Background: Nowadays, organizations deal with many challenges in their external environment due to globalization, rapid technological advancement and increasing demand expectations. One way to face these challenges is by collaborating with other organizations. In this new globalized business world interorganizational relations are present everywhere. Nevertheless, from a theoretical perspective the field of interorganizational relations is saturated with terms and concepts. Nearly all aspects of interorganizational relations have been studied, having created a veritable conceptual swamp, idea abundance and vast fragmentation and this situation is a key rationale for the design of this study. Purpose: The purpose of these thesis is to develop a concept of collaboration in interorganizational relations, meaning that there is a need for a synthesized typology model in which collaboration forms can be classified. The purpose of the thesis is fulfilled by researching and answering beforehand defined research questions, namely (1) what are the motives and risks of interorganizational relations and how can they be clustered, (2) which themes/dimensions are used to differentiate between collaborations forms, and finally, (3) can our proposed model be used to classify those collaboration forms? Method: A qualitative directed content analysis was conducted. In the thesis, text from existing research from academic journals and books in the field of business administration were used as data. Conclusion: The result of this thesis is a tentative synthesized typology model of collaboration in the context of interorganizational relations. It incorporates motives and risks of collaboration and finally seven dimensions/themes of how collaboration forms can be classified.

Dans de nombreux domaines industriels, l’innovation est mise en œuvre de manière incrémentale en cherchant à optimiser un concept donné. Ce type d’innovation est efficace sur le court terme, permettant d’arriver à améliorer le système avec une prise de risque limitée. Cependant, cette approche réduit fortement les opportunités d’amélioration future de ces systèmes. Pour faire face à des nouveaux besoins émanant des clients, l’innovation de rupture s’impose dans une vision long terme. Un changement radical de concept permet en effet de dégager des marges fonctionnelles permettant d’améliorer significativement le système. Le but de ces travaux de thèse a été, d’une part, de proposer un cadre méthodologique pour l’étude conceptuelle d’architectures de systèmes de puissance en rupture. Ceci consiste en la spécification des nouveaux besoins, la génération d’architectures système fortement innovantes, ainsi que la sélection des architectures les plus pertinentes. En s’appuyant sur une approche d’ingénierie système, ainsi que sur des techniques à l’état de l’art dans les domaines de la recherche de solutions innovantes (KCP, Brainwritting, Diagramme KJ), la combinaison des concepts (matrice morphologique) et de l’aide à la décision multicritères (TOPSIS, MAUT), une approche originale a été proposée. La méthode proposée a été appliquée au cas du circuit carburant d’un moteur d’hélicoptère chez l’industriel Safran Helicopter Engines. Ce contexte applicatif a permis de mettre en œuvre et d’évaluer les approches proposées dans un environnement industriel réel. Un outil implémenté sous Microsoft Excel a été développé pour le déploiement de la méthodologie proposée dans l’entreprise. / In several industries, incremental innovation has been used. This approach aims at optimizing a given design. It is efficient in the short term, and enables to improve the system at low risks. Anyway, incremental innovation implies a reduction in the capacity of future improvement. In order to deal with new customer needs, radical innovation is a must in a long-term consideration. Indeed, these radical changes allow to create new functional margins, enabling to make the system even better. The aim of this thesis work is, on the one hand, to propose a methodological framework for the conceptual design of radically innovative power system architectures. This implies tomorrow’s needs specification, strongly innovative architecture generation and best architectures selection. Based on a systems engineering approach, as well as state of the art techniques in the domain of creativity (KCP, Brainwritting, KJ Diagram), concepts combination (morphological matrix) or mutlicriteria decision making (TOPSIS, MAUT), an original approach has been proposed. On the other hand, this methodology has been implemented in an industrial framework in the case of a helicopter engine fuel system at Safran Helicopter Engines. This has enabled to obtain a return of experience on the industrial application of this methodology. A tool has been developed using Microsoft Excel for the industrial deployment of the methodology.

In recent years, the global interest in esports has grown exponentially, opening up for new technologies and products to be developed. One example is esports platforms which serve players with a common place to carry out their esports-related activities. This study utilizes current research about motivation and user engagement to develop three conceptual design proposals aiming to showcase how appropriate gamification components could be incorporated into an esports platform in order to deepen user engagement. These conceptual designs are evaluated by conducting a focus group, in which the participants had expert knowledge in the fields of esports, user experience, technology, and game design. Based on the results, conceptual design guidelines are established, and two final conceptual designs are proposed. With these two final designs, this study aims to contribute to and inspire future design work within the field of gamification and esports. / Under senare år har det globala intresset för esport ökat exponentiellt, vilket har öppnat upp för ny teknik och produkter att utvecklas. Ett exempel är esportplattformar som tillgängliggör spelare med en gemensam plats att utföra sina esportrelaterade aktiviteter. Denna studie använder aktuell forskning om motivation och användarengagemang för att utveckla tre konceptuella designförslag som visar hur lämpliga gamificationkomponenter kan inkorporeras i en esportplattform för att fördjupa användarengagemang. Dessa konceptuella designförslag utvärderas i en fokusgrupp där deltagarna har expertkunskaper inom esport, användarupplevelse, teknik och speldesign. Baserat på resultaten utformas konceptuella riktlinjer och två slutliga konceptuella designförslag presenteras. Med dessa två slutliga designförsag syftar denna studie till att bidra till och inspirera framtida designarbeten inom gamification och esport.

How people survive and thrive through adversity is a question which has prompted much research. There is little agreement on the definition of resilience beyond the basic idea of "bouncing back", resulting in many studies which offer contradictory and confusing information. This study sought to organise the literature into broad conceptual categories, and attempted to explain some of the differences in definitions and research methods at the level of paradigm. A need to reconceptualise resilience was identified and undertaken in view of input from ecosystemic, cybernetic and postmodem paradigms. Attention was given especially to the role oflanguage, meaning and description, and the role of the observer/researcher in such a reconceptualisation. Guidelines were offered for approaching research in future. Finally, the context of the researcher was examined in an attempt at self-reflexivity as part of the process of research as proposed in the reconceptualisation. / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

The birth of a child is a life-changing event in a woman's life. However, women's subjective experiences of giving birth have not been extensively researched, while the literature reflects an inherent realist approach. This has resulted in a decontextualised account of this critical event in women's lives. This conceptual study discusses the body of knowledge on the birthing experience from a widened perspective that includes not only the birthing woman, but also the people she interacts with and the context in which birth is embedded. The study comments on the way birth is managed in technological society and how its inherent Newtonian epistemology impacts on a woman's experience of birth. Ecosystemic epistemology is presented as an alternative approach which provides an holistic understanding of this experience. A reconceptualisation is proposed which acknowledges the social construction of birth. Lastly, the alternative birth movement as a more holistic approach to birth is discussed

How people survive and thrive through adversity is a question which has prompted much research. There is little agreement on the definition of resilience beyond the basic idea of "bouncing back", resulting in many studies which offer contradictory and confusing information. This study sought to organise the literature into broad conceptual categories, and attempted to explain some of the differences in definitions and research methods at the level of paradigm. A need to reconceptualise resilience was identified and undertaken in view of input from ecosystemic, cybernetic and postmodem paradigms. Attention was given especially to the role oflanguage, meaning and description, and the role of the observer/researcher in such a reconceptualisation. Guidelines were offered for approaching research in future. Finally, the context of the researcher was examined in an attempt at self-reflexivity as part of the process of research as proposed in the reconceptualisation. / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

This master’s thesis deals with the conceptual design of light surveillance aircraft. It involves modifying of VUT 001 Marabu according to the new requirements, which has been mainly brought by new definition of typical flight. Also there is solved design and geometry surfaces of new aircraft. It contains design and computation of stand for electro-optical monitoring device. Last but not least are calculated important flight performances.

Clinical Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

Volvo Construction Equipment is highly regarded for robust products, but with an increasing competition in their market, development of the product portfolio is more important than ever. One step being carried out is to reduce losses in powertrains and increase the fuel efficiency for solutions such as articulated haulers and wheel loaders. This would eventually lower the fuel costs and emissions for the end customer. With this development, Volvo CE could strengthen their position in the market while also contributing to reducing the construction industry's environmental impact. By investigating the front bogie axle of the recently introduced hauler, Volvo A60H, important information about possible reductions and the distribution of the current losses were found. The investigation focused on a front bogie axle, but some of the results are applicable for other applications such as wheel loaders as well, since a lot of the technology in the axles are similar. A conceptual study was performed where completely new ideas were generated, such as implementing a dry sump system in the axle, as well as ideas for improving the subcomponents currently found in the axle. Two cases were presented for the evaluation of concepts, one with a fully loaded dump body and low speeds, and one with an unloaded dump body and a wider speed interval. The concepts were later evaluated using calculation tools such as MATLAB and a Simulink-model was created for the losses in the axle. When combining concepts that reduces load dependent losses, a potential reduction of 64% of the axle's total losses was achieved for the case with a full dump body. The largest improvement found for the load independent losses was 8% with an unloaded hauler and the highest speed investigated, 50 km/h. A dry sump system improves the axle's efficiency with 45% in optimal working conditions, but was found to lower the efficiency at other conditions. Room for improvement of axle losses currently exists both for load dependent and load independent losses. The evaluation performed pointed towards the load dependent losses being the largest influence on the total losses, even with an unloaded dump body and high speeds. This is an interesting observation since a lot of work at Volvo CE has revolved around reducing the load independent losses since these are easier to affect with different lubrication levels and rotational speeds. A test methodology for load dependent losses should be implemented in order to validate the results of this thesis work, and also to aid further development at Volvo CE.

Clinical Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)