This paper presents the challenges faced by the retailers during the adoption of smart packaging in food packaging industry. The paper introduces three largest food retailers in Sweden, and the problems they faced during the introduction of the adoption of smart packaging technologies packaging. Introduction- The authors present the paper with complete background of the food packaging industry in general, as well as each types of smart packaging techniques. In addition, the paper introduces the adoption process for the smart packaging. The research question of this paper is: What are the hinders of adopting smart packaging technology in food packaging industry and why? • What challenges do they face during the adoption process? • What are the hinders in this adoption process? • What are the new hinders in this adoption process? Purpose- The main purpose of this paper is to find the challenges that occur during the adoption of smart packaging in food packaging industry faced by the retailers. Knowing the basic knowledge of the food packaging industry and giving importance to the challenges may lead to achieve our aim. Methodology- This research paper uses the research onion model as a methodology to analyse the gathered data. The authors performed interviews with retailers and end-users of food packaging industry to analyse their challenges during the adoption of smart packaging. The collected data are further discussed in the analysis and discussion part. Conclusion- This paper concludes the adoption in the new technology and concentrates on how each retailer has their own perspective to see the quality and use it to overcome the adoption process. This paper describes the common and unique challenges faced by the retailers during the adoption process. The main common challenges faced by all the retailers in common was to create awareness and to make end-user understand the adoption process but also the benefits of adoption. The most important challenges faced by the retailers of ICA is they consider that adopting to new technology in smart packaging is a challenge for them, because they must create an understanding about the new technology to the end-users which requires a lot of time for the adoption process. According to Coop the open to new smart packaging technologies because since they use only localize products and resources, the overall cost of the product increases which again becomes a barrier for end-user adoption. The interviewee from Willys state that they offer affordable smart packaging technologies without creating barrier for customer adoption, at the same time they are not willing to adopt new technologies without testing its feasibility with the customers. Omar, Uma Thesis in Industrial Innovation Management (IN7001) iii Limitation- The aim of this study is focused on only one element of smart packaging i.e. “Adoption”. Moreover, this study is limited to adoption of smart packaging done in three companies (Coop, Willys & ICA Maxi) in the retail sector in Halmstad, Sweden. This study is conducted from the retailer perspective, by analysing the challenges faced by the retailers during the adoption process.

This thesis investigates the influence of attitude on the life of an individual and the role that it can play inside and outside today’s organizations. The purpose of the thesis is to gain insight on the subject of attitude and its significance both in the life of today’s employee and on the management and leadership of today’s organizations. I will endeavor to investigate the importance of cultivating a positive attitude and the consequences of yielding to a negative attitude. I will also discuss why attitude not only can influence the firm’s progress but also the external image and advancement of the organization as well.With the abduction and narrative approaches, I will endeavor to explain the importance of maintaining a positive attitude and ways of understanding individuals’ attitudes and their influence on their overall performance. I will also attempt to address how employees in a given organization can deal with a customer who has a sour attitude. Moreover, I’ll address some of the possible causes of negative attitudes. The theoretical research will help expound on the subject matter. Through empirical research, I’ll attempt to address the fact that despite an employee’s skills and competence, positive attitude can be an added advantage.With an understanding based of my personal life experience, I’ll explain how I struggled with negative attitudes especially during my early years in Sweden and how I eventually made an attitude adjustment. My personal experience at the Sheraton will be used as a case study on the subject of attitude. Furthermore, I’ll examine some other life experiences such as the lessons I learned from my father on the subject. Besides, I’ll discuss the challenge of attitude on leadership as well. Finally, I will conclude with a discussion on the fact that attitude needs to be addressed in a good-enough approach thereby circumventing the trap of making attitude appear to be the principle aspect as this may lead to absolutism. / Uppsatsnivå: D

The purpose of the study was to explore the current IT-outsourcing situation in China, find out what challenges exist and figure out ways of managing these challenges with the help of ICT.To achieve the purpose of the study a case study was performed in Shanghai, China. The case study was built around several interviews with the representatives of three IT-Outsourcing companies that work globally from Shanghai, China. All of the companies that were involved in the process of conducting the study were big established companies that are experts in their respective field. All of the interviewees were either from a management part of the company or selected by the management to represent their companies in the interviews.The study was performed with a qualitative research approach and was divided into a theoretical section where the current IT-Outsourcing situation was displayed and thereby the theoretical challenges were presented. This presented a need for verification on the theoretical elements and also created information gaps that needed to be filled by conducting an empirical study.The empirical study was then built around the gaps that needed to be filled in order for ICT to become an even more efficient enabler for IT-Outsourcing. Thereby four semi-structured interviews were conducted with three different companies. With the help of the theoretical and empirical studies an analytic approach were applied to then answer the research questions that are directly connected to the purpose of the study, making it possible to identify the challenges that needed to be addressed and mapping the current IT-outsourcing situation in China. These challenges then addressed and displayed in six different tables with an explanatory text attached to each table for further validation and clarification on the table content.Based on the findings, the research could then be validated with a theoretical and empirical analysis that gave grounds for the conclusions that part take in answering the research questions that give ground for the purpose of the study. / Program: Systemvetarutbildningen

Context: Requirements change commonly occurs during the software development lifecycle. Requirements traceability is one of the important techniques to support requirement change management and analysis, ensure quality and keep requirements consistent during development. We find that existing research mentioned various issues and challenges during practicing requirements traceability, and the practitioners show certain obstacles on the subject. Major existing work of the area focuses on requirements traceability processes, frameworks, and techniques to address certain issues accordingly. And we want to focus on and investigate the existing challenges to practice requirements traceability systematically. Method: We investigate the requirements traceability and its challenges through a systematic literature review (SLR) of various concepts and existing challenges of requirements traceability, and a survey of 7 Chinese small-and-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). With 7 interviews, we studied different traceability practices and situations with the surveyed companies under the possible impact of requirement change, development processes, tools, and other factors. And then we conducted conventional qualitative content analysis to identify and classify the challenges in practicing requirements traceability. Results: With the systematic literature review, we classified 14 categories of academic identified challenges. Through the collected data of the survey, we identified and discussed 6 categories of the requirement traceability challenges, involving costs, tools, awareness, documentation, etc. And we compared and discussed the connections and differences of the survey results with the literature for validation of our survey results and possible extension to the existing work. Through research, we may help the practitioners to deal with requirements change with traceability practice better by recognizing and preventing the obstacles. Our research may provide researchers with more information on practical situations. And in the future, researchers may study the traceability models more effectively aiming at addressing the existing problems.

Companies have a need to internationalize and locate all over the world to gain advantages against competition. However, when companies internationalize, they face difficulties. One of the major difficulties is how they can reach the same high quality around the world in their business facilities. Over one third of all construction projects reporting major defects. The purpose of this thesis is to research how companies implement Quality Management in offshore construction projects, what are the common challenges related to the subject and how to overcome these challenges. The theoretical framework for the study is gathered from academic literature. The thesis uses a qualitative research approach. The primary data is gathered through interviews and observations that are conducted on an offshore construction site. The case study in this thesis researches how a multinational company handles Quality Management in an offshore construction project.  The company’s Quality Management guidelines and practices have been established in Europe, whereas the location and context of this study is in Southeast-Asia. The difference in business context and cultures causes additional challenges in implementing Quality Management in the project. After analyzing the data, the company’s Quality Management practices are compared to suggested practices in the academic literature. These suggestions can be valid for other multinational companies that are expanding to different continents. The results show that when companies do offshoring decisions, relationship quality with contractors and partnership credibility should be central attributes, even if it means doing business with higher priced companies. Many companies do not focus enough on the quality aspect in the contractor tendering phase. Instead they tend to base decisions solely on cost and speed even though bad quality work results in increased costs and delays in construction projects.

This thesis explores in depth the factors influencing growth in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from a supply chain perspective and examines how entrepreneurship affects them in Omani SMEs. The study is undertaken in order to complement the scarce literature on SMEs related to supply chains and improve the understanding of what factors are crucial in determining growth in them. The research is focused on the role of entrepreneurial qualities and behaviours for the growth of SMEs in developing countries, as their economies are more dependent on smaller companies. The context of this research is within Oman, which represents a typical developing economy containing a large number of active SMEs. The main factors for SMEs growth are identified through a literature review of past and contemporary research studies on supply chain networks, SMEs, growth and entrepreneurship. The factors are divided into areas related to the positions of the company (market position of the firm, negotiating power, Supply chain relationships and firm's image), and to SMEs' value-adding capabilities (cost optimisation, and innovations). The review also reveals that the critical entrepreneurial traits are: managers' culture and motivations, strategic thinking, sense for opportunities, risk-taking, continuous learning, their leadership abilities and networking skills. Based on the literature review findings a conceptual framework is proposed. This research is exploratory and explanatory in nature and relies on a qualitative approach to find out how entrepreneurship relates to growth in SMEs. Primary data is collected from in-depth semi-structured interviews with managers in 25 Omani SMEs from various industrial and service sectors 10 representing different supply chain positions. The data is processed through content analysis using the factors identified from the literature review as initial themes. The findings affirm the importance of SMEs' supply chain positions and their value adding capabilities for growth. Furthermore, all elements of entrepreneurship are found to affect growth factors. Results show positive attitude and growth aspirations lead to more proactive market behaviour, while strategic thinking helps managers choose more sustainable market positions. Results indicate leadership improves company costs by increasing employees' motivation and productivity and also facilitates the implementation of innovations. Learning orientation is stated to be crucial for exploring new ideas for innovations, while a good sense for opportunity helps managers evaluate them and choose the right ones. Finally, risk-taking propensity emerges as instrumental in the actual undertaking of innovation projects as it is needed for initiating them.

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / A atuaÃÃo produtiva das empresas provoca degradaÃÃo ambiental, agravada pelo crescimento da demanda por energia e da dependÃncia global dos recursos nÃo-renovÃveis. Um dos mais sÃrios impactos envolve as mudanÃas climÃticas devido Ãs emissÃes de gases de efeito estufa, que afetam todas as empresas, inclusive as do setor eÃlico, direta ou indiretamente. As empresas respondem estrategicamente de forma diferenciada dependendo do grau em que sÃo afetadas e do mercado em que atuam. O trabalho analisa a influÃncia dos stakeholders e dos fatores polÃticos, tecnolÃgicos e ambientais nas estratÃgias dos produtores de energia eÃlica do Brasil e de seus fornecedores, assim como as principais prÃticas adotadas por essas empresas em resposta aos desafios impostos pelas mudanÃas climÃticas. Metodologicamente, optou-se pela realizaÃÃo de pesquisas bibliogrÃfica, documental e de campo. Na pesquisa de campo realizou-se um estudo exploratÃrio, de natureza qualitativa, com a aplicaÃÃo de entrevistas voltadas a identificar os fatores determinantes que influenciam as estratÃgias do setor eÃlico no estado do CearÃ. ApÃs, aplicou-se um questionÃrio, de natureza quantitativa, junto Ãs produtoras de energia eÃlica do Brasil e fornecedores. Os resultados sugerem que os fatores que mais influenciam as estratÃgias empresariais dessas produtoras e seus fornecedores sÃo os polÃticos, com Ãnfase nos leilÃes de energia promovidos pela ANEEL, por meio dos quais sÃo atingidos preÃos mais competitivos no mercado de energia. O stakeholder de maior influÃncia à o acionista, e essa influÃncia indica sua forÃa coercitiva nas decisÃes estratÃgicas das produtoras de energia eÃlica do Brasil e dos fornecedores. A prÃtica empresarial sugerida como a mais adotada foi a de inovaÃÃo, e o resultado demonstra que, na busca da mitigaÃÃo dos efeitos das mudanÃas climÃticas, as empresas podem vir a estimular o desenvolvimento de processos mais limpos e sustentÃveis, alÃm de reduzir os custos relacionados aos seus processos. A adoÃÃo de prÃticas empresariais com o intuito de mitigar ou compensar os efeitos das mudanÃas climÃticas depende da influÃncia de fatores externos. A pressÃo e influÃncia dos stakeholders sÃo de grande importÃncia para que o setor de energias renovÃveis como o da energia eÃlica se consolide no planejamento energÃtico mundial. Na Ãltima dÃcada os empreendimentos eÃlicos brasileiros receberam maior nÃmero de incentivos fiscais e investimentos em tecnologia. Nesse contexto, o estado do Cearà objetiva, com suas aÃÃes, aumentar a competitividade nesse segmento e oferecer uma alternativa viÃvel para minimizar os impactos ambientais decorrentes das mudanÃas climÃticas. / The productive operation of companies causes environmental degradation, worsened by the increasing energy demand and global dependency of non-renewable resources. One of the most serious impacts involves climate change due to emissions of greenhouse gases, which affect all the companies, including the wind sector, directly or indirectly. Companies strategically respond differently depending on how they are affected and the market they serve. This work analyzes the influence of stakeholders and political, technological and environmental factors in the strategies of brazilian wind energy producers and their suppliers, as well as the key practices used by these companies in response to challenges posed by climate change. Methodologically, it was opted to carry out bibliographic, documental and field search. In the field research was conducted an exploratory study, qualitative, with the application of interviews aimed to identify the determining factors that influence the strategies of wind power sector in the state of CearÃ. Then was applied a quantitative questionnaire to brazilian wind energy producers and their suppliers. The results suggest that the factors of most influence in the business strategies of brazilian wind energy producers and their suppliers are the politicians, with emphasis on energy auctions promoted by ANEEL, through which are achieved most competitive prices in energy market. The most influential stakeholder is the shareholder, and this influence indicates the coercive power of the shareholders in the strategic decisions of brazilian wind energy producers and their suppliers. The results indicate that the business practice more widely adopted was the innovation, and the result showed that in the pursuit for mitigating the effects of climate change the companies are likely to stimulate the development of cleaner and sustainable processes, and reduce costs related to their processes, and therefore obtain competitive advantage. The adoption of business practices in order to mitigate or compensate the effects of climate change depends on the influence of external factors. The pressure and influence of stakeholders have great importance for the sector of renewable energies like wind power be consolidated in the world energy planning. In the last decade, brazilian wind power projects received more tax incentives and technology investments. In the context, the state of Cearà aims with their actions to increase their competitiveness in this segment and offer a viable alternative to minimize the environmental impacts of climate change.

O presente trabalho objetiva apresentar os principais desafios enfrentados durante o processo de construção do trabalho de conclusão nos cursos de graduação em Administração e especialização em Negociação Coletiva – ofertados na modalidade a distância pela Escola de Administração da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, na perspectiva dos alunos, tutores e professores orientadores. Este estudo visa otimizar o processo de orientação do trabalho de conclusão de curso na modalidade a distância, servindo como subsídio para a equipe pedagógica, tutores e professores envolvidos nessa atividade. Na revisão de literatura desta pesquisa são apresentadas teorias acerca do processo de ensino-aprendizagem mediado por tecnologias e é feita uma reflexão, à luz da Pedagogia da Autonomia, sobre o perfil do aluno em EAD. Em termos metodológicos, adotou-se a estratégia de estudos de casos múltiplos, sendo que os alunos e tutores participantes desta pesquisa responderam questionários disponibilizados via web e a análise foi feita com base em estatísticas simples e análise de conteúdo, enquanto que os professores foram entrevistados pessoalmente e suas respostas foram analisadas por meio da análise de conteúdo. Dentre os principais desafios apresentados pelos alunos para a elaboração do trabalho final, destacam-se: escassez de tempo para conciliar as atividades do curso com outros compromissos; dificuldade de compreensão e de uso das normas técnicas; problemas de relacionamento com tutores e professores orientadores, sob a alegação de que a distância física interferiria de forma prejudicial no processo de orientação; dificuldade em redigir textos científicos; obstáculos para acesso ao campo de pesquisa e para o acesso a materiais bibliográficos, entre outros. Para finalizar, são apresentadas algumas recomendações possíveis de serem aplicadas em cursos na modalidade a distância que exigem a elaboração e apresentação de um trabalho final, tais como: (1) alterações no desenho da disciplina de Metodologia Científica e na data de início do processo de orientação; (2) comunicação dos critérios de avaliação e dos direitos e deveres dos agentes envolvidos; (3) avaliações contínuas e de múltiplas fontes durante as orientações e na fase de preparação para as bancas; (4) apresentação de um guia de normas técnicas, de acordo com a ABNT; (5) conscientização sobre a importância da autonomia do aluno e dos riscos do plágio; (6) oferecimento de biblioteca virtual e (7) capacidade analítica e compreensiva dos coordenadores, professores e tutores no sentido de contextualizar as condições de trabalho do aluno-trabalhador. / This study aims to present the main challenges faced during the process of writing the course final paper in undergraduate course in Administration and Collective Bargaining specialization course - offered in the form of distance learning by the School of Administration of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, in the perspective of students, tutors and orientating teachers. This study aims to optimize the process of orientation of the course final paper in the modality of distance learning, serving as a subsidy to the pedagogical staff, tutors and teachers involved in this activity. In the literature review of this research are presented theories about the teachinglearning process mediated by technologies and a reflection is made, according to the principles of the Pedagogy of Autonomy, about the profile of the student of the distance learning method. In methodological terms, the multiple case studies strategy was adopted, where students and tutors who participated in this study answered questionnaires available on the web and the analysis was made based on simple statistics and content analysis, while the teachers were personally interviewed and their responses were analyzed by the analysis of content method. Among the major challenges presented by the students for the preparation of the final work, some can be emphasized: lack of time to harmonize the course activities with other commitments; difficulty in understanding and using of the technical norms; relationship problems with tutors and orientating teachers, with the allegation that the physical distance could detrimentally interfere in the orientation process; difficulty in writing scientific texts; obstacles in accessing to the search field and to the bibliographic materials, among others. The teachers and tutors, in their turn, suggested new action possibilities in order to minimize the difficulties and optimize the process. To conclude, some possible recommendations are presented, which can be applied in distance learning courses that require the preparation and presentation of a final work, such as: (1) changes in draft of the discipline of Scientific Methodology and on the date of the beginning of the orientation process; (2) inform the evaluation criteria and the rights and the obligations of the people involved; (3) ongoing assessment and from multiple sources, during the orientation period and in the phase of the preparation for the examining board; (4) introducing a guide of technical norms, according to ABNT; (5) awareness of the importance of student autonomy and of the risks of plagiarism; (6) providing a virtual library and (7) analytical skills and understanding from the coordinators, teachers and tutors in order to contextualize the working conditions of the studentworker.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / The prevention of abortion related complications and mortality is dependent on the availability, accessibility and usability of emergency post-abortion care (PAC) throughout the health care system. Unfortunately, abortion is not legal in Nigeria and Nigerian women, especially adolescents, are often unable to obtain adequate post-abortion care services due to a variety of reasons. A review of literature shows that adolescent PAC patients receive worse care than older women seeking PAC services. There is widespread recognition of the need to overcome these barriers and make it easier for women to obtain the PAC services they need. Therefore, overall aim of this research study was to provide empirical information on the barriers and challenges to adolescents' PAC and develop a policy document to inform reproductive health services for Nigerian hospitals. To develop this policy document, the study specifically sought to assess knowledge of reproductive-health and related post-abortion care services among health care providers; describe the adolescents' perception of post-abortion care received; determine the service providers' perspectives on adolescents' post-abortion care challenges and barriers; analyze the challenges and barriers faced by adolescents in obtaining post-abortion care services; explore ways in which the knowledge about challenges and barriers to adolescents' post-abortion care can be used to inform policy; develop policy document and make recommendations in key areas to improved PAC services in Nigeria as part of working towards improving reproductive health services.

Esta dissertação possui dois objetivos: sistematizar informações sobre as edições centralizadas do Fórum Social Mundial e evidenciar quais são seus principais desafios e questões em aberto na segunda década do século XXI. A pesquisa parte da percepção de que grande parte da bibliografia de relevo sobre o movimento altermundialista - do qual o Fórum faz parte - foi produzida entre 2001 e 2006 e que, após esse período, houve uma diminuição na quantidade de pesquisas acadêmicas sobre o tema. Portanto, faz-se necessário atualizar a bibliografia e sistematizar os debates e os acontecimentos ocorridos a partir de 2006. De modo a imprimir um viés crítico às avaliações apologéticas à metodologia do \"espaço aberto\" que caracteriza o Fórum Social Mundial e a mais bem endereçar seus os desafios, que em parte decorrem de discordâncias em relação à metodologia, esta dissertação é atravessada, em seus três capítulos, pela constatação feita por April Biccum de que o Fórum é permeado pelo que denomina de ambivalência do espaço aberto. Tal ambivalência advém de um descompasso entre a abertura do Fórum e as cisões que ele mesmo produz em suas estruturas organizativas. Para alcançar os objetivos almejados, a dissertação apoia-se tanto na bibliografia textual produzida sobre o Fórum Social Mundial ao longo de sua trajetória quanto em dez entrevistas realizadas com pessoas que fazem ou fizeram parte da secretaria do Fórum, do Conselho Internacional e dos comitês organizadores das diversas edições mundiais do evento. / This thesis has two main purposes: systematizing the information regarding the centralized editions of the World Social Forum and evincing its major challenges and unresolved issues in the second decade of the 21st century. The research stems from the perception that most of the significant bibliography on the altermundialist movement - of which the Forum is a part - was produced between 2001 and 2006 and that, after this period, there has been a diminishment in the academic interest on the theme. Therefore, it is necessary to update the bibliography and systematize the debates and happenings that have been produced since 2006. In order to offer a critical view on the \"open space\" methodology that characterizes the World Social Forum and to better address its challenges - which, in part, come from disagreements on the methodology - the three chapters of this thesis are traversed by April Biccum\'s perception that the Forum is pervaded by what she denominates as the ambivalence of open space. Such an ambivalence derives from a mismatch between the openness of the Forum and the demerges produced in its organizing structures. To achieve its objectives, the thesis rests both on the textual bibliography on the World Social Forum and on ten interviews with people who are or who were part of the Forum\'s secretariat, of the International Council and of the organizing committees of the event\'s world editions.