The purpose of this thesis is to explore how culture influences the perception of entrepreneurship, in the context of immigrant entrepreneurs in a non-core region in Sweden. Our theoretical framework consists of previous research about the entrepreneurial process, and cultural differences on national, local and business level. A conceptualization of the entrepreneurial process is combined with a three-layer theoretical framework of culture. Namely a national, a local and a business culture. The source for this empirical research are Balkan immigrants that came to Sweden during the 1990s because of the Balkan war, and are now entrepreneurs in Karlskrona, Sweden. The research method used in this thesis is interpretivistic with an abductive research approach. The empirical data was gathered through in-depth interviews. The empirical results have helped us understand that the perception of the entrepreneurial process distinguishes itself depending on culture. The main findings in our research imply that the Balkan entrepreneurs in Karlskrona, Sweden, feel that they became entrepreneurs because of non-satisfaction within social conditions. And that the Balkan entrepreneurs have adapted more to the Swedish culture in their way of working as entrepreneurs. They believe that adaption is the key to entrepreneurial success when creating value and developing a firm. However, the Balkan entrepreneurs feel that they are still under influence by the Balkan culture as well. This thesis contributes with an insight on how the entrepreneurial process is influenced by culture.

Previous scholarship has highlighted the validity and reliability of a bidimensional acculturation model for migrants, allowing for simultaneous endorsement of one’s heritage and national culture. So far, however, no empirical research has explored whether the bidimensional acculturation model can be extended from migrants to members of the mainstream society (i.e., locals). Thus, the broad aims of this dissertation were threefold: (a) to validate a new framework, termed the Extended Acculturation Model for Locals (EAML), which consists of two dimensions (i.e., national culture maintenance and multicultural adaptation), and (b) to examine the outcomes as well as (c) antecedents of these dimensions. In this dissertation, the General Introduction outlines the growth of multiculturalism across societies, followed by a review of existing acculturation research on migrants and the analogous work on locals. It is noted that migrants’ acculturation process implies individual-level changes, whilst locals’ acculturation process implies attitudes and behaviours which hinder or foster migrants’ individual-level changes. The Study Overview outlines the dimensionality of locals’ acculturation process, their adjustment outcomes and antecedents. Using a modified Vancouver Index of Acculturation (Multi-VIA), Study 1 found support for a bidimensional acculturation model for locals consisting of two reliable and valid subscales indicating national culture maintenance and multicultural adaptation. Study 2 buttresses the validity and reliability of the Multi-VIA across cultures as well as demonstrates the ability of national culture maintenance and multicultural adaptation to predict locals’ sociocultural and psychological adjustment outcomes. Study 3 explains why the correlation between locals’ national culture maintenance and multicultural adaptation is either orthogonal or positive oblique; more specifically, the correlation is moderated by locals’ degree of multicultural exposure, their likeliness to compartmentalize or blend their multicultural identity as well as through high or low self-construal endorsement. Study 4 demonstrates that national culture maintenance and multicultural adaptation predict local employees’ organizational behaviour in multinational corporations. Study 5 revealed that cultural values endorsed at the individual-level predicted locals’ national culture maintenance and multicultural adaptation. Moreover, these individual-level value-outcome associations were moderated by compatible societal-level pro-diversity messages. The General Discussion reviews all of the study findings as well as discusses their implications. The General Limitations and Future Directions describes the theoretical and methodological shortcomings of the Extended Acculturation Model for Locals whilst setting future directions for research. Last, the Final Remarks stresses the overall strengths of the present dissertation – that is, it fills the present research gap on locals’ acculturation towards multiculturalism, and in turn, provides a new route towards harmonious intergroup relations and social cohesion in mixing societies.

Följande studie syftar till att analysera mindre kommuners hinder och möjligheter i det kommunala klimatanpassningsarbetet. Studien belyser även hur kritiska faktorer tar sig form som betydande i klimatanpassningsarbetet enligt aktörerna. Studiens empiriska material är baserat på sex semistrukturerade intervjuer, genomförda med aktörer med varierande yrkesroll i fyra svenska kommuner. Analysen av det empiriska materialet identifierade ett antal teman som lyfte faktorer som ansågs betydelsefulla att belysa i mindre kommuners kommunala klimatanpassningsarbete. Identifierade teman var följande: ekonomiska barriärer, politik, kompetens, interna och externa samverkansprocesser och stöd och vägledning i klimatanpassningsarbetet. Studien visade att mindre kommuner har ett antal möjligheter som ansågs betydande i det kommunala klimatanpassningsarbetet och dessa bestod av korta beslutsvägar och god intern och extern kommunikation. Studien pekade på att mindre kommuners klimatanpassningsarbete karaktäriseras av fler hinder än möjligheter, något som anses hämma implementeringen i det kommunala klimatanpassningsarbetet. Hindren utgörs av bristande förståelse från allmänheten, bristande intresse på politisk nivå, svårigheter i att rekrytera relevant kompetens samt att definiera och strukturera det egna klimatanpassningsarbetet. Studien visar även att det är komplext för mindre kommuner att endast tala om översvämningar i klimatanpassningsarbetet, därav pekar studien på att mindre kommuner behöver få hjälp att skala ner riktlinjer till den egna kommunens kapacitet. Mindre kommuners långsiktiga och strategiska mål i kommunalt klimatanpassningsarbete anses vara viktiga variabler att belysa i framtida studier. / The following study aims to analyze the barriers and opportunities for less-populous municipalities in the climate adaptation work. The study also highlights critical issues taking shape as important to climate adaptation work according to the actors and how they differ in their work towards higher populated municipalities. The study's empirical material is based on six semi-structured interviews, conducted with actors with varying professional roles in four Swedish municipalities. The analysis of the empirical material identified several themes that were considered important in the municipalities' climate adaptation work. Identified themes were as follows: economic barriers, politics, competence, internal and external collaboration processes and support and guidance in climate adaptation work.The study showed that less-populous municipalities have a number of opportunities that were considered significant in the municipal climate adaptation work and these consisted of short decision paths and good internal and external communication. The study pointed out that less-populous municipalities' climate adaptation work is characterized by more obstacles than opportunities, something that is considered to impede the implementation. The obstacles consist of a lack of understanding from the public, a lack of interest at the political level, difficulties in retaining and recruiting relevant competence, and defining and structuring the local climate adaptation work. The study also shows that it is complex for less-populous municipalities to only talk about flooding in the climate adaptation work, hence the study points out that less-populous municipalities need to acquire tools to be able to scale down guidelines to their own municipality's capacity. The municipalities' long-term and strategic goals in the climate adaptation work are considered to be important variables to highlight in future studies.

This study is an adaptation analysis focusing on character portrayals in Studio Ghibli’s film Howl’s moving castle, which is based on a book of the same name, written by Diana Wynne Jones. Both the film and the book are discussed and analyzed to find differences and similarities between the two. The purpose of the paper is to identify the changes that have been made to the film adaptation in the form of characterizations. Through this study I have shown the media specific differences that have contributed to changes but also reported important similarities. The relationships between the characters have changed a lot to the film adaptation, many emotions appear more open in the film than they did in the book. Media specific differences lie behind much of this, through the filmmaker’s possibilities in the visual medium. The important narrative changes can be based on this, but also through Studio Ghibli’s choice to emphasize the war as a central part of the story. This paper can give light to the changes that take place when a work is being adapted into a different medium.

This adaptation study explores the different traits of the character Sun Wukong from the classic Chinese story Journey to the West. This is a comparative study and two different versions of the story are used, the original novel Xi you ji from year 1592 (The renmin wenxue chubanshe edition, published 1990) and a movie adaptation of the novel, The Monkey King first screened year 2014. The study is conducted by using a set of categories to analyze how the character is described and depicted differently in the two versions. The Monkey King is a well-known and celebrated character all over Asia, he is considered one of the most culturally important characters in China. Countless studies have been made about this famous character, most of them written in Chinese, but also some in English. Relevant studies have been selected to support the claims in the analysis and discussion of this study. Theory concerning adaption studies and narratology studies is provided to give a theoretical background of the research areas for this study. By giving quotations from both the book and the movie and after comparing these quotations, differences could be found in all given categories and this points to a continuous development of the character through adaptations.

The challenge of transitioning to an environmentally sustainable system of production and consumption is both a major risk and a significant opportunity for companies involved in the design and manufacture of products. One approach that might assist companies in meeting this challenge is ‘eco-innovation’, which aims to deliver new products and processes that provide customer and business value but significantly decrease environmental impacts. <br /> The aim of the research was to understand how eco-innovation tools can be developed and introduced to a company such that they are adopted into the long-term practices of the company and contribute to the development of eco-innovative products. A ‘toolbox for eco-innovation’ was developed by adapting existing innovation tools for the purposes of eco-innovation. The initial toolbox was tested through in-house trials before subsequent trials in industry with a refined suite of tools. One-day workshops were held with six producers of electrical and electronic equipment. Four of these companies went on to participate in more in-depth tool introduction studies in which the tools were customised to the specific needs of the company and its design team. Formal tool feedback sessions and individual interviews with members of the design team were used to asses the effectiveness of the tool customisations. The organisational drivers and barriers for the long-term adoption of eco-innovation tools were also investigated. <br /> The contributions to knowledge of this research are: <br /> <ul> <li>The development of a toolbox for eco-innovation.</li> <li>The validation of tool customisation as an approach to improving the introduction of eco-innovation tools.</li> <li>The definition of a generic process for tool introduction based on tool customisation which is appropriate for workshop-based design and innovation tools (including eco-innovation tools).</li> <li>Insights into the organisational drivers and barriers for the long-term adoption of eco-innovation tools.</li> <li>A model for the management of eco-innovation activities. </li> </ul>

Studiens huvudsakliga syfte var att genom ett främst diskursanalytisk tillvägagångssätt ta sig an och jämföra Djungelbokens tre mest kända versioner och svara på frågan vad som skiljer verken åt. Utifrån den teoretiska bakgrunden bestående av en diskurs-, epik- och adaptionsanalys nyansera ämnet och ge ett perspektiv att analysera verken ur för att kunna besvara frågeställningarna. De tre olika versionerna resumerades eller refererades och analyserades utifrån den teoretiska bakgrunden och svar på frågeställningarna gavs. Svaren gav en bild att berättelserna har med tiden blivit mer komplexa och nyansrika, karaktärer har gått från platta till runda och tittarna/läsarna speglas som mer kompetenta. Kompetensen återspeglas även i människosynen och framför allt barnsynen i de olika versionerna. Mowgli, huduvdkaraktären, får representera barnet och går från ett barn med potentiella kunskaper till ett barn med specifika barnegenskaper för att till slut vara det kompetenta barnet med färdiga kunskaper. Konsekvenser för undervisningen kan vara att använda Djungelböckerna (1894, 1967, 2016) till att iscensätta ett möte mellan barn och vuxna och diskutera skillnader i olika berättelsers förhållningssätt i uttryckssätt, historia, tid och rum.

Uppsatsen analyserar och jämför hur den psykologiska skräcken och hur de suggestiva effekterna framställs i Ira Levins roman Rosemarys baby och Roman Polanskis filmatisering. Syftet med analysen är att söka svar på just denna fråga. Uppsatsen metoder utgår från närläsning, som är en noggrann och djupgående läsning utav verket, samt adaptionsteori, som är en metod som skapar förståelse för vilka likheter och skillnader som skapas när en roman överförs till film. Analysen visar att filmatiseringens berättande har många likheter med romanen då få scener plockats bort. Analysen visar också att mycket av den psykologiska skräck som existerar i romanen även framställs i filmatiseringen genom ljud, musik och visuella bilder. Trots likheterna mellan roman och film finns det även skillnader, då analysen visar att Polanskis version innehåller större symbolik som kan kopplas till katolicismen och kan således också ses som en tydligare kritik mot den tidens normer och samhällsfrågor.

Current and emerging threats to trees and forest ecosystems require a re-evaluation of the way forest genetic resources are managed. Governments in the United Kingdom and elsewhere are committed to the restoration, expansion and creation of new woodlands. Tree populations are often adaptively differentiated from one another, so a key question underpinning the success of planting schemes is the choice of seed origin. A long held understanding is that locally sourced seeds will have the best opportunity to tolerate conditions of the planting site (local provenancing). However, the rate at which the environment is changing introduces a great deal of uncertainty into decision making and there is concern that climate change is proceeding at rates faster than those with which locally adapted trees would be able to cope. As such, there are suggestions that seed collected from areas already experiencing the anticipated future conditions will improve the adaptability of forests (predictive provenancing). This thesis investigated outstanding questions relating to the merits of the local provenancing and predictive provenancing approaches, and the practical implementation of seed sourcing policy in British forestry. The validity of existing seed zone boundaries used under local provenancing was analysed for ancient semi-natural Scots pine Pinus sylvestris L. forests of Scotland. Vegetation description and analyses of climatic covariates revealed that the existing series of seed zones used to guide selection of planting stock for restoration do not necessarily environmentally match seed sources to planting sites under current conditions. Additional disparity is introduced when edaphic variation (or proxies for this) is considered. To determine whether future adaptation under local provenancing may be restricted by limited pollen flow among populations of native Scots pine in Scotland, the timing of pollen production in five populations was estimated by repeatedly measuring strobilus development on a series of twenty trees over three consecutive springs. Differences in the mean predicted date of pollen production were found, with populations in the warmer west shedding pollen earliest each year, although the timing and differences in timing among populations varied from year to year, with shedding taking place earliest in the warmest of the three years and latest in the coolest year. A theoretical multi-patch, ecological genetic individual-based model (IBM) was developed to investigate the utility of different seed sourcing strategies (local versus non local provenance) and their capacity to help populations adapt to directional climate change. As well as being adapted to climate, which varied in a clinal pattern, individuals also had to be well adapted to the habitat conditions of the planting site in order to survive hard selection at the seedling stage. The model showed that population size of a new planting was reduced when planting stock adapted to the future conditions but not to current conditions was deployed. The differences were most severe when selection acted simultaneously on both the climate-related and the habitat-related phenotype. Finally, a series of in-depth qualitative surveys conducted with members of the domestic forest nursery and seed supply sector in Great Britain found that there are many difficulties associated with seed sourcing and the supply of trees. These problems arise due to a very limited ability to predict demand at the time of seed sowing, and lead to waste when demand is overestimated and importation of planting stock when demand is underestimated. Confidence and competitiveness in the domestic sector could be greatly improved by updating seed sourcing guidelines and by simplifying certain aspects of the process by which forest planting projects are funded.

Resource conditions in nature can fluctuate markedly and how organisms adapt to survive in these conditions is of great interest in the fields of evolutionary biology and ecology. Experimental evolution using microbes has been shown to be effective in answering general evolutionary questions. Using this technique, I studied the bacterium Escherichia coli adapting to fluctuating environments to investigate the evolution of growth traits and the dynamics of adaptation. My results have provided general insight into bacterial adaptation which may allow for better prediction of growth trait evolution in a range of conditions. (1) I have shown that evolution in both predictable and unpredictable environments resulted in the evolution of a reduced lag phase, an increased growth rate and a higher maximum population size. My results suggest that bacteria do not adapt to conditions by anticipating the timing of the resource renewal. (2) I found that a trade-off exists for evolved populations between a reduced lag phase and a higher mortality rate in all environments, and propose this as an explanation as to why some bacteria retain a lag phase. (3) I show that the dynamics of adaptation do not differ between populations adapted to conditions which involved varying periods of time in stationary phase between transfers. There seem to be different mutations for different traits, with mutations to the lag reducing first, followed by growth rate, and finally population size. These findings highlight the dynamics of growth trait evolution in environments in which a complex interplay exists between reproducing and growing faster than competitors, and being able to survive in starvation conditions.