Cloud computing and big data technology continue to revolutionize how computing and data analysis are delivered today and in the future. To store and process the fast-changing big data, various scalable systems (e.g. key-value stores and MapReduce) have recently emerged in industry. However, there is a huge gap between what these open-source software systems can offer and what the real-world applications demand. First, scalable key-value stores are designed for simple data access methods, which limit their use in advanced database applications. Second, existing systems in the cloud need automatic performance optimization for better resource management with minimized operational overhead. Third, the demand continues to grow for privacy-preserving search and information sharing between autonomous data providers, as exemplified by the Healthcare information networks. My Ph.D. research aims at bridging these gaps. First, I proposed HINDEX, for secondary index support on top of write-optimized key-value stores (e.g. HBase and Cassandra). To update the index structure efficiently in the face of an intensive write stream, HINDEX synchronously executes append-only operations and defers the so-called index-repair operations which are expensive. The core contribution of HINDEX is a scheduling framework for deferred and lightweight execution of index repairs. HINDEX has been implemented and is currently being transferred to an IBM big data product. Second, I proposed Auto-pipelining for automatic performance optimization of streaming applications on multi-core machines. The goal is to prevent the bottleneck scenario in which the streaming system is blocked by a single core while all other cores are idling, which wastes resources. To partition the streaming workload evenly to all the cores and to search for the best partitioning among many possibilities, I proposed a heuristic based search strategy that achieves locally optimal partitioning with lightweight search overhead. The key idea is to use a white-box approach to search for the theoretically best partitioning and then use a black-box approach to verify the effectiveness of such partitioning. The proposed technique, called Auto-pipelining, is implemented on IBM Stream S. Third, I proposed ǫ-PPI, a suite of privacy preserving index algorithms that allow data sharing among unknown parties and yet maintaining a desired level of data privacy. To differentiate privacy concerns of different persons, I proposed a personalized privacy definition and substantiated this new privacy requirement by the injection of false positives in the published ǫ-PPI data. To construct the ǫ-PPI securely and efficiently, I proposed to optimize the performance of multi-party computations which are otherwise expensive; the key idea is to use addition-homomorphic secret sharing mechanism which is inexpensive and to do the distributed computation in a scalable P2P overlay.

published_or_final_version / Urban Design / Master / Master of Urban Design

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2008. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2008. / Also available on the Internet. Includes bibliographical references.

No description available.

Bakgrund: Konkurrensen inom livsmedelsbranschen har de senaste åren ökat genom exempelvis större utbud av matvaror och fler varumärken av samma produkter. I livsmedelsbranschen finns både stora och små livsmedelsbutiker där stora butiker kan anses ha fördelar över små butiker, genom större sortiment och lägre priser, vilket kan locka fler kunder. Därför behöver små livsmedelsbutiker differentiera sig för att bättre skapa konkurrensfördelar och fånga kundernas uppmärksamhet. Butiker kan differentiera sig på olika sätt, till exempel genom att använda sina produkter och försöka utmärka butiken med dessa, eller genom att marknadsföra sina produkter genom produktexponeringar. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att undersöka och beskriva hur butikschefer och medarbetare i små livsmedelsbutiker använder produkter och produktexponering för att differentiera sig från konkurrenter. Vidare undersöker studien varför små livsmedelsbutiker använder produkter och produktexponeringar på det sättet dem gör. Detta för att få ökad förståelse över hur små livsmedelsbutiker kan nyttja dessa faktorer för att bland annat bättre fånga kundernas uppmärksamhet och behålla en stark position på marknaden. Metod: I studien tillämpades en kvalitativ metod bestående av intervjuer med sju respondenter fördelat på fyra livsmedelsbutiker samt observationer i form av ”site vists” fördelat på fem livsmedelsbutiker. Semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes för att erhålla djupare förståelse angående butikschefernas och medarbetarnas tankar, uppfattningar och erfarenheter om studiens forskningsproblem.   Resultat: Resultatet visar att butikschefer och medarbetare i små livsmedelsbutiker använder sina färskvaror och mer unika, lokala och självtillverkade produkter för att bättre differentiera sig. Detta används för att kunna tillfredsställa de lokala kundernas behov och förväntningar. Resultatet visar även att butikschefer och medarbetare i små livsmedelsbutiker främst använder skyltar till kampanj- och veckovaror för att presentera sina produkter, och i de butikerna som är lite större till ytan finns möjligheten att ge olika produktkategorier större utrymme. Små livsmedelsbutiker som är mindre till ytan kan således inte ge större utrymme till vissa produktkategorier och inte heller använda skyltar i lika stor utsträckning för att presentera produkterna. Varför produktexponeringar används som de gör menar butikscheferna är för att öka försäljningen, medan medarbetarna menar att det är för att underlätta för kunderna. Slutsats: Denna studie visar att butikschefer och medarbetare i små livsmedelsbutiker använder produkter mer medvetet för differentiering än vad de använder produktexponeringar, vilket innebär att det finns förbättringsmöjligheter inom detta område. Dock är butiksytan avgörande för små livsmedelsbutikers möjlighet att använda produktexponeringar. / Background: The competition in the food industry has grown over the past few years, for example through a larger range of food products and more brands of the same products. In the food industry there are both large and small grocery stores where large stores can be considered to have advantages over small stores, through larger assortments and lower prices, which can attract more customers. Therefore, small grocery stores need to differentiate in order to better create competitive advantages and capture customer attention. Stores can differentiate themselves in different ways, for example by using their products and trying to distinguish the store with them, or by marketing their products through product exposures. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to investigate and describe how store managers and employees in small grocery stores use products and product exposure to differentiate themselves from competitors. Furthermore, the study investigates why small grocery stores use products and product exposures in the way they do. This is to gain more insight into how small grocery stores can use these factors to better capture customers' attention and maintain a strong position in the market. Method: The study applied a qualitative method consisting of interviews with seven respondents, divided into four grocery stores, and five site visits observations in five grocery stores. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to gain deeper insight into the thoughts, perceptions and experiences of store managers and employees regarding the research problems of the study. Results: The result shows that store managers and employees in small grocery stores use their fresh products and more unique, local and self-manufactured products to better differentiate themselves. This is used to satisfy the local customers' needs and expectations. The result also shows that store managers and employees in small grocery stores mainly use signs for campaigns and products of the day to present their products. In those stores that has a slightly larger surface there is the possibility of giving more product categories more space. Small grocery stores that has a smaller surface can thus not give more space to certain product categories, nor use signs to the same extent to present the products. Why product exposures are used as they are used is according to store managers to increase sales, while according to employees it is to facilitate for the customers. Conclusion: This study shows that store managers and employees in small grocery stores use products more consciously for differentiation than using product exposures, which means there are improvement opportunities in this area. However, the store area is crucial for small grocery stores possibility to use product exposures.

Diploma thesis is focused on price comparison of organic and conventional foods in the South Region in specialized stores. The theoretical part is focused on defining the concept of organic farming and organic food. The empirical part is focused on the evaluation of the results of the price survey.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:51:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 3400.pdf: 2338832 bytes, checksum: 2817bce43bfaf663ddae8ddab3b2a75d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-08-24 / Nowadays, studies of consumer behavior are of great relevance. Understanding the factors that lead consumers to choose a particular product or brand over others makes marketers continually seek answers to the needs of these consumers. This work aims to study the buying behavior of consumers in the food retail market of Mato Grosso, as a way of subsidizing business strategies for the sector. It was attempted through the Sheth; Newman; Gross model to identify the variables that influence the purchase decision of consumers. The methodology was grounded on two pillars, bibliographic studies and survey. The sampling was based on the probabilistic technique stratified by population and profile of the buyer of food. There were applied 385 valid questionnaires and the data handling was performed using the statistical package SPAD. The multivariate analysis using clustering identified six distinct groups of consumers: clear, economical, convenient, hedonic, new buyers and demanding. The identification of these groups allows supermarkets to develop and implement different strategies according to the characteristics of their chosen target audience. / Os estudos sobre o comportamento do consumidor são de grande relevância nos dias atuais. Entender os fatores que levam o consumidor a escolher determinado produto ou marca em detrimento de outros faz com que os profissionais de marketing busquem incessantemente respostas para atender as necessidades destes consumidores. Este trabalho tem como objetivo estudar o comportamento de compra do consumidor de alimentos no varejo supermercadista de Mato Grosso, como forma de subsidiar estratégias empresariais para o setor. Buscou-se através do modelo de Sheth; Newman; Gross identificar as variáveis que interferem na decisão de compra destes consumidores. A metodologia alicerçou-se em dois pilares, estudos bibliográficos e survey. A amostragem se baseou na técnica probabilística estratificada pela população e pelo perfil do comprador de alimentos. Foram aplicados 385 questionários válidos e o tratamento dos dados foi realizado através do pacote estatístico SPAD. A análise multivariada, através de agrupamento identificou seis grupos distintos de consumidores: esclarecidos, econômicos, convenientes, hedônicos, novos compradores e exigentes. A identificação destes grupos permite que os supermercados elaborem e apliquem estratégias diferenciadas segundo as características do seu público-alvo escolhido.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-12-01T19:18:43Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 77556.pdf: 809117 bytes, checksum: e75eb676f8065dd7d96bc0358b0659a5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-09-28 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The service of video rental is going through a transition moment due to the change in media and also the growing tendency of movies piracy. The conjunctures related to the segment impose to the video rental stores a new manner to see the relationship with customer, with employees and with suppliers. The transposition of this period of crisis can be accomplished by the implementation of the relationship marketing as a philosophy. Based on this presumption, the research analyzed comparatively the relationship marketing actions already implemented by the video rental stores, with emphasis in what is dimensioned for the consumer market, internal client market and suppliers market. The link of Peck et al (1999) perspectives with the relationships idealized by Gummesson (2005) composite a theorical model which shaped the structure of relationships regard as the market evaluated. Considering the customer s market, it was observed that a significant fraction of external clients judge themselves as loyal to video rental stores. However, they only attribute this to the concept of the first alternative and not necessarily in a comportment of exclusivity. Besides this posture, the majority of the rental customers would be willing to recommend the rental company to others. The managers of video rental companies implement more promotional actions directed to the immediate increase of the sales volume and do not preserve a longlasting relationship with the client. For these companies, the differentiated treatment given to the old clients is driven by an informal manner, result of a long term interaction that creates friendship links among public and employees. To the managers, the foundation for the differentiation of the rental company is the service. According to the movies representatives, the relationship between video rental companies and suppliers is characterized by the insufficient understanding of the managers regarding their clients. The relations between video rental companies and the employees were positively evaluated in a manner that even the internal clients, that consider themselves without autonomy, are satisfied with the position occupied. The conclusions of this study highlight that the other markets of Peck et al (1999) should be considered taking into account that it interfere directly in the level of competitiveness of the companies / O serviço de videolocação passa por um momento de transição em virtude da mudança de mídia e da crescente ameaça da pirataria de filmes. As conjunturas relativas ao segmento impõem às videolocadoras uma nova forma de encarar o relacionamento com o consumidor, com os funcionários e com os fornecedores. A transposição deste período de crise pode pautar-se pela implementação do marketing de relacionamento como uma filosofia e é a partir deste pressuposto que a pesquisa propôs-se a analisar comparativamente as ações de marketing de relacionamento já implementadas pelas videolocadoras, atribuindo ênfase ao que é dimensionado para o mercado de consumidores, para o mercado de clientes internos e para o mercado de fornecedores. A união das perspectivas de Peck et al (1999) com os relacionamentos vislumbrados por Gummesson (2005) compôs um modelo teórico que traçou patamares de relações conforme o mercado avaliado. No que se refere ao mercado de consumidores, observou-se que significativa parcela de clientes externos se intitulam fiéis à videolocadora, todavia apenas a atribuem o conceito da primeira alternativa e não necessariamente de exclusividade. Apesar deste posicionamento, a maioria dos locatários se apresenta disposto a recomendar a empresa de videolocação para terceiros. Os gestores das videolocadoras, por sua vez, implementam mais ações promocionais direcionadas ao aumento imediato do volume de vendas e não com o escopo da construção de um relacionamento duradouro com o cliente. Para estes, o tratamento diferenciado para os clientes antigos se dá de maneira informal, resultado da interação de longa data que acarreta vínculos de amizade entre público e funcionários. Para os gestores, os alicerce da diferenciação da videolocadora é o atendimento. Percepção esta reforçada pela classificação positiva dos consumidores acerca do atendimento dispensado pelos funcionários. O relacionamento entre a videolocadora e os fornecedores se pontua pelo insuficiente conhecimento do gestor acerca de sua clientelas, segundo os representantes de filmes. As relações entre a videolocadora e os funcionários foram avaliadas positivamente ao passo que mesmo os clientes internos que se consideram sem autonomia, entendem-se satisfeitos com a função que exercem. As conclusões do estudo ressaltam que os demais mercados de Peck et al (1999),devem ser considerados tendo em vista que interferem diretamente no nível de competitividade das empresas foco do trabalho

Titel: En detaljhandel i förändring - En studie om klädbranschens förändring, utveckling och framtid. Författare: Johanna Bengtsson, Robyn Nagy och Emelie Nilsson Handledare: Leif Rytting Examinator: Kaisa Lund Kurs: Kandidatuppsats 15hp. Företagsekonomi III - Marknadsföring. Turismprogrammet, Linnéuniversitetet, HT 2017. Syfte och forskningsfrågor Studiens syfte är att undersöka utvecklingen av olika distributionskanaler samt framtida förändring inom klädbranschen. Studien tar utgångspunkt i ett företagsperspektiv.   Med syftet som bakgrund har vi formulerat följande forskningsfrågor med fokus på klädbranschen. 1. Vad är karakteristiskt för distributionskanalerna inom dagens klädhandel? 2. Hur anser representanter för handeln och konsulter inom området att fysiska butiker och e-handeln kan komma att utvecklas i framtiden?   Metod Studien baseras på en kvalitativ fallstudie på den svenska klädbranschen. Ansatsen grundar sig i en deduktion med inslag av induktion. Den empiriska datan består av åtta semistrukturerade intervjuer med företrädare och konsulter inom detaljhandeln samt klädbranschen.   Slutsatser Resultatet av studien pekar på att kunden är det centrala inom klädbranschen, att allt som utvecklas och förändras är för kundens köpprocess. Att integrera sina distributionskanaler har lyfts fram som ett måste för klädföretag och även att fysiska butiker måste erbjuda en köpupplevelse som är mer än shopping. Men studien har också visat på en problematik mellan kundens krav på låga priser och samtidigt på hållbarhet. / Title: A retail in change - A study on the fashion industry's change, development and future. Authors: Johanna Bengtsson, Robyn Nagy och Emelie Nilsson Tutor: Leif Rytting Examiner: Kaisa Lund Subject: Bachelor thesis 15 credits. Business administration III - Marketing. Tourism studies, Linnaeus University, Fall 2017. Purpose and research question The purpose of this study is to investigate the development of different distribution channels, as well as the changing future of the fashion industry. The study´s starting point is from an enterprise perspective.   With the purpose as a background, we have formulated the following research questions focusing on the fashion industry. 1. What is characteristic of the distribution channels in today's clothing trade? 2. How do representatives of trade and consultants in the area expect physical stores and e-commerce to develop in the future?   Method This study is based on a qualitative case study in the fashion industry. It utilises deductive approach whilst also incorporating some inductive aspects. The empirical data consists of eight semi structured interviews with representatives and consultants in the retail and fashion industry.   Conclusion The result of the study suggest that the customer is the centre of the fashion industry, which means that everything that develops and changes is for the customer's buying process. Integrating their distribution channels has been highlighted as an importance for clothing companies and also that physical stores need to offer a shopping experience that is more than just shopping. However, the study also demonstrates the problem of meeting both the customer’s demands of low prices and at the same time on sustainability.