Influence Strategies in Shareholder Engagement: A Case Study of Five Swedish National Pension Funds

Investors spend money and resources trying to reduce the environmental, social, and governance risks in companies they own. If unattended, these risks may cause reputational damage not only to the portfolio firm, but also to its owner. In this paper, we study five Swedish national pension funds and the influence strategies used in shareholder engagement. Knowledge about influence strategies is important because successful shareholder engagements can lead to more sustainable corporate behaviour and a lower risk to the investor. Our findings show that, besides traditional power and legitimacy dependencies which have been reported as influential in deciding stakeholder salience, we present five additional factors in determining influence strategies in shareholder engagement. We provide a conceptual model showing how these factors interlink with choices of influence strategies, offering a practical use of this study. Stakeholder theory has been used as our theoretical frame of reference, based on existing influence strategy literature taken from the stakeholder–firm perspective.case study; ESG directive; influence strategy; pension funds; reputation risk; responsible investment; shareholder engagement; shareholder salience; stakeholder theory

Mellan lantbrukare och entrecôte : en jämförelsestudie om aktörer i livsmedelskedjan för köttprodukter i Uppsala län

Livsmedelsproduktion i Sverige har aldrig varit så aktuell som nu. Samtida kriser ökar medvetenheten om sårbarheten i den svenska livsmedelskedjan. Sedan 2017 har Sverige en livsmedelsstrategi för att öka den svenska livsmedelsproduktion. Det är inte oproblematiskt eftersom livsmedelsproduktion även påverkar och påverkas av ekonomisk, social och ekologisk hållbarhet. Vilka är då de aktörer som arbetar i denna komplexa livsmedelskedja? I studien undersöks två företag med olika företagsform (aktiebolag och kooperativ) som verkar i livsmedelskedjan för köttprodukter. Genom en kvalitativ flerfallsstudie med induktiv ansats studeras hur företagen verksamheter utvecklats från dess start till nutid. Inom studien har fem semistrukturerade intervjuer genomförts. Fyra respondenter intervjuades från de två fallföretagen, den femte respondenten har mångårig erfarenhet av branschen. Empirisk data har analyseras utifrån studiens teoretiska ramverk bestående av transaktionskostnadsteori och beslutsteori med Garbage can-modellen. Studiens resultat visar att företagen påverkats av externa företeelser och dess hantering av transaktionskostnader har resulterat i att verksamheterna omstrukturerats på olika sätt. Uppkomsten av beslutsfattande beror ofta på timing, osäkerhet vid transaktioner och företagens olika värderingar. Studiens resultat diskuteras i relation till teori om kooperativ på den agrara marknaden. Resultaten bidrar till en ökad förståelse för hur företag på en agrar marknad utan närvaro av ett starkt nationellt kooperativ fattar beslut och hanterar transaktionskostnader.Food production in Sweden has never been as relevant as it is now. Contemporary crises raise awareness of the vulnerability of the Swedish food chain. Since 2017, Sweden has a food strategy to increase Swedish food production. This is not unproblematic as food production also affects and is influenced by economic, social and ecological sustainability. Who, then, are the actors working in this complex food chain? The study examines two companies with different corporate forms (investor-owned firms and cooperatives) that operate in the food chain for meat products. Through a qualitative multi-case study with an inductive approach, it is studied how the companies' operations have developed from its beginning to the present. Within the study, five semi-structured interviews were conducted. Four respondents were interviewed from the two case companies, the fifth respondent has many years of experience in the industry. Empirical data have been analysed based on the studies theoretical framework that consist of transaction cost theory and decision-making theory with the Garbage can model. The study's results show that companies have been affected by external phenomena and their handling of transaction costs has resulted in the operations being restructured in different ways. The emergence of decision-making is often due to timing, uncertainty in transactions and the different valuations of the companies. The results of the study are discussed in relation to the theory of cooperatives in the agrarian market. The results contribute to an increased understanding of how companies in an agrarian market, without the presence of a strong national cooperative, make decisions and manage transaction costs

Formaldehyde Metabolism and Formaldehyde-induced Alterations in Glucose and Glutathione Metabolism of Cultured Brain Cells

Formaldehyde is an environmental pollutant that is also generated in the body during normal metabolic processes. Interestingly, several pathological conditions are associated with an increase in formaldehyde-generating enzymes in the body. The level of formaldehyde in the brain is elevated with increasing age and in neurodegenerative conditions which may contribute to lowered cognitive functions. Although the neurotoxic potential of formaldehyde is well established, the molecular mechanisms involved remain, to a great extent, obscure. Also, the ability of the different types of brain cells to metabolize formaldehyde has not been reported so far. This thesis investigated the capacity of cultured brain cells to metabolize formaldehyde and studied the effects of a formaldehyde exposure on the glucose and the glutathione metabolism by using primary cultures of cerebellar granule neurons or astrocytes as well as the oligodendroglial cell-line OLN-93 as model systems. These cultured cells were remarkably resistant towards acute toxicity of formaldehyde and expressed the mRNAs for enzymes that are known to be involved in formaldehyde generation and disposal, suggesting that brain cells are able to metabolize this aldehyde. Furthermore, all three types of cultures cleared exogenously applied formaldehyde with almost identical rates, but differed in the extent of the formation of the formaldehyde oxidation product, formate. Since formate is a known inhibitor of the cytochrome c oxidase of the mitochondrial respiratory chain and since the metabolism of formaldehyde involves the important antioxidant glutathione, the effect of an exposure of cultured brain cells to formaldehyde on their glucose and glutathione metabolism was also investigated. Formaldehyde application accelerated the export of glycolysis-derived lactate and induced a rapid multidrug-resistance protein 1-mediated export of glutathione from cultured brain cells. These formaldehyde-induced alterations in metabolic pathways of brain cells may contribute to the known impairments in memory and learning that have been reported for neurodegenerative conditions and for formaldehyde-exposed animals

Linearization of dual-input Doherty power amplifiers

This paper studies the linearity of dual-input Doherty power amplifiers. We propose a linearization scheme that uses a combination of an efficiency-optimized static splitter and a vector-switched digital predistorter. The performance of the proposed linearization scheme is evaluated on a dual-input Doherty power amplifier operating at 2.0 GHz with 42 dBm peak output power. Experimental results show that the proposed linearization scheme achieves a normalized mean square error of-43.7 dB and an adjacent channel power ratio of-55.8 dBc with a power added efficiency of 42.4%

Make it safe at night or teach women to fight? Sexism predicts views on men’s and women’s responsibility to reduce men’s violence toward women

The current study explores associations among sexism, gender, and support for two approaches to reduce men’s violence toward women targeting (a) men’s behavior to reduce male violence toward women and (b) women’s behavior so that they can avoid male violence. The associations between sexism and support for these two interventions were examined in 21,937 participants in the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Survey. For both women and men, hostility toward nontraditional women (hostile sexism) was associated with lower support for targeting men to reduce men’s violence against women. To a lesser degree, stronger attitudes that women who adhere to traditional feminine roles should be rewarded (benevolent sexism) were associated with greater support for targeting men to reduce men’s violence. In contrast, both hostile and benevolent sexism were positively associated with support for targeting women to avoid men’s violence. These complex and nuanced relationships could suggest that sexism perpetuates the idea that women are responsible for keeping themselves safe from men’s violence while excusing men from accountability. This possibility has implications for addressing how society can be best engaged in the campaign against men’s violence toward women

Secant varieties of toric varieties

Let $X_P$ be a smooth projective toric variety of dimension $n$ embedded in \PP^r using all of the lattice points of the polytope $P$. We compute the dimension and degree of the secant variety \Sec X_P. We also give explicit formulas in dimensions 2 and 3 and obtain partial results for the projective varieties $X_A$ embedded using a set of lattice points A \subset P\cap\ZZ^n containing the vertices of $P$ and their nearest neighbors.Comment: v1, AMS LaTex, 5 figures, 25 pages; v2, reference added; v3, This is a major rewrite. We have strengthened our main results to include a classification of smooth lattice polytopes P such that Sec X_P does not have the expected dimension. (See Theorems 1.4 and 1.5.) There was also a considerable amount of reorganization, and some expository material was eliminated; v4, 28 pages, minor corrections, additional and updated reference

determinating effectivness of parent group psychoeducation on autism spectrum disorders symptoms

autism spectrum disorder asd are a group of biologically based neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by impairment in three major domain

Hackathon design in radical and virtual collocations : a descriptive comparative case study in a municipal organization

This paper addresses the hackathon design in radical and virtual collocation. Specifically, it focuses on the differences the radical and virtual collocations poses for hackathon design in a municipal innovation management context. Although used in a variety of contexts for idea management, hackathons particularly examined in the municipal context, and as a comparative study regarding their different collocations has not yet been the focus of hackathon research. Therefore, this paper presents a case study research in a Swedish municipality with future demands due to growth, carrying out intra-organizational hackathons both in radical and virtual collocations. As a result, the paper reveals the differences in terms of the design choices. The paper contributes to the literature on hackathon as an innovation contest in a municipal organization context and presents practical implications.publishedVersionPeer reviewe

Virtual hackathon as ICT-enabled boundary arrangement for municipal innovation

This paper addresses the virtual hackathons as ICT-enabled boundary spanning arrangements (IBSA) and their knowledge integration in the municipal innovation management context. Specifically, it focuses on the boundaries and boundary objects for boundary-bridging in virtual hackathons. Therefore, this paper presents a case study in a Swedish multi-disciplinary municipality carrying out an intra-organizational hackathon in virtual collocation for public sector innovation creation. As a result, the paper reveals the discovered boundaries in five boundary categories: individual, domain-specific, task-oriented, spatial, and temporal. Furthermore, the multiple boundary objects utilized for boundary-bridging in a virtual hackathon are presented. Moreover, the paper illustrates the innovation output of four virtual hackathon teams. Thus, the results clarify the virtual hackathon as IBSAs. The paper contributes to the literature on hackathons as IBSA as well as knowledge integration, particularly in terms of boundary objects in virtual innovationpublishedVersionNon peer reviewe

Innovation leadership with mentors for team performance in municipal hackathons

One of the two main tasks of innovation leadership, a practice to inspire and enable creativity and innovation in organisations, is to construct a creativityenabling organisational environment. One form of this main task is using developmental interactions, like mentoring, as innovation leadership practices. A hackathon is one type of innovation contest with three designed phases: pre-hackathon, hackathon event and post-hackathon, involving multiple stakeholders with distinct roles, such as hackers and mentors. In a hackathon, the central activity of mentors is to support the hackers' innovation process, especially in idea creation and concept development. The mentor role has not been focal in hackathon studies; thus, this chapter addresses the role, impact, and ways to acknowledge the mentors as an integral, contributing innovation leadership practice in hackathons. As an empirical study, this chapter presents the results of a public sector case in a Swedish multi-disciplinary municipality conducting intra-organisational hackathons in three different collocations. The chapter contributes to the literature on innovation leadership at the team level with mentorship in innovation contests in the public sector context by revealing the dual-role tension of innovation leadership in mentor activities in the hackathon event phase from both the hackers' and mentors' viewpoints, and the necessity of mentor-benefitting training in pre-hackathon phase.Peer reviewe