Universities are losing expected tuition revenues due to attrition of international undergraduate students. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies that university leaders use to increase tuition fee revenues from international undergraduate students. The participants in this study were 3 former leaders of the European division of Laureate International Universities, a global university group with university locations in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Cyprus. The conceptual framework of this study was institutional theory as part of the change management of universities. Data collection included semistructured interviews of 3 former leaders of the European division of Laureate International Universities and a review of background and demographic information. Data analysis revealed 5 themes: business strategies, leadership, politics and governmental practice, social mobility, and attrition. These themes aligned with the institutional theory and change management conceptual framework. Recommendations for action include further research in the application of university business models to adopt or enhance a process for retaining international undergraduate students. The results of this study may contribute to social change by indicating how universities can be financially sustainable by providing international students access to an international education. University leaders may implement some of my recommendations and suggested strategies to avoid losing expected tuition revenues due to attrition of international undergraduate students. International undergraduate students may enroll in better prepared universities and therefore, succeed in completing and graduating from their selected studies.

Previous research has analyzed the relationship of several fund characteristics to fund return, whether a higher fund fee results in a higher fund and if fund characteristics such as active management style, fund risk and fund size are contributing factors to a higher fund return. As previous empirical research has reported mixed results and has mainly studied the American fund market. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate whether there was a statical and significant relationship between the fund's return, annual fee, risk, size and management style for equity funds in Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Denmark over a five and ten-year period. The study is based on a quantitative method with a deductive approach which involves the collection of numeric and secondary data from Morningstar's database. The data has then been processed in a correlation- and regression analysis to analyze the relationship between fund return and the fund characteristics. Based on the results the study found a statistically significant relationship between the fund's return and funds risk for five years, the fund's size,the annual fee for five and ten years. The fund's risk for five years was insignificant as was the management style for five and ten years.

Bakgrund: Under det senaste decenniet har fondsparandet ökat och i samband med detta har konkurrensen mellan fonderna också ökat. Aktivt förvaltade fonder har länge kritiserat för att de inte lyckas konkurrera med passiva fonder. En av anledningarna bakom detta är de höga avgifterna som aktiva fonder tar. Tidigare studier har kunnat etablera att fondens prestation och avgift kan förklaras utifrån givna karaktärsdrag. Syfte: Syftet är att kolla huruvida fondens avgift är rättfärdigad ur ett prestationsperspektiv samt även undersöka vilka karaktärsdrag hos en fond som förklarar avgift och prestation. Vidare syftar även denna studie att jämföra resultatet mellan den svenska och den amerikanska marknaden under tidsperioden 2015–2019. Metod: Det görs tre urval där ett urval inkluderarar endast amerikanska banker, ett stratiferat urval för hela den amerikanska marknaden samt ett urval som innefattar hela den svenska marknaden.Detta resultera i att 112 bankförvaltade amerikanska fonder, 225 amerikanska fonder och 52 svenska fonder analyseras. Paneldataregressioner görs för att etablera vilken påverkan de olika karaktärsdragen har på riskjusterad avkastning samt fondavgiften. Karaktärsdragen som undersöks är ålder, fondförmögenhet, aktiv risk och om fonden är bankförvaltad eller inte. Famas och Frenchs3-faktor- och Carharts 4-faktormodell används som bas för att avgöra huruvida fonderna generera en överavkastning. Slutsats: Resultatet indikerar att i Sverige är en högre fondavgift rättfärdigad då investerare kompenseras med en högre riskjusterad avkastning, medan i USA påvisas motsatsen. Det amerikanska stratifierade urvalet förklaras bättre av karaktärsdragen än det svenska urvalet.Gällande om förvaltaren är en bank visar det sig att dessa fonder presterar sämre överlag, både i USA och i Sverige. Sammanställt gick den svenska marknaden emot befintlig forskning i större utsträckning än den amerikanska. / Background: During the last decade fund savings have increased and the competition between the funds have heightened. A long-standing criticism against actively managed funds has been their ineptness of competing with passively managed funds. High fund fees are one of the reasons why this is the case. Fund fees are therefore not only explained by fund performance. Previous studies have concluded that fees and performance can be explained from a fund’s character traits. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to establish if fund fees are justified from a performance standpoint and if the character traits can explain funds fees and performance. The results will then be compared between Sweden and the United States during the time period 2015-2019. Method: Three selections are done, where the first selection is a stratified selection of the American fund market. The second one is a collection of American banks and the third includes the Swedish market. This resulted in 225 American funds, 112 bank managed American funds and 52 Swedish funds. Panel data regressions are performed to establish the relationship between character traits, fund fees and fund return. The character traits that are analysed are age, size, tracking error, and if the fund is bankmanaged. Fama and French’s 3 factor model and Carharts 4-factor model are used as a base for determining if the funds are able to generate excess return. Conclusion: The results indicate that a higher fund fee is justified on the Swedish market as the investor is compensated for the higher cost. The relationship is reversed for the American market where the lower fee funds performance is superior. The character traits have a stronger affiliation with American fund fees and returns compared to the Swedish market. The bank owned funds performed worse overall in both countries. In summary, the results from the American market were more aligned with previous research in contrast to the Swedish market

Power to gas is an emerging energy storage technology with great versatility. This thesis investigates the economic prospects of investing in such a facility via a case study linked to the Söderåren biogas plant in southern Sweden.The basis for this study is cash flow scenario analysis based on revenues and costs, which are referred as scenario parameters. Each of these parameters have different options to choose from, with nominal values chosen as the most likely options for each scenario parameter. In current market condition it was observed that installing power to gas is not profitable. However after exploring numerous combinations of scenarios, it was found that the electrical grid fee charges and higher ancillary service income was critical to achieve a viable business case for power to gas. Another scenario achieved profitability with a small margin which occurred when the grid fee was removed, referred as “grid fee off”. Both the most likely scenario and grid fee off scenario included sensitivity analysis. This was used to observe the impact of net present value when changing one parameter at a time. / Power to gas/ El till gas är en teknik på frammarsch med mångsidiga egenskaper. Den här master uppsatsen ämnar att undersöka om power to gas är lönsamt att investera idag vid en anläggning i södra Sverige vid namn Söderåsen/Wrams biogasanläggning. Samt överskåda under vilka ekonomiska den skulle kunna bli lönsam. Resultaten kan extrapoleras till liknande biogasanläggningar med liknande ekonomiska förutsättningar.Grunden för denna studie är analys av kassaflödesscenarion baserat på intäkter och kostnader, vilket kommer att refereras till som scenarioparametrar. Var och en av dessa parametrar har olika alternativ att välja mellan, där en av dessa parametrar antas vara det mest troliga alternativet att hända verkligheten. I nuvarande marknadsförhållanden observerades det att installation av el till gas inte är lönsam. Däremot efter att ha undersökt en mängd olika scenario, tillsammans 90 stycken kombinationer av scenarier (mer finns i bilagan), visade det sig att nätavgiften var avgörande för att uppnå en bärkraftig affärssituation för el till gas. Ett alternativt scenario med slopad nätavgift illustreras därefter. Känslighetsanalys sker i det mest troliga scenariot och i det alternativa scenariot utav projektets nuvärde för belysa ändring av enskilda scenario parametrars inverkan på resultatet.En intressant men osäker ekonomisk möjlighet diskuteras kring möjligheterna att ersätta uppgraderingsenheten för konventionella biogasenheter helt och hållet. Det diskuteras hur vissa parametrar korrelerar samt ifall det går att ekonomiskt motivera an slopning av nätavgiften.Slutligen tas rekommendationer till framtida studier upp.

[pt] Este estudo objetiva mostrar, mediante ao grande número de oferta de fundos de investimentos, a dificuldade do investidor em escolher um bom fundo, mesmo com o argumento largamente utilizado de que fundos de taxas de administração alta, por terem gestão ativa, entregam melhores resultados. Para isso, ordenou-se a totalidade dos fundos, ou seja, mais de 2.000 fundos de investimentos das classes de renda fixa, ações e multimercados em quadrantes de alta e baixa taxa de administração versus alto e baixo desempenho por diferentes intervalos. Os resultados reforçam o quão é difícil a escolha e ter taxa de administração alta não infere em resultados melhores. / [en] This study aims to show, through the large number of investment funds, how difficult is to choose a good fund, even with the widely used argument that funds with high management fees deliver better results, due to their active management. For this, all the funds, it means more than 2,000 investment funds of among fixed income, stock funds and multimarket funds were displayed in quadrants defined as high and low management fees versus high and low performance. The results reinforce how difficult the choice is and having a high administration rate does not infer better results.

This thesis addresses an inventory management problem of what, when and how many products should be ordered from the supplier applying order line fees. Order line fee is a fixed fee which the company pays to the supplier per every ordered product not depending on the ordered quantity. Even though there are various inventory management methods and variety of research done in the field, there was no research found related to inventory management when supplier order line fees are applied. The described problem is real and currently exists at the company ASWO Baltic. The problem is solved by using experimental research method and CRISP-DM process. The historical company’s data of customer and supplier orders is used for the project. Data is analyzed and prepared for model creation by using feature engineering, data transformation and data normalization methods. Min/Max inventory management method is used as a base for model creation. The improvement proposed by the thesis is to use machine learning algorithms to predict Min and Max stock levels. Support Vector Regression, k-nearest neighbors, Random Forest, Artificial Neural Network, ARIMA, and Prophet machine learning algorithms are tested both for Min and Max level prediction. It was found out that the best results for Min stock level prediction were achieved by k-nearest neighbors algorithm with the average sMAPE measure of 7.0079%. The best predictions for Max stock level were done by Random Forest algorithm with the average sMAPE of 15.0303%. After the hyperparameter optimization sMAPE was improved to 6.8730% and 14.6813% accordingly. The simulation was run to evaluate if the proposed algorithm outperforms the current system. It showed that for the items which have more than 200 orders the algorithm decreased the number of supplier orders by 35,83% and the number of backorders by 49,29% while keeping almost the same inventory turnover. If the same results are achieved with the all products, it is expected that the company would save around 60K euros per annum on supplier order line fees and the lower number of backorders would increase sales by 24%. / Detta examensarbete tar upp ett lagerhanteringsproblem om vad, när och hur många produkter som ska beställas från leverantören som tillämpar orderradsavgifter. Orderradsavgift är en fast avgift som företaget betalar till leverantören för varje beställd produkt, inte beroende på beställd kvantitet. Även om det finns olika lagerhanteringsmetoder och olika undersökningar som gjorts inom området, hittades ingen forskning relaterad till lagerhantering när orderradsavgifter tillämpas. Det beskrivna problemet existerar idag på företaget ASWO Baltic. Problemet löstes genom att använda experimentell forskningsmetod och CRISPDM- process. Företagets historiska data om kund- och leverantörsbeställningar har används för projektet. Data har analyseras och förbereds och modellerats med hjälp av funktionsteknik, datatransformation och datanormaliseringsmetoder. Min/Max lagerhanteringsmetoden används som bas för att skapa en modell. Förbättringen som föreslås i avhandlingen är att använda maskininlärningsalgoritmer för att förutsäga Min och Max lagernivåer. Stöd för vektorregression, k-närmaste grannar, Random Forest, Artificiellt neuralt nätverk, ARIMA och Prophet maskininlärningsalgoritmer testas både för förutsägelse av min- och maxnivå. Det visade sig att de bästa resultaten för förutsägelse av Min lagernivå uppnåddes med algoritmen "k-nearest neighbors" med det genomsnittliga sMAPE-måttet på 7,0079%. De bästa förutsägelserna för Max lagernivå gjordes av Random Forest-algoritmen med den genomsnittliga sMAPE på 15,0303%. Efter hyperparameteroptimeringen förbättrades sMAPE till 6,8730 % och 14,6813 % i enlighet därmed. Simuleringen kördes för att utvärdera om den föreslagna algoritmen överträffar det nuvarande systemet. Den visade att för de artiklar som har mer än 200 beställningar minskade algoritmen antalet leverantörsbeställningar med 35,83 % och antalet restorder med 49,29 % samtidigt som det bibehöll nästan samma lageromsättning. Om samma resultat uppnås med alla produkter, förväntas företaget spara cirka 60 000 euro per år på leverantörsorderavgifter och det lägre antalet restorder skulle öka försäljningen med 24 %.

[pt] A presente pesquisa buscou compreender os sentidos sociais destes gastos extra-mensalidade na comunidade escolar, investigando também a existência ou não de estratégias para contornar possíveis situações de exclusão. Como referencial teórico principal recorremos ao conceito de special monies, de Zelizer; conceitos de Bourdieu, Lahire e Lareau também inspiram o trabalho. A opção metodológica foi por uma pesquisa de cunho qualitativo, ancorada em dois instrumentos: observação e entrevistas. O campo foi realizado em uma escola da zona oeste do Rio de Janeiro em 18 visitas de observação participante, focadas no primeiro segmento do Ensino Fundamental. Em seguida, foram realizadas entrevistas semiabertas com profissionais da escola e com famílias de crianças matriculadas no segmento em questão, de diferentes colégios. Foi possível perceber, na escola observada, a construção de hierarquias sociais baseadas em uma percepção pessoal do engajamento alheio. Nesse contexto, a disposição a realizar investimentos financeiros é lida como uma expressão do investimento emocional, tanto dos pais quanto das professoras. Os resultados apontam para a existência de um discurso generalizante que resulta em invisibilização das ausências de alunos que poderiam ser motivadas por impossibilidades financeiras e para o estabelecimento de um contrato implícito por parte da escola, que compreende que a opção por uma escola privada é, em última instância, a opção por uma educação privada. Assim, as mensalidades representariam apenas o valor mínimo mensal a ser investido, e gastos extras seriam, na verdade, previstos. Já por parte dos pais, o dinheiro destinado à educação de fato aparece como um special money, um valor que justifica esforços, e os dados indicam que os gastos mais incômodos seriam aqueles não respaldados por justificativas pedagógicas. / [en] This study seeks to understand the social meanings of expenses beyond tuition in the scholastic community, investigating the existence of strategies to address potentially exclusionary situations. Its main theoretical framework is Zelizer s concept of special monies; the analysis also draws inspiration from the ideas of Bourdieu, Lahire, and Laureau. The chosen methodology entailed a qualitative study anchored by two tools – observation and interviews – employed at a school in Rio de Janeiro s West Zone over the course of 18 visits as a participating observer, focused on elementary school. This stage was followed by semi-open interviews with school employees and the families of elementary schoolers from multiple schools. On-site observations revealed the construction of social hierarchies based on a personal perception of others engagement. For parents as well as teachers, willingness to make financial investments was read as an expression of emotional investment. Results indicate the existence of a broad discourse promoting the invisibility of potentially financially-motivated student absences and the establishment of an implicit contract on the part of the school, wherein opting to attend a private school ultimately means opting for a private education. Here, tuition is merely the minimum investment; additional expenses are in fact anticipated. For parents, funds spent on education emerge as a sort of special money that justifies extra sacrifices, and findings indicate that the most burdensome expenses are those without pedagogical justifications.

<p>The purpose of this qualitative study was to learn more about the experiences of social work practitioners who are employed in the for-profit sector. Data were collected through individual interviews with four registered social workers. Findings showed that social worker’s experiences of practice within for-profit or private practice settings falls into six main categories. ‘Social work identity’, which includes a comparison of social work and other professions, professional values and ethics, and professional practice issues. ‘Valued characteristics’, which includes past and current work experience, goals for practice, service provision, and job flexibility. The category of ‘fee for service’ examines charging fees in exchange for social work services, salary and compensation, funding, and advertising. ‘Challenges’ of social work practice in the for-profit sector includes experiencing financial pressure, client no-shows, and navigating the “balancing act” of providing services while earning an income. ‘Supervision’, which addresses issues of debriefing. The final category, ‘social work education’, explores the current post-secondary social work program and includes recommendations from participants on improving the curriculum and preparing graduates for working within the field. A central issue for social workers within the for-profit sector is the misconceptions that exist regarding their work. The conclusion is that unlike private practice, social work practice within non-profit and for-profit agencies has a number of similarities. The social work profession offers a multitude of career options for practitioners; different social workers fill different roles, according to their proficiencies, experience, and expertise.</p> / Master of Social Work (MSW)

I decennier har problematiken kring förvaltning belysts och i mångt och mycket har motpolerna aktiv- och passiv förvaltning jämförts. Tidigare forskning har påvisat att passiv förvaltning är att föredra framför aktiv förvaltning, bland annat på grund av de dyra förvaltningsavgifterna samt att förespråkarna antar en effektiv marknad. Ämnesområdet är ett väl utforskat område dock i högsta grad aktuellt. Tidigare forskning har inte belyst aktivitetsgraden i aktivt förvaltade fonder och därmed gavs implikation till fortsatt analysområde för den här studien. Syftet med uppsatsen är att analysera om aktivitetsgraden i aktivt förvaltade fonder kan förklara den riskjusterade avkastningen med hänsyn tagen till förvaltningsavgiften. En deduktiv ansats kommer tillämpas för utveckling av existerande teori. Utifrån uppsatsens syfte har en kvantitativ metod tillämpats för att analysera information som tilldelats av fondbolagens fondrapporter för att genomföra tester på olika tidsperioder. Uppsatsens resultat grundas på 81 aktivt förvaltade fonder vilka indikerar att det ej går att påvisa att en högre aktivitetsgrad leder till en högre riskjusterad avkastning. Likaså kan inte en högre förvaltningsavgift motiveras av aktivitetsgraden. Utfallet av analyserna beskrivs genom tabeller för att visualisera de statistiska analyserna. Förslag till fortsatt forskning inkluderar undersökning av vad fondbolagen definierar som krav för att klassificeras som aktivt förvaltade fonder. Utifrån att aktivitetsgraden är en ny infallsvinkel i utvärdering av aktiv förvaltning torde studiens resultat vara av intresse för gemene man då vi alla är investerare mer eller mindre i det privata livet. Investerare antas vara intresserade att veta vad som motiverar den höga förvaltningsavgiften samt hur investerade pengar blir förvaltade då konklusionen av studien är att aktivitetsgraden inte ger mervärde. / For decades, the problem of portfolio management has been discussed, specifically the comparisons between the opposite poles ‘active’ and ‘passive’ management. Previous research has shown that passive management is preferred over active management, predominantly because of the expensive management fees, as well as proponents assuming an efficient market. The subject area is a well- explored area yet, highly relevant. Previous research has not highlighted the trading frequency in actively managed funds and an implication for further analysis within this area was given. The purpose of this paper is to analyze whether the frequency of trade in actively managed funds may explain the risk-adjusted return, taking into account the management fees. A deductive approach will be applied to the development of existing theory. Based on the thesis purpose, a quantitative method was applied. As well as analyzing the information assigned by the mutual fund companies’ fund reports for conducting tests at different time periods. Results of the thesis are based on 81 actively managed funds, indicating that it is not possible to reveal that, a higher frequency of trade will lead to a higher risk-adjusted return. Likewise, a higher management fee is not justified by the level of activity. The outcomes of the analysis are depicted through tables to provide a visualization of the statistical and analytical questions explored. Suggestions for future research include; consideration of what the fund companies define as requirements that will be classified as actively managed funds. Based on the above notions the frequency of trade is a new approach to the evaluation of active management. Investors are presumed to have a known interest in what stimulates high management fees and how the money invested will be managed. With respect to the conclusion of this study; the level of the frequency in trade does not add any value.

När plan- och bygglagen (PBL) reviderades 2011 tillfördes ett krav på kommunerna att handlägga ett bygglovsärende inom tio veckor från det att ärendet blev komplett. Det infördes dock inga sanktioner mot kommunerna om de skulle överskrida tidsfristen. Efter flera utredningar av bland andra Boverket har det visat sig att kommunerna har svårt att hålla tidsfristen. Justitieombudsmannen (JO) har flertalet gånger sedan revideringen 2011 kritiserat kommuner som inte haft en rimlig handläggningstid. Regeringen gav 2016 Boverket i uppdrag att undersöka hur kommunerna förhåller sig till tidsfristen samt att ta fram ett förslag om sanktionssystem mot byggnadsnämnden när de överskrider tio veckor. Syftet med uppdraget var att kommunerna skulle förbättra sina handläggningstider och att byggprocessen skulle bli mer effektiv. Boverket konstaterade i sin rapport att 81 procent av kommunerna klarar av att handlägga majoriteten av sina ärenden inom tidsfristen och att kommunerna succesivt har förbättrat sina handläggningstider sedan 2011 års PBL infördes. Boverket ansåg i rapporten att införandet av en reducerad bygglovsavgift var det mest lämpliga system att införa mot nämnderna. Reducering av bygglovsavgift infördes i PBL den 1 januari 2019 genom paragraf 12:8 a. Reduceringen innebär att bygglovsavgiften ska minskas med en femtedel för varje påbörjad vecka som överskrider tidsfristen. I denna studie har det undersökts vilken inverkan den nya regeln har fått på utvalda kommuner, och hur kommunerna förhåller sig till den. Studien är avgränsad genom att fokus har riktats mot bygglov utanför detaljplan, liten avvikelse inom detaljplan och vid större projekt. Studien bygger på intervjuer med bygglovschefer eller handläggare i fyra kommuner i Västra Götalands län, där tre av kommunerna valdes efter befolkning och den fjärde valdes för att representera en kommun med stor andel säsongsboende. Inför intervjuerna har de intervjuade fått till sig en intervjuguide och under intervjuerna har samma grundfrågor ställts med möjlighet till fördjupade följdfrågor. Resultatet visar att 12:8 a inte kommer att få en stor inverkan på kommunerna och därmed inte leda till en mer effektiv byggprocess. Orsaken till detta är att lagändringen är en liten del i hela kedjan med en avsaknad av tidsfrister inom andra delar av byggprocessen. Nu kommer kommunerna att flytta resurser till den del som är tidsstyrd medan andra moment i processen blir nedprioriterade. Utifrån resultatet är slutsatsen att hela byggprocessen bör ses över. Paragraferna inom själva PBL men även andra lagar bör samverka bättre med varandra, och att den vägledningen som Boverket ska ge till kommunerna bör bli tydligare då kommunerna tolkar lagar olika. Sammantaget har 12:8 a inte fått någon större påverkan på byggprocessen och PBL:s syfte om en enklare plan- och bygglag fortsätter att motverkas. / The Planning and Building act (PBL) was rewritten in 2011. A new requirement was added for the local authorities to handle building permits within ten weeks from when the applications were completed. However there were no sanctions added against the local authorities if they were to exceed the deadline of ten weeks. Several investigations performed by, for example Boverket, show that the local authorities have difficulties meeting the deadline. JO has several times, since the readjustment in 2011, complained to local authorities of their unreasonable processing time. In 2016 the government gave Boverket an assignment to investigate if the local authorities are meeting the deadlines and to propose a sanction system for the building committees, if they exceed the ten weeks. The purpose of the assignment was to improve the local authorities' processing time and to make the building process more effective. The report from Boverket showed that 81 percent of the local authorities handle a majority of the building permits within the deadline and that the processing time has improved every year since the Planning and Building act was rewritten in 2011. It was stated in the report from Boverket, that a reduction of the building permit fee was the most suitable penalty to use against the local authorities for a time violation. The reduction of the building permit fee was introduced in PBL on the first of January 2019, and was stated in paragraph 12:8 a. The penalty is structured so that every started week that exceeds the deadline, the building permit fee will be reduced by a fifth. In this study it has been analysed what impact the rule has had on four local authorities and how they interpret the rule. The study has been limited to and is only focused on building permits that are outside of the detailed plan, with minor deviance from the detailed plan and building permits for major buildings. The study is based on interviews with the manager in the department of building permit in four different local authorities located in Västra Götaland. Three of the local authorities were chosen based on size of population and the fourth was chosen to represent a local authority that has major seasonal accommodation. Before every interview the interviewees have been given an interview guide, and during the interviews the same basic questions have been asked with an opportunity to ask in-depth follow-up questions. The result showed that 12:8 a will not have a significant impact on the local authorities and therefore will not result in a more effective building process. The reason for this is that the new regulation is only a small part in the bigger picture and has a lack of deadlines in other parts of the building process. This will lead to local authorities simply moving resources to the area that has a deadline, while other steps of the process will not be as prioritized. The conclusion from these findings show that the whole building process should be looked over. The rules within PBL should be better aligned with each other and also with other laws. The guidance that Boverket gives to the local authorities should also be clearer, since local authorities can interpret the law differently. Overall, the 12:8 a paragraph will not have a big impact on the building process. The purpose of PBL on a simpler Planning and Building act continues to be sidestepped.