The research investigated acquisition and disposition behavior of purchasers, purchasers/consignors, and consignors of secondhand clothing in consignment stores. A questionnaire was administered to 168 women and two men in three Roanoke, Virginia stores. It was hypothesized that (1) long-time purchasers (three to five years) patronized other secondhand sellers more than short-time purchasers (two years or less); and that purchasers (2) acquired (a) primarily to save money and (b) secondarily to have well-made clothing, (3) bought two to four times a month, and (4) were satisfied with stores' merchandise and services. Hypotheses 2a and 4 were supported but 1, 2b, and 3 were not. A hypothesis that consignors consigned to obtain a return on clothing investments and get rid of unwanted items was supported. Friends were important information sources about stores. Chi-square analysis indicated that respondent groups were similar demographically, in the types of clothing they purchased and/or consigned, and in the uses of clothing purchased. Host respondents were Caucasian, 30-49 years old, and often had baccalaureates or other post-high school education. Twenty-seven percent of the respondents had total household incomes of $40,000 or more. The most frequently purchased and consigned garments were shirts or blouses. Purchasers and purchasers/consignors used purchased clothing primarily for social occasions. Purchasers and consignors differed on the number of years they had been patronizing stores and on their purchasing and consigning frequencies. Also, more purchasers than purchasers/consignors patronized flea markets and garage sales. / M.S.

Sandvik Rock Tools is operating in a highly competitive market. This requires them to constantly improve the efficiency of their organization, in order for them to maintain their position as market leaders, both in a short-term and a long-term perspective. Sandvik Rock Tools is currently working on developing and further improving their supply chain. The supply chain is a key organizational function and improvements of the supply chain aim to yield benefits like lowered total costs and better utilized inventory levels. The purpose of our work has been to develop the supply chain between Sandvik’s in-market warehouse and their customer site at Dannemora. The main focus of this thesis has been to enable automatic data collection and to lower the stock levels at the customer site in Dannemora. This would be accomplished by improving the information flow between the two entities in the observed supply chain and by enabling real-time inventory information, easily accessible to the warehouse manager. A barcode system was implemented in the warehouse at the Dannemora customer site and was integrated with warehouse management software that was developed by the authors. The implemented barcode system and the warehouse management software were used at the Dannemora customer site for a period of two months. The effects of the implemented barcode system working in combination with the warehouse management software were observed in several operational areas after implementation, and the results were positive and beneficial. Firstly, the barcode system and warehouse management software simplified the warehouse manager’s decision process, by providing easy access to necessary warehouse management information, like realtime inventory information. Secondly, it made the day-to-day work routine of the warehouse manager easier, this being the case because the barcode system that had been implemented had digitalized and automated many tasks that had previously been performed manually by warehouse manager. An excellent example would be the simplified process for order placement and stocktaking. Thirdly, it improved the information flow between the Dannemora customer site and Sandvik’s in-market warehouse in Sandviken, thereby improving the overall effectiveness of the entire supply chain, through shared information. The barcode implementation successfully lowered inventory levels by six percent on average.

This Master thesis deals with the comparison of trade relationships of obligation in Germany and the Czech Republic. In order to introduce and analyse the topic thoroughly at first the main legal acts connected with relationships of obligation and trade relationships of obligations in both compared countries are being introduced. The main stress is put on the content of these legal acts, on their historical development, their application methods as well as on their mutual relationship. The next part of this Master thesis then explains the term trade relationship of obligation with respect to the definitions obtained in both compared legal systems. After the theoretical introduction the general legal regulation of the trade relationships of obligation is being characterised. Since the general legal regulation of the trade relationships of obligation is based on the general legal regulation of the relationships of obligation at first the differences between these two legal regulations in Germany are explained. After that the German general legal regulation of trade relationships of obligation is being compared with the Czech general legal regulation of this area. After the characterisation of the general legal regulation of the trade relationships of obligation the individual types of German trade relationships of obligation are being compared with their equivalents in the Czech legal system. The specific trade relationships of obligation that are being analysed and compared in both legal systems are namely contract with a commission agent, contract of consignment, forwarding contract and storage contract.