The objective of the dissertation thesis is both to identify characteristics of strategic management carried out in Czech smaller technological companies and to find strategic aspects and behaviours that determine performance and developmental trend of these firms meaningfully. The thesis is a study in the field of strategic management with broadly understood concept of strategy and strategic management. It makes possible to research the phenomenon of strategy both under circumstances of conceptual pluralism and fragmented findings in the field and supposed specialities in strategic management pursued in SME sector. The thesis follows an abductive approach which means that there are no hypotheses explicitly defined but searching for crucial and fundamental answering up to specified research problem. The thesis exploits empirical data obtained by the mail survey of smaller technological firms around the whole Czech Republic. Using a specially designed fuzzy inference system and performance parameters derived from empirical data the sample of the companies is categorized according to their developmental trend. Consequently, as the most effective multimethod approach, several quantitative and qualitative analyses are made and their results are synthesized in final findings and resolution of the research problem to reach the objectives of the thesis. Also the benefits for theory and practice based on the thesis are evaluated at the end. The results of the thesis validates both the fact that there are patterns of strategic management typical for the population of Czech smaller technological companies and the fact that there is also a casual relationship between the strategic management and the trends of their development.

The transition to high school has been identified by researchers as a pivotal point in students' lives. The addition of a Freshman Academy in some schools has targeted the 9th grade year to ease students' transition to high school and increase the likelihood of academic success. One purpose of this study is to compare student outcomes of schools that have implemented a Freshman Academy with schools that have not. Student outcomes are defined for this study to include graduation rates, attendance rates, instances of out-of-school suspensions, and instances of expulsions. The second purpose of this study is to compare student outcomes before and after implementation of a Freshman Academy. Two research questions were analyzed to determine the impact of the implementation of the Freshman Academy on student outcomes. A 2-way chi square analysis of variance was used for each research question. There was a significant difference in the instances of out-of-school suspensions for schools that have a Freshman Academy and schools that do not. Instances of out-of-school suspensions were higher in schools with a Freshman Academy. No significant difference was found between graduation rates, attendance rates, or instances of expulsions for schools that have a Freshman Academy and schools that do not. There was a significant difference in instances of out-of-school suspensions before and after implementation of Freshman Academy. The instances of out-of-school suspensions decreased after the implementation of Freshman Academy. No significant difference was found in graduation rates, attendance rates, or instances of expulsions before and after implementation of Freshman Academy.

The purpose of the study was to examine social workers who exercise public authority experiences of working and living in a smaller community, based on their experiences of working and living geographically close to their clients. A qualitative method was used, and the study is based on six interviews with social workers who exercise public authority and lives and works in a smaller community. The result was analyzed using Erving Goffmans dramaturgical perspective, role theory and symbolic interactionism. The result showed both benefits and challenges of living and working in a smaller community, the main benefit that was mentioned was shorter decision-making paths and more efficient work. The results showed that personal knowledge of a client, lack of anonymity and meeting clients in private contexts were the biggest challenges. The result also showed different strategies that the social workers used to facilitate working and living in a smaller community, both personal strategies and organizational strategies. The conclusion of the study was that working and living in a smaller community, geographically close to clients, could be both advantageous and challenging. The challenges did not have a major impact on the social worker´s, neither professionally nor privately. Therefore, the study did not show the same results as previous studies, which could be explained by the fact that this study was based on smaller Swedish communities while previous studies were based on international studies of rural areas. / Syftet med studien var att undersöka myndighetsutövande socialarbetares upplevelser av att arbeta och bo i en mindre kommun med geografisk närhet till klienter. I studien användes kvalitativ metod, sex intervjuer genomfördes med myndighetsyutövade socialarbetare som bor och arbetar i en mindre kommun. Datan analyserades genom kvalitativ innehållsanalys och resultatet analyserades med hjälp av Erving Goffmans dramaturgiska perspektiv och rollteori, samt symbolisk interaktionism. Resultatet visade att det finns fördelar och utmaningar med att bo och arbeta i en liten kommun, den främsta fördelen som belystes var korta beslutsvägar och ett effektivare arbete. Resultatet visade att tidigare kännedom om en klient, minskad anonymitet och att stöta på klienter på fritiden kan ses som utmaningar.  Resultatet visade också på olika strategier som socialarbetare använder för att underlätta att bo och arbeta i en mindre kommun, både egna strategier och organisatoriska strategier.  Studiens slutsats var att dubbla relationer förekommer men upplevs inte som problematiska, varken professionellt eller privat för socialarbetarna som deltagit i studien. Därav har studien inte fått samma resultat som tidigare forskning, vilket skulle kunna förklaras av det faktum att denna studie undersöker mindre svenska kommuner, medan tidigare forskning bygger på internationella studier av landsbygder.

Many smaller ports in Cornwall and Devon (CAD) are situated in environmentally sensitive habitats and generate benefits for stakeholders and local communities. Such ports are often embedded in tourist based economies. Increasing environmental legislation is placing a strain on the resources of smaller ports making compliance a threat to profitability and thus the future of some ports and local economies. Over-reliance on environmental management systems (EMS) across the ports industry has predominated over the importance of holistic sustainability. This project develops and disseminates a port sustainability management system (PSMS) in CAD, assisting ports to plan marine and maritime operations more sustainably, to facilitate mitigation of potential risks, to increase knowledge and awareness of port sustainability, and to promote the adoption of a proactive stance towards sustainable port management. A constructivist philosophy suited a multiple methods research design which included ethnographic content analysis (ECA), statistical verification of qualitative coding, nine scoping interviews, and eight semi-structured interviews during the main phase of data collection. The seven Harbour Masters (HMs) in this phase represented all port governance types found in the UK. Charmaz’s grounded theory (GT) methodology guided the collection and analysis of primary data between August 2012 and February 2013 to create new theory using an inductive constructivist approach. Validation by fifteen of the thirty local HMs during industry testing revealed numerous advantages and benefits of deploying PSMS which is estimated to generate £50,000 worth of benefits per port annually, and £3,865,005 for the 15 participating ports over 5 years. A new model of smaller port sustainability has emerged. PSMS has eleven pillars of sustainability which underpin the spectrum of port operations. Within this model, each pillar is equally important in contributing to the overall sustainability of a port, and neglect of one could jeopardise sustainability overall and potentially cause a chain reaction with other pillars.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-29T13:17:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Luiz Antonio Bernardes.pdf: 1976580 bytes, checksum: 6ad8d0432468ef57ee98d69a20f6acf7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-05-25 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The purpose of this work was to identify the variables that could or couldn‟t contribute to the emission of children responses that would produce larger and delayed reinforcers. This was made in order to answer the following question: which responses children emit while they were waiting for larger and delayed reinforcers? Does it occur chaining or stereotyped behaviors during the waiting period? Are there any relations between what is done and the waiting time so that it would facilitate the waiting period? Can a hand puppet work as an audience to the participants so that it could extend the chain of public events and diminish the chain of covert events? Those children that were waiting in pairs or using a puppet waited for longer periods in order to receive larger and delayed reinforcers? The experimental design was based on the Mischel‟s, Ebbesen e Zeiss (1972) study. Fifteen children participated in the study divided in three experimental conditions: alone , hand puppet and peers . They should wait for 15 minutes so that they would obtain two chocolates. If they didn‟t wait, they should ring a bell and the experimenter would return and the children/child would gain the chocolate that was close to her. The results showed that four of the 15 children didn‟t wait for the whole time. The children emitted 14 categories of responses and the more frequent categories were similar for all of them. In the condition alone it was observed a smaller variation on the distribution of the responses between the categories and a smaller number of responses per minute. The condition hand puppet was the only one in which all the participants waited. However, only one participant emitted public oral verbal responses, which doesn‟t allow the experimenter to say that the hand puppet enhancing the emission of these verbal responses. Otherwise, the report of one of the participants does not allow us to discard it entirely as an audience. The standard of the observed responses on the hand puppet condition was similar to the alone condition, but with a higher average of responses per minute. For the peers condition was possible to observe that an interlocutor facilitated the waiting and enhanced the number of responses in new categories. This condition presented the higher average of responses per minute. The results indicated that oral verbal responses were emitted almost exclusively in this condition. The categorized verbal operants most common were tacts and mands about the experimental condition and unrelated subjects . Stereotypy was observed in only one participant (P5). The low variability in the 'alone' condition and greater variability in the other conditions have revealed that more complex environments allowed the participants to respond into new categories. The children who had longer waiting times were the ones with the most responses per minute and/or responded in as many categories as possible / O objetivo do presente trabalho foi identificar variáveis que poderiam contribuir ou não para que crianças emitissem respostas que produziriam reforçadores maiores e atrasados. A partir de então, responder as seguintes perguntas: quais as respostas que crianças emitem enquanto esperam por reforçadores maiores e atrasados? Dentre as respostas observadas, existem encadeamentos ou estereotipias comportamentais? Existe algum tipo de relação ente o que se faz e o tempo de espera de maneira a facilitar a espera? Um fantoche poderia funcionar como audiência para o participante ampliando assim a cadeia de eventos públicos e diminuindo por sua vez a cadeia de eventos encobertos? Crianças esperando em duplas ou usando um fantoche teriam maiores tempos de espera por reforçadores maiores e atrasados? O arranjo experimental foi baseado nos estudos de Mischel, Ebbesen e Zeiss (1972). Participaram 15 crianças divididas em três condições experimentais: sozinha‟, fantoche‟ e duplas‟. Elas deveriam esperar 15 minutos para obter dois chocolates e caso não esperassem, tocariam um sino, o experimentador retornaria e a criança ganharia o chocolate que estava junto dela. Os resultados mostraram que quatro das 15 crianças, não esperaram o tempo total. As crianças emitiram 14 categorias de respostas e as mais frequentes foram semelhantes para todas. Na condição sozinho‟ houve menor variação na distribuição das respostas entre as categorias e menor número de respostas por minuto. A condição fantoche‟ foi a única em que todos os participantes esperaram. Entretanto apenas um participante emitiu respostas verbais orais públicas, e isto não permite afirmar que o fantoche foi capaz de aumentar a emissão destas respostas verbais. Todavia o relato de um dos participantes não nos permite descartá-lo completamente como audiência. O padrão de respostas observáveis da condição fantoche‟ foi semelhante ao da condição sozinho‟, mas com uma média maior de respostas por minuto. Para a condição duplas‟ foi possível observar que ter um interlocutor facilitou a espera e aumentou o número de respostas em novas categorias. Esta condição apresentou as maiores médias de respostas por minuto. Os resultados indicaram que as respostas verbais orais foram quase que exclusivamente nesta condição e os operantes verbais classificados mais comuns foram tatos e mandos sobre a condição experimental‟ e assuntos não relacionados‟. Foi observada estereotipia em apenas um participante (P5). A pouca variabilidade na condição sozinho‟ e a maior variabilidade nas outras condições permitem afirmar que ambientes mais complexos permitiram a emissão de respostas em novas categorias. As crianças que tiveram tempos de espera mais longos foram as que apresentaram mais respostas por minuto e/ou responderam em tantas categorias quantas possíveis

Ninth grade students are at a greater risk of dropping out of high school than are other grade-level populations. Factors such as a lack of academic preparedness, social and developmental changes, and the decline of parental support often result in 9th grade students falling behind in their academic work. Using holistic education as the conceptual framework, the goal of this intrinsic case study was to explore the perceptions of school and district office administrators on the impact that a 9th grade transition program has on the 9th grade retention and dropout rate of a high school located in the southeastern United States. The features of the 9th grade transition program (designated personnel, classes, location, and resources) were analyzed. Data collection occurred by a review of the school's evaluation reports and one-on-one interviews using a purposeful sample with 4 school and district office administrators. Thematic analysis of data followed an open coding process to identify categories and themes. The findings indicated that the 9th grade transition program positively impacted student and school performance and revealed inconsistencies in the transition programs and services among the 3 high schools within the school district. The resulting project was a policy recommendation that advocates for the use of standard 9th grade best practices. This study contributes to positive social change through the implementation of a best practice policy recommendation, intended to reduce 9the grade retention and dropout rates of the students within the school district.

<p><strong>Aim: </strong>The aim of this thesis is to do a research about the users’ conceptions to the K-project. The K-project is a simplifying work of today’s accounting regulations performed by the Swedish Accounting Standards Board. The K-project is divided into four categories and the companies are divided into each category depending on its size. The study is limited by only focusing on a part of the K-project, the K2-regulation. The K-project is one of many ways to simplify the accounting regulations and a question asked in the study is if the final result will be successful this time.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>We have chosen to adopt the qualitative method in this study by interviewing four respondents employed at a number of different accountant firms. We claim that this is the best approach since the regulations can still be considered new and therefore knowledge about it is small among many companies. The information given from the interviews were put together, analyzed, compared and finally connected to the theoretical reference frame. We have drawn our own conclusions due to that result.</p><p><strong>Result & Conclusions: </strong>The result shows that the opinion about the K2-regulation varies.  All respondents agree about the K2-regulation being a good idea since the need of simplifying today´s accounting regulations for smaller companies is large. On the other hand the respondents’ opinions differ when it comes to the layout, final result and the instructions. Some respondents are positive to the result when others claim that the regulation hasn´t provided enough simplifications.</p><p><strong>Suggestions for future research: </strong>When this study was made the K2-regulation was a free choice whether to apply or not and according to that fact we would find it interesting to do a similar study when the regulation has been forced upon the companies, to see if the user´s opinions have changed. Another alternative to further studies would be to make a quantitative study to research if the regulation is used and in what scale.</p><p><strong>Contribution of the thesis: </strong>This thesis has contributed to an increased understanding for the users’ conceptions of the K2-regulation and today’s work to simplify accounting regulations.</p> / <p><strong>Syfte:</strong> Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka användarnas inställning till K-projektet. K-projektet är ett förenklingsarbete av dagens redovisningsregler som utförs av BFN. Projektet är uppdelat i fyra olika kategorier där företag är indelade beroende på storlek.  Studien är avgränsad genom att endast rikta in sig på en del i K-projektet, K2-regelverket. K-projektet är ett av många försök att förenkla redovisningsreglerna och en fråga som ställs i studien är om slutresultatet denna gång kommer att blir lyckat.</p><p><strong>Metod: </strong>I denna studie har vi använt oss av en kvalitativ metod genom att utföra personliga intervjuer med fyra respondenter anställda hos olika revisions- och redovisningsbyråer. Vi anser att detta är det bästa tillvägagångssättet då regelverket fortfarande kan anses som nytt och därför finns inte kunskap om ämnet hos den stora massan. Informationen som vi erhållit under intervjuerna har därefter sammanställts och jämförts med varandra för att sedan kopplats ihop med våra teoristudier. Utifrån detta har vi gjort våra egna slutsatser.</p><p><strong>Resultat & slutsats: </strong>I vår studie har det framkommit att det föreligger olika uppfattningar av K2-regelverket. Samtliga respondenter är dock eniga om att idén till detta förenklingsprojekt är bra då det anses finnas ett behov att förenkla dagens redovisningsregler för mindre aktiebolag. Däremot skiljer sig åsikterna åt bland våra respondenter när det gäller utformningen och slutresultatet av K2-regelverket och dess tillhörande vägledning.  Vissa är positiva till resultatet medan andra anser att regelverket inte har tillfört tillräckligt med förenklingar.</p><p><strong>Förslag till fortsatt forskning: </strong>När denna studie utfördes var K2-regelverket fortfarande frivilligt att tillämpa, därför tycker vi det vore intressant att göra en liknande undersökning när regelverket har blivit tvingande för att se om användarnas åsikter har förändrats. Ett annat alternativ till fortsatta studier är att utföra en kvantitativ studie för att undersöka om regelverket tillämpas och i hur stor utsträckning.</p><p><strong>Uppsatsens bidrag: </strong>Denna uppsats har bidragit till en ökad förståelse för användarnas syn på K2-regelverket och förenklingsarbeten inom redovisning.</p>

La integración de la población inmigrante que reside en la Región de Murcia, pasa por la puesta en marcha de planes municipales integrales que impliquen la acción coordinada de todos las entidades involucradas en este proceso: Administraciónes Central, Autonómica y Local, ONG's, sindicatos, etc...,con la atención preferente a los colectivos de mujeres y de menores inmigrantes. / The integration of the immigrants who live in the Region of Murcia needs to set up integral municipal plans which have to include all the institutions that are implicate in this process: Central, Autonomic and Local Administrations, Trade Unions, ONG's, etc. With special attention to the immigrant groups of women and children.

Title: Social Media – And customer interaction in smaller firms Seminar date: 2011-06-10 Course: Information Logistics, D-level. Authors: Marie Stenhammar and Ulrika Carlsson Advisor: Jaime Campos Key words: Social Media, Web 2.0, Co-creation, Viral marketing, Word of Mouth, smaller firms Purpose: This paper aims to describe the relevance of social media to smaller firms, the challenges and opportunities they face and what strategies they use, in the interaction with their customers. Methodology: The study is qualitative in nature and has an abductive approach. The empirical material consists of in-depth interviews with chosen companies and Internet observations. Theoretical perspectives: Social Media, Web 2.0, Co-creation, Viral marketing, Word of Mouth Empirical foundation: The study takes its empirical base from in-depth interviews with representatives from the small companies and internet observations connected to these. Conclusions: Smaller companies have great interest in social media. They preferably use Facebook, blogs, YouTube and Twitter. Their strategy is mainly to be very active and update their social media regularly. The opinion of the companies is that social media offer several possibilities such as stronger relationships with customers and the ability to collect information about the market.

Aim: The aim of this thesis is to do a research about the users’ conceptions to the K-project. The K-project is a simplifying work of today’s accounting regulations performed by the Swedish Accounting Standards Board. The K-project is divided into four categories and the companies are divided into each category depending on its size. The study is limited by only focusing on a part of the K-project, the K2-regulation. The K-project is one of many ways to simplify the accounting regulations and a question asked in the study is if the final result will be successful this time. Method: We have chosen to adopt the qualitative method in this study by interviewing four respondents employed at a number of different accountant firms. We claim that this is the best approach since the regulations can still be considered new and therefore knowledge about it is small among many companies. The information given from the interviews were put together, analyzed, compared and finally connected to the theoretical reference frame. We have drawn our own conclusions due to that result. Result &amp; Conclusions: The result shows that the opinion about the K2-regulation varies.  All respondents agree about the K2-regulation being a good idea since the need of simplifying today´s accounting regulations for smaller companies is large. On the other hand the respondents’ opinions differ when it comes to the layout, final result and the instructions. Some respondents are positive to the result when others claim that the regulation hasn´t provided enough simplifications. Suggestions for future research: When this study was made the K2-regulation was a free choice whether to apply or not and according to that fact we would find it interesting to do a similar study when the regulation has been forced upon the companies, to see if the user´s opinions have changed. Another alternative to further studies would be to make a quantitative study to research if the regulation is used and in what scale. Contribution of the thesis: This thesis has contributed to an increased understanding for the users’ conceptions of the K2-regulation and today’s work to simplify accounting regulations. / Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka användarnas inställning till K-projektet. K-projektet är ett förenklingsarbete av dagens redovisningsregler som utförs av BFN. Projektet är uppdelat i fyra olika kategorier där företag är indelade beroende på storlek.  Studien är avgränsad genom att endast rikta in sig på en del i K-projektet, K2-regelverket. K-projektet är ett av många försök att förenkla redovisningsreglerna och en fråga som ställs i studien är om slutresultatet denna gång kommer att blir lyckat. Metod: I denna studie har vi använt oss av en kvalitativ metod genom att utföra personliga intervjuer med fyra respondenter anställda hos olika revisions- och redovisningsbyråer. Vi anser att detta är det bästa tillvägagångssättet då regelverket fortfarande kan anses som nytt och därför finns inte kunskap om ämnet hos den stora massan. Informationen som vi erhållit under intervjuerna har därefter sammanställts och jämförts med varandra för att sedan kopplats ihop med våra teoristudier. Utifrån detta har vi gjort våra egna slutsatser. Resultat &amp; slutsats: I vår studie har det framkommit att det föreligger olika uppfattningar av K2-regelverket. Samtliga respondenter är dock eniga om att idén till detta förenklingsprojekt är bra då det anses finnas ett behov att förenkla dagens redovisningsregler för mindre aktiebolag. Däremot skiljer sig åsikterna åt bland våra respondenter när det gäller utformningen och slutresultatet av K2-regelverket och dess tillhörande vägledning.  Vissa är positiva till resultatet medan andra anser att regelverket inte har tillfört tillräckligt med förenklingar. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: När denna studie utfördes var K2-regelverket fortfarande frivilligt att tillämpa, därför tycker vi det vore intressant att göra en liknande undersökning när regelverket har blivit tvingande för att se om användarnas åsikter har förändrats. Ett annat alternativ till fortsatta studier är att utföra en kvantitativ studie för att undersöka om regelverket tillämpas och i hur stor utsträckning. Uppsatsens bidrag: Denna uppsats har bidragit till en ökad förståelse för användarnas syn på K2-regelverket och förenklingsarbeten inom redovisning.