Detta arbete är en reflexiv rapport som beskriver det praktiska arbetet bakom skapandet av nya karaktärer med fokus på balansering i spelet Bloodline Champions. Inledningsvis presenteras problemen och de teorier som finns kring ämnet. Vidare presenteras spelet och en detaljerad beskrivning ges av spelmekaniken. Avslutningsvis presenteras arbetsprocessen och en diskussion kring arbetets utförande och resultat.   Arbetet resulterade i fyra spelbara karaktärer till spelet Bloodline Champions, en uppsättning riktlinjer för hur utvecklingen av karaktärer går till i Bloodline Champions samt ett balanseringsverktyg som går under namnet Statsviewer.

<p> </p><p> </p><p>Detta arbete är en reflexiv rapport som beskriver det praktiska arbetet bakom skapandet av nya karaktärer med fokus på balansering i spelet <em>Bloodline Champions</em>. Inledningsvis presenteras problemen och de teorier som finns kring ämnet. Vidare presenteras spelet och en detaljerad beskrivning ges av spelmekaniken. Avslutningsvis presenteras arbetsprocessen och en diskussion kring arbetets utförande och resultat.</p><p> </p><p>Arbetet resulterade i fyra spelbara karaktärer till spelet <em>Bloodline Champions</em>, en uppsättning riktlinjer för hur utvecklingen av karaktärer går till i <em>Bloodline Champions </em>samt ett balanseringsverktyg som går under namnet Statsviewer.</p><p> </p>

The implementation of telehealth applications is resource intensive and fraught with challenges unique to the people and places involved. The use of telehealth to provide clinical care to patients, educate patients and providers, and conduct research studies to advance medical science has been shown to positively affect issues of access and the quality of care. Previous research has focused on the use of specific technologies, known barriers to adoption and diffusion, and the general efficacy of these applications. Few studies have researched the role champions play in the deployment and operation of telehealth networks. The researcher proposed conducting an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) of clinicians, educators and technical professionals within a successful telehealth network to determine the lived experiences that identify them as champions in the field. Three research questions were studied: 1) What do telehealth champions believe to be the human elements necessary to advance telehealth systems?; 2) How do these telehealth champions explain their empowerment during the creation and use of telehealth networks?; and 3) How do these champions use shared processes and experiences to help spur engagement? Semi-structured interviews with 16 champions from the three disciplines were conducted to explore their lived experiences as part of a telehealth network. Seven champion themes - modern pioneers; champion teams; agents of change; knowledge brokers; supported by management; advocates, not champions; and well-prepared visionaries - emerged from the iterative review and analysis of data. Findings suggest that telehealth champions are not born but instead created. They are modern pioneers who function as part of innovative telehealth teams. Champions also serve as agents of change who utilize their knowledge of disruptive technologies to advocate for improvement in established healthcare systems. They are problem solvers who serve as resources for their colleagues, organizations and collaborative networks. Telehealth champions channel the universal goals of improving patient care and expanding healthcare access to overcome adoption barriers. Applying the ideals of what it means to be champions and how they overcome barriers to new telehealth applications could prove to be very beneficial for those tasked with developing new networks.

In 2014, Professor Scelles and his colleagues ran a test regarding the determinants of professional soccer team values. This thesis will follow a similar model and estimate the determinants of firm values in professional soccer teams from 2007-2016. It will include Asian ownership, percentage of foreign players and Asian sponsorship as new variables. This paper will also test the determinants on market cap and enterprise value in addition to Forbes’ valuation. The results of this study shows that the new variables have a significant impact depending on the valuation that is being tested on.

Current theoretical insights into firm internationalisation have mainly focused on large American multinationals or on smaller early internationalising firms. Global niche players, often competing alongside or even complementary, have been less researched. They, like larger players, often strive to go global and dominate their market segments simply to survive and endure processes of global consolidation and often it is necessary to achieve top global positions. One such successful global niche strategy variant is ‘Global Hidden Champions’ (GHCs), which are low profile, global top three under US$ 5 billion firms, mainly found in Germany (Simon, 2012). The question becomes pressing: how do GHCs reach world market leadership? This study seeks to identify through which internationalisation paths and associated market entry modes 30 GHCs investigated from Germany and Britain reached global dominance and the specific competitive advantages without which such strategies would not have succeeded. This thesis takes an evolutionary historic perspective by distinguishing enduring with less-enduring GHCs, established at various points in time between 1838 and 2007. A qualitative multiple case study approach is used based on 30 cases, 15 from each country. The abductive stance facilitates deductions of existing theoretical frameworks, whilst also allowing exploratory new themes to emerge. Structured and semi-structured interviews, combined with documentation, allow triangulation of findings and help minimise bias. Guided by the conceptual framework, data has been thematically coded, analysed and systematically explored, allowing several new themes to emerge. Not one single GHC was found pursuing the traditional Uppsala Model internationalisation path. Instead 43% were identified as Born Globals (BGs); 20% as Born-Again Globals (BAGs); but no less than 37% emerged as quite different hybrid internationalisers, which because of their quite distinctive traits, were denoted ‘Re- Born-Again Globals’ (Re-BAGs). The analysis involved innovative methodological analysis, which further clarified some partial overlap of BGs, BAGs, and re-BAGs with Uppsala Model features, yet decided differences in terms of tempo and direction. All three alternative paths led to top three global market leadership positions, depending on the GHCs context and historical circumstances. Nevertheless, recently established GHCs pursued BG paths, whereas more enduring GHCs almost all followed BAG and re-BAG paths. Younger British GHCs frequently embarked on early proactive paths, whilst their more enduring German equivalents pursued more belated internationalisation routes. History emerged as pivotal. BAGs and re-BAGs were both distinguished by critical incidents which, in all 17 cases, shifted strategies on to much more proactive internationalisation paths. German GHCs, though, shifted primarily in response to technology advances, whereas British GHCs typically responded to specific management appointments. Literature on accelerated internationalisation paths, such as in relation to BGs, remains unclear on commitments beyond trade. Yet, 90% of GHCs deployed substantial foreign direct investment (FDI), in addition to mere trade activity. Initially, German GHCs grew organically focusing on neighbouring markets. In contrast, British GHCs often used acquisitions and targeted more global, in particular, Commonwealth markets. FDI thus emerged as a crucial addition to export activity in all three alternative paths followed by BGs, BAGs and re-BAGs enabling them to sustain leading global market positions. Yet, such paths were in turn contingent upon competitive advantages. GHCs from both countries complied remarkably closely with 6 out of 8 of Simon’s (2009) identified theoretical HC Model traits: being ‘leadership with ambitious goals’; ‘innovation’; ‘high-performance employees’; ‘closeness to customer’; ‘globalisation’, and ‘focus’. More in depth, albeit exploratory, analysis further uncovered the critical role played by ‘visions and values’ and ‘brand’, leading to a new tentative theoretical GHC Model. This new Model, moreover, recognises a virtuous cycle of market leadership advantages from which more enduring GHCs particularly benefitted. It also integrates comfortably with Teece’s (2014) model of dynamic capabilities, extending his framework by including market leadership approaches and more precise competitive advantages of the GHC Model, alongside more specific concepts relating to entrepreneurial orientation. In summary, this study contributes to the knowledge of how both long-standing and newer German and British GHCs conquer global markets by unveiling their specific and successful internationalisation paths, market entry mode choices and their underlying competitive advantages.

<p>The term of Hidden Champions was first put forward by Simon (1996a) in his book and has already been a well-studied subject all over the world. The purpose of this dissertation is to figure out what are the main factors underlying Chinese Hidden Champions. </p><p>The literature part is composed of earlier research on Hidden Champions and theories on several factors that have been identified by authors, which form an analytical framework for analyzing empirical data.</p><p>Conducting a qualitative approach, the empirical data was collected through semi-structured telephone interviews with the senior personnel of two Chinese companies. Secondary data, such as public reports, also played a complementary role.</p><p>The findings of this study showed the factors of clear goal, excellent entrepreneur, focused strategy, sustained innovation, globalization and customer orientation immensely affect the success of Chinese Hidden Champions. It was also pointed out that there remain some views that are different from concepts of Simon’s.</p>

The term of Hidden Champions was first put forward by Simon (1996a) in his book and has already been a well-studied subject all over the world. The purpose of this dissertation is to figure out what are the main factors underlying Chinese Hidden Champions. The literature part is composed of earlier research on Hidden Champions and theories on several factors that have been identified by authors, which form an analytical framework for analyzing empirical data. Conducting a qualitative approach, the empirical data was collected through semi-structured telephone interviews with the senior personnel of two Chinese companies. Secondary data, such as public reports, also played a complementary role. The findings of this study showed the factors of clear goal, excellent entrepreneur, focused strategy, sustained innovation, globalization and customer orientation immensely affect the success of Chinese Hidden Champions. It was also pointed out that there remain some views that are different from concepts of Simon’s.

ICT4D champions are individuals who make a decisive contribution to an ICT4D initiative by actively and enthusiastically promoting its progress through critical stages in order to mobilise resources and/or active support and cooperation from all stakeholders. Mindful of the poor performance of development projects generally, and ICT4D projects in particular, the thesis argues that the seemingly important role of key individuals, such as champions, lacks research. Based on the repeated calls for research to better understand champion-type individuals and their roles in ICT4D initiatives, the thesis claims to have identified an original and significant knowledge gap towards which it contributes. Extant literature on champions of information systems innovations shows that champions can be conceptualised in terms of three core orientations: towards results, relationships and resources. This body of literature and conceptualisations has been used in the thesis as the starting point for exploring and describing the champion phenomenon in an as yet unexplored context - ICT4D initiatives. Critical realism is the assumed philosophical position for the research undertaken in the thesis. Theoretical constructs from the model of Transformational and Transactional Leadership and Social Capital Theory are combined in a conceptual framework to guide the empirical investigations and analysis. The research draws on three ICT4D champion cases in South Africa; case data was collected through the careful combination and sequencing of multiple mixed methods: in-depth interviews, a social network analysis (SNA) survey, and semi-structured interviews with the ICT4D champions and other key initiative stakeholders. A literal replication design was followed whereby the case studies explored and described the individual champion cases and subsequently synthesised findings across the three cases. The main contribution of the thesis is a knowledge contribution; the thesis contributes fifteen empirical findings to our conceptual understanding of ICT4D champions - their origins, competencies, characteristics and motivations, and their orientations towards results, relationships and resources. The analysis has shown how ICT4D champions are similar to champions of IS innovation in some ways, but has also revealed unique aspects, such as the importance they ascribe to addressing social concerns. This, in turn, led to a number of theoretical and practical contributions, as well as a methodological and a research contribution, all emanating from the three case studies. Firstly, two inductively generated theoretical contributions are offered: i) a conceptual framework for analysing and describing the origins of ICT4D champions; ii) a hybrid and contextual model of ICT4D champions that combines a complex set of factors (personal, organisational, and external) and the orientations of champions as a means to account for the complexity of these key individuals and their roles in ICT4D initiatives. The thesis contributes to ICT4D practice by suggesting ways to identify, develop, deploy and support champions; in so doing it offers actionable guidance on how to harness the potential positive contributions of these key individuals. Furthermore, a network-based approach - such as SNA used in the thesis - are rarely, if ever, followed in conducting champion research and this is offered as a methodological contribution. Finally, ICT4D champion research is in its infancy; the exploratory approach followed in the thesis draws on literature, the empirical findings and the theoretical contributions to offer an extensive agenda for future champion research in general, and ICT4D champion research in particular.

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Bookmakers odds are an easily available source of ``prospective" information that is thus often employed for forecasting the outcome of sports events. To investigate the statistical properties of bookmakers odds from a variety of bookmakers for a number of different potential outcomes of a sports event, a class of mixed-effects models is explored, providing information about both consensus and (dis)agreement across bookmakers. In an empirical study for the UEFA Champions League, the most prestigious football club competition in Europe, model selection yields a simple and intuitive model with team-specific means for capturing consensus and team-specific standard deviations reflecting agreement across bookmakers. The resulting consensus forecast performs well in practice, exhibiting high correlation with the actual tournament outcome. Furthermore, the teams' agreement can be shown to be strongly correlated with the predicted consensus and can thus be incorporated in a more parsimonious model for agreement while preserving the same consensus fit. / Series: Research Report Series / Department of Statistics and Mathematics