This research is a cross sectional study which is conducted as an email survey. Accordingly, 22 companies have been surveyed to investigate the tendency and barriers for SMEs in Sweden regarding implementation of lean production. For that, barriers are categorized into two categories. The first category includes the ones which prevent SMEs from starting lean production (introduction barriers). The second category encompasses the ones which SMEs face while they are implementing lean production (implementation barriers). Moreover, to obtain a better view about problematic areas in lean transformation for SMEs, improvements and achievements of the investigated companies in their lean implementation processes have been assessed. However, it was not a detailed or in depth analysis, since the main purpose of this research was not to assess SMEs progress, rather it was to identify the hindrances in SMEs’ path to become lean. The results from this survey showed that most of the lean principles are applicable in SMEs. However, SMEs have problem with lack of time, management support, finance, resistance to change, change process, and training.  In addition lack of skilled employees for implementation of lean production was found as the biggest introduction barrier for SMEs. Moreover, the result of this research shows that small companies do not show tendency to implement lean production.

The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between the attitudes toward women of female managers, the quality of leader-member exchange between female managers and their female subordinates, and female managers¡¦queen bee behavior which female subordinates perceived. Moreover, this study examined seven related moderator variables within the relationship between the attitudes toward women of female managers and their queen bee behavior female subordinates perceived. We collected 140 matched questionnaires from female managers and one of their random female subordinates as a complete set in various industries, and 129 of 140 sets are valid. Our results showed that the attitudes toward women of female managers had a significant positive relationship with queen bee behavior female subordinates perceived, which means the more traditional attitudes toward women female managers hold, the higher degree queen bee behavior their female subordinates perceived. Besides, we found a significant negative relationship between the quality of leader-member exchange between female managers and their female subordinates, and queen bee behavior female subordinates perceived, which indicates the lower the exchange quality between female managers and their female subordinates, the higher degree queen bee behavior female subordinates perceived. And we also found that marital status of female managers and the female portion in their departments moderated the relationship between the attitudes toward women of female managers and queen bee behavior female subordinates perceived. Further practical implications and suggestions are also discussed in this study.

This research concentrates on the visual aesthetics of a website, investigating the web user's affective/emotional reactions to different designs of web homepage aesthetics and their influence on subsequent behaviors of web users. Drawing on the existing theories and empirical findings in environmental psychology, human-computer interaction, aesthetics, and marketing research literature, a research model is developed to explore the relationships between the visual aesthetic qualities of a website homepage - webpage visual complexity and order, induced emotional states in users, and users' approach behaviors toward the website. The model predicts that the visual aesthetics of a web homepage elicit specific emotional responses by provoking intrinsic feelings of pleasantness / unpleasantness, arousal, as well as motivational pleasantness / unpleasantness in web users. These elicited emotional responses, which mediate the effect of homepage aesthetic features, in turn affect web users' subsequent behaviors toward the website, such as further approaching/exploring or avoiding the website. A set of pilot studies and a main laboratory experiment were conducted to test the model and its associated hypotheses. Based on the results of pilot studies, 12 versions of a Gift website's homepage, which varied at four levels of complexity and three levels of order, were selected the stimuli materials for the main experiment. A total of 467 undergraduate students participated in the main study. During the main study, we instructed the participants to browse the homepage stimuli for a goal-oriented web search activity or an excitement/enjoyment-seeking web browsing activity, measured how they felt about the homepage and their degree of approach/avoidance tendencies toward the entire website. The results of the study generally confirmed the belief that a web user's initial emotional responses (i.e., pleasantness and arousal) evoked by the aesthetic qualities of a website's homepage he/she first encounters will have carry-over effects on his/her subsequent approach behaviors toward the website.

In theory of population migration, two major points of view are ¡©economic benefits¡ª and ¡©amenity of life¡ª. However, this research found that people still migrate to where land taxes is higher than others. This research tried to observe relation of individual value and migration of population and provided suggestion of factors of youth labor migration to authority. This case study of youth included questionary and analysis of statistics , treated affection of value change of youth to factors of population migration. By way of case study, results of this research reveal that affection of value tendency and selection of region conditions. First, there is significance regarding age, sex, city and county of census register, city and county of people grow up before 15 years, region, trade of father, level of education of father, socioeconomic status of family, value tendency of youth and selection of region conditions. Second, there is significance regarding value tendency of youth and selection of region conditions. Third, there is significance regarding value tendency of youth and selection of locate region conditions. In contrast, there is not significance regarding value tendency of youth and selection of work region conditions.

In recent years, under internationalization, liberalization and competition from China, Taiwan has the urgent need of high quality of human resource and subsequently it makes the ¡§human¡¨ management more complicated. Therefore, medium & small companies faces another new challenge and human resource management has become a big brand of knowledge for nowadays industry operation and management. How to use minimum investment to earn maximum employee loyalty is a big challenge for future human resource management. In the scope of the human resource management, compensation management is key section, like improper compensation management will cause another compensation dispute and the rise of dispute will force industry to pay more attention on the employee¡¦s legal labor rights. Furthermore, poor handle of dispute, consequently if seriously, will cause the dispute between labor and capital, even slightly, will have negative impact on company overall morale, and furthermore, affect company human resource performance. This resource will have medium & small companies as resource targets and focus on probing the relationship between compensation system, labor condition and human resource performance. Followings are the major research results: 1.Technical based compensation system will have effect on the assignment achievement performance. 2.It will have positive effect on the employee salary satisfactory and work performance if medium & small companies offer subsidy for further education, uniform, meal, weddings and funerals allowance and Mid-Autumn festival bonus. 3.There are obvious relationships among different compensation types, compensation basis and conditional performance. 4.Medium & small companies offer for subsidy of further education, transportation, training, other bonuses and annual bonus or not will have significant differences on employee¡¦ salary satisfactory and work achievement performance. 5.Selecting different work hours per week, calculation basis of overtime (holiday) work pay, total annual vacation days given, calculation basis of special rest days will have significant differences on compensation basis, salary satisfactory and work achievement performance. 6.Different employee characteristics will have remarkable differences on compensation basis, employee leave tendency, salary satisfactory and work achievement performance.

This study explores whether anti-fat bias is reduced when obesity in women is perceived to be the result of an uncontrollable versus controllable factor. An experiment was designed to test whether manipulating the causal attribution in favor of the target (i.e., offering an uncontrollable attribution that removes all responsibility from the target for her obesity) would have an impact on perceivers' anti-fat attitudes, beliefs about weight controllability, and tendency to blame a woman for her weight. The exploration of this topic was conducted within a greater context of obesity-related issues including body image, social stigma, responsibility, and a culture of blame. Equally important in this endeavor was gaining insight into the reasons why women are blamed more for their obesity than their male counterparts. Attribution theory (Heider, 1958) serves as the primary theoretical framework. One hundred and eighty undergraduates from a large, southwestern university participated in the study. Participants were randomly assigned to one of the following six conditions, five of which contained a version of the treatment embedded in an essay: Uncontrollable attribution, controllable attribution, potentially controllable attribution, manifest mention of weight, no mention of weight or control. The potentially controllable attribution was ultimately determined to be insufficiently manipulated and responses generated in response to it were not included in the data analysis. All participants completed a survey comprised of various measures designed to gauge anti-fat attitudes, beliefs about weight controllability, and blame tendency. A mediated model examining the relationships among the above three variables was also tested. Additionally, participants completed the Obesity-Induced Blame Scale (OIBS); a measure designed for the present study to test the degree to which a woman will be blamed and held responsible for her weight. While some results failed to statistically support the usefulness of causal attributions that remove controllability from the woman for her weight, other results demonstrated the embedded anti-fat bias some individuals hold for obese women. Findings that emerged from the qualitative data were especially revealing. The social implications of anti-fatism, beliefs about weight controllability, and blame tendency, as well as all key findings, are discussed.

Magistro darbe yra analizuojamos veiklos ir priežąstys skatinančios elektroninės komercijos plėtrą Lietuvoje, vertinamos tendencijos, perspektyvos ir vartotojų nuomonė. Lietuvos ir užsienio autorių teoriniai ir praktiniai elektroninės komercijos plėtros tyrimai, pateikti ir įvertinti interneto tyrimus atliekančių bendrovių gauti rezultatai, nustatytos tendencijos. Patvirtinta darbo autoriaus suformuluota mokslinio tyrimo hipotezė, kad Lietuvos elektroninės komercijos rinka artimiausiais metais sparčiai tobulės ir ims konkuruoti su tradicinėmis verslo formomis. / This master‘s final paper analyse effects ant reasons of e-commerce development in Lithuania. Estimate tendency perspectives and user oppinion. It analyzes and systemizes theoretical and practical e-commerce development researches conducted by various Lithuanian and foreign authors. It is produced and analysed results of internet research companys estimated tendencys. The paper presents a detailed analysis of scientific problems of Lithuanian e-commerce market which in the future will become perfect and will compete with tradicional forms of business.

Mūsų šalis vis dar išlieka tarp pirmaujančių pagal paauglių savižudybių skaičių, taip pat egzistuoja tokios problemos kaip, bloga paauglių sveikata, psichoaktyvių medžiagų vartojimas. Todėl svarbu išsiaiškinti paauglių polinkio į savižudybę, sveikatą bei psichoaktyvių medžiagų vartojimo sąsajas. Tyrimo tikslas: nustatyti 5-12 klasių mokinių polinkio į savižudybę sąsajas su savo sveikatos vertinimu ir psichoaktyviųjų medžiagų vartojimu kaimo ir miesto mokyklose. Darbe taikytas polinkio į savižudybę, sveikatos vertinimo bei psichoaktyvių medžiagų klausimynas ( prof. A. Goštautas, 1999). Metodikos pasirinktos kaip tinkamos savo sveikatos vertinimo, psichoaktyvių medžiagų vartojimo bei polinkio į savižudybę nustatyti. Tyrimas atliktas vieno Lietuvos rajono miesto ir kaimo mokyklose. Tyrime dalyvavo 960 5-12 klasių mokinių (amžius10-19 metų)- 480 (240 mergaičių, 240 berniukų) miesto mokyklų ir 480 (240 mergaičių ir 240 berniukų) kaimo mokyklų ( po 30 berniukų ir po 30 mergaičių iš klasės). Tyrimo rezultatai: 5-12 klasių kaimo ir miesto mokyklų mokinių polinkis į savižudybę yra susijęs su savo sveikatos vertinimu ir psichoaktyvių medžiagų vartojimu kaimo ir miesto mokyklose. Nustatyta, kad mokinių, tiek berniukų, tiek mergaičių polinkis į savižudybę siejasi su savo sveikatos vertinimu: berniukų ir mergaičių polinkis į savižudybę didėja esant blogesniam savo sveikatos vertinimui. Taip pat, pereinant į aukštesnę klasę berniukų ir... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Our country still remains among the leading countries in the number of the suicides of teenagers; such problems as poor health of teenagers, usage of psychoactive substances also exist. Therefore, it is important to find out about the correlation among suicidal tendencies, health and usage of psychoactive substances. The aim of the research: to specify the correlation between the suicidal tendency of the pupils of 5- 12th forms with the evaluation of their health and usage of psychoactive substances in city and rural schools. In the thesis the questionnaires about suicidal tendency, health assessment and psychoactive substances consists by prof. A. Goštautas (1990) are used. Methodologies are chosen as suitable for analysing the peculiarities of subjectively evaluated health, usage of psychoactive substances and suicidal tendencies. The research was completed in the city and rural schools of Lithuania. 960 pupils of 5 – 12th forms (aged 10 – 19) participated in the research – 480 (240 girls, 240 boys) in city schools and 480 (240 girls, 240 boys) in rural schools (30 boys and 30 girls from each class). The results: suicidal tendency of the students of 5 – 12th forms from city and village is related with their subjectively evaluated health and usage of psychoactive substances in city and rural schools. It was found that suicidal tendency of the students, boys and girls is associated with their subjectively evaluated health:... [to full text]

This thesis aims to explore the effects of tight budgetary control on employee behavior focusing on employee loyalty, employee satisfaction, job related tension and tendency towards data manipulation in public sectors. The study explores the subject on the population of three countries which includes Sweden, Jordan and Pakistan. In Pakistan and Jordan, no previous study has ever been performed which tried to explore effects of tight budgetary control in employee behavior. Method: Keeping the above fact in view, method derived for this study was the combination of qualitative and quantitative approach. Questionnaires were formulated and sent to employees of the sampled companies receiving 740 responses. For qualitative method, 5 employees were interviewed from entire three countries. Finding: the study revealed that all three countries are experiencing tight budgetary control whereas Jordan and Pakistan are experiencing it on higher level and Sweden is experiencing it in lower level as compared to Pakistan and Jordan. As far employee behavior is concerned, both the method proved that loyalty was negatively related to tight budgetary control for Pakistan and Sweden whereas positively related in case of Jordan. Satisfaction is also negatively related to tight budgetary control for Sweden and Pakistan while positively related for Jordan. Job related tension and tendency towards data manipulation are positively related to tight budgetary control for all three countries. Research type: Master’s thesis.

El texto completo de este trabajo no está disponible en el Repositorio Académico UPC por restricciones de la casa editorial donde ha sido publicado. / Suicide is one of the most distinguished causes of death on the news worldwide. There are several factors and variables that can lead a person to commit this act, for example, stress, self-esteem, depression, among others. The causes and profiles of suicide cases are not revealed in detail by the competent institutions. We propose a simulation with a systematically generated dataset; such data reflect the adolescent population with suicidal tendency in Peru. We will evaluate three algorithms of supervised machine learning as a result of the algorithm C4.5 which is based on the trees to classify in a better way the suicidal tendency of adolescents. We finally propose a desktop tool that determines the suicidal tendency level of the adolescent. / Revisión por pares