Current industrial companies are highly pressured by growing competitiveness and globalization, while striving for increased production effectiveness. Meanwhile, flustered markets and amplified customer demands are causing manufacturers to shift strategy. Hence, international companies are challenged to pursue changes, in order to continue being competitive on global markets. Consequently, a new industrial revolution has taken place, introduced as Industry 4.0. This new concept incorporates organizational improvement and digitalization of current information and data flows. Accomplished by data from embedded systems through connected machines, devices and humans into a combined interface. Thus, companies are given possibilities to improve current production systems, simultaneously saving operational costs and minimizing insufficient production development. Smart Factories, being the foundation of Industry 4.0 results in making more accurate and precise operational decisions from abilities to test industrial changes in a virtual world before real-life implementation. However, in order to assure these functions as intended, enormous amount of data must be collected, analysed and evaluated. The indicated data will aid companies to make more self-aware and automated decisions, resulting in increased effectiveness in production. Thus, the concept will clearly change how operational decisions are made today. Nowadays, Discrete Event Simulation is a commonly applied tool founded on specific data requirements as operational changes can be tested in virtual settings. Accordingly, it is believed that simulation can aid companies that are striving for implementing Industry 4.0. As a result, data requirements between Discrete Event Simulation and Industry 4.0 needs to be established, while detecting the current data gap in operational context. Hence, the purpose of this thesis is to analyse the data requirements of Discrete Event Simulation and Industry 4.0 for improving operational decisions of production systems. In order to justify the purpose, the following research questions has been stated:   RQ1: What are the data challenges in existing production systems? RQ2: What data is required for implementing Industry 4.0 in production systems? RQ3: How can data requirements from Discrete Event Simulation benefit operational decisions when implementing Industry 4.0?   The research questions were answered by conducting a case study, in collaboration with Scania CV AB. The case study performed observations, interviews and other relevant data collection to accomplish the purpose. In parallel, a literature review focusing on data requirements for operational decisions was compared to the empirical findings. The analysis identified the current data gap in existing production systems, in correlation to Industry 4.0, affecting the accuracy of operational decisions. In addition, it was shown that simulation can undoubtedly give positive outcome for adaptation of Industry 4.0, and a clear insight on data requirements.

In light of developing a nascent gas industry, present multiple challenges in restructuring, regulations and meeting infrastructure investments requirements. To identify an appropriate industry structure and provide suitable regulatory framework to attract adequate infrastructure investments are the requirement to maintain a viable nascent gas industry. The purpose of the study is to examine the conditions required for developing a viable nascent gas industry in Ghana. The study develops an analytical framework by combining the Structure-Conduct-Performance paradigm and the Transaction Cost Economics theory with stakeholder consultation in an integrated cash flow model, which identified inappropriate industry structure, ineffective regulation and high risk as challenges in the gas industry in Ghana. The current gas industry structure and regulatory framework in Ghana is identified as state control monopoly. To strengthen the analysis of the study alternative gas industry structural models were reviewed. The Single Buyer Model (SBM) is suggested as an initial stage structure for Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) to commercialize upstream natural gas resources and ease transactions cost. However, the SBM is constrained by the Volta River Authority (VRA) and Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) inefficiencies. The Multiple Buyer Model (MBM) is considered as a transitional structure to solve the existing hold-up and lock-in inefficiencies of Ghana National Petroleum Corporation-Ghana National Gas Company-Volta River Authority (GNPC-GNGC-VRA) firm structure. Enforcing open access regulations to essential infrastructure is required in the long run. Developing an integrated gas-to-power project in Ghana is a viable business. Nevertheless, non-associated gas production from the Sankofa Gas Project is risky and requires higher gas prices and alternative downstream consumers to be viable. The Gas Processing Plant and transmission pipeline tariffs are inappropriately set and requires regulations. Providing effective regulations and governance arrangements by establishing an independent regulator through a gas sector law are important in protecting the interest of various stakeholders in the nascent gas industry in Ghana.

As decisões racionais ou intuitivas delimitam a vida das pessoas, gerando boas ou más consequências. São as decisões que geram oportunidades, desafios e incertezas. Até pouco tempo, a teoria gerencial era embasada nas premissas, de que, por critérios de racionalidade poderíamos dominar a vida e o destino das empresas. No entanto, em virtude de limitações envolvidas no processo decisório, como falta de tempo, excesso de informações, mudanças constantes e instabilidade tanto econômica quanto política, fizeram com que métodos suportados pela racionalidade, busquem apoio em conhecimentos gerados pela experiência acumulada pelo indivíduo. Esta dissertação visa abordar a tomada de decisão dos empreendedores, juntando aspectos da administração e da psicologia. Primeiramente uma abordagem da evolução do pensamento sobre a tomada de decisão é repassada, com conceitos que dão conta da racionalidade limitada e também de que o nível de incerteza e a complexidade inerente às decisões aumentaram. Após evidências teóricas mostrando como a intuição influencia a tomada de decisão, esperasse demonstrar como os empreendedores entrevistados utilizam a intuição para a tomada de decisões. Através de estudo de caso com oito empreendedores, foi possível apresentar aspectos que influenciam o comportamento dos empreendedores no exercício do processo decisório, demonstrando que suas decisões nem sempre seguem um processo racional descrito na literatura, mas respaldam-se muitas vezes em formas intuitivas e criativas que dependem muito mais de sua experiência e de sua percepção sobre oportunidades ou ameaças que propriamente uma planilha estatística. Como resultado, verificou-se que a intuição tem papel importante na formação da solução percebida pelos empreendedores, e como outros autores já colocaram, há uma grande dificuldade em colocar todos os elementos que compõem a tomada de decisão nos processos decisórios, fazendo com que o empreendedor recorra em muitas decisões, a fontes mais informais, como é o caso da intuição, que respondendo ao objetivo principal desta dissertação, constatou-se que possivelmente a experiência e a intuição sejam os elementos que mais auxiliam a tomada de decisão, principalmente na primeira e na terceira geração, conforme será demonstrado nesta dissertação. / Intuitive and rational decisions put a limit on people’s lives, resulting in good and bad consequences. The decisions generate opportunities, challenges and uncertainties. Until recently, management theory was grounded in assumptions that, by rational criteria we could dominate life and companies’ fate. However, due to limitations involved in the decision-making process, such as lack of time, information overload, constant changes and instability both economic and political made methods supported by rationality, seek support in knowledge generated by the accumulated individual experience. This work seeks to address the entrepreneurs’ decision-making, combining aspects of management and psychology. First of all an approach to thought evolving on the decision-making is checked on through concepts that take into account bounded rationality and also that the level of uncertainty and the inherent complexity of decisions increased. After theoretical evidences showing how the intuition influences the decision making-process, it is expected to demonstrate how interviewed entrepreneurs use intuition to make decisions. Through a case study with eight entrepreneurs, it was possible to present aspects that influence entrepreneurs’ behavior in the exercise of decision-making by demonstrating that their decisions do not always follow a rational process described in the literature, but often they are supported in intuitive and creative ways, which rely more heavily on their experience and their perception of opportunities or threats, than in a exactly statistical spreadsheet. As a result, it was found that intuition plays an important role in forming the solution perceived by entrepreneurs, and as others have already put, there is great difficulty in putting all the elements that make up the decision-making into decision-making processes, making the entrepreneur refers, in many decisions, the more informal sources, such as the intuition case, that responding to the main objective of this abstract , it was found that perhaps the experience and intuition are the factors that most help the decision making, especially in the first and in the third generations, as will be shown in this work.

O objetivo deste estudo foi analisar o processo de mudança institucional no campo organizacional, observando esse fenômeno pela emergência de lógica de mercado no campo acadêmico brasileiro. O estudo propõe uma reflexão sobre a mudança institucional em universidades brasileiras, inserida em novo contexto de políticas governamentais baseadas na ideia de “inovação”. Nas últimas décadas o debate internacional sobre o tema da inovação tem cada vez mais inserido a universidade como um agente que contribui para o desenvolvimento econômico. A partir dos anos 2000, verificou-se o surgimento de novas diretrizes nas políticas de ciência e tecnologia no Brasil. Destacam-se entre essas mudanças a reestruturação das fontes de financiamento à pesquisa por meio da criação dos Fundos Setoriais, que visou promover o desenvolvimento de projetos de inovação de acordo com os setores da economia, a Política Industrial, Tecnológica e de Comércio Exterior (PITCE), a Lei de Inovação e o Plano de Ação de Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação (PACTI). Embora essas políticas fossem direcionadas para a indústria, constatou-se que novas práticas começaram a se difundir no campo acadêmico. Foi observado o rápido crescimento do número de depósitos de patentes, o envolvimento de pesquisadores em estruturas de interface universidade-empresa e a difusão de empresas fundadas por cientistas. Esse fato indicou a difusão de práticas orientadas por lógica de mercado no campo, mesmo sem um projeto empreendedor. Diferentemente dos argumentos institucionalistas que defendem que a mudança de lógicas no campo ocorre pela atuação de empreendedores institucionais, constatou-se que a inserção de lógica de mercado no campo estava associada à mudança na disponibilidade de recursos. Os cientistas assumiram práticas orientadas por lógicas alternativas na medida em que identificaram recursos para sustentá-las. O modelo de análise proposto neste estudo destaca a importância do conceito de ecologia nos estudos sobre a mudança institucional. A análise utilizou dados secundários, como estatísticas oficiais, documentos e estudos prévios. Também foram realizadas entrevistas semi-estruturadas como técnica de coleta e análise de conteúdo categorial como técnica de análise. / The objective of this study was to analyze the process of institutional change in the organizational field, observing this phenomenon by the emergence of market logic in the Brazilian academic field. The study proposes a reflection on institutional change in Brazilian universities, inserted in a new context of government policies based on the idea of "innovation". In the last decades the international debate on the theme of innovation has increasingly inserted the university as an agent that contributes to economic development. From the 2000s onwards, the emergence of new guidelines in science and technology policies in Brazil. Of note among these changes are the restructuring of sources of research funding through the creation of Sectorial Funds, which aimed to promote the development of innovation projects according to the sectors of economy, Industrial, Technological and Foreign Trade Policy (PITCE ), The Innovation Law and the Plan of Action for Science, Technology and Innovation (PACTI). Although these policies were directed towards the industry, it was found that new practices began to spread in the academic field. The rapid growth in the number of patent deposits, the involvement of researchers in university-enterprise interface structures and the diffusion of companies founded by scientists were observed. This fact indicated the diffusion of practices guided by market logic in the field, even without an entrepreneurial project. Unlike the institutionalist arguments that the change of logics in the field occurs by the action of institutional entrepreneurs, it was verified that the insertion of market logic in the field was associated to the change in the availability of resources. Scientists have assumed practices guided by alternative logics insofar as they have identified the resources to sustain them. The analysis model proposed in this study highlights the importance of the concept of ecology in studies on institutional change. The analysis used secondary data such as official statistics, documents and previous studies. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted as a technique for collecting and analyzing categorial content as a technique for analysis.

Den intensivvård som kan erbjudas till patienter i Sverige idag är en mycket högspecialiserad och högteknologisk vård. Den har möjliggjort livsuppehållande åtgärder till den grad att det blivit nästan omöjligt för en patient att dö utan att först blivit föremål för diskussion om att ta till alla tänkbara medel. När intensivvårdsinsatserna inte längre är meningsfulla för patienten, utan bara blir till ett utdraget lidande i väntan på döden, tas ibland beslutet att avstå eller avbryta behandling. Syftet med studien är att belysa intensivvårdssjuksköterskans upplevelse av att vårda patienter där beslut om att avstå eller avbryta behandling tagits. Metoden som använts är en litteraturstudie som bygger på 8 artiklar. Artiklarna valdes inom det kvalitativa kunskapsparadigmet. Resultatet visar att sjuksköterskor ställdes inför existentiella tankar kring liv och död, framförallt det egna livet och döden. Det skapade negativa känslor såsom förvirring, sorg, ilska och skuld. Samtidigt upplevdes det som ett privilegium att få ge avgörande vård för patienten och att möjliggöra en värdig död utan onödigt lidande för patienten och dennes närstående. Erfarna sjuksköterskor hade det lättare och var mer trygga i att avstå eller avbryta behandling än sina oerfarna kollegor. Andra kollegor beskrevs som det viktigaste och starkaste stödet. Sjuksköterskor hade svårt att beskriva vilken roll de vill att läkaren skulle ha, men det fanns en upplevelse över att ansvarsfördelningen mellan läkare sjuksköterska var oklar. Hierarkin upplevdes som ett hinder. I diskussionen belyses möjligheten att integrera den moraliska och etiska problematiken redan under utbildningen för att vara bättre förberedd och medvetandegöra värdet av handledning i yrkesmässig växt. Genom att sträva efter ett utökat tvärprofessionellt samarbete kan vården av patienter där beslut om att avstå eller avbryta intensivvård ska eller har tagits underlättas. / Program: Fristående kurs

A judicialização da saúde tem sido fenômeno em crescimento na área da saúde e assunto relevante da pauta de gestores. Muitos estudos produzidos nos últimos anos, tanto no campo do Direito como no da Saúde, indicam um predomínio no sistema público. Essa pesquisa teve por objetivo analisar as ações judiciais relacionadas as coberturas assistenciais na saúde suplementar. Estudo descritivo e de corte transversal realizado em uma operadora de plano privado de saúde em um município de grande porte do interior do estado de São Paulo, que presta assistência a mais de cem mil beneficiários. Foram analisadas 158 demandas judiciais ajuizadas e recebidas pela operadora e registradas em banco de dados da empresa do período de 2012 a 2015, movidas por 152 beneficiários. As ações foram classificadas em dois grandes grupos, com subgrupos constituídos, a saber: ações relacionadas a coberturas assistenciais, que envolveram procedimentos médicos, tratamentos, exames, medicamentos, home care/internação domiciliar, outros tipos de internações; e ações de outra natureza, referentes a liminares de outras operadoras para cumprimento da operadora estudada, manutenção do plano de saúde, reajustes, perícia médica, retirada do nome do Serasa, isenção de carências e outros motivos. As ações pleiteadas para realização de procedimentos médicos responderam por 57% das demandas, com destaque para rizotomia percutânea (27%). Tratamento de quimioterapia em serviços não credenciados pela operadora, exames de PET SCAN em não conformidade com rol de procedimentos autorizados pela ANS, além de medicamentos antineoplásicos e para tratamento de Hepatite C, que não integravam a relação de medicamentos registrados pela ANVISA foram destaque nas análises realizadas. A Lei 9.656/1998 foi determinante para os beneficiários recorrerem ao Judiciário por coberturas assistenciais, impactando de maneira significativa na gestão das operadoras de planos privado. Deve-se considerar legítima a discussão sobre o tema e a realização desse estudo possibilitou aprofundar a análise dos efeitos da judicialização na realidade da operadora pesquisada, abarcando seus limites e responsabilidades / The judicialization of health has been a growing phenomenon in the area of health and a relevant subject of the managers\' agenda. Many studies that have been produced in recent years, both in the field of Law and Health, indicate predominance in the public system. The objective of this research was to analyze the legal actions that are related to health care coverage in supplementary health care. A descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted in a private health care operator in a large municipality / in a big city in the interior of the state of São Paulo, which provides assistance to more than 100,000 beneficiaries. We have analyzed 158 lawsuits that were filed and received by the operator and registered in the company\'s database for the period from 2012 to 2015, filed by 152 beneficiaries. The actions were classified into two large groups, with constituted subgroups, namely: actions that were related to care coverage, involving medical procedures, treatments, examinations, medications, home care / other hospitalizations; and actions of other nature, relating to injunctions of other operators to comply with the operator that was studied, maintenance of the health plan, readjustments, medical expertise, removal of the name of Serasa (Brazilian credit protection organization), exemption from deficiencies and other reasons. The actions that were requested to perform medical procedures were accounted for 57% of the demands, with emphasis on percutaneous rhizotomy (27%). The treatment of chemotherapy in services that were not accredited by the operator, SCAN PET examinations in non-compliance with ANS-authorized procedures, in addition to antineoplastic drugs and for treatment of Hepatitis C, which were not part of the list of medicines that were registered by ANVISA were highlighted in the analyzes which were carried out. The Law 9,656 / 1998 was decisive for beneficiaries to appeal to the Judiciary for assistance coverage, having a significant impact on the management of the private plan operators. The discussion on the topic should be considered legitimate and the realization / execution of this study made it possible to deepen the analysis of the effects of the judicialization on the reality of the surveyed operator, encompassing its limits and responsibilities

Estuda-se nesta tese o conteúdo jurídico do princípio da impessoalidade, previsto no art. 37, caput, da Constituição Federal de 1988, especificamente para fins de parametrização, controle e responsabilidade das decisões administrativas. Estruturam-se três eixos temáticos: a) noções introdutórias ideias de aproximação necessárias ao contexto e ao conceito do princípio da impessoalidade e do alcance de sua projeção nas decisões administrativas (póspositivismo e neoconstitucionalismo; constitucionalização; julgamento por princípios; relevância dos princípios; interesse público; direito administrativo como sistema; neutralidade política e a questão da justiça); b) impessoalidade no direito administrativo comprovação de que o princípio da impessoalidade ostenta arquétipo aberto para conferir maiores cobertura e proteção aos valores tutelados pelo texto constitucional, com ênfase à organização administrativa impessoal para assegurar um agir naturalmente impessoal (instrumentalização recíproca de princípios constitucionais; antecedentes históricos; direito estrangeiro; doutrina brasileira; impessoalidade na Constituição, nas leis e na jurisprudência; conceito de impessoalidade); c) impessoalidade nas decisões administrativas construção de um conceito de impessoalidade específico para as decisões administrativas, concebido desde a ideia de ponderação e conciliação de todos os interesses legítimos públicos e privados envolvidos em cada caso concreto (conceito e distinção de decisão administrativa impessoal em relação à decisão judicial imparcial; garantias e requisitos para a adoção de decisões impessoais, com destaque para os deveres de fundamentação (motivação), processualização e participação; algumas implicações de decisões impessoais [funcionário de fato; diminuição da discricionariedade; desvio de poder; motivação na dispensa de empregados públicos; responsabilidade civil extracontratual do Estado; necessidade de reconhecimento dos direitos dos administrados; nepotismo e revisitação da reformatio in pejus]; consequências da quebra da impessoalidade nas decisões administrativas [anulação; responsabilização do Estado e responsabilização do servidor] e, finalmente, técnicas para adoção de decisões administrativas impessoais). / This essay intends to analyze the juridical concept of the principle of impersonality, embraced in the article 37 of the Constitution of 1988, in order to establish standards of parameterization, control and liability in the administrative decisions. The essay comprises three main fields of analysis: a) introductory concepts preliminary approach to comprehend the theoretical and the political context in which is developed the scope and the enforcementof the principle of impersonality in the processes that lead to administrative decisions (postpositivism and neoconstitutionalism; the enforcement of principles; public interest; Administrative Law as a system; politic neutrality and the issue of Justice); b) the principle of impersonality within the Administrative Law - analysis of the scope of protection of the principle, aiming to demonstrate that its juridical concept must be considered in a wide open perspective in order to guarantee a strong protection of the constitutional values. In this part, it will be emphasized that the development of a impartial administrative conduct is closely related to the idea of a impartial administrative organization. (historical background; foreign legislation; Brazilian legal doctrine; the principle of the impersonality within the constitutional rules, the specific legislation and the judicial precedents; juridical concept of the principle); c) the enforcement of the principle of impersonality in administrative decisions - In this part it is developed the juridical concept of the principle in the field of the deliberative administrative proceedings. This juridical concept embraces the idea of balancing and conciliating all legitimate interests - public or private - involved in a determined situation that requires a administrative deliberation (distinctions between impersonal and impartial administrative decisions; standards to create a impersonal decision-making; specific implications of impersonal decisions; legal consequences arising from the disregard of the principle of impersonality in administrative decisions; legal techniques that lead to a impersonal administrative decision-making).

This study in comparative public law analyses if the courts have decided in the best interest of the child when judging for immediate care due to domestic violence. Both Sweden and Norway have transformed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) article 3 in parts of their national legislation. The difference between the countries is that Norway in 2003 incorporated CRC as a part of their legal policy, Sweden, on the other hand, has not integrated CRC in their national laws. There is a need for research if and how the local authorities and the courts in the two countries live up to the concept for the best interest of the child. Six court decisions from both countries as well as the development of the national legislation will be analyzed. To achieve our purpose, we will use the comparative and dogmatic legal method. The comparative method will be used when we compare the similarities and differences between their national legal system and the court's judgment for immediate care for the best interest of the child. The dogmatic legal method will be used for defining the current law. The results of this study indicate that Norway has more appropriate laws for the best interest of the child. The difference between the countries is that in Norway the court can decide based on their child specific law. While the courts in Sweden only can decide for the best interest of the child with the interpretation based on the two laws but the code is not just for the child. Despite the differences, both Sweden and Norway have appropriate laws for how the local authorities and the court should promote the best interest of the child. In the future, we hope that it would be easier for the Swedish courts to apply the best interest of the child when CRC has been incorporated into the national legislation.

The literature suggests that when taking tax effects into account, debt ought to be preferable to equity. Thus, with all else being equal, levered firms are expected to show higher firm values. However, there are no uniform predictions of the size of this tax benefit from interest deductibility nor on the effect of changes in interest deductibility. We believe that the German corporate tax reform in 2008, which introduced an interest barrier, can serve as a promising "quasiexperiment" to investigate the effects from a reform of interest deductibility. A study of this reform on the basis of German financial statement data is of general interest because, first, similar interest barriers have been introduced in several countries and proposed by the OECD to fight BEPS. Second, the major characteristics of the German tax system can be regarded as representative for most European and major Asian countries. Third, single entity financial statements for German companies allows us to capture tax and capital structure details that have not been available in most prior studies. With significance at the 5% level, we find evidence that the companies that are affected by the interest barrier reduce their leverage by 4.7 percentage points more than companies that are not affected by the interest barrier. We are the first to employ a detailed matching approach to the underlying rich dataset, which enables us to overcome several limitations of previous studies. Our results imply that capital structure reactions most likely have been underestimated in previous studies. / Series: WU International Taxation Research Paper Series

TLE proteins are a closely related family of vertebrate corepressors. They have no intrinsic DNA binding ability, but are recruited as transcriptional repressors by other sequence specific proteins. TLE proteins and their homologues in other species have been implicated in many developmental processes including neurogenesis, haematopoiesis and the formation of major organs. They have also been implicated in early lineage specification in vertebrates but a direct role in this has not been found in mammals. The aim of my PhD is therefore to analyse the function of TLE proteins in early lineage specification and cell fate decisions using mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) as a model. The investigation of this has previously been complicated, firstly by the large array of transcription factors that TLEs interact with and secondly by redundancy between similar TLE proteins hindering loss of function approaches. To circumvent these problems, I have used two complementary experimental strategies. The first was identification of point mutations in TLE1 that affect specific classes of DNA binding. Two of these mutations L743F and R534A were of particular interest and were reversibly overexpressed in ES cells to correlate phenotypes to biochemical activity. The second strategy was the mutation of the two primary TLC genes in ES cells and early mouse embryos, TLE3 and TLE4. Complementary evidence from these approaches revealed a role for TLEs in the promotion of ES cell differentiation by repression of pluripotency/self-renewal associated genes. Additionally, neural specification was increased by TLE1 expression especially by the TLE1 point mutations, highlighting opposing roles for negative effects on mesendodermal differentiation. Early mesoderm/primitive streak was increased by loss of TLE, probably through Wnt antagonism. Anterior endoderm was increased by reduced TLE, but a critical level of TLE was still necessary and TLE1 overexpression also upregulated some anterior endoderm markers suggesting both negative and positive roles for TLE proteins in this process.