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Detta är en studie med syfte att undersöka hur eWOM kan påverka konsumenters köpbeslutsprocess vid bokning av hotell. Turistindustrin är en av de snabbast växande sektorerna och orsaken till detta är att resenärers beteende förändrats under de senaste åren. Konsumenter söker och bokar hotellvistelser på ett helt annat sätt idag med hjälp av Internet och dess snabba teknologiska utveckling. Resenärers köpbeslutsprocess anses vara komplex av den anledning att den innehåller ett flertal olika beslut, både innan och under hotellvistelsens gång. eWOM är uppbyggt på personliga åsikter från individer som kommit i kontakt med en produkt, tjänst eller varumärke. Detta innebär att informationen som delas via eWOM ofta är vinklad och således kan mottagarna av informationen ha svårt att bedöma hur trovärdig informationen är, detta kan ha negativa effekter på såväl företag som konsumenter. Det hävdas att hotellindustrin är den sektor där konsumenterna bedöms vara som mest engagerade för att samla information. Vid hotellbokning är konsumenterna involverade i informationssökningen, vilket är ett av de första stegen innan ett kommande köpbeslut. Det finns ett flertal olika faktorer som har betydelse för köpprocessen och konsumenter vänder sig gärna till andra källor än hotellets egna för att söka information som inte går att finna på bokningssidan. Studien avgränsas till hotellbranschen och för att genomföras studeras olika teorier för att få bakgrundsinformation kring ämnet. Utöver detta har en kvalitativ intervjustudie genomförts med åtta respondenter i olika åldrar med tidigare erfarenhet av att boka hotell. Intervjun är uppdelad i två delar, den första delen som en semistrukturerad intervju och den andra likt en ostrukturerad intervju med ett kreativt inslag. Detta gjordes för att både lyckas samla information om hur respondenterna upplever sin köpbeslutsprocess samt för att observera hur de faktiskt agerar. Intervjustudien gav inblick i hur konsumenter blir påverkade av positiv som negativ eWOM, samt vilka faktorer som är viktiga för recensioners trovärdighet. Det har uppmärksammats att respondenterna i vissa sammanhang är motsägelsefulla då exempelvis ingen av dem reflekterar över vem som skrivit omdömet såvida det inte framgår i den skrivna texten trots att de anser att det är viktigt för trovärdigheten. Med utgångspunkt i studiens syfte går det att dra slutsatser kring att flertalet konsumenter har en positiv syn på eWOM och tycker att det är ett nödvändigt hjälpmedel i dess köpbeslutsprocess för att kunna boka hotell online. När hotell uppfyller konsumentens behov ges incitament för en bokning. Om ett hotell skulle sakna recensioner upplever konsumenter att de har inte har tillräckligt med underlag för att boka. För att konsumenter ska ta till sig av recensioner behöver de även uppleva dem som trovärdiga. Det råder dock delade meningar om vad som uppfattas som trovärdigt i en recension och det kan kopplas till konsumentens individuella kriterier. En av de främsta faktorerna som tycks vara gemensam för trovärdighet är att recensionerna bör överensstämma. Negativa recensioner kan påverka konsumenter olika mycket beroende på antal samt huruvida de överensstämmer med varandra. Ett flertal negativa recensioner som påpekar samma faktorer kan resultera i att konsumenten väljer att inte boka

The Real Estate Industry from a Gender Perspective is a study about the real estate industry in Sweden. The real estate industry, an industry dominated by men, is facing at least two major challenges in the future; there is a generational shift and an educational shift in the industry. The industry has to be able to attract both women and men in the future. In this study my overall aim is to create understanding of the real estate industry, from a gender perspective, and to do so I will create understanding how the gender structure is created in the industry, and why it is constituted as it is. I use the theoretical approach of doing gender, where the assumption is that gender is created in interaction and it varies in time and place. My empirical material is commercial real estate companies and housing companies in Sweden. I initially mapped annual reports to see how the number of women and men was constituted in the companies and in different positions in the years of 2001 and 2008. I used the information from the mapping for my respondents to react upon, interviews was made with younger graduate women and men, and women working as CEO´s. There is a vertical and horizontal division between women and men in the organizations, men are to a greater extent CEO´s and more often in technical positions, women are more often in the supporting positions. The position of the real estate manager is a key position to do career in the industry and is symbolized as a masculine position. What I found was that there is “something going on” about the gender structure in the industry, but slowly. There are the same proportion of women and men in the industry in 2001 as it is in 2008, both in the commercial real estate companies and housing companies. There are more women working as CEO´s and in the management boards in the housing companies than in the commercial real estate companies. Different organizational gendered processes create the gender structure, that form the divisions, as symbols and images, interaction and identity, these processes try to answer how the gender structure is created in the industry. I found that the hegemonic engineering masculinity and the homosocial enactment made by men is part of the answer why it is created as it is. / QC 201101004

Abstract In today’s competitive world companies strive to be best in class and at the same time have high revenue. They try to sell the best products, deliver the best service and at the same time reduce costs in order to make high profits. They strive for high efficiency at all levels of the organization as well as reduced costs where possible. This report examines a company in the operational leasing industry, ALD Automotive. The company is a part of Société Générale, a Financial Services company. ALD Automotive’s key business area is the leasing of vehicles to both small and large corporations. They also have a car dealership where they sell the used vehicles after a leasing period. The latter business area is the one that has been studied in this report, specifically the Supply Chain of the vehicles. ALD had been experiencing long lead times in the Supply Chain and this has affected the business badly. They wanted to investigate and identify problems as well as find a solution to improve the Supply Chain efficiency. The report discusses several theories regarding Supply Chain network such as Work in Process, lean thinking and value flows, and how these theories can be used at ALD. Further some theory regarding the implementation of a new Supply Chain network has been discussed, covering benefits of some implementation methods as well as pitfalls that may disrupt new solutions. The empirical results of the study showed how the different processes of the Supply Chain worked and where bottlenecks occurred. Further on the analysis part combined the theoretical framework with the empirical results to conclude the problem areas and discuss how they could be eradicated. The analysis emphasized three major problem areas: the information flow, the product flow and the booking system for transportation of vehicles. The end of the report discusses a new way of operating ALD’s Supply Chain which is based on the problem areas found in the study. The new solution is based on three layers covering all the different areas and explains which benefits the company will reap from implementing this new solution. There is also a description of cost and lead time saving in the conclusion that shows approximately the minimum savings that can be made by using our Supply Chain network method. Finally some limitations to the results and conclusions is discussed as well as future research that could further enhance the validity and reliability of this report.

As households across large parts of the world are increasingly leveraged, an understanding of the risks and consequences associated with household credit default is of great importance. This thesis consists of two essays with a focus on foreclosed residential properties. More specifically, the market of such sales and the impact on sale price caused by such a sale mechanism as compared to sales on the general market. Research on foreclosed properties is primarily based upon U.S. data; this thesis therefore adds research in an institutional setting having received little previous attention. The first essay is co-authored with Han-Suck Song and Mats Wilhelmsson. A spatial hedonic model is applied on transaction data of apartments and single-family houses sold in Stockholm, Sweden, during the period of 2006 to 2013. Discounts on price of 20.1% and 24.6% are estimated for foreclosed apartments and single-family houses, respectively. Apartments that have been sold due to a lost membership in the housing association to which the apartment belongs are sold at a 29.1% discount. The larger discount is a likely consequence of such sales being restricted in the number of attempted auctions. The second essay applies propensity score matching ontransaction data and repeat-sales data of single-family houses sold in Stockholm, Sweden, during the period of 2005 to mid-2014. A 5.2 times higher rate of turnover subsequent of a foreclosure as compared to similar properties sold on the general market indicates that professional buyers are taking advantage of a discount on price. Further support towards that foreclosed properties are sold at a discount is found by estimation of holding period returns. Foreclosed properties are found to experience a 10.7% to 7.6% lower annualized return prior to a foreclosure, during a mean holding period of 4.3 years. Subsequent of a foreclosure, buyers earn a 37.7% to 48.6% higher annualized return, during a mean holding period of 1.2 years, as compared to return sachieved by those having bought similar properties on the general market. As 15.4% of foreclosed properties have been bought by a buyer having bought more than one such property, a lack of competition provides a possible explanation for lower sale prices. / <p>QC 20151214</p>

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Abstract Purpose: The primary purpose of this research is to do an exploratory study on how real estate companies value their investment properties in The Gambia. The study aims also at identifying the different valuation methods and techniques they employ. Theoretical foundation: The theories we used in this study were based on existing literature and research conducted by past scholars and publishers who wrote about how real estate corporations value their investment properties. We were able to identify the study gap and develop research questions based on the literature we read.   Methodology: We adopted a qualitative research method based on an exploratory research approach. The data collection method adopted is a semi-structured interview with people with the much-needed experience and knowledge in the real estate sector in The Gambia. Conducting these interviews was aimed at collecting enough information and data that can be analyzed in order to get a deeper understanding of the valuation of investment properties in The Gambia. Data collected were analyzed and interpreted through thematic analysis that helped us to identify key areas of discussion.   Empirical findings: The empirical results were generated from the interviews conducted with eight informants. These findings were discussed in connection to the literature while answering the research questions and fulfilling the purpose of this research. The research findings show that real estate companies in The Gambia used the cost method, market comparable, and the mixed method. We further confirmed that the majority of real estate companies in The Gambia use the cost method as they believe this will give them the real-time value of their properties and also put a balance between overpricing and underpricing in different locations in The Gambia.

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Detta      examensarbete      fokuserar      på      prestationsmätning      inom      logistik,      och      ett prestationsmätningssystem  (PM-system)  har  utvecklats  för  byggmaterialföretaget  Nacka  Trä  &amp; Byggvaror  Sven  Gustafsson  AB.  Studien  tog  avstamp  i  att  företagets  ledning  efterlyste  att distributionsverksamheten analyserades utifrån ett tids- och kostnadsperspektiv, för att utvärdera hur de fraktkostnader som är kopplade till distributionen av byggmaterial kan sänkas. Företaget har till följd av sin breda kundbas– privatkonsumenter, mindre byggfirmor och stora entreprenadbolag – utvecklat komplicerade materialflöden och har låg effektivitet i varuhanteringen på anläggningen och utleverans av varor. Syftet med PM-systemet är dels att åtgärda de problem som i dagsläget existerar på en operationell nivå av distributionsverksamheten som sker på företagets anläggning Nacka Trä, genom framtagning av processpecifika mått som anställda kan använda för utvärdering och kontinuerlig förbättring av arbetsprocesser. Under arbetet har en kartläggning gjorts genom att intervjua företagets anställda om problem i dagliga processer och vilka aktiviteter de anser att verksamheten ska syssla med för att uppfylla sina erbjudanden till kunder. Detta har sedan använts som utformningsfaktorer till vilka processer och mått som PM-systemet bör omfatta. Genom att dessutom ta fram målsättningar för verksamheten   på   en   strategisk   nivå   och   koppla   de   operationella   måtten   till   strategin   för anläggningen  är  målsättningen  att  distributionsfunktionen  utvecklas  i  riktning  mot  att  bli  ett konkurrensmedel för koncernen i helhet. I  tidigare  studier  inom  prestationsmätning  för  logistik  har  inget  ramverk  tagits  fram  för  en delfunktion av en verksamhet i syfte att stärka funktionens konkurrenskraft där operationalla mått kopplas  för  strategierna  för  den  specifika  funktionen.  Caset  på  Nacka  Trä  visar  att  det  genom framtagning av ett processpecifikt PM-system blir möjligt att dels lösa problem på en operationell nivå, och dels utveckla en delfunktion av en verksamhet strategiskt. / The  focus of  this master thesis  has  been on performance measurement  within logistics  and to develop a performance measurement system (PMS) for the building material supplier Nacka Trä &amp; Byggvaror Sven Gustafsson AB. The thesis sets out from a desire from the management of the company to analyze the distribution activities from a time and cost perspective, in order to evaluate  how  costs  can  be  lowered.  As  a  result  of  the  company’s  diverse  customer  base,  ranging  from consumers to small construction firms and large contractors, Nacka Trä &amp; Byggvaror Sven Gustafsson AB has developed complex material flows with low efficiency regarding the handling and delivery of goods. The  purpose  of  the  PMS  is  partly  to  address  existing  problems  at  an  operational  level  of  the distribution operations at Nacka Trä through the development of process specific metrics, giving employees tools to evaluate processes and to work with continuous improvements. During the study, processes has been mapped through a series of interviews, asking employees to describe problems in daily operations and what internal activities that are key to perform well in order to meet customer expectations. The findings have been used to determine which processes and metrics to include in the  PMS.  By  also  developing  strategic  objectives  of  the  business  unit  and  linking  them  to  the operational metrics, the distribution function can be developed towards becoming a competitive tool for the whole company. Previous  studies  within  the  area  of  performance  measurement  for  logistic  activities  lack  a performance  measurement  model  for  a  sub-section  of  an  organization,  where  the  aim  is  to strengthen the sub-section’s competitiveness when linking operational metrics to the strategy of the particular  sub-section.  The  case  study  at  Nacka  Trä  gives  opportunity  to  do  this  through  the development of a process specific performance measurement system. The system will serve as a tool for solving problems at an operational at the distributions function, but also develop the function strategically to have it serve as a way of compete for the whole organization.