China has continued the economic reform and open door policy over 30 years with many great achievements, such as the second largest GDP, the largest import and export economy with the largest infrastructural investment in the world. On the other hand, the conflicts and risks the firms especially for small and medium sized manufacturing enterprises (SMEs) have faced are extremely serious and more acute due to the economy growth and increasing social wealth, especially in Yangtze River Delta, in the general context of ever increasing cost such as labour, land and higher customers’ expectations such as the quality of product. These serious problems are challenges for the competitiveness of SMEs in Yangtze River Delta. This research aims to investigate and improve the competitiveness of SMEs by the main variables such as enterprise’s resources, product’s competitive issues and innovation activities related barriers. To achieve the aim, the research employed a mixed method of quantitative and qualitative approaches to build the competitiveness’s belief network model by Bayesian Belief Networks and analyze the factors of the most important variables by the SPSS software. Secondly, 36 entrepreneurs of small and medium sized manufacturing enterprises in Yangtze River Delta have been carefully selected to participate in the questionnaire survey and face to face interviews. All participants are entrepreneurs who have run enterprise for at least three years. Five kinds of resources, competitive issues and innovation have been identified as the variables of competitiveness. The findings of research are mainly related to the three aspects which are general view of variables; barriers to innovation activity and importance of variables for improving the competitiveness; and the factor analysis of quality management practices. Firstly, the general condition of financial resource is the worst in resource sector of SMEs; Dependability is the best performance in competitive issues of SMEs; Lack of finance is generally identified the biggest barrier to innovation of SMEs. Secondly, the Physical resource in resource sector and Quality in competitive issues sector are the most important variables for improving the competitiveness of SMEs after BBN assessment; Lack of technical experts is the most serious barrier when the SMEs are really focusing on the innovation according to the BBN assessments. Thirdly, the factor analyses have identified the key independent factors explaining the quality management practices in these SMEs. Finally, these findings can help the SMEs build variables’ impact tables based on the outputs from the conditional assessment of BBNs to make more efficient and effective decisions when they try to improve the enterprise competitiveness, with detailed recommendations. At the same time, the importance and factors of good quality management practices have also been argued to help the entrepreneurs improve the quality performance and their enterprise competitiveness.

We explored the relations among relational victimization and career-related variables in a sample of 174 non-violent female felony offenders residing in a community corrections residential facility. Archival data was used from a larger career-related reentry program that represented a joint effort between investigators at the VCU Department of Psychology and staff from the Virginia Department of Correctional Education. Data analyses focused on the association between (a) recent experiences of relational victimization and (b) career aspiration complexity code, (c) career aspirations towards or away from socially-oriented careers, (d) perceived occupational barriers, and (e) career decision-making self-efficacy. Hypothesized associations among this set of variables were not seen in the data; however, offenders’ aspirations appeared to deviate from established norms. Implications for female offenders reentering the workforce were discussed.

of the thesis Introduction: The topic of those who have been victims of human trafficking and who are also addicted to drugs is something not yet deeply investigated. The prevetion, intervention and social services for those who are both drug addicts and victims of human trafficking should be based on good knowledge of the situation each of thier particular needs. Helping organizations for this population of people report that from thier expereinces, this is a situation that continues to become more problematic. It is important to be aware of these situations in order to improve them. Victims of human trafficking who also struggle with drug addiction is a situation that deals with many types of needs. It is important to understand each of those comprehensively to fully help the people to return to a social life. Claim: The aim of this work is to describe the various barriers that people face when looking to access addiction rehabilitation centers. This work is from the point-of-view of the victims of human trafficking as well as from the professionals who work with those victims. The aim of the work is to examine how both the professional and victim look at all parts of the issues of barriers. Methods: Quality research was conducted using semi-structured interviews with human traffick victims and...

Annotation: The research of communication barriers, which appear at students of the secondary school, is the topic of my thesis. The work is divided into two parts - theoretical and practical. The theoretical part is devoted to communication, emphatically to educational communication, communication barriers and at the end also to communication apprehension, which can be one of the communication difficulties. The empirical part contents the conclusions of the research, which was provided at the school with the teachers and students, using the interview and the questionnare as the research methods.

Daniel Conk 5 January 2012 Thesis Abstract This thesis is an empirical research on the impact that preferential trade agreements have on the welfare of individuals and nation-states. As the number of preferential trade agreements has been growing steadily, the on-going clash between regionalism and multilateralism will be a key topic throughout the research. Fair trade movements have been becoming more popular over the fast few years as some organizations have strived to raise consumers awareness regarding the great disparities among the profit margins of the producers or farmers in developing countries in comparison to those of the merchants and distributors in developed countries. Even though quantitative data will be used in order to portray the growing economic inequalities present in today s world, arguments will also be supported on grounds of ethics and morals relating to social justice.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate what barriers and drivers influences the internationalization of private Swedish cleantech firms. The model of a multiple case study was chosen together with a qualitative method and an abductive approach. This was done by acquiring primary information from seven private cleantech companies, all located in Sweden and active in international markets. Furthermore, the theoretical framework presented the Uppsala model, network perspective, international new ventures, born globals, transaction cost theory and the OLI-model. With this theoretical framework, a conceptual model was created which shows how the parts are connected. In the empirical chapter, the primary data is presented to visualize what each individual company said regarding the different constructs of internationalization, drivers, barriers and internationalization decisions. Moreover, the analysis chapter visualizes the similarities and the dissimilarities between the theory and the empirical findings. The thesis concludes that there are both general, as well as specific barriers and drivers that are influential in the internationalization process of private Swedish cleantech firms. These are shown to influence the internationalization decision of managers to take an incremental approach to internationalization. The authors of the thesis also present the view that Swedish cleantech companies are generally too small, lack the financial resources and managerial drive needed to internationalize. The authors also present the theoretical and practical implications and provide recommendations for future research.

Vi måste alla ta ansvar för miljöfrågorna. Vetskapen om att de olika miljöproblemen måste hanteras har medfört att tillämpandet av miljöledningssystem vuxit fram. Ett miljöledningssystem är ett verktyg som kräver ett kontinuerligt och strategiskt arbetssätt för ständiga förbättringar med avseende på miljöfrågor. I Sverige tillämpas vanligen fem olika miljöledningssystem, men frågan är vad som driver och hindrar aktörer att tillämpa ett miljöledningssystem.   Problemet med studien är därför att besvara vilka drivkrafter och hinder som förekommer vid implementering av ett miljöledningssystem ur ett ledningsperspektiv samt att analysera dessa. Analysen syftar till att skapa förståelse för hur drivkrafterna kan tillvaratas och vilka åtgärder som krävs för att övervinna hindren.   Syftet är att bidra till lärdomar i Hofors kommun med avseende på drivkrafter och hinder vid implementering av ett miljöledningssystem ur ett ledningsperspektiv. För att göra detta har tolv intervjuer med förtroendevalda och anställda ledningspersoner utförts i Hofors kommun. Fallkommunen har omkring 9500 invånare. Den kommunala organisationen består i stort av Kommunstyrelsen, Barn- och utbildningsnämnden, Socialnämnden och Hoforshus AB.   Intervjuerna identifierar först drivkrafter utifrån olika kategorier. Kunskap och engagemang, Ekonomi, Rutiner och struktur samt Leda och stötta en utveckling är betydande drivkrafter. Mindre betydande drivkrafter är Image, Intressenterna, Nå politikens mål samt Miljö.   Intervjuerna identifierar även hinder utifrån olika kategorier. Det identifieras att i princip alla ser Kunskap och engagemang, Administration samt Omfattning och få belöningar som hinder. Ungefär hälften uppgav Intressenterna, Nå politikens mål och Ekonomi som hinder.   Diskussionen belyser sedan att det finns både drivkrafter och hinder när det gäller politiska mål, ekonomi, intressenter samt kunskap och engagemang. Medan det identifieras att stärkt image, insatser för bättre miljö, leda och stötta en utveckling samt skapa rutiner och struktur endast anses vara drivkrafter. Administration samt omfattning och få belöningar uppfattas entydigt som hinder.   Slutsatserna utmynnar i att kommunen måste fokusera på frigöra de betydande drivkrafterna genom att överbrygga de betydande hindren. Det gäller alltså att satsa på att öka kunskapen och engagemanget i området för att tillfredsställa en betydande drivkraft och på samma gång bemöta ett betydande hinder. Annars drivs kommunen särskilt av att förbättra ekonomin, skapa rutiner och struktur samt leda och stötta en utveckling. Detta leder till belöningar. För att nå dit måste administrativa hinder övervinnas.   Genom framtida studier kan det vara intressant att genomföra en studie i en större kommun eller fördjupa sig i ett avgränsat kommunalt ansvarsområde, såsom skolområdet. / We need to take responsibility for environmental issues. Knowing that the various environmental problems must be handled has led to the application of environmental management systems. An environmental management system is a tool that requires a continuous and strategic approach to continuous improvement with respect to environmental issues. In Sweden usually applied five different environmental management system, but the question is what drives and avoids organizations to implement an environmental management system.   The problem with the study is to answer the driving forces and barriers that occur when implementing an environmental management system from a management perspective and to analyze them. The analysis aims to create an understanding of how drivers can be recovered and the interventions needed to overcome the barriers.   The aim is to contribute knowledge in Hofors municipality with respect to the drivers and barriers for the implementation of an environmental management system from a management perspective. To do this, twelve interviews with elected politicians and employees of management were carried out in Hofors municipality. The municipality has about 9,500 inhabitants. The municipal organization consists largely of the Municipal Executive, Children and Education, Social Services Committee and Hoforshus AB.   The interviews first identify drivers from various categories. Knowledge and commitment, Economy, Procedures and structure as well as Lead and support the development are significant driving forces. Less significant driving forces are Image, Stakeholders, Reaching policy goals and the Environment.   The interviews also identify barriers based on different categories. It identified that basically all look Knowledge and commitment, the Administration and the Extent and few rewards as barriers. About half said Stakeholders, Reaching policy goals and Economy as barriers.   The discussion highlights there are both drivers and barriers in terms of policy objectives, economy, stakeholders and knowledge and commitment. While it is identified that better image, efforts to improve the environment, lead and support the development and create routines and structure is considered to be the driving forces. Administration and extent and few rewards perceived unambiguously as barriers.   The conclusions results that the municipality must focus on freeing the significant driving forces by overcoming the considerable barriers. It is therefore important to focus on increasing knowledge and commitment in the area to satisfy a significant driving force and at the same time addressing a significant barrier. Otherwise operated the municipality especially to improve the economy, create routines and structure and lead and support development. This leads to rewards. To achieve this, the municipality need to overcome the administrative barriers.   Through future studies, it may be interesting to do a study in a larger municipality or in an enclosed municipal field of responsibility, such as school.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Hospitality Management and Dietetics / Deborah D. Canter / Junehee Kwon / Food allergies affect 1 in 25 school-aged children in the U.S., and Child Nutrition Professionals (CNPs) need more vigilance serving them. To assess CNPs’ knowledge, attitudes about food allergies including barriers to providing food allergy training, as well as current training practices; an online survey was conducted with randomly selected 1,500 CNPs nationwide. The survey instrument was developed based on focus groups, pilot-tested, and sent to the sample via email. About 24% or 340 CNPs completed the survey. Descriptive and inferential statistics including hierarchical and logistic regressions were calculated using SPSS. A majority of respondents currently provide allergen free meals in their districts (n=256). The mean food allergy knowledge score of CNPs was 31.9 (Standard Deviation=3.3) of 39. Respondents scored lowest on recognizing symptoms of food allergic reactions and understanding food allergen-related terminology. Years of managerial experience and previous food allergy training were positively associated with the knowledge scores. Most participants viewed food allergy as an important issue, but they faced challenges fulfilling last-minute allergen-free meal requests and purchasing allergen-free products. Sixty percent (n=200) did not provide any food allergy training. Of those who provided some sorts of training (n=140), the training was provided in groups (n=96), “one-on-one” basis (n=30), or combination of both methods (n=14). The employees were trained annually (n=76), once a year if they worked directly with the students with food allergies (n=52), and/or when they were newly hired (n=33). Lack of time and funding were barriers to providing food allergy training. Previous food allergic reactions and regulatory requirements served as cues to providing food allergy training. Previous food allergy training, knowledge, and self-efficacy were factors differentiating if food allergy training had or had not been provided in past 12 months. Systematic and regular food allergy training may be needed to ensure allergen-free meals are properly prepared. Food allergy training for CNPs to improve knowledge and self-efficacy may increase food allergy training at school food service establishments.

Master of Agribusiness / Department of Agricultural Economics / Kevin Gwinner / This research focuses on factors that serve as motivators or as barriers for consumers in their purchase of local beef. To understand the purchasing habits and preferences of the consumer, a designed survey was used. A convenience population was recruited and encouraged to participate in the survey online. Supporting local agriculture was found to be the highest motivating factor for purchase of local beef within the survey population. That was followed by taste, environment, humane treatment, and health benefits, in that order. Women agreed to all motivating factors at a statistically significantly rate greater than their male counterparts. Price was found to be the largest barrier to the purchase of local beef among the respondents. Lesser barriers were appeal of specifics, convenience, unfamiliar brand, and quality. Statistically significant differences were noted between respondents who had actually purchased local beef versus those that would consider such purchase. Respondents with prior purchasing experience did not perceive the listed barriers to be as inhibitory to their purchase as those who had no prior buying experience. Recommendations produced from this research encourage farmer groups and individual farms to focus on their customer characteristics through key motivating factors, women, and those supporting local agriculture. Finding ways to encourage consumers to try local beef should combat barriers to purchase. Farmers markets should create an experience that customers want to come to and enjoy and individual producers should be relatable and available to customers. Future research could include a large, randomized population of respondents that could give a more accurate description of the typical American consumer with opportunity to expand into other motivating or barrier influences. Other ideas for research could include other motivating and barrier factors, as well as open ended questions and focus groups to gain further insights into the consumer mind with regard to local beef.

Master of Arts / Department of Economics / Peri da Silva / This paper examines temporary trade barrier (TTB) implementation by 13 Latin American economies on a bilateral basis from 2000-2009 considering market power and import shocks. Additionally, we augment our analysis by including the effect of the presence or absence of tariff water on TTB implementation. We find evidence that market power and tariff water play an integral role in TTB implementation while import shocks do not. Using a probit model we estimate that a one standard deviation increase in market power and the absence of tariff water indicator increase the probability that a country imposes an antidumping tariff by 71 and 20 percent respectively, evaluated at their means. Interestingly, we do not find that import shocks have a significant impact on TTB implementation.