<p>One of Sweden’s most well known monopolies is approaching its end, Apoteket AB. A re-regulation of a state owned monopoly is nothing new but it happens within an interesting trade. Since the government is in total control of the whole re-regulation process, we found it interesting to see how they managed to include the potential individuals who want to take over a pharmacy. After all, many are the times the government has emphasized the importance of small firms.</p><p>Out of the approximately 900 pharmacies owned by Apoteket AB, 150 are going to be sold to individuals. This group is called “small enterprise cluster”, and this cluster became the focus of our thesis. We wanted to get an insight into this group, since it is more complex and diverse compared to the large corporations entering the market.</p><p><strong>Purpose</strong></p><p>The purpose of this thesis is to measure the willingness to take over pharmacies among the employees of Apoteket AB, as well as to analyse how the government's support has affected the decisions of individuals.</p><p><strong>Method</strong></p><p>In order to get a good view of the re-regulation process we chose a qualitative approach, where we performed personal interviews with 6 respondents equally spread out on 3 pharmacies in a medium sized Swedish city and the surrounding area. The interviews where performed in a semi-structured manner.</p><p>Besides the primary data, secondary data was collected. It builds the foundation for the theoretical framework and the analysis of the interviews. Since the theoretical framework was created before the research was performed, the study used a deductive research approach.</p>

Autoriai skirtingai analizuoja individo nuotaikos ir reklamos ryšį, sunku lyginti tyrimų rezultatus. Rezultatai prieštarauja vieni kitiems, pastebimi netikslumai, apibrėžiant nuotaikos sąvoką. Ankstyvesniuose tyrimuose yra nagrinėjama, kaip nuotaikos pobūdis (teigiama, neigiama nuotaika) yra susijęs su įsitraukimu į reklamas. Keletas kitų tyrimų analizuoja šį ryšį išsamiau, apžvelgdami individų nuotaikos įsisąmoninimo lygio ryšį su reklama bei kokią įtaką šiam ryšiui turi tiriamųjų lytis. Tai naujas ir mažai tyrinėtas aspektas. Šio tyrimo tikslas – nustatyti sąsajas tarp individo nuotaikos ir įsitraukimo į televizinę reklamą. Buvo bandoma nustatyti tiriamųjų lyties, nuotaikos pobūdžio, nuotaikos įsąmoninimo lygio, įsitraukimo į televizinę reklamą ir noro pirkti reklamuojamą produktą ryšius. Tyrimas atliktas anketinės apklausos būdu, taikant Denollet (1993) „Bendros nuotaikos skalę“, Swinkels, Giuliano (1995) „Nuotaikos įsisąmoninimo skalę“, Zaichkowsky (1985) „Asmeninio įsitraukimo klausimyną“ bei papildomus klausimus. Tyrime dalyvavo 171 jaunuolis, turintys 18 – 25 metų. Gauti tyrimo rezultatai patvirtino keltas hipotezes. Nustatyta, kad individų teigiama nuotaika yra susijusi su įsitraukimu į televizines reklamas; individų noras pirkti reklamuojamą produktą yra susijęs su jų teigiama nuotaika. Be to individų patiriama nuotaika ir įsitraukimas į televizines reklamas skiriasi vyrų ir moterų grupėse; individų įsitraukimas į televizines reklamas yra susijęs su noru... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / In prior studies, consumer researchers have treated concept of mood vaguely and arbitrarily. This has resulted in confusion regarding the substance of mood. Also prior studies advertising-related mood research has addressed relation between mood types (positive, negative mood) and involvement in advertisement. And only few authors addressed the dimensions of mood awareness or individual’s gender. This is a new and slightly researched aspect. The main objective of this study was to find links between individual‘s mood and involvement in TV commercial. Specifically mood type, two dimensions off moods awareness, involvement in TV commercial, gender and willing to buy are posited to interact. It was used The Global Mood Scale (GMS) by Denollet (1993), Mood Awareness Scale (MAS) by Swinkels, Giuliano (1995), Personal Involvement Inventory (PII) by Zaichkowsky (1985) and additional questions. In this study participated 171 individuals who were 18 – 25 years old. Data support both hypotheses. There are links between individual’s positive mood and involvement in TV commercial; also there are links between individual’s positive mood and willing to buy advertised product. Also results showed that mood differs by individual’s gender and there are links between involvement in TV commercial and willing to buy advertised product.

Athletes have become more than sports professionals; they are million dollar investments for brand images. Businesses worldwide have transitioned old promotional schemes to athlete endorsements and have experienced positive reactions to the public change. Athletes connected with consumers on a heroic level and translated the brand’s message to purchasers through the theory of transference of affect (White, Goddard, & Wilbur, 2009). Subsequently, there had been an equal rise in the caution businesses exercised as several athletes found occupancy in negative press. Those involved in scandals posed reputational risks for businesses and could reduce positive transference to consumers. The purpose of this study was to test the impact of negative media portrayal (reputation) about athlete endorsers on male consumer’s purchase intentions and attitude favorability towards high or low involvement products. Online surveys were distributed to a Midwestern University, 196 surveys were analyzed. Findings showed purchase intention was affected by reputation for high involvement products; reputation was not an accurate predictor of consumer attitude toward high or low involvement products. Athletes involved in scandals remained effective as endorsers for low involvement products whereas, athletes with positive reputations succeeded when promoting high involvement products.

The study focuses on the use of information systems in the Heavy Engineering industry in South Africa and the decision to make, buy or rent information systems. Special focus was placed on the factors that influence the decision to make, buy or rent information systems. It is undeniable that changes in the competitive environment, such as technological advances and globalisation, are driving organisations toward new ways of operating. In striving to become flexible, lean, and more competitive, organisations have been increasingly swift to externalise support service functions. Every organisation must adapt to the current economic environment, the technology available in its industry and consider the risk and rewards within the industry framework. Organisations should carefully analyse the impact of their decisions, especially in consideration of the extent to which organisational competencies and competitive advantage could be affected. An extensive literature study was conducted on the factors that influence the decision to make, buy or rent. The literature study portrays the ideal state or methodologies for acquiring information systems and the best practices used in evaluating the best option for the organisation. The literature indicated the criteria for evaluating the decision to make, buy or rent information systems are the business need, in–house experience, project skills, project management and the time frame. These criteria can be broken down into the factors that have an influence on the decision, competitive advantage, security, skills, expertise, available resources, cost, time, implementation, support, maintenance, performance, quality, documentation, vendor issues, size of organisation, expected annual transactions, software control, functionality, productivity and increased turnover. Calculating the benefit that can be achieved from information systems must also include measures to incorporate the total benefit, not only the financial benefit. The balance scorecard approach measures the total return accompanying an investment in information systems, broken down into four sections, the financial perspective that measures the tangible outcomes, the customer perspective that measures customer value (quality, delivery and skill), the internal process perspective that measures the internal processes that add value and have the greatest impact on strategy and finally the learning and growth perspective that measures the intangible assets which focuses on human capital. Information systems form part of the corporate strategy, competitive positioning and must be aligned with the overall strategy of the organisation. A survey was done to determine the opinions about the different options managers/organisations have to consider when seeking to fulfil organisational requirements for information systems. Methodological issues as well as considerations with regard to gathering the data were discussed. A questionnaire was designed to collect data to obtain the information needed to solve the research problem. The internal consistency of the questionnaire was tested and it was found that a moderate to high level of consistency exists. The survey results were then presented in frequency tables and were analysed using descriptive statistics as well as inferring possible trends or conclusions based on relationships between certain responses on specific related questions and referring to the literature study. A framework was compiled from the literature study and empirical study that can be used for the purpose of decision–making in the make, buy or renting of information systems in the heavy engineering environment in South Africa. Benefits from purchasing software from a vendor include competitive advantage, available resources, implementation of the system, support to the system, system performance, documentation and training, and business functionality. Benefits from open source offerings include the size of the organisation and the number of expected annual transactions by the organisation. Benefits from SaaS (Software as a service) include competitive advantage, expertise, system performance and business functionality. Benefits from the outsourcing of development and other IT functions include competitive advantage, security, skills, available resources, implementation of the system, support to the system, system performance, documentation and training, business functionality and technical functionality. Benefits from developing in–house all or part of the effort include competitive advantage, security, skills, expertise, available resources, time, implementation of the system, support to the system, maintenance and upgrades, system performance, quality, documentation and training, business functionality, technical functionality, productivity improvements and increased turnover. Overall the linkage between the literature study and the empirical study concludes / Thesis (MBA)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

The study focuses on the use of information systems in the Heavy Engineering industry in South Africa and the decision to make, buy or rent information systems. Special focus was placed on the factors that influence the decision to make, buy or rent information systems. It is undeniable that changes in the competitive environment, such as technological advances and globalisation, are driving organisations toward new ways of operating. In striving to become flexible, lean, and more competitive, organisations have been increasingly swift to externalise support service functions. Every organisation must adapt to the current economic environment, the technology available in its industry and consider the risk and rewards within the industry framework. Organisations should carefully analyse the impact of their decisions, especially in consideration of the extent to which organisational competencies and competitive advantage could be affected. An extensive literature study was conducted on the factors that influence the decision to make, buy or rent. The literature study portrays the ideal state or methodologies for acquiring information systems and the best practices used in evaluating the best option for the organisation. The literature indicated the criteria for evaluating the decision to make, buy or rent information systems are the business need, in–house experience, project skills, project management and the time frame. These criteria can be broken down into the factors that have an influence on the decision, competitive advantage, security, skills, expertise, available resources, cost, time, implementation, support, maintenance, performance, quality, documentation, vendor issues, size of organisation, expected annual transactions, software control, functionality, productivity and increased turnover. Calculating the benefit that can be achieved from information systems must also include measures to incorporate the total benefit, not only the financial benefit. The balance scorecard approach measures the total return accompanying an investment in information systems, broken down into four sections, the financial perspective that measures the tangible outcomes, the customer perspective that measures customer value (quality, delivery and skill), the internal process perspective that measures the internal processes that add value and have the greatest impact on strategy and finally the learning and growth perspective that measures the intangible assets which focuses on human capital. Information systems form part of the corporate strategy, competitive positioning and must be aligned with the overall strategy of the organisation. A survey was done to determine the opinions about the different options managers/organisations have to consider when seeking to fulfil organisational requirements for information systems. Methodological issues as well as considerations with regard to gathering the data were discussed. A questionnaire was designed to collect data to obtain the information needed to solve the research problem. The internal consistency of the questionnaire was tested and it was found that a moderate to high level of consistency exists. The survey results were then presented in frequency tables and were analysed using descriptive statistics as well as inferring possible trends or conclusions based on relationships between certain responses on specific related questions and referring to the literature study. A framework was compiled from the literature study and empirical study that can be used for the purpose of decision–making in the make, buy or renting of information systems in the heavy engineering environment in South Africa. Benefits from purchasing software from a vendor include competitive advantage, available resources, implementation of the system, support to the system, system performance, documentation and training, and business functionality. Benefits from open source offerings include the size of the organisation and the number of expected annual transactions by the organisation. Benefits from SaaS (Software as a service) include competitive advantage, expertise, system performance and business functionality. Benefits from the outsourcing of development and other IT functions include competitive advantage, security, skills, available resources, implementation of the system, support to the system, system performance, documentation and training, business functionality and technical functionality. Benefits from developing in–house all or part of the effort include competitive advantage, security, skills, expertise, available resources, time, implementation of the system, support to the system, maintenance and upgrades, system performance, quality, documentation and training, business functionality, technical functionality, productivity improvements and increased turnover. Overall the linkage between the literature study and the empirical study concludes / Thesis (MBA)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

Humboldt-Univ., Diss--Berlin, 2007.

Zugl.: Weimar, Bauhausuniv., Diss.

Univ., Diss.--Paderborn, 2002.

abstract: The dissertation aims to provide a new perspective on the management of multi-tier supply chains. When a firm decides to buy a product from a supplier, the buying firm also needs to decide whether to use the supplier to make the lower-tier sourcing decisions or to make those decisions in-house. I call the former "supply chain-buy" and the latter "supply chain-make." If the choice is supply chain-buy, the buying firm releases sourcing control of its bill of materials (BOM) to the top-tier supplier and this supplier, then engages with the supply base to determine the BOM's supply chain. If the choice is supply chain-make, the buying firm maintains sourcing control of the BOM and engages with its own supply base to select the lower-tier suppliers. The dissertation provides a theoretical foundation and empirical observations for understanding the supply chain make-buy decisions. The dissertation consists of three main chapters: Chapter 2 extends the make-or-buy literature into the multi-tier supply management context to provide theoretical reasons for engaging in supply chain-make as opposed to supply chain-buy. Building on transaction cost economics, the knowledge-based view, and structural hole theory, Chapter 2 explains the phenomenon that cannot be fully explained by a single-theoretic perspective. Chapter 3 empirically investigates the economic and behavioral factors that influence individual purchasing managers' supply chain make-buy decision-making. Specifically, the roles of behavioral uncertainty, interpersonal trust, and familiarity are considered. A scenario-based behavioral experiment involving the members of the Institute for Supply Management is employed. Lastly, Chapter 4 studies the performance implications of particular supply network structures influenced by supply chain make-buy decisions. Supply chain make-buy decisions can affect the prevalence of structural holes in supply networks. Chapter 4 investigates the different types of structural holes in supply networks. It provides a novel way of understanding structural holes in the supply network context by distinguishing structural holes between the focal firm's suppliers (horizontal structural holes) from those between its customers and suppliers (vertical structural holes). Panel data on supply networks and firm financial indicators are used for analysis in Chapter 4. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Business Administration 2017

The main goal of this diploma thesis is to prove whether there is a relationship between the willingness to buy and the user product reviews. Sectional questions are related to e.g. the willingness to pay more for the product with a better review, to a satisfactory number of stars in a rating or to what is crucial for customers when choosing a product. The readers are introduced to basic concepts related to the topic (such as the purchase behavior of customers and its influences, the willingness to buy, the customer satisfaction or the user product reviews) before the analysis. The interviewing method was chosen for primary data collection. Due to a quantitative nature of the research, the research questions were specified firstly. These questions were evaluated using descriptive statistics and tools of statistic reasoning.