<p>The construction of the thesis is based on the following logics:</p><p>Three perspectives on Innovation are developed</p><p>To try to create a more complete understanding of innovation systems, the five projects involved in my thesis are analysed, applying the following three theory perspectives:</p>

The construction of the thesis is based on the following logics: Three perspectives on Innovation are developed To try to create a more complete understanding of innovation systems, the five projects involved in my thesis are analysed, applying the following three theory perspectives:

Implementing a model of competence building in the XpressMP and building a case based on a simplified version of a hospital gave room for computational studies. A lower amount of nurse rotation lead to lower cost of external hires and thus decreased the cost of absence. The hospital chose to invest in gained competence, though even by several rotations the nurses gained mostly competence and special expertise within their belonging home wards. The main result of this thesis was the positive change in cost, by the increase of nurses competence. Compared to the solution of working with the initial competence profile, the optimal profile found by the model proved to be more beneficial even though the building phase produce an extra yearly fixed cost by increased salary.

Article 1:By comparing each of 102 Scandinavian non-listed buyout targets with reference groups consisting of 20 European firms matched on industry and total asset size, we find strong evidence of a relationship between operating characteristics and the likelihood of being acquired by a buyout fund. The results are inconsistent with both the agency cost and the underperformance arguments explored in earlier the literature that is mainly focused on listed targets. Our analysis suggests that superior growth and revenue generation characterize Scandinavian non-listed private equity target companies. At the same time they seem to be struggling to control costs and optimize their capital structure, causing unstable medium-term performance. A questionnaire-based survey of Scandinavian PE fund managers supports these findings, but also stresses the importance of long-term prospects for potential target companiesArticle II:By comparing the performance of 36 Norwegian companies owned by private equity funds with comparable listed firms, we find evidence of superior crisis management capabilities in the private equity owned firms. Multifaceted analyses of financial indicators suggest that the main drivers are the funds&#146; active ownership and their professionals&#146; ability to implement strategic changes and drive operational efficiency. The results also suggest that private equity owned firms are better suited than publicly listed peers to leverage their capital structures, despite the increased bankruptcy risk. We believe this ability mainly is due to the private equity owned firms&#146; superior profitability, their relative ease of adjusting strategy and capital to the changing circumstances, and the long-term relationships private equity funds have with banks.

Trevirke som er blitt t&#248;rket og komprimert til pellets har et h&#248;yt energiinnhold og er gunstig til oppvarmingsform&#229;l. I Norge i dag foreg&#229;r distribusjonen av trepellets ved landbasert transport, og det eksisterer f&#229; distribusjonsnettverk langs kysten. Det er utgangspunktet for denne masteroppgaven som ansl&#229;r l&#248;nnsomheten ved etablering av et maritimt distribusjonsnettverk. Det eksisterer per dags dato syv ulike produsenter av trepellets i Norge. Av disse skiller Biowood Norway seg ut med en langt h&#248;yere produksjonskapasitet enn de &#248;vrige. Denne produsenten er ogs&#229; tilrettelagt for maritim distribusjon med sin lokasjon p&#229; kysten av M&#248;re og Romsdal. Ved utgangen av 2010 var den totale ettersp&#248;rselen i Norge p&#229; 58 500 tonn pellets per &#229;r, mens det forventede tallet for 2013 er omlag 200 000 tonn. Det er ventet at 80 % av ettersp&#248;rselen vil falle innenfor kystn&#230;re str&#248;k. Pelletsindustrien i Norge st&#229;r med det fremfor en periode med sterk vekst.I denne rapporten utvikles det en optimeringsmodell som genererer et maritimt distribusjonsnettverk som er optimalt med tanke p&#229; profitt. Dette nettverket benyttes til &#229; representere den potensielle l&#248;nnsomheten ved maritim distribusjon av trepellets langs norskekysten. Optimeringsmodellen er nyskapende i m&#229;ten den utnytter den geografiske strukturen p&#229;. Modellen er deterministisk og av strategisk/taktisk karakter, der m&#229;lfunksjonen uttrykker verdikjedens totale profitt og maksimeres. L&#248;nnsomheten vurderes ut i fra et verdikjedeperspektiv og omfatter produksjon av pellets, sj&#248;basert transport fra produsent til havn, lagring i havn, samt landbasert transport fra havn til sluttkunde. I utgangspunktet formuleres modellen kun med de restriksjonene som er n&#248;dvendige for &#229; beskrive problemet. For &#229; unng&#229; symmetriske l&#248;sninger som gir en lite effektiv bruk av maskinvaren innf&#248;res symmetrikutt. Det innf&#248;res ogs&#229; tilleggsrestriksjoner som styrker line&#230;rrelakseringen. Hovedhensikten er &#229; redusere m&#229;lfunksjonens &#248;vre grense, og f&#229; en mindre differanse mellom &#248;vre grense og beste l&#248;sning funnet. Gjennom en teknisk analyse reduseres den omtalte differansen fra 22,3 % til 7,8 %. En differanse p&#229; 7,8 % regnes som akseptabelt tatt i betraktning usikkerheten i inndataene.Den &#248;konomiske analysen viser at l&#248;nnsomheten ved etablering av et maritimt distribusjonsnettverk er 18,3 MNOK per &#229;r. Det gir en driftsmargin p&#229; dr&#248;ye 8 %. Den forventede &#229;rlige ettersp&#248;rselen i omr&#229;det er 160 000 tonn, og analysen viser at dersom den faller under 35 000 tonn vil den maritime distribusjonen ikke lenger v&#230;re l&#248;nnsom. En nullpunktsanalyse av differansen mellom salgspris og produksjonskostnad per tonn pellets viser at differansen m&#229; minimum overstige 175 NOK. F&#248;lgelig vil en reduksjon i salgspris p&#229; 8 %, eller en &#248;kning i produksjonskostnad p&#229; 10 %, f&#248;re til at den maritime distribusjonen ikke lenger er l&#248;nnsom. Vi ser at l&#248;nnsomheten er mer f&#248;lsom for endringer i dekningsbidraget enn for endringer i ettersp&#248;rselen. Endelig konklusjon blir at det i fremtiden vil v&#230;re &#248;konomisk l&#248;nnsomt med maritim distribusjon av trepellets langs norskekysten, forutsatt at ettersp&#248;rselen overstiger 35 000 tonn per &#229;r og at dekningsbidraget overstiger 175 NOK per tonn.

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In this thesis the target is to find the optimal development solution of an offshore natural gas field. Natural gas is increasing in importance as an energy source. Whilst most of the large oil fields have been developed, there are still several major natural gas deposits that may be developed. In addition, there are also smaller offshore natural gas fields that may be put into production. Finding an optimal development solution for these resources will increase the availability of natural gas.The objective of the mathematical model presented in this thesis is to maximize the total net present value of an offshore natural gas field development. The model does this by finding the optimal combination of investment decisions of the necessary natural gas field infrastructure. Infrastructure included in the model includes the number of wells to be drilled, flowlines, production facilities, energy infrastructure on site and transport infrastructure to the customers. The model also decides whether gas sales agreements should be made with selected customers and the natural gas production in all time periods.This offshore natural gas field development problem is formulated as a mixed integer linear programming problem. Piecewise linearization is used to increase the accuracy of the reservoir model and to find the energy demand for a given natural gas flow rate and pressure difference. The linearization makes the model easier to solve than if it was formulated as a non-linear program.Branch and bound was chosen as the solution method for the implementation of the model. The model has been implemented in the Mosel programming language, using Xpress-MP as the solver.Results from testing of the model on three different test cases indicate promising potential for the utilisation of the model. Optimal solutions were found in less than six minutes for all of the test cases, and close to optimal solutions were found quickly in the global search.

There is an ever-increasing interest towards the field of purchasing and much attention has been placed towards the importance of purchasing in relation to firms&#146; survival in a competitive environment. In general, firms have an array of interrelated activities from operational production, to marketing and R&amp;D. However, all firms also typically conduct purchase activities, hence the chain of activities is only as strong as its weakest link. Further, in many industries firms spend more than half of their revenue on purchasing materials and services. This can be explained through the trend of firms to exclude non-critical activities out to other actors under the banner of outsourcing. This trend on the other hand implies that higher responsibilities have been placed on the suppliers and their specific product contributions to the buying firm. Therefore, the implication is that firms have to develop appropriate supplier strategies based on what type of commodity they are buying. In this thesis the theme is sourcing strategy and addresses this issue. A case study of a construction firm is carried out in this thesis to analyze their purchasing practice, and the objective is to find improvement areas for the case firm in relation to the various uses of sourcing strategies. In order to do that a literature review is conducted to explore and relate the various sourcing strategy models in an effort to compare these findings with observed practice of the case firm.The result of the literature review shows that there are in general four main aspects to consider in relation to sourcing strategy: (1) what strategy for a given commodity, (2) how many suppliers, (3) what kind of relationships to pursue, and (4) how do we structure the supply base. With these aspects at hand, the author analyzed the case firm and in particular within an ongoing construction project to find improvement areas.The findings of the empirical study is that the observed practice of the case firm to some extend resembles the theoretical frameworks in the sourcing literature. The firm uses distinctive strategies based on what commodities they are buying, however, due to the construction industry&#146;s specific characteristics, the firm has adapted or reconfigured it to suit their business. Further, by mapping how the supply base of the given project is structured, it resembles what the literature call parallel sourcing.The thesis concludes that even though the case firm&#146;s practice resembles parallel sourcing, the practice does not fully reap the benefits depicted by the literature. In order to fully benefit, the case firm is recommended to consider the development of long-term relationships with a limited set of suppliers. By doing so, this would coincide more with the literature&#146;s description of parallel sourcing, and hence harvest the same benefits that are argued by the literature.

This paper applies various ways of constructing statistical arbitrage trading rules for aluminum securities. The paper use daily observations of stocks, futures and two securities supposed to mirror the return of physical aluminum. We employ several sophisticated analysis of thestatistical properties of these securities and how they relate to each other. This paper appliesEngle-Granger and Johansen tests for cointegration to identify suitable securities for pairstrading. The paper is useful for speculators and hedge fund managers who want to increase theirrisk adjusted returns, as our analysis shows that trading sector neutral positions instead ofholding passive long positions in aluminum securities have significantly higher risk adjustedreturns. Our methodology is not unique for aluminum and can be transferred to other areas suchas oil or precious metals.

Over the last years, rapid technological development has made it possible for organizations to increase their use of virtual teams. Unlike traditional face-to-face teams, virtual teams enable people to collaborate across virtual dimensions like geographical dispersion, time and cultural diversity. By making use of virtual teams, organizations are able to increase the efficiency and performance, as they can be more flexible than traditional face-to-face teams. There has been an increased focus on research within this field of work in line with the development of virtual teams. However, there are few studies that have investigated the affect virtual teams as a work process has on collaborative relationships across organizational boundaries. This Master thesis is analyzing how inter-organizational relationships in the oil and gas industry can be affected by implementing Integrated Operations (IO) to their work processes. IO is a strategic tool using information and communication technology in order to change work practices and enabling people and organizations within this industry to work together through virtual communication channels. Organizations use virtual teams by installing collaboration rooms equipped with video walls and sound. In these rooms, people can communicate in real-time and across large geographical distances. This can potentially increase the effectiveness and simplifies collaboration both offshore and onshore. This study describes new challenges and opportunities in inter-organizational relationships between operator companies and suppliers due to the implementation of IO, and how working in virtual teams influences the relationships. In order to explore these issues, a case study of a business relationship between two companies in the oil and gas industry has been conducted, where collaboration takes place across geographical distance and across organizational boundaries. These companies are using virtual teams as a basis for their collaborative work. Their interaction through virtual communication channels has been observed over a significant period of time, and semi-structured interviews have been used to support the findings from the observations. This is done in order to analyze the potential and challenges of implementing IO in this industry.The main findings in this study show that there is a great potential for using virtual teams when interacting across organizational boundaries. Operator companies and suppliers have the opportunity of developing closer relations by working in virtual teams as such teams simplify the processes of communicating. However, there are some significant challenges. Virtual teams are most successful when the actors collaborating have a personal relationship. This if most often the case when actors within the same organization are working together. People that are collaborating through inter-organizational relationship may have less knowledge of each other. Relationships where the organizations have an unequal power structure due to their size and influence in the oil and gas industry can be especially challenging. As the actors are trying to protect their own organization&#146;s interest, an unequal power structure can question the level of trust and potential for value creation within the team. This can potentially create boundaries and limitations when communicating through virtual communication channels as interaction through videoconference systems creates a less personal environment than traditional face-to-face communication. The main contribution of this study is that: taking use of virtual dimension in inter-organizational relationships increases the potential level of conflicts between organizations, complicates the communication process and consolidates the power structure in the relationship between the collaborating parties.