The role of entrepreneurial networking on internationalization of a micro-sized Born Global Swedish fashion company : A narrative ethnographic research

Background: In recent studies a lot of attention is drawn to the connection between networking and entrepreneurship. Many scholars consider successful business and networking inseparable. Taking into consideration the topicality of the two notions discussed above the authors of this thesis decided to conduct the research dedicated to these phenomena in the field that interests them most – in the field of Swedish fashion. Purpose: The purpose of the thesis is to gain a deeper insight into entrepreneur’s experiences to point out the role of entrepreneurial networking in the process of internationalization of a micro-sized Swedish fashion company and to contribute to the research in this field by telling its unique story. Method: To achieve the purpose of the research a narrative ethnographic research was conducted. This research strategy was chosen because it suits the purpose best by giving an opportunity to get fresh insights into the field of entrepreneurial networking from the point of view of the entrepreneur. The data collected has a narrative nature therefore narrative analysis is used to present it. The methods of gathering the data are face-to-face interview and documents. Conclusion: we can define the most important role of entrepreneurial networking on the internationalization process of Odeur as an effective accelerator and a tool to fulfil the knowledge and expertise gaps in certain areas through other actors in the network.

«DES YEUX BAISSÉS AUX POINGS LEVÉS» : L'IMAGE DE LA FEMME MAGHRÉBINE DANS L'ŒUVRE DE TAHAR BEN JELLOUN. UNE ÉTUDE COMPARATIVE DE TROIS PROTAGONISTES FÉMININS.

L'étude du portrait de la femme maghrébine dans trois romans de Ben Jelloun révèle trois vies d'enfant, d'adolescente et de femme très différentes quant à la condition féminine. Il y a une émancipation progressive entre les portraits qui peut s'expliquer par le fait que les romans se déroulent dans des cultures et à des époques différentes, mais aussi par les intentions féministes de l'auteur.

Att leva och sälja sin dröm : Livsstilsföretagaren mellan familjeliv, marknadoch politisk retorik

Living and selling a dream: Lifestyle entrepreneurship in the intersection between family, market and political rhetoric The article focuses on lifestyle entrepreneurship, characterised by a balancing work between personal lifestyle motives and economic motives. It builds on a qualitative study of business owners who have realized a life dream of starting a countryside business in the tourism and hospitality industry in Sweden. Through the notion of ”balancing work”, the analysis focuses on the tension between a personal life sphere and a market. In particular, the analysis highlights how the notion of ”the life dream” emerges as a narrative practice of self-realization, simultaneously as it is offered as an experience product. The analysis demonstrates how the entrepreneurs balance between personal stories of togetherness and marketing practices, between images of right and wrong commodification, and between constraining working conditions and a popular image of the successful entrepreneur, reinforced by a political discourse on rural entrepreneurship. It is concluded that balancing work between personal identities and economic practices is a practice of valuation, offering new insights into working conditions and markets situated in the intersection between markets and personal life spheres.

Thick viewing : empirical examples of condensed moments of narrative impact in fiction film developing theoretical concepts for intensified engagements

Abstract  In a case study about viewing habits in a Swedish audience I sampled 309 questionnaires; interviews with five focus group were conducted together with ten in-depth individual interviews discussing altogether fifteen favorite films exploring specific scenes of idiosyncratic relevance.  The outcome supports claims about viewers as active and playful (cf. Höijer 1998, Frampton 2006, Hoover 2006, Plantinga 2009). In line with mediatization theory I also argue that spiritual meaning making takes place through mediated experiences and I support theories about fiction films as important sources for moral and spiritual reflection (Partridge 2004, Zillman 2005, Lynch 2007, Plantinga 2009). What Hjarvard calls the soft side of mediatization processes (2008) is illustrated showing adults experiencing enchantment through favorite films (Jerslev 2006, Partridge 2008, Klinger 2008, Oliver & Hartmann 2010).  Vernacular meaning making embedded in everyday life and spectators dealing with fiction narratives such as Gladiator, Amelie from Montmartre or Avatar highlights the need for a more nuanced understanding of elevated cinematic experiences. The reported impact of specific movies is analyzed through theories where cognition and affect are central aspects of spectators’ engagements with a film (Tan 1996, Caroll 1999, Grodal 2009). Crucially important are theories of meaning-making where viewers’ detailed interpretation of specific scenes are embedded in high-level meaning-making where world view issues and spectators’ moral frameworks are activated (Zillman 2005, Andersson & Andersson 2005, Frampton 2006, Lynch 2007, Avila 2007, Axelson 2008, Plantinga 2009).  Also results from a growing body of empirical oriented research in film studies are relevant with an interest in what happens with the flesh and blood spectator exposed to filmic narratives (Jerslev 2006, Klinger 2008, Barker 2009, Suckfüll 2010, Oliver & Hartmann 2010). Analyzing the qualitative results of my case study, I want to challenge the claim that the viewer has to suspend higher order reflective cognitive structures in order to experience suture (Butler & Palesh 2004). What I find in my empirical examples is responses related to spectators’ highest levels of mental activity, all anchored in the sensual-emotional apparatus (Grodal 2009). My outcome is in line with a growing number of empirical case studies which support conclusions that both thinking and behavior are affected by film watching (Marsh 2007, Sückfull 2010, Oliver & Hartmann 2010, Axelson forthcoming). The presentation contributes to a development of concepts which combines aesthetic, affective and cognitive components in an investigation of spectator’s moves from emotional evaluation of intra-text narration to extra-textual assessments, testing the narrative for larger significance in idiosyncratic ways (Bordwell & Thompson 1997, Marsh 2007, Johnston 2007, Bruun Vaage 2009, Axelson 2011). There are a several profitable concepts suggested to embrace the complex interplay between affects, cognition and emotions when individuals respond to fictional narratives. Robert K. Johnston label it “deepening gaze” (2007: 307) and “transformative viewing” (2007: 305). Philosopher Mitch Avila proposes “high cognition” (2007: 228) and Casper Thybjerg ”higher meaning” (2008: 60). Torben Grodal talks about “feelings of deep meaning” (Grodal 2009: 149). With a nod to Clifford Geertz, Craig Detweiler adopts “thick description” (2007: 47) as do Kutter Callaway altering it to ”thick interpretations” (Callaway 2013: 203).  Frampton states it in a paradox; ”affective intelligence” (Frampton 2006: 166). As a result of the empirical investigation, inspired by Geertz, Detweiler & Callaway, I advocate thick viewing for capturing the viewing process of these specific moments of film experience when profound and intensified emotional interpretations take place. The author As a sociologist of religion, Tomas Axelsons research deals with people’s use of mediated narratives to make sense of reality in a society characterized by individualization, mediatization and pluralized world views.  He explores uses of fiction film as a resource in every day life and he is currently finishing his three year project funded by the Swedish Research Council: Spectator engagement in film and utopian self-reflexivity. Moving Images and Moved Minds. http://www.du.se/sv/AVM/Personal/Tomas-Axelson Bibliography Axelson, T. (Forthcoming 2014). Den rörliga bildens förmåga att beröra.[1] Stockholm: Liber Axelson, T. (In peer review). Vernacular Meaning Making. Examples of narrative impact in fiction film questioning the ’banal’ notion in mediatization theory. Nordicom Review. Nordicom Göteborg. Axelson, T. (2011). Människans behov av fiktion. Den rörliga bildens förmåga att beröra människan på djupet.[2]Kulturella perspektiv. Volume 2. Article retrieved from www.kultmed.umu.se/digitalAssets/74/74304_axelson-22011.pdf Axelson, Tomas (2010) “Narration, Visualization and Mind. Movies in everyday life as a resource for utopian self-reflection.” Paper presentation at CMRC, 7th Conference of Media, Religion & Culture in Toronto, Canada 9 – 13th August 2010. Axelson, Tomas (2008) Movies and Meaning. Studying Audience, Favourite Films and Existential Matters. Particip@tions : Journal of Audience and Reception Studies. Volume 5, (1). Doctoral dissertation summary. ACTA UNIVERSITATIS UPSALIENSIS. Article retrieved from http://www.participations.org/Volume%205/Issue%201%20-%20special/5_01_axelson.htm  [1] English translation: Moving Images and Moved Minds. [2] English translation: Our need for fiction. Deeply Moved by Moving Images. Cultural Perspectives.

Utmaningen från andra berättelser : En studie om moraliskt omdöme, utvidgat tänkande och kritiskt reflekterande berättelser i dialogbaserad feministisk etik

The present study has a threefold aim: First, the theoretical aim is to give a contribution to refinement of the theory of dialogue based feminist ethics, concerning the understanding of judgment and narration within such an ethics.  The study also has an empirical aim, defined as to clarify what kind of knowledge, relevant to the moral judgment of an engaged outsider actor, can be received from dialogical interpretation and analysis of a limited selection of critically reflecting life stories. Third, a methodological aim is defined as to develop an approach to interpretation and analysis of reflecting life stories, which renders the storyteller visible as a reflecting moral subject, and makes the story accessible as a source of knowledge for the moral judgment of an engaged outsider actor. The thesis combines philosophical reflection and argumentation, with a narrative-hermeneutic method for interpretation of life stories, relating the two to each other in a hermeneutic process.  The theoretical reflection draws on Seyla Benhabibs theory of communicative ethics. A dialogue based model for moral justification and a likewise dialogue based model for political legitimacy are at the heart of this universalistic theory, although in combination with a conception of a narratively and hermeneutically constituted context sensitive moral judgment, based on Hannah Arendt’s concept “enlarged thought”. In the reflection, this model is related to other feminist theorizing within the tradition of dialogue based feminist ethics, as found in the works of Iris M. Young, Georgia Warnke and Shari Stone-Mediatore. The empirical study draws on three critically reflecting life stories from Israeli-Palestinian women activists for a just peace. The methodology for interpretation and analysis that is worked out combines dialogical interpretation as presented in Arthur W. Frank’s socio-narratology with a method for structural analysis derived from Shari Stone-Mediatores theory of storytelling as an expression of political resistance struggle. The results show that some stories drawing on marginalized experiences have a potential­ to stimulate further public debate through their capacity to enable a stereoscopic seeing, elucidating a tension between ideologically structured discourse and non-linguistic experience; implying that narrative-hermeneutic competence should be considered crucial for public debate.  

Vernacular meaning making : Examples of narrative impact in fiction film questioning the 'banal' notion in mediatization of religion theory

The outcome of an audience study supports theories stating that stories are a primary means by which we make sense of our experiences over time. Empirical examples of narrative impact are presented in which specific fiction film scenes condense spectators' lives, identities and beliefs. One conclusion is that spectators test the emotional realism of the narative for greater significance, connecting diegetic fiction experiences with their extra-diegetic world in their quest for meaning, self and identity. The 'banal' notion of the mediatization of religion theory is questioned as unsatisfactory in the theoretical context of individualized meaning-making processes. As a semantically negatively charged concept, it is problematic when analyzing empirical examples of spectators' use of fictional narratives, especially when trying to characterize the idiosyncratic and complex interplay between spectators' fiction emotions and their testing of mediated narratives in an exercise to find moral significance in extra-filmic life. Instead vernacular meaning-making is proposed.

Image processing technique to count the number of logs in a timber truck

This paper summarises the results of using image processing technique to get information about the load of timber trucks before their arrival using digital images or geo tagged images. Once the images are captured and sent to sawmill by drivers from forest, we can predict their arrival time using geo tagged coordinates, count the number of (timber) logs piled up in a truck, identify their type and calculate their diameter. With this information we can schedule and prioritise the inflow and unloading of trucks in the light of production schedules and raw material stocks available at the sawmill yard. It is important to keep all the actors in a supply chain integrated coordinated, so that optimal working routines can be reached in the sawmill yard.   

Managerial leadership for research use in nursing and allied health care professions : a narrative synthesis protocol

BACKGROUND: Nurses and allied health care professionals (physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech and language pathologists, dietitians) form more than half of the clinical health care workforce and play a central role in health service delivery. There is a potential to improve the quality of health care if these professionals routinely use research evidence to guide their clinical practice. However, the use of research evidence remains unpredictable and inconsistent. Leadership is consistently described in implementation research as critical to enhancing research use by health care professionals. However, this important literature has not yet been synthesized and there is a lack of clarity on what constitutes effective leadership for research use, or what kinds of intervention effectively develop leadership for the purpose of enabling and enhancing research use in clinical practice. We propose to synthesize the evidence on leadership behaviours amongst front line and senior managers that are associated with research evidence by nurses and allied health care professionals, and then determine the effectiveness of interventions that promote these behaviours.Methods/design: Using an integrated knowledge translation approach that supports a partnership between researchers and knowledge users throughout the research process, we will follow principles of knowledge synthesis using a systematic method to synthesize different types of evidence involving: searching the literature, study selection, data extraction and quality assessment, and analysis. A narrative synthesis will be conducted to explore relationships within and across studies and meta-analysis will be performed if sufficient homogeneity exists across studies employing experimental randomized control trial designs. DISCUSSION: With the engagement of knowledge users in leadership and practice, we will synthesize the research from a broad range of disciplines to understand the key elements of leadership that supports and enables research use by health care practitioners, and how to develop leadership for the purpose of enhancing research use in clinical practice.

Mémoire de licence Quand un paysage naît, un autre meurt : – Une analyse écocritique du roman Naissance d'un pont

Ce mémoire est constitué par une analyse écocritique du roman Naissance d'un pont, écrit par Maylis de Kerangal. Le but général du mémoire est d'examiner comment ce roman décrit la relation entre l'homme et la nature. Nous examinons surtout les stratégies narratives employées par l'auteure pour transmettre l'image de cette relation et en plus, nous discutons le rôle joué par les différents paysages se retrouvant dans le récit. Finalement, l'analyse comprend aussi une brève réflexion sur la capacité éventuelle du roman d'influencer l'attitude du lecteur envers l'écologie. L'analyse des stratégies narratives se concentre sur le rôle du narrateur, ainsi que sur la présence et la fonction des perspectives éthiques, des noms symboliques et des figures de style. Ces stratégies contribuent à dépeindre une variété d'idées par rapport aux modes de vie de la société humaine, alors que les descriptions des paysages démontrent la relation complexe entre cette société et les paysages naturels et construits respectivement. Naissance d'un pont semble promouvoir une attitude à l'égard de la nature qui est plus humble que celle dominant dans la société moderne. Afin de pouvoir juger la capacité du roman de transmettre ces valeurs au lecteur, il serait pourtant raisonnable de tenir compte de plusieurs facteurs, tels que la complexité du langage et le niveau de crédibilité de l'histoire.

Identity and image – the story of expertise in a manufacturing company

This thesis is an investigation on the corporate identity of the firm SSAB from a managerial viewpoint (1), the company communication through press releases (2), and the image of the company as portrayed in news press articles (3). The managerial view of the corporate identity is researched through interviews with a communication manager of SSAB (1), the corporate communication is researched through press releases from the company (2) and the image is researched in news press articles (3). The results have been deducted using content analysis. The three dimensions are compared in order to see if the topics are coherent. This work builds on earlier research in corporate identity and image research, stakeholder theory, corporate communication and media reputation theory. This is interesting to research as the image of the company framed by the media affects, among other things, the possibility for the company to attract new talent and employees. If there are different stories, or topics, told in the three dimensions then the future employees may not share the view of the company with the managers in it. The analysis show that there is a discrepancy between the topics on the three dimensions, both between the corporate identity and the communication through press releases, as well as between the communication through press releases and the image in news press articles.

Convex Hulls in Image Processing : A Scoping Review

The demands of image processing related systems are robustness, high recognition rates, capability to handle incomplete digital information, and magnanimous flexibility in capturing shape of an object in an image. It is exactly here that, the role of convex hulls comes to play. The objective of this paper is twofold. First, we summarize the state of the art in computational convex hull development for researchers interested in using convex hull image processing to build their intuition, or generate nontrivial models. Secondly, we present several applications involving convex hulls in image processing related tasks. By this, we have striven to show researchers the rich and varied set of applications they can contribute to. This paper also makes a humble effort to enthuse prospective researchers in this area. We hope that the resulting awareness will result in new advances for specific image recognition applications.

Musikalisk gestaltning av en ”image” : - En fallstudie i design av narrativ mediemusik -

Studien ligger inom ramen för Ljud- och musikproduktion och bygger på ett case där en varumärkesmelodi/ musiklogotype till ett musikgymnasium ska designas. Syftet med studien är att utforska hur en image kan gestaltas musikaliskt och däri bättre förstå hur forskning genom design och användarmedverkan - påverkar och bidrar till processen inom design av narrativ mediemusik. Studien har ämnat svara på den övergripande frågeställningen: Hur kan komposition av narrativ musik beskrivas och genomföras som en designprocess? Forskningsfrågan innefattar även subfrågorna: Hur bidrar användarmedverkan till arbetsprocess vid design av narrativ mediemusik? Hur bidrar gruppsammansättning, själva processen och processverktygen till ett musikaliskt relevant resultat? Med formuleringen "ett musikaliskt relevant resultat" avses i studiens kontext en musikalisk prototyp/slutprodukt som har potential att kunna uttrycka känslor och värderingar som kan överensstämma med varumärkets (skolans) image och formulerade värderubriker. Kärnan i arbetet ligger inom fälten forskning genom design och användarmedverkan, där deltagarna under arbetsprocessens gång kontinuerligt och i flera processteg bidragit genom diskussioner, reaktioner, resonemang och konkreta förslag. Studien visar att designarbete inom narrativ mediamusik tillsammans med representanter för användarna/ målgruppen kan generera fler idéer om aspekter specifika för arbete med design av narrativ mediemusik samt bidra till större förståelse för aktuella kontexter (målgrupps-relaterade och process-relaterade kontexter såväl som musikaliska och genre-relaterade kontexter), än om designern arbetar ensam. Av vikt är att under designprocessen ta fram flera versioner av prototyperna, att göra olika instrumenteringar och interpretationer av det musikaliska materialet, där ett av målen med prototyperna är att designer stegvis lär sig vad som fungerar - vad som skapar en klingande mening i den aktuella målrelaterade kontexten - och ett sätt att kommunicera den här kunskapen är att designa och pröva flera olika prototyper i klingade form.