Background: Corporate social responsibility has continuously developed ever since the concept first was introduced in the 1950’s up until today. In its beginning, managers who engaged in CSR did so to improve workforce efficiency. In this day and age, CSR has come to include social, environmental and economic topics and is now about creating value for the society at large. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to find the underlying reasons for why SMEs engage in CSR activities. Method: To properly fulfill the purpose of this study, we have conducted a qualitative case study. The empirical data has been collected through ten in-depth semi-structured interviews with ten different organizations from four different industries. Conclusion: The results show that SMEs believe there are expectations from customers/clients to engage in CSR and by doing so they create a competitive advantage over their competitors. In addition to this, most SMEs that engage in CSR is in the strategic stage of CSR, in activities connected to the environment. Furthermore, there are several industry-related differences as to why SMEs engage in CSR. These differences include factors such as competitive advantage, customer expectations, and requirements to follow rules and regulations.

This thesis explores how the aura of the artworks changes in the age of digital reproduction through the empirical experiments conducted in Uppsala Konstmuseum. By employing the definition of the aura given by Benjamin in The work of art in the age of the mechanical reproduction and The arcade project, this thesis conceptualizes the “aura” into eight dimensions and then operationalizes the eight dimensions in order to find whether audience’s evaluation of the artwork changes when they are given different stimulus in the control experiment. From the control experiment, the quantitative data will be obtained from a questionnaire and non-participant observation. The qualitative data will be obtained from the interviews. By also applying the simulacra theory of Baudrillard to the analysis part, this thesis finds that there exists a small difference in the perception of the aura between the people who see a digital copy and who see a real painting. The aura still has its power. However, such power is really weak, as many dimensions of the aura have been weakened by the digital simulacra. Through this study, I suggest the museums to take cautious steps to digitalize their artworks though there is no evidence that virtual museums can replace real museums.

L’apparition récente de petits capteurs peu couteux fonctionnant sur batteries, capables de traiter les données acquises et de les transmettre par ondes radio ont le potentiel de révolutionner les applications de surveillance traditionnelles. Les réseaux sans fils composés de nœuds capteurs autonomes proches de la cible à surveiller permettent des tâches de surveillance précises allant du contrôle de la température dans des bâtiments jusqu`a la détection de feux de forêt. Récemment, de nouvelles applications de réseaux de capteurs sans fil telles que des applications multimédia ou dans le domaine de la santé ont émergé. Les réseaux sous-jacents déployés pour ces applications sont souvent compos´es de nœuds hétérogènes comportant différents capteurs et doivent fournir un niveau de service conforme aux exigences des différents types de trafic en s’adaptant à la charge variable. Cependant, concevoir des protocoles efficaces adaptés à ces applications tout en s’accommodant des ressources limitées des réseaux de capteurs est une tâche difficile. Dans cette thèse, nous nous focalisons sur le support de la qualité de service au niveau de la couche MAC, car cette couche conditionne et détermine largement les performances du réseau étant donné qu’elle est responsable de l’organisation de l’accès au canal. Dans un premier temps, nous étudions les contraintes spécifiques des applications ayant des exigences fortes ainsi que des applications hétérogènes et nous examinons les travaux proposés dans la littérature. Etant donné l’inadéquation des solutions existantes en présence d’un trafic important, nous proposons AMPH, un protocole MAC adaptatif avec qualité de service pour les réseaux de capteurs sans fil hétérogènes. Notre solution consiste en une méthode d’accès au canal hybride basée sur le multiplexage temporel, dans laquelle tous les nœuds peuvent accéder au canal à chaque division de temps en utilisant un nouveau mécanisme de compétition qui favorise le trafic prioritaire. Grâce à ces techniques, AMPH utilise efficacement le canal quelque soit la charge de trafic et assure une latence faible au trafic temps réel. Nous vérifions les performances d’AMPH à l’aide de simulations et d’un modèle mathématique. / The availability of small, low-cost, battery operated devices capable of sensing, performing simple processing and transmitting data via wireless communications have the potential to revolutionize traditional monitoring applications. Wireless networks composed of autonomous sensor nodes enable ubiquitous monitoring tasks from environmental control of office buildings to the detection of forest fires. Recently, new applications for wireless sensor networks such as healthcare and multimedia applications have emerged. These applications often have heterogeneous sensing capabilities and require that the network supports different types of QoS-constrained traffic at variable rates. However, designing efficient protocols that provide an appropriate level of performance to these applications while coping with the limited resources of sensor networks is a challenging task. In this thesis, we focus on QoS provisioning at the MAC layer. Since this layer is responsible for the organization of channel access, it determines to a large extent the overall performance of the network. We start by studying the specific requirements of demanding and heterogeneous applications, then we discuss related work of the literature. Given the inadequacy of existing solutions in the presence of important traffic loads, we propose AMPH, an adaptive MAC protocol with QoS support for heterogeneous wireless sensor networks. Our solution is a hybrid channelaccess method based on time division where all nodes may contend to access the channel at each time slot using a new contention mechanism which favors high priority traffic. Through these efficient techniques, AMPH achieves high channel utilization under variable traffic loads and provides low latency to real-time traffic. We verify the efficiency of AMPH through simulation experiments and a mathematical analysis.

Wireless sensor network (WSN) technology has gained significant importance due to its potential support for a wide range of applications. Most of the WSN applications consist of a large numbers of distributed nodes that work together to achieve common objects. Running a large number of nodes requires an efficient mechanism to bring them all together in order to form a multi-hop wireless network that can accomplish some specific tasks. Even with recent developments made in WSN technology, numbers of important challenges still stand as vulnerabilities for WSNs, including energy waste sources, synchronisation leaks, low network capacity and self-configuration difficulties. However, energy efficiency remains the priority challenging problem due to the scarce energy resources available in sensor nodes. These concerns are managed by medium access control (MAC) layer protocols. MAC protocols designed specifically for WSN have an additional responsibility of managing radio activity to conserve energy in addition to the traditional functions. This thesis presents advanced research work carried out in the context of saving energy whilst achieving the desired network performance. Firstly the thesis contributes by proposing Overlapped Schedules for MAC layer, in which the schedules of the neighbour clusters are overlapped by introducing a small shift time between them, aiming to compensate the synchronisation errors. Secondly, this thesis proposed a modified architecture derived from S-MAC protocol which significantly supports higher traffic levels whilst achieving better energy efficiency. This is achieved by applying a parallel transmission concept on the communicating nodes. As a result, the overall efficiency of the channel contention mechanism increases and leads to higher throughput with lower energy consumption. Finally, this thesis proposed the use of the Adaptive scheme on Border Nodes to increase the power efficiency of the system under light traffic load conditions. The scheme focuses on saving energy by forcing the network border nodes to go off when not needed. These three contributions minimise the contention window period whilst maximising the capacity of the available channel, which as a result increase network performance in terms of energy efficiency, throughput and latency. The proposed system is shown to be backwards compatible and able to satisfy both traditional and advanced applications. The new MAC protocol has been implemented and evaluated using NS-2 simulator, under different traffic loads and varying duty cycle values. Results have shown that the proposed solutions are able to significantly enhance the performance of WSNs by improving the energy efficiency, increasing the system throughput and reducing the communication delay.

Le but de ce travail était de mieux comprendre les mécanismes mis en jeu lors de la corrosion marine des structures en acier. Ces mécanismes impliquant l’influence de micro-organismes vivants, et notamment des bactéries sulfurogènes, l’étude a couplé des méthodes physico-chimiques à des techniques de microbiologie et de biologie moléculaire. Dans un premier temps, un système modèle de laboratoire a été élaboré afin d’étudier en détail les interactions entre les bactéries sulfato-réductrices (BSR) et le principal produit de la corrosion électrochimique des aciers en milieu marin, à savoir la rouille verte sulfatée RV(SO42-). Nous avons ainsi pu reproduire une partie des mécanismes mis en jeu, en montrant que les BSR pouvaient se développer en consommant les ions SO42- issus de la rouille verte et générer ainsi la mackinawite FeS observée sur sites. Dans un deuxième temps, l’évolution de la couche composite « rouille/biofilm » se formant sur acier en milieu marin a été suivie pour des temps courts d’immersion, allant de 1 semaine à deux mois. Le suivi simultané des données microbiologiques et physicochimiques a permis de montrer que l’influence des BSR ne se faisait pratiquement pas sentir à ce stade. Cependant, le développement préférentiel de bactéries associées au fer et au soufre au sein de la couche de rouille a pu être mis en évidence. Par ailleurs, très localement, le processus influencé par les BSR a été détecté. Enfin, une étude électrochimique en solutions désaérées simulant l’eau de mer a été confrontée aux résultats de l’analyse physico-chimique et microbiologique d’un coupon immergé 11 ans en milieu portuaire. L’ensemble des résultats montrent que RV(SO42-) se forme également lorsque des conditions anoxiques sont établies à la surface du métal. La formation de RV(SO42-) entre cependant en compétition avec celle de FeS et Fe3O4 suite aux modifications du milieu que peuvent engendrer les micro-organismes. A ces temps d’immersion long, l’influence des bactéries semblent néanmoins s’amoindrir, les micro-organismes tendant à s’éloigner des strates internes de la couche de rouille et donc du métal pour coloniser des zones externes plus riches en substances nutritives. / The aim of this study was to understand the mechanisms involved in marine corrosion of steel structures. These mechanisms are known to be influenced by micro-organisms, in particular by the sulphide-producing bacteria. It was then necessary to couple physico-chemical investigations with techniques of microbiology and molecular biology. In the first part of this work, a laboratory model was designed so as to study the interactions between sulphate-reducing bacteria (SRB) and the main product of the electrochemical corrosion process of iron in seawater, the sulphated green rust, GR(SO42-). We demonstrated that SRB could grow using only the SO42- ions coming from the green rust, thus generating mackinawite FeS as observed in real marine corrosion cases. In the second part, the evolution of the “rust/biofilm” layer that forms on steel in natural seawater was followed for short immersion times, from 1 week to 2 months. The simultaneous monitoring of microbiological and physico-chemical data showed that the influence of SRB was negligible at those early stages. However, the preferential growth of bacteria associated with iron and sulphur could be detected. Moreover, the process influenced by SRB could be detected locally in one case. Finally, in the third part of this work, an electrochemical study of carbon steel in deaerated seawater-like solutions was compared to the results of the physico-chemical and microbiological characterisation of a steel coupon left 11 years in a harbour site. All the results showed that GR(SO42-) was also forming when anoxic conditions were met at the steel surface. The formation of GR(SO42-) however competes with that of FeS and Fe3O4 due to the modifications of the environment induced by micro-organisms. For such long immersion periods, the influence of bacteria seems to decrease. The micro-organisms tend to move away from the inner parts of the rust layer, and then from the metal, to settle the outer parts where more nutrients are available.

Using a sample of nearly half a million galaxies, intersected by over 7 million lines of sight from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 12, we trace H alpha + [N II] emission from a galactocentric projected radius, r(p), of 5 kpc to more than 100 kpc. The emission flux surface brightness is alpha r(p) 1.9 +/- 0.4. We obtain consistent results using only the Ha or [N II] flux. We measure a stronger signal for the bluer half of the target sample than for the redder half on small scales, r(p) < 20 kpc. We obtain a 3 sigma detection of H alpha + [N II] emission in the 50-100 kpc r(p) bin. The mean emission flux within this bin is (1.10 +/- 0.35) x 10(-20) erg cm(-2) s(-1) angstrom(-1), which corresponds to 1.87 x 10(-20) erg cm(-2) s(-1) arcsec(-2) or 0.0033 Rayleigh. This detection is 34 times fainter than a previous strict limit obtained using deep narrow-band imaging. The faintness of the signal demonstrates why it has been so difficult to trace recombination radiation out to large radii around galaxies. This signal, combined with published estimates of n(H), leads us to estimate the temperature of the gas to be 12,000 K, consistent with independent empirical estimates based on metal ion absorption lines and expectations from numerical simulations.

D. Tech. (Logistics, Faculty of Management Sciences), Vaal University of Technology. / and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are the mainstay of economies and societies of many countries around the world. These enterprises are critical to the economy because of the way in which they contribute to the Gross Domestic Product, export revenue generation, innovation, the provision of goods and services thatlarge enterprises depend upon, and the creation of employment opportunities, social stability and improvement of economic welfare. SMEs operate within the economic environment characterised by volatility, dynamism and competitive markets that may seriously threaten their survival. In South Africa, the operating environment for SMEs is constantly changing in the face of a volatile economic environment and a highly competitive market. For SMEs to weather the storm of such volatility and competitive climate, they need to engage in strategic planning processes. While strategic planning research in large organisations has been studied extensively, little attention has been paid to strategic planning of small and medium sized enterprises. Strategic planning has not significantly filtered down to the SME sector. SMEs which practice strategic planning have plans, which are unstructured, less comprehensive and sporadic. There is little evidence of empirical research that has sought to evaluate strategic planning within the sphere of small business research. Therefore, despite the widespread recognition of the importance and significant contributions of SMEs, research on these small businesses remains scarce. There is need for more systematic research aimed at revealing the true nature of strategic planning in SMEs. Despite the contributions of a number of researchers in the field, there is still no universal agreement as to the impact of particular types of planning on SME performance. The study analyses the relationship between strategic planning and the performance of SMEs. It is unique in that rather than using the traditional objective performance measures, subjective measures are used to measure the performance of SMEs. The objective of this study was to establish the relationship between strategic planning and the performance of SMEs measured by perceptual measures of business performance. It also sought to ascertain the relationship between strategic planning and the plans of the business, as well as determining the relationship between business performance and its plans. Another objective was to examine the extent to which SMEs in South Africa have adopted the strategic planning practices. Finally, this study sought to determine if there are differences in strategic planning practices with regard to demographic variables, namely gender, age, and position occupied in the business. A quantitative method was used. Surveys were conducted with 415250 SMEs, which were identified by convenience sampling method. Data from owners/managers of these SMEs was collected using self-administered structured questionnaires. Factor, correlation and regression analyses were conducted and the findings were discussed. The main components of strategic planning include environmental scanning, business mission and vision, formality of strategic planning, employee participation in the strategic planning process, source of information about the environment, strategy implementation incentives, monitoring, evaluation and control, and time horizon of strategic planning. The finding of this study shows that there is a positive causal relationship between strategic planning and the performance of SMEs measured by perceptual measures of business performance. It was also found that there is a mixed relationship between strategic planning and future plans of the SMEs. An additional finding is that business performance has a positive relationship with the plans of the business. The results also indicate that the majority of SMEs practice strategic planning. Finally, the results reveal that the gender, age and occupation of the respondent do not influence the strategic planning practices in SMEs. The only strategic component that depends on the occupation of the respondent is the use of mission and vision statements. Given that today’s business environments for SMEs are characterised by high levels of competition, uncertainty and turbulence, it is recommended that SMEs should adopt more strategic planning practices so that they can make informed decisions. In order to ensure their success and sustainability, SMEs should scan the environment more frequently and seriously than they currently do.

When molecules are excited by photons or energetic particles, they will cool through the emission of photons, electrons, or by fragmenting. Such processes are often thermal as they occur after the excitation energy has been redistributed across all degrees-of-freedom in the system. Collisions with atoms or ions may also lead to ultrafast fragmentation in Rutherford-like scattering processes, where one or several atoms can literally be knocked out of the molecule by the incoming projectile before the energy can be completely redistributed. The resulting fragmentation pathways can in such knockout processes be very different from those in thermal processes. This thesis covers extensive studies of collisions between ions/atoms and isolated Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) molecules, isolated fullerene molecules, or clusters of these. The high stabilities and distinct fragmentation channels make these types of molecules excellent test cases for characterizing knockout-driven fragmentation and the reactions that these processes can lead to. I will present experimental measurements for a wide range of energies and compare them with my own molecular dynamics simulations and quantum chemical calculations. In this thesis, I present an in-depth study of the role of knockout in the energetic processing of molecules and clusters. The competition between knockout and thermally driven fragmentation is discussed in detail. Knockout-driven fragmentation is shown to result in exotic fragments that are far more reactive than the intact parent molecules or fragments from thermal processes. When such reactive species are formed within molecular clusters efficient molecular growth can take place on sub-picosecond timescales. The cluster environments are crucial here because they protect the newly formed molecules by absorbing excess energy. This is a possible pathway for the growth of large PAHs, fullerenes, and similar carbonaceous complexes found in, for instance, the interstellar medium. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following paper was unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 1: Submitted.</p>

Broulík in his Master's Thesis sets his goal to analyse the automobile sales sector. He focuses mainly on the situation of automobile dealers. He depictures the contemporary development of automobile sales in the Czech Republic and in the world. He observes the impacts of the world economic crisis on automobile producers and dealers. He closer addresses the Škoda brand sales network which he uses to illustrate his findings. On the basis of the analysis of the automobile sales sector he establishes its particularities which he categorizes as supplier -- dealer relation particularities, sector particularities and dealer -- consumer relation particularities. Broulík assesses the current block exemption and compares it with the legal regime which will apply to the automobile sales sector in EFTA from the 1st June 2013. He concludes that the current block exemption suits the established sector particularities better. He however closes that neither the automobile producers' ascendancy over dealers nor many other sector particularities should be treated through economic competition legal regulation.

This thesis deals with an evaluation of a project which was financed from public funds. All of the theoretical bases were analyzed in detail focusing on a project management in a small and medium sized companies, management of soft projects and financing from EU funds. A practical part of this thesis is based on this theoretical knowledge. There is described and evaluated a project in a company Gravograf Ostrava, s.r.o. in the practical part. This project dealed with organizing retraining course called Commercial advertising designer - graphic designer and using cutting and engraving plotters. This project is described and evaluated from different points of view and includes suggestions to improve the processes within project management.