| 1. |
- Christiansson, Marie-Therese, 1966-, et al.
(författare)
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Mötet mellan process och komponent : mot ett ramverk för en verksamhetsnära kravspecifikation vid anskaffning av komponentbaserade informationssystem
- 2006
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Denna avhandling är en kvalitativ studie av hur organisationer kan förenkla och förbättra arbetet med kravspecificering vid anskaffning av komponentbaserade informationssystem. Avhandlingens utgångspunkt är att mer verksamhetsnära och användbara informationssystem kan anskaffas genom att använda en integrerad verksamhetsmodell där verksamhetsanalys och kravspecificering slås samman. Fyra kunskapsområden har studerats och analyserats för att generera ett ramverk som riktar uppmärksamhet mot relevant innehåll och utformning av en integrerad verksamhetsmodell, 1) verksamhetsprocesser 2) verksamhetsmodellering 3) mjukvarukomponenter och 4) specificering. Avhandlingens empiri representeras av en rekonstruktion av den komponent- och processorienterade anskaffning av ett komplett vårdinformationssystem som genomförts i Landstinget i Värmland. Analyser och respektive kunskapsområde har skett utifrån ansatsen Multi-Grounded Theory vilket innebär en reorigenerering utifrån en växelverkan mellan existerande teorier och empirisk grundning. Några exempel på kunskapsbidrag är ett vidareutvecklat processbegrepp samt en ny livscykelmodell för komponentbaserade informationssystem. Utifrån kunskapsbidragen inom respektive kunskapsområde har integrationssynpunkter identifierats som legat till grund för utveckling av ramverket för en verksamhetsnära kravspecifikation. I avhandlingen dras slutsatsen att genom att integrera arbetet med verksamhetsanalys och kravspecificering skapas bättre förutsättningar för att kravspecifikationer speglar de behov systemen är avsedda att uppfylla och att gapet mellan krav och lösning minskar genom ett bättre underlag för kommunikation mellan kund och systemleverantör. Ramverket pekar på att en verksamhetsnära kravspecifikation utformas i en integrerad processmodell som beskriver verksamhetsprocesser utifrån identifierade generiska processbegrepp samt ett scenario för användning och klassificering av funktionalitet. Kravspecifikationen bör, enligt ramverket, även innehålla en systemöversikt, kommersiella och leverantörsrelaterade krav, design- och arkitektoniska krav samt utförandekrav. Ramverket har prövats och vidareutvecklats utifrån en extern validering i form av en utvärderingsworkshop där ramverkets relevans och användbarhet diskuterats utifrån de erfarenheter och den dokumentation som genererats i Landstinget i Värmland.
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| 2. |
- Fagerberg, Jesper, 1976-
(författare)
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Occupational Fraud : Auditors’ Perceptions of Red Flags and Internal Control
- 2008
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The overall purpose of this thesis is to increase the understanding of auditors’perceptions of occupational fraud. The focus is limited to red flags andinternal control, i.e. to the indications or symptoms of occupational fraud andthe internal control systems which are implemented in order to detect andprevent such actions from being carried out.The thesis is based on 33 interviews with auditors and experts. In order toincrease confidence, triangulation was applied which implied both aqualitative as well as a quantitative methodological approach. The collecteddata was in turn analysed through two models of analysis – an adjustedversion of the so called fraud triangle and the so called COSO-model. Theanalysis was carried out on the group of auditors as a whole (including subgroupsof auditors) as well as compared to a group of experts on fraud andoccupational fraud.The results from the study indicate several aspects of interest regardingauditors’ perceptions of occupational fraud. First, the results indicate a tendencyamong auditors to emphasise “harder” aspects stronger than “softer”aspects. Seen from the fraud triangle, this was manifested by an emphasis onopportunity; when concerning internal control of control activities in theCOSO model, this was emphasised relatively stronger. Second, the resultsindicate a rather strong heterogeneity among auditors in their perceptions ofoccupational fraud. Third, all subparts of the applied models were seldomcovered on an individual basis. Fourth, the interconnection between harderand softer sides, both concerning red flags and internal control, were not verystrongly emphasised. The results were given additional strength from thecomparison with the group of experts.The study also included a comparison among different subgroups of auditors.The subgroups were constructed based on accumulated working experience aswell as whether the respondents primarily audit larger or smaller companies.The results that were based on years of experience indicate a tendency amongolder auditors with more accumulated working experience to emphasise softeraspects relatively stronger, than auditors with less working experience. Thistendency was present for red flags as well as for internal control. More experienced auditors also demonstrated a tendency to emphasise a relativelylarger part of the two applied models of analysis. The division based on sizeof audited companies indicated similar tendencies as were found for bothmore and less experienced auditors. Hence, auditors who mainly audit largercompanies showed a tendency to emphasise softer aspects relatively strongercompared to auditors who mainly audit smaller companies.
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| 3. |
- Johansson, Björn, 1963-
(författare)
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Deciding on Sourcing Option for Hosting of Software Applications in Organisations
- 2007
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Software applications are of great importance in organisations, and performance of an organisation depends on how hosting of software applications are organised. This thesis deals with the question: Why and how organisations decide on specific sourcing options for software applications hosting. The thesis describes and explains sourcing decision-making processes made in the Swedish Post (MeLo) and Jönköpings Kommun (the municipality). MeLo’s sourcing decision resulted in outsourcing of hosting, and the municipality’s sourcing decision resulted in internal sourcing of hosting. Both organisations were distinguished by a decentralised structure to a great extent and showed a huge diversity in software applications used. The sourcing decisions resulted in a change to a more centralised hosting of software applications. The thesis is a retrospective case study based on semi-structured interviews and documents analysis. Concepts from the resource-based view and factors described in sourcing literature are used to analyse these sourcing decisions. From nine theoretical initial propositions 28 propositions are developed about why and how sourcing decisions are made. From these propositions, relations are described and some conclusions are presented about why and how sourcing decisions are made. The main conclusion is that maturity level regarding software applications usage seems to influences the start, the process as such, and the outcome of a sourcing decision-making process. This is explained as the more mature the organisation is regarding usage of software applications the more proactive decision-makers are in the sourcing decision. It is also identified that involved factors can be either influencing or justifying, and it is found that control of software applications usage influences the start of a sourcing decision to a high extent. The findings suggest that a sourcing decision-making process can be described as an irrational decision process that aims at increasing commitment on an already made decision. The study suggests that the less mature and more decentralised the organisation is the more reactive and the stronger influence the need to increase control over software applications have in a sourcing decision-making process.
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| 4. |
- Nilsson, Fritjof, 1978-
(författare)
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Meso-scale modelling of composites and semi-crystalline polymers
- 2009
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis covers the first few steps of a multi-scale computer simulation strategy for predicting physical properties of complex polymers like composites and semi-crystalline polymers. Meso-scale simulations of crystallization and solvent diffusion in polyethylene as well as simulations examining the geometrical impact on the effective permittivity of composites have been performed. These meso-scale models will in the near future be coupled to molecular dynamics models for increased realism and accuracy. The first paper was focused on solvent diffusion in spherulitic semi-crystalline polyethylene. Geometrical models of polyethylene spherulites were constructed and Monte-Carlo random walker simulations were used to estimate the geometrical impedance factor as function of volume crystallinity, mean free path and other geometry properties. Novel numerical off-lattice algorithms made it possible to increase the maximum volume crystallinity from 40 to 55%, to decrease the computation time a factor 100 and to use shorter and more realistic diffusion jump-lengths. The simulation results were in good agreement with experimental results and new analytical formulas were found that could be neatly fitted to both simulation data and experimental data. It was noticed that the geometrical impedance factor was proportional to the polymers mean free path length rather than its length/width aspect ratio and that the traditional Fricke formula for oblate spheroids was not able to correctly predict the diffusion behaviour in complex geometries like spherulites at medium-high volume crystal fractions. The second paper was focused on the electrostatics of composites. Geometrical models of layered composites were first obtained and the finite element method was then used to calculate the effective composite permittivity as function of particle content, particle shape, degree of mixing and other geometrical issues. Analytical lamellae formulas for 2- and 3-phase composites were formulated with clearly better correlation to corresponding finite element data than all other previously known analytical formulas. The analytical 3-phase formula was successfully compared with experimental data for mica/polyimide and it was noted that the influence of water and air was significant.
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| 5. |
- Nilsson Jannesson, Erik B, 1979-
(författare)
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Strategi, styrning och konkurrenskraft : En longitudinell studie av Saab AB
- 2010
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Att skapa sammanhängande koncern-, affärs- och funktionsstrategier (strategisk kongruens), samt ett styrsystem med ett samstämmigt informationsflöde i och mellan de centrala styrverktygen (integrerad styrning), har sedan länge hävdats vara centralt för koncerners konkurrenskraft. I den mängd empiriska studier som legat till grund för detta har främst en eller två organisatoriska nivåer fokuserats när relationerna mellan strategier, styrning och konkurrenskraft diskuterats. Studier som tar ett helhetsgrepp om dessa samband efterfrågas därför för att öka kunskapen om och förståelsen av sambanden. Föreliggande avhandling svarar mot den efterfrågan.En longitudinell fallstudie för perioden 1995–2007 har genomförts. Strategier, ekonomistyrning och produktionsstyrning på koncern-, affärs- och funktionsnivå har studerats inom försvars- och säkerhetskoncernen Saab AB. Tre affärsenheter har studerats i detalj: Saab Aerosystems, Saab Bofors Dynamics och Saab Systems. Det empiriska materialet har samlats in genom 74 intervjuer med totalt 54 respondenter samt via både internt och publikt skriftligt material.Avhandlingen visar att strategisk kongruens och integrerad styrning skapas genom ömsesidig anpassning av strategier och styrning på koncern-, affärs- och funktionsnivå. Genom en sådan ömsesidighet anpassas styrningen till koncernens kritiska framgångsfaktorer och ett integrerat informationsflöde skapas. Inom Saab har detta i sin tur påverkat beteendet på alla nivåer och bidragit till att det förändrats i enlighet med strategierna. De senare har därmed implementerats. Samtidigt som dessa beteendeförändringar skett har Saabs konkurrenskraft varit god. Då implementerade strategier, anpassade utifrån omgivningen, kan antas vara en viktig del i ett företags framgång har Saabs strategiska kongruens och integrerade styrning rimligen haft en väsentlig betydelse för koncernens konkurrenskraft.
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| 6. |
- Persson, Marie
(författare)
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Immune regulation during pregnancy in relation to allergy and in women undergoing in vitro fertilization
- 2012
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- During pregnancy, the fetus expresses both maternal and paternal antigens. To the mother, the paternal antigens are foreign, providing her immune system with an interesting challenge. The fact that the fetus is not normally attacked and rejected implies that mechanisms of tolerance must exist. Pregnancy has long been considered to cause a redirection of the maternal immune responses towards a less aggressive type. Allergic disease has also been associated with that same redirection of immune responses, suggesting that this deviation may be more pronounced in allergic women during pregnancy. Several observations support the concept of a role of the immune system in the etiology of unexplained infertility, associating a redirection of the immune responses towards a more aggressive type with pregnancy loss and pregnancy failure.The aim of this thesis was to investigate the immune responses during pregnancy in allergic and non-allergic women, and in infertile women undergoing IVF treatment. We hypothesized that allergic women would have a more pronounced Th2-deviation than non-allergic women towards paternal antigens during pregnancy and that an unsuccessful outcome of IVF treatment would be associated with aberrations in circulating leukocyte populations and a paternal antigen-specific Th1 and Th17 bias.An increased number of both spontaneous and paternal antigen-induced Th2-like cytokine-secreting cells in peripheral blood was associated with pregnancy in 54 women with pregnancies defined as normal. The allergic pregnant women did not have a more pronounced Th2-deviation than the non-allergic women, as measured by numbers of cytokine-secreting cells. However, when analyzing cytokine levels in cell supernatants, we did observe lower Th1 responses towards paternal antigens in the allergic compared with non-allergic women. Additionally, allergy was associated with a reduced capacity to induce anti-inflammatory IL-10 responses towards paternal antigens.In 25 infertile women undergoing IVF, the peak levels of the majority of paternal antigen-induced cytokines and leukocyte populations investigated coincided with the maximal levels of gonadotropins administered during IVF treatment, suggesting that controlled ovarian hyper-stimulation has a general stimulatory effect on the immune system and that it may be regarded as an inflammatory state. During the treatment, no differences were found regarding cytokine responses to paternal antigens in peripheral blood or the numbers or proportions of circulating leukocyte populations between women with a successful or unsuccessful outcome of IVF. We did see higher numbers of Th2-associated cytokine secreting cells and a lower proportion of lymphocytes in the pregnant compared with the non-pregnant women four weeks after embryo transfer, however, in line with previous findings of immune modulation during pregnancy.In conclusion, normal pregnancy seems to be characterized by a less aggressive type of immune responses, possibly more pronounced in allergic women. This may be of importance for the in utero influences on childhood allergy development. An unsuccessful outcome of IVF does not appear to be associated with a more aggressive type of immune responses towards paternal antigens or aberrations in circulating leukocyte populations, although this should be confirmed in a larger study. The results in this thesis also indicate that the hormonal therapy during IVF treatment has a stimulatory effect on the immune system, generating an inflammatory state.
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| 7. |
- Arwinge, Olof, 1971-
(författare)
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Internal Control : A study of concept and themes
- 2012
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The concept of internal control has developed along with audit practice. As demands have been made for greater accountability in corporate governance, the significance of internal control systems in companies has increased. Traditionally internal control has had a fairly direct relationship to financial reporting quality but wider approaches to internal control have expanded those boundaries much further. Stakeholders are increasingly concerned with the effectiveness of internal controls, and disclosure requirements are making firms to go public with regard to their internal control systems. From a design perspective,current research suggests that internal control designs are contingent upon variables such as company strategies, risk appetite, regulatory characteristics, and organizational size. Also there is much to learn about internal control quality, and the way internal control quality is associated with overall corporate governance quality. This book fills that gap.
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| 8. |
- Arwinge, Olof, 1971-
(författare)
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Internal Control in the Financial Sector : A Longitudinal Case Study of an Insurance Company
- 2014
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis comprises of an initial summary of Study I which is my licentiate thesis in business administration. Study I is a literature study on internal control. Thereafter follows Study II which is a case study of Swedish insurance organization. The case study adopts a contingency perspective and attempts to find environmental and firm-level factors that influence the design, use and outcome of internal control. Study II is a longitudinal study that accounts for key internal-control developments that occurred between 2000-2010. This case study finds that there are two environmental influences that significantly affected internal-control design, use and outcome. They consist of environmental uncertainty and regulatory and supervisory forces. Their influences differ in nature but jointly they act to set boundaries and frame in-ternal-control design, use and outcome. There are two firm-level influences of governance structure and managerial attitudes that act jointly with strategy to affect the design, use and outcome of internal control. While environmental influences set boundaries and frame internal-control work, firm-level contingencies can effectively enable or disable internal-control effectiveness. These firm-level influences provide means and opportunities to internal-control work. My longitudinal research suggests that evolutionary steps have been taken regarding internal-control design and use. In sum these steps correspond to a shift in internal-control orientation and a transformation of practices where Folksam has been moving from a looser towards a tighter form of internal control, with greater transparency in operational risk management. Finally, based on the internal-control principles of the COSO framework I see that particular principles have been enhanced within the Folksam system of internal control. The components of these principles are the control environment, risk assessment and monitoring.
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| 9. |
- Crawford, Jason, 1975-
(författare)
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Regulation's Influence on Risk Management and Management Control Systems in Banks
- 2017
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This dissertation explores regulation’s influence on risk management and management control systems (MCS) in banks. The dissertation comprises of an introductory chapter, two published book chapters, one of which is an extensive literature review, and two working papers, presented at several European conferences. The overall objective of this dissertation is to explore how banks are responding to banking regulation in light of the 2007-08 financial crisis and what the implications of those responses are, particularly in relation to risk management and MCS, and their interactions. The overall research question is therefore: what influence does regulation have on risk management and management control systems in banks over time? The intended ambition is to contribute to existing knowledge on the relationship between bank regulation, risk management, and MCS by providing several practical and theoretical contributions. The dissertation employs an adapted theoretical framework and uses institutional theory and contingency theory to expose tensions between, the demands for uniformity residing in banking regulation, and the demands for uniqueness residing inside banks themselves as they seek to maintain control over the design and use of their organizational controls. The empirical material used in the longitudinal case study is gathered from a large European bank. The main findings of the dissertation are as follows. In Paper I, the findings show that banking regulation’s influence on risk management and management control is mixed, which in turn can influence risk management’s integration with MCS. The paper also finds that very little knowledge exists about regulation’s influence on risk management and MCS. In Paper II, the findings show that while regulatory influence in IT control has increased over time, banks continue to exercise significant influence over regulatory demands. In Paper III, the findings show how regulation’s influence varies considerably over time and that increased regulatory pressure can lead to a higher degree of integration between risk management and MCS across the three dimensions of integration. In Paper IV, the findings show how regulation’s influence is shaping the mental processes of management and employees, and can vary significantly based on several identified factors.
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| 10. |
- Grip, Björn
(författare)
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Den ojämlika dödligheten : Hjärtdödlighet och samhällsutveckling i två städer
- 2016
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Den ojämlika dödligheten är en studie av främst hjärt–kärldödlighet avseende perioden 1950–2010 i tvillingstäderna Linköping och Norrköping och konsekvenserna av ojämlikhet. Skillnaderna mellan städerna i dödlighet är stora. Under 1970-talet, då jämlikheten stod i focus, minskade dessa. Efterhand som ekonomisk politik och samhällsvärderingar mera anpassades till en global monetaristisk politik ökade också den ojämlika dödligheten mellan städerna.Stora förändringar ägde rum inom respektive stad när det gäller hjärtdödligheten. Miljonprogramområdena i de båda städerna blev relativt sett fattigare och präglades allt mer av flyktinginvandring, samtidigt som städernas centra gentrifierades, inte minst i Linköping. Skillnaderna i dödlighet mellan ytterområdena och centrum ökade under 1990- och 2000-talen. Detta gäller i större utsträckning i Linköping än i Norrköping.Avhandlingen består av tre delar. I licentiatuppsatsen analyseras städernas utveckling från 1950-talet till 2006. Studien gör också ett försök att spåra orsaker till ohälsoskillnader och för tidig död. Artikel 1 handlar om vad som hände med folkhälsan på vägen från ett högindustriellt till ett postindustriellt samhälle. Ett särskilt focus har varit att studera skillnader i hjärtsjuklighet mellan olika stadsdelar i de bägge tvillingstäderna. I artikel 2 analyseras skillnader i hjärt–kärldödlighet på stadsdelsnivå under perioden 1976 till 2010.
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