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Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karolinska institutet, 2008. / CD-ROM: Titel från titelskärmbild. Även utgiven som CD-ROM.

This research examines the sustainability of private sector participation in urban service delivery in developing countries. The solid waste collection service in Dar es Salaam – Tanzania was used as a case study. Municipalities in Tanzania have not been able to cope with the rapid generation rate of solid waste coupled by the rapid urbanization. This resulted in a relatively large quantity of solid waste remaining poorly managed and uncollected, which left an obvious gap for other stakeholders to participate in service provision. The private sector took the opportunity, in the early 1960s, to fill the gap left by the public sector in service provision. The research found that there are factors affecting the sustainability of the private sector, which include: support from the public sector; capacity from the private sector in terms of collection vehicles and equipment; households’ attitudes and behaviour regarding the privatization of the service; the awareness and participation of households in the service; and involvement of households in decision-making. The research also identified that there is a missing-link between the households, public sector administration and the private sector. The research concludes that, taking into consideration the above factors, the proposed guidelines formulated in this study illustrate ways in which private sector involvement in solid waste collection in urban developing countries will be sustainable.

Public value has proven itself as an insightful concept through which to better understand, assess, and guide the contributions of public organizations to the common good. Corresponding to the increasing awareness that private organizations, too, bear considerable responsibility for society, the concept of public value has recently also been applied in the private sector. Following two additional current directions of public value research, i.e., shifting from a static assessment of public value to more process-oriented research, and providing incremental empirical support for previous conceptual research, this dissertation examines public value creation as a nonmarket strategy for the private sector. Therein, a framework text contextualizes three empirical papers within the nonmarket strategy framework of Mellahi et al. (2016) and its adaptation by Frynas and Yamahaki (2016). Drawing from Meynhardt's (2009, 2015) public value conceptualization, initial empirical evidence is provided to shine a light on why and how private organizations may strategically create public value. Addressing Moore's (1995) guiding questions for public value creation strategies and highlighting both the limitations of this work and the avenues for future research that arise from them, the present dissertation offers an orientation for future research on public value creation in the private sector.

The aim of this research was to explore the ICT skills of LIS students in Kuwaiti HE that are potentially defined by the job market. These skills are deemed essential for the employment of LIS graduates in different job market sectors. As a result, the ICT skills of current LIS students, the needs of employers, and the LIS curriculum in Kuwait were all investigated. In addition the factors that had an impact on students ICT skills were also investigated. To fulfil the research aim and objectives, mixed research methods were employed. The research subjects were employers, LIS students, and teaching staff. Their views were sought through qualitative and quantitative methods that included: 54 semistructured interviews; 225 self-administered questionnaires; these were supplemented by three focus groups; and content analysis of relevant web sites, reports, and LIS syllabus to provide further documentation and analysis. The main findings of the research were: (1) overall the students had knowledge and basic ICT skills, but they lacked advanced searching and internet navigation skills. 85% of the students did not have enough ICT skills; their ICT skills level was selfrated as intermediate or beginner ; (2) the research investigated negative factors such as: unsuitable teaching and learning environment, negative attitudes, social influences, and lack of resources; (3) the students most preferred teaching and training method was group training ; (4) the employers identified further ICT skills and non-ICT skills that LIS graduates should possess for employability; (5) gaps were found in the curriculum and in teaching and training the ICT courses such as: course content was inconsistent; did not reflect the needs of the job market and were outdated; an imbalance between theory and practical training, courses had different outline and little use of the English language hindered the students ICT skills improvement and ICT use. In addition, work placement needed careful consideration. Recommendations based on the research findings and conclusions were made to the DLIS in Kuwait and stakeholders. Future ideas were identified for further research.