Focus on trust-based governance and management in new research programme

As part of the research programme “Arbetsplatsens struktur och arbetsrelaterad ohälsa: kvinnodominans, organisatoriska faktorer, åtgärder och politiska beslut i kommunal förvaltning” (Workplace structure and work-related illness: female dominance, organisational factors, measures and political decisions in local government administrations), researchers at Karlstad Business School look at long-term problems with work-related illness and sick leave in female-dominated professions.

The background of the project is the great interest in trust-based governance and management in Swedish local governments and regions and the hopes linked to increased autonomy and room for action for first-line managers and employees.

Sven Siverbo, professor of business administration at Karlstad Business School, why is this project important?

- The project is based on the assumption that more autonomy and room for action is not always a good thing, but can also create work-related problems and challenges for management and employees. A particular interest is linked to the gender dimension since there is reason to assume that the changes will not benefit female employees to the same extent as male employees due to different risk preferences and social gender roles in society.

What is the purpose of the project?

- To identify the effects of an autonomy-oriented governance model – trust-based governance and management – on people’s well-being in female-dominated workplaces.

What are your expectations on the project?

- I want to get to the bottom of the myths and risks involved in turning trust and similar management ideas into ideals. In what situations and for whom should room for action and autonomy be increased and when is it better to maintain responsibility at the central level and rely more on governance?

About the project

The research programme “Arbetsplatsens struktur och arbetsrelaterad ohälsa: kvinnodominans, organisatoriska faktorer, åtgärder och politiska beslut i kommunal förvaltning” has been granted SEK 24 million by FORTE. The programme is led and administered by researchers at Mälardalen University, and data collection is conducted through qualitative interviews and surveys during 2023–2026.