AI i fastighetsförvaltning : En kvalitativ studie om möjligheter, hinder och hyresgästacceptans i digitaliseringens tid

The real estate industry is going through a digital transformation, where new technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and digital tools are starting to change how properties are managed. However, there is still uncertainty about how these technologies affect the daily work in the industry and especially how they are experienced by tenants. Earlier research has mostly focused on how technology can improve efficiency and sustainability, while the tenant’s point of view has often been left out. This shows a clear gap in knowledge, which this study aims to explore. Through qualitative interviews with people working in property management, the study looks at how digitalisation and AI are being used, what opportunities and challenges arise, and how these tools affect the relationship with tenants. The results show that while the technology offers many possibilities, it also requires structured data, internal knowledge, and clear communication to be fully useful. At the same time, tenant acceptance cannot be taken for granted, it needs to be understood, tested, and earned. This study adds important knowledge about the interaction between technology, organisations, and people in a changing industry

The relationship between physical and social activity and cognitive function in older adults

Syftet med föreliggande studie var att undersöka sambandet mellan fysisk- och social aktivitet och kognitiv funktion hos personer i åldrarna 65+. Rörande fysisk aktivitet har aktuell studie undersökt om det finns något samband mellan intensitet på fysisk aktivitet (ansträngande, måttlig och lätt) och kognitiv funktion (exekutiva funktioner, arbetsminneskapacitet och bearbetningshastighet). Totalt deltog 64 personer i studien, varav 56% kvinnor och 44% män i åldrarna 66 till 87 år (M = 74.91, SD = 5.33). Deltagarna rekryterades genom personliga kontakter och via kontakt med olika seniorföreningar. Deltagarna fick ett sammanställt frågeformulär med bakgrundsfrågor om kön, ålder och utbildningsnivå, samt om sina fysiska aktivitetsvanor (Leisure-Time Exercise Questionnaire, LTEQ) och sina sociala aktivitetsvanor (Australian Community Participation Scale, ACPS). Efter detta fick deltagarna genomföra fem tester för att mäta deras kognitiva förmåga; (1) Digit Symbol Modalities Test för att mäta bearbetningshastighet, (2) Digit Span Backwards för att mäta arbetsminneskapacitet, (3) Trail Making Test för att mäta task-switching förmåga, (4) Semantic Fluency Test för att mäta förmågan att kategorisera och organisera information samt (5) Phonemic Fluency Test för att mäta förmågan att planera och komma på strategier. Resultatet visade på att måttlig fysisk aktivitet samt social aktivitet hade ett positivt samband med både förmågan att kategorisera information, samt förmågan att planera och komma på strategier, vilket överensstämmer med tidigare forskning. Däremot hade grad av social aktivitet ett signifikant samband med sämre task-switching förmåga, vilket motstrider tidigare studier. Vidare var inte sambanden mellan vare sig fysisk aktivitet eller social aktivitet signifikant med bearbetningshastigheten eller arbetsminneskapacitet. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between physical activity and social activity and cognitive function in individuals aged 65 and older. Regarding physical activity, the study examined whether there is a connection between the intensity of physical activity (vigorous, moderate, and light) and cognitive function (executive function, working memory capacity and processing speed). A total of 64 individuals participated in the study, of which 56% were women and 44% were men, aged 66 to 87 years old (M = 74.91, SD = 5.33). Participants were recruited through personal contacts and connections with various senior organizations. They completed a complied questionnaire with background questions about gender, age and education level, as well as their physical acitivity habits (Leisure-Time Exercise Questionnaire, LTEQ) and social activity habits (Australian Community Participation Scale, ACPS). Afterward, participants completed five tests to measure their cognitive abilities: (1) Digit Symbol Modalites Test to asses processing speed, (2) Digit Span Backwards to measure working memory capacity, (3) Trail Making Test to evaluate task-switching ability, (4) Semantic Fluency Test to asses the ability to categorize information and (5) Phonemic Fluency Test to measure planning and strategy generation abilities. Consistent with previous research, the results showed that moderate physical acitivity and social acitvity were positively associated with both the ability to categorize and organize information and the ability to plan and generate strategies. However, contrary to previous research, the degree of social activity was significantly associated with poorer task-switching ability. Furthermore, no significant associations were found between either physical or social activity and processing speed or working memory capacity.

Work environment management during the digitalization of the Covid-19 pandemic : A qualitative study of manager’s experiences

Syfte: Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur administrativa chefer inom universitetssektorn erfar och beskriver sitt ansvar för de anställdas organisatoriska och sociala arbetsmiljö vid distansarbete, vilka riskfaktorer som identifieras och hur de arbetar förebyggande mot dessa risker. Metod: Semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes med åtta administrativa chefer inom universitetssektorn. Fenomenografisk metod användes därefter för analysen av intervjumaterialet. Resultat: Resultatet av studien visar att det finns flera riskfaktorer och utmaningar kopplade till arbetsmiljöarbete vid arbete som sker helt på distans. Cheferna upplevde en ökad arbetsbelastning och krav kopplade till arbetsmiljöarbetet och beskrev riskfaktorer och utmaningar gällande medarbetarnas arbetsmiljö, till exempel gällande gränser mellan arbete och privatliv, risk för social isolering samt risken för att arbetsmiljörelaterade missförhållanden inte upptäcks i tid. Resultatet belyser också komplexiteten av ansvarsfrågan för arbetsmiljön när arbetet sker på distans i hemmet. Slutsats: Resultatet från studien ger en ökad förståelse för chefers upplevelser av att bedriva arbetsmiljöarbete med de begränsningar av fysiska möten som rådde under Covid-19 pandemin och visar några av de risker och utmaningar som kan uppstå när arbete sker helt på distans. Studien belyser även vikten av mer forskning inom området, särskilt med fokus på chefer med arbetsmiljöansvar, för att kunna förebygga de utmaningar och risker som beskrivits i studien samt främja arbetsrelaterad hälsa hos såväl chef som medarbetare vid distansarbete.Objective: This study aims to investigate how administrative managers within the University sector in Sweden describe their responsibilities for the work environment of their employees and how this has functioned in practice during the transition to working from home as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. The focus of this study is to explain how the managers work to promote health in regards of the organizational and social work environment and with the purpose of avoiding health risks that their employees might face as a result of working from home. Method: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight administrative managers within the University sector in Sweden. The fenomenographical method was used to conduct the analysis. Results: Findings from the study show several risk factors and challenges in regard to work environment management during full-time remote work. The managers experienced an increase in workload and work-related demands. They also described several risk factors and challenges related to their employee’s work environment such as work-life boundaries, the risk of social isolation and that work-related issues wouldn’t be discovered in time. The findings also highlight the complexity of the issue of responsibility in regard to work environment management during full-time remote work. Conclusion: The findings of this study provide an understanding of manager’s experiences of work environment management during the Covid-19 pandemic and describe some of the risks and challenges that can happen during full-time remote work. The findings also shed light on the need for more research within the field, especially focusing on leaders with work environment responsibility, with the purpose of preventing the risks and challenges described in this study as well as promoting work-related health for both leaders and employees when they are working from home.

Non-Basketball Features in the NBA: Machine Learning and SHAP Analysis of Player Contracts and Team Priorities

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is the world’s biggest basketball league, with 30 teams across the United States and Canada, which generates billions in annual revenue. An NBA players impact is usually determined based on performance on the court. However, off-court factors influence aspects of the NBA, such as player contracts. This study investigates how non-basketball features, such as off-court factors like Instagram followers and player loyalty, affect player contracts. By using various Machine Learning models, this study analyzed the model’s predictive results trained on a dataset containing only basketball features and compared the results on a dataset containing both basketball and non-basketball features. Furthermore, this study was assisted by the Explainable AI model SHAP to examine how the most valuable teams versus the least valuable teams in the NBA prioritized these non-basketball features. SHAP’s reliability was also assessed for this specific problem. The results showed that incorporating non-basketball features significantly improves the predictive performance of many Machine Learning models, but not Deep Learning models performance in this study. The SHAP analysis revealed that there are differences between highly valuable teams and low-value teams. Highly valuable teams pay for every feature on average more than low-value teams, and if a player were an All Star, it is more likely that this player will be paid more on a highly valuable team. The SHAP assessment test demonstrated its functionality in this case. However, in a general context, SHAP reliability cannot be proved in this study. These results highlight the role of non- basketball features in NBA salaries and offer insights into the application of explainable AI in salary prediction.National Basketball Association (NBA) är världens största basketliga, med 30 lagi USA och Kanada, vilket genererar miljarder i årliga intäkter. En NBA-spelaresinverkan bestäms vanligtvis baserat på prestationer på planen. Faktorer utan-för planen påverkar dock aspekter av NBA, såsom spelarkontrakt. Denna studieundersöker hur icke-basketrelaterade funktioner, vilket innebär faktorer utanförplanen som Instagramföljare och spelarlojalitet, påverkar spelarkontrakt i NBA.Genom att använda olika maskininlärningsmodeller analyserade denna studiemodellernas prediktiva resultat tränade på en datauppsättning som endast in-nehöll basketrelaterade funktioner och jämförde resultaten på en datauppsättningsom innehöll både basketrelaterade och icke-basketrelaterade funktioner. Dessu-tom använde sig denna studie av Explainable AI-modellen SHAP för att under-söka hur de mest värdefulla lagen kontra de minst värdefulla lagen i NBA pri-oriterade dessa icke-basketrelaterade funktioner. SHAP:s tillförlitlighet utvärder-ades också för detta specifika problem. Resultaten visade att inkluderingen avicke-basketrelaterade funktioner avsevärt förbättrar den prediktiva prestandan förmånga maskininlärningsmodeller, men inte Deep Learning-modellers prestanda idenna studie. SHAP-analysen visade att det finns skillnader mellan mycket värde-fulla lag och lag med lågt värde. Högvärdiga lag betalar i genomsnitt mer förvarje funktion än lågvärdiga lag, och om en spelare vore en All Star är det mertroligt att den spelaren kommer att få mer betalt i ett högvärdigt lag. SHAP-bedömningstestet visade dess funktionalitet i detta fall. Men i ett generellt sam-manhang kan dock inte SHAP-tillförlitlighet bevisas i denna studie. Dessa resultatbelyser rollen av icke-basketrelaterade funktioner i NBA-löner och ger insikter itillämpningen av förklarbar AI i löneprognoser

Sambandet mellan träningsberoende och fysisk självbild hos vuxna motionärer

Syftet med föreliggande studie var att undersöka sambandet mellan träningsberoende och fysisk självbild hos vuxna motionärer. Studien genomfördes på deltagare över 18 år, som uppfyller rekommendationen för fysisk aktivitet med minst 150 minuter pulshöjande träning per vecka. Datainsamlingen genomfördes via digitala frågeformulär där totalt 112 motionärer deltog. Mätinstrumenten som användes varGodin leisure - time exercise questionnaire (GLTEQ), Exercise Dependence Scale-21 (EDS-21) och Physical Self-Perception Profile (PSPP-R). Resultatet visade på flera statistiskt signifikanta samband mellan träningsberoende och delar av fysisk självbild: idrottskompetens, fysisk kondition, kroppsattraktivitet och fysisk styrka. Däremot kunde inget statistiskt signifikant samband mellan träningsberoende och global självkänsla visas, även om en svag negativ korrelation noterades. Sammantaget visar föreliggande studie att fysisk självbild är en viktig faktor i relation till träningsberoende, där högre skattningar av fysisk självbild kan öka risken för träningsberoende. Resultaten visar på vikten av att förstå individers självbild för att förebygga ohälsosamma träningsbeteenden. The aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between exercise dependence and physical self-concept among adult recreational exercisers. The study included participants aged 18 and older who met the recommendations for physical activity, engaging in at least 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous exercise per week. Data collection was conducted via digital questionnaires, with a total of 112 exercisers participating. The instruments used were the Godin Leisure-Time Exercise Questionnaire (GLTEQ), the Exercise Dependence Scale-21 (EDS-21), and the Physical Self-Perception Profile (PSPP-R). The results revealed several statistically significant relationships between exercise dependence and aspects of physical self-concept: sport competence, physical condition, body attractiveness, and physical strength. However, no statistically significant relationship was found between exercise dependence and global self-esteem, although a weak negative correlation was observed. Overall, the present study demonstrates that physical self-concept is an important factor in relation to exercise dependence, with higher ratings of physical self-concept potentially increasing the risk of exercise dependence. The findings highlight the importance of understanding individuals' self-concepts to prevent unhealthy exercise behaviors.

Assessing the business impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia–Ukraine war : the role of corporate sustainability and financial performance

Purpose: This study aims to examine whether corporate sustainability practices act as a shield ensuring financial performance in times of crisis. Design/methodology/approach: Data from 471 European firms during 2018–23 were categorized into three periods: (1) before the Covid-19 pandemic, (2) during the pandemic, and (3) during the Russia-Ukraine War. In this regard, pooled ordinary least squares (POLS), two-step generalized method of moments (GMM), Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney non-parametric tests were performed to examine the impact of crises and whether corporate sustainability practices act as a shield to ensure financial performance. Findings: The proponents of the resource-based view have argued that corporate sustainability practices create additional valuable resources that might work as a shield for ensuring financial performance even in times of crisis. While many studies have examined the impact of the recent pandemic, few compare the impacts of the war’s repercussions on business performance. This study found a distinction between natural (Covid) and human-induced crises (war) on corporate financial performance. The results suggest that sustainability practices might work as a shield during a natural crisis but not during a human-induced one.  Practical implications: We observed that throughout the Covid-19 period, policymakers extended assistance to businesses, but during the subsequent European geopolitical crisis, their ability to offer such support has been absent. This absence might have a negative impact on corporate financial performance as government support increases investor confidence which artificially boosts market valuations. In addition, with the experience of Covid-19, investors might consider issues other than corporate sustainability practices when evaluating the market value of a firm. Even though we have seen an increasing trend in sustainability practices since the start of Covid-19 and continuing through the Russia-Ukraine war, these practices are not significantly reflected in or valued by investors. Originality: This study sheds light on the comparative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine War upon business performance and raises the bar on the theoretical understanding through a resource-based view (RBV). © 2025, ABM Fazle Rahi, Jeaneth Johansson, Asif M. Huq and Fredrik Hartwig

Cirkulär Masshantering : Ett steg mot mer hållbara anläggningsprojekt

Cirkulär masshantering i bygg- och anläggningssektorn utgör en nyckelfaktor för att minska klimatpåverkan och resursförbrukning. Studien syftar till att undersöka hur olika hanteringsstrategier av schaktmassor påverkar miljö och ekonomi, samt vilka hinder och möjligheter som upplevs av entreprenörer. Tre scenarier har analyserats: deponering, återanvändning på plats och mellanlagring för framtida användning. Metoden kombinerar litteraturanalys, livscykelanalys (LCA), fallstudie och semistrukturerade intervjuer. LCA visar att återanvändning av massor ofta innebär lägre utsläpp och potentiella kostnadsbesparingar, men att vinsterna varierar beroende på logistiska och projektmässiga förutsättningar. Intervjuerna visar att entreprenörer har en vilja att arbeta hållbart, men att osäker lagstiftning, bristande samordning och ekonomiska risker ofta bromsar utvecklingen. Slutsatsen är att cirkulär masshantering inte bara är ett miljömål, utan ett strategiskt verktyg. För att möjliggöra en bredare tillämpning krävs förenklade regelverk, ökad kunskap och praktiska lösningar som regionala hubbar. En förändring kräver både strukturellt stöd och ett nytt synsätt inom branschen. Circular management of excavated soil and rock materials is a key strategy for reducing climate impact and conserving natural resources in the construction sector. This study aims to examine how different handling strategies such as landfilling, on-site reuse, and processing for future use can affect environmental and economic outcomes, while also exploring perceived barriers and opportunities among contractors. The research combines literature analysis, life cycle assessment (LCA), a case study, and semi-structured interviews. The LCA reveals that reuse of excavated materials can significantly reduce emissions and lead to cost savings, although benefits vary depending on project-specific logistics. Interviews show a general willingness among contractors to adopt sustainable practices, but uncertainty in legislation, limited coordination, and economic risks that often hinder progress. The study concludes that circular mass management is not only an environmental goal, but also a strategic tool. To enable broader implementation, simplified regulations, increased knowledge, and practical solutions, such as regional storage hubs, are needed. Achieving change will require both structural support and a shift in mindset within the industry.

Financing and Projects that Aim for a More Environmentally Sustainable Supply Chain : A Qualitative Study in the Food Industry

Title: Financing and Projects that Aim for a More Environmentally Sustainable Supply Chain Subtitle: A Qualitative Study in the Food Industry Level: Degree of Master of Science in Business and Economics, 30 credits Authors: Diellza Kamberaj & Ella Kusmic Published: 2025-05-20 Supervisor: Fazle Rahi Examiner: Savvas Papadopoulos Background: Increased focus on emission reductions among companies has resulted in that they are ready to find new strategies to reduce their emissions in the supply chain which are incorporated in scope 3. Purpose: The purpose of the essay is to identify funding opportunities and projects for implementing sustainability work in the supply chain. The research question is to provide answers to how Axfood AB can support its suppliers to reduce their climate impact in the supply chain. Reasearch question: How can Axfood AB work with projects and financing to promote environmental sustainability work in its supply chain? Theoretical and conceptual Framework: The theoretical and conceptual framework describes financing of environmental sustainability in the supply chain, relevant legislation for the study, Green Supply Chain Management and Sustainable Supply Chain Finance. Furthermore, the stakeholder theory, Triple Bottom Line and the study's theoretical model are presented. Methodology: The study adopts a qualitative research method and is carried out with a deductive approach. The empirical data was collected through six interviews with 5 companies and a text analysis of 17 reports and 18 websites in order to gain a deeper understanding of financing and projects in environmental sustainability work. The collected empirical data was analyzed in accordance with a content analysis.Empirical data: The study's empirical data describes the respondents' answers from the interviews and the data on companies' environmental sustainability work that was found with a text analysis. Conclusion: The study describes how companies work to implement environmental sustainability in the supply chain. The conclusion shows that a sustainability assessment of suppliers can contribute with a selection of suppliers that can have the opportunity to receive financial funds from a sustainability fund. This results in emission reductions in the supply chain, which is part of scope 3. Keywords: the food industry, sustainable supply chain finance, supply chain, green supply chain management, environmentally sustainable supply chain and scope 3