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Over the last decade, researchers have attempted to show how efficient the markets are by using Fama’s Efficiency Market Hypothesis (EMH). The theory states that an investor cannot increase his returns without taking additional risk. The markets can be efficient in different forms depending on the information included in the traded asset. It is quoted that: "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch". However, the topic still remains disputable since researchers have introduced controversial findings after investigating different markets. Overall, emerging markets have been characterized with higher volatility which consequently declares for market imperfections. Commonly, these market inefficiencies are quickly captured by the eye of the investors who are lurking for potential benefits through exploiting them. These are the so called arbitrage opportunities which exist on different level of impact, depending on the attitude of the market. The existence of arbitrage is clear evidence against Fama’s theory and it has been documented in numerous studies. Unfortunately those events occur rarely and disappear in a matter of seconds, thus; is highly competitive to capitalize. Over the last decade high frequency trading (HFT) became popular on different markets and it allowed traders to make decisions and execute transactions in a matter of milliseconds using algorithms. The market we are interested in is the Forex market which is a decentralized market where currencies from all over the world are traded. Main participants include multinational banks which rely heavily on HFT. The method used to benefit from inefficiency is called triangular arbitrage and it involves selling and buying 3 sets of currency pairs in times when a parity is violated. The goal of this study is to answer the following research question, “Is there a difference in triangular arbitrage opportunities between emerging markets and developed ones?” The main objective of this research is to examine how the number of arbitrage occurrences varies considering different market characteristics. Furthermore, the originality of the research stems from the comparison between strategies using currencies from developed economies and emerging ones. Moreover, the additional academic value comes from the analysis of a new dataset that has not yet been examined. Lastly, our results make an empirical contribution into a country’s economy by reducing market inefficiencies and increasing economic stability. Our sample consists of quantitative data totaling to 2.4 million observations per quotation taken from 2011 and 2013 for currencies picked using a non-probability convenience method based on their property to be converted to EUR and USD currency and availability of information. The research revealed that differences between the two types of market exist, and indicates that the “early” markets possess higher arbitrage activity in contrast to the mature economies. These results should boost the potential for a better trading management and upgrade the profit growth.

Darbo tikslas: įvertinti burnos higienos specialybės studentų požiūrį į karjeros galimybes. Tyrimo metodika: vienmomentinė anketinė apklausa buvo vykdoma Lietuvos sveikatos mokslų universitete, Kauno kolegijoje, Utenos kolegijoje, Šiaulių valstybinėje kolegijoje, Panevėžio kolegijoje 2012 m. vasario – rugsėjo mėn. Buvo apklausti visi paskutinių kursų burnos higienos studijų studentai, studijuojantys Lietuvos sveikatos mokslų universitete, Kauno kolegijoje, Panevėžio kolegijoje, Šiaulių valstybinėje kolegijoje, Utenos kolegijoje. Išdalintos 205 anketos. Statistinėje analizėje buvo naudotos 144 teisingai užpildytos anketos (atsako dažnis 70,2 proc.). Duomenys analizuoti programa SPSS, 20 versija. Rezultatai: Burnos higienos specialybės studentams (70,9 proc.) karjera yra svarbi jų gyvenime. Daugiau nei trečdalis (35,2 proc.) studentų burnos higienisto darbo jau ieškojo ir daugiau nei pusė (59,3 proc.) jo nerado. Nustatyta, jog daugiau nei penktadalis (21,7 proc.) studentų ketina išvykti dirbti burnos higienisto darbą į užsienio šalis ir daugiau nei pusė (53,1 proc.) dar svarsto tokią galimybę. Paaiškėjo, kad daugiau nei ketvirtadalis (26,8 proc.) studentų nesitiki įsidarbinti Lietuvoje pagal įgytą specialybę. Daugiau nei pusė dalyvavusių studentų burnos higienos studijomis yra patenkinti, o daugiau nei trečdalis studentų nepatenkinti. Didžioji dauguma (98,9 proc.) skundėsi praktinių užsiėmimų stoka. Daugiau nei pusė universiteto studentų (66,7 proc.) studijuoja šioje... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Aim of research: to assess the attitude of oral hygiene students toward career opportunities. Research methods: The cross-sectional survey was conducted at Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas University of Applied Sciences, Utena University of Applied Sciences, Šiauliai State College and Panevėžys College from February to September, 2012. All final-year oral hygiene students of the aforementioned institutions were surveyed. 205 questionnaires were distributed. The statistical analysis encompassed 144 properly filled questionnaires (response rate 70.2%). The data was analyzed with SPSS Software, version 20. Results: the majority of oral hygiene students emphasized importance of career in their lives (70.9%). More than one-third of students (35.2%) had already been looking for an oral hygiene specialist job and more than half of respondents (59.3%) had not found it. It was revealed that more than one-fifth of students (21.7%) had been planning to work as oral hygiene specialists abroad and more than half of them (53.1%) had been considering the aforementioned opportunity. It emerged that more than one-fourth of respondents (26.8%) had no employment expectations regarding their acquired profession in Lithuania. More than half of students were satisfied with oral hygiene studies, whereas more than one-third of them felt disatisfied. The vast majority of respondents (98.9%) complained about a lack of practice activities. More than half of students (66.7%) study oral... [to full text]

<p>“I changed my mind” is a case study aimed at investigating returns. Returns are often negative occurrences and can be seen as the last “block” in a supply chain. However, what this study shows is that a return is a great source for customer profiling and can lead to an increase in market shares if managed correctly. Many companies go about investigating satisfied customers and what aspects these customers are satisfied with. Instead this research focuses on finding out what dissatisfied customer feel and why they decided to return a specific product. Investigations are also made concerning the internal processes to manage product returns and if they can be improved at the case company (thereby lowering costs).</p><p>This study shows how interrelated the supply chain is and illustrates how product returns can be lowered by changing the input in the supply chain. Reputation is a fragile thing and can be hurt from mismanagement related to returns and therefore I feel that it is important to study this phenomenon which is not often brought into light but nonetheless exits in almost every company (that offers returnable products).</p><p>Enjoy your reading and see how your company can prevent your customers from changing their minds.</p>

Denna kandidatuppsats inom företagsekonomi är en kvalitativ studie som inriktar sig på ämnet kvinnor och ledarskap. Studien belyser och problematiserar betydelsen av normen kring ledarskap och föreställningar om manlighet. Flera forskare har uppmärksammat att normer som präglar ledarskap innehåller maskulina undertoner, vilket har inneburit att det blivit mer naturligt för män att inneha de egenskaper som associeras med en ledare. Trots att ledarskap vanligtvis beskrivs ur ett könsneutralt perspektiv, pekar forskare på att det finns upplevda skillnader i hur män och kvinnor utövar sitt ledarskap. Majoriteten av den forskning som finns inom ledarskap ur ett normkritiskt perspektiv pekar på att samhället är i förändring, och där med synen på ledarskap. Dock saknas konkreta exempel på hur dessa förändringar har yttrat sig. Det finns en brist på kunskap gällande hur hinder och möjligheter uppfattas av kvinnor som idag befinner sig i ledande positioner inom företagsvärlden. Hur har denna förändring på synen på ledarskap påverkat deras karriärer? Uppsatsens syfte är att synliggöra hur kvinnor i ledarskapspositioner upplever karriärhinder och karriärmöjligheter. Teorin baseras på områden inom ledarskap och genus med fokus på hinder och möjligheter inom kvinnors karriärer. Empirinsamlingen bygger på fem intervjuer med kvinnor i ledande befattningar där varje kvinna fått dela med sig av sin berättelse. Studien påvisar att kvinnorna idag upplever flera av de hinder och möjligheter som tidigare forskning pekar på. Däremot belyser vår studie även hur de förändringar som skett i samhället har påverkat synen på ledarskap idag. Vidare kan det, baserat på studiens resultat, dras slutsatser kring hur dessa förändringar har yttrat sig. Detta är något som visade sig vara i de jämställda företagen där kvinnorna idag arbetar. / This Bachelor Thesis in Business Administration is a qualitative study focusing on the subject of women and leadership. The study highlights and problematizes the importance of stereotypical perceptions among leadership. Several researchers have described that the norms that characterize leadership contains a masculine undertone. Therefore it has become more natural for men to possess the attributes associated with a leader. Although leadership is usually described in a gender-neutral perspective, researchers point out that there are perceived differences in how men and women exercise their leadership. The majority of the research in leadership from a norm-critical point of view shows that society is changing and so are the view of leadership. However there is a lack of knowledge about how career-related barriers and career-related opportunities are perceived by females who are in leading positions in the corporate world today. We have been using qualitative research methods and the data was collected by interviewing five women in leadership positions in gender equal companies. The study shows that female leaders in the present experience several of the barriers and opportunities that previous research has shown. On the other hand, our study also highlights the changes that takes place in the society and influences the view of leadership in present tense.

The aim of this thesis is to get an overall view over preschool teacher’s perceptions about children's physical activity in preschool and also understand what impact the physical environment has on it. In Sweden children participate in preschool at an early age and spends the majority of their waken time there. Preschool therefore becomes an important platform to promote children’s early physical activities as it has great effect on their future lifestyle. The physical environment plays a significant role for children’s opportunity to be physically active and therefor also becomes an important part of this study. In this study I used a qualitative semi structured interview with six preschool teachers who worked in different preschools.  The theoretical background is based on Osnes, Skaug, and Kaarbys (2012) five positioning categories which are guidance, spectator, playmate, play in parallel with the child as well as initiate play. Each and one of this positioning categories have an impact on children’s play and the movements they use in those plays (2012). I also use Gitz-Johansen, Kampmann and Kirkeby theory where they describe the complex relationship between children and the pedagogical room (2001 in Eriksson 2013).   My study shows that the overall attitude toward physical activity is positive and is considered by the preschool teachers to be an essential part in children’s childhood. The preschool teachers are aware that they are the gatekeepers to physical activity and how their attitude can regulate children’s movements due to norms and values of the society they belong to. They expressed their dissatisfaction toward the preschool organization and highlighted the external factors that regulates the children’s movements which they expressed where out of their ability to impact such as large children groups, small staff density, narrow space to move in and so forth. They believe that children’s play is the gateway to physical activity and their positioning can help children to develop their physical abilities.

Um dos aspectos mais importantes da nova realidade internacional é a tendência à formação de blocos regionais. A criação dos blocos ao redor do mundo representa uma estratégia de promoção do desenvolvimento para os países da periferia e, sobretudo, para os Estados africanos que são caracterizados por uma história peculiar de marginalização, países com pobreza e miséria dramáticas, ciclos de instabilidades política e militar, sequelas de séculos de explorações promovida por diversas potências. Como forma de resolver parte dos problemas que afetam o continente, os dirigentes africanos acreditam na integração econômica e política como uma das alternativas. Tratando-se dos países do oeste africano, a integração possibilita uma coordenação conjunta na solução dos problemas internos da região e nos desafios da globalização. O objetivo desta tese é de analisar a inserção da Guiné-Bissau na UEMOA. Neste sentido, o trabalho se propõe responder duas perguntas: em que medida a UEMOA pode contribuir para o desenvolvimento econômico e social guineense e quais são as vantagens e as desvantagens da Guiné-Bissau na UEMOA. Ele parte da hipótese de que a referida união é bastante útil para o país lusófono na medida em que oferece um enorme suporte na sua política monetária e fiscal, sem falar na abertura de novos mercados, embora o ciclo da instabilidade política tenha se constituído num dos principais obstáculos para o desempenho guineense no bloco. Ressalta-se que o presente trabalho foi construído com base nas consultas de diversas obras bibliográficas, e também, durante a construção desta tese, viajamos para o referido país que constitui objeto do nosso estudo, onde obtivemos alguns dados primários através do contato que tivemos com diversos dirigentes do país ligado ao tema. Entretanto, conclui-se que a inserção da Guiné na UEMOA aconteceu de forma precipitada sem que houvesse estudos aprofundados. Embora o país, por um lado, tenha alcançado um dos objetivos que é de estabilizar os preços ou controlar a inflação, assim como encontrou, na união, uma importante fonte de financiamento, o BOAD (Banque Ouést Africaine de Dévelopment), para desenvolver, reabilitar e modernizar as suas infraestruturas. Por outro lado, o desempenho guineense naquele bloco tem sido afetado pelo ciclo de instabilidades que tem dificultado a elaboração de uma estratégia que permitiria a obtenção de ganhos, seja por via do comércio internacional ou pela captação do investimento estrangeiro; com isso, o país se tornou dependente dos seus parceiros do bloco. / One of the most important aspects of the new international reality is the tendency to form regional blocks. The creation of blocks around the world is a development promotion strategy for the periphery countries and, especially to the African states, which are characterized by a peculiar history of marginalization, countries with dramatic poverty and misery, cycles of political and military instabilities, consequences of centuries of explorations promoted by many colonial powers. As a way to solve part of problems that affect the continent, African leaders, believe in economic and political integration as one of the alternatives. Concerning West African countries, the integration enables to joint coordination in solving the internal problems of the region and the challenges of globalization. This thesis aims to analyze the inclusion of Guinea-Bissau in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU). Thus, the work aims to answer two questions: to what extent WAEMU can contribute to economic and social development of Guinea-Bissau, and what are the advantages and disadvantages of Guinea-Bissau in the WAEMU. It starts from the assumption that such union is very useful for the Portuguese-speaking country, once it offers a huge support in its monetary and fiscal policy, not to mention the opening of new markets, although the cycle of political instability has been one of the main obstacles to Guinea-Bissau performance in the block. It is noteworthy that this work was done in the basis of research in various literature works, and during the construction of this thesis, we traveled to the country, which is the object of our study, where we obtained some primary data through the contact we had with several leaders of the country related to the subject. However, it is concluded that the inclusion of Guinea - Bissau in WAEMU happened rashly without in depth studies. Although the country on one hand, has achieved one of its goals to stabilize prices and control inflation, as found in union an important source of funding, the BOAD (Banque Ouest Africaine de Development) to develop, rehabilitate and modernize its infrastructure. On the other hand, the performance of Guinea-Bissau in the block has been affected by the instabilities cycle that has hampered the development of a strategy that would allow the development gains, either through international trade or through the capture of foreign investment; with this, the country became dependent on its partners in the block.

The purpose of this research is to investigate the relationship among the following variables: occupational opportunities for women, career participation, percentage married by specific age groups, and fertility. The areal units of analysis are the one-hundred largest standard metropolitan statistical areas in the United States in 1970. The independent variables are occupational opportunities for women and career participation of women, and the dependent variables are percentage married by specific age groups and fertility. The objectives are (1) to substantiate earlier findings that there is a negative relationship between occupational opportunities for women and fertility, (2) to include career participation as one dimension of occupational opportunities for women, (3) to compare the relationship and predictive ability of occupational opportunities for women and career participation in terms of the dependent variables of percentage married by specific age groups during regression analysis in order to determine its influence on fertility, and (4) to test propositions concerning the assumption that female labor-force participation does not necessarily inhibit fertility. The findings of the study indicate that there is a negative correlation between occupational opportunities for women and the percentage married by specific age groups and a negative correlation between work opportunities and fertility. Specifically, female-median income acts as a deterrent to marriage and fertility. Career participation does not compete impressively in explaining the variance of marriage or fertility.

The world is becoming more and more digitized. Recently many industries have started to research the blockchain technology and particularly smart contracts. One industry that so far has not adopted new technology in the same pace as other industries, is the insurance industry so this interview study aims at finding opportunities and challenges for insurance companies that want to learn about smart contracts and its use cases.By doing a literature review and performing interviews with blockchain experts and insurance company employees, this study found that both IT companies working with smart contracts and the insurance companies have limited knowledge of the legal aspect of smart contracts. The lack of standards and regulations allows IT companies to freely create smart contracts without much quality control. The insurance companies must innovate themselves in order to not be disrupted. The blockchain technology will offer many new insurance types and if the insurance industry fails to adopt the blockchain technology they may face market disruption.There is much room for future research following this study. It would be beneficial to research how contract theory could be used in practice during the creation of legally binding smart contracts. Furthermore, research around fraud prevention in smart contracts would be interesting as would an in-depth exploration of the ecosystem of third party software and services around smart contracts.

The main aim of the thesis was to uncover opportunities and to identify threats for the selected company and offer the firm use of the information obtained. In the theoretical part of the thesis I used the information to perform a situational analysis and further analysis of the methods of marketing environment and SWOT analysis. To determine the opportunities and threats in the practical part of my thesis, I chose Československá obchodní banka, a. s. , which operates as a universal bank in the Czech Republic. SWOT analysis was used for these purposes. Before performing a SWOT analysis it was necessary to first develop an analysis of the marketing environment of the company. I used STEP analysis to analyse the company's macro environment. The bank's microenvironment was evaluated using Porter's five forces model analysis, and to analyse the company I made financial analysis of selected economic data and financial ratios from the annual reports for the period 2010 up to 2014. The SWOT analysis that was performed uncovered the following opportunities: population growth, an increasing number of households with a personal computer and Internet connection, smart banking development and interconnection of distribution networks. The most significant threat to the bank is growth in rivalry among competitors, increased bargaining power of customers, threat in the form of substitutes, the end of the contract with Česká pošta and the planned transfer of Česká pošta to a franchise. To achieve the objectives of the work, I suggested to the bank the following recommendations: specialized products for children and young adults with public campaign events, as well as alternative distribution channels, virtual Video Banker and virtual branches, competition and poll applications on social networks, Smart banking development, interconnection of distribution networks and merging brands. In terms of threats I recommend reducing the fees for account maintenance, increase the interest rate on accounts, create questionnaires regarding clients who close their account, higher commissions on sales and investments for Česká pošta, and last but not least, benefits and training for employees of Česká pošta.