LLM / Department of Mercantile Law / Business rescue provisions are meant to assist a financially distressed company. It seems that the success of business rescue rests on three factors, namely a competent business rescue practitioner and a practicable business rescue plan; the consent and cooperation of shareholders and creditors. However, academics and case law point out concerns as to the regulation of the aforementioned essential ingredients. The purpose of this study is to ascertain the level of the efficacy of the Companies Act provisions on business rescue as contained in Chapter 6. The researcher compares the current business rescue regime and the previous judicial management procedure to find out how the current regime can be improved. Since the business rescue regime was adopted from other jurisdictions the researcher also compares the practices in some of those jurisdictions with that of South Africa to establish the goals and expectations of business rescue in modern corporate operations. / NRF

Toxic leaders affect nearly half of the U.S. employee base and create environments in which followers, peers, and staff might be less effective due to stress, devaluation, and potential job loss. A multiple case study approach was used to understand what coping strategies employees use to reduce the negative effects of toxic leadership on themselves, other employees, and the overall workplace; and to understand the behaviors that result from these strategies. The purposeful and snowball sample consisted of 29 participants within the United States, ages 30 to 65, who worked within two or more organizations and who either directly experienced a toxic leader or observed someone who did. The theoretical framework was based on betrayal trauma theory, conservation of resources theory, and the cognitive theory of trauma. Research questions focused on how affected employees coped during and after the toxic event and any coping differences between sample groups. Data were collected via one-on-one telephone interviews. Data were analyzed via data organization, acquaintance, classification, coding, and interpretation. The major themes that emerged were emotional reaction, coping strategies used, effects at work and home, and resulting health issues for both person and family. Seeking resource help was identified as the most effective coping strategy when dealing with a toxic leader. Toxic leadership can have lasting negative effects on both organizations and employees that can extend beyond the workplace. Organizations have an organizational and social responsibility to address toxic leader behaviors and provide resources to employees to counteract toxic leadership to create a more positive work environment where employees can find work rewarding and fulfilling.

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This study has been conducted with the aim to examine the extent of the heat affected zone in order to use laser cutting when making samples for tensile testing. When cutting with a laser the material absorbs heat energy from the laser beams which causes changes in the microstructure. The heat affected zone affects the properties of the materials, lowering the accuracy of the tensile test. Therefore, it is desired to know the extent of the heat affected zone in order to remove it before tensile testing. In this study two materials were used, the high strength steel Docol 1000DP and the duplex stainless steel LDX 2101. The materials were cut in the shape of dog bones for tensile testing using two different laser powers, 2500 W and 3500 W. The samples were cut with different cutting speeds, starting at lower cutting speed, increasing until the laser was unable to cut through. Thereafter, the heat affected zone, and the surface quality was examined. The results from this study showed that the heat affected zone decreases with increased cutting speed. When cutting with high cutting speeds in Docol 1000DP it is enough to turn away 0.30 mm in order to remove the heat affected zone with margin. Negligible difference in heat affected zone was observed between the samples cut with 2500 W and 3500 W. The heat affected zone in LDX 2101 was very small, in order of 50 μm, making it hard to measure. This resulted in no exact measurements being made. However, the heat affected zone was in the order of 50 μm for all samples, concluding that turning away 0.15 mm is sufficient to remove the heat affected zone with margin. No difference could be observed between the samples cut with a laser power of 2500 W or 3500 W. Common to both materials is that the amount of dross decreases with increased cutting speed. / Denna studie har utförts i syfte att undersöka utsträckningen av den värmepåverkade zonen för att kunna använda laserskärning för att skära prover till dragprovning. Ett problem med laserskärning är att metaller absorberar värmeenergin, vilket orsakar förändringar i mikrostrukturen. Denna värmepåverkade zon bör minimeras och avlägsnas från metallen, då det minskar kvalitén på proverna samt på dragprovningen. I denna studie har två material undersökts, det höghållfasta stålet Docol 1000DP och det duplexa rostfria stålet LDX 2101. Stålen skars ut i form av hundben för dragprovning med två olika effekter på lasern 2500 W och 3500 W. Proverna skars ut med olika skärhastigheter, började med lägre hastigheter och ökade sedan tills lasern inte längre kunde skära igenom materialet. Därefter undersöktes både den värmepåverkade zonen och kvaliteten på skärytan. Resultaten från denna studie visade att den värmepåverkade zonen minskar med ökad skärhastighet. Vid skärning i Docol 1000DP med höga skärhastigheter räcker det att avlägsna 0,30 mm för att ta bort den värmepåverkade zonen med marginal. Ingen skillnad i värmepåverkad zon observerades mellan proverna skurna med 2500 W och 3500 W vid skärning med högsta skärhastigheten för varje lasereffekt. Den värmepåverkade zonen i LDX 2101 var mycket liten, i storleksordningen 50 μm, vilket gjorde den svårt att mäta. Slutsatsen gav att det är tillräckligt att avlägsna 0,15 mm för att avlägsna den värmepåverkade zonen med marginal. Ingen skillnad kunde observeras mellan proverna skurna med en lasereffekt på 2500 W eller 3500 W. Gemensamt för båda materialen var att gradbildningen minskade med ökad skärhastighet.

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Humanitarian accountability has been a topic of discussion since the 1990s, in response to a number of high-level scandals. Dozens of initiatives highlighting the importance of accountability to affected populations have been established. However, humanitarian organisations still receive criticisms for lacking accountability. This thesis examines the research question: How does the World Food Programme use international standards to guide accountability in its humanitarian interventions in Iraq, and how these standards fulfil its commitments to the affected populations? This is done through an in-depth case study of the WFP, in the context of Iraq. The academic literature highlights the concept of humanitarian accountability as both a practical concern as well as a moral one. This is emphasised within the literature of humanitarian organisations together with how accountability, as a concept, have been poorly defined, and research as to its practice is continuously lacking. This research found that the accountability provided was mainly technical and accountability to affected populations in Iraq remain low. Accountability practices that are currently in place does not live up to the commitment made by the WFP to affected populations in Iraq. Further, the research pinpoints how accountability within the WFP has become more of a technical standard in practice, which has resulted in limited scope of accountability to affected populations in Iraq. This results in phantom accountability, characterised by meaningless mechanisms and indicators that instead portray an image of accountability while not translating into actual practical actions towards affected populations.

Det blir mer uppenbart att många företag allt oftare väljer att använda sig av chatbotar. Främst gäller detta kundcentrerade sidor inom exempelvis e-handel där chatboten agerar som ett verktyg för att underlätta för kundtjänsten genom att kunna svara på enklare frågor. Majoriteten av människor idag har använt en chatbot och en del uppfattar den som hjälpsam, medan andra tycker att den är i vägen och inte är tillräckligt kompetent för att svara på specifika frågor. Detta gör att användare oftast har fått en uppfattning om chatbotar och hur den bidrar till upplevelsen av sidbesöket som helhet. Användarupplevelse, eller “UX”, avser till hur en användare nyttjar och upplever ett gränssnitt genom att ta hänsyn till mänskliga beteenden och vad användaren vill uppnå med besöket. På så vis skapas positiv användarupplevelse samt gör det användbart. Målet med denna uppsats att undersöka hur användarupplevelsen påverkas av interaktion med chatbotar vid besök av svenska webbplatser. Området för att undersöka användarupplevelsen har varit på en banksida - Nordea, samt två sidor inom området för e-handel inom mode - Nelly och Bubbleroom. Studien har fokuserat på att lyfta fram användarupplevelse i olika vinklar och perspektiv. Den är dels baserad på teorier inom interaktionsdesign så som begreppet UX och användbarhet, och dels centrerad kring generell teori om chatbotar och kundservice. Utifrån teorier och modeller användes olika metoder för att insamla data som grund för resultatet. Dels har en variant av användbarhetstestning använts, kallat “tänka högt-metoden”, och dels har olika intervjuer genomförts för att få en bakgrund kring vad företag har för strategier med sina chatbotar. Metodiken har utgått från studiens olika fokusområden för att kunna diskutera hur väl chatboten spelar roll för användarupplevelsen vid besöket på webbplatsen. Mätvärden har insamlats i form av exempelvis tid, framgång och känslor gentemot uppgifterna som användarna genomförde för att skapa interaktion med sidan och potentiellt med chatboten. Resultaten påvisade att graden av användarupplevelse kan ses som både god och dålig, där både önskade samt oönskade upplevelser kunde uppfattas från användarna. Detta kunde observeras i form av varierande grad av slutföranden av uppgifter, tid och om förväntningarna innan sidbesöket levdes upp till efter interaktionen med sidan och chatboten. / It is becoming increasingly clear that many businesses more often choose to use chatbots. This mainly applies to customer-centric sites in, for example, e-commerce, where the chatbot acts as a tool to facilitate customer service by being able to answer simple questions. Most people today have used a chatbot and some perceive it as helpful, while others think it is in the way and is not competent enough to answer specific questions. This means that users have usually gained an idea of ??chatbots and how it contributes to the experience of the page visit. User experience, or “UX”, refers to how a user uses and experiences an interface by considering human behaviors and what the user wants to achieve with the visit. In this way, a positive user experience is created and made useful. The aim of this essay is to investigate how the user experience is affected by interaction with chatbots when visiting Swedish websites. The area for investigating the user experience has been on a banking site - Nordea, and two sites in the area of ??e-commerce in fashion - Nelly and Bubbleroom. The study has focused on highlighting user experience in different angles and perspectives. It is partly based on theories in interaction design such as the concept of UX and usability, and partly centered around general theory about chatbots and customer service. Based on theories and models, different methods were used to collect data as a foundation for the results. On the one hand, a variant of usability testing has been used, called the "think aloud method", and on the other hand, various interviews have been conducted to get a background on what strategies companies have with their chatbots. The methodology has been based on the study's different focus areas in order to be able to discuss how well the chatbot plays a role in the user experience during the website visit. Measured values ??have been collected in the form of e.g time, success and emotions towards the tasks and scenarios conducted by the users to create interaction with the site and potentially with the chatbot. The results showed that the degree of user experience can be seen as both good and bad, where both desired and unwanted experiences could be perceived from the users. This could be seen by the varying degrees of completion of tasks, time and if the expectations before the page visit were lived up to after the interaction with the page and the chatbot. This study has been conducted in Sweden and thus written in Swedish.

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