Flera olika typer av virtuella produkter växer i popularitet och värde i människors ögon. Inomden digitala spelvärlden spenderas en hög andel pengar på virtuella produkter som inte har ettfunktionellt syfte. Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka om sociala faktorer kan påverkaköpintentionen i digitala spel genom sin relation till hedoniskt värde. Denna studie användersig av en kvantitativ metod och tvärsnittsdesign i form av enkäter. Enkäterna har spriditsgenom relevanta medier samt kedjeurval. Resultatet analyseras med en PLS-SEM analys föratt se om det finns ett förhållande mellan sociala faktorer och hedonism. Denna uppsatsförsöker besvara frågan: “Bidrar sociala faktorer till att skapa hedoniskt värde i virtuellaprodukter?”. Resultatet visar på att sociala band och social identitet relaterat till spelet ärpositivt relaterat till att skapa ett hedoniskt värde och på så sätt öka köpintentionen. Theory ofconsumtion value undersöker vilka värden som ligger bakom de val av köp konsumenter gör.Teorin används som grund i denna uppsats och har hjälpt till att skapaundersökningsmodellen samt styrka hypoteserna via begreppen emotionellt och socialt värde.Viktiga fynd är att ålder, kön och tid inte har någon påverkan på hedoniska värdet. Hedonisktvärde, social identitet och sociala band visades ha ett lågt instämmande i undersökningen.Trots detta blev slutsatsen att det finns ett signifikant samband mellan de sociala värdena ochhedoniskt värde. Detta bekräftar hypoteserna i uppsatsen. Resultatet i denna studie bidrar tilllitteraturen genom att undersöka relationen mellan utvalda konsumtionsvärden ochköpintentionen till virtuella produkter. Informationen som uppsatsen ger kan hjälpa företag attförstå faktorer som kan uppmuntra till köp av virtuella produkter. / Many different types of virtual products are growing in popularity and value in people's eyes.In the gaming world, large amounts of money is spent on virtual products that do not have afunctional purpose. The purpose of this essay is to investigate whether social factors caninfluence purchase intention in digital game contexts through their relationship to hedonicvalue. This study has carried out a quantitative method and a cross-sectional design in theform of questionnaires. The questionnaires have been distributed through relevant media andchain selection. The results are analysed with a PLS-SEM analysis to investigate whetherthere is a relationship between social factors and hedonism. This essay tries to answer thequestion: ”Do social factors contribute to creating hedonic value in virtual products?”. Theresult shows that social ties and social identity within the game are positively related tocreating a hedonic feeling and thus increasing purchase intention. The theory of consumptionvalue examines which values lie behind the purchase intention and choices consumers make.The theory is used as a basis in this essay, it has helped to create the research model andstrengthen the hypotheses via the concepts of emotional and social value. Some of theimportant findings in this essay is that age, gender and time are factors that have no influenceon the hedonic value. Hedonic value, social identity and social ties were shown to have lowagreement in the survey. Despite this, the conclusion was that there is a significantrelationship between the social values and hedonic value. This confirms the hypotheses in thepaper. The results of the study contribute to the literature by investigating the relationshipbetween the selected consumption values and willingnes to pay for virtual products. Theinformation provided in this essay can help companies have a better understanding of factorsthat can better promote the acquiring of virtual products.

Internationalization of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has been a considerable concern for international business (IB) scholars. Particularly, for those economies such as Sweden with small local markets, internationalization of SMEs could be fundamental. The firm-specific advantages (FSAs), including what the firm has and does, are crucial for SMEs to overcome in the face of their numerous different obstacles such as liability of smallness (LOS) and liability of foreignness (LOF). Examining the extant literature on the evolution of IB theories indicates that over time, IB scholars have been reaching to dynamic-based FSAs (what the firm does) as the source of developing and protecting sustainable competitive advantages (SCA) across national borders in a changing business environment. The nature of dynamic-based FSAs could be similar to dynamic capabilities. But, when it comes to determining specific component factors  of dynamic-based  FSAs  (as dynamic  capabilities),  there has been little agreement between IB researchers. In other words, the room of the dynamic capabilities is still dark. In this respect, shedding light into this room, particularly in the area of IB studies, is crucial. In addition, after determining the component factors of the dynamic-based FSAs, it is also critical to know the likely relationships between the identified component factors as well as their impact on the SMEs’ international performance (IP) as an important outcome of the internationalization. This means that there is a potential theoretical gap associated with the conceptualization of the component factors of the dynamic-based FSAs on one hand, and a potential empirical gap on the other. Given both theoretical and empirical research gaps, the purpose of this study is to examine, from a theoretical perspective, the nature of the dynamic-based FSA and its related component factors in the IB context, as well as empirically explore how SMEs’ IP is influenced by the identified component factors of the dynamic-based FSAs. To perform this study, first of all, based on lenses of the resource-based view (RBV) and dynamic capability view (DCV), the literature on organizational capability in the context of the IB studies was systematically reviewed to fill the theoretical gap. Consequently, three component factors of dynamic-based FSAs including networking capability (NC) as a relational-based FSA, innovative capability (IC) as an innovative-based FSA and absorptive capacity (ACAP) as a learning-based FSA were identified, all of which are pluripotent and dynamic in nature. Then, a deductive approach was followed to develop several hypotheses and the associated conceptual model. Furthermore, a survey strategy, collecting data from 330 Swedish internationalized manufacturing SMEs, was applied to accomplish the purpose of the study. Then, the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) as a quantitative method was used to analyze the collected data. The results of the PLS-SEM analysis show that the SMEs’ international performance (IP) is positively influenced by the three identified component factors, whether directly or indirectly. In this regard, ACAP and NC are the two reliable predictors (directly) of the SMEs’ IP. The results indicate that innovative capability (IC) does not have direct impact on the SMEs’ IP, and that its effect is fully transmitted on IP only by the mediating effect of the networking capability (NC). Further analysis showed that ACAP, as an endogenous latent variable, additionally has a positive indirect association with SMEs’ international performance (IP). Moreover, the results also indicate that innovative capability is directly and positively affected by ACAP (innovating-by-learning effect). It was also empirically revealed that ACAP is a very strong predictor for networking capability, which is labeled as the networking-by-learning effect. Another major finding was that in internationalized SMEs, NC is strongly, directly and positively affected by IC; this effect also is termed as the networking-by-innovating effect. The overall picture resulting from the PLS- SEM analysis indicates that ACAP in internationalized SMEs is a wellspring to develop both innovative capability and networking capability, as well as influence SMEs’ IP. Furthermore, these results suggest that the networking capability is a vital gateway to transmit the effect of the other two component factors on IP and, at the same time, directly influence IP.

Background: Despite national guidance and empirical support for its clinical and cost-effectiveness, cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is underused. Only 44% of patients go to CR, with angioplasty (Percutaneous Coronary Intervention; PCI) patients being least likely to attend (31% of 87,000). Aim: To investigate the relationship between ‘continuity of care’ and patients’ motivation towards CR, through the lens of self-determination theory, and develop a model to inform service design to increase CR uptake and adherence. Methods: A mixed methods approach was used. In Study 1, a theoretical model of continuity of care and motivational antecedents was tested with a cross-sectional sample of 107 PCI patients. To further explore interactions between continuity of care and motivation towards cardiac rehabilitation, a Critical Interpretive Synthesis of the extant literature was used in Study 2, and focus groups were carried out with patients and service providers in Study 3. Results: In Study 1, continuity of care positively predicted patients’ autonomous motivation towards CR, and this was partially mediated by autonomy support. Autonomy support was associated with CR attendance. In Studies 2 and 3, aspects of continuity of care with positive effects on attendance were identified. These included timely, appropriate information provision, relationships bridging CR phases and settings, and continuing management strategies incorporating trusting, warm staff-patient relationships, and positive encouragement and feedback about progress. The SDT constructs of autonomy support, need satisfaction, internalisation and quality of motivation helped to explain positive and negative influences of continuity on attendance. Conclusion: Continuity of care has a positive effect on patients’ motivation towards CR. The most enduring motivation comes from delivering continuity of care in an autonomy-supportive and competence-supportive way. Longitudinal research is needed to compare how need-supportive and need-thwarting aspects of continuity of care affect CR attendance and adherence, and whether these relationships are influenced by need satisfaction and need frustration.

Understanding how technology usage influences performance in the inside sales industry has become an important issue for practitioners. Yet, there is a dearth of literature in this area. Inside sales are sales that are performed remotely using the phone or Internet technologies. Leads (i.e., potential customers) are the life-blood of any inside sales setting, and their effective management is crucial for business success. Lead management systems are information technology (IT) tools designed to automate and support effective lead management. This study developed a conceptual model based on the Technology-Task-Fit (TTF) theory, capturing the impact of lead management systems on inside sales performance through the following mediating mechanisms: task characteristics (call productivity and effort on lead follow-up), selling behaviour (adaptive selling) and salesperson characteristics (salesperson’s competency). To validate this model, we conducted an empirical study with 108 responses collected from sales managers and decision makers. Using PLS-SEM for the analysis, our findings show that the use of lead management systems affects inside sales performance via improving salespeople’s adaptive selling, effort on lead follow-up and competency. The findings of this study contributes to the inside sales literature, and also educate practitioners of the key enablers of inside sales performance and technology usage approaches to the inside sales process.

Orientador: Alan Rodrigo Panosso / Resumo: O bioma Cerrado tem sofrido modificações nas últimas décadas, perdendo parte de sua cobertura original para culturas anuais, pastagens e florestas plantadas, tendo diferentes usos da terra. Neste trabalho, foram estudadas as interações entre os diferentes usos da terra em áreas do bioma Cerrado, bem como da dinâmica de carbono no solo e os fatores latentes formados pelos atributos físicos e químicos do solo, por meio de modelos de análise de equações estruturais, com auxílio das técnicas estatísticas multivariadas. Ensaios experimentais foram conduzidos na Fazenda de Ensino, Pesquisa e Extensão (FEPE/UNESP), localizada em Selvíria-MS: Floresta plantada de Eucalipto - Eucalyptus camaldulensis (EU); Floresta plantada de Pinus - Pinus caribaea var. hondurensis (PI); Sistema silvipastoril (SI) com uma área contendo floresta plantada de Aroeira (Myracrodruon urundeuva) e capim Braquiária (Brachiaria decumbens, e Mata Nativa (MN). Foi estudado os efeitos dos atributos físicos: densidade do solo (Ds), macroporosidade (Ma), microporosidade (Mi) e químicos com ênfase especial nas propriedades relacionadas à dinâmica do carbono no solo: matéria orgânica do solo (MO), estoque de carbono do solo (EstC), estoque de nitrogênio do solo (EstN), relação carbono e nitrogênio (C/N) e o grau de humificação da matéria orgânica do solo (HLIFS). A emissão de CO2 do solo (FCO2), umidade e temperatura do solo foram avaliados nas áreas durante três períodos distintos (definidos a partir do regime hídr... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The Cerrado biome has undergone modifications in recent decades, losing part of its original cover to annual crops, pastures and planted forests, having different land uses. In this work, the interactions between the different land uses in areas of the Cerrado biome, as well as the soil carbon dynamics and the latent factors formed by the physical and chemical attributes of the soil through structural equation analysis models were studied. with the aid of multivariate statistical techniques. Experimental tests were performed at the Teaching, Research and Extension Farm (FEPE / UNESP), located in Selvíria-MS: Eucalyptus planted forest Eucalyptus camaldulensis (EU); Planted Pine Forest - Pinus caribaea var. hondurensis (PI); Silvipastoral system (SI) with an area containing Aroeira (Myracrodruon urundeuva) and native grass (Brachiaria decumbens), and Mata Nativa (MN). The effects of physical attributes: soil density (Ds), macroporosity (Ma), microporosity (Mi) and chemicals attributes were studied with special emphasis on properties related to soil carbon dynamics: soil organic matter (MO), soil carbon stock (EstC), soil nitrogen stock (EstN), carbon and nitrogen ratio (C / N), and the degree of soil organic matter (HLIFS). Soil CO2 emission (FCO2), soil moisture and temperature were evaluated in the areas during three distinct periods (defined from the water regime observed in the areas) called P1, P2 and P3, season rainfall, drought and transition, respectively, between March... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

Purpose: With the growing importance of performance measurement and management, this exploratory study intends to examine the practices of maintenance managers with regards to maintenance measures, as used in their organizations. In this process, the study attempts to uncover the relevant maintenance performance dimensions from the perspectives of the surveyed managers. In addition, the mediating effect of information availability on the main performance measures utilization is studied. Design/methodology/approach: The research at hand is survey-based. It utilizes the responses of a sample of ninety-five (95) experienced maintenance managers to identify the most relevant maintenance performance measures. Factor analysis is then utilized to uncover the important dimensions of performance, as seen by the respondents. Additionally, using the Partial Least Squares method, several models were studied. Findings: The findings of this exploratory research appear to suggest that maintenance managers are beginning to broaden their perspective with regard to performance management. While machine and plant-related performance measures are still emphasized, maintenance managers are slowly moving toward a wider organizational orientation. While the manufacturing organizations are becoming more and more customer-oriented open systems, the maintenance function of these organizations is still, for the most part, operating under the semi-open system orientation. Overall, it appears that an emerging maintenance strategy is slowly taking shape. Research limitations/implications: For the most part, performance measures and measurement related to maintenance have not received enough attention from researchers. Therefore, the literature dealing with the different facets of performance in maintenance has not been forthcoming. The study attempts to fill this apparent gap in the literature. This is important, as maintenance managers are being asked to contribute to the achievement of the competitive strategies of their organizations. Therefore, they must quickly learn how to view maintenance from a coherent strategic organizational perspective. Such a perspective should help in integrating the maintenance, resources, capabilities, and technical know-how in order to serve the strategic goal of their organization. The research at hand is limited to a sample from Portugal. Therefore, the results and conclusions must be interpreted accordingly. Practical implications: As maintenance managers struggle to move from a machine-orientation to a more organizational-wide strategic orientation, they are often left with many questions and few answers. This study attempts to bring this problem to the spotlight so that it can receive more systematic empirical and practical research. In this context, the role of maintenance managers in the process of organizational strategy formulation should be examined. Originality/value: The study presented in this article has practical, as well as theoretical contributions. It deals with an area of performance measurement, which so far has been relatively ignored. It uses a system orientation (closed vs open), in addition to the strategic orientation (single vs multi-faceted strategy) in order to shed some light on the need to have consistency between the nature of the system and its strategic objective.

The role of sales has evolved over the last decade, mostly driven by technological and social changes. One major shift is the growth in importance and in size of the inside sales function. Inside sales are sales that are conducted remotely or virtually using one or more Information Technology (IT) tools without the traditional in-person interaction. Despite the growing importance of inside sales, studies that show the key determinants and practices that can improve inside sales success are rare and have tended to focus on determinants affecting individual salesperson performance. Moreover, existing approaches to customer acquisition in inside sales often rely on subjective intuition, expert suggestions and gut feeling, which often hurts the chances of qualifying and converting leads to sales, and eventually diminishes inside sales success. This research aims to address such shortcomings by: 1) investigating the key dimensions and determinants of inside sales success by summarizing the existing body of knowledge using a systematic review and meta-analysis; and 2) develop comprehensible lead conversion models that integrate the interplay of relevant determinants in the lead conversion process. This doctoral research aims to: (1) Synthesize the literature and draw a big picture of B2B sales success by providing practitioners and scholars with a comprehensive state-of-the-art understanding of the determinants of B2B sales success and their significance in inside sales. (2) Identify and validate several key lead engagement factors crucial for inside sales success. (3) Demonstrate the potential of data-driven analytics by collecting multiple historical datasets from several companies representing different industries. This includes investigating and discovering new insights that will improve lead conversion outcomes, which contributes to the literature on the ongoing discussion of effective sales pipeline management. (4) Provide sales practitioners with comprehensible lead conversion models that integrate industry specific behavior and performance of salespeople, characteristics of leads and/or prospects, and workflow strategy aspects. This will help sales practitioners to better understand problems and opportunities in lead management, take proactive actions, and improve their sales success.

En el presente trabajo se ha llevado a cabo un análisis minucioso de la visión de las capacidades dinámicas, específicamente enmarcadas en el área de dirección estratégica, con la intención de proponer y testar empíricamente un modelo integral en el que se contemple la influencia que pueden ejercer las capacidades dinámicas sobre el rendimiento de una organización junto con la incorporación de otras variables organizativas reseñables. Dicho modelo ha sido aplicado en uno de los sectores más relevantes de la economía española, el turístico, en concreto en el sector hotelero, El trabajo queda dividido en ocho capítulos que abordan la idea principal desde un punto de vista teórico y práctico, precedidos de un capítulo introductorio, En esencia, en los primeros capítulos se profundiza teóricamente sobre los orígenes de la visión de las capacidades dinámicas. En los siguientes capítulos se leva a cabo un análisis preciso de la metodología de investigación utilizada, se describe el contexto empírico objeto de aplicación y se plantean los resultados obtenidos y su correspondiente discusión. Finalmente, las conclusiones principales, limitaciones y futuras líneas de investigación del proyecto son expuestas, tomando un especial interés la reflexión sobre los efectos del Covid-19 en el sector turístico, dada la relevancia y actualidad de estos hechos en el momento de finalización del proyecto de tesis doctoral.

Purpose: With the growing importance of performance measurement and management, this exploratory study intends to examine the practices of maintenance managers with regards to maintenance measures, as used in their organizations. In this process, the study attempts to uncover the relevant maintenance performance dimensions from the perspectives of the surveyed managers. In addition, the mediating effect of information availability on the main performance measures utilization is studied. Design/methodology/approach: The research at hand is survey-based. It utilizes the responses of a sample of ninety-five (95) experienced maintenance managers to identify the most relevant maintenance performance measures. Factor analysis is then utilized to uncover the important dimensions of performance, as seen by the respondents. Additionally, using the Partial Least Squares method, several models were studied. Findings: The findings of this exploratory research appear to suggest that maintenance managers are beginning to broaden their perspective with regard to performance management. While machine and plant-related performance measures are still emphasized, maintenance managers are slowly moving toward a wider organizational orientation. While the manufacturing organizations are becoming more and more customer-oriented open systems, the maintenance function of these organizations is still, for the most part, operating under the semi-open system orientation. Overall, it appears that an emerging maintenance strategy is slowly taking shape. Research limitations/implications: For the most part, performance measures and measurement related to maintenance have not received enough attention from researchers. Therefore, the literature dealing with the different facets of performance in maintenance has not been forthcoming. The study attempts to fill this apparent gap in the literature. This is important, as maintenance managers are being asked to contribute to the achievement of the competitive strategies of their organizations. Therefore, they must quickly learn how to view maintenance from a coherent strategic organizational perspective. Such a perspective should help in integrating the maintenance, resources, capabilities, and technical know-how in order to serve the strategic goal of their organization. The research at hand is limited to a sample from Portugal. Therefore, the results and conclusions must be interpreted accordingly. Practical implications: As maintenance managers struggle to move from a machine-orientation to a more organizational-wide strategic orientation, they are often left with many questions and few answers. This study attempts to bring this problem to the spotlight so that it can receive more systematic empirical and practical research. In this context, the role of maintenance managers in the process of organizational strategy formulation should be examined. Originality/value: The study presented in this article has practical, as well as theoretical contributions. It deals with an area of performance measurement, which so far has been relatively ignored. It uses a system orientation (closed vs open), in addition to the strategic orientation (single vs multi-faceted strategy) in order to shed some light on the need to have consistency between the nature of the system and its strategic objective.

Yes / The purpose of this paper is to develop a decision-making model for supporting the management of risks in supply chain. This proposed model is applied to the case of the oil industry in Nigeria. A Partial Least Square Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM) is developed to measure the significance of the influence of risk management strategy on mitigating disruption risks and their correlations with the performance of activities in the supply chain and relevance of key performance measures in the organisation. The model considered seven aspects: behavioural-based management strategy, buffer based oriented management strategy, exploration and production risks, environmental and regulatory compliance risks, geopolitical risks, supply chain performance, and organisational performance measures. A survey questionnaire was applied to collect data to populate the model, with 187 participants from the oil industry. Based on the PLS-SEM methodology, an optimised risk management decision-making method was developed and accomplished. The results show that behavioural-based mechanism predicts the capacity of the organisation to manage risks successfully in its supply chain. The approach proposed provides a new and practical methodology to manage disruption risks in supply chains. Further, the behavioural-based mechanism can help to formulate risk management strategies in the oil industry. / The full-text of this article will be released for public view at the end of the publisher embargo, 12 months from first publication date.