No description available.

<p>Sammanfattning</p><p>Miljökraven på varor och tjänster har idag slagit igenom på allvar, vilket har påverkat handeln på många sätt. Det har lett till att krav på märkning och information om varorna och tjänsterna har ökat och standarder, ledningssystem och kontrollsystem har fått större betydelse Det var ur detta som certifieringen uppstod.</p><p>I vår studie ville vi därför undersöka om certifiering är det rätta verktyget för att företag ska bidra till en hållbar utveckling eller om certifiering kan anses som en nödvändighet för att överleva på marknaden. Detta innebar att ett antal företag kontaktades som ansågs som lyckade företag vad gällde hållbar utveckling.</p><p>Cheferna på dessa företag intervjuades personligen eller via mail. Vid sammanställningen av svaren inspirerades vi av en metod som heter Grundad teori. Denna metod innebär att nyckelmeningar plockas ut ur intervjumaterialet som sedan kategoriseras i huvudkategorier, underkategorier och subkategorier. Det vi noterade vid sammanställningen var att certifiering är ett helt centralt tema för företagen när hållbarhetsfrågor diskuteras. Från dessa huvudkategorier utformades sedan påståenden som knöts till befintlig teori.</p><p>De indikationer vi kunde se var att företagen har en vilja att värna om miljön men den största anledningen till certifieringen var främst kravet från kunderna. De anser inte att de skulle ha överlevt på marknaden om inte en certifiering gjorts. Det blir som ”Katten på råttan, råttan på repet”. Logiskt sett borde det också innebära att företagets marknadsvärde ökat jämfört med om certifiering inte gjorts.</p><p>Trots kravet från kunder och leverantörer på att företagen ska certifiera sig är kunderna inte beredda att betala för certifieringen. Certifieringen blir därför en självklarhet som företagen inte kan ta betalt för, i slutändan är det ändå priset som styr. Certifiering blir därmed mera ett konkurrensmedel än att företagen vill värna om miljön. Dock tror vi att miljön kommer att få en allt större roll i framtiden när företagen väljer att certifiera sig.</p> / <p>Summary</p><p>Today the environmental goods and services are in demand. This affects trade and the way to do business. The demands of environmentally branded products have therefore increased. The standards, line systems and control systems have been taken a significant position. At this point the certification has been created.</p><p>In our study we wanted to investigate if certification is the right tool to use for a company to promote sustainability or if certification is necessary for a company to survive on the market. This led us to contact a number of successful companies in sustainability.</p><p>We interviewed the managers of the companies or sent questions via mail. We have been inspired of a methodology called Grounded Theory. This methodology focuses on significant meanings found in the empirical material. The key meanings will then be categorized in main categories, under categories and sub categories. We found that “certification” was the main category in the companies when sustainability was discussed. After that we created statements to existing theory.</p><p>Companies in the study have a will to protect the environment but the major reason to certify was because of customer demands. Some claimed that the companies wouldn’t be able to survive on the market if certification wasn’t done. In a sense the situation resembles “the cat on the rat, the rat on the rope”. This indicates that company’s market value increases when they certify their businesses.</p><p>Despite the demands of certification from customers and suppliers, companies are not willing to pay for the certification. The certification will therefore be the main issue and the company will not be compensated for it. Therefore the certification will be more like a tool of competition than an environmental protection for the company. Yet, we believe that the environmental will play a greater part in the future when the companies choose to certify themselves.</p>

Sammanfattning Miljökraven på varor och tjänster har idag slagit igenom på allvar, vilket har påverkat handeln på många sätt. Det har lett till att krav på märkning och information om varorna och tjänsterna har ökat och standarder, ledningssystem och kontrollsystem har fått större betydelse Det var ur detta som certifieringen uppstod. I vår studie ville vi därför undersöka om certifiering är det rätta verktyget för att företag ska bidra till en hållbar utveckling eller om certifiering kan anses som en nödvändighet för att överleva på marknaden. Detta innebar att ett antal företag kontaktades som ansågs som lyckade företag vad gällde hållbar utveckling. Cheferna på dessa företag intervjuades personligen eller via mail. Vid sammanställningen av svaren inspirerades vi av en metod som heter Grundad teori. Denna metod innebär att nyckelmeningar plockas ut ur intervjumaterialet som sedan kategoriseras i huvudkategorier, underkategorier och subkategorier. Det vi noterade vid sammanställningen var att certifiering är ett helt centralt tema för företagen när hållbarhetsfrågor diskuteras. Från dessa huvudkategorier utformades sedan påståenden som knöts till befintlig teori. De indikationer vi kunde se var att företagen har en vilja att värna om miljön men den största anledningen till certifieringen var främst kravet från kunderna. De anser inte att de skulle ha överlevt på marknaden om inte en certifiering gjorts. Det blir som ”Katten på råttan, råttan på repet”. Logiskt sett borde det också innebära att företagets marknadsvärde ökat jämfört med om certifiering inte gjorts. Trots kravet från kunder och leverantörer på att företagen ska certifiera sig är kunderna inte beredda att betala för certifieringen. Certifieringen blir därför en självklarhet som företagen inte kan ta betalt för, i slutändan är det ändå priset som styr. Certifiering blir därmed mera ett konkurrensmedel än att företagen vill värna om miljön. Dock tror vi att miljön kommer att få en allt större roll i framtiden när företagen väljer att certifiera sig. / Summary Today the environmental goods and services are in demand. This affects trade and the way to do business. The demands of environmentally branded products have therefore increased. The standards, line systems and control systems have been taken a significant position. At this point the certification has been created. In our study we wanted to investigate if certification is the right tool to use for a company to promote sustainability or if certification is necessary for a company to survive on the market. This led us to contact a number of successful companies in sustainability. We interviewed the managers of the companies or sent questions via mail. We have been inspired of a methodology called Grounded Theory. This methodology focuses on significant meanings found in the empirical material. The key meanings will then be categorized in main categories, under categories and sub categories. We found that “certification” was the main category in the companies when sustainability was discussed. After that we created statements to existing theory. Companies in the study have a will to protect the environment but the major reason to certify was because of customer demands. Some claimed that the companies wouldn’t be able to survive on the market if certification wasn’t done. In a sense the situation resembles “the cat on the rat, the rat on the rope”. This indicates that company’s market value increases when they certify their businesses. Despite the demands of certification from customers and suppliers, companies are not willing to pay for the certification. The certification will therefore be the main issue and the company will not be compensated for it. Therefore the certification will be more like a tool of competition than an environmental protection for the company. Yet, we believe that the environmental will play a greater part in the future when the companies choose to certify themselves.

The main purpose of this research is to study the impact of the empowerment Job Design (JD) techniques on the satisfaction of the blue-collars’ motivational needs in the context of assembly line system in the automotive industry. We have developed this purpose aiming to make a theoretical contribution due to the fact that only a few studies were developed and were linked to the empowerment model developed by Conger and Kanungo (1988) which is a JD model relevant for the context of assembly line work which is qualified as repetitive and monotone. To fulfil this gap, we have established a conceptual model based on the empowerment model developed by Conger and Kanungo (1988) and theories of motivational needs. We conducted our thesis with the following research question as guideline: What are the effects of the empowerment job design on the satisfaction of the blue-collars’ motivational needs in an automotive assembly line system context? Our objective of this research question was: to study the impact of the empowerment Job Design techniques on the blue-collars’ motivational needs thanks to a case study as research design. This research is made independently to the effects of the context on the blue-collar’s motivation. We have conducted a quantitative study from a positivist and objectivist perspective in two MB (Mercedes-Benz) factories: ELC Étoile du Rhône in France (sample part factory) and Rastatt MB (engine factory) in Germany. Also, we have made questionnaires to distribute these to the blue-collars located in these two MB factories which allowed us to get 67 respondents. The set of 15 questions that constitutes our questionnaire dealt with how the empowerment JD techniques affect their motivational needs. Once the data were collected, we used SPSS for statistical analysis. We retrieved some specific analysis such as descriptive statistics, correlations and regressions. In addition to that, we used Cronbach’s Alpha to test the reliability of our results. We measured the impacts of the empowerment JD techniques (participative management, feedback, modelling contingent/ competence based reward, goal setting and job enrichment) on the motivational needs (existence needs, relation-oriented needs and growth-oriented needs). The results of our findings definitely went in the way that the empowerment JD techniques have a positive impact on the satisfaction of the blue-collars’ motivational needs. Indeed, our analysis indicated positive correlations of all of the empowerment JD techniques on the motivational needs except the JD technique "modelling contingent/ competence based reward". Also, we found that the impacts on the relation-oriented needs (RN) were the strongest ones. Thus, we hope that this paper will help the assembly line managers to become aware of their blue-collars’ potential in order to increase their performance and to improve their employees job satisfaction.

No description available.

This thesis presents some new techniques that were developedfor continuous chemical analysis of a paper furnish. First, ageneral background is presented, covering topics from theorigins of papermaking to present day. A short introduction topapermaking chemistry and a variety of presently availableon-line chemical analysers and measurement strategies are alsodiscussed. A method is described for the continuous fractionation of apaper furnish containing coarse fibres (&gt;10µm) in orderto obtain a sample for analytical purposes (Paper I). Aconsistent sample, containing a representative fraction of thedissolved and colloidal substances (DCS) present in the bulkfurnish, was achieved by preventing cake formation on a filtersurface. A combination of turbulent flow above a membranefilter, while continuously withdrawing a relatively low samplevolume, were key factors in the prevention of filterfouling. For the continuous flow-extraction of DCS, a technique isdescribed whereby the extracting solvent was injected at a highvelocity into a continuous flow of analyte (Paper II).Comparison with conventional flow extraction showed anextraction enhancement of up to 9 times for colloidaltriglycerides. To achieve a continuous determination of chemicalsubstances, a real-time fully automated colorimetric titrationapparatus was developed (Paper III&amp;IV). This was achievedby using a series of micro-machined mixing channels for thecontinuous flow of analyte, with a sequence of detection unitsand titrant addition points along the flowpath (Paper III). Afuzzy logiccontroller was implemented to continuously adaptfor changes in the sample concentration, providing thepossibility of titrating over two orders of magnitude in sampleconcentration with minimal loss of accuracy (Paper IV). Also, a system is presented whereby the filtration apparatus(Paper I) is combined with the titration device (Paper III&amp;IV) in order to continuously determine total charge (orcolloidal charge) of a paper furnish in real-time (Paper V).This was achieved by utilising a back-titration approach andselected examples are presented showing the dynamicinteractions between wood fibres and polyelectrolyte adsorptionat various conditions of pH and polyelectrolyte molecularweight. Finally, some suggestions for a more comprehensive wet-endchemical monitoring platform are discussed and the role of thepresent work in evaluated in this context. <b>Keywords:</b>Chemical monitoring, continuous flowextraction, cross-flow filtration, dissolved and colloidalcomponents, fuzzy-logic control, on-line system, pitchanalysis, polyelectrolyte titration, process control, samplework-up, titrimetric analysis.

<p>This thesis presents some new techniques that were developedfor continuous chemical analysis of a paper furnish. First, ageneral background is presented, covering topics from theorigins of papermaking to present day. A short introduction topapermaking chemistry and a variety of presently availableon-line chemical analysers and measurement strategies are alsodiscussed.</p><p>A method is described for the continuous fractionation of apaper furnish containing coarse fibres (>10µm) in orderto obtain a sample for analytical purposes (Paper I). Aconsistent sample, containing a representative fraction of thedissolved and colloidal substances (DCS) present in the bulkfurnish, was achieved by preventing cake formation on a filtersurface. A combination of turbulent flow above a membranefilter, while continuously withdrawing a relatively low samplevolume, were key factors in the prevention of filterfouling.</p><p>For the continuous flow-extraction of DCS, a technique isdescribed whereby the extracting solvent was injected at a highvelocity into a continuous flow of analyte (Paper II).Comparison with conventional flow extraction showed anextraction enhancement of up to 9 times for colloidaltriglycerides.</p><p>To achieve a continuous determination of chemicalsubstances, a real-time fully automated colorimetric titrationapparatus was developed (Paper III&IV). This was achievedby using a series of micro-machined mixing channels for thecontinuous flow of analyte, with a sequence of detection unitsand titrant addition points along the flowpath (Paper III). Afuzzy logiccontroller was implemented to continuously adaptfor changes in the sample concentration, providing thepossibility of titrating over two orders of magnitude in sampleconcentration with minimal loss of accuracy (Paper IV).</p><p>Also, a system is presented whereby the filtration apparatus(Paper I) is combined with the titration device (Paper III&IV) in order to continuously determine total charge (orcolloidal charge) of a paper furnish in real-time (Paper V).This was achieved by utilising a back-titration approach andselected examples are presented showing the dynamicinteractions between wood fibres and polyelectrolyte adsorptionat various conditions of pH and polyelectrolyte molecularweight.</p><p>Finally, some suggestions for a more comprehensive wet-endchemical monitoring platform are discussed and the role of thepresent work in evaluated in this context.</p><p><b>Keywords:</b>Chemical monitoring, continuous flowextraction, cross-flow filtration, dissolved and colloidalcomponents, fuzzy-logic control, on-line system, pitchanalysis, polyelectrolyte titration, process control, samplework-up, titrimetric analysis.</p>

This diploma thesis deals with adjusting the reverberation time of enclosed spaces. It is divided into two thematic areas. The first thematic area deals with active systems that adjust the reverberation time, with a stronger focus on usage of reverberators to simulate secondary spaces. The second thematic area is the implementation of reverberators and their fundamental building blocks in Matlab.

Technology innovations and capacity upgrades in optical networks have influenced the optical transmission. As a result, network operators are considering separating hardware and software components in order to achieve efficiency and promising savings during network operation and network lifecycle. This leads to resolving the vendor lock-in and opening up the optical networks architectures such that different kinds of disaggregation models can be supported in the DWDM transport layer.In this master thesis, a techno-economic analysis which compares the economical differences between an integrated and disaggregated optical network has been conducted. For the analysis, an actual test case scenario of a European interregional network has been utilized. The line system and transponders components, price lists and features are based on actual vendor components in today’s optical transport networks.According to the results, it has been concluded that all total cost investments required for an integrated or disaggregated approach of DWDM system are traffic dependent. Moreover, capital expenses of open architecture are influenced by business model policy in price reduction due to multiple vendors’ competition on transponders. Calculations demonstrated that a disaggregated approach can introduce considerable total cost savings about 21% less total investments that include 25% less costs for capital expenses and 3% higher cost for operational expenses on an average traffic volume of European network. Finally, by increasing 5-10 times the traffic volume of European network it has been noticed that disaggregated system reduced total cost by 39% and 43% respectively. / Tekniska innovationer och trafiktillväxt påverkar utvecklingen av optisk transmission. En konsekvens av detta är att nätoperatörer undersöker möjligheten att separera hårdvara och mjukvarukomponenter för öka effektiviteten och sänka kostnader för drift. Detta minskar inlåsning till enskilda leverantörer och öppnar upp dom optiska näten för att byggas med olika typer av disaggregering i DWDM transporten.I den här masteruppsatsen har en tekno-ekonomisk analys utförts avseende den ekonomiska skillnaden mellan integrerade och disaggregerade optiska nät. Ett verkligt nät scenario användes för analysen. Komponenter och kostnader för linjesystem och transpondrar är baserade på existerande system och prislistor i dagens nät. Enligt det erhållna resultatet har slutsatsen dragits att totala kostnaden för integrerade och öppna system är trafikberoende. Vidare så är investeringen för öppna system påverkad av pris reduktionen pga. konkurrens på transpondrar.Beräkningarna visar att disaggregerade system kan sänka kostnaderna med 21%, i dessa siffror ingår 25% lägre kostnad för investeringar och 3% högre driftkostnader.Slutligen, genom att öka trafikvolymen med 5 respektive 10 ggr från den ursprungliga trafik matrisen så kan de totala kostnaderna sänkas med 39% och 43%.