Organizations are today working actively with diversity management in alignment with the regulations from Riksdagen to reduce discrimination against employees based on their "Gender, transgender identity or expression, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation and age". Previously most focus has been put on the surface-level attributes of diversity such as age, gender and ethnicity but more emphasis and concern should be put on the deeper-level diversities such as personality. Scholars have stressed the importance of conducting qualitative studies that examine the deeper-level diversities in relation to diversity management. Moreover, there is an explicit need for investigating the effect that such a linkage between personality and diversity management can have on employee engagement levels. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether diversity management can be developed by looking at people’s personalities. This is achieved by answering the research question: How could an understanding of diverse personalities improve employee engagement? By examining this question, this study will give insight to whether personality is an aspect companies should consider in their diversity management when trying to understand and enhance employee engagement. By analyzing seven individuals at two international companies, located in Sweden, we were able to investigate a single case deeply and collect their subjective realities. Further, the study has taken a qualitative research approach in which seven semi-structured interviews were held and the empirical data was later derived through the use of a thematic analysis. It has been found with the application of the Five Factor Model (FFM) that the employees' personalities have a connection to their engagement levels. The analysis implied that the employees' personalities rather than surface-level diversities had an impact on their engagement. This makes it in turn reasonable to suggest that companies' diversity management practices can be further developed if looking at their employees' personalities. Ultimately this thesis has derived salient conclusions about the fact that FFM could be used to develop the understanding of diversity and diversity management. In turn this contributes with insight on how workplaces and the well-being of employees can be enhanced.

This Master thesis examines the role of resident empowerment in rural nature tourism in shaping the relations between how residents engage with local places and local nature stewardship in Plouguerneau, France. Through a conceptual framework that includes the concepts of empowerment, place attachment, care for nature, and nature stewardship, the study models the effect of place attachment and care for nature on resident stewardship attitudes and how resident empowerment in tourism mediates this relationship. The theoretical underpinnings of social exchange theory (SET) and nature’s contributions to people (NCP) theory are employed to provide a comprehensive understanding of these relationships. The study employs a mixed-method approach, including online and door-to-door surveying. To analyze the results, partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used. The findings suggest that place attachment is not a significant predictor of empowerment through tourism or nature stewardship as only place identity was predicting political empowerment and environmental citizenship. This finding challenges the assumption that strong place attachment necessarily leads to empowerment from tourism and nature stewardship. Therefore, it highlights the need for a more nuanced understanding of the factors that motivate residents to engage in environmentally responsible behaviors. The results also show that care for nature is significantly predicting both empowerment from tourism and nature stewardship. Furthermore, the study reveals that tourism can be a powerful tool for empowering local communities and enhancing their sense of responsibility towards the environment. Specifically, the findings suggest that involving residents in tourism decision-making processes can promote their engagement in environmental citizenship. Overall, this thesis contributes to our understanding of how tourism can contribute to local nature stewardship in rural communities by empowering residents to take an active role in caring for their natural environment.

Bakgrund och problemformulering: Skiftet till digitala banktjänster innebär ett annat arbetssätt att bibehålla förtroendet hos sina kunder då servicen blir mindre personlig. Förtroende och service är en viktig del hos kunderna samtidigt som det ställs nya krav gällande bekvämlighet och automatiserade självtjänster. Mot denna bakgrund är möjliga problem som kan uppstå en bristande säkerhet samt riskerna kring integriteten.  Syftet: Studiens syfte är att undersöka om det finns ett samband mellan kundernas förtroende och bankernas digitala banktjänster. Utöver detta vill forskarna få en förståelse för bankkunders förtroende för sin digitala bank.  Metod: Undersökningen bygger på kvantitativ metod i form av en enkätundersökning som sedan används för att genomföra en korrelationsanalys och regressionsanalys. Teoretisk referensram: Technology Acceptance Model, Social Exchange Theory, Perceived Risk och Digitala Tillitsmodellen. Empiri: Empirin har fyra olika fokusområden: kontrollfrågor, förtroende, digitala banktjänster samt risk och säkerhet. Dessa sammanställs och testas i en korrelationsanalys och regressionsanalys för att undersöka samband och testa hypoteser.  Slutsats: Resultatet visar att det föreligger ett positivt samband mellan digitala banktjänsters användbarhet och förtroende för digitala banktjänster samt att upplevd integritetsrisk har ett negativt samband med förtroendet. Trots att det kan finnas ett samband mellan digitala banktjänsternas användarvänlighet och förtroende finns inte tillräckligt med stöd för att bevisa detta. / Background and problem formulation: The shift to digital banking services means a different way of working to maintain the trust of its customers, this as the service has become less personal. Trust and service are valued highly for the customers, while new demands are being made regarding convenience and automated self-service. Against this background, possible problems that may arise are a lack of security and the risks surrounding integrity. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to investigate whether there is a relationship between customers' trust and the banks' digital banking services. In addition to this, the researchers want to gain an understanding of bank customers' trust in their digital bank. Method: The survey is based on a quantitative method in the form of a questionnaire which is then used to carry out a correlation and regression analysis. Framework: Technology Acceptance Model, Social Exchange Theory, Perceived Risk and Digital Trust Model. Empiricism: The empiricism has four different focus areas: control questions, trust, digital banking services and lastly risk as well as security. These are compiled and tested in a correlation and regression analysis to examine relationships by testing hypotheses. Conclusions: The findings show that there is a positive relationship between the usability of digital banking services and trust in digital banking services, and that perceived integrity risk has a negative relationship with trust. Although there may be a link between the ease of use of digital banking services and trust, there is not enough support to prove this.

No description available.

PhD. (Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Management Sciences), Vaal University of Technology. / The world over the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has gradually evolved from a theoretical concept to a managerial tool used to shape organisational competitiveness. Thus, this study sought to establish the influence of CSR on reputation and performance in the mining sector in Zimbabwe, given the limited evidence of such studies in the body of knowledge. The framework for data collection, presentation, analysis and interpretation was guided by the positivist paradigm, quantitative approach, and descriptive survey design. With the questionnaire being utilised to collect data from 330 respondents who were purposively and conveniently sampled from the targeted mines. The Cronbach Alpha coefficient was employed to test for the validity and reliability of the designed instrument. In addition, the Pearson’s correlation was used to determine relationships between constructs, while regression analysis was used to predict the reputation value based on causality. In addition, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was performed to determine the factor structure of the data collected based on the relationship of constructs and items. The analysed data revealed that most respondents, through descriptive statistics, agreed with the construct items except political corporate social responsibility (PCSR), which had the least mean score of (4.7311). This implied that the respondents somewhat agreed PCSR was being observed though at marginal levels. The other constructs stakeholder corporate social responsibility (SCSR), environment corporate social responsibility (ENCSR), ethical corporate social responsibility (ETCSR), and social corporate responsibility (SOCSR) had mean scores above 4, indicating that respondents agreed that CSR was being observed to retain a reputable image. Furthermore, regression analysis revealed that four of the stated hypotheses supported the assumption on SCSR, ETCSR, operational performance (OP), and social performance (SP). Furthermore, the results revealed that PCSR, ENCSR, SOCSR, and economic performance (EP) could not be used to support reputation. The results on the hypotheses statements confirmed the empirical literature assumptions. Thus, partnerships, trust, honesty, disclosure, competitive advantage, operational efficiency, values based on morality, and transparency were confirmed to be by-products of CSR practices. Based on this, it can be argued that mining firms in Zimbabwe could employ CSR as a strategic tool to handle stakeholders’ concerns. In this regard, a theoretical model was crafted for the mining sector in Zimbabwe, which reduced independent variables to two, namely the SCSR and ETCSR. Hence the results established a strong positive association between PSCR, SCSR, SOCSR, ENCSR, ETCSR, and corporate reputation (CR). In addition, corporate performance was seen to have a positive impact on OP and SP. Based on the above results, it is recommended that mining companies in Zimbabwe fully embrace CSR as a vehicle for engaging with stakeholders. More so, CSR programmes should be done in consultation with stakeholders, especially surrounding communities that host or provide an operating environment. Furthermore, mining companies should be wary of the cultural effects of their operations through the crafting and implementation of ethical policies. This can further be enhanced through CSR reporting on CSR initiatives and programmes.

No description available.

I Sverige har det främst undersökts synen på employee advocacy utifrån organisationens engagemang samt strategisk användning av konceptet. Den här studien undersöker det svenska perspektivet på employee advocacy via sociala medier. Syftet med studien är att undersöka tillämpningen av konceptet employee advocacy på svenska mediebyråer, genom att analysera om konceptet är medvetet tillämpad i företagen eller inte. Det andra syftet är att förstå vilka attityder chefer och medarbetare har angående employee advocacy via sociala medier. Social exchange teorin beskrivs i tidigare studier som en framgångsfaktor till en fungerande användning av employee advocacy och är den grundläggande teorin för denna studie. Studien utgår från en metodkombination med kvalitativa intervjuer med ledande personer och kvantitativa enkäter med medarbetare. Empirin visade på att inga av de fem företagen arbetar med alla framgångsfaktorer relaterad till digital employee advocacy. Den framgångsfaktorn som företagen använde sig mest av är medarbetarnas engagemang. Resultatet visade också att en del företag arbetade med tillgängligheten av publiceringsmaterial och med att chefer föregår med gott exempel. Om ledningen i ett företag ställer sig positiv till att publicera arbetsrelaterat material på privata sociala medier, är det större chans att medarbetarna också gör det. Medarbetare framhävde att de inte ville bli drivna till digital employee advocacy för att kunna bibehålla sina privata sociala medier till vad de själva önskar. I denna studie framkom det att social exchange teorin är en fungerande teori i svenska mediebyråer, men är inte fullständig och heltäckande. Den underbygger inte samtliga bakomliggande motivationsfaktorer för både medarbetarna och ledningen. / Employee advocacy has mainly been studied in Sweden from the perspectives of organizational commitment and strategic application. As a result, this study contributed to the Swedish understanding of the concept through social media. The purpose of this study is to investigate the use of employee advocacy in Swedish media agencies to determine whether it is consciously used in corporations. This is accomplished by learning about the attitudes of managers and employees toward employee advocacy on social media. The social exchange theory serves as the foundation for this study. The theory is previous described as a success factor for an effective use of employee advocacy. This study's findings are based on two methods, including qualitative interviews with senior executives and quantitative surveys answered by employees. According to the findings, none of the five companies work with all the success factors related to digital employee advocacy. The most common success factor is employee engagement. The findings also revealed that some businesses made use of the availability of publishing materials as well as managers who set a good example. When a company's management encourages the publication of work-related material on private social media, employees are more likely to follow that example. Employees expressed a desire not to be pressured into digital employee advocacy in order to maintain their personal social media accounts. The social exchange theory formed as a working theory in Swedish media agencies, however it is not complete and thorough. It does not address all underlying motivators for personnel and management.

Covid-19 pandemin skapade många begränsningar i det fysiska mötet för företag i Sverige. Problematiken för de företag som inte kunde erbjuda sin produkt på samma sätt digitalt var det som skapade ett intresse att genomföra denna studie. Många företag fick göra ett skifte och fokusera mer på de digitala verktygen under den här tiden. Därför valde gruppen att fördjupa sig i hur företag på Instagram arbetar med sitt innehåll för att skapa engagemang. Frågorna som besvarades togs fram med syftet att skapa en uppfattning kring vilken av de tre framtagna inläggs kategorierna som skapar högst engagemang, rationella inlägg, interaktionella inlägg eller transaktionella inlägg. Samt hur innehållet på Instagram kan förändras beroende på om det fysiska mötet är begränsat eller ej.En kvalitativ fallstudie på Liseberg genomfördes i form av dokumentanalys på företagets Instagramkonto. Resultatet kopplades därefter samman med den tidigare forskningen inom engagemang, digital marknadsföring, sociala medier marknadsföringsstrategi och Social Exchange Theory. Studien är avgränsad till att endast mäta engagemang baserat på gilla-markeringar och kommentarer. Vikten av att ett företag behöver engagemang för att vara konkurrenskraftiga klarläggs samt relevans att företag finns på sociala medier. Resultatet visade att de transaktionella inläggen hade betydligt högst engagemang, men även att de interaktionella inläggen skapade högt engagemang. Förslagsvis borde företag under perioderna de har nedstängt fokusera just på dessa två kategorier som uppmanar till att skapa engagemang i form av gilla-markeringar och kommentarer. Studien visade också hur Liseberg anpassade mängden samt innehållet av deras inlägg under de olika perioderna för att hålla sig aktuella med vad besökarna efterfrågade. Studien är skriven på svenska. / Covid-19 pandemic created a lot of limitations for companies when it came to the physical meeting. The problem that occurred when companies no longer were able to offer their product in reality created an interest in this study. Many companies had to make a shift and focus more on digital tools during this time. Therefore, this group chose to dive into how a company on Instagram works with their content to create engagement. The questions that were answered were developed with the aim of creating knowledge about which of the three developed post categories create the highest engagement, rational posts, interactional posts or transactional posts. As well as how the content on Instagram may change depending on whether the physical meeting is limited or not.A qualitative case study on the amusement park Liseberg was carried out in the form of document analysis on @Lisebergab Instagram. The result was then connected with the previous research on engagement, digital marketing, social media marketing strategy and the Social Exchange Theory. The study is limited to only measuring engagement based on likes and comments. The importance of companies needing engagement to be competitive is clarified, as well as the relevance of companies being on social media. The transactional posts received the highest engagement, but it was also shown that it is not financially sustainable to focus on this too much.The results showed that transactional posts had the highest engagement, but also that interactive posts created high engagement. It is suggested that companies during periods of shutdown should focus on these two categories that encourage engagement in the form of likes and comments. This study also showed how Liseberg adapted the amount and content of their posts during different periods to stay current with what visitors demanded from the company. Following will this paper be written in swedish.

Organisations today operate in a complex, unpredictable, globalised, and competitive business environment and challenging marketplace, emphasis on just-in-time deliveries and service quality through the integration of resources. In response to the changing business dynamics, web-based EDI (WEDI) has been adopted by the global container shipping industry to cost-effectively utilise available resources to build and remain its competitive advantage. To improve the current understanding of WEDI adoption factors, this research explores inter-organisational collaboration of WEDI adoption, focusing on the organisational adoption stage and examine how business level social and relational factors influence WEDI adoption in the context of the container liner shipping industry. Based on theoretical and literature reviews on previous EDI adoption, in particular to three key inter-organisational system adoption empirical research (including Lee and Lim, 2005; Boonstra and de Vries, 2005; Zhu et al., 2006), an integrated research model was established of which features ‘Social Resources' of (trading partner power, trading partner dependence and social network effect), ‘Relational Resources' of (trading partner trust, top management commitment and guanxi, ‘Reward' of (perceived interests), and ‘Technological State' of (technological trust and e-readiness) as prominent antecedents. Through E-mail and Web Survey approach, we examine the nine independent constructs in the research model quantitatively on a dataset of 164 respondents from the top 20 leading container shipping liner in year 2009 and 195 respondents of the top 20 leading container shipping liner in 2012 by 3 case studies through online surveys. After examining its reliability, validity and correlation of the constructs, PLS structural Equation Modelling was applied to test hypotheses. The empirical results update how firms exchange business dada, in particular to the use of WEDI in the industry. This study demonstrated that ‘Social Resources' of trading partner power, trust and guanxi, positively associated with the perceived interest of WEDI adoption. Relational Resources' of trading partner trust, top management commitment and guanxi positively associated with the perceived interest of WEDI adoption. It also confirms the nine constructs to be positively association the WEDI adoption decisions. Drawing upon social exchange theory, we argue that firms simultaneously modify and adjust their social and relational resources to affect other firms' expected benefit as a reward. Overall, based on a rigorous empirical analysis of two different international dataset, this research provides valuable and the most updated insights into a set of key factors that influence WEDI adoption. By recognising what may influence WEDI adoption in the context of the container liner shipping, this study will be useful in suggesting strategies to overcome the constraints that inhibit adoption. Researchers will benefit from the study's theoretical insights and explore further WEDI adoption and diffusion patterns. Practitioners who learn why organisations adopt WEDI and what the related factors are that influence the adoption process will make better strategic decisions concerning the adoption of WEDI.

Cette thèse explore les implications des stratégies hors marché des entreprises en termes de performance. Elle attire notamment l'attention sur la nature paradoxale des stratégies hors-marché ainsi que sur l'importance pour les entreprises de former des portefeuilles spécifiques de ce type de stratégie. En utilisant une approche fondée de la théorie de l'échange social et sur la théorie de la dépendance aux ressources, cette thèse tout d'abord analyse les conditions pour lesquelles les entreprises sont soumises à une extraction de “rente” de la part des politiciens. Elle explore ensuite l'impact de ces liens politiques sur la performance financière des entreprises. Elle distingue notamment différents types de liens politiques qui exposent les entreprises à différents niveaux d'incertitude quant à la continuité de leur échange avec les politiciens, et à différents niveaux de dépendance à leurs ressources à postériori. Enfin, cette thèse examine comment l'engagement communautaire des entreprises pourrait agir comme une stratégie complémentaire aux liens politiques, et comment cette complémentarité peut permettre d’obtenir de meilleurs retours financiers de ces liens politiques. Les hypothèses de cette thèse sont empiriquement testées sur des données longitudinales uniques couvrant différents types de liens entre l’ensemble des politiciens britanniques et toutes les sociétés cotées en bourse au Royaume-Unis, sur une période allant de 2002 à 2011. En prenant une position critique sur la valeur que les entreprises peuvent tirer des stratégies hors-marché, cette thèse contribue à la littérature en management stratégique, en particulier à celle portant sur les stratégies hors-marché des entreprises et leurs implications en termes de performance financière / This dissertation looks into performance implications of firms’ non-market strategies. It draws attention to the double-blade nature of firms’ non-market strategies, as well as the importance for the firm of forming a right portfolio of such strategies. Using insights from social exchange theory and resource dependence theory, it first outlines the conditions under which firms will be subject to rent extraction by politicians. It then looks into the impact of political linkages on firms’ financial performance, differentiating between different types of political linkages; which expose a firm to different levels of uncertainty regarding the continuity of exchange with the politician, and different levels of ex-post dependency on the politician. Finally it investigates how community engagement might act as a complement to firms’ political linkages, and how such complementarity may help to achieve improved financial returns from those political linkages. The predictions of the essays are empirically tested using a unique longitudinal dataset covering various types of linkages between all politicians and all publicly listed companies in the UK, for the period from 2002 to 2011. Taking a critical stand on the value to be drawn from firms’ non-market strategies, this dissertation contributes to strategic management literature, particularly the literature on firms’ non-market strategies and their implications on financial performance