The value of specific individuals for the success of a company has increased drastically because of the increased demand on knowledge and service orientation, and job satisfaction has become more important in the competition of the most attractive employees. Improving job satisfaction also brings along additional advantages. For example, it has been proven to have a direct impact on customer satisfaction. This study aims at providing a working procedure for organizations that wish to increase the level of employee job satisfaction, and a method has been developed that gives practical instructions on how to organize the improvement work. To evaluate the current level of job satisfaction in order to find improvement areas, the most important determinants to job satisfaction have been identified through a literature survey. The method has four phases, Prepare, Investigate, Design and Implement, and is shaped as a closed loop to symbolize the need of continuous improvements. To validate the usefulness and precision of the method, it has been tested in a single case study. The case study showed that the method is applicable in the sense that all four phases were possible to carry out, and that it is capable of providing a practical working procedure to increase job satisfaction. It is also useful when it comes to evaluating already existing working procedures. Most important when it comes to increasing job satisfaction is to let the employees actively participate in the improvement work. This will ensure that the solutions suggested are relevant and enduring, and it will make employees feel acknowledged and motivated to follow out the changes.

China is now the main supplier in the generic pharmaceutical and bulk drugs supply market. The low-cost sourcing of raw materials from domestic manufacturers allows Chinese pharmaceutical companies to be competitive. Purchasing becomes strategic importance to the overall business performance through the implementation of concrete purchasing practices. This thesis is mainly to study the capsule purchasing practices in Chinese pharmaceutical companies. Three objectives are proposed in order to achieve the purpose: 1) Describe the capsule purchasing procedures of the companies; 2) Compare and analyse similarities and differences of their purchasing procedures; 3) Give acceptable reasons for these similarities and differences. These objectives are fulfilled on the basis of the developed van Weele’s purchasing procedure model and the factors integrated in purchasing. In this multiple-case study, qualitative approach is utilized in order to describe and interpret the how and why questions. The unstructured face-to face interviews are used. The study finds that the capsule purchasing strategy in Chinese pharmaceutical companies is at the stage of supply management and this may induct the raw material purchasing strategy in Chinese pharmaceutical industry.

Attempting to enhance their productivity or improve working conditions, many businesses have adopted organizational change programs that involve a participatory component. To attain a comprehensive understanding of these change programs we need to investigate the influence of social factors such as power, the impact of local and global contexts, and the role that agency plays in these programs. Further, because organizational programs do not unfold linearly and the contexts in which they are embedded continually evolve, it is crucial to employ an approach that allows studying organizational programs over time. Attending to these considerations enables the production of narratives of organizational change that are congruous with the dynamism of organizational life. This dissertation explores the dynamics of an organizational program in a particular type of occupational health and safety program, which emphasizes employee involvement: participatory ergonomics (PE). Participatory ergonomics, intended to reduce workers’ exposures to work-related musculoskeletal disorders, draws on the input of small groups of labour and management representatives called ergonomic change teams (ECTs) to address exposure to hazards that may lead to musculoskeletal disorders. The dissertation’s examination of an organizational change program consists of an analysis of PE programs in two workplaces: a courier depot and a manufacturing plant. The dissertation’s investigation of the PE programs is based primarily on observations, which were gathered longitudinally as the ECTs endeavoured to make ergonomic changes, and fifty-five semi-structured interviews, which were carried out with ECT members and other key informants who were not members of the ECTs. Data collection occurred during 48 months in the manufacturing setting; in the courier company, collection took place during a 30-month period. The dissertation’s analysis is informed by negotiated order and critical theory lenses. Negotiated order considers social order as an ongoing process and draws attention to the activities of individuals and groups, and the manner in which they influence the dynamics of social life. In regard to organizational programs, it rejects the idea that they unfold independently of actors’ efforts; rather, it considers them as products of individuals’ attempts to establish and maintain the necessary agreements to ensure their operation. Critical theory, as it pertains to occupational health, identifies the constraints that shape working conditions and links these with the uneven distribution of power in the workplace and production imperatives. The dissertation addresses the following general research questions: What actions were undertaken by individuals to ensure the PE programs functioned and continued? How did the organizational and societal context enable or constrain the pursuit of PE program activities? The presentation of the findings begins with an account of the problem-solving processes used in both of the settings, an overview of the types of knowledge that were used, and a description of the actors’ access to knowledge. In each setting, design parameters, production pressures, the nature of the knowledge required to design solutions, and the differential distribution of that knowledge among workplace personnel influenced (a) the effectiveness of the ECTs’ solution building activities, (b) the design process, and (c) the nature and degree of participation by the teams’ worker members. The dissertation then proceeds to an examination of the implementation process. It explores how this process is affected by the organizational context, in particular the ECTs’ limited authority as agents of change, and shows that the minimal authority they possessed prompted the ECTs to select an array of strategies to accomplish their work. These strategies often took the forms of persuasion, persistence, and enlisting the assistance of other personnel. Extending the discussion of implementation, the dissertation then focuses on the division of labour within the ECTs as they carried out their activities. In both settings, implementation activities were unevenly distributed among the ECTs’ membership; they were predominantly carried out by managerial personnel. Both the programs’ functioning and the participation of worker representatives were influenced by the interplay among three main factors: the type of activities that needed to be carried out, workplace hierarchy, and stance, or participants’ views about their ability to act effectively. The discussion of the PE programs then proceeds to an examination of whether the programs were supplied with the resources required to continue over time. The outcomes differed: in Courier Co. the program was discontinued, whereas in Furniture Co. it was maintained. The discussions investigate how PE program continuation was affected by the program supporters’ activities and shaped by conditions both internal and external to the organization. Foremost among these conditions were management’s view of health and safety and the occupational health and safety regulatory framework. The dissertation’s examination of the PE programs over time provides evidence that the functioning and the degree of worker involvement in participatory occupational health programs are conditioned by structural and interactional elements. The programs were shaped by an uneven distribution of power, limits on access to knowledge and scarce resources, and actors’ divergent interests and their capacities to act in accord with these interests. The final chapter of the dissertation reviews the key findings and examines common themes that arose across the workplaces. The dissertation concludes with observations on several topics: the challenges of evaluating program outcomes in settings such as occupational health and safety; the lessons that participatory ergonomics practitioners can take from the study’s findings; and suggestions for possible avenues of future research.

Very Large Organization (VLO) is an organization that produces hardware and software, which together form products. VLO granted access to data pertaining to seven different products and their development projects. One particular product is of interest to VLO since it was not as successful as the other products. The focus of this thesis is to study the problematic product and compare it to the other six products in order to draw some conclusions regarding the problematic product. The goal of this study is to indicate areas of improvement, which can help VLO improve future products. This thesis explores and answers the following research questions focused around the problematic product. Was the product indeed a failure? If so, what caused the product to fail? What indications that the product would fail were evident during the product’s development? What could VLO have done in order to prevent the product from becoming a failure? What can VLO learn from the failure? Are there data from the non-problematic products that indicate what VLO excels at? This thesis analyzes the data from all seven products and their projects in order to answer the research questions. Analyzing the non-problematic products is important in order to draw comparisons to the problematic product. As a result of this research, this thesis uncovers a variety of issues with the problematic product and identifies six areas for possible improvement. These six areas are: hardware research and development, decoupling of software from hardware, requirements management, maximal use of resources, developer order and priority of vital features, and schedule alignment. This thesis concludes that even though none of these six problematic areas can be pinpointed as the singular root cause of the problematic product’s failure, addressing these problems will improve the likelihood of product success.

This study reports on technical program students’ approaches to solving open-ended problems during an introductory physics course in a Swedish upper secondary school. The study used case study methodology to investigate students’ activities in outdoor context. The findings come from observations and audio recordings of students solving three different open-ended problems. The results showed that the students had difficulties to formulate ‘solvable’ problems and to perform necessary ‘at home’ preparations to be able to solve the problems. Furthermore, students preferred to use a single solution method even though different solution methods were possible. This behavior can be attributed to their previous experience of solving practical problems in physics education. The result also indicated need of different levels of guidance to help the students in their problem solving process. A tentative conclusion can be made that open-ended problems have an educational potential for developing students’ understanding of scientific inquiry and problem solving strategies in the process of performing practical outdoor activities.

The rise of e-recruiting has change the way of traditional style of recruiting greatly, not only enhancing the efficiency of recruiting , lowering the cost of recruiting and broadening the scope of recruiting market for industries, but also saving more mental and physical efforts getting information about job opening for job seekers .According to a market research conducted by ORC in 2005 , the percentage of industries using internet to recruit people is rising from 56%(2004) to 75%. The statistics released by Insightxplorer company also points out that 80.9% of job seekers is using the internet to seek for employment more than using other tools. Job boards is especially showing its importance as a way of recruiting and applying for a post in Taiwan. This research targets job board that has highest market share in Taiwan, gaining experience and evaluation from job seekers and recruiters viewpoints through case study, in order to obtain a diversified angles of vision and give a thorough description and interpretation of job boards¡¦ using.

With the rapid advance of information technology (IT), many organizations are implementing IT to enhance their business processes efficiency intra- and inter-organizations. Prior to deploying the appropriate IT, conducting business process reengineering (BPR) has been considered to be the most important first step. Over the past two decades a considerable effort has been made in BPR implementation in practice. However, the detailed guideline for the BPR implementation is lacking. To alleviate the forgoing problem, the A-company was chosen for this study which had undergone the BPR implementation with the help of two well-known consultant firms. We followed the case study method to investigate what activities were performed when the A-company implemented BPR, how consultants interacted with the A-company in these activities, what input and output were needed, and what methods or models they used during each BPR step. Finally we proposed a comprehensive methodology which has detailed guideline for BPR implementation. With this proposed methodology, the implementing organization can have better understanding and preparation for BPR implementation, and thereby enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of BPR implementation.

The Balanced Scorecard (BSC) facilitates managers to balance strategic focuses on four perspectives, on complex cause and effect relationships, and on developing more systemic aligned strategy. But some literatures showed that the BSC theory and practice had some limitations. The root of limitations is ¡§cause and effect are not closely related in time and space¡¨. And that will mislead managers to generate misperceptions of feedback information and execute wrong strategy. This research employs system dynamics as a method to overcome the limitations, and focuses on exploring the dynamic complexity of developing the BSC strategy. By two case studies, this research finds some opinions to conceptualize a theoretical framework, generate some dynamic pitfalls propositions, and summarize some dynamically aligned principles. By system dynamics method, this research builds qualitative and quantitative system dynamics models and inquires the cases¡¦ BSC strategy. And by case study method, this research follows qualitative research perspective to compare two cases and generate propositions. The conclusion, firstly, includes a conceptualized framework of ¡§improving the dynamic alignment of the balanced scorecard strategy in system dynamics¡¨, to support ¡§the theory of developing BSC with system dynamics¡¨ and enhance the long-term effectiveness of BSC strategy. Secondly, this research finds some dynamic pitfalls propositions. Lastly, this research discusses some implications on management, limitations, and future research.

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After China entry WTO at the end of 2001, the financial market will open to the outside world progressively , and it will even open business of RMB after five years. It will attract more foreign banks to invest to China's market ; On the other hand, the Taiwanese investing banks want to serves small and medium-sized enterprises invest in China, so it is necessary to the Taiwanese investing banks to invest in China. It is obvious that more and more foreign banks want to make investment in China. For the Taiwanese investing banks or other foreign banks can make investment successfully in China, through the study of the foreign banks make investment successfully and for a long time in China to probe the development of the foreign banks in China. And find the competitiveness of the five cities that absorb the foreign banks in SWOT analysis¡FAnd then analyse with the investment strategy of case banks , such as HSBC , Citibank and Standard Chartered Bank. Finally the study find that the foreign banks still faced the hindrance on a lot of policies when made investment in China. China want to open the private banks at present , and it will form state-run bank , the foreign banks and private banks to compete with each other in China¡¦s financial market in the future. It¡¦s important to the foreign banks to use one's own assets strength and develop investment strategy actively. The best choice is to cooperate with China¡¦s banks and replace competing. Finally the study offers the suggest to the Taiwanese investing banks or other foreign banks¡G(1)Stoke the China Banks of the good performance and have complementary or develop the strategic alliance¡F(2)Take the identity of Hong Kong -invested banks in order to enjoy the CEPA policy¡F(3)Develop variety of the retailing financial business¡F(4)Develop the on-line banks¡F(5)Invest in the big city to forming the function of radiating¡F(6)Plant the local market deeply with the localization strategy¡F(7)Cooperate with private bank.