The resistive and thermoelectric properties of a series of SNS sandwiches, containing different concentrations of impurity in the superconductor, have been measured. The system used for this work was In/W/In with up to 10% lead added to the indium. A technique was developed in which the interfaces were prepared by melting indium onto tungsten slices in high vacuum. The samples produced in this way were of comparable quality to those used by previous workers. The samples with pure indium were found to obey a previously developed theory for the divergent temperature dependence of the resistance just below T<SUB>c</SUB>. This theory was extended with more realistic boundary conditions and to include the proximity effect. It was then found to adequately explain the temperature dependence of the resistance over the whole range between 0.3T<SUB>c</SUB> and T<SUB>c</SUB>. The thermopower of these samples near T<SUB>c</SUB> was also found to have the temperature dependence predicted by previous theory. The results imply that the thermopower of indium changes in a discontinuous and systematic way at T<SUB>c</SUB>. This is at variance with what is expected theoretically and with previous experimental work on lead. The low temperature interface resistance was measured as a function of the concentration of lead in the indium. It was found that, for lead concentrations of up to 5%, the interface resistance was proportional to the residual resistivity of the indium as predicted by a theory of Pippard. The magnitude of this resistance was, however, not found to be in agreement with the theory. Above concentrations of 5% Pb, the low temperature resistance data was found to become irreproducible. A theory was constructed which adequately explained the temperature dependence of the resistance of the samples with up to 5% lead in the indium. The temperature dependence of the thermopower of these samples was found to be approximately as expected from theory in the region just below T<SUB>c</SUB>. However, well below T<SUB>c</SUB>, an unexplained divergence in the thermopower was found.

Social networks have become an important factor in today’s society. Companies as well as individuals are using these platforms to interact with one another on a daily basis. This phenomenon has mostly been acknowledged by companies on B2C markets where these social network sites are being used to communicate their brand. On B2B markets however, the usage of these platforms have not been as optimistically implemented. Due to this fact, this study means to examine what brand enhancing intentions well-established B2B companies have with their usage of social networking sites.This study conducted a web survey where 89 of Sweden’s most successful companies (in terms of turnover) participated. The respondents’ answers were analyzed through statistic tools such as correlation analyzis, cluster analyzis and descriptive data. The collected data revealed that the respondents could be divided into four separate segments, which further could be divided into two perspectives, where the brand enhancing intentions of the usage of social networking sites seemed to differ. Key words: Social Networking Sites, B2B, brand equity, perceived quality, brand loyalty, brand recognition, brand recall, brand image.

Social networking includes social networking sites (SNSs) as well as apps. The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the impact of social networking tech-nology on students.  The  research questions  focused  how university students experience  their  interaction  with  social  networking  regarding  advantages and disadvantages, and for what purposes they are using it personal, professional or study). A quantitative surveys study was used and data was collected through online questionnaires delivered via SNSs, e-mails and through delivery and col-lection  method. 122  valid  responses  were collected  and 17 invalid responses were discarded. The questionnaire framework was built by means of the con-cept of ease of use from Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the five values of Uses and Gratification Theory; “purposive value”, “self-discovery”, “maintaining interpersonal interconnectivity”, “social enhancement value” and “entertainment value”. The findings showed that 64% considered themselves to be positively influenced by SNSs and 27% to be neither positively or nega-tively influenced. Only 11 % considered that SNSs influenced them negatively. According to our findings, some of the most frequent advantages are keeping in touch with family and friends, cost and time efficient, easy to use and entertaining. And for the disadvantages, the responses were mostly time consuming, health  issues,  privacy  issues,  addiction  to  technology  and  cyber  bulling.  The majority of respondents reported using SNS firstly for personal use, secondly for study use and the professional use was the least selected. 88% of the respondents thought that it is easy to use SNSs. The purposive value of SNS use was to get information, the self-discovery value to learning about oneself and others, for the maintaining interpersonal connectivity, to stay in touch, and for the entertainment value, it was to pass time away when bored. The results indicated  that  the  social  enhancement  value  was  not  very  important  for  the  respondents.

The development of abundant and economical first-row transition metal-based catalysts is an appealing area of research for efficient and selective chemical transformations. In this context, iron complexes are highly desirable as they feature a range of accessible oxidation states allowing for transfer of one or two electrons to or from a substrate. Therefore, over the past two decades, many iron-based catalysts have been developed, extensively studied, and exploited for catalysis ranging from oxidation and reduction to C-C bond forming reactions. In homogeneous transition metal catalysis, the ligand plays a vital role in determining activity and selectivity of the above stated catalytic reactions. Some key features of ligands that support both stoichiometric and catalytic reactions of metal complexes include: 1) strong chelation ability to metals, 2) tunability of donor atoms, 3) strong field ligands such as phosphine, phosphite, CO, and hydride favoring low-spin complexes, 4) hemilability allowing substrate activation via reversible dissociation of one donor atom, and 5) redox-activity enabling donation or accepting of electrons, thus avoiding a change of metal oxidation state. To this end, bifunctional ligands containing the above described properties have emerged as important elements in chemical synthesis and in catalysis. Iron and other transition metal complexes containing multidentate bifunctional ligands have recently been shown to activate small molecules and catalyze a number of chemical transformations with activity and selectivity typical of more well-studied precious metals. The objective of this thesis is to further advance the field of bifunctional ligands by preparing new sterically svelte tridentate ligands with a mixture of hard nitrogen and soft sulfur donors and to investigate their iron chemistry. The overall goal is to then explore the utility of these iron complexes as potential bifunctional catalysts. Chapter 2 describes a one-step synthesis of a new SMeNHS ligand in excellent yield that undergoes ring-opening on treatment with Fe(OTf)2 affording a thiolate-bridged, trinuclear iron complex, [Fe3(µ2-SMeNS−)4](OTf)2. The structure, spectroscopic, magnetic, and computational studies of this iron complex are provided along with its solvent-dependent reactivity towards monodentate donor ligands that yields both dinuclear and mononuclear derivatives. Chapter 3 describes the formation of an electron-rich Fe(II) thiolate complex, [Fe(SMeNS)(PMe3)3](OTf) and its substitution reactivity with both mono- and bidentate donor ligands. On heating this complex, an oxidative thioether Caryl-S bond cleavage is observed, leading to a cationic Fe(III)-CNS thiolate analog. Reduction of this Fe(III) species with cobaltocene yielded a neutral Fe(II)-CNS thiolate complex. To investigate the bifunctional activity of these Fe(II) complexes, both Fe(II)-SNS and -CNS species were assessed as precatalysts for amine-borane dehydrogenation. Chapter 4 employs the SMeNHS ligand in formation of a neutral, imine-coupled Fe-N2S2 complex that serves as an efficient and selective aldehyde hydroboration catalyst using pinacolborane. A reaction profile kinetic analysis implicates the hemilability and redox-active properties of this complex. Chapter 5 introduces the new unsymmetrical amine ligand, SMeNHSMe, and details its iron chemistry with formation of a pseudooctahedral Fe(II) bis(amido) complex. The Mössbauer spectra, MCD study, and DFT calculations support formation of a minor five-coordinate isomer in solution due to the hemilability of the six-membered ring thioether group. Reactivity studies of this Fe(II) species with a variety of donor ligands confirmed this lability and protonation at nitrogen yielded a cationic Fe(II) amine-amido complex. Reaction of the latter with the tridentate phosphine, triphos, gave a 16e-, low-spin, square-pyramidal Fe(II) complex that proved to be a robust precatalyst that is more active for dehydrogenation of dimethylamine-borane vs. ammonia-borane. Formation of a monohydride catalyst resting state under these reaction conditions is suggestive of a bifunctional activation pathway. Finally, Chapter 6 concludes the outcomes of the iron chemistry of hemilabile SNS ligands and discusses future directions and opportunities to extend these ligand systems to other transition metals. The knowledge gained by the stoichiometric and catalytic reactivity of iron-SNS complexes presented herein contributes to our understanding of bifunctional catalysis. With the increasing demand for base metal catalysts in chemical industry for efficient and selective synthesis of value-added chemicals, iron SNS complexes could offer economical, active, and selective catalyst precursors.

The use of social network sites (SNSs), such as Facebook and LinkedIn, by both organizations and the Swedish population is increasing. Previous publications in this research field lack empirical reinforcement and the empirical research that has been published often suggest a connection between recruitment via SNSs and employer branding. However, this connection has not yet been elaborated on or explained by previous research. Furthermore, both these research fields lack the insight of empirical studies conducted from a managerial point of view. The objective of this study is to contribute to these research fields by providing a holistic understanding about employer branding and SNSs role in recruitment processes from a managerial perspective. The recruitment process includes all activities from the origin of a vacant position to employing an applicant. To gain insight into this perspective, a qualitative study was conducted with the methodological stances constructionism and interpretivism. HR-managers at eight organizations with 200 employees or more located in the northern part of Sweden were interviewed. A thematic analysis, in line with the research approach with inductive characteristics, was used to analyze the qualitative data collected from conducting semi- structured interviews. The themes are based on regularly discussed aspects found in the empirical data. These themes are: “Employer Branding”, “Benefits“, “Barriers”, “Communication Channels” and “Implementation”. The fundamental aspect of succeeding with implementing SNSs as a recruitment tool was found to be a supportive management. This resulted in a framework being developed that describes necessary actions to take into consideration by the management to successfully implement SNSs as a recruitment tool. It was found that employer branding is closely interlinked with the attraction stage of a SNS recruitment process. Therefore, the framework also incorporates the findings regarding the benefits that a strong employer brand will have on the SNS recruitment process. This study provides theoretical insight of how SNSs are used to strengthen the employer brand in recruitment processes. The study also concluded that the interviewed organizations are in the early stages of implementing employer branding and SNSs in organizational contexts. The managerial perspective also provides an important theoretical contribution. Practical contributions include inspiration for how to design strategies to implement SNSs as a recruitment tool and an insight as to why it is important to adopt such strategies.

A phenomenology study reveals the lived meanings of product placement in social network sites (SNSs) among Chinese urban, white-collar professional users through an investigation of a newly launched SNS, Happy Network. In total, 25 face-to-face, in-depth interviews were conducted to collect data. Findings indicated that participants’ interpretations of product placement were interrelated with the socially constructed meanings of the SNS, participants’ social role of white-collar professionals, and the consumer culture of contemporary Chinese society. In particular, the emerged themes with regard to the shared meanings of the SNS include five dialectic relations: in control/controlled by, dependent/independent, public/private, intimate/distant, and personal/social. Meanwhile, the socially constructed meanings of product placement in the context of SNS are justifying the existence, connecting to the real world, noticing the familiar, insinuating brand image, and linking to consumption.

No description available.

Since early 2010, Facebook.com, the world’s most popular social network site (SNS), has come under a storm of media criticism over the commercial use of its users’ personal information. Yet even as more became known about the fact that Facebook sells publicly shared information to companies for advertising purposes, two years later the SNS amassed one billion members in October 2012. Based on in-depth interviews 30 Millennials (18 to 32-year olds) and 10 Boomers (48 to 58-year olds) that are daily users of Facebook, this dissertation provides a qualitative analysis of attitudes toward privacy and personal information disclosure on Facebook. What steps—if any—are being taken by users to regulate their personal information disclosure? How do users feel about the website selling their personal information to advertisers? What are the benefits of using Facebook and do they outweigh the risks of having one’s information used for commercial purposes? Or is it even seen as a risk at all? What are the sociological implications of users’ answers to these questions? I challenge prevailing conclusions that the intensity of Facebook use is associated with higher levels of social capital and that Facebook is especially useful for maintaining and building bridging ties to one’s acquaintances. On the contrary, among Millennials in my study, the website is used for maintaining bonding ties between close friends and family members, not bridging ties between acquaintances; that the maintaining of bridging social capital is by comparison merely a passive benefit. As well, while the Boomers in my study use Facebook to maintain bridging ties, maintaining social capital is not a consideration. In arriving at this conclusion, I thematically broke out the benefits of using Facebook as Facebook is my life online, Facebook is my primary connection to others, and Facebook is a convenient communication and information tool. As well, the perceived risks of using Facebook involve a lack of privacy and, to a lesser extent, issues of control. For the Millennials and Boomers in my study, the practical benefits of using Facebook outweigh the perceived risks, and the perception of control on the user’s part is a key factor in rationalizing their ongoing use of the website. As a practical application of my findings, I propose how the marketing research industry might apply these findings toward learning more about consumers.

Since early 2010, Facebook.com, the world’s most popular social network site (SNS), has come under a storm of media criticism over the commercial use of its users’ personal information. Yet even as more became known about the fact that Facebook sells publicly shared information to companies for advertising purposes, two years later the SNS amassed one billion members in October 2012. Based on in-depth interviews 30 Millennials (18 to 32-year olds) and 10 Boomers (48 to 58-year olds) that are daily users of Facebook, this dissertation provides a qualitative analysis of attitudes toward privacy and personal information disclosure on Facebook. What steps—if any—are being taken by users to regulate their personal information disclosure? How do users feel about the website selling their personal information to advertisers? What are the benefits of using Facebook and do they outweigh the risks of having one’s information used for commercial purposes? Or is it even seen as a risk at all? What are the sociological implications of users’ answers to these questions? I challenge prevailing conclusions that the intensity of Facebook use is associated with higher levels of social capital and that Facebook is especially useful for maintaining and building bridging ties to one’s acquaintances. On the contrary, among Millennials in my study, the website is used for maintaining bonding ties between close friends and family members, not bridging ties between acquaintances; that the maintaining of bridging social capital is by comparison merely a passive benefit. As well, while the Boomers in my study use Facebook to maintain bridging ties, maintaining social capital is not a consideration. In arriving at this conclusion, I thematically broke out the benefits of using Facebook as Facebook is my life online, Facebook is my primary connection to others, and Facebook is a convenient communication and information tool. As well, the perceived risks of using Facebook involve a lack of privacy and, to a lesser extent, issues of control. For the Millennials and Boomers in my study, the practical benefits of using Facebook outweigh the perceived risks, and the perception of control on the user’s part is a key factor in rationalizing their ongoing use of the website. As a practical application of my findings, I propose how the marketing research industry might apply these findings toward learning more about consumers.

The proliferation of social networking sites (SNS) over the last 20 years is a techno-social phenomenon of our age. Since it emerged in 2004, Facebook, the most popular social network in the world, steadily outcompeted its rivals in the overwhelming majority of countries. However, there are a few exceptions, Russia being one of them: Vkontakte, country’s local SNS, has remained the most popular site of this kind in Russia. The aim of this master thesis is to discover what motivates Russian SNS users to prefer a domestic networking site over its global rival Facebook. Uses and gratification theory and social network theory form a theoretical framework of this study and guide the choice of methodology, as well as the process of analysis and discussion. Qualitative methodological approach, and in particular interviews and comparative case study, was applied in this research. Thus, 14 interviewees were recruited and asked about their experiences of Vkontakte and Facebook usage. In addition, the comparative analysis of both sites was conducted in order to establish the differences in tools, features and services which potentially could influence the usage patterns of Russian SNS users. It was discovered that the difference in a number and quality of tools on Facebook and Vkontakte, primarily video and audio, significantly influence the frequency of usage and time spent on these sites. Moreover, it was established that the networks of Russian users on Vkontakte contain both weak and strong ties, while Facebook networks contain mostly weak ties, which makes global network less interesting and attractive for country’s users. And finally, the study suggests that although both sites have noticeable disadvantages, users tend to think of Vkontakte as a more favorable SNS even in this respect and highlight that their dissatisfaction with some aspects of Facebook usage was greater than that of Vkontakte. The study provides novel information regarding under-researched topic of SNS usage in Russia, and thus contributes to the existing academic works in the field.