This theses project investigates and presents different threats that a network can be exposed to and the common protection techniques that can be applied, with a focus on the network perimeter – specifically the router/firewall between the local area network and the Internet. All Internet connected devices and networks are exposed to and affected by security threats to some degree, hence security is important in almost every type of network. With the constant growth of the Internet the 32-bit addressing scheme ipv4 is proving to be inadequate, and therefore the transition to the 128-bit addressing scheme ipv6 is becoming critical. With ipv6 comes new security threats (while still old threats remain) that requires an understanding of perimeter security. In this thesis we secure a home router and describe these steps to enable home and small business owners to secure their IPv6 network at a relatively low cost. / Detta projekt kommer att undersöka och presentera olika hot som ett IPv6 nätverk kan utsättas för samt de vanligaste skydds mekanismer som används idag, med fokus på nätverkets skallskydd mellan det interna lokala nätet och det yttre publika Internet. I stort sätt all Internet ansluten utrustning och nätverk är exponerad och påverkad i någon grad av säkerhets brister, säkerhet är en viktig del i stort sätt alla nätverk oavsett syfte eller verksamhet. Genom ett ständigt växande Internet börjar de 32-bitar adresser tillhörande IPv4 nätet ta slut, vilket gör behovet av att immigrera till 128-bitar adresser på IPv6 nätet allt mer kritiskt. Med IPv6 kommer nya säkerhetshot, samt att även vissa äldre hot kvarstår, som kräver en förståelse av perimeter skydd. I denna rapport säkrar vi en hemma router och beskriver för varje steg tillvägagångssättet för att hem och små företagare ska få möjlighet att skydda sina IPv6 nätverk till en relativt låg kostnad.

Resource efficiency has become an important topic due to dramatic increase of world-population and globalization. A company that is not able to efficiently utilize its resources is less sustainable. It produces at higher cost as well as with higher environmental impact. Especially small and medium-sized enterprises are mostly not able to deal with these kinds of issues in addition to their daily business. Their characteristics differentiate them from large companies and require approaches that respond to their specific needs. Not only technological aspects but also organizational problems as well as lack of methodology are reasons for low resource efficiency in small companies. This thesis therefore focuses on developing a tool which facilitates the increase of resource efficiency particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises.To start with, this thesis investigates the meaning of resource efficiency and the basics of performance measures as well as special characteristics of small and medium-sized enter-prises. Afterwards, measures are designed in order to quantify resource efficiency. A case study is carried out as well to investigate how to ensure applicability of a supporting tool in small and medium-sized enterprises from different industries. In the final part, a computer-based tool is developed which facilitates the assessment of resource efficiency potentials using 12 resource efficiency measures, a consistent approach and a ranking method.Keywords: Resource efficiency, performance measures, small and medium-sized enterprises / <p>QC 20121101</p>

El texto completo de este trabajo no está disponible en el Repositorio Académico UPC por restricciones de la casa editorial donde ha sido publicado. / Every year, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) expand their participation in the Peruvian market, while facing high internal disorganization issues that stifle their growth. This problem is rooted on the fact that the contents generated by these companies are not usually adequately recorded, managed, and exploited, and thus negatively affecting the organization and their competitiveness levels. Now, although most of this issue may be solved through enterprise content management (ECM) solutions, they are not affordable for most SMEs because of their high prices. Within this context, this study proposes the implementation of a cloud-based open-source ECM model at a manufacturing SME in Peru. Through this model, the company was able to access the benefits of an ECM to restructure the way they manage content, gaining 67% more efficiency, establishing a collaboration channel between employees, suppliers, and customers, and reporting a 93% model adaptation rate among staff members. / Revisión por pares

In many organisations, air travel is an essential part of conducting business in order to meet company objectives and goals. The selection of a preferred airline is a complex undertaking. Corporations may obtain discounts based on expenditure commitments; the airline may have a frequent flyer programme; or a low cost carrier may offer a better alternative to full service carriers. The literature on corporate travel is fairly limited with determinants determining the selection of airlines having been studied from other perspectives such as the business traveller, thus, this study should make a significant contribution to this field by generating new information on corporate travel and in particular corporate air travel decisions. The literature review provides a demarcation of the broad concepts of the buying approach towards corporate air travel. Also discussed is the relationship between the key role players in airline selection: the corporate traveller; the travel management company; and the airline. Various determinants of airline selection by corporations are identified and the role of frequent flyer programmes is analysed. Furthermore, the move towards low-cost airlines as a preferred choice for corporate travel is investigated. The empirical phase of the research study focussed on identifying the determinants of airline selection by large-sized corporations in South Africa; the relative importance of frequent flyer programmes; and the move towards low-cost airlines as a preferred choice for corporate travel. The target population was sampled using a non-probability convenience sampling approach with a newly designed quantitative, ex post facto web-based questionnaire, distributed via e-mail to the target population. Exploratory factor analysis was done to identify whether an underlying structure of airline selection determinants exists from which the relative importance of frequent flyer programmes could be assessed. From the results, a model of corporate airline selection determinants was derived. Then, the model was compared to the conceptual model formulated from the literature survey. A number of important selection determinants were identified, and it became evident that frequent flyer programmes are, generally, not considered a decisive determinant in the selection of a preferred airline by corporations. However, the influence of low-cost airlines was shown to be considerable, in line with the endeavour to save on air travel expenses within a corporate air travel management programme. The findings should assist both corporations and airlines with the design of their air travel buying approaches and marketing strategies respectively. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Tourism Management / Unrestricted

Aim: The purpose of the study was to find out how clusters can assist small- and medium sized organizations to expand to the international market.    Method: A qualitative approach was used in this study where the primary data was collected with the help of semi structured interviews. The data was collected from a total of ten participants ranging from five different organizations in the region of Gävleborg in Sweden. The analysis was done with the help of concepts identified in the literature as well as new themes that was found in the empirical investigation.     Result &amp; Conclusions: The findings in this research have shown that the clusters combined can help the SMEs to overcome obstacles related to capital, learning, innovation, networking, sales, and strategy. The clusters can also help the SMEs in terms of sustainability. The weakest link is to help the SMEs to gain social capital where the clusters abilities are low. The clusters have their niche competence and collaborate between clusters to help the SMEs in their international journey. We could also find that there are other themes emerging in the empirical findings which is related to the mindset of the SMEs and the limitations the SMEs face may be dependent of this mindset, mainly due to the manager in the organizations.    Suggestions for future research: Future studies can focus on longitudinal research in this area to be able to follow the journey of the SMEs between the clusters but also to be able to capture and compare if the SMEs and cluster are experiencing the same pros and cons of the support system. We also suggest replicate this study in another region of Sweden to see if the results can be generalized or if it is a very local context regarding the help the SMEs can gain as well as to see if the theme of mindset occur.    Contribution of the thesis: The theoretical contribution is that we have extended the knowledge around the support system known as clustering by showing that the weaker areas in the clusters was the ability to help in the barrier of social capital and that cluster can help in a good matter when it comes to capital, creating environments for innovation and organizational strategy. The theoretical contribution also showed that one cluster are not able to help in all the given areas but together the clusters are able to help the SMEs to overcome most of the barriers towards internationalization. Another theoretical contribution is the addition of the new barrier to internationalization that we named as mindset. The managerial contribution is that we have shown what areas clusters can assist the SMEs with and thereby shown that managers need to realize the opportunities that comes when they are a part of a cluster as well as they need to be able to trust in the clusters who have a great knowledge in those areas.

Background: The importance of sustainability is growing; however, the mindset of many businesses remains in the profit-driven take-make-waste economy, aiming for limitless growth. Humanity cannot continue with business-as-usual, and a paradigm shift must occur to ensure a future for the planet. SMEs represent 99% of the businesses in the EU, and to ensure a safer tomorrow for all, they need to evolve to reach sustainable development and capture the opportunities of regenerative strategies. Nevertheless, regenerative business practices are not widely appropriated in practice. Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to explore the phenomenon of regenerative businesses on SME level through the perspective of Swedish sustainability consultants. The authors aim to gain an understanding of the transformation processes in order to investigate if SMEs can reach a regenerative stage and, if so, how? Method: The study was conducted with an inductive qualitative approach under the interpretivism paradigm, and a multiple case study approach was chosen to best capture the phenomenon. The primary data was collected through semi-structured interviews with sustainability consultants from various SMEs in Sweden, and a thematic data analysis was conducted to interpret the empirical findings to relate them to the theories presented. Conclusion: The findings pointed to eight factors that enable and restrict SMEs in transitioning to a regenerative phase. Internally, SMEs are impacted in their transition by the mindset, values, sustainability awareness, strategy and communication, and the organizational structure of the business. In addition, the main external factors influencing the transition are the ambiguity regarding the sustainability concept and pressure from various stakeholders. The findings also highlighted the interconnectedness of the factors and the importance of a paradigm shift to whole systems thinking.

Background: The intense growth of data that is continuously expanding has resulted in SMEs using cloud computing to store, process and analyze data. Thus, a critical element is for SMEs to understand the value of cloud computing and the factors influencing the adoption decision.  Problem: Due to the increased use of cloud computing, the importance of examining the factors that can affect and impact SMEs adoption has been highlighted. Cloud computing has been pointed out as a component for SMEs to stay competitive and sustainable in public crises and uncertain environments. Despite the importance among scholars, no research has studied cloud adoption factors among SMEs during 2020 - 2021 and the present of a public crisis. Purpose: The purpose of this research is to investigate and explore SMEs cloud computing adoption factors in the turbulent time of a public crisis. The result of this research is expected to add knowledge and theoretical insights to existing literature and fill the gap within the underexplored context of cloud computing adoption factors during public crisis. Method: In this research, a qualitative research design was applied where six semi-structured interviews with people experienced of the phenomenon under study were conducted and eight customer cases with cloud users were collected from cloud providers' websites. Conclusion: The findings of this research declared ten significantly important factors; complexity, compatibility, relative advantage, cost savings, security, top management support, technology readiness, organizational culture, competition and trading partner pressure and supplier computing support, to influence SMEs cloud computing adoption. Although this research was conducted during the time of a public crisis, no conclusion of the crisis' impact on which factors influencing SMEs cloud computing adoption could be recognized.

In this paper, a nanometer-sized gold electrode with an effective radius around several tens of nanometers has been modified with a monolayer of alkanethiols. There are pinholes in the monolayer, and the pinholes can be used as very small electrode. Our evaluation shows that it is possible to have only one pinhole on the monolayer covered electrode. The single pinhole electrode has been used to study the electrochemical behaviors of fast and slow electrochemical reactions. Our results show that the electrochemical response of a slow electrochemical reaction is not a Butler-Volmer response if the electrode is small enough.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze and benchmark the strategic approaches utilized by Portuguese small and medium enterprises manufacturing organizations in response to the competitive pressures in the European and global markets. Design/methodology/approach – For the purpose of this paper, factor analysis and cluster analysis are used to analyze and to compare responses obtained from a cross-sectional sample of 68 Portuguese manufacturing organizations. Findings – Based on the results of the analysis, it appears that the sampled organizations are following hybrid strategic orientations. These strategic orientations appear to be motivated by well-defined mixed strategies. The strategic elements of e-business are detected in these mixed strategies. Research limitations/implications – The sample used in this paper is specific in nature (Portuguese manufacturing organizations). Thus, the results should be interpreted accordingly. Practical implications – This paper attempts to shed some light on the effectiveness of current strategic practices of Portuguese manufacturing organizations. The findings of this paper have practical benchmarking strategic implications. Originality/value – This paper investigates the nature and scope of new strategic orientations utilized by manufacturing organizations. Evidence of the presence of innovative, mixed strategies is uncovered.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop and empirically test model depicting the relationships among perceived environmental uncertainty, domestic and foreign networking, and export performance. Design/methodology/approach – A sample of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) from Finland, Sweden and Norway serve as the study setting. Data were collected via mail surveys from random samples of SME owners/managers. Usable responses were 75 from Finland, 111 from Sweden and 71 from Norway. Findings – Of the four dimensions of uncertainty, only uncertainty about supplier markets emerged as a significant driver of domestic networking activities of SMEs. While domestic networking did not have a significant influence, foreign networking showed a significant positive impact on SMEs' export performance. Firm size was found to have positive impacts on foreign networking and export performance. Research limitations/implications – The study was limited to manufacturing SMEs in a particular region. Replications in other industries and regions are needed to validate the current findings. People from Finland, Norway and Sweden share similar cultural values and they are low on uncertainty-avoidance. Hence, they are not threatened by environmental uncertainties and, consequently, may not feel compelled to engage in networking to reduce uncertainty. Practical implications – The positive linkage between foreign networking and export performance suggests that public officials in these countries should encourage SMEs to strengthen their existing foreign networks and facilitate formation of new ones via trade missions in other countries. Originality/value – Understanding the role of networking, as a potential buffer between environmental uncertainty and export performance, should be of interest to both researchers and practitioners.