Regional politics is changing; it is transforming from being mainly a responsibility of the central state to a concern that is more for the regional or local governments. At the same time, there are signs of a transformation of the political system in general. The development indicates a decreasing hierarchy as the power of the state is challenged and the political agents are increasing in number. This indicates that the political agents are changing but there are also indications that the political forms are transforming. The politics is increasingly characterised by project and process politics, networks, cooperation and partnerships. This transformation is generally described as the transformation “from government to governance”. New governance is one of the most frequently discussed issues in contemporary political science literature, and this has led to a wide variety of conceptualizations. Considering the changing regional politics and general changes as the political forms and agents, this thesis studies who governs the regional politics and how regional politics is governed.The purpose of this thesis is to provide empirical contributions in order to increase the understanding of changes in regional politics at the local level. This is done by dividing governance modes into typologies. Four political processes at the local level in the municipality of Åre between the years 1973-2007 are analyzed. The thesis is based on qualitative semi-structured elite interviews. The informants have been selected by snowball sampling. The interviews have also been complemented by documentary studies. The documents that have been studied are the protocols from the municipal assembly from 1973, when the municipality was created, to􀂒􀂟2007. The documents also consist of the parish archives (sockenkrönikor) governmental reports and official documents of the local and state-level government. The material has been analyzed by using process tracing.The main results of the study are that there have been changes in the regional politics at the local level in relation to the political agents and the forms of politics. The 1970s were characterized by strong state power and hierarchy. The political processes have increasingly been characterized by the typology of the new governance. The study has shown that in practice the regional politics in Åre is characterized by both traditional governance and new governance at the same time there has not been a paradigmatic shift. The elements of new governance are increasing but there are still significant signs of the traditional bureaucratic system such as hierarchy and ordered rule. As the signs of new governance increase, the political entrepreneurs play a bigger role in the processes being analyzed. The study also shows that the critique of traditional forms of governance relating to participation and influence has not become irrelevant as the signs of new governance increases.

This dissertation explores the economic development objectives, strategies, and activities of the First Nations in Canada with three objectives: (i) to identify the approach to development among First Nations, (ii) to develop a theoretical perspective capable of providing insight into this approach, and (iii) to investigate the activities of the First Nations in Saskatchewan to determine if they are consistent with the expected characteristics of the First Nations' approach to development and the proposed theoretical perspective. To address the first objective, a wide range of sources are reviewed to determine First Nations development objectives and strategies. Based on this review, the First Nations' development approach emphasizes the creation of profitable businesses competing in the global economy. These businesses are usually collectively owned and often involve partnerships with non-First Nation corporations. A review of development theory follows to accomplish the second objective. Both the orthodoxand radical perspectives are rejected. Instead, 'contingency perspective' based on regulation theory, the postimperial perspective and alternative/indigenous development approaches, is developed. To address the third objective, research was conducted in three parts: (i) an investigation of the economic development activities of the 70 Saskatchewan First Nations, (ii) a study of the approach of non-First Nations companies to business alliances with First Nations, and (iii) a case study of the development activities of the Meadow Lake Tribal Council. Based on the first and third parts of this research, 69% of First Nations businesses are owned by First Nations alone or First Nations in joint venture with non-First Nations businesses. These businesses account for 89% of the total estimated annual revenue of all First Nation businesses. Only 24% of First Nations businesses target the local market, the rest compete in broader regional, national and international markets. Part two of the research shows that a growing number of non-First Nations corporations are adopting a strategy of business alliances with aboriginal people. Five factors motivate this corporate behaviour: (i) a shift in the global competitive environment from a Fordist to a flexible regime of accumulation, (ii) society's changing expectations about what constitutes socially responsible corporate behaviour, (iii) legal and regulatory requirements and restrictions, (iv) the growing aboriginal population, and its increasing affluence and level of education, and (v) the rapidly growing pool of natural and financial resources under the control of aboriginal people. These results confirm the eight characteristics of the First Nations' approach to economic development and are consistent with the proposedcontingency perspective.

After going through the literature on entrepreneurship we found that very little studies have been done whether culture and family business traditions influence the decisions of entrepreneurship. Most people from the South and Southeast Asia had cultural and family business backgrounds. The purpose of our study is to investigate if culture and family business traditions of South andSoutheast Asian immigrants affect their decision to become self-employed and if so how. This will enhance the understanding of whether this factor is also important to motivate the entrepreneurs to be self-employed. Most of the studies have pointed out the motivational factors such as pull factors and push factors as being the main influencing factors for immigrant entrepreneurs to choose self-employment. Although, there are various literatures on entrepreneurship and its motivating factors, cultural and family based business traditions, limited study has focused on showing how the cultural and family business background affect the decision making abilities of the entrepreneurs. We have focused on the immigrant entrepreneurs born in South and Southeast Asian region operating their businesses in Umea city. For conducting this study we have used semi-structured interviews from our six respondents to collect the data. Based on our findings we found that the entrepreneurs are influenced by culture and family business traditions. Their social identity plays an important role in motivating them to become entrepreneurs. These immigrants are exposed to business environment from a very early age which helps shape up their business minds. The experience gained from their parents and the cultural and family business traditions act as business opportunity for them in the host country. We believe that this study would be helpful in the future for other scholars who are willing to conduct further research on this particular topic of interest. Our findings have increased the understanding of how the cultural and family business traditions of South and Southeast Asian region do affect the entrepreneurs’ decision to become self-employed in Umea.

Background: In recent years, South Africa has, like many other developing countries, invested enormous sums in arranging mega-events.  One of the primary beliefs is that the events should benefit the local entrepreneurs, especially in the tourism industry, and result in economical growth.  The entrepreneurs have different needs and the national government can help satisfying these needs by offering different kinds of support. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe and investigate the governmental support to local tourism entrepreneurs in the region of Cape Town, South Africa. The intention is to identify the entrepreneurs’ needs, the actual support the government provided, and how it can be improved, both in general and in connection to a mega-event. Definitions: SMMEs: Small, Micro and Medium enterprises, HDI: Historically Disadvantaged Individuals. Research procedure: This study has a qualitative approach with a case study design. The empirical findings are based on nine interviews which include five entrepreneurs and four managers from different governmental organisations. Results: The most important qualities among entrepreneurs are an entrepreneurial mindset and to have an understanding of the market. Entrepreneurs in developing countries often lack knowledge and experience and the government can help by offering education and accurate information. In connection with a mega-event, the entrepreneurs need help “becoming ready” which primarily involves supplying qualified products and services, and having an established network. It is highly important that the government acknowledges the different needs among the entrepreneurs and attempts to satisfy them. The government must also reduce ineffective bureaucracy and make it easier for entrepreneurs to receive financial support.

Vaggeryd is a rural municipality and wants to develop its rural areas. Therefore Vaggeryd’s municipality wants to become a cluster region within the equus industries and hence become an equine municipality where equestrians can live and run their businesses as well as providing for equine activities and competitions. The reason why it is interesting to create a cluster region is because it comes with benefits for the companies and it helps developing the regional economy (Enright, 1998; Porter, 2000). “Clusters lower barriers to new business formation that improve the environment for productivity.” (Porter, 1998a). One investment made in 2005 in the direction of becoming an equine municipality was the start up of an Advanced Vocational Education [KY] in the region, named Horse Entrepreneur. All 23 students in this programme, year 2005 and 2006, were interviewed and it turned out that all of them wanted to start up own businesses within 10 years, but only three planned to establish their companies in Vaggeryd. Most of the students planned to move back to their home municipality. Eight students in total could, however imagine themselves establishing in Vaggeryd. The students thought that this kind of education is very important for equestrians who want to start up businesses. The students believed that Vaggeryd’s municipality will become a good and functional equine municipality and referred to the highway E4 (which runs through the municipality), the race track and the veterinary clinic. More farms with large lands are what the students think the municipality council should invest in to attract equine companies as well as to become an equine friendly municipality. From the cluster analysis a similar result was found. It showed that there is no agglomeration in the four investigated industries over Sweden, namely horse breeding, horse competitions, managing race tracks and gallops courses and riding educational services and horse rents. This means that the places where the entrepreneurs choose to set up their businesses are less important; hence they can likewise set up in Vaggeryd. However a trend was expected. The districts where most of the equine businesses in Sweden take place are rural areas close to populated regions, so called semi-urban areas. There are no cities in Vaggeryd’s municipality only two towns, Vaggeryd and Skillingaryd. The conclusion drawn is that if Vaggeryd wants to become an equine municipality it must invest (Enright, 1998; Malmberg, 2002). For example creating job opportunities, and building farms on areas with large lands. These investments are needed to attract inhabitants and business people to their municipality before the equine companies can flourish. Investments make this type of clusters attractive (Enright, 1998; Malmberg, 2002). The cluster data revealed that there are no equine activities in Vaggeryd’s municipality today; however it has the possibility to become an equine municipality due to suitable condition, for example land plots with lakes and the closeness to highway E4. Vaggeryd should focus on facilitating business activities and providing with updated networks in order for companies to gain from being clustered, according to the cluster theory advocated by von Hippel (1988) and Hakansson (1987). Vaggeryd suits for equine businesses which are trading goods and services with other businesses, hence which are not dependent on a location close to cities, according to Karlsson (2008) in the field of clustering in smaller regions.

With the vigorous development of digital content, many countries have been enthusiastically planning on it in order to gain the munificent margin and immense output value from this new industry. In Taiwan, the Executive Yuan of the Republic of China has approved the plan of ¡§Challenge 2008 ¢wCouncil for Economic Planning and Development¡¨ on the date of May 31st, 2002. Digital Content is one of the main industries to be developed in the ¡§Two-Trillion, Two Star¡¨ project of the ¡§Challenge 2008¡¨ plan. The ¡§Digital Content Institute¡¨ is also in the plan to cultivate digital content professionals in the areas of information, multimedia, arts and etc. Digital Publishing and Archives (digital publishing, digital archives, digital databases) are the core industries of digital content. The digital publishing and archives industry in Taiwan is in the presence of development, from OEMs by projects in the past to the present multi-dimension developments like multi-media creation, national and international magazines and journals authorization, digital archives value-added and productions. Therefore; it will be a very important mile stone for the digital publishing and archives industry development in the next decay in Taiwan. This research adopted case study methodology, and the cases are the three most popular digital publishing and archives companies in Taiwan -- Lee and Lee Communications (digital archives), Airiti Inc.( digital databases), and Bright Ideas Design Co.( multimedia publishing). This research is to study the core elements of start-up businesses, and review their start-up histories, enterprise operations and strategies, enterprise focuses and the core values of enterprises by the references of national and international research documents and industry information analysis. The impacts and key elements of the start-ups by entrepreneurship and management styles are also observed in this study. The information collected and the interview content is compared with the documentation records, and the search result is concluded at the end. The conclusions of this study for the entrepreneurs in this industry are listed as follow: 1. The market scale is too small and narrow. Therefore, aggressively expanding international market is necessary. 2. Due to training difficulty for professional designers, employing professionals from overseas for short term could be considered. 3. Marketing is equivalent to profit. Marketing ability should be enhanced, and promote products to client sides. 4. To solve the problem of bad management efficiency, changing management styles and studying can both improve. 5. Valuing copyright. Creating brand is the path for operating businesses in long term.

<p>Vaggeryd is a rural municipality and wants to develop its rural areas. Therefore Vaggeryd’s municipality wants to become a cluster region within the equus industries and hence become an equine municipality where equestrians can live and run their businesses as well as providing for equine activities and competitions. The reason why it is interesting to create a cluster region is because it comes with benefits for the companies and it helps developing the regional economy (Enright, 1998; Porter, 2000). “Clusters lower barriers to new business formation that improve the environment for productivity.” (Porter, 1998a). One investment made in 2005 in the direction of becoming an equine municipality was the start up of an Advanced Vocational Education [KY] in the region, named Horse Entrepreneur.</p><p>All 23 students in this programme, year 2005 and 2006, were interviewed and it turned out that all of them wanted to start up own businesses within 10 years, but only three planned to establish their companies in Vaggeryd. Most of the students planned to move back to their home municipality. Eight students in total could, however imagine themselves establishing in Vaggeryd. The students thought that this kind of education is very important for equestrians who want to start up businesses.</p><p>The students believed that Vaggeryd’s municipality will become a good and functional equine municipality and referred to the highway E4 (which runs through the municipality), the race track and the veterinary clinic. More farms with large lands are what the students think the municipality council should invest in to attract equine companies as well as to become an equine friendly municipality.</p><p>From the cluster analysis a similar result was found. It showed that there is no agglomeration in the four investigated industries over Sweden, namely horse breeding, horse competitions, managing race tracks and gallops courses and riding educational services and horse rents. This means that the places where the entrepreneurs choose to set up their businesses are less important; hence they can likewise set up in Vaggeryd.</p><p>However a trend was expected. The districts where most of the equine businesses in Sweden take place are rural areas close to populated regions, so called semi-urban areas.</p><p>There are no cities in Vaggeryd’s municipality only two towns, Vaggeryd and Skillingaryd. The conclusion drawn is that if Vaggeryd wants to become an equine municipality it must invest (Enright, 1998; Malmberg, 2002). For example creating job opportunities, and building farms on areas with large lands. These investments are needed to attract inhabitants and business people to their municipality before the equine companies can flourish. Investments make this type of clusters attractive (Enright, 1998; Malmberg, 2002).</p><p>The cluster data revealed that there are no equine activities in Vaggeryd’s municipality today; however it has the possibility to become an equine municipality due to suitable condition, for example land plots with lakes and the closeness to highway E4.</p><p>Vaggeryd should focus on facilitating business activities and providing with updated networks in order for companies to gain from being clustered, according to the cluster theory advocated by von Hippel (1988) and Hakansson (1987). Vaggeryd suits for equine businesses which are trading goods and services with other businesses, hence which are not dependent on a location close to cities, according to Karlsson (2008) in the field of clustering in smaller regions.</p>

<p>Background: The importance of creativity and innovation is frequently stressed in modern literature on management. The significance of innovation gives entrepreneurs the reason to prior to the commencement of a relationship with a venture capitalist, obtain necessary insights regarding the influences such a relationship may have, in terms of innovation. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to scrutinise the influence of venture capital firms on their portfolio companies regarding their ability to be innovative. Delimitations: The intent is to study the impact of a venture capitalist from the viewpoint of its portfolio companies. In other words, what the portfolio companies have perceived as changes is our main area of concern, rather than what the venture capitalist has perceived as change. Realisation: LinkTech, a venture capitalist located and active in the town of Linköping, has together with three of its portfolio companies constituted as an example for the empirical research. An interview with the CEO at LinkTech was carried out as well as interviews with managers at the three portfolio companies. Additionally, a survey aimed towards the employees atthe portfolio companies was conducted. Results: It has been found that a venture capitalist does influence its portfolio companies in terms of innovation. This is mainly done through changes in the existing strategy, but also through the building of networks, changes in the organisational structure of the firms, and through the establishment of reward systems. Empowerment, corporate culture, decision- making, and teamwork have also been examined but been shown to be less influenced.</p>

<p>How does the idea of entrepreneurship for young people relate to media discourses? We have analysed magazines on entrepreneurship from the perspective of Faircloghs critical discourse analysis method to see how the magazines, by there own position in the entrepreneurships discourse, relate the idea of young entrepreneurship. The society wants more people to start their own business, why? The issues of the shift from youth as social problems to youth as entrepreneurs is discussed in the thesis as well as the scope and content of this discourse as a possible new ideal for youth in Swedish society.</p> / <p>Hur framställer man idé om företagande för unga? Vi har med hjälp av</p><p>den kritiska diskusanalysen analyserat tidningar om företagande för att se hur de, via sin egen positionering i företagsdiskursen, framställer idén om företagande för unga. Varför är samhället intresserat av att så många ska starta företag idag? I uppsatsen analyseras en möjlig förändring när det gäller synen på ungdomar: från problem till ett nytt ideal som betonar entreprenörskap och företagande. Uppsatsen undersöker bredden och innehållet i denna diskurs.</p>

Thèse de doctorat : Sciences de gestion : Université Nancy 2 : 2007. / Titre provenant de l'écran-titre. Bibliogr.