Problem: Showrooming phenomenon refers to the customer behavior of physically experiencing the product in a physical store before purchasing it from online stores. It is becoming increasingly prevalent today and has attracted the interest of academia. However, the majority of the existing studies explored this phenomenon from the perspective of retailers. The concern for different retailers’ gain and loss in showrooming process caused debate on how to define and interpret this phenomenon. Moreover, there are few existing studies that investigating this behavior from the consumers’ lens.  There seems to be a need for research focused on the customers’ showrooming experience and understand this phenomenon from their lens.   Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore what is showrooming phenomenon from customer’s perspective through investigating customers' personal showrooming experience in order to shed more light on the positive side of showrooming.   Method: Based on a social constructionism philosophy, this qualitative study utilizes a grounded theory strategy. In order to gather data through grounded theory method, in-depth interviews and a grounded analysis have been conducted. The analysis is conducted in three steps. First, in initial coding, codes and concepts are identified. Second, in axial coding, concepts are grouped into categories. Finally, in selective coding, categories are connected and grouped based on the intrinsic relationship between different categories. Also, the paradigm is built in these final step.   Conclusions: This study builds the paradigm model of showrooming phenomenon through exploring the experiences of showroomers. In the paradigm, the different conditions in the process are identified, including the core phenomenon, causal condition, contextual condition, intervening condition, action, consequences. Through building the model, this study explores the incentives and consequences of showroomers, the different influential factors during showrooming process, and the interpretations and perceptions from customer’s perspective.

Andreas Thomas Kull. A Letter in the Mail – A Grounded Theory Based Exploration of the Health of Swedish Postal Carriers. Master thesis in Occupational Health Sciences, 30 credits. University of Gävle. Introduction: Postal Carriers in Sweden is an occupational group with a distinct work environment controlled by third parties. One third of all postal carriers in Sweden experience musculoskeletal issues. Little to no research has looked in to postal carriers experience of how their work is affecting their health. This study aims to explore why and how postal carriers are experiencing their current health states. Method: This Grounded Theory Method based study gathered data from both interviews and observations. Respondents consisted of seven men and two women. Observations were conducted for three days and consisted of gathering step counts and route information of three different postal carrier routes. Analysation of each interview happened before a new interview took place. Transcribed verbatims were line by line coded. Clusters and codes formed were constantly analysed throughout the data gathering process to ensure emerging theoretical model fit data. Results: Attitude was regarded as the main concern on this study. By being able to moderate contextual and situational factors, i.e. leadership, value towards work, intensity, frequency etc, attitude provided a tool for why individuals experienced postal carrier work in a broad spectrum. Conclusion: Attitude could provide important information of why health states are differing between individuals performing the same type of work.

Submitted by Maike Costa (maiksebas@gmail.com) on 2016-04-18T14:01:14Z No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivo total.pdf: 2925662 bytes, checksum: 39921b598836414d197ca9de4f67c758 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-18T14:01:14Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivo total.pdf: 2925662 bytes, checksum: 39921b598836414d197ca9de4f67c758 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-03-20 / The use of wind as a means for electricity generation around the world has contributed to increase the installed power generation capacity, providing greater supply safety and security to meet new consumption demands. Added to this, another contribution of the use of wind energy is the reduction of environmental damage resulting from the consumption of energy generated by non-renewable sources and pollutants, such as oil and coal. The available wind power generation potential in Brazil is more than 143 GW, however only 2.11 GW are currently utilized, corresponding to only 1.47% of the available potential. This thesis aims to clarify the reason of a so little use, identifying the main factors which contribute to the low utilization of the wind power potential in Brazil. For this purpose, used the fundamentals of the Grounded Theory method based on a literature review of the available wind power potential, its recent developments, expansion regulatory policies, costs analysis confronting all these same dimensions mith expert opinions collected by a questionnaire. Even with an immense available potential, one can conclude that the Brazilian electric sector management presents a series of factors such as regulatory barriers, little technology knowledge, poor supply chain management, environmental licensing barriers, which hinder the widespread use of wind power in Brazil. / O aproveitamento do vento como forma de geração de energia elétrica no mundo tem contribuído para o aumento da capacidade de geração de energia instalada, dando maior segurança e garantia de suprimento para as novas demandas de consumo. Adicionado a isto, outra contribuição do uso da energia eólica está na redução dos danos ambientais, decorrentes do consumo de energia gerada por fontes não renováveis e poluentes, tais como petróleo e carvão. No Brasil o potencial disponível de geração de energia eólica é superior a 143 GW, no entanto, apenas 2,11 GW são atualmente aproveitados, representando apenas 1,47% do potencial disponível. Esta dissertação tem o objetivo de analisar porque não há o desenvolvimento pleno do uso da energia eólica no Nordeste do Brasil. Para tal foram utilizados os fundamentos do método da Grounded Theory, baseada em uma revisão literária do potencial disponível de energia eólica, sua evolução recente, as políticas regulatórias para expansão e análise dos custos associados, confrontando essas mesmas dimensões com opiniões de especialistas coletadas por um questionário. Mesmo diante de imenso potencial disponível para uso, conclui-se que a gestão do setor elétrico brasileiro apresenta uma série de fatores como barreiras regulatórias, falta domínio da tecnologia, mal gerenciamento da gestão da cadeia de suprimento, entraves relacionados ao licenciamento ambiental, que dificultam a disseminação do uso da energia eólica no Brasil.

abstract: Empirical and theoretical gaps exist on the subject matter of attendee experiential behavior at community festivals as this action occurs in real time. To acquire knowledge and begin to build theory, attendee behavior was investigated through an interpretive lens to give rise to a socially constructed understanding of this phenomenon in contrast to typical positivist inquiry designs found in the field of event studies used to test theory and determine universal explanations. This ontology was deemed appropriate as human experience at community festivals is multifaceted, relative to social interactions, highly variable with complex meanings, and has a wide variety of consequential implications; all views representative of social constructivism. A grounded theory approach was used in conjunction with a participant observation method to collect data on attendee behavior during fieldwork undertaken at community festivals. Prior to fieldwork, literature was not reviewed nor specific theory pre-selected to serve as a basis for research, with the researcher's only intent to record attendee's on-site actions with an open mind. Fieldwork notes were systematically expanded into descriptive narratives that were broken down into initial codes to establish robust analytic directions, which were synthesized into categories and subcategories through focused coding. Relationships between categories and subcategories were reassembled with axial coding bringing into view a strong emergent theme on social capital bonding and bridging at community festivals and a second theme that considers the aspirations of event management to program festive experiences. To strengthen the second theme event manager interviews and content analysis of event association newsletters were conducted as theoretical sampling to move data towards saturation. From emergent themes it was theorized, while social capital bonding is profusely exhibited at community festivals, social capital bridging is minimally displayed unless augmented with programmed festivity to increase physical, emotional, and social engagement of attendees. Literature reviewed in relation to this theory revealed that spirituality, dance, music, the arts, and wild abandonment were important elements of festivity. An implication arising from this study indicates that if community festivals consciously enhance programmed festivity then correspondingly increased social capital impacts within community development might also be achieved. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Community Resources and Development 2013

abstract: Buddhism is thriving in US-America, attracting many converts with college and post-graduate degrees as well as selling all forms of popular culture. Yet little is known about the communication dynamics behind the diffusion of Buddhist religious/spiritual traditions into the United States. Religion is an underexplored area of intercultural communication studies (Nakayama & Halualani, 2010) and this study meets the lacuna in critical intercultural communication scholarship by investigating the communication practices of US-Americans adopting Asian Buddhist religious/spiritual traditions. Ethnographic observations were conducted at events where US-Americans gathered to learn about and practice Buddhist religious/spiritual traditions. In addition, interviews were conducted with US-Americans who were both learning and teaching Buddhism. The grounded theory method was used for data analysis. The findings of this study describe an emerging theory of the paracultural imaginary -- the space of imagining that one could be better than who one was today by taking on the cultural vestments of (an)Other. The embodied communication dynamics of intercultural exchange that take place when individuals adopt the rituals and philosophies of a foreign culture are described. In addition, a self-reflexive narrative of my struggle with the silence of witnessing the paracultural imaginary is weaved into the analysis. The findings from this study extend critical theorizing on cultural identity, performativity, and cultural appropriation in the diffusion of traditions between cultural groups. In addition, the study addresses the complexity of speaking out against the subtle prejudices in encountered in intercultural communication. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Communication 2013

abstract: Individual behavior change is a goal of many public policies directed at people of low socioeconomic status. Without evidence of behavioral change, these policies cannot be considered a success: a process of co-production where some level of cooperation between the client and program administrators is required to successfully meet program objectives. The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), is one example of a co-production design. WIC encourages women to engage in healthy behaviors by providing healthy food along with nutrition education to improve the health status of low-income families. However, while WIC is one of the most studied nutrition programs, little attention has been paid to the nutrition education portion or to interactions between staff members and participants. This research draws on the public policy and administration literature about street-level bureaucrats and co-production, which provides a framework for understanding the purposeful, inter-dependent relationships between front-line service providers and clients. However, neither literature explicates the process of interactions that is expected to lead to client behavior change and co-production. The primary contribution of this research is the creation of a grounded theory that identifies and explains the WIC interaction process as one of "negotiating healthy self-government". Based on analysis of three months of observations of WIC encounters in two clinics, this research finds that participants and staff members enter into tacit and explicit negotiations concerning the degree to which participants should govern their family's nutrition-related behavior. Clients actively shape the interactions by demonstrating their discipline and efforts to feed their families, while staff members refine and reinforce self-governing behaviors through assessing action, and providing advice to ensure behaviors meet recommendations. Finally, participants and staff members distinctly link self-governing behavior to identity: "good mothers" feed their children healthy food and govern their behaviors to meet nutritional recommendations. This research has implications for the study of behavior change promotion in public programs by introducing the concept of identity as a mechanism for governance and explicating the interaction process between front-line service providers and clients / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Public Policy 2014

Försvarsmakten har sedan år 2000 varit en organisation under konstant förändring. Till förmån för krigsförbanden har depåorganisationen reducerats personellt under denna förändring. Officerare i depåorganisationen har trots detta fortsättningsvis viktiga uppgifter att lösa för att Försvarsmaktens verksamhet skall fungera. Hur upplever officerarna vid Livgardets depåförband sin situation? Syftet med studien är att öka förståelsen för hur officerare i depåförbanden upplever och hanterar sin situation. Undersökningen har genomförts som en fallstudie med metoden grounded theory och datainsamling via observationer samt 8 stycken djupintervjuer.  Slutsats: Officerarna i Livgardets depåförband upplever en orimlig arbetsbörda. Officerarna saknar verktyg för att förändra denna situation och hanterar den genom att lösa uppgifter som de upplever bidrar till att uppfylla grundläggande mänskliga behov för att känna tillräcklighet. Om denna situation inte förändras riskerar dessa officerare att drabbas av utmattning.

Title: Users motivational drives to engage with athletes on social media Authors: Victor Videgren, Alexander Jost Auf Der Stroth, Jean-Paul Mathieu Supervisor: Viktor Magnusson Examiner: Åsa Devine Background: With social media becoming a more and more prominent tool of communication within sports marketing, athletes stand to gain much by implementing it in their branding and marketing efforts. However, existing literature on the matter inclined that further research in which the perspective of the user was taken, thus advancing the understanding of user engagement motivation toward these athletes on social media networks. This study adapted the Uses and Gratifications theory in which six motivational categories had been summarized, these being: Informational, Entertainment, Remunerative, Social, Communicative and Convenience. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to describe what motivates users to engage with athletes on social media. Methodology: This work has incorporated a qualitative approach sided with a descriptive purpose. The empirical findings were collected through semi- structured interviews. Furthermore, these findings are coded and analysed by taking inspiration from grounded theory. Analysis: The empirical data was discussed within six motivational categories and was used to describe existing theory. Through the process of analysis, patterns of motivational theories interrelating with each other emerged. These being, a common interest which led users to engage with athletes, honesty and transparency which is what users saw and appreciated in the athlete and finally, the building of relationship which was what created from the engagement with athletes on social media. Conclusion: Through the analysis of the motivational drives patterns were discovered regarding users’ motivations to engage with athletes. The three patterns discovered interrelate with each other and are interpreted to be the typical motivation of a user to engage with an athlete on social media. The motivational patterns are “common interests with athlete”, second being the “transparency of athletes” and third “building a relationship” Keywords: Athlete branding, Social media, Uses and Gratification theory, Motivation, Engagement, Marketing, Grounded theory

O crédito rural sempre teve papel fundamental na produção agrícola nacional sendo que desde a sua institucionalização no Brasil, o volume de capital direcionado para o financiamento expandiu. A participação de fontes públicas neste mercado de crédito, no entanto, diminui e desta forma abriu espaço para o financiamento privado. O produtor de soja mato-grossense, além do crédito rural público, disponibilizado por instituições financeiras, pode escolher dentre diversos tipos de contratos de troca de insumos por grãos. Estes contratos ganharam importância no financiamento da produção agrícola e na estratégia de garantia de demanda pelas empresas processadoras e exportadoras de commodities. Dessa forma, objetivo deste estudo foi analisar a percepção do produtor agrícola da região de Lucas do Rio Verde, Mato Grosso, com relação às operações de troca (Barter) oferecidas e compará-las com as demais opções. Na troca, o produtor agrícola recebe os insumos necessários para o plantio e desenvolvimento de sua cultura e concorda em entregar parte de sua produção como pagamento no futuro. A partir de análises de entrevistas feitas sob a ótica do \"Grounded Theory\", foi possível observar oito percepções de benefícios nas operações de troca realizadas pelos produtores: (1) Controle de risco: tanto do preço de venda do grão como o preço de compra dos insumos; (2) Entrega de insumos: evita a necessidade de estocagem de produtos, uma vez que são entregues durante o desenvolvimento da cultura; (3) Pacote completo: economia de tempo na negociação dos diversos insumos necessários; (4) Popularidade: diversas empresas oferecem os pacotes e concorrem entre si para fechar contratos; (5) Praticidade: possuem menor quantidade de pré-requisitos para fechamento do contratos e abrem a possibilidade para relacionamento entre produtor e empresa ; (6)Comercialização: economia de tempo no momento de venda dos grãos e possibilidade de aproveitamento de variações positivas do mercado a partir do excedente da produção; (7) Fluxo de caixa: melhor visualização dos custos e receitas medidos na mesma unidade; (8) Liquidez: possibilidade de negociação durante o ano e participação em variações positivas do mercado. Desta forma, foi possível observar a preferência do produtor por recursos mais baratos, como o bancário e o autofinanciamento, porém a opção pelas operações de troca se deve aos benefícios atrelados e oferta de crédito insuficiente das outras fontes. / Rural credit policies play an essential role in the Brazilian agricultural production. The amount of financial capital destined to Rural Credit has been increasing since the government institutionalized it in 1965. However, the arrangement of the several active financial resources changed over the years, passing from a main official source to several private alternatives. The soybean producer in Mato Grosso state can choose from a range of input-grain trades, known as barter, besides the public credit offered by financial institutions. These contracts have been important to finance agricultural inputs in the Center-West region of Brazil and, furthermore, exporting and processing companies use them to guarantee future demand. This study analyzes the farmer perception with respect to input-grain trades (Barter) offered and compare them with other options in the region of Lucas do Rio Verde, Mato Grosso. Survey questionnaires were applied using Grounded Theory. The study identified eight perceptions of benefits in barter operations by producers: (1) Risk control: both the selling price of the grain, as well as the purchase price of inputs; (2) Inputs Delivery: resellers deliver inputs during the season, avoiding the need for product storages; (3) Complete Package Deal: time saving in negotiating several required inputs; (4) Acceptance: many companies offer packages and compete to sign contracts; (5) Convenience : less prerequisites for approval and open up the possibility for the relationship between producer and company; (6) Marketing: time saving on grain sales and possibility to profit with markets oscillations with the production surplus; (7) Cash Flow : better view of costs and revenues measured in the same unit; ( 8 ) Liquidity : possibility of trading during the year and participation in positive changes in the market. Moreover, we observed the producer\'s preference for low-cost resources, such as banking and private equity, but often decide for barter operations due to other benefits and insufficient financial capital in other sources.

Submitted by Aline Amarante (1146629@mackenzie.br) on 2017-07-24T20:00:31Z No. of bitstreams: 2 EDSON RODRIGUES DE ARO.pdf: 2474081 bytes, checksum: 5aaa8e515f979b1d4433a94a3212acaa (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Eliana Barboza (eliana.silva1@mackenzie.br) on 2017-08-04T11:55:21Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 EDSON RODRIGUES DE ARO.pdf: 2474081 bytes, checksum: 5aaa8e515f979b1d4433a94a3212acaa (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-08-04T11:55:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 EDSON RODRIGUES DE ARO.pdf: 2474081 bytes, checksum: 5aaa8e515f979b1d4433a94a3212acaa (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-02-08 / Open innovation has been understood as an important strategic alternative to bring external knowledge, in order to reinforce the internal resources and capabilities and thus the possibility of accelerate the process of innovation to generate value. In this way, it is possible think about how open innovation is understood in the firm? What are and how the dynamic capacities could be used in open innovation? Therefore, identify and develop the dynamic capabilities became necessary to utilize the internal and external opportunities of resources, capabilities, knowledges and Technologies for the firms. Thereby, the objective of this study was understood how and what dynamic capacities are related to open innovation in companies. For this, it was used the methodologic procedures of Grounded Theory guided by the work of Charmaz (2009), with support of the program NVIVO® V11 for data collect and analysis. The constant comparative method was used for the analysis of the sets of collected data, that was initially codified, in open form, followed by focused codification and finally by theoretical codification in the grounded theory, for development of the substantive theory. The results enabled elaborate the substantive theory based in the fact that: the open innovation is the strategy that permeates the ecosystem to bring the complement in the innovation process. The dynamic capabilities revealed for open innovation practice was: Mapping and updating trends in the market; Analysis and definition of trends and strategies; Mapping of internal resources; Establishment of what to do in open way; Mapping potential partners; Partners' establishments; Implementation of the partnership; Monitoring of the interaction in two levels; technical - within the project and relational - inside and outside the project and Evaluation of the result of the interaction and the relationship in the partnership. It is expected that the results of this study can contribute to the field of the strategic management by expanding the knowledge about open innovation and dynamic capabilities and in the business world practices. / A inovação aberta tem sido compreendida, como uma importante alternativa estratégica, para trazer o conhecimento externo, no sentido de reforçar os recursos e capacidades internas e, assim, a possibilidade de acelerar o processo de inovação a fim de gerar valor. Nesse sentido, é possível pensar sobre como a inovação aberta é compreendida na empresa? Quais são e como as capacidades dinâmicas podem ser usadas na inovação aberta? Portanto, identificar e desenvolver capacidades dinâmicas tornou-se necessário para aproveitar as oportunidades internas e externas de recursos, capacidades, conhecimentos e tecnologias para as empresas. Com isso, o objetivo deste estudo foi de compreender, como e quais capacidades dinâmicas são relacionadas a inovação aberta nas empresas. Para isso, foram utilizados os procedimentos metodológicos da Grounded Theory orientados pelo trabalho de Charmaz (2009), com o apoio do programa NVIVO® V11, para a coleta de análise de dados. O método comparativo constante foi utilizado para análise dos conjuntos de dados coletados e que foram codificados inicialmente, de forma aberta, seguido por codificação focalizada e, finalmente, pela codificação teórica na teoria fundamentada, para desenvolvimento da teoria substantiva. Os resultados possibilitaram elaborar a teoria substantiva baseada no fato de que: a inovação aberta é a estratégia que permeia o ecossistema para trazer o complemento no processo de inovação. As capacidades dinâmicas reveladas para a prática de inovação aberta foram: Mapeamento e de atualização de tendências no mercado; Análise e definição de tendências e de estratégias; Mapeamento dos recursos internos; Estabelecimento do que fazer de forma aberta; Mapeamento de potenciais parceiros; Estabelecimentos dos parceiros; Implementação da parceria; Monitoramento da interação em dois níveis; técnico – dentro do projeto e relacional – dentro e fora do projeto e Avaliação do resultado da interação e do relacionamento na parceria. Espera-se que os resultados deste estudo possam contribuir para o campo de gerenciamento estratégico expandindo o conhecimento sobre inovação aberta e capacidades dinâmicas e nas práticas do mundo empresarial.