetic similarity, as expected, while isolates with no obvious epidemiological relationship were genetically not so similar. Furthermore, sequence comparison of the cpb2 gene revealed two genetically different populations. The genetic relatedness of C. perfringens isolates from a broiler flock affected by mild necrotic enteritis (NE) was investigated by PFGE. Generally, a low genetic relatedness was found among C. perfringens isolates from these broilers affected by either mild or severe NE. The uniform susceptibility to narasin indicated that the substance can still be used to control clostridiosis, and that development of the resistance observed is slow. In this study C. perfringens also showed a low degree of resistance to most other antimicrobials tested. The exception was the high degree of tetracycline resistance found in C. perfringens in Swedish broilers.

While the position of press secretaries to ministers has become routinized, we still know little about their everyday life in the political executive. This article, based on in‐depth interviews with press secretaries and an inventory of social media use conducted among ministers and press secretaries in Sweden, explores what press secretaries do and the roles and functions they fill. It addresses the overarching question of what it is really like to be government press secretary. It engages with this question through a combination of methods, mapping, and explaining patterns of behavior across related fields and strategic spaces. We argue that existing research and role typologies, while still useful, must be developed by accounting more for how press secretary work changes through new techniques and digitalization. We conclude that press secretaries fill a mix of roles and these are quite stable, but social media impacts on the daily routine of the press secretary and are a part of the work that is difficult or impossible to control. In addition, this study of Swedish press secretaries helps to redress a geographical imbalance in political communication (system) research where the focus usually is on Anglo‐American‐based scholarship and systems.

While the position of press secretaries to ministers has become routinized, we still know little about their everyday life in the political executive. This article, based on in-depth interviews with press secretaries and an inventory of social media use conducted among ministers and press secretaries in Sweden, explores what press secretaries do and the roles and functions they fill. It addresses the overarching question of what it is really like to be government press secretary. It engages with this question through a combination of methods, mapping, and explaining patterns of behavior across related fields and strategic spaces. We argue that existing research and role typologies, while still useful, must be developed by accounting more for how press secretary work changes through new techniques and digitalization. We conclude that press secretaries fill a mix of roles and these are quite stable, but social media impacts on the daily routine of the press secretary and are a part of the work that is difficult or impossible to control. In addition, this study of Swedish press secretaries helps to redress a geographical imbalance in political communication (system) research where the focus usually is on Anglo-American-based scholarship and systems.

PurposeThis research aims to develop a model for describing and analysing materials supply systems (MSSs) design in product development projects (PDPs).Design/methodology/approachLiterature on materials supply and production systems design is reviewed in order to derive a MSSs design model. The model is applied to empirical data from a qualitative case study, which exemplifies how the model can serve to describe MSSs design in PDPs. Moreover, the model is used to analyse the empirical data related to the focus and characteristics of the design issues.FindingsThe model developed contains six areas: materials feeding, storage, transportation, handling, packaging, and manufacturing planning and control at four levels: supply chain, plant, sub‐unit, and utility.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research could complement the model by developing a design process to enable systematic design of the MSS as well as the integration of materials supply aspects at an early stage of PDPs. Such a design process should also consider the design of the flows of specific components.Practical implicationsThe importance of considering the relationships between the six design areas as well as evaluating the whole MSS is highlighted.Originality/valueThe paper focuses on the materials supply aspects dealt with in PDPs, which have been the subject of little research interest so far, despite the fact that extensive resources are required for materials supply activities.

This dissertation contributes to the growing literature on conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV). More specifically, the four essays it contains advance our understanding of CRSV by shedding light on the intersection between international involvement and CRSV perpetrated by states and rebel groups engaged in civil war. Despite the increased attention to CRSV among international policy-makers, this intersection has been examined only sparsely within the scholarship on CRSV. Essays I, II, and III address the overarching question of how different types of international involvement influence the level of CRSV. Essay I offers a global study of the effect of third-party military involvement on levels of CRSV. It argues that shifts in the balance of power following external involvement tend to aggravate the situation with regard to CRSV, and it finds indicative support for this. Essay II examines the capacity of peacekeeping missions to mitigate CRSV. It finds that the effectiveness of peacekeeping hinges on the degree of internal control exercised by states and rebel groups. Essay III looks beyond military involvement and focuses on the political power of condemnation. Using newly collected data on condemnations of sexual violence issued by the United Nations (UN) human-rights body between 1987 and 2014, the study tests the extent to which governments that perpetrate CRSV can be influenced by international condemnation. In parallel, the study examines the power of domestic outrage expressed through protests. The findings have important policy implications: Domestic protests are associated with an escalation of CRSV by states. International condemnation correlates with declines in CRSV in recent years (2008–2014), but not historically. International involvement – whether multilateral or unilateral – only materialises if fellow states so decide. Essay IV thus focuses on the willingness of states to take action against CRSV perpetrated by other states. By examining bilateral condemnations of sexual violence issued within the UN Universal Periodic Review, this essay sheds light on the diplomatic relationships and political interests that shape the (un)willingness of individual states to condemn CRSV. In sum, this dissertation makes both theoretical and empirical contributions to the research on CRSV, as well as to the scholarship on international involvement in civil wars more broadly.

This book analyses the everyday emotions of international peacebuilding practitioners as practices that hinder - and potentially help - them to listen more receptively to their local partners. It develops 'emotional practices' as an analytical framework by integrating critical feminist perspectives insights into practice approaches. Effective peacebuilding requires international actors to listen to local partners, which sounds simple but often fails in practice. Examining how everyday emotions help or hinder internationals' receptivity to local perspectives, the book's approach challenges conventional wisdom that emotions do not matter - at least not those of internationals who are the privileged party in peacebuilding partnerships. The book is based on interviews with peacebuilding practitioners, donors and researchers working in the Balkans and East Africa as well as in the UK, the US and Sweden, and gives a detailed and no-nonsense description of daily dilemmas regarding listening and partnerships. Johansson provides concrete recommendations of how internationals can practice personally, organizationally and geopolitically to build emotional capacity that will help them listen better to local actors. Drawing on the author's expertise in political science and peace and conflict research, this volume speaks to scholars in international relations, political theory, sociology, cultural studies, development studies, critical theory and anthropology.

"This book analyses the everyday emotions of international peacebuilding practitioners as practices that hinder - and potentially help - them to listen more receptively to their local partners. It develops 'emotional practices' as an analytical framework by integrating critical feminist perspectives insights into practice approaches. Effective peacebuilding requires international actors to listen to local partners, which sounds simple but often fails in practice. Examining how everyday emotions help or hinder internationals' receptivity to local perspectives, the book's approach challenges conventional wisdom that emotions do not matter - at least not those of internationals who are the privileged party in peacebuilding partnerships. The book is based on interviews with peacebuilding practitioners, donors and researchers working in the Balkans and East Africa as well as in the UK, the US and Sweden, and gives a detailed and no-nonsense description of daily dilemmas regarding listening and partnerships. Johansson provides concrete recommendations of how internationals can practice personally, organizationally and geopolitically to build emotional capacity that will help them listen better to local actors. Drawing on the author's expertise in political science and peace and conflict research, this volume speaks to scholars in international relations, political theory, sociology, cultural studies, development studies, critical theory and anthropology"--