The present study highlights earning management optimization possibilities to constrain the events of earning management and financial fraud. Our study investigates the existing stock of knowledge and strand literature available on earning management and fraud detection. It aims to review systematically the methods and techniques used by prior research to determine earning management and fraud detection. The results indicate that prior research in earning management optimization is diverged among several techniques and none of these techniques has provided an ideal optimization for earning management. Further, the results reveal that earning management determinants are complex based on the type and size of business entities which complicate the optimization possibilities. The current research brings useful insights for predicting and optimization of earnings management and financial fraud. The present study has significant implications for policymakers, stock markets, auditors, investors, analysts, and professionals.

Background: With the Open Innovation paradigm come new hopes for innovating companies. The ability to tap a global network of experts can, at least in theory, have a significant impact on an organization’s competitive strength. Before such a ‘network of experts’ can be used to its full potential however, a number of challenges related to knowledge markets seem to need solutions. About 10 years ago however, we could witness the entry of a new breed of company – calling themselves innovation intermediaries. These companies are built to profit from delivering the usefulness of knowledge networks to client (Seeker) companies. Though the use of such networks and markets have so far been uncommon outside of high-tech fields they are now starting to be seen used by companies in more mature environments.Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to examine the collaboration between SCA (a large Swedish corporation) and the innovation intermediary InnoCentive in order to create a better understanding of what kind of benefits can be derived from the use of an innovation intermediary, and how these benefits are best utilized. We also set out to identify relevant limitations of innomediary use and to seek to better understand how using an innomediary can fit a client company’s higher-order activities such as exploration and exploitation.Completion and Results: Our findings include that SCA are using InnoCentive mainly as a tool to solve highly specific problems and/or problems with a low degree of complexity that they encounter in their everyday activities. The challenges related to knowledge markets, we find, are avoided by keeping problem complexity low and problem modularity high for the problems sent out to the network. In addition, InnoCentive’s business model seems to eliminate costly negotiations between Seekers and Solvers. Using this kind of ‘market solution’ however, we argue, will put bounds on the usefulness of the network and makes it mainly suited as a tool for improving an organization’s exploitation capacity.

Background

Exploring the Talent Management literature to understand the importance of Talent Management to strategy and the role the view on talent plays in consideration to Talent Management.

Purpose

The purpose of this thesis is to increase the empirical research on Talent Management to enable a creation of a conceptual framework.

Methodology

A multiple case study approach was taken, as 11 companies from diverse industries, sizes, backgrounds etc. was studied in order to gain a broader picture on the research topic. Furthermore, qualitative data collection method was used and main source of empirical data was interviews conducted with HR professionals of each case company.

Findings

The empirical findings indicated there to be a relationship between the strategy and the view on talent. There was further an indication that this relationship has an effect on the focus of the Talent Management activities. 

In today’s dynamic business environment, a key challenge for all companies is to make adaptive adjustments to their manufacturing strategy. This study demonstrates the competitive priorities of manufacturing strategy in hydro-power case company to evaluate the level of sustainable competitive advantage and also to further analyze how business strategies are aligned with manufacturing strategies. This research is based on new holistic analytical evaluation of manufacturing strategy index, sense and respond, and sustainable competitive advantage models. These models help to describe, evaluate, and optimize resource allocation to meet the performance requirements in dynamic decision making. Furthermore, these models evaluate operational competitiveness for manufacturing strategies according to the multi-criteria priority. The results show that the adjustments of competitive priorities in manufacturing strategies by implementing the proposed holistic analytical models are helpful in strategically managing business operations. The discussion derives the most critical attributes in business operations while alignment of resource allocation with competitive priorities help to strategically focus those attributes. In conclusion, we argue that resource allocation and manufacturing strategies have become the most important capabilities in a business environment where companies focus to get a sustainable competitive advantage.

Background: Financial markets have evolved, granting private investors greater access to information and an expanded entry to the stock market. As a consequence of digitalization, analyst recommendations are increasingly gaining attention. It is unclear whether these translate into abnormal returns, especially when considering transaction costs and rebalancing frequency. Studies show varying results, with some indicating abnormal returns, while others suggest that transaction costs offset them. Previous research is mainly based on the U.S. market, creating uncertainty about its relevance in Sweden. 

Aim: The aim of the thesis is to analyze the possibility of generating abnormal returns by following analysts’ recommendations in the Swedish stock market. 

Methodology: The thesis employs a quantitative deductive approach. Portfolios are constructed based on a Calendar-Time Portfolios with Time Series T-statistics method introduced by Lyon et al. (1999). Stock data is sourced from the historical constituents of OMXS30 spanning from 2004 to 2019. Abnormal returns are assessed using regressions based on CAPM and a three-factor model by Fama and French (1993). 

Results: The study finds that the stocks with most favorable consensus recommendations do not generate abnormal returns. After controlling for market risk, size, and book-to-market ratio, strategies based on analyst recommendations suggest a performance similar to that of an index portfolio. Portfolios that account for high dispersion among analysts’ consensus suggest slightly better performance, yet abnormal returns remain unreliably greater than zero. Moreover, when factoring in transaction costs, none of the portfolios exhibit abnormal returns at all. Overoptimism and herding behavior among analysts reduce the reliability of recommendations, potentially impacting the results of the study. Analysts’ recommendations do not offer a practical opportunity for abnormal returns on the Swedish stock market, suggesting a need for skepticism towards recommendations when making investment decisions. 

Inter-organizational projects have become common forms of organizing in various industries such as construction, advertising, music, film making etc. The unique structural nature of Inter-organizational projects coupled with the fact that they carried out through the participation of multiple organizations, raises issues of coordination. Particularly when it comes to creative industries, coordination is challenged by demand and transactional uncertainties. In order to understand how inter-organizational projects achieve coordination in such situations, it is important to study their interior processes putting in consideration their environmental context. 

The aim of this research is to study how network embeddedness enhances coordination in inter-organizational projects within creative industries.

Inter-organizational projects: are projects that are carried out through the collaboration of multiple legally independent organizations

Inter-organizational networks: refer to sets of long-term ties among independent organizations that are engaged in continuous exchange relations.

Embeddedness: refers to the continuous interaction of individuals, organizations, projects etc. with their environmental context.

Macrocultures: refer to the shared beliefs, norms values rules and practices with in inter- organizational networks that guide members on their actions.

A qualitative approach using a multiple comparative case study was conducted. Accordingly four projects chosen from creative industries were studied using both primary and secondary data.

Macrocultures that are embedded inter-organizational networks facilitate coordination within inter-organizational projects. Further projects that differ in their constituents task nature, time duration and team composition relied on different types of embeddedness for coordination.

Title: Success factors in the implementation of artificial intelligence

Authors: Wilhelm Abele & Simon Starfelt

Supervisor: Jon Engström

Key Words: Artificial intelligence (AI), AI-implementation, Success factors, Obstacles, Organization.

Background: Artificial intelligence is a concept that has existed for a while; however, it is only recently that the technology has caught up with the concept. Recent studies show that many organizations realize AI’s huge value potential, however, the majority of the organizations that have invested in AI generates minimal or no business value at all from the investment. Research shows that organizations face complications during the implementation process of AI and in order to generate value, the purpose of the AI solution should be business-driven, not IT-driven. Therefore, shall the factors impacting the implementation process of AI be studied further.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine what factors determine success when implementing AI solutions in organizations. In addition, an aim of this study is to suggest a framework for implementing AI solutions that organizations can use as a guide.

Completion: The study is a tentative, multiple case study characterized by qualitative approach. The empirical data has been collected through interviews with six different companies that either produce and deliver AI solutions, or have bought AI solutions. These companies have been selected through a target-oriented selection process.

Conclusion: The study results in the creation of a framework consisting of the factors deemed decisive for a successful implementation of AI in an organization. The framework is divided into three phases: (1) Preparation phase, (2) Implementation phase, and (3) Evaluation phase. The success factors associated with a fruitful AI implementation are: a business-driven purpose, stakeholder involvement, data- quality and handling, knowledge sharing and organizational structure, evaluation and feedback.

Background: Today, more and more companies in the fashion and interior design industry are choosing to sell their products online. As a result, companies’ interactions and marketing are mostly digital towards the customer. This new era of digitisation for companies signifies a major change in terms of new forms of marketing and customer interactions. In the past, high-end companies have mainly used sales assistants in physical stores to convey the feeling of luxury to the customer, which challenges this industry in a digital context. Furthermore, today's high-end companies are expected to be transparent about their sustainability and environmental impact in their communications with customers, which at the same time entails a greater risk of criticism. The study will further explore the challenges faced by nine high-end companies in creating and maintaining customer relationships in a digital context.

Purpose of the study: The purpose of this study is to describe and analyze how Swedish high-end companies create and maintain relationships with their customers through social media. The study will later contribute with conclusions on how the Swedish high-end companies should act to improve their relationship with their customers through social media.

Methodology: This case study has a qualitative research strategy. A hermeneutic scientific perspective has been chosen with inductive elements. The qualitative data collection consists of semi-structured interviews with ten respondents from nine Swedish, high-end companies in the fashion and interior design industry.

Conclusion: The results of the study presents that the Swedish high-end companies create and maintain relationships with their customers through parasocial interactions on social media. This is performed through digital strategies such as storytelling, sensory marketing, word of mouth, CRM and value creation. Aspects that challenge the digital relationship building of high-end companies are the size of the firm, exclusion of the senses, time constraints and capital. Furthermore, the study shows that the companies should increase their transparency regarding sustainability towards their customers in order to achieve greater reliability.

Introduction Lately, there has been a significant increase in sustainability related issues in media, while companies increasingly are reporting on sustainability. Media has a central role in today's society, and sustainability is emerging as one of the most contemporary issues in the business industry. Studies with a combination of media and sustainability are a fruitful field for future research.

Purpose The aim of this study is to explain the relationship between medias sustainability exposure of companies and these companies' establishment and extent of a sustainability report.

Method This quantitative study is pursued through a deductive approach in which the hypotheses are formulated with a background in existing theories. A cross-sectional design is used to measure the presence and the variation of a given phenomena at a certain time. Secondary data is used as the empirical basis. The study focuses on companies listed at Nasdaq Stockholm.

Conclusion The results of this study indicate that medias' sustainability exposure of companies affects companies' establishment and extent of a sustainability report. Size, industry, profitability and number of subsidiaries are also significant factors. We have found that media is a primary factor in explaining why companies choose to report on sustainability issues. For every news story about a given company in a sustainability context – the likelihood of that company establishing a sustainability report is increased by 2,491. This study also proves that increased media exposure leads to a more extensive sustainability reporting.

This study is intended to investigate the prerequisites for the principals to perform their work and whether they differ between schools. This has been investigated by studying the underlying management structure and the management instrument and how they have shaped the prerequisites for the principals. The study is based on interviews with princi- pals and a quality director from both public school and private school. The study shows that the management instruments goals, communication, mandate and decision as well as support functions, and to some extent the management structure, shapes the prerequisites for the principals. These management instrument have also been looked into more thor- oughly, in order to see how well they work to create the right conditions for the principals in the public school and private school. From the results that was obtained from this study, we could see that the management instruments don’t work optimally in order to give the right prerequisites for the principals. Mainly have the results shown that the principals in the private school have better perquisites than the principals working in the public school.

Den här handboken är resultatet av forskningsprojektet ”Affärsmodeller för citylogistik” som har finansierats av Vinnova och genomförts av forskare på Linköpings Universitet vid avdelningen Logistik- & Kvalitetsutveckling under perioden 2015 – 2017. Projektet är en direkt uppföljning av Färdplan Citylogistik – Godstransporter i urbana miljöer som visade att citylogistik och samordnad varudistribution behövs för att kunna driva utvecklingen mot mer hållbara och attraktiva städer med emissionsfria godstransporter. Den här boken presenterar en modell som syftar till att hjälpa kommuner och företag att komma igång med citylogistik och samordnad varudistribution – En affärsmodell som också fungerar som ett beslutsunderlag. Projektet grundar sig också i Forsknings- och innovationsagenda för framtidens logistik, där citylogistik lyfts fram som ett av de viktigaste utvecklingsområdena inom logistikområdet i framtiden.

Funktionen, Institutionen und Handlungsebenen beschreiben die drei Dimensionen des von Professor Dr. Dr. h.c. Hans-Christian Pfohl geschaffenen Logistikwürfels. Anlässlich seiner Emeritierung beleuchten Wissenschaftler und Praktiker in 75 Fachbeiträgen die Logistik mit all ihren Facetten und aktuellen Entwicklungen und geben Anregungen für die zukünftige Forschung und Praxis.

"Northern Lights in Logistics & Supply Chain Management" portrays the past, present and future research of the subject in the Nordic countries. The NOFOMA conference - a network of Nordic researchers within the field of Logistics and Supply Chain Management - has been a focal point in the contribution to the continuous improvement and further development of Nordic research. The network has also opened up for interaction with fellow researchers from other countries. There are sixteen chapters in the book that in its own way colours the Nordic rainbow of research within Logistics and Supply Chain Management. The chapters are structured in four themes: 1) Origins and strategic aspects; 2) Research approaches in the Nordic countries; 3) Advancement of distribution strategies and; 4) Emerging application areas of logistics and SCM. The chapters provide an understanding and, perhaps more importantly, consciousness for scholars that are part of this research environment: Where are we now, what have we been influenced by, and in what area are we able to provide positive impact? The aim of the book is also to contribute to increased visibility to fellow international scholars within Logistics and Supply Chain Management.

To stay ahead in an increasingly competitive business environment, organizations need agile supply chain systems that are holistically designed and managed. The experiences of SKF, a Swedish multinational firm, point to the benefits of reengineering upstream capabilities to create value downstream. To foster the flexibility, responsiveness, and other dynamic capabilities needed to manage increased supply chain complexity, the company established programs to involve its suppliers in the value creation process, making them an extension of the organization’s resource base. The overall objective has been to migrate from a business model based on economies of scale in operations to one that exploits both economies of scope and economies of integration. As a result of its efforts to create a more agile and cost-efficient supply chain, the company has been able to decrease supply risks while improving its value creation process and responsiveness to new customer demands and advancing its sustainability and social responsibility initiatives. 

Dagens osäkra affärsklimat betraktas av många som ett problem och en risk som måste hanteras. I den här boken vänder författarna på perspektivet och betraktar osäkerheten som en möjlighet till framgång - om företaget har tillräcklig dynamisk förmåga. Den dynamiska förmågan innebär att företaget snabbt kan förändra sin marknadsstrategi och sin dagliga verksamhet. Det kräver en tydlig och flödesorienterad affärsmodell med en effektiv och följsam kedja från leverantör till slutkund. Denna bok presenterar en modell för hur företaget kan uppnå en sådan dynamisk effektivitet och diskuterar hur man kan omsätta den i praktisk handling. Boken vänder sig till chefer och ledningsgrupper i företag som vill utvecklas i takt med omvärldens krav och därmed få bäst förutsättningar att överleva och växa i det krävande affärsklimatet - survival of the fittest!

This book aims to provide an illustration of the diversity that characterises contemporary Nordic research in the field of retail. The book draws on a large variety of methods, describes a variety of retail sectors and covers a large number of retail phenomena. The book is suitable for researchers, graduate students and professionals who want to learn more about contemporary retailing research

Den här rapporten sammanfattar ett forskningsprojekt, Logistik i svensk handel, som har pågått under perioden juli 2009 t.o.m. februari 2011 och som är finansierat av Handelns Utvecklingsråd.

En utgångspunkt och hypotes för projektet var att det finns avgörande branschmässiga skillnader i sättet att arbeta med logistikfrågor. En hypotes som har testats mot empirin, vilket har lett till slutsatsen att logistiken endast i begränsad omfattning är branschspecifik och att branschtillhörighet inte är den avgörande faktorn för hur logistiken utformas för handelsföretag. En viktigare faktor, är hur butikerna drivs visavi centrala enheter, hur integrationen ser ut mellan logistikstrategi och inköps- respektive marknadsstrategi, samt hur systemgränserna för logistiken definieras.

Genom hela arbetet har vi jämfört den logistikbild vi har sett med en ”ideal bild”, i form av logistiken i internationell ”mega-retailing”, vilket idag representerar ”best practice” inom logistik och där logistiken är en integrerad del av företagens affärsmodell och ett direkt stöd för företagets lönsamhet och tillväxt. Den jämförelsen visar att det är mycket stora skillnader i logistikkompetens och mognad mellan olika företag och att logistik inom många handelsföretag fortfarande är ett område med stor förbättringspotential.

Förutom den här rapporten har projektet genererat en lång rad akademiska artiklar som är publicerade i journaler och/eller har presenterats på konferenser och seminarier. Vi har varit i kontakt med ett stort antal, kollegor, företag och forskare i Sverige och andra länder för att samla material. Ett stort tack till alla de som har bidragit med material till projektet.

Ett speciellt tack till Andreas Hedlund på Handelns Utvecklingsråd, som förutom finansiellt stöd har backat upp projektet med seminarier arrangerade av Handelns utvecklingsråd.

Linköping i Maj 2011

Mats Abrahamsson   Jakob Rehme   Erik Sandberg

Background: As a result of increased international trading, adequate management of transaction exposure has become more important. Foreign currency cash flows are associated with different risks and thus give cause to distinct transaction exposure with overseas trading. Previous research advocates that management of transaction exposure is controlled through policy documents and we have identified a lack of research in how policy documents of Swedish firms are designed.

Problem: To what extent is previous research agreeing with how Swedish firms have developed policy documents for managing transaction exposure of different foreign currency cash flows?

Aim: The aim of the study is, compared to what previous research advocates, to examine and analyze how policy documents for managing transaction exposure are designed within the Swedish firms. The study also aims to analyze the differences in the policy document for the transaction exposure in different foreign currency cash flows, as well as the factors that give reasons to possible deviations.

Conclusions: The findings of the study indicate a clear congruence between previous research and established practices of how policy documents for managing transaction exposure are designed in Swedish firms. Policy documents are comprehensive in their design; regulate the risk management strategy but not the management procedures. Even though the actual management of transaction exposure of different foreign currency cash flows indicates significant discrepancies, the policy document doesn’t regulate any of them. Giving reason for a different management are: factors related to the foreign exchange market characteristics, company-specific factors and other influencing market factors.Contribution: The study contributes to a better understanding and clearer differentiation of how Swedish firms control the management of transaction exposure, from a business perspective. Moreover, the study intends to give rise to the interest in how and on which grounds companies differently control the management of transaction exposure of different foreign currency cash flows.

In the modern business environment, University-Industry Collaboration (UIC) has emerged as a dynamic mechanism for knowledge co-creation and a way for firms to reach and sustain a competitive advantage. Collaborative university-industry (CUI) PhD projects offer a way to translate academic research into practical industry applications. Prior research emphasises the importance of prior UIC experience for firms to achieve successful knowledge related outcomes in UIC. This study explores how firms with limited UIC experience can effectively navigate the challenges and harness the benefits of such collaborations. In the context of Manufacturing Academy of Denmark (MADE) program, we investigate CUI PhD projects as pathways for fostering learning environments and generating valuable knowledge outcomes. Examining multiple cases, we identify themes that could help less experienced firms to navigate their success in UIC. Our findings underscore that careful project planning and design, strategic use of intermediaries, and fostering a firm-wide attitude of commitment play pivotal roles in enabling successful collaborations. This paper offers actionable insights that bridge the experience gap, providing practical guidance for firms aiming to unlock the full potential of UIC collaborations. By strategically embracing these approaches, less experienced firms can effectively navigate the intricacies of collaborative projects, enhancing their ability to thrive in the dynamic intersection of academia and industry. 

Industrial PhD students, affiliating to industrial firms and academic institutions, hold unique boundary-spanning positions as they engage in knowledge co-creation through university–industry collaboration (UIC). Despite much research on knowledge transfer processes and boundary spanners in inter-organizational contexts, firms who engage in UIC remain uncertain about how to reap the benefits of co-creating knowledge through industrial PhD projects. This paper investigates the enablers of knowledge dissemination for PhD students in industrial firms. Based on a qualitative case study in Sweden, our study identifies enablers and mechanisms related to individual and organizational actions in the internal knowledge dissemination process. Based on the findings, the paper presents a model that distinguishes between surface and deep knowledge dissemination and elaborates on the symbiotic nature of enablers, with middle management mediating between the individual and organizational levels. The paper enhances research on knowledge dissemination in UIC by specifically addressing industrial PhD students' dissemination of co-created knowledge. The findings inform organizations in managing their expectations, making more informed decisions and improving dissemination conditions for boundary-spanning industrial PhD students in UIC.

Background: Business incubators are organizations with a purpose to help new ventures grow and survive their early years. There are descriptions of the general incubation process, but clear motivations of their process design are sorely missing. Some researchers suggest links between the goals of organizations and their process design, but a clear connection seems to be missing. By connecting goals and processes, this study aims to illustrate how processes are formed within business incubators as well as other types of organizations.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to describe how the goals of Swedish non-profit incubators influence the design of business incubators’ incubation processes.

Methodology: The study is based on a constructionist perspective with an abductive approach, which in turn has led to an iterative study process. It is based on a qualitative research design and investigates 11 respondents through a small-N-study. Respondents were chosen based on a mostly goal-driven selection process, and empirical data has been collected through semi-structured interviews with each respondent. A thematic analysis was conducted on this data to answer the research questions posed.

Conclusion: The study draws clear connections between goals of Swedish non-profit business incubators and their incubation processes. These connections can be made from both organizational goals and specific goals within the organizations. Incubators' selection processes are largely affected by the different goals of the organization. This is also true for networking and guidance activities within the incubator. In addition, the study has shown that specific goals within the incubators are largely influenced by their organizational goals. 

Nowadays, virtually all industries are impacted by the digitalization of business enabled by information and communication technologies. Consequently, it is a major challenge to any business to increase its ability to innovate through information systems. However the effort and the investments of companies are extremely varied, they do not have the same level of maturity with respect to their innovation strategy. While some highly mature use effective approaches, others still act as novices or use inadequate practices. The question raised in this paper is how to evaluate the level of maturity of an organization with respect to information systems based innovation. Also, the question concerns the identification of the salient features of ICT centred innovation maturity models. Taking these issues into account, the paper makes the following contributions: (i) a review of sixteen innovation maturity models collected from the research and the practitioners community, gathering facts about the models and about their effectiveness; (ii) a comparative analysis of these models.

Today businesses are facing radical transformations through digitalization of services and products. Accordingly, their ability to innovate is increasingly linked to the capacity to innovate through information and communication technologies (ICTs). This article investigates the role of information systems (IS) as a key factor for innovation capacity. To this end, the article discusses an interpretive framework for understanding the degree of capacity of innovation through information systems (IS) reached by a given company and the contradictions that bound its evolution. An interpretive study is also presented, where the framework has been applied to seven French companies from various industries. Consistently with the framework, the interviews address process areas and practices related to three core categories: management, innovation engineering and support. The study reveals seven fundamental contradictions that can explain the main tendencies observed across the companies.

Problem definition: Digital innovation affects the world's economies and markets, where business-independent industry changes its way of working. The commercial real estate industry faces a change, where the two concepts of smart home and mobility change the appearance of the future market. On the market, there is an exponential increase in the number of companies utilizing the two concepts, companies collectively called PropTech companies, which act as catalysts for the transformation. Another trend is co-working, a new flexible office solution that utilizes the mobility change and disrupts the current value chain. These trends affect existing property managers, who should review their business model in view of the new technology to remain competitive. A major challenge with PropTech is the lack of understanding of the benefits it brings and what customer value it actually creates, making it difficult to create value offers that actually meet customer needs. The different types of PropTech and co-working provide a potential for new types of services that benefit the tenants in their business and can provide an easier work life balance.

Purpose of the study: The purpose of this master thesis is to identify the impact PropTech and co-working has on commercial real estate tenants in Stockholm.

Methodology: The study is of an exploratory character and aimed to explore what contributes to customer value for commercial tenants in Stockholm today and the impact PropTech and co-working has on it. The performance of the study was a combination of a cross-sectional approach, a qualitative, deductive and partly an inductive approach. A total of 16 semi-structured interviews were conducted, consisting of 11 property managers with internal management and five tenants working in the consulting industry. By interviewing tenants simultaneously with the property manager, it was established that the property managers' insight into the tenants' needs were in line with reality. The collected empirical data was analyzed on the basis of the applied reference framework and its factors that drive the customer value of tenants in office premises in Stockholm.

Conclusions: The impact of digitization is of a complex nature and ranges from negative to positive aspects and everything in-between. The study identified four PropTech-services that can benefit company tenants in various ways and their impacts on customer value: property management, quantification & efficiency, office services and search platforms for working places. Co-working was also included as a service that affects customer value in office spaces.Identified factors creating customer value for company tenants were quality, adaptability, cost reduction and price. Each factor was further dissected to describe more accurately how it impacts tenants, these under factors consisted of tangibles, reliability, assurance, customer focus, co-creation, mass customization, flexibility, monetary costs, non-monetary costs, low cost and premium price.The study found that the most important aspect of property management, in order to have a positive impact on the tenants, is assurance. There also exists a potential positive impact for the service via non-monetary cost reductions. Furthermore, property management has a negative impact on customer focus and assurance. 

The most important aspects of quantification & efficiency, in order to have a positive impact on the tenants, are tangibles, non-monetary cost reductions and flexibility. There also exists both a potential positive impact as well as a negligible impact for the service via monetary cost reductions.The most important aspect of office services, in order to have a positive impact on the tenants, is low price. There also exists a negligible impact for the service via non-monetary cost reductions.The most important aspects of search platforms for working places, in order to have a positive impact on the tenants, are flexibility and monetary cost reductions.The most important aspects of co-working, in order to have a positive impact on the tenants, are mass customization, flexibility and monetary cost reductions. There also exists a negative impact for the service via tangibles.The authors of this study encourage for further quantitative research regarding the subject.

Background: The Kenyan financial sector has recently been growing at high rate due to the inclusion of individuals who previously were unable access banking services. This has led to a competitive situation where banks and micro finance institutions are searching for ways to manage in this competitive sector. In addition, mobile phone companies are now considered as a competitive threat.

Aim:

This study will look into how strategic alliances between banks and mobile phone companies can be used to overcome these challenges with a specific focus on the recent alliance between Equity Bank (Kenya), and Safaricom Ltd. The study will also focus on the management of strategic alliances within different industries.

Method:

The analysis of this study is based on qualitative research including the use of interviews with members of both organizations and secondary data which includes written documentation and analysis of previously recorded discussions about the alliance with different members of both organizations.

Results:

The authors found strategic alliances can be used as a tool which enables firms to overcome threats from their competitors while gaining additional benefits. In terms of alliance management, the use of separate teams was found to be an effective management tool in cross industry alliances.

Background: Bangladesh is one of the fastest growing economies of the world. Entrepreneurs play in this context a key role, driving economic growth and fostering innovation. Bangladesh’s start-up ecosystem has thus significantly grown during the last ten years, where many successful start-ups have developed in various industries, being the e-commerce sector one of the most attractive ones. However, despite the fact that the e-commerce sector has shown a huge potential in Bangladesh, only a few start-ups have successfully scaled-up their business. Therefore, focusing on the e-commerce sector of Bangladesh as case of study, this research aims to analyse how organisational routines can bring stability and change in the start-ups’ scale-up process. In our study we considered the nature of organisational routines in general and its specific impact on the way start-ups change and grow. The results of this study, obtained mainly through interviews with key actors from different Bangladeshi start-ups, indicate the possibility of rising the awareness about this subject as a strategy for improving a start-up’s development. 

Purpose: We aim to find what role do organisational routines play in start-ups in their scaling-up stage.

Methodology: This qualitative study conducted interviews with 6 e-commerce start-ups in Bangladesh. Out of these 6 start-ups, 2 have successfully scaled-up, 2 start-ups are on the process of scaling-up, and 2 start-ups have failed to scale-up their business.  

Findings: The study provides evidence that the more organised a start-up is in terms of routines, the more agile and successful it becomes. Therefore, organisational routines improves the start-up performance and encourage change.

Background: The environmental sustainability concept is a driving factor in the development of logistics in connection with the pressures from both society and its consumers. The strong growth in e-commerce has put e-retailers in a difficult situation as the requirements for short delivery times affect their work to work even more environmentally sustainable. Here, companies logistics management is put to the test, as the dilemma between delivery times and environmentally sustainable deliveries forces the companies to strike a balance between the two. Thus, it is demonstrated that the e-commerce companies work with their logistics management becomes their way of overcoming this problem.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to contribute to a better understanding of how e-commerce companies work with their logistics management to stay competitive.

Research question: 1) How does the demand for environmentally sustainable transport solutions affect e-commerce companies' logistics management? 2) How does e-commerce companies work with their logistics management to meet the demand for short delivery times?

Methodology: The study has a qualitative research strategy and through a case study, four case companies have been selected to study. The perspective chosen within the study is the hermeneutic perspective with an abductive approach. The collection of the empirical data was conducted using four semi-structured interviews with one respondent from each case company. The empirical data has also been supplemented with document studies

Conclusion: From the study, we were able to conclude that the e-commerce companies efforts to offer environmentally sustainable deliveries can be derived from several factors. Where the choice to outsource their freight transport and increased use of home deliveries in combination with increasingly automated and information-driven warehousing operations was their way of meeting this demand. As the dilemma of working in an environmentally sustainable manner does not always correlate with the ambition of e-commerce companies to offer short delivery times, it was found that areas such as fill rates were an aspect where delivery time proved to be more important and hence e-retailers continue to maintain their low fill rates. Apart from filling levels, automation and the use of information systems are areas where environmentally sustainable deliveries and short delivery times are correlated.

Background: Since the introduction in the early 1990s, the volume of newly issued equity index bonds overall had a positive development. This increase indicates that the product has become a popular form of savings among Swedes. Together with the fact that there are few studies done on equity index bonds as a savings product. A wider perspective has been taken into account which makes the subject interesting to study.

Aim: Purpose of this study is to identify and analyze for who private investors equity index bonds fit as a savings product on lifecycle thought based on (i) professional and consulting practices, (ii) financial risk management theory, focusing on portfolio theory, and (iii) historical data on risk and return.

Completion: The study was completed using interviews with private consultants, capital advisors and people working with structured products at major banks and of small players. In addition, five stereotypes were used as a basis for discussion during the interviews. In order to conduct a deeper analysis of the product as a form of saving for private investors, a portfolio optimization carried out taking the historical data on risk and return into account.

Conclusion: The study determines that the product is suitable for private investors who are in the latter part of the consolidation phase and mainly not prone to risk. The study suggests that equity index bonds primarily are associated with credit- and market risk, while the risk of the product is assessed as low. The study also indicates that the properties that are added to investors’ portfolios are low risk and a potential aspect.

Background: Previous studies show that recommendations accuracy partly can be explained by numerous variables. Prior research leave out several variables, which based on theoretical support, may have a connection with accuracy, such as the cash flows’ volatility. Based on the DCF-model’s structure, accuracy of target prices is assumed to have a positive relationship with companies that have stable cash flows.

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the accuracy of stock analysts' target prices and their connection with stable cash flows. The purpose of the study is also to analyze the role of less highlighted variables’ relationship with the accuracy of target prices, in combination with earlier investigated variables.

Completion: Including less highlighted variables is supported by theory about corporate valuation, where cash flows’ volatility is the main focus of this study. The accuracy of the target prices is analyzed by regression analysis for three time horizons, where the dependent variable is the absolute margin of error and the dependent variables are represented by the explanatory factors that the study examines. The relationships are estimated by OLS, due to the fact that data are unbalanced.

Conclusion:  Stock analysts’ target prices present relationships with numerous of the variables examined in the study. The strongest relationships with the accuracy of target prices are shown by cash flows’ variation, the number of stock analysts, goodwill in terms of total capital and companies’ size. The results show that companies with stable cash flow have a positive relationship with the accuracy of target prices, which supports the theories of the DCF-model for valuation of companies with stable cash flow. The estimations show that the accuracy of target prices also is explained by other factors than those this very study investigates. The results show that the accuracy is higher for shorter time horizons.

This paper describes an exploratory study of whether and in what way ‘double-edged learning’ can develop from understanding the relationship between structure and judgment and thus capture students’ experience of the audit profession. The study is based on a focus group/individual interviews conducted with students performing their work-integrated learning assignments where they interact with auditors. Identifying two themes defined as Perceiving the profession and auditing and Entering into and forming in the audit profession derived from the data, it appears that when positioned within a work-integrated learning context, students develop awareness of the use of standards and checklists on one hand as well as the importance of discretional judgment on the other. Based on these results, we theorise as to how double-edged learning manifests itself in students’ experiences and understanding of the relationship between structure and judgment.

This study aims to identify Apple’s marketing strategies and their consumers’ fundamental needs, as well as to explore the alignment between them. More specifically, it examines how Apple's marketing strategies target the needs as outlined by Maslow's Hierarchy. By shedding light on the effectiveness oft hese strategies in meeting consumer needs, the study intends to inform future marketing initiatives within the technology industry. By adopting an abductive qualitative research method, semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten Apple users at Linköping University.

Findings indicate that Apple effectively meets consumers' self-actualization needs through its emphasis on innovation and lifestyle enhancements. Esteem needs are addressed through anticipation and differentiation, positioning Apple products as status symbols. The seamless integration of Apple's ecosystem strengthens a sense of belonging and loyalty among users. The study also reveals the significant impact of word of mouth marketing in shaping consumer perceptions and driving the adoption of Apple products. Furthermore, the endowment effect, where ownership of Apple products leads to higher valuation and satisfaction, plays a crucial role in enhancing user loyalty and emotional attachment. Additionally, Apple's focus on reliable software and high data security fulfills safety needs by ensuring trust and privacy.

A conceptual model developed from the study's findings is added to demonstrate the correlation between Apple's marketing strategies and the hierarchical needs of its consumers. This model highlights the strategic efforts Apple undertakes to elicit a wide range of emotions and fulfill diverse consumer needs. While limitations include a restricted sample size, future research could broaden the demographic scope and integrate quantitative methods to validate qualitative insights, considering factors such as age and socioeconomic background.

In recent years, the local government sector in European countries has undergone important changes involving, among other things, the externalisation of local public service provision through various forms of corporatisation, public-public collaboration, public-private partnerships and contracting out. An important consequence of these institutional changes has been the recasting of local governance systems through the need for increased cooperation between public and private actors. This article addresses these matters with comparative reference to the experience in Italy and Sweden. In doing so, it considers local governments in their constitutional and legal contexts, leading to more detailed discussions of their externalisation initiatives and resultant organisational forms and governance arrangements. Issues of ownership have been important concerning the significance of 'community' and 'place' in the management of public affairs.

Background and problem: The interest of the organization as a social system has increased the attention of the organization's internal relationships and internal communication. In many organizations management often spend much time on formulation strategic issues, which is not communicated sufficiently and thus not used by employees. In order that employees shall not perceive strategies as vacuous, it is important that the communication process clarifies and concretes the strategy. The process of work has been developed and today there is a high demand of knowledge among employees, which in turn need increased information. This means that it has become increasingly important that employees are involved in the organization's goals and approaches to different issues. Most organizations are complaining of poor communication ability, managers are complaining that the information does not reach the employees and that these do not follow the guidelines, while employees are complaining that decisions and information are not sufficiently communicated to them. The view of communication often gives a picture of communication being something simple, where the send and the received message is identical to one another. This leads to an over-reliance of the communication effectiveness in the organization.

Objective: The aim of this study is to describe the internal communication process of strategic issues and to assess its effectiveness.

Method: This is a study of four universal banks, which is based on a qualitative approach, where four interviews have taken place at management level and four interviews at local level.

Conclusion: The study has concluded that very little attempt is made to communicate strategic issues from management level to local level. Communication takes place through simple channels, primarily through the intranet, with the condition that employees will correctly understand the message. Because of the complexity of the message and the channels used, there is a risk that the message will be misinterpreted at the local level. Motivation in the communication process plays an important role, but unfortunately the banks motivate their employees to a limited extent. The communication process of strategic issues represents today a linear communication, which needs to be more effective. To make the communication process more effective requires other communication channels, clearer message and more motivation. A network approach of communication is needed.

Feminism in the Nordic countries was primarily formulated in terms of ‘state feminism’. The women’s movement cooperated with feminist government officials and politicians, resulting in societies that can be considered to be the most gender-equal societies in the world. Historically, the state provided for a large publicly-financed welfare sector which made it possible for many women to combine work and family through the state’s implementation of family-friendly policies, while simultaneously providing employment opportunities for many women. However, since the financial crisis of the 1990s, there has been a political change influenced by neo-liberal thought, in which politicians have handed over the welfare state’s responsibilities to the market, and, instead, the politicians have encouraged entrepreneurship, not least among women. Further to this development, there has been a change in emphasis from entrepreneurship (understood as starting and running a business) to entrepreneurialism which, in addition to a belief in the efficacy of market forces, also contains a social dimension where individuals are supposed to be flexible and exercise choice. In this article, we ask whether this entails a change in the feminist project in the Nordic countries, and if so, what the likely consequences are for this project, both in practice and in research. In order to answer this question, we reviewed existing Nordic research on women’s entrepreneurship and examined how this body of work conceptualizes entrepreneurship, gender, the state, and equality. We also considered whether any trends could be identified. We relate our findings to recent changes in government policy and conclude that the current discourse on entrepreneurship challenges, and possibly weakens, state feminism, but we also conclude that this discourse may also provide space for new forms of feminist action, in market terms. We coin the term FemInc.ism to denote feminist action through enterprise and we discuss a number of important challenges that research on this phenomenon is faced with.

The relatively new concept of ambidextrous leadership in innovation with the opposing yet complementary opening and closing leader behaviors has been proven to be positively related to fostering explorative and exploitative behaviors respectively among subordinates. The initiators of this concept propose that leaders in innovation need a ‘temporal flexibility to switch’ between opening and closing leader behaviors, which implies a sequential alignment of these behaviors. This proposition has yet remained theoretically and empirically unexplored and is initially questioned in this thesis with respect to related theoretical concepts.

Therefore, this thesis aims to explain how innovation leaders align the recently defined opening and closing leader behaviors throughout the innovation process. By following a qualitative and inductive research approach, a multiple case study of five innovation leaders in German manufacturing companies was conducted. The data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews. The empirical data reveal that the initiators’ proposition of a sequential alignment is not sufficient to explain the complex alignment of opening and closing leader behaviors. Accordingly, a model which illustrates a predominantly simultaneous alignment of the two leader behaviors was developed. However, this model also considers that urgent situations or specific project phases and times of the year require innovation leaders to sequentially demonstrate one behavior at a time.

Background: In today’s society consumers expect the offered products to function in accordance to what is being promised. Aspects such as functionality and quality are consequently part of most companies’ product offerings and can to a lesser extent be used as competitive advantages. A good product is not enough when it comes to creating added value; a product must also convey other intangible values, such as emotional, identity boosting or aesthetic ones. By using aesthetics to appeal to consumers’ senses, this may have a greater impact regarding choice of product, which can create a larger competitiveness than traditional marketing.

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to illustrate a product’s role in marketing by understanding how aesthetic values can be used as means of competition.

Method: The study is based on seven interviews with corporate representatives within the domestic appliance business and an organisation that deals with design.

Conclusion: The study has shown that a product’s aesthetic expression has great importance due to consumers’ increasingly growing interest for these aspects. As more senses are affected, the possibility increases for a product to appeal to the consumer. The sensuous expression that is most prominent today is visual aesthetics even if there is certain insight regarding the significance of the other senses for the consumer’s tendency to purchase. In spite of the awareness that seems to be present regarding the importance of aesthetics in the marketing of small electrical products, the study has revealed that this insight is not fully integrated. This may be due to the fact that this mean of communicating to the consumer still has not had its breakthrough on the market.

Background: The society is currently going through a change to more data-driven companies which makes the connection between IT and control most relevant. The increased digitalization affects companies’ ways of managing and creates both possibilities and challenges. Digitalization is no longer a question for the IT-department alone, but for the entire organization. It is not a question if digitalization affects companies, but how.

Purpose: The aim of this study is to examine in which ways digitalization can change and affect operating control.

Completion: This study is characterized by a qualitative methodology and has a realistic perspective. The empirical data has been collected through six semi-structured interviews with respondents from six different companies within different industries.

Conclusion: The digitalization has affected the studied cases’ operating control in many ways. To be able to succeed in the new and constantly changing environment, companies need to restructure their business and create new roles within the organization. Companies are also searching for new competencies. The digital transformation facilitates the flow of information, transparency and the creation of more effective value chains and contributes to increased customer orientation thanks to the possibilities of analyzing customer behavior through data. This in turn leads to companies being able to broaden and change their offerings, and here there seems to be an endeavor to start from the core product. An important aspect connected to this, is that the digitalization of activities does not necessarily lead to positive results for companies and therefore they need to know what they want to achieve with a digital transformation before making investments. Finally, it seems like companies’ degree of digital maturity has an impact on the extent to which operating control change.

Offset, an advanced form of countertrade, is common in the international marketing of large infrastructure and defence systems. Offsets are activities that benefit the buying country for example in the form of local content, support of exports, subcontracts and technology transfer. In this doctoral dissertation Magnus Ahlström analyses how offset can be managed, not as a separate activity but in the context of large systems marketing. Based on eight case studies of marketing of large defence systems, the author develops four models to describe the offer, the seller, the buyer and the buyer-seller interaction.

Offset is here seen as an intertwined component in the total offer, which cannot be managed separately from the technical system. Unrelated offset and offset related to the technical system require different management, but the two types need to be coordinated. Because of the need for resources and the interest from stakeholders the selling alliance and the extended buying centre are both multi-organisational including organisations with different interests and roles. For the seller e.g. the mobilisation of supporting organisations, subcontractors and local partners as well as control of their communication with the customer therefore become important. In addition project management also becomes a task of managing these relationships. The parallel processes of negotiations and implementation in the buyer-seller interaction increase the complexity of offset management. The management of offset in large systems marketing is here conceptualised as a multibusiness marketing activity, which is characterised by the involvement of multiple wants, multiple offers, multiple industries, multiple functions and multiple business partners.

The demographic trend in Sweden features a population with a rising average age. According to forecasts, nearly one Swede out of four will be 65 or older by the year 2025. Many individuals in this category of older persons, or seniors, can look forward to an active, healthy and relatively long old age. Studies have shown that tomorrow’s seniors and retirees will be relatively well off as social groups. In addition, attitude and generation surveys have indicated that these groups have high demands and expectations for their old age, future housing and related services. Society will thus face a considerable challenge, which includes maintaining a basic commitment to continue guaranteeing the standard of quality in housing and services for the elderly that is presently taken for granted. Necessary societal priorities, however, may require individuals to take more initiative and assume greater financial responsibility than before in some of these areas. In the 2000’s a new market segment has been established and shown vigorous growth. That segment is the senior housing market, where various housing concepts are offered to the target group, seniors, or persons aged 55+. The number of senior housing units in Sweden has soared in the last few years, from about 10 000 in 2000 to some 28 000 in 2007. In this study, the concept of senior housing, with features of integrated service and care, has been of special interest. What characterizes this housing concept is that housing and related services have been adapted and specially designed for living as an aging individual.

This dissertation (”the survey”) is reported in the form of a monograph consisting of two separate studies. The research question that has guided the first study is, “What creates a strong market position for a player on the senior-housing market with integrated service, health care and other forms of service and care?” The research question for the second study is, “What production strategies and control systems can be identified for some of the most successful concept-builders?” The two studies are related in that the latter is based on the results of the former. The studies were conducted over a period from 2002 to 2008. The research was done as an exploratory field study. The field-study approach has given priority to breadth and inclusion of many aspects. The instrument of measurement has consisted of set interview questions with open-ended alternative responses. The underlying interviews, together with secondary data, have been presented as a number of case studies. In the survey, a number of successful players have been selected on the basis of the criteria considered typical of successful actors on the senior housing market. Both Swedish and North American organizations have participated in the survey.

The empirical material of the survey has been analyzed on the basis of the theoretical conceptual frameworks developed for the two respective studies. The first study has been analyzed with a framework based on the concepts of environment, strategy, resources, service and competitiveness. The results have been formulated in a number of strategic choices that are summarized in the concepts of differentiation, focus, integration, collaboration, control, business development, core competence and resources. In this connection, it has been possible to show that actors who operate a successful business follow largely what Porter (1980) has defined as a strategy of differentiation. Moreover, a business-strategy typology of actors on the senior housing market has also been constructed. Also, the tentative conclusions of the first study have been formulated in four strategic ideal types: administrators, concept-builders, entrepreneurs and idealists.

The point of departure for the second study has been the ideal type referred to as the concept-builder. The conceptual framework has therefore been developed further, based in part on the theoretical framework of Nilsson and Rapp (2005). With certain additions, these foundations have been used to construct a detailed theoretical framework for the study. The conceptual framework has been designed to describe and analyze the causal relationships relating to strategic congruence and integrated control. In this regard, additions and adjustments have been made to include strategies and control systems for the construction of buildings and the production of services. The results of the second study include a case description and an analysis of successful concept-builders. One reason for their success is assumed to be their ability to achieve strategic congruence and integrated control. In light of the findings from the analysis of the data, the conceptual framework has been somewhat modified. This adjustment has consisted in classification along the dimensions of IT, organizational culture and fundamental values. In this connection it has been possible to demonstrate the importance of the physical planning of housing for the production of services. Emphasis has been placed on designing the physical facility and housing right from the beginning so as to facilitate the service-producing operation in a later stage of the life cycle.

One finding of the survey is that with North American concept-builders there is a high degree of consistency between strategies and control systems. The factors underlying this consistency can be summarized as market knowledge, industry experience, understanding the economies of scale attainable through clustering, organization on a small scale, a clear concept of business, a sense of value creation, a focus on objectives, farreaching delegation of authority and responsibility to the operating level, skilled management, value-oriented operations and a well-developed organizational culture. Through the survey, a number of customer-controlled operations have been illustrated in the case studies. It is apparent that compared to the past, there has been a shift in industry attitude in North America, creating a situation that differs from Swedish conditions in some respects. The North American concept-builders have defined their businesses as hotel operations for seniors. This has automatically shifted the focus toward one where residents have become customers and older people in general are regarded as assets.

Background: Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) sustainability isreceiving increased attention and significance within the corporate sector. Previous research has investigated ESG and its impact on Initial Public Offerings (IPOs), more specifically underpricing. However, previous studies do not give a complete understanding of the relationship between ESG information and underpricing in IPO contexts. Further, this relationship remains unexplored in the Swedish market, presenting an interesting and valuable opportunity for analysis.

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the relationship between ESG information disclosed in the IPO prospectus and the underpricing of IPOs in Sweden.

Method: The thesis uses a quantitative and deductive research approach. Two hypotheses were generated from existing literature, focusing on the quantity and the textual tone of ESG disclosures. Data was primarily collected through prospectuses from 65 Swedish corporations, and textual analysis was used to assess disclosed ESG information in terms of quantity and tone. The entirety of ESG and each ESG dimension were measured. The data was analyzed through the statistical program SPSS, with the help of regression analysis.

Results: The thesis reveals a significant positive relationship between underpricing and quantity of social- as well as overall ESG-related disclosures. Further, a significant positive relationship was observed between underpricing and a positive tone in governance- as well as overall ESG-related disclosures.

BACKGROUND:There is a growing interest in managers’ wellbeing due to the observed associations between their wellbeing and leadership behaviours, and between leadership behaviours and employees’ wellbeing. However, it is still unclear how managers’ wellbeing influences their practiced leadership across different workplace contexts, which specific behaviours are affected, and how this varies across time.

OBJECTIVE:The purpose of this study was therefore to explore managers’ and employees’ experiences and perceptions regarding the consequences of managers’ wellbeing for their leadership behaviours in small businesses.

METHODS:Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 37 participants (19 managers and 18 employees) working at 12 Swedish small firms, and analysed using content analysis.

RESULTS:The findings show that managers were more constructive when they felt well, and more passively destructive when unwell. Variations in managers’ wellbeing influenced their mood, energy level, and performance, as well as the company’s working climate. However, these destructive leadership variations did not have a substantial impact, because several protective factors were present.

CONCLUSION:This study shows that the wellbeing of managers in small businesses has perceptible consequences for their leadership behaviours. The study also shows that sustained leadership behaviours may coexist with temporary variations of these behaviours on a constructive-destructive continuum depending on the leader’s wellbeing. Overall, the findings contribute to a more nuanced and dynamic understanding of how the interaction between managers’ wellbeing and their behaviours unfolds in the particular context of small companies.

The purpose of this study is to examine which factors influence job performance for IT sector employees that are required to work from home indefinitely due to COVID-19. This study is based on a framework concerning themes such as working from home, performance, motivation, work-life balance, and psychological well-being.

For the study, five IT sector employees that were required to work from home were interviewed to give the authors insight into the basis of the study. Previous studies mostly focused on IT sector employees working from home with the option of coming into the office; due to the sudden pandemic of COVID-19, there has not been much research regarding IT sector employees that are required to work from home indefinitely.

Our most important findings show that employees are compensating their lack of in-person social interactions with spending time with family and using virtual apps to maintain their relationships with coworkers to provide a work-life balance. Working with coworkers has also given employees a sense of accountability that motivates them to do work. The virus, COVID-19 has impacted employees by mentally draining them which impacts their job performance. Ultimately, the idea of a job role perception and its impact on motivation and job performance is very subjective to the individual.

Corporate governance is a subject of academic and professional debate. It has and it will continue to be a topic under scrutiny for subsequent deliberations since there are many different research dimensions and contexts associated with it. However, it has been observed that the linkage between corporate governance and strategy of a corporation remains as an untapped area with considerable avenues of research. This paper tends to explore this linkage, using Enron scandal as backdrop.

In the aftermath of the debacle of US energy giant Enron in 2001, the significance of corporate governance has come under heavy scrutiny of different researchers. Whereas different explanations have been attributed to its downfall, it has been widely accepted that this was a case of failed corporate governance.

This paper tends to explore Enron downfall from the perspective of failed corporate governance. By defining and exploring corporate governance and its underlying issues, the authors have used Agency theory as a theoretical framework in unison with internationally renowned auditing company - Ernst & Young Model - to understand the role of different actors and forces responsible for Enron collapse.

By using qualitative research method, the authors have used secondary literature as well as combination of questionnaires and telephonic interviews to obtain viewpoint of renowned international academic / professional researchers. They have been identified through convenience sampling methodology. A few internationally renowned auditing companies have also been used as part of this survey to explore diversity of perspectives in this context. Efforts have been made; to explore the main causes rather then to write just another case on Enron.

After drawing lessons from Enron, the paper concludes with the understanding that there is direct link between corporate governance and strategy of corporations. However there is diversity of perspectives in this context and hence it requires further exploration and debate.

Fashion democratization over the last few decades made fashion products available at lower costs to everyone in society. It alarmingly increased consumption, leaving drastic impacts on the world's sustainability both on the social and environmental fronts, thereby leading to water and land pollution, dangerous working conditions, sweatshops, wage exploitation, and gender discrimination. Our study, therefore, sheds some light on addressing this core problem of fashion sustainability by focusing on the problem from the consumers’ perspectives because researchers conclude that consumers hold power to mitigate this issue to a greater extent by becoming sustainable. However, in many cases, consumers show the attitude-behavior gap when it comes to consuming sustainable fashion. The area of actual sustainable fashion consumers is also under-researched.

Therefore, we conducted our research in this area and used qualitative methods for it. We identified a small group of 16 sustainable transitional fashion consumers who have started their sustainable fashion consumption journey. We performed an inductive process study of these transitional consumers' journeys and developed a Conceptual ‘Consumer Journey Map’ from unsustainability towards sustainability. We used semi-structured interviews for data collection. By studying their entire process of transition, we identified a number of constraints that retained them from making the transition towards sustainable fashion consumption, such as Social Influence, Trend and Newness, Unaesthetic Appearance and Lack of Variety, Lacking Sizes and Fitting, Low price, and Lower Income, Lack of Knowledge and Information and Greenwashing by the brands. However, the enablers that pushed them to become sustainable were Influence from Sustainable social circles, Tangible Experiences, Quality and Longevity, and Feelings of guilt and remorse which are presented in ourconceptual ‘C-E Framework.'

Our research also identified conceptual ‘Levels of Sustainability,’ where consumers reuse or reduceor reject to pass Level one. To reach Level two, a consumer has to begin combining any two of these behaviors. However, to reach the final Level X, a consumer needs to reuse, reduce, and reject simultaneously. A consumer passes through these different levels from being a ‘self’ consumer to be a ‘social’ one and finally converting into a ‘sacrifice’ consumer in their journey.