Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited / In a time when defense spending is under close scrutiny, each command faces a potential shortage of funding. There is, in theory, a level of resource, called the critical mass of core resources, below which a command cannot continue to fulfill stated mission objectives. This thesis develops a critical mass/core resource model for use in Navy budgeting and applies the model to the Naval Auxiliary Landing Field, Crows Landing, CA. The model may be more useful than the current incremental approaches in the formulation, negotiation, and execution phases of budgeting. The model provides a framework that may strengthen and protect the command from priorities imposed by outside forces, or, more likely, will permit commands to identify mission opportunity costs or losses resulting from budget cuts. The critical mass model may be superior to current budget formats in the execution phase because resources are normally allocated on mission priority. / http://archive.org/details/budgetingundercr00gilb / Lieutenant Commander, United States Navy

Jämställdhet och kvinnors deltagande i svenska bolagsstyrelser är ett viktigt och omdebatterat ämne, inte minst till följd av hotet från regeringen om en kvoteringslag på 40 procent kvinnor. Denna studie syftar till att undersöka både det direkta sambandet mellan kvinnor och företagets prestation och om relationen kan bero på innovationsintensiteten. Den kvinnliga representationen har studerats utifrån både andel och antal kvinnor. Detta då Forskning visar på att det krävs minst tre kvinnor, critical mass, för att det ska generera en bättre prestation inom företaget. Resultatet från denna studie visar ett positivt signifikant samband mellan andelen kvinnor, en kvinna, två kvinnor samt critical mass och företagets prestation. Sambandet var dock starkare signifikant för två, och minst tre kvinnor. Därav dras slutsatsen om att critical mass är minst två kvinnor i svenska bolagsstyrelser. Studien visar också att den positiva effekten av kvinnlig representation i styrelsen är större hos låginnovativa företag än hos höginnovativa.

Gender diversity in corporate America has become an increasingly popular topic for academic research. While extensively written about, no consensus has been reached to conclusively and consistently determine the relationship between the presence of women on a board and financial performance of the firm. This thesis contributes to existing literature by examining diversity through the lens of Rosabeth Moss Kanter’s Critical Mass Theory, questioning whether the third woman on a board truly serves as a “tipping point” for firm performance. Though the results are largely insignificant, we are able to establish that the Critical Mass Theory does not apply to ROA; the predicted impact of the first woman is greater than the impact of the third woman.

With the rapid Internet development, E-auction is also popular in recent years. In E-auction, the rating is the most effective indicator that can provide a referral for buyer and seller. In addition, buyers can use rating mechanism as feedback to respond their satisfaction after they bought goods. In the other hand, the rating of seller could reflect his transaction history before. When the positive rating is more, which means satisfied and successful transaction is more also, and represents that seller¡¦s credit accumulation. This study uses innovation diffusion model to analyze the seller¡¦s growth trend of rating, critical mass of rating by real data, classify sellers that equal to cluster analysis and discuss further. The samples are the sellers who sell t-shirt in eBay from December 1 in 2010 to January 31 in 2011. We get 8,304 sellers¡¦ data, and pick 116 of them randomly as samples, which are fit in with our research requests. This research is to answer three research questions. The first research question is to verify that growth trend of rating could fit in with diffusion of innovation, then, to analyze and discuss the growing trend and the rating accumulation. That result does verify that rating accumulation fit in with diffusion of innovation, and growing trend fit in with S-shaped curve. Furthermore, rating raise at first if it is affected by external influence, like key searching, website payment advertisement. On the contrary, the rating increases quickly for some time that the seller has good reputation if the rating is affected by internal influence, like word of mouth. The second research question is to calculate the critical mass of rating by Bass model. The result shows that the rating accelerates when it reaches critical mass between 1129 and 1402, it represents the seller accumulates considerable sale amount and customer satisfaction, and also let potential buyers more confident and promote their willingness to purchase. In addition, it can represent the sellers have enough experience and can provide the better marketing strategies when the sellers¡¦ rating reaches critical mass of rating. The third research question is to divide the sellers by cluster analysis and investigate. The result shows the diverseness between the growth trend of rating, the critical mass of rating, product price, and buyer repeated purchase. This study can provide a referral for the novice sellers, and they can develop their marketing strategy base on their characteristics of product.

I dagens samhälle har betydelsen av både hållbarhetsprestation och kvinnans roll som befattningshavare vuxit, där såväl investerare som företag i större utsträckning än tidigare tar hänsyn till dessa aspekter. I denna studie har en multivariat regressionsanalys tillämpats för att undersöka huruvida det föreligger samband mellan kvinnliga VD:ar respektive kvinnliga styrelseledamöter och hållbarhetsprestation, mätt i ESGC-betyg. Vidare har en interaktionseffekt mellan kvinnliga VD:ar och kvinnliga styrelseledamöter studerats för att predicera ett eventuellt samband till hållbarhetsprestation. Urvalet baserar sig på 508 observationer beträffande svenska börsnoterade bolag under åren 2019 och 2020. Det erhållna resultatet visar ett positivt, signifikant samband mellan andelen kvinnliga styrelseledamöter och hållbarhetsprestation. Detta positiva samband finns redan när andelen kvinnliga styrelseledamöter motsvarar 20 procent och förstärks ytterligare när andelen kvinnor utökas till 30 procent. Studien finner inget signifikant samband mellan kvinnliga VD:ar och hållbarhetsprestation. Liknande resultat föreligger även beträffande sambandet mellan interaktionseffekten och hållbarhetsprestation.

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Bakgrund: CSR-redovisning skiljer sig åt mellan olika länder. Tidigare studier har funnit tvetydiga resultat huruvida kultur är en bidragande faktor till detta. Få studier har dock inkluderat ett jämställdhetsperspektiv i dessa typer av analyser. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att jämföra och förklara hur kultur och jämställdhet påverkar CSR-redovisningen i olika länder. Metod: Studien har använt en kvantitativ forskningsmetod och en deduktiv ansats. Datan består av sekundärdata från börsnoterade företag i Sverige, Norge, Kina, Indien, Tyskland och USA. Resultat: Resultatet tyder på att kulturen i landet påverkar hur företag CSRredovisar. Däremot kan vissa kulturdimensioner påverka CSRredovisningen mer än andra. Dessutom indikerar resultatet att ett lands grad av jämställdhet kan påverka CSR-redovisningen. Kunskapsbidrag: Genom att analysera vad kultur och jämställdhet har för effekt på CSR-redovisning, belyser denna studie vikten av att beakta dessa faktorer. Studien bidrar genom detta till befintlig forskning kring kultur, jämställdhet och CSR-redovisning.

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to increase the understanding of how multisided platforms (MSP) could retain different user groups on their platform. To fulfill the purpose, the following research questions (RQ) were derived: RQ 1: How could MSPs design their activities to retain users on the producer side(s)? and RQ 2: How could MSPs design their activities to retain users on the consumer side(s)? Method – This study was conducted as an abductive single case study based on a multisided platform developed within the health sector. In addition, complimentary interviews were conducted to validate and expand the result from the case study. In total, 15 interviews were conducted and analyzed through thematic analysis. Findings – The findings are presented in a framework showing what activities to conduct in certain stages of platform development and is divided between two distinct platform sides, producers and consumers. The different stages are relative to critical mass i.e. how many users the MSP has and shows which activities that is necessary in these stages. Theoretical implication and Practical implication – The study suggests activities necessary for retaining users on MSPs seen to certain stages of development. Additional contributions are (1) in the beginning, MSPs should initially focus on the platform side who provides the most viable product, (2) mass in users is a prerequisite for finding the right matches, and (3) “super-platforms” with many value offerings will be key for retaining users and long-term success. The practical implications are (1) which activities that are necessary on a certain side of the MSP, (2) guiding managers with which activities that are suitable in a certain stage of platform development, and (3) provide managers with the ability to plan future activities. Limitations and Future Research – This study is conducted in South-east Asia which implies that a similar study should be conducted in a western context. Furthermore, it is limited to a single-case study of an MSP, although there were exploratory and confirmative interviews with other companies. Future research should therefore include a multiple-case study to compare how different MSPs work with retention. Lastly, further studies into what critical mass is and how to estimate that, should be considered.

The mobile payments industry has in recent years experienced large growth and rapid changes. Several different actors are trying to capture the market, to get enough users of their system to reach critical mass. This study investigates how a small Swedish mobile payments company have utilized its business network in their strive to reach critical mass, both in their domestic market and internationally.  The study intends to describe how the company has developed its network and which stages of the network development that have been the most important.  We utilize the ARA-model to analyze the business network and the Uppsala Model and born global theory to define how the company has internationalized.  Our main results indicate that our case company has the mindset of a born global but the particulars of the industry have forced it to internationalize following the Uppsala Model. The development of the business network have to a large part been dependent of the initial activities since this builds the credibility needed to work with large actors.  Moreover the business network is found to not only help the company, but to be essential for their plans on reaching critical mass.

Under senare år har könsdiversifierings påverkan på bolagsbeslut debatterats intensivt. Tidigare forskning har funnit bevis för att kvinnor och män besitter olika riskpreferenser, vilket kan antas återspeglas i näringslivet. Studien ämnar undersöka om det finns skillnader i värdeskapande mellan företag med olika andel kvinnliga styrelseledamöter. Värdeskapande definieras i denna studie som positiv avvikelseavkastning vid annonsering av företagsförvärv. Styrelsesammansättning har studerats utifrån både andel och antal kvinnor, med hänvisning till tidigare forskning som uppvisar stöd för att det krävs minst tre stycken kvinnor, critical mass, för att kunna påverka styrelsebeslut. Eventstudier samt multipla linjära regressionsanalyser genomförs baserat på ett urval av 319 observationer, från en treårsperiod mellan åren 2014–2016. Resultatet av denna undersökning påvisar att det bland svenska börsbolag inte råder ett signifikant samband mellan kvinnliga styrelseledamöter och avvikelseavkastning vid annonsering av företagsförvärv. De variabler som i störst grad genererar en positiv avvikelseavkastning är utländska företagsförvärv samt företag med högre skuldsättningsgrad.