Globalisation has simplified the internationalisation process for companies, and are today not only constrained to multinational companies, as SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) are entering global markets in order to attain a sustainable competitive advantage. As a result, more Swedish SMEs are now operating abroad, and SSA (sub-Saharan Africa) is a region that has shown great potential. SSA has a rapid economic growth and greater political stability, and SMEs that enter SSA has many opportunities to gain as it is a fairly unexplored region with a boosting economy. However, working in SSA would entail that Swedish SMEs and its leaders would encounter different cultures and trying to find a way of coping with the differences successfully. The purposes of this study, is, therefore, to explore what cultural challenges Swedish SME leaders face in SSA, and how they adapt to the cultural challenges. The researchers chose a qualitative research strategy with an abductive approach and conducted semi-structured interviews with eight Swedish SMEs leaders that are currently active in SSA. The respondents hold various leading positions within these companies. Our empirical findings suggest that there are several cultural challenges that Swedish SME leaders face in SSA, such as time perception, gender inequality, collectivistic behaviour and trust issues. However, the existing hierarchical system in SSA was seen as the main challenge as the leaders were used to a flat organisations structure in Sweden, whereas the culture in SSA advocate authoritarianism. The leaders that choose to adapt their leadership style become more controlling, which shown improvement on the employees performance. Our findings also indicate that some of the leaders did want to adapt their leadership style but instead sought to transform the current culture in SSA based on a Swedish Model.

This research aimed to explore how heads of departments at LNU manage cultural differences in their teams. The study addressed the main research question and two sub-questions to uncover effective strategies for navigating cultural disparities in team settings. An exploratory design was employed, utilizing qualitative methods such as interviews and content analysis. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a limited number of participants from diverse departments at LNU. Thematic analysis was used to identify key themes and findings. Several significant themes emerged from the analysis. The first theme highlighted the importance of recognizing and addressing cultural differences within teams through open dialogue, communication, building trust, and fostering inclusivity. The second theme emphasized the significance of cultivating cultural intelligence and competency as cross-cultural leaders, including the development of cultural competency and adapting communication styles to accommodate diverse team members. The third theme focused on effective communication, emphasizing the need to overcome language barriers and establish open channels for promoting understanding and inclusivity. The fourth theme highlighted the value of embracing cultural diversity, viewing it as an asset, and leveraging unique perspectives and strengths within teams. The fifth and final theme emphasized the continuous learning and development of cultural competency and cultural intelligence to effectively manage cultural disparities. This study contributes to our understanding of how heads of departments at LNU manage cultural differences in their teams. The findings underscore the importance of recognizing cultural differences, cultivating cultural intelligence, promoting effective communication, embracing cultural diversity, and fostering continuous learning and development. These strategies enhance the capacity of organizations to navigate cultural disparities and foster inclusivity in multicultural environments. The study was conducted within an academic setting, limiting generalizability to other organizations. The research relied on a limited number of interviews due to time constraints and non-responsiveness of some participants, therefore the complexity of the issue may not have been fully captured. This study fills a gap in the literature by exploring the strategies employed by heads of departments to manage cultural differences. It provides practical implications for organizations operating in multicultural environments and enhances our understanding of effective cross-cultural leadership.

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Geoscience data sharing and processing is very advanced in terms of surface data. Subsurface data sharing has not received the attention that surface data sharing has received and so there are fewer applications or software packages which focus on it. This research is funded by the NSF EarthCube GEO Domain program in an effort to develop a continental-scale repository of 3D subsurface data to facilitate the sharing of complex 3D data and to enable the development of geoprocessing tools and workflows that operate on that data. The work in this thesis is a small part of the EarthCube project with two parts. The first part is to research current tools for 3D subsurface data visualization, specifically virtual globes, and to recommend one for use in the development of the EarthCube project. The second part is to develop an online prototype visualization platform for the EarthCube project referred to as the "Digital Crust" using the recommended virtual globe. Additional work was done with the Digital Crust to develop geoprocessing tools to show the ability for the Digital Crust to work with a data repository. These tools convert geoscience data file types, and interpolate soil cross-sections from borehole log data.

Aggressive tax planning practices through schemes involving low-tax jurisdictions have been the target of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to end harmful tax competition and the so-called “race to the bottom”. Pillar Two Model Rules is the latest OECD way to achieve this objective. This thesis calls into question the design of these rules when applied to the realities of developing countries and argues that the idea that the GloBE Rules are a golden opportunity for source countries to raise significant additional tax revenues seems to fail when confronted with the circumstances of developing countries, mainly source countries. The design of the Pillar Two provisions makes countries’ tax policies intertwined. Therefore, developing countries are not exempt from Pillar Two consequences whether they choose or not to domestically implement its rules. The challenge is real for these countries, which must assess the potential impact on their tax competition and future tax revenues and determine whether the GloBE rules can help them achieve their sustainable development goals. This thesis attempts to give a perspective on what lies ahead for these countries in the Pillar Two new era.

In October 2021, 137 countries and jurisdictions agreed on a common approach towards a global minimum tax of 15% on the profits of large multinational companies that is referred to as the Pillar Two Model Rules, ‘Anti Global Base Erosion’, or ‘GloBE’ Rules. This political agreement implies that member countries who wish to implement such a tax regime have to streamline its design by modelling it after the so called Global Anti-Base Erosion Proposal (‘GloBE’) that the IF has developed as ‘Pillar 2’ of its work program on tax challenges arising from the digitalization of the economy. On 17 June 2015, the European Commission presented an Action Plan for a fairer and more efficient corporate tax system in the European Union (EU). The powerful document re-defines the future course of corporate taxation in the EU. The GloBE Model Rules are an opportunity – an impulse – for the European Union to begin coordinating tax rates in corporate income tax among its Member States and to proceed further, in the near future, in the direction of harmonizing those rates. On December 22, 2021, the European Union (EU) announced the Proposal for a Directive to ensure a global minimum level of taxes for multinational groups. It follows the Pillar Two implementation planoutlined in the Inclusive Framework (IF) statement released on October 8, 2021, and the model rules published on December 20, 2021.5In this thesis the authors focus on whether the Global Anti-Base Erosion (‘GloBE’) rules, specifically Income Inclusion Rule, as set out in an Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (‘OECD’) Blueprint of October 2020, comply with the EU fundamental freedoms. This compatibility is tested based on two differentscenario’s. In the first scenario the assumption is taken that the GloBErules will be implemented directly by the Members States (Assumption A). It will be addressed by the rule of reason doctrine by analysing which freedoms are getting affected then making a restriction test, then justification test and finally the proportionality test. In the second assumption is that the GloBE-rules will be implemented indirectly through an EU Directive (Assumption B). This analysis will show that, even though the GloBE-rules conflict with the freedom of establishment, they could still be implemented effectively because of the considerable discretion granted to the Union legislature by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).7 The directive at discussion in the thesis is the Minimum tax directive 2022/2523.

This study aims to explore and create a deeper understanding of companies' leadership and discover how national culture relates to authentic leadership in a Swedish context. In addition to the purpose, the following research question is formulated; What are the characteristics of authentic leadership in Swedish managers from an employee's perspective? This study is based on a qualitative study with a deductive approach to get a deeper understanding of the topic rather than a broader perspective. The empirical data was gathered through eight interviews with people who work in the private and public sectors of business, and interviews were conducted through Zoom. Our analysis identified two main themes, and these are connected to the national culture in Sweden. Swedish managers are skilled listeners and diplomatic leaders, which affects authenticity, showing how national culture can affect authenticity.

[pt] Friedrich Nietzsche, ao longo de sua obra e, em especial, em sua crítica ao valor dos valores morais ocidentais para a vida, em que elabora a tipologia da moral nobre e moral dos escravos, associa a criação de valores a diferentes fisiologias humanas (homem ativo e homem reativo, homem como ave de rapina e homem como ovelha), compreendendo a moral como não desligada da vida orgânica e se colocando contra valores e práticas de homogeneização e nivelamento. Decorre daí uma visão que valora a alteridade – o que é outro, diferente, alheio – como de valor à vida, enquanto característica fisiologicamente inerente aos homens e que alimenta a força plástica humana. Oswald de Andrade, leitor confesso de Nietzsche, em especial em seus manifestos e ensaios filosóficos, resgata e reelabora a noção de antropofagia, enquanto visão de mundo e postura filosófica em que o outro é alimento de transformação de si, orgânica e moralmente (isto é, enquanto alimento ao corpo, no caso do ritual em sua origem, e também enquanto alimento à criação de novos valores); e que, portanto, também valora a alteridade como de valor à vida. Oswald elabora a sua própria tipologia, a do homem messiânico e homem antropofágico (patriarcado e matriarcado), e a sua análise do valor dos valores morais ocidentais para a vida, em que a sua crítica à moral do sacerdócio em muito se aproxima à crítica de Nietzsche feita a essa que, para o filósofo alemão, foi a mais forte das morais de escravo e de rebanho que o homem ocidental desenvolveu. Dentre aproximações e diferenciações, ambos os pensadores nos indicam a reflexão sobre a alteridade enquanto elemento de valor à plasticidade humana e, assim, à vida, apesar das tendências homogeneizadoras que possamos identificar ao longo da história e, ainda, do momento presente. / [en] This dissertation aims to investigate, from a philosophical point of view, how to cultivate the relationship between the making of science and the making of fiction can contribute to think about the planetary proportion of the ongoing ecological collapse. The research starts from the diagnosis that there is currently a disconnect between action and understanding, in other words, between the enormous energetic flux produced by the capitalist industrial civilization and the human capacity to dimension its catastrophic effects – not only for our species, but for a good part of the Earth s inhabitants. Thus, we can say that, for the warnings of climate science to make sense to everyone, that is, for us to learn to pay attention to the effects of anthropogenic actions, it is important that climate fiction make us feel, that is, that art invent stories that affect us to the point that we realize that, for planet Earth to continue habitable, it s necessary we build a healthy relationship with Gaia. This paper intends, therefore, to analyze the geopolitical implications caused by the ecological collapse, especially in the light of the oeuvre of Bruno Latour, but also from his dialogue with Dipesh Chakrabarty about the emergence of the Planetary, as well as from Margaret Atwood’s ustopian climate fiction, the MaddAddam trilogy.

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