Trust is required in file sharing peer-to-peer (P2P) systems to achieve better cooperation among peers and reduce malicious uploads. In reputation-based P2P systems, reputation is used to build trust among peers based on their past transactions and feedbacks from other peers. In these systems, reputable peers will usually be selected to upload requested files, decreasing significantly malicious uploads in the system. This thesis surveys different reputation management systems with a focus on reputation based P2P systems. We breakdown a typical reputation system into functional components. We discuss each component and present proposed solutions from the literature. Different reputation-based systems are described and analyzed. Each proposed scheme presents a particular perspective in addressing peers’ reputation. This thesis also presents a novel trust management framework and associated schemes for partially decentralized file sharing P2P systems. We address trust according to three identified dimensions: Authentic Behavior, Credibility Behavior and Contribution Behavior. Within our trust management framework, we proposed several algorithms for reputation management. In particular, we proposed algorithms to detect malicious peers that send inauthentic files, and liar peers that send wrong feedbacks. Reputable peers need to be motivated to upload authentic files by increasing the benefits received from the system. In addition, free riders need to contribute positively to the system. These peers are consuming resources without uploading to others. To provide the right incentives for peers, we develop a novel service differentiation scheme based on peers’ contribution rather than peers’ reputation. The proposed scheme protects the system against free-riders and malicious peers and reduces the service provided to them. In this thesis, we also propose a novel recommender framework for partially decentralized file sharing P2P systems. We take advantage from the partial search process used in these systems to explore the relationships between peers. The proposed recommender system does not require any additional effort from the users since implicit rating is used. The recommender system also does not suffer from the problems that affect traditional collaborative filtering schemes like the Cold start, the Data sparseness and the Popularity effect. Over all, our unified approach to trust management and recommendations allows for better system health and increased user satisfaction.

This thesis explores how to effectively model trust in the environment of mobile vehicular ad-hoc networks. We consider each vehicle’s travel path planning to be guided by an intelligent agent that receives traffic reports from other agents in the environment. Determining the trustworthiness of these reports is thus a critical task. We take as a starting point the multi-dimensional trust model of Minhas et al. That work had a two-phased approach: i) model trust and ii) execute an algorithm for using that trust modeling, when deciding what route to take. The framework presented in this thesis aims to clarify i) the messaging that should be supported, ii) the internal representation of the messaging and the trust information and iii) the algorithms for sending and receiving information (thus updating knowledge) in order to perform decision making during route planning. A significant contribution is therefore offered through clarification and extension of the original trust modeling approach. In addition we design a comprehensive, extensive simulation testbed that is used to validate the effectiveness and robustness of the model. This testbed supports a variety of metrics and is able to perform testing in environments with a large number of cars. This constitutes the second significant contribution of the thesis. Overall, we present a valuable model for knowledge management in mobile vehicular ad-hoc networks through a combination of trust modeling, ontological representation of concepts and facts, and a methodology for discovering and updating user models. Included is a representation and implementation of both a push-based and pull-based messaging protocol. We also demonstrate the effectiveness of this model through validation conducted using our simulation testbed, focusing first on a subset of the multi-faceted trust model in order to highlight the value of the underlying representation, decision making algorithm and simulation metrics. One very valuable result is a demonstration of the importance of the combined use of the different dimensions employed in the trust modeling.

There is increasing pressure from animal rights organizations (AROs) on restaurant chains, food retailers, and meat processors to implement more stringent farm animal welfare (FAW) requirements for their suppliers. In the United States, AROs have recently initiated successful ballots to phase out confinement practices in several states. In Canada AROs have been pressuring both public and private sector stakeholders to improve FAW. Are FAW issues, however, paramount in the minds of Canadian consumers? Is the demand for more stringent FAW protocols primarily determined by a subset of consumers with very strong preferences or does it signal a more fundamental underlying change in consumer and societal preferences? Given the credence nature of FAW, who do consumers trust (i.e., government vs. private industry vs. independent third parties) in the market place for the provision of FAW quality assurances? What are the determinants of trust in these organizations for providing accurate information about animal welfare?<p> In order to answer these questions, a stated preference consumer survey encompassing FAW issues specific to the Canadian pork sector was tested on two samples of consumers in summer 2008, namely: a general population sample (GPS) across Canada and a sample of AROs members. Consumers participated in a purchase experiment where they had to chose between pork chops characterized by combinations of different levels of FAW attributes (i.e., housing system, gestation stalls, and use of antibiotics), quality verifying organization, and price. Multinomial Logit and Latent Class Logit Models were used to analyse the survey data.<p> Surprisingly, outdoor system does not seem to resonate well with Canadians, as both the GPS and the members of the AROs discounted this attribute. As expected, the AROs members have much stronger preferences for the other FAW attributes than have consumers in the GPS. Nevertheless, significant heterogeneity exists within consumer preferences. Five classes of consumers were identified in the GPS with respect to their preferences for FAW. At one end of the spectrum are the FAW sensitive consumers (12.3%) that have higher willingness-to-pay (WTP) for FAW, while at the other end of the spectrum Price Conscious consumers (18.3%) do not exhibit any WTP for FAW. The other three classes (69.4%) comprise respondents with mixed perceptions regarding FAW. Government and Third Party verification of FAW quality assurances had the strongest influence on consumers preferences in both samples. As well, scientific experts in FAW along with the above two organizations are the most credible in providing information about the welfare of pigs. The extent to which these organizations are knowledgeable about the welfare of pigs is the most important factor enhancing consumers trust. Results from this study suggest that there are potential marketing opportunities for pork chops sourced from pigs raised on farms where sows are kept in groups, and where credible quality assurances can be established, that private industry could consider. As well, the results suggest that consumers would derive benefits from the government taking a more active role with respect to validating FAW quality assurances.

På senare tid har finansiella skandaler fått ett allt större utrymme i media, vilket skapat en debatt bland allmänheten och näringslivet om revisorns förtroende. Revisionsbranschen utgör en av de viktigaste grundstenarna i samhällsekonomin och ett minskat förtroende för dem är problematiskt. Då förtroende är viktigt, är det nödvändigt att känna till hur revisorer skapar ett förtroende och vad det påverkas av. Uppsatsen avser att beskriva hur revisorer skapar förtroende, vad som påverkar revisorernas förtroende samt att belysa de konsekvenser och risker som finns med minskat förtroende. Studien använder sig av beskrivande metoder, där primärdata består av intervjuer med respondenter och sekundärdata tillhandahölls av vetenskapliga artiklar, böcker, tidningsartiklar och webbsidor. Studien har genomförts med en kvalitativ metod, där verkligheten studerades genom att tillämpa abduktion. Igenom studien kontrolleras det att uppsatsen håller en hög reliabilitet, validitet och objektivitet. Denna empiriska studie visade att revisorns kompetens är centralt för att dess klienter och intressenter ska kunna lita på denne. För att det ska säkerställas att revisorn har de kunskaper som krävs och att det inte finns oseriösa revisorer, är det viktigt att revisorer kvalitetskontrolleras. Författarna har kommit fram till att revisorerna arbetar förhållandevis lika när det gäller kraven och dess ansvar för att skapa förtroende. Detta troligen på grund av att de stora revisionsbyråerna har goda förutsättningar i form av interna system, utbildningar och tillgång till expertis. Förtroendet mellan en revisor och dess klient samt övriga intressenter är relationsbaserat och växer fram med tiden. Förutom kompetens- och kvalitetskontroll bygger revisorers förtroende på att dagens regelverk är bra utformad, revisorers tystnadsplikt och oberoende samt att revisorn har de rätta personliga kvalifikationerna. En konsekvens av ett minskat förtroende för revisorer kan vara att fler bolag kan helt enkelt väljer bort revisionen, vilket även kan komma att påverka hela samhällsekonomin. Slutligen har studien klarlagt att strikt reglering gentemot företagsledningar/internrevisorer och revisorer när det gäller olagliga former av vinstmanipulering inte finns idag. Ett möjligt område för vidare forskning inom ämnet skulle vara att undersöka stora respektive små företags förtroende för revisorer eller att fördjupa sig i om det finns några skillnader i förtroendet för godkända respektive auktoriserade revisorer samt varför. Ett annat tänkbart område är att kontakta några stora respektive små aktiebolag för deras kommentarer och då fördjupa sig i frågan varför revisorer är inblandade i vissa finansiella skandaler. Slutligen skulle ett tänkbart område kunna vara att undersöka massmedias påverkan i revisionens förtroendeskapade process.

AbstractMaster thesis in marketing at the Linnaeus University School of Businessand Economics in Växjö, spring 2012. Authors: Kristian Gjurovski &amp; Jasenko Arsenovic Examinator &amp; Tutor: Mosad Zineldin Title: Creativity in the digital world of Advertising - A study within the Swedishadvertising agencies. Purpose: The purpose of this paper will be to examine how the Internet and itspossibilities has affected the creativity in teams for creating advertising andalso to find which are the most vital qualities for the organisation to possesswithin to be able to succeed in the creative work. Research question: How has the creativity in Swedish advertising organisationschanged with the intrusion of Internet and what qualities are the most vital tosucceeding with creative advertising with the increased technologicaldevelopment in society through the Internet? Methodology: The research that has been conducted in this thesis iscategorized by an inductive reasoning. Information and data that was obtainedwas gained through semi-structured interviews and a survey. Hence, bothqualitative and quantitative research was performed. Conclusion: The culture in Sweden is defining the creativity and the hierarchicstructure in the organisations creates a need for structure. The core2competences should stay in the organisations as well as the weak competencesshould be outsourced. Suggestion for further research: A deeper insight into the componentscreating creativity could have been done, (individual creativity, group creativity,and organisational theory, with the aspect from the environment) would havegiven an interesting results. Also combining the creative concept in psychologywith creativity in computer science and find the correlation would probably havegiven interesting results.

The authors of this study analysed the increasing use of personalized marketing and consumer concerns regarding the access to personal information. The purpose was to find out how companies could react to these concerns. Several theoretical concepts were explored, such as Personal Data, Personalized Marketing, Privacy Concerns, Privacy Policies, Consumer Trust and Consumer Behaviour. Facebook Inc. was analysed as an example to address the problem. An online survey was conducted on university students and two interviews were performed with representatives from the Data Inspection Board in Sweden. The main findings were that individuals seem to approve of personalized marketing but are concerned about their privacy. Companies should therefore inform their consumers on how personal data is used for personalized marketing and respect their rights and take governmental regulations into consideration.

No description available.

The purpose of this thesis was to examine what people who had been interviewed and quoted in a local newspaper feel about being interviewed and what they think of the published article. Our aim was also to make a comparison of “known” sources and “unknown” sources. The main issues were: How do the sources of a local newspaper perceive that they are being treated in the actual interview? What do the sources think of the published article in which they are quoted? Do they trust media and journalists in general? Do the opinions differ between those who are used to being interviewed and those who are unfamiliar with the situation? This study was carried out through qualitative interviews with respondents who have been quoted in a local newspaper in Jönköping, Jönköpings-Posten. Articles were selected from three days in November. The articles should be based on one or more interviews and had to be large. At least one person should be quoted more than once in the selected article. In total 30 interviews were made. The study showed that the sources overall were pleased with the article and the way they were being presented. Nor was there anything to complain about when it came to the journalist’s behaviour. But almost everyone expressed certain scepticism when it came to confidence in media in general. However, most of the persons interviewed had an understanding of the ways that journalists work. We were surprised that the result was so positive and also that the people that were not used to being interviewed were more positive than those who often appear in the local press.

In these years, corporations have valued the cooperation among departments in their organizations. Team members from cross-functional teams composed of different functional areas have frequent communication due to the need for cooperation and support by each other. A well-performed team relies on effective communication and such interactive behavior between team members. These team members come from different departments or functions, which results in the variations in team members¡¦ standpoint and ways of doing things, but these make the teams more flexible and diversified. On the other hand, each department¡¦s sectionalism and patterns of behavior by usual practices cause the cross-functional teams¡¦ barrier of communication. Thus, this study applies the concept about the classification of teams raised by Larson & Frank (1989), and to study the issue of teamwork effectiveness of cross-functional teams through the qualitative interview method, and further to bring up conclusion and suggestion towards cross-functional teamwork. This study considers the inter-dependence between cross-functional team members, need for innovation of team¡¦s task, and organizational support as three dimensions to generalize the managerial implications in the respect of the performance of teamwork. In sum, under general conditions, ¡§the autonomy of teamwork¡¨ and ¡§the clarity of team¡¦s task¡¨ both could be coordinated to improve the performance of teamwork, however , ¡§the trust among team members¡¨ is both a necessary factor and basis to facilitate the communication and coordination in cross-functional teams and on which teams could work smoothly. Corporate culture and team leader would also influence communication among team members, therefore organization should build a free, open, and respectful communication environment. In addition, organization should empower team members with enough authority which helps team members exert their influence while communicating with other department. Besides, as a vital role of guiding, facilitating, and coordinating cross-department cooperation, the team leader boosts team¡¦s morale, provides decision-making support, and motivate team members to achieve team¡¦s goal. If necessary, team leaders should make good use of their ability of coordination to raise team members¡¦ coherence to their team, and further to help team members to reach an agreement.

Abstract From the viewpoint of Micro politics in school organizations, the purpose of this study is to investigate the relevancies between the perceptions of micro politics strategies and the levels of organizational trust among the teachers with variable backgrounds in school organizations in Pingtung County. The research method being adopted in this study is Questionnaire Survey and the research tool being utilized is ¡§The Questionnaire Survey on the Perceptions of micro politics Strategies and the Levels of Organizational Trust in School Organizations in Pingtung County¡¨, developed by the researcher himself. After reviewing relevant research documents and analyzing the results of the questionnaire survey, the conclusions of this study include: 1.There is obvious existence of micro politics strategies in the relationship operations in school organizations. 2.Among teachers and schools of different backgrounds, there are notable differences in the perceptions of micro politics strategies in school organizations. 3.Among teachers and schools of different backgrounds, there are notable differences in some aspects in the levels of organizational trust in school organizations. 4.It is shown that there is a low positive correlation between the perceptions of micro politics and the levels of organizational trust in school organizations.