The role of the private sector in preparing for humanitarian operations - A multiple-case study including DP-DHL, MasterCard and Cisco

There are many actors included in the humanitarian system, such as NGOs, UN humanitarian agencies and governments. However, a gap in the humanitarian system can be identified where the traditional actors lack resources, which provides an opportunity for the private sector to be more involved, particularly in preparing for humanitarian operations. Therefore, in this research, a multiple-case study has been performed with three private businesses; DP-DHL, MasterCard and Cisco, with the purpose to understand the present role of the private sector in preparing for humanitarian operations and the possibility to improve this role. Both benefits and some challenges have been revealed related to the involvement of the private sector. An understanding of their role has been obtained where it has been found that there are many possibilities for the private sector to engage in preparing for humanitarian operations. The outcomes of the engagements studied in this research imply that successful initiatives are achievable and factors of success have been formulated. These can indicate what areas should be invested in to achieve successful initiatives in the future.The private sector can play an important role in making humanitarian operations more effective by engaging in preparedness activities. Findings in this research indicate that successful initiatives are achievable and factors of success have been identified. More effective disaster preparedness and response in humanitarian operations are needed today due to changing conditions for disasters, such as new disaster risks occurring and a growing vulnerability to these risks. Expertise, knowledge and innovation which traditional actors might lack can be found within the private sector. which can be an opportunity for them to be more involved in humanitarian operations. This research focuses on understanding the private sector’s role in preparing for humanitarian operations, both the present- and the future role. This was achieved by performing a multiple-case study including conducting interviews and studying documents from private businesses engaging in this area. In the research, it was found that there are many possibilities for private sector engagement, mainly related to their area of business. Successful initiatives can be achieved, especially by engaging in partnerships with humanitarian organisations and by doing that, challenges that have been discussed in other literature can be overcome. Challenges related to private sector engagement are not general but are dependent on the company’s engagement and contribution area. Companies can be motivated to engage in humanitarian operations due to external factors such as CSR and internal factors such as a motivated staff. From the studied cases, several factors of success have been observed for successful outcomes of private sector initiatives, such as partnerships, collaboration with other actors, flexibility within initiatives and well-functioning follow-up activities to ensure having a long-term impact and improving the initiatives. In addition, to achieve successful outcomes, each company engaging in initiatives related to humanitarian operations should consider their own possibilities and resources. The researchers suggest that the private sector should be open to expanding their engagement within the area of humanitarian operations. There is still much that can be done within this area and there is room for increasing private sector engagement and further investments can be made. Suggestions about how this can be made is presented in the research. It is the researchers wish that this research can inform private actors as well as other actors about how this can be achieved. In addition, the research area is relatively unexplored and therefore this research can inspire others to continue studying this area

Income inequality and economic growth : An investigation of the OECD countries

Income inequality is in a majority of earlier studies more or less affirmatively agreed to be negatively related to economic growth. The underlying complexity of the connection lacks well-tried backing in the modern time. The main purpose of this research is to identify the relationship between income inequality and economic growth, but also the effects of other factors, such as human capital and investment. This is conducted with a panel data approach on 34 OECD countries with data over the period 1990-2010. Aggregate income inequality, represented by the Gini coefficient is used in the empirical estimation, together with two other variables to control for the income inequality at the bottom and top end of the income distribution. The results indicate the aggregate inequality level to be significantly and positively related to growth, while bottom end and top end inequality is seen to have a significant and negative relationship with growth. The level of GDP per capita, education and population growth is also seen to have an impact on economic growth

“I wasn't prepared for it to be like that” : A qualitative interview study on the thoughts of police students about ending their studies prematurely.

I början av år 2020 var ca en fjärdedel av platserna på polisutbildningen i Sverige vakanta. Förutom att det har varit svårt att fylla utbildningsplatserna med lämpliga sökande, förekommer det avhopp från utbildningen. Det finns få svenska studier som undersöker varför polisstudenter hoppar av utbildningen. Med hjälp av kvalitativ ansats var syftet att nå en ökad förståelse för hur polisutbildningen vid ett lärosäte i Sverige upplevs av polisstudenterna själva och vilka bakomliggande faktorer till avhopp inom utbildningen som kan finnas. Åtta semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes via videolänk på deltagare som avslutat eller har tankar på att avsluta sina studier i förtid. Materialet analyserades genom tematisk analys och resulterade i tre huvudteman; studentrollen, polisrollen och yttre påverkan. Resultaten diskuteras utifrån att det finns polisstudenter som upplever inre konflikter under studierna. De beskriver svårigheter att hitta sin plats i rollen som student och i rollen som polis.In the beginning of 2020, approximately a quarter of the spots at the police education in Sweden were vacant. Apart from the fact that it has been difficult to recruit suitable applicants, there is also a high number of dropouts from the education. There are few Swedish studies investigating why police students drop out. With the help of qualitative approach, this essay aims to give a greater understanding of how the police students at a university in Sweden experience the education and what the underlying factors for the numbers of dropouts within the education may be. Eight semi-structured interviews were conducted by video link with participants who have ended, or had thoughts of ending, their studies prematurely. The material was analyzed by thematic analysis and resulted in three main themes; student role, police role and external influence. The results are discussed on the basis that there are police students who experience internal conflicts during their studies. They describe difficulties in finding their place, both in the role of a student and in the role of a police officer

Municipal disclaimers : A study about how the municipality handles Jordabalken 4 cap. 19 d §

En fastighetsaffär är en av de allra största och viktigaste investeringarna som kan ske i en människas liv. Det är därför viktigt att aktuell lagstiftning följs när dessa affärer genomförs. Efter att en fastighet har sålts är det inte ovanligt att det uppstår tvister och oklarheter kring vem som ansvarar för så kallade dolda fel i fastigheten. Dolda fel är något som kan uppmärksammas efter köpet. Enligt jordabalken gäller i normalfallet att säljaren ansvarar för dessa fel i 10 år från det att köpet gjordes. Säljaren kan undvika detta ansvar genom att friskriva sig från fel i fastigheten. Enligt jordabalken är sådana friskrivningar ogiltiga i de fall då en näringsidkare säljer en fastighet till en konsument. Enligt vår tolkning av lagen och dess förarbeten gäller detta även när kommuner säljer fastigheter till privatpersoner. I denna studie ska det undersökas hur väl kommunerna är medvetna om att denna begränsning i lagen finns och hur de såväl i praktiken som i teorin förhåller sig till den, vid fastighetsförsäljningar till privatpersoner. För att söka svar på frågorna ska en kombination av en juridisk och en kvalitativ metod använts. Totalt ska det under studiens gång granskas 46 stycken kontrakt från 10 olika kommuner. Studien baseras på en granskning av 46 stycken kontrakt, varav 52 % visade sig vara ogiltiga enligt JB 4 kap. 19 d. Vidare visade granskningen att majoriteten av dessa är utformade på ett av tre alternativa sätt, där samtliga innehöll minst en friskrivning från fel och brister i fastigheten. Studien visar även att stor okunskap råder i kommunerna angående hur regeln ska tolkas och hur denna typ av friskrivning därför bör hanteras i de kommunala kontrakten. Dessutom visar studien på att de ansvariga i kommunerna inte heller verkar vara medvetna om att samma syfte som de vill uppnå genom en friskrivning kan åstadkommas genom en grundlig förklarande beskrivning av köpeobjektet.Buying a property is one of the biggest and most important investments in a person´s life. When this kind of purchase is being performed it´s important that the Swedish legislation is being considered and followed correctly by both parties when writing the contract. After a property is sold it's not unusual that some disputes and uncertainties rises about who´s responsible for the so called "hidden defects" on the property, which can be found after the purchase has become final. According to Swedish law the seller is responsible for these defects for the following 10 years after the purchase is completed. However there is one way for the seller to avoid this kind of responsibility - by using a disclaimer from these hidden defects. When a trader is selling a property to a consumer, this kind of disclaimers, according to jordabalken (JB) 4 cap. 19 d §, is invalid. According to what the writers can interpret by reading the text of law and the legislative history, JB 4 cap. 19 d § also should be applied in those cases where a municipality is selling a property to a private individual. The purpose of this study is to map the municipalities awareness of the existence of the law and how they consider that the law should be handled when selling a property to a private individual. To seek the answers to these questions a combination of a juridical and a qualitative method have been used. During the study a total of 46 contracts from 10 different municipalities have been examined. The study came across a total of 46 disclaimers, which a percantage of 52 % according to JB 4 cap 19 d § considers as invalid. The majority of these disclaimers was proved to be designed as one of three alternative ways, where every one of them contained some kind of disclaimer from hidden defects and flaws in the property. The study proves that there is big ignorance and lack of knowledge at the municipalities about how the law in JB 4 cap. 19 d § should be interpreted and how this kind of disclaimer therefore should be treated in the contracts. Also, the study shows that the municipalities doesn't seem to be aware that the same purpose that they want to achieve by using the disclaimer, can be accomplished by a detailed description of the property

Surveillance and governance : A critical study of the relationship marketing at ICA

I samband med en ökad konkurrens och ett allt större mediabrus så använder företag sig av nya metoder för att locka konsumenterna till sig och kunna behålla dem. En av dessa metoder är relationsmarknadföring, där företaget på olika sätt försöker skapa en form av relation med kunden med målet att skapa en kundlojalitet. Syftet med uppsatsen har varit att kritiskt analysera relationsmarknadsföring utifrån ett maktperspektiv. Med anledning av det har en fallstudie genomförts av ICA Sveriges användning av CRM (Customer Relationship Marketing), som är en variant av relationsmarknadsföring. Studiens metodologiska ansats har varit kvalitativ och materialet har samlats in genom intervju och skriftliga källor. Analysen av materialet har sedan skett utifrån ett Zygmunt Baumans teori kring konsumtionssamhället, Michael Foucaults begrepp governmentality som har vidareutvecklats av Mitchell Dean, samt David Lyons teori kring övervakningssamhället. De slutsatser som drogs i analysen var att relationsmarknadsföringen kan förstås som en produkt av vårt nuvarande samhälle genom att strategin går i linje med dess utmärkande egenskaper såsom individualisering, dynamiken mellan trygghet och frihet, övervakning, samt självreglering. Relationsmarknadsföringen är för företagen en effektiv styrningsmetod för att få sina kunder att vara lojala och konsumera mer. Det speglar en ny form av maktutövning i samhället som skiljer sig från disciplineringen i produktionssamhället. I denna styrning är den viktigaste faktorn att den sker genom individens frihet

Erfarenheter av egenvård hos unga vuxna med diabetes mellitus typ 1 : En kvalitativ litteraturöversikt

Bakgrund: I Sverige är det cirka 50 000 personer som lever med diabetes mellitus typ 1. Det är en kronisk komplex sjukdom som kräver livslång behandling.  Sampel med vården krävs under hela sjukdomsförloppet där en god vårdrelation blir betydande. Självkännedom och god självkänsla underlättar för egenvården eftersom det handlar om att kunna se de egna styrkorna för en god hanteringsförmåga av sjukdomen. Syfte: Syftet var att beskriva erfarenheter av egenvård hos unga vuxna med diabetes mellitus typ 1.  Metod: En kvalitativ litteraturöversikt med induktiv ansats har gjorts. Resultatet baseras på 12 vetenskapliga artiklar. Resultat:  Två huvudteman framkom i resultatet och ett av de var utmaningar med fyra underteman: rädsla och oro, begränsningar, övergång till vuxen livet och hur vardagen kan påverka egenvården. Andra huvudtemat var socialt stöd med tre underteman: stöd från familj och vänner, vårdpersonalens betydelse och okunskap från omgivningen påverkar egenvården. Slutsatser: Stöd från familj och vänner var av stor betydelse när det gällde hur de unga vuxna med diabetes mellitus typ 1 skötte egenvården. Vårdpersonal hade ett stort ansvar i att stötta och vägleda personer till egenvård. Utomståendes okunskap kunde leda till försämrad egenvård för personerna. Background: In Sweden there are about 50 000 people living with diabetes mellitus type 1. It is a chronic complex disease and demands a lifelong treatment. Teamwork with the healthcare is required throughout the course of the disease and a good relationship with the health care providers becomes significant. Self-awareness and good self-esteem facilitate self-care when it comes to being able to see one’s own strengths for a good management ability of the disease. Aim: The aim was to describe experiences of self-care among young adults with diabetes mellitus type 1. Method: A qualitative literature research that has an inductive design has been done. The results are based on twelve different scientific articles. Results:  Two main themes have emerged in results and one of them was challenge with four sub themes: fear and anxiety, limitations, transitions to adult life and how daily life can affect self-care. The other main theme was social support with three sub themes: support from family and friends, the importance of healthcare professionals and lack of knowledge by others that affects self-care. Conclusion:  Social support from family and friends was important when it comes to how young adults with diabetes mellitus type 1 managed self-care. Healthcare professionals have a big responsibility in supporting and guiding people to self-care. Lack of knowledge from others could lead to mismanagement of self-care