Studien har som syfte att undersöka vilka faktorer fastighetsmäklare anser påverka valet att ta ut pappaledighet och vilken roll organisationskulturen har i detta. Målet med studien är att svara på följande frågor:●Vilka faktorer anger pappor i fastighetsmäklarbranschen som avgörande för valet att ta ut pappaledighet?●Vilken roll spelar organisationskulturen?Studiens resultat har baserats på sex kvalitativa, semistrukturerade, intervjuer med fastighetsmäklare som antingen ska, är eller har varit pappalediga. Som teoretiskt ramverk användes främst Scheins tre nivåer av organisationskultur samt vetenskapliga publikationer som kopplade organisationskultur med pappaledighet och föräldraledighet. Resultatet visar på att inslag i organisationskulturen i mäklarbranschen är ett hinder som behöver hanteras för att främja jämställdhet på arbetsplatsen gällande föräldraledighet. Det krävs fördjupade studier sett till vilka åtgärder mäklarföretag bör vidta för att påverka förväntningarna kring mäklarnas ständiga tillgänglighet och att förändra bilden av idealmäklaren. / The purpose of this study is to examine which factors real estate agents consider to influence them in the choice of taking paternity leave and what role organizational culture has. The aim of the study is to answer following questions:●Which factors fathers specify within the real estate brokerage industry as crucial in the choice of taking paternity leave?●What role does organizational culture play?The result of the study is based on six qualitative, semi-structured interviews with brokers who either will, are, or have been on paternity leave. As theoretical framework Schein's three levels of organizational culture was mainly used followed by scientific publications that linked organizational culture with paternity leave and parental leave. The result show that organizational culture within the real estate brokerage industry is an obstacle that needs to be developed to encourage equality regarding parental leave in the workplace. In-depth studies seems required as to what actions real estate companies need to take to influence broker’s constant availability and change the image of the ideal broker.

Title: Real Estate Agent – A profession or a lifestyle? Authors: Erik Bogren & Ulrika Carlsson Heie Supervisor: Michal Lysek Background: Research has shown that the real estate brokerage industry is complex, and the context of the industry consists of a demanding work climate. Stressful factors for new as well as old real estate brokers lead to the real estate brokerage industry having a high turnover of personnel, which mean high direct and indirect costs for the real estate brokerage agency. One of the biggest and most perplexing problems sales managers face is retaining sales talent as the brokerage industry can involve long irregular working hours, psychological stress, and burnout. The research has thus found several different factors that make up parts of the industry's context, but the research is still lacking when it comes to creating a composite picture of what the context for today's brokerage industry looks like and the concrete guidance that can be given to leaders in the brokerage industry for a lower staff turnover. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore how leaders in the brokerage industry can, through their leadership, prevent real estate agents from leaving the industry based on a found context. What is the context of the brokerage industry and how does it influence real estate agents to stay or leave the industry? How can leaders in the brokerage industry through their leadership influence real estate brokers' choice to stay or leave the industry based on the context found? Method: This research study has been carried out as a qualitative study with an inductive approach based on classic grounded theory. Ten respondents from Halland and Skåne (counties in southern Sweden) participated in the study and were then interviewed through physical meetings. The respondents consist of four managers and four employed real estate agents active in the brokerage industry, as well as two deregistered real estate agents who have left the brokerage industry. Result & Discussion: Through a model, the result is presented which shows that the context of the brokerage industry consists of challenging working conditions. This can be managed through leadership actions that can help real estate agents achieve industry survival. The result is discussed based on a frame of reference and empirical evidence. Keywords: Leadership, the brokerage industry, working conditions, leadership actions, industry survival.

Studien behandlar vad sex studenter och tre arbetsgivare har för uppfattning och syn på praktiken en fastighetsmäklarstudent måste genomföra för att registreras som fastighetsmäklare. Studien behandlar också hur kunskapsöverföringen upplevs av såväl studenter som arbetsgivare. Syftet är att genom kvalitativa intervjuer utreda studenters och arbetsgivares uppfattning och syn inom centrala områden vad gäller en mäklarstuderandes praktik. Områden som behandlas är bland annat kunskapsöverföring och anställning. Vårt resultat visar att praktiken generellt uppfattas som positiv och givande ur både studenters och arbetsgivares perspektiv. Resultatet visar också att det kunskapsgap som finns vad gäller teoretiska kunskaper som studenten får genom skolan och den kunskap studenten får genom praktiken, inte täcks fullt ut. De tio obligatoriska veckorna är för korta för att en fullständig kunskapsöverföring ska ske. / This essay deals with the perception of the mandatory practice of the real estate students in Sweden that must be accomplished to become a certified real estate agent. The goal is to investigate the matter through qualitative interviews with six students of Malmö högskola and three major employers in the Malmö area. Key areas that are scrutinized are the transfer of knowledge, employment and engagement. Our findings demonstrate that the general view of the practice within the real estate brokerage business is good and rewarding for both students and employers. The findings also show that there is a gap of knowledge between the theoretical education and the practice based education which is not fully covered. The obligatory ten weeks of practice may be considerd too short for a complete knowledge transfer to occur.

Inledning: I relation till det snabbföränderliga samhället som präglas av fortsatt digitalisering fortsätter strömmarna av nya och hårda konsumentkrav som påverkar den renodlade och traditionella mäklarfirmans verksamhet. Idag ställs således en stor press på mäklarfirmor att kunna särskilja sig från konkurrenter med syfte att kunna anta en stark position på marknaden. Syfte: Studien undersöka hur nya mäklarfirmor arbetar för att differentiera sig från konkurrerande aktörer med syfte att kunna etablera sig framgångsrikt på marknaden. Metod: Studien använder sig utav en kvalitativ metod med intervjuer som datainsamlingssätt. Vidare tillämpas en tematisk analysmodell på empiriskt material för att kunna bearbeta samt analysera data. Resultat: Respondenter uppgav att de hade en liknande inställning beträffande mäklararbete riktat till kunder där de alla utgick från en individanpassad kundcentrerad modell. Kontakten till kunderna skedde initialt företrädelsevis via digitala plattformar för att sedan övergå till personliga kontakter via telefon samt fysiska möten. Slutsats: Studien visar att nya mäklarfirmor vid sin etablering främst behöver fokusera på två olika områden: kunden samt den egna verksamheten. Studien visar att samtliga mäklare anser att grunden som deras arbete vilar på är att skapa en tillitsfull relation med den tilltänkta kunden. Denna relation byggs på en tydlig och rak kommunikation där det är mäklarens roll att identifiera kundens förväntningar för att sedan i bästa möjliga mån möta dessa förväntningar. / Introduction: In relation to the rapidly changing society that is characterized by continued digitalization, the streams of new and harsh consumer demands that affect the traditional brokerage businesses continue. Today, there is thus a great deal of pressure on brokerage firms to be able to differentiate themselves from competitors to be able to assume a strong position in the market. Objective: The study investigates how new brokerage firms work to differentiate themselves from competing players with the aim of successfully establishing themselves on the market. Method: The study uses a qualitative method with interviews as a data collection method. Furthermore, a thematic analysis model is applied to empirical material to process and analyze data. Results: Respondents stated that they had a similar attitude regarding brokerage work aimed at customers, where they all started from an individualized customer-centered model. The contact with the customers initially took place primarily via digital platforms and then through personal contacts via telephone and physical meetings. Conclusion: The study shows that new brokerage firms when establishing themselves mainly need to focus on two different areas: the customer and their own business. The study shows that all brokers believe that the foundation on which their work is based is to create a trusting relationship with the intended customer. This relationship is based on clear and straightforward communication where it is the broker's role to identify the client's expectations and then to meet these expectations as best as possible.

I examine individual innovation in organizations from a social network perspective. I employ two theoretical lenses to examine innovation outcomes in three separate empirical studies. First, I use a sociopolitical framework to examine how political skill and social network structure interact to predict successful innovation initiation and, ultimately, career success. I find that innovation initiation mediates the relationship between political skill and career success. Moreover, structural holes in employees’ social networks moderate the mediated relationship between political skill and career success such that the relationship is stronger for employees with many structural holes in their social network. Second, I use social resources theory to examine how the characteristics of employees’ social network contacts affect individual innovation behavior. Results suggest that there is a positive relationship between the average amount of professional experience of one’s social network contacts and individual innovation behavior. Similarly, there is a positive relationship between the average creativity level of one’s social network contacts and individual innovation behavior. Each of these relationships is moderated by social structure such that the relationships are stronger for those with fewer structural holes in their social networks. Third, I develop and validate a scale to assess employee behavioral orientations toward brokering disconnected social network contacts. The scale is found to demonstrate convergent, discriminant, and criterion-related validity based on data from two field sites and one student sample. Results indicate that the scale is positively related to innovation support behavior.

92 Abstract and keywords The audit of financial institutions The purpose of my thesis is to provide a comprehensive view on the issue of the audit of financial institutions. The main reason for my research is my personal interest in this area stemming from my contemporary occupation. Secondly, I would like to broaden a range of a few existing theses dealing with related topics by complex and especially legal point of view. The thesis is composed of four chapters, each of them dealing with the issue on different level of generalization and specialization. Chapter One is introductory and defines basic terminology used in the thesis: "audit" and "financial institutions". The chapter is subdivided into three parts. Part One describes audit, its aims and functions and explains important concept of materiality. Part Two deals with various understandings of the term "financial institutions". Part Three determines scope of the thesis and its structure. Chapter Two examines relevant Czech legislation, International Standards on Auditing and Code of Ethics. The chapter consists of eleven parts which focus on respective elements of audit regulation. Namely it investigates requirements for compulsory audit, eligibility of an auditor, rights and duties of an auditor with deeper focus on ethical imperatives (especially...

Au cours de la précédente décennie et avant la crise financière de l’automne 2008, les marchés financiers internationaux ont connu un développement considérable et l’émergence d’une véritable industrie de l’investissement institutionnel. Au sein de cette industrie, les analystes financiers sell side employés par les sociétés de courtage apparaissent comme des acteurs majeurs, autour desquels se forment l’évaluation des sociétés cotées et les recommandations d’investissement à destination de leurs clients gestionnaires de fonds amenés à passer leurs ordres de bourse auprès de ces sociétés de courtage. La recherche présentée vise à identifier les modes de gestion des analystes financiers dans le champ de l’industrie de l’investissement institutionnel et l’influence qu’ils exercent sur les représentations, pratiques et productions des analystes. La première partie de cette thèse, après avoir étudié la construction du métier d’analyste et son contexte, met en débat les cadres de références théoriques et les disciplines qui s’impliquent dans l’analyse de la gestion du travail de quelques-uns des principaux acteurs de la finance, en général, et des analystes financiers en particulier. La seconde partie mobilise une approche contextualiste, interdisciplinaire et multi-méthodes au service d’une investigation empirique. Celle-ci met en relief le rôle du droit dans des dimensions coercitives et normatives très prégnantes, encourageant aussi bien la concurrence entre structures que l’homogénéisation et la standardisation de l’organisation du travail. Elle montre comment, sous l’effet de la concurrence des banques d’investissement anglo-saxonnes et de l’introduction d’un nouveau mode de financement de l’analyse financière par les volumes de courtage, les sociétés de « brokerage » ont adopté des stratégies de niche et intégré dans leurs configurations organisationnelles plutôt professionnelles de fortes dimensions mécanistes. Enfin, elle constate une uniformisation des modes de gestion des quatre principales sociétés de courtage françaises filiales de banques d’investissement. Les analystes français sont soumis à des modes de gestion qui privilégient clairement les dimensions marketing du métier qu’il s’agisse des modalités d’organisation du travail, des pratiques de recrutement, de communication interne, d’évaluation et de rémunération. Un des rôles essentiels assigné aux analystes consiste alors à accroitre les volumes de courtage ce qui les conduit à privilégier les activités aval de leur fonction. Mais cette dimension marketing qui caractérise la production des analystes doit être relativisée. En fonction de leur histoire professionnelle et des ressources qu’ils peuvent mobiliser, les analystes développent en effet des stratégies et des identités au travail différenciées. / Over the last decade and before the October 2008 credit crunch, international financial markets have witnessed a considerable development with the emergence of an important industry of institutional investment. Within this industry, financial analysts hired by brokerage firms play a major role while contributing to the assessment of listed companies through investment recommendations to asset managers, thereby obtaining from these clients orders for execution. The objective of this research is to pinpoint the role played by research analysts in the financial industry, and their influence over the representations and practices. The first part of this study, once constructed the analyst’s activity as a category, challenges the referential and theoretical grounds, as well as the fields involved in the work of some financial functions, and draws the attention to research analysts. The second part focuses on a contextual, multidisciplinary and multi-methodological approach to support an empirical investigation, which highlights the role played by law in both its coercive and prescriptive aspects, whether stimulating competition between structures or promoting the homogenization and standardization of work arrangements. We demonstrate how competition from Anglo-Saxon investment banks, as well as the adoption of a new business model resting on commissions generated by trading volumes, has led to the development of niche strategies, and introduced an important mechanistic dimension to the organizational configurations of brokerage firms. Lastly, it sheds light on the standardization of the managerial modes of the four main French brokerage firms, which are all subsidiaries of investment banks. French analysts are subject to management modes which clearly favor the marketing dimensions of the activity, as can be seen through the way their work is organized, the recruitment practices, the internal communication flows, their assessments and salaries. One of the roles assigned to analysts is thus to generate higher brokerage volumes, which as a consequence drives them towards marketing activities. This marketing dimension however needs to must be into perspective. Depending on their professional backgrounds and the resources they access, research analysts develop specific strategies and differentiated identities.

This thesis investigates the role of network structure, brokerage, and framing in high-risk collective action. I use the protest movement that emerged in Russia following falsified national elections in 2011 and 2012 as an empirical case study. I draw on a unique dataset of nearly 30,000 online documents and the linking structure of over 3,500 Russian Web sites. I employ a range of computational social science methods, including Exponential Random Graph Modeling, an advanced statistical model for social networks, social network analysis, machine learning, and latent semantic analysis. I address three research questions in this thesis. The first asks if a protest network challenging a hybrid regime will have a polycentric or hierarchical structure, and if that structure changes over time. Polycentric networks are conducive to high-risk collective action and are robust to the targeted removal of key nodes, while hierarchical networks can more easily mobilize protesters and spread information. I find that the Russian protest network has a polycentric structure only at the beginning of the protests, and moves towards a less effective hierarchical structure as the movement loses popular support. The second research question seeks to understand if brokered text is actually novel, and if that text is more novel in polycentric networks than in hierarchical ones. Brokers are the individuals or nodes in a network that connect disparate groups through weak ties and close structural holes. Brokers are advantageous because they have access to and spread novel information. I find that the text among nodes in brokered relationships is indeed novel, but that information novelty decreases when networks have a hierarchical structure. The last research question asks if a protest movement in a high-risk political setting can be more successful than the government at spreading its preferred frames, and within such a movement, whether moderate or extremist framing is more prevalent. I find that the opposition is far more effective than the government in spreading its frames, even when the government organizes massive counter protests. Within the movement, moderates are more likely to have their framing adopted online than extremists, unless violence occurs at protests. The findings suggest that movements should build flatter, more diffuse networks by ensuring that brokers tie together diverse protest constituencies. The findings also provide evidence against those who claim that authoritarian governments are more effective in shaping online discourse than oppositional movements, and also suggest that movements should advance moderate framing in order to attract a wider base of support among the general population.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:26:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Fabiana Vieira da Costa.pdf: 1490415 bytes, checksum: 1d5d8c0f16fa83e287f1d87b51826d86 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-08-30 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / Through the analysis of securities brokers in the highly turbulent Brazilian Market, the dissertation aimed to identify and analyze dynamic capability elements and evidences in processes and routines of innovation. The literature on dynamic capabilities is still inconclusive and controversial, especially with regard to the understanding of how companies develop this kind of capability. In this sense this work is a contribution to the discussion of the processes involved in the development of dynamic capability. The method used in the research has a qualitative, exploratory and descriptive approach, which involved the use of a semi-structured questionnaire. There were nine interviews with executives from firms with diversified ages: some founded in the 1930s, others in the 1960s, another group from 1990s, along with some that have less than 5 years in the market. On top of those interviews, additional documents have complemented the data set. The technique used for data analysis was content analysis, according to interpretative analysis of Gil Flores (1994). Three meta-categories were analyzed: environment dynamics, dynamic capability evidence, and processes and routines of innovation. The former category is related to research s first specific aim, which was the identification of the environment dynamics and the factors that explain this dynamism, such as technological and other relevant resources, threats and opportunities, adaptation to environmental changes. The meta-category that follows is related to research s second specific aim, which was the analysis of dynamic capability evidences in accordance with technological resources used, new business segments, innovation practice, and opportunities for innovation. The latter meta-category is related to research s third specific objective, which was to identify and analyze the elements of processes and routines that search for innovation. For this aim, six categories were identified: frequency of new processes, organization s memory, operating routine changes, implementation of innovation, organizational structure and innovation, and motivation for innovation. The research has found that the development of dynamic capabilities in securities brokerage depends on how they respond to environmental changes, how they make investments in technology, and also which routines are implemented for innovation and implementation of their products and services. Despite acting in the same market, differences in the business management were identified among them, so it was possible divide the brokers into three distinct groups: i) brokers who present the development of dynamic capability, have well-defined strategies, are pro-active, and continuously invest in technology and innovation of products and services, ii) firms in which managers are already reflecting on their actions and strategies in order to develop dynamic capability that can cope with changes in the environment; and iii) firms that are lagging behind, a bit far in dynamic capability development. / Esta dissertação visou, através da análise das corretoras de valores mobiliários no mercado brasileiro, inseridas em um ambiente altamente turbulento, identificar e analisar os indícios e os elementos de capacidade dinâmica por meio de processos e rotinas de busca e inovação. A literatura acerca de capacidade dinâmica ainda é inconclusiva e controversa, principalmente no que se refere à compreensão de como as empresas desenvolvem essa capacidade. Nesse sentido, este trabalho é uma contribuição à discussão a respeito dos processos envolvidos no desenvolvimento da capacidade dinâmica. O método empregado na pesquisa seguiu uma abordagem qualitativa, exploratória e descritiva, o que envolveu a preparação de roteiro semiestruturado. Foram realizadas nove entrevistas com executivos de corretoras fundadas em diferentes épocas, algumas na década de 1930, 1960, 1990 e outras com menos de 5 anos de mercado. Além das entrevistas, foram utilizados registros documentais. A técnica adotada para análise dos dados foi a análise de conteúdo, segundo análise interpretativa de Gil Flores (1994). Foram analisadas as seguintes metacategorias: dinamismo do ambiente, indícios de capacidade dinâmica e processos e rotinas de busca e inovação. A primeira metacategoria está relacionada ao primeiro objetivo específico, que consistiu em identificar o dinamismo do ambiente e os fatores que explicam esse dinamismo, como recursos tecnológicos, relevância de outros recursos, ameaças e oportunidades, e adequação às mudanças no ambiente. A segunda metacategoria está relacionada ao segundo objetivo específico, que consistiu em analisar os indícios de capacidade dinâmica de acordo com os seguintes aspectos: recursos tecnológicos utilizados, busca de novos segmentos de atuação, prática de inovar e oportunidades de inovação. A terceira e última metacategoria está relacionada ao terceiro objetivo específico, que consistiu em identificar e analisar os elementos de processos e rotinas de busca e inovação. Nesse objetivo, as categorias identificadas foram: frequência de novos processos, memória da organização, mudanças nas rotinas operacionais, implementação da inovação, estrutura organizacional e inovação e motivação da inovação. Os resultados encontrados sinalizam que o desenvolvimento da capacidade dinâmica nas corretoras de valores mobiliários depende da maneira como elas respondem às mudanças do ambiente, dos investimentos em tecnologia e, ainda, das rotinas implementadas para a inovação e implementação de seus produtos e serviços. Apesar de atuarem no mesmo mercado, foram identificadas diferenças na gestão do negócio, de modo que foi possível agrupar as corretoras em três distintos grupos: i) grupo das corretoras que apresentam o desenvolvimento de capacidade dinâmica, possuem estratégias bem definidas, são corretoras proativas e realizam quase que continuamente investimentos em tecnologia e inovação de produtos e serviços; ii) este grupo vem fazendo um esforço em apresentar características evidenciadas de capacidade dinâmica, em alguns momentos percebem-se as transformações realizadas por essas corretoras, nota-se que os gestores já estão refletindo sobre suas ações e suas estratégias, e que as mudanças no ambiente já estão sendo readequadas no dia a dia de suas rotinas; iii) o terceiro grupo está um pouco distante em realçar características de capacidade dinâmica.

服務業已成為國家經濟發展的重要基礎，如何提供良好的服務來滿足顧客，也成為相當重要的議題。而在組織中，員工面對顧客所展現的態度及行為皆代表著組織，員工服務的行為與經驗在與顧客互動的過程中，影響顧客對服務品質的認知，再者，房屋仲介業在服務業中具有相當重要的地位，房仲業者分店數全台已達五千多家，僅次於便利商店，因此本研究將以房仲業者為例，進行員工服務行為之內涵之探索，並探討房屋仲介業務人員，在銷售價格高低不同之房屋時，或面對不同類型的顧客需求時，所展現的服務行為內涵是否具有相同、相異之處。 　　本研究以台北市之房屋仲介業業務人員為研究對象，深度訪談49位具有8個月以上服務經驗之房仲業務人員與店主管，並將訪談內容逐字稿轉為可研究的項目 (item)，依內容相似性作分類，共產生10種不同的服務行為類別。研究結果顯示，不論房仲業務人員在銷售價格較高或較低的房屋時，或是其面對自住型或投資型需求之顧客時，大多會展現出公司所規定之服務行為；然而，當其在銷售價格較高的房屋時，與當其面對投資型需求（而非自住型需求）之顧客時，尚會展現出公司未明文規定之服務行為。 / Service industry has become an important foundation for national economic development. So how to provide better service to make customer satisfied has become an important issue. In service organization, employee’s behaviors and attitude toward customers are on behalf of organization. And employee’s service behavior in the process of interacting with customer will influence how customer perceives service quality. What’s more, the real estate brokerage industry plays an important role in service industry. The number of stores of real estate brokerage industry in Taiwan is more than 5,000 stores, only less than the number of convenience stores. Therefore, this study used the salespersons in real estate brokerage industry as sample to explore the first-line employee service behaviors. And this study discussed the similarities and differences in service behaviors when salesperson sold the houses with higher or lower price, and faced customers with different needs. 　　This study used a sample of the salespersons of real estate brokerage industry in Taipei. After interviewing 49 salespersons, whose working experience is more than 8 months, the study turned the transcripts into analyzable items. By the similarity of the items, this study classified the items into 10 categories. The result is that no matter the salespersons sold the house with higher or lower price, or faced customer need of consumption or investment, they mostly provided the organization expected customer service behaviors. But when they sold the house with higher price, or faced the customer need of investment, they even provided the more customer service behaviors which are not required.