South Africa faces a shortfall in its provision of housing for low income households. This study explores the potential to use public private partnerships (PPP) to address these supply problems. A review of the housing market and an examination of the opportunities and challenges presented by PPP are presented, including a review of the international experience in the provision of social housing. Interviews with key stakeholders are undertaken to evaluate the appropriateness of PPP in the South African social housing sector. PPP are believed to have the potential increase the supply of social housing, provided there is continuing support from the state. However, none of the key stakeholders were keen to use the “traditional” PPP process, suggesting a need for innovative partnership models more appropriate for the sector. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Abstract This study examines the phenomenon of end-user engagement in innovative public procurement. Innovative public procurement aims at satisfying human needs and fixing societal problems by enhancing the development of innovative products, services or processes. To understand the functions expected from procurement, collaborative interfaces, such as interaction with citizen communities, become instrumental for innovations to materialise. In contrast to the existing debate on innovative public procurement focused on broad policy issues or the dyadic relationship between procurer and supplier parties, the interest of this study lies in the micro-level interaction within the inter-organisational triad of public-sector procurer, private-sector supplier and public-service end-user. Value creation via end-user engagement is examined in the study through the three issues of co-creation activities, end-user roles and procurer capabilities. The empirical findings are based on a qualitative case approach to four innovative public property procurement projects in northern Finland. The primary data are generated through interviews and participant observation on relevant procurer, supplier, end-user and expert informants. The results of the thesis highlight the need to further place end-user interaction at the heart of developing public procurement procedures. First, the study categorises end-user engagement activities following the key principles of value co-creation in dialogue, access, risk assessment and reflexivity as well as transparency related actions. Second, the study identifies four end-user roles, conventional, cooperative, collaborative or controlling roles, each of which embodies different value potential according to the procurement situation. Third, adopting a user-centred approach to public procurement calls for an experimental culture that enables the procurer’s capabilities of learning-by-doing, alliancing and networking as well as the evaluation of external support to take place. By integrating the debate of public service co-production into the public procurement context, the study contributes to both innovative public procurement and public service management discussions. From a practitioner’s perspective, the main motivation to use innovative public procurement should not be financial savings, but the added value-in-use and well-being of the public. / Tiivistelmä Tämä väitöskirja tutkii loppukäyttäjien sitouttamista innovatiivisissa julkisissa hankinnoissa. Innovatiiviset julkiset hankinnat pyrkivät täyttämään ihmisten tarpeita ja vastaamaan yhteiskunnallisiin ongelmiin tehostamalla innovatiivisten tuotteiden, palveluiden ja prosessien syntymistä. Ymmärtääkseen hankinnalta vaaditun toiminnallisuuden, yhteistyö julkisia palveluita käyttävien kansalaisten kanssa on elintärkeää innovaatioiden materialisoitumiselle. Siinä missä innovatiivisten hankintojen keskustelu on nykyisellään keskittynyt erityisesti hankintapolitiikkaan ja dyadiseen suhteeseen tilaajan ja toimittajan välillä, tämä tutkimus keskittyy vuorovaikutuksen tarkasteluun mikrotasolla triadisessa suhteessa julkisen sektorin tilaajan, yksityisen sektorin toimittajan ja julkisen palvelun loppukäyttäjän välillä. Loppukäyttäjien sitouttamisella saavutettua arvontuotantoa tarkastellaan tutkimuksessa kolmen sitouttamisen toimintoihin, loppukäyttäjän rooleihin ja tilaajan kyvykkyyksiin liittyvän kysymyksen avulla. Empiiriset tulokset perustuvat laadulliseen tapaustutkimukseen neljästä innovatiivisesta tilahankinnasta Pohjois-Suomessa. Ensisijainen aineisto on kerätty haastattelemalla ja havainnoimalla keskeisiä tilaaja-, toimittaja- ja loppukäyttäjäorganisaatioiden edustajia. Tutkimuksen tulokset korostavat loppukäyttäjävuorovaikutuksen selkeää asettamista innovatiivisten hankintakäytäntöjen ytimeen. Ensiksi, tutkimus luokittelee loppukäyttäjien sitouttamisen vuorovaikutukseen, pääsyyn, riskien hallintaan ja refleksiivisyyteen sekä läpinäkyvyyteen liittyviin toimintoihin. Toiseksi, tutkimuksen tuloksissa tunnistetaan neljä tilannesidonnaista loppukäyttäjien omaksumaa joko perinteistä, auttavaa, kumppanillista tai hallitsevaa roolia. Viimeiseksi, käyttäjäkeskeinen lähestymistapa julkiseen hankintaan edellyttää kokeilevaa kulttuuria, joka mahdollistaa tilaajalle ensiarvoiset kokeilemalla-oppimisen, verkostoitumisen ja ulkoisen tuen arvioimisen kyvykkyydet. Integroimalla julkisten palveluiden yhteistuotannon keskustelua julkisen hankinnan kontekstiin, tutkimuksen kontribuutiot suuntautuvat sekä innovatiivisten julkisten hankintojen että julkisten palveluiden keskusteluun. Käytännön toimijoiden näkökulmasta tärkeää on, että taloudellisten säästöjen sijasta hankinnan tärkein vaikutin olisi käyttöarvon luominen ja kansalaisten hyvinvoinnin edistäminen.

<p>Партнерство јавног и приватног сектора, иако у неким подручјима има дугу традицију, тек у новије време прераста у широко применљив облик и метод друштвеног развоја. Због различитих модела сарадње није могуће дати једну свеобухватну и дефинитивну, прецизну дефиницију партнерства, али је јасно да се ради о учешћу приватног сектора у укупном развоју, финансирању, изградњи, текућем раду и власништву на одређеној туристичкој дестинацији.<br />Формирање партнерства у туристичком сектору дошло је са извесним закашњењем, јер се сматрало да је овај сектор сувише испарчан. Савремена пракса, међутим, показује примере успешног партнерства, и то не само унутар туристичког сектора, него и у сфери партнерства туристичких предузећа са партнерима ван основне туристичке делатности.<br />Проблем јавно-приватног партнерства у Златиборском региону је веома мало истражен, а у међувремену је постао веома актуелан и посебно значајан за садашњи и будући развој Републике Србије и конкретне туристичке дестинације Златиборског региона.<br />Имајући у виду природну и друштвену атракциску основу чутавог региона, као и увид у стратегије развоја како појединачних општина тако и читаве области, као сфере које је неопходно и могуће унапредити кроз партнерсто јавног и приватног сектора издвојила бих: област маркетинга и промоције, област образовања и стручне обуке, развој инфраструктуре и туристичког производа, сектор инвестиција и извора финансирања и у домену заштите животне средине.</p> / <p>Partnerstvo javnog i privatnog sektora, iako u nekim područjima ima dugu tradiciju, tek u novije vreme prerasta u široko primenljiv oblik i metod društvenog razvoja. Zbog različitih modela saradnje nije moguće dati jednu sveobuhvatnu i definitivnu, preciznu definiciju partnerstva, ali je jasno da se radi o učešću privatnog sektora u ukupnom razvoju, finansiranju, izgradnji, tekućem radu i vlasništvu na određenoj turističkoj destinaciji.<br />Formiranje partnerstva u turističkom sektoru došlo je sa izvesnim zakašnjenjem, jer se smatralo da je ovaj sektor suviše isparčan. Savremena praksa, međutim, pokazuje primere uspešnog partnerstva, i to ne samo unutar turističkog sektora, nego i u sferi partnerstva turističkih preduzeća sa partnerima van osnovne turističke delatnosti.<br />Problem javno-privatnog partnerstva u Zlatiborskom regionu je veoma malo istražen, a u međuvremenu je postao veoma aktuelan i posebno značajan za sadašnji i budući razvoj Republike Srbije i konkretne turističke destinacije Zlatiborskog regiona.<br />Imajući u vidu prirodnu i društvenu atrakcisku osnovu čutavog regiona, kao i uvid u strategije razvoja kako pojedinačnih opština tako i čitave oblasti, kao sfere koje je neophodno i moguće unaprediti kroz partnersto javnog i privatnog sektora izdvojila bih: oblast marketinga i promocije, oblast obrazovanja i stručne obuke, razvoj infrastrukture i turističkog proizvoda, sektor investicija i izvora finansiranja i u domenu zaštite životne sredine.</p> / <p> Although а partnership of public and private sectors has a long tradition in some areas, it has јust recently become a widely applicable form and method of social development.It is not possible to give an overall, definitive and precise definition of partnership because of the different models of cooperation, but it is clear that it is a private sector participation in entire development, financing, construction, current work and ownership in a specific tourist destination.<br /> Forming of partnerships in the tourism sector came with some delay, because it was believed that this sector is too segmented. The modern practice, however, shows examples of successful partnerships, not only within the tourism sector, but also in the sphere of partnership between tourist companies аnd partners out of main tourism аctivity.<br /> The problem of public-private partnership in the Zlatibor region has been poorly studied, but in the meantime, it has become very current and especially important for present and future development of the Republic of Serbia and the specific tourist destination of the Zlatibor region.<br /> Bearing in mind the natural and social attraction base of the entire region, as well as access to development strategy of individual municipalities and entire area, I would single out spheres that are necessary and possible to improve through partnership of public and private sectors: the area of marketing and promotion, the area of education and professional training, the development of infrastructure and tourism product, investments sector and sources of funding and in the domain of environmental protection.</p>

The main topic of this thesis is the use of development cooperation as an instrument of foreign policy of the People's Republic of China (China) and the European Union (EU) in Africa. The aim of this diploma thesis was to find out whether the development cooperation policy of China, respectively the EU with African countries, is motivated rather by pragmatic or normative interests. In order to answer this research question, a qualitative content analysis was applied, in which the documents of these two actors were examined. The main theoretical concept of this diploma thesis is the concept of normative power, which served as an indicator of normative interests. In the case of the EU, the hypothesis that the EU would primarily act as a normative power in development cooperation, i.e. that it would be interested in disseminating its norms in the international system, has not been confirmed. The results of the content analysis reveal that pragmatic interests prevail in the development cooperation between the EU and African countries. In the case of China's involvement in development cooperation, the results of the analysis reveal that the main motivations within this policy are mainly normative interests, i.e. the interests of disseminating its norms in the international politics.

This study examines the topic of open innovation in EVs. Initially a brief description of the concept of innovation and open innovation is carried out. Moreover, the three processes of open innovation are deployed while the coupled process is described in more detail. Furthermore, a short description is also given for corporate entrepreneurship, alliances, and the U.S. government policy. Also, this report considers Tesla Motors’ partnerships as a case study and it aims to give an insight of how the coupled process of open innovation is. Concluding, Tesla Motors follows the coupled innovation process by establishing strategic partnerships.

Under de senaste åren har risk kapitalmarknaderna stått inför flera signifikanta problem. Den svenska VC industrin har minskat med över 60 % sedan Dotcom-kraschen. Antalet aktiva VC- företag har minskat i antal från 100-200 till endast 5-10 större VC-företag. Jämför man dagens marknad med hur den såg ut innan Dotcom-kraschen, så fanns det betydligt fler aktiva företag inom den svenska VC-industrin. Nya finansieringsformer har trätt in på marknaden som bland annat Evergreen fonder och crowd-funding. Den svenska VC-industrin har kännetecknats av en "rensning" av marknaden var tionde år, och var femte år uppstår en mindre krasch på marknaden. De svenska riskkapitalaktörerna har tagit en högre risk än vad som faktiskt var motiverat. Syndikatinvesteringar görs för att undvika investerarnas enskilda risk. Detta fenomen kan illustreras genom de två lyckosamma Svenska investeringarna, Spotify och iZettle. Riskkapitalmarknaden har varit karakteriserad av legala hinder vilket skapat flera stora problem. Trots detta finns det positiva trender och förändringar som idag genomförs på marknaden. Dett kommer lyfts fram ytterligare i arbetet. Bland annat har det diskuterats att införa ett skatteavdrag vilket anses vara fördelaktigt för riskkapitalbolagen. Detta arbete fokuserar huvudsakligen på de olika finanseringsformerna och de olika marknadsaktörerna. Fokus ligger på utvecklingen av industrin och dess aktuella trender, men även på den kommande framtiden. Studien är baserad på intervjuer med marknadsaktörer och på befintlig forskning vilket ger en god insikt i den Svenska riskkapitalbranschen.

To increase the understanding of the role of CSR in global development practice, this study examined ‘The Oracle’ podcast series, one of IKEA’s projects at H22, Helsingborg’s open innovation platform and city expo. The current transformations in our communities are met with traditional CSR approaches which are being exchanged for innovative models that encourage participation, consultation and engagement. The ethical discourse on businesses engaging in social affairs remains to be contested, but analysis on individual interests in shared issues using a communication view of CSR leads to innovation in network societies. At the same time, development practitioners are organizing social learning systems to communicate social change (C4D). Findings showed that storytelling can be used to study the shared sustainable development priorities between governments and businesses, and that the functionality of these narratives are just as important as the information they hold. Further research can be made to investigate the function of social innovation as a catalyst for CSR and C4D to find compatible solutions that address global development problems.

Due to the increasing amount of private-public partnership procurements, the pros and cons of this subject area is of great concern for economists and stakeholders. Previous studies regarding the rationale of this type of procurement argued on the externalities of private-public partnership. Most arguments were upon the negative externalities, which can reduce the private-public partnership’s value. In this thesis, externalities in private-public partnership for infrastructure projects are explained by using operation and maintenance, and user’s quality in more detail and compared in different situations. This study carries that with having positively correlated qualities, the private sector will have maximum profit and by having uncorrelated qualities, and the private sector will have more profit compared to negatively correlated qualities. Furthermore the ways to design optimal contract for public sector, which gives the incentive to the private sector to enhance quality and reduce life-cycle costs, is analyzed.

Purpose – Forecasting is a firm's ability to anticipate or predict the future demand givenon a set of assumptions. For a company to implement an appropriate forecast model whichcan make accurate assumptions, the model needs to be aligned with the company's businesssituation and enhanced through supply chain relationships. Therefore, the purpose of thisstudy is: Investigate how small sized wholesalers benefit from demand forecasting. The purpose is divided into two research questions RQ1: How can a company influenced by a seasonal demand select an appropriateforecast model according to its business environment? RQ2: Why do information sharing issues between supply chain partners occur and howcan wholesalers overcome this resistance? Method – The researchers executed a singular case study at one of the local small-sizedfurniture wholesalers in Sweden. The data collection methods implemented in this studyare interviews, document analysis and a survey addressed towards downstream membersof the wholesalers’ chain, retailers (five participants). The combination of both qualitativeas well as quantitative methods was based on a triangulation principle which helped theresearchers provide a comprehensive understanding of the problem as well as increasevalidity and credibility of the study. Findings – The result of the study raises the importance of selecting a forecast model inaccordance with the company's business situation. Furthermore, by the help of a selfdesigned four-step forecast process the company could identify its influencing factors(seasonality, lead-times, lack of information sharing, etc.), available data, and finally selectthe appropriate model corresponding with the business situation. In this study the Holt-Winters model was selected due to the promotion of simplicity considering the casecompany. Also, the issue regarding information sharing among supply chain partners wasidentified where retailers promotes the performance of the whole supply chain anddemands a partnership as a requirement for sharing information. Implications – As every firm is unique and different in its nature it therefore requires itsown specific forecast process in which can select the appropriate model. However, thestudy revealed how selecting the appropriate forecast model can enhance the businessmeeting their seasonal demand. Additionally, the fact that small-sized companies need toestablish a partnership to receive demand information from their retailers. Based on theresult, the study reveals how companies can enhance their situation through demandforecasting. Limitations - As each model is based on each specific company the results regarding theselected forecast model can be questioned. Furthermore, due to the limited time-period ofthe research a specific forecast process had to be constructed which could only cover thescope of the research and not how the forecast model performed over time. Therefore, alonger time-period of the research could have included extra activities in the forecastprocess which would have validated the model.

This diploma thesis deals with the importance of marriage from the perspective of the current young generation. The work focuses on aspects that affect the view of the institute of marriage. We also deal with the period of young adulthood, where we also deal with mental and physical development, which is related to this period. In our work, we also focus on unmarried cohabitation, which is a popular form of cohabitation today. It is clear from the research survey that the current young generation is still interested in the conclusion of the institute of marriage and the main reason that should lead to the conclusion of marriage for most respondents is love for a partner.