Information flows in EU policy-making are heavily dependent on personal networks, both within the Brussels sphere but also reaching outside the narrow limits of the Belgian capital. These networks develop for example in the course of formal and informal meetings or at the sidelines of such meetings. A plethora of committees at European, transnational and regional level provides the basis for the establishment of pan-European networks. By studying affiliation to those committees, basic network structures can be uncovered. These affiliation network structures can then be used to predict EU information flows, assuming that certain positions within the network are advantageous for tapping into streams of information while others are too remote and peripheral to provide access to information early enough. This study has tested those assumptions for the case of the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy for the time after 2012. Through the analysis of an affiliation network based on participation in 10 different fisheries policy committees over two years (2009 and 2010), network data for an EU-wide network of about 1300 fisheries interest group representatives and more than 200 events was collected. The structure of this network showed a number of interesting patterns, such as – not surprisingly – a rather central role of Brussels-based committees but also close relations of very specific interests to the Brussels-cluster and stronger relations between geographically closer maritime regions. The analysis of information flows then focused on access to draft EU Commission documents containing the upcoming proposal for a new basic regulation of the Common Fisheries Policy. It was first documented that it would have been impossible to officially obtain this document and that personal networks were thus the most likely sources for fisheries policy actors to obtain access to these “leaks” in early 2011. A survey of a sample of 65 actors from the initial network supported these findings: Only a very small group had accessed the draft directly from the Commission. Most respondents who obtained access to the draft had received it from other actors, highlighting the networked flow of informal information in EU politics. Furthermore, the testing of the hypotheses connecting network positions and the level of informedness indicated that presence in or connections to the Brussels sphere had both advantages for overall access to the draft document and with regard to timing. Methodologically, challenges of both the network analysis and the analysis of information flows but also their relevance for the study of EU politics have been documented. In summary, this study has laid the foundation for a different way to study EU policy-making by connecting topical and methodological elements – such as affiliation network analysis and EU committee governance – which so far have not been considered together, thereby contributing in various ways to political science and EU studies. / Informationsflüsse im Kontext von EU-Entscheidungsprozessen sind ohne persönliche Netzwerke kaum denkbar, sowohl solche innerhalb der Brüsseler Sphäre aber auch solche, die über die engen Grenzen der belgischen Hauptstadt hinausreichen. Solche Netzwerke entwickeln sich zum Beispiel im Laufe von offiziellen und inoffiziellen Treffen, oft auch am Rande solcher Ereignisse. Die Vielzahl von Ausschüssen auf europäischer, transnationaler und regionaler Ebene bildet daher die Grundlage für die Schaffung europäischer Netzwerkstrukturen. Indem wir die Teilnahme an solchen Ausschüssen untersuchen, ist es uns möglich, grundlegende Strukturmerkmale solcher Netzwerke aufzudecken. Solche Affiliationsnetzwerk-Strukturen können dann die Grundlage zur Vorhersage von europäischen Informationsflüssen bilden: Die Annahme ist, dass bestimmte Positionen in solchen Netzwerken vorteilhaft für den Zugang zu Informationsflüssen sind, während andere Positionen (zu) weit entfernt und zu peripher sind, um rechtzeitigen Zugriff auf relevante Informationen zu erhalten. Die vorliegende Studie testet diese Annahmen anhand der Reform der Gemeinsamen Fischereipolitik der Europäischen Union für die Zeit nach 2012 . Basierend auf Teilnahmedaten von 10 Fischereipolitik-Ausschüssen über den Zeitraum von zwei Jahren (2009 und 2010) wurde ein Affilationsnetzwerk aus mehr als 1300 Interessenvertretern und –vertreterinnen sowie über 200 Ereignissen erhoben. Die Struktur dieses Netzwerks zeigt eine Reihe von interessanten Mustern auf, zum Beispiel die zentrale Rolle von Brüssel-basierten Ausschüssen aber auch die enge Verknüpfung bestimmter Interessen mit dem Brüsseler Kern des Netzwerk sowie die enge Vernetzung geographisch benachbarter Meeresregionen. Die Analyse von EU-Informationsflüssen wurde dann Anhand des Zugangs von Akteuren aus dem erhobenen Netzwerk zu (nichtöffentlichen) Entwurfsfassungen des Kommissionsvorschlags für eine neue Gemeinsame Fischereipolitik durchgeführt. Zunächst wurde dokumentiert, dass der Zugang zu diesen Dokumenten auf offiziellen Wegen unmöglich war und dass daher Zugang durch erweiterte persönliche Netzwerke die wahrscheinlichste Erklärung für den Erhalt von „Leaks“ durch Fischereipolitik-Interessengruppen in der ersten Hälfte von 2011 war. Eine Umfrage unter 65 Akteuren aus der Gesamtpopulation des Gesamtnetzwerk unterstützte diese Vermutung: Nur eine kleine Gruppe hatte Zugang zu den nicht-öffentlichen Entwurfsdokumenten durch ihre direkten Beziehungen mit der EU-Kommission. Die meisten Teilnehmer der Umfrage hatte Zugang zu diesen Dokumenten durch Dritte erhalten, ein Nachweis, dass EU-Informationen sich tatsächlich in weiteren Netzwerkstrukturen verbreiten. Die Studie konnte auch zeigen, dass enge Affiliations-Beziehungen zur Brüsseler Sphäre ein relevanter Indikator für den (zeitnahen) Zugang zu nicht-öffentlichen EU-Dokumenten ist. Die Herausforderungen in der methodischen Erhebungen von europäischen Affiliationsnetzwerkdaten und von EU-Informationsflüssen werden dabei in der Studie ausführlich dokumentiert. Die Relevanz dieser Methoden zur Analyse von EU-Politik wird ebenfalls im Detail dargelegt. Zusammenfassend legt diese Doktorarbeit die Grundlage für eine neue Art, europäische und transnationale politische Prozesse in Europa zu untersuchen. Sie verbinden thematische und methodische Ansätze – zum Beispiel Affiliationsnetzwerkanalyse und die Untersuchung des EU-Ausschusswesens – die bislang in dieser Form noch nicht zusammengeführt wurden, und trägt dadurch auf verschiedenste Weise zur Weiterentwicklung der Politikwissenschaft und der Europastudien bei.

過去研究發現助人行為是促進自己與他人建立友好關係，使得雙方產生對彼此有歸屬感的一種策略。然而，對於嬰兒而言，由於其助人行為能力正在發展，我們很難於自然情境中得知他們是否會為尋求此歸屬感，而促發其助人行為。因此，本研究之目的為探討嬰兒的助人行為是否會受到與他人建立友好關係的歸屬感而影響。本研究藉由兩個實驗來探討。實驗一藉由觀察60位18個月大嬰兒在接受不同認知意涵的內隱圖片促發其歸屬感後，進入助人任務的助人行為表現。實驗結果發現接受在一起性質圖片的18個月大嬰兒，並未因圖片促發其助人行為來維繫其歸屬感。為排除助人任務性質可能造成的干擾因素，實驗二調整了實驗一的助人任務後，在相同條件下進行觀察嬰兒的助人行為表現。結果發現雖然在一起性質的內隱圖片仍未促發其歸屬感而引發助人行為，但若將圖片分類方式改為知覺層級，將具有成對性質的內隱圖片（在一起、背對背與基準）與接受單獨性質圖片比較後卻發現，18個月大的嬰兒在特定時間區段（0至20秒、0至30秒）中有顯著較多的助人行為。此結果說明知覺層級上的刺激能夠穩定的促發18個月大嬰兒的歸屬感，進而引發其助人行為。 / Previous studies propose that helping behaviors can be an effective strategy for establishing friendly relationship and affiliation with others. However, for eighteen-month-old infants, the ability of helping is under development. Hence, it is difficult to evaluate whether they pursuit affiliation by helping others, especially in natural conditions. In this thesis, two controlled experiments were conducted to understand whether the helping behaviors can be evoked by priming. In the first experiment, sixty eighteen-month-old infants were recruited and primed by several implicit photos to evoke their tendency of affiliation and to measure the influence of the primes. Results show that the primes do not significantly evoke the subjects to perform more helping behaviors in both conditions: primed by the photos imply together and primed by other photos (back-to-back, baseline, and alone). To exclude the possible interferences of the previous helping tasks, the second experiment undertook the same procedures and settings with the first experiment, but modified the task to clarify the needs of helping. Results reveal that the difference of priming effect is still insignificant between together and others. However, if the photos are grouped by the easier-perceivable meaning: representing photos having two objects as together, and representing photos having only one object as individuality, the significance of priming can be observed. Subjects primed by together photos performed significantly more helping than those primed with individuality photos in specific periods (0-20s and 0-30s). Based on these findings, this study suggests that the perceptual stimulus can stably evoke affiliation of eighteen-month-old infants, and influence the tendency of helping others.

Konsultyrket är en modern anställningsform som har vuxit sig stark på den svenska arbetsmarknaden i takt med dess förändring och företagens ökade behov avflexibilitet. Då en konsult är anställd på ett konsultföretag men har uppdrag ute hos olika kundföretag, kan denne antas tillhöra flera organisationer samtidigt. Uppsatsen syftar till att få en ökad förståelse för konsulters arbetssituation, samt undersöka hur de uttrycker organisationstillhörighet och hur den upplevs påverka dem i deras arbete. Detta har gjorts genom en kvalitativ studie baserad på intervjuer med fem konsulter, vilka arbetar som managementkonsulter inom IT- branschen. Det teoretiska resonemang som ligger till grund för uppsatsen behandlar teorier och tidigare forskning som knyter an till både konsultens arbetsroll och känslan av tillhörighet med organisationer samt dess eventuella påverkan i arbetet. Resultatet av studien visar att konsultyrket beskrivs vara en flexibel anställningsform som präglas av frihet, möjligheter och utmaningar. Det krävs även att konsulten ständigt anpassar sig till sin omgivning och prioriterar mellan de många olika krav som uppkommer. Känslan av tillhörighet beskrivs vara starkast till konsultföretaget men då konsulten har åtaganden till två företag samtidigt har den även visat sig vara splittrad. Tillhörigheten beskrivs påverka konsultens trivsel, motivation samtvilja att stanna inom företaget. / The consultant profession is a modern form of employment that has grown strong in the Swedish labor market in line with the market changes and companies increased need for flexibility. When a consultant is employed by a consulting firm but is commissioned onsite at various client companies, the consultant is assumed to belong to several organizations simultaneously. This paper aims to gain a greater understanding of the consultants' work situation, examine how they express organizational affiliation and how this affiliation influences them in their work. The research has been done through a qualitative study based on interviews with five consultants who are all working as management consultants within the IT sector. The theoretical framework underlying the paper treats theories and previous research that relate to both the consultant's work role and sense of belonging to the organization as well as its possible impact. The results of this study show that the consulting profession is described as a flexible form of employment that is characterized by freedom, opportunities and challenges. It also requires the consultant to constantly adapt to its environment and prioritize between the many different requirements that arise. The feeling of belonging is described to be strongest towards the consultancy, however since the consultant is committed to two companies at the same time, he or she has also proved to be somewhat fragmented. The feeling of belonging is described to affect the consultant's job satisfaction, motivation and willingness to stay within the company.

Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 28-32).

SAMMANFATTNING Titel: Valutariskhantering vid rörelseexponering - En kvantitativ studie av svenska börsföretag Nivå: C -uppsats i ämnet företagsekonomi. Författare: Gustaf Bergquist och Jimmy Mattsson. Handledare: Peter Lindberg. Datum: 2015 - juni. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att studera förekomsten av skillnader och likheter mellan svenska börsnoterade företags hantering av rörelseexponering mot valutarisk beroende på vilket segment de tillhör på Stockholmsbörsen. Metod: Studien är av kvantitativ natur med en deduktiv ansats. Data har samlats in genom internetbaserade enkäter som sedan har ställts mot tidigare forskning och teorier. Utfallet har sedan analyserats genom korrelationsanalys och presenteras tillsammans med resultatet. Resultat & slutsats: Studiens resultat visar på förekomsten av flertalet skillnader och likheter vad gäller hantering av valutarisk som kan kopplas till segmenttillhörighet. Den slutsats som dras i studien visar att benägenheten att skydda sig för rörelseexponering mot valutarisk och att hantera valutarisk internt är störst hos företag på Large Cap och att benägenheten att ta hjälp externt vid valutariskhantering är störst hos företag på Small Cap. Gällande förekomsten av storleksrelaterade likheter visar studien att dessa är relativt små. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Då denna studie är av kvantitativ natur skulle det i framtiden vara intressant att komplettera enkätundersökningen med intervjuer för att ge en bättre förståelse kring valutasäkringsprocessen. Ett annat potentiellt förslag till vidare forskning är att utöka antalet respondenter och förslagsvis inkludera den danska börsen som är snarlik den svenska börsen för att hitta skillnader och likheter mellan börserna. Uppsatsens bidrag: Studiens teoretiska bidrag kan bidra till att ge en djupare förståelse av fenomenet valutariskhantering där studien kan fungera som en förklaringsvariabel till utfall som är relaterade till detta område. Studiens praktiska bidrag kan ha stor relevans för mindre företag som är i uppbyggnadsfasen av sin riskhantering och därför vill veta vilka alternativ som finns vid ett beslutsfattande. Nyckelord: Valutarisk, riskhantering, rörelseexponering, valutasäkringsmetoder, skillnader och likheter, segmenttillhörighet. / ABSTRACT Title: Currency risk management in operating exposure - a quantitative study of Swedish listed companies. Level: Final assignment for Bachelor Degree in Business Administration. Author: Gustaf Bergquist and Jimmy Mattsson. Supervisor: Peter Lindberg. Date: 2015 - June. Aim: The purpose of this study is to examine the existence of differences and similarities between Swedish listed companies’ management of operating exposure to currency risk, depending on segment affiliation at the Stockholm Stock Exchange. Method: This study is of quantitative nature with a deductive approach. Data have been collected through Internet based questionnaires, which later have been set against previous research and theories. The results have been analyzed through correlation- analysis and presented along with the results.  Result & Conclusions: The results of the study shows that the majority of the differences and similarities in terms of managing currency risk can be linked to segment affiliation. The conclusion drawn in the study shows that the tendency to protect the company’s exposure to currency risk and to manage foreign currency risk internally are highest among companies on Large Cap and that the tendency to request help externally are greatest among companies on Small Cap. Regarding the presence of size related similarities, the study shows that these are relatively small. Suggestions for future research: It would be interesting to complement the survey with a few interviews in order to provide a better understanding regarding the hedging process. Another potential suggestion for further research is to expand the number of respondents and include the Danish Stock Exchange that is similar to the Swedish Stock Exchange in order to find differences and similarities between the two Stock exchanges. Contribution of the thesis: The theoretical contribution can help provide a deeper understanding of currency risk management and therefore serve as an explanatory variable of the outcomes related to this area. The practical contribution can have great relevance for smaller companies that are in the construction phase of its risk management and therefore want to know what options are at their disposal. Key words: Currency risk, risk management, operating exposure, hedging methods, differences and similarities, segment affiliation.

[pt] O presente trabalho analisa como os impactos da implementação de um modelo de cultura empresarial nos cursos de ensino de inglês incidem na (re)construção da identidade dos professores e, conseqüentemente, no seu sentimento de afiliação àquelas instituições. À luz de conceitos como identidade, contrato psicológico e comodificação e com base em entrevistas de pesquisa feitas com professoras de duas instituições, procuramos investigar como esta mudança vem afetando o sentimento de continuidade biográfica das professoras como indivíduos, profissionais e membros daquelas organizações. Os resultados sugerem que tal mudança faz emergir conflitos de representação em relação à tarefa de ensinar, ao papel do professor e à imagem da instituição, com conseqüências no sentimento de maior ou menor pertencimento à organização e no processo de construção de uma narrativa pessoal coerente. / [en] The implementation of an enterprise culture model in EFL schools has an impact on the (re)construction of teachers identities and, therefore, on their feelings of affiliation to those institutions. On the basis of such concepts as identity, psychological contract and commodification and on interviews with teachers from two different institutions, we have tried to investigate how this change has been affecting the feeling of biographical continuity of teachers as individuals, professionals and members of those organizations. The results suggest that the implementation of an enterprise culture model has aroused conflicts of representation on teaching practice, on the teacher s role and on the image of the institution, leading to changes in the degree of the teachers sense of belonging to the organization and in the process of the construction of a coherent personal narrative.

The relationship between religion and reproductive behavior in demographic perspective Abstract The aim of this thesis is to provide a deeper discussion of the relationship of religion to reproductive behavior at the theoretical, methodological and practical level. The secondary objective is to introduce a recently formed branch called religious demography. The main part of the thesis is of a theoretical and methodological character, and is built on the comprehensive elaboration of the foreign literature, which is dealing with the theme of religion and reproductive behavior. In the first chapter, the latest processes and changes that occur on the religious scene and difficulties associated just with the research in this area are described. The second chapter is dealing with general methodological problems, which are mainly related to the operationalization of religion and the availability of data needed to examine the relationship of religion to reproductive behavior. The third chapter then presents two demographic prospects, which reveal two different ways of relationships, showing how to deal with the religion and the demographic reproduction. In the final part a model example is introduced, based on principles of religious demography. The example is built on data of the individual categories of...

Magister Commercii - MCom / This study seeks to evaluate the performance of unit trust managers based on their client affiliation classification. Worldwide, the number of investors investing in unit trusts is on the rise and increasingly they want to be able to evaluate the performance of the managers managing their funds so as to make better investment decisions. This increase in the asset size and number of unit trusts funds could be attributed but not limited to the low capital required for investment by small investors who before could not afford to invest in portfolios requiring large capital (Prather, Bertin, and Henker, 2004). In addition, the fund managers of these units are believed to have special skills such as market timing and stock selectivity which contribute to the performances they achieve. The evaluation of the performance of unit trust fund managers is a largely unexplored area in South Africa. As a result, the study focuses on South Africa fund managers and has as aim to evaluate the performance of two groups of fund managers (independent and dependent) who were classified based on their client affiliation structure. The client affiliation classification is as a result of the fund manager's clientele base. The dependent group are those who formed part of a group structure and offer other wealth management services for which their clients or investors in the unit trust services originate from within the group while the independent group are those whose clients are pulled together from diverse individuals or institutions and does not form part of a group or render other services other than fund management. Two fund types were selected namely; general equity funds and balanced funds. It has also examined the underlying skills the different groups of fund managers possess. The performance of unit trust has an effect on many parties who are related in one way or the other to the unit trust funds. The results of this study will inform individual investors, trustees and asset consultants in their decision making process of selecting a fund manager. The results of the study will be of value to the asset management industry in terms of assessing their structures and restructuring the investment service business to meet the expectations of their clients; the investors. It could also be used as a marketing tool. Publicly available historical data on the returns generated by fund managers for a five year period from 2005 to 2009 was obtained. Analyses were done using the independent sampled t-test and the Treynor Mazel model respectively for the different research questions posed. The results obtained indicated that there were no statistically significant differences between the performances of independent fund managers with those of dependent fund managers. However, dependent fund managers of equity funds performed better than their counterparts the independent fund managers. In the case of balanced funds, the independent fund managers performed better than their dependent counterparts. On average, both fund manager types possessed selectivity skills for equity funds and none for balanced funds. However for both fund types, the dependent fund manager demonstrated more selectivity skills than their independent counterparts. The results for market timing skills demonstrated that on average, both fund managers did not possess market timing skills for balanced funds while possessing these skills for equity funds. The dependent fund managers demonstrated more market timing skills for balanced funds though negative when compared to that of their counterparts. On the other hand, the equity fund independent fund managers demonstrated more market timing skills than the dependent fund managers. / South Africa

The aim of the diploma thesis is funding of the municipalities by the South Moravian Region. The theoretical part defines the technical terms such as fiscal federalism, public administration and funding. The practical part explores whether the funding is provided in compliance with the general terms and conditions. This work is aiming to define the parameters which form the basis of comparison of the information about municipal funding available on the South Moravian Region website with the actual terms and conditions under which the funding is provided. Through the analysis explained herein it has been proven that in majority of cases the region does not abide by the terms of the funding as available online. The lack of required information in the terms on the region's website gives the impression that the funding process is rather opaque. Additionally, we further examine whether political affiliation of mayors in municipalities of the region is a factor determining the size of the actual funding provided by the region. The result of this analysis is negative which concludes that political affiliation of mayors in the region does not have an impact on the size of the funding provided by the region to its municipalities.

Mobile Gaming entwickelte sich innerhalb des letzten Jahrzehnts rasant, was vor allem mit der Verbreitung und Weiterentwicklung des Smartphones und des drahtlosen Internetzugangs zusammenhängt. 85% der Gamer geben mittlerweile an, dass sie mit dem Smartphone Videospiele spielen. Das Smartphone hat sich demnach als primäres Endgerät für Mobile Gaming etabliert und bietet mit seiner Sensorik und Performance neue Möglichkeiten des Spielens. ... Diese Arbeit untersucht im Rahmen einer quantitativ explorativen Studie den Einfluss des Spiels auf die physische Aktivität der Nutzer sowie deren soziale Zugehörigkeit über das Spiel. Dazu werden nach einer Einordnung des Spiels über Spielmechaniken und ortsbezogene Elemente die Ergebnisse der deutschlandweiten Onlineumfrage dargestellt. [... aus dem Text]