Abstract   Date: May 15, 2009 Course: Master thesis, EFO705 Authors: Hanna Jokiperä 800218-T108, hja08001@student.mdh.se Ruusa Mustonen 830711-P263, rmn08001@student.mdh.se Tutor: Tobias Eltebrandt Title: CAN Europe – Market Research of Sweden Strategic question: How can CAN Europe launch the internationally standardised vocational skills assessment tests successfully to Sweden? The purpose of this master thesis is to provide the company with comprehensive information about the Swedish market and to suggest ways to implement the launching process. Research questions: What are the characteristics of the Swedish labour and recruitment market? Are the Swedish companies interested in using CAN Europe’s tests? What would be the suitable marketing mix when entering the Swedish market? Methods: Besides the comprehensive collection of secondary data, the primary data was collected by the means of an open-ended questionnaire among large companies and recruitment agencies in Sweden. The research was conducted in order to gather in-depth information about the recruitment field in Sweden. Conceptual Framework: Theories of ‘The International Marketing Task’, ‘The Country Notebook’ and ‘The Market entry plan’ were used.  Theories and concepts were chosen for the purpose that they would support each other and could be used by combining them when making the analysis of the findings. Conclusion: According to the study, Sweden seems to be highly potential country for CAN Europe to enter since the relevant aspects for successful launch exist in the market i.e. in terms of companies’ interest and needs, and the characteristics of the skills assessment and recruitment market in Sweden. Key Words: Market entry plan, marketing mix, international launch, market research, skills assessment, recruitment, blue-collar

The constant pressure to achieve increased efficiency and profitability improvements drives companies to look at new technologies for ways to develop sustainable advantages. At the same time, the breathtakingly rapid technological development of these technologies leads, not surprisingly, to different misconceptions about the impact of IT on businesses.  This dissertation aims at clarifying some of these misconceptions by exploring one such technological breakthrough, namely wireless information systems, as used to support mobile workforces. The dissertation analyses three companies devoted to the implementation of wireless information systems, that were confronted with a number of challenges, and investigates how these challenges were met by means of different capability development activities. Evidence from the cases shows that what really matters is not the technology in itself, but how organizations use it. This study suggests that the firms that give the best performance are not necessarily those that implement different breeds of technology, but rather those that are able to learn from the challenges they are confronted with – doing so moreover on repeated occasions by means of interlinked organizational innovation processes. Thus, a piece of advice offered in this dissertation is that it is not always so important to possess all the right capabilities from the beginning, but that one needs to possess the right capabilities to develop new capabilities. / <p>Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögskolan, 2007</p>

The aim of this study is to discuss white collar industrial employee&rsquo / s alienation to urban life in Kocaeli. In this context, Lived Space of white collar industrial employees in a selected factory in the city is examined in terms of employees&rsquo / use and perception of the urban space. To this end, several expert interviews (local media representative, head of chamber of industry and head of the department of human resources of the selected factory) and subject group interviews were carried out and analyzed in combination with an application of a questionnaire conducted with 62 employees. At the micro level, the study shows that white collar industrial employees only feel limited &ldquo / urban attachment&rdquo / and perceive Kocaeli as a place they have put up with in order to gain a living. At the macro level, it is suggested that a spatial regime in which Kocaeli is the industrial periphery of the Istanbul Metropolitan Region is an important determinant of the assumed alienation of the subject group. In this context, the results attained from the field study show that although the white collar industrial employees use the urban space partially in their daily activities and establish some community relations, they are still alienated to the city in terms of their perception of the urban space and stuck in the centrifugal structure between the metropolitan centre and the industrial periphery.

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Organizations use pre-employment tests to identify individuals characterized as having a propensity (likelihood) to commit theft with the intent to limit at-risk hires, thereby reducing the risk of fraud. Pre-employment tests were originally designed to identify a broad range of deviant behaviors such as previous violations of laws, and violations of social norms and organizational policies (O'Bannon et al., 1989), not as predictive indicators of deviant behavior and theft. In addition, the test most commonly used to identify high fraud risk applicants, the integrity test, has limited support as a valid predictor of theft (MacLane & Walmsley, 2010; Ones et al., 2003; Sackett et al., 1989; Van Iddekinge et al., 2012) within the literature. This study empirically examined the efficacy of pre-employment tests to elicit a predictive profile of white-collar crime by testing the relationship between deviant behaviors, personality traits, and integrity. The data for this study was obtained through questionnaires and pre-employment tests administered within the Federal prison system. The total sample consisted of twenty (N=20) convicted white-collar inmates. Results of this sample were compared to the general population statistics as provided by the pre-employment test providers. In line with the literature, positive relationships were found between low integrity and deviant behaviors. Contrary to past literature, no significant relationships were found between Agreeableness and Integrity or Emotional Stability/Neuroticism and Integrity. A positive relationship was found between high Conscientiousness and Integrity. Of particular note, this study found that the failure rate of the overt-integrity test was 45% and 100% for personality tests in identifying individuals with traits consistent with deviant behaviors. This study contributes to the existing literature on personality, integrity and deviant behaviors by providing insights into the nature of the relationships as they relate to white-collar crime. This study also expands the theory of deviant behaviors with a thorough definition within the literature results, which helps to define the dimension and constructs of deviant behaviors within the workplace as it relates to white-collar crime. Finally, this study specifies practical implications to be considered by management and pre-employment test providers for the purpose of enhancing fraud prevention and reducing deviant behaviors within the organization.

published_or_final_version / Sociology / Master / Master of Philosophy

The introduction, and evolution of securitisation over the years, has made a phenomenal contribution to the area of corporate finance. Securitisation is specialised area which has evolved to deliver considerable advantages to banks and their corporate and government clients, a sub-subjected explored in this thesis. Securitisation is using the cashflow, creditworthiness and collateral of receivables to raise finance from the capital markets. To date, research on the subject of securitisation has produced a few textbooks and numerous articles written by academics and practitioners. The ambit of these writings addresses three questions, namely, what is securitisation; how does it work in practice; and how can securitisation be developed so that it can continue delivering advantages in the evolving world of corporate finance. Securitisation is very much a practical subject, and given that the author had very little, if any, practical exposure to the subject prior to developing this thesis, the author, admittedly, felt challenged to ascertain significant issues that could be developed to the extent that such development represents an original contribution to knowledge. Case law in the US had already explored the most significant issue regarding securitisation, namely, true sale. Armed with a solid theoretical base of knowledge that author looked for inspiration, and discovered it during the initial days when the Enron scandal hit the headlines. In short, the Enron scandal involved using the concept of securitisation to facilitate financial crime. The masterminds (if its appropriate to use such description) of the scandal, as this thesis will unfold later, cleverly used thousands of securitisation and hedging transactions to raise funds in order to give financial creditability to a giant corporation which on the surface appeared prosperous but, in reality, was breathing to a large extent on borrowed funds. This scandal, in which securitisation was used, inspired the author to develop the originality of the thesis by focusing on the issue of securitisation and financial crime. Given that financial crime is a huge area to explore, the author narrowed the focus to look at money laundering, and address the question: can the practice of securitisation facilitate money laundering? To approach this question and answer it at doctorate level required a solid understanding of what securitisation is and how it works in practice. Using textbooks, articles and conversations with practitioners, the thesis documents under Part 1, what securitisation is and how it works in practice before moving on to Part 2 to look at if and how securitisation can facilitate money laundering.

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Trypanosoma brucei, un parasite flagellé unicellulaire, est responsable de la trypanosomiase humaine africaine aussi connue comme la maladie du sommeil.Les microtubules (MTs) sous-pelliculaires, le quartet de MTs (MTQ), le flagelle (F) et le collier de la poche flagellaire (CPF) sont les principaux composants du cytosquelette dutrypanosome. À ce jour, une seule protéine du CPF, BILBO1, a été identifiée et caractérisée.Dans cette étude, nous montrons in vivo que BILBO1 forme des polymères capables deconstruire un échafaudage qui permet l’ancrage de protéines partenaires. Ainsi, un crible en double hybride chez la levure a identifié plusieurs protéines partenaires de BILBO1,notamment une nouvelle protéine appelée FPC4. Nous démontrons que FPC4 est une protéine spécifique des kinétoplastides, localisée au CPF mais aussi au hook-complex, une structure proche du CPF. L’interaction FPC4 – BILBO1 est démontrée in vitro et in vivo, etles domaines d'interaction identifiés. En outre, nous démontrons in vivo et in vitro que FPC4est une protéine associée aux microtubules. Nos données suggèrent fortement que FPC4est impliquée dans le processus de séparation des CPFs au cours du cycle cellulaire. Nos résultats mettent en évidence un lien étroit entre le MtQ et le CPF et l'implication probable duhook-complex. Enfin, nous mettons en évidence une structure analogue au hook-complex chez les Leishmanies. L’interaction BILBO1 – FPC4 représente une nouvelle cible thérapeutique et sera caractérisée plus avant. / Trypanosoma brucei, a unicellular flagellated parasite, is responsible for the human African trypanosomiasis also known as sleeping sickness. Sub-pellicular microtubules (MT), the MT quartet (MtQ), the flagellum (F) and the Flagellar Pocket Collar (FPC) are the main components of the T. brucei cytoskeleton. To date, only a single FPC protein, BILBO1, has been identified and characterized. In this study we demonstrate in vivo that BILBO1 forms polymers able to build a scaffold structure that anchors partner proteins. As such, a yeast-2-hybrid screen identified several BILBO1 interacting protein partners. We demonstrate that FPC4 is a kinetoplastid-specific protein, which is localized at the FPC and at the hook complex. Its specific interaction with BILBO1 has been demonstrated in vitro and in vivo, and the interacting domains identified. Furthermore, we demonstrate that FPC4 is a microtubule binding protein. Our data strongly suggest that FPC4 is involved in the separation of the old and the newly formed FPC during the cell cycle. Altogether, our results demonstrate a tight connection and interplay between the MtQ and the FPC and the likely involvement of an adjacent third structure, the hook complex. Finally, we highlight a structure similar to the hook-complex in Leishmania. The BILBO1 – FPC4 interaction represents a new therapeutic target and will be characterized further.

This qualitative study examines whether, and to what extent, gender equality can be used for trade-union revitalisation purposes. The white-collar unions; Unionen and Fackförbundet ST, are two prominent cases of studying actor’s promotion of gender equality on the Swedish labour market. This study sets out two questions; In what ways do they work with gender issues? Why do they work with gender equality - Is it being used strategically or because they think that it is an important issue? The empirical study is based on twenty interviews with the respective union leadership, elected representatives and officials. The results of the study show that both unions are working on gender equality, because their members consider gender equality to be a priority. As regards the issue of gender equality as a strategy, my study shows that Unionen is working on gender equality as a strategy while Fackförbundet ST do not. Unionen do so that they can recruit a new group, namely young members. Therefore, my study shows that gender equality can be used as a union revitalisation strategy. The study also shows that union revitalisation strategies are contextual in the sense that strategies that work in countries with high female employment rates and high female union coverage, are different from strategies that work in countries with low female employment rates and low female union coverage.