The purpose of this study was to investigate the consumers’ behaviours towards the distributors’ brands. The aim was to find out what were the most important criteria of the marketing mix for a consumer in his buying process that make him choose between a distributor’s brand and a leader’s brand. In order to achieve that, a theoretical framework has been established about the distributors’ brands, their different types, their management compared to the one of the leaders’ brands, then about the consumers, their relation towards the distributors’ brands, their personal implication in the brand, and their role, and also the theory of the marketing mix has been exposed. A quantitative research was applied. The questionnaire focused on every customer leaving, after purchases, from Carrefour and Casino in Montpellier. All economic and social status and lifestyles were interesting to study. 12 questions were asked to each customer, and 100 of them fully answered. The results of the study were that the price still is the most important criterion for the consumers in their buying decisions. The attractive price is the reason. But it was discovered that the quality became a real significant element for the consumers. The principal conclusion was that consumers still didn’t trust enough the products from the distributors’ brands, and that the price wasn’t anymore the only criterion to take into account. It was suggested that the distributors’ brands could reinforce their performances if they give more priority to the quality.

Leadership is a broad topic that can be studied from a vast amount of angles and perspectives. The same fact is true for communication. This study combines these two concepts as it directs attention towards discursive analysis of business leaders. With this focus, the purpose is to describe the essence of rhetoric as an essential part of business communication, analyze how business leaders perform leadership through communication and to contribute to further understanding of this subject, by explaining the communication of business leaders through rhetorical analysis. To reach as far as possible within this research a theoretical framework, that will be the support for the analysis, is established as a basis on which an analysis is possible. This framework reviews the important concepts that are essential for understanding the means of the following rhetorical analysis. To analyze the textual communication of business leaders extracted from real life cases, narratives from situations where leadership is practiced have been selected based on certain criteria. The findings of this study are in unity with the direction in which this research aims. The way business leaders communicate in situations where leadership is practiced have an immense impact on how they are perceived as leaders. Therefore it is argued that business leaders should put more emphasis on increasing their understanding of how they are perceived by others, based on the way they communicate through verbal communication.

In this postindustrial era, organizations have realized a dire need to have work force with leadership skills in order to maintain their competitive edge in the market place. This has stretched the scope of leadership education to diverse field of studies and has raised the number of leadership education programs offered in colleges and universities all over the world. This thesis is an exploratory study to identify key features of leadership education that distinguish it from conventional educational programs. In view of key early career challenges faced by graduates, research hypotheses were generated regarding the role played by different type of leadership educators and various means employed for leadership education. In order to test the research hypotheses web based questionnaire was distributed among 72 students of three Master Programs at Linnaeus University, Sweden, of whom 32 responded, giving an overall response rate of 44.4%. Among the three Master Programs, two offer leadership education while one offers courses in business strategy and marketing. Furthermore, interviews were conducted with the program directors of three Master Programs. The commercial statistical software GraphPad Prism version 5.04 was employed for statistical analysis of the data. The results have showed a clear distinction of perceptions among the students of two types of programs, one that offer leadership education and other that do not, in terms of role of different type of leadership educators and various means employed for leadership education. It has been concluded that leadership programs have helped in developing the leadership mindset and vital leadership skills.

The widespread and rapid internationalization of small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the healthcare sector is outpacing our efforts to understand the motives behind this phenomenon and the processes that propel it. This paper investigates the internationalization processes of Swedish SMEs that operate in the international healthcare markets. Based on interviews from five SMEs, the study seeks to understand why these SMEs internationalize, and how and in what way this internationalization process unfolds. By developing a conceptual model based on previous literature for SME internationalization, knowledge and networks, and the regulatory environment in which the SMEs operate, the findings are analyzed in the context of the healthcare industry. The research concludes that product approval regulations have a small influence on the internationalization process; instead establishing relationships with local key opinion leaders to create awareness and legitimacy was essential to successfully enter a new foreign market. A further key finding identified was that each market is characterized by different national praxis and contrasting views on patient treatment methods, which was recognized as a challenge among the case firms.

Kvinnliga chefer sitter i en minoritetsställning eftersom det fortfarande är mest män som är chefer (Bohlin, 2006). Könsfördelningen i byggbranschen är 4 % för kvinnor och 96 % för män (SCB, 2010). Det finns starka skäl att tro att kvinnor inte har en plats i byggbranschen eftersom kvinnorna är ett andrahandsval. När det är högkonjunktur och brist på arbetskraft rekryteras kvinnor men annars anses byggyrkena för tunga, trots att fysisk styrka inte krävs inom vissa befattningar. Dessutom finns en manlig jargong som hindrar kvinnorna att komma in i branschen (Olofsson, 2000). Gary Yukl (2002) har identifierat och delat upp ledarskap i olika förhållningssätt, ett av dessa är egenskapsperspektivet som säger att en del människor är naturliga ledare och har särskilda egenskaper. Detta med fokus på ledarens personliga egenskaper. Litteraturen diskuterar kvinnliga ledarstilar men det finns inga studier som visar om män och kvinnor använder sina egenskaper på olika sätt trots deras olika socialisering (Isaac, Behar-Horenstein, Koro-Ljungberg, 2009). Eftersom det inte finns några studier om kvinnor och män använder sina egenskaper på olika sätt vill vi utreda vilka dessa är och hur de skiljer sig åt i ledarskapet. Trots alla hinder finns det kvinnor som lyckats och har ledarpositioner inom byggbranschen. Vi vill ta reda på vilka egenskaper dessa kvinnor har som ledare i en väldigt mansdominerad bransch. Vår frågeformulering för uppsatsen är: Vilka egenskaper präglas en kvinnas ledarskap i byggbransch av? Syftet med vår studie är att se hur kvinnliga ledare uppfattar kvinnligt ledarskap och deras egenskaper inom en mansdominerad bransch som byggbranschen. För att uppfylla vårt syfte har vi använt oss av en kvalitativ metod med deduktiv ansats. Fyra olika respondenter i byggbranschen har intervjuats där alla fyra var kvinnor i ledande positioner. Intervjufrågor som vi ställde var formulerade utefter vår teoretiska referensram. Det vi har kommit fram till genom vår studie är att det finns egenskaper som präglar en kvinnas ledarskap inom byggbranschen. Vi har även kommit fram till att det finns en del hinder och därför är det viktigt att vara anpassningsbar. Vårt bidrag med denna studie är att visa vilka egenskaper som kvinnor har, samt att vi vill visa att kvinnor har en plats som ledare i byggbranschen.

Idea and Purpose The background of this thesis is the ongoing discussion ofleadership and management and how these terms are connected. Unfortunatelythe discussuion of this topic is very much restricted to books and scientific papers. My idea is to first clarify the terms of management and leadership and then, through dialogues to find out if and how the differences are relevant in daily work-life. My personal aim is to raise the awareness to the importance of leadership because it deals with the human being as a whole. Further I hope that this work might inspire executives to reflect themselves and to improve the relationship between them and their followers. Research Question Do leaders differentiate between leadership and management and how does the difference influence their understanding of the issue andtheir individual leadership style? Methodology The approach used here is a qualitative one, using dialogues to understand the ideas and opinions of todays people in leading positions through interpretation and interaction.

No description available.

Title: Female leaders within the bank sector.   Level: D-level in Business   Author: Emma Roos & Fanny Wiklander   Supervisor: Maria Fregidou-Malama   Date: 2011 – January   Aim: The aim of this study is to examine which factors are behind the low number of female leaders compared to male leaders within the bank sector.   Method: We have adapted a qualitative method. This means that the researcher works close to the object of research and tries to understand it. We believe that this is a suitable method for our study since it’s based on seven personal interviews. Moreover, we have studied existing theories about the subject and connected these theories with the empirical chapter in order to draw conclusions.      Result & Conclusions: Our study shows three main reasons that might explain why there are more male than female leaders within the bank sector. They are; women’s inability to show what they can do and to take risks, the heavy responsibility for home and family that is put on women and also that the traditional image of the male boss still exists. We think that a fundamental change in the way women’s role is regarded is necessary, both in society and in companies. To do this there need to be awareness about the problem and it needs to be up for discussion all the time as long as the inequalities remain. We believe that mentorship can be a useful tool for women who want to advance in their careers.          Suggestions for future research: This is an interesting subject and as long as there are inequalities in society there is still reason to continue to explore the subject. One could for example examine other sectors than the bank sector or compare the female/male-ratio in leading positions in private and government owned companies. It might also be interesting to include male leaders or women who have not advanced in their careers among those who are interviewed.          Contribution of the thesis: Our research has contributed to us understanding why there are more male leaders than female leaders in the bank sector. We also hope that the study will help young women to see and understand the most common obstacles in women’s careers in order to minimize them for themselves. We also believe that board of directors in general would benefit from reading this thesis since it would give them a greater understanding of the problem and hopefully speed up the process of obliterating the inequalities. The study has shed light on the problem and also tried to give suggestions on how to diminish it.

<p>Despite the crucial role that conference committees can play in the legislative process, relatively little is understood about the forces that influence conference outcomes and the priorities of conferees. In particular, the literature on conferences rarely considers the importance of parties, while prominent theories of party government in Congress do not engage the role of conferences in the legislative process. Given the unique features of the conference reports (i.e., they are subject only up-or-down votes, they are generally protected from further amendments, they enjoy a high probability of passage, and they provide a means to make controversial changes/additions to legislation with minimal scrutiny) conferences can be a useful means for majority conferees to further the legislative goals of their party. To the extent that one of the goals of a legislative majority is to pass legislation that better reflects the interests of its members, then partisan politics should play an active role at the conference stage and in the decisions of conferees. This dissertation serves to connect the conference and party government literatures by considering the claim that majority parties in Congress can and do use the conference process to pursue a partisan legislative agenda.</p><p>This broad claim is considered in three separate chapters that test hypotheses about the role of party politics in different aspects of the conference process. Chapter two tests the hypothesis that more partisan conference delegations are associated with changes in policy that are more consistent with the majority party's preferences. Since the Speaker of the House has sole discretion over the composition of the House's delegation it is possible that strategic selection of conferees could advantage the preferences of the majority in the House. Using original data that includes information on every conference committee from 1981-2008 the empirical analysis shows that changes in House minority support in roll call vote before and after conference are smaller for conferences where the percentage of the House majority delegation is larger. Increases in minority shifts of support within both chambers is also predicted by increased support for the report by minority conferees and more bipartisan support in the opposing chamber. Though the analysis cannot directly test whether strategic selection by the House Speaker is effective, the results do show that if a conference delegation is dominated by the majority party that conference reports are more partisan. Thus the results indicate that the decision to appoint conferees can be used to influence the partisan content of conference outcomes.</p><p>Chapter three looks at whether compromises made in conference reflect a bias towards the interests of majority members. Using newly available data from the first session of the 110th Congress, which allow for a comparison of earmarks before and after conference, the chapter provides one of the first analyses of how earmarks are changed during bicameral negotiations. Specifically, this chapter tests hypotheses on whether the earmarks of majority, well-connected, and electorally vulnerable members are advantaged in how conferees decided to change the value of pork barrel projects in conference. Lastly, since earmarking is generally considered to be free of partisan conflict, the data provides a demanding test of the existence of a majority bias. The results show evidence of majority bias for Representatives and Senators in conference earmarking during the 110th Congress.</p><p>Chapter four focuses on decision making in conference at the level of individual conferees. Using original data collected on every conferee's decision to sign a report from 1981-2008 the analysis this chapter tests the extent to which party loyalty is a factor in conferee decision making. Through descriptive, multivariate, and multilevel analyses of signature decisions the results show that majority affiliation, relative to committee and individual preferences is increasingly the dominant factor in predicting whether a conferee signs a conference report. This results also establish that contextual features of a conference, such as whether the bill was referred to multiple committees before conference, whether the bill considered was an appropriations measure, and whether the House was in a position to act first on the conference report, are all significant predictors of disagreement. Lastly, the results provide evidence that partisan conflict in support of conference reports generally increased over this period and that unified governments accentuate this conflict. These results support the overarching claim of the project in that conflict over the content of conference reports is increasingly divided along party lines to the advantage of the majority party.</p><p>Together the different analyses of the three chapters provide evidence of the claim that majority parties can and do pursue partisan goals in the contemporary conference process. Furthermore the results advance scholarly understanding of the many forces at play in conference committee bargaining and how they contribute to legislative outcomes through the complexities of the conference process.</p> / Dissertation

With the rise of feminism, the number of working women has increased significantly. Relatively, the proportion of women who act as supervisors has been increasing continuously and obviously. In many well-known international enterprises, many high-ranking female leaders have emerged, displaying their unique characteristics of management and leadership, leading companies to increasingly thriving. The study mainly explored the leadership styles of female leaders and gender role related matters. The study objects were high-ranking female leaders. By the means of field interview, female leaders in various industries were interviewed. The data collected and contents of interviews were cross compared with the self-assessment of the interviewees. This study explored through three aspects as below: 1. Leadership styles of female leaders 2. Impact of gender role 3. The gender role impact of female leaders on the leadership style Based on the individual leadership characteristics and gender identity, main leadership styles and commonality were summarized. Critical successful factors were explored through the characteristics, style and experience of successful female leaders. This study adopted the methods of qualitative research, case study and semi-structured intensive interview. The findings of this study are listed as below: 1. The leadership style of high-ranking female leaders: Democratic leadership is the main style, supplemented by autocratic leadership to guide the subordinates to negotiate, reach a consensus and achieve goals. 2. Work-centered leadership style: Most female leaders adopt work-centered style which can easily achieve the goal of work. 3. Mainstream of transformational leadership: The study found out that all female leaders adopted transformational leadership uniformly. The main reason is that it is more suitable for working environment and it is effective in developing team consensus. 4. Glass ceiling effect: Owing to the change of gender stereotype, professional capabilities and work performances were the main basis for promotion. Gender isn¡¦t the main factor to be considered any longer.