This thesis describes the corporate environment in Italy and is devided into 4 chapters. In the first chapter is generally described Italy as a country. Next chapter discusses major macroeconomic data and charachteristics of the italian corporate environment. The third chapter describes the aspects of italian culture and its influence on trading negotiations and corporate culture. The last chapter describes the business relations between Czech Republic and Italy.

This thesis investigates the municipality of Linkopings role in the development project Ebbepark. How an innovative business-environment can facilitate trilateral networks in the Triple-Helix. The thesis aims to compare intentions and outcome of the development project. The theory of the Triple-Helix constitutes the theoretical framework, of which the study relates to. With the use of a thematic analysis of qualitative data gathered from interviews, an insight is given to government officials own beliefs and convictions about Ebbepark. An additional document analysis of the development projects visionary- and general plan, generates an understanding of the projects initial intentions. A tangible difference in outcome, is Linkopings University involvement in Ebbepark. Initially the plan was to establish a physical presence in order to strengthen the innovative space. The University decided to centralize their operations on campus, which can be seen as limiting in regard to facilitating the Triple-Helix. / Studien undersöker hur Linköpings kommun har arbetet med projektet Ebbepark och hur en organisationsöverskridande samverkan, s.k.Triple-Helix, kan faciliteras. Uppsatsen ämnar undersöka och besvara hur projektets initiala intentioner skiljer sig från utfallet av Ebbepark. Teorin för Triple-Helix utgör det teoretiska ramverk som studien förhåller sig till. En tematisk analys av intervjuer ger insyn till tjänstemäns egna övertygelser angående projektet. Kompletterande dokumentanalys av projektets förarbete skapar förståelse för visionerna och Ebbeparks helhetsplan. Ett exempel på skillnader mellan planerade intentioner och utfallet, är Linköpings universitets roll. Från att vara engagerade om en fysisk närvaro i Ebbepark för ökat innovationsskpande, till att centralisera sin verksamhet inom campusområdet. Det leder till en minskad akademisk närvaro, något som kan minska möjligheterna för en Triple-Helixsamverkan.

The purpose of this thesis is to test the extended industry shock hypothesis, which accounts for a macro-economic capital liquidity element, in determining the drivers of merger waves. Various theories have been extended by the literature and these are broadly classified under the neo-classical theory of merger waves and the behavioural theory of merger waves. Behavioural theories have explained merger waves by taking into account the psychology of stock markets and the occurrence of merger waves during a stock market boom. The industry shock hypothesis (a neo-classical theory) however, argues that merger waves are due to the clustering of industry shocks that affect an industry’s operating environment. Along with this shock, the mis-valuation caused by a stock market boom increases asset values, thereby lowering transaction costs and hence increasing capital liquidity in the economy. This capital liquidity factor causes merger waves to cluster even if industry shocks do not. The findings in this study show that industry level merger waves exist in Australia and they occur when there is sufficient capital liquidity in the economy. The industry shock variables are found to be insignificant; however they do improve the explanatory power of the explanatory variables used in predicting the start of a merger wave. The mis-valuation variables used in this study: market-to-book ratio, 3-year return and standard deviation of the 3-year return, are insignificant and do not have any explanatory powers in predicting the start of a merger wave. Merger and acquisition announcements made to acquire Australian firms listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX), are collected and analysed for the period from 1996 to 2007. The methodology used in this study is adopted from Harford (2005), which uses legit models to predict the start of merger waves. The explanatory variables are also adopted from Harford’s (2005) study and include proxies for mis-valuation, industry shock and capital liquidity. Overall, the results obtained for the Australian merger and acquisition data are inconclusive as to whether industry shocks because industry merger waves as Harford (2005) documented for the US merger and acquisition data. However, industry level merger waves do exist, as there is clustering in time of firm-level mergers within industries. Moreover, sufficient capital liquidity must be present to accommodate the necessary transactions.

For employees to optimally perform at work, it is important that they are healthy. The employee is under constant work pressures that affects their health behaviour. The aim of this research is to look at the evident health risks of employees working within a financial institution, to analyze how physical activity influences these health risk factors and their medical costs. In this study a sample of 9860 self selected employees, aged between 18 and 64 (35.3 ± 10.7 years), was used. These employees are spread over all the provinces of South Africa and from all racial groupings. Differentiation was made between employees who were on chronic medication and those who were not. The Health Risk Assessment (HRA) questionnaire developed and provided by the medical aid of the institution was used as the analysis tool. Medical expenditures of the sample group were also provided by the medical aid and investigated. A national network of registered Biokineticists administered the implementation of the HRA, based on a set protocol. ANOVA was used for statistical data analysis - providing descriptive and summarising statistics. One-way analysis of variance was used to determine relationships between variables. It is clear from the descriptive data that the tendencies of selected health risks were high. The results also show that 37.6% (Diastolic) and 47.87% (Systolic) of the sample group comply with the normal borders of blood pressure. With regards to BM3, 32.3% were overweight and 25.3% within the boundaries of obesity. The average cholesterol of the group is 4.4mmol.L-l. The Physical activity levels were determined using an activity algorithm developed by the medical aid of the institution (described in detail in the thesis). Results show a low level of physical activity index (7.18 + 3.05) within the sample group. No statistical significance could be found between physical activity levels and medical expenditure, although those who are highly active seemed to have higher expenditure than those who are inactive. / Thesis (M.A. (Human Movement Science))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

For employees to optimally perform at work, it is important that they are healthy. The employee is under constant work pressures that affects their health behaviour. The aim of this research is to look at the evident health risks of employees working within a financial institution, to analyze how physical activity influences these health risk factors and their medical costs. In this study a sample of 9860 self selected employees, aged between 18 and 64 (35.3 ± 10.7 years), was used. These employees are spread over all the provinces of South Africa and from all racial groupings. Differentiation was made between employees who were on chronic medication and those who were not. The Health Risk Assessment (HRA) questionnaire developed and provided by the medical aid of the institution was used as the analysis tool. Medical expenditures of the sample group were also provided by the medical aid and investigated. A national network of registered Biokineticists administered the implementation of the HRA, based on a set protocol. ANOVA was used for statistical data analysis - providing descriptive and summarising statistics. One-way analysis of variance was used to determine relationships between variables. It is clear from the descriptive data that the tendencies of selected health risks were high. The results also show that 37.6% (Diastolic) and 47.87% (Systolic) of the sample group comply with the normal borders of blood pressure. With regards to BM3, 32.3% were overweight and 25.3% within the boundaries of obesity. The average cholesterol of the group is 4.4mmol.L-l. The Physical activity levels were determined using an activity algorithm developed by the medical aid of the institution (described in detail in the thesis). Results show a low level of physical activity index (7.18 + 3.05) within the sample group. No statistical significance could be found between physical activity levels and medical expenditure, although those who are highly active seemed to have higher expenditure than those who are inactive. / Thesis (M.A. (Human Movement Science))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

The purpose of this thesis is to test the extended industry shock hypothesis, which accounts for a macro-economic capital liquidity element, in determining the drivers of merger waves. Various theories have been extended by the literature and these are broadly classified under the neo-classical theory of merger waves and the behavioural theory of merger waves. Behavioural theories have explained merger waves by taking into account the psychology of stock markets and the occurrence of merger waves during a stock market boom. The industry shock hypothesis (a neo-classical theory) however, argues that merger waves are due to the clustering of industry shocks that affect an industry’s operating environment. Along with this shock, the mis-valuation caused by a stock market boom increases asset values, thereby lowering transaction costs and hence increasing capital liquidity in the economy. This capital liquidity factor causes merger waves to cluster even if industry shocks do not. The findings in this study show that industry level merger waves exist in Australia and they occur when there is sufficient capital liquidity in the economy. The industry shock variables are found to be insignificant; however they do improve the explanatory power of the explanatory variables used in predicting the start of a merger wave. The mis-valuation variables used in this study: market-to-book ratio, 3-year return and standard deviation of the 3-year return, are insignificant and do not have any explanatory powers in predicting the start of a merger wave. Merger and acquisition announcements made to acquire Australian firms listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX), are collected and analysed for the period from 1996 to 2007. The methodology used in this study is adopted from Harford (2005), which uses legit models to predict the start of merger waves. The explanatory variables are also adopted from Harford’s (2005) study and include proxies for mis-valuation, industry shock and capital liquidity. Overall, the results obtained for the Australian merger and acquisition data are inconclusive as to whether industry shocks because industry merger waves as Harford (2005) documented for the US merger and acquisition data. However, industry level merger waves do exist, as there is clustering in time of firm-level mergers within industries. Moreover, sufficient capital liquidity must be present to accommodate the necessary transactions.

The aim of this thesis is to assess the competitive situation of the selected company on the basis of selected analyses and suggest possible changes for improvement. In the practical part of this thesis are analysed the competitors and competitive position of the company Leifheit s.r.o. headquartered in Blatná. For the analysis of the competitive environment of the company is used Porter's five forces analysis. These analyses are used as a basis for evaluation of the competitive situation of the selected company. In the end of this diploma thesis are described the proposals to improve the situation.

Submitted by Cristiane Catarino Santinho (crisantinho@uol.com.br) on 2018-03-19T00:36:03Z No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertacao-santinho vf pos banca.pdf: 885504 bytes, checksum: 492ecd595b0e87501d6f8113d2453df8 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Mayara Costa de Sousa (mayara.sousa@fgv.br) on 2018-03-22T18:31:44Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertacao-santinho vf pos banca.pdf: 885504 bytes, checksum: 492ecd595b0e87501d6f8113d2453df8 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Isabele Garcia (isabele.garcia@fgv.br) on 2018-03-22T20:46:33Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertacao-santinho vf pos banca.pdf: 885504 bytes, checksum: 492ecd595b0e87501d6f8113d2453df8 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-03-22T20:46:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertacao-santinho vf pos banca.pdf: 885504 bytes, checksum: 492ecd595b0e87501d6f8113d2453df8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-03-06 / A gamificação vem ganhando força dentro das organizações como forma de engajar e influenciar comportamentos dos seus colaboradores para a consecução de melhores resultados. Apesar de a utilização de jogos ser antiga, podendo ser aplicada a diversos campos de conhecimento, a gamificação dentro do ambiente corporativo só veio a crescer nas últimas décadas, despertando o interesse das empresas como forma de aumentar o engajamento de seus funcionários. O objetivo do presente trabalho foi levantar e explorar os principais efeitos da gamificação dentro do ambiente corporativo e entender de que forma ela contribui para gerar engajamento. Por meio de um estudo de caso dentro de uma instituição financeira que, recentemente, introduziu a gamificação como ferramenta de gestão, buscou-se identificar os impactos resultantes da sua aplicação, elencando as principais percepções dos gestores e participantes, bem como os seus aspectos positivos, dificuldades enfrentadas e aprimoramentos necessários. Conjuntamente, aliaram-se os conceitos e requisitos levantados na revisão bibliográfica ao caso estudado, confrontando a prática com a teoria. Com isso, constatou-se que a gamificação é um instrumento eficaz de gestão, sendo uma estratégia bem-vista pelos funcionários. Entretanto, deve-se atentar para a adequabilidade de alguns elementos e características da gamificação, que são fatores determinantes para o seu sucesso, quer sejam: perfis dos jogadores, relevância das funcionalidades, forma de comunicação das regras e funcionamento das dinâmicas do jogo e atratividade das recompensas. Caso tais fatores não sejam tratados de maneira adequada e consistente, haverá um desinteresse pela ferramenta, minando os seus efeitos positivos. / Gamification has been gaining strength within organizations as a way of engaging and influencing behaviors of its employees to achieve better results. Although the use of games is old and can be applied to several fields of knowledge, gamification within the corporate environment has only grown in recent decades, arousing interest in companies as a way to increase the engagement of their employees. The purpose of this paper was to raise and explore the main effects of gamification within the corporate environment and to understand how it contributes to generate engagement. Through a case study within a financial institution that recently introduced gamification as a management tool, it was sought to identify the resulting impacts with its application, listing the main perceptions of managers and participants, as well as their positive aspects, challenges, and necessary improvements. Together, allied concepts and requirements raised in the literature review to the case studied, confronting the practice with theory. With this, it was verified that the gamification is an effective instrument of management, being a strategy well seen by the employees. However, attention must be paid to the suitability of some elements and characteristics of gamification, which are determinants for its success, whether: player profiles, relevance of the functionalities, form of communication of the rules and functioning of the dynamics of the game, and attractiveness of rewards. If these factors are not treated properly and consistently, there will be a lack of interest in the tool, undermining its positive effects.

The main theme of the thesis is the position of women on the labour market and the related fact that positions with major decision making competences are represented by absolute minimum of women. Intentional support of and managing diversity in corporate environment could be, therefore, one of the effective instruments forming more balanced representation of men and women across the corporate structure and hence on labour market but eventually in society as a whole. In the thesis are discussed benefits and difficulties of strategic diversity management in the corporate environment. The research section deals with the ways diversity management affect the position of concrete women in Česká spořitelna, a.s. This corporation was chosen for the survey in view of the fact that strategic diversity management has been implemented there and it is therefore possible to monitor the real impact of diversity management on the status of women in a particular corporation.

Psychometric testing is becoming more influential in the recruitment and development of individuals within the corporate environment globally, with over 80% of Fortune 500 companies in the USA and over 75% of the Times Top 100 companies in the UK using psychometric testing, the same trend is emerging in South Africa. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible relationship between an individual’s preferred behavioural approach on various behavioural dimensions and the manner in which they complete a psychometric measure, more specifically, a learning potential measure within the corporate environment, as an individual’s preferred behavioural approach may act as a biasing factor with regard to the result that they obtain. A causal research design was utilised and two psychometric measures used to respectively determine an individual’s preferred behavioural style and learning potential. The sample consisted of 398 economically active adult candidates in either a development or recruitment assessment centre. Both the Personal Profile Analysis (PPA) and Test for Selection and Training (TST) were administered on these 398 individuals. Statistical analysis was carried out on the test results with the use of SPSS and Microsoft Excel. The reliability and validity of the measuring instruments was also ascertained and found acceptable. Descriptive statistics, contingency tables, significant differences, t-test statistics and p-values were used to analyse the data. These statistical methods were used to indicate if a relationship exists. The results indicate that various behavioural dimensions, (Dominance, Influence and Steadiness) amongst individuals within the South African Corporate environment do have an impact on how they complete a learning potential measure, when consideration is given to the speed and accuracy with which they complete such a measure. Recommendations for the organisation and future research were made. / Psychology / M.A. (Research Psychology)