<p><strong>Date:             </strong>2009 – 05 – 28 <strong></strong></p><p><strong>Level:            </strong>Master thesis in Industrial Management with specialization in Sustainable Development, 30 hp</p><p><strong>Authors:</strong>       Nominchuluun Nyamdavaa                      Sam Amirebrahimi</p><p>                      Engerbrektsgatan 19                         Centrallasarettet Ing.21</p><p>                      72216 Västerås                                         72189 Västerås</p><p>                      073 – 696 93 69                                       073 – 907 74 91</p><p><strong>Tutor:</strong>           Magnus Linderström</p><p><strong>Title:</strong>             Organizational interactions in the energy sector regarding environment and growth – case study of Mälarenergi AB</p><p><strong>Problem:</strong>       Energy sector has been much debated regarding growth and environmental issues. Energy situation in 2020 sets an emergency that a New Energy Policy has to be made immediately in order to meet the growing energy demand without compromising the environment. Thus the energy sector is strictly regulated by national and international level policies. It is interesting to investigate how organizations interact with each other in the sector regarding growth and environment.   </p><p><strong>Purpose:</strong>       Aim of this thesis is to describe the inter-organizational relationships in the Swedish energy sector and analyze how organizations interact with each other depending on their attitude towards sustainable development. The research involves a case study of a local energy company Mälarenergi AB and different actors in its institutional field and how the company acts according to its interests in forming relationships with others.</p><p><strong>Method:        </strong>This thesis is an interpretive case study which aims to research the link between understanding and action. Organizational and institutional theories are used as theoretical framework. Empirical data will be collected through qualitative semi-structured interview with organizational members as well as secondary data that are collected through literature, documentation, archival records and previous researches.  </p><p><strong>Result:          </strong>The Swedish energy sector is a complex field that consists of different actors and complicated relationships. The sector is mainly affected by national and EU-level decisions thus a local energy company is regulated by national and EU-level environmental policies. Interactions with other actors are fundamental in Mälarenergi’s institutional field. Organizations form co-operations and collaborations in order to achieve environmental goals as well as to conduct joint R&D activities. The environment pressure made it clear that the organizations have to work together in order to maintain a sustainable growth in the energy sector.</p>

This thesis reviews theoretical and local understandings of sustainability and examines the contributions which the NGO, the Toledo Institute for Development and Environment (TIDE), makes to achieving sustainability in the district of Toledo in Belize, Central America. The study focuses mainly on the Port Honduras Marine Reserve, which TIDE manages in cooperation with the Toledo Fisheries Department. Three sets of theories provide the context: theories of sustainability and sustainable development in general, theories on marine protected areas and fisheries management, and theories on NGOs. Findings show that TIDE has a vague understanding of sustainability and that there is a contradiction between the mission statement which promises a balance between environmental protection and stakeholders' economic needs, and TIDE' s actual strategies for encouraging protection for the Port Honduras Marine Reserve. In addition, TIDE's dysfunctional internal management style, such as lack of communication between the management and staff, spontaneous planning, and frequent staff turn-over prevent the organization from functioning effectively and realizing its goals. TIDE’s approach to sustainability is ineffective because it fails to integrate emic perspectives. TIDE does not take into account that local residents have an their own perspectives on sustainability, which include the fishermen's sense of stewardship for the marine environment. TIDE also does not successfully ensuring a steady income for the fishermen effectively. In light of the theories on sustainability, findings show that most theories are developed in a top-down manner that fail to integrate local understandings of sustainability. The only possible exception are holistic theories that emphasize bottom-up participation. The main recommendation for TIDE and similar NGOs is to develop a holistic approach to sustainability that includes emic perspectives. Consideration of the environment, the consideration of stakeholders' economic needs, the socio-cultural context, and an administrative political framework and a functional internal management style all need to be integrated into a successful approach to sustainability. / Graduation date: 2001 / Best scan available for figures 2-3.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Date:             2009 – 05 – 28 Level:            Master thesis in Industrial Management with specialization in Sustainable Development, 30 hp Authors:       Nominchuluun Nyamdavaa                      Sam Amirebrahimi                       Engerbrektsgatan 19                         Centrallasarettet Ing.21                       72216 Västerås                                         72189 Västerås                       073 – 696 93 69                                       073 – 907 74 91 Tutor:           Magnus Linderström Title:             Organizational interactions in the energy sector regarding environment and growth – case study of Mälarenergi AB Problem:       Energy sector has been much debated regarding growth and environmental issues. Energy situation in 2020 sets an emergency that a New Energy Policy has to be made immediately in order to meet the growing energy demand without compromising the environment. Thus the energy sector is strictly regulated by national and international level policies. It is interesting to investigate how organizations interact with each other in the sector regarding growth and environment.    Purpose:       Aim of this thesis is to describe the inter-organizational relationships in the Swedish energy sector and analyze how organizations interact with each other depending on their attitude towards sustainable development. The research involves a case study of a local energy company Mälarenergi AB and different actors in its institutional field and how the company acts according to its interests in forming relationships with others. Method:        This thesis is an interpretive case study which aims to research the link between understanding and action. Organizational and institutional theories are used as theoretical framework. Empirical data will be collected through qualitative semi-structured interview with organizational members as well as secondary data that are collected through literature, documentation, archival records and previous researches.   Result:          The Swedish energy sector is a complex field that consists of different actors and complicated relationships. The sector is mainly affected by national and EU-level decisions thus a local energy company is regulated by national and EU-level environmental policies. Interactions with other actors are fundamental in Mälarenergi’s institutional field. Organizations form co-operations and collaborations in order to achieve environmental goals as well as to conduct joint R&amp;D activities. The environment pressure made it clear that the organizations have to work together in order to maintain a sustainable growth in the energy sector.

This dissertation seeks to investigate the relationship between public sector employment and fiscal decentralization. We develop a theoretical model that helps us understand the interaction of the central executive's and subnational governor's decisions on the level of public employees at the central and subnational levels. Our empirical work shows that fiscal decentralization policy shifts central government employees to the subnational government level and that the increase in public employees at the subnational government level overwhelms the decrease in public employees at the central level. As a result, the level of total public sector employees increases with the degree of fiscal decentralization of a country. We also find that the levels of total public sector employees as a percentage of population are higher in unitary country systems than those in federal countries. The level of public employment also increases with the degree of urbanization and with the exposure to risk of a country. This is a somewhat surprising result. Typically, more public employment is associated with an excessive number of public sector employees, and, therefore, with unproductive spending. On the other hand, fiscal decentralization policy has been generally thought to result in an increase in allocative efficiency, since a decision on public expenditures made by a level of government that is closer and more responsive to a local constituency is more likely to reflect the demand for local services than a decision made by a remote central government. In addition, decentralization has been thought of as having the potential of improving competition among governments and of facilitating technical innovations. Therefore, one might expect that fiscal decentralization should help to retrench the public sector employment. However, from our empirical result, we find that subnational governors without taking full responsibility for subnational public finance tend to bloat the levels of subnational government employees and ask the central government to pay the bill. As a result, the level of total public sector employees increases with fiscal decentralization policy. These findings are much in line with Oates' and Wallis' anticipated results, but they are based on different explanations. Employing the two most commonly used spatial dependency tests, Moran's I and Getis and Ord's G statistics, we also find evidence of spatial dependency in terms of the level of public sector employees as a percentage of population among the countries in our dataset. This finding suggests that while using a country's own domestic variables to explain the level of public sector employment, we should not ignore that the neighboring countries' policies also play an important role in determining it.

La relevancia y pertinencia de esta investigación pasa por su visibilización de un hecho social en pleno desarrollo: la disputa entre los discursos y prácticas de privatización y comercialización cultural dominantes versus discursos y prácticas culturales que están usando las nuevas tecnologías o los cambios en la industria de las tecnologías audiovisuales con un propósito crítico, de transformación y justicia social. Pasa por la contextualización de este conflicto cultural en una historia social y política, integrando así la dimensión simbólica y la dimensión material de la cultura, poniendo el foco tanto sobre los sujetos que llevan a cabo las experiencias como sobre las políticas de comunicación que las promueven o les ponen trabas. Finalmente, el foco sobre la televisión alternativa en un análisis comparado de carácter internacional, dada la relevancia social del soporte televisivo y la ausencia de estudios recientes con este tipo de unidades de análisis, hace todavía más pertinentes los resultados de la investigación. Estructura del informe de tesisEl informe de la investigación doctoral está dividido de la siguiente manera: Primera parteCapítulo 1: Metodología de la investigaciónEn este capítulo se describen exhaustivamente los distintos componentes metodológicos de la investigación: objeto de estudio, enfoque, preguntas, objetivos, hipótesis, metodología, estrategias de recolección de datos, etc. Capítulo 2: Invisibilización de la comunicación alternativa. Propuestas de entrada y de salidaEl objetivo de este capítulo es posicionar el objeto de investigación en los "metadebates" de la teoría social y de la teoría de la comunicación, denunciando una invisibilización de la comunicación alternativa desde tres perspectivas: desde la historia social de la comunicación de masas, desde el sistema de medios y desde las teorías de la comunicación. Capítulo 3: Alternatividad: prospectiva y categorías de análisis A partir de la crítica sostenida en el capítulo anterior, este capítulo está estructurado desde una perspectiva al mismo tiempo analítica y propositiva. Por medio de un trabajo de reconstrucción histórica y teórica del campo de la comunicación alternativa, explico mi apuesta por lo que denomino un concepto enriquecido de tercer sector de la comunicación (TSC); en segundo lugar, abordo los desafíos que reporta el soporte audiovisual a una discusión sobre el TSC. Finalmente, propongo una serie de categorías por medio de las cuales se puede analizar la sustentabilidad de las experiencias del TSC. Síntesis de la primera parte: en este apartado se presenta una descripción detallada del instrumento con el cual se va a realizar la recolección y posterior análisis comparado de los tres casos - países seleccionados, incluyendo dimensiones, categorías y parámetros, así como el punto con el cual están relacionados con el marco teórico presentado en los capítulos 2 y 3. Segunda parteCapítulo 4: EspañaEn este capítulo se presenta el caso español, siguiendo el esquema propuesto a través del instrumento de recolección de datos. Capítulo 5: Estados UnidosEn este capítulo se presenta el caso estadounidense, siguiendo el esquema propuesto a través del instrumento de recolección de datos.Capítulo 6: VenezuelaEn este capítulo se presenta el caso venezolano, siguiendo el esquema propuesto a través del instrumento de recolección de datos.Síntesis de la segunda parte: en este apartado se presentan dos cuadros de datos; el primero de ellos constituyo una tabla resumen comparativa de los casos en virtud del mapa de categorías y variables; el segundo es una línea del tiempo comparativa con los principales hitos históricos de cada caso.Tercera parteCapítulo 7: Análisis y conclusionesComo análisis, el capítulo incluye la problematización de la información acumulada en virtud del marco teórico, las preguntas de investigación, los objetivos y las hipótesis. Las conclusiones se componen de un conjunto de inferencias que se desprenden del análisis y de un conjunto de recomendaciones referidas a la sustentabilidad de las experiencias de televisión alternativa y del tercer sector de la comunicación desde el punto de vista de la labor de las políticas de comunicación y de las organizaciones y movimientos sociales que las sustentan. / The relevancy of this research passes for its visibilización of a social fact in full development: the dispute among the dominant speeches and practices of privatization and cultural marketing versus speeches and cultural practices that are using the new technologies or the changes in the industry of the audiovisual technologies with a critical intention of transformation and social justice.It passes for the contextualización of this cultural conflict in a social and political history, integrating in this way the symbolic dimension and the material dimension of the culture, framing the focus on the subjects that carry out the experiences as on the policies of communication that promote or put hobbles them. Finally, considering the social relevancy of the television support and the absence of recent studies with this type of units of analysis, the focus on the alternative television in a compared analysis of international character, makes the results of this research even more pertinent.Structure of the report of thesis The report of the doctoral research is divided of the following way: Part oneChapter 1: Methodology of the researchIn this chapter are described exhaustively the different methodological components of the research: object of study, approach, questions, purposes, hypothesis, methodology, strategies of compilation of information, etc. Chapter 2: Invisibilización of the alternative communication. Entries and exitsThe purpose of this chapter is to position the object of research in the "metadebates" of the social and communication, denouncing an invisibilización of the alternative communication from three perspectives: into the social history of the communication of masses, the system of means and the theories of the communication. Chapter 3: Alternativity: exploration and categories of analysis From the critique sustained in the previous chapter, this chapter is constructed from a perspective at the same time analytical and propositive. By means of a work of historical and theoretical reconstruction of the field of the alternative communication, I explain my option for what I name an enriched concept of the third sector of the communication (TSC); secondly, I approach the challenges that the audiovisual support brings to a discussion on the TSC. Finally, I propose a series of categories by means of which it is possible to analyze the maintenance of the experiences of the TSC. Synthesis of part one: in this paragraph is presented a detailed description of the instrument with which there is going to be realized the compilation and later compared analysis of three cases - selected countries, including dimensions, categories and parameters, as well as the point with which they are related to the theoretical frame presented in the chapters 2 and 3. Part TwoChapter 4: Spain In this chapter expose the spanish case, following the scheme proposed across the instrument of compilation. Chapter 5: The United States In this chapter expose the american case, following the scheme proposed across the instrument of compilation.Chapter 6: Venezuela In this chapter expose the Venezuelan case, following the scheme proposed across the instrument of compilation.Synthesis of part two: in this paragraph are presented two tables; in the first one of them I constitute a comparative summary of the cases across the map of categories and variables; the second one is a comparative timelining with the principal historical dates of every case.Part three: Analysis and conclusions The analysis includes the problematización of the information accumulated by virtue of the theoretical frame, the questions, purposes and hypotheses of the reseach. The conclusions consist of a set of inferences that begin with the analysis and finished with a set of recommendations referred to the maintenance of the experiences of alternative television and the third sector of the communication from the point of view of the labor of the policies of communication and of the organizations and social movements that sustain them.

L'objectiu de la tesi és aproximar-se al coneixement del paper i funcionament de les organitzacions del tercer sector i a les característiques que presenten per fer front a la provisió de serveis de benestar i a la seva contribució en la participació política. Les pressions i impactes dels canvis socials de les últimes dècades han forçat a replantejar la distribució de rols socials i l'enfocament a prendre per encarar els afers comunitaris, en el que el tercer sector n'és un agent implicat. Aquestes pressions posen aquestes entitats davant de dilemes interns importants en referència al contrast entre la seva naturalesa organitzativa i les expectatives generades. En la part I de la tesi, d'introducció i metodologia, es presenten els orígens, objectius, oportunitats, preguntes i hipòtesis que es plantegen en la recerca.; així com el procés de recollida d'informació.La part II conté dos capítols. El primer introdueix el marc conceptual presentant les coordenades dels canvis en el camp social i polític que avui en dia condicionen la tasca de les organitzacions del tercer sector. El segon fa un repàs de les teories de l'organització com a base per ordenar la informació de la situació interna de les entitats.La part III conté dos capítols. El capítol tercer presenta les definicions de tercer sector: el paper que juguen i les seves especificitats organitzatives, amb l'objectiu d'introduir el marc sectorial en què operen les entitats de la recerca. I el capítol quart, que fa un recorregut pels corrents d'estudi i una presentació de les recerques de referència utilitzades per contrastar amb la situació de les entitats de la recerca del treball de camp.La part IV és la part central de l'estudi. Presenta les característiques de les organitzacions del tercer sector amb quatre capítols. Cada un d'ells inclou els conceptes teòrics, la situació genèrica a nivell de sector, entrant a la situació de les entitats a Catalunya i a l'Estat Espanyol i concretant la situació de les entitats que lluiten contra l'exclusió recollides durant el treball de camp. Els continguts dels quatre capítols són:Capítol cinquè, es treballa el sistema social. Descriu la disposició dels components interns i els rols i relacions entre les persones que formen els equips de treball intern i el lideratge. Fa referència tant als equips i persones que s'ocupen de la direcció com dels equips tècnics, tant contractats com de voluntariat. Realitza una petita reflexió sobre com s'organitzen els sistemes de comunicació interna, i finalment presenta els trets culturals comuns i les dinàmiques de poder. Capítol sisè, es treballa la situació en referència a l'estratègia i planificació. Descriu com es formulen els objectius, quins són els plantejaments de cara al futur i quines són les prioritats, quin tipus d'activitats s'ofereixen i com s'incorporen els usuaris. Presenta els sistemes de presa de decisions i les pautes de creixement per veure el moment pel qual passen les entitats estudiades. Treballa els processos d'introducció de canvis i els sistemes d'avaluació.Capítol setè, presenta els sistemes tècnics. Descriu el disseny i producció de serveis, els mecanismes de comunicació externa i de promoció. Quines són les fonts de finançament, la captació de recursos i el sistema de control econòmic. Fa també referència als aspectes relacionats amb la infrastructura, com les característiques dels locals i la seva ubicació.Capítol vuitè, treballa les relacions amb altres agents de l'entorn i la forma jurídica. Descriu els continguts, els beneficis i les limitacions de les relacions que s'estableixen amb els diferents grups d'interès de l'entorn, en concret a nivell de sector, amb els diferents nivells de l'administració pública, l'església i el món de l'empresa. Es fa referència, també, a la situació de modificació i adequació de les formes jurídiques.En la part V, es formulen unes conclusions i es fa una reflexió sobre les propostes de possibles suports al sector per fer front als nous reptes que han estat formulats en els estudis analitzats i fòrums de debat. / The aim of this thesis is to widen our understanding of the role and functioning of third sector organisations. What characteristics help them to offer social services provision and what do they contribute in the way of political participation? The impact and pressure of social changes in the last few decades have made it necessary to rethink social roles and reconsider what focus organisations should take in order to deal with the needs of the community in which the they are involved. These social pressures often result in internal difficulties, especially with reference to the organisational aspects and different expectations.The first part of the thesis, introduction and methodology, presents the origins, objectives and hypotheses that are treated in the research as well as presenting the methods used for data collection.Part two contains two chapters. The first introduces the conceptual framework by presenting the general aspects of social and political change that influence the work of third sector organisations nowadays. The second offers a summary of organisational theory as a base from which to analyse the information about the internal structure of the organisations.Part three contains two chapters. The third chapter presents definitions of third sector organisations, the role they play and their specific organisational characteristics. The aim is to explain the sector framework of the organisations in the research group. Chapter four offers a summary of current studies and references of other research that can be used to contrast the situation of the organisations that participated in this study.Part four is the central part of this study. It presents the different characteristics of third sector organisations in four chapters. Each one includes theoretical concepts, the generic situation of the sector, an analysis of the situation of the organisations within Catalonia and within the Spanish state and the presentation of the specific fieldwork data collected from organisations that fight against discrimination. The content of these four chapters is as follows.Chapter five considers the social system. It describes the internal structure and the roles and relationships that form between the people involved in internal working groups, including leadership issues. It studies not only the different directive bodies and individuals but also the practical work teams made up of paid and voluntary workers. There is a brief consideration of how internal communication systems are organised and finally an analysis of common cultural characteristics and power dynamics.In Chapter 6 strategy and planning structures are considered. It discusses how objectives are formed, what future planning is necessary, what are the priorities of the organisation, what activities should be offered and how should the organisation incorporate its users. It presents the different decision making processes and analyses the growth of the organisation in order to understand the current situation of each organisation in the study. There is also an analysis of the process by which changes can be introduced and working systems can be evaluated.Chapter seven considers the technical system. It describes the initial planning and production and different methods of publicity and external promotion. It analyses sources of funding, how to obtain resources and accounting systems. There is also a consideration of different aspects of the premises that the organisation uses.Chapter eight considers the relationships with other social agencies and legal entities. It describes the nature, benefits and limitations of the relationships that form between the organisations and other groups working in the same sector, public administration departments, the church and the business world.The fifth part offers the research conclusions and a discussion about the different proposals to improve the impact of third sector.

The study examined organizational climate and turnover in the health sector of Ghana with particular reference to a case study on the country’s premier teaching hospital formally called Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital. In the light of high uncertainty in retention of healthcare workers in Ghana, despite the several interventions of government in providing incentives and infrastructure, the issue of employee turnover has attracted academic interest among several researchers globally and locally. Most researches on turnover related issues in the healthcare sector of Ghana have focused on the influence of employees’ overall job satisfaction. However, none has been able to neither explain nor investigate the influence of potent psychological features of the workplace on turnover. This study undertook a comprehensive review of the current state of employees’ turnover intentions in relation to the organizational climate and other working conditions prevalent at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital. The study was guided by the hypothesis that climate factors will emerge as a significant predictor of employees’ turnover intentions. A sample size of 80 employees was used for the study. Correlation and multiple regression analysis were used to analyze data obtained with a Likert scale designed questionnaire. The results of the study indicate that stress and organizational pride are the most proximal factors to employees’ intentions to quit. Further analysis identified influences on stress and organizational pride and pointed to management priorities for reducing employee turnover.

In this thesis, we propose a scheduling problem for the downlink of a single cell system with multiple sectors. We formulate an optimization problem based on a generalized round robin scheme that aims at minimizing the cycle length necessary to provide one timeslot to each user, while avoiding harmful interference. Since this problem is under-constrained and might have multiple solutions, we propose a second optimization problem for which we try to find a scheduling that minimizes the cycle length while being as efficient as possible in resource utilization. Both of these problems are large integer programming problems that can be solved numerically using a commercial solver, but for real time use, efficient heuristics need to be developed. We design heuristics for these two problems and validate them by comparing their performances to the optimal solutions.

Economics of sport is not an extensively well covered subject in Sweden and the purpose of this study is to examine the impact of professional sport on the local economy, and also shed some light on the situation of this subject in Sweden. Seven municipalities housing a professional hockey team and seven municipalities without any hockey team was compared and analysed to view any differ-ence of two sets of local economies. The finding was that professional sport has no effect on the number of workers in the restaurant sector. This sector act as an indicator on how the local economy was affected. Therefore, the local government should not motivate investments and subsidies aimed at profes-sional sport with the promises that it will increase income and job in the municipalities.