Sammandrag Denna studie behandlar Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) inom den svenska banksektorn, en sektor där ansvarsfrågor traditionellt inte uppmärksammats då banker inte ansetts ha stor inverkan på samhälls- och miljöproblem. Företag generellt förväntas idag aktivt arbeta med CSR-frågor, dock förekommer en strategi att kommunicera CSR istället för att agera, i syfte att stärka legitimiteten i varumärket. Studien belyser frågor kring CSR inom banksektorn, då det idag finns indikationer på att även banker måste arbeta med frågorna. Studien undersöker varför SEB, en av Sveriges storbanker, arbetar med CSR, hur de anpassar CSR till sin unika verksamhet och hur de väljer att kommunicera arbetet i syfte att skapa sig förtroende och legitimitet gentemot omvärlden. För att undersöka detta har en kvalitativ fallstudie genomförts, med intervjuer på SEB och Svenska Bankföreningen. De slutsatser som dras av studien är att det idag finns tendenser som visar att CSR blivit en institutionaliserad norm inom bankväsendet. SEB strävar efter att integrera hållbarhetsarbetet i sin kärnverksamhet för att uppnå långsiktighet. Resultaten visar även att SEB kommunicerar sitt hållbarhetsarbete med försiktighet. Samtidigt rapporterar hållbarhetsteamet till kommunikationschefen, något som tyder på att frågan är viktig ur ett kommunikations- och imageperspektiv. / Abstract Purpose: This study aims at analyzing Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the financial sector. CSR has been under debate and companies are expected to manage their businesses responsibly. Companies’ tendency to communicate about, but not act in these questions have been discussed and criticized. Companies often see CSR as a communicational issue and as a strategy to build a legitimate brand. The financial sector has not been subject for these kinds of discussions since they are not considered to have a great impact on societal issues, especially not environmental issues. Therefore, this study aims at shedding new light on CSR-issues in the financial sector, since today there are indications that also banks should pay attention to these questions. By studying one of Sweden’s four major banks, SEB, the authors examine why SEB works with CSR, how they translate CSR to fit their unique business, and how they communicate their CSR-commitments to gain trust and legitimacy. Method: To examine this, a qualitative case study has been made, and a semi-structured interview method has been used to collect material. This method has been supplemented with secondary material like annual reports and other. Results: In conclusion, the authors see proof that CSR has been institutionalized within the banking sector. SEB has put much emphasis on integrating their sustainability commitments into their core business, both by integrating responsibility aspects into the daily activities, and by developing concrete projects with responsibility profiles. This is done to create a long-term sustainable platform on which SEB:s business can grow. The results also show that SEB communicate their sustainability commitments with caution. However, the sustainability team reports to the chief of communications, which suggests that this question is of importance from a communications- and brand image perspective. Their strategy to “act first, talk after”, is a strategy that can be successful from a legitimacy point of view.

This study investigates six theoretical approaches offered as solutions to the paradox of the heap (sorites paradox), a logic puzzle dating back to the ancient Greek philosopher Eubulides. Those considered are: Incoherence Theory, Epistemic Theory, Supervaluation Theory, Many-Valued Logic, Fuzzy Logic, and Non-Classical Semantics. After critically examining all of these, it is concluded that none of the attempts to explain the sorites are fully adequate, and the paradox remains unresolved. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / M.A. (Philosophy)

Cette thèse a pour enjeu de traiter des paradoxes étudiés en théorie du choix social.Le paradoxe d'Ostrogorski sur deux axes programmatiques a été traité, notamment sa probabilité de réalisation par l'ajout d'un critère discriminant sur les axes au moment de réaliser le choix de l'électeur : une formule de calcul exacte a été mise au point pour des valeurs de population finies afin de mesurer son occurrence pour différents effectifs, et une borne maximale émerge autours de 0,085.Parmi, les différentes anomalies étudiées en théorie du choix social affectant le fonctionnement des démocraties, le paradoxe du référendum occupe une place particulière du fait de son observation assez récurrente dans l'histoire électorale récente.L'un des enjeux de cette thèse a été de déterminer une méthode utilisable pour mesurer précisément sa probabilité d'occurrence dans des conditions précises de taille du corps électoral et de découpage.Il a été notamment recherché un moyen de comparer sa fréquence selon le nombre de circonscriptions retenu.Une formule a ainsi été déterminée pour des découpage du corps électoral en 3, 5, 7 et 9 circonscriptions de taille homogène.Un second résultat de la thèse sur le même paradoxe a été d'abolir l'hypothèse d'homogénéité parfaite des effectifs des circonscriptions pour mesurer l'effet de leur variation sur la probabilité de conflit pour un découpage en 3 circonscriptions.Des pistes ultérieures de recherche ont également explorées, en particulier la possibilité d'abolir partiellement l'hypothèse de culture neutre avec un découpage en 3 circonscriptions.Il a également été procédé à un état des lieux des types d'architecture institutionnelle, dont une classification globale en quatre catégories a été établie.Il a été tenté de déterminer leur poids dans les conflits de pouvoirs observés dans certains pays, en ayant notamment recours à des résultats obtenus grâce au paradoxe du référendum. / This thesis has aimed issues to deal with paradoxes studied in social choice theory.The Ostrogorski paradox with two programmatic axes was treated, including its achievement by adding a distinguishing criterion on the axes to realize the voter choice: an exact formula has been developed for a finite population to measure its occurrence for different numbers, and a effective maximum bound has emerged around 0.085.Among the various anomalies studied in social choice theory in the functioning of democracy, the referendum paradox holds a special place because of its fairly recurrent observation in recent electoral history.One of the stake of this thesis was to determine a suitable method to accurately measure its probability of occurrence in precise terms of size of the electorate and cutting.It was particularly sought a way to compare its frequency depending on the number of selected districts.A formula has been determined for cutting the electorate in 3, 5, 7 and 9 homogeneous size constituencies.A second result of the thesis on the same paradox was to relax the perfect homogeneity assumption on the constituencies size to measure the effect of their variation on the likelihood of conflict for a division into 3 districts.Subsequent research directions have also explored the possibility to partially abolish the assumption of impartial culture with a division into three districts.An inventory has been also conducted of the institutional architecture types.A comprehensive four-category classification was established, and we have tried to determine their weight in conflicts of powers observed in some countries,in particular using results deduced from the referendum paradox.

The aim of this thesis is to examine the meanings and functions of paradox in the late Renaissance. My understanding of Renaissance paradox, in contrast to that of most critics and historians, rests entirely on contemporary definitions of the term, rather than on its present-day meaning. Paradoxes as they are envisaged in this study begin to appear in the wake of the humanist rediscovery and dissemination of Cicero's <i>Paradoxa Stoicorum</i>. In this work, paradoxes are characterized as 'admirabilia contraque opinionem omnium', a definition that draws attention to two important traits of paradox, repeatedly invoked in the Renaissance: its association with wonder, and its opposition to common opinion. This thesis examines the history of classical paradox as it was revived, expanded beyond the narrow confines of Stoic ethics, and adapted to new purposes so successfully that it became a recognisable genre of polemical writing, with hundreds of works in Latin and the vernacular being described as paradoxes. Previous studies of Renaissance paradox have centred almost exclusively on its literary and vernacular manifestations, and on the paradoxical encomium in particular. My own work charts the rise to prominence and the ensuing transformations of paradox in a range of disciplines: rhetoric and ethics, theology, law, medicine, and natural philosophy. I compare the different associations that paradoxes acquire in all these areas, and the argumentative strategies that they deploy. My analysis of specific examples of paradox is informed by the methods of both literary analysis and intellectual history. Paradoxes, I argue, offered their authors the possibility of departing from established norms and of voicing novel views in a period of intellectual unrest. In their challenge to received and common opinion, they paved the way for more radical ideas in the following century, and they have much to tell us about dissident ways of thinking in the late Renaissance.

The black hole information paradox arises when quantum mechanical effects are considered in the vicinity of the event horizon of a black hole. In this report we describe the fundamental properties of quantum mechanical systems and black holes that lead to the information paradox, with focus on quantum entanglement. While first presented in 1976, the information paradox is as of yet an unsolved problem. Two of the proposed solutions, black hole complementarity and firewalls, are discussed. / Svarta hålets informationsparadox uppkommer när man tar hänsyn till kvantmekaniska effekter i närheten av händelsehorisonten av ett svart hål. I denna rapport beskrivs de grundläggande egenskaper hos kvantmekaniska system och svarta hål som leder till informationsparadoxen, med fokus på kvantintrassling. Paradoxen, som presenterades 1976 men än idag är ett olöst problem, förklaras sedan. Två av de förslagna lösningarna till paradoxen, svarta hål-komplementaritet och firewalls, diskuteras.

I denna uppsats undersöker jag hur två olika tolkningar av den sokratiska frivillighetsparadoxen ingen gör fel frivilligt påverkar möjligheten att förstå Platons dialog Staten. Min hypotes är att de två tolkningarna av frivillighetsparadoxen kastar ljus över diskussionen i Staten, och att det är nödvändigt att förstå frivillighetsparadoxens roll för att förstå vad som står på spel i Staten. I uppsatsen ämnar jag visa att ett möjligt sätt att läsa Staten är att tolka Sokrates och de övriga samtalsdeltagarnas uttalanden baserat på kontexten, eftersom vissa uttalanden är polemiska i sin karaktär, medan andra är traditionella. Jag argumenterar för att såväl den traditionella synen på Sokrates som den polemiska dito är korrekta analyser av Sokrates filosofiska gärning, men inte heltäckande sådana, eftersom Sokrates ibland är polemisk – mot de som kvickt måste nedkämpas – och ibland är instruerande på traditionellt manér, mot de som kan förbättras genom det filosofiska samtalet. Detta sätt att läsa Staten skiljer sig från andra genom att läsaren bör avstå a priori-uppfattningar om Sokrates, Thrasymakos eller Glaukons och Adeimantos ståndpunkter till förmån för att tolka beteenden hos samtalsdeltagarna samt deras uppfattningar, vilka förmedlas av texten.

The essay examines whether there is a difference in concern and actual behavior of peopledepending on whether they use tracking protection or not when browsing the web. The thesisis based on previous research on the privacy paradox, information privacy concern andprotection motivation theory. The approach is quantitative with an accompanyingquestionnaire. The answers were collected via a self-developed test environment which at thesame time collected information about any measures the respondents had taken to protectthemselves against tracking. The analysis was made through a correlation analysis betweenthe survey questions to find the survey questions convergent validity. Furthermore, adescriptive analysis was made of the responses from the respondents in each group and aMann-Whitney U test was conducted to see if there were any statistically significantdifferences between the groups. The thesis found that the correlation between the questionswere overall strong, which shows a well-designed research model. The thesis has also foundsigns that privacy paradox is present in certain parameters such as information privacyconcern and percieved vulnerability, while it is not in other parameters such as percievedseverity and response efficacy. The conclusion drawn is that the respondents are aware andconcerned that they could be tracked when they browse the web, but not as many believe thatthe severity is high if one were to be tracked. / Uppsatsen undersöker om det finns skillnad i oro och uppskattning av att hantera denna orohos personer beroende på om de använder spårningsskydd eller ej när de surfar på nätet.Uppsatsen utgår ifrån tidigare forskning kring privacy paradox, information privacy concernoch protection motivation theory. Tillvägagångssättet är kvantitativt med tillhörande enkät.Svaren samlades in via en egenutvecklad testmiljö som samtidigt samlade in information omeventuella åtgärder respondenterna tagit för att skydda sig mot spårning. Analysen gjordesgenom en korrelationsanalys mellan enkätfrågorna för att undersöka frågornas konvergentavaliditet. Samtidigt gjordes en deskriptiv analys av svaren från respondenterna i varje gruppsamt ett Mann-Whitney U test för att se om det uppstod signifikanta skillnader i hurgrupperna svarade på enkäten. Uppsatsen har funnit att korrelationen mellan frågorna överlagär stark, vilket visar på en bra utformad forskningsmodell. Uppsatsen har även funnit att detfinns tecken på att privacy paradox är närvarande vid vissa parametrar, såsom informationprivacy concern och percieved vulnerability medans den inte är det hos andra parametrar sompercieved severity och response efficacy. Slutsatsen som dras är att respondenterna kännermedvetenhet och oro för att spåras när de surfar på nätet men inte lika många anser attallvarlighetsgraden är hög om man skulle bli spårad.

A narrative paradox occurs when the suspension of disbelief falters due to tension betweenthe urgency of the narrative and agency used by the player to pursue non-narrative activities.In this paper, we do a close reading on the video game Persona 5 to examine which elementsare utilised to limit or avoid narrative paradoxes. The analysis consisted of categorising thegame’s events, whereafter a few non-obligatory events from the game were chosen for anin-depth analysis. This served to find out which desire: agency, urgency, or both, the eventsmotivate through its narrative. We introduce the concept of the Plot Bubble as a tool withwhich to create narrative structures that are less prone to causing narrative paradoxes whencombined with relevant narrative elements. The narrative structure and elements of Persona 5are used as practical examples of how such design choices can motivate the player to act inaccordance with the narrative context, as well as to support this desire through the actionsavailable in the game world. / En narrativ paradox inträffar när ens upphävande av misstro fallerar på grund av en spänningmellan narrativets brådskande karaktär och behörigheten som spelaren har för att utövaicke-narrativa aktiviteter. I denna text gör vi en närläsning av TV-spelet Persona 5 för attundersöka vilka element som används för att begränsa eller undvika narrativa paradoxer.Analysen bestod utav en kategorisering av spelets händelser och därefter valdes några fåicke-obligatoriska händelser från spelet till en djupgående analys. Detta tjänade till att ta redapå vilken begäran: spelarens behörighet, narrativets brådskande karaktär, eller båda,händelserna motiverar genom dess narrativ. Vi introducerar konceptet intrigbubbla som ettverktyg till att skapa narrativa strukturer som är mindre benägna att orsaka narrativaparadoxer i kombination med relevanta narrativa element. Den narrativa strukturen ochverktygen i Persona 5 används som praktiska exempel för hur sådana designval kan motiveraspelaren att agera i enlighet med den narrativa kontexten, samt att stödja denna begärangenom handlingarna som finns tillgängliga i spelvärlden.

Obesity is very widespread and detrimental to health. Obesity brings with it many changes including heightened immune function, and a higher prevalence of major cardiovascular disorders, cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer disease. Obesity is also associated with shortened lifespan. The detrimental effects of obesity are linked to the "metabolic syndrome", a broad range of changes in metabolic processes and immune function. As a first approximation, we agree with this formulation but we will then proceed to document some of its weaknesses. (i) Crude mortality rates increase with increasing body mass index (BMI) but as the BMI approaches the normal range, mortality rates reverse (the now classic "J-shaped curve") so that individuals with reduced BMI have elevated mortality. (ii) A multiplicity of medical and surgical conditions have been reported where short term and medium term outcomes are better for overweight patients. These conditions are placed under the heading of "obesity paradox". (iii) The medical community has introduced a binary system for the metabolic syndrome ---- yes, patient has it or no, the patient does not have it, despite the fact that all of the changes that are considered components of the metabolic syndrome are continuous variables. Our work is focused on sharpening focus and improving...

Intelligence services are vital security systém elements of each democratic state. Access to the important intels without any lags is basic for state to survive. No state, nor the democratic nor the totalitarian can survive withou intelligence. On the other hand, strong based and rooted oversight is nature in democratic states. Basic purpose of this work is in examination of the situation in the Czech republic, where intelligence systém reform should be prepared as soon as possible. Especially in the light of missuse of the military intelligence by prime minister's mistress in 2013. In advance, the limits of current oversight methods and systém should be find. Deborah Stone's, proffesor of Dartmouth university, in the Czech republic rare theory called Policy Paradox is used as main for this work. It was choosen because it brings new view on the current intelligence system setup and its oversight. This analytical model see creation of public policy as continuous clash of personal and public interests. In advanced it is in opposition to the traditional view of policy from the market perspective and it provide new view as ancient polis where you have to beer the public interest on your mind. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)