[pt] As mudanças ocorridas nos últimos anos no Brasil, no que tange avanços tecnológicos de comunicação, novos meios de realização de transações comerciais e, consequentemente, novas atitudes dos consumidores em geral, de alguma forma impactam o setor de investimentos. Novos perfis atitudinais podem resultar em diferentes percepções e comportamentos em relação a marcas de gestores de ativos financeiros, a exemplo do Banco do Brasil e Itaú, mais tradicionais, e a XP Investimentos e o Nubank, mais modernas. A eventual diferença de percepção e a potencial preferência por essa ou aquela marca podem estar relacionadas à faixa etária dos públicos investidores, ou seja, suas gerações, influenciadas pelo ambiente onde se desenvolveram, pela intensidade do uso de meios tecnológico e pelos processos de compra de bens e serviços a que vêm sendo submetidos em suas vidas. O trabalho avalia a utilidade (peso) de diferentes atributos que influenciam a escolha de fundos de ações, tais como marca gestora, índice de retorno, perfil de risco, taxa de administração e critério de composição de ações de empresas com perfil de responsabilidade ambiental, social e transparência (ASG). O método é a análise conjunta, aplicado sobre 2 grupos de investidores, simulando investimentos em variados perfis de fundos. Os pesos (utilidades) atribuídos às variáveis selecionadas são comparados com base na idade (geração/cohort) dos participantes. Um questionário complementar busca dados que auxiliam na explicação dos resultados encontrados por meio das simulações. Apesar de relevantes, os aspectos associados a risco e retorno não foram suficientes para explicar inteiramente o processo de decisão dos investidores em fundos de ações, possivelmente, estes sejam influenciados por questões emocionais, afetivas, atitudinais que ilustraram a importância atribuída aos critérios marca e presença do critério ASG na composição da carteira dos fundos de investimentos. / [en] The changes that have taken place in Brazil in the last few years, regarding technological advances in communication, new means of carrying out commercial transactions and, consequently, consumers’ new attitudes impact the investment sector somehow. New attitudinal profiles can result in different perceptions and behaviors in relation to the brands of financial asset managers such as the most traditional, Banco do Brasil and Itaú, such as the most modern XP Investimentos and Nubank. The possible difference in perception and the potential preference for this or that brand may be related to the age group of the investing public, that is, their generations, influenced by the environment in which they developed, by the intensity of the use of technological means and by the purchase processes of goods and services to which they have been subjected in their lives. The work evaluates the usefulness (weight) of different attributes that influence the choice of equity funds, such as management brand, return index, risk profile, management fee and criteria for the composition of shares of companies with an environmental responsibility profile, and transparency (ESG). The method is the conjoint analysis, applied on 2 groups of investors, simulating investments in different profiles of funds. The weights (utilities) assigned to the selected variables are compared based on the age (generation/cohort) of the participants. A complementary questionnaire seeks data that helps to explain the results found through simulations. Although relevant, the aspects associated with risk and return were not enough to fully explain the decision process of investors in equity funds, possibly these are influenced by emotional, affective and attitudinal aspects that illustrated the importance attributed to Brand criteria and presence of the ESG Criteria in the composition of the investment fund portfolio.

Bakgrund: Beslutsfattande inom en organisation blir allt mer komplext när det kommer till betydelsefulla beslut på grund av flera intressenter och skilda åsikter. Återkoppling spelar en betydande roll för att skapa en kultur av utveckling där positiva resultat och förbättringar kan uppnås. Skövde kommun representerar en av Sveriges kommuner och har en politiskt styrd struktur med sektorer och enheter. Kommunfullmäktige utgör det främsta beslutande organet på den politiska nivån och utser en kommunstyrelse som har ansvar för den dagliga ledningen. Beslutsprocessen innefattar flera steg och involverar olika politiska organ innan beslutet fattas. Återkoppling och en kultur av utvecklande feedback är av betydelse för att förbättra prestationen och främja tillväxt inom kommunen. Syftet: Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur beslut fattas i kommunens samhällsbyggnadssektor och hur feedback från interna och externa parter påverkar beslutfattandet. Metod: Studien baseras på en abduktiv ansats och genomför kvalitativ forskning med semistrukturerade intervjuer med 11 olika chefer och medarbetare i organisationen. En tematisk analys användes för att analysera det empiriska materialet som samlades in. Slutsatser: Studien visar att beslutsprocesserna i organisationen omfattar både individuella beslut och delegationsbeslut. Feedback samlas in från olika källor och kanaler, och både intern och extern feedback beaktas, men med viss variation. Beroende på beslutens natur och karaktären på feedbacken ges olika typer av feedback olika betydelse. När det gäller interna organisatoriska förändringar krävs politiskt stöd, vilket innebär att det läggs större vikt vid extern feedback. / Background: Decision-making within an organization becomes increasingly complex when it comes to significant decisions due to multiple stakeholders and diverse opinions. Feedback plays a significant role in fostering a culture of development where positive outcomes and improvements can be achieved. Skövde Municipality represents one of Sweden's municipalities and has a politically governed structure with sectors and units. The Municipal Council constitutes the primary decision-making body at the political level and appoints a Municipal Board responsible for daily management. The decision-making process involves several steps and involves different political bodies before a decision is made. Feedback and a culture of developmental feedback are essential for improving performance and promoting growth within the municipality. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate how decisions are made in the municipality's urban development sector and how feedback from internal and external stakeholders influences the decision-making process. Method: The study is based on an abductive approach and employs qualitative research using semi-structured interviews with 11 different managers and employees within the organization. A thematic analysis was employed to analyze the empirical data collected. Conclusion: The study reveals that decision-making processes in the organization involve both individual decisions and delegation decisions. Feedback is gathered from various sources and channels, and both internal and external feedback are considered, albeit with some variation. Depending on the nature of the decisions and the character of the feedback, different types of feedback are given varying importance. In the case of internal organizational changes, political support is required, which means that greater emphasis is placed on external feedback.

This study aims to explore consumer behaviors and purchase decisions in e-commerce within the fashion industry. E-commerce has grown significantly in Sweden over the past years and the fashion industry has experienced rapid growth in e-commerce, becoming an important aspect of consumers' purchasing habits. To fulfill the purpose of the study, a quantitative method with "qualitative assessments" was used, and a questionnaire survey was designed and sent to university students in Borås University which is located in Sweden. A total of 201 respondents participated and answered the survey that was sent to their email through a platform the University of Borås provides. The results of the respondents provided information that there are some factors that affect their consumption behavior and how they take decisions when purchasing clothes online. Factors such as price, quality of clothes and a website's comfort were essential for the respondents’ consumption behavior in their purchasing decisions-making process. Other findings were that feedback and review from other consumers online can have a significant impact on other consumers' decisions, especially regarding factors such as quality, fit and credibility. Therefore by contributing to a better understanding of consumer behaviours and purchase decisions in e-commerce within the fashion industry, this study can help e-commerce companies develop more effective strategies to meet customers' needs and demands. The results of this study can also contribute to the ongoing societal debate in Sweden regarding the impact of digitalization on the retail industry. This study will be written in Swedish. / Denna studie syftar till att undersöka konsumentbeteenden och köpbeslut inom e-handel genom modebranschen. E-handeln har vuxit kraftigt i Sverige de senaste åren och modebranschen har upplevt en snabb tillväxt inom e-handeln och blivit en viktig del av konsumenternas köpvanor. För att uppfylla studiens syfte användes en kvantitativ metod med “kvalitativa bedömningar”, och en enkätundersökning utformades och skickades till högskolestudenter på Högskolan i Borås som ligger i Sverige. Totalt deltog 201 respondenter och besvarade enkäten som skickades till deras mejl via en plattform som Högskolan i Borås tillhandahåller. Respondenternas resultat gav information om att det finns några faktorer som påverkar deras konsumtionsbeteende och hur de fattar beslut när de köper kläder på nätet. Faktorer som pris, kvalitet på kläder och en webbplats bekvämlighet var avgörande för respondenternas konsumtionsbeteende i deras köpbeslutsprocess. Andra fynd var att feedback eller recensioner från andra konsumenter på nätet kan ha en betydande inverkan på andra konsumenters beslut, särskilt när det gäller faktorer som kvalitet på kläder, klädernas passform och en hemsidas trovärdighet. Genom att därför bidra till en bättre förståelse för konsumentbeteenden och köpbeslut inom e-handel genom modebranschen kan denna studie hjälpa e-handelsföretag att utveckla effektivare strategier för att möta kundernas behov och krav. Resultaten av denna studie kan också bidra till den pågående samhällsdebatten i Sverige kring digitaliseringens påverkan på detaljhandeln. Studien är skriven på svenska.

Fully digital educational materials, collaborative Digital Textbooks (cDTB), are common in the Swedish educational materials market. This study examines, from the teachers' point of view, the advantages and challenges of cDTB, and the decision-making process of teachers regarding the selection of educational materials was analysed. Six teachers in Swedish compulsory school grades 7 – 9 were interviewed, and the results show that the teachers' integration of cDTB into their teaching is value-driven and embedded in a dynamic system. The cDTB are considered to have many advantages, and at the same time, during the work process, challenges have been encountered that have required various types of decisions. These decisions have often resulted in the use of other digital teaching and learning materials and printed textbooks as a supplement to the cDTB. The use of the cDTB, however, may change over time and look different depending on what the teacher perceives as possible in a specific classroom context. The main conclusion of the study is therefore that the value of the technology use in relation to the teaching goal is primary for the teacher, while the product of the technology use, i.e., the extent to which the cDTB is used, is secondary. / Heldigitala läromedel, collaborative Digital Textbooks (cDTB), är vanligt förekommande på den svenska läromedelsmarknaden. Denna studie undersöker, utifrån lärares synvinkel, fördelar respektive utmaningar med heldigitala läromedel, och lärares beslutsprocess gällande val av läromedel för undervisningspraktiken analyserades. 6 lärare i grundskolans årskurs 7 – 9 intervjuades, och resultatet visar att lärarnas integrering av heldigitala läromedel i undervisningen är värdedriven och inbyggd i ett dynamiskt system. De heldigitala läromedlen anses ha många fördelar, och samtidigt har lärarna stött på utmaningar under arbetsprocessen som krävt olika typer av beslut. Dessa beslut har ofta resulterat i att andra digitala lärresurser och tryckta läroböcker använts som komplettering till det heldigitala läromedlet. Användningen av det heldigitala läromedlet kan dock förändras över tid och se olika ut beroende på vad läraren uppfattar som möjligt i en viss klassrumskontext. Studiens huvudsakliga slutsats är därför att värdet av teknikanvändningen i förhållande till målet med undervisningen är det primära för läraren, medan produkten av teknikanvändningen, det vill säga i vilken omfattning det heldigitala läromedlet används, är sekundär.

This doctoral thesis focuses on certain private actors that operate transnationally in fields relevant to administrative law, such as food security, environmental protection, pharmaceuticals and medical device regulation. We are only interested in some of the activities carried out by these private actors, concretely those which have an effect that we have termed “regulatory impact”. In this work, we use the term “regulatory” as a meta-juridical concept, in order to understand the capacity that characterizes the activities of our transnational private actors to influence the final recipients in the respective fields. These activities do not result in the coercive imposition of a certain behaviour or an obligation on recipients (whether public or private subjects). Instead, they materialise through a series of varied acts with a flexible nature and a non-binding nature (e.g. technical norms or private standards, guidelines, recommendations or other instruments). However, these activities have considerable multiplier effects on the analysed fields as a consequence of their possible impact (in particular, on the protection of certain fundamental rights recognised at an European level). This makes their study from a legal-administrative perspective all the more relevant. In our view, the branch of administrative law is perhaps the most experienced in this matter. In particular, administrative doctrine has shown the greatest interest in understanding how far certain private actors may intervene in the regulatory chain in a way that is analogous or parallel –and not substitutive– to that of the Public Administration itself in these or other comparable fields. Depending on the case studies, administrative law can be a tool for finding out and understanding how our private legal actors operate transnationally and how they carry out their activities. Likewise, many of the internal rules and codes of conduct that make up the internal policy of our private actors contain procedural criteria or practices. These rules include some of the cultural values of administrative law, particularly participation and transparency. These criteria or practices have a certain similarity to those typically procedural principles of a legal-administrative nature that govern the activity of the Public Administration. The participation and transparency function as “strategies” which, in certain cases, set out to substantiate said activities of some private actors, in order to put in place harmonized and more efficient instruments in the various sectors in which they operate. On the one hand, with the incorporation of the practice of participation, some private actors recognize multiple subjects and stakeholders the opportunity to take part in the regulatory task, in order to give voice to their claims and deliberate collectively. On the other, sometimes the practice of transparency allows the global community to know and understand how these private actors carry out their activities. As a basis, we rely on extant studies in administrative doctrine pertaining to associated matters and fields. We intend to address, in this context and from a subjective viewpoint, the meaning of such practices and criteria and how they operate within the structural framework of transnational private actors. / Nuestra tesis doctoral toma en consideración algunos actores privados que operan a nivel transnacional en sectores de relevancia para el Derecho administrativo, tales como la seguridad alimentaria, la protección ambiental, la regulación farmacéutica y de los dispositivos sanitarios. De esos actores privados nos interesan sólo algunas de las actividades que prestan y que aquí denominamos de “impacto regulador”. Ese “impacto regulador” se presenta en nuestro trabajo como un concepto meta-jurídico que empleamos de manera amplia para comprender la capacidad que caracteriza las actividades que prestan nuestros actores privados transnacionales para influir sobre los destinatarios finales en los respectivos sectores. Conviene indicar que esas actividades no se traducen en la imposición coactiva de un determinado comportamiento o una obligación a sus destinatarios (ya sean sujetos públicos como privados), pues se materializan a través de una serie de actos de diversa índole –tales como normas técnicas o estándares privados, directrices, recomendaciones u otros instrumentos– de naturaleza flexible y de carácter no vinculante. No obstante, y como se verá, son considerables los efectos multiplicadores que tales actividades despliegan sobre los sectores objeto de análisis, como consecuencia del impacto que pudieran generar –en particular sobre la protección de determinados derechos fundamentales reconocidos a nivel europeo– y de ahí su relevancia para ser estudiado desde la perspectiva jurídico-administrativa. Y es que consideramos que la rama del Derecho administrativo es, quizás, la más experimentada en este campo, máxime cuando es la doctrina administrativista la que mayor interés ha demostrado en comprender en qué medida ciertos actores privados pueden llegar a intervenir en la cadena regulatoria de forma análoga o paralela –que no sustitutiva– a como lo ha podido venir haciendo hasta ahora la propia Administración en esos u otros ámbitos análogos. En función de los casos de estudio, el Derecho administrativo podría interesarse por conocer y comprender cómo nuestros actores de naturaleza jurídica privada operan a nivel transnacional y llevan a cabo sus actividades de impacto regulador. Observamos, además, que buena parte de los reglamentos internos y códigos de conducta que conforman la política interna de nuestros actores privados contienen criterios o prácticas de procedimiento que guardan una cierta similitud con aquellas normas típicamente procedimentales de naturaleza jurídico-administrativa que rigen la actividad de la Administración. Estas representan, por analogía y de manera abstracta, algunos de los valores de la cultura del Derecho administrativo como son, en particular, la participación y la transparencia. En algunos casos, tales criterios o prácticas permiten a determinadas realidades privadas –especialmente aquellas donde han adquirido carta de naturaleza– poner en marcha instrumentos armonizados y más eficientes en los diversos sectores en los que estos se proyectan. Por un lado, con la incorporación de la práctica de la participación, algunos actores privados reconocen a múltiples sujetos e intereses especialmente relevantes la oportunidad de intervenir en la tarea regulatoria, a fin de dar voz a sus pretensiones, deliberar y decidir de manera compartida. Por otro lado, la práctica de la transparencia permite a la comunidad global, si cabe, conocer y comprender cómo llevan a cabo sus actividades. En este orden de cosas, y desde el plano subjetivo, con nuestro trabajo pretendemos indagar –apoyándonos en los estudios ya realizados por parte de la doctrina administrativista en materias y sectores concomitantes– sobre el verdadero sentido de tales criterios o prácticas y de qué manera operan dentro de este marco estructural de actores privados transnacionales.

No description available.

This thesis contributes to enhance our knowledge on fertility decisions by addressing two major issues. First, it contributes to the understanding of the factors behind the differences in fertility levels among European countries by adopting a holistic perspective. Second, it adds to the fertility topic by examining the whole fertility decision-making process using a dyadic and a life-course perspective to address the ‘fertility gap’ that exists between desired family size and the actual number of children. In order to provide these contributions, this thesis is structured as follows. After a detailed review of the literature, major attention is dedicated to the analysis of the differences in terms of fertility levels between the European countries (Chapter 2). Chapter 3 investigates the fertility decision-making process exploiting the unique information of HILDA, which allows for a dyadic as well as longitudinal analysis of the overall process. The last chapter examines in-depth the transition to parenthood among couples of diverse ethnic origins in Australia.

No description available.

This research study acquired a consumer response centred approach to visual merchandising stimuli, in an attempt to holistically consider this area of the retail industry. Consumers‟ perceptions towards visual merchandising displays and the effect these displays have on consumer behaviour were exposed. The primary research question that pended from the preliminary literature was to determine the effect of visual merchandising displays on consumer perceptions. Explorative research was performed and qualitative data were collected by means of focus groups and naïve sketches. The data was analysed by means of a thematic analysis process. Perceptions of visual merchandising displays that were identified were subliminal in creating an interest and desire to further peruse the merchandise and aesthetically to beautify the store. Consumers expressed that the impact that visual merchandising displays had on their buying decisions depended on their personal preferences. / Business Management / M. Com. (Business Management)

Une variété de modèles sur le processus de prise de décision dans divers contextes présume que les sujets accumulent les évidences sensorielles, échantillonnent et intègrent constamment les signaux pour et contre des hypothèses alternatives. L'intégration continue jusqu'à ce que les évidences en faveur de l'une des hypothèses dépassent un seuil de critère de décision (niveau de preuve exigé pour prendre une décision). De nouveaux modèles suggèrent que ce processus de décision est plutôt dynamique; les différents paramètres peuvent varier entre les essais et même pendant l’essai plutôt que d’être un processus statique avec des paramètres qui ne changent qu’entre les blocs d’essais. Ce projet de doctorat a pour but de démontrer que les décisions concernant les mouvements d’atteinte impliquent un mécanisme d’accumulation temporelle des informations sensorielles menant à un seuil de décision. Pour ce faire, nous avons élaboré un paradigme de prise de décision basée sur un stimulus ambigu afin de voir si les neurones du cortex moteur primaire (M1), prémoteur dorsal (PMd) et préfrontal (DLPFc) démontrent des corrélats neuronaux de ce processus d’accumulation temporelle. Nous avons tout d’abord testé différentes versions de la tâche avec l’aide de sujets humains afin de développer une tâche où l’on observe le comportement idéal des sujets pour nous permettre de vérifier l’hypothèse de travail. Les données comportementales chez l’humain et les singes des temps de réaction et du pourcentage d'erreurs montrent une augmentation systématique avec l'augmentation de l'ambigüité du stimulus. Ces résultats sont cohérents avec les prédictions des modèles de diffusion, tel que confirmé par une modélisation computationnelle des données. Nous avons, par la suite, enregistré des cellules dans M1, PMd et DLPFc de 2 singes pendant qu'ils s'exécutaient à la tâche. Les neurones de M1 ne semblent pas être influencés par l'ambiguïté des stimuli mais déchargent plutôt en corrélation avec le mouvement exécuté. Les neurones du PMd codent la direction du mouvement choisi par les singes, assez rapidement après la présentation du stimulus. De plus, l’activation de plusieurs cellules du PMd est plus lente lorsque l'ambiguïté du stimulus augmente et prend plus de temps à signaler la direction de mouvement. L’activité des neurones du PMd reflète le choix de l’animal, peu importe si c’est une bonne réponse ou une erreur. Ceci supporte un rôle du PMd dans la prise de décision concernant les mouvements d’atteinte. Finalement, nous avons débuté des enregistrements dans le cortex préfrontal et les résultats présentés sont préliminaires. Les neurones du DLPFc semblent beaucoup plus influencés par les combinaisons des facteurs de couleur et de position spatiale que les neurones du PMd. Notre conclusion est que le cortex PMd est impliqué dans l'évaluation des évidences pour ou contre la position spatiale de différentes cibles potentielles mais assez indépendamment de la couleur de celles-ci. Le cortex DLPFc serait plutôt responsable du traitement des informations pour la combinaison de la couleur et de la position des cibles spatiales et du stimulus ambigu nécessaire pour faire le lien entre le stimulus ambigu et la cible correspondante. / A variety of models of the decision-making process in many different contexts suggest that subjects sample, accumulate and integrate sensory evidence for and against different alternative choices, until one of those signals exceeds a decision criterion threshold. Early models assumed that this process is static and does not change during a trial or even between trials, but only between blocks of trials when task demands such as speed versus accuracy change. However, newer models suggest that the decision-making process is dynamic and factors that influence the evidence accumulation process might change both between trials in a block and even during a trial. This thesis project aims to demonstrate that decisions about reaching movements emerge from a mechanism of integration of sensory evidence to a decision criterion threshold. We developed a paradigm for decision-making about reach direction based on ambiguous sensory input to search for neural correlates of the decision-making process in primary motor cortex (M1), premotor cortex (PMd) and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFc). We first tested several versions of the task with human subjects before developing a task (“Choose and Go”) that showed ideal behavior from the subjects to test our hypothesis. The task required subjects to choose between two color-coded targets in different spatial locations by deciding the predominant color of a central “decision cue” that contained different amounts of colored squares of the two target colors. The strength of the evidence was manipulated by varying the relative numbers of squares of the two colors. The response times and error rates both increased in parallel as the strength of the sensory evidence in the decision cue (its color bias) became increasingly weaker. Computational modelling showed that the choice behaviour of the subjects could be captured by different variants of the drift-diffusion model for accumulation of sensory evidence to a decision threshold. We then recorded cells from M1, PMd and DLPFc in 2 macaques while they performed the task. Behavioral data showed that response times and error rates increased with the amount of ambiguity of the decision cues. M1 cells discharged in correlation with movement onset and were not influenced by the ambiguity of the decision cues. In contrast, the discharge of PMd cells increased more slowly with increased ambiguity of the decision cues and took increasingly more time to signal the movement direction chosen by the monkeys. The changes in activity reflected the monkeys’ reach choices. These data support a role for PMd in the choice of reach direction. DLPFc data are preliminary but reveal a stronger effect of the color-location conjunction rule in the neuronal discharge than in PMd. Our conclusion is that PMd is involved in the evaluation of evidence for and against different alternatives and about target spatial location independent of the color of the targets. DLPFC neurons play a greater role in processing information about the color and location of the spatial targets and decision cue to resolve the color-location conjunction rule required to decide on the reach target direction.