Der Übergang von Schule zu Hochschule verläuft unbefriedigend, wenn die Passung von Studieninteresse und Fähigkeiten der Studienanfänger_innen mit den Anforderungen des Studiums nicht optimal ist. An der Universität Jena werden ein Online Self-Assessment und ein lernbezogenes Beratungsangebot, aufbauend auf einer multimethodischen Bedarfsanalyse, entwickelt. Erste Ergebnisse zeigen den Zusammenhang von unrealistischen Erwartungen, geringer Studienzufriedenheit und erhöhter Abbruchneigung. Lernbezogene Präventionsstrategien hängen negativ mit erlebter Belastung durch Lernschwierigkeiten zusammen. Der Artikel stellt Ergebnisse der Bedarfsanalyse und die entstehenden Unterstützungsangebote vor.

<p>Auditing is common in many organizations and a legal requirement for all limited liability companies in Sweden (ABL 9:1). In directives from the government it is clearly stated that small firms will be exempted from the statutory audit requirement. In light of this forthcoming change in regulations, this thesis is used to analyze which factors are associated with a demand for auditing. Analysis in this thesis is based on a national survey including 900 Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). Around 2/3 of respondent’s (CEO or CFO) state that the firm will choose to have audited accounts even in the absence of such a legal requirement. Based on responses from 421 firms, logistic regression results indicated that firms purchasing advisory services from an audit firm will choose to have their accounts audited to a higher extent than those firms not receiving advisory services. This finding, not identified in prior studies, is linked to advisory services being of higher quality when the audit firm also performs audit work. The demand for auditing is further positively associated with firm size, use of a Big 4 audit firm and firms located in the county of Småland. From these findings it follows that the traditional view of auditing as merely a control mechanism needs to be complemented by consideration of aspects of the internal value of auditing.</p><p>The approaches of SME’s when engaging an audit firm for different types of advisory services is examined in this study based upon survey data. It is shown that the majority of advisory services provided are related to core competencies of an auditor such as tax, accounting and law. Logistic regression results show a positive association between firms purchasing advisory services and the length of the relationship with the provider as well as with the respondent’s perception of the audit quality. The latter association further confirms the close connection between audit and advisory services. It should be noted that when an audit firm recommends advisory services their use is significantly higher. There is also support for the demand for advisory services being positively related to firms that are corporate subsidiaries and located in Småland and Norrland, but negatively associated with the respondent’s level of education. It follows that factors related to demand for advisory services on an aggregate level could be categorized as being dependent on firm characteristics, audit firm characteristics and the relationship between the parties.</p><p>Provision of non-audit services (NAS), such as different types of advisory services, to audit clients and the potential consequences for auditor independence and audit quality have been discussed in public debates and research as well as being subject of regulation. OLS regression results show that reporting quality is higher when the audit firm provides advisory services as well as preparing accounts. These findings hold for both discretionary accruals and a respondent’s perception of reporting quality. The provision of NAS improves the reporting quality due to better knowledge of the client and its operations. From the perspective of reporting quality this finding implies that there is no necessity to further restrict the possibility for an audit firm to provide advisory services as well as preparing accounts for audit clients.</p>

Swedish health care is currently facing problems, such as lack of financial resources, staff shortage and dissatisfaction among patients and professionals. Patients’ dissatisfaction was the point of departure for the present study, and one approach dealing with this problem was investigated. It was hypothesised that a patient-centred perspective could offer a possible solution. The aim of the study was to explore health care professionals’ and medical students’ understanding of their professional role and the patient encounter. A further goal was to determine whether these understandings could be developed by educational interventions. Students and professionals have been either interviewed or responded to a survey about their professional role and the patient encounter. Qualitative analysis was used. One group- and one individualised intervention were carried out. The participants’ understandings of their professional role were taken as the starting point for learning. The results showed that a minority of medical students and professionals in diabetes care had incorporated a patient-centred perspective. Nurses in telephone advisory services recognised the patients’ needs, but experienced conflicting demands of being both carer and gatekeeper. A non-optimal match between patients’ needs and what professionals understand as their role could cause some of the problems. Competence development could be achieved by taking the participants understanding of the professionals’ role and of the patient encounter as a starting point for reflection. The results have implications for changes in organisation and education in health care, to optimise outcomes of care. Time for reflection, mentoring and professional development is needed.

Nyckelord: Revision, revisorers oberoende, fortsatt drift, Big 4, konsulttjänster och klientstorlek. Bakgrund: Under 2000-talet har den finansiella revisionen genomgått en rad förändringar. Detta till följd av ett antal händelser såsom Enronskandalen som kom att ifrågasätta revisorers oberoende ytterligare. Syfte: Studiens syfte är att undersöka huruvida en revisors oberoende påverkas av variabler som revisionsbyråns storlek (Big 4), konsulttjänster och klientstorlek. Metod: Utifrån en deduktiv ansats har vi använt en kvantitativ metod genom att analysera sekundärdata som vi hämtat från Affärsdatas databas. Urvalet bestod av årsredovisningar och dess tillhörande revisionsberättelser som studerats utifrån kriterierna: svenska aktiebolag som inlett konkurs under april, maj och december 2010. Studiens kvantitativa data har jämförts med tidigare forskning inom revisionsområdet, denna forskning bottnar i teorier kring agentteori och revision som försäkran. Resultat och slutsats: Studiens resultat visar att Big 4 anmärker i något större utsträckning än övriga revisionsbyråer kring fortsatt drift. Studien fann ett signifikant samband mellan Big 4 och konsulttjänster, företag som nyttjar revisionstjänster från Big 4 nyttjar konsulttjänster i högre utsträckning än företag som har annan revisionsbyrå. Klientstorlek har enbart en påverkan på företagens benägenhet att köpa konsulttjänster, det vill säga förekomsten av att även köpa konsulttjänster utöver revisionen ökar i takt med företagens storlek, om än inte signifikant. Sammanfattningsvis kan klargöras att ingen av de undersökta variablerna har någon signifikant inverkan på anmärkning kring fortsatt drift, varken enskilt eller tillsammans. Detta resultat gör att den rimligaste tolkningen blir att revisorerna förblir oberoende trots påverkan utifrån. Det mesta talar för att valet av revisionsbyrå, vilka tjänster som nyttjats eller vilket företag man representerar inte påverkar revisorns oberoende vilket visar på att revisorn tycks klara av sin uppgift som en tredje oberoende part. / Background: During the early 2000s the financial audit went through a series of changes. The cause of these changes were several, one of these reasons were the Enron scandal which arouse the question about the importance of auditor independence once again.  Purpose: The purpose of the study is to examine whether variables as Big 4, advisory services or client size has any influence on auditor independence. Method: From a deductive point of view a quantitative method has been used as we analyzed data collected from the database Affärsdata. The data were collected from annual reports and audit reports which were analyzed based on the following criteria: Swedish limited companies with a started bankruptcy process during April, May or December in the year 2010. The data of the study have been compared with previous research in the audit field which deals with the theories agency theory and audit as an affirmation. Results and conclusion: The results of the study shows that Big 4 firms tend to issue going concern opinions in a slightly higher extent than other audit firms. There is a significant association between Big 4 and advisory services. Companies who use audit services provided by a Big 4 firm also use their advisory services to a higher extent than those who use audit services from other audit firms. Client size does only show an association, even though it is not statistically significant, between those companies who use both audit and advisory services, in other words, the tendency of using both audit and advisory services increase with company size. None of the investigated variables had any significant affect on the tendency to issue a going concern opinion, neither individually nor together. The most reasonable explanation to these results comes down to the fact that the Swedish auditors are independent due to the variables we studied. Based on this we conclude that the choice of audit firm, weather companies use advisory services or not, or who you are, does not affect the auditor’s independence which indicates that auditors cope with the independence issues quite well.

Auditing is common in many organizations and a legal requirement for all limited liability companies in Sweden (ABL 9:1). In directives from the government it is clearly stated that small firms will be exempted from the statutory audit requirement. In light of this forthcoming change in regulations, this thesis is used to analyze which factors are associated with a demand for auditing. Analysis in this thesis is based on a national survey including 900 Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). Around 2/3 of respondent’s (CEO or CFO) state that the firm will choose to have audited accounts even in the absence of such a legal requirement. Based on responses from 421 firms, logistic regression results indicated that firms purchasing advisory services from an audit firm will choose to have their accounts audited to a higher extent than those firms not receiving advisory services. This finding, not identified in prior studies, is linked to advisory services being of higher quality when the audit firm also performs audit work. The demand for auditing is further positively associated with firm size, use of a Big 4 audit firm and firms located in the county of Småland. From these findings it follows that the traditional view of auditing as merely a control mechanism needs to be complemented by consideration of aspects of the internal value of auditing. The approaches of SME’s when engaging an audit firm for different types of advisory services is examined in this study based upon survey data. It is shown that the majority of advisory services provided are related to core competencies of an auditor such as tax, accounting and law. Logistic regression results show a positive association between firms purchasing advisory services and the length of the relationship with the provider as well as with the respondent’s perception of the audit quality. The latter association further confirms the close connection between audit and advisory services. It should be noted that when an audit firm recommends advisory services their use is significantly higher. There is also support for the demand for advisory services being positively related to firms that are corporate subsidiaries and located in Småland and Norrland, but negatively associated with the respondent’s level of education. It follows that factors related to demand for advisory services on an aggregate level could be categorized as being dependent on firm characteristics, audit firm characteristics and the relationship between the parties. Provision of non-audit services (NAS), such as different types of advisory services, to audit clients and the potential consequences for auditor independence and audit quality have been discussed in public debates and research as well as being subject of regulation. OLS regression results show that reporting quality is higher when the audit firm provides advisory services as well as preparing accounts. These findings hold for both discretionary accruals and a respondent’s perception of reporting quality. The provision of NAS improves the reporting quality due to better knowledge of the client and its operations. From the perspective of reporting quality this finding implies that there is no necessity to further restrict the possibility for an audit firm to provide advisory services as well as preparing accounts for audit clients.

For my project I’ve chosen to create a Business Plan for a Crisis Management Consultancy company. To do this I’ve used a limited company and named it Navigator Ltd. In the preceding project I’ve explained all the essential steps needed to create a new company, as well as pointing out the importance of crisis management for various companies on the market. I’ve described the services in detail, compared the competing businesses in the field of crisis management, shown a view of the future and built a personnel infrastructure of the described company. I’ve created a realistic company strategy and planned budgets needed for a smooth start.

Les approches de conseil agricole favorisant le renforcement des compétences des producteurs sont au centre des préoccupations des acteurs du développement agricole, particulièrement au Sud. Le conseil à l'exploitation familiale (CEF) est une approche de conseil de gestion, basée sur des méthodes d'apprentissage et d'aide à la décision, favorisant l'évolution des producteurs dans leur réflexion stratégique. L'objet de cette thèse est l'analyse de l'évolution de la gestion stratégique des producteurs à travers l'accompagnement fourni par le CEF. Nous avons choisi d'analyser les processus d'apprentissage induits par le CEF en caractérisant l'évolution de la gestion stratégique de l'exploitation agricole chez dix-neuf producteurs du Sud-Bénin. Nous proposons d'analyser l'évolution de la réflexion stratégique comme un processus complexe, non linéaire et récursif, assimilable à un processus d'apprentissage. Nous analysons l'évolution de la réflexion stratégique à travers l'analyse de la construction de la proactivité dans le CEF, la proactivité étant définie comme la combinaison de la vision stratégique du producteur (incluant la source de changement perçue par le producteur) et de la mise en œuvre d'actions stratégiques. Pour caractériser la situation des producteurs avant le CEF, nous analysons la situation des producteurs selon trois niveaux : leur proactivité, leur système d'activités en lien avec leur niveau de ressources, et leurs pratiques de planification de gestion de l'exploitation agricole. Nous avons choisi d'adopter une posture interprétativiste d'analyse du discours des producteurs et des changements qu'ils attribuent au CEF. Les résultats de ce travail montrent tout d'abord que les trois niveaux de caractérisation des producteurs (la proactivité, le niveau de ressources et les pratiques de planification) ne sont pas directement liés. Notre travail montre ensuite que le CEF fait évoluer la proactivité des producteurs dans un temps court, en un an, principalement en révélant des marges de manœuvre existantes, en faisant évoluer leur vision de l'avenir et leur perception de leur pouvoir sur le changement. Enfin, les résultats valident la récursivité du processus d'apprentissage, le profil de proactivité au départ étant le facteur le plus important influençant la construction de la réflexion stratégique durant cette première année de participation au CEF. De nouvelles perspectives de recherche sont proposées, comme l'analyse de ces processus sur le temps long, l'analyse de la durabilité de la proactivité et de son lien avec la pérennité du projet des producteurs. Ces résultats alimentent également les réflexions plus opérationnelles sur le CEF, à la fois sur le ciblage de l'approche, sur l'adaptation des méthodes et des outils à l'accompagnement de cette réflexion stratégique, sur le renforcement de capacités des professionnels du CEF pour appréhender ces différentes dimensions des processus d'apprentissage. / Agricultural advisory approaches enabling producers' capacity building are the center of interest of many development actors, especially in developing countries. Management Advice for Family Farms (MAFF – Conseil à l'exploitation familial / CEF) is a management advice approach, based on learning methods and decision support tools, helping producers to evolve on their strategic thinking. The aim of this research is to analyze the evolution of producers' strategic management through MAFF. We chose to analyze the learning processes induced by MAFF by characterizing the evolution of strategic thinking for nineteen producers in Southern Bénin. We consider the evolution of strategic thinking as a complex, non linear and recursive process, similar to a learning process. The evolution of strategic thinking is identified through the evolution of producer's proactivity through MAFF, proactivity being defined as the combination of producers' strategic vision (including their perceived source of change) and the strategic actions undertaken to reach this strategic vision. In order to describe the producers' situation before MAFF, we chose to focus on three main levels: their proactivity, their activity systems (including their resources for different types of capitals) and their planning practices for the management of their farm. From an interpretativist point of view, we analyzed producers' speech and representations, and the changes their spontaneously attributed to MAFF after one year of participation. The results of this research show first that the three levels of characterization of the producers' situation before MAFF started (proactivity, activity system and resources, planning practices) are not directly linked. This work also shows the evolution of producers' proactivity through MAFF in a limited time (one year), mainly by changing their perception on their perceived constraints and resources, revealing flexibility, changing their vision of the future and their perception of their power on their environment and change. Finally, those results substantiate the recursivity of the learning process, proactivity profile before MAFF being the main influence factor of strategic thinking building during this first year of participation to MAFF. Those results open new research perspectives, to analyze this strategic thinking building process on the longer term, the analysis of the persistence of proactivity, and the link between proactivity, performance and the sustainability of producers' projects. Those results also raise questions at the operational level, on the inclusivity of advisory approaches, on the adaptation of methods and tools to trigger this strategic thinking building, and on the necessary capacity building for all advisory system professionals, to comprehend the various dimensions of the producers' learning processes and to take into consideration producers' strategic thinking.

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the literacy environment at home, at school and in the community and the development of voluntary reading and thus a reading habit. This research is relevant as there is an alarming drop out rate, poor matriculation results and low scores in reading performance tests in South African schools. Many factors and possible causes can contribute to this, but a major problem is the lack of a reading habit, low literacy levels and an environment that is not supportive of literacy. As a result, many children are still leaving school functionally illiterate. In order to develop a reading habit, learners must get maximum support and encouragement from their literacy environment, as children learn from what is going on around them. The major role players in the learner's literacy environment, are the home and family (microstructure), the school and teachers, and his community which includes libraries (macrostructure). A literature study on the foundations, contexts and practices of literacy, voluntary reading and environmental factors that affect reading provides the theoretical basis and a conceptual framework for this study. The research method used is a case study with the focus on a sample of learners from Grade 3 - 7 from schools in the Highveld Ridge and Gauteng East area. Due to budgetary and logistical constraints, rural areas are not included. The empirical survey investigates various aspects of the literacy environment. The survey method, with questionnaires for learners, teachers and headmasters, was used. Both quantitative and qualitative methods are used to generate data. The findings are that many learners experience difficulties which hinder the development of a reading habit, for example: schools and communities do not have libraries, or access to them is limited; appropriate reading materials are not available; or learners do not have access to them; multilingualism is a major problem in a country with eleven official languages, as many learners have to learn and teachers have to teach in a language other than their mother tongue; parents are not literate and cannot help their children; socio-economic conditions are not conductive to reading; there is a lack of support from governmental at various levels. Although findings in a case study cannot be generalised, certain conclusions and suggestions can guide teachers, parents and librarians to create a more supportive literacy environment to encourage voluntary reading. / Information Science / M.A. (Information Science)

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the literacy environment at home, at school and in the community and the development of voluntary reading and thus a reading habit. This research is relevant as there is an alarming drop out rate, poor matriculation results and low scores in reading performance tests in South African schools. Many factors and possible causes can contribute to this, but a major problem is the lack of a reading habit, low literacy levels and an environment that is not supportive of literacy. As a result, many children are still leaving school functionally illiterate. In order to develop a reading habit, learners must get maximum support and encouragement from their literacy environment, as children learn from what is going on around them. The major role players in the learner's literacy environment, are the home and family (microstructure), the school and teachers, and his community which includes libraries (macrostructure). A literature study on the foundations, contexts and practices of literacy, voluntary reading and environmental factors that affect reading provides the theoretical basis and a conceptual framework for this study. The research method used is a case study with the focus on a sample of learners from Grade 3 - 7 from schools in the Highveld Ridge and Gauteng East area. Due to budgetary and logistical constraints, rural areas are not included. The empirical survey investigates various aspects of the literacy environment. The survey method, with questionnaires for learners, teachers and headmasters, was used. Both quantitative and qualitative methods are used to generate data. The findings are that many learners experience difficulties which hinder the development of a reading habit, for example: schools and communities do not have libraries, or access to them is limited; appropriate reading materials are not available; or learners do not have access to them; multilingualism is a major problem in a country with eleven official languages, as many learners have to learn and teachers have to teach in a language other than their mother tongue; parents are not literate and cannot help their children; socio-economic conditions are not conductive to reading; there is a lack of support from governmental at various levels. Although findings in a case study cannot be generalised, certain conclusions and suggestions can guide teachers, parents and librarians to create a more supportive literacy environment to encourage voluntary reading. / Information Science / M.A. (Information Science)

Der Übergang von Schule zu Hochschule verläuft unbefriedigend, wenn die Passung von Studieninteresse und Fähigkeiten der Studienanfänger_innen mit den Anforderungen des Studiums nicht optimal ist. An der Universität Jena werden ein Online Self-Assessment und ein lernbezogenes Beratungsangebot, aufbauend auf einer multimethodischen Bedarfsanalyse, entwickelt. Erste Ergebnisse zeigen den Zusammenhang von unrealistischen Erwartungen, geringer Studienzufriedenheit und erhöhter Abbruchneigung. Lernbezogene Präventionsstrategien hängen negativ mit erlebter Belastung durch Lernschwierigkeiten zusammen. Der Artikel stellt Ergebnisse der Bedarfsanalyse und die entstehenden Unterstützungsangebote vor.