The research has been conducted in Bukit Barisan High Land zone consists of eight regencies located in the northern part of North Sumatra province, Indonesia. It is found that the zone is entrapped in a high poverty rate and a high unemployment level. The regions main employment sector is agriculture, where more than 50 percent of the total workforce engages in the sector. The main challenging of the regions is a very low productivity. This is due to lack of management practices and capacities in term of tools inputs, and knowledge now-how. Moreover, the lack of information and coordination between the actors of the economy i.e. farmers-local governments-enterprises-and universities in the regions has dragged away the value added products and inherited in high fluctuation of the commodities in term of prices and qualities. Accordingly a new cooperation needs to be made between all the actors of the economy in the regions. As information has a vital role in the development of the regions, this sector hence ought to be diffused in an appropriate way. This information center then called as a Competitive Intelligence (CI) Center, which is importantly formed in each region in Bukit Barisan High Land zone. The CI center will ensure the formation of the sound development programs to be applied in the regions in order to achieve a desirable growth within the regions and within the country as a whole. The program of CI center is emphasized on enhancing the potentials of each region and overcome its problems and challenging. In this thesis, Bukit Barisan High Land which consists of 8 regions is categorized as one zone regarding similarity in its topography, climate, type of soil, social condition of the society, its potentials and problems. The development of the region then suggested by the creation of the Small and Medium Enterprises close to the region to ensure the achievement of value chain between suppliers and producers in this case Farmers and enterprises. This value chain can only be achieved by a solid collaboration by all economic actors. Based on the findings, it is suggested that the most prospective commodities need to be intensified are coffee and corn. Corn is perceived as one of a prospective export regarding a continuous increase demand for the commodity globally, whereas coffee is a permanent export commodity where the decreasing supply by Vietnam has contributed to more opportunity to Indonesia. In order to provide some vision to investors, the feasibility studies of the plantation and production of two commodities will be presented at the last part of the thesis

Bering Sea pollock fishing is characterized by high levels of physical risk, uncertainties in wages and schedule, close and extensive interdependence on other workers, and long absences from home. This occupation leads to a way of life which is full of extremes and has unusually strong effects on the family. This study examines the effects of the occupation on the quality of family life and working life through a teamwork perspective. It is a study of the slow breakdown in cooperation among families and the enhancement of cooperation in the work setting. The breakdown in family cooperation reduces the family’s ability to respond to its members’ needs for love, inclusion, and intimacy, and has important consequences for the quality of family life. The enhancement of cooperation in the work setting contributes to the creation of important social benefits such as trust, agreement, and a sense of inclusion. These social outcomes, and improved task performance, positively influence the quality of working life. Major themes include anthropology at home and among peers, family adaptations to occupational influences, the role of story-telling in building cooperation and commitment in teams, generosity and relaxed social accounting strategies in adult socialization, and the importance of extremes in evaluating the quality of working life.

This dissertation aims to examine The Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal, the largest mechanism in the history of international arbitration, located in The Hague. The central thesis considered is the unique nature of the Tribunal as embodying elements of both conflict and cooperation at a time of considerable and ongoing hostility between Iran and the United States over various issues. Iran and America, following World War II, set up a unique relationship. This close cooperation resulted in antagonism after the Islamic Revolution in 1979; the American diplomats were taken hostage, and a number of multi-billion dollar contracts and transactions were terminated. Several avenues were sought to resolve the problem. Finally, the Algerian government stepped in as an intermediary to resolve the issue. Iran and the United States agreed to establish the Tribunal in 1981. The level of confrontation between Tehran and Washington was so strong that the Tribunal suspended its operation for months. The Tribunal not only managed to survive, but it also made it possible; as a safe haven, as a legitimate forum and as a joint embassy for the parties, to extend their day-to-day cooperation for almost thirty years. How and under what conditions have Iran and America, labelled by each other as the "Axis of Evil" and the "Great Satan" been able to cooperate in the absence of diplomatic relations? How do the Agents of an allegedly "World-devouring America" and the "Terrorist sponsoring Iran" meet face to face in an institution which itself is the product of severe enmity? All such questions could be answered by the unique nature of the Tribunal: its decisions are based upon "political exigency" and cultural expediency "rather than legal foundations." Two simultaneous forces of conflict and cooperation have been in process: at a time when the American navy was raiding the Iranian oil platform in the Persian Gulf, a big case amounting to billions of dollars was being negotiated at the Tribunal forum through an out-of court settlement process. At the time when this dissertation is produced, the same contending forces of discord and collaboration are in operation: on the one hand there exists Iran-US nuclear standoff on the international level, and on the other hand certain multi-billion dollar oil and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) are decided at the Tribunal. The Tribunal premises have been used as a forum for "deliberation" on major legal and political disputes. It has been both praised and blackballed. At one extreme, it has been regarded as "a gold mine of information" and at the other extreme its rulings are not considered to be applicable in other financial disputes because of the "political compromise within the Tribunal." Iran and America have found it necessary, under the condition of uncertainty, to make concessions to ensure the integrity of the Tribunal and the latter in turn has equipped itself with a proper strategy of survival by establishing its own rules and procedures. Around four thousand cases have been brought before the Tribunal, with each case involving various conflicts of interest. In all of those issues, the forces of cooperation have prevailed. By resolving those cases, the Tribunal has achieved its fundamental objectives: conflict resolution by peaceful means. The Tribunal will cease to exist only when Iran and America open diplomatic relations.

Within animal societies, individuals often differ greatly in their level of investment in cooperative activities. Individuals are predicted to show high cooperative investment if high levels of relatedness lead to large indirect fitness benefits, or if differences in individual characteristics such as age, sex, rank, or body condition increase the direct fitness benefits of helping. However, individual differences often persist after these differences are controlled for; a residual variation that remains unexplained. Understanding the proximate mechanisms underlying variation in behaviour can give novel insights into the selection pressures shaping behavioural differences. This suggests that a research focus onto the proximate mechanisms underpinning cooperative behaviours is needed to further our understanding of why individuals behave differently within social groups. In this thesis, I address this shortfall in understanding by investigating hormonal variation alongside individual differences in cooperative investment in the banded mongoose (Mungos mungo). Banded mongooses are a highly social carnivore with two highly conspicuous forms of cooperative offspring care that are easily measurable and show large inter-individual variation. In chapter 3, I demonstrate a negative carry-over effect of investment in offspring care in consecutive breeding attempts. I show that this carry-over effect is mediated by variation in glucocorticoid concentrations, which may be attributable to the energetic costs of helping. Glucocorticoids predict investment in offspring care, suggesting that this mechanism may drive inter-individual variation in cooperative investment. In chapter 4, I find evidence for a testosterone mediated trade-off between offspring care and mating effort, which suggests that inter-individual differences may also be driven by variation in the costs of helping attributable to missed mating opportunities. In chapter 5, I use simulated territorial intrusions to show that there is unlikely to be a trade-off between offspring care and territory defence in banded mongoose societies. However, carers and non-carers show a differential physiological response to territorial intrusion, suggesting that there may be a more subtle behavioural trade-off that occurs post-intrusion. In chapter 6, I find evidence for consistent individual differences in both cooperative and competitive behaviours, which suggests that individual differences in adult behaviour may be determined by early-life effects. Individual differences in cooperative investment are positively correlated, suggesting that individuals are not specialised to different cooperative activities, but are consistently either helpful or selfish. Together, these results give insights into the selection pressures shaping individual differences and highlight endocrine research as a valuable tool in understanding the evolution of cooperative societies.

Biologists have taken the concept of organism largely for granted. However, advances in the study of chimerism, symbiosis, bacterial-eukaryote associations, and microbial behavior have prompted a redefinition of organisms as biological entities exhibiting low conflict and high cooperation among their parts. This expanded view identifies organisms in evolutionary time. However, the ecological processes, mechanisms, and traits that drive the formation of organisms remain poorly understood. Recognizing that organismality can be context dependent, we advocate elucidating the ecological contexts under which entities do or do not act as organisms. Here we develop a "contextual organismality" framework and provide examples of entities, such as honey bee colonies, tumors, and bacterial swarms, that can act as organisms under specific life history, resource, or other ecological circumstances. We suggest that context dependence may be a stepping stone to the development of increased organismal unification, as the most integrated biological entities generally show little context dependence. Recognizing that organismality is contextual can identify common patterns and testable hypotheses across different entities. The contextual organismality framework can illuminate timeless as well as pressing issues in biology, including topics as disparate as cancer emergence, genomic conflict, evolution of symbiosis, and the role of the microbiota in impacting host phenotype.

This study is about the teacher’s cooperation with the recreational pedagoguein the classroom and it ́s basically based on interviews made at the Orionschool situated in one of Stockholms northern suburbs. The theories usedin this study are Moira Von wrights “the intersubjective turn” and Uire Bronfenbrenners “Ecology of the human development”and Norbert Elias “The established and the outsiders”. Bronfenbrenners theory was used toshow that the development of the recreational pedagogue’ssituation in the classroom is affected by processes located in different levels from his or herown point of view. Moira Von wrights “the intersubjective turn” was usedtoshow that the perspective, the punctual or the relative, which is brought into the communication between the two parts is a determinant factor for the development of theircooperation. The theory about the established and the outsiders was usedto show the fact thatmany teachers is holding on to old traditions andlooks upon the recreational pedagouges as “newcomers” and less competent. During the past twenty years,the after-school centre has been integrated in school and the recreational pedagoguesare now working side by side with the teacher in theclassroom. My results showthat the recreational pedagoguesmission in school contexts as extremely unclear. And italso shows that the teacher’sperspective on learning with theoretical knowledge in focus has higher status thenthe recreational pedagoguesfocus which is on social developmentand social learning. The Swedish National Agency for Educationhave lately started to pay more attention to the recreational pedagogues and their mission.They have concludedthat their work needed to be strengthen up and are now initiatingdevelopment work in the local schools. Such a development work had just begunat the Orion school where this study took place.

The last half century, there has been a global pressure on increased measuring and presenting of results in the public sector. One of the sectors where the pressure and calls for Results-based management (RBM) has been, and currently is, strong both in Sweden and internationally is within international development cooperation. But, to prove the effectiveness of development cooperation is not a simple task, and hence, the steering signals regarding the management model has been met with some criticism. However, although scholars argue that there have been several waves of pressure for RBM since the early 1970s, the massive amount of criticism seems to have been mainly aimed towards the latest push, in the 2000s. Why is that? This thesis take that question as an analytical starting point, but will not make any causal claims. Instead, it will take on a descriptive design, with an aim to identify any differences between RBM in Swedish development cooperation during the first and the latest push for increased focus on results. The main research question for the thesis is; In what way has the introduction of RBM in Swedish development cooperation been visible over time? The question will be analysed through text analyses to describe both the vision of RBM, as well as the evaluations of Swedish development cooperation during the two pushes for RBM. The study identifies differences on both levels, mostly regarding the aim of the model regarding whom the information is for, as well as significant differences in the ways evaluations have been conducted.

Buildings account for approximately 40% of the energy demand and 33% of the total greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union. Accordingly, there are several efforts that target energy efficiency in buildings both at the European and Swedish levels. The role of buildings in climate change mitigation, however, is not limited to energy savings. Buildings are expected to become key elements of the future smart energy systems by supplying and using energy in a more flexible way. Reducing the energy demand in buildings effectively and shifting the role of buildings in energy systems from ‘passive’ consumers to ‘active’ prosumers, however, require close interaction and cooperation between the energy and buildings sectors. Based on the data collected from interviews and a web survey, this doctoral thesis investigates the relationship between the energy and buildings sectors in Sweden at the inter-company level, presents key stakeholder views on smart energy features in buildings and investigates the opportunities and barriers for their adoption in Sweden and Hong Kong. The results of this thesis suggest a potential for improving the cooperation between the Swedish energy and buildings sectors, which was identified to be influenced by the following factors: district heating monopolies; energy efficiency efforts in the buildings sector; unsuccessful technology-neutrality of the building regulations; self-generation systems in buildings; and energy use patterns. Shifting the focus from self-gains to mutual gains appears crucial to strengthen the inter-sectoral cooperation, as there are several opportunities for achieving mutually beneficial solutions for the two sectors. This would, however, require significant changes in current practices and business models as well as the introduction of new technologies, which would allow for a more flexible energy supply and use. Accordingly, technologies that target flexible energy use in buildings are considered the most important smart energy features in buildings. The current high costs of technologies, such as home automation and smart electrical appliances, however, create the strongest barrier to adoption. Therefore, the introduction of new business and ownership models and the elimination of the institutional and regulatory barriers are crucial to achieve a wide-scale development of smart energy features in buildings. The results from Hong Kong suggest that institutional and regulatory barriers can particularly create strong hinders to the adoption of technologies. It is possible to achieve more sustainable energy systems, where buildings are active elements of networks that supply and use energy in a more flexible and ‘smarter’ way. Cooperation between the energy and buildings sectors can play a key role in the adoption of smart energy features in buildings and pave the way for the smart built environment of the future.

Syftet med studien är att belysa debatten/forskningen/rapporteringen kring den nordiska slöjdens utveckling mot ett ämne med en mer teknisk inriktning. Resultatet visar att det finns anledning att diskutera slöjdämnets utvecklingspotential. Det finns anledning att fortsätta undersöka om hur slöjden skulle kunna utvecklas mot teknisk inriktning. Det finns, som studien visar, fördelar för både slöjd- och teknikämnet att dra av en utveckling av slöjdämnet. Att samverka mellan ämnena kan ge positiva effekter inte bara för eleverna utan också för lärarna. Även om det inte blir en läroplansförändring i den snara framtiden, pekar detta arbete på att det finns anledning att slöjdlärare ute i skolorna börjar diskutera och arbeta närmare teknikämneslärarna. Det handlar också om att om slöjdämnet ska kunna fortsätta hävda sin plats i skolan bör slöjdämnet utvecklas. Med utveckling skulle slöjdämnet kunna gå från att vara en ifrågasatt del av skolan till att bli en självklarhet.

Purpose - The authors propose that angry individuals are much more likely to consider the emotional state of their partner than are neutral individuals. They then apply a lay theory dictating that anger decreases cooperation and react accordingly by lowering their own level of cooperation. Design/methodology/approach - The authors report four experiments involving different samples, manipulations, payment schemes and interfaces. The methodological approach was to capitalize on the positives of experimental research (e.g. establishing causality) while also trying to conceptually replicate the findings in different settings. Findings - The authors found evidence for a lay theory (i.e. expectation) that anger decreases cooperation, but that actual cooperation was lowest when angry individuals were paired with other angry individuals, supporting the hypotheses. Research limitations/implications - Anger can spill over from unrelated contexts to affect cooperation, and incidental anger by itself is not enough to decrease cooperation. However, the findings are limited to anger and cannot necessarily be used to understand the effects of other emotions. Practical implications - Before entering into a context that requires cooperation, such as a negotiation, be wary of the emotional state of both yourself and of your partner. This paper suggests that only if both parties are angry, then the likelihood of cooperation is low. Originality/value - To the best of the authors' knowledge, they are the first researchers to address the question of how incidental anger affects single-round cooperation. By going back to the basics, the authors believe that the findings fill a gap in existing research and offer a building block for future research on anger and cooperation.