The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (SA) set out its Vision 2030 of itself as a significant Knowledge Economy to position itself competitively in the world and in the Gulf region. The Government charged the education sector to prepare young people and build the creativity, innovation and technical skills for the country’s future. The Ministry of Education (MOE) selected TQM and has made strategic investments to achieve this strategic transformation in education. Despite this substantial investment in the infrastructure, teaching skills, information technology and advancement programmes for women to enter the workplace, the implementation of TQM has not so far delivered the outcomes expected in secondary schools (Bank, 2008; Chapman and Miric, 2009; TIMSS, 2011). This research proposes that a programme that primarily focuses on the hard aspects of change, without participatory leadership and without integrating the people concerned (as a soft programme would), cannot achieve sustainable transformation. An empirical study was designed to investigate staff perception of TQM implementation in girls’ secondary schools in the Kingdom. The 525 respondents from 61 schools in five districts of Riyadh suggest that the most pivotal critical success factors (CSFs) limiting the development of TQM culture were Top Management Commitment; Training; Tools and Techniques; and Reward and Recognition. The perception results were then used as the baseline to design a model that integrates the hard and soft CSFs of TQM in five stages of maturity. This assessment model could be used to support the schools and the MOE in objectively assessing the readiness of schools to implement TQM and identify the next major obstacles to reaching the next stage. The design approach of a maturity model is innovative in using context perception data as the baseline for designing the stages of maturity and the success factors the progress of change, making its use appropriate for the girls’ schools in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Extending the retirement age is becoming an inevitable trend given the extension of the population’s life expectancy, the need to reduce the financial burden of pensions, the increase in the utilization rate of human capital, the impetus to alleviate labor market shortages, and other social problems. Increasing numbers of countries are beginning to impose extended retirement policies. For instance, the United States, South Korea, Canada and the Nordic countries, among others, have all taken measures to delay retirement. However, the general social recognition is not high. The age of the elderly, education level and individual lifestyle have a significant impact on policies of delayed retirement age. A situation of severe aging puts the future pension system at risk, based on the interests of the country, delayed retirement can help to maximize human capital and relieve a country’s financial pressure. From an individual perspective, extending the retirement age may reduce provisions for elderly people. This study, based on the previous literature review, conducted a survey of people in Halmstad to analyze local citizens’ perception of delayed retirement and the influencing factors behind this. The results indicate that willingness for delayed retirement among the people studied is not very high, with reasons varying across different types of respondents.

<p>Date: June 4, 2008</p><p>Level: Master Thesis EFO705, 10 points (15 credits)</p><p>Authors: Wannapa Chaletanone (05-11-1982, Thailand)</p><p>Wanee Cheancharadpong (03-09-1983, Thailand)</p><p>Title: Internationalization of IKEA in the Japanese and Chinese markets</p><p>Supervisor: Leif Linnskog</p><p>Problems: Why did IKEA internationalize into Japanese and Chinese markets? And what factors did influence IKEA’s success in Chinese market but failure in the Japanese market of the first round?</p><p>Purpose: The aim of thesis is to understand the internationalization of IKEA in Asia by comparing between Japanese and Chinese markets.</p><p>Method: This master thesis based on qualitative approach in order to investigate the internationalization of IKEA in Asian markets as a case study since it is beneficial in understanding the observation and explanation of behavior in the certain cases.</p><p>Conclusion: IKEA is considered as retailer internationalization who expands into Japanese market as a result of deregulation and asset-based advantage while internationalize into Chinese market because of supporting environments such as political, social and economic conditions as well as transaction advantage. To success and failure, psychic distance and learning, strategic decision making process, degree of adaptation of retail offer, entry strategy, characteristics of organization and management characteristics are the influencing factors on internationalization of IKEA in the Japanese and Chinese markets.</p>

This study is a case study on promotion of ¡§2009 Green Bamboo Shoots Festival in Haifeng¡¨ hosted by Pingtung City Office. The main emphasis is to explore what resources, marketing strategies, limitations & difficulties as well as the effect that Pingtung City Office, a preliminary administrative agency, experienced when it promoted local products. By means of documentary analysis, questionnaires, and interviews, this study analyzed data and makes suggestion as well as conclusion as follows: Conclusion: (1) This festival was hosted by administrative agency. It was a bureaucratic top -bottom decision-making model which is conducted by governmental budget arrangement and the official authority involvement. Furthermore, related manufacturers, civil representatives, Lee chiefs, bamboo farmers all participated in this event. As a result, the resources were integrated leading to powerful mobility and promotion which was beneficial to activities and product promotion. (2) Five indicators include reputation (exposure to medium), civil participation and satisfaction, sale volume, sale channel and cultural creativity event. According to the survey, the level of civil participation and satisfaction is fairly high, and the level of exposure to medium, sale volume, and sale channel is increasing, yet no indication of cultural creativity events concerning locals. (3) Pingtung City Office, the host for ¡§Green Bamboo Shoots Festival in Haifeng¡¨, shall invite more community development associations, local institutes & organizations so that a sense of union can foster with a view to more participation of locals for local affairs. Findings¡G (1)Most people knew this event through traditional flyers and banners¡Fthe next medium were TV and paper. Therefore, flyers and banners led to the best advertisement which effectively attracted senior locals. (2)Nearly 90% of participants indicate their satisfaction, but the majority of participants are the senior homemakers in the neighborhood. The tourism benefit and promotion effect are limited. (3)Produce promotion classes fail to integrate farmers, green bamboo shoot production & promotion as well planting and skill management due to cause of personnel and benefit. Consequently, it influences popularity of improving produce technique and future promotion. Suggestions: (1) Civil participation is essential for any official promotion events. According to this case study, it is important to strengthen active civil participation in order to lift promotion effect. (2) Produce promotion classes is one of factors affecting produce promotion. For this case, the integration of farmers, green bamboo shoot production & promotion as well planting and skill management fail to function well as a result of conflict between personnel and benefit. Such situation affects produce promotion and the preliminary administrative agency is obligated to help them. (3) Based on the questionnaire results, the most effective medium are flyers and banners followed by TV and paper which are related to senior locals. It is suggested that future promotion shall focus on national medium and attract more outsiders to visit Pingtung and Haifeng.

There are various value-influencing factors that have various effects on the value of a cooperative flat for buyers. What generates value is individual and different from buyer to buyer, but also between buyers and real-estate agents. Consequently, the real-estate agents who perform valuations can make incorrect estimates of a residential value. Therefore, it is important to examine which factors are important for buyers to prevent incorrect valuations. To find out which these factors are and which of them that are the most important for potential buyers, previous research has been done in larger cities in both Sweden and other countries. However, no previous research on how much impact these factors have on a cooperative flats value in smaller towns in Sweden has been done. Smaller towns are important parts of the real estate market. Research based on smaller towns could be analyzed together with research performed in larger cities. This would, regardless of if there are differences between larger or smaller cities or not, lead to more correct valuations by real-estate agents. This paper examines which factors that are most important for buyers in the purchase of cooperative flats in smaller towns. This research can be seen as a complement to previous research about valuation and value-influencing factors. A quantitative method was used with certain qualitative elements. The qualitative element consisted of an interview with a real-estate agent and the quantitative part was then based on the results of that interview in the form of a survey. The survey was conducted in two smaller towns, Ludvika and Kristinehamn, where 75 respondents participated in each city. The result was determined by examination of the average value of every value-influencing factor. An analysis of the results was performed with help of the theory. The theory mainly consists of a description of the real-estate market and various value-influencing factors such as the number of square meters. The conclusions drawn by the study was that monthly fee (rent), the tenantowners´ association's finances, the purchase price, balcony/patio, parking spot and a well-planned layout were important factors among the respondents. When these factors are the ones buyers value the most, they also increase buyers’ willingness to pay. Consequently, when evaluating cooperative flats, a higher price could be estimated if the described factors were met. / Det finns olika värdepåverkande faktorer som har olika stor påverkan på en bostadsrätts värde för köpare. Vad som genererar värde är individuellt och kan skilja sig mellan olika köpare men också mellan köpare och fastighetsmäklare. Av den anledningen kan fastighetsmäklare som i sitt yrke utför värderingar göra felaktiga uppskattningar av en bostads värde. Därför är det viktigt att undersöka vilka faktorer som för köpare är de viktigaste för att undvika att felaktiga värderingar utförs. För att ta reda på vilka dessa är och vilka av dem som är viktigast har tidigare forskning genomförts i större städer i både Sverige och andra länder. Det saknas dock tidigare forskning om dessa faktorer och hur stor påverkan de har på en bostadsrätts värde i småstäder i Sverige. Småstäder utgör en viktig del av fastighetsmarknaden. Forskning som utförts i småstäder skulle kunna sammanläsas med övrig forskning från större städer. Detta skulle oavsett om det finns skillnader mellan större och mindre städer eller ej leda till att mer korrekta värderingar skulle kunna utföras av fastighetsmäklare. Den här uppsatsen undersöker vilka faktorer som är viktigast för köpare vid köp av bostadsrätter i småstäder. Forskningen kan ses som ett komplement till tidigare forskning inom fastighetsvärdering och värdepåverkande faktorer. En kvantitativ metod användes med visst kvalitativt inslag. Det kvalitativa inslaget bestod av en intervju med en fastighetsmäklare som den kvantitativa enkätundersökningen sedan baserades på. Undersökningen utfördes i småstäderna Ludvika och Kristinehamn där 75 respondenter deltog i vardera stad, totalt 150 stycken. Resultatet fastställdes genom att varje värdepåverkande faktors medelvärde granskades. En diskussion av resultatet utfördes med hjälp av teori. Teorin består främst av en beskrivning av fastighetsmarknaden och olika värdepåverkande faktorer som kan vara till exempel antal kvadratmeter, bostadens läge och dess skick. Slutsatser som kunde dras av resultatet var att månadsavgiften (hyran), bostadsrättsföreningens ekonomi, inköpspriset, balkong/uteplats, parkeringsplats och välplanerad planlösning var viktigast för respondenterna. Då dessa faktorer är de som köpare värderar högst ökar med största sannolikhet deras betalningsvilja om dessa faktorer finns. Därmed kan vid värdering av bostadsrätter ett högre pris uppskattas om de beskriva faktorerna är uppfyllda.

Date: June 4, 2008 Level: Master Thesis EFO705, 10 points (15 credits) Authors: Wannapa Chaletanone (05-11-1982, Thailand) Wanee Cheancharadpong (03-09-1983, Thailand) Title: Internationalization of IKEA in the Japanese and Chinese markets Supervisor: Leif Linnskog Problems: Why did IKEA internationalize into Japanese and Chinese markets? And what factors did influence IKEA’s success in Chinese market but failure in the Japanese market of the first round? Purpose: The aim of thesis is to understand the internationalization of IKEA in Asia by comparing between Japanese and Chinese markets. Method: This master thesis based on qualitative approach in order to investigate the internationalization of IKEA in Asian markets as a case study since it is beneficial in understanding the observation and explanation of behavior in the certain cases. Conclusion: IKEA is considered as retailer internationalization who expands into Japanese market as a result of deregulation and asset-based advantage while internationalize into Chinese market because of supporting environments such as political, social and economic conditions as well as transaction advantage. To success and failure, psychic distance and learning, strategic decision making process, degree of adaptation of retail offer, entry strategy, characteristics of organization and management characteristics are the influencing factors on internationalization of IKEA in the Japanese and Chinese markets.

Darbo tikslas: Įvertinti pacientų pasitenkinimą VŠĮ Kauno Centro poliklinikos bendrosios praktikos gydytojų ir terapeutų paslaugomis. Tyrimo metodika. Pacientų apklausai sudaryta 31 klausimo anoniminė anketa. Klausimai vertinami dviem būdais: 5 balų Likerto skale, kur 1 reiškia visiškai nesutinku/nepasitikiu, o 5 – visiškai sutinku/pasitikiu ir klausimų pateiktais keliais atsakymo variantais. Pacientų, prisirašiusių prie bendrosios praktikos gydytojų, atsako dažnis 97,8% (N= 230),pacientų, prisirašiusių prie terapeutų – 61,3% (N= 230). Tyrimo duomenų analizė atlikta naudojant statistinį duomenų analizės paketą SPSS 9.0. Rezultatai. VšĮ Kauno Centro poliklinikos pacientų, prisirašiusių prie BPG ir prie apylinkės terapeutų, pasitenkinimo lygis šeimos gydytojo paslaugomis yra aukštas ( 4,51). Pacientai labiausiai patenkinti gydytojo rodoma pagarba jų asmeniui, aukšta kvalifikacija, įdėmiu nusiskundimų išklausymu bei išsamiu ir suprantamu paaiškinimu apie ligą ir jos gydymą. Mažiausiai pacientai patenkinti šeimos gydytojo pagalba, sprendžiant socialines ir psichologines problemas. Pacientų pasitenkinimas šeimos gydytojo paslaugomis (Spirmeno koreliacija) yra labiausiai susijęs su aukšta gydytojo kvalifikacija ( 0,827), išsamiu ir suprantamu paaiškinimu apie ligą ir gydymą ( 0,723), pakankamu laiko skyrimu aptariant sveikatos problemas (0,684), įdėmiu nusiskundimų išklausymu (0,635), atsižvelgimu į paciento nuomonę, skiriant gydymą (0,623) bei paaiškinimu apie atliekamų tyrimų... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The aim of the theses: To estimate satisfaction of patients with services of Kaunas Center general practitioners and therapists. The methodology of the research: anonymous questionnaire containing 31 questions was prepared to question the patients. The answers were evaluated in two ways: 5 points to Lickert Scale Questions, when 1 meant “totally disagree/ do not trust” and 5 – “totally agree/ trust”, there also were included questions with several possible answers. Patients, who registered at general practitioners responded 97,8% (N= 230), patients, who registered at therapists responded 61,3% (N= 230). The analysis of the research data was accomplished using statistic data analysis SPSS 9.0. The results. Satisfaction level of the patients, who registered at GP, local therapists and family doctors in Kaunas Center outpatient clinic was almost equal and was rather high (4,51). The patients mostly were satisfied with doctor’s respect, his/her high qualification, attentive listening to them and clear and detailed information about their disease and its treatment. The patients least were satisfied with family doctor’s help solving social and psychological problems. Patient satisfaction with family doctor’s services (Spirmen’s correlation) was mostly related to high qualification of the doctor ( 0,827), detailed and clear information about their disease and its treatment ( 0,723), enough time devoted to solve health problems (0,684), attentive listening (0,635), paying attention... [to full text]

The objective of this thesis is to determine whether it is possible to improve the adequacy of support to “post start-up” small businesses in Sri Lanka by making changes to the current support regime to encourage their growth. The interest in this issue stems from (a) previous research carried out which highlights the substantially lower contribution to employment growth from the small businesses in Sri Lanka as compared to what is observed in other countries, and (b) the increasing emphasis upon stimulating the small business sector to make a significant contribution to the national economy which is apparent in recent policy proposals in the White Paper presented by the Task Force for Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) development. An examination of extant literature suggests that the understanding of the factors that influence the growth of post start-up small businesses in developing countries is limited. Knowledge is also limited on the type of support that is required to adequately address such factors. To systematically investigate the existing knowledge gaps in these areas a questionnaire survey was conducted. In-depth interviews were also carried out with small business owner-managers and key employees of organisations providing small business support. A variety of statistical techniques were employed to analyse the responses to the questionnaire survey. Overall the results indicate that the factors influencing the growth of post start-up small businesses are highly individual in nature. Results of the study also indicate that the employment growth in post start-up small businesses is very limited. Drawing on the results of the research a conceptual model is proposed that suggests a holistic approach to the identification, evaluation and delivery of support to address the factors constraining the growth of post start-up small businesses.

Detta examensarbete är ett förarbete till en utveckling av en kalkylmodell för regionnät. Syftet var att undersöka vilka faktorer som påverkar ett projekts utfall samt att ge förslag på hur Linjemontage kan utveckla sin organisation och ett förslag på en ny tidrapport har framtagits, för att få en klarare bild av hur stor del av projektets olika delmoment verkligen tog, i förhållande till uppskattad tid. De faktorer som anses vara påverkande vid ett projekts utfall är markägare, som kan vara svåra att komma i kontakt med, och svåra att nå en gemensam lösning med. Även avbrottstider planerade enligt förprojekteringen vilka inte accepteras av elnätsägaren. Material som blir fellevererat och förseningar av leveranser. Fel i handlingar till exempel bygghandlingar och felaktig design av konstruktörer. Fel gjorda av underentreprenörer och ej standardiserade konstruktioner. Problem som uppstår efter vägen, exempelvis förseningar samt stölder av material och verktyg. Maskinhaveri och snabb omorganisering inom projekt. Avsaknad av viss specifik utbildning. Väder, årstider, markförhållanden och slutligen för lite tid till projektering. För att få företagets medarbetare mer delaktiga har ett förslag utarbetats om en möjlighet att kontinuerligt kunna följa projektets gång via företagets intranät gjorts. Detta för att projektmedlemmarna tydligt skall kunna se hur lång tid varje delmoment tagit i förhållande till kalkylerad tid. Det har även framtagits ett förslag på hur medarbetarna kan följa utfallet för samtliga projekt under året och därmed skapa en möjlighet att på ett aktivt sätt kunna arbeta för en bonus vid årets slut. / This report is the groundwork for a development of a calculation model for the regional network. The aim was to investigate the factors that influence a project's outcomes and to provide suggestions on how Linjemontage can develop their organization. A suggestion for a new timesheet has been developed, in order to get a clearer picture of how much time the project's different parts really took compared to the estimated time. The factors that are considered sensitive at a project's outcome are landowners, which can be difficult to get in touch with, and difficult to reach a common solution with. Power outage planned during the pre-projectation which is not accepted by the utility owner. Incorrect deliveries of materials and delays in deliveries. Incorrect documents such as construction documents and incorrect design by designers. Errors made by subcontractors and non-standard constructions. Problems experienced during the project, such as delays and theft of materials and tools. Machine failure and rapid reorganization within the project. Lack of specific training. Weather, seasons, ground conditions and insufficient time for planning. To get the employees of the company more involved, a suggestion of a way to continuously monitor the project through the company's intranet has been made. This suggestion would increase the participation of the project members, and rise the ability to easily compare the estimated time with the actual time spent on each part of the project. Another suggestion in how the employees can monitor the total outcome for all projects during the year has been made. This would create an opportunity for the employees to be able to work for a bonus at end of year.

As the global market place becomes more integrated and tensed, there is a shift from thetraditional marketing whereby attention is given solely to the sale of a product to a morecustomer-based marketing. Customer involvement in the processing of a product is thehighlight of this phenomenon. By this their needs and preferences for a product are welladdressed and base on this management can make effective decisions. Customer usagepattern and its influencing factors have become a key for business decision-making.Customer based notion is well known by its effective result in any kind of product. Theycould help businesses to manage, to adjust strategies to better match with the customersexpectations in existing markets. And to enter new markets, where the companies haveno historical databases of the local customers, the Snus usage pattern and its influencingfactors in previous growth markets are helpful to make use of.The motivation of this thesis therefore, is to find out the usage pattern and the influencingfactors of snus (smokeless tobacco) in its growth market such as Sweden and the UnitedStates where until recently gaining popularity. This thesis will make use of relatedtheories, previous studies on snus and behavioral pattern, influencing factors andobservation in Sweden and in the United States. The findings of this thesis and theinfluencing factors on snus usage behavior could be reference guidelines for decisionmakers in the tobacco industry in already existing snus markets and potential markets forthe product in places such as Vietnam and other parts of world. Aside these, the findingswill be helpful in managing tobacco companies in general and snus in particular inexisting markets.