published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

The diploma thesis deals with the definition of transformation process of the "appropriate" application into Software as a Service (SaaS) distribution model. For this purpose, it describes the SaaS model and evaluates its pros and cons in four points of view -- developer, distributor, customer and user. Following parts of the model description are an estimation of the future evolution of the SaaS model, the introduction of application SaaS Platforms and the specification of appropriate application for the SaaS model. Next chapter deals with the specifications of the application distributed in the Software as a Service model. These specifications define all needed application properties that have to be implemented in the transformation process. These specifications are for example differentiation of customer data and administration access, configuration and customization, application and data security, business and pricing model, service level agreement etc. The last chapter deals with the formulation of the transformation process of the application into SaaS model. Individual activities of the process are closely described and demonstrated on the preparation of details for the transformation of the web-based application Audit Information Tracker into SaaS model.

Real estate firms operating in the field of tenant representation may represent both tenants and landlords. As such their interests might be in conflict with those of the tenants they represent. A questionnaire was created and sent to 800 individuals. 78% of respondents indicated that they are aware of such conflicts. Meanwhile, only 40% of the respondents perceived such conflicts to be positive rather than negative. A game theoretical model showing how a tenant hires a tenant representative was created with three different scenarios, all using data from the questionnaire to mimic reality as closely as possible. In the first scenario, a tenant hires a representative at one occasion only. In the second scenario a tenant is considering to hire the representative for two sequential transactions. In the third scenario, a contract is introduced to ensure alignment of incentives between the representative and the tenant. The questionnaire and the modelling shows that if no incentivized contract is written the representative always benefits from engaging in conflicting business and, regardless of the conflict of interest and extra benefit to the representative, the tenant always benefits from hiring the representative. However, introducing a contract to align incentives it is shown that there exists a break even point at which the representative starts to benefit from not engaging in business with conflicting interests. Moreover, there exists little correlation between awareness and perceived effect, involvement, or premises size. / Real estate firms operating in the field of tenant representation may represent both tenants and landlords. As such their interests might be in conflict with those of the tenants they represent. A questionnaire was created and sent to 800 individuals. 78% of respondents indicated that they are aware of such conflicts. Meanwhile, only 40% of the respondents perceived such conflicts to be positive rather than negative. A game theoretical model showing how a tenant hires a tenant representative was created with three different scenarios, all using data from the questionnaire to mimic reality as closely as possible. In the first scenario, a tenant hires a representative at one occasion only. In the second scenario a tenant is considering to hire the representative for two sequential transactions. In the third scenario, a contract is introduced to ensure alignment of incentives between the representative and the tenant. The questionnaire and the modelling shows that if no incentivized contract is written the representative always benefits from engaging in conflicting business and, regardless of the conflict of interest and extra benefit to the representative, the tenant always benefits from hiring the representative. However, introducing a contract to align incentives it is shown that there exists a break even point at which the representative starts to benefit from not engaging in business with conflicting interests. Moreover, there exists little correlation between awareness and perceived effect, involvement, or premises size.

This thesis explores the barriers to effective tenant involvement at an organisational level in housing associations by tracking, over a long period of time, the experience of tenants who get involved in the forums, panels and boards of housing associations. The focus of the research is the relationship between the tenants and the professional staff, in corporate environments where delivery of a user-focused service is purported to be the shared goal. The aim has been to explore with tenants and staff their experiences of trying to make tenant involvement work at a strategic level within the organisation. My research seeks (a) to unravel the methods used by the different actors to influence activities and outcomes, and (b) to examine their effects on the power balance in and between the groups of people in question. Clegg’s 1989 ‘Circuits of power’ theory is used to plot and analyse the processes involved in the transformation (or not) of power within the culture and practice of tenant involvement and the empowerment (or not) of the tenants who work with staff at the heart of these corporate cultures. In addition I use Somerville’s 1998 typology of empowerment to illustrate the potential for organisational change. I gather a wide range of material, using a detailed questionnaire, 17 case studies plus a further three of national level involvement initiatives, and an analysis of 112 Housing Corporation and Audit Commission inspection reports (from 2003 and 2008). To this I add my own experience as a participant observer in a range of settings over the period. This thesis is intended to shed some light on why the same barriers continue to exist and why so many involved tenants and their housing associations are still struggling to make involvement really make a difference at this level, despite a decade of intensive regulations and inspection of involvement activities.

<p>Sve češćom upotrebom cloud okruženja dolazi do potrebe da se postojeća softverska rešenja migriraju. Metodologija za migraciju na cloud postoji više, gde se u finalnim fazama planiraju modifikacije nad arhitekturom softvera tako da se iskoriste prednosti cloud sistema. Za ekonomsku efikasnost usled uštede resursa je neophodna višeorganizacijska osobina. Svrha ovog istraživanja je da pojasni višeorganizacijsko svojstvo i da predloži rešenje za migraciju postojećih softvera na višeorganizacijski SaaS ali sa što manje neophodnih modifikacija ciljnog softvera. S toga je predloženo rešenje platforma koja omogućuje lakšu migraciju. Nakon faze istraživanja i sagledavanja domena pametnih elektroenergetskih mreža, kreiran je prototip predloženog rešenja kao i niz eksperimenata u skladu sa definisanim naučnim pitanjima. Eksperimenti su izvršeni u privatnom cloud okruženju. Hipoteze su adresirane kroz viziju primene rešenja na NDMS (Napredni distributivni menadžment sistem) u slučaju šest organizacija, a doneti su sledeći zaključci: višeorganizacijskim modelom se ostvaruju uštede u resursima od 32%, za tri reda veličine veća visoka dostupnost, ali uz usporenja do 20 milisekundi po svakom servisnom zahtevu. Takođe, aplikativni model učesnika modernih PaaS usluga nije primeren gde je sinhronizam zahtevan, niti u slučajevima gde se očekuju odgovori nad skupom učesnika u realnom vremenu. Istraživanje ukazuje na mogućnost primene višeorganizacijskog modela čak i u slučaju kompleksnih rešenja kakva se sreću u domenu pametnih elektroenergetskih mreža, a akademskom validacijom potvrđuju način implementacije važnog finalnog koraka u procesu migracije softvera na cloud bazirani SaaS.</p> / <p>Progressive cloud adoption requires migration of existing software solutions. Today, many cloud adoption methodologies exist. Usually, the final phase in cloud adoption include software architecture modifications to make the most of the benefits of cloud computing, like multi-tenancy which enables economic efficiency. The aim of this research is to explain the multi-tenancy and to provide a solution for migration of existing software to multi-tenant SaaS while modifying the target software as little as possible. Therefore, the research proposes a platform that enables easier cloud adoption. After the research phase focused on a smart grid domain, the prototype was created with experiments targeting formulated research questions. The experiments were conducted in a private cloud environment. Research hypotheses were analyzed using hypothetical multi-tenant ADMS (Advanced Distribution Management System) in case of six tenants, with the following conclusions: multi-tenancy saves 32% of resources, it provides three orders of magnitude higher availability, but affects performances by introducing a delay of up to 20 milliseconds per service request. Also, reliable actors programing model used in modern PaaS services is not suitable in use cases with needs for synchronous behavior, nor in in use cases where querying a set of actors is needed in real time. The research demonstrates feasibility of applying multi-tenancy even in cases of complex software solutions like the ones in the smart grid domain. The proposed solution is academically validated and it can be used as a final important step in migration of existing software to cloud based multi-tenant SaaS.</p>

This thesis is concerned with the decision-making process on the tenant-owned apartment marked in Sweden. It is argued that decision-making on the market is complex and the consumer protection is in need to be strengthened. The main issues on the market is argued to be the information asymmetry and agency problems. These phenomena influence the bounded rationality in the decision-making process. The purpose is to gain an understanding of the information asymmetry and agency problems on the tenant-owned apartment market in order to explain how it influence the decision-making process. The empirical context where this research is performed is the tenant-owned apartment market in Sweden. More specifically, the relationship between buyers and brokers are examined. The descriptive and exploratory purpose of this mixed methods research calls for abductive reasoning. The choice of performing this research through mixed methods lead to the application of triangulation which influenced the choice of data collection techniques, namely interviews and a questionnaire. The broker perspective was examined with four interviews of real-estate brokers from the Kristianstad area. The perspective of the buyers was examined through three interviews with buyers from the Kristianstad area. Additionally, the questionnaire gathered the opinions from 83 respondents. If buyers desire to make decisions that is made under as little bounded rationality as possibly, efforts needs to be made regarding the procedures on the market. Bounded rationality occurs when buyers perceive limitations during the examination of properties which influence the decision-making process. Lastly, this field of research was previously rather uncovered. However, this thesis contributes with an understanding of various aspects that influence the decision-making process in the field of the tenant-owned apartment market. We believe that a further understanding of the tenant-owned apartment market would facilitate attempts to strengthen the consumer protection.

The Integrated Apartment Management System (IAMS) is a web-based system that allows tenants to make appointments with repairmen on line and notify both apartment managers and repairmen of appointments through an email directly from IAMS. IAMS also keeps a database of appointments, repairs, and payments that can be accessed by tenants, repairmen, and apartment managers.

En av de större utmaningarna med ombyggnadsprojekt är de fall när det i byggnaden finns kvarboende eller andra brukare under tiden. En ombyggnad innehåller i regel både bygg- och rivningsarbeten som ofta medför störningar för människor som vistas i eller intill fastigheten. Samtliga störningar är påverkningsbara och kan vid god projektering och produktion minskas. Målet med examensarbetet har varit att ge konkreta förslag på hur ett fastighetsbolag kan arbeta för att öka hyresgästens kvalitetsupplevelse under en ombyggnad som sker i eller intill hyresgästens lokal. Detta har gjorts genom att identifiera vanliga störningar, genom att påvisa hur hyresgästen har påverkats av dessa störningar och genom att undersöka hur tidigare uppkomna störningar har hanterats. I samråd med fastighetsbolaget Vasakronan har tre ombyggnadsprojekt valts. På respektive ombyggnadsprojekt har kontorshyresgäster, intern projektledare och extern projektledare intervjuats.  Även observationer i form av platsbesök och litteraturstudier har genomförts. Studien har resulterat i förbättringsförslag till fastighetsbolaget. Ett av de viktigaste resultaten som studien visar är att ett fastighetsbolag genom tydlig information via olika informationskanaler och genom att säkra att de överenskomna tiderna för störande arbeten efterföljs, kan öka hyresgästens kvalitetsupplevelse vid en ombyggnad. / One of the more difficult challenges with refurbishment projects is when the building is to be kept in use by tenants throughout the time of renovation. A refurbishment project usually contains both construction and demolition activities, of which both often leads to disturbances. In order to minimize these disturbances during the time of refurbishment, and doing so without affecting the production negatively, planning is of key importance. Every disturbance is manageable, and can through good execution of planning and production be minimized. The goal of this study has been to provide the property company with concrete proposals on how to increase tenants quality experience during the time of renovation. This has been achieved by identifying the most common disturbances, how these disturbances have been affecting the tenants and finally how these disturbances have been handled in the past. In consultation with the property company Vasakronan three refurbishment projects of office buildings has been selected for analysis. In addition to interviews that have been carried out with tenants and project managers on each of the three projects, site visits and literature studies have also been performed. The study shows that a property company through the efficient use of communication through various information channels, in conjunction with enforcing that the time periods for production activities classified as sources of disturbances is followed, in fact can increase the level of experienced quality of their tenant during a refurbishment project.

This thesis explores the arguments and evidence for reform of commercial property leases through legislative intervention. It identifies and explains the causes of landlord and tenant disputes arising mainly from poorly drafted commercial leases. It investigates the relevant codes for leasing business premises, the Law Society business lease, the regulatory reform of part II of the 1954 Act, the British Property Federation lease, and various other attempts at reform of commercial property leases. This research also investigates the potential need for ethnic minorities in commercial property to have the key legal terms of commercial property leases made available in both English and other languages. There is little previous academic research on reform of commercial property leases through legislative intervention (other than Crosby Reading reports). This research aims to contributute towards filling the gap that exists in the literature by investigating reform through legislation. This research involved semi-structured interviews with participants from five groups: lawyers, surveyors/agents, landlords, tenants and business owners. Most interviewed supported reform of commercial property leases through legislative intervention, and better guidance explaining the meaning of key legal terms of commercial property leases, especially from ethnic minority businesses.

The substitution of parties to the legal relationship in relation to renting apartments The contract of rental, the renting apartments, the landlord, the tenant Executive Summary The aim of the thesis is to describe the legal relationship aspects arising in relation to the substitution of parties to renting apartments, with the focus being on substitution initiated by the tenant. The key reason for choosing this topic is the author's personal experience with dealing with the issues that arose as a result of the transfer of rights and obligations pertaining to renting of an apartment of the author's acquaintance, his experience gained during the assistance at the civil proceedings held by district court for Prague 3, the fact that renting is currently an issue of great significance in the Czech law system, and also the increasing number of people living in rented apartments. The thesis comprises ten chapters, each of them considering different aspects of the issues involved. Having provided the background information to the reader in the introductory chapter, the first chapter considers the historical framework of renting apartments. The chapters explores the renting of apartments in accordance with Roman law throughout the Middle Ages up to the present Czech legal regulations, including the rental agreement...