Based on research showing the serious environmental damage associated with conventional aquaculture, coastal marine ranching has been promoted by the Chinese government as an ecological and environmentally friendly way to produce aquatic products and simultaneously restore the marine environment. However, marine ranching is a general concept and there are significant differences among the three main types. This study initially focuses on commercial marine ranching to distinguish it from other types by identifying its unique features, functions and goals. Examining institutional frameworks of commercial marine ranching operations reveals the evolving interactions and interrelations between key actors in the network. The analysis adopts a modified social network theory approach that incorporates Chinese guanxi culture in a case study of the White Dragon Islet marine ranching project to research commercial marine ranching in China. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect details from each group of key actors, including the private sector, government, and local communities. Key outcomes of the research include developing a better understanding of the types of marine ranching in China and important insights into changing relationships developed from acquaintance to intimacy and then to trustworthiness within the institutional framework of a successful commercial marine ranching project. The thesis concludes by highlighting key practical implications for government policy and for commercial marine ranching practitioners to improve the implementation of such operations in China. / Graduate

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The aim of this study is to get an enhanced understanding of why and how young Syrian refugee males in Jordan prepare for irregular travel to Europe. Through eight semi-structured interviews with Syrians in their 20s and 30s residing in Amman, and a conceptual framework of life plan, existential mobility and social network theory, this research hopefully enhances our understanding of the dynamic and uncertain process of onwards irregular refugee travel. I conclude that discrepancies between the narrative of self and the actual situation may trigger secondary migration, while the social capital inherent in the social network of an individual is essential in the preparation phase of onwards movement. Moreover, the results indicate that latent ties are use actively to assess the reliability of the large pool of information accessed through membership in social media networks.

This dissertation explores the interplay between competitive strategy and alliance network structure in explaining firm performance in highly volatile environments (e.g., personal computers or consumer electronics). In particular, I examine the following three questions: (1) Which competitive strategies enable firms to gain superior performance? (2) How do these strategies affect the firm‘s networking behavior and lead to the formation of particular network positions? (3) What optimal combinations of competitive strategies and network structures maximize firm performance? Firms can outperform rivals by pursuing two types of competitive strategies: advantage-creating and advantage-enhancing. Each of these strategies creates different needs, motivations, and opportunities for collaborative activity. Therefore, certain regularities in the firms‘ strategic behavior in the previous period can lead to distinctive and recognizable patterns of networking behavior in the future period, which in turn leads to predictable types of network structure. This study shows that firms with superior advantage-creating strategies become embedded in sparse network structures and are more likely to form non-equity alliances in the future period, whereas firms with strong advantage-enhancing tendencies become embedded in dense network structures with many equity-based alliances in the future period. However, if different strategies lead to formation of different types of network structure, are these tendencies beneficial for firm performance? If not, what is the optimal combination of competitive strategy and network structure that maximizes firm performance? I argue that network structure provides advantageous access to external resources that can both complement (enhance) the internal capabilities of the firm and substitute for the capabilities that a firm is lacking. I find that network structure plays both complementary and substitutive roles. However, my findings suggest dense network structure is more beneficial for firms that have superior either advantage-creating or advantage-enhancing capabilities, whereas firms with inferior internal capabilities can benefit more from a sparse network structure. I tested the proposed dynamic model on a sample of the largest 125 firms from computers and electronics industries that initiated 11,075 competitive actions and were embedded in a larger network of 36,766 alliances over 7 years.

Hållbarhet är ett ämne som konstant är på dagens agenda. Många länder gör idag omställningar föratt nå de uppsatta klimatmålen inom FN, EU och på en nationell nivå. Gotland Grönt Centrum är enaktör på Gotland som genom sitt projekt “Ökad livsmedelsförädling” drar sitt strå till stacken för att ökaden hållbara utvecklingen på ön. Gotland Grönt Centrum vill öka kunskapsspridningen ochinnovationsgraden inom den gotländska livsmedelsförädlingsindustrin genom att upprätta enFacebooksida där aktörer kan mötas. Forskningsfrågan för uppsatsen är därför fokuserad på hurkommunikationen bör se ut för att nå de uppsatta målen i GGC:s projekt. Genom en kvalitativ studieämnar denna uppsats besvara forskningsfrågan genom teorier om social network theory,sensemaking, strukturella hål med flera för att sedan mynna ut i en slutsats. Genom en kodning avempirin kunde analysen visa flera aspekter som är vitala för att GGC ska kunna föra en framgångsrikkommunikation för att nå sina mål. Svaret blev att genom att arbeta med sensemaking för att formasitt budskap efter målgruppen kan engagemanget gentemot projektet öka. Detta kan leda till eninstitutionalisering och gemensam förståelse, vilket kan leda till framtida samarbeten mellan aktörer.Innovationsgraden kan dessutom öka ifall GGC antar en roll som länk och gränsöverskridare inomnätverket för att överbrygga strukturella hål och således få in ny information i flödet. / Sustainability is a topic that is constantly on the agenda of today. Many countries today are makingadjustments to achieve the set climate goals within the UN, the EU and at a national level. GotlandGrönt Centrum is an regional actor on Gotland, which through its project "Increased food processing"aim to increase the sustainable development on the island. Gotland Grönt Centrum wants to increasethe dissemination of knowledge and the degree of innovation within Gotland’s food processingindustry by establishing a platform where players can meet. The research question for the essay istherefore focused on how the communication should be formulated to achieve the set goals in theGGC project. Through a qualitative study, this paper aims to answer the research question throughtheories of social network theory, sensemaking, structural holes, and more, in order to draw aconclusion. Through the coding of the empirical data, the analysis could show several aspects thatare vital for GGC to be able to conduct successful communication in order to achieve its goals. Theanswer was that by working with sensemaking to shape their message according to the target group,the commitment to the project can increase. This can lead to institutionalization and mutualunderstanding, which can lead to future collaboration between actors. The degree of innovation canalso increase if GGC assumes a role as a link and boundary spanner within the network to bridgestructural holes and thus bring in new information in the flow.

Den vanligaste rekryteringsvägen är genom informella kontakter och spontanbesök är den näst vanligaste vägen. Arbetsförmedlingen (AF) som rekryteringsväg minskar ständigt och sociala medier används allt mer som rekryteringsverktyg. Många företag har svårt att rekrytera personal med rätt kompetens. Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka hur och vilka sociala medier som används i rekryteringssammanhang. Forskningsstrategin är en fallstudie av Länsförsäkringar Bergslagens rekryteringsprocess. Det empiriska materialet består bland annat av interna dokument och intervjuer med personalchefen. Resultatet visar att nuvarande rekryteringsprocess genomgår 13 olika steg och att målet är att få fler att lämna intresseanmälan på hemsidan. Sociala medier definieras som webbrelaterade tjänster där människor bland annat kan konversera, ta del av och utbyta information och knyta kontakter. Arbetsmarknaden har förändrats och anställningarna är inte lika stabila som tidigare. Arbetsrelaterad teknik överensstämde tidigare med en individs hela karriärutveckling. Idag förändras arbetet, organisationen och den tekniska utvecklingen betydligt snabbare, vilket innebär att en tjänst kan förändras radikalt på bara fem år. Detta innebär att urvalsprocesser och verktyg behöver uppdateras. Arbetsgivare utnyttjar flera olika verktyg för urval och rekrytering men informationen om användningen är begränsad. / The most common recruitment route is through informal connections, and spontaneous visits are the second most common route. The use of the Employment Service (AF) as recruitment channel is consistently reduced and social media is increasingly used as recruiting tool. Many companies have difficulties recruiting staff with appropriate skills. The purpose of this paperis to examine how, and what social media is used in the recruitment context. The research strategy is a case study of the recruitment process at Länsförsäkringar Bergslagen. The empirical evidence includes internal documents and interviews with the personnel manager.The results show that the current recruitment process consists of 13 different steps and the goal is to get more individuals to leave their applications of interest on the homepage. Social media is defined as Web-related services where people can converse, receive and exchange information and establish contacts. The labour market has changed and jobs are not as stable as they used to be. Before, work-related technologies were consistent with an individual'sentire career. Today, work, organization and technological progress are changing much faster, which means a service can radically change in only five years. This means the selection processes and tools needs to be updated. Employers use a variety of tools for the selection and recruitment, but the information on their use is limited.

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Submitted by Josmary Karoline Demko Alves (josmarykaroline@yahoo.com.br) on 2016-10-29T19:29:03Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação Josmary vfinal.pdf: 958731 bytes, checksum: 99f22613883eb6a31dcd046c8ee98a08 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by ÁUREA CORRÊA DA FONSECA CORRÊA DA FONSECA (aurea.fonseca@fgv.br) on 2017-01-25T12:38:46Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação Josmary vfinal.pdf: 958731 bytes, checksum: 99f22613883eb6a31dcd046c8ee98a08 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-02-02T18:20:37Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação Josmary vfinal.pdf: 958731 bytes, checksum: 99f22613883eb6a31dcd046c8ee98a08 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-08-29 / Estruturas sociais influenciam a efetividade dos grupos. O propósito deste estudo é explorar os efeitos contingenciais dessa relação por meio da investigação da densidade em diferentes redes na performance das equipes. Hipotetizou-se, primeiramente, o efeito oposto para densidade instrumental e afetiva em performance das equipes; posteriormente, argumenta-se que interdependência das tarefas e a orientação de distância de poder agem como moderadores. Para testar as hipóteses, foram utilizadas informações de questionários coletados de 27 Unidades de Pronto Atendimento (UPA) e 106 grupos. O resultado encontrado suporta o efeito positivo de densidade instrumental e o impacto negativo da densidade afetiva. Além disso, provou-se que a interdependência de tarefas atenua ambas as relações diretas. Ao final, são discutidas as implicações destes resultados para pesquisa em densidade das redes e performance das equipes. / Social structures influence team effectiveness. The purpose of this study is to explore the contingencies effects of this relationship by investigating density in distinct network contents on team performance. We first hypothesized opposite direct effects for instrumental and affective density on team performance; then we further argue that task interdependence and power distance orientation act as moderators. To test our hypotheses we use survey data from 27 Emergency and Care Units and 106 teams. The results support the positive effect of instrumental density and the negative impact of affective density. Moreover, task interdependence was found to attenuate both main relationships. We discuss the implications of these findings for research on network density and team performance.

This thesis explores the mobility intentions of refugees in Hofors. The aim is to apply the theoretical framework of the life course perspective and social network theory; evaluating their suitability in approaching the topic of refugees’ mobility intentions in the Swedish countryside. The research questions ask how the life courses, social networks, and the specific locality influences their mobility intentions. The empirical research is based on biographical interviews and participatory mapping with refugee migrants residing in Hofors and an expert interview with a municipal employee. The findings illuminate: the role and dominance of different life domains at different timings (e.g. importance of the work domain in the initial stages of integration), the function of social networks as a resource of information, and the social context offered by Hofors (facilitating certain resources) – indicating the central importance of this conjunction, between the needs of trajectories within certain life domains and the ability of the locality to satisfy these needs, in influencing the mobility intentions. The research is situated in the field of international migration to the Swedish countryside, focusing on how rural municipalities can retain more refugees, by addressing the issue from the perspective of refugee migrants.