In one of the largest and most important industries in Sweden, the construction industry, the success of the projects can be closely related to how uncertainties of outcomes or risk are managed. For a construction project to be successful, different individuals and organizations need to provide their knowledge and experience to fulfill the project scope. Risk is something that, if properly managed, will make the project achieve and perhaps surpass these goals and if not, make the project underperform. There exist frameworks for how risk should be managed and also theories for how past experience influence future decisions. How risk within construction projects are managed is related to the experience of the team members as well as top management’s insight in the risk management process. Through a qualitative approach, based on literature as well as interviews, this master thesis provides an insight into how the key project participants are managing risk. Further, this study examines possible shortcomings with risk management practices and proposes management strategies for these. In this study, consultants working with both developers and contractors have been included to share their view. The results of this study show that current risk management practices deviate from the practice proposed within research and industry related literature. This makes the construction projects to rely heavily on individual’s knowledge and there is a risk that lessons learned will not be spread within the organization or the society. Further, risk and opportunities are often managed within the same framework which does not provide for risk to be managed accordingly and opportunities to be exploited. It is proposed that professionals within the industry have a risk propensity that is rather unchanged by gaining more experience but there exists a shift in how risk is perceived. These findings are closely related to how much insight top management within the organization have. Today, most efforts are concentrated on how the project is performing in relation to the budget and schedule which makes risk management a reactive rather than a proactive measure. / I en av Sveriges största och viktigaste branscher, byggbranschen, kan byggprojektens resultat vara nära relaterat till hur osäkerheter samt risk hanteras. För att ett byggprojekt ska bli framgångsrikt måste alla inblandande parter bidra med sina kunskaper och erfarenheter för att uppfylla projektets mål. Risk är någonting som genom en bra hantering antingen kan överträffa dessa mål eller istället göra att projektet misslyckas att nå dessa. Det finns ramverk för hur risker ska hanteras samt teorier för hur tidigare erfarenheter påverkar framtida beslut. Hur risker inom byggprojekt hanteras är relaterat till projektgruppernas erfarenhet samt företagsledningens insyn i riskhanteringsprocessen. Genom en kvalitativ studie baserad på såväl litteratur som intervjuer ger denna masteruppsats en inblick i hur de viktigaste projektdeltagarna hanterar risk. Vidare undersöker denna uppsats även vilka risker själva riskhanteringsprocessen har samt föreslår åtgärder för dessa. I denna studie har konsulter med erfarenheter av att arbeta med både beställare och byggentreprenörer inkluderats för att få en så bred syn som möjligt på hanteringen från de olika parterna. Resultatet av denna studie visar att den nuvarande riskhanteringsprocessen inom flera av organisationerna avviker från den modell som förespråkas av forskning och branschorganisationer. Detta gör att organisationerna ofta förlitar sig på individernas kunskap och att lärdomar sprids dåligt inom organisationen och samhället. Vidare så hanteras risker och möjligheter ofta på samma sätt vilket innebär att risker inte hanteras rätt och möjligheter utnyttjas inte. Dessutom verkar yrkesverksamma inom branschen ha en riskbenägenhet som är relativt oförändrad av erfarenhet men deras uppfattning av risk förskjuts. Resultaten är nära relaterade till hur stor insyn och delaktighet organisationernas ledning har i själva riskhanteringsprocessen. Idag handlar det mycket om att ledningen har en reaktiv inställning till risker, efter att dessa fallit ut, istället för att ta till proaktiva åtgärder.

Prior studies suggest that proximity to nuclear power plants do not affect concerns regarding perceived risks of nuclear power. This thesis applies and compare Swedish plant Ringhals with prior studies but with the added intent of addressing the relationship between plant and population. The host community Bua is positive towards Ringhals and the changes it has brought. To some degree more so than results of prior studies with a higher than national average percent of study respondents being in favor of nuclear power. When Ringhals was established, Bua was small and had little power to impact the decision. Today, the population is bigger and have a better chance to affect future pathways for their community. While positive towards nuclear power the population expresses concerns over possible future changes. A large scale change like the construction of a power plant is less likely to happen again.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Industrial & Manufacturing Systems Engineering / Chih-Hang Wu / The topic of infectious disease epidemics has recently attracted substantial attentions in research communities and it has been shown that the changes of human behaviors have significant impacts on the dynamics of disease transmission. However, the study and understanding of human reactions into spread of infectious disease are still in the very beginning phase and how human behaviors change during the spread of infectious disease has not been systematically investigated. Moreover, the study of human behaviors includes not only various enforced measures by public authorities such as school closure, quarantine, vaccination, etc, but also the spontaneous self-protective actions which are triggered by risk perception and fear of diseases. Hence, the goal of this research is to study the impacts of human behaviors to the epidemic from these two perspectives: spontaneous behavioral changes and public intervention strategies. For the sake of studying spontaneous changes of human behaviors, this research first time applied evolutionary spatial game into the study of human reactions to the spread of infectious disease. This method integrated contact structures and epidemics information into the individuals’ decision processes, by adding two different types of information into the payoff functions: the local information and global information. The new method would not only advance the field of game theory, but also the field of epidemiology. In addition, this method was also applied to a classic compartmental dynamic system which is a widely used model for studying the disease transmission. With extensive numerical studies, the results first proved the consistency of two models for the sake of validating the effectiveness of the spatial evolutionary game. Then the impacts of changes of human behaviors to the dynamics of disease transmission and how information impacts human behaviors were discussed temporally and spatially. In addition to the spontaneous behavioral changes, the corresponding intervention strategies by policy-makers played the key role in process of mitigating the spread of infectious disease. For the purpose of minimizing the total lost, including the social costs and number of infected individuals, the intervention strategies should be optimized. Sensitivity analysis, stability analysis, bifurcation analysis, and optimal control methods are possible tools to understand the effects of different combination of intervention strategies or even find an appropriate policy to mitigate the disease transmission. One zoonotic disease, named Zoonotic Visceral Leishmaniasis (ZVL), was studied by adopting different methods and assumptions. Particularly, a special case, backward bifurcation, was discussed for the transmission of ZVL. Last but not least, the methodology and modeling framework used in this dissertation can be expanded to other disease situations and intervention applications, and have a broad impact to the research area related to mathematical modeling, epidemiology, decision-making processes, and industrial engineering. The further studies can combine the changes of human behaviors and intervention strategies by policy-makers so as to seek an optimal information dissemination to minimize the social costs and the number of infected individuals. If successful, this research should aid policy-makers by improving communication between them and the public, by directing educational efforts, and by predicting public response to infectious diseases and new risk management strategies (regulations, vaccination, quarantine, etc.).

Background: Radon is a high impact environmental pollutant and is the second leading cause of lung cancer in Canada. Despite the gravity of the health risk, residents have inadequate awareness and have taken minimum preventive actions. The success of any population-level health awareness program is contingent on the views and actions of key decision makers at the household level. People's perceptions of the risk should inform health communication messaging that aims to motivate them to take preventive measures. The objective of this study was to measure the quantifiable associations and predictions between perceptions of radon health risk and their preventive actions; to explore and examines the social determinants that enable and hinder the adoption of preventive measures. Additionally, the best effective radon control systems for both the new and existing houses and relevant policy implications have been examined. Methods: A mixed methods study consisting of surveys (n=557) and qualitative interviews (n=35) was conducted with both homeowners and tenants of Ottawa-Gatineau areas. Descriptive, correlation and regression analyses addressed the quantitative research questions. Thematic, inductive analysis identified themes in the qualitative data. A mixed methods analysis triangulate both results. A registered systematic review of radon interventions around the world was conducted and radon policy analysis was done by applying interdisciplinary frameworks. Results: Residents’ perceptions of radon health risk, smoking at home, social influence, and care for family significantly correlated with their intention to test for radon; the same variables predicted their protection behaviours. Residents obtained information on radon from the media, individual search, workplace and social networks. Residents who had dual - cognitive and emotional awareness of the risk, were motivated enough to take action. Having an understanding of the risk, caring for family, knowing others who contracted lung cancer and being financially capable were enablers for action. Obstacles included lack of awareness, cost of mitigation, lack of home ownership and potential stigma in selling the house. Residents attributed primary responsibility to public agencies for disseminating information and suggested incentivizing and mandating actions to promote preventive measures. Indoor radon is best controlled by installing an active SSDS with additional measures to seal any entry points in the foundation. The policy analysis generated a list of recommendations that can be implemented through multisectoral systems level actions to address the social determinants of risk distribution. Conclusions: Residents do not get the crucial information on radon health risk and report barriers in testing and engaging in protective action. Risk perceptions are subjective and influenced by micro and macro level factors. Inducing protective action to reduce risk requires comprehensive interventions taking into account dual perceptions of the threat. Future research can explore the dual aspects of risk perception and examine the contents of the risk communication message. Policy should address the shared responsibility of both governments and residents in tackling the issue with reasonable incentives and mandatory regulations.

This study examines the influence of various facets of perceived risk on the attitudes toward really new services (RNS) and adoption intentions. Although there is considerable research examining perceived risk and consumer adoption of innovations, three aspects of the relationship have been neglected. First, much of the research on really new innovations is product-focused with little attention to services. Second, there is limited research examining perceived risk as a multidimensional construct. Third, consumer characteristics that affect the relationship between perceived risks and adoption intentions have not been included in most of the innovation studies. Thus, this study seeks to provide answers to the questions of “which types of perceived risk are more likely to affect adoption intentions of RNS?” and “which consumer characteristics affect the relationship between perceived risks and adoption intentions of RNS?”. The findings of the study show the influence of perceived risk in the service innovations area. We contribute to theory and practice by identifying the specific risks that cause consumers to resist adopting RNS as well as showing the explanatory power of Regulatory Focus Theory (RFT) to understand why consumers react differently when they encounter service innovations. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2017. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

The amount of violent media that is consumed on a daily basis by the average American and the empirically proven effects associated with such regular consumption have led scholars to consider violent media a public health threat, the risks of which, the public may not even fully appreciate (Huesmann, Dubow, & Yang, 2013). Previous research in the field of public health communication has found that different forms of evidence in public health risk messages are more or less effective in changing behavior depending on individual recipient characteristics (de Wit, Das & Vet, 2008; Reinard, 1988; Slater & Rouner, 1996). The present research investigated the effectiveness of different forms of evidence (narrative or statistical) in decreasing violent media consumption by increasing an individual's risk perceptions and negative attitude associated with violent media. In accordance with the Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1991), it was hypothesized that these risk perceptions and attitudes would predict intentions toward violent media consumption, as well as subsequent consumption. The study was conducted via MTurk with a sample of one hundred and fifty participants (53% Male). Results showed that an individuals' violent media consumption predicted their attitude toward violent media (p = .035), and that their risk perception and attitude toward violent media significantly predicted their intentions to decrease violent media consumption (ps < .05). Though no significant difference was found between the effect of narrative and statistical evidence on general violent media consumption, exploratory analyses of effects on specific forms of media showed that narrative evidence resulted in a significant decrease in violent video game consumption (p = .042). Additionally, age predicted risk perception, the older the participant the less risk they perceived in violent media consumption (p = .010). Future research should investigate the effect of including all elements of the Theory of Planned Behavior on the ability of different evidence types to change behavior, and perhaps extend the time frame within which change is measured in order to maximize the ability to observe any true change in behavior.

During and following the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) accident in 2010, concerns about air and seafood quality were paramount. Though individual perceptions varied, many people in coastal communities in southeast Louisiana felt they had been exposed to oil- and dispersant-related compounds. We hypothesized that implementation of a Community-based Participatory Research (CBPR) project would promote a more transparent and mutually beneficial relationship between researchers and the community. We conducted both in-home and community-based assessments (n=198) in culturally diverse populations most impacted by the DWH event, including the Vietnamese in New Orleans East and the residents of the Bayou communities. Levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in paired indoor/outdoor air samples and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in seafood samples were determined with chemical analysis. Data were collected from multiple self-administered surveys regarding environmental awareness and impact of the DWH event, access to, and trusted sources of, information, perceptions about safety, and selected behavioral and socio-demographic variables. In an effort to enhance public understanding of the interconnectedness of their health with the Gulf ecosystem, we disseminated the information directly to the participants as well as the larger communities at risk. Through post-dissemination follow-up surveys, we explored the effectiveness of our environmental CBPR research strategy with our primary goals being to improve risk communication and promote informed decision-making among our coastal populations. / Jessi Howard

<p>According to the World Health Organization(WHO) the most efficient and cost-effective strategies in the global fight of malaria are the Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) and the Insecticide Treated Nets ITNs). However, since the strategies include the use of synthetic insecticides, WHO reports that they sometimes meet opposition in the society. In a Global Malaria Programme report from 20061, WHO describes that concerns in the community regarding the safety of the IRS hinder its effective implementation. WHO states that the social acceptability of ITNs2 has to increase. This study aims at investigating if and where in the Ugandan society the antimalarial strategies meet opposition. The study analyzes whether authorities, non-governmental organizations and caretakers in one region in Uganda reject the antimalarial strategies recommended by WHO. The aim is further to investigate where focus should be put in order to meet the</p><p>opposition (if any) to current strategies and thus facilitate the implementation of the strategies. The methodology used is an empirical approach based on interviews with officials at authorities, representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and caretakers in the slum areas in Kawempe Division, which is an area highly exposed to malaria, in Uganda. The results show that the authorities and the NGOs in this study accept the current strategies but believe that they are not fully accepted by caretakers. Further, the authorities and the NGOs point out that current strategies, mainly IRS, meet great resistance among politicians and within the agricultural and environmental sector. Nevertheless, the majority of the caretakers in the interviews does accept the strategies and give other reasons for not having them implemented in their houses. Many of the households do not have the money neither to buy the ITNs nor to have the IRS implemented in their houses. Thus, this study implies that the opposition to the current strategies is not among authorities, NGOs or caretakers but in the political, environmental and agricultural</p><p>sphere. In order to fight malaria in the study area, WHO and stakeholders have to work with the change of attitudes among politicians and stakeholders within the environmental and agricultural sector in Uganda. They also have to provide poor households with ITNs or IRS for free, since lack of money is the reason for the studied group of caretakers not having the recommended strategies implemented in their houses.</p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2006. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 155-171).

According to the World Health Organization(WHO) the most efficient and cost-effective strategies in the global fight of malaria are the Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) and the Insecticide Treated Nets ITNs). However, since the strategies include the use of synthetic insecticides, WHO reports that they sometimes meet opposition in the society. In a Global Malaria Programme report from 20061, WHO describes that concerns in the community regarding the safety of the IRS hinder its effective implementation. WHO states that the social acceptability of ITNs2 has to increase. This study aims at investigating if and where in the Ugandan society the antimalarial strategies meet opposition. The study analyzes whether authorities, non-governmental organizations and caretakers in one region in Uganda reject the antimalarial strategies recommended by WHO. The aim is further to investigate where focus should be put in order to meet the opposition (if any) to current strategies and thus facilitate the implementation of the strategies. The methodology used is an empirical approach based on interviews with officials at authorities, representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and caretakers in the slum areas in Kawempe Division, which is an area highly exposed to malaria, in Uganda. The results show that the authorities and the NGOs in this study accept the current strategies but believe that they are not fully accepted by caretakers. Further, the authorities and the NGOs point out that current strategies, mainly IRS, meet great resistance among politicians and within the agricultural and environmental sector. Nevertheless, the majority of the caretakers in the interviews does accept the strategies and give other reasons for not having them implemented in their houses. Many of the households do not have the money neither to buy the ITNs nor to have the IRS implemented in their houses. Thus, this study implies that the opposition to the current strategies is not among authorities, NGOs or caretakers but in the political, environmental and agricultural sphere. In order to fight malaria in the study area, WHO and stakeholders have to work with the change of attitudes among politicians and stakeholders within the environmental and agricultural sector in Uganda. They also have to provide poor households with ITNs or IRS for free, since lack of money is the reason for the studied group of caretakers not having the recommended strategies implemented in their houses.