The behavioural changes which result from expansion and popularity of online platforms can be observed in day to day activities such as buying tickets, ordering food, and communicating with friends and family. From a technical perspective these platforms utilise similar technologies and infrastructures (e.g. the Internet, servers, and databases), however there are numerous conceptual and functional differences which can be identified between them. This research is associated with specific types of online platforms which are commonly referred to as Web 2.0 platforms. Popular examples of such platforms include Wikipedia, YouTube, and Facebook. These platforms rely upon user generated content and benefit from users’ collaborative efforts. Users’ efforts can be considered as a resource, and a possible objective in associated projects could be to optimise the outcome of such efforts. In many cases, this can be accomplished by influencing users’ Online Behaviour (OB). In Web 2.0 platforms, OB can be influenced by various factors, and among them Sense of Belonging (SB) has been highlighted by many previous researchers as a significant factor. While the literature suggests a significant association between SB and OB in Web 2.0 platforms, this research identifies a gap in the existing literature in regards to SB due to its qualitative nature and the dependency of associated investigations on human interaction. In addition to the subjective nature of such investigations, other practical challenges can be associated with measuring SB in Web 2.0 projects. Firstly, considering the demographical, cultural and lingual diversity of users in many Web 2.0 platforms, such investigations can be complex and therefore expensive. Secondly, investigating SB cannot be performed in real time which can result in extended timelines for gathering data. Thirdly, in early stages of Web 2.0 projects in which the concept is being defined and the platform is being developed, the users might not yet exist, and hence investigating their SB and OB may not be an option. Finally, without an existing platform and community, there is nothing to belong to, and hence SB might not exist to measure or investigate. As an attempt to fill the identified gap and provide practical solutions for highlighted challenges in Web 2.0 projects, this research introduces a new factor, and investigates its association with OB. Virtual Belonging (VB) is proposed as a factor built upon suggested elements for SB, and based on a new perspective towards Web 2.0 features. Furthermore, in any Web 2.0 platform, VB can be quantitatively defined, compared, and analysed. This research suggests three dimensions for VB, and their associations with OB are hypothesised. To test the research hypotheses, a Web 2.0 platform was developed in association with a student poetry competition in the University of Manchester, and it was used as the vehicle for an experiment (available at epsPoetry.com). The platform includes a bespoke Tracking System that has been specifically designed and developed to assist with this investigation. Also, Ethical Approval was obtained from the University’s Ethics Committees for the use of the data collected by the Tracking System from the individuals who have agreed to take part in this research and used the platform between March 2013 and July 2014.VB’s dimensions are presented in this research as a hierarchy with three distinct levels, namely Inclusion, Involvement, and Influence. The results show a significant association between every dimension of users’ VB and their OB. On this basis, this research proposes VB as a predictive factor for OB in Web 2.0 projects. The findings can provide practical guidance and directions for Web 2.0 project managers, particularly in the early stages of such projects in which the existence of users and their interactivity with the platform can only be an assumption, and hence obtaining qualitative data (such as SB) may not be an option.

Recent years have witnessed the increasing popularity of second-hand clothing (SHC) worldwide. In the developed countries, consumers show more willingness to accept SHC and the SHC market is relatively mature. In China, consumers’ attitudes towards SHC is always somewhat negative for many reasons. However, nowadays more Chinese young consumers have intentions to buy SHC partly because they want to follow the global fashion trend or to sustain the environment. To recycle and reuse waste textiles, some regulations have been issued by the Chinese government, but restrictions are still put on trading SHC and it is far from enough to formulate a perfect SHC market. The emergence of online platforms such as Idle Fish and Zhuan Zhuan stimulate the potential market and provide a new channel for trading SHC.As reducing clothing production and waste is one of the solutions to alleviate environmental burden in China, it is necessary to improve Chinese consumers’ buying behavior of SHC. This investigation is concentrated on Chinese young consumers, to gain an insight of how they think of SHC and what factors will influence their purchase behavior. A mixed method was applied in this investigation, which included the semi-structured interview and the self-completion questionnaire. Respondents are mostly from Shanghai and Shandong province, aged between 18 to 24 years old. Factors affecting Chinese young consumers’ buying behavior were assessed in three dimensions: perceived concerns, perceived values and subjective norm. When analyzing the data, comparisons between genders or districts were made. It could be observed that three words ‘unsanitary’, ‘cheap’ and ‘eco-friendly’ are used most by Chinese young consumers to express their views on SHC. Among all the factors, hygiene and safety problem is the biggest concern to a majority of Chinese young consumers. Although SHC is not prevailing in China now, it is likely for them to buy it in the future if platforms can be improved and trading SHC can be supported by the government. Since possible ways of improving buying behavior are only given through Chinese young consumers’ perspective, they should be examined from platform operators’ and government’s point of view in the future research.

Einleitung und Motivation Im ZIM-Projekt Vestainnen wird die Entwicklung einer stationären Wirbelschichtfeuerungsanlage (SWSF) kleiner Leistung fortgesetzt. Dabei liegen die Schwerpunkte auf der Modellierung und Simulation der Belastungen an Anlage und den Abläufen in der Feuerung. Insgesamt sind am Projekt sieben Partner beteiligt, die parallel und weitgehend unabhängig arbeiten und die Entwicklung ihres Teilprojekts vorantreiben. Bedingt durch die Vielfalt der Aufgaben kommt bei jedem Partner eine eigene, für die Teilaufgabe geeignete Softwarelösung zum Einsatz. Um die Entwicklungsergebnisse jedoch gemeinsam nutzen zu können, müssen diese eigenständigen Teilmodelle jederzeit auf einen gemeinsamen Stand gebracht werden können, um dieselbe Baugröße und Konfiguration der SWSF abzubilden.

The journalistic field is facing a paradigm shift with the digitalization of offline publications. This research aims to study the Swedish magazine Omvärlden, who since January 2015 has completely converted to an online magazine. The research aims to understand how this digitalization process has affected the content of Omvärlden and if it still upholds classic journalistic quality. Thus the research question is ”how has the digitalization of the magazine Omvärlden affected the journalistic content published on their digital platforms? ”. A qualitative content analysis was performed and the data was anchored in the concept of news form. The analysis was conducted in three steps; 1) comparing the offline magazine with the online magazine, 2) comparing collected data from one single day, June 5th 2017, from all of Omvärlden’s digital platforms; Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Omvarlden.se and Omvarldenberattar.se and finally 3) following an article and comparing how the story is shaped in each digital platform. The results pointed in several directions indicating that the content is indeed adapted to the various digital channels but to different extent. Classic journalistic logics intertwine with digital logics as the content is shaped and re-shaped depending on the platform of publication. The content is both fragmented and adjusted to social and digital media logics. On the other hand, it is also coherent and in accordance with classic journalistic content and news form . Due to the ever changing media environment the research shows journalistic content will have to adapt to several media logics when shaping the content.

Master of Science / Department of Industrial & Manufacturing Systems Engineering / David H. Ben-Arieh / In present competitive market, there is growing concern for ascertaining and fulfilling the individual customer’s wants and needs. Therefore, the focus of manufacturing has been shifting from mass production to mass customization, which requires the manufacturers to introduce an increasing number of products with shorter life span and at a lower cost. Also, another challenge is to manage the variety of products in an environment where demands are stochastic and the lead times to fulfill those demands are short. The focus of this thesis is to develop and investigate platform based production strategies, as opposed to producing each product independently, which would ensure the economic production of the broader specialized products with small final assembly time and under demand uncertainty. The thesis proposes three different platform based production models. The first model considers the economic production of products based on a single platform and with forecasted demands of the products. The model is formulated as a general optimization problem that considers the minimization of total production costs. The second model is the extension of the first model and considers the production of products based on multiple platforms and considers the minimization of total production costs and the setup costs of having multiple platforms. The third model is also an extension of the first model and considers the demands of the products to be stochastic in nature. The model considers the minimization of total production costs and shortage costs of lost demands and holding cost of surplus platforms under demand uncertainties. The problem is modeled as a two stage stochastic programming with recourse. As only the small instances of the models could be solved exactly in a reasonable time, various heuristics are developed by combining the genetic evolutionary search approaches and some operations research techniques to solve the realistic size problems. The various production models are validated and the performances of the various heuristics tailored for the applications are investigated by applying these solution approaches on a case of cordless drills.

Global warming, increasing greenhouse gases emissions, global pollution, exhaustion of natural resources... Those are all consequences of human activities on the environment. Today's world is facing major environmental challenges and sustainability has become a burning topic during the last decades. In our consumption-focused society, the concept of the sharing economy has emerged as an alternative to existing consumption patterns. Advocating the "use rather than own" principle, this concept has a true potential in terms of changing the way we consume and produce to lead to more sustainable behaviors. Current literature has investigated the motivations influencing the decision to participate in the sharing economy. Three main motivations have been highlighted: economic, social and environmental. Indeed, the sharing economy offers the possibility to save or make money, strengthen social ties and reduce one's ecological impact. Even though the environmental aspect plays a part in the decision-making process, it is unclear whether it is a determining factor or only a secondary concern. Thus, our study aims at developing an in-depth understanding of the motivations that drive people's participation in the sharing economy and the role of environmental sustainability. To fulfill that purpose, we have formulated the following research question: How important is environmental sustainability among the motivations to participate in the peer-to-peer sharing economy? To answer our research question, we conducted a qualitative study. We interviewed six French users of the collaborative carpooling platform Blablacar. Questions about the sharing economy in general and use of this specific platform were asked. These interviews allowed us to understand users' perceptions and attitudes towards the sharing economy and to make the connection with the environmental motivation. Our findings reveal that the environmental motivation exists and is part of the decision- making process. We could note a behavior change as the willingness to use collaborative platforms in the future is increasing. At the same time, a growing environmental consciousness has been expressed. However, the economic motivation still strongly prevails over the environmental and social motivations to engage in sharing activities. This observation leads us to conclude about the uncertain future of the sharing economy as a more sustainable consumption pattern.

The thesis is focused on analysis of market with p2p loans, which are provided by online platform as an intermediary between investors and borrowers. The work contains theoretical and legislative resources for establishment, development and everyday operating of a platform. Further the concept of p2p lending is developed as another asset class available to investors.The thesis contains analysis of unsecured credit market in Czech republic and it trying to find the most potential part of this market for p2p loans. It also includes an overview of the most important domestic and foreign platforms and investment recommendations for investors.

Digital platforms are increasingly disrupting established status quos in traditionally stable markets. This study focuses on the launch and use of a digital service platform in the construction industry in  Finland. The study encompasses a practical, action research case study of the platform itself and the context in which it exists. In order to clearly describe observed phenomena from the case, we utilise well-established concepts both from the field of economics and information systems to utilise a relevant vocabulary for describing the findings. The purpose is to answer our research question: what are the perceived market frictions for Small and Medium-sized Entreprises within the construction industry affecting networking and contracting? Also, in what ways can digital platforms mitigate these frictions? The study identifies several underlying frictions in the industry relating to network saturation, disintermediation, transaction costs and relate these to the functionality of the platform attempting to alleviate these frictions.

Les bambusurils, BU[4] et BU[6], sont des oligomères cycliques apparentés aux cucurbiturils, CBs, constitués respectivement de 4 et 6 motifs glycolurils. Les bambusurils diffèrent des CBs par la présence de glycolurils difonctionnalisés.Les BU[6] ont la capacité d'encapsuler des anions dans leur cavité, propriété intéressante pour la décontamination d'effluents, par exemple.Une nouvelle famille de bambusurils, les allylbambusurils, qui possèdent des groupements allyles sur leur portail macrocyclique, a été développée. Leur post-fonctionnalisation par oxydation, métathèse croisée ou réaction thiol-ène a été étudiée. Par réaction thiol-ène, des BU[4] et BU[6], fonctionnalisés respectivement par 8 ou 12 thiols d'intérèt, ont été obtenus. Les BU[6] sont toujours isolés avec un halogènure à l’intérieur de leur cavité. Une méthode utilisant l’hexafluoroantimonate d’argent a été mise au point pour les décomplexer. L'affinité de ces nouveaux BU[6] exempts d'anion, pour différents halogénures, a été évaluée par RMN 1H.Des glycobambusurils ont été synthétisés par réaction thiol-ène en présence de sucres fonctionnalisés par des thiols. Ces glycoBUs donnent accès à des plateformes multivalentes de valence 8 pour les BU[4] et 12 pour les BU[6]. Le pouvoir inhibiteur de ces nouvelles plateformes a été testé sur l'enzyme WaaC, une heptosyltransferase présente dans la paroi bactérienne. Les tests enzymatiques montrent que ces glycobambusurils sont des plateformes multivalentes prometteuses. / Bambusurils, BU[4] and BU[6] are cyclic oligomers that belong to the cucurbiturils family, CBs, assembled respectively by 4 and 6 glycoluril units. Bambusurils are different from cucurbiturils because of their difunctionalized glycolurils. BU[6] are able to encapsulate anions inside their cavity and this property can be useful for the treatment of effluents.A new family of BUs, the allylbambusurils having allyls groups on their macrocyclic portal, has been developed. Their postfunctionalization by oxidation, cross metathesis and thiol-ene coupling has been studied. BU[4] and BU[6] functionalized by respectively 8 and 12 thiols of interest have been prepared.BU[6] are always obtained with an halide inside the cavity. A method using silver hexafluoroantimonate has been developed to remove this halide. Binding constants of these new empty bambusurils have been determined towards severals halide by 1H NMR.Glycobambusurils have been synthesized by thiol- ene coupling with thiosugars. These glycoBUs can lead to multivalent platforms of valency up to 8 for BU[4] and 12 for BU[6]. Inhibition activity of these new platforms has been tested on WaaC enzyme, an heptosyltransferase found in bacterial cell wall. Enzymatic tests show that these glycobambusurils are promising multivalent platforms.

Les objectifs principaux de cette thèse sont expliquer l’émergence de nouvelles dynamiques concurrentielles caractérisées par une symbiose entre concurrence et pouvoir de marché et élucider comment elles peuvent être appréhendées sous l’angle de la théorie de la concurrence. Le chapitre I investigue l’évolution des formes de la concurrence aux États-Unis de 1840 jusqu’à nos jours. On montre qu’alors que dans certains cas le pouvoir de marché s’est traduit par l’entrave à la concurrence (et vice-versa), dans d’autres les deux établissent une relation symbiotique. Le chapitre II fait une revue des théories de la concurrence et conclut qu’elles ne rendent pas compte de la coexistence de deux faits stylisés majeurs propres à la forme de concurrence hégémonique actuelle : des différentiels de taux de profit de long terme et une forte concurrence par les prix.Le chapitre III développe une contribution à la théorie de la concurrence entre et au sein des chaînes globales de valeur (CGV). On montre que l’interdépendance inégale est la source du pouvoir de marché intra-CGV, ce qui explique les différentiels de taux de profit entre firmes appartenant à une même CGV. On montre par la suite comment ils peuvent être compatibles avec une forte concurrence par les prix. Le chapitre IV étudie le capitalisme de plateforme en se focalisant sur les « firmes de coordination algorithmique basées sur la confiance » (FCABC). En s’appuyant sur le cas de la firme de VTC Uber, on argumente que la FCABC conjugue du pouvoir de marché avec une forte concurrence par les prix dans une dynamique concurrentielle dans laquelle il y a une tendance à la monopolisation. / The main objectives of this thesis are to explain the emergence of competitive dynamics characterized by a symbiosis between competition and market power and to elucidate how they can be apprehended through the lenses of competition theory. Chapter I investigates the evolution of forms of competition in the United States from 1840 to today. We show that while in some cases market power has translated into hindering competition (and vice versa), in others the two establish a symbiotic relation. Chapter II reviews competition theories and concludes that they do not account for the coexistence of two major stylized facts characteristic of the current hegemonic form of competition: long-run profit rate differentials and strong price competition. Chapter III develops a contribution to competition theory within and between global value chains (GVC). We show that uneven interdependence is the source of intra-GVC market power, which explains long-run profit rate differentials between firms belonging to the same GVC. Then we show how they can be compatible with strong price competition. Chapter IV studies platform capitalism with a focus on “trust-based algorithmic coordination” (TBAC) firms. Building on the case of the ride-hailing firm Uber, we argue that the TBAC firm conjugates vertical market power with strong price competition in a competitive dynamics in which there is a tendency towards monopolization.