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Validerat; 20160128 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Validerat; 20160607 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Validerat; 20160715 (global_studentproject_submitter)

The globalization has contributed to companies constantly searching to find new opportunities to increase the efficiency of their operations. Through this arises international collaborations that may be referred to as global supply chains. Providing the necessary aspects of controlling a large supply chain that stretches across several borders are communication, which is considered to be a key factor to bind the different parts together, to create a functional and efficient supply chain. The purpose of this thesis is to provide a better understanding of how the information flow is used to have a more efficient automobile retail market.For this thesis a case study was chosen and interviews with five brand managers at different automobile retail stores in Luleå are the foundation of the empirical data. The data suggest that retailers are of great benefit with increased information flow to their manufacturer, retailers are affected by the market structure in Luleå, which does not correlate with the theory, which states that the automobile market are horizontal. Information exchange between the retailers and manufacturers are in constant flow, objecting to not having any misunderstandings or delays of information. As the automobile industry are of global scale the data shows an constant development of information flow, ever changing and adapting to a market that is constantly changing. The information flow are of great importance to how great the “Bullwhip effect” may have, real-time data and total information sharing to manufacturer, are two of the aspects that this study have found to are used to reduce it. Validerat; 20160617 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Several studies show that health problems caused by stress is a widespread problem in Europe (Arbetsmiljöverket, 2015b). With the new work environment regulation (2015: 4) Arbetsmiljöverket wants to create even better conditions for the employees in the Swedish labor force, since 41 percent of long-term sickness in 2014 was caused by psychological illness (Försäkringskassan, 2015). I have performed a case study with interviews and participant observation in an organization that can be describes as modern, white-collar, creative and knowledge intensive. According to the demand-control-support model (Karasek & Theorell, 1990) the employees have an active work with social support. But still they are stressed and in danger of burnout. This is of great risk for the organization whose capital is the employees' minds, and a stressed brain is not productive. Sick leave is hard for the individual who identifies with work and is also a cost for society. In my study I ask myself why stress is created in the workplace and in my results I identify relevant risk factors for stress and burnout. My results show weaknesses in the organization regarding: lack of structure, leadership type, inadequate assessment, size of workgroup and lack of knowledge about mental illness. The fact that it is a performance driven, customer focused industry with unclear demands and constant need of skill development, makes ambitious employees at risk of overworking. In addition, the organization is characterized by a strong organizational culture and many of the employees identify with their work. This also means that the employees are willing to sacrifice more of their time and commitment to the organization, and this has made it difficult for employees to distinguish between work and leisure. Keywords: organizational and social work environment, leadership, culture within the organization, stress, work without boundaries Validerat; 20160630 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Validerat; 20160814 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Validerat; 20160823 (global_studentproject_submitter)

In recent decades, the business environment has witnessed numerous changes in the form of increasingly aware and demanding customers, globalization, technological advances and a greater focus on quality management. These changes have resulted in increased competition and higher demands on both the manufacturing and service industry. An industry that has witnessed this change is the hotel industry, where the competition for customers has resulted in a continually strive to exceed customer expectations.The degree of customer satisfaction has long been regarded as a key measure of an organization's competitiveness. In the new competitive business environment, it is no longer sufficient for organizations to only create satisfied customers, instead organizations must also strive to create customer loyalty. Loyal customers contribute to the organization by spending more on repurchases and by recommending the service or organization to others. A crucial factor to exceed customer expectations and thus create customer satisfaction and ultimately loyalty is to constantly strive to improve the service quality. This has led to an increased interest in Continuous Improvement as a method to improve service quality. Despite the fact that Continuous Improvement is a recognized and effective method to improve the quality of services and products, there is an absence and need of studies showing how Continuous Improvement affects the customer, and more specifically customer loyalty.The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between Continuous Improvement and customer loyalty. In order to study the relationship an explanative case study at Nordic Choice Hotels was conducted. Based on an extensive literature review two hypotheses were developed, which then were tested through a multiple linear regression analysis, using existing data. Further, a number of semi-structured interviews were conducted in order to increase the understanding of the findings from the regression analysis.The regression analysis revealed a non-significant relationship between Continuous Improvement and customer loyalty since no appropriate regression model could be fitted to the data. The lack of correlation between Continuous Improvement and customer loyalty could be traced back to the lack of linearity between the variables, which most likely was caused by a misleading indicator of customer loyalty. The findings from the statistical analysis were contradicted by the semi-structured interviews, which revealed that Continuous Improvement according to respondents was an essential part of the hotels efforts to create loyal customers. Based on the contradictory findings, the relationship needs further research in order to determine whether Continuous Improvement can be used as a method to create customer loyalty. Validerat; 20160628 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Validerat; 20160705 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Validerat; 20160823 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Purpose – The purpose of this research was to characterize the relationship between the sales and marketing functions, and to identify how to increase sales-marketing integration in a Swedish B2B firm.Design/methodology/approach – The study included a single case study in a Swedish B2B firm, in the service and logistics sector. Personal interviews with respondents from both sales and marketing functions were conducted, in a semi-structured format.Findings – A configuration of the current sales-marketing interface was generated to enable a holistic view of the sales-marketing spectrum, as well as to display possible impediments to integration. A relationship assessment defined the current relationship as undefined. The customer buying process identified functional separation between the departments, as well as a hand-off between the functions. Missing integrated activities were identified and a clear lack of communication was evident.Practical implications – The findings highlight the need for increased integration between the sales and marketing functions. The current sales-marketing interface as well as the missing integrated activities, should be evaluated and designed for a desired position in the firm.Originality/value – The findings describe how the sales-marketing interface is organized and managed, and how to increase sales-marketing integration. The findings assist academics in understanding the role of the sales-marketing interface and can help managers understand and evaluate their firm’s sales- marketing interface and how to improve it. Validerat; 20160826 (global_studentproject_submitter)

The purpose of this study was to examine the attitude end users had to an airports self-service kiosks, and provide recommendations regarding the usability, to those who will design userinterfaces for similar services. This was a qualitative study in which respondents were askedto answer a questionnaire that was based on questions about the attitude of self-service and how usability factors: appearance, language, structure and interaction matters. The study was based on theories of self-services, user interfaces, usability and previous research on attitudes to self- services. The study's empirical data consists of the information obtained from the survey. The study showed that there was a positive attitude to self-service kiosks. The attitude to self- services is similar between men and women and it is primarily younger who prefer self-services while older still believe that personalized service is the best option. Usability factors that are important to the end users are mainly interaction and structure. The appearance and a simple language was according to the survey less important. Validerat; 20160622 (global_studentproject_submitter)

The development is constantly moving forward and it applies to continue to deliver and produce competitive products. Today the IT-systems are integrated to each other and they are often composed in different packages, compared with 20 years ago when the systems were more isolated. The integration and the communication between systems and functions is making the demand handling more difficult which is making a larger need of supply-chains with quality assurance. The customers decides which quality is needed and also contributes to the evolution of factors and aims regarding quality of supplies, this according to the need of customers, expectations and wishes. The guarantee of quality is a link to reduce delay and unnecessary problems. Instead you want to create effective supply-chains which support and could be measured trough good documentation. The study has research an company’s supply-chain for an specific IT-system with focus on quality assurance. Observations and interviews has been conducted with employees and customers, the study investigate how the process, the collaboration and communication looks like in the supply-chain. In the qualitative study has there been two research questions. How does todays supply-chains executes and which deficiency could there be? How can the supply-chain be changed so good quality, delivery and customer’s satisfaction is accomplished? The empirical material indicates that work with quality is not given priority to and there are many possible potential improvements to create an quality assurance supply-chain. Today the process is described in different ways with different parts and content, both by the employees and the customers. It makes it unclear both in and outside the company. Further it can be established that today there are many deliveries delayed which creates disaffection instead of customer satisfaction. Validerat; 20160110 (global_studentproject_submitter)

The purpose of this paper is that through a rhetorical reception analysis to find out how young women interpret a specific content downloaded from Instagram in the form of four collage containing a total of 24 different images. The collages are based on four hashtags: #home, #breakfast, #happiness and #lifestyle. In this study individual interviews were conducted with five female respondents aged 20 to 24 who are active users of Instagram.The women's own presentation and identity has also been studied to see if the image and the identity that they show on Instagram consistent with the image and identity as they have in the reality.With the help of rhetorical tools and a fund theories of gender, identity , habitus and capital so , this study concluded that the respondents both consciously and unconsciously interpret the material chosen differently depending on which of collages that they have analyzed And that respondents in different ways, choose which side of themselves that they want to display on Instagram where some of the respondents admit that the picture they show of themselves on Instagram match the image they have of themselves everyday. While some of the respondents admit that they are more daring, and become more personal on Instagram than they are in real life. Validerat; 20160607 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Validerat; 20160125 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Validerat; 20160629 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Validerat; 20160313 (global_studentproject_submitter)

The study deals with the subject communication in IT projects that make use of outsourcing. Currently there is not much written about the factors that negatively affect communication in IT projects that make use of outsourcing. This study wants to create awareness of the communication problems that may exist in such projects. For answers to the questions that deal with the subject at hand, both managers and project members who work or previously worked in projects with outsourcing were interviewed. The study results have been summarized in a list of six factors that project managers should be aware of as they embark on an outsourcing project, these are: The communication process: Overuse of written communication increases the chance of misunderstanding, impersonal communication and excuses. Lack of nonverbal communication prevents confirmation capability and results in an increased chance of project failure. Expectations: Poor handling means that developers are prevented in their work and prevents communication. Development Method: Projects that use the waterfall model has a reduced density of communication. Culture: Technological culture affects developers a way to write and read code as well as designing solutions. Technological culture that is different between the developers affects their ability to interpret assignments, which causes problems. Keywords: IT projects, outsourcing, project management, project, development, communication, awareness. Validerat; 20160629 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Validerat; 20160218 (global_studentproject_submitter)

The subject of shorter work days is a widely debated subject and its pros and cons are argued by politicians, scientists and media. The focus in these discussions is primarily on macro-economic repercussions and effects on employees’ health. The purpose of this study is to explain employees’ attitude towards management control through shorter work days. A literary study containing scientific articles contributed to a theoretical framework. To further examine employees’ attitude, a questionnaire was distributed and answers from 882 employees within the public and private sector were collected. The result of the study shows that the current situation at work did not affect employees’ attitude toward shorter work days and the strength of the explaining factors varied between job complexities. Among these differences, the importance of job satisfaction is notable as only jobs with a lower complexity took satisfaction in consideration when they formed their attitude towards shorter work days. As such, organizations needs to assess what influences job satisfaction and if management control through shorter work days will contribute to or hamper these influences. The attitude towards an implementation of shorter work days can further be explained by employees’ perception of how a shorter work day would affect their situation at work, the characteristics of their work and how an implementation would affect their personal life. Hence, the meaning of shorter work days and its importance differs among employees in different types of jobs. Validerat; 20160602 (global_studentproject_submitter)

To be able to provide data collecting services to customers, service provides are required by law to design privacy policies and present their content to users as privacy notices that informs the user on privacy consequences and demonstrate that an explicit informed consent of the user has been collected before processing of the data. However, despite the increase in data collection by services and hence increase of privacy impact, yet privacy notices do not implement proper mechanisms that can assure that data subjects are well informed and their consent are provided with comprehension. The root of this problem is the fact that typically only theoretical description of what consent is and what it involves is offered by existing literature but no “practical” design guides are available for decision makers and practitioners on how to effectively integrate a targeted consent level in privacy notices. This thesis work addresses the need for explicit integration of consent in privacy notice designs by presenting the Extended Privacy Notice Design Space (XPNDS) construct that guides on explicitly incorporating different levels of consent in privacy notices. This thesis uses theories of eye movement in reading and technical references from computer vision for comprehension and attention determination to prove the feasibility of integrating higher level of consent in the design space that may guide to assured informed consent. The construct can be used by managers to communicate, practitioners to design, and regulators to analyze informed consent incorporation in privacy notice designs. Unlike most works available in the literature on consent which only provide theoretical opinion of what informed consent is, this work cast the conceptual consent guidelines in to a practical privacy notice design space to provide an XPNDS that guides to the practicality of achieving assured informed consent in privacy notices. It is the hope of the author that the XPNDS will be useful to both practitioners and academicians in incorporating informed consent in privacy notice designs to an assured level. Validerat; 20160622 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Knowledge management can be a source of competitive advantage if implemented correctly. In today’s global business environment, project-based organizations are becoming more common. The implementation of project knowledge management is especially important for project-based organizations, which face particular obstacles in a competitive international market. Previous research has shown that there are several success factors critical for project knowledge management. Information and communication technology is identified as one of the success factors by several researchers. The purpose of this thesis is to provide a better understanding of how to best capitalize on the use of an information and communication-tool within Project Knowledge Management. The first research question concerns how the employees of an organization perceive the effect an information and communication-tool has on the final offering. The term “final offering” is used when referring to both the product and service offered by a company. The second research question in this study regards what entice employees to use an information and communication-tool. This bachelor thesis aims to fulfill the purpose by conducting a qualitative study. The study has a deductive approach and the research strategy chosen is a case study. Interviews among employees of a Swedish project-based company were conducted in order to provide answers to the stated research questions. The data gathered for the study showed that employees perceive the use of an information and communication-tool to affect the final offering positively, facilitating customer interactions. The data further reveals that the perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness are main factors affecting participation and use of an information and communication-tool. Consequently, this study can be of use for managers implementing a PKM-initiative. Validerat; 20160621 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Validerat; 20160122 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Even with more sophisticated and modern forms of authentication, passwords are still the most popular form of user authentication. An environment where multiple passwords are used (multiple-password environment) causes many issues with regard to information security. Password managers may be one way to improve password management by storing and generating strong passwords. The purpose of this research is to test whether password managers can help to solve the security issues that arise in multiple-password environments. The study addresses the following questions: - How can password managers help to solve the security issues that arise in multiple-password environment? - What factors hinder the use of password managers in multiple-password environments?The method chosen for this is action research. Action research aims at developing a solution to a practical problem. The result of action research is both of value to the practitioners as well as the research community.The results from this study confirms that password management is a big issue in multiple-password environments. It also shows that the implementation of password managers improves the password management regarding weak passwords, reuse of passwords, password notes, and so forth in the organization. This study also presents emerging risks and disadvantages of implementing password managers, educating and informing the users are key factors to counteract these new risks. Validerat; 20160616 (global_studentproject_submitter)

This bachelor thesis analyzes the type of criticism the TV-hostess Gina Dirawi and Sveriges Television has received on Facebook concerning the intermission of the TV-broadcast of the swedish television show Melodifestivalen where the Swedish national anthems lyrics was changed from “I want to live and die in the north” to “I want to live and die on the earth” and a couple of folksongs where translated from Swedish to Hebrew and Arabic.The thesis was executed with a two-part analysis consisting of a quantitative content analysis followed by a qualitative text analysis on Aftonbladet, Expressen and Göteborgs-Postens Facebook pages to find different themes in the criticism of the host Gina Dirawi and the Swedish television network SVT, this thesis focused on both the ideology and intersectionality perspectives. In addition to these perspectives, terories about discourse, identity, gender and ethnicity have been used to analyse the selected material. The study has showed that the criticism is based on a fear of the Swedish national identity disappearing and changing. Also that there are some conspiratorial theories surrounding the Swedish public service television network Sveriges Television.There is also a small collection of comments that focuses on critizing the media coverage of the performance and other commenters. The positive comments are underrepresented, and often focuses on the quality of the performance from Gina Dirawi or criticize the more negative commenters who should focus on more important events around the world. Validerat; 20160614 (global_studentproject_submitter)

An embedded single-case study with a survey on a sub-unit level was carried out in the only pro-gymnasium in one of the southwestern districts in Moscow. At the time of children’s well-being in physical dimension being linked to their well-being in an online one, online safety issue was revealed to be non-included in family-school cooperation in an educational institution that, unlike regular elementary schools, claimed to put a more significant emphasis on assisting parents with facilitation of children’s well-being. Stimulation of inclusion of online safety issue in that cooperation as an acknowledged influential factor would allow this pro-gymnasium to live up to its standards with relevance to trends in children’s development in technology-saturated society. The research also pioneered in exploration of such cooperation, along with the involved parties’ attitudes that facilitate its sustainability and productiveness. The findings as well as the methodology of this research could be used by researchers or individual educators in Russia or other countries as a theoretical basis for much needed further exploration of this vastly underexplored research area. To be more specific, this research sought to explore not only parents’ experiences, attitudes and concerns regarding mediation of children’s online safety, but also parents’ and teachers’ attitudes towards cooperation on that mediation and the current state of such cooperation in the context of this particular pro-gymnasium. The findings of the survey revealed that the parents rationally acknowledged importance of the Internet for children’s development, although they were rather concerned about its underlying risks. On the other hand, the revealed reliance of parents on verbal restrictions and passive monitoring of children’s Internet use as well as their disregard for education of children about norms of safe Internet use were rather worrying. Furthermore, the parents expressed willingness to receive online safety assistance from teachers and their confidence in teachers’ technical competence was at least one of the factors that shaped that willingness. The teachers, on the other hand, were hesitant to express willingness to provide such assistance, regardless of their self-perceived technical competence but rather due to the assumption of parents’ technological self-efficacy. Considering the revealed shortcomings in parental mediation efforts and the explicitly expressed willingness to receive assistance, the teachers’ assumption about parents’ technological self-efficacy was rather an invalid justification for non-provision of assistance and contradicted parents’ actual needs. Furthermore, irregularity in online safety assistance provision to parents was revealed along with a flagrant disregard for parents’ preferred way of such provision (i.e. email) in favour of a notably less preferred one (i.e. teacher-parents meetings) and the parents’ overall lack of satisfaction with the current state of such family-school cooperation. Those revelations together with the parents’ explicitly expressed willingness to receive such assistance and notable shortcomings in current parental online safety mediation efforts outline an evident need to reconsider the current state of such family-school cooperation in this pro-gymnasium with the purpose of its adaptation to parents’ actual needs. Validerat; 20160628 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Validerat; 20160714 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Requirements elicitation is the process of understanding, retrieving and deciding the requirements and limitations of a software system in a software development process. The requirements elicitation process is important so that customers know what to expect from the software, and to avoid misunderstandings and expensive maintenance costs. Different requirements elicitation techniques are used to achieve better results in this process. Requirements elicitation techniques are studied in three different software development companies. The study is conducted using semi-structured interviews in which two things are identified: What requirements elicitation technique is the company using? What associated problems exist using this technique? The result indicates that two of the companies use Interview, a classic requirements elicitation technique. With this technique there are six problems mentioned out of which two have a higher probability to occur: Users do not know what they want, and a lack of knowledge with computers and IT from users. A combination of two collaborating techniques is found in the third company: JAD and Evolutionary prototype. The combination of these two techniques resulted in one problem alone: The wrong person attends the meeting. Validerat; 20160627 (global_studentproject_submitter)

The background of the essay takes up a large increase in graduates from 1977 to 2015. The problematization of the study was to find out the students thoughts towards university studies linked to the development of society. The purpose was to investigate young peoples perceptions of university studies and identity from an individualizing perspective. The research questions in the study that is answered in the results of the study was to find out the importance of university education, the experience of the shaping of a future career, and examine whether there is a connection between the development of society linked to an increased interest in higher education among young people. Ulrich Becks theories of individualization and risk society has been the basic theories of the essay with the support of four scientific articles that are previous research in the study area. Seven students were interviewed to later become the basis for an outcome in the study where their perceptions and values weigh heavily. The result showed similarities and differences in the interviewees thoughts about university studies and future careers. There were clear indications that class background affects the people to some point if they are about to study or not and how early they will do it. Although the motivation for studying was varied, the choices of education and the experience of the near environment influence in the choice of university studies and future careers. In the analysis section the results are compared with relevant theories and previous research. The results could be related to theories which showed many similarities, support and explanations that reinforces the results. In the discussion section my own conclusions presents from the study on the basis of the results and relevant theories in the field. Validerat; 20160622 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Validerat; 20160420 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Economic situations of societies have direct impacts on buying behaviors of the citizens. Iran inflammatory recession economy resulted in deduction of GDP. Government employees suffered more since the rate of inflammation was almost twice the size of their yearly raise. Therefore as a result the purchasing power of these families reduced drastically and even though the corporate society retail stores tried to keep the prices as low as possible, still there are goods expired and unsold. Retailers owned vast amounts of data however lack of technologies made these data hard to save and sort resulting in poor information extracted from those data. Introduction of new technologies helped data mining and data analysis majorly. Data mining a rather new concept have a positive impact on retail stores in various aspects from inventory to promotional strategies. Market basket analysis is a type of data mining and its best example for a very useful technique in finding affinities amongst items in consumer shopping baskets. Such information are basis for decision making process of marketing activities. This is a very new concept in Iran’s market and the idea of it being able to affect a homogeneous customers of a corporate society retail store seemed very interesting. The main objective of the thesis is to see how different products assortment interrelate and how to exploit these relations by rearranging. Mining association rules from transactional data will provide us with valuable information about co-occurrences and co-purchases of products. Such information can be used as a basis for decisions about marketing activity such as promotional support, inventory control and cross-sale campaigns. Validerat; 20160226 (marikav)

This essay examines how the process of constructing a celebrity from an “everyday” person takes place in media. The 2015 season of the Swedish version of Idol is the subject for this analyze, where the participant Martin Almgren is the case for the study.The essay is built on research and theories regarding reality-Tv and representation of celebrities, as well as identity and stereotypes. The method for the study is a critical discourse analysis with Norman Fairclough’s three-dimensional model as base for the analysis.The results show patterns in how the representation of Martin Almgren changes as the season progresses. The construction of the celebrities is done by cultural intermediaries which are presented by the Tv-production, and through the audience. The jury and the host of the show also has an important role in the production and construction of the celebrity Martin Almgren. Besides this, the result shows which qualities that are necessary for the individual to become a celebrity through the medial construction process. Validerat; 20160602 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Smartphones are used increasingly and besides for calling and text messaging they are being used for listening to music, contact via social media, email etc. Törnros and Bolling (2005) showed that usage of a mobile phone can increase the risk of accidents, when driving a motorized vehicle. Can also the pedestrians’ usage of a mobile phone or a smartphone pose risks? The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the pedestrians’ risk-taking and their experience of incidents, when using a smartphone. Students at Luleå University of Technology answered an online survey and the results show that students who often use their smartphone when walking report most incidents and least attention towards the environment. When a choice between the completion of a task with a smartphone and continued movement is enforced both decisions are as common, which shows that decision conflicts may occur. In total the results show that usage of a smartphone while walking can pose an increased risk. Validerat; 20160316 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Validerat; 20160601 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Validerat; 20160831 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Swedish industrial companies are still experiencing pressure on profitability after the financial crisis of 2008, which increases the need for a well-functioning financial control. Customer demands and new global competitors increase. This has lead to a greater focus on adapting their financial control systems to fit the changing business environment, organizational structure and corporate strategy to enhance their competitiveness. Industrial companies combine budgetary control to a greater extent with economic forecasts or balanced scorecards to obtain a more future-oriented budgetary control system with updated information from the outside world, which is also called hybrid control. The aim of this study was to develop a better understanding and a comparison of how the business environment, organizational structure and corporate strategy affect the hybrid control for the companies selected. To fulfill the purpose of this study, the authors used a qualitative study to explore two different hybrid control systems within two industrial companies. The study found that the corporate hybrid control for one of the companies was characterized by a budget dominated system and the other by a scorecard dominated system. The conclusion for the study was that both hybrid systems are greatly influenced by the business environment and strategy. It can be explained by the industrial sector conservative character when changes in the organizational structure do not occur at the same rate as in the other variables. It has been found that other factors, such as the business culture, help to explain the form of the hybrid control system. Validerat; 20160614 (global_studentproject_submitter)