Planning is what sustains an energy system. It is a process of analysis and ongoing decision making about what resources and energy technologies to use when supplying energy to society. This research focuses on integrated energy systems, i.e. systems that are comprised of several energy carriers – electricity, gas, hot water - and energy distribution networks. The planning of these kinds of systems is a complex process, influenced by many factors, among which the most important are the availability of energy resources and the competition between different energy carriers in satisfying energy demand. During the last 10-20 years significant changes have taken place on the world energy scene, which have important implications for energy planning. Two main factors have triggered these changes. The first factor is the immediate need to address environmental changes or more generally, to take measures that are sustainable in the long run. Sustainability can be defined in many ways and in relation to different issues such as economic and ecologic development, reduction of greenhouse gases, responsible use of natural resources, social equity, etc. In recent years, an increased awareness of these issues has been observed at all levels of the society. The second factor is the deregulation of national energy sectors in more than 50 countries. This process brought changes in the ownership of different parts of the formerly integrated energy systems. New business opportunities were created in power generation, wholesale power/gas trading and energy retailing, while the energy infrastructures remained state owned or/and under regulatory control. The newly created energy markets (many of them international) have attracted both new players (power, oil and gas companies and financial institutions) together with the old ones (integrated utilities). In parallel with this vertical separation of national energy sectors, recent studies have shown a tendency for horizontal integration at the regional/company level. For instance, in order to reduce their overall business risk, companies prefer to participate in several segments of the energy value chain (in both regulated and non-regulated activities), and often across more than one fuel commodity, such as gas and electricity or district heating. In this context, the competition between different energy carriers in satisfying the end-use energy demand became obvious in economic as well as in technological and environmental terms. Traditionally, in integrated planning, this competition did not play a big role, since the same state entity made decisions at both national and regional levels. However, in the post-deregulation era it is no longer obvious who the planner is. In many cases, planning decision at local levels involve at least three main interest groups: energy companies (and/or other investors), the state and the local community. This thesis is motivated by the need to help planners to cope with the changes in concepts and values concerning the planning of local energy supply systems. This thesis has two aims. The first aim is to improve the understanding of what planning of local systems implies and how such a process can be structured. The second aim is to contribute to the development of decision support methodologies and tools that can cope with the needs in planning. For this purpose, the use of energy modelling and Multi- Criteria Decision Analysis has been studied.

As a result of the prevailing of international global e-commerce, e-negotiation had become a common form of individuals or enterprise's administrators everyday. In addition due to the growing of the internet and communication technology, e-negotiation had not limited the e-mail anymore. An increasing number of individuals or enterprises exploit synchronous way, such as instant messenger to conduct business over the internet. As more organizations and individuals face a choice between these technologies, we need to understand the impact of communication media on negotiation process and outcome. Otherwise, studies comparing traditional mode with CMC negotiations concentrate mainly on the criterion of multiple cues. The possibility to provide immediate feedback, which is determined by the communication mode synchronous vs. asynchronous), has not been considered so far. Therefore, the purpose of this research is based on the criterion of immediate feedback, and to explore how the e-negotiation mode impact negotiation process. Furthermore we also explore how these process impact the result of decision quality. The study shows that when negotiators use synchronous e-negotiation system, they have greater control level, higher ability of evaluation others¡¦ deception and clearer message in the process of negotiation. Furthermore, negotiators¡¦ control level, task-oriented communication, perceptions of others¡¦ deception and message clarity will positive impact decision quality.

Corporations nowadays are in a highly accelerated stage, facing an ever-changing environment. It is no longer accomplishable by a one-man team to survive and prosper in such competitive environment. Hambrick & Mason¡¦s upper echelons theory points out that the top management team (TMT) is an organization¡¦s main decision maker, not individuals. The follow-up researches mostly focus on the relationship between TMT and organizational performance, but lack info on the construction of a TMT and its associated operations. It is therefore this research directs its focus towards how, when today¡¦s corporations start to adopt the TMT theory into their strategy, the number of team members, the selection process, member criteria, and the roles and responsibilities, are decided, and what elements will affect the conflicting communication and decision making process. This research is composed by case studies, and the following is a qualitative analysis conclusion of interviews with six corporations and seven senior managers: 1. There is a close-bonding relationship between the construction of TMT and corporation structure, managerial cognition, and corporation size. Mid-level and small corporations usually base their TMT selection on subjective decisions of the owners, while large corporations base TMT selections on protocols, through set channels such as recruitment or promotion. 2. TMT operation is related to corporation structure and owner¡¦s control. The role of TMT on major decision making depends on the owner¡¦s degree of empowerment. Communication between team members tend to be face-to-face communication, and senior management usually see positive conflicts to be of beneficiary value to the organization, while negative conflicts would be controlled under rules and protocols. It is therefore positive conflicts are not avoided, and actually encouraged, to increase innovation in the organization.

In this study, narrative analysis is applied to narrate and re-present how the main character of the story, I, as the owner of a dental clinic chain enterprise, in order to reopen one of the clinics as soon as possible, made decisions and solved a series of crises within the shortest time, thereby sustaining the league¡¦s operation and the employees¡¦ living. The study has a twofold purpose: to re-discover and develop myself through the re-presenting of my narrative and to share my experience for the interested readers and relevant researchers¡¦ reference. And the key conclusion drawn from the study is that anyone in fear of competitive pressure should bravely find out and objectively evaluate the origin of the anxiety so as to make proper decisions and win over more opportunities for the enterprise to pass the crisis.

The debate around the perpetual nature of endowment funds from the perspective of current versus future obligations is a major problem that I would like to address in two ways: (i) a macro-level treatment of the simultaneous asset allocation and spending rate with subsistence levels (analogous to the habit formation concept); and (ii) a micro-level analysis of one part of the endowment portfolio with a particular emphasis on the currency hedging decision. The purpose of the third chapter is to illustrate the significance of joint determination of appropriate asset allocation and spending rate decisions, and to describe the behavior of the endowment fund portfolio under certain modeling assumptions, including a sensitivity analysis that evaluates, in particular, the relationship between the spending rate and stock allocation over an extended period of time by changing the values of certain parameters in the model. The fourth chapter tackles the issue of international diversification from the point of view of active currency hedging. The ability to control risk with the possibility of return enhancement is the main reason why institutional investors such as university endowments should worry about the international diversification of investment portfolios. I have concentrated on an area, which has been overlooked by endowment funds for a long time. That is, the introduction of currency hedging in the context of an international portfolio and the provision of some behavioral considerations: first, implicitly, in the framework of the traditional expected utility maximization and then, explicitly, in the disappointment-averse functional context. In both chapters, the discussion is heavily based on the specification of the utility function; i.e., habit formation through the use of a subsistence level in the case of asset allocation and spending rate determination, and behavioral/agency-related formulation of various aversion parameters in the international portfolio management chapter.

Tech Culture is a local startup company that has a very creative idea in the network security management area. The two founders have a very strong startup for their business but encounter some problems during the expansion of their business. This thesis is to analyze their business model using effectuation theories to make sure the business model fits the current economic development. Then, start using various business theories to correctly define and analyze their problems. At the end, some theory-driven suggestions are given to Tech Culture for its future development.

Date: 2009-06-02 Program: International Marketing Authors: Anantaya Ponbamrungwong & Sirada Chandsawang Title: The impact of brand on Thai female consumer in purchase decision of foreign makeup product Research Question: Does brand equity affect Thai female consumer in foreign makeup product purchase? Purpose: to investigate the effect of brand on consumer purchasing decision of foreign makeup product. The outcome of the research would be beneficial to marketing professionals especially in Thai cosmetics-makeup industry to understand the target consumer-based brand equity regarding their purchasing decision. Method: The concepts of Brand equity and Purchase decision are chosen to study behavior of the target respondents; Thai female consumers who live in Bangkok, Thailand on their purchase decision of buying foreign makeup products. Conclusion: Brand equity does not totally affect Thai female consumer in their purchasing decision of buying foreign make up products. However, the respondents have the concept of brand equity: brand loyalty, brand awareness, brand associations and perceived quality in their mind but they did not generally relate the whole concepts to make a final purchase decision of foreign makeup products.   Keywords: Cosmetic, Makeup products, Brand equity, Purchase decision

Children’s participation in their planning in health and social services is important. To make children’s needs more considered they need to be involved in the cision-making processes. Children have the ability to reflect. The aim has been to find ut which knowledge there is about participation of children and youth with disability in meetings with the society and elucidate factors that have an impact on the participation. This study focus on the children’s view on their own participation. The topic was examined with a selective systematic literature review. Forty studies showed that children want to be participating in their own habilitation contacts. The majority studies concern health care, very few social care. This study concerns children’s participation in the aspect how • they are listened to • they are supported in expressing their views • their views are taken into account • they are involved in decision-making processes and • they participate and have power and responsibility for decision-making. Children clearly desired participation in the three first levels and to some extent in the two latter. Time, flexibility, the staff ’s child competence and children’s participation competence, interaction competence (children, parents, staff) etc are important factors on individual and system level. Despite knowledge about children ’s competence the awareness still is low about the importance of children’s participation.

The treatment that women get from health care staff can influence the experience of the abortion and how women manage to coping the experience emotionally. The aim of this study was to illuminate women’s experiences in connection with an abortion. The findings show that the women’s social situation led them to the decision of abortion. When the women had the pregnancy confirmed many felt unreality. Several women experienced the situation as a crisis. After the abortion most of the women experienced relief, but also guilt towards the abortion. Some knew that they had made the right decision, while others felt regret. Most of the women experienced that the nursing staff treated them well, but some women experienced that the staff was negative, insensitive and ignoring. Most of the women was satisfied with the total support from significant others. To make a satisfying nursing care possible for each woman who seeks abortion, more research is needed about women’s experiences of nursing staff’s treatment.

There is a shortage of organs available for donation worldwide. There have been several campaigns to try to increase the numbers of registrered donors. The topic has been brought to the forefront but more work is still needed to distribute information to the public. The aim of this literature review was to examine what influences people in their decision to donate their organs or not, and what role nurses play in providing the most current information available. The study found that there was several different reasons given for not donating their organs. A great number of people were convinced that their religion was against organ donation. The level of knowledge about organ donation and ethnoculural background were major factors when making the decision to register as an organ donar. Only through making more information available in different languages, educating healthcare workers about culural and religions differences can the numbers of registrated donors increase.