Background: Due to the commercialization of football, clubs have put more focus on management in general, and stakeholder management in particular. Despite this, research on stakeholder management in football is in its infancy. Therefore, little is known about how football clubs manage their stakeholders that also possess unique characteristics. Furthermore, these characteristics are more prevalent in Swedish football because of the ownership structure that allows the stakeholder to possess multiple roles at once. Thus, Swedish football was selected as the area to study, as the unique features of Swedish football provide interesting implications.  Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the concept of stakeholder management in Swedish football. This study aims to understand the managerial implications that arise when managing stakeholders in Swedish football, how tensions are managed, and how to keep stakeholders satisfied.  Method: In order to fulfill the purpose of this thesis, a qualitative multiple case study approach was adopted since the nature of the study is exploratory. Through twelve semi-structured interviews, empirical data was gathered. This study adopted an inductive approach, and the data were analyzed using thematic analysis.  Conclusion: This study has found that tensions are managed through the use of good communication tools, as well as the building of relationships. These relationships later affect the level of influence stakeholders have on the club. Furthermore, clubs keep their stakeholders satisfied by listening, being clear and transparent, having good values for the stakeholders to be proud of, as well as giving stakeholders a good return on their investment. These findings emerged into a suggested framework that displays the relationship between the different aspects of stakeholder management in football.

Att använda människor som varumärken är ett växande marknadsföringsfenomen som har fått benämningen human brand. I dag går det bland annat att hitta detta fenomen i musikbranschen där artister ses som varumärken för sin musik. Tidigare forskning visar att användning av human brand som marknadsföringsstrategi kan stärka relationen mellan konsumenter och kändisar. Att använda människor som varumärken är inte ett nytt koncept inom marknadsföring. Däremot menar forskning att begreppet human brand är relativt nytt och att det saknas kompletta ramverk och teorier inom området. Syftet med denna studie är att få en större förståelse för hur processen av varumärkesbyggande för ett human brand går till inom musikbranschen. Syftet är även att få förståelse för vilka komponenter som är viktiga, vilka aktörer som är delaktiga i processen samt vilka för- och nackdelar det finns med att använda human brand som marknadsföringsstrategi.  De valda teorierna för studien är stakeholder theory, attachment theory, brand authenticity, celebrity brand authenticity samt self-determinations theory. Studien utgår från en kvalitativ metod där semistrukturerade intervjuer med artister, marknadsförare och managers samt en fokusgrupp med konsumenter genomfördes. Resultatet visar att en av de största faktorerna till att artister lyckas med personal branding processen är genom tydliga mål och visioner av vad de vill åstadkomma. Utan detta är det svårt för marknadsförare och managers att utföra sitt jobb då det inte finns något att sträva mot. Planeringsfasen är även det en viktig faktor i processen att utveckla ett human brand. I denna fas ingår profilering och paketering, kontinuitet samt att skapa och upprätthålla en röd tråd i artisten karriär, detta för att uppfattas som äkta hos allmänheten. Studien visar att det är viktigt, både för artisten men även för konsumenter och fans att artisten är sann mot sig själv.  Resultatet visar att flera aktörer är viktiga för artisten och processen att bli ett human brand. Studien visar även på att det saknas en aktör som ser till artisten fysiska och psykiska hälsa, samt att det finns både för- och nackdelar med att använda human brand som marknadsföringsstrategi. / Using humans as brands is a growing marketing phenomena called human brand, that can be seen in the music industry where musicians have become their own brand for their music. Studies have shown that using human brands can result in a stronger relationship between the celebrity and consumers. Although using humans as brands is not a new concept in marketing, studies regarding human brands is a relatively new phenomenon that is still lacking a complete framework and theories. This study seeks to find a deeper understanding of how a musician becomes a human brand, which stakeholders are vital and what are the pros and cons of using the marketing tool human brand.  The chosen theories for the study are stakeholder theory, attachment theory, brand authenticity, celebrity brand authenticity and self-determinations theory. The selected method for the study is a qualitative research method with semi-structured interviews with musicians, marketers and managers and one focus grupp with consumers and fans. The result of the study shows that one of the biggest factors for succeeding as a musician is to have clear goals and visions of what they want to achieve. Without it, it is nearly impossible for marketers and managers to do their work. What is also found to be of great importance is the planning phase which involves profiling and packaging, continuity and maintaining a red thread through the musicians career and authenticity. The study shows that being true to oneself is an important aspect for the musician as well as to the consumers and fans.  Results show that there are numerous stakeholders that are vital for the process of becoming a human brand as a musician. The study also found a non existing stakeholder that the respondents would like to see in the future, that is an individual who only sees to the physical and psychological well-being of the musician. Furthermore the study showed that there are both pros and cons regarding using human brands as a marketing tool.

This study aimed at determining the factors that significantly impact on the implementation rate of open learning in the South African TVET college sector. Despite government’s visionary papers and open learning policy framework, TVET colleges in South Africa have been slow in following international trends. Pre-COVID19, only a handful of the 50 public TVET colleges had even ventured into the idea of multi-modal, or any teaching mode, other than the traditional classroom. The methodological and analytical lens of the study is two-fold. The Critical Theory in Education (CTE) and the Stakeholder Theory that depicts the interests of the different stakeholder groups within the Higher Education band and their expectations towards the activities of TVET colleges. Case study, a qualitative research design, was utilized in the study. Semi-structured interviews with top key decision makers in the Department of Higher Education and Training, as well as open learning champions on institutional level, were used as data collection tools. The interview data was analysed using descriptive and content analysis, and themes were obtained. The findings are brought into terms with the theoretical framework and potential catalysts are suggested. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria 2020. / pt2021 / Science, Mathematics and Technology Education / MEd / Unrestricted

According to the Government of Sweden, limited companies are the most advantageous form of company. A limited company must by Swedish law have a start-up capital that is not allowed to be taken out of the company. In 2010, the limit for share capital in private limited companies was lowered from SEK 100 000 to SEK 50 000. In 2019 the Government presented the memorandum Ds 2019:6, which discusses the proposal to reduce the share capital further to SEK 25 000. This proposal passed and took effect on January 1, 2020.  The purpose of this study is to examine the stakeholders' attitudes to the share capital in private limited companies being reduced from SEK 50 000 to SEK 25 000. This involves identifying the risks and consequences of the change in share capital for stakeholders and for the company based on consultation responses. The study examines whether the proposal regarding reduced share capital can be affected by the power of individual stakeholders. An abductive research approach has been used in the study because the purpose is to create increased understanding, which is done through interpretation to create meaning in collected data based on theory. The study analyzes documents to examine stakeholders' attitudes to the proposal. This with the help of collected consultation responses collected by the Ministry of Justice. A total survey is carried out where 32 consultation responses are compiled and analyzed. A qualitative content analysis is therefore used in the study to make interpretations and find patterns in the stakeholders' attitudes. The results of the study show that the majority of stakeholders have a negative attitude to the proposal of a reduced share capital. The combined effects and consequences that the stakeholders believe may come from the change in the law are predominantly negative. The stakeholders' negative attitude to the proposal is because they believe that there may be an increase in financial crime in limited companies. The positive attitudes that the stakeholders present regarding the proposal contributing to increased entrepreneurship are in contrast to the fact that a lack of competence can increase in step with an increased number of limited companies. Stakeholders show a negative attitude because they believe that it leads to more cases where liability according to Swedish ABL and liability breakthroughs occurs. Based on these conclusions, the stakeholders consider that regardless of their attitude towards the proposal, they are considered to have no significant impact on the proposal of a reduced share capital. / Enligt Sveriges riksdag är aktiebolag den mest fördelaktiga bolagsformen. Ett aktiebolag måste enligt svensk lag ha ett startkapital som inte får lov att tas ut ur bolaget. År 2010 sänktes gränsen för aktiekapitalet i privata aktiebolag från 100 000 kronor till 50 000 kronor. Regeringen presenterade vidare promemorian Ds 2019:6 som diskuterar förslaget om att sänka aktiekapitalet ytterligare till 25 000 kronor. Detta lagförslag gick igenom och trädde i kraft 1 januari 2020.  Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka intressenternas attityder till att aktiekapitalet i privata aktiebolag sänks från 50 000 kronor till 25 000 kronor. Syftet med studien är även att kartlägga de risker och konsekvenser som förändringen av aktiekapitalet innebär för intressenter och för företaget utifrån remissvar. I studien undersöks även om förslaget gällande sänkt aktiekapital kan påverkas av enskilda intressenters makt. En abduktiv forskningsansats tillämpas i studien eftersom syftet är att skapa ökad förståelse vilket görs genom tolkning för att skapa mening i insamlade data med grund i teori. Avsikten med studien är att analysera dokument för att undersöka intressenternas attityder till lagförslaget. Detta görs med hjälp av insamlade remissvar som Justitiedepartementet samlat in. En totalundersökning utförs där 32 stycken remissvar sammanställs och analyseras. En kvalitativ innehållsanalys används därför i studien för att göra tolkningar och finna mönster i intressenternas attityder. Resultatet av genomförd undersökning visar att majoriteten av intressenterna har en negativ attityd till lagförslaget om ett sänkt aktiekapital. De sammanställda effekterna och konsekvenserna som intressenterna anser kan komma från lagförändringen är övervägande negativa. Intressenternas negativa attityd till förslaget är ett resultat av att de anser att det kan ske en ökning av ekonomisk brottslighet i aktiebolag. De positiva attityder som intressenterna presenterar angående att lagförslaget bidrar till ökat företagande, ställer sig i kontrast till att bristande kompetens kan öka i takt med ökade antal aktiebolag. Intressenterna visar negativ attityd eftersom de anser att det leder till fler fall där ansvar enligt ABL och ansvarsgenombrott förekommer. Utifrån dessa slutsatser anser intressenterna att oberoende deras attityd så har de inte någon väsentlig påverkan gällande lagförslaget om sänkt aktiekapital.

Purpose – This research is investigating the Swedish banks transitioning to cashless bank offices. The investigation is carried out to fully understand the reasons behind the transition and what impacts it brought upon the stakeholders affected by it. The purpose of this is to analyze the transition for social and economic effects so that it can be concluded whether the transition was a move towards sustainable banking.  Method – The researchers carried out a case study at one of the biggest banks in Sweden. The empirical data for the research was collected through qualitative interviews and a survey with the bank’s employees as participants.  Findings – Several reasons for the transition to cashless banking were found. Both positive and negative effects brought up on stakeholders were also illuminated from the transition. The transition could not be deemed entirely as a move towards sustainable banking due to negative effects on stakeholders. However, it provides important information about the negative impacts and the stakeholders affected.  Implications – No clear answers can be provided due to many interrelated factors that are surrounding the transition, further studies need to be made to which are more focused on each the role of each and one of these factors.  Limitations – The case study is carried out in the Swedish banking sector, therefore, is geographically limited to Sweden as the transition might be different in different societies. The research is investigating the social and economic impacts brought by the cashless transition. Thus, the findings do not provide data regarding environmental impacts.

Stakeholder salience has emerged from the ambiguity of stakeholder theory and is intended to better describe the aspects of identification and prioritization of stakeholders. Despite the fact that 95% of businesses worldwide are SMEs and comprise 99.8% of all European enterprises, the stakeholder salience aspects of identification and prioritization, in relation to SMEs, are empirically underdeveloped and mainly focused on the owner/manager perspective. Therefore, this qualitative single-case study has explored the stakeholder salience aspects of identification and prioritization in order to better understand the intraorganizational perceptions of stakeholders, processes, and motivations, within a European SME. The findings revealed that intraorganizational perceptions focused on a narrow view of stakeholder identification, which contradicts the broad view advocated by researchers in relation to stakeholders and sustainable development. Furthermore, there is a need to develop broader intraorganizational understanding of stakeholders in terms of claims and processes if businesses are going to be able to create holistic strategies with a sustainable development focus.

Leaders of youth intervention programs provide a significant social service by redirecting at-risk youth onto a productive path. The standards for youth-serving organizations are inconsistent from 1 organization to another across a wide range of youth-worker training certification programs in the United States. A single-case study was conducted to explore the strategies that 3 leaders of a nonprofit organization located in Minnesota, use to select, collect, and analyze data to assess the effectiveness of training certification programs for youth workers. The 2017-2018 Baldrige Excellence Framework provided the structure for a systems-based evaluation of the client organization; Freeman's stakeholder theory was the conceptual lens for the study. Data were collected from conducting semistructured interviews, reviewing the participating organization's internal documents and performance outcomes, and analyzing open-source resources. Through thematic analysis, 4 key themes emerged: (a) the social return on investment analysis and the overall cost savings by investing in and supporting youth programs, (b) the opportunity to focus research on certification for youth workers, (c) the value of providing training for youth workers, and (d) the opportunity to provide a platform for the youth to share success stories with their community. Specific recommendations stemming from the research findings were to create a state or national recognition standard for youth-worker certifications and to make youth work a paid profession. Implementation of these recommendations may result in positive social change by improving the lives and trajectories of youth.

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Today sustainability is a broadly discussed concept all over the globe due to the threat of climate change driven by human activities. Therefore, collective efforts are needed to raise awareness to conserve environmental health and sustainability, and sustainable development is to be prioritized in all organizations. Sweden demonstrates a high commitment to developing sustainability in practice through the collective effort of Swedish society. China is Sweden’s largest international trade partner in Asia. This thesis explores the strategies, facilitators, and challenges for Swedish firms pursuing sustainability goals while collaborating with Chinese partners. A single case study on a SwedishMNC, IKEA is presented to conduct the thesis. IKEA demonstrates the strategy of sustainable collaboration with Chinese partners. The analysis determines that close collaboration to co-create value, regular audits, and balancing the three aspects of sustainable development, economic, social, and environmental, are needed for a Swedish firm to pursue its sustainability goals while collaborating with Chinese partners.

Background: A majority of world trade takes place within rather than between organizations. When transactions take place within an organization and external market forces are absent, internal prices must be developed. The pricing of these internal transactions gives rise to the topic of transfer pricing. Purpose: Previous papers within the transfer pricing field have tended to have a narrow focus where one or a few aspects of transfer pricing have been examined. This paper instead investigates multiple aspects of transfer pricing with guidance from previous literature, stakeholder theory, and institutional theory. By doing so, the aim is to generate a holistic view of how transfer pricing is managed in an international organization. Method: This paper is based on a constructionist standpoint and uses an abductive qualitative approach. The study is a single-case study where data is mainly collected by interviewing employees involved in transfer pricing. To analyze the collected data, thematic analysis is used. Conclusion: Transfer pricing can be understood as a necessity stemming from the internal transactions that were beneficial to the case organization. The findings of this paper indicate that the management of transfer pricing is influenced by a variety of aspects that must be balanced.