Information based power – A balancing act between retail strategies and consumer movement patterns

Problem background: The barrier between physical stores and online stores is blurred, which is paving the way for multi- and omni-channel retailing. Consumers of today are having a great access to information, due to their increased use of digital devices. Thus, the power among consumers is increasing, which is creating a thought of whether the consumer, or the retailer, is the party in charge. Aim of the study and research questions: The aim of this study is to attain an understanding of the views of retailers on multi-and omni-channel strategies, and their perceptions and handling of consumer movement patterns. Thereby, we are also striving for an understanding of the division of information-based power between retailers and consumers in a multi- and omni-channel retailing context. The research questions below will be directing the work process of this study. - How do retailers, offering high involvement products, discuss multi- and omni-channel strategies? - How do retailers, offering high involvement products, handle consumer movement patterns between various retail channels? - Based on the answers to the former questions, how can the division of information-based power between retailers and consumers be interpreted? Method: This study has been conducted through a qualitative research method, with an inductive approach. The primary data has been collected through ten semi-structured interviews, and the respondents have been strategically selected. The collected material has been interpreted through a hermeneutic approach. Conclusions: The decision of working either according to a multi- or an omni-channel strategy may have an impact on the opportunities and challenges from working with various channels. It may also affect the handling of consumer movement patterns and the direction of consumers to certain channels. Lastly, the division of information-based power between retailers and consumers, in a multi- and omni-channel retailing context, may be a continuous and complex balancing act between these two parties

Spelet om infrastrukturen - En diskursanalys av riksdagsledamöters föreställningar av offentlig privat samverkan

The purpose of this article is to describe the discourse in which public-private partnership (PPP) resides, within the Swedish parliament, in the field of infrastructure. I have chosen to look at the latest three years deliberation where PPP appears in parliament bills. This case study is based upon discourse as a qualitative method. Five indicator signs which is history, comparison, geographic location, vision of growth potential and solution controls the context of PPP The result of the analysis was that a clear discourse was unravelled. A first rather surprising conclusion shows that it is possible to disconnect the discourse from PPP. PPP is not important by itself, the result shows that it only play the part of possible solution to the problems related to the discourse and does not have any value in its own. This result lead the conclusion that PPP is no more than a tool for politicians to get as much out of their infrastructural aims as possible, as rational vote-maximizing actors. But it also leads to the conclusion that the power over defining a solution is partly a question of ideology. The discourse on other hand is not linked to ideology

Mapping of serum amylase-1 and quantitative trait loci for milk production traits to cattle chromosome 4

The present study was undertaken to confirm and refine the mapping of a quantitative trait locus in cattle for milk fat percentage that had earlier been reported to be linked to the serum amylase-1 locus, AM1. Five half-sib families from the previous study and 7 new ones were genotyped for nine microsatellite markers spanning chromosome 4. AM1 was mapped between the microsatellite markers BMS648 and BR6303. In a granddaughter design, interval mapping based on multiple-marker regression was utilized for an analysis of five milk production traits: milk yield, fat percentage and yield, and protein percentage and yield. In the families reported on previously, significant effects for fat and protein percentages were detected. In the new families, an effect on milk and fat yields was found. The most likely positions of the quantitative trait locus in both groups of families were in the same area of chromosome 4 in the vicinity of the obese locus. Direct effects of the obese locus were tested for using polymorphism in two closely linked microsatellites located 2.5 and 3.6 top downstream of the coding sequence. No firm evidence was found for an association between the obese locus and the tested traits

Integrating Multiple Research Methods to Unravel the Complexity of Human-Water Systems

Abstract: Predicting floods and droughts is essential to inform the development of policy in water management, climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. Yet, hydrological predictions are highly uncertain, while the frequency, severity and spatial distribution of extreme events are further complicated by the increasing impact of human activities on the water cycle. In this commentary, we argue that four main aspects characterizing the complexity of human‐water systems should be explicitly addressed: feedbacks, scales, tradeoffs and inequalities. We propose the integration of multiple research methods as a way to cope with complexity and develop policy‐relevant science

Physiological and Pathological Role of Alpha-synuclein in Parkinson’s Disease Through Iron Mediated Oxidative Stress; The Role of a Putative Iron-responsive Element

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common progressive neurodegenerative disorder after Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and represents a large health burden to society. Genetic and oxidative risk factors have been proposed as possible causes, but their relative contribution remains unclear. Dysfunction of alpha-synuclein (α-syn) has been associated with PD due to its increased presence, together with iron, in Lewy bodies. Brain oxidative damage caused by iron may be partly mediated by α-syn oligomerization during PD pathology. Also, α-syn gene dosage can cause familial PD and inhibition of its gene expression by blocking translation via a newly identified Iron Responsive Element-like RNA sequence in its 5’-untranslated region may provide a new PD drug target