Abstract not available.

Abstract: The purpose of this research was to understand: (1) the influence that an industry-situated STEM lab experience has on students’ (ages 10-18) perceptions of careers in manufacturing, and (2) the challenges and opportunities that this space presents. To answer these questions, this study analyzed participant pre- and post-draw a manufacturer tests as well as manufacturing career perception surveys that included Likert-scale items and open response questions. Along with these data sources, five semi-structured interviews were conducted with industry stakeholders in order to understand the conception and operation of the STEM lab, as well identify any challenges or opportunities to improve or replicate success for other industries. From there, the data were analyzed through thematic coding for the drawings, open-response questions, and interviews, and a Mann-Whitney U test was performed on the survey results in order to look for general shifts in responses to specific questions from before to after the STEM lab experience. The results gained from the three different data collection techniques were looked at in aggregate and used to triangulate specific understandings, questions, and recommendations. The results confirmed a lack of students’ awareness and understanding of manufacturing, misperceptions surrounding the careers within, and a disconnect between industry needs and educational output. Along with the data, literature on vocational psychology supports the need for students to participate in authentic learning opportunities to build self-efficacy and form more accurate outcome expectations with regards to future career selection. However, the data did reveal that the industry-situated STEM lab experience likely led the participants to an improved understanding of the manufacturing ecosystem and provided an opportunity for local educators to engage with industry. While this research looked at a novel application of a STEM lab and highlighted its influence on students’ perceptions of manufacturing careers, there is obviously no “silver bullet” for fixing the talent pipeline for manufacturing and continuous work in this area needs to be done.

L’objectif de cette thèse est de développer des modèles quantitatifs utilisant les options réelles pour une évaluation financière des choix stratégiques entrepreneuriaux. Cependant, il ne s’agit pas seulement de développer des aspects techniques (ou manipulations mathématiques). Les modèles proposés dans la thèse visent également à fournir des informations pratiques utiles à la fois aux entrepreneurs et aux investisseurs, afin de faciliter la prise de décision dans les négociations contractuelles pour le financement et l'investissement dans les start-ups et les firmes entrepreneuriales.Cette thèse se compose de deux parties. La première partie définit les concepts utilisés afférents à la question de recherche. L’adoption de la perspective proposée par la finance entrepreneuriale nous permet de centrer notre approche sur la négociation et une relation d'égalité entre les participants dans le processus de prise de décision, alors que la finance d’entreprise traditionnelle s’intéresse à la relation principal-agent. En effet, les méthodes généralement utilisées comme les cash-flows actualisés (DCF) ou le Taux de Rendement Interne (TRI) ne sont pas adéquates pour effectuer une évaluation financière dans un contexte entrepreneurial. Ainsi, la problématique de cette thèse peut être formulée de la manière suivante : Comment les choix stratégiques des start-ups et firmes entrepreneuriales devraient-ils être évalués dans le cadre des négociations contractuelles ?Afin de traiter cette problématique, trois problèmes particuliers seront exposés dans la deuxième partie. Nous proposerons de les étudier à partir de l’approche par les options réelles qui convient parfaitement à l'analyse des choix stratégiques dans un contexte de finance entrepreneuriale.Le premier article analyse l’évaluation d’un contrat de licence dans le secteur biopharmaceutique. En résumé, lors de la conclusion d’un contrat de licence, les dirigeants et les responsables de la négociation doivent prendre en compte de nombreux facteurs tels que la phase de développement, la prévision des coûts d'investissement et la volatilité des marchés. De plus, la prise en compte des interactions comportementales des deux parties lors de la négociation du contrat de licence est essentielle pour la construction d'un modèle de simulation, notamment en ce qui concerne l’interaction dynamique entre le donneur de licence et le preneur de licence.Le deuxième article s’intéresse à la question de la dilution pour les nouveaux actionnaires lors du deuxième tour de financement en présence de détenteurs d’obligations convertibles. Selon les résultats de la simulation, il est possible de vérifier que le taux de « discount » et le « valuation cap » ont un impact important sur le coût de la prise de décision en matière d’investissement en actions. Les résultats montrent également que plus le taux de discount est élevé et moins le valuation cap est important, plus les coûts sont élevés, et la probabilité de succès de la négociation devient donc faible. Par conséquent, l’entrepreneur doit en tenir compte lorsqu’il entre en négociation lors du deuxième tour de financement.Le troisième article aborde le choix d’une stratégie de sortie pour un entrepreneur (acquisition ou introduction en bourse) notamment « The IPO valuation premium puzzle » proposé par Bayar et Chemmanur (2011). Bien qu'il soit normal que l’entrepreneur et les investisseurs en capital-risque envisagent l’introduction en bourse, il est également possible qu'ils choisissent l'acquisition comme stratégie de sortie. En utilisant la théorie des jeux, ce phénomène contradictoire peut être expliqué par l’existence de deux équilibres de Nash. En complément de la gestion des risques afférents au marché, l’entrepreneur doit prêter attention à la relation avec le capital-risqueur lorsqu’il choisit la stratégie de sortie. / The objective of this dissertation is to develop the quantitative models that adopt the real options analysis for financially evaluating the entrepreneurial strategic choices. However, it does not only focus on the technical aspects (or its mathematical methodologies). The models proposed in the dissertation aim to provide the practically useful information in order for both entrepreneurs and investors to make decisions in the contractual negotiation of financing and investing in the start-ups and ventures.This dissertation consists of two parts. The first part gives the definitions of the essential concepts that shall be incorporated into the research question. Adopting the perspectives that are provided in entrepreneurial finance leads us to focus on the fair negotiations among participants in the process of decision-making, while the traditional corporate finance emphasises the principal-agent problem. Actually, the common methods, such as Discounted Cash-Flows and Internal Rate of Return, are not always suitable for implementing financial valuations in the context of entrepreneurial finance. Therefore, the research question of this dissertation can be set as follows: How should strategic choices in contract negotiation be financially evaluated?In order to deal with this problem, three particular issues are introduced in the second part. The real options analysis is utilised in all of the three issues, which is quite suitable for analysing them.The first article deals with the issue of licensing contract with bio-pharma venture. In summary, when closing a licensing contract negotiation, those in charge of the negotiation must consider many factors, such as the phases of R&D, the investment costs and the market volatility. In addition to those, the interaction of the participants of the contractual negotiation should be taken into account. For modelling this relationship, the assumption of dynamic interaction between licensor and licensee is introduced.The second article focuses on the dilution problem in the second financing round under the existence of convertible note holders. According to the simulation results, “discount” and “valuation cap” have a great impact on the equity decision-making cost. The results also show that the costs increase when the degree of discount becomes greater and the valuation cap becomes smaller. This may jeopardize the success of negotiation. Entrepreneurs should take these factors into consideration in the second financing round.The third article analyses the exit choice (acquisition or IPO), especially the “IPO valuation premium puzzle” proposed by Bayar et Chemmanur (2011). While entrepreneurs and venture capitalists prefer an IPO, acquisition can be chosen. Utilising the game theory, this contradictory phenomenon can be explained as the two Nash equilibria. In addition to financial market risks, entrepreneurs should pay attention to the relationship with venture capitalists, when they choose the exit strategy.

Background: This paper focuses on firm relocation for SMEs. A process that due to changing requirements for businesses as well as changing customer needs is a very contemporary issue. Municipalities in both Sweden and the Netherlands have seen that businesses are moving away to the larger regions, mainly due to favourable business location factors in these areas. Over 20% of businesses have considered relocating in the near future. Current literature mainly focuses on business perspectives and specific industries. Research on this topic from the municipality perspective will provide new insights on the topic of relocations. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore how and where municipalities can increase their influence in the relocation process in order to increase the relocation of more small and medium sized businesses to their regions. Method: This thesis makes use of a multiple case study approach, while conducting semi-structured interviews with a wide variety of SMEs from different industries that have moved in the past five years. A qualitative study will be used to research the topic, and to create a theory that can be used be municipalities on how to influence relocating SMEs. The gathered data was researched using a thematic content analysis. Conclusion: Results show that municipalities are able to increase their influence on the relocation process in several ways. Firstly, by being proactive when it comes to location drivers, ensuring that their current businesses do not leave. Proactive information provision through several channels to the SMEs that are considering relocation can positively influence relocation. Lastly municipality politics has a clear influence on relocations as it can help keep businesses embedded in their current regions. Or stimulate businesses from outside a region to relocate due to creating favourable regional characteristics.

Replayability in games is important to many players as it increases the amount of play time they get out of a game for the price they paid, which is why it is interesting to know how replayability can be promoted in games with simple mechanics. Previous research has categorised what motivates players to play a game again, as aspects of replayability. These aspects and the inherent subjectivity of replayability have been taken into account to define replayability. In this study, a game is designed to be replayable according to those definitions and then iterated on three times. Four different tools and principles for designing for replayability are used and evaluated in the design. All four tools and principles are considered in the initial design, after which one or a few are selected to be used in each game iteration. For each version of the game, the reason for, and the theory behind, design decisions is documented. The game is then released and player data and answers to two questions within the game are gathered to inform reflection. After which the design is reflected on before designing the next iteration. Four different tools and principles were tested as part of the design process. The Periodic Dilemma Generator (Aghekyan, 2021), the Aspects of Replayability (Krall and Menzies, 2012) (Monedero March, 2019), game elements based on randomisation (Bycer, 2018), and a tool to add synergy (Rosewater, 2013). Each of them proved to be useful in different ways. The Aspects of Replayability helped focus the design as goals to work towards. The Periodic Dilemma Generator tool was used throughout the design as both a design tool and a guide for creating meaningful choices. Randomisation was added as part of the game’s initial design and remained the main source of variance throughout all iterations. Designing synergy between game elements then enhanced both the Periodic Dilemma Generator and the randomised variance, making it the tool that provided the most replayability in the game. Using these tools and principles together, they can guide the design to enhance the complexity of a simple game to promote replayability. / Omspelbarhet i spel är viktigt för många spelare då det ökar mängden speltid de får ut av ett spel för det pris de betalade, därför är det intressant att veta hur man kan främja omspelbarhet i spel med enkla mechanics. Tidigare forskning har kategoriserat vad som motiverar spelare att spela ett spel igen. Det kallas aspekter av omspelbarhet. Dessa aspekter och subjektiviteten av omspelbarhet har beaktats för att definiera konceptet. I den här studien designas ett spel för att vara omspelbart enligt de definitionerna och sedan designas tre ytterligare iterationer. Fyra olika verktyg och principer som handlar om att designa för omspelbarhet används och evalueras i designen. Alla fyra verktyg och principer används i den ursprungliga designen, varefter en eller ett fåtal av dem väljs till att användas för att designa varje iteration. För varje version av spelet dokumenteras orsaken till, och teorin bakom, designbeslut. Spelet släpps sedan och spelardata och svar på två frågor inom spelet samlas in för att informera vid reflektion. Varefter designen reflekteras över innan nästa iteration utformas. Fyra olika verktyg och principer testades som en del av designprocessen. Verktyget Periodic Dilemma Generator (Aghekyan, 2021), principen Aspects of Replayability (Krall och Menzies, 2012) (Monedero March, 2019), spelelement baserade på randomisering (Bycer, 2018) och ett verktyg för att lägga till synergi (Rosewater, 2013). De visade sig alla vara användbara på olika sätt. Aspects of Replayability hjälpte till att fokusera designen som genom att agera som mål att arbeta mot. Periodic Dilemma Generator användes genom hela designen som både ett designverktyg och som en guide för att skapa meningsfulla val. Randomisering lades till som en del av spelets ursprungliga design och förblev den huvudsakliga källan till varians genom alla iterationer. Att designa synergi mellan spelelementen förbättrade sedan både Periodic Dilemma Generator och den randomiserade variansen, vilket gjorde det till det verktyg som gav mest omspelbarhet i spelet. Genom att använda dessa verktyg och principer tillsammans kan de vägleda designen för att förbättra komplexiteten i ett enkelt spel och främja omspelbarhet.

Nationally there is a high pass rate in Dramatic Arts (DA), and this subject offers many benefits for the development of young people, especially in terms of equipping them with the twenty-first century skills required for an entrepreneurial market (Olaniyan, 2015). However, few learners choose to continue with this subject beyond Grade 9. Inadequate enrolments result in fewer teaching posts being available, which also affects the entertainment industry. Parents are identified as primary sources of social support in influencing their children’s decisions and the development of their interests, career options and future goals (Kenny & Medvide, 2013). This study aims to sample parental perceptions about choosing DA as an academic subject as provided by parents, teachers of DA and Life Orientation (LO) teachers. This study establishes to what degree parents understand the value of drama education, and how their perceptions of the DA may influence their children’s school-exiting subject choices. The study comprises aspects of one theory, namely, parent role development theory (PDT). A mixed-methods study was designed within an interpretive paradigm. A sample of 36 parents who had children in high school in South Africa in 2019 completed an online mixed-method questionnaire that consisted of three parts, each dealing with parental perceptions and experiences in the field of education. The responses were coded and analysed through a convergent parallel design, and the findings were triangulated for deeper understanding, validity and transferability. The findings of this study pointed out that parental perceptions are shaped by prejudice, social influence, and school communication, among others. Furthermore, parents showed genuine interest and support for their children’s career plans and the skills that DA promote. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria 2020. / pt2021 / Humanities Education / MEd / Unrestricted

To be able to be an active participant in today’s society, equal access and ease of use on the web is a must since a variety of our day to day activities happen on the web, something that is made more difficult with bad accessibility design. This paper investigated a selection of profit-driven e-commerce sites in regards to how they design for accessibility by evaluating them in accordance to how they comply with WCAG 2.0. This result was then compared to some different factors. The differences found between these factors shed some light on some other factors that should be kept in mind when designing an accessible e-commerce experience, namely how sales-channel dependency and commoditization of product stock may contribute to accessibility design by survivor bias and website complexity. The study found that having a high commoditization of product stock and a high sales-channel dependency correlated with better accessibility design. Furthermore, sites using newer frameworks and/or versions of said frameworks had better measured accessibility than their counterparts, showing that technical choices is a factor that should be considered for accessibility success in practice.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze and benchmark the strategic approaches utilized by Portuguese small and medium enterprises manufacturing organizations in response to the competitive pressures in the European and global markets. Design/methodology/approach – For the purpose of this paper, factor analysis and cluster analysis are used to analyze and to compare responses obtained from a cross-sectional sample of 68 Portuguese manufacturing organizations. Findings – Based on the results of the analysis, it appears that the sampled organizations are following hybrid strategic orientations. These strategic orientations appear to be motivated by well-defined mixed strategies. The strategic elements of e-business are detected in these mixed strategies. Research limitations/implications – The sample used in this paper is specific in nature (Portuguese manufacturing organizations). Thus, the results should be interpreted accordingly. Practical implications – This paper attempts to shed some light on the effectiveness of current strategic practices of Portuguese manufacturing organizations. The findings of this paper have practical benchmarking strategic implications. Originality/value – This paper investigates the nature and scope of new strategic orientations utilized by manufacturing organizations. Evidence of the presence of innovative, mixed strategies is uncovered.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to shed some light on the utilization of quality improvement initiatives in healthcare operational environments. In the process, environmental changes and strategic responses are examined for a sample of healthcare organizations. Design/methodology/approach – A survey-based research methodology is utilized in this study. Factor analysis is used to extract relevant factors representing environmental changes and strategic options relevant to healthcare organizations. In addition, simple percentages are utilized to assess the extent of implementation and effectiveness of quality improvement initiatives. Findings – In general, the findings appear to indicate that the studied organizations have achieved both operational and strategic benefits due to the effective implementation of quality improvement initiatives. The implementation of quality improvement initiatives appears to be in response to environmental changes and challenges faced by healthcare organizations. Practical implications – Based on the findings of this study, decision-makers are encouraged to commit organizational resources toward the effective implementation of quality improvement initiatives. Investing in quality improvement not only is justified, but also appears to be very much needed in a changing competitive environment. Originality/value – This study contributes to enhancing one's practical and theoretical understanding of the competitive impact of quality improvement initiatives in different operational settings.

Tidigare forskning visar att karriärval påverkas i och av olika kulturer på olika sätt. Samhällen präglas av ett individualistiskt och kollektivistiskt kulturellt tänkande, vilket även det har förmåga att påverka karriärval på olika sätt. Enligt flera forskare finns ett behov av att som vägledare vara medveten om hur karriärval påverkas i och av andra kulturer. Hur karriärval påverkas i och av andra kulturer är dock kunskap som saknats på studie- och yrkesvägledarprogrammet. Det här är problematiskt, eftersom det utan denna kunskap finns en överhängande risk för att som vägledare påverka vägledningsprocessen med det egna kulturella tänkandet. Med sikte mot att som vägledare i ett västerländskt land och med ett eventuellt individualistiskt kulturellt tänkande löpa mindre risk för att påverka vägledningsprocessen, undersöker examensarbetet karriärval i en kollektivistisk kultur. Det icke västerländska land med en kollektivistisk kultur som undersöks är Turkiet. Studiens syfte är att redogöra för hur turkiska universitetsstudenters karriärval påverkats av och kan förstås utifrån Turkiets kollektivistiska kultur. Frågeställningarna som behandlas för att uppfylla syftet är: Vilka påverkansfaktorer framträder i turkiska universitetsstudenters karriärval? Hur kan framträdande påverkansfaktorer i turkiska universitetsstudenters karriärval förstås mot bakgrund av Turkiets kollektivistiska kultur? Studien bygger på en kvalitativ metod och på sex intervjuer. Teoretiska begrepp som kulturella värden, habitus, kapital, handlingshorisont och position används för att analysera resultatet. Resultatet visar bland annat att familjen och tankar om en framtida ekonomi är framträdande påverkansfaktorer i turkiska universitetsstudenters karriärval. Mot bakgrund av Turkiets kollektivistiska kultur, kan dessa framträdande faktorer förstås genom individers skäl till att utföra kulturella värden i karriärvalen. / Previous research shows that career choices are influenced in and by different cultures in different ways. In addition, societies are characterized by an individualistic and collectivistic thinking, which also could influence career choices in different ways. According to several researchers, there is a need as a career counselor to be aware of how career choices are influenced in and by other cultures. How career choices are influenced in and by other cultures, however, is knowledge that has been missing throughout the Program of Study and Career Guidance. This is problematic, because without this knowledge, there is an imminent risk of influencing the career guidance process with the counselor’s own cultural thinking. With a starting point of being less of a risk to influence the career guidance process as a career counselor in a Western country and with a possible individualistic cultural thinking, this final thesis examines career choices in a collectivist culture. The nonWestern country with a collectivist culture that is being examined is Turkey. The aim of the study is to give an account of how Turkish university students’ career choices have been influenced by, and can be understood based on, Turkey’s collectivist culture. The questions addressed to fulfill the aim of this study are: What are the prominent factors influencing Turkish university students’ career choices? How can prominent factors influencing Turkish university students’ career choices be understood in the light of Turkey’s collectivist culture? The study is based on a qualitative method and on six interviews. Theoretical concepts as cultural values, habitus, capital, horizon of action and position are used to analyze the result. The result shows, among other things, that the family and thoughts about a future economy are prominent factors influencing Turkish university students’ career choices. In the light of Turkey’s collectivist culture, these prominent factors can be understood by individuals’ reasons for carrying out cultural values in their career choices.