This study aims to examine social support at work amongst the employees of Icelandic municipalities and its relationship to job satisfaction, bullying and harassment. The study is based on an online survey conducted in 2021. A total of 4973 employees answered the questionnaire in part or in full after three reminders (57% response rate). The majority of the participants in the study were women (82%), but this gender ratio was representative of the population. The results show that social support gave an average score of 4.2 on a scale of 1–5; 87% of the participants were rather often or always satisfied with their job, 8% had experienced bullying at work, 2% had experienced sexual harassment and 3% had experienced gender-based harassment. Social support has a positive, moderately strong correlation with employee job satisfaction and a weak negative correlation with bullying at work. Based on the results, social support is an important factor related to the job satisfaction of employees and is a protective factor against bullying and sexual harassment at work. This finding demonstrates that managers and those responsible for employee well-being in the workplace should focus on social support at work, especially now that the psychosocial work environment is fragile because of COVID-19.

How does distance affect foreign direct investment? Subject of this research is to determine important factors for the United Kingdom, when undertaking foreign direct investment (FDI). The UK is therefore estimated as the home country of investment, investing in the form of FDI in multiple host countries. More specifically, this research measures determinants of FDI outward stock from the UK to other OECD countries. This research examines how distance affects foreign direct investment and provides twofold contribution. First: Hofstede culture distance effects on foreign direct investment is measured. Second: Geographical kilometer distance effects on foreign direct investment is measured. Methodology used in this research is based on the gravity model, presenting a model setup designed for international trade. Moreover, the research applies foreign direct investment OECD data, together with data on gross domestic product and population. The equation specification combines the economic variables with measures for geographical distances, and the Hofstede Culture measure. First regression equation estimates FDI as a function of GDP, population and Culture Distance. Second regression equation estimates FDI as a function of GDP, population and Geographical Distance. This regression setup provides a clear opportunity to estimate the difference between impact of cultural and geographical distance, represented in the estimation coefficients of the regressions. The British Empire has evolved and through time developed the British culture. Purpose of this current research is to examine how cultural distance and geographical distance impact foreign direct investment, with foreign direct investment often being an indicator of the long-term commitment of foreign investors. Furthermore, with the purpose of finding how foreign direct investment is impacted by several different cultural factors, we analyze various dimensions of the Hofstede culture. These are the power distance (PDI), individualism (IDV), the masculinity/femininity (MAS), and the uncertainty avoidance (UAI). Conclusion is that, all taken together, the research finds foreign direct investment from the UK going to other OECD countries to be more highly affected by geographical distance than cultural distance. Which is interesting considering Brexit. Potentially, this is because the UK is not so culturally different from its main trading partners in the OECD, which is an interesting subject for future research.

Mikilvægt er að starfsfólki líði vel á vinnustaðnum enda verja flestir stórum hluta ævinnar þar. Vellíðan á vinnustað hefur áhrif bæði á lífsgæði starfsfólks sem og verðmætasköpun fyrirtækja og þjónustugæði stofnanna. Það eru ýmsir þættir í vinnuumhverfinu sem geta valdið vanlíðan hjá starfsfólki og er einelti og áreitni á vinnustað talin hafa neikvæð áhrif á starfsfólk og þar með starfsánægju. Félagslegur stuðningur á vinnustað er hins vegar talinn verndandi þáttur gegn neikvæðum þáttum í vinnuumhverfinu. Markmið þessarar rannsóknar var að skoða félagslegan stuðning á vinnustað meðal starfsfólks íslenskra sveitarfélaga og tengsl hans við starfsánægju, einelti og kynferðislega og kynbundna áreitni á vinnustað. Rannsóknin byggir á rafrænni spurningalistakönnun frá árinu 2019 meðal starfsfólks 13 íslenskra sveitarfélaga. Í heildina svöruðu 5.182 spurningalistanum að einhverju eða öllu leyti eftir þrjár ítrekanir, sem gefur 54% svarhlutfall. Mun fleiri konur en karlar eru þátttakendur í rannsókninni eða 82% en það kynjahlutfall endurspeglar vel kynjahlutfall starfsfólks sveitarfélaganna. Niðurstöðurnar sýna að félagslegur stuðningur mældist 4,1 á skalanum 1-5, hærri meðal kvenna en karla. Starfsánægja mældist einnig 4,1 og um 8% starfsfólksins hafði orðið yfir einelti á vinnustað og um 2% fyrir kynferðislegri áreitni og kynbundinni áreitni. Niðurstöðurnar sýna einnig að félagslegur stuðningur hafði jákvæð miðlungs sterk tengsl við starfsánægju starfsfólksins og neikvæð veik tengsl við einelti og kynferðislega og kynbundna áreitni á vinnustað. Álykta má út frá niðurstöðum rannsóknarinnar að félagslegur stuðningur vinnufélaga og yfirmanna sé mikilvægur þáttur í starfsánægju starfsfólks sveitarfélaga og sé verndandi þáttur gegn einelti og áreitni á vinnustað. Niðurstöðurnar gefa vísbendingar um að stjórnendur og þeir sem bera ábyrgð á vellíðan á vinnustað ættu að leggja áherslu á félagslegan stuðning á vinnustað, ekki síst nú á tímum Covid-19 og á vinnustöðum þar sem sálfélagslegt vinnuumhverfi er erfitt.