This study is set out to assess the effectiveness of customer relationship management (CRM) in the hotel industry. Relying on the integration of several CRM scholars, the study seeks to answer questions about the relationship between CRM and performance. A mixed research method approach was adopted. The research targeted 106 hotels in Pretoria. 47 responses were received from the hotel personnel who answered the questionnaire. The findings of the survey clearly indicate that hotel performance is dependent on CRM, as shown in the variance of performance levels in line with the level of CRM practised by a specific, named hotel. The study further suggests that hotels’ management should continuously embark on various CRM practices in order to improve their performance. Responses will be captured and analysed using the SPSS computer software. The results will be subjected to quantitative data analysis. It is expected that the findings will highlight important implications for hotels and other hospitality and tourism stakeholders in Pretoria and beyond. Stakeholders wishing to improve their understanding of the effectiveness of CRM in hotels will find this study helpful. / Business Management / M. Tech. (Business Administration)

Examensarbetet genomfördes i samarbete med Tarkett AB i Ronneby med syfte att konstruera ett nytt produktionsflöde vilket ska minska stopp i flödet samt nå en produktionsökning på 15%. Det nya flödet ska sedan planeras i den givna hallen. Leanprinciper är grunden för det nya flödet och metoder som värdeflödesanalys och ledningsverktyg används för att göra en nulägesbeskrivning. Information samlades in genom observationer som utfördes genom “att gå längs flödet”, intervjuer och teorin kring lean för att analysera flödet. Värdeflödesanalys gjordes på det befintliga flödet för att sedan kunna skapa framtida flöden. Idégenerering utfördes för att få fram olika koncept till nya alternativa flöden. Dessa koncept har sedan utvärderats genom verktyg och med generell bedömning. Ett koncept har valts ut att gå vidare med för fortsatt analys och försök att planera i den givna hallen för att få en förståelse hur flödet skulle fungera med de begränsningar som finns. En värdeflödesanalys gjordes för det befintliga flödet för att få överblick och ta fram värdehöjande och icke värdehöjande aktiviteter. Flödet begränsas av produktionsstopp på grund av aktiviteter som är icke värdehöjande och en flaskhals i produktionen som begränsar hastigheten på hela flödet. Alternativa flöden har tagits fram. Det flöde som valdes är ett lådflöde där materialet fylls i lådor för att sedan skickas vidare till maskinen som producerar golv av materialet. Lådorna kan fyllas 15 % snabbare men flaskhalsen kan fortfarande ej ta emot denna ökning. Lösningen blir kontinuerligt flöde på alla processer som det går att ha ett kontinuerligt flöde och ett buffertlager som förbrukas med jämna mellanrum där material i lådor minskar produktionsstopp eftersom lådorna ej är direkt kopplade till resten av linjen och därmed inte blir direkt påverkad utan fortsatt tillverkning kan ske. Flaskhalsen kan inte reduceras, men med lådflöde kan buffertlager användas. Med detta kan material från extrudern (råmaterial) som egentligen skulle gå till att fylla lådor skickas mot en annan linje. Detta leder till att två linjer kör samtidigt och här finns produktionsökningen. Genom att undvika produktionsstopp som orsakas av det befintliga flödet kan det ge en produktionsökning på närmare 8 % och möjlighet att köra flera linjer samtidigt kan ge ytterligare produktionsökning men är svår att uppskatta. En fortsatt analys behöver genomföras av flödet innan det kan implementeras i verkligheten. / This bachelor thesis was made with the support from Tarkett AB, Ronneby. The purpose of this task was to construct a new production flow, which should minimize the stop time and also increase the production ratio with 15%. The basics for lean principles were used in order to come up with the new production flow. Also methods like value flow analysis and the seven management tools were used to make a status report of today's production flow. Information was gathered from observations, which came from inspections of the machines that are meant to be used in the new flow, interviews and also theory about lean production. A value stream mapping was made on the already existing production flow, in order to create new ideas for the new production flow. These ideas were then evaluated with tools and general assessment, where the best concept was chosen to move on with further analysis. The next step was to plan the placement of machines and plan the forklift traffic at the given area. This will gave an understanding on how the new flow could work with the known limitations. The result shows a value flow analysis for the already existing production flow, which gives an overview on how to collect value-added and non-valueadded activities. The flow is restricted by stoppages due to the non-valueadded activities and bottlenecks. Alternative flows have been considered in the result, but the chosen flow is called box flow. With this concept the material will be filled in big boxes that can hold up to 1.1 tons of granulate. These boxes will then be stored in a warehouse until it’s collected and sent towards the machine which will use the material to produce the given amount of floor mat. The boxes can be filled 15 % faster, but the bottleneck will still not be able to keep up with this production increase. This was solved with a continuous flow on all processes and a buffer stock that will need to be continuously consumed from time to time. The bottleneck won’t increase in production speed, but with the box flow a buffer stock can be used. With this flow the material from extrusion (raw material) can be sent to other production lines. Which leads to two lines running simultaneously and here is the production increase. By avoiding production stops that are inflicted by the existing production flow, a production increase that is closer to 8 % can be performed and a possibility to increase it even further if more production lines can run at the same time. However, the production increase when taking the other production lines to account is hard to estimate. A continued analysis needs to be carried through to implement the new flow at Tarkett.

O trabalho é uma análise comparada de cinco mecanismos de política urbana praticados em quatro países diferentes: EUA, França, Colômbia e Brasil. Esses mecanismos têm como característica principal o financiamento de melhorias na infraestrutura urbana, com recursos gerados por parte da valorização imobiliária, e apropriados por meio desses mecanismos. São eles: Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) nos EUA, Leyes de la Plusvalia na Colômbia, Zones d´Aménagement Concertée (ZAC) na França, CEPACs e Outorga Onerosa em São Paulo, Brasil. O objetivo do trabalho é identificar princípios e regras comuns entre eles, e analisar suas diferenças mais significativas, e as razões para isso. Os mecanismos são apresentados individualmente e, em seguida, comparados quanto a suas características principais: histórico e objetivos de sua implantação, estrutura legal, método de formação do preço ou valor a ser pago, momento do pagamento e eficácia na geração de benefícios urbanísticos. / This work is a comparative analysis of five different mechanisms or urban policy as they are practiced in four different countries: the USA, France, Colombia and Brazil. The main characteristic these mechanisms have in common is the financing of improvements in the urban infrastructure with resources generated by the increase in value or real estate, and the corresponding capture part of that increase in value. The mechanisms analyzed are: Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) in the USA, Leyes de la Plusvalia, in Colombia, Zones d\'Aménagement Concertée (ZAC) in France, Certificados de Potencial Adicional de Construção (CEPACs) and Outorga Onerosa do Direito de Construir, São Paulo, Brazil. The objective of this work is to identify the principles and rules that they share, analyze the most relevant differences and the reasons for those differences. Each of the mechanisms is presented individually, followed by a comparison of their main characteristics: its objective and history, legal structure, price or value formation, moment of payment, and its effectiveness in generating urban improvement.

Este trabalho buscar explicar como o endividamento externo da economia norte-americana, a partir do início da década de (19)80, atenuou (e atenua ainda hoje) as decorrências macroeconômicas advindas da tendência para a estagnação do produto interno bruto. Segundo o argumento usado aqui, tal tendência para a estagnação origina-se da queda ao longo do tempo da parcela da acumulação produtiva sobre o produto. A tendência é explicada por um crescente diferencial no desempenho das taxas de lucro intersetoriais na economia, no qual as desvantagens para os setores industriais podem ser explicadas por suas mais elevadas razões capital/produto e conseqüentes menores taxas de lucro. Tal é intensificado por (a) pelo comportamento dos preços relativos, os quais conhecem uma queda maior dos preços dos bens industriais face a outros preços na economia; e (b) pelos crescentes déficits comerciais em bens. Particularmente, a tendência ao declínio foi intensificada pelas crises do petróleo (1974-1979) e pela política de juros altos no fim da década de (19)70 e meados de (19)80. O crescimento da financeirização surge assim como a outra face da moeda do movimento de diminuição da acumulação produtiva. Em segundo lugar, além de se tentar abordar as causas das flutuações em tendência decrescente do produto no período, tentou-se demonstrar como, em meio às flutuações do produto, o nível de endividamento correlacionou-se com a economia norte-americana no sentido de funcionar como elemento estabilizador. Dentro disto, buscou-se mostrar como a recuperação das taxas de lucro industriais, a partir do final da década de (19)80, e em meados da de (19)90, não levaram à queda da dívida externa. Isto se deu porque o nível de crescimento do setor industrial não logrou levar a economia a um patamar de crescimento que tornasse possível prescindir da dívida externa. Isto significava que a acumulação produtiva continuava insuficiente como mecanismo que permitisse uma diminuição do endividamento externo, principalmente devido às dificuldades relativas das taxas das de lucro industriais e das perdas no comércio exterior em bens tangíveis, não contornadas completamente pelo crescimento visto no período. Isto mostra que para sustentar os níveis de investimento e consumo, sem auxílio do endividamento externo, um volume muito maior de investimento teria de estar ocorrendo, o que não é possível pela queda relativa das taxas de lucro nos setores produtivos. Argumenta-se, assim, que o endividamento externo atenuou mas não solucionou fundamentalmente a continuidade da queda do investimento produtivo ao longo do tempo, processo que teria conduzido a economia a ainda menores taxas de crescimento na ausência do papel hegemônico do dólar na economia mundial. / This work aims to explain how the external indebtedness of the U.S. economy since the 1980s attenuated and still attenuates the macroeconomic effects originated from the tendency of the gross domestic product to stagnate. This tendency comes from the fall of the productive accumulation in its relation to the national product, explained by the growing disadvantages of the industrial profit rates when compared to the financial ones. These disadvantages can be explained mainly by the bigger capital/product rates in the industrial sectors, lowering its rates of profit. This is intensified by (a) the performance of the relative prices, which shows an ongoing fall in goods prices and a increase in nongoods prices, and (b) by the increasing trade deficits, stressing domestic production. Particularly, these tendencies were intensified by the oil crisis and the high interest rates of the middle 1970s. The growing participation of the financial sectors in the national economy is the other face of this tendency of the productive accumulation to fall. Moreover, this work intended to discuss how the external indebtedness is correlated to the instability of the economy, showing how, during all the period, the external indebtedness worked as a mechanism of stabilization. The work then tried to describe this process of stabilization. After this, the work intended to explain why the absolute rise of the industrial rates of profit, since the middle 1980s, was not able to diminish the rate of the external indebtedness. This occurred because the financial rates of profit expanded still more rapidly, expressing the persistence of the above mentioned different performances between productive and non-productive sectors in the U.S. economy. It explains why the increase in profitability of productive capital during the 1990s continued insufficient to conduct the economy to smaller degrees of external indebtedness. This is the specific conclusion of chapter 9, which tries to demonstrate how a faster process of accumulation of capital did not take to a lesser external debt during the middle 1990s. It occurred because that process of economic growth needed a still more vigorous rate of productive investment to make possible a fall in external indebtedness. Hence, the conclusion that emerges is that only a much more stronger process of productive accumulation would be able to diminish the external indebtedness process - a not easy process, given the poorest domestic performance of industrial sectors in face of the other domestic sectors and in face of the international ones. That is, the external indebtedness attenuated but did not solve the occurrence of a falling rate of productive accumulation. So, this fall of the rate of profit in industrial sectors would have conducted the economy to a still more fragile degree of investment and consumption if there was not the hegemonic role of dollar in the international economy, which permits the above mentioned strategy of external indebtedness.

L’objectif de cette thèse est de comparer l’efficacité des primes à la suggestion, des primes à la performance, et de la cession de parts aux salariés pour stimuler leur implication dans les dispositifs de suggestion (cercles de qualité, réunions d’atelier, boîtes à idées, etc.). Dans un premier chapitre,sont présentés, une approche historique, un état des lieux et une revue de littérature. Le chapitre suivant pose les jalons d’une théorie, dans un cadre simplifié ne comprenant qu’un employeur et un employé. Il développe un modèle théorique original de la cession de parts, orienté vers les augmentations de capital dédiées aux salariés. Il est montré que, tant que l’employeur n’est pas limité dans le nombre de parts qu’il peut proposer, ce mécanisme est le plus efficace. Le troisième chapitre consolide les résultats du précédent dans un cadre à plusieurs employés. Enfin, le quatrième chapitre présente une étude économétrique à partir de l’enquête REPONSE. La spécification et les variables sont retenues dans le souci d’être au plus proche des modèles théoriques. Les résultats confortent fortement ceux des modèles théoriques élaborés dans les chapitres précédents. / This dissertation aims at comparing the efficiency of suggestion pay, performance pay and shares selling, so as to involve employees into suggestions schemes (e.g. quality circles, workshop meetings, suggestion box). In the first chapter, the historical background, the current situation and the state of literature are being investigated. In the following chapter, a simple framework is considered with only one employer and one employee. A formal model of shared ownership that fits with the French scheme of ’capital increase dedicated to the employees’ is sketched. It is shownthat, as long as the employer is not limited in the number of shares he can offer, the scheme performs better than suggestion pay and performance pay. Next chapter builds upon the previous model and extends the results to a broader framework with multiple employees. The fourth chapter presents an empirical study based on the REPONSE survey. The econometric specification and the variables are chosen to fit the theoretical models. The results strongly support the theory.

abstract: Global photovoltaic (PV) module installation in 2018 is estimated to exceed 100 GW, and crystalline Si (c-Si) solar cell-based modules have a share more than 90% of the global PV market. To reduce the social cost of PV electricity, further developments in reliability of solar panels are expected. These will lead to realize longer module lifetime and reduced levelized cost of energy. As many as 86 failure modes are observed in PV modules [1] and series resistance increase is one of the major durability issues of all. Series resistance constitutes emitter sheet resistance, metal-semiconductor contact resistance, and resistance across the metal-solder ribbon. Solder bond degradation at the cell interconnect is one of the primary causes for increase in series resistance, which is also considered to be an invisible defect [1]. Combination of intermetallic compounds (IMC) formation during soldering and their growth due to solid state diffusion over its lifetime result in formation of weak interfaces between the solar cell and the interconnect. Thermal cycling under regular operating conditions induce thermo-mechanical fatigue over these weak interfaces resulting in contact reduction or loss. Contact reduction or loss leads to increase in series resistance which further manifests into power and fill factor loss. The degree of intermixing of metallic interfaces and contact loss depends on climatic conditions as temperature and humidity (moisture ingression into the PV module laminate) play a vital role in reaction kinetics of these layers. Modules from Arizona and Florida served as a good sample set to analyze the effects of hot and humid climatic conditions respectively. The results obtained in the current thesis quantifies the thickness of IMC formation from SEM-EDS profiles, where similar modules obtained from different climatic conditions were compared. The results indicate the thickness of the IMC and detachment degree to be growing with age and operating temperatures of the module. This can be seen in CuxSny IMC which is thicker in the case of Arizona module. The results obtained from FL ii aged modules also show that humidity accelerates the formation of IMC as they showed thicker AgxSny layer and weak interconnect-contact interfaces as compared to Arizona modules. It is also shown that climatic conditions have different effects on rate at which CuxSny and AgxSny intermetallic compounds are formed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Materials Science and Engineering 2018

Regional landslide risk, as it is most commonly defined, is a product of the following: hazard, vulnerability and exposed population. The first objective of this research project is to estimate the regional landslide hazard level by calculating its probability of slope failure based on maximum slope angles, as estimated using data provided by digital elevation models (DEM). Furthermore, it addresses the impact of DEM resolution on perceived slope angles, using local averaging theory, by comparing the results predicted from DEM datasets of differing resolutions. Although the likelihood that a landslide will occur can be predicted with a hazard assessment model, the extent of the damage inflicted upon a region is a function of vulnerability. This introduces the second objective of this research project: vulnerability assessment. The third and final objective concerns the impact of urbanization and population growth on landslide risk levels.

The present article gives a short summary of legal treatment on urbanistic contribution. The author seeks to show the existence of legal vacuums that must be solved to improve the appliance of the this matter in our country. / En el presente artículo se hace un breve recuento de la normativa en materia de aportes reglamentarios. La autora busca demostrar que existen vacíos legales que deben ser resueltos en nuestro país para mejorar la aplicación de la figura materia de estudio.

O aumento de gastos com a atenção à saúde apresenta-se como um fato econômico de merecida relevância no cenário internacional, sendo resultante da elevação progressiva de preços dos produtos e serviços deste mercado. Pela sua importância social e peculiaridades recebe um tratamento especial nos estudos econômicos. A economia da saúde avalia os fatores que influenciam demanda e oferta neste mercado, direcionando suas observações à interação entre seus agentes e atores, destacando seus comportamentos em relação às suas reações com o tratamento do risco de ficar doente. Possíveis falhas de mercado, envolvendo risco moral, assimetria de informação e seleção adversa, podem ser atribuídas como causas de uma demanda que foge às regras de equilíbrio econômico e favorece a elevação da oferta. Esses problemas remetem à discussão sobre como a mudança de incentivos pode acarretar aumento de gastos e perda de eficiência no provimento dos bens e serviços de saúde dos Estados Unidos da América (EUA) e no mercado de saúde suplementar brasileiro, levando em conta que a situação de elevação dos gastos com saúde, que se agrava no Brasil nos últimos dez anos, já vem sendo vivida há mais tempo em outros países e particularmente nos EUA, mostrando que o problema apresenta tendência de ser persistente. / The health care expenditure increase that presents itself as an economic fact of worldly relevance on the international scene, being the result of the gradual increase of prices of products and services in this market. Due to its social relevance and peculiarities it deserves a special treatment in economic studies. Health economics evaluates the factors influencing supply and demand in this market, directing its comments to the interaction between actors and their agents, highlighting their behaviors in relation to their reactions to the treatment of the risk of getting sick. Possible flaws in this market , involving moral hazard, information asymmetry and adverse selection can be attributed as causes of a demand that evades the rules of economic equilibrium and favors lifting the offer. These problems relate to discuss how changing incentives may lead to increased expenses and loss of efficiency in the provision of goods and services of health of United States of America (USA) and the Brazilian health plan market, taking into account the situation of rising health spending, which deepens in Brazil over the past ten years, as has been the longest lived in other countries and particularly the USA, showing that the problem shows a trend to be persistent.

Electrical connectors are the blocks that connect solar panels together. Whenever a photovoltaic plant commences, the main discussion goes around on solar panels, inverters, charge controllers, etc. But the topic of connectors is usually hardly discussed. Connectors in a photovoltaic system can definitely contribute to improve the overall performance of the system, provided that importance is given while selecting the connectors. The electrical connectors used in photovoltaic systems can be connected in two possible ways. Connectors can be connected either in a pure-connection or in a cross-connection. Male and female connectors from the same brand results a pure-connection (P-C). Male and female connectors from two different brands results in a cross-connection (C-C). There have been discussions in photovoltaic, electrical connector markets and international solar events regarding the risks involved, losses and consequences due to a cross-connection. The main reason behind cross-connections is the unawareness of the installers in knowing the difference between a pure-connection and a cross-connection. Even though the installers are aware of this difference, they are not aware of the consequences of cross-connections. Multi-Contact, a leading electrical connector manufacturer of MC4 photovoltaic connectors affected by the counterfeit products of MC4, due to the sudden boom in the solar market during 2011-12. With the help of TÜV Rheinland, Multi-Contact conducted couple of tests namely temperature increase test and accelerated stress tests to understand the disadvantages of cross-connections. This thesis tried to replicate the tests performed by Multi-Contact in an attempt to understand the test results by using connectors that are used in the Swedish market. Performing temperature increase test and accelerated stress tests on most commonly used connectors in the Swedish market is the main aim of this thesis. The first test, gives an understanding of the temperature variations across various connector sets (four connector sets from various manufacturers used in this thesis) and the latter tests helps to understand the quality of the contact resistance of these connector sets. The four connector set manufacturers used in this test were Multi-Contact (MC), Weidmüller (WM), Blussun solar (BSS) and PBM. The quality of contact resistance of a connector is directly related to the quality of the connector set. During the 20 minutes of the temperature increase test, the connector set from WM performed better than its competitors in the P-C. Whereas, the MC-BSS connector set had performed well in the C-C. The connector type of male MC and female BSS showed its dominance throughout the test. Unfortunately, no conclusions were able to be drawn from this test results due to insufficient information about the test procedure. From the results of accelerated stress tests, the C-C set from MC outperformed its P-C counterpart. All ten connector sets used in this project passed the standard and qualified as connectors with good quality contact resistance. Therefore the best results out of only a P-C connector set does not seems to be completely true. With the standard used in this thesis, it is quite difficult to judge the quality of connectors. Rather than saying a P-C is superior and a C-C is inferior in terms of quality, there is a need to come up with a new method to evaluate the quality of connectors. Matching the connectors based on their tolerances could be a potential solution to the mismatching problem in connectors.