Syfte: Identifiera samband mellan risk management och värdering. Metod: Kombinerad metod, både kvantitativ och kvalitativ användes i undersökningen. Analys av teoretiskt underlag ledde till framtagande av faktorer samt mätningar och indikationer som beskriver värdering, risk management och samband. En surveystudie och innehållsanalys genomfördes. Kvalitativ metod användes vid databearbetning och analys. Resultat och slutsatser: Forskning av risk management respektive värdering bör ske inte enbart utifrån de tillhörande ämnena utan även från ett organisationsteoriperspektiv. Mintzbergs organisationsteori är lämplig att applicera på undersökningar både av risk management och värdering. Det ger bättre förståelse av dessa fenomen och förklaring hur de fungerar och kan förutsägas i företagsmiljön. Undersökningen visar att bolagen, oavsett storlek och typ, kan styra val av risk managementtyp och värderingsituation: Små bolag kan välja mellan självstyrande eller mer samordnad riskhantering, stora bolag därmed kan inrikta sig antingen mot att bygga en risk management med stark lednings & teknostruktur eller ha risk management, integrerad i befintlig organisation. Bolagen och dess ledning borde bli uppmärksamma på problematiken kring kunskapsökningsmöjligheter och balansen mellan flexibilitetsbehov och formaliseringskrav vid organisering av arbete med värderingar. Följande risk management och värderingssituationer stödjer och utvecklar varandra: Riskkapitalbolagen som har standardiserade riskhanteringsprocesser förbättrar den flexibla värderingssituationen. Samordnad riskstyrning ökar kunskapen om risker och dess hantering som i sin tur ökar möjligheterna till bättre användning av värderingsverktygen vid värderingar. Samordnade riskhanteringsaktiviteter innebär även att det ställs krav på en viss formalisering av värderingsarbetet. Det skapas en positiv trend då kunskap om nya risker vid värderingar mer formaliseras och bevaras som i sin tur leder till en bättre riskstyrning – koordinering av risk management hos riskkapitalbolag. Den formaliserade värderingsarbetessituationen hos bankerna innebär att kunskap om omvärld, nya risker och värderingsverktyg standardiseras. Varje ny information om nya risker och nya värderingsverktyg tas emot av risk management organisationen som i sin tur kan förbättra koordinering av riskhanteringsprocesser, rapportering samt föra kunskap om risker vidare i organisationen. På så sätt höjs risk managementnivån i hela bolaget. Vidare är standardiserad och integrerad risk management i befintlig organisation den situation som bäst påverkar värderingen. Standardisering av risk managementprocesser, resultat och kunskap innebär stöd i olika risk managementfrågor för hela organisationen, inkluderat värderingsarbete. En mer integrerad risk management organisationsform innebär mindre övervakning och kontroll som är en viktig förutsättning för professionellt värderingsarbetet.

Life for Lebanese women has become one of the most rapidly changing elements in Lebanese society. Women in the Lebanese region can no longer be described as scared, inferior, domestic women who hardly leave their houses. This advancement of women in the workforce in this region can be attributed to factors including women attaining higher education and a greater demand in the job market.This research project measures female manger evaluation on the barriers they face or perceive under organizational culture, organizational practices, organizational networks and interpersonal relationships, mentoring, tokenism, and usage of wasta in organization. In addition, it assesses their views on the role of family and other sources of support in their ability to manage their double role. In addition, the research demonstrates how the Lebanese managers female have high levels of subjective career success. The results showed that the Lebanese female manager in different managerial levels has a highly satisfied and success levels mainly attributed to their satisfaction with the subjective aspects of their careers. Therefore, Lebanese women managers were satisfied with their overall job, the progress they made to meet their career goals, and goals for advancement.

Large companies invest a vast amount of capital and time on R&D annually. With all this financial investment in R&D, it is important that the companies get value for their invested capital. By creating innovations, such as new products and services, involve high risk and will necessarily not lead to successful commercial ends. Many companies lack the competencies in selecting ideas and transform them into value. Knowledge in innovations is affecting companies, especially those that are investing heavily in R&D. The present study explain how value can be created from innovation around the topics of innovativeness, innovation protection and market efficiency, within a large global manufacturing company in Sweden with global operations. A four dimensional measure from a prior study has been the base for the structural theoretical model that has been tested. The authors have divided innovativeness, innovation protection and market efficiency into absorptive capacity (ACAP), open innovation, patents, secrecy, lead time advantages and complementary assets and studied modern literature to find relationships between these and how it affects firm performance. They have also done a survey and interviews to examine the present status in a large manufacturing company. The empirical findings show support for a relationship between ACAP and firm performance, ACAP and success of strategic alliances as well as a relationship between protection of innovation and success of strategic alliances.

Background

Open source is largely accepted as an important innovation driver in the technology industry. Even though inclusion and diversity is beneficial for the success of technology projects (including open source software projects), many statistics are pointing out that diversity in open source is even worse than in the technology sector in general. The unequal representation of minorities (in this limited scope study represented by women) has negative effects on the innovation potential of many tech-related companies and is a major cause of corporate companies’ concerns. To attract more women and increase their retention in open source software projects and communities, the understanding of reasons behind the decisions on why they leave/defect an open source project can be is essential for the development of the effective retention strategies in OSS. 

Objective

Based on the extensive literature review conducted by Trinkenreich, et al. (2021), only a few studies make a theoretical connection to why women leave (or avoid) open source software projects. This study aimed to explore the challenges faced by women in open source that may predict (or influence) their intention to leave/defect an open source software project/community. Thus, the following research question was formulated: What are the specific challenges faced by women in OS that may predict (or influence) their intention to leave an OSS project/community?

Methodology

The initial in-depth literature review discovered a list of socio-cultural challenges faced by women when contributing to open source projects. Trinkenreich, et al. (2021) have grouped these challenges conceptually as follows: (1) Lack of peer parity; (2) Non-inclusive communication; (3) Toxic culture; (4)  Impostor syndrome; (5) Community reception issues; (6) Stereotyping; (7) Work-life balance issues, (8) Gender-identified contributions. Additionally, one of the authors of this study found an existing dataset on the state of diversity, equity, and inclusion in open source as of 2021. The survey ‘2021 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Open Source’ was developed and distributed by the Linux Foundation. The data for this survey was gathered in 2021 from 2,350 individuals, particularly, from the Foundation’s subscribers and community members, on questions about their sense of inclusion and belongingness in OS communities. The authors of this study made the initial mapping of the questions from the Linux Foundation survey against challenge-clustering developed by Trinkenreich, et al. (2021). This helped to isolate the following groups of challenges for this study: (1) Non-Inclusive Communication & Community Reception Issues; (2) Toxic Culture; and (3) Gender-Identified Contributions & Stereotyping, that are likely to contribute to women leaving/defecting an OSS project/community. Altogether, this helped to formulate two hypotheses: null  (H0) and alternative  (HA) which highlight the relationships between different variables in the dataset. The hypotheses were tested using multiple regression analysis. To test the hypotheses and answer the research question, the authors of this study did not design the survey questions themselves but rather observed them directly through the questions of the Linux Foundation survey. In the context of this study (viz., a small-scale applied research project) capitalizing on the secondary data made sense as explained further in the study. A multiple regression was carried out to explore whether any of the challenges (e.g., lack of response to or rejection of contributions or questions; experience of conflict or interpersonal tension between you and another contributor; experience of written or spoken language that made a women feel unwelcome; experience of threats of violence, stalking; experience of unsolicited sexual advances or comments; experience of stereotyping based on perceived demographic characteristics; experience of impersonation or malicious publication of personal information; experience of background-based harassment) could significantly predict (or influence) women’s intention to leave/defect an open source software project/community.

Results

The results of multiple regression analysis reject the null hypothesis. The following predictors (i.e., independent variables): Q17_04_violence_stalking_experience, Q17_06_stereotyping_experience, and Q18_background_based_harassment are statistically significant and thus contribute to the regression models because their statistical significance (i.e., the p-value) is less than 0.05. Based on the findings of the study, the challenges that may predict (or influence) women’s intention to leave/defect an open source software project/community can be formulated as follows:

o   For the sample ‘North America (Unites States, Canada, Mexico)’

§  [Model 1] experience of threats of violence, stalking directed at women in the context of an open source project 

§  [Model 2] experience of threats of violence, stalking and of harassment connected to their background directed at women in the context of an open source project 

o   For the sample ‘Europe’

§  [Model 1] experience of stereotyping based on perceived demographic characteristics directed at women in the context of an open source project 

§  [Model 2] experience of stereotyping based on perceived demographic characteristics and threats of violence, stalking directed at women in the context of an open source project 

Conclusions

Women’s intention to leave/defect an OSS project/community can be explained by the following prediction models (i.e., regression equations):

o   For the sample ‘North America (Unites States, Canada, Mexico)’

§  [Model 1]  Y = 0.892 – (0.413 * Q17_04_violence_stalking_experience)

§  [Model 2]  Y = 0.991 – (0.328 * Q17_04_violence_stalking_experience) – (0.228 * Q18_background_based_harassment)

o   For the sample ‘Europe’

§  [Model 1]  Y = 0.938 – (0.345 * Q17_06_stereotyping_experience)

§  [Model 2]  Y = 0.953 – (0.285 * Q17_06_stereotyping_experience) – (0.242 * Q17_04_violence_stalking_experience)

The results of the study also indicate that the models were a significant predictor of women’s intention to leave/defect an OSS project/community:

o   For the sample ‘North America (Unites States, Canada, Mexico)’

§  [Model 1]  F(1,134) = 31.671, p = <0.001

§  [Model 2]  F(2,133) = 20.342, p = <0.001

o   For the sample ‘Europe’

§  [Model 1]  F(1,104) = 19.874, p = <0.001

§  [Model 2]  F(2,103) = 13.118, p = <0.001

Contribution to theory and practice

Academic value: The findings of this study extend the knowledge about specific challenges faced by women in OS that may predict (or influence) their intention to leave an OSS project/community. Insights for adopting ‘Innovation by All’ workplace culture: The findings of this study provide OSS projects/communities with insights into the hindrances and determinants associated with women’s participation in OS. These insights, in their turn, can be valuable to understand and be aware of when an OSS team/community aims to adopt an ‘Innovation by All’ workplace culture and by doing so  - attain greater team productivity, more innovative and more revolutionary ideas, greater agility, and higher rates of ideas’ implementation, decision-making, and innovation. Internal analysis: The results of this study can be used to inform OSS teams/communities about the most critical aspects they need to address in order to attract more and retain existing female talent. Thus, the findings of this study can serve as an internal analysis for an OSS team/ community to take further actions on including and diversifying their project teams and ensuring that all members stay and keep on contributing to OSS projects.

Recommendations for future research

The following research proposals are suggested: (1) An extensive quantitative study amongst female contributors of various OSS projects/communities and a comparative analysis of these communities based on different parameters. (2) A replication of this study that examines/explores the specific challenges faced by the representatives of other minority groups in OS that may predict (or influence) their intention to leave an OSS project/community. (3) A comparative study (e.g., women versus men; women versus binary/no-gender participants; and so on) about challenges faced by them in OS that may predict (or influence) the intention to leave an OSS project/community.

The purpose of this thesis is to study the legitimacy perspective in sustainability reporting in the given context, and to find out whether Swedish construction companies define and value their legitimacy. In the thesis we have performed a qualitative study using the inductive method; in the research we have used hermeneutics as our starting point and constructionism as the research strategy. In the empirical part we have conducted structured interviews with a list of pre-formulated questions. For the interviews, we have chosen Sweden’s major property developers: Skanska AB, PEAB AB, NCC AB, JM AB and Midroc AB. Companies can get motivation to report their sustainability from their perceived obligation to support license to operate. Not all the companies use stakeholder analysis in the preparation of annual reports, which lets us assume that the companies base their choice of data mainly on internal perceptions of what is required. Data is not selected basing only on what company itself finds interesting; stakeholders’ information needs are reflected in the selection process, although, just like in the first question, not necessarily deliberately. Financial rationale is merely a criterion when choosing sustainability projects to work with; it does not define whether a company is focusing on sustainability in general.

This study examines if, and how recruiters identify and assess trustworthiness in potential leaders. This could benefit less experienced managers in the tools and methods they could use as well as the traits that should be focused on in order to find trustworthy leaders. By recruiting trustworthy leaders, team performance and organizational result could both increase.

Five managers were interviewed in the Swedish industrial sector regarding theirleader preferences during recruitment. The analysis of interview transcripts was conducted using a thematic analysis approach. The study draws on the theoretical perspectives on trustworthiness in leadership presented by Willink & Babin (2017) to provide a conceptual framework for interpreting the empirical evidence. 

The theoretical perspectives emphasize the importance of trustworthiness as a key leadership trait and outline the characteristics that leaders should embody to foster a culture of trust. The analysis of interview transcripts focuses on how recruiters recognize and evaluate leaders who demonstrate transparency, authenticity, reliability, and the four aspects of successful leadership identified by Willink & Babin (2017): ownership, belief, ego management, and recognition that there are no bad teams, only bad leaders.

The empirical evidence collected from the interview transcripts provides valuable insights into the recruiters' perspectives on leadership qualities, particularly in terms of trustworthiness, and the methods they use to assess potential leaders. The thematic analysis identified four main themes: (1) Key leadership traits, (2) Personal Experiences Shaping Leadership Preferences, (3) Techniques for Assessing traits during interview and (4) Assistance, tools, and work methods for assessing candidate’s traits. 

By examining the empirical evidence through the lens of the theoretical concepts covered in the theoretical framework and the identified themes, it becomes apparent that traits related to trustworthiness are sought after by the studied senior managers. The managers' emphasis on trustworthiness related traits, such as communication skills, empathy, and integrity, aligns with the principles of authenticity, self-awareness, and reliability discussed in the literature.

The study highlights the significance of identifying trustworthy leaders and the challenges that recruiters face when selecting candidates who possess these traits. The findings have implications for organizations seeking to enhance their selection processes and improve their ability to choose future leaders who will foster trust within their teams and contribute to the growth and success of their organizations.

Despite a growing number of Corporate Innovation Hubs (CIHs) in recent years, limited attention has been paidto understanding the key problems that arise among organizations collaborating through CIHs. In particular,organizations often experience Not-Invented-Here (NIH) and Not-Sold-Here (NSH) problems, i.e. negative attitudestowards absorbing external knowledge and towards sharing internal knowledge externally. Consequently,many CIHs fail to deliver and are regarded as “innovation theatres” rather than engines of renewal. By drawingupon an inductive multiple case study of five CIHs, their parent companies and associated startups, located inSilicon Valley (USA) and the Gothenburg region (Sweden), the article sheds light on how CIHs can mitigate NIHand NSH problems in knowledge transfer. Specifically, we investigate the causes, consequences and mitigatingmechanisms of NIH and NSH problems among the organizations collaborating through a CIH. These findings arepresented in a framework that connects causes and consequences with the corresponding mitigating mechanisms.We also present new theoretical implications for the literatures on NIH and NSH.

TOPIC: An Analysis of Marketing Strategies of an Integrated Facility Services Company: The Case of ISS, Sweden AUTHORS: Collins Nwakanma Amanze, Sondengam B.K.A SUPERVISOR: Anders Hederstierna COURSE: Master Thesis in Business Administration DEPARTMENT: School of Management, Blekinge Institute of Technology, Sweden PROGRAMME: Masters in Business Administration (MBA) PURPOSE: The purpose of our research is to understand how Integrated Facility service companies (using ISS, Sweden as our focus) develop, plan and implement useful marketing strategies that are result orientated and in line with the triple bottom line which encompasses economic profitability,social awareness and environmental responsibility. METHOD: We used both primary and secondary data sources. The secondary data used were literature review to enable us understand the general concept on marketing strategies and what research has been conducted on our topic. The primary data source was mainly interview with our contact person at ISS. These methods are all geared towards answering our research questions. RESEARCH QUESTION: The research questions are: 1. What strategies are used by ISS? 2. What strategies (if any) are relevant for the possible growth of an integrated facility services company? 3. How can these strategies be used to yield expected results in form of environmental responsibility, profits and company growth? FINDINGS: From the research we conducted as well as the analysis we made, we were able to determine ISS marketing strategy and to also find out that their marketing strategies lead the organization towards their corporate vision of leading facility services globally. We also established the fact that since we studied only one integrated facility company which is ISS, our conclusions can not be generalized as a rule of thumb for every integrated facility service company due to several factors highlighted in the body of our thesis. Also, we stressed the importance of environmental management system for every integrated facility service company. This standard in our opinion, would not only proof that such a company is serious about corporate social responsibility, it would also help lead the organization towards the triple bottom line.

Having the right information in the right place at the right time is fundamental although not easy for the making of significant business decisions and staying competitive. Competitive Intelligence CI allows the scanning of the environment, the recognition of risks and opportunities in the competitive arena and a better understanding of today & tomorrow's information requirements with the support of Business Intelligence BI Software. Choosing the right BI software is critical to increase productivity and effectiveness in the organization. At the same time a very elaborating and complex process due to the fact that numerous vendors exist on the market most of which are updated very rapidly besides most of BI software selection criteria already used are vague and not complete. It is also difficult to evaluate BI effectiveness as a tool in conjunction with supporting the CI cycle different phases. The objective of this study is to develop a model and test it on a small sample of BI vendors to support organizations in selecting the BI Software that best fits their business needs as well as differentiating between different vendors in this area while developing a reliable categorization. It is the answer to the criticism of criteria selected in other BI Software evaluations today. The major criticism is that software calling themselves BI only cover parts of the Intelligence Cycle. A comprehensive review on CI concepts, BI software functions along with previous BI software evaluations have been conducted in order to fulfill the first objective of the study (The model). Moreover, qualitative empirical study using the model developed was carried out to fulfill the other objectives by evaluating a chosen sample of BI software vendors. The study was able to develop what has been called the Solberg Søilen Amara Vriens Model for evaluating BI software after its authors, that consists of technological variables that covers the BI function along with the variables for measuring the level of CI Cycle phases support on a (5) point Likert scale. Subsequently, it tested the model on a limited sample of BI Software vendors. Moreover, the findings of the study also revealed that it is difficult to declare the most competitive BI software as what is good for one user might not be good for the other depending on their varied business needs. Furthermore, the study initiated a new classification of BI Software vendors depending on their support of the CI cycle phases and divided them into five categories including: Fully complete, Complete, Semi Complete, Incomplete and Insubstantial. Finally, the SSAV Model Together with some proposed non technological variables and the classification developed can be used as a user's selection foundation when deciding upon which BI Software to pursue.

Choosing the right Business Intelligence (BI) software is critical to increasing productivity and effectiveness in organizations today. At the same time it is a very elaborating and complex process to choose the right software due to the fact that a large number of BI products exist on the market, which are quite different and updated frequently. The objective of this study is to develop and test a model for the evaluation of BI Software. The findings of the study revealed that it is difficult to declare what is the most competitive BI software as what is good for one user might not be good for another depending on their different business needs. Having said that the study initiated a new classification of BI Software vendors depending on the degree to which they comply with the functions in the Competitive Intelligence (CI) cycle. The software tested was divided into five categories: Fully complete, Complete, Semi Complete, Incomplete and Insubstantial. We conclude that the SSAV (Solberg Søilen, Amara, Vriens) Model Together with some proposed non technological variables and a classification developed can be used as a user's selection tool for deciding which BI Software to purchase.

In this modern era of marketing, brand management is the widely discussed topic and has proved its importance in the 21st century. In the past, brand value was mainly associated with the customers only. However, recent researchers identified its importance into non- customer areas. Brand equity and brand value terms are discussed with special emphases on their relation with the relevant stakeholders. The main idea behind this research is to reflect stakeholders‘ relations and their role in the brand value creation for the energy companies in Pakistan. For this purpose, we have used Richard Jones (2005) ―Stakeholder model of brand value‖ which shows that brand value is not only created by the customers but also by the all other relevant stakeholders.

Risk management as a component of the internal control mechanism of any organisation is as important as the reason for the existence of that organisation. This is because any organisation without a risk management system in place may as well not be in existence since they may lose the profit and the whole capital together. Every organisation needs to put in place risk management and internal control systems in order to achieve the ultimate objectives of the organisation. This research work sought to examine the implications of risk management, particularly the effectiveness of internal controls as a risk management tool in improving bank performance. Specifically to identify risk associated with providing banking services, to explore the viability of Intercontinental Bank’s internal control systems as risk management tool, to access the impact of internal control as risk management tool on IBG’s performance. The Financial Sector was chosen as according to information from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, the financial services sector contributed 56.7 percent by way of total assets to the gross domestic product (GDP) at the end of January 2008. This represented a significant growth from 31.9 percent at the end of December 31, 2005 and the sector is likely to be more prone to risk (Yeboah, 2008). Purposive sampling technique was used in choosing Intercontinental bank as a case study and also the availability of research information was considered. Employees of the bank were surveyed on various internal control mechanisms that must be in operation and their effectiveness. The management of the bank were also interviewed since they are the regulators, implementers and supervisors of those internal control systems. Some of the risk associated with providing banking services identified were: availability of organisational objectives, availability of competent staff, and provision of resources, risk management policies and technology. The findings showed that the bank was doing well in putting all the internal control mechanisms that must be in place and the supervision of the control mechanisms was quite strong. However, their weakest point was the allocations of resources to enable personell perform certain risk sensitive duties like advancing credit to customers in SME (small and Medium Scale) business category. It was recommended that risk management policies of the bank must be updated regularly to avoid them to getting irrelevant with time. Also, the bank must make the effort to resource all departments/units of the bank with the right number of experienced and trained staff for them to be able to carry out their task in a manner that avoids the occurrence of unnecessary risk.

This paper presents the results of financial return analyses after 133 articles regarding social and environmental news were published in Svenska Dagbladet. During the period from 2006 to 2015 Swedish Large Cap companies were analysed after the news announcements, using the event study methodology. The study shows that abnormal returns were significant for only three events at the announcement date. A regression analysis shows that firms issuing ESG reports do not significantly have distinct returns from non-issuing firms when in the news. The study shows that firms producing consumer goods or services experienced 0.5 percent significant return differences compared to other firms in the pre-announcement period (two days). Findings also suggest that there are no significant differences between different industries when in the news regarding social and environmental aspects. An analysis of means shows no implications of differences regarding articles of: equality, employees, society or environment. This study concludes that voluntary corporate responsibility acts are not premiered when a firm is in the news regarding social or environmental events. 

Vi har kommit fram till att KMT RS syfte med att använda internpriser är: att öka kostnadsmedvetenheten hos personalen, att fördela kostnader, att få fram ett externt timpris samt att ge styreffekt. Detta för med sig en lägre resursförbrukning och förbättrade underlag för vardagliga beslut. Internprissättningen kan ha både positiva och negativa effekter. Genom vår fallstudie har vi dock lärt oss att vårt fallföretag inte utnyttjar internprissättningens fördelar till fullo. En anledning kan vara att ingen ur personalen lägger fokus på förändring och utveckling av internpriset. Ytterligare en anledning kan vara att företagsledning p.g.a. alla ägarbyten valt att se företaget i stort i stället för att fokusera på och bryta ner den interna verksamheten. Vår uppfattning är att företaget inte verkar medvetna om internprisets möjligheter i stort och vi misstänker att detta är ett fenomen som finns inom flera företag.

Syfte: Syftet med uppsatsen är att belysa varför ledare arbetar obetald övertid och ifall icke finansiella belöningssystem motiverar detta fenomen samt att redogöra för andra drivkrafter som får ledarna att arbeta mer än normal arbetstid. Metod: I denna uppsats har en kvalitativ ansats använts för att studera vad som motiverar ledare till att arbeta övertid utan ersättning. Respondenterna som deltagit i studien var ledare i olika led inom Coop Butiker och Stormarknader. Intervjuer med ledarna har utförts för att på bästa sätt undersöka respondenternas åsikter och värderingar om belöningssystemens påverkan på övertidsarbete och motivation. Slutsatser: Resultaten från vår studie visar att övertid existerar i olika mån och att all övertid är obetald, och motiveras på grund av åtskilliga anledningar. Undersökningen visade även att ledarna vilka innehade mer ansvar var de som arbetade flest obetalda övertidstimmar. Det visade sig att det råder en diversifierad åsikt ifall de finansiella eller icke finansiella belöningssystemen var det som motiverade mest dock konstaterades det att lönen sågs som en självklarhet hos flertalet av respondenterna och att icke finansiella belöningar kan vara en del utav det som motiverade ledarna till att arbeta obetald övertid. Motivationen till den obetalda övertiden kom främst från möjligheter att utvecklas, uppmärksamhet och bekräftelser från kollegor samt positionen ledarna hade inom organisationen. Vi ser därför ett samband mellan det obetalda övertidsarbetet och de icke finansiella belöningssystemen som råder på arbetsplatsen.

Temporary employees enjoy the varying work that the temp branch can give them. That is why they stay in the business. Affinity with colleagues, aspirations to personal development, higher wages and participation in social events in a company are reasons for them to appreciate a permanent work. We are able to conclude that social relationships not are of greater importance to work satisfaction than income and standard of living.

Sammanfattning Titel: IT-företagens syn på betydelsen av social kompetens vid rekrytering till olika tjänster. Författare: Katrin Andersson, Camilla Larsson och Anja Svennarp Handledare: Göran Alsén och Eva Wittbom Problem: Det finns både forskare och författare som uttalar sig om att social kompetens blir allt viktigare som ett krav vid anställning. Kan det finnas ett mönster i hur viktig social kompetens är för IT-företag som använder sig mycket av teamwork? · Hur stor betydelse har den sociala kompetensen vid rekrytering till olika tjänster i IT-företag? Syfte: Att skapa en klarare bild av IT-företagens syn på betydelsen av social kompetens vid rekrytering till olika tjänster. · Huvudsyftet är att se hur IT-företagen prioriterar social kompetens i förhållande till utbildning, betyg och arbetslivserfarenhet mellan tjänsterna programmerare, systemutvecklare och säljare. · Delsyftet är att skapa förståelse för hur rekryteringsprocessen går till i IT-företagen för att kunna fånga den sociala kompetensens betydelse vid rekrytering. Metod: För att kunna nå vårt syfte har vi använt oss av en kvantitativ metod, utförd på individnivå. Undersökningen har genomförts genom telefonintervjuer med en enkät som underlag. Slutsats: Social kompetens är viktigare hos säljaren än hos programmeraren och systemutvecklaren. Däremot arbetar programmeraren och systemutvecklaren mer i team än vad säljaren gör. Extern rekrytering är det som mestadels förekommer och den personliga kontakten har stor betydelse vid rekrytering. Vanligtvis deltar tre personer från företaget i rekryteringsprocessen. De små företagen använder rekryteringskonsulter och test mindre än de större företagen.

Core competence as a concept has been implemented and studied within the for-profit sector for some decades. The concept is used to understand, develop and sustain competitive advantage and, in contrast to purely market oriented strategies, takeoff from the internal unique strengths within organizations. There exists almost no research on or use of the core competence concept within the non-profit sector. However leaders and decision-makers at non-profit organizations are also challenged to develop their organizations, either to be relevant for its target group or to compete for funding. Doing this without renouncing on the mission and core values requires appropriate strategies and a well-developed compass. The concept of core competence is anticipated to contribute to such processes. This thesis sets out to study whether the concept of core competence can be identified within the sector, and if so, how it can be described and how it is linked to associated concepts, and particularly, how the model for this proposed by Ljungquist (2008, 2010) can be applied. The thesis also explores how the concept of core competence is linked to non-profit sector specific characteristics, more specifically in what way core competence is related to the mission of the organization and how resources unique to non-profit organizations like members, volunteers and supporters possibly contribute to core competence. Finally, the notion of a special added value (Weerawardena and Mort, 2001; Wijkström and Malmborg, 2005) among NPOs will be discussed in relation to core competence as defined by the NPOs included in this paper. The thesis is based on a multiple-case study that includes two national organizations in Sweden and two local organizations in Canada. Findings indicate that core competence exists within the four organizations and that it is linked to each organization’s mission. Also, it is indicated that resources are linked not only by its utilization of, but also by its contribution, to core competence. In other aspects, core competence and its associated concepts identified concur with models developed for the for-profit sector. The characteristics of support mechanisms, like systems, routines, capacities and communication are similar as well as other competencies that have the characteristics of development and adaptation.

It is often claimed that there are locally embedded values and attitudes towards entrepreneurship, exerting a strong influence on the rate and level of entrepreneurial activity in regions. The concept of regional entrepreneurship culture aims to capture such phenomena, and refers in a general sense to the level of social acceptance and encouragement of entrepreneurs and their activities in a region. This chapter discusses regional entrepreneurship culture as a source of persistent differences in regional rates of new firm formation, and presents a number of empirical regularities for Sweden to illustrate the empirical relevance of the main arguments. Using data on rates of new firm formation across Swedish regions over time, the chapter further explores the association between start-up activity and the business cycle, as well as how the geographic distribution of start-up rates changes during a major economic crisis.

We examine the role of regional import flows for renewal of regional industries. The hypothesis is that imports stimulate renewal of local industries by being vehicles for technology diffusion and means by which local firms can exploit advantages of global specialisation. We find robust and positive relationships between high-quality imports and renewal of regional exports, where the latter are measured by the introduction of novel export products of local firms. Connectedness to international markets via import networks appears to be a stimulus for the renewal of regional exports.

The mobility of workers from multinational enterprises (MNEs) to other local firms is increasingly recognized as an important externality mechanism. However, MNEs have strong incentives to curb this mobility to prevent leakage of firm-specific assets. This research note investigates the likelihood and nature of such mobility patterns. Using longitudinal, matched employer–employee data for Sweden with detailed information on individuals, establishments, and firms, we find that workers employed in MNEs are more likely to leave their employers compared to similar workers employed in non-MNEs with similar characteristics. This effect is particularly strong for high-wage workers and managers. While we find that workers who leave MNEs are more likely to move to other MNEs, our results identify significant mobility toward start-ups, thus leading to important industrial dynamics in the host country. We discuss the implications of these results for research on the externalities from MNEs, and international business theory. © 2022, Academy of International Business.

The geographic scale at which density externalities operate is analysed in this paper. Using geocoded high-resolution data, the analysis is focused on exogenously determined within-city squares (‘neighbourhoods’) of 1 km2. The analysis confirms a city-wide employment density–wage elasticity and an economically significant density–wage elasticity at the neighbourhood level that attenuate sharply with distance. Panel estimates over 20 years suggest a neighbourhood density–wage elasticity of about 3%, while the city-wide elasticity is about 1%. It is argued that the neighbourhood level is more prone to capture learning, e.g. through knowledge and information spillovers. This interpretation is supported by (1) significantly larger neighbourhood elasticities for university educated workers and (2) sharper attenuation with distance of the effect for such workers.

A number of scholars and industry professionals have claimed that there has been a ‘software-biased shift’ in the nature and direction of innovation, in that software development is a core part of innovation activities in firms across a wide array of industries. Empirical firm-level evidence of such a shift is still scant. In this paper, we employ new and unique firm-level survey data on the frequency and nature of software development among firms in Sweden, matched with the Community Innovation Survey (CIS). We find robust evidence supporting a software bias in innovation, in that software development is associated with a higher likelihood of introducing innovations, as well as higher innovation sales among firms in both manufacturing and service industries. Furthermore, this positive relationship is stronger for firms that employ in-house software developers than for those that only use external developers, suggesting that there is a hierarchy but possibly also a complementarity between in-house and external software development. We also find support for complementarity between software-based technology and human capital; the estimated marginal effect of software development on innovation is particularly strong for firms that combine in-house software development with a highly educated workforce in both STEM and other disciplines. © 2021

We show that entrepreneurs are co-located within cities. One plausible source of such spatial clustering is local social interactions, where individuals' decisions to become entrepreneurs are influenced by entrepreneurial neighbors. Using geo-coded matched employer-employee data for Sweden, we find that sharing residential neighborhood with established entrepreneurs has a statistically significant and robust influence on the probability that an individual leaves employment for entrepreneurship. An otherwise average neighborhood with a 5% point higher entrepreneurial intensity, all else equal, produces between six and seven additional entrepreneurs per square kilometer, each year. Our estimates suggest a local feedback-effect in which the presence of established entrepreneurs in a neighborhood influences the emergence of new local entrepreneurs. Our analysis supports the conjecture that social interaction effects constitute a mechanism by which local entrepreneurship clusters in cities develop and persist over time.

We employ finely geo-coded firm-level panel data to assess the long-standing question whether agglomeration economies derive from specialization (within-industry), diversity (between-industry) or overall density. Rather than treating the city as a single unit, we focus our analysis on how the inner industry structures of cities influence firm-level productivity. Our results illustrate the co-existence of several externalities that differ in their spatial distribution and attenuation within cities. First, we find robust positive effects of neighborhood-level specialization on TFP as well as a small effect of diversity at the same fine spatial level. These effects are highly localized and dissipate beyond the immediate within-city neighborhood level. Second, we also find that firms benefit from the overall density of the wider city. The results emphasize the relevance of “opening up” cities to study the workings of their inner organization and support the idea that location in a within-city industry cluster in a diversified and dense city boosts productivity. © 2019

Cities exhibit a rich and complex heterogeneity in people and activities. This poses a sizable challenge for planners when planning new neighbourhoods or the reconstruction of old ones as well as when considering the allocation of supply of and demand for amenities, e.g. kindergartens or health facilities. However, individual preferences may also exhibit common denominators that may provide structure to this heterogeneity. One such denominator is age. In this paper we introduce the concept of neighbourhood age, defined as the mean age of people living in exogenously defined squares of 1km2 in a city. We use highly disaggregated geocoded data to map how the spatial distribution of neighbourhood age changes over a 20-year period from 1991 to 2011 in the city of Stockholm, Sweden. We then test the correlation between neighbourhood age and two categories of urban amenities: supply of local consumption amenities and distance to the city's central business district (CBD). The paper presents three main findings: First, neighbourhood age changes and polarizes significantly over the observed period, suggesting that different age groups are concentrating in different parts of the city. Second, there is a rejuvenation in the central parts of the city but also in more distant clusters of amenities. Third, over a long-term perspective, the results suggest that local clusters of consumption amenities outside the inner city may become increasingly attractive to younger people. Our conclusion is that neighbourhood age and age-related patterns over time provides a tool for planners to better understand the spatial distribution of age-related demand. © 2018 The Author(s). Regional Science Policy and Practice © 2018 RSAI

The rise of ICT and the shift toward jobs with more flexibility in working hours and places of work sparked popular debates about potential for a ‘rural renaissance’. A key argument was that there are increasing possibilities to live in the countryside while being employed in large cities. This paper uses data spanning two decades to examine trends in and characteristics of employee–employer ties between rural and urban areas in Sweden. Our main results suggest that rural-to-urban long-distance commuting is rapidly increasing, but not as fast as commuting flows elsewhere. Compared to the rural population at large, rural residents working in large cities constitute a strongly selected group of workers who are well paid, have long educations, are young and also have advanced knowledge-intensive occupations. Only about 30 percent of those who become rural-to-urban long-distance commuters have moved from urban areas; the vast majority constitute those who already lived in rural areas before starting to commute to urban areas. © 2018 Elsevier Ltd

This paper examines innovation among very small firms and provides new insights into both internal and external determinants of patenting. Applying a non-linear panel data approach to about 160,000 observations on manufacturing firms in Sweden for the period 2000-2006, the following facts emerge: (i) in contrast to larger firms, innovation in micro firms with 1-10 employees is not sensitive to variation in internal financial resources, (ii) skilled labour is even more important for innovation among micro firms compared to other firms, (iii) affiliation to a domestically owned multinational enterprise group increases the innovation capacity of small businesses, (iv) small firms' innovation is closely linked to participation in international trade and exports to the G7-countries, and (v) there is no statistically significant evidence that proximity to metropolitan areas, or presence in a specialized cluster, increases the innovativeness of the smallest firm

The 2017 Global Award for Entrepreneurship Research is given to Hernando de Soto, president of the Institute for Liberty and Democracy (ILD) in Lima, Peru. Over the last 30 years, Hernando de Soto has been a world-leading intellectual engaged in academic and public policy discussions on global development. He has made substantial contributions to our understanding of the informal economy and of the importance of property rights to unleash entrepreneurship and alleviate poverty and underdevelopment. His contributions have led to a new and better understanding of the role played by institutions in supporting entrepreneurship, especially in the Third World. Hernando de Soto’s work has also had major influences on policy worldwide, both in terms of conceptual understanding and practical policy measures. © 2017 The Author(s)

Exporting firms in a region may reduce export entry costs for other local firms either through market or non-market interactions. This paper tests this proposition by analyzing whether the probability of exporting among Swedish firms is positively associated with the local presence of exporters in their region and industry. Our results support this conjecture, while also providing some support for such export spillovers being more important in contract-intensive industries and small firms. The results for different industries and size-classes of firms are also sensitive to whether we focus on firms' export status or restrict the sample to export starters.

We analyze the frequency and nature by which new firms are acquired by established businesses. Acquisitions are often considered to reflect a technology transfer process and to also constitute one way in which a "symbiosis" between new technology-based firms (NTBFs) and established businesses is realized. Using a micro-level dataset for Sweden in which we follow new entrants up to 18 years after entry, we show that acquisitions of recent start-ups are rare and restricted to a small group of entrants with defining characteristics. Estimates from competing risks models show that acquired start-ups, in particular by multinational enterprises (MNEs), stand out from entrants that either remain independent or exit by being much more likely to be spin-offs operating in high-tech sectors, having strong technological competence, and having weak internal financial resources. Our overall findings support the argument that acquisitions primarily concern NTBFs in market contexts where entry costs are large, access to finance is important and incumbents have valuable complementary capabilities and resources. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The world and its economy is going through countless and significant changes. Intangible assets are one of these changes due to the economy and the society have a higher demand for information than before. Nevertheless, tangible assets are still important assets within the economy since no economy will function without tangible assets. Intangible assets and tangible assets can contribute to that a business is gaining competitive advantages and thereby, increasing the level of profits.

The focal study has been performed at Sweco Environment AB and aims to investigate how intangible assets and tangible assets contribute to increased gross profits within a specific service industry, where a modular product can be implemented. A modular product wasinvestigated in order to find differences and similarities which can affect a business’ opportunities to generate increased gross profit. The focal study is limited to a modular product and a specific industry, where it can be applied. In order to perform the focal study, scientific articles, books and reports have been utilised to form a foundation of the theoretical framework. The theoretical framework consists of sustainability, modularity and economics. Subsequently, a combination of a qualitative and quantitative research has been conducted. The qualitative research included observations and semi-structured interviews with experienced participants within the field. The quantitative research contained archival records with annual financial statements and balance sheets of private corporations within the Swedish market. The archival records were used in order to perform the econometric analysis.

The results from the observations and interviews demonstrated a holistic picture of the nonmodular product and the modular product. The main differences were found within the process from customer order to utilisation and the leasing option for the modular product. The econometric analysis which was performed in the specific service industry indicated that tangible assets were not statistically significant meanwhile, intangible assets were statistically significant. A 1 % increase in intangible assets contribute to 0.088 % increase in gross profit per employee. By investing in intangible assets does not only contribute to increased gross profits, it can also lead to competitive advantages.

The management of efficient and effective work place safety in order to reduce occupational accidents is one of the paramount interests of stakeholders of the mining industry. Leadership behavior is an important factor in achieving safety performance in an organization. An organization’s leadership style can be the cause of accidents and incidents at the workplace. The way in which safety and health is led and integrated into an organization can impact significantly on wellbeing at work, including addressing problems of worker absence through ill-health. The overall goal of the research is to identify different dimensions of leadership style that have influence on safety climate in general and be able to determine the relationship between the two. In this study, the research questions are addressed in order to study the relationship between leadership style and safety climate. Two questionnaires were used to gather data from employees at the Goldfields Ghana Limited, CIL Plant, comprising supervisors (leaders), technicians (subordinates). The study used the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) formulated from Bass and Avolio’s (1997) Full Range Leadership Development Theory to determine leadership style within the organization and the Nordic Occupational Safety Climate Questionnaire (NOSACQ-50) to determine the safety climate. The relationship indicated that Transformational Leadership styles correlated with a better safety climate than Transactional Leadership style. The study identified the leadership style that contribute to good safety environment thereby paving way to how safety performance can be improved at Goldfields Ghana Limited which may result in increase in revenue and maximization of shareholders value.

Modern organizations that follow Agile development principles and practice DevOps aim at maximizing software release frequency while minimizing the number of defects associated with them. To achieve this goal, the companies perform the organizational transformation that is associated with significant costs and time investments. The key to success is building high-performing development teams. The existing literature does not extensively cover development performance optimization in DevOps organizations that are in the process of transformation. It provides limited information for the organizations willing to speed up the process and remove the paint points. As the result, organizations suffer economic losses from adjusting the development practices the transformation process, taking the new technology to the customers takes longer time comparing to the high performing organizations, which can be seen as losses for the modern highly digitalized economy.

This study explores whether the team composition, team culture and other organizational factors influence performance of development teams by surveying high-performant organizations that completed the transformation, and fitting a statistical model the collected data. The model validates assumptions and serves as a useful tool for low-performing organizations to adjust their team composition and culture accordingly. The novel metrics for assessing the development team performance in the DevOps context is proposed.

The research concludes that teams that are mainly composed of developers and have access to shared expertise of principal DevOps and Security engineers placed outside of the team, perform the best. Autonomy of developers within the team is another significant factor for achieving the optimal performance. This confirms findings about individual autonomy of the classic studies and places them into the modern DevOps context. The study shows that there exists no direct relationship between the number of quality engineers and quality which may indicate a turn in the classic QA theory that assumes QA engineers as integral player in organizational quality. Finally, it estimates an optimal rate of developers and non-developers in a team for the highest performance and demonstrates that high performance can be achieved by organizations regardless of sizes, product types and modern development methodologies.

Background: Nowadays, companies from the technological sector confront extreme competition and itis always a challenge for leadership teams to increase competitiveness. This study aims to investigateinnovation advancement within tech companies in an international context from the leadership andmanagement incentives point of view. Leadership plays a vital role in giving direction to the path anorganization should follow. It is of significant interest to examine how leadership can drive anorganization to innovative thinking. Different approaches and leadership styles can be adopted andpracticed by leaders to produce different outcomes on employees’ creative culture. Additionally,individual characteristics of the employees such as self-efficacy and creativity may allow the innovativebehaviours to strive and create a workplace culture that is inducing innovative output. Innovative workbehaviour is becoming more popular or even mandatory within several firms in the technological sectorin contrast to previous decades.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore how ethical leadership and participative leadershipstyle can affect innovative work behaviour and to examine if the creative process engagement and selfefficacylead to enhanced innovative work behaviour.

Methodology: For this thesis a quantitative approach for data collection, as well as data analysis is used.This study is based on a SEM model which contains close-ended questions that were answered througha self-administrated questionnaire. The survey was answered by employees working at companies fromthe field of technology, covering different positions. A total of 177 respondents answered thequestionnaire, and the results were analysed both in quantitative and qualitative ways. IBM SPSSsoftware was used for the statistical analysis, and AMOS 26 for the Structural Equation Modeling tests.

Results: The results of the statistical analysis performed unveiled that the aspects of ethical andparticipative leadership can positively affect creativity and innovation and that self-efficacy canpositively relate to creative process engagement.Conclusion: This study contributes in showing that two positive ways of management, ethical andparticipative can be introduced by leaders that are interested in increasing creativeness and innovationat work; it also shows that for the sample tested, ethical and participative leadership does not necessarilyhas a major effect on employee’s self-efficacy.

Delimitations: The geographical locations, the time and sample size, the choice of participatingorganizations, and the framework designed for the evaluation of the theoretical problem are consideredas limitations for this study. This research is mainly limited to professionals working in the technologicalsector and the study is restricted in time since the participants had to answer in a certain time frame. Toconclude, the sample size of the survey even though is satisfactory for its intended use, could be higher.

This study examines the relationship between board structure (non executive directors, executive directors and independent non executive directors) and CEO compensation, in the context of an emerging and developing economy of Pakistan in year 2009. Most of the previous studies about board structure and CEO compensation are based in developed economies but this study is about a developing and emerging economy Pakistan and possibly this attempt will contributes to literature. Data for 86 listed firms from Lahore stock exchange, Pakistan has been used for year 2009. The findings show that board size and percentage of independent non executive directors have negative relation but insignificant effect upon CEO compensation. Other variables like percentage of non executive directors and percentage of executive directors have positive relation but these variables do not significantly affect CEO compensation in Pakistani companies.

Abstract Purpose: The purpose of this thesis was to identify and also compare dynamic issues in different business models. Findings: The thesis explored seven components of the business model including goals, scope, key activities, key resources, value proposition, customer relationship and channels. It thoroughly assessed how the sensing, seizing and transforming capabilities of the firm could be used to bring dynamism to each component and to the overall organisation’s business model. A review of the practical circumstances of three big corporations was conducted. The results included the discovery of interconnectivity and mutual dependence of the business model components, as well as some potentially linear and iterative relationships. Some components were found to foster dynamism, while some others were discovered to have the potential to impede dynamism. While the complexity and diversity of organisations’ business models was recognized, a simple framework for a dynamic business model was formulated. Research Implications: This research contributes to the understanding of dynamism of business models especially in regards to the dynamic and non-dynamic aspects of individual components. It also further highlights the need for further research on how organisations can practically make their business models dynamic through exploiting their dynamic capabilities. Practical Implications: These findings could be applied to multinationals in various industries. While companies of all sizes and in all industries could also find it useful, it should be noted that the empirical studies were conducted on multinationals. The findings could be useful in mapping out the business models through components that are easy to understand and assessing their related aspects of dynamism. Thus managers should be able to identify components of the business model that fosters dynamism, those that could hamper dynamism and how their dynamic capabilities could be exploited. Key Words: Business Model Innovation, Dynamic Capabilities, Strategy

INTRODUCTION Food retailing in the Baltic States has developed rapidly in recent times. The future structure is expected to become similar to that of other regions in the European Union. However, a similar market structure may not mean that businesses can expand from one region to another without taking differing consumer attitudes and cultures into account. This study examines differences between Baltic and Nordic food retailing and consumer behaviour based on an analysis of Estonia, Finland and Sweden. PURPOSE The purpose of the thesis is to highlight regional disparities between the Nordic and Baltic food retailing sectors in terms of market structure and consumer attitudes towards store types, own-label brands, low price brands and ecological products. METHOD The research has been conducted through a qualitative study of food retailers currently operating on the Estonian, Swedish and Finnish market. A quantitative study of consumer behaviour with students as the target group has also been carried out. Interviews and questionnaires were used to collect data that has been compared to the information collected by the literature study. CONCLUSION The study identified that the market situation in Estonia is still in a period of development with the largest and smallest store formats developing at a faster pace than mid-sized outlets. While the hard-discount format is relatively new for Nordic customers it is already maturing in Estonia. Despite companies’ internationalisation strategies, it is in their own interests to take local differences into account and take a more adaptive rather than standardised approach when expanding into Estonia. Nordic and Baltic consumers in the study group and their preferences for store and product choice are similar with a slightly higher level of curiosity and interest towards ecological products among the Estonians. For the retailers in Estonia, there is a potential to develop own-label and low-price brands which may experience initial success. However, in the longer term Estonian consumer attitudes towards such brands and foreign products could be an obstacle to their growth in the market.

Abstract ------------- Background ---------------- Like other businesses, the failures and problems faced by the software development industry over the time have motivated experts to look for software process improvement to create quality software rapidly, repeatedly, and reliably. Objective ------------ The purpose of this study is to evaluate if and how Lean thinking and principles primarily associated with auto manufacturing industry can be applied to software development lifecycle for Software Process Improvement (SPI). The secondary aim is to analyze how BPR can be integrated with Lean software development for process improvement. Method ---------- A derived Lean-BPR adoption pattern model is used as a theoretical framework for this thesis. The seven Lean software development principles along with four-step BPR process are selected as process improvement patterns, which effects the KPIs of a software organization. This research study incorporates both Qualitative and Quantitative methods and data to analyze the objectives of this study. The methodological framework of Plan-Do-Check-Act is used in the case study to implement process re-engineering incorporating Lean and BPR principles. The impact of adopting the Lean and BPR principles is assessed in terms of cost, productivity, quality of products and resource management. Results ---------- Application of Lean and BPR principles for software process improvement in the organization under study resulted in 79% improvement in test coverage, 60% reduction in time for test execution and analysis and 44% reduction in cost for fixing defects that were being passed to customer in past. Conclusion ------------- Based on case study results, it can be concluded that Lean, a bottom up approach, characterized by empowerment of employees to analyze and improve their own working process can be effectively combined with IT centric traditionally top down BPR approach for improving KPI’s and software processes.

Problem Climate change is here now causing dramatic storms, heat waves and other extreme temperature that affects everyone on earth. The importance of environmental issues has triggered politicians, governmental bodies and industries to take precautionary measures. This has caution organizations to initiate activities that will reduce the damage caused by them to the environment although it may involve cost. One of these organisations is the Green Scorpion in South Africa that has prosecuted steel companies in the country for environmental violation. Highveld Steel Limited is one of these companies. This has prompt these steel companies to implement an environmental management system (EMS). The cost and benefits, of introducing such preventive measure makes it advisable to implement a suitable EMS that will be relatively important to the organization interest. Purpose The research is meant to guide the implementation of an environmental management system. This will be the result of steel companies in South Africa to develop an environmental management system that would be realized to suit them. Also, the research will examine the strength, weakness and managerial endeavours of Highveld Steel Limited to implement an efficient environmental management system. Method Qualitative and deduction based research approaches were preferred compared to quantitative and induction research. Grounded theory is the qualitative research method that is used in this research. It was done with caution to confirm and verify the trustworthiness of the data we used with other sources of information and references. Telephone interview was used to collect empirical data. The author beforehand will prepare a questionnaire for interview with a top manager. To accompany the research an extensive literature review will also be undertaken. Not only will this provide a valuable insight into how others have approached this subject area, but it will also ensure that the investigation is not duplicated by any previously undertaken work in addition to ensuring a degree of depth in understanding the concepts and theories involved. Result The research reveals that Environmental Management Implementation Process (EMIP) could help South Africa Steel companies to adopt an appropriate environmental management system. Four main stages were deduced for the proposed EMIP for an environmental management system to be efficient. The four main stages are research, analysis, choice and implementation. The research concludes that EMIP could generate environmental management system (EMS) that would be of interest to stakeholders and enhance better use of resources for Highveld limited. Also, EMIP will ensure that, Implementation of an EMS will not restrain corporate objective achievement.

Business process integration (BPI) is a crucial technique for supporting inter-organizational business interoperability. BPI allows automation of business processes and the integration of systems across numerous organizations. The integration of organizations' process models is one of the most addressed and used approach to achieve BPI. However, this model integration is complex and requires that designers have extensive experience in particular when organizations' business processes are incompatible. This paper considers the issue of modeling cross-organization processes out of a collection of organizations' private process models. To this end, we propose six adaptation patterns to resolve incompatibilities when combining organizations' processes. Each pattern is formalized with workflow net. © 2017 IEEE.

During 2003, Swedish exports to Central and South America were only 1,9% of the total Swedish exports; furthermore, Swedish imports during the same period to Central and South America were 1,1% of total Swedish imports. The figures show how Swedish trade with Latin American countries is very low. The only Latin American country that in 2003 made part of the main 30 Swedish trade partners was Mexico, in the 22nd position. Swedish exports to Mexico represented 0,7% of total Swedish Exports for the year. The purpose of this thesis is to make an analysis of the problems that Swedish companies face when doing business with the Latin American region, and to explore the causes of the low exchange rates in the commercial relations between Sweden and Latin America.

ELECTRONIC RETAIL PAYMENT SYSTEMS: USER ACCEPTABILITY AND PAYMENT PROBLEMS IN GHANA The payment system in Ghana has undergone considerable change as electronic payment has gained increasingly popularity, especially in the cities. In Ghana, most bills are paid by walk-in customers. Because of limited transportation, many customers prefer paying by other means that may not include traveling. Customers are now looking for a way that they can easily make payments without going to each biller’s location, purchase money orders, and no loss of time. This thesis looks into issues in payment problems and user acceptance. Payment for goods and services in Ghana is characterized by long queues, long distance traveling and time wasting that negatively affect business activities and ultimately economic development. Settling utility bills, payment for goods and services, and money transfers has been a major headache for individuals and firms in Ghana resulting in declined business activities and huge debt to most of the utility services providers. Indeed, most Ghanaians are yet to fully realize the benefits of the technological advances made in banking services like networking of business branches, electronic transfers and use of automated teller machines. The few payment mechanisms that are available are not being well patronized by bank’s customers. The purpose of the study is to assess the issue of user acceptance in the existing electronic retail payments and also to ascertain the impact in solving some of the problems in retail payment for goods and services in Ghana. The research also describes and briefly analyses recent and potential future trends in electronic payments in Ghana, and the challenges faced by participants in this business. It is also in response to the growing need in Ghana to develop non-cash payment products and clearing systems in order to reduce the over- dependence on cash payments. In analyzing the electronic payments, we restricted ourselves to business to consumer (B2C) segment. The research questions for our study are: Can electronic payment system replace existing payment systems and solve payment problems? How are customer attitudes about electronic payments changing? What are the impediments to market development and innovation in electronic payments? This study used primary sources in a form of "consumer survey" questionnaire in obtaining the perceptions of bank customers (mostly individual customers) and interviews of bank’s staffs. An extensive review of the available literature provided the foundations for the writing of the thesis. The study collected data from secondary sources such as the Internet, articles, databases, and books, and were analyzed and interpreted. In the rare situations when official statistics are available, the recentness of the data determined its usefulness. It is universally agreed that a safe and efficient national payment system is essential for sound banking. The benefits derived from electronic payment cannot be over emphasized. Numerous studies have shown that electronic payment brings many benefits to users – convenience, security, record-keeping, low cost, and etc. Our study shows that electronic payment systems have the potential to eliminate if not reduce the problems consumer face in the payment and settlement system. The study also revealed that consumers are ready to embrace the new payment systems – electronic payment, provided other well anticipated side benefits are promoted to them.

Lack of cooperation of the incumbent leaders was a major cause of leadership succession failures of organizations reported. This investigation was carried out to determine the attitudes of Christian Senior Pastors and leaders (associate Pastors and Elders), for leadership continuity, toward leadership succession of Charismatic and Pentecostal Church organizations in Kumasi, Ghana; to find lasting solution to the problem of lack of cooperation of incumbent leaders towards leadership succession planning by determining the root cause of lack of cooperation of incumbent senior leader towards leadership succession. Using in-depth interview, qualitative data was collected and analyzed using inductive procedure of Structuring (Ordering) of Meanings Using Narrative for analysis. This work contends that even though best practices are necessary condition for leadership succession effectiveness, they are not sufficient to make the incumbent senior leader willing and cooperative enough to act in the best interest of the organization, let alone yield to leadership succession. It was found that the Christian Churches investigated have positive attitudes towards leadership succession because of character development adopted in the churches. It was found that apart from fear (Freeman, 2004; Zhang and Rajagopalan, 2006; 2010) and ego (Freeman, 2004; Beeson, 2006; Ciampa, 2005), unforgveness and self-centeredness were other causes, holding back the effectiveness of leadership succession due to lack of cooperation of the incumbents, with self-centeredness being the source of fear, ego and unforgiveness. It was concluded that self-centeredness was the root cause of lack of cooperation of Senior Pastors towards leadership succession. Because fear (Freeman, 2004; Zhang and Rajagopalan, 2006; 2010), ego (Freeman, 2004; Beeson, 2006; Ciampa, 2005), unforgiveness and self-centeredness produce insecurity, the incumbents were never willing and cooperative to subject themselves to anything they perceived as threat. On the basis of this, succession failures reported will rather increase in frequency. Nevertheless, self-centeredness could be resolved effectively by adopting character development focused on the following nine attributes: Faith, Peace, Joy, Humility, Patience, Self-control, Kindness, Goodness and Love (value, respect, approval, availability, attention, appreciation and service).The results suggest that the incumbent Pastors have the tendency to take actions, make choices and decisions that are in the best interest of their organization, and are favorably disposed towards leadership succession. The Christian Churches are well positioned to produce leaders who are cooperative and selfless enough to plan their own succession using best practices that yield desired outcomes. This work contributes to a better understanding of attitudes, character, relationship, motivation, highlights the invisible features (self-centeredness, fear, ego and unforgiveness) of leadership succession failures in the organization, and the transformation of character that results by simple change of attitudes consistently modified by love and its attributes so that the decisions, choices and actions of the incumbents can favor the organization, consequently, making them willing and cooperative enough to plan their own succession. Based on the results of the Christian Church organization, it serves as a basis for further research in the field.

The most important conclusion we can draw from our research is that Porter´s three generic strategies, mainly the differentiation strategy, still are frequently used in the Colombian telecommunication market. Another conclusion is that a high-speed changing environment, such as the Colombian market, demands that the operators combine and integrate their strategy with other secondary strategies to become succesful. They can not, as Porter says, only depend on one strategy

Background: Climate changes and global warming call for behaviour changes from mankind and for new business models to introduce sustainable innovations. Financial analysis plays an important role in guiding the choice of these business models. However, assumptions and uncertainties pose challenges to the use of financial analysis in business modelling.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to develop a proactive systematic approach of financial analysis in business modelling. Accounting for the important role of assumptions and uncertainty factors, the approach should guide the choices of capital structure, revenue model, and strategic partnerships in the business model.

Methodology: The developed approach combines the use of different methods to assess different business models for a public fast-charging stations for electric heavy-duty vehicles in Sweden. The used techniques are DCF analysis, What-If analysis, Tornado diagram, Monte-Carlo simulation, and multiple linear regression analysis.

Results and analysis: Applied to the case of a public fast-charging station for electric heavy-duty vehicles, the approach leads to the identification of potential viable business models. Under the condition of using financial leverage through debt, additional revenue sources such as per-charge event user fee and advertising as well as partnership with the public sector in the form of grants, it is possible to achieve a viable business model.

Conclusions: A systematic proactive approach of the use of financial analysis in business modelling was successfully developed and applied to the case of fast-charging stations for electric heavy-duty vehicles. The identified viable business models rely on financial leverage through debt, additional revenue sources and partnership with the public sector in the form of grants.

Recommendations for future research: Simulations with more input parameters as well as combinations with observational studies of existing business models can be further investigated.

Vilka är framgångsfaktorerna vid implementering av affärssystem i företag inom livsmedelsbranschen? Datainsamlingen till undersökningen genomfördes med hjälp av telefonintervjuer. Författarnas slutsatser från den här undersökningen är att framgångsfaktorerna vid implementeringen av affärssystem i livsmedelsbranschen är: Att företagsledningen visar engagemang, det finns tydliga strategiska mål, bra implementationsteam samt projektledare, företaget har en kultur som är öppen för förändring, valet av system passar företagets struktur, att systemet testas så korrekt data förs in, att användarna utbildas, att det finns någon person som är ansvarig för change management och kommunikation inom projektet och organisationen. I undersökningen framkom även betydelsen att det finns spårbarhet i affärssystemet som ett livsmedelsföretag väljer.

We consider the problem of explaining and forecasting the volume of cellular mobile traffic in a long-term perspective. To this end, we create a model of a market with both economic and non-economic variables, viz. the state of the economy, the current price level and the penetration effect on the market in question. We measure these variables by using publicly available data and by applying income theories and by combining theories of demand and technology diffusion. Applying the model to three markets, viz. China, Italy and Sweden, we show that it performs very well in explaining and predicting the volume of cellular mobile traffic. Noting the qualitative differences between these markets, we conclude that the model has some universality in that the results are comparable for all of them