Corporate financing is very important for all parties involved in the financial market. Venture capital is one of the sources of financing SMEs, and its main characteristic is the active partnership offered by venture capital professionals (VCs) to entrepreneurs. However, this active involvement has not been very fruitful. In the period from 2002-2004, the venture capital industry in Québec generated low or even negative earnings. This situation has led VCs to question not only their selection practices, but also their investment monitoring practices. In addition, recent academic and professional publications have highlighted the importance of the post-investment phase in value creation for partner companies. This research explores the ways in which VCs monitor their investments in order to better understand how this monitoring contribute to the value creation process for their partners companies. In fact, the key question in this research is as follows: how can VC professionals improve their investment monitoring practices so that they can contribute to the success of partner companies by optimizing their formal and informal relationships? The purpose is to clarify the types of post-investment monitoring done by VCs through the studies of their professional's activities. The research findings lead to an investment monitoring framework. This framework comprises of the following key activities: relational dynamics, follow up and involvement . These three overlapping activities facilitate the creation of added value to investments and, to an extent, lead to the generation of better rate of returns. They rely on the complementarity and coexistence between the logical approach and the socio-political approach throughout the entire investment monitoring process.

The purpose of the study was to investigate teachers’ perceptions of parental involvement in children’s education in the rural Mawa and Molototsi circuits in the Mopani district, Limpopo Province. Three-hundred-and-thirty (330) teachers participated in this research survey. The results indicated that the common perception amongst teachers was that parental involvement had positive benefits for both learner performance and social behaviour. The study also revealed that schools used involvement initiatives and strategies to a lesser extent than expected. Primary schools reported higher rates of parental involvement than secondary schools, which suggested that parents of primary school children were likelier to involve themselves in school governance than those of secondary school children. The extent to which the school used media to promote parental involvement was found to be small and moderate. The respondents also perceived certain social and economic barriers as moderate to large impediments to parental involvement. / Educational Leadership and Management / M. Ed. (Education Management)

The establishment of functional parental-involvement in preschools has become a larger and more complex area since the Swedish curriculum was revised in 2010. Parental involvement is important, not only as an incentive for the individual child’s development, but also regarding a democratic perspective of parent participation. The diversity of parents makes overall strategic governmental efforts to enable parental-involvement ineffective and each preschool must handle the heterogeneous parental group in their area. Parents who lack the knowledge of Swedish are more likely to be excluded from strategic parental-involvement efforts in preschools, which made us curious to inquire into efforts that aim to include non-Swedish-speaking parents. Through interviews with preschool teachers and managers we aimed to discover discourse orientated patterns in discussions regarding non-Swedish speaking-parents overall and look into which methods and aspects teachers found critical in constructing functional parental-involvement with this specific group. We executed a discourse-orientated analyze on our findings and relate it to methods mentioned by teachers to see how they impact each other. We found that teachers describe the group issued in ways of both similarities with the general group of parents and at the same time as distinctive characters with unique needs and therefor organized their parental-involvement efforts accordingly.

Syfte: Syftet med studien är att öka kunskapen om hur kommunikation med och involvering av medarbetare inverkar på medarbetares inställning till en omorganisation. Metod: Forskningsansatsen är av kvalitativ karaktär. Det empiriska materialet har samlats in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer utförda på Polismyndigheten Region Nord som genomgår en omorganisation. Materialet tolkades med hjälp av vår egen modell som är baserad på tidigare forskning, då vi utgått ifrån de resultat vi funnit i vår litteraturstudie.  Resultat och slutsats: Bristfällig kommunikation och lågt medarbetarinvolverande inverkar till att medarbetare intar en likgiltig eller negativ inställning gentemot en omorganisering, och att en bra kommunikation och ett högt medarbetarinvolverande leder till en positiv inställning. Vi upplever att kommunikation är den starkaste faktorn eftersom bra kommunikation är en förutsättning för att medarbetare ska uppleva att de har inflytande och därmed är delaktiga i omorganisationen. Vi anser även att vår studie visar att en negativ inställning till en omorganisation innebär att medarbetare motsätter sig en omorganisering.  Studiens bidrag: Ge en ökad förståelse för vilka faktorer som inverkar till att medarbetare motsätter sig en omorganisering, samt vilken inverkan kommunikation och involvering av medarbetare har på medarbetarnas inställning till en omorganisering. Förslag på vidare forskning: Vi kom i denna studie fram till att bristfällig kommunikation innebär att medarbetare upplever att de inte involveras i förändringsprocessen, vilket i sin tur leder till ett bristande förtroende för organisationen och därmed även ett motstånd till omorganisationen i sig. Vårt förslag på vidare forskning är att testa den nya modell vi kommit fram till för att se om dessa slutsatser är överförbara även på andra organisationer som genomgår en organisationsförändring. / Aim: The aim of this study is to improve our understanding on how communication and employee involvement affect employees' attitude towards an organizational change. Method: Our research approach is qualitative. The empirical data was collected through semi structured interviews conducted at Polismyndigheten Region Nord, which is currently undergoing an organizational change. We used our own model, based on previews researched, to analyse the data.                    Conclusions: The lack of good communication and low employee involvement leads to employees’ developing a negative or indifferent attitude towards an organizational change. Communication is the strongest factor do to the fact that good communication is essential for making employees’ feel involved in the changing process. Our study also shows a connection between a negative attitude towards an organizational change, and employees’ being against change in general. Contribution of the thesis: Provide a greater understanding for which factors that influence employees’ to oppose an organizational change, as well as which impact communication and employee involvement have on employees' attitudes towards an organizational change. Suggestion for future research:           Our conclusion based on this study, is that poor communication makes employee’s feel that they are not involved in the change process, which leads to a lack of confidence for the organisation and a resistance for the organizational change. Our suggestion for future research is therefor to test our new model to see if our conclusions are transferable to other organizations undergoing a change process.

The prevalence and use of medical devices in the home environment continues to grow in the United Kingdom (UK) and Worldwide. It is recognised that such devices offer significant benefits to both patients and the National Health Service in the UK. The design of home use medical devices however represents a considerable challenge to designers and manufacturers alike. Developing devices that are usable and understandable by inexperienced, lay or dexterity impaired users requires an understanding across a breadth of disciplines. Previous research in this field has explored these challenges in attempt to offer support for developers of home use medical devices. There have been very few studies however that have explored whether the design community actually need, want or use such guidance, before considering whether this literature is adopted correctly. Through case studies, an online survey and in depth interviews this thesis suggests that industry practitioners are sceptical of the value of design guidance towards user involvement in home use medical device design. Consequently the practitioners in this research make little or no use of the formal design methods and supportive guidance documents available to them. More typically, practitioners in the home use medical device field use their own personal experiences and knowledge from working in the industry to adapt their own approaches to design. This thesis reports that the greatest challenge to involving users in the design of home use medical devices are the internal corporate and traditionally hierarchical barriers between stakeholders within the design process. In contrast to previous research offering support for designers and developers of home use medical devices this thesis calls for a wider change in design practice to facilitate the application of usability principles. As a conclusion to this thesis, recommendations for further research to address these changes in practice are proposed to industry professionals in the medical device industry. This thesis is submitted as part of the requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Loughborough University.

En starkt konkurrerande marknad har tvingat företag att hitta nya vägar att marknadsföra sig på. Att använda förpackningsdesign har visat sig vara ett starkt verktyg för företag att nå ut med sin marknadsföring till konsumenter. Förpackningen har fått en viktig roll genom att få produkten att sticka ut i butikshyllan men den är även ett sista steg att kommunicera ut varumärket. Teorier om förpackningsdesign samt konsumentbeteende har hjälpt till att skapa en överskådlig bild över vad som studerats tidigare men även ge en förförståelse för fenomenet förpackningsdesign. Detta har bidragit till valet av studiens angreppsvinkel, vilken är att undersöka förpackningsdesign ur ett konsumentperspektiv för att få möjligheten att förstå hur en konsument tänker inför ett köpbeslut, samt vad som kan ligga till grund för vad en konsument attraheras av. Vad som var högst påtagligt efter en snabb överblick var att en förpackning påverkar en konsument, men hur mycket och till vilken grad var svårare att analysera. Det är många faktorer utöver förpackningen som även dessa har betydelse för vilken produkt en konsument i slutändan väljer. Efter en mer grundlig analys av data, insamlad med hjälp av fokusgruppsintervjuer samt de tidigare framtagna teorierna kunde slutsatsen dras att konsumenten påverkas av olika faktorer tillsammans vid val av lågengagemangsvara. Dock observerades en antydan till att konsumenter inte påverkas av förpackningen i lika stor utsträckning som av tidigare preferenser, varumärke och pris. Sammantaget krävs ett samspel mellan design och utformning samt pris, positionering och innehåll för att skapa en lyckad förpackningsdesign. / A highly competitive market has forced companies to find new ways to market themselves. Using package design has proven to be a powerful tool for companies to reach out with their marketing to consumers. The package has got a major role as a last step to communicate the brand to the consumers. This study aims to examine and analyse what factors influence a consumer in the decision making process when choosing a packaged product in the FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) industry. Three focus group interviews with consumers has generated qualitative data which is presented in relation to the theoretical framework of the study. The results show that there are many factors in addition to the package that also have a bearing on what product a consumer ultimately choose. A conclusion is drawn that different factors work together to influence the consumers choice of product. However, consumers seem to be less affected by the package than by past preferences, brand and price. Overall an interaction between design and form, price, positioning and content is required to create a successful package design.

Today's society is characterized by consumption and consumers are offered endless amount of choices. This has developed thanks to society's susceptibility to consumption. Market competition is increasing constantly, which forces companies to evolve more and more in order to get a good knowledge of the consumer. A committed company can adapt and develop different marketing strategies using the knowledge of consumer behavior, thereby acting as a competitive tool that strengthens their market position. Products that brings forth a certain behavior of the consumer, such that the consumer will be prone to spend more time in searching information, refers to as high involvement products. During the decision making process, the consumer can be influenced by everything from past experience to perception of personality. The study is designed using only primary data and the survey is based on open interviews with five consumers who have made a purchase of a high involvement product within the last month. With the help of theories and previous research, the collected data analyses some of the different factors that can influence the consumers during the consumer buying decision process of a high involvement product. A clear connection can be found between consumer buying decision process and the different characteristics which are reflected in the study's theory chapter. The most recurrent attributes that the consumers have been affected by the purchase decision process first step, appear to be also upcoming in the following stages. The most frequent factor, as consumers proved most affected by are groups. Primary groups, in the form of parents, family members and friends, returning several times at all of those asked consumers purchase decision process. The reason can be that the feeling of trust from the costumer’s side is higher in the primary groups, while there may exist lack of trust for retailers as they may seem to act for company or personal gain.

Bakgrund: Patientens rätt att vara delaktig i planering och genomförande av sin vård betonas idag, men många patienter är mindre delaktiga än de önskar vara. Det finns många fördelar med att patienten är delaktig. Syfte: Att beskriva vilka faktorer som påverkar patientens delaktighet i omvårdnad från patientens och sjuksköterskans perspektiv inom somatisk slutenvård. Metod: Litteraturstudie baserad på 16 vetenskapliga artiklar, publicerade mellan åren 2006 och 2015. Sökning skedde i databaserna PubMed och CINAHL, samt i de funna artiklarnas referenslistor. Resultat: Fem kategorier med faktorer som påverkade patientens delaktighet i omvårdnad identifierades; kunskap, relationen mellan patienten och sjuksköterskan, sjuksköterskans förhållningssätt, patientens situation och egenskaper samt organisationen. Slutsats: Faktorerna inom de fem kategorierna utgör ett komplicerat samspel och varje patient är en unik person med egna önskemål och preferenser för delaktighet. / Background: The patient's right to participate in planning and implementation of their care is stressed today but many patients are less involved than they would like to be. There are several positive outcomes of patient participation, Aim: To describe factors influencing patient participation in nursing care, from the patient’s and the nurse’s perspectives in somatic inpatient care. Method: A literature review based on 16 articles, published between 2006 and 2015. A literature search was made in the databases PubMed and CINAHL, and in the reference lists. Results: Five categories with factors that affected patient participation in nursing care were identified; knowledge, the relationship between the patient and the nurse, the nurse’s approach, the patient’s situation and characteristics and the organization. Conclusion: The factors within the five categories form a complex interaction and each patient is a unique person with its own wishes and preferences for participation.

Tidigare forskning inom detta område har fokuserat på barns vård, däremot har barns upplevelser utifrån ett aktivitetsperspektiv under sjukhusvistelse inte uppmärksammats. Författarnas uppfattning var att aktiviteter som erbjuds på barn- och ungdomskliniker oftast passar yngre barn och därför ansågs det relevant att tillfråga äldre barn om deras upplevelser av att kunna vara delaktiga i aktiviteter på sjukhus. Syftet var att beskriva barns upplevelser av möjlighet till delaktighet i meningsfulla aktiviteter under sjukhusvistelse. Kvalitativ metod användes med semi-strukturerade intervjuer. Ett bekvämlighetsurval användes och respondenterna var 12 barn i åldrarna 8-15 som befann sig på två barn- och ungdomskliniker i södra Sverige. Datamaterialet bearbetades med en kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Tolkningen av datamaterialet resulterade i det övergripande temat “Upplevelse av möjlighet till delaktighet i meningsfulla aktiviteter”. Resultatet delades in i tre kategorier; delaktighet, meningsfull aktivitet och aktiviteter på sjukhus. Slutsatsen var att barnen upplevde både möjligheter och begränsningar i att kunna vara delaktiga i aktiviteter under sin sjukhusvistelse. Majoriteten av barnen upplevde sig ha goda möjligheter till att kunna vara delaktiga i meningsfulla aktiviteter såsom att vistas på lekterapi, spela tv-spel och umgås med familj och vänner. / Previous science has focused on children’s clinical care and the children’s experience from an activity perspective during their hospital stay has not been focused on. The author’s opinion was that the activities in children’s and youth clinics often are suited for younger children. Therefor it seemed relevant to ask older children about their experience of participation in activities at the hospital. The aim was to describe children’s experiences of the possibility to participate in meaningful activities during their hospital stay. A qualitative method were used with semi-structured interviews. A convenience sample were used and the study included 12 children aged 8-15 in two children and youth clinics in southern Sweden. For data analysis a qualitative content analysis was used. The analysis resulted in the overall theme “Experience of possibility to participation in meaningful activities”. The result ended up in the three categories; participation, meaningful activities and activities at the hospital. The conclusion were that the children experienced both possibilities and limitations in order to participate in activities. The majority of the children experienced good possibilities to participate in meaningful activities as the play therapy, play video-games and spend time with family and friends.

Use of skilled care during antenatal visits and delivery is recommended to address the burden of maternal mortality. However there are few facility deliveries and insufficient knowledge of danger signs, especially in rural Tanzania.  The aim of this thesis was to explore the perceptions and challenges that the community faces while preparing for childbirth and to evaluate an intervention of the Home Based Life Saving Skills education programme on knowledge of danger signs, facility delivery and male involvement when delivered by rural community health workers in Tanzania. In Paper I, Focus Group Discussions explored the perceptions and challenges that the community encounters while preparing for childbirth. Structured questionnaires assessed men’s knowledge of danger signs and birth preparedness and complication readiness in Paper II. The effect of the Home Based Life Saving Skills education programme in the community was assessed with a before-and-after evaluation in two districts; one intervention and one comparison. Paper III assessed the effect of the programme on knowledge of danger signs and birth preparedness and facility delivery among women, while Paper IV evaluated its effect on male involvement. The community perceived that all births must be prepared for and that obstetric complication demands hospital care; hence skilled care was favoured. Men’s knowledge of danger signs was limited; only 12% were prepared for childbirth and complications. Preparedness was associated with knowledge of obstetric complications (AOR=1.4 95% CI 1.8 – 2.6). The intervention showed women utilizing antenatal care (four visits) significantly more (43.4 vs 67.8%) with a net effect of 25.3% (95% CI: 16.9 – 33.2; p < .0001). The use of facility delivery improved in the intervention area (75.6 vs 90.2%; p = 0.0002), but with no significant net effect 11.5% (95% CI: -5.1 – 39.6; p = 0.123) when comparing the two districts. Male involvement improved (39.2% vs 80.9%) with a net intervention effect of 41.1% (CI: 28.5 – 53.8; p < .0001). Improvements were demonstrated in men’s knowledge level, in escorting partners for antenatal care and delivery, making birth preparations, and shared decision-making. The intervention, in educating this rural community, is effective in improving knowledge, birth preparedness, male involvement and use of skilled care.