<p>Background: The starting point of the thesis is the growing importance of negotiations that serve to establish a relationship between the parties involved as companies’ business activities are getting more complex. </p><p>Purpose: The purpose of the thesis is to find and to analyze which elements are of importance for parties, when creating a successful negotiation with regard to building long-term relationships, and if those elements differ for sales and procurement negotiations in companies with business activities of various kinds. </p><p>Research method: The study was realized with the help of twelve qualitative interviews. </p><p>Result: The elements of importance when creating a successful negotiation with regard to building long-term relationships were mainly elements of co-operation and to some extent elements of competition. Complex and public companies did also exhibit particular elements that were of importance for these categories. The elements did not part considerably regarding purchasers, sales representatives or companies with business activities of various kinds. The elements of importance when building long-term relationships were to a great extent dependent on human elements.</p>

Citizens’ trust in government institutions and their political support for development are important preconditions for a democratic and sustainable form of development. In the context of tourism, it is important that residents of a destination endorse development and tourism policies of the government to ensure sustainability and good governance of the sector. Recognition that communities are central to tourism development and one of the most important groups of stakeholders has led researchers to conduct numerous studies on residents’ support for tourism development and its antecedents. While early studies on this topic were of an atheoretical nature, researchers have increasingly made use of theories such as social exchange theory (SET), originally drawn from sociology, to understand the ways in which residents’ react to tourism development and the circumstances that prompt them to do so. While on one hand use of SET has strengthened the theoretical base of and has made significant contributions to this area of research, on the other hand, some researchers have found the theory to lack predictive power in explaining residents’ support for tourism development. This is probably because researchers have failed to consider all important variables of the theory simultaneously in an integrative framework. Key constructs such as power and trust have been left out by the majority of studies on this topic. It is also important that SET is complemented with other theoretical approaches so that new insights are uncovered in this area of study. Grounded in political economy, this study attempted to make a ‘complete’ use of SET by integrating its key components (trust, power, benefits, costs, and support) in a model that predicted residents’ trust in government actors involved in tourism and their political support for the sector’s development. The research drew widely from the political science literature and made use of two competing theories to investigate the determinants of residents’ trust in government actors: institutional theory of political trust and cultural theory of political trust. Based on the three different theories (SET, institutional theory of political trust, and cultural theory of political trust), the conceptual model of the study was developed. As postulated by SET, the model posited that political support is determined by residents’ trust in government actors, perceived benefits of tourism, and perceived costs of tourism. The latter two variables were also proposed to influence trust in government actors. An inverse relationship between perceived benefits and perceived costs of tourism was also hypothesized. The model further suggested that residents’ perceptions of their level of power in tourism influenced their perceptions of the benefits and costs of tourism development. As predicted by institutional theory of political trust, residents’ perceptions of the economic and political performance of local government actors and their perceived level of power in tourism were proposed to influence their trust in those actors. Drawing from cultural theory of political trust, interpersonal trust was hypothesized to be positively related to residents’ trust in government actors. Twelve hypotheses emanated from the model and were tested using responses collected from 391 residents of Niagara Region, Ontario, Canada, using an online panel. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to test the proposed hypotheses. In addition, the mediating effects implied in the proposed model were investigated (although no formal hypotheses were originally proposed) using Baron and Kenny’s (1986) recommended steps and the Sobel z test. Findings provided support for eight of the twelve proposed hypotheses. Contrary to what researchers have assumed so far, residents’ trust in government actors was a better predictor of political support that their perceptions of the costs of tourism development. Perceived benefits remained the best predictor of political support as advocated in several studies. Residents’ perceptions of the benefits of tourism were also inversely related to perceived costs, suggesting that interactions among residents’ perceptions of the different impacts of tourism exist. Residents’ perceived level of power in tourism was a significant determinant of perceived benefits, but did not significantly predict perceived costs. Residents’ perceptions of the political performance of government actors in tourism was the strongest predictor of their trust, followed by their perceptions of the economic performance of government actors, and their perceptions of the benefits of tourism development. Residents’ perceived level of power in tourism, their perceptions of the costs of tourism, and interpersonal trust were found to be insignificant predictors of their trust in government actors. Findings also suggested that residents’ perceptions of the costs of tourism and their trust in government actors partially mediated the relationships between perceived benefits of tourism and political support. The results partially supported SET because some of the theory’s postulates and predictions were not empirically supported. Findings also confirmed the superiority of institutional theory of political trust over cultural theory of political trust. The theoretical and practical implications of the study’s findings were discussed. The limitations of the study were recognized and some recommendations for improving future research were made. Overall, the study suggested that political trust is a promising construct in studies on community support for development policies and deserves further attention by researchers, scholars, and practitioners given the paucity of research on this topic in the tourism literature. The search also suggests that researchers should recognize that residents’ trust in government actors and their support for tourism development are complex issues that are determined by several factors. A single theory is unlikely to provide a comprehensive understanding of these concepts, raising the need for researchers to investigate these issues from different theoretical perspectives.

Syfte: Denna studie har ämnat undersöka vilka faktorer som möjliggör respektive hindrar att internationell samverkan kan påverka HR-medarbetares känsla av sammanhang och självtillit samt vilka effekter det kan resultera i. Metod: Studien bygger på en abduktiv ansats och forskningsfrågorna har besvarats genom en kvalitativ metod. Datan som ligger till grund för studiens resultat samlades in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer. Vid datainsamlingen undersöktes fem internationella organisationer med respondenter som har en befattning inom HR och en tematisk analysmetod tillämpades vid sammanställningen av resultatet. Resultat: Resultatet visar att det finns olika framgångsfaktorer och barriärer för att internationell samverkan ska leda till en känsla av sammanhang och självtillit.  Teknologi, fysiska möten, ledarskap och kultur samt HR-funktionens struktur och medarbetarnas roller har identifierats som de viktigaste framgångsfaktorerna. Kultur, tid och avstånd utgör barriärer för att internationell samverkan ska leda till en känsla av sammanhang och självtillit. Resultatet påvisar också att sambandet mellan internationell samverkan, en känsla av sammanhang och självtillit leder till flera olika effekter, som en ökad prestation, motivation och arbetstillfredsställelse. Dessa effekter resulterar i en ökad vilja hos HR-medarbetarna till att samverka över nationella gränser. Teoretiska implikationer: Studien bidrar med teoretiska implikationer till forskningen inom SIHRM genom att studera internationell samverkan ur ett nytt perspektiv. Studien bidrar till en ökad förståelse för vilka faktorer som möjliggör eller hindrar att samverkan ska bidra till en känsla av sammanhang och självtillit för medarbetarna inom HR-funktioner. Studien bidrar även med en ökad förståelse för hur effekterna av sambandet kan främja HR-funktionens internationella samverkan positivt. Praktiska implikationer: Studien kan användas som ett ramverk för HR-medarbetare och chefer samt andra individer som samverkar över nationella gränser. Detta genom att det kan bidra med en förståelse för vilka faktorer som främjar eller hindrar att samverkan kan påverka en känsla av sammanhang och självtillit. / Purpose: The aim of this study have been to examine barriers and success factors for how international collaboration affect HR employees sense of coherence and self-efficacy and the resulting effects. Method: The study is based on an abductive approach and the research questions have been answered with a qualitative method. The data on which the results of the study is based were collected by conducting semistructured interviews. Interviews was conducted with HR people in five international organizations and a thematic analysis method was applied. Results: The results show that there are several different success factors and barriers to international collaboration leading to a sense of coherence and self-efficacy. Technology, physical meetings, leadership and culture, structure and roles of the employees have been identified as the most important success factors. Culture, time and distance are barriers to international collaboration leading to a sense of coherence and self-efficacy. The result also shows that the relationship between international collaboration, a sense of coherence and self-efficacy leads to several different effects, such as increased work performance, motivation and job satisfaction. These effects result in an increased motivation to collaborate across national borders. Theoretical implications: The study contributes theoretical implications to SIHRM research by studying international collaboration from a new perspective. The study contributes to an increased understanding of which factors enable or prevent international collaboration to affect HR employees' sense of coherence and self-efficacy. The study also contributes with an increased understanding of how the effects of the association can positively promote the HR function's international collaboration. Practical implications: The study can be used as a framework for HR employees and managers as well as other individuals who collaborate across national borders. It can contribute with an understanding of which factors enable or prevent collaboration to affect a sense of coherence and self-efficacy.

Purpose: The aim of this study have been to examine barriers and success factors for how international collaboration affect HR employees sense of coherence and self-efficacy and the resulting effects. Method: The study is based on an abductive approach and the research questions have been answered with a qualitative method. The data on which the results of the study is based were collected by conducting semistructured interviews. Interviews was conducted with HR people in five international organizations and a thematic analysis method was applied. Results: The results show that there are several different success factors and barriers to international collaboration leading to a sense of coherence and self-efficacy. Technology, physical meetings, leadership and culture, structure and roles of the employees have been identified as the most important success factors. Culture, time and distance are barriers to international collaboration leading to a sense of coherence and self-efficacy. The result also shows that the relationship between international collaboration, a sense of coherence and self-efficacy leads to several different effects, such as increased work performance, motivation and job satisfaction. These effects result in an increased motivation to collaborate across national borders. Theoretical implications: The study contributes theoretical implications to SIHRM research by studying international collaboration from a new perspective. The study contributes to an increased understanding of which factors enable or prevent international collaboration to affect HR employees' sense of coherence and self-efficacy. The study also contributes with an increased understanding of how the effects of the association can positively promote the HR function's international collaboration. Practical implications: The study can be used as a framework for HR employees and managers as well as other individuals who collaborate across national borders. It can contribute with an understanding of which factors enable or prevent collaboration to affect a sense of coherence and self-efficacy. / Syfte: Denna studie har ämnat undersöka vilka faktorer som möjliggör respektive hindrar att internationell samverkan kan påverka HR-medarbetares känsla av sammanhang och självtillit samt vilka effekter det kan resultera i. Metod: Studien bygger på en abduktiv ansats och forskningsfrågorna har besvarats genom en kvalitativ metod. Datan som ligger till grund för studiens resultat samlades in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer. Vid datainsamlingen undersöktes fem internationella organisationer med respondenter som har en befattning inom HR och en tematisk analysmetod tillämpades vid sammanställningen av resultatet. Resultat: Resultatet visar att det finns olika framgångsfaktorer och barriärer för att internationell samverkan ska leda till en känsla av sammanhang och självtillit.  Teknologi, fysiska möten, ledarskap och kultur samt HR-funktionens struktur och medarbetarnas roller har identifierats som de viktigaste framgångsfaktorerna. Kultur, tid och avstånd utgör barriärer för att internationell samverkan ska leda till en känsla av sammanhang och självtillit. Resultatet påvisar också att sambandet mellan internationell samverkan, en känsla av sammanhang och självtillit leder till flera olika effekter, som en ökad prestation, motivation och arbetstillfredsställelse. Dessa effekter resulterar i en ökad vilja hos HR-medarbetarna till att samverka över nationella gränser. Teoretiska implikationer: Studien bidrar med teoretiska implikationer till forskningen inom SIHRM genom att studera internationell samverkan ur ett nytt perspektiv. Studien bidrar till en ökad förståelse för vilka faktorer som möjliggör eller hindrar att samverkan ska bidra till en känsla av sammanhang och självtillit för medarbetarna inom HR-funktioner. Studien bidrar även med en ökad förståelse för hur effekterna av sambandet kan främja HR-funktionens internationella samverkan positivt. Praktiska implikationer: Studien kan användas som ett ramverk för HR-medarbetare och chefer samt andra individer som samverkar över nationella gränser. Detta genom att det kan bidra med en förståelse för vilka faktorer som främjar eller hindrar att samverkan kan påverka en känsla av sammanhang och självtillit.

Although youth tourism is an increasingly relevant subject little research have been done regarding the segment’s own perception of their impacts. A consumer perspective was assumed to examine in what ways youth tourism impact places. This study adopts a deductive approach reviewing existing literature regarding youth tourism, impact and place. A case study concerning how youth travellers perceive and evaluate their own impacts was conducted using mixed-methods. Data sources include a survey and in-depth interviews concerning sociocultural, economic, and environmental items. The study concludes that what impacts youth tourism has on places are subject to the place’s current state and ability to host youth travellers. The number of youth travellers and their behaviour determines the local and global sociocultural, economic and environmental impacts that youth tourism has on places. This paper is considered a pre-study that contributes to the development of theory regarding youth tourism.

Corporate Social Responsibility has become an increasingly important aspect for companiesto consider. Partly because it attracts customers and investors, and partly because societyplaces higher demands on companies to act as good citizens. Research has shown that anadditional effect of CSR work is that it can create a positive attitude among employees.Employees’ motivation to work can depend on a number of different factors, such as beingable to participate in and contribute to the decision-making process. The purpose of the studyis to investigate the relationship between organizations’ CSR work and employees’ workmotivation. Furthermore, the study looks into how the employees’ work motivation isaffected by the opportunity to influence the CSR work. The survey is a qualitative case studyof the organization Husqvarna and its results are based on interviews with employees and ananalysis of the company's documents. Its theoretical framework consists of George Homans’social exchange theory, Anthony Giddens’ structuration theory and Pinder and Lathamsmotivational framework. The results of the study show that CSR policies can contribute towork motivation. However, employees’ personal opinions of CSR work in general are ofgreat importance for how they value CSR policies. Moreover, the results suggest that theopportunity to participate in the CSR work is a motivating factor for most employees, eventhough organizational hierarchy and lack of time were described as obstacles. The studyreflects on whether these obstacles are what make some employees indifferent to CSR work. / Corporate Social Responsibility-arbete har blivit en viktig komponent för företag. Dels då detattraherar kunder och investerare, dels då samhället ställer högre krav på företag att agerasom goda samhällsmedborgare. Forskning har visat att en ytterligare effekt av CSR-arbete ärdess skapande av en positiv inställning hos interna aktörer såsom anställda. Ytterligareforskning har däremot visat att anställdas inställning rörande CSR-arbete är komplext ochvidare behöver undersökas. Anställdas inställning och motivation till arbete och sinorganisation kan bero på ett flertal olika faktorer, där bland annat möjlighet till deltagandevisat sig ha betydelse. Syftet med studien är att undersöka förhållandet mellan organisationersCSR-arbete och de anställdas arbetsmotivation. Vidare undersöks hur de anställdasarbetsmotivation påverkas av den möjlighet som finns att medverka till och påverkaCSR-arbetet. Undersökningen är en kvalitativ fallstudie av organisationen Husqvarna ochdess resultat utgår från intervjuer med anställda samt från en analys av företagets dokument.Dess teoretiska ramverk består av George Homans sociala utbytesteori, Anthony Giddensstruktureringsteori samt Craig Pinder och Gary Lathams arbetsmotivationsram. Homanssociala utbytesteori bidrar till ökad förståelse i huruvida företagets CSR-arbete i sig kan ökamotivationen hos en anställd. Ett socialt utbyte i ett tvåpartsförhållande (såsom företaget ochden anställde) innebär att parterna söker jämvikt och gör detta genom att återbetala. Giddensstruktureringsteori förklarar hur möjligheten till att vara en aktör med möjlighet att delta ochpåverka strukturer (såsom CSR-arbete) kan öka arbetsmotivationen. Pinder och Lathamsarbetsmotivationsram beskriver att anställdas arbetsmotivation består av individuellavärderingar, behov, egenskaper och kognition. I studiens resultat framkommer attCSR-policys kan bidra till arbetsmotivation. Dock är anställdas personliga åsikter av viktgällande vilken grad CSR-policys påverkar arbetsmotivationen. Vidare antyder resultatet attmöjlighet till deltagande är en motivationsfaktor. Även om de anställda upplever möjlighettill aktörskap, uppgavs vissa hinder till att delta i CSR-arbetet. Studien reflekterar över omdessa hinder för anställda att kunna vara aktörer kan vara det som gör att somliga anställdablir likgiltiga inför CSR-arbetet.

This study investigates host community attitudes towards tourism in South Tyrol’s Puster Valley in Italy along with predispositions against the emerging phenomenon of overtourism and explores the factors influencing its formations, as similar research in the same European context with a more mature tourism industry is still underdeveloped. Applying quantitative methods, data was collected through an online survey between May and June 2021. A total of 17 attitude statements were analyzed using IBM’s SPSS and the results indicate that tourism impacts in the valley are perceived evenly throughout the whole community while it was proven with Social Exchange Theory that people involved within the tourism industry are less inclined to perceive negative impacts. Choosing the Pragser Wildsee as a case, the analysis further reveals that overtourism is not only affecting residents in its vicinity put has more far-reaching consequences. Even the results not being very surprising, the study is confirming tourism-related issues and suggests more need in investigating resident attitudes in similar environments.

Purpose – This study has two different purposes. First, we aim to understand and describe the new phenomenon of extreme openness within the area of open innovation by answering the following question: How can this new concept of extreme openness within the Fuzzy front-end be understood and described? The second purpose of this study is to investigate how Fuzzy front-end activities can be held at a distance by answer the following question: Which technology-based communication can facilitate distance-based Fuzzy front-end activities? Method – This study was conducted as an abductive single case-study of the Fuzzy front-end process where extreme openness is performed at a multinational conglomerate company. Interviews have been held with both employees at the case company as well as external actors.  In total, 41 interviews were conducted, where 35 were unique respondents. The results were generated through the use of thematic analysis.  Findings – The findings from the study are summarized in two different frameworks in which the first framework explains the phenomenon of extreme openness and gives insight into why and how large companies provide innovation power to external actors. The second framework illustrates which communication technologies to use in the Fuzzy front-end process and provide necessary information about needed functionality and criteria when having Fuzzy front-end activities distance-based.  Theoretical and practical implications – The study provides implications for research on open innovation by empirically explicating the new phenomenon of extreme openness and connect the open innovation literature with the social exchange theory. Our findings reveal that business-to-business relational exchange can result in future benefits and that top managers can use this strategy to build long-term relationships and achieve financial improvements. Further, we also provide implications into the research on the Fuzzy front-end by empirically clarifying functionality and criteria that are specifically needed when having these activities distance-based. Our result provides implications relevant to both top managers and project managers. Limitations and future research – The study is limited by a single case study of the new phenomenon of extreme openness and which communication technology to use in distance-based Fuzzy front-end activities. We recommend future research to validate and extend findings from this study in new contexts.

This study aims to identify the perceived socio - cultural impacts of tourism by residents in the city Cesky Krumlov. Based on data from questionnaire survey five main spheres (factors) within socio - cultural impacts were named with reference to the social exchange theory according residents' positive or negative perception during interaction with tourism. According the average answer in each sphere, the cluster analysis produced four types of typology of final attitude - the Advocates, Skeptics, Environmentally Concerned and Not decided. After identification all attitudes, two main problematic spheres were named - socio-cultural and social status as they are seen as the most negative ones. This fact was supported by accompanied survey of businesses and companies structure in the city center, where the results show lack of businesses for residents.

M. Tech. (Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Management Sciences), Vaal University of Technology. / Apart from the contribution and success of the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through job creation, poverty alleviation and economic growth, there are still organisational factors such as organisational politics and job stress, which hamper the success of these enterprises. The aim of this study was to examine the influence of organisational politics on job stress among SME employees in Matlosana Local District. The target population concentrated on SME employees within Matlosana Local District in North West province, with the population size of N=431 respondents. A quantitative approach was applied, with the use of a cross sectional survey (questionnaire) to gather information on general political behaviour (GB), get ahead (GA), pay and promotion policies (PP), time stress (TS) and anxiety (AX). Data analysis was conducted with the use of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25.0 and the Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) version 25.0. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was applied in examining and testing the relationships between observed constructs and their causal latent constructs while Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was used to test the hypothesised relationships between constructs. The findings of the study revealed that there is a positive and significant relationship between organisational politics and job stress. The findings also emphasised that organisational politics is considered as a hindrance-related stressor that hampers the proper functioning of individual employees. This study concludes that organisational politics are the social ills of every organisation, it is upon the management of the SMEs to apply good human resource management policies to curb the politics. Contrary, if the organisational politics are not managed well, it will result in impacting the job outcomes such as job stress.