<p>Abstract</p><p>Purpose/Aim: In my essay I study the use of Internet with information overload as my perspective. I compare two age groups in order to find out whether there is a difference between generations in how they use the Internet and experience the vast amount of information that is found on the net.</p><p>Material/Method: I gather information from six frequent World Wide Web users to find out whether they are experiencing information overload when using the Internet in their spare time and how they structure and make sense of the vast amount of information that is found on the net. I use semi-structured interviews to gather qualitative, not quantitative, material for my study. I have also used literature and websites on information overload, the Internet, and connected themes in order to get a broader picture of the subject and help me analyse the material.</p><p>Main results: The main results of my study are that frequent Internet users do not feel that they suffer from the vast amount of information found on the World Wide Web. They rather enjoy it and if they have heard the term information overload they assume that it does not apply to their use of the Internet. They have special routines to help them structure up and make sense of the information.</p><p>The differences between the age groups are minor. The younger group draws a parallel between knowing about computers and knowing how to use the Internet whereas the older group thinks of information searching skills as a measure of how good you are at using the Internet. The younger ones were more likely than the older ones to get ideas from commercials on what to look for on the net.</p><p>Almost every respondent described a difference between generations during the interview. They thought that the elderly people using the net are more likely to suffer from information overload. The result of the study does though show that age does not matter very much in this case. The time you spend using the Internet is more important: After learning the basic methods you can learn how to structure up and find information while using the net.</p><p>Keywords: Internet, website, homepage, discussion group, newsgroup, community, e-mail, eshop, online entertainment, online games, search engine, communication, case study, information overload.</p>

<p>Abstract</p><p>Title: External communication channels of Prime Care How they where thought to be, how they work and how costumers apprehend them.</p><p>Number of pages: 50 (64 Including enclosures)</p><p>Author: Sophie Dicksen</p><p>Tutor: Peder Hård af Segerstad</p><p>Course: Media- and Communication Studies D</p><p>Period: Spring 2007</p><p>University: Division of Media and Communication, Department of Information Science, Uppsala University</p><p>Purpose/Aim: The focus of this paper lies on the external communication channels of Prime Care and the aim is to study the following aspects: How do the channels work? How are they apprehended by customers of the company? What are Prime Cares own thoughts behind the channels? How does Prime Cares self-image correspond to the way that customers apprehend the company?</p><p>Material/Method: Twenty interviews has been done with different customers of Prime Care in order to see how the company and its communication flow is apprehended. A consultant manager of Prime Care has also been asked about purposes behind the companies external communication channels in order to enable a comparison between Prime Cares image and profile. Prime Cares website, one of their mail sendouts, their salescalls, salesvisits and their exhibition participation have been studied on the basis of relevant litterature. Maletzkes model of mass communication was used as a general view of communication flow.</p><p>Main results: All communication channels included in this study have different ways of function even though they all have the same main purpose, videlicet to promote the company, to inform about its activities and to recruit new customers and consultants. All costumers have a positive impression in general of channels they have used even if some smaller changes are asked for concerning avaliable contact times. Prime Cares thoughts behind the channels are presented through their consulant manager and she believes for example that the companys website is the most effective medium when it comes to capturing the target groups interests. Even though Prime Cares assumptions about their self-image is not always similar to the customers ways of seeing them, both parties for example tend to agree that the companys avaliability is highly valuated.</p><p>Keywords: Prime Care, website, interviews, mail sendouts, salesvisits, salescalls, exhibition, Maletzkes model of mass communication flow.</p>

This paper reports work in progress on an experimental text editor called CREF, the Cross Referenced Editing Facility. CREF deals with chunks of text, called segments, which may have associated features such as keywords or various kinds of links to other segments. Text in CREF is organized into linear collections for normal browsing. The use of summary and cross-reference links in CREF allows the imposition of an auxiliary network structure upon the text which can be useful for "zooming in and out" or "non-local transitions." Although it was designed as a tool for use in complex protocol analysis by a "knowledge Engineer's Assistant," CREF has many interesting features which should make it suitable for a wide variety of applications, including browsing, program editing, document preparation, and mail reading.

This thesis analyses the scope of the treaty articles 43 and 48 concerning the freedom of establishment of companies. The interpretations of these articles made by the Commission and the European Court of Justice are analysed to see whether they are consistent. The analysis encompasses the provisions and directives in the field of EC Company Law as well as the essential case law from the ECJ regarding these issues. The conclusion that must be drawn from this thesis is that the Court of Justice adds the momentum in these issues whilst the Commission is held up by political considerations.

Abstract Purpose/Aim: In my essay I study the use of Internet with information overload as my perspective. I compare two age groups in order to find out whether there is a difference between generations in how they use the Internet and experience the vast amount of information that is found on the net. Material/Method: I gather information from six frequent World Wide Web users to find out whether they are experiencing information overload when using the Internet in their spare time and how they structure and make sense of the vast amount of information that is found on the net. I use semi-structured interviews to gather qualitative, not quantitative, material for my study. I have also used literature and websites on information overload, the Internet, and connected themes in order to get a broader picture of the subject and help me analyse the material. Main results: The main results of my study are that frequent Internet users do not feel that they suffer from the vast amount of information found on the World Wide Web. They rather enjoy it and if they have heard the term information overload they assume that it does not apply to their use of the Internet. They have special routines to help them structure up and make sense of the information. The differences between the age groups are minor. The younger group draws a parallel between knowing about computers and knowing how to use the Internet whereas the older group thinks of information searching skills as a measure of how good you are at using the Internet. The younger ones were more likely than the older ones to get ideas from commercials on what to look for on the net. Almost every respondent described a difference between generations during the interview. They thought that the elderly people using the net are more likely to suffer from information overload. The result of the study does though show that age does not matter very much in this case. The time you spend using the Internet is more important: After learning the basic methods you can learn how to structure up and find information while using the net. Keywords: Internet, website, homepage, discussion group, newsgroup, community, e-mail, eshop, online entertainment, online games, search engine, communication, case study, information overload.

Abstract Title: External communication channels of Prime Care How they where thought to be, how they work and how costumers apprehend them. Number of pages: 50 (64 Including enclosures) Author: Sophie Dicksen Tutor: Peder Hård af Segerstad Course: Media- and Communication Studies D Period: Spring 2007 University: Division of Media and Communication, Department of Information Science, Uppsala University Purpose/Aim: The focus of this paper lies on the external communication channels of Prime Care and the aim is to study the following aspects: How do the channels work? How are they apprehended by customers of the company? What are Prime Cares own thoughts behind the channels? How does Prime Cares self-image correspond to the way that customers apprehend the company? Material/Method: Twenty interviews has been done with different customers of Prime Care in order to see how the company and its communication flow is apprehended. A consultant manager of Prime Care has also been asked about purposes behind the companies external communication channels in order to enable a comparison between Prime Cares image and profile. Prime Cares website, one of their mail sendouts, their salescalls, salesvisits and their exhibition participation have been studied on the basis of relevant litterature. Maletzkes model of mass communication was used as a general view of communication flow. Main results: All communication channels included in this study have different ways of function even though they all have the same main purpose, videlicet to promote the company, to inform about its activities and to recruit new customers and consultants. All costumers have a positive impression in general of channels they have used even if some smaller changes are asked for concerning avaliable contact times. Prime Cares thoughts behind the channels are presented through their consulant manager and she believes for example that the companys website is the most effective medium when it comes to capturing the target groups interests. Even though Prime Cares assumptions about their self-image is not always similar to the customers ways of seeing them, both parties for example tend to agree that the companys avaliability is highly valuated. Keywords: Prime Care, website, interviews, mail sendouts, salesvisits, salescalls, exhibition, Maletzkes model of mass communication flow.

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of Communication

This thesis gives the reader an understanding for newsletters within e-commerce, and how to work with them as a channel for marketing. Furthermore it explains the technical and graphical demands, and how to ensure that the newsletter reaches the intended receivers. A successful newsletter can entice people to shop, but can also help to strengthen a brand and the relationship between the customer and the company. During the writing of the thesis, it has emerged that the most important part of a newsletter (which also determine whether or not the receiver reads the letter) are the subject heading, sender, layout, headlines, images and the deregistration link. A part from working with the different parts of the letter, the sender should also be aware of the technical and graphical demands. Since the E-mail clients are looking out for images, fonts that are not embedded in the computer, and for questionable words there’s a big risk for ending up in a spam filter when not considering the demands. To ensure that the letter reaches the receivers it is common to test it against spam filter, look at it in the different E-mail clients, use A/B split test and finally test what time and day that fits the receivers the best. One of the strongest arguments to use E-mail communication is because it is an extremely measurable medium. With help from special programmes one can easily find out which E-mails bounced, why they bounced, how many opened the E-mail, which links they clicked, who deregistered and who forwarded it. The answers to these questions are all valuable information since it gives an understanding for the customers and gives the sender a chance to improve the letters.

In today’s competitive global economy, the focus is on faster delivery of orders at lower total costs. In this paper we are interested in several aspects of order picking systems. We examine the influence of station layout, storage policy, picking policy and sorting solution on order picking system performance. On each of the analysis we consider a few solutions. We determine influence of different number of station in raw on picking system performance. We design the replenishment system supported by kanban philosophy with implemented economical order quantity (EOQ) and reorder point (ROP). The picking system is designed for assumed product’s demand values. The assessment of each of the solution is done through Arena simulation model. The results show that properly designed station with reasonable storage policy and implemented batching policy brings significant raise in order picking system productivity. In addition, we found that proper sortation system logic allows for more equal workload and reduction of maximum queue lengths. The results offer solutions to managers looking to implement improvements in order picking systems.

Användandet av e-posthantering i arbetet har ökat kraftigt under de senaste årtiondena. Studier har visat att alltför hög grad av informationsflöde kan leda till minskad jobbtillfredsställelse och känslor av stress. Individer i chefsposition har rapporterats vara särskilt drabbade av detta informationsöverflöd och syftet med denna studie var att undersöka avdelningschefers upplevelser av e-posthanteringen i arbetet. En kvalitativ ansats har antagits i studien då verkligheten tolkas på olika sätt och en kvalitativ studies syfte är att förstå ämnet från intervjupersonernas subjektiva perspektiv. Urvalet till denna studie har gjorts strategiskt och valts till att bestå av fem personer; tre män och två kvinnor. Storleksmässigt var antalet intervjuade för få för att göra några könsjämförelser, vilket heller inte ingick i studiens syfte. Intervjupersonerna har valts ut i samspråk med en kontaktperson på den berörda arbetsplatsen. Som datainsamlingsmetod har intervjuer genomförts, med hjälp av en intervjuguide och röstinspelningsutrustning vid samtliga intervjutillfällen. Flera intervjupersoner uppgav att en viss stress gällande e-posten existerade men att de ansåg sig ha både stöd och kunskap att kunna hantera situationen. Som främsta orsak till stress angavs mängden oläst e-post i inkorgen tillsammans med mottagandet av epost innehållandes oväsentlig information för läsaren. Överlag ansåg intervjupersonerna att kunna logga in från andra ställen än arbetsplatsen innebar en möjlighet och att e-posten fyllde en viktig funktion i arbetet. / The usage of e-mail handling has increased during the last decades. Previous studies have shown that too much information may cause loss of job satisfaction and feelings of stress. Managers in particular have reported the most difficulties with this phenomenon called information overload. The aim of this study was to examine departmental managers’ experiences from e-mail handling in their work.  The study has had a qualitative approach due to the individual differences in perceiving. The interviewees were strategically selected in conversation with a contact person at the work place. The selection included three men and two women. No gender comparisons can be made out of such a small selection of interviewees. Data was collected by using interviews, an interview guide and a voice recorder. Several interviewees reported a certain sense of stress in their handling of e-mail but also having the skills and support to manage the situation. The amount of unread messages along with the reception of nonessential mail was reported as the primary causes of stress. The interviewees were mainly satisfied with the possibility of logging in from other places than the work place and believed that e-mail handling was an important function in their daily work.