Le Roi Roger, chef-d’oeuvre du compositeur polonais Karol Szymanowski (1882-1937), constitue une œuvre-clé pour le développement de son auteur. Situé dans la Sicile médiévale, théâtre de la confrontation de nombreuses civilisations (notamment grecque, byzantine, arabe et normande), l’opéra se veut mosaïque de cultures (interculturalité) et des sources artistiquement variées (pluridisciplinarité). Allant des Bacchantes d’Euripide jusqu’à la philosophie nietzschéenne et de la musique folklorique des Tatras au drame wagnérien, ce kaléidoscope de sources est articulé par quelques idées fondamentales. L’étude proposée considère l’opéra, selon les termes mêmes du compositeur, dans l’opposition binaire, entre d’« immenses contrastes et richesses » et de « mondes […] unis » par le biais de procédés d’intégration devant faire accéder cette mosaïque au statut d’Œuvre. La présente étude est une série d’éclairages, seul moyen de considérer l’opéra si complexe en entier. Confrontant les projets et le résultat, elle s’organise au rythme des oppositions, approchant différents domaines dans leur épaisseur (étude des sources variées) et leur rôle dans l’œuvre achevée. / King Roger, a masterpiece of the Polish composer Karol Szymanowski (1882-1937) is a key-work to the development of his author. Taking place in the medieval Sicily, setting for the confrontation of many civilisations (in particular Greek, Byzantine, Arabic and Norman), the opera presents itself as a mosaic of cultures (interculturality) and of varied artistic sources (pluridisciplinarity). Extending from the Bacchae of Euripides to nietzschean philosophy and from the music of the Tatra Mountains to the wagnerian drama, this kaleidoscope of sources is articulated by a few fundamental ideas. The present study considers the opera, according to the words of the composer himself, in the binary opposition between « great contrasts and riches » and the « united worlds » by means of particular methods of integration which rise this mosaic to the status of a Work of Art.The present study gives a series of insights into the opera, the only way of considering a work of such complexity in its entirety. Confronting the projects and the result, it is organized by the rhythm of the oppositions in presence, approaching different arts by their multiple layers (through the study of varied sources) and their part in the final work.

Almost all businesses are affected by the current trend of digitalization. To stay competitive, they need to find the right balance between innovation and exploitation. IT-investments could result in increased efficiency, as well as other competitive advantages. To be sure that the IT- investments contributes to these expected advantages, the businesses should evaluate their IT- investment. For the systems to continue to create value and to avoid the use of outdated systems, it’s also of major importance the IT-systems are assessed at a regular basis.   The aim of this thesis is to investigate on what basis IT-investments are made, as well as what approaches organizations tend to adopt while valuating and evaluating their systems. The study was conducted through a qualitative method and the data-collection was made through semi- structured interviews with respondents from 6 different businesses who occupied positions such as chief information officer, chief digital officer and project manager. The part of empirics and analysis explains the results of the study and compares the empirical data with theory.   The result of the study shows that IT-investments often are made to match the digitalization of society and that such investments are affected by factors such as competition and customer’s requests. The result also reveals that acquisition, through Business Case, often is made to decide whether the IT-investment should carry on or discontinue. Furthermore, the result shows that the work with system management often is conducted in a controlled and thoroughly way, but that the work with evaluation isn’t sufficiently comprehensive; which the businesses is aware of and wishes to do in greater extent.

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This study analyzes if there is a connection between ESG - which stands for Environmental, Social and Governance, and stock returns over time. The study also analyzes how integrating ESG can impact a company's competitiveness long term. This is done by researching the following two research questions:  How can a multiple regression model be formulated to determine if there is a connection between ESG and stock returns? How are companies integrating ESG and sustainability practices and what are the benefits of doing so? The first question was answered by performing a regression analysis on ESG factors reported on Nordic stocks and determining if the dependent variable ROI could be explained by these. The second question was answered by conducting a literature review and interviews with relevant actors. The results from the multiple regression analysis showed a low adjusted R2 of 0.23 which implied that there is no clear relationship between ESG factors and ROI. The literature review shows that there are positive outcomes associated with a company being sustainable that are not directly related to the financial yield. The interviews examined how different companies are integrating ESG and sustainability work into their business practice to achieve long term competitiveness while also complying with regulations coming from the EU. In conclusion, there is no clear relationship between ESG and stock return, and the focus with ESG lies within ensuring that a company integrates sustainability to keep a competitive spot in the market and reduce risk, while also reducing their environmental and social impact. / Denna studie undersöker om det finns en koppling mellan ESG - vilket står för Environmental, Social and Governance, och avkastning över tid. Studien analyserar även hur integreringen av ESG kan påverka ett företags konkurrenskraft på lång sikt. Detta görs genom att undersöka följande två frågor:  Hur kan en multipel regressionsmodell formuleras för att avgöra om det finns en koppling mellan ESG faktorer och aktiers avkastning? Hur integrerar företag ESG och hållbarhetsprinciper och vilka fördelar för detta med sig? Den första frågan besvarades genom att genomföra en regressionsanalys på ESG faktorer som hade rapporterats för Nordiska börsnoterade bolag och avgöra om den beroende variabeln total avkastning (ROI) kunde förklaras av dessa faktorer. Den andra frågan besvarades genom att genomföra en litteraturstudie och genomföra intervjuer med relevanta aktörer. Regressionsanalysen hade en låg tillförlitlighet och visade på att det inte fanns några tydliga kopplingar mellan ESG-faktorer och avkastningen. Resultatet från litteraturstudien visar att det finns positiva effekter av ESG som inte är kopplade till finansiella mått. Intervjuerna visar på att företag integrerar ESG i sitt arbete för att behålla sin konkurrenskraft på marknaden. Sammanfattningsvis så finns det ingen tydlig koppling mellan ESG-faktorer och aktiers avkastning, och fokus med ESG bör snarare vara att se till att företag arbetar hållbart för att behålla sin del av marknaden, minska risk och samtidigt minska sin påverkan på klimatet.

This dissertation offers the first full-length study of medieval England’s literary tradition of manuals for penitents—texts describing the sins, and other essentials of the faith, that address penitents preparing for confession. This tradition includes works that were among the most popular in medieval England. Some of these—including the Parson’s Tale and Ancrene Wisse, which is an important precursor to this body of writing—have been studied in depth, but the tradition in which they participate is still not well understood. This dissertation shows that this tradition emerged in a significant way in the second half of the thirteenth century, although it took root in an existing body of self-examination writing. Insofar as it reflects a new emphasis on reading as a means of interrogating oneself rather than as a means of preparing oneself to interrogate others, the development of these manuals represents a widening range of reading practices and a shift toward private confessional education. The first two chapters describe the characteristics of manuals for penitents, including their material and formal qualities. Among other contributions, the first chapter explores a feature of commentaries on the essentials of the faith that often goes unnoticed: that when they appear in manuals for penitents, they are not, as is often thought, digressive, impersonal, or strictly didactic, but instead encourage and promote self-reflection. The second chapter examines the implied and actual audiences of manuals for penitents. On the basis of this more precise characterization of these manuals, the final three chapters offer insight into three interlinked texts chosen from different stages of the development of these manuals: Ancrene Wisse, the Compileison, and the Parson’s Tale. In addition to shedding light on these three texts, these concluding chapters highlight some of the tensions that emerged surrounding the shift to asynchronous penitential learning that was enabled by these manuals.

M. Tech. (Department of Information and Communication Technology, Faculty of Applied and Computer Sciences), Vaal University of Technology. / The alignment of Information Systems (IS) with business processes in organisations is a dynamic state whereby an organisation uses Information Technology in order to achieve business objectives. The alignment of IT exists when goals, activities and processes of a business are in harmony with the Information Systems which are supporting them. The lack of IT strategic alignment in organisations lead to poor IT Return on Investment (ROI), inefficient operations due to poor performance that impact the organization’s competitive advantage. Studies on Information Systems Alignment have merely focused on the alignment between Business and Information System Strategy. Very few studies have studied this alignment in Small and Medium Enterprises to investigate what impact the alignment has with the business performance. The purpose of this study is to measure the alignment between Information system and the business strategy in Small and Medium Enterprises and to investigate the impact of this alignment on the business performance. A model was used to measure the alignment between Business and Information System Strategy and its impact on the business performance. Data was collected through the use of a questionnaire. A sample of ninety-nine (99) individuals from a variety of SMEs was used. SPSS was used to analyse the data. The results showed the variables of the model were all positively correlated to one another. Therefore, alignment of Information Systems (IS) and Business Strategy was confirmed. The influence of the alignment was found to have a positive influence (0.459) on the overall performance of the business. In conclusion, it is imperative for SMEs to align Information Systems (IS) and Business Strategy in order to increase the overall performance of their businesses.

Структура работы предопределена кругом исследуемых проблем, целями и задачами исследования, состоит из введения, трех глав, включающих девять параграфов, заключения, списка литературы. В первой главе рассмотрены теоретические основы бизнес планирования. Вторая глава посвящена описанию деятельности и анализу производственной артели старателей «Южно-Заозерский прииск». В третьей главе проведен анализ целесообразности разработки нового месторождения, составлен бизнес-план, рассмотрены риски и пути их решения. / The structure of the work is predetermined by the range of problems under study, the goals and objectives of the study, consists of an introduction, three chapters, including nine paragraphs, conclusions, and a list of references. The first chapter covers the theoretical foundations of business planning. The second chapter is devoted to the description of the activities and analysis of the production artel of prospectors "Yuzhno-Zaozersky mine". In the third chapter, an analysis of the feasibility of developing a new field is carried out, a business plan is drawn up, risks and ways of solving them are considered.

This study analyzes if there is a connection between ESG - which stands for Environmental, Social and Governance, and stock returns over time. The study also analyzes how integrating ESG can impact a company’s competitiveness long term. This is done by researching the following two research questions:1. How can a multiple regression model be formulated to determine if there is a connection between ESG and stock returns?2. How are companies integrating ESG and sustainability practices and what are the benefits of doing so?The first question was answered by performing a regression analysis on ESG factors reported on Nordic stocks and determining if the dependent variable ROI could be explained by these. The second question was answered by conducting a literature review and interviews with relevant actors. The results from the multiple regression analysis showed a low adjusted R2 of 0.23 which implied that there is no clear relationship between ESG factors and ROI. The literature review shows that there are positive outcomes associated with a company being sustainable that are not directly related to the financial yield. The interviews examined how different companies are integrating ESG and sustainability work into their business practice to achieve long- term competitiveness while also complying with regulations coming from the EU. In conclusion, there is no clear relationship between ESG and stock return, and the focus with ESG lies within ensuring that a company integrates sustainability to keep a competitive spot in the market and reduce risk, while also reducing their environmental and social impact. / Denna studie undersöker om det finns en koppling mellan ESG - vilket står för Environmental, Social och Governance, och avkastning över tid. Studien analyserar även hur integreringen av ESG kan påverka ett företags konkurrenskraft på lång sikt. Detta görs genom att undersöka följande två frågor:1. Hur kan en multipel regressionsmodell formuleras för att avgöra om det finns en koppling mellan ESG faktorer och aktiers avkastning?2. Hur integrerar företag ESG och hållbarhetsprinciper och vilka fördelar för detta med sig?Den första frågan besvarades genom att genomföra en regressionsanalys på ESG faktorer som hade rapporterats för Nordiska börsnoterade bolag och avgöra om den beroende variabeln total avkastning (ROI) kunde förklaras av dessa faktorer. Den andra frågan besvarades genom att genomföra en litteraturstudie och genomföra intervjuer med relevanta aktörer. Regressionsanalysen hade en låg tillförlitlighet och visade på att det inte fanns några tydliga kopplingar mellan ESG-faktorer och avkastningen. Resultatet från litteraturstudien visar att det finns positiva effekter av ESG som inte är kopplade till finansiella mått. Intervjuerna visar på att företag integrerar ESG i sitt arbete för att behålla sin konkurrenskraft på marknaden. Sammanfattningsvis så finns det ingen tydlig koppling mellan ESG-faktorer och aktiers avkastning, och fokus med ESG bör snarare vara att se till att företag arbetar hållbart för att behålla sin del av marknaden, minska risk och samtidigt minska sin påverkan på klimatet.

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