Class of 2006 Abstract / Every organization strives towards excellence. Excellence is often achieved through sound management practices. In this analysis, a local Tucson business was assessed to determine its organizational efficiency. Interviews were conducted in order to assess a broad range of managerial issues including cultural and ethical issues, communication issues, staffing issues and leadership and motivation. Recommendations were provided for potential improvements. Cultural and ethical issues included indifference, a lack of discipline, and unethical behavior. Communication issues included a lack of upward communication, lack of appraisals, proper training and teamwork. Staffing issues included an informal selection process, high turnover and a lack of external sales support. Leadership and motivational issues included no incentives to work harder, lack of upward mobility, no recognition to boost moral, poor attitude and constant tardiness. Recommendations for cultural and ethical issues included standardized meetings, strict discipline and proper enforcement. Recommendations for communication issues included an appropriate training manual, an officially recognized party, one-on-one status checks and an opinion box. Recommendations for staffing issues included a formal hiring process and performance rewards. Recommendations for leadership and motivational issues included creating a team leader, best customer service employee awards, a Stuart Smalley annual ‘feel-good’ meeting and strict tardiness policies. Implementing these recommendations is one possible step in the direction of solving the problems identified.

Magister Legum - LLM / The prominent role of cities in contemporary developing countries, especially in South Africa, purposively cannot be overstated. Home to 40 per cent of South Africa’s population and accounting for 63 per cent of the national gross domestic product (GDP), cities, in the words of the former Minister of Finance Malusi Gigaba, ‘are at heart of the national economy.’ Yet, despite being at the epicentre of the national economy, cities in the form of metropolitan municipalities (Category A), also known as ‘self-standing municipalities', face a significant mismatch between their expenditure responsibilities and revenue sources.5 Not unique to South African cities, this mismatch, notoriously known as the ‘fiscal gap’ or ‘fiscal imbalance’, arises when own revenue sources such as, property rates, user charges, levies and other taxes available to cities, are inadequate to meet their expenditures.

This licentiate thesis examines why Åre, the premium skiresort of Sweden, is so successful inproducing new small and medium sized firms. Since the 1980s, Åre has been among the highestranked Swedish municipalities when it comes to new firm formation, and their survial rateis better than in the rest of the country. Åre is situated in the interior north of Sweden, and isthe only comparable municipality in that part of the country that has increased its popultion inrecent years. Other similar municipalities are facing a heavy decline in population. Åre has along history in the tourist industry and most newly started firms are connected to this industry.Some 450 000 visitors come annually, mainly in the wintertime, to experience Åre, which hasthereby developed into a local market with demand on a broad range of products and services.The aim with the licentiate thesis is to analyse what is causing the entrepreneurial processthat is taking place in Åre. The theoretical point of departure is found in theories of contemporaryeconomic geography with concepts like social capital, cluster and ”creative class” formingthe framework for the analysis. Path-dependence theory is also in focus when it comes tounderstanding the importance of local history and its footprint of today.The main data used in the thesis come from 34 semi-structured interviews with companyowners/managers representing private firms in Åre. Only individuals that have started theirbusiness or taken over the firm from a family member have been of interest in the study. Thepurpose is to get close to the persons behind the business and reveal why they became entrepreneursin the local context. The mainly qualitative analysis of the interview material is supplementedby a statistical analysis where a) Åre is compared with other similar municipalitiesin Sweden concerning for example the development of new business or unemployment rates.And b) where all individuals who have lived in Åre during the period of 1990-2008 are analyzedusing different variables concerning socio-economic background and occupation.The thesis shows the importance of the attraction to the local environment where newfirms are formed as a result of a strong local market and an positive entrepreneurial atmospherethat exists in Åre. Entrepreneurs in Åre have a diverse background, but with the passionfor skiing or outdoor activities as common denominators. Another important factor is thegathering of local actors in the destination around a future oriented vision that unites them.

Abstract: In this study we have turned to the complex host-country environment of China to investigate Swedish companies doing business in a highly corrupt business context to see which dilemmas managers meet and their approaches to these dilemmas. The importance of adapting to the local culture and environment is something researchers stress in the business literature. In the beginning of our study we ask if the same statement is true when it comes to ethical decision making and from the findings one can see that this is true to a certain degree. Almost half of our respondents have in some way pushed their ethical limits for what is acceptable business practice despite of the uniform view that corruption is something the companies do not want to participate in. For the companies that have been able to create an organization which has been able to resist unethical host country pressures we have found several important factors. These have been the importance of senior management staying long periods of time, role models living the values, an understanding from HQ about the local subsidiary, realistic performance targets, reinforcement of ethics initiatives, and last but not least control. However we have also found that organizations need to be aware that different departments will meet different ethical dilemmas. Therefore the ethical initiatives need to be adapted to the foreign firms’ situation depending on where in the value chain the company is located. Keywords: corruption, ethical dilemmas, ethical approaches, local business culture, China, Sweden, managers

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BC. VÁCLAV LUKEŠ - DIPLOMA THESIS Evaluation of a long-term influence of on-street parking regulation on business firms locations in the city of Prague Abstract Car use is one of the key conditions for many companies to carry out their activities. Limiting the use of cars by regulating parking in the use of public parking space might reduce the competitiveness of some companies through possible lower customer attractivity, limited comfort for commuters from distant locations or reduced supply. As a result, parking regulation can also influence the localisation of companies in the city itself. Foreign studies diverge in a view of the subject and to some extent, they do reflect the cultural environment of the region. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to assess the influence of street parking regulation on their localization based on the example of the City of Prague using quantitative and spatial information about individual companies. Thanks to a significant statistical sample of subjects in the analysis, it is possible to evaluate whether the changes in the horizontal and/or vertical structure of companies are related to the evolution of changes in the regulation of on-street parking in the City of Prague.

This document is intended to be used strictly for VOSHUS, LLC as a marketing plan dating from June 2012-May 2013. Within the plan are a variety of elements meant to enhance brand awareness, reach the target market, and increase the overall profit margin. As VOSHUS is a start up brand, the budget for marketing is rather low, but it is divided as best as both the author of this document and the owner of VOSHUS saw fit. With this plan as a guideline to marketing the brand in its first official launch, VOSHUS will finally have the opportunity to become the powerful brand it is meant to be. / text

Magister Educationis - MEd / Continuous learning has been identified as a key element for SMMEs to succeed in their drive to build productive capacity, to compete, to create jobs and to contribute to poverty alleviation in South Africa. Without the necessary business skills and insight, emerging entrepreneurs will not be able to run their business successfully. Therefore, emerging small business owners especially those in rural areas attend the general, basic, government-subsidized courses provided by non-profit organizations.To ensure that learning is being transferred to the workplace, the Western Cape Business Development Centre (WCBDC) applies the concept of mentoring as a follow-up programme. In layman’s term, a business mentor refers to someone who is experienced in business, trustworthy and professional, trained and up-to-date in their advice.The goal of the research was to evaluate the impact of the WCBDC’s mentoring program on the development of marketing skills of an established small business. I did a case study on one of the successful small businesses in Saldanha, The Marine and Industrial Coaters (MIC), whose owners have attended the Western Cape Business Development Center’s (WCBDC) entrepreneurial development program and then enrolled for its business mentoring programme.Since the mentoring programme commits a substantial amount of resources to mentoring and requires a lot of time from the WCBDC, it is of interest to see whether the expected goals of the mentoring programme – to enhance the entrepreneurs’ business skills and to lead entrepreneurs to business growth – are achieved. I have focused on the development of marketing skills and found that the entrepreneurs’ marketing knowledge and skills did developed as a result of the programme. More efforts need to continue to sustain the existing momentum. However, success in implementing the mentoring programme will depend on essential factors such as selfdirected learning, facilitative and multiple mentoring, application of both psychosocial and career mentoring functions, and shared accountability and responsibility of both mentee and mentor.

Titel: Små lokala företag och sociala medier -En kvalitativ studie av små lokala företags användning av sociala medier för att gynna varumärkets brand equity Nivå: Examensarbete på Grundnivå (kandidatexamen) i ämnet företagsekonomi. Författare: Maja Helsing och Julia Strid Handledare: Peter Ek Datum: 2021 – juni  Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats var att utveckla kunskapen kring hur små lokala företag kan förbättra deras egen brand equity genom att använda sociala medier.  Metod: Vi har använt oss av ett deduktivt tillvägagångssätt. En kvalitativ forskningsmetod i form av tio semistrukturerade intervjuer har genomförts i datainsamlingen, tillsammans med en netnografisk undersökning. Respondenterna utgjorde anställda på mindre lokala företag i en svensk medelstor stad, vars arbetsuppgift innefattar att ansvara för företagets sociala medier.   Resultat & slutsats: Resultatet visar på att det för små lokala företag är fördelaktigt att använda sig av sociala medier. Till följd av att det bidrar till högre varumärkeskännedom samt skapar bättre kundrelationer, vilket påverkar CBBE positivt.   Examensarbetets bidrag: Den här studien bidrar med ny kunskap kring de positiva effekterna av små lokala företags användning av sociala medier. Studien ökar den kunskap som finns gällande de fördelar som finns samt största svårigheterna företagen möter.  Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Denna studie har främst undersökt återförsäljare av produkter. Det vore därför intressant att genomföra en liknande studie på antingen försäljare av egen produkt eller tjänsteföretag.   Nyckelord: CBBE, Sociala medier marknadsföring, Små företag, Lokala företag, Kundrelation. / Title: Small local businesses and social media- A qualitative study of small local companies' use of social media to benefit the brand's brand equity Level: Student thesis, final assignment for Bachelor Degree in Business Administration Author: Maja Helsing and Julia Strid Supervisor: Peter Ek Date: 2021 – June Aim: The aim of this study was to develop knowledge about how small local companies can improve their own brand equity by using social media.  Method: We have used a deductive approach. A qualitative research method in the form of ten semi-structured interviews was conducted in the data collection, together with a netnographic examination. The respondents were employees of small local companies in a Swedish medium-sized city, whose task includes being responsible for the company's social media. Result & conclusions: The result show that it is beneficial for small local businesses to use social media. As a result, it contributes to higher brand awareness and creates better customer relationships, which has a positive effect on CBBE. Contribution of the thesis: This study contributes new knowledge about the positive effects of small local companies' use of social media. The study increases the existing knowledge regarding the benefits that exist and the greatest difficulties companies face. Suggestions for future research: This study has mainly examined retailers of products. It would therefore be interesting to carry out a similar study on either seller of their own product or service companies. Key words: CBBE, Social media marketing, SME, Local business, Customer relationship.

The main aim of this licentiate thesis is to examine how local actors in a medium-sized Swedish municipality, Värnamo, in their role as decision-makers at the local arena, describe and explain the preconditions and strategies for local economic and social development. The analysis uses semi-structured interviews to reveal the connections between the local actors representations of social and economic structures and their representations of central and future strategic choices. The local actors are represented by a) firm owners or central firm managers, b) local politicians in the municipal executive board, c) civil servants in central positions and d) key actors connected to local and regional organizations. The methodological approach is based on discourse analysis. The overall aim of the study is to understand how local discourses are constructed and communicated. The analysis is deepened by relating the local discourses to relevant theoretical models in contemporary economic geography. The economic-geographical theoretical models used in the analysis focus on industrial districts, clusters and innovation systems. Path-dependency, social embeddedness and creative class are other concepts of importance to understand the formation of the local discourse. The analysis shows how local discourses are affected by the perceived globalization process while being at the same time linked to a) specific historical and environmental factors leading to predominant behavioral norms and values stating that you should be hard working, economical, cooperative and trustworthy and b) the relative location, which is conceived to be central regarding communications and regional service functions. This is combined with an image of a creative and innovative local/regional production system, based on traditions in manufacturing and trade. The foundations in manufacturing and trade are however challenged by new sectors like logistics, design, and higher education in cooperation with universities in the region.