<p><strong>Sammanfattning</strong></p><p><strong>Seminariedatum:</strong> 2009-01-08</p><p><strong>Lärosäte:</strong> Mälardalens Högskola, Västerås<strong></strong></p><p><strong>Nivå:</strong> Kandidatuppsats i Företagsekonomi, 15 hp</p><p><strong>Titel:</strong> ”Mycket snack, lite verkstad – En studie om varför konsumenten inte köper ekologiska livsmedel”</p><p><strong>Författare:</strong> Helene Kaspersson 850325                 Jennie Spångberg 860813                 Stefan Sjöblom 871231</p><p><strong>Handledare:</strong> Claes Jonsson</p><p><strong>Problemformulering:</strong> Varför köper inte konsumenten ekologiska livsmedel?</p><p><strong>Syfte:</strong> Vi har för avsikt att beskriva hur konsumenten påverkas av individuella influenser och gruppinfluenser till att inte köpa ekologiska livsmedel. I en förlängning skall denna uppsats kunna vara till hjälp i processen att öka försäljningen av ekologiska livsmedel.</p><p><strong>Metod:</strong> För att kunna ge en generell bild av beteendet utförs en kvantitativ undersökning i form av en enkätundersökning.</p><p><strong>Teoretiskt perspektiv:</strong> Studien har köpbeslutsprocessen som utgångspunkt med fokus i hur konsumenten påverkas av individuella influenser och gruppinfluenser.</p><p><strong>Slutsats:</strong> Vi har kommit fram till slutsatserna att kunden agerar utifrån ett vanebaserat beteende vid köp av livsmedel. Det finns en stereotyp som symboliserar den ekologiska konsumenten. Kunden påverkas av sin referensgrupp till att inte vilja sticka ut.</p><p><strong>Nyckelord:</strong> Konsumentbeteende, Köpbeslutsprocessen, Influenser, Ekologiska livsmedel</p> / <p><strong>Abstract<strong></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong>Seminar date:</strong> 2009-01-08</strong></p><p><strong>University:</strong> Mälardalens Högskola, Västerås</p><p><strong>Level:</strong> Bachelor thesis in Business administration, 15 credits</p><p><strong>Title:</strong> ”Mycket snack, lite verkstad – En studie om varför konsumenten inte köper ekologiska livsmedel”</p><p><strong>Authors:</strong> Helene Kaspersson 850325             Jennie Spångberg 860813             Stefan Sjöblom 871231<strong>Tutor:</strong> Claes Jonsson<strong></strong></p><p><strong>Problem formulation:</strong> Why does not the consumer buy organic food?</p><p><strong>Purpose:</strong> Our purpose is to describe how the consumer is affected by individual influences and group influences not to buy organic food. Our study shall later on be helpful in the process of increasing the sales of organic food.</p><p><strong>Method:</strong> To be able to create a general view of the behavior, we use a quantitative approach with an inquiry.</p><p><strong>Theoretical perspective:</strong> The theoretical framework consists of the buying decision-making process with focus on how individual influences and group influences affect the customer.</p><p><strong>Conclusions:</strong> We have reached the conclusions that the customer is affected by his/her habits when it comes to the buying decision of food. The “organic food customer” is associated with a stereotype. The customer is affected by its reference group not to be different.</p><p><strong>Key words:</strong> Consumer behavior, Buying decision-making process, Influences, Organic food</p>

Sammanfattning Seminariedatum: 2009-01-08 Lärosäte: Mälardalens Högskola, Västerås Nivå: Kandidatuppsats i Företagsekonomi, 15 hp Titel: ”Mycket snack, lite verkstad – En studie om varför konsumenten inte köper ekologiska livsmedel” Författare: Helene Kaspersson 850325                 Jennie Spångberg 860813                 Stefan Sjöblom 871231 Handledare: Claes Jonsson Problemformulering: Varför köper inte konsumenten ekologiska livsmedel? Syfte: Vi har för avsikt att beskriva hur konsumenten påverkas av individuella influenser och gruppinfluenser till att inte köpa ekologiska livsmedel. I en förlängning skall denna uppsats kunna vara till hjälp i processen att öka försäljningen av ekologiska livsmedel. Metod: För att kunna ge en generell bild av beteendet utförs en kvantitativ undersökning i form av en enkätundersökning. Teoretiskt perspektiv: Studien har köpbeslutsprocessen som utgångspunkt med fokus i hur konsumenten påverkas av individuella influenser och gruppinfluenser. Slutsats: Vi har kommit fram till slutsatserna att kunden agerar utifrån ett vanebaserat beteende vid köp av livsmedel. Det finns en stereotyp som symboliserar den ekologiska konsumenten. Kunden påverkas av sin referensgrupp till att inte vilja sticka ut. Nyckelord: Konsumentbeteende, Köpbeslutsprocessen, Influenser, Ekologiska livsmedel / Abstract Seminar date: 2009-01-08 University: Mälardalens Högskola, Västerås Level: Bachelor thesis in Business administration, 15 credits Title: ”Mycket snack, lite verkstad – En studie om varför konsumenten inte köper ekologiska livsmedel” Authors: Helene Kaspersson 850325             Jennie Spångberg 860813             Stefan Sjöblom 871231Tutor: Claes Jonsson Problem formulation: Why does not the consumer buy organic food? Purpose: Our purpose is to describe how the consumer is affected by individual influences and group influences not to buy organic food. Our study shall later on be helpful in the process of increasing the sales of organic food. Method: To be able to create a general view of the behavior, we use a quantitative approach with an inquiry. Theoretical perspective: The theoretical framework consists of the buying decision-making process with focus on how individual influences and group influences affect the customer. Conclusions: We have reached the conclusions that the customer is affected by his/her habits when it comes to the buying decision of food. The “organic food customer” is associated with a stereotype. The customer is affected by its reference group not to be different. Key words: Consumer behavior, Buying decision-making process, Influences, Organic food

Ett mycket debatterat ämne är pensionsområdet. IASB har genom IAS19 gjort ett försök att harmonisera redovisningen inom detta område, trots detta uppkommer det nationella så väl som internationella skillnader. Det huvudsakliga problemet för bolag är att framställa en rättvis diskonteringsränta vid nuvärdesberäkning av deras pensionsskuld. Detta har medfört att de flesta bolag, på grund av kunskapsbrist i ämnet, valt att hyra in denna expertis från en aktuariekonsult. Syftet med denna uppsats är att ur ett beslutsteoretiskt perspektiv beskriva hur aktuariekonsulten resonerar och agerar kring valet avföretags aktuariella antaganden. Det som legat till grund för denna studie är teori och regler utifrån IFRS/IAS 19 samtidigt som valda delar utifrån beslutsteori varit i fokus. För att få svar på vår frågeställning har vi valt att utföra sex intervjuer, fyra med aktuariekonsulter och två med redovisningsansvariga på börsnoterade bolag. Utgångspunkten för ansatsen har tagits från det abduktiva synsättet eftersom en växelverkan mellan teori och empiri genomförts. Denna uppsats har påvisat att konsulterna inte såg sig själva sombeslutsfattare utan intog en mer stöttande roll. Dialogen och förhållningssättet från aktuariekonsult till kund om nödvändig data varen viktig del i beslutsprocessen. Det visade sig även att yrkesheder har en vital betydelse för aktuariekonsulten i deras arbete och i beslutsprocessen. / A much debated topic is the area of pensions. IASB has by IAS 19 made an attempt to harmonize the accounting, although this raises national as well as international differences. The main problem for companies is to produce a fair discount rate in calculating the present value of a pension liability. This has resulted that most companies, due to lack of knowledge on the subject, has decided to hire this expertise from an actuary consultant. The purpose of this paper is within a decision theory perspective, describing how actuary consultant reasons and acts on the choice of corporate actuarial assumptions. To get an answer to our question, we have chosen to perform six interviews, four with actuary consultants and two with the chief accountants for listed companies. The starting point of the approach has been taken by an abductive approach as it is an interaction between theory and empirical implementation. The basis for this study is the theory and rules based on IFRS/IAS 19, while selected parts have been based on decision theory which has been in focus. This thesis has proven the consultants did not see themselves as decisionmakers but took a more supportive role. The data was an important part in the decision process, therefore dialogue and the approach actuary consultants made towards the client played a significant role. This thesis has also shown professional integrity has a vital influence on actuary consultants in their work and in the decision-making process.

Inledning:Dagligen möts organisationer av situationer där de måste ta beslut. Frågan är vad som egentligen avgör vilket alternativ organisationen väljer, vilka beslutskriterier används? Ju bättre insikt den säljande organisationen har om den köpande organisationens beslutsprocess och beslutskriterier, desto bättre kan de påverka inköpsbeslutet. Inom hotellbranschen är säsongvariationen hög och för att övervinna den erbjuder vår uppdragsgivare Björkbacken Karaktärshotellet konferensmöjligheter. De behöver dock skapa förståelse för vilka kriterier potentiella konferensköpare använder sig av när de väljer konferensanläggning för att kunna attrahera fler övernattande konferensgäster. Syfte: Syftet med den här uppsatsen är att beskriva organisationers väg till beslut och vad de efterfrågar vid köp av konferenser. Det ska göras genom att utforma en modell för beslutsprocessen och empiriskt testa den. Metod: Vårt syfte har vi angripit med en i grunden positivistisk vetenskapssyn med ett deduktivt angreppssätt. Undersökningen utgörs av tvärsnittsdesign, och kvalitativa semi-strukturerade telefonintervjuer har genomförts med organisationer som har liknande profil som vår uppdragsgivare Björkbacken Karaktärshotellet nämligen; kultur, historier och berättande. Slutsats: Vår modell för organisationers beslutsprocess, Beslutsvägen, kan bekräftas. Den beskriver att beslutsprocessen startar med att organisationen blir medveten om ett behov och därefter identifieras beslutskriterier. Enligt vår studie är följande beslutskriterier viktiga; pris, tillgänglighet, lokalernas funktionalitet, omgivning, mat samt anknytningen till konferensköparens verksamhet. Då organisationer har identifierat sina beslutskriterier väljer de mellan två vägar i Beslutsvägen, Kustvägen och E6:an. Längs båda vägarna är minnen och erfarenheter en betydande del som finns med längs hela processen. Oavsett vilken av vägarna som organisationen färdas på når de till sist sin slutdestination Beslut. / Introduction: Every day organizations face situations where they must make decisions and are forced to choose between different alternatives. The question is, what determines which option the organization chooses, which decision criteria do they use? The better understanding the selling organization has for the buying organization's decision-making process and their decision criteria, the better they can influence the purchase decision. Within the hotel industry the seasonal variety is high and to overcome them our client Björkbacken Karaktärshotellet offers conference facilities. However, they do need to create a better understanding of the potential buyers’ criteria when they are choosing a conference to attract more overnight conference guests. Purpose: The purpose is to describe what organizations demand when they purchase a conference. This will be done by designing a figure of the decision-making process and empirically test the figure. Method: We have approached our purpose with a positivistic view of science and with a deductive approach. The study consists of a cross-sectional design and to collect our empirical data we have used qualitative semi-structured telephone interviews with organizations that have similar profile as our client Björkbacken Karaktärshotellet namely; culture, history and storytelling. Conclusion: Our figure of the organizations' decision-making process, the Road to Decision, can be confirmed. It describes the decision-making process starting with awareness of a need and follows by identification of decision criteria. According to our study the following decision criteria are important; price, availability, functionality, environment, food and good connections to the conference. When organizations have identified their decision criteria they choose between two paths in our figure; the Coastal Road or the freeway E6. Along the entire process memories and experiences are a significant part. No matter which of the roads the organization travels by, their final destination is the decision.

This study will examine the importance of Country-of-Origin, Price, Quality and Expiration date, in the consumer decision making process for fresh meat. Country-of-Origin has earlier been investigated, however the research has been focusing on manipulating one single cue. With the recent scandals in the fresh meat industry, were animals being abused and expiration dates being changed, it is interesting to investigate how important the consumers find the four attributes; Country-of-Origin, price, quality and expiration date.In order to answer the research questions, and fulfil the purpose, the authors will use a mix of different data collection methods. Qualitative data will be gathered by performing interviews and quantitative data will be gathered by conducting a pilot study and an experiment. The data will be retrieved with the use of SPSS 17.0 and the conjoint analysis procedure. Country-of-origin has been found to be the most preferred attribute for consumers in their purchasing process for fresh meat, closely followed by expiration date. The consumer did find price and quality to be of importance, however the attributes were not found to be as important as Country-of-Origin and expiration date. As Country-of-Origin was found to be the most significant attribute for consumers in their decision making process, this indicates that the consumers are ethnocentric in their behaviour, i.e. they consider their own country and culture to be above others, which leads to a purchase of Swedish meat. It has also been found that the purchasing process of fresh meat is of great complexity, especially with the negative attention the fresh meat industry has induced.

The Motor Group of the European Council was commissioned in the autumn of 1997 to prepare a proposal for a new European Bus and Coach Directive. In the beginning, most of the Member States did not have the accessibility requirements as their main concern; still a smaller network with actors from the National delegations from Britain, Germany and Sweden would influence the other National delegations in the Council group to finally agree to retain the requirement of accessibility of the Directive. Within the EU decision process, the European Disability movement acted as a strong player during the whole negotiation process using the proposal to a new Bus and Coach Directive as a tool to influence key actors to go towards a Directive with a strong approach for accessibility. Policy Transfer and Policy Transfer Network are used as analytical tools to understand and structure the transfer of the question of accessibility during the negotiation process. Actors understanding how the bureaucratic process works within the EU decision system have a chance to contributing for the changes in the directions they wishes for within a range of policy areas. The principal aim of the Directive was to guarantee the safety of passengers and to provide technical prescription in particular to wheelchair users. In the end it turned out to be one of the most successful achievements for the European Disability movement in history.

This qualitative case study explores the decision-making process of administrative staff in a private senior high school when they face an ethical dilemma, aiming to discover the beliefs and principles applied when the staff make decisions and the factors that underlie those decisions. In the study, semi-structured interviews were conducted to ten administrative staff at the positions of division director and sub-division chief in a senior high school in New Taipei City. The summarized findings are as follows: 1. Ethical dilemmas being constantly faced by administrative staff in the private high school are: 1) conflict of beliefs; 2) human relations versus system; 3) difficulties in interpreting roles; and 4) struggle between ideal and reality. 2. Steps of a decision-making process for administrative staff in the private high school are: 1) determine the nature of the dilemma; 2) make sure the right objective; 3) gather extensive information; 4) study feasible solutions; 5) evaluate the scope of influence and outcomes for each solution; 6) select the best solution; 7) execute the solution; and 8) review and adjust the solution. However, interviewees who discuss the decision-making process are mostly division¡¦s directors, while sub-division chiefs tend to ¡§take orders¡¨ from above and seldom have the opportunities to decide the steps during the decision-making process. 3. Beliefs held by the administrative staff during a decision-making process for an ethical dilemma are: 1) protect students¡¦ rights and interests; 2) maintain fairness and justice; 3) communication with rational respect; 4) commitment in the administrative professionalism; and 5) establish a mutual objective. 4. Principles applied by the administrative staff during a decision-making process while facing an ethical dilemma are: 1) solve the dilemma fairly; 2) communicate genuinely; 3) keep open mind; 4) behave following regulations; 5) act professionally; 6) respect and empathize; and 7) follow instructions from above. 5. Factors that affect the administrative staff¡¦s decision-making process for an ethical dilemma can be divided into two categories: 1) internal and personal factors; and 2) external and circumstantial factors. Based on research findings, the study suggests the administrative staff in the private senior high school to adopt the following practice in order to reduce ethical dilemmas: 1) to make sure the school¡¦s directions and its educational objectives; 2) to acquire consensus among organizational members through frequent communication; 3) cultivate respect, trust, and a harmonious environment; 4) nurture organizational members to increase their professional capacity and to stimulate creative thinking. Keywords: ethical dilemma, decision making, decision-making process, administrative staff¡¦s beliefs, administrative principles, private senior high school, administrative staff

<p>This study will examine the importance of Country-of-Origin, Price, Quality and Expiration date, in the consumer decision making process for fresh meat. Country-of-Origin has earlier been investigated, however the research has been focusing on manipulating one single cue. With the recent scandals in the fresh meat industry, were animals being abused and expiration dates being changed, it is interesting to investigate how important the consumers find the four attributes; Country-of-Origin, price, quality and expiration date.In order to answer the research questions, and fulfil the purpose, the authors will use a mix of different data collection methods. Qualitative data will be gathered by performing interviews and quantitative data will be gathered by conducting a pilot study and an experiment. The data will be retrieved with the use of SPSS 17.0 and the conjoint analysis procedure. Country-of-origin has been found to be the most preferred attribute for consumers in their purchasing process for fresh meat, closely followed by expiration date. The consumer did find price and quality to be of importance, however the attributes were not found to be as important as Country-of-Origin and expiration date.<strong> </strong>As Country-of-Origin was found to be the most significant attribute for consumers in their decision making process, this indicates that the consumers are ethnocentric in their behaviour, i.e. they consider their own country and culture to be above others, which leads to a purchase of Swedish meat. It has also been found that the purchasing process of fresh meat is of great complexity, especially with the negative attention the fresh meat industry has induced.</p>

<p>Arguably, the Schumpeterian ideology of “creative destruction” saying that eventually even the most secure monopoly will be destroyed by a new technology, a new idea, or a shift in tastes could be applied to open source software. Currently, the proprietary software holds a strong position in the software market. Nevertheless, one could see a surge in articles and acceptance among organisations concerning open source software.</p><p>Proprietary software companies like Microsoft are still gaining ground within the Swedish municipalities. Although one get the impression that municipalities generally are positive toward open source software, the decision-making process often results in choosing a proprietary software alternative. However, one could question which are the underlying factors and to what extent are these factors affecting the decision-making process of municipalities integrating or migrating into open source software?</p><p>In order to study this phenomenon, we chose a quantitative approach using a questionnaire as the tool for data gathering. The sample consisted of 100 randomly selected municipalities. A pre study was made through an interview in order to strengthen the accuracy of the questionnaire which later on was sent out to the IT manager at each municipality in the sample.</p><p>The organisational-, environmental-, user- and system level are four main factors affecting the decision-making process concerning open source software. Among these, the organisational factor was the only one which had a significant negative impact on the decision-making process concerning open source software. The importance of being able to integrate different software increases the need for compatibility which, according to the IT managers, is facilitated using a standardized software environment offered by for example Microsoft.</p>

In this thesis I provide general guidelines for a commercial building owner’s decision making process for heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system energy efficiency projects, discuss an example HVAC project at an existing building, and recommend the most energy-efficient, cost-effective project option. First, a building’s HVAC system’s inefficiencies are identified. The systems and the components can be investigated to understand the nature of the operations. In the building owner’s interests, possible alternatives can be developed to address the systems with improvements. Consulting engineers, contractors, and other building professionals can assist in this process. There are necessary engineering and construction considerations for defining realistic project alternatives. With the alternatives, there are costs, benefits, and trade-offs. The costs, which mainly include the investment and the operational costs, and the benefits, which mainly include the available financial incentives, defined in dollars, are identified for the alternatives. The alternatives can be evaluated with Building Life Cycle Cost (BLCC) software. In this evaluation the net present-value (NPV) method is used to rank the alternatives. Then, the highest-ranking, lowest life-cycle cost, alternative is recommended for the owner. In the example, an existing commercial building’s HVAC systems are considered. The construction plans, the facilities records, and the existing field conditions were investigated and analyzed. A few operational inefficiencies were identified. To address two of these existing inefficiencies, there were alternatives considered to replace the standard-efficiency air handling unit motors with premium-efficiency motors and to renovate the ventilation system with an energy recovery wheel. The investment costs, the available rebates, the net annual energy savings, and the energy and other operational costs were estimated, over a 30-year study period, for each of these alternatives, and compared to the costs of the existing system. The BLCC evaluations were performed across a range of discount rates in the present-value calculations. Based on the lowest present-value life-cycle cost reports, the premium-efficiency motor replacement project only is recommended. / text