The aim of the diploma thesis is to solve a particular problem via methods and instruments of multi-criteria decision-making under risk -- the choice of a suitable location of a swimming pool in the city of Písek. Every single phase of the decision-making process is described in the theoretical part of the thesis and followed in the practical part. The process was divided into stages: the problem specification, setting objectives, determination of the importance of the criteria, generation of alternatives and identification of their consequences, determination the significance of the risk factors, the probability of their occurrence, setting the impacts of the risk alternatives, evaluation of the alternatives and the choice of the most desirable one, potential threats and opportunities analysis. The theoretical part consists of a review of methods suitable for the given phase. More in-detail focus is put on the methods used in the practical part. To sum up, the diploma thesis provide the reader with the recommendation of the most appropriate location for the construction of the swimming pool. Additionally, it identifies the most important threats and opportunities related to this preference.

Acquisitions are a major part of the growth and evolution of companies within varying markets. They are conducted under various circumstances with differing aims and rationales, and for different purposes. This thesis focuses on acquisitions carried out by serial investors acting in a private equity market. These acquisitions are characterised by a highly competitive nature, where access to a large pipeline of potential targets is believed to be a key success factor. As such, deal origination and sourcing of potential targets become important factors to facilitate a high-paced deal flow. Earlier research suggests that this is well researched with regards to venture capital, but to a large extent lacking within private equity. This thesis analyses and discusses the possibility of systematising early evaluation of potential acquisition targets within private equity. The aim is to suggest a framework that may be utilised, consisting of the criteria deemed important for early evaluation. Through utilising multi criteria decision making, the framework allows for a relative importance between criteria to contribute to assessment, while fuzzy set theory allows for a degree of uncertainty to be incorporated. This thesis is conducted through data collection from a number of professionals within private equity, selected from a non-probability sample. Semi-structured interviews and a 3 pairwise comparison is utilised to allow for analysis and discussion with regards to earlier research and theory, while allowing for comparison between respondents. The results of the thesis indicate that utilising a framework for early evaluation of potential targets may be beneficial. The key dimensions to consider are financial, commercial and market capabilities. However, the criteria constituting the dimensions may be firm or industry specific. / Förvärv är en viktig del av tillväxten och utvecklingen av företag i en rad olika marknader. De genomförs under varierande förutsättningar med olika mål och avsikter, och med olika syften. Denna uppsats fokuserar på förvärv utförda av serieinvesterare på en riskkapitalsmarknad. Dessa förvärv karaktäriseras av en konkurrensutsatt marknad, där tillgång till en bred pipeline av potentiella förvärvsmöjligheter förväntas vara en viktig framgångsfaktor. Således är hantering av leadsgenerering och sourcing av möjliga förvärvsobjekt viktiga faktorer för att främja ett aktivt förvärvsflöde. Tidigare forskning tyder på att detta är ett välutforskat område inom venture capital, men saknas i stor utsträckning inom riskkapital. Denna uppsats analyserar och diskuterar möjligheten att systematisera tidig utvärdering av potentiella förvärvsobjekt inom riskkapital. Avsikten är att föreslå ett ramverk som kan användas, bestående av de kriteria som anses viktiga vid tidig utvärdering. Genom att använda multi criteria decision making möjliggör ramverket en relativ betydelse mellan kriterier att påverka bedömningen, medan fuzzy set-teori möjliggör för en grad av osäkerhet att inkorporeras. Denna uppsats utförs genom datainsamling från ett antal yrkesverksamma inom riskkapital, utvalda från en icke-sannolikhetsprovtagning. Semi-strukturerade intervjuer och en parvis 5 jämförelse används för analys och diskussion i relation till tidigare forskning och teori, och tillåter även jämförelse mellan svarande. Resultaten av denna uppsats indikerar att användande av ett ramverk för tidig utvärdering av potentiella förvärvsobjekt kan vara positiv. De viktigaste dimensionerna att ta i beaktning är finansiella, kommersiella och marknadsmässiga förmågor. Kriterierna som utgör dessa dimensioner kan dock vara bolags- eller industrispecifika.

Urbanisering i kombination med miljöfarliga utsläpp från fordonstrafiken ställer högre krav på bostadsplaneringen i städer. Studiens syfte är att öka förståelsen för hur multikriterieanalyser inom geografiska informationssystem kan tillämpas i den översiktliga planeringen för att bidra till ett hållbarare samhälle. En effektivare strategisk bostadsplanering med anslutning till befintliga samhällsfunktioner kan bidra till att miljövänligare transportalternativ prioriteras före bilen. Med hjälp av intervjuer från två tjänstemän inom offentlig och privat sektor har ett antal kriterier tagits fram till analysen. Utifrån befintliga samhällsfunktioner var målet med studien att lokalisera nya områden för bostadsutveckling med hjälp av en multikriterieanalys. Detta kan bidra till att miljövänligare transportmedel kan prioriteras före bilen eftersom avstånden till samhällsfunktionerna blir kortare. Utöver detta var även målet att undersöka hur politiska intressen skiljer sig åt med hjälp av en rangordning utifrån de framtagna kriterierna. Resultatet visar att representanterna från de två största politiska partierna i en svensk småstad rangordnar kriterierna olika gällande vilka samhällsfunktioner som bör finnas i närhet till nya bostadsområden. Däremot visar slutresultatet att de lokaliserade områdena för bostadsutveckling inte skiljer sig nämnvärt mycket ifrån varandra, trots politikernas varierande bostadspolitik. Studien kan bidra till en effektivare politisk hantering av ärenden eftersom politiska skiljaktigheter i slutändan inte alltid visar skillnader i vilka aktiviteter eller objekt som bör placeras var. / Urbanization combined with toxic emissions from motor traffic calls forhigher demands when house planning in cities. The purpose of this study is toincrease understanding about how to apply multi criteria analyses whenmaster planning to contribute to a more sustainable society. A more effectivehouse planning connected to existing societal functions might add to the usageof more sustainable transportation alternatives rather than that of cars. Using the input from interviews with representatives from both the privateand the public sector, a number of criterias have been developed for theanalysis. Considering existing societal functions, this study was intended toidentify new areas for housing development using a multi criterial analysis.This might contribute to more sustainable transportation because of thedistance to the societal functions. In addition to this, the intention extended tothe investigation of how political interests differs from one another, using aranking system based on the developed criterias. The results show that representatives from the two largest political parties in asmall town in Sweden rank the criterias different when it comes to whatsocietal functions a new housing area should have in close proximity. On theother hand, the end results show that the areas chosen for housingdevelopment have similar qualities, in spite of varying housing politics amongthe politicians. This study might contribute to a more effective politicalhandling of business, since political differences does not ultimately showdifferences in where activities or objects should be placed.

Construction activity is known to have a major impact on the environment and is a major consumer of a wide range of naturally occurring and synthesized resources. Despite the recognition that environmental issues are important to the survival of the construction industry, the industry continues to degrade the environment, exploiting resources and generating waste, and is slow to change its conventional practices to incorporate environmental matters as part of its decision making process. With increased awareness and knowledge of these impacts, efforts are being made to avoid these adverse effects and to work towards impact mitigation. Among these is sustainable building material selection. Building material selection is an important issue in building design and construction decision-making and environmental issues need to be incorporated into the evaluation process. The research reported in this thesis was initiated to address these issues in the UK, towards developing an assessment model for incorporating sustainability into building material selection process. A questionnaire survey was conducted to investigate the level of awareness, knowledge and implementation of sustainable practices among architects and designers and how this impacts on their design decisions. To facilitate the implementation of sustainable practices into building material selection, a set of sustainable assessment criteria (SAC) for modeling and evaluating sustainability performance of building materials was developed. Building material can be assessed using an index system that combines the principal criteria of sustainable development. The derived criteria were assessed and aggregated into a composite sustainability index using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique which has been praised for its ability to incorporate both objective and subjective considerations in the decision process. The development of a sustainability index is a way of supporting decision makers faced with making numerous and sometimes conflicting evaluation as with building material selection. The methodology adopted in undertaking this research was the mixed method approach involving a detailed review of the relevant literature, followed by an industry-wide survey of UK architects and designers. Following this, case study was conducted to collect data for sustainability criteria used in the assessment model. The data collected were analyzed, with the aid of SPSS, Excel and expert choice software using a variety of statistical methods including descriptive statistics analysis, relative index analysis, Kendall’s concordance and factor analysis. The key finding was the existing gap between awareness and implementation of sustainable construction practices, which has led to failure of realizing the benefits of a sustainable approach to construction. The study showed a discrepancy between what architects and designers claim to be convinced about, and knowledgeable in, and their commitment and practices; they seem to be unable to translate their environmental awareness and knowledge into appropriate design decisions and are in need of a decision support system that can aid the incorporation of sustainability into building design. The model developed satisfy this gap and was validated by application to a roof covering material selection decision process for a case study building project by means of experts’ review via a survey and the findings obtained suggest that the model is valuable and suitable for use in practice. Finally, areas for further research were identified.

Frequent climatic shocks have presented challenges for rainfed agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa. Appropriate water management practices are among the solutions to the challenges. The role of water harvesting in achieving sustainable agricultural intensification and specified resilience was explored. Suitable areas for water harvesting in the Upper Blue Nile basin were identified. The usefulness of the Curve Number method for surface runoff estimation was evaluated, and was found to perform satisfactorily. The impact of climate change in the Lake Tana sub-basin was studied. A decision support system was developed for locating and sizing of water harvesting ponds in the SWAT model. Methodological developments enabled analysis of the implications of water harvesting intensification in a meso-scale watershed in the Lake Tana sub-basin. Results suggest that water harvesting can increase agricultural productivity, sustain ecosystems and build specified resilience, and thereby contribute to sustainable agricultural intensification. There is considerable potential for water harvesting in the Upper Blue Nile Basin. Rainfall may increase in the Lake Tana sub-basin due to climate change. Supplementary irrigation from water harvesting ponds and better nutrient application increased staple crop production by up to three-fold. Moreover, a substantial amount of cash crop was produced using dry seasonal irrigation. Water harvesting altered the streamflow regime, and reduced sediment loss from the watershed.       Water harvesting can play an important role in food security. It showed potential to buffer climatic variability. In the watershed studied, water harvesting will not compromise the environmental water requirements. Instead, increased low flows, and reduced flooding and sediment loss may benefit the social-ecological systems. The adverse effects of disturbance of the natural flow variability and sediment influx to certain riverine ecosystems warrant detailed investigation. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 2: Manuscript. Paper 3: Manuscript. Paper 5: Epub ahead of print. Paper 6: Manuscript.</p> / Water resources management and social-ecological resilience

<p>U radu je razvijen složeni model vrednovanja i rangiranja varijanti re&scaron;enja koridora infrastrukturnih linijskih objekata. Model karakteri&scaron;e vi&scaron;eakterski i vi&scaron;ekriterijumski pristup. Model je baziran na kriterijumima vrednovanja koji su razvrstani u pravilnu hijerarhiju i čija je relevantnost verifikovana naučnim metodama. Metoda vrednovanja odabrana je inteligentnim pristupom uz pomoć drveta odlučivanja. Model predviđa i analizu osetljivosti odabranog optimalnog re&scaron;enja na promenu težina pojedinih (ili svih) kriterijuma vrednovanja. Naučni doprinos istraživanja ogleda se u primeni AHP metode koja je u Srbiji po prvi put primenjena kao podr&scaron;ka odabiru optimalnog re&scaron;enja koridora infrastrukturnih objekata kao i prikazanoj integraciji sa drugim metodama (stakeholder analiza, anketa, deskriptivna statistika, faktorska analiza).</p> / <p>In this paper a complex model evaluation and ranking of alternative solutions of linear infrastructure corridor structure characterized multi-actor and multi-criteria approach, which is based on the evaluation criteria whose relevance was verified by scientific methods and are sorted in the correct hierarchy. Valuation method chosen is an intelligent approach using the tree decision. The model predicts, and a sensitivity analysis of the selected optimal solution to weight change some (or all) of evaluation criteria. The scientific contribution of the research is the application of AHP method that is in Serbia for the first time applied to support the selection of the optimal solutions corridor infrastructure as shown integration with other methods (stakeholder analysis, survey, descriptive statistics, factor analysis)</p>

At the turn of the years 2009 and 2010 the structure of supply chain of the company operating in the Czech and Slovak republic has changed through Warehouse Change Project. The goal of this diploma thesis is to evaluate changes caused by this project in term of mathematical modeling and multi-criterial decision making; eventually, propose appropriate changes in the logistic system.

This thesis deals with basic principles of electronic signature and functions of certificate authorities, which is complemented with description of legislation environment in Czech Republic. The second part of the thesis includes methodology for comparison of certificate authority's functions in the field of qualified personal certificates. This methodology is afterwards applied for comparison of functions of accredited certificate authorities operating in Czech Republic and for determination of the best authority according to defined criteria and their significance weights.

Folk tenderar att flytta till urbana områden för att studera, hitta jobb och få bättre möjligheter. Befolkningen i stora städer har ökat mycket och det kommer även att öka ännu mer. Därför är stadsplanering eller samhällsplanering viktigt och ett av de viktigaste områdena är avfallshantering där avfall från hushåll hanteras. För att bygga avfallshanteringsanläggning som återvinningscentraler behöver man planera noga och miljötänkande är viktigt. För att kunna lokalisera optimala ställen behöver man GIS-teknik. Med hjälp av den tekniken finns det möjlighet att göra analys och även skapa kartor som kan till exempel ingå i översiktsplanen och detaljplanen. Platsbestäm-ningen är det viktigaste att ta fram i planeringsstadiet innan man kan börja med andra processer därför att felplacering kan orsaka problem som miljö, säkerhetspro-blem för invånare och ekonomisk förlust för myndigheten eller staten för justeringar och omplaceringar. I dagsläget finns det inte så mycket tekniska lösningar som skulle underlätta för platsbestämningen.I utvecklingsländer saknas fungerande avfallshantering och många slänger skräp över-allt. Därför har studien mest fokus på utvecklingsländer där återvinningscentraler behöver byggas. Syfte med arbetet är att hitta optimala platser för en återvinnings-central med GIS- lösningar.I studien utfördes fjärranalys och multikriterieanalys för att hitta de optimala plat-serna för återvinningscentraler. Övervakad klassificering användes för extrahering av klasser. Data från Open Street Map hämtades för komplettering av data för saknade faktorer. AHP-metoden utfördes för att vikta faktorerna. Metoden weighted linear combination användes för beräkning av slutresultat. Arbetet gav positivt resultat och lösningen kommer att vara användbar för framtagande av detaljplan och översikts-plan för en återvinningscentral. Metoden kommer att vara användbart vilket är må-let för det här arbetet dock behövs bättre data och mer analys av faktorer. / People tend to move to urban areas to study, find jobs, and get better opportunities. The population of big cities has increased, and it will also increase even more. Therefore, urban planning or community planning is important and one of the most important areas is waste management where waste from households is managed. In order to build waste management facilities as recycling centers, one needs to plan carefully, and environmental thinking is important. In order to locate optimal places, you need GIS technology. With the help of this technique, it is possible to make analysis and create maps that can, for example, be included in the master plan and the detail plan. The site provision is the most important thing in developing of planning stage before one can start with other processes because misplacement can cause problems like environment issues, security problems for the inhabitants and financial loss for the authority or the state for adjustments and relocations. At pre-sent, there are not many technical solutions that would facilitate location determina-tion.In poor countries, there is a lack of functioning waste management and many throw trashes everywhere. The study therefore has focus in developing countries where re-cycling centers need to be built. The purpose of the work is to find optimal places for recycling centers with GIS solutions.In the study, remote sensing and multi-criteria analysis were performed to find the optimal places for recycling centers. Supervised classification was used to extract classes. Data from Open Street Map was retrieved to supplement data for missing factors. The AHP method was performed to weight the factors. The weighted linear combination method was used to calculate the result. The work gave positive results and the solution will be useful for developing a detailed plan and overview plan for recycling centers. The method will be useful, which is the goal of this work, but im-proved data and more analysis of factors are needed.

This report describes a case study where a multi criteria decision model is used to make decisions regarding asset interventions for four social housing complexes, similar in terms of issues and possible interventions, at Christchurch City Council. The value judgements from the decision makers and their advisors that were necessary for creating the decision model were elicited through three workshops; selecting aspects, weighting and rating and lastly reviewing the output. An analysis performed shows that the decision model is logically consistent and does not suffer from the rank reversal phenomenon. The validation of the model also included creating four individual decision models, one for each social housing complex, comparing the results of applying the joint model and the individual models, and revisiting and reconsidering the value judgments made in the different models when discrepancies were found. This included utility difference analysis and asking trade-off questions to the decision makers. Part of the validation was also to get acceptance of the output of the joint model from the social housing team. Applying the decision model on the four social housing complexes and receiving an output which is accepted by the social housing team suggests that the aggregated model can be used for future decision problems of the same kind, provided that they are within the set level ranges of the aspects. Since the decision model is transparent in terms of which values or priorities have been applied and which prerequisites must be met in order to apply the model to future decisions, it is possible to use the decision model as a ‘live model’ with adjustment being made to it when required.