Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Networking os creations'

In this study the authors wanted to find out what role networking and knowledge play for a Swedish company that wants to enter the Nigerian market. This was done by using a qualitative approach and conducting interviews with HQS AB a Swedish company that entered Nigeria, the Swedish Trade Council and the Nigerian Embassy. No studies have previously been done about the internationalization process for a Swedish firm entering Nigeria therefore this essay provides empirical findings that can be useful for Swedish firms that want to enter Nigeria and for researchers within international business. The result from this study indicate that HQS AB had a successful market entry to Nigeria mainly because networking help them get in touch with partners that could add value by providing valuable connections that eventually helped HQS AB to start their business in Nigeria. Moreover, by attaining tacit knowledge in Nigeria, HQS AB managed to handle challenges in Nigeria such as the complex bureaucracy system and the business culture in the country.

This thesis provides a synthesis of knowledge about inclusive networking in an international context, derived from the experience of stakeholders in education in countries of the South. It is suggested that inclusive networking facilitates the telling of stories, challenges stereotypes, humanises headlines and promotes contextually relevant research. The research question: “What are the key principles for the development of an inclusive international network?” was developed as a guide to this study. Using a process of autoethnographic analysis, I identified my tacit knowledge of inclusive networking through a continual analysis and cross-referencing of the ten publications presented here, and a wider search of the literature. This thesis is presented as a narrative in three parts. In the first part I trace my motivation for becoming involved in international networking as a strategy to address global inequality, review the literature on networking most relevant to this thesis, and identify some of the barriers to publishing faced by education stakeholders in the South. In the second part, a case study of the Enabling Education Network (EENET) is presented and a wide range of networking dilemmas identified, related to the way information is collected and shared across diverse Southern contexts. The overarching dilemmas of northern dominance and deficit thinking are discussed in the context of oral culture and the global digital and communication divide, and the difficulties in promoting genuinely critical conversations. In the third part, it is argued that contextual detail and transparency about authorship are critical to the construction of stories and accounts if they are to be meaningfully networked across diverse contexts. However, it is suggested that investing resources in the development of documentation, reflection and analytical skills in education stakeholders is an essential part of inclusive networking, if ‘promising’ practice is to be captured from a Southern perspective. Following this, the penultimate chapter puts forward four key principles relating to the development of an inclusive international network that emerged from the analysis of publications and the wider literature: 1. sharing of information, knowledge and stories between contexts; 2. knowledge creation: through reflection, documentation and analysis; 3. balancing insider and outsider knowledge and perspectives; and 4. developing appropriate responses at community level. I conclude with some possible future directions for research, and with a personal story which encapsulates the theoretical framework of this thesis.

There is little in the existing literature that provides practical information on the link between co-creation and the internet as well as guidance on how to facilitate cocreation in the online environment. This study sought to address these gaps and particularly the lack of guidance on the practical act of co-creation and the relationship between co-creation and the online environment. A quantitative research methodology with a descriptive design was followed. The data for the study was collected by way of an internet survey. The population for the research was defined as the users of the online cycling social network, www.thehubsa.co.za. A topic explaining the purpose of the study and inviting users to participate was posted on the website. The study revealed the existence of a new two factor solution related to the separate co-creation and Web 2.0 applications constructs. In this respect the Interact and Use components (co-creation) as well as the Creating and Sharing components (Web 2.0 applications) could provide the foundation for construct validity for more comprehensive scales.The ability of a user to Author content on a website was found to be of particular practical importance in facilitating co-creation. Providing this functionality to a customer may be the key to the missing “how to” element of online co-creation. The ability of a social networking website, such as www.thehubsa.co.za, to encourage general product/service usage appears to be the main attraction to advertisers. Advertisers looking to build their brands may not necessarily obtain the same benefits from the website. Findings regarding impact on usage were inconclusive and further research is suggested. Copyright<br>Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010.<br>Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS)<br>unrestricted

<p>The purpose of this research is to analyze business incubators and the relevant factors that take place inside these organizations.</p><p>The methodology used was a case study approach, which investigates a real environment, in this case: NeoEmpresa, a business incubator located in La Paz, Bolivia. The explanatory approach is also considered in this research since the purpose is to explain the business incubation characteristics as well as understand the importance of knowledge transfer and network creation inside business incubators.</p><p>The findings propose that the most adequate incubation model strongly depends on the incubator’s main purpose and that the learning practices that take place inside an incubator involve knowledge transfer, more considered experience transfer, and networking as relevant factors.</p>

This thesis is concerned with the work of business leaders. The interest lies in the holders of positions as Chairpersons, Boardmembers and Managing Directors. This study, however, goes beyond the position holder to consider the actions of actors, as they operate within networks with concurrent multiple business activities. The purpose is to generate knowledge and understanding of the activities and relations of multibusiness leaders involved in managing small and medium-sized companies. Major schools of thought on the manager's job are described. The review relates the scientific debate about different schools and emphasises the need for more inductive research. The call for processual and contextual analysis leads to an epistemological position grounded in understanding through interpretation. The method used in this study adopts such an approach, and thus aims to discover qualities of the studied phenomenon based on social constructivism. Empirical reality is approached by means of intensive studies of a few cases. Case descriptions of the work of multibusiness leaders in the National, Regional, Intermediary, Independent, and Developing Networks are undertaken, where the inter­action processes of the different actors are described according to the working life his­tory of the actor, and to the networking and work activities carried out. The analysis is based upon four themes (the actor's 'task legitimacy', 'economic legi­timacy', 'idea development' and 'network'). The first two themes have been given the generic term 'legitimacy concept', not only to reflect the interactive and changeable aspects of work, but also to illustrate how work in itself is intimately interwoven in an institutional context. The creation of 'task legitimacy' and 'economic legitimacy' of the leaders is analysed. The analysis of the actors' idea development results in a description of differing visions in the individual networks. This description takes up visions covering long-term industrial leadership, regional co-operative leadership, restructuring leadership, flexible market-adaptive leadership and network-based leadership. In a survey of the existing literature, the role of a leader is seen as one of many managerial roles, a view that is based upon the work of Mintzberg (1973). This study contrasts with the above picture, by discussing a reciprocal dependency between the leader's leadership role and his/her other roles. This reciprocity and concurrency is dealt with by introducing the concept of identity as a theoretical aid, thus reflecting in a more appropriate way the complex and interactive actor. The social identity concept (Tajfel, 1982) is used, in order to answer more profoundly the research questions. As leaders are reciprocally dependent on a network for their own existence, we must both look inward in order to be able to understand at a deeper level the actors' motives, and look outward to be able to look at identity creation in a wider industry context. What I have termed näringslivsledaridentitet (the Identity of Multibusiness Leaders), is a substantial part of this study's findings. The concept is used in order to be able to describe how the actors' inner and outer motives merge in identity creating processes. The actors' different patterns of interaction are absorbed into a composite whole.<br>digitalisering@umu

Governments around the world have pursued ICT based initiatives including the provision of infrastructure to assist regional areas to develop economically (Beckinsale et al. 2006). There has been considerable interest in exploiting ICT to develop high technology clusters and support innovative networks (Lawson & Lorenz 1999). However, these initiatives have met with mixed success. It is clear that such development depends on more than providing appropriate technology Attention to social and organisational factors is crucial if regional areas are to realise the potential of ICT as a tool for regional development (Gengatharen & Standing 2005). It is important to understand the nature of business networking as well as the perspective of those participating in such networks if successful initiatives are to be established. The aim of this research is to identify how ICT can be used for knowledge sharing among businesses in regional areas and how the online networks through which knowledge is shared can contribute to the development of the region. This research investigates the question of what value small businesses in those regions derive from knowledge sharing networks using ICT. It also seeks to identify the value creation potential of those networks for their region. Previous research has shown that large organisations have achieved significant value from virtual communities of practice (VCoPs) as a structure for sharing knowledge and supporting innovation (Wenger 2004). The concept of Communities of Practice and Virtual Communities of Practice provided a useful point of departure for this research. The investigation comprised interpretive case studies of two Australian regional areas and their local business networks which incorporated SMEs in a variety of industries. Each case study was conducted in three stages. First, semi-structured interviews were conducted with regional economic development leaders. Second, 192 small and medium business owners were surveyed about their business activities and their participation in local business networks. Third, in-depth interviews were conducted with 23 small business owners to gain a richer understanding of their participation in knowledge-sharing networks and the value they realised or anticipated from various knowledge-sharing activities. A combined analysis of the two cases was conducted as well as the individual analyses. The research adopted a modified Structured Case method (Carroll & Swatman 2000). The analysis of the two case studies revealed: a.) There was a significant difference between the majority of SMEs who traded within the region and those trading largely beyond the region. The latter’s more proactive online sharing knowledge and seeking of business opportunities would enable them to access most value from VCoEs. b.) The participating SMEs operated in a number of industries and what they had in common was an interest in improving their enterprises. Consequently they used their regional networks which were not aligned to any one industry to make connections and share knowledge. They did not necessarily seek to access specific information. c.) A necessary prerequisite of VCoEs is having vibrant CoEs where face-to-face interaction enhances the development of trust and social capital. This appeared as an important factor facilitating the move to incorporate online knowledge sharing. d.) Younger businesses appeared to gain the most value from knowledge sharing in CoEs as they were using their networks to determine how to grow their firm. e.) The value of VCoEs to the SME participants is primarily in their general connection to other businesses in the region. Since the participants operate in a number of industries, what they have in common is an interest in their enterprises. The main value appears to come from the potential of the VCoEs to add to this connection and to social capital. This study found that successful management of VCoEs must: i) Ensure the network website is actively used by members before attempting to incorporate online knowledge sharing. ii) Monitor and stimulate online forum interaction rather than rely on interaction to occur naturally. iii) Not rely on email as a mechanism for stimulating knowledge sharing. Email is seen as more appropriate for formal documentation than for candid exchange of views. The concept of virtual communities of practice was found to be somewhat inappropriate for the diverse SMEs in the regional networks. Because of their diversity, they do not necessarily see value in sharing knowledge about practice but they do see value in sharing more general information and in providing support, connection and ideas that facilitate the strategic direction of their business. To address this issue, the concept of virtual communities of enterprise (VCoEs) is proposed as recognition of what the participating SMEs had in common: an interest in their individual businesses as part of the region. The original contribution of this research consists of its identification of the issues in linking SMEs across industries. It provides new insights on the business practices of regional SMEs and developed the concepts of Community of Enterprise (CoE) and Virtual Community of Enterprise (VCoE) to capture the special nature of knowledge sharing in regional multi-industry business networks. New perspectives are revealed on the ways that value could be derived from knowledge sharing by these regionally networked SMEs, as such it adds to the body of knowledge in an area where there has been little systematic investigation. This research reinforces the importance of social capital as an essential pre-requisite for accessing the value of intellectual capital in regions. Social capital emerges as vital when establishing and maintaining face-to-face knowledge sharing in regional networks and a necessary pre-condition for successfully establishing online knowledge sharing. Trust is a key factor and this research extends understanding of the role of social capital and the importance of trust in regional networks and online interaction. Its findings have significant implications for the development and management of CoEs and VCoEs as it outlines the key elements that need to be addressed when establishing and maintaining them, the appropriate applications for this context and the issues involved in management of the networking and online contexts. These findings not only increase our understanding of the management dynamics of online networks, they can also provide guidance to those seeking to establish successful VCoEs.

Internet Protocol multimedia subsystem (IMS) is an architecture for services such as voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) in IP based communication systems. IMS is standardized by the 3GPP standardization forum, and was first released in 2002. Since then IMS has not had the wide adoption by operators as first anticipated. As 3G already supported voice and video, the operators could not justify the expense of IMS. The current emergence of the fourth generation mobile communication system named Long Term Evolution (LTE) has, however, increased the need for knowledge of IMS and of creating services for it. LTE networks are IP only networks that provide low latency. In order to use LTE for making phone calls, VoIP technologies are needed. IMS is the architecture intended to be used for Voice over LTE (VoLTE). The need for tools for education within IMS was seen in 2006 by Enea Experts in Linköping, Sweden. The author of this thesis designed an IMS for educational purposes, but the project was never fully completed. This thesis will reexamine the design decisions previously made by the author. The requirements stated by the customer remain: that an IMS with basic signaling and logging should be easy to install, maintain, and evolve at a low cost. A literature study of IMS and VoLTE is presented to contribute with knowledge in these areas. The previous design and implementation made by the author is presented and analyzed. The third-party software that the previous implementation was based on is reexamined. Existing open source components are analyzed in order to identify how they can be used to solve the problem and to identify what remains to be developed in order to fulfill the requirements. New design suggestions, presented in today´s context, are proposed and verified using analytical reasoning and experiments. The outcome of the final work is new verified design decisions for the customer to use when implementing a new IMS for educational purposes. The thesis should also provide useful insights which instructors and students can use to teach and learn more about IMS.<br>Internet Protocol multimedia subsystem (IMS) är en arkitektur för tjänster, som IP-telefoni (Voice over Internet Protocol, VoIP), i IP baserade kommunikationssystem. IMS standardi¬seras av standardiseringsforumet 3GPP och första utgåvan släpptes år 2002. IMS fick dock inte det breda genomslag bland operatörer som förväntats. Eftersom 3G redan hade stöd för tal och video kunde operatörerna inte se skäl till ytterligare utgifter för IMS. Den fjärde generationens mobila kommunikationssystem, Long Term Evolution (LTE) är helt IP-baserat och ger lägre fördröjningar i nätet. För att kunna ringa telefonsamtal via LTE krävs VoIP-teknik. IMS är en arkitektur avsedd för att användas för Voice over LTE (VoLTE). Den nuvarande utvecklingen av LTE har därför ökat behovet av kunskap om IMS och av utveckling av IMS-tjänster. Enea Experts i Linköping insåg behovet av verktyg för utbildning inom IMS år 2006. Författaren av det här examensarbetet designade därför ett IMS för utbildningssyfte. Projektet slutfördes dock aldrig. Syftet med examensarbetet är att ompröva de tidigare designbesluten. Kundens krav kvarstår: att ett IMS med grundläggande signalering och loggning bör vara enkelt att installera, enkelt att underhålla och möjligt att utveckla till en låg kostnad. Arbetet innehåller en litteraturstudie av IMS och VoLTE för att ge en inblick i dessa områden. Den tidigare designen och implementationen presenteras och analyseras. Tredjeparts mjukvara, som den tidigare implementationen baserades på, omprövas. Befintliga programvaror med öppen källkod analyseras i syfte att kartlägga hur de kan användas för att lösa uppgiften, samt att identifiera vad som återstår att utveckla för att uppfylla kraven. Nya beslut kring design presenteras och besluten verifieras med experiment och analytiskt resonemang. Resultatet av detta examensarbete innefattar nya verifierade beslut kring design som kunden kan använda vid utveckling av ett nytt IMS för utbildningssyfte. Arbetet erbjuder också värdefulla insikter som instruktörer och elever kan använda för att undervisa samt för att lära sig mer om IMS.

Terra, capital e trabalha ditavam o sucesso das organizações na era industrial. Somados a estes fatores, os ativos intangíveis são considerados o complemento chave para determinar a sustentabilidade dos negócios na era do conhecimento. A globalização cria uma nova dinâmica nos mercados e a gestão do conhecimento torna-se foco de atenção por parte das organizações. Intensifica-se a formação de redes interorganizacionais a fim de alavancar os negócios das empresas numa estratégia ganha ganha na qual o conhecimento tácito, não codificado, é compartilhado. Mais especificamente a gestão da inovação, uma das dimensões dos ativos intangíveis, assume um papel prioritário na agenda do Governo Federal, por meio do PDP, e de outros agentes de mercado. O BNDES deu alguns importantes passos para atender às demandas das empresas na era do conhecimento, dentre eles a adoção da metodologia do BSC de Capitais Intangíveis para fins de avaliação de risco de crédito das empresas e a parceria firmada com a Universidade de Brightom (UK) com a finalidade de prover aos gestores das empresas o treinamento em gestão da inovação. Dado o pontapé inicial, quais são os desafios que o BNDES deve enfrentar daqui por diante? Na revisão bibliográfica, faz-se a análise dos fatores de competitividade na era do conhecimento, da evolução do tema ativos intangíveis até os dias atuais, da formação de redes de relacionamento como estratégias relacionais, avaliando seus prós e contras, de alguns conceitos de inovação e sua gestão passando pela identificação do estágio de desenvolvimento das empresas brasileiras neste quesito. Posteriormente, procede-se a análise da ferramenta de gestão denominada Balanced Scorecard, que é base do BSC de Capitais Intangíveis. São identificadas as ações já desenvolvidas pelo BNDES, Sebrae e FINEP voltadas para o tema em referência a fim de avaliar o nível de integração entre elas e passa-se a discorrer sobre a relevância do tema para o BNDES e para a sociedade. Este estudo aborda o problema mediante a elaboração de um diagnóstico das 30 empresas ativas da carteira de investimentos em PMEs da BNDESPAR, subsidiária do BNDES, mediante a aplicação do BSC na forma de questionário. O objetivo é verificar se há espaço para a elaboração de planos de ação voltados para a criação de valor das empresas mediante a construção de ativos intangíveis e se a ferramenta é útil e adequada para tal finalidade. Procede-se, ainda, a avaliação de conteúdo das respostas ao questionário encaminhado aos participantes do treinamento em gestão da inovação a fim de avaliar sugestões de ações voltadas para a maximização do retorno esperado com a iniciativa. Na conclusão deste estudo, verifica-se que a ferramenta denominada BSC de Capitais Intangíveis é adequada à atividade de gestão da carteia de investimento em PMEs da BNDESPAR, que há um bom espaço para adoção de medidas voltadas para a criação de valor das empresas, citando-se alguns exemplos, e são destacadas algumas contribuições acadêmicas preliminares para a melhoria contínua da ferramenta ora desenvolvida além de sugerir outras iniciativas que o BNDES pode adotar a fim de otimizar as ações já implementadas até então.<br>Land, capital and work dictated the organizations’ success in the industrial era. Added to these factors, the intangible assets are considered the key complement to determine business’ sustainability in the knowledge era. The globalization creates a new dynamic in the markets and the knowledge management becomes focal point to the organizations. It becomes more common the incorporation of inter-organizational nets to improve business, in a strategy win-win where the tacit knowledge, noncodified, which is shared. More specifically, the innovation management, one of the intangible assets aspects, plays an important role in the Federal Government agenda, through the PDP and other market players. BNDES made significant progress to assist companies’ demands in the knowledge era, among them: the adoption of the Intangible Assets BSC methodology to evaluate companies’ credit risk and the partnership with Brightom University (UK) to train innovation management to companies’ managers. Besides the initial steps, what are the challenges that BNDES will face from now on? In the bibliographic review, it is analyzed the competitive factors in the knowledge era, the evolution of the intangible assets concept, the consolidation of the networking as business strategy, evaluation its advantages and disadvantages, some innovation definitions and its management through the identification of the development level of the Brazilian companies’ in this aspect. After that, it is analyzed the management tool so-called Balanced Scorecard, which is fundamental to the Intangible Assets BSC. The actions already implemented by BNDES, Sebrae and FINEP focused on the subject are identified in order to evaluate the integration level among those actions. Then, it is demonstrated the relevancy of the subject not only to BNDES, but also to society. This study faces the subject by the preparation of a diagnostic from 30 actives SMEs investments from BNDESPAR portfolio, a BNDES subsidiary, adopting the BSC methodology through questionnaire. The objective is to certify if there is enough space to elaborate an action plan focused on creating value to companies considering them intangible assets and, if it is viable, how this toll can be useful and adequate to achieve such objective. The questionnaire content, answered by the training participants in the innovation management program, is also evaluated to check the suggestions of actions to maximize the expected feedback. In the conclusion, it is verified that the tool so-called Intangible Assets BSC is adequate to the management activity of the investments in PMEs from BNDESPAR portfolio and there is enough space to adopt measures focused on creation of companies’ value, mentioning some examples and highlighting some preliminary academicals contributions to improve the tool and also suggests other steps that BNDES can adopt to optimize the actions already implemented.<br>Dissertação (mestrado) - Curso de Mestrado em Gestão Empresarial, Fundação Getúlio Vargas, Rio de Janeiro, 2009.<br>Bibliografia: p. 201-211.

碩士<br>崑山科技大學<br>資訊管理研究所<br>100<br>With the advent of knowledge economy, knowledge has been regarded as one of the most important strategic resources. The business competition can be enhanced depending not only on the capital and humane resource, but on the knowledge that can help on creation improvement. Therefore, how to effectively create knowledge and enhance business value is one of the crucial factors to maintain advantageous competition. The research thesis conducts an empirical study that discloses the relationships between knowledge creation mode and knowledge creation performance, as well as the team interactive networking mode and knowledge creation performance. The research thesis also examines the mediating role of knowledge creation process (socialization, externalization, combination, internalization, SECI) on the above mentioned relationships. Research findings indicate that (1) goal-driven creation mode is positively related to the knowledge creation performance; (2) periphery networking mode is positively related to the knowledge creation performance; (3) in the whole process of knowledge creation, the SECI model also posses the mediating effect on the relationship of creation model, networking model and knowledge creation performance.

The educational role of the worldwide web has been cast in a new light by the emergence of so-called ‘web 2.0’ technologies and, in particular, ‘social software’ where users are connected to and collaborate with each other in a variety of group interactions (Shirky 2003). Current research indicates that social networking has the potential to bring individuals together into new relationships and friendships, into new communicative flows, and even perhaps into communities of their choosing. Can social networking tools, integrated into the requirements and learning objectives of a course, offer some benefits towards meeting the needs of students? The average Indiana University Purdue University-Indianapolis student experience can vary greatly when compared to campus life at a traditional, four-year residency college or university because the student body is comprised of an assorted group of learners: commuting students, older adult students, online students, on-campus students, and first-generation college students. These students come from a range of diverse backgrounds. Using N100: Introduction to Digital Media Principles as my primary case study, I assess the implementation and development of social media tools, specifically the use of a closed Ning network, in this diverse college classroom environment. This paper evaluates the use of social networking tools to enhance student learning and improve student engagement as well as comparing social networking software to other types of learning managements systems such as Indiana University’s Oncourse CL.<br>Richard L. Edwards, Ph. D., Chair; Franklin D. Giles, Ph. D.; Mark Alexander M.A. Educational Technology

碩士<br>大葉大學<br>事業經營研究所<br>87<br>Abstract This research paper discusses the key factors necessary for creation of a successful and competitive networking industry in Taiwan today. Specifically, it discusses the factors that led to the success and competitiveness of the local networking companies. References are made in this paper to literature discussing the key factors for success by well known people such as Dr. Huang In San, Mr. Kenichi Omae, Dr. Wu Su Hwa, Mr. De Vesconcellos and Mr. Hambrick. This paper confirms their finding that there is a close relation between these factors and the resulting competitiveness. This paper provides a case study of six indigenous networking companies, namely D-Link, Accton, C-Net, Cameo, AboCom and Rella. The first three companies currently occupy 50% of the local networking market, and hence represent the core of Taiwan''s networking industry. A total of fifteen specialists and management people of the above-mentioned six companies were interviewed as part of this case study. A polling was made to arrive at the following weight index base to calculate the key success factors：1.Cost and quality control：1.41 points；2.New product development capability：1.39 points；3.Control of key technologies：1.29 points；4.On-time delivery of products to market：1.25 points；5.Management capability：1.24 points；6.OEM/ODM sales capability：1.24 points；7.Economy of scale：1.20 points；8.Organizational culture and teamwork：1.10 points；9.Sales channels and marketing capability：1.02 points；10.Product components and cost control：1.00 points； To conclude, this paper has the following five suggestions for the local networking industry： 1. To increase profit, companies must enhance management capability. 2. Companies having the first five key factors for success have a higher chance of becoming successful and competitive. 3. Specialists agree that all ten key factors are important, the top management of local companies must not ignore any of them if they wish to enhance their competitiveness. 4. If companies can control the key technologies and timely release new products, they stand a better chance to increase their competitiveness and profit. 5. To become more competitive and strengthen overall capabilities, companies must get more OEM/ODM orders.

Social networking has become integrated into every aspect of business that one can imagine and universities must take advantage of the phenomenon to build personal relationships with young alumni in an effort to build a lifetime of loyalty. This study addresses some issues that should be considered to build loyalty in young alumni, from the moment of their first arrival, rather than waiting until after they graduate to cultivate them. This study examines how alumni relations officers can help build relationships through social networks, and in-school interventions that will help creating lifetime loyalty among young alumni. Young alumni, who are more familiar with technology than older generations of alumni are a prime target audience that should be considered to study efficient and effective way for universities to get their messages out. Through an interactive qualitative analysis study, this research addresses the factors that keep alumni from wanting to hear about and be vested in their alma mater before they graduate and how they will communicate with the university after graduation. This study explores the broad question, Why do some students use alumni social media and some do not? To answer the question, the researcher explores the phenomenon of The Undergraduate Experience and Using Social Media. Using Interactive Qualitative Analysis (IQA), this study identifies the elements that make up The Undergraduate Experience and The Using Social Media Experience. The study goes further by identifying how these elements relate in a system of influence. The study concludes with practical solutions for the engagement of alumni.<br>text

Esta tese teve como objetivo compreender o envolvimento dos adeptos de futebol nas redes sociais e o seu efeito na satisfação e nas intenções comportamentais. Realizaram-se cinco estudos interdependentes usando uma amostra de 425 adeptos de um clube da principal liga de futebol de Portugal. O primeiro estudo teve por objetivo propor e examinar um modelo conceptual para o envolvimento dos adeptos de futebol nas redes sociais por intermédio dos componentes da comunidade do clube, relação clube-adepto nas redes sociais, relação adepto-adepto nas redes sociais e cocriação de valor pelos adeptos nas redes sociais. Complementarmente, procurou-se avaliar o impacto do envolvimento na satisfação e nas intenções comportamentais. Os quatro estudos subsequentes analisaram isoladamente o efeito de cada um dos componentes propostos para o envolvimento na satisfação e intenções comportamentais. Os dados foram analisados através de análise fatorial confirmatória e modelos de equações estruturais. Os resultados do primeiro estudo sugerem que o envolvimento dos adeptos de futebol nas redes sociais pode ser medido pelos componentes da comunidade do clube, relação clube-adepto nas redes sociais, relação adepto-adepto nas redes sociais e cocriação de valor pelos adeptos nas redes sociais, confirmando o modelo conceptual proposto nesta tese. Complementarmente, o constructo do envolvimento mostrou um efeito positivo na satisfação com o clube e redes sociais e nas intenções comportamentais online e offline. Por fim, os resultados dos quatro estudos subsequentes sugerem que a comunidade do clube, a relação clube-adepto nas redes sociais, a relação adepto-adepto nas redes sociais e a cocriação de valor pelos adeptos nas redes sociais também influenciam positivamente na satisfação e nas intenções comportamentais. Implicações para a gestão dos clubes, limitações e direções para futuras pesquisas são discutidas a partir dos resultados obtidos.<br>This thesis aimed to understand fan engagement through social networking sites (SNS) and its effect on fans' satisfaction and behavioral intentions. Five interdependent studies were conducted using a sample of 425 fans from a Portuguese football team. The first study aimed to propose and examine a conceptual model of fan engagement through SNS through the following constructs: team community, team-to-fan relationship through SNS, fan-to-fan relationship through SNS and fan co-creation through SNS. In addition, it sought to assess the impact of fan engagement on satisfaction and behavioral intentions. The four subsequent studies examined separately the effect of each of the components proposed for the fan engagement construct on satisfaction and behavioral intentions. Data were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. The results of the first study showed that fan engagement through SNS can be measured by the following components: team community, team-to-fan relationship through SNS, fan-to-fan relationship through SNS and fan co-creation through SNS, confirming the conceptual model proposed in this thesis. In addition, the fan engagement construct showed a positive effect on fans' satisfaction with their team and SNS of the team and behavioral intentions on online and offline contexts. Finally, the results of the four subsequent studies suggested that team community, team-to-fan relationship through SNS, fan-to-fan relationship through SNS and fan co-creation through SNS also impact positively on fans' satisfaction and their behavioral intentions. Implications for the management of football teams, limitations and future research directions are discussed based on the results obtained.<br>CAPES