The health system in Abu Dhabi has undergone a series of far reaching reforms during the past six years, yet in spite of the structural transformations, public confidence in the performance of this vital sector is still skeptical at best and employee engagement is still low. The thesis was underpinned by the aim to reveal the challenges in public health system reform outside the context of western administration. This thesis is an attempt to analyse the intricate, multidimensional concept of organisational culture within the complex structure of public healthcare sector in a fast growing economy like Abu Dhabi. Managing organisational culture is increasingly viewed as an essential part of health system reform. Organisational culture in health care organisations has gained increased consideration as an important factor that affects health systems reform and influences the quality of health care. The research project aims to explore the context of health system reform in Abu Dhabi and to understand the organisational culture of the different constituents of its public healthcare sector. Using a multi-method investigation combining both qualitative and quantitative approaches using the Competing Values Framework as conceptual framework, this research aims to provide a critical assessment of organisational culture in healthcare sector in Abu Dhabi. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in the regulator, operator, and three public hospitals prior to the use of a survey instrument based on the Organisational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI). The data analysis revealed that the prevailing cultural model of the Abu Dhabi public sector organisations was concurrently governed by hierarchy and market cultures while the presence of clan and adhocracy models was relatively limited. Interesting variations in assessment of clan culture were found between UAE nationals and other nationality clusters. The findings also revealed a desired cultural shift manifested by a higher emphasis on clan and adhocracy cultures and a lower emphasis on hierarchy and market culture. Those results confirm the presence of two opposing or competing cultural dimensions clan/adhocracy vs. hierarchy/market. This research makes a considerable contribution to the sparse empirical studies in health system reforms and organisational culture in the Arab Gulf states, and proposes important explanations and possible solutions to the salient challenges facing the health system in Abu Dhabi.

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This master thesis deals with creating a new business subject, and focus on business plan and its usage in company practice. Theoretical introduction and the basic concepts definitions are included in the first part. Terms of business environment are also explained there. The second part is focused on the analysis of the business environment and new starting business subject. The proposals and recommendations for improving new business subject, which are based on analysis and outputs, are formulated in the final section.

Stereotypic behavior is often observed in children diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD; American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Stereotypy can inhibit skill acquisition by leading to inaccuracy on task performance and/or slower task completion (e.g., Koegel & Covert, 1972; Morrison & Rosales-Ruiz, 1997). Several studies have demonstrated that access to preferred matched stimulation leads to a reduction of vocal stereotypical behavior (e.g., Lanovaz, Rapp, & Ferguson, 2012). However, it is paramount that treatments not only be effective in decreasing the problem behavior, but do so without further inhibiting academic progress. The current study evaluated the effects of matched stimulation (i.e., music) on vocal stereotypy and acquisition of novel skills. Non-contingent access to music decreased levels of vocal stereotypy across participants and did not hinder mastery of discrimination skills. In addition, noncontingent access to music had only a minor impact on the participant’s latency to perform mastered tasks.

This thesis first introduces the basic notions of univariate survival analysis. Then the survival analysis setting is extended to competing risk models, i.e. the cases considering several events of interest or several causes of one event. In the competing risk model, we discuss the problem of identification, which means that it is not possible to identify marginal distributions from observed competing risk data. Next, we present copula models, which are a suitable mathematical tool for modelling dependence structure between random variables. We explain their basic characteristics, present some useful copula families and the relationship of copula parameters with certain dependence (correlation) measures. Further, we show the utilization of copulas within competing risks models and how they can be helpful in the solution of identifiability problem. Finally, we apply the listed theoretical knowledge in a simulated example. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

The thesis presents fundamental characteristics of survival analysis in the case of competing risks and their relationships. In the case without regression, basic nonparametric estimates and a logarithmic likelihood function for parameter estimates is given. The main focus is on Cox's proportional hazards model (PH), a model with accelerated time (AFT) and a flexible regression model (FG) are also mentioned. The identifiability of the associated survival function is solved using copulas. Basics of copula theory and the measurement of dependence by correlation coefficients (Pearson, Spearman and Kendal) are described in a separate chapter. A substantial part of the theory is practically used in a generated case without regression.

In 2017, more than 6.9 million employees parted ways with their employer because of voluntary employee turnover, layoffs, or terminations. Emergency call center supervisors who fail to implement adequate job satisfaction strategies experience reduced productivity and increased voluntary turnover. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the strategies some southern Ontario 911 call center supervisors used to reduce job dissatisfaction. The conceptual framework supporting the study was the competing values framework. The population included 6 supervisors of 911 call centers in the province of Ontario, Canada, who successfully implemented job satisfaction strategies. Data were collected from interviews with the leaders and documentation. Data were analyzed using Yin's 5-step process. Three themes emerged: provide supportive leadership, create a balanced culture, and provide non-financial rewards. The implications for positive social change include healthy working communities through decreased job dissatisfaction resulting in organizations' greater productivity and provision of services.

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Venture capitalists enter into an investment with the intent of realising a substantial profit on theventure after a number of years; this realisation is usually labelled the exit. The disinvestment decisionis a critical issue in the venture capital industry, as the return of the investment is realised upon exit.There are two important dimensions to the disinvestment decision; how and when to exit.This thesis studies the role of Venture Capital (VC) syndication, and its’ effect on exit dynamics for VCfirms in Sweden. The aspects of syndication will be focused on firm characteristics of investing parties,were the ambition is to provide an analysis of these characteristics and their effect on exit route(Merger and Acquisitions, M&As, and Initial Public Offerings, IPOs) and exit timing. Our statisticalanalysis rely on survival analysis with Competing Risk Models (CRM), which is adequate to model timein one state, when exit is to a number of competing states. These models allow for a joint analysis ofexit type and exit timing, i.e. model durations that end with multiple exits. Specifically, we apply theWeibull distribution with Gamma Frailty.To conduct the study, we have used a self-collected data set of 300 investments derived from 20 VCfirms in Sweden. For each investment, the data includes information relating to a number ofexplanatory variables concerning selected characteristics of the portfolio company and investingparties. Our results reveal that the presence of one or more experienced VC firms in the syndicatewould prolong time to exit and increase the likelihood of exiting through an IPO. We provided evidencethat a larger syndicate size will increase the time to exit and increase the likelihood for exiting throughan IPO. We also provided empirical evidence that foreign investor involvement in a syndicate prolongstime to exit in comparison to investments with only domestic co-investors and should affect exit routeby increasing the probability of an IPO. Finally, we could infer that a match between location of at leastone VC firm in a syndicate and acquirer country will have an increasing effect on time-to-exit, whileincreasing the probability of an exit in that country.We hope that the findings of this thesis will provide scholars and venture capitalists with novel,valuable information on a syndicates’ effect on exit dynamics.