Bioenergy production and sustainable development: Science base for policymaking remains limited

The possibility of using bioenergy as a climate change mitigation measure has sparked a discussion of whether and how bioenergy production contributes to sustainable development. We undertook a systematic review of the scientific literature to illuminate this relationship and found a limited scientific basis for policymaking. Our results indicate that knowledge on the sustainable development impacts of bioenergy production is concentrated in a few well‐studied countries, focuses on environmental and economic impacts, and mostly relates to dedicated agricultural biomass plantations. The scope and methodological approaches in studies differ widely and only a small share of the studies sufficiently reports on context and/or baseline conditions, which makes it difficult to get a general understanding of the attribution of impacts. Nevertheless, we identified regional patterns of positive or negative impacts for all categories – environmental, economic, institutional, social and technological. In general, economic and technological impacts were more frequently reported as positive, while social and environmental impacts were more frequently reported as negative (with the exception of impacts on direct substitution of GHG emission from fossil fuel). More focused and transparent research is needed to validate these patterns and develop a strong science underpinning for establishing policies and governance agreements that prevent/mitigate negative and promote positive impacts from bioenergy production

Vårdpersonals bemötande av personer som lever med alkohol /drogberoende : en systematisk litteraturöversikt

Validerat; 20101217 (root

Storytelling : A Study of Marketing Communication in the Hospitality Industry

There is an information surplus in the marketplace today and finding marketing resources that are both effective and affordable is difficult. As quantity and price has lost its competitive power and quality and symbolic meaning has become increasingly important, storytelling as a marketing mean can be one concept to apply, especially in the service sector. The hospitality industry is one of the largest service sectors, facing fierce competition. Many hotels have a story to share and storytelling is today a buzzword in the industry, but it has not received much attention in the academic world. Therefore, little is known about storytelling from a business administration perspective, more specifically marketing communication, which is our field of interest in this thesis. The purpose of this thesis is to study and analyze storytelling and how it is used as marketing communication in the Swedish hospitality industry. To fulfill our purpose, a qualitative study with an inductive approach was chosen as suitable. Primary data was gathered through interviews with managers from nine different hotels, which all work actively with storytelling. Theories regarding service marketing, marketing communications, and storytelling helped us to collect appropriate empirical data and also to structure the analysis. Storytelling in the hospitality industry is an identity or an image, and the purpose of using storytelling is to be remembered and to mediate a feeling. As a concept, it requires attributes and a certain level of truth is important to remain trustworthy. Furthermore, storytelling facilitates the communication process between the hotels and their customers and it often strengthens customers’ attitudes towards the hotel. Both private and business customers are attracted by stories, but it is easier to communicate the story to large groups during a conference. It is however difficult to mediate the whole concept through marketing communication tools as it is too compound. Storytelling facilitates an integrated marketing communication as it becomes an image and word of mouth is increased due to that people talk about the unexpected

The IT Phenomenon in the Multinational Enterprise

Foreword In the last ten years (that I have been doing research and teaching at Mälardalen University) I have studied how information technology has become increasingly important in companies’ activities – in their daily business as well as in its implications for firms in general. What occurs to me is that, when the issue becomes a topic of academic research, information technology is studied from different perspectives in different areas of research – sometimes it is treated as a topic in itself, and sometimes as part of a business strategy or marketing activity. I have often asked myself when information technology will become regarded as an aspect of the business administration taught at universities. To some extent I think it already is, although it is not yet formally considered to be an aspect of business administration. As a lecturer, I have focused mainly on international business. In many of the seminars that I have lead, the issue of information technology has been discussed as something that the students believe will change the way that multinational enterprises can and do coordinate and control their organisations and acquire the information they need concerning their markets. (The use of information technology states that that is the case). The issue of how and to what end multinational enterprises use information technology has often been raised, but it seems that the literature comes up short in providing a holistic view of this matter. There are many studies on different aspects, and some of them present empirical data, but it seems there is a lack of major contemporary studies showing general results on the phenomenon of information technology in multinational enterprises. This is no surprise, since a study of this kind would cost a great deal of resources in terms of time as well as professors and doctoral candidates. This book is a work that partly fills the gap in the literature. It discusses and assembles literature on information technology as a feature of the multinational enterprise, but to some extent it also theorises on the role of IT in multinational enterprises. The students behind this work have carried out extensive literature reviews in many of the fields that encompass information technology in business in general and in large international companies in particular. They have arranged the literature and present it in a way they think is suitable in order to provide an overall picture of information technology in multinational enterprises. The study of the literature has thrown up questions, which have been asked of representatives of multinational companies and so “cases” are presented, i.e.Iexamples demonstrating the use of information technology. As a whole, this book fulfils its aim, which is to present the use of information technology in multinational companies in theory and in practice and to show that information technology as used by companies is a part of business administration as we know it. Of course there are questions that remain unanswered. Some of them are stated as topics for further research at the end of this work. I feel content to use this book as a textbook on undergraduate courses dealing with the management of multinational enterprises, since the use of information technology is an important part of these. I feel proud that it is my students who (may I add, without much help from my part) have produced this work. Cecilia Lindh, superviso

The IT Phenomenon in the Multinational Enterprise

Foreword In the last ten years (that I have been doing research and teaching at Mälardalen University) I have studied how information technology has become increasingly important in companies’ activities – in their daily business as well as in its implications for firms in general. What occurs to me is that, when the issue becomes a topic of academic research, information technology is studied from different perspectives in different areas of research – sometimes it is treated as a topic in itself, and sometimes as part of a business strategy or marketing activity. I have often asked myself when information technology will become regarded as an aspect of the business administration taught at universities. To some extent I think it already is, although it is not yet formally considered to be an aspect of business administration. As a lecturer, I have focused mainly on international business. In many of the seminars that I have lead, the issue of information technology has been discussed as something that the students believe will change the way that multinational enterprises can and do coordinate and control their organisations and acquire the information they need concerning their markets. (The use of information technology states that that is the case). The issue of how and to what end multinational enterprises use information technology has often been raised, but it seems that the literature comes up short in providing a holistic view of this matter. There are many studies on different aspects, and some of them present empirical data, but it seems there is a lack of major contemporary studies showing general results on the phenomenon of information technology in multinational enterprises. This is no surprise, since a study of this kind would cost a great deal of resources in terms of time as well as professors and doctoral candidates. This book is a work that partly fills the gap in the literature. It discusses and assembles literature on information technology as a feature of the multinational enterprise, but to some extent it also theorises on the role of IT in multinational enterprises. The students behind this work have carried out extensive literature reviews in many of the fields that encompass information technology in business in general and in large international companies in particular. They have arranged the literature and present it in a way they think is suitable in order to provide an overall picture of information technology in multinational enterprises. The study of the literature has thrown up questions, which have been asked of representatives of multinational companies and so “cases” are presented, i.e.Iexamples demonstrating the use of information technology. As a whole, this book fulfils its aim, which is to present the use of information technology in multinational companies in theory and in practice and to show that information technology as used by companies is a part of business administration as we know it. Of course there are questions that remain unanswered. Some of them are stated as topics for further research at the end of this work. I feel content to use this book as a textbook on undergraduate courses dealing with the management of multinational enterprises, since the use of information technology is an important part of these. I feel proud that it is my students who (may I add, without much help from my part) have produced this work. Cecilia Lindh, superviso

Bioenergy production and sustainable development : science base for policymaking remains limited

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu MdM-2015-0552Altres ajuts: European Research Council (ERC) consolidator grant, contract number 313533The possibility of using bioenergy as a climate change mitigation measure has sparked a discussion of whether and how bioenergy production contributes to sustainable development. We undertook a systematic review of the scientific literature to illuminate this relationship and found a limited scientific basis for policymaking. Our results indicate that knowledge on the sustainable development impacts of bioenergy production is concentrated in a few well-studied countries, focuses on environmental and economic impacts, and mostly relates to dedicated agricultural biomass plantations. The scope and methodological approaches in studies differ widely and only a small share of the studies sufficiently reports on context and/or baseline conditions, which makes it difficult to get a general understanding of the attribution of impacts. Nevertheless, we identified regional patterns of positive or negative impacts for all categories - environmental, economic, institutional, social and technological. In general, economic and technological impacts were more frequently reported as positive, while social and environmental impacts were more frequently reported as negative (with the exception of impacts on direct substitution of emission from fossil fuel). More focused and transparent research is needed to validate these patterns and develop a strong science underpinning for establishing policies and governance agreements that prevent/mitigate negative and promote positive impacts from bioenergy production