Research report presented to the Unisa School of Business Leadership / The results of the study show that as posited in the research statement, media spend is positive in relation to both the direct and indirect business cycles variables. This pattern of increased media spend is only maintained during the up-phases of the business cycle, but tends to level off during the down-phases.

Research report presented to the Unisa School of Business Leadership / The results of the study show that as posited in the research statement, media spend is positive in relation to both the direct and indirect business cycles variables. This pattern of increased media spend is only maintained during the up-phases of the business cycle, but tends to level off during the down-phases.

Course: Degree Project in Supply Chain Management, the Business Administration and Economics Programme, 4FE19E Authors: Matilda Engblom and Katarina Nyberg Supervisor: Arash Kordestani Examiner: Helena Forslund Title: Following the Recipe Brings Franchisees to the Table - A Case Study Consolidating Purchasing and Calculating Cost Savings at Franchisees Background: As a franchisor, Company X does not have insight or control in purchasing at their franchisees. Spend analysis is a tool used to identify current purchased volumes and costs. An aim with spend analysis is to decrease the cost and analyse the spend. There are four different types of consolidation that can consolidate the current purchased volumes and create purchasing cost savings. They are article, volume, supplier and transport consolidation. However, identifying the current situation can be hard in the franchise concept and therefore hard to create purchasing cost savings. It is therefore of need for the franchisor to have insight and control over their franchisees in purchasing. Purpose: The purpose of this study is mainly to identify how the current purchased volumes can be consolidated to create purchasing cost savings for the franchisees of Company X in the Middle East. In addition, calculate the purchasing cost savings that consolidation could lead to. As well as, investigate how a franchisor can regain insight and control in purchasing over their franchisees. Methodology: This case study had a mixed research strategy of explanatory sequential design. Empirical data was collected by both unstructured, semi-structured and structured interviews. The analytical methodology was based on pattern matching. Confidentiality has been of great focus during the study for ethical considerations. Conclusion: The current purchased volumes and costs were identified, enabling different types of consolidation and calculations for purchasing costs. The consolidation model (Figure 28, p. 43) illustrates four different types of consolidation, article, volume, supplier and transportation, which should be followed. Lastly, Table 38 (p. 85) presents actions for regaining insight and control over franchisees.

Private Environmental Preference (PEP), measured by the willingness to spend on pollution reduction and its casual factors. A PEP model is constructed for Canada, China, India, and USA using data from the World Value Survey and Structural Equation Models. The results revealed that the most important factors are: environmental organization membership, acknowledgement of global environmental problems, Machiavellian attitudes towards money, and confidence in governing bodies. Other significant factors include: the acknowledgement of local environmental problems, income level, occupational characteristics, and work ethic. The acknowledgement of global problems and confidence in governing bodies increase PEP, while Machiavellian attitudes towards money reduce PEP across all four countries. Environmental organizational membership on PEP increase PEP in Canada and USA, but decrease PEP in India. White-collar occupational characteristics have a positive effect on PEP in Canada, but negative in China and India. Policy recommendations are provided given these observations.

Private Environmental Preference (PEP), measured by the willingness to spend on pollution reduction and its casual factors. A PEP model is constructed for Canada, China, India, and USA using data from the World Value Survey and Structural Equation Models. The results revealed that the most important factors are: environmental organization membership, acknowledgement of global environmental problems, Machiavellian attitudes towards money, and confidence in governing bodies. Other significant factors include: the acknowledgement of local environmental problems, income level, occupational characteristics, and work ethic. The acknowledgement of global problems and confidence in governing bodies increase PEP, while Machiavellian attitudes towards money reduce PEP across all four countries. Environmental organizational membership on PEP increase PEP in Canada and USA, but decrease PEP in India. White-collar occupational characteristics have a positive effect on PEP in Canada, but negative in China and India. Policy recommendations are provided given these observations.

This thesis outlines the development of a standard methodology for performing a time and motion study in a lean healthcare environment. Time and motion studies have been used in healthcare environments in the past, however they have nearly all been exclusive to a particular healthcare enterprise. To develop the time and motion study methodology, a study was designed to examine how resident doctors spend their time. This study was performed in response to coming changes in the work hours for all residents. Once the methodology was developed, trial observations were conducted. The data from these observations was analyzed to determine the effectiveness of both the time and motion study methodology and its usefulness for process improvement activities.

AbstraktSyfte: Syftet med studien var att analysera hur företag kan förbättra förståelsen för denekonomiska lönsamheten i sina marknadsföringsaktiviteter, detta genom att undersöka hurföretag idag arbetar med att följa upp den lönsamheten av digital marknadsföring samtvilken förbättringspotential företag upplever att det finns kring sätten de arbetar på. Metod: En kvalitativ metod har genomförts i denna studie där fyra intervjuer hargenomförts med tre respondenter som arbetar med att utvärdera lönsamhet av digitalmarknadsföring. Den insamlade empirin har sedan jämförts med nuvarande teorier för attförsöka förbättra förståelsen för ämnet. Resultat: Företag använder idag främst ROAS för att mäta lönsamheten avmarknadsföring och att den data som utgör grunden för utvärderingen kommer ochbearbetas av Google och Metas AI modeller. Däremot behandlas dessa olika av företag,vilket har visat sig motsvara deras erfarenhet och expertis inom området. De mest väsentliga aspekter som uppmärksammades var förbättringen och utnyttjandet avAI och dataanalysverktyg då den är kärnan i att utvärdera lönsamheten avmarknadsföringsaktiviteterna. Respondenterna är övertygade om att AI kommer utgöra enallt större del av arbetet med att utvärdera lönsamheten med digital marknadsföring därförmågan att förstå och hantera dessa AI modeller kommer att vara viktigt för företag iframtiden.Slutsats: Studien beskriver hur företag arbetar i praktiken och bidrar till nuvarande teoriergenom att visa på områden som bekräftar och säger emot tidigare forskning. Till exempelhar studien bekräftat problemet med att kunden inte delar med sig av information på nätet,vilket styrks av litteraturen. Medan det också visat sig att företagen i studien endast harutvärderat lönsamhetsmåttet ROAS, vilket säger emot tidigare forskning. / Purpose: The purpose of the study was to analyze how companies can improve theirunderstanding of the economic profitability of their marketing activities by examining howcompanies currently work to follow up on the profitability of digital marketing, as well asthe potential for improvement that companies perceive in the ways they work. Method: A qualitative method has been employed in this study, where four interviewshave been conducted with three respondents who work on evaluating the profitability ofdigital marketing. The collected empirical data has then been compared with currenttheories in order to enhance understanding of the subject. Results: Companies today primarily use ROAS (Return on Advertising Spend) to measurethe profitability of marketing, and the data that forms the basis for evaluation is providedand processed by Google and Meta's AI models. However, these are treated differently bycompanies, which has been found to correspond to their experience and expertise in thefield. The most significant aspects that were highlighted were the improvement and utilization ofAI and data analysis tools, as they are at the core of evaluating the profitability ofmarketing activities. The respondents are convinced that AI will play an increasinglyimportant role in evaluating the profitability of digital marketing, where the ability tounderstand and manage these AI models will be crucial for companies in the future.

Uppsala municipality has set a goal in line with the UN’s 2030 Agenda for sustainable development to be fossil-free by 2030. To achieve this a lot of local companies have signed the Uppsala Climate Protocol. One of these companies is the municipal facility management company AB Uppsala Kommun Industrihus, Ihus. This project aimed to help Ihus map their emissions connected to facility maintenance and management and to enable them to reach their goal of becoming climate neutral by 2030.  The daily facility management was split up into the categories gardening, ventilation and installation, cleaning and facility work, materials and products, renovations, and painting. A sustainability spend analysis was performed on Ihus’ organisation and emissions per spent MSEK were calculated for each category by researching Ihus’ suppliers. By using those emission intensities, the two categories with the highest emissions could be identified as renovations and materials and products with intensities of 84.48 and 57.56 tonnes CO2e/MSEK, respectively. The remaining categories all had intensities below 3 tonnes CO2e/MSEK.  Sensitivity analyses were performed on the results by tweaking the values of which the emissions were based on. The results showed that to lessen Ihus’ climate impact the areas of improvement are life cycle assessments for their facilities and overseeing transports.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-17T13:54:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 RITA MARIA TORQUATO FERNANDES BULHAO.pdf: 2940366 bytes, checksum: b053589d4111bfd327c04f7fb083287a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-11-04 / This paper aims to analyze the financial politics of the Basic Education in Brazil, especially in the State of Maranhão, from the Law nº 9.424/2006 which established the Manutention Fund and Development of the Fundamental Teaching and the Schooling Valorization (FUNDEF). It is also analyzed the reform of the Brazilian State in the context of the Capital structure crisis, its linking to the Educational Politics and the fundamentals of the resource management; its sources of financiering of the Basic Education of the State of Maranhão from the FUNDEF and emphasizing the criteria of quality based upon the definition of spending student. Those matters are situated in a broad context in which are developed the Public Politics, moreover the educational one, that s to say in the milestones of the re-structuration of the Capital and the reforms applied by the Brazilian state in the decade of 1990. Among other performances it was re-defined the finantial politics of the Public Education through the creation of the FUNDEF. / O presente estudo pretende analisar a política de financiamento da Educação Básica no Brasil, em especial no Estado do Maranhão, a partir da Lei nº 9.424/2006 que regulamentou o Fundo de Manutenção e Desenvolvimento do Ensino Fundamental e de Valorização do Magistério (FUNDEF). Analisa-se a reforma do Estado Brasileiro no contexto da crise estrutural do capital; a vinculação das Políticas Educacionais e os fundamentos de gestão dos recursos; as fontes de financiamento da educação básica do Brasil, especificamente, o FUNDEF, e o financiamento da Educação Básica do Estado do Maranhão a partir do FUNDEF. Foram postos em relevo os critérios de qualidade, tendo como base a definição do custo-aluno. Essas questões são situadas no contexto amplo em que se desenvolvem as Políticas Públicas, sobretudo a política educacional, ou seja: nos marcos do processo de reestruturação do Capital e das reformas empreendidas pelo Estado brasileiro, na década de 1990, que dentre outras ações, redefiniu a política de financiamento da Educação pública, mediante a criação do FUNDEF.

The study was carried out at Dai Dong and Chi Dao communes, Van Lam District, Hung Yen Province. The biological diversity indexes and dominance index of species were used to identify native plant species which have the ability to absorb Pb and Zn. The results were verified by applying methods such as plant classification, quadrat cell counting, biological indicators and chemical analysis. Results showed that there are five species of plants with the highest dominant index calculated due to number of individuals in the study area including Bidens pilosa L (33.03%), Acroceras munroanum (8.14%), Commelina coelestis (7.83%), Carex capillacea (5.41%), Ipomoea aquatic (5.26%). Verified results showed that Bidens pilosa L, Acroceras munroanum, Commelina coelestis, Ipomoea aquatic can be used to treat Pb with the absorption concentration of 380 mg/kg, 288 mg/kg, 270 mg/kg, 223 mg/kg, respectively. Only Commelina coelestis can absorb Zn with the highest concentration of 73mg/kg. In summary, Pb absorption of dominant species in the study area is higher than the absorption of Zn. / Nghiên cứu được thực hiện tại hai xã Đại Đồng và xã Chỉ Đạo, huyện Văn Lâm, tỉnh Hưng Yên nhằm xác định một số loài thực vật bản địa có khả năng hấp thụ Pb, Zn bằng cách sử dụng chỉ số đa dạng sinh học và chỉ số ưu thế loài. Kết quả được kiểm chứng bằng các phương pháp như phân loại thực vật, đếm ô quadrat, sử dụng chỉ số sinh học và phân tích hóa học. Kết quả cho thấy có có năm loài thực vật có chỉ số ưu thế cao nhất tính theo số lượng cá thể trong khu vực nghiên cứu là: Đơn buốt (33,03 %), Cỏ lá tre (8,14 %), Thài lài (7,83 %), Kiết tóc (5,41 %), Rau muống (5,26 %). Kết quả phân tích kiểm chứng thấy Đơn buốt, Cỏ lá tre, Thài lài, Rau muống có khả năng xử lý Pb với giá trị lần lượt là 380 mg/kg, 288 mg/kg, 270 mg/kg, 223 mg/kg. Trong khi đó chỉ có Thài lài là có khả năng hấp thu Zn với giá trị cao nhất là 73 mg/kg. Nhìn chung khả năng hấp thu Pb của các loài ưu thế tại khu vực nghiên cứu cao hơn so với khả năng hấp thu Zn.