This paper presents a method to value the residential real estate portfolio of an economy by summarizing the future discounted values of the net operating income. The motivation for this choice of subject is the concern for a house bubble in Sweden due to the double-digit rise in housing prices which the economy has experienced during many consecutive years. However, the method is general and can be applied anywhere where relevant statistics is available. The challenge to use an income approach to residential real estate valuation lies in the fact that there is no obvious net operating income, as the owner and the end user is in many cases the same person. To solve this challenge, we determine the maximum possible net operating income by taking the households’ disposable incomes and subtracting their expenses. This will be a fictional value for the maximum possible net operating income or the imputed income for real estate owners. When this fictional net operating income is compared to the mean prices of properties, a maximum potential yield to capital invested in residential real estate is extracted. The current number for this maximal potential yield on the Stockholm market seem to be 6,4 percent, 2017. The main contribution of this paper to the science of economy is that it presents a way to use classical fundamental valuation methods to evaluate the price level of residential real estate, that, due to lack of tangible net operating income is not as straightforward as the valuation of the commercial real estate market.

For more than three decades, the World Economic Forum’s annual Global Competitiveness Reports have studied and benchmarked the many factors underpinning national competitiveness. The quality of higher education and training is considered particularly crucial to ensure national competitiveness. The globalizing economy requires countries to nurture pools of well-educated workers who are able to perform complex tasks and adapt rapidly to their changing environment and the evolving needs of the economy. Vocational and continuous on-the-job training and the constant upgrading of workers’ skills is critical to sustain the economical status of the country. Despite the acknowledgement that education, training and development (ETD) is a key driver for a country's economical sustainability and growth, the contributions that companies make to this effect are a concern. This is ascribed to the difficulties experienced in companies regarding the management of ETD. In this study it is postulated that communication problems are at the heart of the challenges which are experienced in managing ETD. Strategic conversation is proposed as one of the methods to address the communication and performance shortcomings experienced by business and ETD managers. It is argued that if the level of conversations is raised to make them strategic, the potential to optimise results and make an impact at organisational and national level is increased. Hence, the purpose of this study was to propose a Strategic ETD Conversation (SETDC) model to optimise Return on Occupational Training Expectations (ROTE) that would contribute towards the achievement of organisational and national strategic goals. In lieu of the limited empirical research available on the strategic conversation phenomenon in general, the purpose of this study was inter alia to conduct empirical research to explore the essence of strategic ETD conversations in order to propose a model of practical value to ETD managers. Hence, the empirical research was situated in both an explorative paradigm and a pragmatic paradigm with the aim to provide practical solutions and an instrument to successfully engage in strategic ETD conversations which would enhance the quality of ETD and thus contribute to global competitiveness. / Educational Leadership and Management / D. Ed. (Education Management)

This work reports on virtualization and cloud computing technologies. It evaluates their strengths and weaknesses as well as describes the examples of its deployment. The document serves as a concise and comprehensive guide, describing the necessary theory along with the practical use. It is all demonstrated on a real project. The practical part refers to the data environment of the Fire Rescue Service of South Bohemia Region and represents the usage of studied technologies. The analysis also includes project´s financial and technical aspects.

The economic value creation is something that affects all companies, that is why, it is crucial to establish , for which purpose, there are a variety of procedures. Among which, especially the method of economic value added (EVA), which can compare the yield of investment to its financial cost. This methodology is very useful, but its definition does not distinguish EVA from the business effects with EVA generated results, so in this article we propose a new way to determine the EVA that allows differentiation and the EVA distinction created by many results achievable by the company. Finally, an explanatory case it is presented to demonstrate if the new proposal it is applicable or not. / La creación de valor económico es el norte que mueve a toda empresa, por lo tanto, es crucial establecer su valor económico, para lo cual existe una diversidad de procedimientos. Entre todos ellos, destaca el método del valor económico añadido (VEA), el cual tiene la virtud de comparar el rendimiento de la inversión con su costo de financiamiento. La propuesta metodológica es de mucha utilidad, pero en su delimitación no permite distinguir el VEA proveniente de los efectos del negocio con los VEA generados por otros resultados, por lo que en este artículo se plantea una nueva forma de determinar el VEA que permite diferenciar y distinguir los VEA creados por los diversos resultados que podría obtener la empresa. Por último, se presenta un caso explicativo que permite demostrar la aplicabilidad de la nueva propuesta.

Abstract Most of the steel produced in the world is based on the integrated blast furnace-converter route, which is based on the use of virgin raw materials. Large amounts of fossil-based, carbon containing reductants are used in blast furnaces, which results in carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere. Fossil carbon dioxide emissions from steel production can be reduced by new technologies or moving from non-renewable to renewable energy sources. Biomass-based reductants could be one way to reduce the specific emissions from blast furnace-based steel production. The aim of this thesis was to examine the techno-economic and CO₂ mitigation potentials of using bioreducers in blast furnace ironmaking. Bioreducer feasibility was analyzed in the Finnish context, but the research methods used can be applied more widely. The metallurgical properties of bioreducers were evaluated and compared to fossil-based reductants. The impact of bioreducers on blast furnace behavior and on other steel plant processes was evaluated, with an emphasis on the reductions achieved in CO₂ emissions at the plant scale. The CO₂ emissions, energy consumption and production costs of bioreducers were evaluated, as was the availability of energy wood for bioreducer production. The results show that solid, liquid and gaseous bioreducers can be produced with thermochemical conversion technologies. However, their suitability for blast furnace use varies greatly. The highest substitution of fossil-based reductants in a blast furnace is achieved with charcoal injection. The carbon footprint of torrefied wood, charcoal and Bio-SNG is moderate compared to fossil-based reducing agents and their production is energetically feasible. The economic feasibility of bioreducers is currently weak in comparison to fossil-based reducing agents, but competitive when compared to other CO₂ emission reduction measures such as carbon capture and storage. The biomass availability assessment revealed that sufficient amount of energy wood could be available for bioreducer production in the areas where Finnish steel plants are situated. The feasibility of bioreducer production could be improved by producing a number of products from the biomass and taking advantage of the process of integration possibilities. / Tiivistelmä Suurin osa maailmassa tuotetusta teräksestä valmistetaan integroidulla masuuni-konvertteri reitillä, joka perustuu neitseellisten raaka-aineiden käyttöön. Masuuniprosessissa käytetään suuri määrä fossiilisia, lähinnä hiilipohjaisia pelkistimiä, jotka aiheuttavat hiilidioksidipäästöjä ilmakehään. Fossiilisia hiilidioksidipäästöjä voidaan teräksenvalmistuksessa vähentää uusilla teknologioilla tai siirtymällä uusiutumattomista energialähteistä uusiutuviin. Biomassasta valmistetut pelkistimet voisivat olla yksi mahdollinen keino alentaa masuunipohjaisen teräksenvalmistuksen ominaispäästöjä. Tämän työn tavoitteena oli tarkastella biopelkistimien käytön teknistaloudellista potentiaalia masuunikäytössä ja aikaansaatavia hiilidioksidipäästövähenemiä eri systeemirajauksilla. Työssä keskityttiin tarkastelemaan biopelkistimien hyödynnettävyyttä lähinnä Suomen tasolla, vaikka käytetyt tutkimusmetodit ovat sovellettavissa myös laajemmin. Työssä arvioitiin biopelkistimien metallurgisia ominaisuuksia, niiden vaikutusta masuuniprosessiin ja laajemmin muihin terästehtaan prosesseihin, pääpainon ollessa saavutettavan CO₂ päästövähenemän tarkastelussa. Työssä tarkasteltiin biopelkistimien valmistuksen CO₂ päästöjä, energiankulutusta ja tuotantokustannuksia sekä energiapuun saatavuutta biopelkistimien tuotantoon. Tulokset osoittavat, että biomassasta voidaan valmistaa kiinteitä, nestemäisiä ja kaasumaisia pelkistimiä termokemiallisilla konversioteknologioilla, joiden soveltuvuus masuunikäyttöön vaihtelee suuresti. Masuuniprosessissa suurin fossiilisten pelkistimien korvaavuus saavutetaan käyttämällä puuhiili-injektiota. Torrefioidun puun, puuhiilen ja Bio-SNG:n hiilijalanjälki on varsin maltillinen verrattuna fossiilisiin pelkistimiin ja niiden tuotanto on energeettisesti järkevää. Biopelkistimien taloudellinen kannattavuus verrattuna fossiilisiin pelkistimiin on tällä hetkellä heikko, mutta kilpailukykyinen verrattuna muihin CO₂ päästöjen vähennyskeinoihin, kuten hiilidioksidin talteenottoon ja -varastointiin. Energiapuun saatavuus biopelkistimien valmistukseen on suurin alueilla, jotka sijaitsevat lähellä Suomen terästehtaita. Biopelkistimien tuotannon kannattavuutta voitaisiin parantaa tuottamalla useita tuotteita ja hyödyntämällä prosessi-integraatiota.

The purpose of this research is to conduct an evaluation of the return on investment value of Employee Assistance Programmes within the South African context. Assistance to employees originated from the 19th century. The term Employee Assistance Programmes was however formulated in the 1970’s in the United States. The Employee Assistance field has since seen a paradigm shift in its focus, significant growth in its market value (amount of corporate clients internationally investing in EAPs for their employees), the establishment of a regulatory and ethical body through EAPA and its formalization as an academic discipline. This study takes the concept of return on investment value of EAPs further than the ratio of benefit-to-cost. The utilization of different data sources, inclusive of quantitative and qualitative instruments creates an opportunity to explore areas of value perception of different role players in the field. It furthermore maps the subjective and objective experience of behaviour change resulting from personal problems and the journey of change as a result of focused interventions. The consistency of views across different datasources as well as between different industries strengthens the value add claims of EAPs as contributing to the financial bottom line of companies. This study advocates for the importance of programme evaluation as a central part of EAP contracting. It furthermore also highlights the importance of documentation of employee performance for evaluation purposes. It illustrates a journey that can be complicated by the failure to agree to evaluative terms at program inception as well as unstructured data-capturing within companies. Employee behaviour consists of both computable and incomputable elements. Generally the focus of a return on investment study would be the computable components of human behaviour. This investigation however highlights significant elements of risk relating to employee performance challenges that is not easy to include in a ROI but holds significant financial and reputational risks for corporate clients. The influence of individual performance challenges on teams and the challenges it holds for line managers is also highlighted through the qualitative journey of this study. Employee behaviour seems vulnerable to internal and external forces and as a result companies’ productivity can be affected by how individual employees respond to these forces. It could be accepted that interventions that is aimed at stabilising and improving employee behaviour, will inevitably impact work performance and as a result the financial bottom-line of the company. Employee Assistance Programmes often operates in an arena where other programmes aimed at impacting employee behaviour are also present. It is thus difficult to isolate it’s intervention as being one of the main behaviour changing facilitators of the company. This study acknowledges this challenge and changes focus to different data-sources reporting on employee behaviour before and after EAP intervention. The consistency of data across these different data-sources becomes one of the main reporting areas for this study. Eventually the challenges encountered in this study guides the advocacy in the recommendations for a thorough agreement of programme evaluation at inception, the areas that will be included in such evaluations, the availability of Human Resource data to ensure effective evaluation inclusive of ROI assessments, targeted assessments at service provider level with effective software support. / Thesis (DPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Social Work and Criminology / unrestricted

Mater thesis deals with online marketing and optimization of marketing communication strategy for online job board specialised on remote jobs. The practical part based on theory and analyses of competitors and macro/micro environmental factors focus on short term marketing campaign. This campaign tests reaching the main goal of the strategy by evaluating operative goals. After evaluation of the campaign, there is optimized marketing communication strategy plan.

This thesis solves the problems of efficiency of investment injected into the reconstruction and the new building. The existing construction with its planning conception and technical solution defines clearly the edge conditions which depends on the rang of the reconstruction. But on the other hand the architectural solution of the new building is determined by the size and shape of the area. And in addition to that i tis necessarity to také into account also the costs of removal of the existing building. In the first part of the thesis the advantages and disadvantages of both variations are compared as well as the factors affecting their prices and then also the problems of the budgeting and the legislation applying to this subject. The second part of the thesis solves the question i fit is more advantageous to use the existing building of the basic school in the vallage of Hrubá Vrbka and to convert it into the community centre for seniors or if it is more advantageous to pul lit down and build a new building which will correspond with its character to the planned utilization. The costs of both variations are expressed numerically in the detailed expenditure badget. The return of investments is calculated, the comparison of both variations is given in the conclusion.

This diploma thesis deals with the impact of thermal insulation on expenses relateted to the operation of the weekend house. Theoretical part describes options of thermal insulation systems, insulation methodes, describes structural prices and costs. Practical part of this thesis describes heat costs on specific weekend house situated in Karlovy Vary region. Thermal insulations are designed in three different variants. Calculation of costs of every designed insulation systém is included in this thesis. In next part of thesis is calculated return of investment for every designed solution. In conclusion of the diploma thesis are compared impacts of thermal insulation on expenses ralated to the operation of the weekend house.

This thesis sloves assessment and project insulation of a firehouse, on the expenses related to its operation.Firehouse is situated in Hruba Vrbka nr.138. The building is partly basement, has free floors and is based on concrete foundation girders. Roofing is by the tent roof. In the first part of the thesis is a theoretical introduction in the legislature, energy prices and the posibility of insulation. In the practical part of the thesis is an assessment coefficient of firehouse, evaluation of individual variants insulation and calculated simple payback period.