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Research in the area of caregiving has tended to focus on the impact of the caregiving experience itself without consideration of continued psychological distress for caregivers after institutionalisation or death. Seven caregivers of loved ones with Alzheimer's Dementia (mostly spousal) were interviewed about their experiences of caregiving and their emotional well-being after placement of their loved one into a residential care facility or death. The nature of the carers relationship with their loved one (e.g. highly dependent), lack of social supports, inactivity and a poor experience of transition into care seemed to be factors relating to poorer outcomes for these caregivers. Utilisation of social supports, involvement in pleasant events, adequate preparation and information relating to the disease and collaboratively planned transition into care played protective roles for the remaining carers who reported decreased levels of anxiety, guilt, depression and stress post-institutionalisation/death. The implications of the current research for practise, policy change and prevention are extensive and suggest that risk factors may be identifiable and thus poorer mental health outcomes in caregivers preventable. A need for greater support to be made available to caregivers is necessary.

Customer satisfaction, are not just two words simply to be used in any businesscontext. Actually, these are the words that encapsulate the theme of what sort ofbusiness practices are being done by the companies in terms of making theircustomers satisfied or delight. Customer satisfaction plays a pivotal role intoday’s business scenario and there are some basic factors which may impact oncustomer satisfaction either positively or negatively. For instance; responsiveness,efficiency & performance, service quality, price and technology etc may havestrong influence on company’s products (goods or services). Few researchersdiscussed only some factors regarding services which impact on customersatisfaction and none of them discussed particularly some basic, common andmajor factors regarding services/e-services for companies which are small, newand growing enterprises. Therefore, authors made an attempt to highlight somebasic factors and examined how they effect on customer satisfaction. Our findingsshowed that the factors such as responsiveness, professionalism, complaintmanagement system, customer care, technology, efficiency & performance, price,service quality and experience are examined with negative impact on customersatisfaction as almost half of company’s customers were observed dissatisfied.One factor that is found with positive impact on customer satisfaction iscompany’s attitude towards its customers. It is quite notice worthy for a companyto take serious considerations to remove the negative impact of above mentionedfactors in terms of making customers satisfied. Therefore, in the last chapter ofthis study we put some recommendations which might help for a company in thisregard. Furthermore, future suggested research areas are also discussed forcreating further research grounds.

A portfolio submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) on the basis of published works.

The amount of leisure time available to Utah adults and its relationship to the factors of sex, employment, age of children, place of residence, income, and education was investigated. A time diary was kept for two days recording the time use allocation of each respondent. Data were gathered from May 1977 to August 1978. The sample consisted of 210 men and 210 warner from Iron, Washington, and Salt Lake counties in Utah. The adults reported an average of 4.6 hours of leisure time per day. Employment and educational level were related to the amount of leisure time reported by women. Leisure time reported by men was related to age of children and place of residence. Income and sex had no significant relationship to amount of leisure time.

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) / At an upper level of education, especially Forms 5, 6 and 7 of secondary school and in tertiary institutions, Indo-Fijian students often perform better than their ethnic Fijian counterparts. This pattern of ethnic difference in academic performance is a long standing one, lasting over 70 years. However, both ethnic groups have been participants in the same educational system in Fiji. Educational policies have been implemented to reduce this difference. This present case study argues that there are cultural differences of values, beliefs and practices with respect to educational achievement among Indo-Fijians and ethnic Fijians. The achievement ethic of the two ethnic groups differs. Indo-Fijian culture respects and values education highly. Generally speaking, educating children has been always the top priority of Indo-Fijian culture. They believe that education changes people for the better, and the only way to “success” is through education. Thus, Indo- Fijian parents believe that helping children to strive for academic excellence is one of the most important tasks for them. The priority attached by such parents to educational success is one of the strongest forces behind academic success. By contrast, ethnic Fijian culture encourages children to have a strong sense of loyalty to their community and of becoming good members of their koro (i.e., village). Indeed, one’s total commitment to communal activities and cultural requirements is of vital importance. Although ethnic Fijian parents generally understand the importance of their children’s education and wish to support their education, ethnic Fijian communal demands are enormous in terms of time and labour. The pressure to maintain their moral and social obligations within the community tends to make ethnic Fijians spend a large amount of time, energy and money on functions such as ceremonial events and church activities, at the possible expense of providing for the formal education of their children. These demands mean that parents are often absent from home, and unable to supervise children’s homework. Ethnic Fijian children, upper secondary schoolers, feel strong pressure from their peers within their koro to conform to social activities, such as attending church, playing sports such as rugby and volleyball, and hanging around in the koro and town. Besides, the layout of the typical ethnic Fijian home is a more difficult environment than Indo-Fijian households for children’s study, largely due to the limited space to study independently. The socio-cultural background of ethnic Fijians, especially their home environment including family values and priorities, is one of the major barriers to their children’s educational progress. In addition, school leadership, teachers’ expectations, colonial policies and legacies, e.g., land tenure issues, play important roles in affecting differences in the academic performance of these two ethnic groups. Consequently, the educational achievement differences between ethnic Fijians and Indo-Fijians are revealed substantially during the secondary and tertiary educational institutions.

Abstract Date: January 17, 2013 Level: Bachelor thesis in business administration, 15 ECTS Institution: School of Sustainable Development of Society and Technology, Mälardalen University Authors: AZIZ Najibullah, GLEESON Darren and KASHIF Muhammad 28th August 1980, 29th November 1977, 22nd July 1984 Tutor: Eva Maaninen-Olsson Keywords: Knowledge, Knowledge Management, Knowledge Sharing, Factors Affecting Knowledge Sharing Research Question: What hinders or enables knowledge sharing in Swedish-based multi-national corporations from a cultural, motivational and trust perspective? Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the barriers and enablers of knowledge sharing within multi-national corporations. Method: The research method chosen to fulfill the purpose of the thesis is a qualitative approach. In order to achieve the purpose both primary and secondary data was sought. In accordance with the qualitative approach, interviews have been carried out with senior managers in ABB, Bombardier, Ericsson and Siemens. Data collected from these interviews represents the primary data. Secondary data has been gathered from company websites. Conclusion: The results from the studied multi-national organizations suggest that knowledge sharing culture is influenced by communication, rules, regulations and routines (sub-factors of culture). This study shows that communication, rules, regulations and routines are enablers of knowledge sharing in the organizations. However, language and technology (sub-factors of culture) as collaborative tools are proven to be problematic; consequently creating hindrances to knowledge sharing. When it comes to motivational factors (rewards, power and reciprocity), this thesis shows that none of the studied companies offer rewards for knowledge sharing. This confirms the controversy connected with rewards which can either enable or cause hindrance to knowledge sharing. Reciprocity seems to enable knowledge sharing in the studied organizations whereas power remains controversial. The existence of power can either be a barrier or an enabler for knowledge sharing depending on the individual’s perception of power. This thesis also shows that the existence of trust enables knowledge sharing between employees, but the difficulties of building this trust is akey problem for management.

Background: The topical business subject, motivation, is claimed to have a positive correlation with performance, making the subject highly relevant and important for contemporary companies around the world. As capital goods industries are today changing strategies into integrated solution customer offerings, motivation at all units of the value chain is a matter of increasing importance. Being part of an integrated solution strategy, non-core units are contributing to the overall package offered to customers, but typically in less organizational focus and with lack of stability due to e.g. outsourcing trends. As their importance might at times be overlooked, what affects their motivation?Aim: The main focus of this thesis is on motivation within a non-core unit. The studied single case is an Ericsson non-core unit, SITE. The aim of this study is to contribute to an understanding of what affects motivation for employees working in a non-core unit. More closely, the authors will consider factors that can influence motivation and what ultimately affects these factors. Completion and results: With the contribution on the subject of motivating non-core employees, it is the authors understanding that employees of a non-core unit are affected by several motivational factors. Adding up the motivational factors, there are two ultimate features affecting motivation i.e. meaning and recognition. As a part of an integrated solution, and the knowledge of previously outsourced non-core units, employees need to feel that they are employed with a meaning. Further, the feature of recognition affects non-core employee motivation, and it is crucial that colleagues, other units and the organization recognize them.

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