Sverige har likt många andra europeiska nationer brottats med hög ungdomsarbetslöshet under de senaste 20 åren. I ett försök att underlätta ungdomars inträde på arbetsmarknaden valde regeringen att i två steg sänka arbetsgivaravgiften för ungdomar. De båda sänkningarna innebar sedermera en dryg halvering av det samlade uttaget för arbetsgivaravgiften från 31 till 15 procent. Tidigare forskning påvisar försumbara sysselsättningseffekter. Detta till följd av att skattesänkningen på längre sikt övervältras till löntagaren i form av högre lön. I denna uppsats studeras huruvida sänkningarna av arbetsgivaravgiften i enighet med proposition 2006/07:84 Nedsättning av sociala avgifter för personer som fyllt 18 men inte 25 år, samt proposition 2008/09:7 kraftfullare nedsättning av sociala avgifter för unga, har medfört en positiv sysselsättningseffekt för ungdomar. Metoden som använts är Difference-in-Differences-skattningar av förändringen i sysselsättningsgrad för tidsperioderna ett år efter genomförandet av respektive reform. Mätningen har sedan utökats till att innefatta tiden för första reforen och 3.5 år framåt. Två olika behandlings- respektive kontrollgrupper har använts. Sysselsättningsgraden för ungdomar mellan 15-24 år matchas mot samma grupp i Finland. Även en inhemsk jämförelse har gjorts bestående av sysselsättningsgraden för gruppen 20-24 år mot 25-34 år. Data som ligger till grund för mätningarna är tvärsnittsdata hämtade från SCB och Eurostat. Ingen signifikant positiv sysselsättningseffekt har kunnat påvisas inom ramen för denna uppsats.

Det råder olika villkor i den privata och offentliga sektorn gällande geografisk bundenhet, konkurrans och förutsättningar för att styra verksamheterna. Det som däremot är gemensamt för de båda sektorerna är konkurrensen om medarbetare. Vännäs kommun befinner sig i en inledande fas i arbetet med begreppet attraktiv arbetsgivare, även kallat Employer Branding. Uppdraget har varit att undersöka vilka positiva aspekter som upplevs med att arbeta för Vännäs kommun, som medarbetare med varierande anställningstid och ålder upplever samt hur kommunen kan stärka sitt arbetsgivarvarumärke genom att betona dessa aspekter. I resultatet framkom att positiva aspekter med Vännäs kommun som arbetsgivare är närhet, framåtanda, utveckling och ansvar, gemenskap och välmående samt organisationen i sin helhet. Från dessa kategorier har följande tema utarbetats; I Vännäs kommun råder en kontinuerlig strävan efter utveckling både för organisationen och medarbetarna. Organisationskulturen är välkomnande där gemenskap och välmående står i fokus. Den lilla kommunens fördel är det övergripande koncerntänket med närhet till beslut och möjlighet till påverkan. Detta illustrerar vad som kännetecknar Vännäs kommun som arbetsgivare. För att specifikt attrahera yngre arbetskraft visar resultatet att följande faktorer är viktiga för yngre medarbetare i organisationen; innovation, känna sig behövd och värdefull, en bra arbetsmiljö och arbetskultur, gemenskap på arbetsplatsen och att bli betrodd med ansvar. Det som mest frekvent uttrycktes från den yngre informantgruppen var vikten av utveckling genom arbetet. Denna fallstudie kan vara användbar för organisationer med liknande förutsättningar som Vännäs kommun i arbetet med employer branding. Fallstudien bidrar även med en ökad förståelse för vad som attrahetar medarbetare till en offentlig organisation.

<p>The purpose of this study is to examine who were given the opportunity to express their opinions in the government proposition concerning the future of the school system – particularly regarding the proposal that pupils do compulsory military service - submitted to the Swedish parliament 21 March 1941. Our focus is mainly on three parts of the proposition: the proposal to introduce shooting- and grenade practice for all pupils, the proposal to introduce an obligatory military leadership training course for teachers and the proposal to introduce an obligatory summer camp for all pupils.</p><p>Using primarily a qualitative method we examine how different opinions and views are expressed in the statements and utterances responding to the pending proposition and who the responders are. We will attempt to clarify who were considered to be undisputed authorities and experts, and whose opinions, for that reason, carried a lot of weight in the decision making process, comparing them to the statements and utterances submitted on a voluntary basis by non-experts. And finally, to what extent the opinions in the statements and utterances were allowed to guide the propositional work.</p><p>Results show that the statements and utterances were submitted by authorities, chapter, county administrative boards and religious, non-profit and political organizations as well as different types of schools, representatives from the Board of Education and elementary school boards not a part of county councils or other types of associations. Government authorities, chapter and county administrative boards were given priority in the proposition and it was their opinions that the proposition came to rely on. The rest were seen as “guiding” rather than deciding factors, and then only selectively, as they were generally lumped together and treated collectively. Most of the time, their opinions were not heard, and when they were it was usually to support and corroborate decisions already made by the decision making and implementing instances.</p>

The purpose of this study is to examine who were given the opportunity to express their opinions in the government proposition concerning the future of the school system – particularly regarding the proposal that pupils do compulsory military service - submitted to the Swedish parliament 21 March 1941. Our focus is mainly on three parts of the proposition: the proposal to introduce shooting- and grenade practice for all pupils, the proposal to introduce an obligatory military leadership training course for teachers and the proposal to introduce an obligatory summer camp for all pupils. Using primarily a qualitative method we examine how different opinions and views are expressed in the statements and utterances responding to the pending proposition and who the responders are. We will attempt to clarify who were considered to be undisputed authorities and experts, and whose opinions, for that reason, carried a lot of weight in the decision making process, comparing them to the statements and utterances submitted on a voluntary basis by non-experts. And finally, to what extent the opinions in the statements and utterances were allowed to guide the propositional work. Results show that the statements and utterances were submitted by authorities, chapter, county administrative boards and religious, non-profit and political organizations as well as different types of schools, representatives from the Board of Education and elementary school boards not a part of county councils or other types of associations. Government authorities, chapter and county administrative boards were given priority in the proposition and it was their opinions that the proposition came to rely on. The rest were seen as “guiding” rather than deciding factors, and then only selectively, as they were generally lumped together and treated collectively. Most of the time, their opinions were not heard, and when they were it was usually to support and corroborate decisions already made by the decision making and implementing instances.

Les technologies de l’information et de la communication (TIC) bouleversent radicalement le secteur touristique en renversant la chaîne de valeur verticale de mise en place et de distribution d’offres touristiques. Le changement s’est fait sentir via la vente directe des fournisseurs mais cela ne fut que le début d’une nouvelle période. Les TIC ont donné l’opportunité à de nouveaux acteurs de s’introduire dans le secteur, l’agence de voyage et le tour-opérateur ne sont plus seuls à relier l’offre à la demande. Internet a également participé à l’évolution des demandes du touriste et de ses pratiques. Le tourisme ne se résume plus seulement à un produit de masse, les intermédiaires traditionnels doivent évoluer dans un contexte moins favorable. La question de leur place et de leur création de valeur est légitimement posée. Une revue de la littérature nous permet de comprendre que les intermédiaires touristiques y sont actifs pour pallier les imperfections du secteur et proposer la valeur à travers les fonctions informationnelle, d’expertise, assurantielle, économique, innovatrice et de mise en réseau. Si la revue de la littérature montre que ce sont bien les fonctions de l’intermédiation qui sont créatrices de valeur, elle ne prétend pas qu’elles sont toutes porteuses de création de valeur. Une observation empirique permet d’identifier les fonctions sur lesquelles misent les intermédiaires pour faire face à l’évolution du marché touristique. L’analyse statistique de nos entretiens semi-directifs montre que l’expertise et l’assurance sont les plus importantes propositions de valeur des intermédiaires du tourisme et que les tour-opérateurs prennent moins de risques financiers à moins de disposer d’une offre sans concurrence. Aussi, la spécialisation et le management du réseau d’agences réceptives se présentent comme des choix stratégiques. / Information and communication technology (ICT) radically affects the tourism industry by overturning its production and distribution vertical value chain. Direct exchange between tourist and suppliers is the beginning of a new era. ICT has also given the opportunity to many new players to introduce themselves into tourism market. From now on, travel agencies and tour operators are not the only ones able to connect supply with demand. Internet has also contributed in changing the tourist’s demands and activities. Tourism is no longer limited to a mass product. The tourism intermediaries must evolve in a less favourable environment. The question is about their place and value creation in the industry. A literature review allows us to understand that the tourism intermediary is present to overcome market’s imperfections and propose value through the following functions: informational, expertise, assurance, economic, innovation and networking. If this literature review shows that the intermediation functions are value creators, it does not necessarily claims that all functions are always carriers of value creation. Therefore, we analyse the intermediaries’ value propositions by trying to find the functions they perceive as being important to cope with tourism evolution. Consequently, we will complete our theoretical analysis with an empirical observation to identify the functions on which the intermediaries rely the most to face the evolution of the tourist market. By means of statistical analysis of our semi-structured interviews, we show in particular that: the expertise and assurance are the most important value propositions of tourism intermediaries; tour operators take less financial risks except for owning a competition-free offer. Furthermore, specialisation and destination management are revealed as strategic choices.

近年來，價值主張一詞在各大企業界掀起了一陣討論的熱潮。除了因為《獲利世代》這本書的強調之外，在《價值主張年代》更是將其視為成功商業模式的獲利核心。同時，隨著科技日新月異、進步與發展，民眾更加注重品質與生活風格的經營，價值的提升也因此變得越來越重要。「生活產業」在這樣的時空背景之下日趨蓬勃發展。「蘑菇」與「SOU‧SOU」兩間台日生活品牌，在不同面向擁有許多相似之處，然而蘑菇相較於SOU‧SOU，卻面臨了許多挑戰。 因此本研究希望透過學理角度去分析其差異的來源，分成兩階段探討：品牌如何進行價值主張的塑造，其價值主張塑造後又如何進行傳遞。透過實際在環境時空背景之下的觀察與體驗，找出對生活產業品牌價值主張的塑造與傳遞產生的影響是如何造成。同時比較日本與台灣生活產業品牌的現況，企圖描繪出台日生活產業品牌，進行價值主張塑造與傳遞過程中的差異，進而反思台灣生活產業可以向日本方面學習的又是什麼？ 本研究最終結論得出，生活產業品牌透過文化迴路五項賦予製品文化意義的活動，來塑造其價值主張，並透過體驗媒介將其價值主張傳遞出去。而從研究中的比較可以知道，台日品牌分別透過不同項目的接合方式，影響價值主張的塑造；其體驗媒介的使用方式，也對價值主張傳遞的力量有重要影響。 / In recent years, Value Proposition has become a popular term extensively discussed in the major business community. Not only is it emphasized in the book《Business Model Generation》, the book《Value Proposition Design》further regards it as the core of a successful business model. Meanwhile, with the rapid transition, progress and development of the technology, people have started to pay more attention to enhance the quality of daily life and thus start to establish their own lifestyle. Advancing value therefore become more and more important and the growth of the ”Lifestyle industry" goes vigorous under this background. The Taiwanese and Japanese lifestyle brands ”MOGU” and "SOU‧SOU" share plenty of similarities in different aspects; however, ”MOGU” compared to “SOU‧SOU” seems to be facing much more challenges . Aiming at analyzing the source of the differences from the perspective of knowledge, this study is divided into two phases: how to create the brand value proposition, and how to deliver the brand value proposition. By observing and experiencing in the real environment, this study is trying to figure out the element effecting the creation and delivery of the brand value proposition. Also, it compares the present situation of the Japanese and Taiwanese lifestyle brand, and eventually concludes the lessons learned from the comparison. The final conclusion of this study shows that, lifestyle brands create the brand value proposition by five elements of cultural circuit which added cultural value to the products. They subsequently convey the value proposition by experience providers. Besides, the creation of the two lifestyle brands are throughly influenced by different articulation of the cultural circuit elements. Last but not least, the way experience providers are utilized is tremendous influence to the value proposition delivery.

The fierce competition on the retail market has led firms to stop focusing on firm-customer transactions and start focusing on firm-customer relations. New customer demands makes it impossible for firms to gain a sustainable advantage by focusing only on their goods assortment. This forces retailers to consider the customer experience and differentiate themselves by how they offer what they offer. This have led to that many retail companies try to shape the behaviours and emotional displays of their frontline employees in encounters with customers. Many firms define customer service concepts as an attempt to create high quality customer experiences. However, a successful realisation of these concepts can be challenging.   Service-Dominant Logic researchers argue that firms cannot single headedly create value but that it is co-created in the interaction with customers. Therefore, they can only create value propositions, which is a proposal for value co-creation based on an integration of products and services. Services marketing researchers emphasise the importance of internal marketing for enabling frontline employees to represent the firm in the interactive value-creating process with the customer. Prior research focuses on the customer-driven development of value propositions, and techniques to conduct internal marketing, but does not provide relevant theories about the realisation of value propositions or the implementation of these internal marketing techniques. This thesis conceptualise the human factor of the realisation of the value proposition with the concept of intended and enacted value propositions. The purpose was to develop a deeper understanding of how internal marketing can be used to manage the gaps between intended and enacted retail value propositions. This was addressed by investigating one of Sweden’s largest retail companies on commission. Since the company has requested to remain confidential, it will be called Anonymous Commission Company (ACC) in this thesis. The current study has answered the following research question: “How can the gaps between intended and enacted retail value propositions be managed through internal marketing?”   The research question was answered through a qualitative study and in-depth interviews with both CS concept managers and frontline employees. The intended value proposition was investigated by a combination of ACC documents related to the CS concept, and interviews with the CS concept managers. By interviewing the frontline employees, their perceptions and enactment of the value proposition was investigated, as well as how they experience the current internal operations at ACC. The findings confirmed the proposed concept of intended and enacted value propositions, and four main barriers causing the gaps between them were identified through a thematic network analysis. Internal marketing theories were used to analyse how retail companies can overcome these barriers by engaging, enabling, empowering and ensuring their frontline employees. The thesis offer implications for retail managers on how they can manage the gaps between intended and the enacted value propositions. The study contributes to prior research by combining value proposition theories and internal marketing theories, and by offering detailed recommendations for retail firms. Furthermore, the study enriches the practical implications regarding retail value propositions and retail value proposition realisation.

The subject of this thesis is financial globalisation in historical perspective, and its key contribution is to demonstrate the J-curve as an alternative depiction of financial globalisation since the classical Gold Standard period. As a preliminary and essential step, some definitions and clarifications on globalisation are provided in a literature review. Then, fundamental issues are considered to assess financial globalisation, so that both the goals and the boundaries of the thesis are clearly stated. Throughout the historical period in debate, there were two waves of financial globalisation: the first one occurring during the 1870-1914 period, and the second lasting from the end of the Bretton Woods agreements until the present day. The dominant approach in economics asserts that the degree of commercial and financial integration corresponds over time to a U-shaped pattern, i.e. markets presented high levels of integration during the forty years before WWI. Then, this integration collapsed in the years between the wars, recovering gradually after the Bretton Woods agreements until it reached again in the 1990s the same pre-1914 level of integration. The thesis approaches this model focusing on the financial side. Then, according to the U-curve, contemporary financial globalisation is not unprecedented. This thesis proposes an alternative view. In contrast to the mainstream U-curve, the empirical data provided indicates that today’s financial integration is unprecedented and more pervasive in some key financial markets than it was during the pre-1914 era. The empirical evidence provided proposes that a J-shaped pattern is a more appropriate way to interpret how financial markets have evolved since the late 19th century. The Jshape suggests that in some financial achieved a huge surge from the 1990s to 2005, surpassing the previous level of integration. So, in these markets, contemporary financial globalisation is unprecedented from the 1990s onwards. The J-curve does not mean that all financial markets became more globalised during the late 20th century in comparison to the Gold Standard era, but only some that presented the U-shape from 1870 to 1995. Qualitative aspects of the J-curve are examined. The different institutional frameworks underlying each historical period are discussed revealing that new institutional arrangements, policy changes, technological advances in ICT and a wide range of financial innovations are the key driving forces that have spurred today’s financial globalisation to higher levels than in the past. Finally, the last chapter assesses the key macroeconomic implications of this new era for the world economy.

A number of researcher and practitioners have identified a dramatic increase in competition and market transparency as the driving force behind the decline in customer loyalty in the financial services sector (e.g. Caruana, 2002). However, the costs for selling a product to a new customer are much higher than the costs for selling the same product to an existing customer, particularly when the customer is loyal to the company (Duffy, 2003). Due to these facts, strengthening customer relationships is necessary to achieve higher customer equity. Blodgett (2000) claims that the successful implementation of a customer equity strategy involves an organisation’s customer focus, operations, systems, and culture. Companies can offer value to customers through their services and products (added value and innovations), their personnel (service quality), and their processes (speed and quality). When the customer buys financial products and services, he creates customer equity for the company, which is in this thesis presented as company profit. Company profit is the sum of all customer profits and represents the value of each customer in the form of monetary aspects. This thesis aims at investigating if communication, price, process, product and human resource management influence company profit (customer equity) and, thus, whether they are drivers of customer equity (Chapters 5-10). In total, seven dimensions have been investigated. Recent customer equity models of value-based management are examined from the literature and based upon this, the construction of a new conceptual model for value building in competitive markets is proposed (Chapter 4). The framework identifies value propositions such as brand or product leadership, value sources for determining value creation strategies, and finally customer touch points for value delivery. Touch points are referred to as advertising, use of a logo, presence of sales persons, websites, branch outlets etc i.e. the human and physical interactions with customers over their relationship with an organisation. Together with products such touch points are designed to deliver value to customers with the objective of increasing customer equity.

Idag när det har blivit minst lika viktigt att konkurrera om anställda som att konkurrera om kunder, måste arbetsgivare skilja sig från mängden för att ses som en attraktiv arbetsgivare hos sökande och nuvarande anställda. Syftet med denna studie har varit att höra hur tjänstemän, på två olika arbetsplatser i Umeå, samt företagsledningen upplever företagets arbetsgivarvarumärke. En kvalitativ metod har använts för att kunna svara på syftet. Fokus lades på att undersöka deltagarnas upplevelse kring organisationskulturen och arbetsgivaren i stort, eftersom det är faktorer som går under begreppet arbetsgivarvarumärke. Tillvägagångssättet har varit att samla in material genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med 14 anställda inom företaget, som sedan har analyserats med en Hermeneutisk analysmetod i syfte att förklara, tolka och förstå informanternas upplevelser. Det resultat som framkommit har visat på att det kan skilja sig mellan grupperna vi undersökt men överlag uppfattas arbetsgivarens varumärke vara positivt, dels för att de är verksamma lokalt samt har bra värderingar. Det har däremot framkommit att man kan ha olika förutsättningar till karriärmöjligheter, ledarskap och god kommunikation, beroende på vilken roll man har och vilken utav arbetsplatserna man arbetar på. Det framgår även att det finns en gemensam värdegrund inom företaget som många utav informanterna relaterar till men att det däremot finns utrymme för utveckling inom vissa områden i företaget. Företaget är i början av sitt arbete med Employer branding och därför blir denna studie en god start i deras arbete med att spegla en, enligt tjänstemännen, sanningsenlig bild av företaget. På detta sätt får arbetsgivaren en bild av deras upplevelser och kan på så sätt attrahera, utveckla och behålla anställda.