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As the workplace becomes increasingly digital, tasks have shifted from being physically demanding to instead digitally processing knowledge and information. Employees are therefore regarded as knowledge workers and for them to succeed in the digital workplace, they place high demands on IT systems that encourage communication, collaboration and document management. To meet the knowledge workers needs, it has become increasingly common to implement collaboration platforms. However, organizations often implement collaboration platforms without further thought about how they should be used. At the same time, there is no knowledge of previous research that shows what factors make employees use collaboration platforms. The purpose of the thesis is therefore to investigate which factors lead to IT accustomed knowledge workers in the IT consulting industry using the collaboration platform in the digital workplace. By examining knowledge workers' perceptions of their use, we hope to be able to find answers to the factors that contribute to the use of collaboration platforms. The thesis applies a qualitative approach through semi-structured interviews on ten IT accustomed knowledge workers divided into two organizations in the IT consulting industry. To consider socio-technical aspects of use, empiricism has been analyzed with a conceptual model that integrates Theory of planned behavior and Technology acceptance model. Our results show that attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, perceived usefulness and perceived ease-of-use play an influential role in the use of collaboration platforms. At the same time, subjective norms and perceived usefulness are proposed to be the factors that have the strongest impact on use. / I takt med digitaliseringen av arbetsplatsen har arbetsuppgifter övergått till att istället digitalt bearbeta kunskap och information. Anställda betraktas därför som kunskapsarbetare och för att de ska lyckas i sitt arbete ställer de höga krav på IT-system som uppmuntrar kommunikation, samarbete och dokumenthantering. För att tillgodose detta behov har det blivit allt vanligare att implementera samarbetsplattformar. Organisationer implementerar ofta samarbetsplattformar utan vidare eftertanke kring hur de ska användas. Samtidigt finns det ingen kännedom om tidigare forskning som visar vilka faktorer som får anställda att använda samarbetsplattformar. Syftet med uppsatsen är därför att undersöka vilka faktorer som leder till att IT-vana kunskapsarbetare inom IT-konsultbranschen använder samarbetsplattformen inom den digitala arbetsplatsen. Genom att undersöka kunskapsarbetares uppfattning om deras användande hoppas vi kunna finna svar på vilka faktorer som bidrar till användande av samarbetsplattformar. Uppsatsen tillämpar kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer på tio IT-vana kunskapsarbetare uppdelat på två organisationer inom IT-konsultbranschen. För att ta hänsyn till socio-tekniska aspekter vid användande har empirin analyserats med en konceptuell modell som integrerat Theory of planned behavior och Technology acceptance model. Våra resultat visar att attityd, subjektiva normen, upplevd beteendekontroll, upplevd användbarhet och upplevd användarvänlighet har en påverkande roll för användandet av samarbetsplattformar. Samtidigt föreslås subjektiva normer och upplevd användbarhet vara de faktorer som har starkast påverkan på användande.

<p>Aquaculture is an industry that is receiving increased federal and state investment to potentially ease demand on overexploited capture fisheries and reduce the significant edible -seafood trade deficit by providing consumers with a source of healthy locally grown protein. There is a growing investment in the growth of the industry, yet it faces many challenges. In the Great Lakes region of the midwestern U.S., a major agricultural hub, the food-fish industry has struggled to see substantial growth. Understanding these barriers to growth could allow for more productive delegation of resources to alleviate challenges faced by aquaculture producers.  </p> <p>Additionally, regulation of the aquaculture industry can vary greatly by region and lacks a consistent regulatory structure and position amongst other major agricultural industries. Relationships between producers and regulators can be complicated, as aquaculture is typically regulated by entities who have more familiarity with and focus on other natural re source management areas such as crop agriculture, water quality, and land use or conservation. Understanding the trust diversity and dynamics at play may enhance the efficacy of natural resources management (NRM) in the aquaculture industry going forward.  </p> <p>In this study, we use the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to examine behavioral intention of land-based, food-fish aquaculture producers in the Great Lakes region of the U.S. to expand or diversify their businesses, and what they perceive to be barriers standing in the way of doing so. We also use Stern and Coleman’s (2015) trust ecology framework to explore trust diversity and how this can affect the institutional resilience of aquaculture as an industry.  </p> <p>We report on qualitative interviews of 34 aquaculture producers across the region, examining barriers to growth of the food-fish aquaculture industry as well as issues of trust in management and regulation. The findings reveal barriers related to the high-risk nature of the industry, and a need for stronger support systems to alleviate some of these risks. The interview data also points to high levels of trust diversity in aquaculture, and an emphasis on the importance of affinitive trust held by aquaculture producers. Key drivers of trust and distrust in management of aquaculture, along with proposed trust repair strategies, offer lessons for more effective and collaborative natural resource management. </p>

Planned obsolescence is a worldwide phenomenon which includes the fact that companies deliberately shorten the life-span of products through updates, poor quality and design. As environmental and sustainability issues have received more and more focus in recent decades it is believed that planned obsolescence has an important role to fill in order to achieve a more sustainable consumer society. There is an uncertainty about the extent of planned obsolescence within different industries and how aware consumers are regarding this. This study contains research surrounding planned obsolescence through a consumer perspective with people from three different countries: Sweden, South Korea and The United States. The study focuses on consumers' awareness of planned obsolescence and their attitude towards it. In addition to this, the focus is also on finding out to what extent planned obsolescence is used today and what direction it might take in the future, as well as its effect on the environment and sustainability. Research data has been gathered through a combination of quantitative and qualitative studies, including an internet-based survey and semistructured interviews with consumers and experts in planned obsolescence and sustainability. The results have shown that the term “planned obsolescence” is less familiar than the phenomenon itself, which is well known among consumers. The attitude towards planned obsolescence has mainly been negative due to financial, ethical and environmental reasons. The study shows that planned obsolescence is being used to quite a large degree today but is believed to decrease due to increased policies. Although this will require that the right policies are instituted so that consumers and companies will change their behavior. Otherwise, it can be assumed that the use of planned obsolescence will remain unchanged. / Planerat åldrande är ett världsomfattande fenomen som handlar om att företag medvetet förkortar produkters livslängd genom uppdateringar, bristfällig kvalité och design. Då miljö- och hållbarhetsfrågor har fått mer och mer fokus under de senaste årtionden fyller planerat åldrande en viktig funktion i att uppnå ett mer hållbart konsumtionssamhälle. Det råder idag en osäkerhet kring utsträckningen av planerat åldrande inom olika industrier samt hur medvetna konsumenterna är gällande detta. I den här studien undersöks planerat åldrande ur konsumentperspektiv från tre olika länder, Sverige, Sydkorea och USA. I undersökningen ligger fokus på konsumenters medvetenhet om planerat åldrande samt deras attityd. Utöver detta studeras även i vilken omfattning planerat åldrande används idag och i vilken riktning denna väntas ta i framtiden samt dess hållbarhets- och miljöpåverkan.  För insamlingen av empiri har en triangulering använts i form utav en kvantitativ enkätundersökning samt kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer med konsumenter i respektive undersökningsland och experter inom områdena planerat åldrande och hållbarhet.  Resultaten har visat på att begreppet “planerat åldrande” är mindre bekant för konsumenterna men att medvetenheten kring fenomenet är relativt omfattande. Attityden gällande planerat åldrande har i huvudsak varit negativ, mycket på grund av ekonomiska och etiska skäl samt den hållbarhet- och miljöpåverkan som planerat åldrande innebär. Studien visar på att planerat åldrande idag används i relativt stor grad men att det tros vara på väg att minska till följd av ökade styrmedel. Detta kräver dock att rätt styrmedel införs så att konsumenter och producenter ändrar sitt beteende, annars kan antagandet göras att planerat åldrande fortsätter i liknande grad som idag.

This thesis is a case study of a Polish city which faces a problem of high automobile share and little popularity of cycling in its residents’ modal split. In times when the world is facing climate change and there is a need of preserving scarce resources, it is essential that urban areas adopt a sustainability approach to the way they develop. Thus, this research focuses on what attitude is held by residents and local authorities of the subject city and how it should be facilitated so that biking for transportation becomes more common. With the approach of Ajzen’s (1991) theory of planned behaviour, the citizens’ perspective is investigated by a questionnaire where the results lead to dividing the population sample into seven groups based on their attitude. Such segmentation into population groups with respect to mobility can help promote sustainable mobility behaviour and is essential in order to address the problem successfully. Local authorities’ attitude is examined by interviews and secondary data analysis. A principal finding here is that in this city bicycle is a secondary or tertiary mode of transportation, while there is a prevailing automobile priority continuously being facilitated by the authorities. The problem lies in that it is not fully understood how bicycling can bring benefits to the city and that managing transportation is an essential part of sustainable urban development. The dissertation concludes with suggestions for both the residents and the authorities so that pro-sustainability behaviour can occur. Additionally, the analysis in this paper could be used in a number of similar cities in Poland.

<p> Physical activity improves physical and psychological functioning in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, no studies have investigated the determinants of physical activity in the CKD population. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the utility of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) for understanding physical activity in the CKD population. A secondary purpose of this study was to examine alternate conceptualizations of the subjective norm construct within the TPB framework. We hypothesized that attitude, subjective norm (injunctive and descriptive norms), perceived behavioural control (PBC), and social support would predict intention to engage in physical activity and that both intention and PBC would predict physical activity behaviour.</p> <p> Participants (52 male, 28 female, mean age = 68.43 (13.21)) were recruited from nephrologists' clinics and were all predialysis (mean serum creatinine = 310.55 (148.75) μmol/L). Participants completed a questionnaire assessing attitude, subjective norm, PBC, and social support. One week later, participants were phoned for a follow-up interview to assess their physical activity during the preceding week.</p> <p> In a regression model, 61% of the variance in intention to perform physical activity was explained, with PBC (β=.69,p<.001) emerging as the sole significant predictor, while attitude (β=.17, p=.10), subjective norm (β=.02, p=.89), informational support from family (β=-.10,p=.33), and informational support from doctors (β=-.05, p=.54) were non-significant predictors. In a regression model to explain physical activity, 28% of the variance in physical activity was explained, with intention emerging as a significant predictor (β=.53, p=.02), but not PBC (β=.18, p=.29).</p> <p> The hypotheses were only partially supported, as PBC emerged as a significant predictor of physical activity intention, while attitude, subjective norm, and social support did not. Furthermore, intention, but not PBC, predicted physical activity behaviour. These results demonstrate the utility of the TPB for explaining physical activity in the CKD population. Additional research is required to clarify if targeting PBC may be an effective means for intervention to increase physical activity in the CKD population.</p> / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

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