Magistro darbe, remiantis Lietuvos ir užsienio autorių moksliniais darbais, išanalizuota vartotojų elgsenos esmė bei požymiai, įvertinta vartotojų elgsenos modelių įvairovė, atskleisti vartotojų elgseną lemiantys veiksniai, kurie daro įtaką sprendimo pirkti priėmimo procesui. Pateiktas vartotojų elgsenos tyrimo metodologijos pagrindimas bei atskleistos UAB „Metalo prekyba“ vartotojų elgsenos veiksnių, turinčių įtakos sprendimo pirkti priėmimo procesui, tyrimo projektavimo ir organizavimo procedūros. Identifikuota ir įvertinta pagrindiniai UAB „Metalo prekyba“ vartotojų elgsenos veiksniai, turintys įtakos sprendimo pirkti priėmimo procesui, bei įmonės išskirtinės kompetencijos. Patvirtinta suformuluota mokslinio tyrimo hipotezė, kad prekių kokybė ir kaina, vieni svarbiausių veiksnių, lemiančių vartotojų apsisprendimą pirkti UAB „Metalo pekyba“. / In Master‘s work, on the ground of analysis of scholarly sources, there is analyzed the essence and features of consumer behavior, assessed the diversity of consumer behavior patterns, identify factors driving consumer behavior, which influence the purchase decision-making process. The paper presents consumer behaviour research methodology and gives procedures on planning and organizing the processes which the consumer goes through to decide upon his/her actions. There have been identified and estimated main factors which influence consumer decision making process in JSC “Metalo prekyba”and exclusive competencies of the company. According to the research results, the hypothesis that the product quality and price one of the most important factors for consumers resolve to buy in JSC “Metalo prekyba”, has been confirmed.

Bakgrund: Hälsofördelarna med amning är välkända, och sedan 1992 försöker svenska sjukhus arbeta efter internationella amningsrekommendationer. Trots detta framkommer brister i vården och amningsstatistiken i Sverige sjunker. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka amningsdurationen hos förstföderskor, om den kunde associeras med vården de fått i samband med barnets födelse och första levnadsdygn, samt med mammornas skattning av amningsstöd vid amningsstart. Metod: Designen var en longitudinell kvantitativ tvärsnittsstudie och urvalet var icke slumpmässigt konsekutivt. I samband med utskrivning från BB, tillfrågades 63 mammor om att delta i en enkätstudie med frågor gällande vården de fått i relation till amning och 52 mammor besvarade enkäten. Efter nio till tolv månader blev de uppringda för en kortare uppföljning och 50 mammor valde att delta. Resultat: Medianen för durationen av exklusiv amning var tre månader och tre veckor och medianen för durationen av partiell amning var åtta månader. Amningsstödet på BB skattades högre vid det första mättillfället, men det påvisades inte ha något samband med amningsdurationen. Faktorer i vården såsom; hudnära vård, amning inom två timmar eller handgriplig amningshjälp, bidrog inte till någon skillnad i amningsduration. Däremot påverkades amningsdurationen negativt hos de barn som fått tillmatning på BB, med en kortare exklusiv amningsduration som följd, och de som fötts med kejsarsnitt, med kortare amningsduration såväl exklusivt som partiellt. Slutsats: Medianen för durationen av exklusiv amning var tre månader och tre veckor och medianen för durationen av partiell amning var åtta månader.  Faktorer i vården som inverkade negativt på amningsdurationen var tillmatning på BB samt att barnet fötts med kejsarsnitt. Däremot fanns ingen association mellan amningsduration och amningsstöd, hudnära vård, amning inom två timmar eller handgriplig hjälp. / Background: The health benefits of breastfeeding are well known and since 1992, Swedish hospitals aim to provide care according to international guidelines of breastfeeding support. Despite this, there are inadequacies in the care provided, and the frequency of breastfeeding in Sweden is statistically decreasing. Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the duration of breastfeeding among primiparas, if the duration was associated with the provided care and with how the mothers valued the help and support they received at the initiation of breastfeeding. Method: A quantitative longitudinal with consecutive sample was conducted. At discharge from hospital, 63 mothers were asked if they wanted to participate in a survey about breastfeeding and the related care, and 52 mothers filled in the questionnaire. After nine to twelve months the participants were contacted by phone for a short follow-up, and 50 mothers chose to participate. Results: The median duration of exclusive breastfeeding was three months and three weeks and the median duration of partial breastfeeding was eight months. The evaluation of the breastfeeding support was higher at the first data collection but did not appear to correlate with the duration of breastfeeding. Of the investigated factors; skin-to-skin contact immediately after birth, breastfeeding within two hours after birth and hands-on support, none of them led to differences in breastfeeding duration. Breastfeeding duration was adversely affected if the infant was given formula at the maternity ward and if the infant was born by Caesarean section. Feeding by infant formula led to a shorter duration of exclusive breastfeeding and birth by Caesarean section led to a shorter duration of both exclusive and partial breastfeeding. Conclusion: The median duration of exclusive breastfeeding was three months and three weeks and the median duration of partial breastfeeding was eight months. The infant being given formula at the maternity ward, and being born by Caesarean section were factors that adversely affected the duration of breastfeeding. However, there was no association between breastfeeding duration and; perceived breastfeeding support, skin-to-skin-care, breastfeeding within two hours or hands-on support.

Syfte: Meningen med studien är att bidra med en större förståelse och förhoppningsvis nya insikter om konsumtionen av lyxprodukter inom matbranschen genom att integrera redan existerande teori med empiriskt material. Syftet är att ur ett företagsperspektiv beskriva hur en förståelse för konsumententbeteende kring exklusiva matprodukter kan användas i marknadsföringen av dessa produkter.Studien riktar sig till människor, forskare samt organisationer som är intresserade av marknadsföring av lyxprodukter, men är även riktad till människor med intresse för nutidens konsumtion. Vidare motiveras studien ur ett etiskt perspektiv genom att belysa fenomenet kring dagens konsumtion och göra konsumenter medvetna om drivkrafterna bakom sitt beteende.Problemformulering: Hur kan företag som säljer exklusiva matprodukter använda förståelsen för konsumenternas beteende i sin marknadsföring? Vad kan vara bakgrunden till att konsumenter väljer att konsumera högkvalitativa och exklusiva matprodukter? Hur kan företag kategorisera in dessa konsumenter i olika konsumentgrupper? Var och vid vilka tillfällen väljer dessa konsumenter att konsumera exklusiva matprodukter?Metod: Studien är en kvalitativ studie där en kombinerad fall- och tvärsnittsstudie är genomförd. De data som samlats in och ligger till grund för studiens resultat och slutsats är genomförd genom litteraturstudier, intervjuer samt en frågeenkätundersökning. Företagsrespondenterna som medverkade i intervjuerna samt enkätundersökningen är verksamma inom branschen samt har en dokumenterad erfarenhet av exklusiva matprodukter.Resultat och slutsatser: Det finns olika anledningar till att konsumenter väljer att konsumera exklusiva matprodukter, det vi har kommit fram till är att alla konsumenter gör det av emotionella och självuttryckande värden som grundar sig i olika externa och interna ambitioner. Utefter våra resultat valde vi att dela in konsumenterna i fem olika grupper baserat på konsumentbeteende: traditionalisterna, matälskarna, prestigesökarna, trendsättarna samt de utåtriktade konsumenterna. Dessa olika konsumentgrupper väljer att konsumera exklusiva matprodukter vid olika tillfällen samt av olika emotionella eller självuttryckande anledningar. Marknadsföringen kan utifrån en förståelse för konsumenterna anpassas och utformas till olika konsumentgrupper, rikta sig till fler målgrupper och på det sättet förhoppningsvis göra marknadsföringen mer effektiv utifrån ett företagsperspektiv. / Purpose: The purpose of this study is to contribute to an understanding and hopefully new insights about the consumption of luxury goods within the food industry by integrating existing theory with empirical material. The purpose is that from a business perspective describe how an understanding of consumer behavior can be linked to the consumption of exclusive food products and how this can be used in a marketing perspective of these goods.The study is aimed to benefit people, researchers and organizations that are interested in marketing of luxury goods, but also to people interested in today’s consumption. From an ethical perspective, the study is motivated by illustrating the phenomenon of today’s consumption and making consumers aware about the forces behind their own behaviour. Research question: How can companies that offer exclusive food products use the understanding of consumer behavior in their marketing?What can be the underlying reasons for consumers choosing to consume high quality and exclusive food products? How can companies categorize these consumers in different customer groups? Where and in what occasions do these consumers consume exclusive food products?Methodology: The study is executed through a qualitative approach where a combined case and cross-sectional study is conducted. The material that has been gathered as the fundament of the papers results and conclusion is made through literature studies, interviews and a questionnaire survey. The respondents of both interviews and the questionnaire survey are people active in the business and have recognized experience from the food industry.Results and conclusions: There are various reasons why people choose to consume exclusive food products, what we have come to is that all consumers do this of emotional and self-expression values that are based on different internal and external ambitions. Based on the results we have gathered in this study we chose to divide the consumers in five different groups based on consumer behaviour: the traditionalists, food lovers, prestige seekers, trend-setters and the outward consumers. These different groups of consumers choose to consume exclusive food products at different times and by different emotional or self-expressing reasons. With an understanding of the consumers the marketing of these products can be adapted and designed for different consumer groups, be targeted to a broader audience and thus hopefully make the marketing more effective from a business perspective.

Nutritional insults and conditions in fetal life and infancy may influence later growth and body composition as well as the development of chronic diseases in adult life. We studied the effects of maternal food and micronutrient supplementation and exclusive breast-feeding counseling on offspring growth 0-54 months and body composition at 54 months of age. We also validated and developed equations for a leg-to-leg bioimpedance analyzer in order to assess body composition of Bangladeshi children aged 4-10 years. In the MINIMat trial in Matlab, Bangladesh, pregnant women were randomized to Early (around 9 weeks) or a Usual invitation (around 20 weeks) to food supplementation and to one of three daily micronutrient supplementations with capsules of either 30 mg Fe and 400 µg folic acid, or 60 mg Fe and 400 µg folic acid, or multiple micronutrient supplements (MMS) (15 micronutrients including 30 mg Fe and 400 µg folic acid). They were also randomized to exclusive breastfeeding counseling (EBC) or to usual health messages (UHM). Growth of their children was measured from birth to 54 months, when body composition also was assessed. There were no differences in background characteristics across the different intervention groups. There was no differential effect by prenatal interventions on birth weight or length. Early invitation to food supplementation reduced stunting from early infancy up to 54 months for boys (average difference 6.5 percent units, 95% CI=1.7 to 11.3, p=0.01), but not for girls (average difference 2.4 percent units, 95% CI=-2.2 to 7.0, p=0.31). MMS resulted in more stunting than standard Fe60F (average difference 4.8 percent units, 95% CI=0.8 to 8.9, p=0.02). Breast-feeding counseling prolonged the duration of exclusive breastfeeding (difference 35.0 days, 95% CI 30.6-39.5, p<0.001). Neither the pregnancy interventions nor the breast-feeding counseling influenced body composition at 54 months. Early food supplementation in pregnancy reduced the occurrence of stunting in boys 0-54 months, while prenatal MMS increased the proportion of stunting. Early food and multiple micronutrient supplementation or exclusive breastfeeding intervention provided to rural Bangladeshi women during pregnancy did not affect offspring body composition at 54 months of age. The effects on postnatal growth suggest programming effects in early fetal life.

The aim of this study is to examine the Christian community called Plymouth Brethren and how they interpret religion in relation to their entrepreneurship and business practices. The community has a strong faith in God, uses the Bible as the guiding principle in everyday life, and also has the ambition to live together within the group in seclusion from the rest of society. Based on interviews with Plymouth Brethren in the county of Småland, the study describes how they perceive the relationship between the Christian faith and entrepreneurship and practice religion in the context of their family business. As the study illustrates the Christian faith is significantly motivating their enterprises of business and the Bible is their guiding principle even when it comes to how they should run their businesses.

South Africa recently changed infant feeding policy within Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) of HIV from free formula to recommendation of breastfeeding for all. The country is evaluating the role of Community Health Workers (CHWs) in supporting mothers and newborns. The aim of this thesis is to explore perceptions of household members on the value given to and the social forces behind formula feeding in light of the recent policy change, and to assess the effect of a community-based package of maternal and newborn care delivered by CHWs on HIV-free survival and exclusive and appropriate infant feeding up to 12 weeks of age. Studies were conducted in a high HIV prevalence township. Focus group discussions were performed (grandmothers, fathers and teenage mothers) and in-depth interviews with HIV-positive and HIV-negative mothers. Perceptions of household members on the formula policy change were explored and the value household members place on formula feeding and circumstances that drive it. In a cluster-randomized trial (15 intervention, 15 control clusters) CHWs provided two antenatal and five post-natal home visits to support and promote PMTCT activities. There were misunderstandings by community members on the free formula policy change. Mothers transferred the motherhood role to their mothers while partners provided inadequate financial support, leading to risky mixed feeding. Teenage mothers rarely breastfed their infants due to perceived constraints including embarrassment, sagging breasts and loss of freedom and boyfriends. At 12 weeks of age the intervention had doubled exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) (28% vs. 14%) and slightly increased infant weight and length. No difference was seen between study arms in HIV-free survival. The effect on EBF at12 weeks did not differ with maternal education or wealth levels, but was higher among HIV-negative mothers.  Focusing on teenage mothers breastfeeding challenges, involvement of grandmothers and fathers in infant feeding decision-making, improving communication strategies on policy change and breastfeeding to the community and health workers and CHWs home visits supporting PMTCT activities are important for infant feeding and child health.

Introduction: Breast milk is the best way to feed all infants. It results in better nutrition for the infant and to reduced rates of chronic disease later in childhood and adulthood. Breastfed babies have lower rates of infectious diseases and will not be exposed to contaminated infant formula, such as the recent experience with melamine in China. The WHO Expert Consultation on Infant Feeding recommended exclusive breastfeeding for six months, with the introduction of complementary foods and continued breastfeeding thereafter. It was also recommended by the WHO that breastfeeding continue beyond six months for up to two years and beyond. Breastmilk can provide the majority of nutrients for the first 12 months of life. Complementary foods were given in the second half year gradually. / However with the rapid economic development, the traditional home based obstetric system in China has changed. Following the change in women’s living styles, traditional infant feeding perceptions and practices have changed. Women now have high rates of returning to work after delivering a baby, especially in the urban areas, and more infants are being given infant formula and other substitutes for breastfeeding. Zhejiang Province is the one of fastest developing economic regions located in the mid Eastern coast of China. The breastfeeding rate has dropped rapidly since the 1970’s. This has significant implications for the child health in this region. A longitudinal study of breastfeeding was needed to provide the data necessary to implement a comprehensive health promotion program. Efforts are needed to promote breastfeeding, which should be one of the highest health promotion priorities. / The aim of this study was to document the prevalence and duration of breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding in city, suburban and rural areas in Zhejiang Province; analyze the factors determining the initiation and the duration of breastfeeding; document mothers’ knowledge about the benefits of breastfeeding; identify the prevalence of problems associated with breastfeeding and constraints to exclusive breastfeeding up to six months of life; document the prevalence of prelacteal feeds and finally to describe differences in breastfeeding between city, suburb and rural area. / Method: In order to achieve these objectives a longitudinal cohort study was undertaken of infant feeding practices in three locations in Zhejiang Province which represent city and suburban and rural areas. Mothers who delivered babies during 2004 and 2005 were randomly selected from the obstetric wards while in hospital and invited to voluntarily participate in the study. The mothers were interviewed in hospital and after discharge, were contacted by telephone three more times at 1, 3 and 6 months. The few mothers who could not be reached by telephone were interviewed during the scheduled routine immunisation clinics at their local MCH clinic. On each of these follow up occasions they were interviewed using a structured questionnaire to obtain details of infant feeding practices. A total of 1520 mothers were recruited in 4 hospitals located in city, suburb and rural areas. Almost all mothers (98%) agreed to participate. All data analyses were carried out using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS), release 14.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). Descriptive techniques and survival analysis were used to document breastfeeding rates and duration. Cox regression analysis was undertaken to explore factors affecting breastfeeding. / Results: Of the total 1520 mothers were recruited into the study, 628 were from the city, 347 from the suburb and 535 from the rural area. Breastfeeding initiation rates were high in all three locations. Initially more than 95% of the mothers began breastfeeding, but only 50.3% babies averagely in three locations were being exclusively breastfed at discharge. The number of infants being exclusively breastfed prior to discharge was relatively low. Exclusive breastfeeding before discharge was positively related to delivery method, the first feed given to the baby, mother’s place of residence, mother’s age, mothers’ education level and family income. / ‘Any breastfeeding’ rates at discharge and at 1, 3 and 6 months were 96.9%, 96.0%, 89.7% and 76.7% respectively. ‘Exclusive breastfeeding’ rates at discharge, and at 1, 3, 6 months were 50.3%, 55.1%, 45.8% and 3.9% respectively. The average duration of ‘exclusive breastfeeding’ was 44.7 days (95% CI, 41.6-47.9). / Overall about half of mothers gave the babies prelacteal feeds before commencing breastfeeding. This situation was more common in city, compared with the suburban and rural mothers. The prelacteal feeding rates were 62.0%, 36.6% and 39.0% in city, suburb and rural area respectively. / The breastfeeding rates differed by location between the city, suburb and rural areas. ‘Any breastfeeding’ rates in the city, suburb and rural area at discharge were 96.5 %, 96.8 % and 97.4 % respectively, the ‘exclusive breastfeeding’ rates in city, suburb and rural area at discharge were 38.0%, 63.4 % and 61.0 % respectively. The rates of exclusive breastfeeding at six months were only 0.2%, 0.5 % and 7.2 % respectively, well below the Chinese and WHO targets. / The risk factors related to cessation of ‘any breastfeeding’ were ‘mother’s age’, ‘the time the decision to breastfeed was made’, ‘whether the infant was admitted to special care nursery’, ‘mother’s return to work within 6 months’, ‘the early feeding of water and /or other complementary foods, and location of mother’s usual residence. Factors negatively associated with ‘exclusive breastfeeding’ duration were early return to work and to place of residence, with the mothers living in the rural area exclusively breastfeeding for longer. / Delivery method was an important influence on breastfeeding. In this study the highest caesarean section rate was in the city (76%), with a similar rate in the suburbs (74%) and the lowest in the rural area (53%). Mothers who had a caesarean section were less likely to be exclusively breastfeeding on discharge (35.8% in city, 59.6% in the suburbs) compared to vaginal delivery where the rates were 45% and 74.4% respectively. The adjusted odds ratio for exclusive breastfeeding in caesarean section deliveries in the city and suburban mothers was 0.64 (95% CI 0.46, 0.88). / Conclusion: The study has descried the initiation and duration of breastfeeding (to six months) of babies in the different areas of Zhejiang Province. Separate information is provided on the prevalence of ‘any breastfeeding’ and ‘exclusive breastfeeding'. The factors that are associated with the initiation and duration of breastfeeding in Zhejiang Province are documented. Health promotion programs are needed to change some traditional inappropriate breastfeeding perceptions and to promote ‘exclusive breastfeeding’ in the first six months of life in Zhejiang. Education should be given and regulations should be introduced restricting hospital staff from recommending prelacteal and supplementary feeds unless warranted for medical reasons. The research also shows that there would be a benefit to breastfeeding if delivery and lactation leave were extended to six months and if the incidence of caesarean section could be reduced to levels more consistent with WHO expected levels.

Thesis (doctoral)--Göttingen Universitat, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.

Talent Management (TM) is of growing interest within academia and in the strategic HRM literature in particular. Despite many attempts to study TM from different perspectives, it remains an ambiguous and elusive concept that is difficult to define and hence challenging to explore and address. Studies on TM are based within Western contexts and therefore it is questionable whether TM models and theories are transferable to other nations and contexts. This research examines the nature of TM in the Middle Eastern context of Oman, from the perspective of Institutional Theory. Through a qualitative, multiple case-study approach, data was collected from four banking and petroleum-sector organisations through semi-structured interviews. The findings suggest that the different influences of institutional pressures (e.g. nationalisation, competition, organisational characteristics) have significantly shaped TM in these organisations. The findings show that TM effectiveness and sustainability depends upon a range of factors including: generational differences, employee expectations, the role of expatriates and national culture. Thus, TM and its approach has to be understood and framed within the context of institutions which interact with organisational characteristics; this shapes the way in which the organisations define their TM approach in order to seek legitimacy, business continuity and effectiveness.

Master´s thesis describes types of the international contracts of EU and its process of negotiation and approval in the EU and in The Czech republic. As an example was chosen The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).