<p><p>Syfte och frågeställningar<p> </p><p>1. Finns det ett samband mellan tiden mellan fotisättningarna (främre respektive bakre fot) och sparkhastigheten?<p> </p><p>2. Hur påverkar bakre fotens kontakttid sparkhastigheten?<p> </p><p>3. Hur påverkar den vertikala kraften på främre respektive bakre fot sparkhastigheten?<p> </p><p>4. Hur påverkar tiden till uppnådd maximal vertikalkraft på främre respektive bakre fot sparkhastigheten?<p> </p><p>Syftet med studien var att inom testgruppen undersöka hur kontakttid och belastningskaraktär påverkar sparkhastigheten i en rundspark som föregås av ett step.  <p> </p><p>Metod<p> </p><p>Studien innefattar analys av en rundsparkteknik med föregående horisontell förflyttning i lateral riktning från utgångsposition. Rörelsen benämns i studien som step. Testgruppen utgjordes av 5 Svenska elit Taekwondoutövare, men pga tekniska problem begränsades gruppen till 3 personer (2 män 1 kvinna). Rörelseförloppet fasindelades i 3 huvudfaser och 2 underfaser (1-stepfas, 2.1-kontaktfas 1, 2.2-kontaktfas 2 och 3-sparkfas). Tid och sträcka i fas 1 och 3 genomfördes med hjälp av höghastighetskamera (Casio Exilim High speed, Casio computer Co. Ltd, Japan.). Vertikalkraft och tid på höger respektive vänster fot mättes med kraftplattor (DBA dual-forceplate systems, Sverige).<p> </p><p>Resultat<p> </p><p>Resultatet visade att det inom testgruppen inte fanns något samband mellan sparkhastighet och tid mellan fotisättningarna. Däremot fanns en tendens till att bakre fotens kontakttid påverkar sparkhastigheten (kort tid = hög sparkhastighet). Det fanns också tendenser till samband mellan hög sparkhastighet och hög maximal vertikalkraft samt tid till denna (time to peak force) på stödjefoten. Dessa tendenser sågs inte på sparkfoten.<p> </p><p>Slutsats<p> </p><p>Resultaten indikerar att det finns tendenser till att kort kontakttid på sparkfoten samt förmågan att under kort tid generera hög vertikalkraft på stödjefoten är av betydelse för optimering av sparkhastighet. Resultaten bör dock ses som mycket preliminära och behöver konfirmeras med studier på ett större material.<p> </p><p> </p></p></p></p></p></p></p></p></p></p></p></p></p></p>

Master’s Thesis in Logistics and Supply Chain Management _____________________________________________________ Title:                 Postponement in Retailing Industry- A case study of SIBA Authors:         Ahmed Kemal &amp; Naqvi Syed Mohammad Tutor:               Helgi Valur Fredriksson, Dr. Date:               May, 2010 Key Words:   Speculation, Postponement, Customer Order Decoupling point, Retailing, Supply Chain Flexibility, Agility ______________________________________________________________ Abstract Problem: Today's business environment is characterized by changing customer demands, increasing cost pressures on retailers, shorter product life cycles and products becoming obsolete shortly after their introduction. The above factors make it difficult for electronics retailers to balance the costs of dealing with excessive inventory and not be out of stock. To be competitive, retailers should delay some of their activities until customer demand becomes visible. This brings us to the phenomenon of postponement. Electronics market in Sweden faces continuous growth, although at a declining rate. This is indicative of a saturation that this sector, as a whole, is approaching to. The above problems are due to the speculative approaches and standardized products policies that are in practice. Loss of sales and customers result from these practices. The current study analyses the importance of postponement strategy and the benefits it offers. This study also tries to explore the potential solutions for retailers that postponement may relate to.   Purpose: The scope of this study is to identify possible postponement strategies needed for SIBA. Method: A case study approach has been taken. The choice of the method is qualitative with an inductive approach. This involved personal communications during interviews with the managers of SIBA, using semi structured questions to collect data.   Results: The concepts of postponement, supply chain flexibility, agility and customer order decoupling points (CODP) are closely related to one another and it has been shown that as the depth of postponement increase from right to left in the CODP continuum, the CODP changes its position, moving along the CODP continuum from right to left and towards the upstream. With this movement, the flexibility and agility in the chain increases. Our finds suggest that postponement is rather underutilized and that wastes (by way of lost sales and customers, obsolete inventory costs and storage costs) in the retailing process occur due to speculative approaches in application at the retail level. We have suggested logistics postponement for two out of three product categories and enumerated the ensuing benefits that the retailer can derive by way of enhanced flexibility, agility and reductions in wastages and satisfied customers.

Människan har en förmåga att anpassa sig till en omvärld i förändring. Detta syns inte minst på den taktik- och teknikanpassning som sker i kampen mellan verkan och skydd inom den militära kontexten. Men idag sker inte bara förändring i den militära tekniken; även uppgifterna förändras. Exempelvis kräver de insatser som sker runt om i världen, inom ramen för FN-resolutioner, allt mer av civilmilitär samverkan samtidigt som enheterna måste vara ständigt beredda på att möta en motståndare i strid. Om anpassningsbarhet är det som gör att vi kan förändra oss för att möta nya uppgifter i nya miljöer torde ökad anpassningsbarhet i organisationen vara en fördel. Syftet med detta arbete är att undersöka huruvida de svenska ledningsstyrdokumenten, i form av Uppdragstaktiken (ledningsmetod-/filosofi) och Utvecklande ledarskap (ledarskapsmodell), är förenliga med utvecklandet av anpassningsbara officerare. Resultatet av analysen visar på god förenlighet mellan uppdragstaktik och utvecklande ledarskap å ena sidan och anpassningsbarhet å andra sidan. Således tycks det som om förutsättningarna för anpassningsbarhet är delvis inbyggda i Uppdragstaktiken och Utvecklande ledarskap / The human ability to adapt to a changing environment and a never ending technological development, can be observed by counting the many times a new invented weapon result in a new kind of defence. Today’s military personnel must not only adapt to technological, tactical and environmental changes, but also to new kind of objectives. Missions, conducted under the authorization of the UN, consist not only of combat missions, but also of considerable amount of civil-military cooperation (CIMIC). If adaptability is part of what has taken us this far, it’s reasonable to assume that adaptability will be as important in the future to come. Hence, an armed force with a high level of adaptability is likely to be advantageous over a less adaptable enemy. This paper was written with the sole purpose of finding out whether the Swedish Armed Forces’ (SAF) command &amp; control-method (Auftragstaktik) and the provided leadership model (Developmental leadership) were consistent with the development of adaptable officers. A describing comparison indicated numerous similarities between all three concepts, thus it would seem auftragstaktik and developmental leadership has in-born support for the development of adaptability.

Market globalization and steep competition are increasing the need for more efficient and effective strategies in meeting evolving market demands. Adopting a more integrated approach to supply chain relationship management has been increasingly viewed as a way of meeting changing customer needs. This thesis work explores lean and agility frameworks as tools for achieving supply chain integration. Different aspects of the concepts of lean and agility and their applications in the supply chain are presented based on theoretical literature. Thus, this thesis seeks to point out the impact that the concepts of lean and agility can have on the supply chain as a whole. Four companies have been investigated in connection to the level of awareness, perception, and practical application of these tools in their supply chain. To this end, information was collected in a survey questionnaire from these four companies and supported by an interview. The results show that lean and agility are important tools to achieve supply chain integration, but respondents are yet to fully achieve the transition to lean/agile enterprise. It could be said that lean/agile supply chain is still more in theory than in practice. The level of awareness to market changes is high but there seem to be no specific way in achieving integration in the supply as there is wide variation in the way one company achieves it with respect to another. Generally, respondents are implementing lean/agile principles in cooperation and collaboration with suppliers and customers, demand pull system, and using combination of strategies. However, it is clear that adequate market information is required when trying to fit lean/agile principles into supply chain strategy. Furthermore, all respondent recognise the need for change to satisfy customer need, but the respond to change vary from one company to another. Also, there is a gradual shift from traditional focus solely on cost and profit to customer relation relationship management and customer satisfaction. Consequently, companies are organizing themselves around the customer who pulls goods and value from the producer of the goods.

Companies face competition that comes at them from different directions in the current environment of globalization, deregulation and the push for greater mass customization of products, which still can be differentiated from other products and services. A large number of companies have outsourced a large percentage of their non-core activities in order to concentrate on their core competencies with transportation of their goods being one of the aspects that they have outsourced. Companies are faced with shorter lead times, inaccurate forecasts, unexpected delays in production and need to seek out alternative transportation modes in order to get their goods to market on time. Transportation by air ends up being the best choice to handle requirements of time sensitivity and the transportation of high value goods. The purpose of this thesis was to investigate how the air freight supply chain and network that is in place in the Jönkoping region is constructed; in addition to seeking out information in regards to the type of air freight goods being transported into and out of the region; along with the buying behavior and promotion strategies utilized in the promotion of air freight within the region of Jonkoping. The conclusions from this thesis show that there are a number of key actors (integrators and freight forwarders) involved in the air freight network within the Jönköping region. A number of them indicated that the actors they mainly interacted with, in terms of activity links and resource ties, were limited to the airports that were outside of the Jönköping region. There were a few of the actors in terms of integrators that did interact with the Jönköping airport in a capacity that was greater than other actors. In terms of the type of air freight goods that were transported into and out of the region spare parts made up a major portion of the goods transported, followed by clothing and textiles, and other mechanical industry products. The promotion of air freight mostly performed by integrators to their customers is done in terms of emphasizing reliability, punctuality, regularity and security to their customers.

Background: Today’s business environment is characterized by fast-changing technologies and shorter product life-cycles, well-educated customers and fierce competition. Within this context, agile manufacturing is praised in the literature as one of the solutions for achieving and maintaining a competitive advantage in turbulent times. Aim: The purpose of this master thesis is to fill in the identified theoretical and empirical gaps by exploring and scrutinizing the relevancy of the agile manufacturing concept in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the computer, electronic and optical manufacturing industry in Sweden. Furthermore, a model illustrating the agile manufacturing enablers applied in the selected industry will be developed. Definition: Agile manufacturing can be defined as a new production concept integrating employees, suppliers and customers, as well as units of production by using the support of software and communication systems. Methodology: Eight interviews with managers have been conducted in order to capture the big picture of how the SMEs in the chosen industry enable responsiveness to changes. A survey answered by 50 SMEs within the same industry was carried out in order to test the interview findings on a larger scale and to provide the basis for a further comparison with the existing agile manufacturing body of knowledge Results: Agile manufacturing is indeed relevant in the studied industry as it is driven by agility drivers and thus characterized by fast-changing technologies and well-educated customers. However, the agile manufacturing enablers partly differ from the ones praised in the literature and are more adjusted to the size and characteristics of SMEs. Nevertheless, a conscious awareness of the agile manufacturing concept itself was not found and the enablers identified were rather described as logical business thinking.

ABSTRACT FINANCIAL STRATEGIC PLANNING AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT: A COMPARATIVE CASE STUDY ON TURKISH BANKING SECTOR DURTAS BASPINAR, Canan Pelin M.Sc., Science and Technology Policy Studies Supervisor: Dr. Nusret G&uuml / &ccedil / l&uuml / September 2012, 103 pages It is not easy to set up a knowledge management system (KMS) in banking due to the size of large services, the variety of products, dealing with large information, serving under high cost pressure and highly competitive market conditions. This thesis proposes that strategic management is a knowledge processing outcome, and should be an integral part of the financial strategic planning (FSP), which is essential in the agility of financial organizations.. This thesis will explore a FSP model that is developed by merging and integrating the two models &ldquo / The new knowledge management&rdquo / (Firestone &amp / McElroy, 2003) and &ldquo / APQC Process Classification Framework&rdquo / (APQC, 2011). In light of the merged models a measurable indicator set is defined based on the literature and the researcher&rsquo / s personal experience. To validate the thesis, two case studies have been carried out by using qualitative and a participatory approach in one foreign owned and one jointly controlled bank in Turkey in order to validate the model. Since the case studies consist of specific information on the studied banks, the details are presented separately in a technical paper. The main findings of the case studies show that two different knowledge management (KM) approaches &ldquo / The new knowledge management&rdquo / and &ldquo / APQC Process Classification Framework&rdquo / can be combined in a unified model which can be used to increase agility in turbulent economic environments.

<p><strong>Master’s Thesis in Logistics and Supply Chain Management</strong></p><p><strong>_____________________________________________________</strong></p><p><strong>Title:                 Postponement in Retailing Industry- A case study of SIBA</strong></p><p><strong>Authors:         Ahmed Kemal & Naqvi Syed Mohammad</strong></p><p><strong>Tutor:               Helgi Valur Fredriksson, Dr.</strong></p><p><strong>Date:               May, 2010</strong></p><p><strong>Key Words:   Speculation, Postponement, Customer Order Decoupling point,</strong></p><p><strong> Retailing, Supply Chain Flexibility, Agility</strong></p><p><strong>______________________________________________________________</strong></p><p><strong>Abstract</strong><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Problem: </strong>Today's business environment is characterized by changing customer demands, increasing cost pressures on retailers, shorter product life cycles and products becoming obsolete shortly after their introduction. The above factors make it difficult for electronics retailers to balance the costs of dealing with excessive inventory and not be out of stock. To be competitive, retailers should delay some of their activities until customer demand becomes visible. This brings us to the phenomenon of postponement. Electronics market in Sweden faces continuous growth, although at a declining rate. This is indicative of a saturation that this sector, as a whole, is approaching to. The above problems are due to the speculative approaches and standardized products policies that are in practice. Loss of sales and customers result from these practices. The current study analyses the importance of postponement strategy and the benefits it offers. This study also tries to explore the potential solutions for retailers that postponement may relate to.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Purpose:</strong> The scope of this study is to identify possible postponement strategies needed for SIBA.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>A case study approach has been taken. The choice of the method is qualitative with an inductive approach. This involved personal communications during interviews with the managers of SIBA, using semi structured questions to collect data.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The concepts of postponement, supply chain flexibility, agility and customer order decoupling points (CODP) are closely related to one another and it has been shown that as the depth of postponement increase from right to left in the CODP continuum, the CODP changes its position, moving along the CODP continuum from right to left and towards the upstream. With this movement, the flexibility and agility in the chain increases. Our finds suggest that postponement is rather underutilized and that wastes (by way of lost sales and customers, obsolete inventory costs and storage costs) in the retailing process occur due to speculative approaches in application at the retail level. We have suggested logistics postponement for two out of three product categories and enumerated the ensuing benefits that the retailer can derive by way of enhanced flexibility, agility and reductions in wastages and satisfied customers.</p>

Collegiate athletes are always looking for ways to improve their performance. Resistance training has been incorporated into most collegiate athletic programs for this very reason. In order to improve strength, lean body mass, and exercise performance, resistance exercise and timely protein ingestion must be followed. Incorporating protein ingestion into a resistance training routine has been shown to improve net protein balance. Milk protein is gaining popularity as an ergogenic aid. There has been growing interest in the potential use of bovine milk (cow’s milk) as an exercise beverage, especially during recovery from resistance training and endurance sports. No studies have been conducted comparing fat free chocolate milk and low fat chocolate milk on muscular strength and body composition in collegiate softball players. The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether fat free chocolate milk and low fat chocolate milk ingested after resistance exercise improves common performance assessments of collegiate softball players. Specifically, the performance assessments were the vertical jump test, 20-yard sprint, and the agility t-test. The participants were randomized according to strength and bodyweight, in a double blind experimental design. The 18 female, collegiate softball players (18.5 ± .7 yrs; 65.7 ± 1.8 inches; 156.2 ± 21.6 kg) ingested either fat free chocolate milk or low fat chocolate milk immediately after resistance exercise workouts for an 8-week period. Dependent variables included vertical jump test, 20-yard sprint test and agility t-test. The data was analyzed via a paired samples t-test (to detect difference across both groups over the eight week training period) and an independent samples t-test (to detect differences between the groups) using SPSS for Windows 15.0. No statistically significant differences were found in the vertical jump, 20 yard sprint, or agility t-test between the fat free chocolate milk group and the low fat chocolate milk group. The major, statistical, finding of this study is that the consumption of commercially available fat free chocolate milk versus low fat chocolate milk drink does not produce improvements in exercise performance in conjunction with an eight week periodized, resistance training program in collegiate softball players. The difference of 10 grams of fat (two servings per container) did not alter any of the performance variables (20 yard sprint, vertical jump or agility t-test).

Syfte och frågeställningar  1. Finns det ett samband mellan tiden mellan fotisättningarna (främre respektive bakre fot) och sparkhastigheten?  2. Hur påverkar bakre fotens kontakttid sparkhastigheten?  3. Hur påverkar den vertikala kraften på främre respektive bakre fot sparkhastigheten?  4. Hur påverkar tiden till uppnådd maximal vertikalkraft på främre respektive bakre fot sparkhastigheten?  Syftet med studien var att inom testgruppen undersöka hur kontakttid och belastningskaraktär påverkar sparkhastigheten i en rundspark som föregås av ett step.    Metod  Studien innefattar analys av en rundsparkteknik med föregående horisontell förflyttning i lateral riktning från utgångsposition. Rörelsen benämns i studien som step. Testgruppen utgjordes av 5 Svenska elit Taekwondoutövare, men pga tekniska problem begränsades gruppen till 3 personer (2 män 1 kvinna). Rörelseförloppet fasindelades i 3 huvudfaser och 2 underfaser (1-stepfas, 2.1-kontaktfas 1, 2.2-kontaktfas 2 och 3-sparkfas). Tid och sträcka i fas 1 och 3 genomfördes med hjälp av höghastighetskamera (Casio Exilim High speed, Casio computer Co. Ltd, Japan.). Vertikalkraft och tid på höger respektive vänster fot mättes med kraftplattor (DBA dual-forceplate systems, Sverige).  Resultat  Resultatet visade att det inom testgruppen inte fanns något samband mellan sparkhastighet och tid mellan fotisättningarna. Däremot fanns en tendens till att bakre fotens kontakttid påverkar sparkhastigheten (kort tid = hög sparkhastighet). Det fanns också tendenser till samband mellan hög sparkhastighet och hög maximal vertikalkraft samt tid till denna (time to peak force) på stödjefoten. Dessa tendenser sågs inte på sparkfoten.  Slutsats  Resultaten indikerar att det finns tendenser till att kort kontakttid på sparkfoten samt förmågan att under kort tid generera hög vertikalkraft på stödjefoten är av betydelse för optimering av sparkhastighet. Resultaten bör dock ses som mycket preliminära och behöver konfirmeras med studier på ett större material.