This bachelor thesis gives insight to the reader on the 4P theory’s role in a company’s social media marketing. This is a multiple case study where the authors investigated how these two companies apply 4P theory in their social media marketing. Furthermore. social media has appeared through the era of digitalization which has become a tremendous phenomenon in a company’s marketing strategies. Therefore, there is a high competition among companies in order to attract customers through their social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. In this thesis it is investigated of how companies applies the 4P theory in their social media. The research question of this thesis is as follows: How does a company apply 4P in its social media platforms? In order to answer the research question of this thesis, the authors have used existing theories on digitalization, the new 4P’s and the traditional 4P’s as well as empirical data in the form of semi structured interviews. The results showed that the 4P theory has an enormous role in these companies’ marketing in social media.

The Coral Sea has been the host to a variety of large carbonate platforms over the geologic past and presently hosts the world's largest system of coral reefs, the Great Barrier Reef, stretching more then 2,300 km along Australia's northeast coast. The Marion Plateau, which today is the site of 400 m deep hemipelagic sediment drifts, once supported two large carbonate platforms that were precursors to reef growth on the central and southern Great Barrier Reef. Previous work examining the growth phases, drownings and rejuvenation of these platforms is extensive. The purpose of this research is to examine the factors controlling the earliest sedimentation on the margin and how it influenced early development of the carbonate platforms. One hundred and eighty-three samples were taken from the base of Hole 1195 B, that was drilled during the Ocean Drilling Program's Leg 194. Analyses were performed using x-ray diffraction on the bulk powder and decalcified less than 2um size fraction smear slides. Four distinct sedimentary facies were defined on the basis of mineralogy and constituent grains. The initial marine transgression of the Marion Plateau was not a straightforward one where a shallow-water margin gradually transitioned into a deep-water margin. Instead, sediments record a complex history of unconformities, hardgrounds, and discrete sedimentary units. The initial flooding was complex as a result of its initially shallow depth at a time characterized by several glacio-eustatic sea-level changes. The data indicate that eustasy has been the strongest control on sediment deposition and clay mineral patterns on the Plateau. Falling sea level resulted in periods of increased detrital input and limited soil formation. Also, a decreasing kaolinite trend in the early Miocene, during a rising sea level, indicates that clays forming on land as a result of climate were not transported out onto the plateau.

L'objectif de cette thèse est de fournir des outils d'aide à la décision pour piloter les plateformes logistiques à court de moyen terme. La première partie décrit la problématique concernée et les notions essentielles dans le cadre des chaînes logistiques. Dans la deuxième partie, le problème de la planification est étudié, nous proposons des modèles linéaires pour minimiser les coûts de personnel, qui prennent en compte les flux : leurs variations saisonnières, la possibilité de les négocier localement en amont et en aval, ainsi que leur organisation et celle du travail. Ainsi, l'outil peut être utilisé dans la coordination des flux entres les partenaires de la chaîne livrées en amont et en aval de la plateforme et la négociation des dates de livraison. Ces modèles sont testés et validés sur des instances générées aléatoirement, sur des configurations inspirées de problèmes réels. Dans la troisième partie, nous travaillons sur l'ordonnancement des activités de préparation de commandes. Ici, nous combinons deux familles de contraintes difficiles : l'arrivée de composants (ressources consommables) à des dates et en quantités connues à l'amont de la plateforme, et des tournées de livraison à dates fixées à l'aval. Trois cas particuliers sont étudiés, selon la façon dont les tournées sont organisées. Nous proposons des procédures par séparation et évaluation pour ces problèmes, et un modèle linéaire en nombres entiers pour le cas le plus simple. Des expériences sont faites sur des familles d'instances générées aléatoirement et de manière partiellement hétérogène. Plusieurs perspectives de généralisation sont proposées / The aim of this thesis is to provide decision support systems to control logistic platforms at the mid-term and short-term levels. Several problems and main notions concerning logistic platform context are described in the first part. In the second part, planning problems are studied. Two linear programming models are proposed to minimize the workforce costs. These models take into account several characteristics : seasonal flow variations, work and flow organization in the platform, and local negotiations of the upstream and downstream flows. In consequence, our decision support system can be used in the flow coordination between supply chain partners. Two types of negotiations are considered : negotiations of upstream and downstream delivered quantities and negotiation of delivery dates. These models have been tested on pertinent randomly generated instances inspired from concerete problems. In the third part of the thesis, the external flows of the platforme are assumed to be fixed. Orders preparation scheduling problem inside the platform is considered. Two families of strong contraints are combined : staircase availability of components (consumable resources) and dixed delivery dates. According to the way the downstream deliveries are organized and penalised, three different cases (based on industrial applications) have been studied. We proposed three branch and bound procedures for these problems, and an integer linear program for the easiest problem. Experimental analysis has been done over heterogeneous randomly generated instance families. In the last part, a series of perspectives for this work are proposed

Tesis

Holocene and Pleistocene grainstone deposits surrounding Ocean Cay located on the western margin of Great Bahama Bank provide key evidence for the comprehension of patterns, processes and petrophysical heterogeneity of carbonate grainstone shoals. New datasets consisting of high-resolution remote sensing data, acoustic Doppler current measurements, sub-bottom profiles, and sedimentological and petrophysical analyses offer an opportunity to elucidate the various factors in the deposition of a grainstone shoal complex and assess of how much of the sedimentary fabric and early diagenetic overprint influences the petrophysical characteristics of similar ancient deposits. The Holocene shoal complex investigated here includes the Cat Cay ooid shoal and the Ocean Cay tidal deltas, which collectively form a 1-3 km wide, 35 km long sand belt around Ocean Cay. These factors controlling the distribution, preservation and modification of these sediments are the antecedent Pleistocene topography, bathymetry, and hydrodynamics at this margin. High-resolution seismic data reveal that the laterally continuous and thick Cat Cay ooid shoal north of Ocean Cay is situated on top of a flat Pleistocene surface and located platformward of a Pleistocene rock ridge. This finding challenges the assumption of previous studies that an antecedent high is needed for ooid shoal initiation. In contrast, south of Ocean Cay, skeletal-rich tidal deltas occur east of rocky Pleistocene islands and formed over an irregular Pleistocene surface that is slightly shallower than the flat surface north of Ocean Cay. In addition to the antecedent topography, differences in shoal morphology and sediment attributes between the north and south areas around Ocean Cay are related to linkages among fluid flow patterns, shoal morphology and granulometry. The hydrodynamic data document the influence of tidal flows in modifying the shape of bars creating sinuous and parabolic forms during flood and ebb reversing flows. Spatial distribution of grain size and sorting is affected because high flow velocities (up to 100 cm sec-1) inside tidal channels and inlets can erode and remobilized sediments mixing skeletal grains, peloids and ooids. Dominance of flood tide across this Holocene shoal complex allowed tidal deltas to form bankward of inlets between rock islands. Tidal channels and inter-bar troughs can focus tidal flow during flood tide creating lobes platformward instead of previously assumptions on the effect of storm and formation of spillover lobes bankward. Cores from the subsurface at Ocean Cay show that the architecture of the Pleistocene grainstone facies is similar to the Holocene shoal configuration of bars, channels, and bioturbated stabilized areas. Cross-bedded oolitic/peloidal and bioturbated skeletal/peloidal facies exhibit facies-dependent petrophysical heterogeneity, and reveal depositional and early diagenetic controls on petrophysical properties. Porosity and permeability in the grainstones at Ocean Cay are high, up to 47% and up to 11500 mD, respectively. Early diagenesis modifies the pore geometry of the rock, thus reducing permeability. A comparison of petrographic and petrophysical properties of the Pleistocene shoal with those from the Pennsylvanian ooid shoals reveals that were strongly influenced by the original fabric and early near-surface diagenesis. The integration of data from both the modern and ancient carbonate systems provides a better understanding of the factors controlling shoal morphology, facies architecture, and rock properties. The results of this study can be used as a guide for interpreting heterogeneity and reservoir properties of analogous facies within ancient ooid shoals.

In my paper I explored the success of independent artists on the Internet over the past three to five years while also examining the diminishing need for major record labels with regards to an independent artists success. I chose to examine this trend primarily because we are seeing the success of many artists to varying degrees who use the Internet to promote their music on a scale we’ve never seen before. Because of this, the entire structure of the music industry is beginning to change drastically and people have greatly begun to rethink the way we discover and enjoy music as well as the types of music we like. I wanted to explore the ways in which independent artists are achieving their success, the degree to which this success has been achieved, and why they have chosen to remain independent from major record labels. I began by researching independent artists before the Internet became a marketplace for music and how the Internet has changed the music industry to this day with regards to album sales. I then researched different platforms that have recently emerged on the Internet and how they are allowing artists to market themselves in effective ways and at little to no cost to the artist. I also examined the equipment required to make music in the digital age and how it has become cheaper and more accessible to obtain. Finally I examined specific independent artists who have emerged over the past few years on scales larger than many artists signed by major labels and why they have chosen to remain independent. From the research I did on the rise of independent music, I learned that most of these artists are doing something unique or different from artists signed to major labels. I also found that the message behind their music was sometimes contradictory to what has been accepted in mainstream media in the past. They have remained independent because they do not want to lose creative control of their music while also cutting out the middle man, or record labels, so they may keep a majority of their own profits. Through the artists that were researched, it can be seen that a major label budget or marketing scheme is far from necessary in the age of the Internet and can actually hinder the careers of certain artists. This is important because as major record labels continue to become less important, the structure of the music industry and its economy are changing in a way that is the opposite of what it once was. Music is now beginning to be empowered by the artists and fans rather than by major label corporations.

This thesis presents the design and development of a unique omni-directional platform known as the Omnibot which was built in the Mechatronic and Robotic Systems Laboratory at UOIT. The Omnibot's layout is novel because its drive axes do not intersect with the geometric center of the body, which is typical for omni-directional platforms using segmented omni-directional wheels. This design enables the center of mass to be lower in the design and increases the stability. A suspension system was designed for each of the four wheels to limit vibrations and to ensure contact between the wheels and operating surface. The Omnibot was built to modularly support many systems, including a robot arm, without altering the mechanical design of the frame. Two control modes were developed: local and global. Commands to drive the Omnibot can be received from either a joystick that can be directly interfaced with the controller or with commands that are sent from other systems that are either on or o of the Omnibot. Both control modes require encoder feedback to ensure commanded velocities are being executed as specified. Global control requires feedback from an indoor localization system to determine the Omnibot's pose. Early implementation of the localization system is discussed. An open source robotics software, known as Robot Operating System (ROS) was selected for implementation of the Omnibot systems. ROS serves as a middleware which allows components, such as the localization system and remote desktop, to communicate with each other through a decoupled messaging system. ROS is modular and exible, allowing for easy adaptation of future components. Test results of the Omnibot in operation are presented.

The last few years have witnessed a significant increase in the frequency and magnitude of involving third-party application developers in software platforms. While this involvement offers great opportunities in building and sustaining platform innovation, it also exposes platform owners to significant challenges. Typically, platform owners facilitate the involvement of third-party developers by providing resources, referred to in this thesis as boundary resources, that give access to the platform, shift design capability, and facilitate the use of the platform’s core technologies. At the same time, these resources have the potential to be used to maintain platform control. This involves seemingly conflicting goals that creates a challenge for platform owners in finding the right balance. The main objective of this thesis is to investigate and understand the role of boundary resources in platform owners’ efforts to stimulate third-party development. To this end, this thesis proposes a theoretical model of boundary resources. This model centres on various drivers behind boundary resources design and use, and how these drivers interact in third-party development. The thesis also presents a comprehensive view of governance and strategizing practices used by platform owners through boundary resources. This thesis comprises a cover and a collection of five published research papers. The thesis applies a qualitative research method and employs multiple case studies. Boundary resources, innovation networks and platform governance perspectives have been synthesized to build a theoretical  basis to analyze the empirical findings. This thesis complements and extends the literature on software platforms, and the insights derived from the thesis enhance previous research on third-party development. In addition, it provides a focused theoretical account of the interfaces between platform owners and third-party developers that contributes to the body of knowledge developed around using tools for innovation.

Industry platforms, particularly open-source based platforms are emerging as the tipping point of a new trend of interoganizational relationships among firms. They are characterized by a large number of actors with different objectives that come and go. However in order to reap the benefits of network effects, reduce fragmentation and get access to a large pool of resources, coordination dynamics within the different actors to create and innovate the platform are needed. As opposed to traditional literature where a single firm leads the evolution of the platform, a more democratic approach based on the institutionalization of coordination, the implementation of coordination processes and mechanisms is proposed. A study in the form of interviews and interactive forums was carried in the Symbian Platform, specifically in the Symbian Foundation to identify the main coordination dynamics. The results showed that in the case of the Symbian Platform, firms´ first step towards coordination was to establish the formal structure of coordination, in this case the Symbian Foundation. Consequently the Symbian Foundation established the processes and coordination mechanisms by which all of the actors participate and access to a pool of resources. The study describes the evolution from democratic coordination to an increasing selfcoordination promoted by the Symbian Foundation within its members.

Industry platforms, particularly open-source based platforms are emerging as the tippingpoint of a new trend of interoganizational relationships among firms. They are characterizedby a large number of actors with different objectives that come and go. However in order toreap the benefits of network effects, reduce fragmentation and get access to a large pool ofresources, coordination dynamics within the different actors to create and innovate theplatform are needed. As opposed to traditional literature where a single firm leads the evolution of the platform,a more democratic approach based on the institutionalization of coordination, the implementationof coordination processes and mechanisms is proposed. A study in the form ofinterviews and interactive forums was carried in the Symbian Platform, specifically in theSymbian Foundation to identify the main coordination dynamics. The results showed that in the case of the Symbian Platform, firms´ first step towards coordinationwas to establish the formal structure of coordination, in this case the SymbianFoundation. Consequently the Symbian Foundation established the processes and coordinationmechanisms by which all of the actors participate and access to a pool of resources. Thestudy describes the evolution from democratic coordination to an increasing selfcoordinationpromoted by the Symbian Foundation within its members.