The usual practice in any discussion of an inner-product space is to restrict the field over which the inner-product space is defined to the field of complex numbers. In defining the inner-product function, (x,y), a second function is needed; namely the conjugate function (x,y)* so that (x,y) ± (y,x)*. We will attempt to generalize this concept by investigating the existence of a conjugate function defined on fields other than the field of complex numbers and relate this function to an inner-product function defined on a linear space L over these fields.

This dissertation provides a philosophical analysis about the influence colonialism had over capitalism's current configuration and how their intricate interplay impacts both the social and the ecological spheres, in both central and peripheral countries. Such analysis draws from the work of José Lutzenberger, a Brazilian environmentalist. The current capitalist economic system tends to disregard the environment, since it would be greatly affected by negative externalities. A negative externality is an economic activity that imposes a negative effect on an unrelated third party. Many negative externalities are related to the environmental consequences of production and consumption. In addition, this dissertation explores the fact that an ecological crisis is also a social crisis. A genealogical and existential thread going from Brazil's early days as one of Portugal's colonies to the present is drawn, showing how colonialism helped to create the foundations and the conditions for the current exploitative capitalist system, in Brazil and elsewhere. To change this situation, the environment should not be entrusted to private interests but to an institution responsible for the good of society as a whole. Genuinely green economies are more prone to appear on the periphery, but only if global economic justice is achieved first.

Title: Evaluation of czech football stadiums in spectator`s view Objectives: The main aim of this thesis is to evaluate selected football stadiums in spectator`s view and on the basis of gained results suggest possibilities of improvement. Methods: At first I selected criteria, that fan interferes from the time he leaves home, till he walks away from stadium. Then I marked these criteria for every stadium. Results: Gained results of evaluation showed, where are strengths and weaknesses of stadiums. Then I could offer improvement suggestion of spectator's comfort. Keywords: football, attendance, product

The benefits of fish oil supplementation for inflammation based disorders has been well-documented,[1] prompting investigations into the pathways through which these benefits are achieved. This led Serhan et al. to the discovery of a new class of pro-resolution lipid mediators, termed resolvins .[2][3] There has subsequently been much research into their being a potential treatment for chronic inflammatory diseases such as asthma,[4] diabetes,[5] and arthritis.[6] The aim of this research was to study the bioactivity of resolvin E1 (RvE1) and its analogues; to do this a flexible and versatile route towards the chemical synthesis of RvE1 had to be developed, which would allow for easy modification of the stereochemistry of the C-C double bonds and hydroxyl groups, as well as producing fragments containing key functional groups. The first proposed route synthesised RvE1 from two key fragments termed the lactone and epoxide fragments. RvE1 contains three stereogenic hydroxyl groups, one with S configuration and two with R configuration. The epoxide fragment was to be converted into two adjacent sections of the RvE1 chain. The S-stereocentre was introduced via hydrolytic kinetic resolution using a Jacobsen s catalyst.[7] The two R-stereocentres were introduced via the chiral pool originating from 1,2:5,6-di-O-isopropylidene-D-mannitol. Unfortunately, problems were encountered late on in the synthesis of both fragments and therefore a new synthetic route had to be devised. The second proposed route synthesised RvE1 from two key fragments termed the alkyne and halide fragments. The S-stereocentre and one R-stereocentre were proposed to be introduced via asymmetric reduction of a ketone group. The other R-stereocentre was proposed to be synthesised with the use of chiral additives during an indium-mediated coupling reaction.[8] As work progressed on the halide fragment, the Lewis acid catalysed thermodynamic conversion of a branched chain homoallylic alcohol to its linear counterpart was trialled in order to obtain one of the conjugated diene system in RvE1. Using literature conditions for a similar system[9] this reaction was unsuccessful. The reaction mechanism was studied and a hypothesis was put forward that adding a catalytic amount of the aldehyde that the branched chain homoallylic alcohol was synthesised from to the reaction mixture would promote the thermodynamic conversion to the linear chain. These conditions were trialled on a number of different starting materials, leading to either an improvement in yield for the thermodynamic conversion, or the success of a previously unsuccessful conversion.

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M.Com. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

The aim of this review is to provide insights to the usage of Kano-model and innovation product development, and at the same time, answer to the research question “How customer needs can be identified by using Kano-model for innovation product development?” The research is conducted by reviewing existing literature on Kano- model and innovation product development (IPD). The relevant literature used for this research is conducted by utilizing the databases of Halmstad University and Google Scholar. A model for customer needs identification by using Kano model for Innovation Product Development (IPD) was constructed based on the reviewed theories. In addition, a general recognition for the term of IPD was acknowledged.

Analyse of the product lines of the trading company based on the next methods: analyse of revenues, analyse of profitability, analyse od effectivity, analyse of the status of a product in the line. Optimisation of the product lines based on the results of analyse

We are living in a competitive business world, on which every company strives to have a better and more significant share of the market. Long term customer relationship is essential in order to reach that success. At the same time, an essential aspect of generating and creating that customer-company engagement, customer loyalty, is product promotion. This research aims to address one of the most important key elements for companies, particularly in the case of Zara: The impact of product promotion on customer loyalty. This particular research aims to illustrate which are the key variables that have the most impact on customer loyalty. There is a hard work/high implication behind customer loyalty for a company; for this reason, it is necessary to know on what to focus, invest, and concentrate. In order to be able to answer the presented question an in-depth research together with a study and analysis has been made. To accurately explore the purpose of this study, we conducted a quantitative research in the Spanish market, aiming to best answer this study. To do so, we administered a survey (created in English and then translated in Spanish) between 157 respondents analyzing different variables on the Spanish market; Promotional Pricing, Point of Purchase Display, Perceived Quality, Perceived Value, Attributes, Customer Relationship, Trustworthiness and Loyalty where the variables analyzed. The theoretical framework that we used to base our survey construction comes from different researchers on the analyzed variables. We made use of different theories from the marketing field as well as promotion-based ones in order to be able to empirically analyze and give an answer to the proposed question of this research. Finally, we concluded by answering the research question, and the research gap found. The main conclusion of this research includes an algorithm that leads to customer loyalty: Customer loyalty = Perceived Value + Customer Relationships + Trustworthiness As presented above, we came to the conclusion that the three main divisors that affect to our customer loyalty formula are: perceived value, customers relationships, and trustworthiness. These fundamental elements that conform to our customer loyalty formula, mostly rely on POP Display as a main promotional tool to impact them.

Thesis advisor: Julie H. Mortimer / This dissertation investigates firms' strategic decisions in industries characterized by a retail sector and the subsequent welfare implications. The first chapter studies retailer assortment choices; the second investigates the effectiveness of retailer online advertising. In many industries producers reach consumers only through the retail sector. Retailer product assortment choices are crucial determinants of consumer welfare as well as retailers' and producers' profitability. Limited shelf space, an inherent characteristic of the brick-and-mortar retail sector, necessitates careful selection of product offerings. The assortment decision within a product category consists of two broad questions: "How many products to offer?" and "Which products to offer?". In sole-authored work, the first chapter focuses on the latter question and investigates the drivers and welfare consequences of retail product selections. While retailer assortment choices are primarily governed by consumers' preferences and retail sector competition, vertical contracts with producers may also influence product offerings, and, in turn, product availability in the market. From the producers' perspective, obtaining product distribution is imperative. Hence, producers frequently provide financial incentives to retailers to secure their patronage. These incentives often take the form of vendor allowances: lump-sum payments to retailers that do not directly depend on sales volume. They can take the form of slotting fees, warehousing allowances, cash discounts, allowances for damaged goods, or operating support (e.g. stocking personnel). Considering the spread of the retail sector, the impact of vertical contracts on product selections may substantially affect consumer welfare and firm profitability. Therefore, it is not surprising that vendor allowances have been the subject of policy discussion. Policy makers have raised concerns that these payments are harming disproportionately small producers and limiting consumer choice. Nevertheless, the Federal Trade Commission abstains from providing clear guidelines on the use of these payments due to unclear theoretical predictions and scarce empirical evidence. The main impediment to empirical analysis has been the proprietary nature of vertical contracts and firm costs. To overcome these data limitations, I develop a novel framework that allows me to quantify vendor allowances and analyze their effects on product selections and welfare. Using only data on retail prices, quantity sold, and retailer offerings, I estimate vendor allowances as retailers' opportunity cost of shelf space. Specifically, retailers face shelf-space limitations, hence, the opportunity cost of supplying a product is the sacrificed profits from not supplying a different product in its place. With limited assumptions on producer and retailer bargaining protocol, set estimates of vendor allowances are recovered. Additionally, by assuming that producers make take-it-or-leave-it offers, point estimates can be obtained. Lower bounds from set estimates imply that, on average, vendor allowances amount to at least 5% of retailer revenues. These results suggest that vendor allowances are likely important for retailer profitability, given that public grocery chains in the U.S. report profit margins on the order of 2-4% of revenues. To investigate the effects of these payments on product selections and welfare, I apply model estimates to simulate how market outcomes change in the absence of vendor allowances. The "what-if" experiment predicts that, absent vendor allowances, retailers fare worse, product variety is reduced as retailers replace "niche" products with "mainstream" options, but consumers are nevertheless better off. Small producers, which offer high-volume products, increase market distribution and profits, but, absent marginal cost data, consequences for large producers are uncertain. The work extends our understanding of how firms' strategic interactions in the marketplace may affect consumer welfare and firm profitability through product availability. The second chapter presents a coauthored work with Alexander Bleier and Maik Eisenbeiss that analyzes the use of online advertising personalization by an online retailer. Online advertising has become an important channel through which firms attempt to influence consumer behavior and increase sales. To improve effectiveness, firms today tailor their advertisements to individual consumers with a method called retargeting. In retargeting, firms track the shopping behaviors of individual consumers' visiting their online stores and, subsequently, deliver individualized display banner ads as consumers continue browsing the Web. While this method has gained traction in the online advertising industry, research in the field is still in its infancy. This work furthers our understanding of advertising personalization by analyzing two questions: How effective is ad personalization in attracting individual consumers back to the online store? And, do different personalization approaches have distinct impacts on consumers' engagement behaviors with the online store? To answer these research questions, we exploit unique data from a randomized field experiment conducted in cooperation with a major fashion and sporting goods retailer. This study compares the effects of online banners with very high, medium, and low degrees of content personalization. For example, very high personalization refers to ads showing consumers products that they had viewed at their previous visit to the retailer's online store. Medium personalization includes products from the most viewed category or brand of their previous visit. And low personalization delivers random products from the retailer's assortment without any connection to a consumer's previous shopping behavior. Results suggest that ads with very high personalization are more effective in bringing consumers back to the online store than the other campaigns. However, we also find that the gain in visits of very high- over medium-personalization banners stems mainly from visit with low consumer engagement. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2016. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Economics.