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Validerat; 20160216 (global_studentproject_submitter)

This report aims to examine how the interaction in social media between a music festival and its visitors can affect the view of the festival. This is done by exploring a limited number of music festivals that are put in context within the experience economy and industry that they appear. Also by examining how the music festivals have to brand themselves through social media. The problem area concerns how dynamic the digital environment is, and therefor needs to be updated within the Swedish festival market. This is analyzed by using a theory called experience marketing, or brand marketing, via a survey. The purpose of the survey is to answer the questions; how does the interaction in social media between the festival and its visitors affect the view of the festival, how does it affect their will to revisit and how does it affect their will to recommend it to others. The result shows that 41 respondents have interacted with the music festival they attended in social media, Facebook and Instagram in first hand. 11 respondents have not interacted at all. Concerning the first group majority claims the interaction has affected their view of the festival in a positive way. They also claim the interaction haven’t affected their will to revisit or recommend it at all. A comparison between the two groups shows that the ones who did interact with the festival in social media also have a more positive view of the festival than the ones who didn’t. The conclusion is that the second group is too small for this comparison to be statistically reliable, and that the survey doesn’t tell if the interaction is crucial for the positive view. Despite this, the result shows the huge relevance of this report since 41 out of 52 respondents had an interaction in social media. Also it shows the importance for Swedish music festivals to create positive brand experiences online and where they should be doing it. Validerat; 20160622 (global_studentproject_submitter)

The roots of the goods-dominant logic are found in early economic theory based almost exclusively on price and performance. The dominant logic acted as a basis when marketing emerged and drove the understanding of the field forward. This lasted until a new emerging logic was identified in form of the service-dominant logic, which started to emerge when times changed and information, knowledge and abilities became more important. Value offerings had until this point worked as an offer communicated by a seller to a buyer, but in the new emerging logic companies could only convey value propositions. The focus shifted from a set value in the material exchanged to a potential value, which was then realized through the processes of the customer.It turned out that the goods-dominant logic had restricted and prevented a full understanding for the field of marketing. Value creation expanded from selling products to supporting customers with their creation of value, but at the same time the goods-dominant logic was a deeply rooted mindset. Organizations had for a long time experienced trouble communicating value propositions that consisted of different kinds of products or services, and the implications presented themselves in the organizations market relations, profitability and economic growth. The receiver of a value proposition did usually not acknowledge the value if the offering company could not exactly specify how the outcome improved the productions performance, which is far from simple when dealing with intangible benefits such as information, knowledge and abilities. How organizations choose to convey the value of their value propositions and how this is perceived could be the key to obtain accurate assessments of the value in these cases. The purpose of the study is therefore to examine what organizations can do to motivate value propositions of the service-dominant logic.Three different operations and a total of two organizations have been investigated in the study. In the case of the supplier the purpose was to identify how they convey their value propositions to customers, and how they perceive the customers perception of their offerings. The results demonstrated that the supplier used a service-dominant approach and had a good understanding for the customers’ perception of their value propositions. In the case of the customers the investigation was directed towards what actually affects their perception of value propositions, which turned out to be highly contextual as both the organizational steering and the field of use for individual components actively played a part. Within the results and analysis three general alternatives emerged that could be used by the supplier to better convey their value propositions.From this point the theoretical and practical implications of the study are discussed, from which support is given to the proposition about how the service-dominant logic encloses the goods-dominant logic instead of replacing it, together with the purpose for the study. How organizations can manage businesses that are seen as unprofitable was also discussed together with a couple of theories of value and value creation of which the study supports. Finally, the limitations and future research for the study is addressed. Validerat; 20160331 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Validerat; 20160125 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Work integration Social Enterprises can be described as a hybrid organization that both sell goods and / or services on the market while integrating people who have difficulty entering the labor market. They may be people who were previously long-term unemployed or burnout who wants to return to work. The most common corporate structure of these companies is that they are operated as cooperatives, which means that they reinvest profits back in to the company. In society there is no knowledge of what social enterprises are and there is not much research on what drives social entrepreneurs. This study consists of seven interviews with social entrepreneurs in Norrbotten County. This study examines the motivations for starting and running social enterprises. The study also examine these specific social enterprises and how they fulfill the function at the individual level and their contribution to society. The theoretical framework consists of Marie Jahodas theory of latent and manifest functions meaning of work and the concepts of participation and empowerment. Five of the examined social enterprises first started up in projects for 1-2 years before they started up as a cooperatives. The other two social enterprises founded by individuals with an interest in labor integration and environmental goals. Conclusions about what motivates social entrepreneurs emerge in different motivational factors. The cooperators / executive director coming from the previous background of sickness / unemployment motivated to do their part of contributing to society, connection with colleagues and to get a chance to develop their professional skills. A common motivating factor in many of the surveyed respondents is that they are driven to help other people and see them grow. They are also driven by the realization of their business ideas with social objectives. Social enterprises have strengthened individuals' self-esteem and confidence. Validerat; 20160623 (global_studentproject_submitter)

A medium size manufacturing company spends about half of their revenues on purchases. This has recently contributed to that procurement gained a more significant role as it is important to minimize cost in order to remain a profitable and competitive company. Time is of great importance in order to gain competitive advantages in today's market. Lead time should be short and businesses have to be able to respond to customers' requests and needs at the right time. For a company to deliver to their clients’ needs on-time, reliable suppliers are of the highest importance.If a selected supplier does not deliver on time to the company. It could come to affect the company's end customers by delays and possibly lead to large costs for the company. Delays in return could lead to dissatisfied customers. Delivery service should be measured in a supply chain. The supply chain contains of six key areas which are delivery time, delivery reliability, delivery precision, service, information and flexibility. One of the most common indicators to measure delivery service is delivery precision. Delivery precision is defined as a measure of the delivery if an order takes place on the agreed date of delivery. It is also important that the correct quantity is delivered.The purpose of this study is to identify the reasons for shortcomings in delivery service and provide suggestions for improving the measurement methods of the incoming delivery service. In order to improve delivery service the current situation should be mapped with measuring points. This is to determine where the problem in the inbound logistics can occur and where the biggest problems are today. A case study has been conducted on Alimak Hek to examine how companies generally can deal with different problems and different ways of measuring delivery service.Data collection in form of interviews, observations and data collection the business system have been conducted from different measuring points at Alimak Hek and its suppliers to create an understanding of where problem areas in the inbound logistics can be, and how delivery service can occur measured. To identify different ways to measure delivery service and to increase the understanding of the subject recent literature, journals and articles have been studied. Thirty four suppliers to Alimak Hek have been the basis for the study.Results from the study show that Alimak Hek had a number of different reasons for late deliveries from suppliers, reasons such as: unconfirmed delivery date, intake of transport, the order is not executed in accordance with the lead time, transport time varies, receiving and transport time is included in delivery performance measurement. Some of the reasons have been measured quantitatively in order to find out how much they have influenced the delivery service, while others only can be carried out in a qualitative way. Regarding delivery service the suppliers should be measured with regard to its terms of delivery, goods receipt is to be measured by its own performance measurement. The recommended measurement of the delivery service is made by measuring delivery precision, flexibility and quality. Validerat; 20160826 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Validerat; 20160629 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Validerat; 20160127 (global_studentproject_submitter)

The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the existence of violence and threats of violence in the workplace of municipal employed personal assistants. Research questions were: does violence or threats of violence occur at the workplace? What type of violence and threats are the employees subject to? What are the psychosocial health effects of violent and threatening situations? Which preventive measures are provided by the managers? Both a qualitative and quantitative approach have been used as data collection methods. The qualitative part consist of Interviews were conducted with six managers and a survey was administered to 113 personal assistants. The frame of reference includes Karasek and Theorell´s theory of work stress associated with insufficient job control and social support, previous research by various authors and regulations from Arbetsmiljöverket. The results were thematically analyzed, the survey by descriptive statistics and the interviews under relevant headings. The result reveals that violence and threats do occur on personal assistants workplaces, but to varying extent. The kind of violence the personnel is most exposed to are physical, such as kicks and punches. Those who are exposed feel, in comparison to unexposed a lack of support from the manager.Keywords: Personal assistant, Piteå Kommun, First line manager, violence and threats, health-unhealth, work environment management, support, Karasek’s demand-control model, knowledge Validerat; 20160623 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Validerat; 20160314 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Those who worked in the Armed Forces feel that many women feel fleeced by their malecolleagues, for example, a promotion, the organizational structure is not favored women andthat many had to sow sexual harassment and derogatory comments. On the Armed Forceswebsite you can read that they engage in active work for gender equality, women stillrepresent a minority of the organization and only 6% of women are in higher positions. Thepurpose of this paper is to describe and analyze women's experience of armed forces in thehope of identifying factors that can contribute to maintaining that women are a minority in theorganization. This is a qualitative empirical essay which consists of eight interviews withwomen around Sweden, who work or have worked in the Armed Forces. The theories that thethesis is based on are the Connell & Pearse gender theory, Joan Ackers theories of “Inequalityregimes” and “Gendered processes”, Germain and others theory of women in male-dominatedfields, Moss Kanter token concept and the concept homosociality. From the result of theinterviews can eg to infer that the majority of respondents do not experience the ArmedForces as equal and that the organization has a lot left to work with to achieve genderequality. Furthermore, it appears that six of the eight respondents have chosen to quit theArmed Forces and the other two plan to quit this fall. Reasons for this include that they feelthat the Armed Forces have bad personnel policies, low wages and they are tired of the lowpossibility for advancement. It is clear that factors such as the inequality organization, lower advancement opportunitiesthan men, that the armed forces have historically been male dominated, lack of female rolemodels in higher positions, and that it is a very special work may mean that minority womenare maintained in the Armed Forces. Validerat; 20160615 (global_studentproject_submitter)

This report is about risks and consequences for user privacy when using the Internet of Things (IoT) and what users should know in order to reduce these risks. IoT are physical devices that via sensors and communication technologies are connected to the Internet. IoT devices can for example be connected fitness bracelets, lamps and sensors in cars.There are some uncertainties about risks, consequences and personal integrity regarding IoT and this study aims to increase users understanding and awareness for the technology. To get answers to these questions a qualitative study was conducted in which experts and scholars in the field of computer science and IT law were interviewed.We have in our study identified five risks with associated consequences. Based on the study we also provide recommendations on what users should be aware of when using the technology. The risks include that users can get intrusion into their privacy, that third parties may take part of user data, unauthorized access to personal information, users can be exposed to vague and complex terms and that users are exposed to big data analysis. Some consequences of these risks may be that users are experiencing their privacy violated and withdraws from the technology or starts entering false information, are exposed to targeted advertising or receive increased insurance premiums, are subject to threats or identity theft, their personal information is spread undesirably and some risks could even be a threat to democracy. A few things that users should be aware about in order to reduce risks of the technology is that they should be more careful about what information they share, start reading and understanding user agreements, realize that they have more power than they think, increase understanding of consequences and put higher demands on the technology. Validerat; 20160616 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Validerat; 20160603 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a fast growing topic in the modern business world. Especially university students and young professionals consider corporate social responsibility as an important factor to consider regarding their buying behavior and the choice of possible employers. Various studies have shown that national culture is influencing the perception of corporate social responsibility. When considering the 6 dimensions of Hofstede, there are parallels between cultural features and the perception of CSR of individuals. This study in particular describes the connection between the cultural background and the perception of CSR of Swedish and German university students, born in the years between 1979 and 2001.The deductive research was implemented with focus group interviews of each two German and Swedish groups divided by gender, and a preparing pre questionnaire form. Three research questions regarding culture, corporate social responsibility and the connection between both were formulated. They structure the thesis and lead to an outcome of the study which has shown that corporate social responsibility and culture are connected to each other. The fact that cultural differences can be used to explain different perceptions of corporate social responsibility is an important indicator of the influence of cultural values on the perception of corporate social responsibility. Validerat; 20160718 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Validerat; 20160609 (global_studentproject_submitter)

The phenomenon of "Word-of-mouth" (WOM) has evolved with the digital era establishing itself online as electronic "Word-of-mouth" (e-WOM). One of the main platforms of e-WOM is social media, which has enabled social media users to communicate freely with other users of social media. Social media has also given consumers an accessible tool to show dissatisfaction to the online public.The purpose of this study is to describe how large Swedish service companies handles different types of customer complaints on social media. In order to achieve this different types of customer complaints on social media has been observed, along with corporate responses in accordance with the following research questions.FF 1: How can different types of customer complaints aimed towards larger Swedish service companies on social media be categorized? FF 2: How can the handling of customer complaints on social media by large Swedish service companies be described? The study was delimited to only review a specific case involving a Swedish service company and its customers. Keeping in line with the purpose of the study the platform which has been examined is confined to social media, specifically Facebook.In order to collect primary data, a content analysis has been conducted, and two selected Facebook posts have been observed. Customer complaints were sorted into different categories and different components for a successful recovery were identified in the company's responses.By categorizing customer complaints and by observing the company’s response based on the ingredients for a successful recovery, the study has resulted in a way to categorize customer complaints and describe how companies responds on social media. Validerat; 20160825 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Validerat; 20160202 (global_studentproject_submitter)

The aim of the study is to identify criteria for socio-economic cost analysis based on economic theory. These criteria will be used to evaluate three cost analysis models through a simulation of two natural disasters affecting different roads. The method used to achieve the aim of the study was a socioeconomic cost analysis, with focus on the costs involved. This study has been delimited to private and freight traffic in Sweden. The results show a variation in the final costs and the sensitivity analysis show that the annual average daily traffic and the value of time has an effect on the result. One of the models only fulfills two of the criteria while the other two models fulfill all. It will entail further research and development regarding these models in order to develop a model that best utilizes the inputs and reflects the actual outcome of an event such as the ones simulated in this study. Validerat; 20160701 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Validerat; 20160613 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Transportation is commonly seen as a necessary function, but not as a value-giving process and is therefore sometimes considered a waste. This has led to more industrial companies choose to outsource and to focus on their core competencies. Though, there is a growing trend of insourcing processes as the outsourcing has not generated the expected results. Since year 1977 Holmen Paper Braviken has outsourced parts of its vessel loading process to NHS. Due to decreasing profitability, Holmen Paper Braviken have gotten more aware of its costs and are now suspecting that the cost of NHS services are too high and that there might be cheaper alternatives. The purpose of this master thesis is to look into if it would be profitable for Holmen Paper to take over NHS work and to carry out the vessel loading themselves. The results shall serve as an economical basis for future negotiations with NHS. Boat transportation stands for a third of all the goods transportations and vessel loading is often conducted twice a week. Braviken is in charge of the work in the warehouse during vessel loading, whilst NHS is in charge of transporting and loading the paper on the boat. Holmen Paper Braviken pays a stevedoring fee, goods- and harbor dues for NHS services. The stevedoring fee stands for about 62 % of the total cost and is the only fee that is affected by an insourcing decision. If Holmen Paper Braviken were to insource, they would have to invest in new machinery equipment and employ more personnel that can replace NHS resources.The conclusion is that there exists a large savings opportunity if Holmen Paper Braviken would to insource the vessel loading. The increase of capacity that insourcing would bring could improve the work rotation by varying the truck drivers everyday tasks. Insourcing would also give more time to maintenance, which could counteract stone damages on the paper and reduce the wear of the machinery equipment. The increased capacity would though increase the personnel cost, which prolongs the pay- back time for the company to start profiting. With the current circumstances Holmen Paper Braviken is therefore recommended not to insource the vessel loading with own personnel.In order to reduce personnel costs, flexible staffing is required as the utilization rate of full- time staff is low, which results in a high cost per ton. The most profitable alternative is to recruit two full- time truck drivers to Braviken and to hire three truck drivers from Pema. The difficulty with this option is to find extracurricular work for the full- time truck drivers during days without vessel loading, which may reduce overtime at the mill. Therefore, it is less risk to let the external personnel be responsible for the vessel loading, as Holmen Paper Braviken only needs to pay for the labor time during vessel loading. NHS has carried out stevedoring work for many years and holds great skills in dock work, which justifies a continued partnership with NHS. This option provides a relatively short payback time, but will then bring high annual savings for the company. Therefore Holmen Paper Braviken is recommended to invest in new machinery, but to outsource the labor work of vessel loading to NHS. For future research Holmen Paper Braviken should investigate if a capacity increase will reduce overtime costs at the mill. If so, insourcing with full- time employees can be profitable. Another area worth investigating is how a reallocation of capacity for the different transport modes can influence the decision of insourcing. If it is possible to release more capacity for vessel loading, the need of employing new personnel would decrease. Validerat; 20160626 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Event marketing and sponsorship is considered to be a top opportunity of marketing for a company. With help from these phenomenas, companies can reach out to a great number of people and achieve their stated objectives. Another and a rather new phenomenon in marketing is ambush marketing. Ambush marketing occurs when a company aims to look like it is an official sponsor by making advertisements and promotions that can be related to a specific event, but in fact they are not supplying any financial support to the event holder.The purpose of this study is to provide a deeper understanding on the role of ambush marketing in mega sporting events. The conducted study has a qualitative approach and the empirical data is collected through focus groups. To analyze the data, we have used a within-case analysis.This study has shown that the stated ambush marketing strategies are efficient for companies to mislead consumers. Moreover, the study also indicated that two strategies called support of event participants and advertising in the geographical surroundings of the event are distinguishingly more misleading than the other two discussed in this thesis. Validerat; 20160619 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Purpose of this research is to describe the constructs of consumer ethnocentrism and country-of-origin on the Russian market and to investigate their impact on attitude towards services provided by Swedish airline services. For obtaining the research objectives, the data was collected using online survey of Moscow inhabitants. A questionnaire was developed using 6-item version of the CETSCALE, multidimensional country image scale and attitude and beliefs scales. The data from 85 structured questionnaires was analyzed with the following statistical techniques: descriptive analysis, regression analysis, independent-samples t-test and analysis of variants. The results of the research demonstrate that consumer ethnocentrism does not have a significant impact on attitude of Russian consumers towards services of Swedish airlines. However, the positive impact of country-of-origin on it has been revealed. We also have found that the level of consumer ethnocentrism in Russia shows a tendency to decrease during the last 20 years. The findings also suggest that there is no significant difference in level of consumer ethnocentrism, country-of-origin and attitude between various demographic groups (gender, age, education and occupation). Validerat; 20160618 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Validerat; 20160424 (global_studentproject_submitter)

The ongoing globalization means increased competition. Therefore, the need for project-based organizations (PBO:s) to expand to new markets has increased as well and firm acquisitions is the most common way of doing so. Previous studies found knowledge transfer in PBO:s to be an important success factor for acquisitions. Hence, successful knowledge transfer in PBO:s is growing more and more important. At the same time, PBO:s have historically been found lacking in this skill. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate which methods for knowledge transfer PBO:s can use in acquisitions.A case study with an inductive research approach was conducted to find an answer to this question. The case study was conducted at BDX Företagen AB (BDX), where two firm acquisitions were studied. Primary data was gathered through 20 interviews. Secondary data consisting of documents from BDX was also used in the study.The collected data showed that knowledge accumulation took place prior to, as well as during, the acquisitions. Due to limited experience, no routines for the acquisition process had been created prior to Acquisition 1, which meant that BDX personnel had to learn as they went. They did so mainly through working in groups and pairs. BDX then recruited an individual who was very experienced in firm acquisitions in preparation for Acquisition 2, which enabled the establishment of company-wide routines and instructions for firm acquisitions. Those routines were used during Acquisition 2 and led to a more efficiently conducted acquisition. It also led to a decrease in the amount of articulated knowledge transfer in Acquisition 2 compared to Acquisition 1.This study has contributed to the literature in organizational learning by expanding on current literature in knowledge accumulation. Previous studies found knowledge accumulation to be an inefficient way of learning how to handle infrequently occurring situations. This study has, however, found a way to circumvent this problem by recruiting individuals that possess the sought-after experience and knowledge. One can thereby acquire the needed knowledge no matter how frequently the situation occurs within the organization.The study has also contributed with two practical implications for business managers, resource allocators and project managers in PBO:s, in regards to facilitating firm acquisitions by enabling knowledge transfer. The first implication is that the lead time for integrating the acquired firm into the business can be shortened if future managers are involved in the acquisition process. The second implication is that the acquisition process needs to be adapted to the existing amount of codified knowledge. If written routines and instructions are not available, the need for articulation of knowledge is essential. Project managers should then enable team work, meetings and communication throughout the acquisition process. Validerat; 20160614 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Validerat; 20160622 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Bankruptcy has long been an important research topic in business. Despite extensive research bankruptcies still occur regularly for companies that fails to adapt to the market. An increasingly globalized society has increased the competition for Swedish companies, which now compete not only with each other but with companies from all around the world. While the business environment has become tougher, the opportunity to grow in new markets has flourished for those with an attractive business proposition. In order toavoid companies with high risk of bankruptcy and investment losses, external stakeholders are required new knowledge to understand how companies communicate. This study is quantitative in nature and focuses on identifying connections of the bankruptcy companies information signals. The sample consists of 105 companies in three different time periods, where the two most recent annual reports before bankruptcy are analyzed. Based on previous research in the area of bankruptcy and signal theory, eight hard and seven soft signals has been selected. The empirical material has been processed through correlation-, regression- and variance analysis. The results show that companies tend to weight the annual reports with positive signals, in an attempt to downplay the negative news and results. This by focusing on historically good results, or on the company’s potential and opportunities for returns in the future. Even when companies found themselves in a precarious financial situation, there have been more positive than negative signals. Of the eight hard signals the most significant indicators of the company’s financial condition are capital turnover, cash liquidity and solvency. Validerat; 20160608 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Validerat; 20160224 (global_studentproject_submitter)

I have chosen to do a case study on the municipality of Lycksele. Lycksele is a municipality in Southern Lapland with about 12,000 inhabitants. It has a very low population density at just 2.2 inhabitants per square kilometer. This mirrors the average value of most Swedish municipalities.The work consists of analyzing the transition to the new form of software, Topocad, with the aim of integrating the new software into existing business operations. The municipality of Lycksele’s focus is aimed at getting all data to the new system, and creating a sustainable structure to ensure the transition and the availability of data within the organization, thus guaranteeing a sound structure going forward. At present there are a range of GIS systems being used in the municipality. Each GIS system has its own rules and ways of managing the input and output of data. There are currently no thoughts or procedures how to integrate a new universal GIS system amongst all the local departments. I have found that in order to integrate a new GIS-system it is necessary for the business to 1) have the same reference systems for spatial data; 2) know how the data will be stored and if the new GIS-system will be compatible with existing GIS-system within the organization; and 3) to know how spatial data are managed both internally and externally for achieving business goals and objectives in an efficient manner.Conflicts often occur as different aspects of the system are left to different departments. For example; the IT department performs technical installation of the systems, however the purchase of the GIS system itself falls on the shoulders of each individual department. It would seem that a universal system used by all respective departments and monitored by one central IT department would be a better solution. The lack of strategies and working models for municipal IS systems has led to a conclusion that the municipal would benefit greatly by creating an overall IS strategy for the system and creating procedures to check if it is possible to integrate new systems into existing operations. I am confident that a municipality like Lycksele would benefit greatly by developing GIS strategies on how they intend to manage GIS. Validerat; 20160520 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Validerat; 20160320 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Validerat; 20160613 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Background: The employee survey has become increasingly popular in organizations all around the world, since it is a tool for the development of the workplace or as a measurement of the psychosocial work environment. With help from the results, change in the organization or improvement the psychosocial work environment can be realized. Despite the employee surveys breakthrough, more and more organizations have begun to question the method, as results cannot always be fully utilized. Piteå kommun, but other organizations as well, have now come to a point where the organization wants to evaluate the employee survey, as it requires considerable resources in terms of knowledge, time and money. Purpose: To examine how managers and supervisors in Piteå kommun experience working with the results of the employee survey. Method: A quantitative survey study was conducted in Piteå kommun, in which 115 managers and supervisors participated. The respondents worked in eight different departments in the organization. Results: To work with the outcome of the employee survey is experienced as difficult by many of the respondents and the main reason, which inhibited the managers’ and the supervisors' work, was the lack of resources. Conclusion: Managers and supervisors in Piteå kommun feel that the work with the results of the employee survey is difficult and that the employee survey gives mainly a current status report of the organization. From a management perspective, organizations should use a method that shows how employees are feeling over along for a long period. It should not be determined based on their feeling during that day when the investigation is carried out. Validerat; 20160829 (global_studentproject_submitter)

In today's society, social media has become one of the largest platforms for multi-waycommunication. Out of the different categories of social media, social networks, allowcompanies to create online brand communities (OBCs). Facebook is one example of a socialnetworking site, where companies’ Facebook pages can be seen as OBCs. Facebookcontributes to online word-of-mouth (WOM) communication and gives consumers the abilityto interact with each other, as well as with companies. Furthermore, OBCs also givescompanies a possibility to reach a large number of consumers from all around the world. Onefactor that has an impact on consumers’ different ways of communicating is national culture.Therefore, culture is an important factor for companies to take into consideration wheninteracting and communicating with consumers. The purpose of this thesis is to gain a better understanding on how consumers from different cultures communicate on companies’ Facebook pages, and whether companies adapt their communication towards different cultures. The aim is to investigate if Facebook can help eliminate the cultural gap in communication. This research has chosen to study the cultural differences between the United States (The US) and India, identifying whether the theory of Hofstede’s (2010) framework and Hall’s (1989) high- and low context will affect consumers’ communication. For this thesis, a qualitative case study of the International fashion brand ZARA was chosen in order to observe individuals from different cultures, communicating on the brand's OBC.The collected data for this thesis suggests that communication on OBCs is influenced by cultural differences. However, it also shows that the cultural differences tend to get more similar in some aspects, while becoming more different in others. The data also suggests that ZARA, as a company, do not adapt their way of communicating towards different cultures, yet they seem to be more likely to reply consumers from the US. The findings from this thesis hope to contribute to further research within cultural differences in communication on OBCs. Validerat; 20160610 (global_studentproject_submitter)

This qualitative thesis investigates a socialization process through the rite of passage (initiationrites) within hazing. By gathering data of nine semi-structured interviews with engineering andsocial science students, they explained their own experiences, participating in the hazingprocess at their own universities. The main purpose of this study is to gain a deeperunderstanding of the hazing period. This study supplies information about individual’sexperiences from hazing. In order to provide a deeper knowledge and understanding of thehazing process, sociologist Erving Goffman and theorist Michel Foucault, provide researchwhich shall be used to analyze the hazing phenomenon.The empirical result shows that there is a polarization between engineers and social scientistsattitude towards the hazing process. The engineers mostly believe that hazing is an overall funactivity, and they consider the non-participating students of the hazing process as being odd.Most of the engineers are also passionate and engage in the process of hazing, which has ledthese individuals into getting involved within the hazing ritual. Some of these engineers haveeven become mentors for the new incoming hazing participants. When it comes to this study’ssocial scientists they have a different impression of hazing. They argue that the hazing processat the university is characterized by a hierarchical punishment role playing game, which someof these student have a negative attitude towards. In the study’s empirical section anddiscussion, the theoretical concepts are being deductively linked to the study’s researchquestions and main goal of this study. In conclusion, the study’s results indicate that there aresome obstacles to social cohesion by being a participant as well as a non-participant in thehazing ritual. Validerat; 20160627 (global_studentproject_submitter)

The concept Just-In-Time (JIT) encounters numerous definitions in the literature. In this thesis JIT is defined as a manufacturing philosophy that has been broken out of, and is a major part of Lean. JIT involves a variety of principles and methods with the purpose of reducing work in progress, lead times and thereby bring up problems to the surface that enables opportunities for improvement. JIT has it origin within the car industry which is characterized by large companies, it is therefore interesting to examine how suitable the JIT concept is for small manufacturing companies.The purpose of this study is to explore the contextual settings and barriers that exist for an implementation of JIT, and the benefits small manufacturing companies in Sweden can derive from the JIT philosophy. A literature study has been conducted to identify contextual factors that can affect an implementation of JIT. Subsequently a case study was made at J. Lundqvist Trävaruaktiebolag, a company located in Piteå which manufactures houses according to a modular system. Through observations and interviews at the case company various contextual factors were identified that will affect the case company’s possibility to work with JIT.The case study found that the company were already working with a number of concepts that are described in the JIT literature, such as standardized products and processes, multifunctional employees and the use of quality circles. The results from the study is in line with much of the literature proposing that smaller companies have certain advantages relative to larger companies. The company did not work with other concepts described in the literature such as Total Productive Maintenance, setup time reduction and JIT purchasing. This may be due to lack of knowledge, lack of adequate production planning and poor negotiating position, where the size of the company is considered a major explanation to these causes. The case company’s production was make-to-order based, which was considered a major obstacle for implementing pull systems and uniform workloads in the production.The company’s size and production strategy contributed to a number of barriers to an implementation of the concepts described in the JIT literature. The production strategy and the company size were found to be the major obstacles for introduction of production planning concepts described in the JIT literature. Therefor concepts of production planning beyond JIT should be reviewed for companies with a make-to-order strategy, as is often the case among smaller manufacturing companies. The concept Workload Control is considered to work well in a make-to-order strategy and is recommended to be further investigated how it can support the principles of Lean and JIT in cases were pull systems are difficult to implement. Validerat; 20160606 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Job satisfaction has long been one of the main areas of concern for human resourcemanagers of many companies specially the ones which their product is highly dependenton their human resources rather than machines and equipment.There are many influential factors on job satisfaction, one of the factors that has a greateffect on job satisfaction is the organizational culture of the company. The purpose of thisthesis is to take a deeper look into the effects of organizational culture and its differentdimensions on job satisfaction of employees. To achieve this, two research questions areproposed:RQ1: What is the effect of different traits of organizational culture on overall jobsatisfaction of employees?RQ2: How different dimensions of organizational culture can improve the employees’ jobsatisfaction?To answer these questions in a consultant engineering company, single embedded casestudy has been chosen as the research strategy. The approach that is selected is anexploratory qualitative approach. The data analysis approach is selected to be inductive.The data which was gathered through few one on one interviews with managers whocould not be gathered in focus groups and some focus groups, shows that different traitsand indices of organizational culture have a wide range of effects on job satisfaction andcan play an important role in increasing the level of employees’ job satisfaction.It is also observed that some traits have more significant effects comparing to others,which are highlighted in research results. Validerat; 20160226 (marikav)

Validerat; 20160219 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Validerat; 20160211 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Validerat; 20160731 (global_studentproject_submitter)

The Internet of Things (IoT) is an emerging paradigm focusing on the inter-connection of things or devices to each other and to the users. Over time, the most of connections in IoT are shifting from ‘Human to Thing’ to ‘Thing to Thing’. This technology is anticipated to become an essential milestone in the development of smart homes to bring convenience and efficiency into our lives and our homes. But, by bringing this IoT technology into our homes there will be important implications for security in these technologies. Connecting every smart objects inside the home to the internet and to each other results in new security and privacy problems, e.g., confidentiality, authenticity, and integrity of data sensed and exchanged by objects. These technologies are very much vulnerable to different security attacks that make an IoT-based smart home unsecure to live in and therefore it is necessary to evaluate the security risks to judge the situation of the smart homes. For any technology to be successful and achieve widespread use, it needs to gain the trust of users by providing sufficient security and privacy assurance. As in all sectors, maintaining security will be a critical challenge to overcome. As homes are increasingly computerized and filled with devices, potential computer security attacks and their impact on residents need to be investigated. This report uses OCTAVE Allegro Methodology which focuses mainly on information assets and considers containers (technical, physical and people) and conducts a security risk assessment with the goal of highlighting various security flaws in IoT-based smart home, impacts and proposing countermeasures to the identified issues satisfying most of security requirements. Finally, it comes up with some recommendations to the users. The research findings documented into a thesis paper for secure IoT-based smart home systems and the resulted list and recommendations will be some useful contribution which can be used as a foundation for the specification of security requirements. For future work, the assessment will be extended to include more types of smart home applications rather than just typical one. Validerat; 20160620 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Validerat; 20160211 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Author: Simon OlofssonTitle: The Nietzschean Antihero - murder as aesthetics and meaning in late modernityBachelor Thesis, 15 hpSupervisor: Anna EdinDepartment of Arts, Communication and Education, LTUPages: 70Contact: simon.olofsson89@gmail.comThe intent with this bachelor thesis is to examine the aesthete serial killer and aesthetical serial killings as representation and identification in late modern society. By combining representational theory and Nietzschean philosophy the thesis wants to explore how the philosophy of early modernity has shaped ideological and existential representation, manifest and reproduced in popular culture, and how this reproduction can be interpreted as metaphor in contemporary society. The thesis will therefore explore the fictional serial killer Hannibal Lecter in NBC’s Hannibal. By exploring the aesthetical murders and the construction of the Hannibal Lecter character in the light of sociological theory and Nietzschean philosophy, the thesis will show how the fictional aestethical murder and aesthete killer internalize different, sometimes paradoxal, discourses as a cultural manifestation of industrial seriality, Renaissance holistics and fascist/nazi elitism. The thesis willalso show how this manifestation is brought together in a discourse shaped by Friedrich Nietzsches philosophy regarding the will to power, the Übermensch and individualistic self realisation. In this discourse, strengthened by the moral relativism the Hannibal narrative presents, the formation of a Nietzschean antihero can take place, undermining the discourse of violence as pathological behavior presented by the morals of modern society and the clinical psychiatry. By analyzing the fictionalserial killer as metaphor and identification, the thesis would like to help put the existential position of the modern citizen in perspective, and by that maybe tell something about the place of man in a technological, institutionalized world.Keywords: Serial killer, Nietzschean antihero, Hannibal Lecter, murder, aesthetics, killer culture. Validerat; 20160610 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Human capital is valued higher than ever before, and is also considered one of the most important resources that companies have. At the same time, power has shifted from the employer to the employee and later generations are more mobile on the labor market. Since these important resources, early talents, possess knowledge that the companies value, it's of utmost importance for them to attract and retain these talents, which is where monetary compensation plays a key role. The purpose of the study is to describe, analyze, and create understanding for how early talents experience monetary rewards-systems in partner-owned companies, as well as how this affects them in their choice of employer. To fulfill this purpose, the study uses an abductive approach through nine interviews with early talents. The results show that the effects of partnership, when the early talents choose a new employer, or choose to stay with their current employer, is little to none. None of the interviewed talents were satisfied with the level of compensation in reference to the work load, but at the same time all of them view the employment as a fantastic stepping stone for the future. Finally, we note that the firms, despite the low starting salary, are successful in attracting early talents, but that they have troubles with retaining the talent that have entered more senior roles because of the disparity between their salaries compared to the market standards. Validerat; 20160624 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Money laundry has been a known problem for a long period of time and Swedish banks today have a responsibility to discover and report any suspicions about money laundry to the finance police, which requires extensive work and resources. It’s difficult to find practical solutions that suit both the customer and the bank while continuing to follow the law in a satisfactory way. A difficult situation arises when the bank is in between two important stakeholders and needs to balance their conflicting interests to keep the legitimacy against both of the stakeholders. The purpose of the study is to increase the bankers’ understanding of customers’ potential acting in evaluation situations when it comes to handling of money laundry. This is achieved by analysing the bankers’ decision-making in situations regarding money laundry by cognitions in the complex strive to create legitimacy toward both the Finance inspectorate and the customer. The interest lies in identifying and categorising factors that affecting the bankers’ decisions by developing a cognitive model. The study is a combination of both a quantitative and a qualitative method of research that has been approached by abduction. The study began with gathered empirical data from professional experience. Subsequently empirical data was gathered by the interviewing technique Repertory Grid with complementary classic interview question. The analysis and the conclusion show what factors have the greatest influence on a difficult and a simple situation involving handling of money laundry. By using Repertory Grid, we have identified two components:” risk of money laundry ” and ” important customer ” and from this, we have identified four different categories where the customer of the bank can be placed and how they are being handled in reality.The analysis model can be practically used by the bank to identify the risk of money laundering for its various customers. Inductive, the personality of the bank worker has been studied and it has been shown that confident and efficient individuals believe that few situations are difficult to handle and their decisions are mostly guided by cognitions. The bank workers with a careful personality more often make decisions based on rules. Two different people can experience a situation in different ways, while different people can interpret money laundering law in different ways. As new standards are developed, there will also be new cognitions. New standards meet resistance from old norms and cognitions of bank employees, the resistance is called cognitive dominance. It requires extensive work to implement the new standards. Another inductive streak in the study is the stereotypical filter where the bank workers cut corners in their decision making to be efficient in situations where efficiency is demanded. A consequence of the stereotypical decision making process might be that faulty decisions are made and that the wrong people are questioned for it, while the people that actually commit money laundry crimes aren’t punished. The conclusions focus on the factors that has shown to be the most significant and whether personality of a bank clerk can have significance to make a decision in a situation regarding money laundry. Validerat; 20160619 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Information Technology is a vital part of any business today and requires a clear strategy to guide its use of resources in the best way to support the business. The use of Enterprise architecture can help organize a business while Service-Oriented architecture can be used to expose the EA’s functionalities. Despite the potential benefits there is a lack of research supporting micro enterprises applying Enterprise Architecture and Service-Oriented Architecture principles. The purpose of this study is to investigate if it is feasible to apply Enterprise Architecture and Service-oriented Architecture within the context of developing an information system for a micro enterprise. This thesis aims to answer the most important issues to consider during the analysis and planning of a new information system that utilises EA and SOA as well as how the analysis, design and modelling of the resulting IS would be modeled. A literature study has been performed for the information system strategy, micro enterprises, Enterprise and Service-oriented architecture as well as business information systems. The methods used were the TOGAF framework and the steps from the ADM method. The results from this study were two proposed solutions introducing two new applications exposing functionality with the help of web services. Both solutions streamlined the business by automating manual business processes, providing flexible solutions and helping prepare the business for future development. The conclusions reached in this thesis proves that the use of combining EA and SOA principles was considered feasible for the micro enterprise. The applied methods used to establish EA and SOA principles should give similar benefits for other micro enterprises who are buying and selling products over the internet. Issues to be considered before undertaking such a project are the know-how and expertise needed to succeed. That as well as the related costs and knowledge of the benefits that the business can receive though using EA and SOA methodologies to build their applications. Validerat; 20160613 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Aim: Identify the factors underlying older people's attitudes towards TeleHealth, as well as describe how to improve these attitudes. Background: Sweden's rural municipalities exhibits a substantial population decline, at the same time the proportion of senior citizens, above the age of 65, is expected to grow during the coming years. The people of working-age are migrating out of the rural areas which presents a problem of financing local healthcare. Older age increases the risk of a multitude of chronic diseases which increases the need for regular contact with healthcare providers. TeleHealth is a solution which has been given attention globally which entails, among other things, that healthcare consultation is provided through live video feed instead of face to face meetings. Implementation of new technical solutions requires a well established acceptance if the introduction is to be a success. Method: Semi-structured interviews were used to collect the data which were then transcribed according to the secretary-method. A thematic analysis was then performed on the transcribed material. Four people were interviewed, all of who were above 65 years old and resident of a rural municipality. Results: Personal experience regarding healthcare and current knowledge of technology were the factors identified as affecting older people's attitudes towards TeleHealth. Conclusion: Older people's confidence with handling technology must increase in order to improve their attitudes regarding TeleHealth. They must also be reassured that the quality of their healthcare does not decline with the implementation of TeleHealth. Validerat; 20160614 (global_studentproject_submitter)

Productivity plays an important role in the non-production companies. Poor productivity of non-production companies’ workers is one of the causes of cost and time overruns in those companies’ projects. It helps non-production companies to be competitive, to achieve goals and to meet the stakeholder value propositions. A common goal is to establish a continuous improvement process to achieve the same added value with reduced resource utilization. The decision on which optimization approaches are to be used as well as the order of their application is often based on the management’s experience or actual trends in the practice of services management or lean production. The above objectives have been achieved through the analysis of 72 questionnaires and the result of this analysis this analysis has been presented. Validerat; 20160608 (marikav)

The last ten years has increased pressure on public organizations to implement innovation. In order to enable them to address the wider social, economic and environmental challenges they face. This combined with the increased needs, complexity and scarcity of resources creates a clear understanding of the need to find new and innovative approaches to encourage innovation in the public sector. The research has shown clearly that the public demand for innovation encourages innovation. However, public procurement for innovation is far from a simple process to implement, consisting of many challenges, contradictory objectives and uncertainty. The purpose of this study is to increase understanding of how clients can promote suppliers’ innovation in public procurement for innovation. In order to fulfill the purpose was a qualitative interview study conducted at Trafikverket. Five projects were classified and selected within the reference framework procurement of new solutions, subsequently the projects were examined consisting of 18 semi-structured interviews. The results from the qualitative interview study demonstrates challenges, opportunities and potential measures in public procurement for innovation. This is included in four different themes, which are the result of the analysis and based on what the themes associated with in the projects. These themes consist of; resources, communication, planning and legal dispute. The study also highlights the importance of awareness and a will as the basic criterion for public procurement for innovation.The study contributes to the literature in public procurement for innovations in terms of demonstrating the connections between informants and thereby deliver a coherent picture of public procurement for innovation. More precisely the study demonstrated interactions positive significance for encouraging innovation. Furthermore, the problem is not located in the creation of legal guidelines, but the capabilities regarding those required for establishing public procurement for innovation. Thus can the study provide key individuals within the public procurement with the appropriate information to create the conditions to encourage innovation. Validerat; 20160623 (global_studentproject_submitter)

This study investigates the sensitivity of the anchoring effect in highly right-handed individuals under selective hemispheric activation by hand contractions. Three hypotheses are formulated based on previous research; that the right hemisphere is relatively more sensitive to anchoring effects than the left hemisphere, high anchoring values generate relatively stronger anchoring effect than low anchors, and that the anchoring condition of valence does not have a direct impact on the strength of the anchor. The results suggest that hemispheric activation has some influence on the sensitivity of the anchoring effect, however, in the opposite direction than hypothesized. The results support the second and third hypothesis. The results are discussed as a function of the relative differences in callosal morphology. Validerat; 20160630 (global_studentproject_submitter)

This study aims to investigate how university students with a future as white collar workers look at union membership, and if and how this view can be linked to the thesis of the individualized society. The research questions that the study is based on is: How are university students talking about unions, i.e., what is their knowledge / image of the union and the union's role in the workplace, the advantages and disadvantages of a union membership as perceived by the university students and further on if and how university students' views on union membership can be understood through the thesis of the individualized society and how this in this case takes the expression. The study is based on data collection through focus groups and interviews. The selection of the focus groups was based on snowball selection within the frame of requirements in which the participants are within the ages of 20-30 years and is studying a social science program or an engineering program at Luleå technical university. Data collection took place then in the form of two focus group discussions with students and interviews with a union agent and a student union agent from a trade union within the white collar sector. The collected data is analyzed thematically using framework method The results show that students' view of, and knowledge about, the union and the union's role in the workplace based on the extent of the student's work experience. If the student completely lacks work experience or just have the experience of temporary employment the student is also lacking both knowledge of, and relationship to the union. This is also reflected in the advantages and disadvantages that students see in a union membership as they appreciate the career related benefits the most, while the disadvantages are largely about cost. Many of the ideas that the students have relates to the thesis of the individualized society, mainly by the uncertainty they feel about working life. They see a union membership as a further important choice in the creation of their own lives and they ask how the collective organization can help them in that, in their eyes, insecure future in the workplace. The study's findings show that knowledge is a key word for the future, both for the individual approach to union membership but also for the development of the Swedish model and union organizing. By introducing knowledge about the labor market, the Swedish model and the trade union movement's history in the Swedish school curriculum can society provide individuals with the right tools for their choices and to create a new type of collective, democratic organization that has the potential to work in the individualized society. Validerat; 20160623 (global_studentproject_submitter)

The digitalization and emergence of social media has had a major impact on how companies work with public relations and its reputation. It has opened up new ways for companies to communicate and interact directly with their stakeholders, but it has also considerably reduced corporate control over communication. Instead of the traditional one-way communication, the Internet and social media is characterized by two-way communication and interaction where many can communicate with many. The collective "voice" of the stakeholders, nature of interactivity, speed, and reach means that companies and its stakeholders today communicate on equal terms. These changing conditions is a major challenge for companies, and particularly vulnerable are companies that operate in areas and industries that arouses great public debate. Therefore, this study is centred around one of the industries that has attracted much public debate both in Sweden and globally, the mining industry. By taking into account the unique circumstances and challenges the mining industry faces, this study intend to identify success factors for how mining companies, in an efficient way, can work with social media in public relations.In order to identify these success factors, two research questions were formulated:1. How do mining companies work with social media in public relations? 2. How should mining companies work with social media in public relations? The thesis is a qualitative study based on a theoretical framework. The empirical data was collected through a case study that included one interview with a selected company and five interviews with stakeholders. The study identified eight success factors of how a mining company, in an efficient way, can work with social media in public relations:1. Clearly the purpose of each social media channel2. Specify the target audience for each social media channel3. Create the right environment4. Create dialogue and build relationships5. Digital storytelling and entertainment6. Update frequently7. Be transparent8. Link posts to website Keywords: Public Relations, Social Media, Mining Industry Validerat; 20160614 (global_studentproject_submitter)