The diploma thesis is focused on coworking, creative and innovative centres in Brno and their importance for the development of the city. The aim is to describe the current state of these centres, then to analyze their impact on the development of the city and determine their contribution to potential users. The first part deals with the definition of basic business concepts and business environment in Czech republic and is also dedicated to the importance of innovation and creativity within organization. It also discusses the historical development of coworking, creative and innovative centres in Brno and Czech republic, their definitions with paying attention on the vision and values of the entities, principles of their functioning, then showing and examples of realized projects and benefits. The practical part is devoted to the actual quantitative and qualitative research, evaluation and formulation of the final recommendations, which are focused not only on the further development of these centres, but also to established deeper cooperation with the city administration, so that there is a synergic growth between city and its inhabitants.

Diploma thesis is focused on an analysis of venture capital financing support in the Czech Republic and European Union. The first part of the thesis is dedicated to defining terms related to venture capital financing,an impact analysis of venture capital on the state economy and an analysis of current situation in the venture capital market of European Union. Afterwards typology of the states of European Union according the activity on venture capital markets and comparison of the Czech Republic with selected countries are accomplished. Based on analysis results conclusions and recommendations are proposed in order to improve the situation in the Czech Republic and European Union.

Background: New ventures face manifold challenges. Literature has already examined many of the challenges that founders of new firms might encounter during the start-up phase. Studies have been investigating traits of the founders as well as traits of the organizations, and linked them to success or failure of the firm. The areas of founder’s human capital and vision and the firm’s employee selection criteria and leadership style have often been taken into consideration. Nevertheless, there is no framework connecting all these areas with a focus on how they influence each other, leaving criteria as success or failure beside.Purpose: This study aims for creating a framework connecting the areas of start-up-founder’s human capital and vision and the venture’s employee selection criteria and leadership style. It seeks to provide answers to the following research questions: (1) “How does start-up founder’s human capital influence the creation of a vision, the choice of leadership style and the selection of employees?” and (2) “How does start-up founder’s vision influence the choice of leadership style and the selection of employees?”Method: To answer the research questions, a multiple-case study was conducted. We created a topic guide and gathered qualitative data through conducting in-depth interviews. The respondents were mainly operating their new venture in the area of Jönköping. After coding and contextualizing our data, we analyzed it.Conclusion: Human capital was influencing all other areas through either active avoidance or repetition of behaviors already employed in the past. We found major differences of the visions of new ventures. Therefore, we started differentiating between a “business-vision” and a “mission-vision”. “Mission-vision” start-ups choose their employees according to personality and give them a voice in the firm, therefore fostering a transformational leadership style. “Business-vision” start-ups on the other side hire applicants based on skills, to fulfil very defined tasks based on deadlines and therefore performing a transactional approach.

O transporte de minérios através do bombeamento de polpa é relevante em escala mundial. No Brasil este modo de transporte é muito importante devido à enorme produção mineral e suas distâncias continentais. E, o bombeamento de polpa em planta é ainda mais importante pois é uma operação diária que afeta a todos os envolvidos. A motivação para este estudo foi providenciar para a Escola Politécnica uma estação de bombeamento capaz de levantar os parâmetros do escoamento necessários para o correto dimensionamento das linhas de polpa. Esta dissertação descreve a montagem de dois loops (3\'\' e 4\'\'), devidamente instrumentado e com a aquisição direta dos dados via computador. Os loops foram dimensionados, os componentes, bomba e instrumentos adquiridos, o loop montado, calibrado e colocado em marcha. Esta dissertação registra esta experiência e discute as dificuldades encontradas, na expectativa de que este sistema de bombeamento venha a ser útil para futuros pesquisadores. A Escola Politécnica agora dispõe de um loop de bombeamento de polpa mineral adequado para a determinação de parâmetros hidráulicos, pesquisa e suporte para futuros projetos. / Ore transportation via slurry pumping is relevant in a world scale. In Brazil, due to its huge mineral production and continental distances, mineroducts are an important transportation mode. And, in plant slurry pumping is still more important as it is a dayby- day operation that affects everybody. The motivation for this study was to provide Escola Politécnica (USP) of a convenient pumping station (loop) able to measure the necessary flow parameters for proper design of slurry lines. This dissertation describes the design of two loops (3\'\' and 4\'\') full instrumented and with direct data acquisition via computer. The loops have been sized, components, pump and instruments purchased, erected and started-up. This dissertation registers this experience and discusses the difficulties found, in the expectative can become useful for other researches. Escola Politécnica has now a proper slurry pumping loop for hydraulic determinations, research and for support of future projects.

Submitted by Isaac Francisco de Souza Dias (isaac.souzadias@ufpe.br) on 2016-07-07T18:40:49Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Dissertação Julliana Melo - Times.pdf: 2376859 bytes, checksum: d48b49e600f24789b26dc66a89f1f59e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-07T18:40:49Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Dissertação Julliana Melo - Times.pdf: 2376859 bytes, checksum: d48b49e600f24789b26dc66a89f1f59e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-02-15 / A granulação aeróbia surge como melhoria ao sistema de lodos ativados convencional, aumentando a retenção de biomassa no sistema e possibilitando a remoção simultânea de nutrientes e matéria orgânica. No entanto, são poucos os trabalhos que utilizam esgoto sanitário em escala piloto. O presente trabalho tem como objetivo investigar a influência de diferentes trocas volumétricas em reatores em bateladas sequenciais (RBS’s) como condição operacional para o desenvolvimento de grânulos aeróbios no tratamento de esgoto doméstico diluído. Considerando que o processo de granulação aeróbia ocorre sob condições operacionais específicas, foi utilizada como estratégia metodológica dois RBS’s com diferentes trocas volumétricas, RBS1 de 59% e RBS2 de 71%. Também utilizou-se velocidade de aeração entre 1,2 e 1,4 cm.s-1, relação altura diâmetro de 10, e tempo de sedimentação final entre 10 e 15 minutos, para ambos os reatores. Foram observadas oscilações no comportamento dos sólidos suspensos e redução da retenção celular associadas ao curto tempo de sedimentação. A observação de grânulos aeróbios foi possível após 71 dias de operação para o RBS1 e 91 dias de operação para o RBS2. Percebeu-se a estabilização da idade do lodo em aproximadamente 6,3 dias no RBS1 e, no RBS2, valores próximos a 1 dia, indicando a menor retenção de biomassa neste reator. Em termos de eficiência de remoção de DQOs, DQOt, NH4+ e NTK, a troca volumétrica de 59% (RBS1) apresentou resultado de 72 ± 10%, 65 ± 21%, 48 ± 29% e 50 ± 34%, respectivamente, enquanto a troca de 71% (RBS2) apresentou 65 ± 12%, 58 ± 21%, 28 ± 26% e 30 ± 24%, respectivamente. Devido a não maturação dos grânulos, e a consequente ausência de microzonas anaeróbias, não foi observada remoção de fósforo em ambos os reatores. Ao final deste trabalho, verificou-se a viabilidade do processo de granulação utilizando esgoto doméstico diluído como substrato sem a presença de inóculo. Também foi possível verificar que com a utilização de troca volumétrica menor este processo é qualitativamente melhor, apresentando granulação mais rápida, presença de lodo com melhor sedimentabilidade e maior remoção de NH4+ e NTK. / Aerobic granulation could to improve the conventional activated sludge system increasing the biomass retention in the system and enabling the simultaneous removal of organic matter and nutrients. However, few research has been reported using domestic wastewater in pilot scale. This study aims to investigate the influence of different volumetric changes in sequencing batch reactors (SBR's) as operating condition for development of aerobic granules in treatment of diluted domestic wastewater. Whereas aerobic granulation process occurs under specific operating conditions, then as a methodological strategy were used two SBRs with different volumetric changes, SBR1 59% and SBR2 71%. Aeration rate of 1.2 to 1.4 cm.s-1, ratio of height: diameter of 10 and the final sedimentation time between 10 and 15 minutes for both reactors were used as parameters. During the experiment if was possible to observe fluctuations in the behavior of the suspended solids and reduction of cell retention associated to sedimentation short time. The observation of aerobic granules was possible after 71 days of operation for SBR1 and 91 days to SBR2. The sludge age stabilized at approximately 6.3 days in the SBR1 and 1 day to SBR2, indicating the lowest retaining biomass in this reactor. In terms of CODs, CODt, NH4+ and NTK removal efficiency, the volumetric exchange of 59% (SBR1) showed results of 72 ± 10%, 65 ± 21%, 48 ± 29% and 50 ± 34%, respectively, while the volumetric exchange of 71% (SBR2) showed results 65 ± 12%, 58 ± 21%, 28% ± 26 and 30 ± 24%, respectively. Due to the non-maturation of granules and the consequent lack of anaerobic micro-zones, phosphorus removal was not observed in both reactors. The end of this study found the viability of the granulation process using domestic wastewater diluted as a substrate without the presence of inoculum. This study also observed that using lower volumetric exchange this process is qualitatively better, with faster granulation, better sludge settleability and increase in nitrogen removal.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T12:44:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T13:56:59Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 06869.pdf: 6244553 bytes, checksum: e1b373e9de3f0d1846ccc32627f81959 (MD5) / Dissertacao (Mestrado) / IPEN/D / Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares - IPEN/CNEN-SP

This study investigates the three different stages of start-ups’ life and brings lights into the impacts of knowledge management practices on the transition processes between these stages. Start-ups are described as newly created enterprises which aim to disrupt the current state of play of the industry with their innovative products or services. During their initial stages,they demonstrate similar characteristics with temporary organizations; however, as they are developed and turn into a permanent organization the similarities start to diminish. Effects of knowledge management practices during start-up’s journey from a temporary organization to a permanent organization were explored with the guidance of the following research question:How does knowledge management influence the transition of a start-up from a temporary to a permanent organization?The term start-up and its organizational practices remain a mystery in the academic literature. Moreover, there are a limited amount of academic studies about the implementation of knowledge management model within entrepreneurial enterprises. Therefore, this thesis aims to contribute to academic studies by exploring in what extent knowledge management activities are practiced and how these practices affect the development of a start-up from a temporary organization to a permanent organization. The theoretical findings are supported by the empirical findings, and a theory is built with the accordance.Grounded theory is chosen as a research methodology for this research paper due to the lack of literature and study in this research area. Thus, first eight unstructured and then five semi-structured interviews are conducted with the chosen start-ups which have successfully finalized their initialtwostages. During the data analysis, open, axial and selective coding methods are used as it is recommended for the grounded theory.The research question is investigated and answered with the guidance of the collected data from the interviews. With the empirical study, the life-cycle of start-ups is explored. Overall, the life of an enterprise consists of three stages: existence, survival and success. Start-ups share many similarities with temporary organizations during their existence and survival phases regarding the characteristics of their teams, projects (tasks) and time limitation. However, they aim to transform into a permanent organization since their goal is to grow and assure their position in the industry. Besides, knowledge management activities, including knowledge acquiring, transformation, storage and creation, have been prioritized by various types of organizations in order to improve their practices and gain a competitive advantage over their rivals. Similarly, implementation of knowledge management activities within a start-up provides many benefits to development and improvement of the enterprise. Accordingly, it improves their organizational practices and enhances their transition process from the temporary organization to a permanent organization.

This paper explores the differences between the success of a start-up depending on support from venture capital or not. This kind of research has not been done in a Swedish context in which time to IPO was used as a measure of success for the start-up. The secondary data was collected from two stock markets representing start-ups/entrepreneurial firms, First north and Aktietorget. The sample includes 211 different start-ups with their founding years no earlier than 1999 and their IPO ranging between 2011 and 2016. A regression analysis, one-way ANOVA and t-test have been conducted for the collected data. Findings were not statistically significant and could not show any mean differences. The contributions of this study are theoretical and relate to the individual objectives of this study; 1) critically, identifying and evaluating different success factors for start-ups; 2) defining the terms venture capital and start-up; and 3) evaluating the literature on venture capital and the success of start-ups.

The amount of incoming solar energy to earth is greater than any other source. Among existing technologies to harness solar energy there is concentrating solar power (CSP). One advantage of CSP is that is dispatchable, meaning that it can provide power even when the sun is not shining. However, CSP is undergoing challenges which hinder its development such as operating variabilities caused by the fluctuations of the sun or the fact that these systems are not yet cost competitive with respect to other technologies.   One way of improving the performance of CSP plants (CSPPs) is by increasing their operational flexibility, specifically their capability for fast starts. In this way it is possible for the CSPP to harness the solar energy as soon as possible, thus producing more energy and increasing its profitability. Over 90% of CSPPs use a steam turbine to generate electricity. Steam turbines are not currently designed with the flexibility required by the CSP application. Steam turbine start-up is limited by thermal stress and differential expansion. If not carefully controlled, these phenomena either consume lifetime or even result in machine failure. The aim of this work was to understand the improvement potential of steam turbine start-up and quantify this in terms of CSPP performance indicators. For this, a thermo-mechanical steam turbine model was developed and validated. The model was then used to analyze potential improvements and thermal constraints to steam turbine start-up operation. Furthermore, a CSP plant techno-economic model was developed including steam turbine details. This modeling approach including two levels of detail allowed for the particularities of the component to be included within the dynamics of the plant and thus be able to connect the perspectives of the equipment manufacturer with those of the plant operator. Reductions of up to 11.4% in the cost of electricity were found in the studies carried out. / <p>QC 20170814</p>

The purpose of this study was to find what appropriate Management Control Systems exist that can help fast-growing start-ups to achieve a controlled and healthy growth. We also studied how the control systems can be used together, and balanced between each other. To find appropriate control systems, we conducted a literature review of important factors for implementing management control, that ended with a tentative framework of control systems. After that, we conducted a multiple case study including several fast-growing technology start-ups to see how they use the collection of control systems in our tentative control framework, and analyzed what effect they have on the organization’s activities and how they balance between them. After the case study, a cross-case analysis was conducted were differences and similarities between the cases were analyzed and related to the theoretical concepts from the literature review. This led to conclusions regarding how start-ups tend to use and balance the control systems, which in turn led to the finalized control framework for fast-growing start-ups. The framework provides a set of control systems that start-ups can use that are relevant for supporting growth and managing the most common challenges that fast-growing start-ups face. By using different levers of control, the control systems complement each other and create a dynamic tension, which increases performance. For start-ups that are in a product development phase, the balance of the control systems is mostly on growth and innovation, which supports exploration of opportunities. However, there is still a little focus on control and efficiency to keep the organization focused. For start-ups with an already developed and commercialized product, the balance of control systems is more towards the middle. The most focus is put on growth and efficiency, with a little less emphasis on innovation and control. This is a way to keep an even balance between exploration of opportunities and exploitation of current resources.