Studiens syfte är att frambringa en ökad förståelse kring chefers informationsinsamling under distansarbete genom en jämförelse mellan två chefsgrupper inom olika verksamhetsområden. Chefsgrupperna utgörs av dels chefer inom produktionsledning och chefer i en administrativ ledning. Intentionen med en jämförande studie är att åskådliggöra skillnader i vilka alternativa tillvägagångssätt chefsgrupperna tillämpar i informationsinsamlingen under distansarbete. Tidigare forskning har avhandlat grunderna i chefsarbete samt chefsarbete på distans. Den aktuella studien fokuserar på chefsarbete under distansarbete via en jämförande karaktär där studien identifierat ett aktuellt forskningsgap. En jämförande studie är relevant för att åskådliggöra hur chefsgrupperna agerat vid omställningen mot distansarbete eftersom arbetet vanligtvis inte utförts på distans tidigare. Eftersom cheferna arbetar inom olika verksamhetsområden är det av intresse att belysa vilka skillnader som kan utläsas mellan grupperna. Studien tar sin utgångspunkt i den deduktiva ansatsen via kvalitativa intervjuer utförda med åtta stycken chefer inom olika företag fördelade på två chefsgrupper.  Resultatet påvisar att det existerar skillnader i tillvägagångssätten kring informationsinsamling för de olika cheferna. Från cheferna i produktionsledning kan urskiljas att ett delegerat arbetssätt varit ett genomgående förekommande tillvägagångssätt vilket effektiviserat informationsflödena och informationsinsamlingen inom organisationerna. En tydlig distinktion gentemot chefer inom den administrativa chefsgruppen är att cheferna inom den senare kategorin anammat ett större fokus på att utforma procedurer för att göra den digitala mötesformen mer effektiv och välfungerande. Anledningen är att det digitala formatet utgör det huvudsakliga forumet för att delge och samla in information under distansarbete. Skillnaden i tillvägagångssätt utgörs av de underordnades roll och arbetsuppgifter inom organisationerna. Eftersom de anställda som lyder under produktionsledningen fortsättningsvis behövt befinna sig fysiskt på arbetsplatsen för att upprätthålla verksamheten har cheferna modifierat ett arbetssätt anpassat efter förutsättningarna. Inom den administrativa gruppen har både chefer och anställda möjlighet att bedriva arbetet från distans vilket ställt krav på cheferna att finna effektiva tillvägagångssätt kopplat till digitala kommunikationsverktyg för att skapa förutsättningar att kunna samla in information om verksamheten. / The purpose of the study is to generate an increased understanding of managers' information gathering during telework through a comparison between two management groups in different business areas. The management groups consist of managers within operations management and managers in administrative management. The intention of a compared study is to visualize differences in which alternative approaches the management groups apply in the information gathering during teleworking. Previous research has discussed the premises of managerial work and managerial work during telework. The current study focuses on managerial work during telework via a comparison where the study identified a current research gap. A comparative study is essential to illustrate how the management groups have acted in the transition to telework, as the work has usually not been performed remotely before. Since the managers work in different areas of activity it is interesting to highlight the differences that can be read between the groups. The study is based on the deductive approach via qualitative interviews accomplished with eight managers in different companies divided into two management groups. The results show that there are differences in the approaches to information gathering for the various managers. In operations management it can be distinguished that a delegated method has been a common procedure, which has streamlined the information flows and information gathering within the organizations. An explicit distinction towards managers within the administrative management group is that the managers within the latter category have adopted a considerable focus on forming procedures to make the digital form of meeting more efficient and well-functioning. The reason is that digital communication is the main forum för communicating and gathering information during telework. The difference in approach consists of the role and tasks of the subordinates within the organization. As the employees who are under the operations management continued to need to be physically at the workplace to maintain the business, managers have modified a way of working adapted to the conditions. Within the administrative group both managers and employees have the opportunity to conduct the work remotely, which requires managers to find effective procedures linked to digital communication tools to create conditions for being able to gather information about the organization.

The grocery trade is part of the food industry, which is Sweden's third largest industry. It is obvious that it is an industry with a high market concentration where the market share of the three largest companies corresponds to almost 87%. In addition to the high concentration in the market, the industry is undergoing a structural change in new store formats that are more adapted to the customer's needs, among other things through geographical location, opening hours, service, price and design. Each individual has their own preferences when it comes to where to shop. At present, the supply of grocery stores is large and there is a tough level of competition throughout the country. It is therefore important for the various chains in the grocery trade to create and maintain a loyal customer base in order to remain relevant but also to survive the tough competition. The purpose of the study is to create an understanding of which marketing techniques the various chains in the Swedish grocery trade use to create and maintain a loyal customer base. To be ableto investigate this, a qualitative study was conducted consisting of four interviews with three different chains. The respondents who have participated have either had a central and high-ranking role within the chain or in the stores. This is because it is important for the study that the respondents have insight into how the organization works. The chains that have participated are: ICA, Hemköp and Coop. Based on the theoretical framework and the empirical evidence that has been collected, ananalysis has been carried out in order to be able to draw a conclusion. The conclusion that is drawn is that there are many and important factors that come into play to maintain and create aloyal customer base. But the marketing technique that stands out and that is of utmost importanceis loyalty programs followed by customer relationship management, relationship management and corporate store image.

La littérature sur les entrevues d’enquête du milieu policier a mis en évidence les facteurs associés à la confession. Des recherches ont montré que la confession est associée à des suspects plus jeunes (Deslauriers-Varin & St-Yves, 2010; Viljoen, et al., 2005); des personnes d'origine caucasienne (St-Yves, 2002; Viljoen, et al., 2005); des célibataires (St-Yves, 2002); et le type de crime (Moston et coll., 1992; Phillips et Brown, 1998). La recherche a également examiné le rôle de la quantité et la nature de la preuve (p.ex., Brimbal & Luke, 2019 ; Deslauriers-Varin, et al., 2011, 2020 ; Moston & Engelberg, 2011), la manière dont les preuves sont présentées (p.ex., l'utilisation stratégique des preuves; Clemens et al., 2020 ; Granhag et al., 2013), et le rôle des enquêteurs et des techniques d'enquête (p.ex., May, et al., 2017; Snook et al., 2015; Wachi, et al., 2014). Cependant, la littérature sur l'entrevue d’enquête a mis l'accent sur les mesures de corrélation entre la confession et les variables qui peuvent l'influencer comme si elle était stable dans le temps. Pourtant, il existe des preuves que la confession pourrait être un processus instable influencé par des éléments contextuels. Par exemple, des chercheurs ont évoqué le changement de décision (vers l'aveu ou vers le déni) qui s'opère avec les suspects dans le cadre d'un interrogatoire (Bull & Soukara, 2010; Deslauriers-Varin, et al., 2011a ; Walsh et Bull, 2012). Plus récemment, dans la littérature, les chercheurs se sont engagés dans un virage clair vers une analyse de l'entrevue d’enquête qui prenait en compte des différents aspects dynamiques de la situation tel que l’ordre des comportements dans le temps (p.ex., Kelly, et al., 2016 ; Yang, et al., 2017). Pour participer à ce virage et contribuer à la recherche dans le domaine, nous proposons une nouvelle conceptualisation de l'entrevue d’enquête à travers une nouvelle perspective théorique : la Théorie des Jeux. Une discussion sur la théorie et ses concepts est suivie de deux articles empiriques qui visent à mieux étudier les entrevues. Le premier article explore l'influence mutuelle des deux participants sur l’obtention d’information pertinente à l’enquête. Des entretiens enregistrés sur vidéo liés à l'exploitation sexuelle d'enfants sur internet (n = 130) ont été utilisés et les différents comportements des suspects et des enquêteurs ont été analysés pour déterminer s'ils impliquaient (1) l'établissement d'un rapport/le déni actif, (2) la collaboration, (3) la confrontation, (4) l’émotion/réponse, et (5) l’obtention d'informations liées à l’enquête. Les résultats ont montré que les informations pertinentes à l'enquête sont souvent fournies peu de temps après qu'un suspect a offert des informations supplémentaires ou s’est montré émotif (par exemple, pleure). Lorsque l’enquêteur présente des preuves, la probabilité que des informations supplémentaires soient fournies par le suspect augmente immédiatement. Cependant, établir un rapport avec le suspect est efficace à plus long terme alors qu’un effet positif n'est pas immédiatement observé. En utilisant le même échantillon, la deuxième étude explore l'hétérogénéité des stratégies et des comportements des suspects lors d’une entrevue d’enquête ainsi que la stabilité de ces profils dans le temps puisque les comportements des suspects est un sujet rarement abordé dans la littérature contrairement aux comportements de l’interviewer. L'analyse a permis d'identifier la présence de cinq profils différents : 1) Positif ; 2) Justifiant ; 3) Accepter ; 4) Contrôler ; 5) Irrité. L'analyse temporelle montre également que la majorité des suspects restent dans le même profil au cours de l'entretien. Cette thèse a permis d’instaurer une base théorique et méthodologique pour l'étude des interactions sociales asymétriques à travers l'utilisation de la perspective de la Théorie des Jeux. Plus particulièrement, le contexte de l'entrevue d’enquête des délinquants sexuels en ligne a été observé et les résultats pointent vers le fait que l'interaction sociale qui a lieu dans la salle d'interrogatoire est influencée par les stratégies de l’interviewer et du suspect. De plus, les décisions prises par le suspect aux cours de l’entrevue sont explorées et semblent être associés à leurs préférences. La thèse accorde également une attention particulière à la notion complexe de temps ainsi que son impact sur les comportements et propose une évaluation temporelle continue de l'interaction plutôt que de segmenter l’entrevue tel que vu dans la littérature. Les résultats visent à développer une nouvelle façon d’étudier l’entrevue d’enquête afin d’éventuellement fournir des outils pratiques aux policiers sur le type de stratégies à utiliser selon le temps dont ils disposent et sur le type de suspect avec lequel ils travaillent. Les résultats contribuent également à établir des méthodologies pour l’analyse de d'autres types d'interactions asymétriques qui sont courantes dans le domaine de la criminologie. Considérer l’entrevue d’enquête comme étant une interaction sociale représentant un processus qui évolue dans le temps fournit un point de départ pour la création de directives pratiques pour aider les praticiens à accroître la collaboration des suspects. / The literature on police investigative interviewing has highlighted the factors associated with confession. Research has shown that confession is associated with younger suspects (Deslauriers-Varin & St-Yves, 2010; Viljoen, et al., 2005); individuals of Caucasian origin (St-Yves, 2002; Viljoen, et al., 2005); single individuals (St-Yves, 2002); and individuals who have committed less serious crime (Moston et al., 1992; Phillips & Brown, 1998). Research also examines the role of evidence strength (e.g., Brimbal & Luke, 2019; Deslauriers-Varin, et al., 2011, 2020; Moston & Engelberg, 2011), the way in which evidence is presented (e.g., strategic use of evidence; Clemens et al., 2020; Granhag et al., 2013), and the role of police investigators and investigative techniques (e.g., May, et al., 2017; Snook et al., 2015; Wachi, et al., 2014). However, the literature on investigative interviewing has emphasized measures of correlation between confession and the variables that may influence it as if they were stable over time. Yet, there is evidence that confession could be an unstable process influenced by contextual elements. For example, researchers have raised the change in decision (towards confession or even towards denial) that operates with suspects in the context of an interrogation (Bull & Soukara, 2010, Deslauriers-Varin, et al., 2011a; Walsh & Bull, 2012; Verhoeven, 2018). More recently in the literature, researchers engaged in a clear shift toward a more dynamic analysis of investigative interview (e.g., Kelly, et al., 2016; Yang, et al., 2017). To contribute to the research in this field, we propose a new conceptualization of the investigative interview through a new theoretical perspective: Game Theory. A discussion on the theory and its concept leads to two empirical articles that aim to study interviews more effectively. The first one explores the dynamic influence of both participants, the interviewer and the suspect, on suspect's disclosure. Videotaped interviews related to online child sexual exploitation (n=130) were analyzed and the different behaviors of suspects and interviewers were analyzed to determine if they involved (1) rapport building/active denial, (2) collaboration, (3) confrontation, (4) emotion/response, and (5) elicitation of information related to the case. Results showed that information relevant to the investigation is often provided shortly after a suspect has offered additional information or given responses that meet emotional needs (e.g., justifications). The interviewer’s use of available evidence increases the likelihood that additional information will be provided, while the ability to build a rapport with the suspect is effective in the longer term, even if a positive effect is not immediately observed. The second study explores the heterogeneity of strategies and behaviors of suspects during an interview as well as the stability of those profiles as suspects behaviors is a subject that have been overlooked in the literature contrarily to interviewers behaviors. The analysis helped identify the presence of five different profiles: 1) Positive; 2) Justifying; 3) Accepting; 4) Controlling; 5) Irritated. The temporal analysis also shows that the probability that a suspect will continue to exhibit the same profile over the course of the interview is high. This thesis allows to set a theoretical and methodological basis to the study of asymmetrical interaction through the use of the Game Theory perspective. More particularly, the context of investigative interviewing of online sex offenders has been observed and the results point toward the fact that both the suspect and the interviewer influence the course of the social interaction that takes place in the interrogation room. Moreover, the decisions of the suspects have been explored and seems to be taken according to their preferences. The thesis also gives particular attention to the complex notion of time and its influence on behavior and proposes, in the fourth chapter, a continuous timeline evaluation of the interaction instead of a segmented analysis. The findings help develop a new line of research with innovative methods in order to eventually provide practical tools to police investigators on the matter of the type of strategies to use according to the amount of time they have and on the type of suspect they are working with. The findings also contribute to setting methodologies for other types of asymmetrical interaction which are common in the field of criminology. Seeing the interviews as being an interaction process provides a starting point for the creation of practical guidelines to help practitioners increase suspect collaboration during investigative interviews.

Multi-agent information gathering (MA-IG) enables autonomous robots to cooperatively collect information in an unfamiliar area. In some scenarios, the focus is on gathering the true mapping of a physical quantity such as temperature or magnetic field. This thesis proposes a computationally efficient algorithm known as multi-agent RRT-clustered Stackelberg game (MA-RRTc-SG) to solve MA-IG. During exploration, measurements are taken along robot paths to update the belief of a Gaussian process (GP), which gives a continuous estimation of the physical process. To seek informative paths, agents first resort to self-planning: one individually generates a number of choices using sampling-based algorithms and preserves informative ones. Then, paths from different robots are combined and investigated based on a multi-player Stackelberg game. The Stackelberg game ensures robots select the combination of paths that yield maximum system reward. The reward function plays an important role in the aforementioned two steps. In our work, robots are awarded for selecting informative paths and punished for hazardous movements and large control inputs. In experiments, we first conduct variation studies to investigate the influence of key parameters in the proposed algorithm. Then, the algorithm is tested in a simulation case to map the radiation intensity in a nuclear plant. Results show that using our algorithm, robots are able to collect information in an efficient and cooperative way compared to random exploration. / Multi-agent informationsinsamling gör det möjligt för autonoma robotar att samarbeta samla in information i ett okänt område. I vissa scenarier ligger fokus på att samla in den verkliga kartläggningen av en fysisk storhet som temperatur eller magnetfält. Den här avhandlingen föreslår en beräkningseffektiv algoritm som kallas multi-agent RRT-clustered Stackelberg game (MA-RRTc-SG) för att lösa multi-agent informationsinsamling. Under prospektering görs mätningar längs robotbanor för att uppdatera tron på en Gaussisk process, vilket ger en kontinuerlig uppskattning av den fysiska processen. För att söka informativa vägar tillgriper agenter först självplanering: man genererar individuellt ett antal val med hjälp av samplingsbaserade algoritmer och bevarar informativa. Sedan kombineras och undersöks vägar från olika robotar utifrån en Stackelberg spel för flera spelare. Stackelberg spelet säkerställer att robotar väljer kombinationen av vägar som ger maximal systembelöning. Belöningsfunktionen spelar en viktig roll i de ovan nämnda två stegen. I vårt arbete belönas robotar för att välja informativa vägar och straffas för osäkra rörelser och stora kontrollingångar. I experiment genomför vi först variationsstudier för att undersöka inverkan av nyckelparametrar i den föreslagna algoritmen. Därefter testas algoritmen i ett simuleringsfall för att kartlägga strålningsintensiteten i ett kärnkraftverk. Resultaten visar att med vår algoritm kan robotar samla in information på ett effektivt och samarbetssätt jämfört med slumpmässig utforskning.

Information gathering and information overload is an ever growing topic of concernfor Information Technology (IT) experts. The amount of information dealt withon an everyday basis is large enough to take up valuable time having to scatterthrough it all to find the relevant information. As for the application area of IT,time is directly related to money as having to waste valuable production time ininformation gathering and allocation of human resources is a direct loss of profitsfor any given company. Two issues are mainly addressed through this thesis: textsare too lengthy and the difficulty of finding relevant information. Through the useof Natural Language Processes (NLP) methods such as topic modelling and textsummarization, a proposed solution is constructed in the form of a technical basiswhich can be implemented in most business areas. An experiment along with anevaluation session is setup in order to evaluate the performance of the technical basisand enforce the focus of this paper, namely ”How effective is text summarizationcombined with individualized information recommendation in improving informationgathering of IT experts?”. Furthermore, the solution includes a construction of userprofiles in an attempt to individualize content and theoretically present more relevantinformation. The results for this project are affected by the substandard quality andmagnitude of data points, however positive trends are discovered. It is stated thatthe use of user profiles further enhances the amount of relevant articles presentedby the model along with the increasing recall and precision values per iteration andaccuracy per number of updates made per user. Not enough time is spent as for theextent of the evaluation process to confidently state the validity of the results morethan them being inconsistent and insufficient in magnitude. However, the positivetrends discovered creates further speculations on if the project is given enough timeand resources to reach its full potential. Essentially, one can theoretically improveinformation gathering by summarizing texts combined with individualization.

Internet of Things (IoT) ger stora möjligheter att samla in data för olika syfte som till exempel att estimera antalet personer för att styra värmen i ett rum. Vidare så kan IoT-system automatisera uppgifter som kan hjälpa oss människor. Den här studien syftar till vilken typ av data som kan vara intressant att samla in för att kunna estimera antalet personer på en offentlig plats. Det handlar även om hur känslig data som samlas in kan anonymiseras. För att göra detta så valdes det att undersöka hur MAC-adresser från Bluetooth-enheter skulle fungerar för att uppskatta antalet personer. För att samla in MAC-adresser så utvecklades ett proof of concept-system där en Android-applikation samlade in MAC-adresser som anonymiserades innan de lagrades i en databas. Applikationen anonymiserar den unika MAC-adressen enligt tre nivåer med olika säkerhet. Fältstudier gjordes där antalet personer räknades visuellt sedan gjordes anonymiserade insamlingar av MAC-adresser. Slutsatsen var att Bluetooth blir svårt att använda för att estimera antal personer eftersom alla inte har Bluetooth på. Applikationen som utvecklats påvisar att data kan samlas in säkert och på så sätt inte kränka integritet. / Internet of Things (IoT) provides great opportunities to collect data for different purposes such as to estimate the number of people to control the heat in a room. Furthermore, IoT systems can automate tasks that can help us humans. This study is aimed at the type of data that can be interesting to gather in order to estimate the number of people in a public place. It is also about how sensitive data can be anonymized when gathered. To do this, Bluetooth devices was chosen for investigating how the MAC addresses would work to estimate the number of people. For collecting MAC addresses a proof of concept system was developed, where an Android application was used to collect MAC addresses. These MAC addresses were anonymized before being stored in a database. The application anonymize the unique MAC address according to three levels of security. Field studies were conducted as the number of people were counted visually then anonymous collection of MAC addresses were made. The conclusion was that Bluetooth will be difficult to use for estimating the number of people because not everyone has Bluetooth on. The application developed demonstrates that data can be collected safely and thus does not violate privacy.

Cette thèse s'intéresse à des problèmes de prise de décision séquentielle dans lesquels l'acquisition d'information est une fin en soi. Plus précisément, elle cherche d'abord à savoir comment modifier le formalisme des POMDP pour exprimer des problèmes de collecte d'information et à proposer des algorithmes pour résoudre ces problèmes. Cette approche est alors étendue à des tâches d'apprentissage par renforcement consistant à apprendre activement le modèle d'un système. De plus, cette thèse propose un nouvel algorithme d'apprentissage par renforcement bayésien, lequel utilise des transitions locales optimistes pour recueillir des informations de manière efficace tout en optimisant la performance escomptée. Grâce à une analyse de l'existant, des résultats théoriques et des études empiriques, cette thèse démontre que ces problèmes peuvent être résolus de façon optimale en théorie, que les méthodes proposées sont presque optimales, et que ces méthodes donnent des résultats comparables ou meilleurs que des approches de référence. Au-delà de ces résultats concrets, cette thèse ouvre la voie (1) à une meilleure compréhension de la relation entre la collecte d'informations et les politiques optimales dans les processus de prise de décision séquentielle, et (2) à une extension des très nombreux travaux traitant du contrôle de l'état d'un système à des problèmes de collecte d'informations / The purpose of this dissertation is to study sequential decision problems where acquiring information is an end in itself. More precisely, it first covers the question of how to modify the POMDP formalism to model information-gathering problems and which algorithms to use for solving them. This idea is then extended to reinforcement learning problems where the objective is to actively learn the model of the system. Also, this dissertation proposes a novel Bayesian reinforcement learning algorithm that uses optimistic local transitions to efficiently gather information while optimizing the expected return. Through bibliographic discussions, theoretical results and empirical studies, it is shown that these information-gathering problems are optimally solvable in theory, that the proposed methods are near-optimal solutions, and that these methods offer comparable or better results than reference approaches. Beyond these specific results, this dissertation paves the way (1) for understanding the relationship between information-gathering and optimal policies in sequential decision processes, and (2) for extending the large body of work about system state control to information-gathering problems

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This thesis focuses on Paradox Interactive's information seeking as a process in the construction of historical computer games. The study is collecting data through a series of interviews with two professional groups: Content designers and 3D graphics. The study focuses on the role of information gathering as a internal process in the creation of the game but also on how the two professions, which have been involved in the study's interviews, gather information relevant to their specific tasks. The study also touches on whether it exists a connection between how Content designers and 3D graphics conduct their searches for information and the ABM sector (that is archives, libraries and museums) as sources/distributors of information. The study has resulted in knowledge regarding the professional groups' information behaviour, what factors that affect the process of gathering information. The study has also resulted in an awareness regarding what kind of information sources that are attractive. Furthermore, the interviews conducted have produced information on how archives, libraries and museums function as information sources for the selected professional groups. The information gathered through the interviews shows that archives, libraries and museums are not used as information sources by the professional groups. Reasons as to why this is the case are a lack of awareness as well as the professional groups' various needs, such as right content and easy accessibility. Games which are utilising or relate to popular history are a clear aspect of modern days popular culture. There exists an abundance of games which relate to history whether they are historical strategy-focused computer games or more action-packed videogames constructed around historical events and contexts. There exists an equally abundance of studies which focuses on games in certain aspects; one such area of research is how history is utilised in games. This study, as noted above, doesn't focus on the games themselves or how they utilise history but rather on the specific question of how the developers gather the information about the past, what sources that exists, and how archives, libraries and museums can better accommodate game creators as a specific group of information gatherers and users.

The main goal of this thesis is to design and implement a mechanism that provides protection against stateless tracking with browser fingerprint. Implemented tool has a form of module that takes part of JavaScript Restrictor extension. The module allows to specify heuristics used for evaluation of visited sites that may contain browser fingerprint extraction. If suspicious activity is detected, all subsequent HTTP requests from that site are blocked to prevent the extracted fingerprint from being sent to the server. The implementation and defined heuristics were tested. The resulting module represents an effective tool against stateless tracking. The main limitation of the implementation is possible corruption of sites by blocking HTTP requests.