Community-based natural resource management has been introduced in Ghana as an instrument to assist nature conservation and natural resource management, as opposed to the fences and fines approach of the protectionist model. The purpose of this study was to examine the extent of natural resource exploitation by the local communities in and around the Ankasa Resource Reserve after the introduction of the Amokwawsuazo Community Resource Management (ACREMA) programme. Particularly, the study sought to understand whether the implementation of ACREMA has helped to achieve nature conservation and natural resource management inside and outside the Reserve. The specific study objectives were as follows. First, the study seeks to assess the socio-demographic characteristics and economic activities of ACREMA community members. Second, the impact of ACREMA community members’ activities on natural resources of the Reserve was assessed. Third, the extent of natural resource exploitation after ACREMA was evaluated. Fourth, examine the measures undertaken to minimise natural resource exploitation in the Ankasa Resource Reserve after ACREMA was introduced. Fifth, the research assessed the ACREMA community members’ willingness to support nature conservation and other alternative livelihood programmes such as tourism. Finally, the research sought to provide guidelines and recommendations for policy makers, park management and other parties interested in the implementation of any development project in the Ankasa region. The study was justified because very little has been documented about the effectiveness of this approach in promoting nature conservation in Africa. Therefore, this study could contribute to understanding of the effectiveness of community-based resource management programmes in achieving nature conservation in Ghana. In order to achieve the objectives set, the study developed a conceptual framework based on social exchange theory. Social exchange theory conceptualises human behaviour as an exchange of goods and services, both tangible and intangible, and based on rewards for services rendered. The study combined both quantitative and qualitative research techniques. Hence, the main modes of data capture were survey, focus group interviews and in-depth interview. While quantitative data was analysed using SPSS version 14, qualitative data obtained were transcribed and analysed according to emerging themes. The results showed that natural resource exploitation declined following the introduction of ACREMA. This was as a result of the more effective collaboration and partnership developed between park management and local community members. Where exploitation existed, the study showed that this was primarily due to poverty and a lack of alternative resources. Secondly, the research demonstrated that ACREMA community members were willing to support nature conservation and as a result have undertaken several measures to minimise natural resource exploitation within the Ankasa region. The high level of enthusiasm to support nature conservation and tourism development was largely attributed to benefits already received for undertaken conservation measures as well as benefits perceived to result from the development of tourism in the future. Due to lack of alternative livelihoods, household heads also expressed interest in providing tourism-related services such as accommodation, catering services, working as drivers and tour guides if and when tourism becomes available in the region. This case study confirms that community-based natural resource management has been successful in achieving nature conservation and natural resource management in the Ankasa Resource Reserve and area. The study also provided several policy implications and pointed out areas for further study.

A current trend in the information society is that traditionally fixed computing resources are made available to mobile users. Most of the existing techniques for communication have been developed for stationary computing, and they must be adapted to the different connection properties of the mobile environment. One of the emerging mobile computing environments is the Universal Mobile Telecommunication System, UMTS. This system places demands on the quality of service that is provided to data flows, which requires resource management in the connection network. The most scarce resources in this system is the radio resources. The easiest way to conduct research in new and adapted techniques for communication is to perform simulations. Management of resources places restrictions on connections, and to get reliable results during simulations it must be included in the simulated environment. The thesis discusses and builds a basis for development of UMTS radio resource management in the network simulator ns-2. A limited version of UMTS radio resource management is added to ns-2 and evaluated.

The Region of Waterloo (ROW) and Oxford County contain a significant landscape unit called the Waterloo Moraine that provides multiple ecological and water resource functions to surrounding communities. These functions include; providing a clean and abundant source of water, natural landscapes for plant and animal habitats, natural areas for recreational enjoyment, prime agricultural lands on which to grow food and aggregate resources in close proximity to large markets. This landscape unit is similar to the Oak Ridges Moraine (ORM) located in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). The purpose of this research is to conduct an examination of the current state of management for the Waterloo Moraine within the ROW and Oxford County. Attributes of the Waterloo Moraine examined include; water resources, agricultural resources, mineral aggregate resources, Environmentally Sensitive Landscapes (ESLs), natural core areas, natural linkage areas and settlement areas. While the hydrologic functions have been most studied within this landscape unit, the Moraine has predominantly been studied from a focused perspective rather than a comprehensive one. Using expert knowledge and available secondary sources the following research questions are investigated: (1) What do we currently know about the Waterloo Moraine and how is this knowledge (or lack thereof) applied to its future existence and sustainability? (2) Who are the stakeholders when it comes to growth and management of the Waterloo Moraine? (3) Which places need to be protected from development most throughout the Waterloo Moraine? (4) Where does the Waterloo Moraine fit into management policies and plans existing in the Region of Waterloo and within the Province of Ontario? Key results of this research include; (1) The boundary of the Waterloo Moraine remains undefined; however, rough estimates of the overall size and various portions within each county, township and city it encompasses have been projected. To date, the largest portion of the Moraine lies in Wilmot Township (36.9%) and the smallest portion lies in North Dumfries (3%). (2) Many stakeholders are involved in the protection and management of the Waterloo Moraine. Regional and provincial officials ultimately control where development and growth occur and which areas in the ROW should be protected most. Those responsible for the initial ‘push’ for Moraine protection are grassroots groups and individuals coupled with the local media. (3) Criteria designating development ‘hot spots’ across the Waterloo Moraine has been established and six ‘hot spots’ within the Waterloo Moraine are designated. Limited recognition has been given to the Waterloo Moraine complex in regional policies. It is therefore suggested that the creation of a Waterloo Moraine Act be considered in order to protect and manage this landscape unit. The Act would promote protection measures for the Moraine’s valuable attributes at the highest provincial level and eventually lead to a conservation plan. It is recommended that the ROW further refine the Waterloo Moraine’s boundaries, develop a database to monitor changes in various features and functions across the Waterloo Moraine’s landscape and promote the implementation of a Waterloo Moraine Act.

Community-based natural resource management has been introduced in Ghana as an instrument to assist nature conservation and natural resource management, as opposed to the fences and fines approach of the protectionist model. The purpose of this study was to examine the extent of natural resource exploitation by the local communities in and around the Ankasa Resource Reserve after the introduction of the Amokwawsuazo Community Resource Management (ACREMA) programme. Particularly, the study sought to understand whether the implementation of ACREMA has helped to achieve nature conservation and natural resource management inside and outside the Reserve. The specific study objectives were as follows. First, the study seeks to assess the socio-demographic characteristics and economic activities of ACREMA community members. Second, the impact of ACREMA community members’ activities on natural resources of the Reserve was assessed. Third, the extent of natural resource exploitation after ACREMA was evaluated. Fourth, examine the measures undertaken to minimise natural resource exploitation in the Ankasa Resource Reserve after ACREMA was introduced. Fifth, the research assessed the ACREMA community members’ willingness to support nature conservation and other alternative livelihood programmes such as tourism. Finally, the research sought to provide guidelines and recommendations for policy makers, park management and other parties interested in the implementation of any development project in the Ankasa region. The study was justified because very little has been documented about the effectiveness of this approach in promoting nature conservation in Africa. Therefore, this study could contribute to understanding of the effectiveness of community-based resource management programmes in achieving nature conservation in Ghana. In order to achieve the objectives set, the study developed a conceptual framework based on social exchange theory. Social exchange theory conceptualises human behaviour as an exchange of goods and services, both tangible and intangible, and based on rewards for services rendered. The study combined both quantitative and qualitative research techniques. Hence, the main modes of data capture were survey, focus group interviews and in-depth interview. While quantitative data was analysed using SPSS version 14, qualitative data obtained were transcribed and analysed according to emerging themes. The results showed that natural resource exploitation declined following the introduction of ACREMA. This was as a result of the more effective collaboration and partnership developed between park management and local community members. Where exploitation existed, the study showed that this was primarily due to poverty and a lack of alternative resources. Secondly, the research demonstrated that ACREMA community members were willing to support nature conservation and as a result have undertaken several measures to minimise natural resource exploitation within the Ankasa region. The high level of enthusiasm to support nature conservation and tourism development was largely attributed to benefits already received for undertaken conservation measures as well as benefits perceived to result from the development of tourism in the future. Due to lack of alternative livelihoods, household heads also expressed interest in providing tourism-related services such as accommodation, catering services, working as drivers and tour guides if and when tourism becomes available in the region. This case study confirms that community-based natural resource management has been successful in achieving nature conservation and natural resource management in the Ankasa Resource Reserve and area. The study also provided several policy implications and pointed out areas for further study.

Radio resource management (RRM) is an important component of a mobile wireless network that efficiently utilizes the limited radio resources such as spectrum, transmission power, and network infrastructure. Unfortunately, current RRM schemes do not support cooperative multiple point (CoMP), a promising technology that extends coverage, increases capacity, and improves the spectral efficiency of the next generation broadband network, i.e., 4G network. Specifically, to coordinate with CoMP, a RRM scheme should be aware of three main properties of CoMP - cooperative transmitting information, coordinated scheduling transmission, and single interference noise ratio (SINR) improvement. However, few of the existing RRM schemes consider these properties, since they were designed based on the conventional mobile data networks without CoMP technology. In this dissertation, I present a series of new CoMP aware RRM schemes for ensuring users' throughput and maximizing network capacity in an integrated PON-OFDM network, which is a norm of the 4G network and can best implement the CoMP technology. I call the PON-OFDM network with CoMP a CoMP Network (CoMPNet). I provide two classes of RRM schemes for two practical CoMP technologies, cooperative transmission (CT) and coordinated scheduling (CoS), respectively. In the first class, I propose two groups of RRM schemes using the CT technology. In the first group, three OFDM-TDMA based RRM schemes are designed for three different users' moving speeds. The objective of these schemes is to minimize time slot consumption. The RRM schemes in the third group are contrived for an OFDM-FDMA based CoMPNet. I provide four linear programming (LP) based optimal schemes, one for minimizing bandwidth usage, one for minimizing transmission power consumption, and two for balancing resource costs. An optimized resource allocation solution can be obtained by flexibly choosing one of the schemes according to network load. In the second class, I present a sub-optimal RRM scheme for an OFDM-FDMA based CoMPNet. The CoS technology is applied for ICI mitigation. I formulate the system optimal task into constrained optimization problems for maximizing network capacity. To improve the computation efficiency, fast yet effective heuristic schemes are introduced for divide-and-conquer. The proposed heuristic schemes are featured by CoS based timeslots/subcarriers assignment mechanisms, which are further incorporated with intelligent power control schemes. Through simulations, I study the proposed RRM schemes performances and discuss the effect of the CoMP technology. The performance benefits of CoMP on bandwidth saving and capacity increasing are shown by comparing the new schemes with the conventional schemes without CoMP.

This study is to assess natural resource management practices in Xilingol Biosphere Reserve (XBR) located in northern China in their institutional contexts. Institutions including legislation, regulations and administrative structures, responsibilities associated with land and resource rights, decision making powers and processes, and community participation, and the interactions between these institutions have exerted great impacts on how natural resources are used and managed in XBR. Local people have experienced great socioeconomic losses accompanied with the establishment of XBR. However, they have not been provided with adequate compensation for their lost benefits. This gave rise to the conflict between local people and XBR. The findings indicate that partnerships prove to be an inevitable trend for improving the reserve management and facilitating the resolution of a series of issues facing XBR.

In July 1997 Selkirk First Nation Citizens or Selkirk First Nation Peoples in the community of Pelly Crossing, Yukon signed the Selkirk First Nation Final Land Claims Agreement (Modern Day Treaty) and the Selkirk First Nation Self-Government Agreement with the Government of Yukon and the Government of Canada. Prior to 1997 they were under the auspices of the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs (DIAND) and did not have the autonomy to create policy and law for land management. Rather, they were required to adhere to regulations that were mandated by the Yukon Wildlife Act and other institutions created by the Yukon or Federal Governments. The methodology employed in this study was aimed at providing an accurate assessment of change while at the same time ensuring that Selkirk First Nation perspectives remained uppermost. To achieve this, community and personal insights were gained through interviews, family group discussions and the observation of community activities. To ensure that these perspectives were positioned in an accurate historical and political context an examination of public, private, and government records were also undertaken. This research has provided the platform upon which I formed my conceptualizations that Selkirk First Nation Peoples are benefiting both culturally and traditionally. The significance of this research will provide alternatives for other First Nations who pursue land claims and who are building their hunting and fishing laws or Wildlife Acts upon cultural values and traditional pursuits that are distinct from those mandated federally, provincially, or territorially. It is also anticipated that First Nations who are in the process of negotiating Comprehensive Land Claims Agreements acknowledge that certainty regarding Aboriginal rights and title go above and beyond what is defined by the dominant Governments and the Courts.

Nästan var tionde patient i den svenska somatiska sjukhusvården drabbas av en vårdskada och som följd har patientsäkerhetsfrågor aktualiserats. Orsaker till brister i patientsäkerheten kan ofta hittas i organisationen eller arbetsplatsens rutiner där bl.a. bristfälliga rutiner för samverkan och kommunikation är vanliga orsaker. Teamarbete är en vanligt förekommande samarbetsform inom vården och byggstenarna i dessa team utgörs av de teammedlemmar som ingår och som för tillfället arbetar tillsammans. Individernas prestationsförmåga styrs av mänskliga psykologiska och fysiologiska begränsningar vilket leder till att misstag och fel är oundvikliga. Ett system som förebygger, fångar upp och mildrar effekten av dessa fel är Crew Resource Management (CRM). Säkerhetskonceptet, med ursprung inom flygindustrin, har under de senaste decennierna börjat etablerats inom hälso- och sjukvården som ett led i arbetet för att öka patientsäkerheten. Avsikten med CRM är att skapa en säkerhetskultur inom organisationen där det finns en medvetenhet om att fel inträffar och att träna hälso- och sjukvårdspersonal i att hantera dessa. CRM-träning fokuserar på att skapa förutsättningar för ett säkert teamarbetet där bl.a. kommunikation, ledarskap, situationsmedvetenhet och problemlösning är viktiga komponenter. Denna träning i kombination med säkerhetsverktyg, som t.ex. checklistor och kommunikationsstrukturer, används i vardagen för att förstärka samarbetet och bidra till att förebygga och fånga upp fel innan någon kommer till skada. Syftet var att belysa effekten av teamträning i Crew Resource Management. Den metod som valdes var forskningsöversikt med avsikt att kartlägga området och att införskaffa kunskap och träning i att på ett strukturerat sätt sammanställa resultaten från publicerade empiriska studier. Forskningsöversikten redovisar forskningsresultat som publicerats mellan åren 2006-2011. Författarna till forskningsöversikten fann att CRM-interventioner påverkade patientsäkerhetskulturen i positiv riktning även om signifikanta förbättringar inte alltid kunde påvisas. Även patientsäkerheten ökade då flera studier kunde påvisa ett förbättrat utfall för patienterna både när det gällde behandlingsprogram och resultat men även minskad mortalitet efter infört CRM-program. Teamträningen hade dessutom påvisbar positiv effekt avseende medvetenheten och benägenheten att rapportera fel samt minskade antalet rapporterade händelser som kunde kopplas till teamarbete och kommunikation. Teamträning i CRM-principer kan på sikt ha en betydande positiv effekt på patientsäkerheten. Att förändra en säkerhetskultur tar tid och för att uppnå full effekt krävs att upprepad utbildning och teamträning är etablerade delar i CRM-initiativet. Dessutom krävs ett stort engagemang från ledningen där erkännande, stöd och uppmuntran är viktiga komponenter för att uppnå önskad förändring.

Kurs/nivå: Kandidatuppsats, Enterprising and Business Development, C- nivå, 2EB00E, VT 2012 Författare: Niklas Fridman & Jonas Persson Handledare: Lena Olaison Examinator: Richard Nakamura Titel: Employer Branding i Kina: Vad ser kinesiska studenter som attraktivt vid val av arbetsplats? Nyckelord: Employer Branding, Human resource management, Kinesisk management. Bakgrund: Allt fler företag etablerar sig i Kina och en förutsättning för att lyckas är att rätt personal driver företaget framåt. Västerländska företag upplever att kompetensen är svår att finna och behålla inom kunskapsbaserade tjänster (knowledgework) vilket skapat problem vid etableringar i landet. Employer Branding är ett vedertaget begrepp i västvärlden som hjälper företag att attrahera personal, forskningen är inte lika utbredd i Kina och det finns ett behov för att kunna attrahera och behålla kompetent personal på plats i landet. Kandidatuppsatsen fokuserar på rekrytering av kinesiska studenter i Kina. Syfte: Syftet med kandidatuppsatsen är att öka förståelsen för vad kinesiska studenter upplever som attraktivt med en arbetsplats och vad som får dem att välja en speciell arbetsgivare. Problemformulering: Vad ser kinesiska studenter som attraktivt på sin framtida arbetsplats och vad är viktigt att ta i beaktning som arbetsgivare för att förstå vad som attraherar kinesiska studenter i Kina? Metod: Studien har antagit en kvalitativ forskningsmetod där data är insamlad genom semistrukturerade intervjuer och en fokusgrupp. Författarna har ett tolkande perspektiv med en ontologiskt konstruktionistisk inriktning. Resultat/slutsatser: Av studien framgick det att kinesiska studenter lägger stor vikt vid företags rykte. Det var attraktivt för de kinesiska studenterna att kunna balansera arbetsliv med privatliv, känna stolthet för arbetsgivaren inför familj och vänner, känna trygghet i sin anställning, möjlighet till kompetensutveckling och en mer kommunikativ relation till sina chefer. Kulturen i Kina skiljer sig mot i väst, bland annat genom ett tydligt riskundvikande, hierarkiskt synsätt med stor respekt för överordnade samt en stark koppling till familjära band. / Abstract Course/level: Bachelor thesis, Enterprising and Business Development, C-level, 2EB00E Spring semester 2012 Authors: Niklas Fridman & Jonas Persson Advisor: Lena Olaison Examinator: Richard Nakamura Title: Employer Branding in China: What does Chinese students regard as attractive while selecting workplace? Key words: Employer Branding, Human resource management, Chinese management Background: More companies are setting up in China and a necessity for success is that the right people are taking the company forward. Western companies perceive that the suitable Chinese employers are hard to find and retain, specifically noticed in today’s many knowledge intensive companies. Employer Branding is term that is well known in the western world that help companies attract and retain employees, the research is not as widespread in China and more research is needed in order to know how to attract and retain Chinese staff in western companies established in the country. The bachelor thesis focuses on recruitment of Chinese students in China. Purpose: The purpose of the bachelor thesis is to increase an understanding of what Chinese students regard as attractive with a workplace and what makes them choose a particular employer. Research question: What does Chinese students regard as attractive with a workplace and what is important to take into consideration as an employer to understand what attracts Chinese students in China? Methodology: The study adopted a qualitative research method where the gathering of data has been done through semi structured interviews and a focus group. The authors have an interpretive perspective with an ontological constructionist approach. Research findings: The study showed that Chinese students place great importance on the corporate reputation. It was attractive to be able to balance work with private life, to feel pride for family and friends, to have good job security, opportunities for professional development and an open relationship to managers. The culture in China differs from the West, including a clear risk avoidance, hierarchical approach with great respect for superiors and the strong link to the family.

Background: We have identified the combination of Knowledge Management and Human Resource Management as interesting because of this constellation has been mentioned scarcely in previous studies. There also seem to be some interesting correlations with personnel turnover. Aim: The aim of this study is to describe and understand the theoretically best combination of Human Resource Management and Knowledge Management, by creating a model. The model is also going to be tested empirically through consulting firms, to see if they meet the ideal combination. With this model we also want to describe in what way the different combinations of strategies will affect the personnel turnover. Definitions: A huge part of this study concerns the theoretical area Human Resource Management, which we have entitled HRM. Similarly, Knowledge Management has been entitled KM. Completion: The study is designed both as a literature review and as a comparative case study in which empirical data has been collected through qualitative interviews with four Swedish management consulting firms. Results: The best combinations of KM and HRM are according to this study that strategies should consist of a thoroughgoing personalization or codification. The result also gives a description of how various HRM-aspects can be adapted in line with the best combination. The result stresses that the companies concerned in these case studies don’t follow these recommended combinations. The result also includes descriptions of the varying effects on personnel turnover that comes along with different combination of KM and HRM. / Bakgrund: Vi har identifierat kombinationen av Knowledge Management och Human Resource Management som intressant då denna konstellation behandlats sparsamt i tidigare studier. Det finns även intressanta samband i termer av personalomsättning som fångat vårt intresse. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att skapa en modell för att beskriva och förstå hur de teoretiskt bästa kombinationerna av Human Resource Management och Knowledge Management kan se ut. Modellen ska även testas empiriskt på konsultföretag för att se om de uppfyller idealkombinationerna. I modellen vill vi även beskriva på vilka sätt olika strategikombinationer kan påverka personalomsättningen. Definitioner: Stora delar av studien kretsar kring det teoretiska området Human Resource Management vilket vi har förkortat HRM. På samma sätt har Knowledge Management förkortats som KM. Genomförande: Studien är utformad dels som en litteraturstudie och dels som en komparativ fallstudie där empirin bygger på kvalitativa intervjuer med fyra svenska managementkonsultbolag. Resultat: De bästa kombinationerna av KM och HRM är enligt studien när de genomgående utgörs av personalisering eller kodifiering. Resultatet ger även en beskrivning av hur olika HRM-aspekter kan anpassas i linje med dessa bästa kombinationer. Studien visar även att företag (fallföretagen i denna studie) inte följer idealkombinationerna i praktiken samt att olika kombinationer kan få varierande effekter på företags personalomsättning.