Small to medium sized firms in the fashion industry are internationalizing early, which forces them to go through internal changes as they adapt to international operations and develop into larger organizations. This place demands on how such growth is managed and how resources are used within SMEs. Based on the scarce research on SMEs’ internal change process during internationalization and the lack of empirical evidence, the purpose of the study is to investigate the internal change process that takes place in SMEs when they expand and grow through internationalization. By conducting multiple case studies across three Swedish fashion SMEs and collecting data through semi-structured interviews, the purpose is to build a conceptual model explaining the internal change process. Findings revealed that internal change is a constant process of acquiring and combining resources in order to make necessary internal changes that support continued internationalization. The study also reveals the characteristics of SMEs as being inexperienced and having limited resources, and also speed of internationalization, highly affect how the internal change process develops.

In order to assist people in making positive changes of problematic behaviour it is necessary to examine how people change and what factors influence the process. Criminal offenders represent a group of individuals who often have difficulty desisting from problematic behaviour and continue to engage in illegal activity. Offenders in provincial correctional institutions were administered questionnaires to determine stage of change and processes utilized as outlined in the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) of change (Prochaska & DiClemente, 1984). Additionally, offenders were asked about their visions of the future using the Possible Selves (PSs) Model (Markus & Nurius, 1986). Taken together, this study looked at the contribution of the PSs Model to our understanding of the TTM, which has been criticized in recent years as lacking therapeutic significance for treatment providers as they guide individuals through the change process. More specifically, this study compares chronic criminals with first time offenders on psychological variables such as readiness for change, vision of possible selves, and hope for the future, as well as on legal variables such as risk for recidivism and institutional behaviour. The results indicate that most offenders acknowledged their behaviour as problematic and some even reported they were actively taking steps to change; however, chronic offenders admitted having less hope than first time offenders. Interestingly, both groups rated similarly on the dimensions of PSs. The outcomes would suggest that research efforts to incorporate other complimentary theories of change into the TTM, like the PSs model, may be helpful for understanding the process of change. While it seems these models may not be useful for predicting institutional behaviour, the data perhaps demonstrates the complexity of criminal behaviour and speaks to the necessity of further research in this population.

The purpose of this study was to utilize the graded unfolding model (GUM) (Roberts, 1995; Roberts & Laughlin, 1996) to examine the interaction between the stages of change (SOC) and the processes of change (POC) for smoking cessation (SC). Although an abundance of research has examined the transtheoretical model (TTM) and SC, the POC remains one of the least investigated dimensions of the TTM. Only one study has applied an item response theory model, the GUM, to the examination of the SOC and POC (Noel, 1999). This study attempted to replicate and extend the findings of Noel (1999) and provides additional external validity evidence for the SOC and the POC for SC.<p>The TTM posits that people undergoing change will use different processes and strategies as they proceed through the SOC and that each POC appears to reach peak use at different stages. Thus, the POC appear to follow an inverse-U-shaped pattern (Noel, 1999).<p>Responses to the SOC and 40-item POC for SC were collected from young adults. Analysis of the data using the GGUM (Roberts, 2000) demonstrated the applicability of the GUM and provides additional external validity of the POC for SC. More specifically, six POC were ordered as expected according to results of longitudinal studies. Four POC were found to be out of order, however, this could be due to sample characteristics or reduced validity of items (due to smoking law changes, some items may no longer be valid). Helping Relationships and Stimulus Control appeared together out of order. This finding replicates Noel (1999) and further research is needed to examine the ordering of these POC. The GUM was also found to fit the POC data better than other item response theory models.

Depuis la fin des accords de Bretton Woods, les taux de change réels ont affiché de grandes et persistantes fluctuations. Ces fluctuations se sont avérées difficiles à expliquer, tant de manière théorique qu'empirique. Ce mémoire utilise une approche d'autorégression structurelle de vecteurs pour (i) identifier les chocs fondamentaux qui expliquent la plus grande partie des fluctuations du taux de change réel; (ii) quantifier l'impact que ces chocs ont sur d'autres agrégats macroéconomiques prédominants; et (iii) documenter les différences de ces chocs pour les pays industrialisés et les pays émergents. Nous analysons un échantillon de cinq pays: le Canada, le Mexique, l'Afrique du Sud, la Thaïlande et les États-Unis. Nos principaux résultats sont les suivants: (i) les fluctuations du taux de change sont menées par un seul choc majeur; (ii) ce choc ressemble le plus à un choc de demande; et (iii) le détachement du taux de change est plus fort dans les pays émergents que dans les pays industrialisés. En outre, notre analyse confirme que ni la parité du pouvoir d'achat, ni la parité du taux d'intérêt découvert ne tiennent.

Le but de cette recherche est de mesurer l'exposition des multinationales canadiennes au risque de change et de vérifier si ces firmes se protègent contre celui-ci. Aussi, nous voulons cerner l'existence ou non de certaines caractéristiques communes chez les firmes exposées et donc faire ressortir des facteurs pouvant expliquer cette exposition. Les tests effectués auprès des multinationales canadiennes suggèrent que certaines firmes sont contraintes par le risque de change. En analysant l'exposition au risque de change par type d'industrie, nous avons pu constater que les entreprises exposées au risque de change sont principalement dans le secteur des métaux et minerais suivis de l'industrie manufacturière. De plus en procédant à une subdivision des entreprises dans l'industrie des mines et minerais, il semble que le groupe 10 (mines et métaux) assume le plus grand risque de change suivi des entreprises spécialisées en extraction du pétrole et du gaz. En ce qui concerne les déterminants de l'exposition, nous avons pu identifier certains facteurs caractérisant les firmes exposées au risque de change. En effet, la variable étendue, le ratio des actifs à l'étranger sur les actifs totaux, l'utilisation de produits dérivés et la variable taille mesurée par les actifs totaux se sont tous avérés comme des facteurs caractérisant les multinationales canadiennes exposées aux fluctuations des taux de change. Les firmes exposées semblent être de plus grande taille, détenir moins de filiales, avoir moins d'actifs à l'étranger par rapport aux actifs totaux et utilisent peu (ou pas) de produits dérivés. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : exposition au risque de change, multinationales canadiennes, déterminants de l'exposition, fluctuations des taux de change.

The purpose of this study was to utilize the graded unfolding model (GUM) (Roberts, 1995; Roberts & Laughlin, 1996) to examine the interaction between the stages of change (SOC) and the processes of change (POC) for smoking cessation (SC). Although an abundance of research has examined the transtheoretical model (TTM) and SC, the POC remains one of the least investigated dimensions of the TTM. Only one study has applied an item response theory model, the GUM, to the examination of the SOC and POC (Noel, 1999). This study attempted to replicate and extend the findings of Noel (1999) and provides additional external validity evidence for the SOC and the POC for SC.<p>The TTM posits that people undergoing change will use different processes and strategies as they proceed through the SOC and that each POC appears to reach peak use at different stages. Thus, the POC appear to follow an inverse-U-shaped pattern (Noel, 1999).<p>Responses to the SOC and 40-item POC for SC were collected from young adults. Analysis of the data using the GGUM (Roberts, 2000) demonstrated the applicability of the GUM and provides additional external validity of the POC for SC. More specifically, six POC were ordered as expected according to results of longitudinal studies. Four POC were found to be out of order, however, this could be due to sample characteristics or reduced validity of items (due to smoking law changes, some items may no longer be valid). Helping Relationships and Stimulus Control appeared together out of order. This finding replicates Noel (1999) and further research is needed to examine the ordering of these POC. The GUM was also found to fit the POC data better than other item response theory models.

This study examines the relationship between land use and temperature change in Dallas County, TX. The purpose of this research is to analyze the relationship between temperature and land use and to identify the primary factors contributing to the formation of urban heat islands based on different categories of land use. Specifically, this research analyzes the elements that contribute to the urban heat island effect in Dallas County using temperature data provided by remote sensing imagery and parcel-based land use data using Geographic Information System (GIS) technique and a correlation analysis method, which was employed to analyze the relationship between temperature and land use. The results of this study showed that every land use category has different temperature averages and those patterns were observed similarly in both 2000 and 2005. Parking, airport, commercial, industrial, and residential areas have relatively high temperatures. In contrast, water, undeveloped area and parks showed relatively low temperatures. Another major finding was ratio of land use composition affected the temperature of census tracts. Correlation analyses of land use and temperature in 2000 and 2005 indicate that various types of land use categories have significant relationships with temperature. Among them commercial, industrial, residential, parking, and infrastructure, are positively associated with temperature, while undeveloped, parks, water, and dedicated areas are negatively associated with temperature. Areas with a high ratio of commercial use showed the highest and undeveloped areas showed the lowest relationship. Furthermore, through the analysis of the relationship between land use and temperature change for five years (2000-2005), this study finds that temperature change depends on the ratio of each land use category change. The results of this study can help local planning and policy decisions which are related to urban land use planning concerning temperature change such as zoning, environmental regulations and open space preservation.

Organizations must make themselves to change and run fast to keep up with changes in today¡¦s highly competitive world. However, there are some resistant factors enterprises have to deal with when they want to change. For example, improper organizational culture and lack of coordination and cooperation will lead to the implementation of organization change to failure. Although a large number of studies have been made on organizational change, there is no literature has discussed organizational culture, change or resistant factors of change in security companies. Therefore, this paper has three purposes: (a) to investigate conception of organizational change, culture, and resistant factors of the security company; (b) to estimate the relationship between different personal characteristics and different cognitions of organizational culture, change, and resistant factors in the security company; and (c) to recommend the security company some suggestions according to the findings. The data is collected from questionnaire survey in eight branches of Vanguard Security Group, and the final samples used for the analysis consist of 271 observations. Methodologically, this study considers the OLS and ordered Probit models. Results of this study show that organizational culture of Van Guard is the bureaucracy culture. Major types of strategic change that Van Guard should consider are technology, structure, task, and culture changes, and some resistances will occur in the process of organizational change. In addition, the estimation shows that different personal differences will have significant effects on each type of four organizational cultures, strategic changes, and resistant factors. It hoped that the results could contribute to a better understanding of the organizational reengineering, culture and resistant factors, and could be useful for managers to manage change in the security company.

<p>Background: Focus on processes within organisations emerged during the nineteen ninetees and has since then become the most dominant management method. The main aim and positive features of process orientation is the customer focus and increased flexibility/efficiency. There is not much academic research conducted to leadership combined with processorientation. With this thesis we will minor that gap. The change into a process oriented approach makes a drastic change and the leadership could be a key factor or problem when implementing it.</p><p>Purpose with the thesis: The purpose of this thesis is to increase the understanding of how leadership is affected, on a top managerial level, as a result of implementing a process oriented approach.</p><p>Method: In this thesis we have used a qualitative method and a hermeneutic approach to increase the understanding of how the leadership is affected of process orientation. We have made a case study on the Swedish Road Administration, Vägverket who has done a process orientation. We have made six interviews with topmanagers at their headoffice.</p><p>Conclusion: We have come up with a model that states that a leader within a process oriented organisation can be compared with a tour guide. The model is based on our five key findings of how leadership is affected by changing into process orientation. These are: lead change, achieve aims, increase teamwork, increase communication and increase holistic view. These characteristics applies on a leader when changing into a process oriented organisation.</p> / <p>Bakgrund: Fokus på processer inom organisationer började under 1990-talet och har sedan dess varit den dominerande ledarskapsmetoden. Det främsta målet och fördelarna med processorienteringen är kundfokuseringen samt ökad flexibilitet och effektivitet. Det finns inte mycket forskning beträffande ledarskap kombinerat med processorientering. Med denna uppsats vill vi bidra med en undersökning. Förändringen till ett processorienterat synsätt innebär en drastisk förändring och ledarskapet har en nyckelroll i samband med implementeringen.</p><p>Syfte med uppsatsen: Syftet med denna uppsats är att öka förståelsen för hur ledarskapet påverkas, på högsta chefsnivån, med anledning av implementeringen av ett processorienterat synsätt.</p><p>Metod: I denna uppsats har vi använt en kvalitativ metod och ett hermeneutiskt tillvägagångssätt för att öka förståelsen av hur ledarskapet påverkas av processorientering. Vi har genomfört en fallstudie av Vägverket som genomfört en processorientering och intervjuat sex chefer på deras huvudkontor.</p><p>Slutsats: Vi har tagit fram en modell som säger att en ledare inom en processorienterad organisation kan jämföras med en turguide. Modellen är baserad på våra fem viktigaste områden om hur ledarskap påverkas vid en förändring till ett processorienterat synsätt. Dessa är : att leda förändring, uppnå mål, ökad teamwork, ökad kommunikation och ökad helhetssyn. Detta kännetecknar en ledare när man förändrar till en processorienterad organisation.</p>

<p>Introduktion</p><p>Det har pågått en diskussion om konsultverksamhet är ett yrke eller en hel industri. Många tänkare har kommit fram till att det är både och. Konsultfirmorna erbjuder idag också många olika typer av service, den här uppsatsen har sitt fokus på förändringsledningsområdet samt att beskriva managementkonsultens roll som förändringsagent. Trots att det ofta är svårt att se vilka effekter förändringar har på organisationer så är det viktigt att förändra. Förändringsledning är dock mycket svårt och därför misslyckas många förändringsprojekt.</p><p>Syfte</p><p>Syftet med denna uppsats är att beskriva managementkonsultens roll som förändringsagent samt att identifiera problem i och omkring förändringsprocessen. Vidare hoppas man kunna hitta exempel på problem och framgångsfaktorer för att förbättra förändringsledning.</p><p>Metod</p><p>Den här studien är gjord utifrån ett deduktivt synsätt. De empiriska data har sedan insamlats genom användandet av kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer. Det främsta skälet till valet av en kvalitativ undersökning var att få en djupare kunskap inom undersökningsområdet samt att det ansågs vara bästa sättet för att uppnå syftet. Författarna undersökte tre olika projekt genom att intervjua en konsult och en klient inom vart och ett av projekten. På grund av uppsatsens fokus på förändringsagenter så säkerställdes att alla tre konsulterna hade denna roll när de ansvarade för ledning av förändring.</p><p>Resultat</p><p>Många faktorer påverkar implementeringen av förändringar i organisationer. I konsultens roll som förändringsagent är det viktigt att inte bli en implementerare, i slutändan är det klientens organisation som ska förändras. För att uppnå framgångsrik förändring har författarna kommit fram till några slutsatser som är vitigare än andra, bland dessa finner man, skapandet av involvering och gemensamt engagemang för förändring, hitta det verkliga problemet samt att man inte glömmer vikten av att involvera chefer och ledare.</p>