S(mothering) the subject formation in Jamaica Kincaid ́s Annie John : Female subject formation in postcolonial Caribbean fiction

This essay investigates Jamaica Kincaid´s the book Annie John (1985) and its protagonist Annie John´s search for a coherent self-and/or a de-colonized identity through a subject transformation. Using postcolonial feminism, including theorists such as Homi K. Bhabha and Stuart Hall, I suggest that the protagonist Annie John does not perform a subject transformation as she is unable to embrace the state of hybridity needed to perform such a transformation. Annie John is a colonial subject drawn to the two worlds in which she resided, the East and West- and cannot create herself in the presence of them both. I conclude that Annie John´s mother, under the influence of colonialism and patriarchy, is part reason as to why Annie John is unable to perform this transformation. With the help of postcolonial feminism, I find that as Annie John cannot recover her mother from this double oppression of colonialism and patriarchy. The conclusion of this essay proposes that the protagonist Annie John does not manage to create a subject formation as she is not able to reside in a state of hybridity between her own culture and that of her colonizer.

Youth Tourism : – Impacts on places from a consumer perspective

Although youth tourism is an increasingly relevant subject little research have been done regarding the segment’s own perception of their impacts. A consumer perspective was assumed to examine in what ways youth tourism impact places. This study adopts a deductive approach reviewing existing literature regarding youth tourism, impact and place. A case study concerning how youth travellers perceive and evaluate their own impacts was conducted using mixed-methods. Data sources include a survey and in-depth interviews concerning sociocultural, economic, and environmental items. The study concludes that what impacts youth tourism has on places are subject to the place’s current state and ability to host youth travellers. The number of youth travellers and their behaviour determines the local and global sociocultural, economic and environmental impacts that youth tourism has on places. This paper is considered a pre-study that contributes to the development of theory regarding youth tourism.

Credible or not : A study on the factors influencing consumers' credibility assessment of product placements on Instagram

Background: To align with the new trend of using social media in the marketing mix, product placement has been adapted to social media platforms as one strategy to create attention. Especially on Instagram, product placements have gained popularity among companies. While scholars have focused on measuring the effectiveness of the strategy, suggesting that credibility is one component necessary for success, a gap in the research is illuminated when focusing on what makes a product placement on Instagram credible. Previous studies regarding credibility and its relation to traditional media have concluded that there are some factors essential in consumers’ credibility evaluation process. Since social media differs from traditional media, there was a need to investigate the applicability of credibility to the social media platform Instagram. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis was to examine key factors of product placement on Instagram that influence credibility. Method: To meet the purpose of this thesis a study with a mixed method research design was conducted. The qualitative data was collected through semi-structured interviews with the intention to discover how consumers evaluate credibility. The scales and items developed from the findings of the qualitative study were tested using a questionnaire to identify which factors that have the most influence on consumers’ credibility assessment. Conclusions: The overall findings indicate that consumers evaluate credibility based upon source, message and receiver characteristics. The empirical evidence suggests that the Expertise of influencer, Professionalism of picture, Trustworthiness of influencer, Connection to influencer and Causes of irritation are the factors that have the most influence on consumers’ credibility assessment of product placement on Instagram. The findings further implies that it is not only the factor itself that influence, credibility can additionally be transferred from one factor to another

Pedagogers erfarenheter och uppfattningar av litteraturen som redskap i undervisning av naturvetenskap i förskolan : -i kombination med pedagogledda aktiviteter

Syftet med vår studie var att ta reda på pedagogers erfarenheter och uppfattningar av litteraturen som redskap i undervisning av naturvetenskap i förskolan; i kombination med pedagogledda aktiviteter. Detta har vi gjort med hjälp av semistrukturerade intervjuer via de digitala plattformarna Zoom och Microsoft Teams. Totalt deltog tio respondenter i sex olika förskolor i Mellansverige. Vi har analyserat datamaterialet tematiskt med hjälp av de sex stegen i Braun och Clarkes (2006) analysmodell. Vidare har vi analyserat respondenternas svar utifrån sociokulturellt perspektiv genom Vygotskijs teori. Vårt resultat visar att pedagogerna anser att barn lär sig naturvetenskap genom praktiska aktiviteter med hjälp av sinnena, samtliga respondenter lyfter att litteraturen ses som en introduktion till ett tema eller aktivitet, ett hjälpmedel, introduktion och ett komplement till den praktiska aktiviteten som skapar ett intresse hos barnen till att bland annat utföra experiment. Litteratur kan även bidra till ökad förståelse med kombinationen text och bild. Pedagogerna lyfter få begränsningar med litteratur i undervisning av naturvetenskap. Faktaboken ses som för avancerad för barnen och kan behöva förenklas av pedagogen, möjligheten med faktaboken är att den breddar både barnens och pedagogernas kunskap. Den skönlitterära bilderbokens begränsning är dess fiktiva innehåll. Möjligheterna med den skönlitterära bilderboken är att den ses som mer barnanpassad utifrån barnens nivå. Begränsningar med att arbeta med fysikaliska fenomen och kemiska processer genom litteratur är att pedagogerna anser att det är något som framför allt måste upplevas. Då det kan vara svårt för barnen att förstå utifrån en bok i kontrast till djur och natur som anses lättare att läsa om. Möjligheterna med fysikaliska fenomen och kemiska processer genom litteratur anses vara som inspiration till experiment. Den digitala litteraturen ses som mer tillgänglig än den fysiska litteraturen för att den finns till hands i stunden när barnen intresserar sig för något, biblioteket ses som en resurs för att få tag på litteratur inom naturvetenskap. Det framkommer också att naturvetenskapen går att finna i de flesta barnböcker så länge pedagogen använder de naturvetenskapliga glasögonen. Slutsatsen är att litteratur kan användas för att få sammanhang och bli en del i det mångsidiga lärandet tillsammans med den praktiska aktiviteten och boksamtalet.Betyg i Ladok 210606.</p

Nation branding : The role of tourism from a managerial perspective

Although tourism has been recognised as an important subfield in nation branding little research have focused on its role in the nation branding process. A managerial perspective was assumed to examine what role tourism has in nation branding. This study adopts a deductive approach reviewing existing literature on nation branding, brand management strategies and tourism stakeholders. A case study on how tourism is integrated in nation branding strategies and how stakeholders operating in the tourism sector perceive their own influence on the nation-brand was conducted in Sweden using a qualitative method. Data was collected through interviews with managers in organisations that directly or indirectly work with tourism while being involved in the strategic nation branding of Sweden. A conceptual framework was developed to illustrate how the nation-brand is created and communicated through tourism. The study concludes that tourism can have a significant role in nation branding and affect other subfields if the right circumstances are given. Strong collaborations are a prerequisite for effective nation branding and strategies should incorporate national identity and country-of-origin for authenticity. Future research could focus on comparing the role of tourism in nation branding with other subfields as well as comparing how organisations on the same level work with nation branding strategies

The role of the CEO in the transition towards circular economy

Background: Circular economy (CE) is one of the most recent ways to address environmental sustainability. It aims to extend the value of products, materials, and resources for as long as possible, and minimize waste generation by maintaining them in the economy for as long as possible to mitigate climate change, lowering greenhouse gas emissions, and resource short­ages. Businesses play a crucial part in protecting the environment and have been urged to incorpo­rate CE practices. Leadership and top management have been found crucial for the transi­tion and the CEO has the power to shape strategic plans and directions for the company. Despite the growing research on CE and what influences the transition, literature on individual roles of the top management team is scarce. Existing literature focuses on different factors driv­ing the transition but not the specific roles of the top management team. Purpose: The purpose of this research is to add to the literature regarding CE and how the CEO influences the transition. With this research, we aim to contribute to the current discussion on the transition towards CE, both theoretically and practically. Method: We have conducted a qualitative study with an inductive approach. It follows a relativist ontology and a social constructionism viewpoint. The methodology is an exploratory multi­ple-case study where the companies were selected by purposive sampling. Five companies were selected and in total 16 semi-structured interviews were conducted where we gathered data from both CEOs and their employees. The data was analyzed by combining the Goioa method with Eisenhardt’s multiple case study approach. Conclusion: Based on our findings we identified that the CEO influences the transition towards CE. We distinguished the CEO role within top management and found that they influence CE through strategic management and power. Within strategic management, the CEO influences through setting the strategy, being the decision maker, allocating resources, and setting the direc­tives and goals for the organization. The aspect of power was found to influence the inter­nal organization and external parties. Additionally, we showed how these contributions can be applied practically

Sanktioner, Certifiering och CSR - En idéanalys av Världsbankens och UNECA:s syn på hanteringen av Kongos konfliktmineraler

The trade in conflict minerals in eastern Congo contributes to the duration of the intrastate conflict. This essay will analyze documents of two organizations, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and the World Bank, in relative to the question regarding trade in conflict minerals. Views of accountability and ideas of how to deal with conflict minerals differ between the organizations. The questions asked are therefore how much they differ, and what their views on accountability are. The documents will be analyzed through a critical perspective with a method of qualitative analysis of ideas. The analysis will focus on three aspects; sanctions, certification and Corporate Social Responsibility and will be exemplified by trade in eastern Congo. The critical perspective will be drawn upon theories of Kuntala Lahiri Dutt (2006) and Roland Dannreuther (2013) and exemplified in practice of a report of the non-governmental organization Global Witness. The essay finds that the World Bank and UNECA differ from Global Witness and critical theory in their views of sanctions, certification, CSR, and accountability. Although UNECA manages to combine a problem-solving theory with elements of critical theory to a greater extent than the World Bank. Another dividing line can also be seen between the views on mandatory measures in both CSR, certification and sanctions. The willingness to compromise on fundamental values is also a clear watershed as UNECA and the World Bank are more pragmatic while Global Witness values its commitment to its core values

Emergency department overview - Improving the dynamic capabilities using an event-driven information architecture

It is challenging to get an overview and understand- ing of what is going on at an emergency department (ED). This is due to the sometimes turbulent work environment and a large variation in patient processes. To increase the dynamic capability and responsiveness of an ED, it is important that the staff and patients have an overview of what is going on and what will happen in the coming hours. This paper presents a smart online support software that shows the current state of the ED as well as a prediction of the coming hours. The software has been developed as a case study of using agile development ideas when developing new systems for hospitals. The result shows that the use of the event-driven information architecture for healthcare (EVAH) enabled a rapid development of a successful running application, helping the nurses getting an overview of current situation and the coming hours

Emergency department overview - Improving the dynamic capabilities using an event-driven information architecture

It is challenging to get an overview and understand- ing of what is going on at an emergency department (ED). This is due to the sometimes turbulent work environment and a large variation in patient processes. To increase the dynamic capability and responsiveness of an ED, it is important that the staff and patients have an overview of what is going on and what will happen in the coming hours. This paper presents a smart online support software that shows the current state of the ED as well as a prediction of the coming hours. The software has been developed as a case study of using agile development ideas when developing new systems for hospitals. The result shows that the use of the event-driven information architecture for healthcare (EVAH) enabled a rapid development of a successful running application, helping the nurses getting an overview of current situation and the coming hours