The Swedish electricity market has seen a surge in demand over the past fifty years. Since the deregulation in 1996, both the demand and supply side of the market has evolved into a competitive space for market actors. This has resulted in unique conditions, characterizing the nordic electricity market as being very much dependent on demand predictability. Demand flexibility has been investigated frequently, but as certain sector developments constantly affect electricity consumption, such as price volatility and green technology development, the price- and temperature elasticities should be revised continuously. Hourly-price contracts specifically, are on the rise in price area SE1, with a rise from 6 percent to 8 percent during the middle of 2023, meaning consumption patterns are of interest for the future as the trend continues. This has, to the authors’ knowledge, not been investigated within the municipality of Luleå, which is the basis for this master’s thesis. Two methodologies were adopted to investigate the elasticities, (1) an ordinary least squares (OLS) regression model and (2) two weighted least squares (WLS) regression models. The results indicate that the price elasticity of demand in Luleå is still very inelastic, with temperature bearing the main explanatory power for household electricity consumption patterns.

Social anxiety is related to various comorbidities, with the most common being elevated alcohol use (Bolton et al., 2006). The symptom profile of this unique subset of cases with social anxiety and comorbid alcohol use is more complex and experiences higher resistance to treatment (Buckner et al., 2008). Both social anxiety and alcohol use emerge during the adolescent developmental period, and yet there remains a gap in the understanding of potential developmental risk factors associated with the onset and maintenance of these co-occurring symptoms. The current study investigated trait impulsivity, cognitive flexibility, and risk-seeking during adolescence and associations with alcohol use and social anxiety in young adulthood. Participants included 167 adolescents (Mage = 14.07 years, SD = 0.54; 52.7% male) followed to young adulthood (Mage = 22.30, SD = 0.69). Growth mixture models indicated that high levels of risk-seeking during adolescence predicted social anxiety in young adulthood. Contrary to hypotheses, high (compared to moderate) risk-seeking participants had lower alcohol use. Longitudinal patterns of high attentional impulsivity during adolescence into young adulthood predicated later social anxiety, whereas non-planning and motor impulsivity did not. Linear regression analyses indicated that lower cognitive flexibility during early adolescence was associated with social anxiety and alcohol use in young adulthood. Finally, moderation models suggested that global trait impulsivity was not a significant moderator of the relation between alcohol use during adolescence and social anxiety in young adulthood. This is the first work to evaluate these developmental risk-factors in relation to comorbid social anxiety and alcohol use, and has important implications for bolstering therapeutic interventions, especially for those with elevated impulsivity. / Doctor of Philosophy / Some socially anxious young adults have more difficulties with alcohol use compared to their peers. The combination of social anxiety and elevated alcohol use can lead to challenges in various aspects of life, such as school, work, and social functioning. Previous literature in the field suggests that both social anxiety and alcohol use emerge during early adolescence (ages 13-14); however, risk-factors during this important developmental period are still being explored. This dissertation evaluated the following possible risk-factors during adolescence that may be associated with the later development of social anxiety and alcohol use: trait impulsivity, cognitive flexibility, and risk-seeking. These risk-factors were explored using a dataset collected in Virginia that followed 167 adolescents over an eight-year period. Results indicated that youth with higher risk-seeking and attentional impulsivity during adolescence (ages 13-21) had significant social anxiety symptoms once they reached young adulthood (ages 22-23). Additionally, lower cognitive flexibility during ages 13-14 was associated with higher social anxiety and alcohol use in young adulthood. This is the first work to evaluate these risk-factors in relation to social anxiety and alcohol use, and has important implications for interventions, especially for those who have increased impulsivity and risk-seeking behaviors.

Research has validated the contribution of information sharing to performance improvement. It has also suggested that flexibility is a highly important competitive priority for those companies where demand is volatile. Several studies argue that flexibility has been recognized as a key enabler for supply chain responsiveness. However, the impact of information sharing on supplier flexibility is still unexplored, especially for the companies that operate in agile business environments such as in the automotive industry where flexibility is a strategic requirement to manage demand uncertainty. In agile supply chains, such as in the automotive industry, information sharing can play an important role in responding to demand variability. In such settings, the demand volumes generally fluctuate, and hence create production-scheduling problems for the upstream suppliers such as first-tier suppliers. Interestingly, the impact of demand fluctuations on suppliers is higher than that of Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). The aim of this doctoral thesis is to investigate the role of information sharing between OEMs and first-tier suppliers, in enhancing supplier flexibility. Particularly, the research focuses on exploring the relationship between sharing demand schedules and inventory data, and volume and delivery flexibility. The questions on whether information sharing between OEMs and first-tier suppliers affect supplier flexibility remain unanswered. The following research questions have emerged:  RQ1: How does information sharing between OEMs and first-tier suppliers affect the latter's responsiveness to fluctuating demand? RQ2: What is the relationship between information sharing of OEMsʼ demand forecasts and inventory data, and suppliers’ volume and delivery flexibility? RQ3: What factors should OEMs consider to improve the sharing of demand forecasts with suppliers? The empirical part of this thesis comprises three individual studies that constitute the empirical foundations of the research problem. Each study analyzes one research question using its own methodological approach. Hence, different research methods for collecting and analyzing data were used to address the research questions. Applying different research methods is deemed advantageous because it allows for methodological rigorousness in this doctoral thesis. This thesis contributes to the body of knowledge in three dimensions—theory, method, and context. First, it contributes to the academic field of operations and supply chain management by developing a model to explain how information sharing could affect suppliers’ delivery performance. The model provides a measurement scale to measure the level of information sharing between OEMs and suppliers, and its impact on suppliers’ delivery flexibility. Second, this thesis contributes to the methods by using state-of-the-art techniques, which is partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) including consistent PLS, and applying advanced concepts to empirically test the proposed model. Third, this thesis has a managerial contribution to examine the concept of information sharing and flexibility at the supplier level. Investigating the problem at the supplier level may enable managers to improve short-term decisions, such as production scheduling decisions, internal production, and inventory processes, and evaluate collaboration practices with OEMs. This doctoral thesis is organized in a monograph format comprising five chapters: Introduction, Literature review, Methodology, Empirics, and Conclusion. As an outcome, several scientific articles have emerged from this thesis and have been submitted for consideration for publication in peer-reviewed journals and international conferences in the field of operations and supply chain management. These articles are listed and appended at the end of this dissertation. / <p>QC 20160302</p>

Many factors affect resilience, such as personality traits and environmental support. A projective assessment has many advantages to understand a person as a whole. Up to present, there is no projective assessment for resilience. This dissertation was a pilot study to develop a projective method. Sixty-five college students participated in this study. Participants used words to describe their feelings after hearing an open-ended story with a traumatic event; they also completed the story. In this study, the resilience ratio, defined as the ratio of the number of positive responses divided by the number of total responses, reflected the resilience level as well as cognitive and emotional flexibility. How participants completed the story revealed participants' interactions with the adversity. The resilience ratio has a slightly less than medium correlation with the CD-RISC-10 at a .05% level with r = .08. Participants who completed the story positively demonstrated the ability to use their resilient personality traits and social resources. t Tests revealed that resilience ratios, the CD-RISC-10 scores, and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem scores for participants providing positive endings and for those who providing negative endings were significantly different at a .05% level with Cohen's d values of .69, .65, and .62 respectively. The effect sizes for these three t tests were medium. Both the resilience ratio and how participants completed the story can be used to understand and measure resilience. The projective method presented in this pilot study may be used to develop prevention programs and intervention strategies to help individuals to gain resilience. As individuals become resilient, psychological disorder rate and mental health cost will decrease, and positive social change will result.

Cette thèse étudie la problématique de la flexibilité dans les chaînes logistiques. La recherche académique a commencé à s’intéresser à cette problématique depuis quelques années, mais les études existantes restent pour la plupart au niveau conceptuel et il y a peu de consensus sur la définition même de la flexibilité. Cette thèse a pour ambition de définir un nouveau cadre pour la flexibilité dans les chaînes logistiques, proposer des mesures quantitatives pour la flexibilité et enfin optimiser l’utilisation de la flexibilité, en particulier dans un contexte de planification intégrée de la production et du transport.Ce travail de thèse vise tout d’abord à établir un nouveau cadre pour la flexibilité de la chaîne logistique, où les différents aspects de la flexibilité sont classifiés en trois catégories principales: flexibilité de la production, flexibilité de la chaîne logistique et flexibilité du système. Dans chacune de ces catégories, on peut trouver des dimensions primordiales et des dimensions moins importantes.Afin d’évaluer la flexibilité de manière quantitative, nous faisons appel à la méthode Analogie Mécanique. Cette méthode propose une analogie entre un système mécanique vibratoire et une chaîne logistique. Dans ce contexte, nous avons développé une étude de cas pour Louis Vuitton afin d’évaluer la flexibilité de leurs magasins, et nous avons établi une procédure pour implémenter cette méthode.Une autre problématique importante est l’utilisation optimale de la flexibilité existante.Nous nous sommes particulièrement intéressés à la planification intégrée de la production et du transport avec des flexibilités sur la capacité de transport, où la production et le transport sont intimement liés du fait du manque de capacité de stockage et doivent être planifiées conjointement. Particulièrement, les véhicules hétérogènes sont pris en compte.Nous avons construit deux modèles de programmation linéaire en nombres mixtes et développé trois algorithmes qui ont été comparées par rapport à la relaxation linéaire pour les instances de grande taille et aux solutions optimales pour des instances de petite taille. Ces comparaisons montrent que les heuristiques proposées sont efficaces pour résoudre des problèmes réels, aussi bien en termes de qualité de solution qu’en termes de temps de calcul. / This thesis focuses on flexibility issues in supply chain. These issues are becoming more and more important for firms because of the increasingly changing business environment and customer behaviors. Although some of these issues have been tackled in academic research in recent years, but studies have mainly concentrated in conceptual levels and there is little consensus even on the definition of flexibility. This thesis aims at defining a new framework for the supply chain flexibility, proposing quantitative measures of the flexibility and optimizing the use of flexibility, especially in an integrated production and transportation planning context. The new framework of supply chain flexibility is based on classification of different flexibility aspects in a supply chain into three main categories - manufacturing flexibility,logistic chain flexibility and system flexibility. These flexibility types are further distinguished into major flexibility dimension and other flexibility dimension.In order to measure supply chain flexibility from a quantitative point of view, Mechanical Analogy method is particularly discussed. A procedure is established to enlarge and carry out this method in supply chain, provided with a case study to evaluate the flexibility of Louis Vuitton stores.One of the most important issues is to optimally make use of the available flexibility. We investigate an Integrated Production and Transportation Planning problem with given flexibility tolerances, where the production and transportation activities are intimately linked to each other and must be scheduled in a synchronized way. Particularly, heterogeneous vehicles are taken into account. Two mixed integer linear programming models are constructed.Three algorithms are developed and compared with linear relaxation bounds for large sized real life instances and with optimal solutions for small sized instances. These comparisons show the effectiveness of our heuristics in solving real life problems

La planification par scénarios est devenue un outil organisationnel extrêmement populaire. Elle stimule la réflexion stratégique et contribue à surmonter la pensée limitée à travers l’imagination de futurs multiples. Son objectif est de comprendre l’environnement mais encore évaluer les options stratégiques en dépit des scénarios proposés. Malgré cette popularité, force est de constater que très peu de travaux ont traité ses bienfaits sur l’organisation. L’objectif de cette recherche est, donc, l’étude de son impact sur le développement de la flexibilité et l’orientation entrepreneuriale. Notre recherche s’appuie sur une étude quantitative menée auprès de 133 cadres évoluant dans le secteur social et médico-social en France. Les résultats font apparaître une relation positive entre la planification par scénarios, la flexibilité stratégique et l’orientation entrepreneuriale. / Scenario planning has become an extremely popular organizational tool. It stimulates strategic thinking and helps overcome the limited thinking across the imagination of multiple futures. Its aim is to understand the environment but also to evaluate strategic options in spite of the proposed scenarios. Despite this popularity, there is inadequate research and theory to support its benefits to the organization. The objective of this research is to study its impact on the development of flexibility and entrepreneurial orientation. Our research is based on quantitative survey of 133 executives of French companies in the social and medico-social sector. The results confirm the expected relationships and reveal scenario planning to be an important determinant of strategic flexibility and entrepreneurial orientation.

[pt] A flexibilidade de manufatura tem sido considerada uma vantagem competitiva muito importante para as empresas na atualidade. Considerando que o seu uso efetivo pode exercer influências sobre o nível de diferencial competitivo de uma empresa, neste estudo procurou-se observar de que modo esse importante fator tem sido percebido e efetivado no âmbito de micro e pequenas empresas - MPEs. Desenvolve-se, inicialmente, uma revisão bibliográfica abordando diversos aspectos relacionados à flexibilidade de manufatura, como definição e conceituação, classificação e relacionamento entre dimensões, medição e operacionalização, para definir uma visão consistente e atualizada do tema. E, a partir de um estudo de campo envolvendo cinco MPEs, são desenvolvidas considerações sobre o ambiente competitivo, prioridades gerenciais, importância e efetivação de diferentes dimensões, procurando capturar o posicionamento dessas empresas em relação à flexibilidade de manufatura. / [en] Manufacturing flexibility has been considered one of the most important competitive advantages to the firms nowadays. As the effective use of manufacturing flexibility can influence the competitive level of a firm, this study aims to observe how this important factor has been perceived and used by managers of small enterprises. Initially, a literature review is developed in order to define a consistent and updated view of some aspects of manufacturing flexibility such as definition and conceptualization, classification and relationship between dimensions, measurement and operationalization. Then, based on a field work involving five small enterprises, some patterns related to the competitive environment, to management priorities and to the importance of ten manufacturing flexibility dimensions are identified and show the managers` perspective about these questions in the manufacturing flexibility context. / [es] En la actualidad, la flexibilidad de manufactura es considerada una ventaja competitiva de grande importancia para las empresas. Considerando que el uso efectivo puede ejercer influencias sobre el nível de diferencial competitivo de una empresa, este estudio observa de que modo ese factor ha sido comprendido e implementado en el ámbito de micro y pequeñas empresas - MPEs. Con el objetivo de definir una visión consistente y actualizada del tema, se realiza una revisión bibliográfica que aborda diversos aspectos relacionados a la flexibilidad de manufactura, como definición y conceptuación, clasificación y relación entre dimensiones, medición y operacionalización. A partir de un estudio de campo que comprende cinco MPEs, se desarrollan consideraciones sobre el ambiente competitivo, prioridades gerenciales, importancia y efectivación de diferentes dimensiones, procurando capturar la posición de esas empresas en relación a la flexibilidad de la manufactura.

Flera svenska storstadsregioner har börjat nå taket för nätkapacitet i elnäten, ett problem som även kallas kapacitetsbrist. Problemet med kapacitetsbrist grundar sig i de förändringar som sker för elproduktionen, med exempelvis en ökande grad av förnyelsebar, intermittent elproduktion, och förändringar i efterfrågan i och med samhällets ökande grad av elektrifiering. För att hantera och överkomma kapacitetsbrist har elnätsbolag traditionellt sett byggt ut elnätet för att därmed har möjlighet att leverera effekt under årets alla dagar, en metod som har långa ledtider och har höga investeringskostnader. Den accelererade problematiken kring kapacitetsbrist sätter ett förändringstryck på elsystemet och i synnerhet elnätsbolagen att hantera problemet. Ett alternativ till att hantera kapacitetsbrist är för elnätsbolag att upphandla flexibilitetstjänster. Det är en lösning som anses som resurseffektiv och samhällsekonomisk i förhållande till konventionell nätutbyggnad. Flexibilitet i elsystemet innebär aktörers medvetna förändring i elproduktion eller efterfrågan av effekt som avser att stabilisera elsystemet. Genom en flexibilitetsmarknad kan elnätsbolag ge aktörer incitament att erbjuda sin flexibilitet mot betalning och därmed hantera kapacitetsbrist när det behövs.  I det här examensarbetet har syftet varit att studera flexibilitetsmarknaders roll i att överkomma kapacitetsbrist i lokala elnät och vad konceptet innebär för möjligheter och utmaningar på aktörsnivå och övergripande marknadsnivå. Genom kvalitativa forskningsmetoder, semi-strukturerade intervjuer, litteratur- och dokumentstudier, har författarna kartlagt kunskapsläget om flexibilitetsmarknader och konceptets innebörd för enskilda aktörer. Examensarbetet presenterar även ett teoretiskt ramverk av ekonomisk teori som syftar till att ge större förståelse för marknadens etableringsprocess och vilka eventuella marknadsmisslyckanden som riskerar att ske. En förstudie har genomförts där två aktiva projekt, CoordiNet och Sthlmflex, av flexibilitetsmarknader i Sverige har studerats för att identifiera insikter om flexibilitetsmarknaders möjligheter och utmaningar. Vidare utfördes en semi-strukturerad intervjustudie med 15 olika företag i Göteborg, en region som ännu inte har en flexibilitetsmarknad, för att studera olika aktörers drivkrafter och hinder för att medverka på en flexibilitetsmarknad. Företagen var kategoriserade i fem olika segment; industrier, hamnindustrier, fastighetsbolag, elnätsbolag och aggregatorer. Resultatet från förstudien visar på att de existerande flexibilitetmarknaderna har varit viktiga för deltagande aktörer att lära sig förstå hur de bör arbeta med en flexibilitetsmarknad som en del av verksamheten. Det har visat sig existera ett antal utmaningar i projekten som exempelvis bristfällig kommunikation, avsaknad av automatiserade processer och låg likviditet på marknaderna. I intervjustudien kunde det urskiljas att de flesta industrier, hamnindustrier och fastighetsbolag har flexibilitetsresurser och potential för att medverka som leverantörer på en flexibilitetsmarknad. Hos samma segment identifierades dock hinder gällande bristen på teknisk utrustning för att kunna erbjuda flexibilitet och en osäkerhet kring ersättningsnivån som kan väntas från flexibilitetmarknaden för flexibilitetsleverantörer. Elnätsbolag ser flexibilitetsmarknader som ett bra alternativ till att hantera kapacitetsbrist och att potentialen är stor för framtiden. Aggregatorer tros ha en betydande roll på flexibilitetsmarknader och vara en möjliggörare för aktörer med mindre resurser och begränsad kunskap. Totalt var 12 av 15 tillfrågade företagen intresserade av att delta på en flexibilitets-marknad i Göteborg. Utifrån teori kan flexibilitetsmarknader ses som en innovativ marknad och att etableringsprocessen innebär olika marknadsstabiliserande aktioner. Flexibilitetsmarknader innebär även ett behov av innovativa affärsmodeller för marknadsaktörerna. Med hänsyn till hinder och utmaningar som identifierats hos flexibilitetsmarknaderna under examensarbetet existerar risker för eventuella marknadsmisslyckanden, orsakade av asymmetrisk information, transaktionskostnader, begränsad rationalitet och externaliteter. / Several Swedish metropolitan regions have begun facing issues regarding the capacity in the power grid, a problem that is also known as capacity shortage. The problem of capacity shortage is based on several changes within the power system, for example, an increasing degree of renewable, intermittent electricity production, and society's increasing degree of electrification. In order to manage capacity shortages, power grid companies have traditionally expanded the power grid to be able to deliver power during all hours of the year, a method that has long lead times and high investment costs. The accelerated problem of capacity shortages puts pressure for change in the power system, and in particular the power grid companies to deal with the problem. An alternative in managing capacity shortages is for power grid companies to purchase flexibility services. It is a solution that is referred to as a more sustainable, resource efficient and socio-economic in relation to conventional power grid expansion. Flexibility in the power system can be seen as changes in the electricity production or the demand for power that intends to stabilize the power system. In a flexibility market, power grid companies can give companies incentives to offer their flexibility against payment and thus handle capacity shortages when needed. The purpose of the thesis has been to study the role of flexibility markets in overcoming capacity shortages in local power grids, and the concept’s opportunities and challenges for different actors and from a market perspective. Through qualitative research methods, semi-structured interviews, literature- and document studies, the authors have mapped the state of knowledge about flexibility markets and the concept's meaning for the power system. The thesis also presents a theoretical framework of economic theory that aims to provide a greater understanding of the market's establishment process and what possible market failures that are likely to occur. A pre-study has been carried out where two projects, CoordiNet and Sthlmflex, of flexibility markets in Sweden have been studied to identify insights into the concept’s opportunities and challenges. Furthermore, a semi-structured interview study was conducted with 15 different companies in Gothenburg, a region that does not yet have a flexibility market, to study companies’ drivers and obstacles to participate in a flexibility market. The companies were categorized into five different segments: industries, port industries, real estate companies, power grid companies and aggregators. The results from the pre-study show that the existing flexibility markets have been important for participating players to understand how they should integrate a flexibility market as a part of their businesses. It has been shown that there are several challenges in the flexibility projects, such as inadequate communication, lack of automated processes and low liquidity on the markets. In the interview study, it could be discerned that most industries, port industries and real estate companies have flexibility resources and potential to participate as flexibility providers in a flexibility market. In the same segments, obstacles were identified regarding the lack of technical equipment to be able to offer flexibility and an uncertainty about the level of remuneration that can be expected from the flexibility market for flexibility providers. Power grid companies sees flexibility markets as a good alternative for managing capacity shortages and that the potential is great for the future. Aggregators are believed to play a significant role in flexibility markets and be an enabler for companies with smaller flexibility resources and limited knowledge. In total, 12 of the 15 companies surveyed were interested in participating in a flexibility market in Gothenburg. Based on theory, a flexibility market can be seen as an innovative market and that the establishment process involves various market stabilizing actions. Flexibility markets also imply a need for innovative business models for market participants. Regarding the obstacles and challenges identified in the flexibility markets during the thesis, there are risks of market failure caused by asymmetric information, high transaction costs, bounded rationality, and externalities.

Key performance measures for PC performance are timeliness and continuity. Whereas the first refers to the ability to obtain an appointment as soon as possible, the latter warrants a patient being able to see a familiar physician. In this context one has to consider the two types of appointments - same-day and prescheduled. The former is characterized by an urgent need of the patient to see a physician, the latter embodies non-urgent follow-up visits or regular appointments due to a chronic comorbidity. How should requests for appointments be assigned in order to deliver on the conflicting key metrics? What impact does the presence and the location of prescheduled appointments have in this context? How does the capacity allocation between prescheduled and same-day demand influence the decision making in the clinic? Using a stochastic dynamic program to model the dynamics of practice, we explore various ways of managing the inherent flexibility of physicians to see each others’ patients. Patients are calling in for same-day appointments. Thus, assignment decisions have to be made dynamically in real time under uncertainty of future demand and in presence of prescheduled appointment slots. The study consists of three parts: first, we examine the impact of the location of prescheduled appointments on the performance of the clinic. Second, we use our structural insights gained in the first part in order to derive implementable heuristic assignment policies. Third, we evaluate the performance of the heuristics in comparison to the optimal solution gained in the stochastic dynamic program and derive implications for the practice of primary care.

Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka om det fanns ett samband mellan upplevd möjlighet till flexibla arbetsarrangemang och arbetstillfredsställelse, samt att se om variansen i arbetstillfredsställelse bäst predicerades av temporal eller spatial flexibilitet. Data samlades in genom en digital enkät där arbetstillfredsställelse mättes genom mätverktyget Minnesota Satisfaction Questionaire (MSQ) och flexibla arbetsarrangemang mättes genom New Ways of Working Scale. Resultatet visade att temporal- och spatial flexibilitet var signifikant positivt korrelerade med arbetstillfredsställelse. Resultatet visade även att prediktorerna temporal- och spatial flexibilitet tillsammans kunde förklara en signifikant del av variansen i arbetstillfredsställelse men att det endast var spatial flexibilitet som ensam kunde förklara en signifikant del. Resultatet kan ses som en indikation på att det flexibla arbetsarrangemanget med dess innebörd om ökad autonomi och kontroll har en positiv inverkan på arbetstagares arbetstillfredsställelse och kan därför således användas i konkurrenssyfte av arbetsgivare för att bibehålla och attrahera ny personal. / The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between flexible work arrangement and job satisfaction, and to determine whether the variance in job satisfaction was better predicted by temporal or spatial flexibility. Data were collected through a digital survey, where job satisfaction was measured using the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) and flexible work was measured using the New Ways of Working Scale. The results showed that both temporal and spatial flexibility were significantly correlated with job satisfaction. Furthermore, the predictors of temporal and spatial flexibility together accounted for a significant part of the variance, but it was only spatial flexibility that could independently explain a significant part. These findings indicate that flexible work, with its implications of increased autonomy and control, has a positive impact on employees' job satisfaction. Therefore, it can be utilized by employers as a competitive advantage to retain and attract new personnel.