Bakgrund: Sedan andra hälften av 1900-talet har företag börjat se kompetens som en investering jämfört med tidigare. Då sågs istället avkastning enbart från produkter och utrustning och inte från de anställda. Idag ses även kompetens som en avkastning samt att det genererar mervärde och konkurrensfördelar. Därför får humankapitalet en betydande roll när det kommer till hur det ska förvaltas, samt utvecklas på grund av att humankapitalet inte redovisas på samma sätt som de fysiska tillgångarna och resurserna. En viktig del av humankapitalet är arbetet med kompetensutveckling och dess avgörande roll för den innovativa utvecklingen. För att hantera dessa innovationer är en viktig komponent att kunna ha kompetent personal samt utbilda dem men också kunna fördela organisationens resurser. Vid ekonomiska nedgångar som vid lågkonjunkturer är det oftast kompetensutveckling och utbildningsinsatser som företag allt som oftast först avvecklar. Detta kan i sin tur medför att organisationer behöver utforma strategier och arbeta för förändringar inför en lågkonjunktur. Detta är nödvändigt för att företag fortfarande ska hålla sig levande på marknaden. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur industriföretag blir påverkade av en lågkonjunktur med deras investeringar av humankapital. Studien vill öka förståelsen kring kompetensutvecklingens betydelse för en innovativ utveckling och hur arbetet med det fungerar inför och under en lågkonjunktur. Metod: Studien har använt en kvalitativ metod i form av semistrukturerade intervjuer som utformades efter en intervjuguide. Detta sammanställdes sedan och transkriberades. Slutsats: Utifrån respondenternas svar tillsammans med teorin har studien visat att humankapitalet är en behovsanpassad resurs som med hjälp av åtgärder skapar möjligheter för att ständigt utvecklas. Behovet av en kontinuerlig kompetensutveckling skapar även möjligheter att utveckla en innovativ tillverkning för att stärka konkurrenskraften mot andra företag på marknaden. / Background: Since the second half of the 20th century, companies have started to see competence as an investment compared to before. Instead, returns were seen only from products and equipment and not from the personnel. Today, competence is also seen as a return that generates added value and competitive advantages. Therefore, human capital takes on a significant role when it comes to how it should be managed and developed due to the fact that human capital is not accounted for in the same way as the physical assets and resources. An important part of human capital is therefore related to how companies work with the development of personnel competence in an innovative way. In order to manage these innovations, an important component is to be able to have competent personnel and train them, but also to be able to allocate the organization's resources. In economic downturns and recessions, it is usually competence development and training efforts that companies most often phase out first, which in turn means that organizations need to design strategies and work for changes in spite of recessions. This is necessary for companies to still stay alive in the market. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to investigate how industrial companies are affected by a recession in terms of their investments in human capital. The study wants to illustrate the importance of competence development for innovative development, and how organizations tackle this during economic downturn or recession.  Method: The study has used a qualitative method in the form of semi-structured interviews which were guided with the help of an interview guide and which later were compiled and transcribed. Conclusion: Based on the respondents' answers, the study has shown that human capital is a need-based resource that, with the help of measures, creates opportunities for continuous development. The need for continuous competence development also creates opportunities to develop innovative manufacturing to strengthen and behold competitive advantages.

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Según Krugman (2011), en su libro La era de las expectativas limitadas: "La productividad no es todo, pero en el largo plazo es casi todo. La capacidad de un país para mejorar sus condiciones de vida depende mayormente de su habilidad para elevar la producción por trabajador" (p. 21). En este sentido, el coworking representa una oportunidad que fomenta mayor eficiencia, lo cual implica una valiosa contribución a la mejora de resultados. En primer lugar, en el Capítulo I, se desarrollará el marco teórico que empieza con definir los conceptos de Coworking y Productividad para luego hablar de su evolución, importancia, ventajas, así como los factores en donde se desarrolla cada variable. En segundo lugar, en el Capítulo II, se detallará el plan de trabajo especificando cual es el problema por investigar dentro del área abordada además de especificar la relevancia, objetivos e hipótesis de la investigación. En tercer lugar, en el Capítulo III, se desarrollará y especificará la metodología de investigación a utilizar definiendo el alcance, enfoque, diseño de investigación e instrumentos de medición para obtener información. En cuarto lugar, en el Capítulo IV, se desarrollará la metodología de investigación que posee enfoque mixto. En quinto lugar, en el Capítulo V, se presentará un análisis de los resultados obtenido en el capítulo anterior. Finalmente, se presentarán las conclusiones y recomendaciones que nos deja la investigación. / The thesis formulated by Krugman (2011), in his book The Age of Limited Expectations: "Productivity is not everything, but in the long term it is almost everything. Given the complexity of the analysis of the interrelationship between economic growth and employment, what is evident is the positive long-term relationship between employment growth and productivity; specially, the total productivity of the factors” (p. 21). Taking this into consideration, coworking represents an opportunity that improves networking and encourages open and frank discussion that leads to greater efficiency. First, in Chapter I, the theoretical framework that begins with defining the concepts of Coworking and Productivity to then narrated their evolutions, importance, advantages and the dimensions in which each variable is developed. Secondly, in Chapter II, the plan will be detailed specifying what the problem is to be investigated within the area addressed as well as specifying the relevance, objectives and hypothesis of the investigation. Thirdly, in Chapter III, the research methodology to be used will be developed and specified, defining the scope, focus, research design and measurement instruments to obtain information. Fourth, in Chapter IV, the research methodology will be developed with a mixed approach (quantitative and qualitative). Fifth, in Chapter V, an analysis of the results obtained in the previous chapter will be presented. Finally, the conclusions and recommendations that the investigation leaves us will be presented. / Tesis

This research explores the effects of playing interscholastic sports on labor market income in the United States for males (n=5782) and females (n=6266) who participated in the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988. Previous research has explored the effects of human capital and social capital on positive life outcomes for interscholastic athletes, but little research has looked into possible cultural capital advantages gained through interscholastic sports participation. Using multiple regression analysis and controlling for the effects of human and social capital, I examine whether participation in interscholastic sports operate as cultural capital. Results indicate that after net of controls the relationship between interscholastic sports participation and labor market income remains positive and significant for males who play sports and females who play the culturally popular sport of basketball. Results also indicate that those male student athletes who play culturally popular sports (football, basketball, or baseball) report more income six years after high school graduation than their counterparts who play a less culturally popular sport. This article provides evidence that cultural capital theory is a useful tool in exploring the relationship between interscholastic sports and labor market income.

America invests large amounts of money in K-12 education to develop its human capital. As such, K-12 student success is vital to the human capital development and future of America's children and adolescents. There is significant concern for the K-12 students who are predictably at risk of not graduating from high school (e.g., low-income, ethnic minority, and first generation college students) let alone qualifying for and enrolling in postsecondary education. Over the past four decades student success has primarily been explained by sociological research on status attainment as well as social capital and cultural capital. However, very little research addresses the relationship between this sociological research and motivation theory from the field of psychology. Specifically, student success research generally neglects describing how social capital and cultural capital become contextually and motivationally relevant for K-12 students. This study explored the pathway of success for students from the following backgrounds: low-income, first generation in college, active members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), Hispanic, graduated from a Utah high school in 2009 and who were admitted to Brigham Young University the same year as new freshmen. Case study methods were employed initially in phase one of the analysis using a grounded theory or emic paradigm, allowing data and patterns to emerge. In phase two of the analysis, using a post-positivist or etic paradigm data were contrasted with existing research. The findings revealed a new model that explains the conditions of student motivation. While the findings support existing research on the influences of social capital and cultural capital on student success, all students in this study experienced a triggering relationship that caused them to contextualize and assign value to various forms of capital in the past and present and leveraged them towards student success. This contextualization also served as a motivation for students to be successful and to pursue additional forms of capital to assist them on their pathway to success. The implications of this triggering relationship theory can assist parents, educators, and many others who facilitate the human capital development of children and adolescents.

Firms today are confronting a dynamic business environment such as change of customer preferences, demographics, business and organisational models and the emergence of new technologies. Changes in the business environment can lead to knowledge-based firms transforming their business structure and risking losing their competitive advantage by ignoring their value in human capital. Human capital originates from intellectual capital which consists of both social and organisational capital as well. The combination and utilisation of these capitals is the basis for organisations to achieve higher levels of productivity and competitiveness. However, when facing a transformation, organisations tend to struggle to maintain competitive advantage. Thus, in a knowledge-based industry, human capital along with the other capitals, are essential to manage during a transformation to not risk losing competitive advantage. To address this topic, we chose to investigate a Swedish company in the machine manufacturing industry undergoing a transformation, referred to as Company X. Company X consists of highly educated and competent personnel, who previously have operated as a project-based organisation. They are currently transforming their organisation towards standardising their production and their employees’ competences. This transformation is directly affecting their work methods, competence demand and overall human capital. We found that Company X has a recruitment strategy which acts as a proactive measure which allows them to procure necessary human capital to maintain their competitive advantage and prepare for change. It was also concluded that Company X struggles with communication which affects their social capital, and thus their human capital. The lack of communication affects the vision and goal of the transformation which becomes unclear for the employees, causing confusion. We concluded that Company X lacks a decent strategy of utilising best practices, which is common for project-based organisation, but becomes more problematic as they become product-based and are more dependent on previous experiences.

This thesis aims to examine how differences in personal attributes and cultural adaptation affect transnational entrepreneurs' embedding process in Sweden. This paper uses empirical data collected from four small transnational entrepreneurs in Sweden as well as secondary data collected on the topic. The findings shows that background, skills and character have an influence on the embedding process and provides these entrepreneurs with knowledge and opportunities native Swedish entrepreneurs do not have access to. Furthermore, it provides the importance of language during the embedding process. Lastly the thesis discusses implications in practice and for theory and ends with proposals for future research.

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Developed countries have promoted immigration of educated people as a strategy to satisfy the demand for educated labor. Highly educated immigrants' poor language skills, absence of cultural networks, and lack of credentials and recognized professional experience gained in the country of origin are barriers to their social and economic integration (Ferrer & Riddell, 2008; Mattoo, Neagu, & ?zden, 2008; Miranda & Umhoefer, 1998; Zikic, Bonache, & Cerdin, 2010). The purpose of this study was to explore how college experiences in an American college or university facilitate or hinder the transfer and gain of different forms of capital among highly educated Colombia immigrants. All of the participants in this study completed at least a bachelor's degree before moving to the United States and came to this country under any visa category except that of student. Two in-depth interviews were conducted with six Colombian immigrants living in the state of Florida. The results of the study revealed five common themes shared by the participants: (1) exposure and exchange of different forms of thinking and cultural expressions; (2) performing in ways that meet requirements of American institutions; (3) achieving credentials recognized by professionals in the United States' job market and social structure; (4) capacity to assess their own abilities and take control of their future; and (5) connections that provide social, emotional, and intellectual support as well as information.

This dissertation examined the critical role of human and social capital in the evolution of the NCAA Division I men's collegiate basketball product over time. Specifically, it sought to understand the characteristics of coaching networks that were consistently successful in perpetuating leader development over time, thereby theoretically replicating positive performance outcomes over long time spans. Interviews, content analyses and a literature search were performed to evaluate factors such as the processes of identification and selection of assistant coaches, the learning systems associated with their leader development, the strategies for their career advancement and growth, and the support structures of ongoing mentorship and professional networks that are important subsequent to their external promotion. Mixed methods were employed in the study. First, a quantitative analysis was performed in the early phases of the research project to identify the relevant coaching networks to be evaluated as well as to assess statistical relationships between five measures of coaching networks and success outcomes. This analysis was followed subsequently by qualitative ethnographic methods in relation to the selected coaching networks. The final output was the development of a conceptual model to be utilized for future research. Apart from some limited exploration by members of the popular press, there are no empirical studies known by this author that have examined characteristics of successful coaching networks and development systems.