ABSTRACT   Title: Private label in the supermarket industry: a case study of ICA.   Level: Final thesis for a Bachelor Degree in Business Administration   Author: Zhing Mo, Yulan Qu   Supervisor: Dr. Aihie Osarenkhoe   Date: 2010 – May   Aim: This dissertation aims to find out the motives behind the introduction of private label in ICA. The purpose is to further integrate the private label as a branding concept.    Method: Both quantitative and qualitative methods have been used in this research. The primary data has been collected through face-to-face interviews with ICA managers and an administer questionnaire. Secondary data has been collected from books, articles and the Internet.   Limitations: This research was limited by the size of the customer population and the number of stores. In addition the research was performed during the early stages of market penetration by ICA’s private label, and the results of future research might be different.   Conclusions: ICA released private label to counter manufacturer power and to be more price competitive. Moreover, it had a positive effect on customers’ loyalty. The introduction of the ICA private label had a great impact on brand image and brand awareness. With regards to loyalty, the ICA private label strategy is on the correct track but still has a gap between the intended objective and actuality.    Contribution of the thesis: This research contributes to finding out the advantages for retailers of introducing private label. Another contribution is to help the readers gain an in-depth understanding of private label in a brand concept. Moreover the research also presents some interesting prospects for further research.   Key words: private label, brand image, brand awareness, brand loyalty

Since the end of apartheid South Africa has been rebuilding the country with the aim to create a society based on equality. In the rebuilding and formation of a new constitution the aim to build a society based on the principles of sustainable development is evident. Education is an important part in the rebuilding. This thesis is a case study of Nxuba Senior Primary School in the traditionally black township Lingelihle in Eastern Cape. The objective is to analyse how the school management can engage in environmental issues and take the role of promoting values, attitudes and lifestyles for sustainable development to its learners. There are three research questions: What environmental related projects are being done at Nxuba Senior Primary School? How do the school management motivate the projects? How do these projects affect the learners’ environmental awareness and ability to act pro-environmentally? The thesis is based on a field study where school documents were analysed and in-depth interviews with the school management and a questionnaire among the learners were carried out. The theoretical framework that is presented discusses what factors influence sustainable behaviour and what conditions foster pro-environmental behaviour among children. Four environmental related projects are identified at the school; a recycling project, an environmental awareness club, a vegetable garden as well as an indigenous garden and greening of the school. Based on the questionnaire the learners’ attitudes towards environmental issues and their pro-environmental behaviour are examined. In the discussion the motives behind the projects concluded to be a combination of environmental and social motives. The projects are put in relation to Stern’s four factors influencing pro-environmental behaviour and Chawla and Cushing Flanders’ six conditions for fostering pro-environmental behaviour among children.

Social capital is a concept which has almost recently entered into the literature of sociologyand during the last two decades, Robert Putnam and James Coleman have paid a particularattention to conceptualizing it. Putnam emphasizes the horizontal relationship among peopleand Coleman puts an emphasis on the vertical contribution and the relation among people incivil institutions as the creators of social capital on the one hand, and the products of socialcapital on the other hand .When it comes to the notion of sustainable development, social capital besides other capitalsis an essential part of the resources that a sustainable community requires, and is consideredas one of the engines of development.It needs to be considered that social capital has the characteristic of multiplication andreproduction. It means that through its proper utilization, there is an opportunity ofaggregating it. On contrary, leaving it not used leads to its destruction and diminishing. Thisfact shows an important difference between social capital and other forms of capital.The main objective of this research is to investigate the relationship between social capitaland sustainable development in the city of Zahedan the center of Sistan and Baluchestanprovince in Southern Iran. This province is located far away from the Capital city of Teheranand thus, compared to more central parts of the country, is considered as one of the leastdeveloped Iranian provinces.Zahedan on the one hand has an increasing population growth in a heterogeneous formconsisting of different cultures, social classes and ethnicities and on the other hand, theprovince shares the same border with two crisis stricken countries of Pakistan andAfghanistan, whose crises have great negative impacts on Zahedan such as social insecurity,economic instability, high risk of financial investment, and high rate of crime related tosmuggling and drug trafficking. The uncontrolled immigration of refugees and their dwellingin the most deprived parts of the city have resulted in conflict, weakened conformity coupledwith little sense of belonging, growth of formlessness in this area and also increase in povertyrate and marginalization. All of these problems created many obstacles in the way of theZahedan’s sustainable development. Thus sustainable development takes a new meaning withsocial capital. Knowing the indices such as public trust, participation and social awarenesscan play a significant role in increasing and decreasing social capital and sustainabledevelopment. According to the latest census, the population of this city was 567449 peoplewhich included the main ethnic groups of Baluch (48%), Zaboli (41%), Birjandi (7%) and others (4%). For the analysis of the above mentioned indices in this research, 183 peoplewere selected based on the proportion of each ethnic group through random sampling and thenecessary information was collected through using questionnaires and it was analyzedthrough using the Pearson Test in SPSS software. The results are as follows: The average level of each of the main components of social capital, namely publictrust, participation and awareness is low among the citizens of Zahedan. There is a positive correlation between the low level of social capital indices and the weak situation of sustainable development in the city of Zahedan.

Awareness systems are being designed and implemented to improve employee connections. This study examines the variables that affect the acceptance of an awareness system. The awareness system that was used for this research was a remote desktop access system. The independent variables investigated were the degree of detail that can be viewed on a desktop, whether the users can control who can access their desktops, whether the users can control when others have access to their desktops, the equality of access to others' desktops, and task-technology fit. In determining the effect of the independent variables on acceptance, the dependent variable, the mediating variables of privacy and fairness were taken into account. There was a preliminary survey conducted to determine appropriate situations to be used in the scenario descriptions for the survey for the main study. The methodology of policy-capturing surveys was utilized to conduct the survey for the main study in order to investigate the model developed in this study. The policy-capturing survey was pre-tested on University of Waterloo students. The main study was conducted in two different organizations, the subjects for the first study were employees from the Information Systems and Technology Department at the University of Waterloo and the subjects for the second study were employees from Ciber Incorporated. Results indicate that perceptions of privacy and perceptions of fairness have significant effects on acceptance. Also, perceptions of privacy and fairness are related to details in the design of the remote desktop access system. This research may be a contribution to this field since little research has been conducted in this area and implications can be drawn for future research on acceptance of awareness systems.

Pervasive computing is an important trend today. It concerns devices and services in a smart space that interact with users in a simple, natural, and harmonious way. Many problems in this domain have been studied from different perspectives in various projects. However, one important characteristic of pervasive computing, which is how to make it non-intrusive so that users can focus on their tasks, has received little formal attention. Nowadays, many computing entities including smart devices, and software components, are involved in our daily lives, and users need to deal with them as well as with other people. Besides, people are easy to reach with multiple devices. We believe there should be a systematic way to help users avoid intrusive ones. We propose a model for posing and answering two questions: will an interaction intrude on its receiver if delivered, and given that the interaction is deliverable, how can it be delivered effectively and not too overtly? With this model, the intrusion problem is analyzed and the essential factors are identified. A quantitative approach is used, so that factors have quantitative values for comparison and computation. We also apply context to refine them in order to achieve better results. We then illustrate how to materialize the model and build a system whose design is inspired by the Jabber framework that includes a collection of standards, technologies, and projects for instant messaging. The discussion is at a general level that does not depend on Jabber. However, by choosing Jabber in implementation, we reuse existing software and technologies, and benefit from Jabber/XMPP standardization, its low entry barrier for application developers, and its rich community support. The main contributions of our work are two-fold. First, we propose a model for intrusiveness in pervasive computing. Second, we address the problem at the system level by designing and realizing it. We also make use of standardized instant-messaging technologies, more precisely Jabber, in the system instantiation to reuse existing software, making the system more flexible and extensible.

A common way of organizing Windows, Icons, Menus, and Pointers (WIMP) interfaces is to group tools into tool containers, providing one visual representation. Common tool containers include toolbars and menus, as well as more complex tool containers, like Microsoft Offices Ribbon, Toolglasses, and marking menus. The location of tool containers has been studied extensively in the past using Fittss Law, which governs selection time; however, selection time is only one aspect of user performance. In this thesis, I show that tool container location affects other aspects of user performance, specifically attention and awareness. The problem investigated in this thesis is that designers lack an understanding of the effects of tool container location on two important user performance factors: attention and group awareness. My solution is to provide an initial understanding of the effects of tool container location on these factors. In solving this problem, I developed a taxonomy of tool container location, and carried out two research studies. The two research studies investigated tool container location in two contexts: single-user performance with desktop interfaces, and group performance in tabletop interfaces. Through the two studies, I was able to show that tool container location does affect attention and group awareness, and to provide new recommendations for interface designers.

My aim with the experience-based essay is that I want to explore the implications of mathematics on children's development. I also want to examine my approach in relation to the various mathematical tasks. Why do we think that mathematics is important for pre-school children? What does the research say about how the teacher is thinking about mathematics? Can the teacher combine playing and learning and create meaningful moments and activities related to mathematics? I also want to explore our policies and the objectives that the teacher should relate to. What is required of me as a teacher in order to meet those goals? My essay is about mine and my boss’s view of the mathematical tasks that I usually perform in the preschool. She thinks that they might create a pressure on the children. My reflection on this will help me to understand my mathematical activities in a deeper way. During my research trip I will examine how the teacher can combine mathematics, playing and learning to form pleasurable moments of them. I want to show how the interaction and storytelling can create a link between the teacher and child. My role as an educator is an important part of children’s development, because it is me who opens or restricts the child's ability to grow and learn.

Miljömedvetenhet är ett aktuellt ämne och samhällets normer går i en miljömedveten riktning. Eftersom tidigare forskning visat att kvinnor är mer miljömedvetna än män samt att kvinnor har en högre vilja att passa in i samhällets normer, har endast kvinnor deltagit i denna undersökning. Syftet är att utifrån en enkätundersökning ta reda på om det finns ett samband mellan kvinnors attityder till miljömedvetenhet och ålder samt strävan efter social normativitet. I undersökningen deltog 96 kvinnor och resultatet visade att ju äldre kvinnor är desto mer miljömedvetna är de samt att ju högre grad av miljömedvetenhet en kvinna har desto högre strävan efter social normativitet har hon. Resultatet visade även att är en kvinna äldre så är hon mer miljömedveten och därmed också har en högre strävan efter social normativitet. Utifrån resultatet diskuteras hur man kan arbeta med att öka förståelse för hur samhället kan få medborgarna att agera mer miljömedvetet.

Det övergripande syftet med studien är att undersöka och få kunskap om vilka faktorer som inverkar på ett medvetet förhållningssätt när det gäller arbetet med matematiken på en förskola. Frågeställningarna formulerades som följer: vad menas med matematik i förskolan, vad innebär matematikdidaktisk medvetenhet hos lärare i förskolan samt på vilket sätt kommer ett matematiskt medvetet arbetssätt till uttryck i förskolans vardag. För att ta reda på förskollärarnas matematikdidaktiska medvetenhet användes en kvalitativ forskningsmetod där intervjuer gjordes med fem pedagoger på en förskola. Intervjuerna har analyserats genom en fenomenografisk forskningsansats då den främst fokuserar på hur människor uppfattar ett visst fenomen. Resultatet visar att det hos förskollärarna finns en stark medvetenhet om att matematik är någonting viktigt. De menar även att matematiken finns överallt i vardagen och att den på olika sätt bör ha en framträdande roll i förskolans verksamhet. Med hjälp av Samara och Clements (2009) så kallade learning trajectories har intervjuerna analyserats. Dessa learning trajectories är indelade i tre steg; mål i den matematiska domänen, en utvecklingsmässig progression samt den didaktiska förmågan att konkretisera innehållet. Mot bakgrund av dessa visar det sig att förskollärarna i studien inte uppvisar en matematikdidaktiskt medveten strategi. / The study aims to investigate and gain knowledge of the factors that affect a conscious approach when dealing with mathematics in a preschool in central Sweden. The questions addressing this investigation were the following: what constitutes preschool mathematics, what is mathematical didactic awareness among teachers in preschool and in what way does a mathematically conscious way to work manifest itself in practice. In order to find out about the preschool teachers' mathematical didactic awareness we used a qualitative research method where five interviews were conducted with five preschool teachers. The interviews were analyzed with a phenomenographic research approach as it mainly focuses on how people perceive a particular phenomenon. The results show that among the preschool teachers there is a strong awareness that mathematics is something important. They also argue that mathematics exists all around them all the time and that it in different ways should have a prominent role in the preschool environment. With the help of Samara and Clement’s (2009) learning trajectories the interviews have been analyzed. These learning trajectories constitutes of three parts; a goal within the mathematical domain, a developmental progression of levels of thinking and the didactic ability to concretize the content. In light of these learning trajectories it shows that the preschool teachers in this study do not show awareness in strategy regarding mathematical didactics.

Sponsored activities can conduct an effective communication channel between the enterprise and its targeted customers, and among all kind of sponsored activities, sports sponsorship is the most popular one. Enterprise always hope to successfully lift up the brand¡¦s awareness and image all over the world by sponsoring a big sport event. However, whether the enterprise can benefit from the sponsorship is the main thing enterprise really caring about after throwing big bucks and efforts, and it is also the focus of this study. We take the Acer as our targeted enterprise, and examine the sponsorship effect of two different sport events that Acer sponsor (We pretend that Acer sponsoring the 2010 World Cup). The data were collected through a questionnaire. This study totally sent out three hundreds and ten questionnaires, two hundreds and ninety-six questionnaires were received, two hundreds and seventy-nine of them were effective. The results suggest that when consumers have positive attitude toward the sport events, the enterprises can enhance the awareness through sponsoring the sport events. But it is uncertain whether the enterprise can enhance the image by sponsoring the sport events when consumers have positive attitude toward the sport events. The results also suggest that the consumers¡¦ perception of sponsor-event fit will affect the awareness and image. Moreover, the study indicate that both the awareness and image have significantly positive effects on purchase intention.