<p>The ever increasing regional and global trade competition has manifested itself in a growing number of non-standard forms of employment including the increasing use of &quot / temporary employment services&quot / (or &ldquo / labour brokers&rdquo / as commonly referred to). Labour brokers enter into employment relationships as third parties with client companies to supply employees through a commercial contract. These labour services usually fall outside the regular twoparty contract of employment defined under existing labour laws and thus the employees are not covered by that law. Labour brokers have been labelled as &ldquo / the re-emergence of new apartheid strategy&rdquo / and &ldquo / modern slavery&rdquo / by some quarters in labour sectors of Namibia and South Africa. Trade unions, particularly, have led the most vocal resistance against labour brokers in both countries. They argue that, like previous apartheid contract labour systems, labour brokers today erode standards for decent working conditions and weaken union representations in the workplace. Thus unions have repeatedly sent strong calls to lawmakers to amend existing labour laws and &bdquo / forever put labour broking in its grave where it belong‟1. On the other hand, employers have argued that recent forces of globalisation demand flexible employment strategies and banning labour brokers will make it more difficult for local businesses compete profitably globally via flexible short term employments and can lead to losses of many job opportunities.2 It is against this background that I will argue that current labour laws should be amended to define and regulate labour brokers more closely and compel them to recognise workers rights and conditions as equal as those of standard employees. But first, I will highlight some socio-economic indicators influencing the labour markets in South Africa and Namibia, including the history of worker‟s rights under the contract labour systems in both countries. Second, I will look at some of the expressed exploitive conditions resulting from the use of labour brokers and also look at some reasons why businesses engage labour brokers. Thereafter I will point out some of the reasons why trade unions have called for a total ban on labour brokers. I will then discuss the difficulty of banning labour brokers, including the constitutional challenge in the landmark case of African Personnel Services v Government of the Republic of Namibia3. Lastly i will expand on the ruling by the Namibian Supreme Court of Appeal (NSA) recommending a regulatory approach in line with the International Labour Organisation‟s (ILO) conventions on third-party employments.</p>

Title: Personality traits of business students, are they like everybody else? A study of The Big Five- theory. Level: Final assignment for Bachelor Degrees in Business Administration Author: Linn Haglund and Josefine Schöön Supervisor: Jonas KågströmDate: 2018 – MayAim: The purpose of this study is to analyze students’ at specialized sales programs, at an academic level, personality traits in relation to active, high-performing, professionals using The Big Five. Method: We chose to implement a quantitative investigation based on a deductive approach. The empirical material was obtained by a survey that was distributed to 445 real estate students at University of Luleå, University of Malmö and College of Gävle. The recieved data was then analyzed via the analytic and statistical program SPSS where we chose to conduct a descriptive analysis, correlation analysis and cluster analysis. Result &amp; Conclusion: The results shows that there is a specific profile for real estate students who are characterized by high values of the personalitytraits openness, conscientiousness, extraversion and agreeablesness along with lower value of neuroticism. This means that those who study to become a real estate agent are more open, conscientious, outward and compassionate as well as less anxious and insecure in general in comparison with other people. The results also shows that the majority of the real estate students have similar personality types as high-performing real estate agents. Contribution of the thesis: This essay contributes to an increased understanding of how personality analyzes can bring prospective students into the right industry. The result is also valuable to trainers in real estate brokerage and real estate brokers, as it can provide a better insight into the recruitment of prospective real estate agents. The study also confirms previous research that shows that high values of conscientiousness and targeted work together with low values of neuroticism provide good conditions in the sales sector, which is a contribution to business research. Suggestions for future research: Since this study focuses on real estate students and their personalities, it would be interesting to study other programs to see if real estate students differ in comparison with other students, and if they do in which personality traits. It would also be interesting to continue comparing real estate student’s personality profiles with real estate brokers, both those with long experience and those who are newly graduated. Keywords: “The Big Five”, personality, sales, real estate brokers, real estate agents

Taking the theme of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), this study was developed in the Brazilian segment of the insurance brokerage that represents significant role in the economy. In the theoretical framework, the Ethos Indicators (ETHOS, 2007) are used as a parameter. Similarly, field research was conducted in four insurance brokers listed in the Ethos Institute of Business and Social Responsibility, based in 2007. The objective of this research is to investigate the stage of development of indicators related to the themes Values, Transparency and Governance and Internal Public, which are part of the list of seven topics of the questionnaire of the Ethos Institute. The cut made reflects the relevance of these themes and their subthemes for the field in focus. This is a descriptive-exploratory research, conducted through a survey. As for the results, it appears that although there is some concern to deepen the practice of CSR, they are, in general, still in early stages, requiring, therefore, a commitment of companies towards more effective actions. Of the two issues addressed, there is concentration of actions in the Internal Public, through conduct targeted in relations with officials, as seen in indicators related to the subtheme decent work. Despite the complexity of the activity and the ethical underpinning to it, because it relies on a relationship of trust, the insurance brokers show reluctance in terms of socially responsible practices, which indicates a lack of awareness of the importance of this theme in their field of expertise. Because of the broad horizon that represents the subject in the dynamic economy, future studies may contribute to the further deepening of the subject in the activity of insurance brokerage, encouraging other companies to join the CSR movement, enabling a new social reality to arise in the segment. / Tendo por tema a Responsabilidade Social Empresarial (RSE), este estudo foi desenvolvido no segmento brasileiro de corretagem de seguros que representa significativo papel na economia do paÃs. No referencial teÃrico, sÃo utilizados como parÃmetro os Indicadores Ethos (ETHOS, 2007). Do mesmo modo, na pesquisa de campo, sÃo investigadas as quatro corretoras de seguros listadas no Instituto Ethos de Empresas e Responsabilidade Social, base 2007. O objetivo da pesquisa à investigar o estÃgio de desenvolvimento dos indicadores relacionados aos temas Valores, TransparÃncia e GovernanÃa e PÃblico Interno, que fazem parte do rol de sete temas do questionÃrio do Instituto Ethos. O recorte feito reflete a relevÃncia destes temas e de seus subtemas para o campo em foco. Trata-se de uma pesquisa exploratÃria-descritiva, realizada mediante um survey. Quanto aos resultados, verifica-se que, embora haja uma certa preocupaÃÃo em se aprofundar as prÃticas de RSE, estas encontram-se, em geral, ainda em fase inicial, exigindo, portanto, das empresas um compromisso mais eficaz em direÃÃo Ãs aÃÃes. Dos dois temas abordados, hà concentraÃÃo de aÃÃes no PÃblico Interno, mediante conduta direcionada nas relaÃÃes com os funcionÃrios, conforme se và nos indicadores relacionados ao subtema trabalho decente. Apesar da complexidade da atividade e do cunho Ãtico que lhe à subjacente, dado que se assenta em uma relaÃÃo de confianÃa, os corretores de seguros demonstram timidez em termos de prÃticas socialmente responsÃveis, indicando desconhecerem a importÃncia deste tema em seu campo de atuaÃÃo. Em razÃo do vasto horizonte que o tema representa na dinÃmica econÃmica, estudos futuros podem contribuir para o aprofundamento do assunto ainda na atividade de corretagem de seguros, incentivando outras empresas a ingressarem no movimento da RSE, permitindo que uma nova realidade social imirja no segmento.

The thesis deals with life insurance market in Czech Republic, its trends and importance. In the first place it defines life insurance and its importance for individuals and whole community. It looks at possible ways how to sign an insurance contract and particularly it explores a work of insurance brokers and deals with the actual questions of the brokerage distribution of insurance. Furthermore, it examines the life insurance market trends since 1990s, it compares it with the trends in European union and sums up the sources of results. Finally, it shows the importance of life insurance for Czech citizens based on questionnaire and predicts future trends of life insurance market in Czech Republic.

Magister Philosophiae - MPhil / In the early 1990s, South Africa (SA) entered its democratic transition, which created expectations of a dramatic turnaround in the country’s economy.1 The readmission of SA to the global arena introduced the economy to concepts such as globalisation. Globalisation came with some implications and impact that have been widely debated.2 The democratic transition brought a significant change to the job spectrum, generating an increase in Temporary Employment Service (TES) and a decrease in permanent employment.3 The reasons leading to this increase are that subcontracting is beneficial to employers in that this process results in the transferral of social risks to the subcontractor, reducing direct exposure to labour legislation.4 Regarding the pertinence of this issue, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), the biggest union federation in the country, and the ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), have long called for the elimination of labour brokers.5 COSATU, in its presentation to the Portfolio Committee on Labour in 2009, argued that labour brokers act as intermediaries to access jobs that allegedly exist, and which in many cases would have existed previously as permanent full time jobs.6 On the other hand, political organisations, such as the Democratic Alliance (DA), Congress of the People (COPE) and Business Unity South Africa (BUSA), have called for the regulation of labour brokers.7 These organisations argued that competition among businesses has increased over the past few decades. Therefore, in order to remain competitive, it is imperative to enhance technology and to adopt flexibility regarding human resource processes to minimise costs and to allow companies to broaden their investment based on the positive turnover that will occur. The continuing point of view of the opposition political coalitions has been to boost the corporate.

En el 2017 la industria de los seguros de vida y no vida en el Perú facturó cerca de 11,327 millones de soles, un 0.6% más respecto al año anterior (Superintendencia de Banca y Seguros, 2016), y alcanzó un nivel de penetración en el PBI de 1.6%. Esto muestra el amplio espacio de la industria para seguir creciendo, y para seguir ofreciendo productos de cobertura individual y masiva (Equilibrium, 2018), si la comparamos con otros mercados del globo. La industria se basa en una red de distribución de corredores de seguros, conformada principalmente por empresas unipersonales o familiares basadas en esfuerzos comerciales personales en las que el relacionamiento directo o indirecto del dueño de la empresa determina el radio de acción de la compañía. Sin embargo, al tener labores operativas atendidas principalmente por humanos y en formatos impresos físicos, pueden presentarse numerosos errores durante el ciclo de venta. Para mejorar la productividad de estas empresas, proponemos la creación de Previsor, un Sistema Integrado de Gestión que permitirá a los corredores contar con la información de sus clientes de forma rápida, continua y eficiente desde cualquier dispositivo conectado al internet, ayudando a aumentar sus ventas cruzadas y a manejar sus emisiones de las pólizas. Estimamos que nuestro servicio tendrá un pago mensual de US$ 150.00, mientras que para su inversión estimamos cerca de $500,000.00, un VAN de casi US$ 1.7 millones y una TIR de 253%, lo que será sumamente atractivo para los inversionistas que involucraremos a lo largo del proyecto. / In 2017, the insurance and non-life insurance industry in Peru billed close to 11,327 million Soles, 0.6% more than the previous year (Superintendencia de Banca y Seguros, 2016); and it permeated through the GDP in a 1.6%. This scenario shows the wide potential of the industry to continue growing and to keep offering products of individual and massive coverage (Equilibrium, 2018) if we compare it with other markets of the globe. The industry is based in a distribution network of brokers, which is mainly composed of sole proprietorships or family enterprises based in personal commercial efforts, in which the direct or indirect relationship of the owner determines the action scope of the company. However, as their tasks are mainly attended by humans and in physical printed formats, numerous mistakes can occur during the sales cycle. In order to improve the productivity of these enterprises, we propose the creation of Previsor, an Integrated Management System which will allow the insurance brokers to access to their clients’ information in a fast, continuous, and efficient way. The system can be accessed from any device connected to the internet, which will help the brokers to increase their crossed sales and to manage their policy emissions. We estimate that our service will have a monthly payment of US$ 150.00, an investment of $500,000.00 approximately, an NPV of almost US $ 1.7 million, and an IRR of 253%. These are estimations that can make our project a very attractive opportunity for any future investors. / Trabajo de investigación

Magister Philosophiae - MPhil / In the early 1990s, South Africa (SA) entered its democratic transition, which created expectations of a dramatic turnaround in the country’s economy.1 The readmission of SA to the global arena introduced the economy to concepts such as globalisation. Globalisation came with some implications and impact that have been widely debated.2 The democratic transition brought a significant change to the job spectrum, generating an increase in Temporary Employment Service (TES) and a decrease in permanent employment.3 The reasons leading to this increase are that subcontracting is beneficial to employers in that this process results in the transferral of social risks to the subcontractor, reducing direct exposure to labour legislation.4 Regarding the pertinence of this issue, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), the biggest union federation in the country, and the ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), have long called for the elimination of labour brokers.5 COSATU, in its presentation to the Portfolio Committee on Labour in 2009, argued that labour brokers act as intermediaries to access jobs that allegedly exist, and which in many cases would have existed previously as permanent full time jobs.6

Inledning: I relation till det snabbföränderliga samhället som präglas av fortsatt digitalisering fortsätter strömmarna av nya och hårda konsumentkrav som påverkar den renodlade och traditionella mäklarfirmans verksamhet. Idag ställs således en stor press på mäklarfirmor att kunna särskilja sig från konkurrenter med syfte att kunna anta en stark position på marknaden. Syfte: Studien undersöka hur nya mäklarfirmor arbetar för att differentiera sig från konkurrerande aktörer med syfte att kunna etablera sig framgångsrikt på marknaden. Metod: Studien använder sig utav en kvalitativ metod med intervjuer som datainsamlingssätt. Vidare tillämpas en tematisk analysmodell på empiriskt material för att kunna bearbeta samt analysera data. Resultat: Respondenter uppgav att de hade en liknande inställning beträffande mäklararbete riktat till kunder där de alla utgick från en individanpassad kundcentrerad modell. Kontakten till kunderna skedde initialt företrädelsevis via digitala plattformar för att sedan övergå till personliga kontakter via telefon samt fysiska möten. Slutsats: Studien visar att nya mäklarfirmor vid sin etablering främst behöver fokusera på två olika områden: kunden samt den egna verksamheten. Studien visar att samtliga mäklare anser att grunden som deras arbete vilar på är att skapa en tillitsfull relation med den tilltänkta kunden. Denna relation byggs på en tydlig och rak kommunikation där det är mäklarens roll att identifiera kundens förväntningar för att sedan i bästa möjliga mån möta dessa förväntningar. / Introduction: In relation to the rapidly changing society that is characterized by continued digitalization, the streams of new and harsh consumer demands that affect the traditional brokerage businesses continue. Today, there is thus a great deal of pressure on brokerage firms to be able to differentiate themselves from competitors to be able to assume a strong position in the market. Objective: The study investigates how new brokerage firms work to differentiate themselves from competing players with the aim of successfully establishing themselves on the market. Method: The study uses a qualitative method with interviews as a data collection method. Furthermore, a thematic analysis model is applied to empirical material to process and analyze data. Results: Respondents stated that they had a similar attitude regarding brokerage work aimed at customers, where they all started from an individualized customer-centered model. The contact with the customers initially took place primarily via digital platforms and then through personal contacts via telephone and physical meetings. Conclusion: The study shows that new brokerage firms when establishing themselves mainly need to focus on two different areas: the customer and their own business. The study shows that all brokers believe that the foundation on which their work is based is to create a trusting relationship with the intended customer. This relationship is based on clear and straightforward communication where it is the broker's role to identify the client's expectations and then to meet these expectations as best as possible.

Driven by the insight that knowledge is power and, therefore, it is the core element for a company to be successful I examined which strategies enhance knowledge-sharing practices and processes among the HEI’s co-workers in order to create new competitive niches. This is especially important in times of ongoing change at an international level as HEIs seem to be increasingly in competition among one another for funds and students' intake. I based my study on the theoretical framework of Nonaka & Takeuchi’s SECI model of knowledge creation (1995) where, according to the authors, the knowledge-sharing takes place in four modes: socialization, externalization, combination and internalization. The main focus of my thesis is the socialization dimension, hence, the face-to-face communication between co-workers and their shared experiences and skills: the ‘tacit to tacit’ knowledge-sharing; the interaction between the different co-workers in the socialization process. Since all knowledge derives from tacit knowledge originally, tacit knowledge is, according to Nonaka/Takeuchi (1995), a person's own personal knowledge and his/her experience and skills; whereas explicit knowledge, on the other hand, is the formal and codified knowledge open to everybody via documents in a systematic language. The study of both literature and empirical data has shown that a special attention must be given to the resource-based view on strategy as it emphasizes the importance of the socialization mode by connecting the respective co-workers with one another in order to create something new. It is such a strategy that focuses on the best deployment of the knowledge resources in order for the institution to take advantage of their co-workers’ embedded, natural, context-specific, difficult to express and attached to the knower’s tacit knowledge. As a result, the key properties of a knowledge-enabling environment (in this thesis called ‘ba’) have been analyzed where tacit knowledge receives its attention by creating space and time for the tacit, hidden, embedded knowledge to emerge. Further field studies in different realities would now be helpful to further extract common patterns for the creation of a sense-making framework of strategy where the tacit dimension of each co-worker is seen to be a unique and remarkable asset for HEIs in order to gain a position of competitive advantage in the market place.

This study contributes an original, practice-based analysis of knowledge brokering in inter-organisational communities of practice in the not-for-profit sector. Defining characteristics of the not-for-profit sector include its social values, principles and practices. Existing literature understates or overlooks the significance of values and principles that are manifested in and enlivened through every day social practices and practitioner encounters. The study contributes by presenting knowledge brokering as a knowledge sharing intervention which integrates people, processes, values and principles into practice. Knowledge brokering and other practice interventions in the not-for-profit sector have to align with its social mission, if they are to be compatible and effective. This is especially so in multi-agency partnerships and inter-organisational communities of practice where collaboration and co-existence rather than assimilation are the primary objectives. This study finds that values-compatible knowledge brokering interventions, boundary bridging, co-creation, common artefacts and knowledge sharing, enable inter-organisational communities of practice to evolve without sacrificing individual autonomy. Foundational knowledge brokering literature emphasises the structural position of the knowledge broker, their knowledge superiority and the benefits they accrue by operating on the periphery of a social network. The study contributes by arguing that knowledge brokering processes and roles can be examined through an alternative practice lens with the knowledge broker as an internal co-practitioner located within a network. The study was carried out in a new, time-limited multi-agency partnership project in the not-for-profit sector. The partnership constituted an inter-organisational community of practice comprising advice, information and support agencies that had agreed to work collaboratively to improve local services. The author was employed as the project s Knowledge Management Officer and carried out the study over a two year period using an insider action research approach. As an insider practitioner-researcher, the author contributed to the project s objectives, worked collaboratively with practitioners and gathered rich data. Action and research occurred simultaneously and the iterative processes enabled the cumulative learning to inform, develop and analyse the practice. The combination of using insider action research approach, an examination of knowledge brokering as a practice intervention and a multi-agency, not-for-profit setting, makes this a unique practice-based study untapping knowledge management lessons from the not-for-profit sector.