Browsing Student theses, total by Title

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L2 processing and comprehension of complex syntactic structures in English medical texts

An empirical study of how a simplification of complex syntactic structures in English medical texts affects processing and comprehension for Danish medical experts

Juel Larsen, Trine; Ankerstjerne Hansen, Rose (Frederiksberg, 2010)

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Abstract:

Fagsprog er ofte kendetegnet ved at have et højt informationsniveau, specialiseret terminologi og mange komplekse syntaktiske strukturer. Sådanne elementer kan være medvirkende til at gøre fagsprogstekster meget informationstunge og kompakte. Vi mener, at det er muligt at producere fagsprogstekster, der ikke er præget af f.eks. komplekse syntaktiske strukturer såsom præmodifikation, nominalisering, reducerede relativsætninger og passivkonstruktioner, som er hovedfokus i dette speciale. Vi forventer, at en simplificering af sådanne strukturer vil fremme den kognitive bearbejdelse og forståelse af teksterne, samtidigt med, at budskabet formidles på en måde, der ikke går på kompromis med det faglige niveau. Formålet med dette speciale er derfor at undersøge empirisk, hvordan en simplificering af ovennævnte strukturer i engelsksprogede medicinske tekster påvirker bearbejdelse og forståelse for danske fagfolk inden for det medicinske område. Simplificeringsprocessen af de syntaktiske strukturer har vi valgt at benævne tekstoptimering. Det har ført os til følgende hypotese: Højt specialiserede engelske medicinske tekster er nemmere at læse og forstå af danske medicinske eksperter i en tekstoptimeret version end i deres originale, oprindelige form. Vi kombinerer to metoder til at verificere eller måske falsificere ovenstående hypotese, nemlig eyetracking og spørgeskemaer. Eye-tracking gør det muligt at måle læseres øjenbevægelser henover en tekst og derved kan en læsers kognitive indsats måles. På denne måde kan vi se antallet af fikseringer og regressioner, som læseren laver og måle den tid, som læseren bruger på at læse en tekst. Dette gør, at vi kan vurdere, hvordan en læser bearbejder en tekst. Til forsøget anvender vi otte forsøgspersoner, der har dansk som modersmål. De er alle enten lægestuderende eller nyuddannede læger. Vi anvender spørgeskemaer til at opnå viden om forsøgspersonernes sproglige og uddannelsesmæssige baggrund, samt til at undersøge forsøgspersonernes forståelse af teksten og deres vurdering af teksternes sværhedsgrad. Kombinationen af eye-tracking og spørgeskemaer gør det muligt for os at vurdere om de kvantitative data fra optagelser af forsøgspersonernes øjenbevægelser konvergerer med forsøgspersonernes kvalitative svar i spørgeskemaerne. Til forsøget benytter vi to medicinske tekster, dvs. vi anvender to tekster, hvori der ikke er foretaget ændringer og en tekstoptimeret version af hver af disse. I teksterne definerer vi såkaldte areas of interest (AOI’er), der er de ’interesseområder’ i teksten, hvori vi har foretaget ændringer. Som teoretisk grundlag for specialet anvender vi bl.a. teori om fagsprog, kommunikation og øjenbevægelser. Vores mål var at bruge forsøgspersonernes svar i spørgeskemaerne til at understøtte data fra forsøgspersonernes øjenbevægelser. Dette var dog ikke muligt, da svarene ikke gav tilstrækkelig data til en dybdegående analyse af forsøgspersonernes forståelse af teksterne. Derfor valgte vi at fokusere på data fra forsøgspersonernes øjenbevægelser i analysen af effekten af tekstoptimering Resultaterne fra analysen viste, at tekstoptimeringen af de komplekse syntaktiske strukturer havde en positiv effekt på forsøgspersonernes bearbejdelse af teksterne. I AOI’erne i de optimerede versioner så vi en reducering af læsetid samt færre regressioner og fikseringer. Derudover så vi en samlet læsetid, der var lavere for de tekstoptimerede versioner end for de originale tekster. Vi kan derfor konkludere, at tekstoptimeringen har fremmet den kognitive bearbejdelse af teksterne.

URI:

http://hdl.handle.net/10417/1157

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tine_juel_larsen_og_rose_ankerstjerne_hansen.pdf (5.977Mb)

Labofa

Individual Ergonomic Seating Solutions

Asmussen, Alexander; Klejnstrup Møller, Simon (Frederiksberg, 2009)

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Abstract:

PART I The project takes its departure in attempting to answer the research question: How must Labofa communicate to revitalise its brand with its definitive stakeholders and essentially, what must Labofa monitor to sustain this brand equity? PART II The Business Review revealed two key issues in need of structuring and streamlining, in order for Labofa to be able to revitalise its brand. These were the company’s struggles with its marketing budgeting strategy and IMC understanding and the importance of creating direct comparisons between the Labofa brand and the company’s core benefit – ergonomic correctness. PART III The Stakeholder Analysis revealed that Labofa’s definitive stakeholders and thus its target audience was the distributors, as they unlike the users and decision-makers possessed both power, legitimacy and urgency in connection with the office chair brand choice. The Strategic and Creative Considerations analysis discovered that the main task for Labofa in future marketing communication was a strengthening of the links between the Labofa brand itself and the ergonomic office chair category and ergonomic brand benefit, respectively in the minds of distributors. Finally, the Brand Value Chain section provided a CEO checklist with specific and relevant key performance indicators, which Labofa needs to monitor on an ongoing basis, to sustain the brand equity gathered from the strategic template provided. PART IV To sum up the answer to the overall research question, Labofa must communicate strong links of brand awareness and attitude, to its definitive stakeholders the distributors and essentially sustain the gathered brand equity, by monitoring the key performance indicators in the CEO checklist of the different value stages and multipliers in Labofa’s brand value chain.

URI:

http://hdl.handle.net/10417/5383

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#1 Bibliography.pdf (127.9Kb)

#6 Survey Summary.pdf (32.39Kb)

#8 Labofa Ad.ppt (167.9Kb)

#9 Next Generation.pdf (632.2Kb)

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Labour Unions in the ’Competition State’

A study of the labour union movement’s role and political work in the ’competition state’

Milling, Mathias (Frederiksberg, 2015)

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Abstract:

This thesis investigates how the competition state has altered the circumstances for the labour union movement’s political work and how the labour union movement can adapt its political work to exert influence on the political and administrative decision-making process. It thus aims at clarifying the effects and consequences of the competition state for the labour union movement in Denmark because such an analysis has not yet been conducted. This thesis endeavours to contribute with this particular analysis. In doing so, it develops a theoretical framework in which the theory of the competition state is principal. In addition, pluralism and corporatism offer a theoretical understanding of interest organisations’ role in the decision-making process. The empirical material consists of a series of interviews conducted with key representatives from the highest political and administrative level from three of the main labour unions within the health care sector. Amongst other things, the findings from the analysis show that it cannot be disputed that the labour unions are involved in and have influence on the political and administrative decisionmaking process. The pivotal determinant for this situation is each organisation’s specific professionalism - their health care professionalism. In addition, relationships and frequent meetings with both civil servants and politicians also constitute important elements for the organisations. Furthermore, professionalism is also important for the communicative efforts of the organisations in relation to civil servants, politicians and the media. A central finding is therefore that professionalism is an important tool for the labour unions – it acts as an underlying principle for a majority of their political work. Moreover, the analysis reveals that it is beyond doubt that the competition state has made its entry in to the health care sector in terms of management, argumentation, and competitiveness and in the mind-set of the labour unions. This thesis thus offers an elaborate and theoretically founded description of the environment in which the labour unions are operating to day. The findings provide the labour unions with valuable knowledge about the current circumstances in the competition state. As such, the findings may be interpreted as concrete advice on how to navigate and conduct political work in the competition state, but the intention of this thesis is first and foremost to provide a delineation of the tendencies of the competition state in relation to the political work of the labour unions.

URI:

http://hdl.handle.net/10417/5263

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mathias_milling.pdf (710.0Kb)

Lad ikke en alvorlig krise gå til spilde

En empirisk analyse af krisekommunikation i professionelle, danske fodboldklubber

Ries Davidsen, Mikkel (Frederiksberg, 2009)

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Abstract:

Today, professional Danish football clubs are no longer associations of volunteers and amateur players but streamlined enterprises turning over yearly amounts in the double-digit million range. Compared to the broad Danish business community, the clubs are experiencing extensive media coverage and massive public interest. Modern, professional football clubs have a wide variety of committed and passionate stakeholders and are also characterised by the strong dependency relationships between the clubs’ finances and their success in domestic and international football. These distinctive traits make football clubs more exposed to crises than “ordinary” organisations and hence a very interesting field of study. The purpose of this thesis is to apply the theoretical framework of crisis communication on the very practical field of crisis communication in Danish football clubs. To be more precise, the thesis examines how the clubs communicate during crises. The normative nature of this problem statement dictates an answer with both exploratory and evaluating elements. Based on Lloyd Bitzer’s (1968) theory of exigence, audience and constraints (the constituents of the rhetorical situation), the thesis sets out to analyse the immediate rhetorical situation that occurs following the rise of a crisis. Based on the theory of William L. Benoit (1995), the thesis will furthermore analyse the employment of rhetorical image restoration strategies in the clubs’ crisis communication. The empirical data for these analyses consist of newspaper and online articles about four selected professional, Danish football clubs: Odense Boldklub, FC København, Brøndby IF and Aalborg BK. The theoretical standpoint of the thesis is grounded on a post-modernist and socio-constructive view on crises and crisis communication. Thus, the thesis believes crises to be dynamic processes that are constructed linguistically and are initiated by an individual or objective trigger event. Crises themselves are constructed, described, maintained and resolved communicatively. The thesis concurs with the tendency in recent crisis communication literature as well as in the general business communities to treat crises as opportunities for organisational development. The thesis is especially inspired by Hearit & Courtright’s (2003) theory of terminological control that calls for a proactive approach to the crisis communication effort. The major findings of the thesis indicate that the rhetorical scenarios of the crisis-ridden football clubs are vast and complex consisting of multiple and diverse exigencies, audiences and constraints all influencing the crisis communication process. Moreover, the analytical findings of the thesis show a clear trend in the clubs’ crisis communication towards a reactive and defensive use of rhetorical strategies. In general, the clubs tend to employ rhetorical strategies that reduce offensiveness and evade responsibility. The concluding remark of the thesis is that the Danish football clubs by incorporating a more proactive take on crisis communication would gain the possibility to set the agenda and put a positive spin on the crises. By doing so, crises could become opportunities instead of threats.

URI:

http://hdl.handle.net/10417/834

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mikkel_ries_davidsen.pdf (10.73Mb)

The lady case

Hardegaard, Christina (Frederiksberg, 2009)

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Abstract:

Today’s increasing internationalisation breeds a stronger need to be able to analyse and evaluate the possibilities of a new business idea from multiple perspectives to really understand the true risks and potentials of the concept in question. This paper explores the potential to strengthen entrepreneurship by utilizing systematic business plans. More specifically it strives to discover how viable and defendable the Lady Case, a designed casing for sanitary napkins and tampons for women to carry in their purse, is as a business concept and if it is capable to sustain a newly started entrepreneurial company in the long run. The concept has been analysed employing William A. Sahlman’s framework on how to write a business plan supported through empirical findings following both a quantitative and a qualitative investigation of the potential consumers of the product. The positive response from the applied surveys, great global sales and growth potential of the Lady Case in combination with large profit potentials and positive financial projections confirm the viability of the concept. The access to a large customer base, good logistics and the design of the casing has been identified as they key drivers for success. Due to the high risk of competitor entrance and the poor defendability of the product it can be concluded that even though the viability carries very high potential, the concept holds too much risk to be a sustainable solution in the long run for a start-up venture. Though, since only two of Sahlman’s four cornerstones where investigated, the author raises questions if “the people” and “the context” could have altered the outcome of the investigation. Furthermore, Sahlman’s framework provides the important questions that need to be answered; however it does not offer all the tools to answer them which are why further research into this area is suggested. Applying Sahlman, the Lady Case investigation has revealed the importance of truly understanding all the factors, both internal and external, that can impact and alter the results of a new launch and it can perhaps help change the way entrepreneurs perceives their real opportunities.

URI:

http://hdl.handle.net/10417/1264

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christina_hardegaard.pdf (2.848Mb)

Landsdækkende undersøgelse af Patientoplevelser – kvalitet eller tilfredshed

En kritisk gennemgang af den ledelsesmæssige anvendelse af Landsdækkende undersøgelse af patientoplevelser (LUP)

Hillingsø, Jens G. (Frederiksberg, 2012)

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Abstract:

In surgical department C an enhanced recovery program for patients having undergone liverresections was started. The aims of enhanced recovery are to make the patient able to receive adjuvant therapy and/or resume daily activities. Over the last decade the Danish Healthcare system has been constantly criticized for being closed and nontransparent. In the gradual evolution from medical fixation to being patient centered demands arose not only in terms of legislation, but also medical training and quality development to meet this new era. The Danish accreditation Model was inspired by the previous work in Institute for Health Care Improvement and Deming´s cycle served inspiration for quality improvement. This was done in order to reestablish the legitimacy of the Health authorities. It was implemented in 2005 and consisted of Standards, Evaluation and Reporting. Standards were patient pathway, disease specific and organizational. The evaluation processes were internal and external. Reporting consisted of feed-back, accreditation and publication. Every year since 2000 a nationwide survey of patient satisfaction (LUP) has been published to describe patient experiences in connection with the patient pathway. In the introduction to this publication the Danish Minister of Internal Affairs and Health together with the political leader of the Danish Regions stated, that the satisfaction of admitted patients was 93 %, and that there were several areas in which the quality could be improved. Quality is difficult to evaluate for medical services and was defined as “the properties of a service or a product, which is related to its ability to fulfill specified or general needs and expectations”. This is related to different dimensions, aspects and perspectives. Satisfaction was defined as ”the sensation built on experience and expectations”. LUP is part of the reward structure through its publication and indirectly affects the budgets of the departments because it supports the free choice of the patients, which is part of the New Public Management philosophy of letting the money follow the patients. The purpose of this thesis was to determine the most essential barriers to good governance in the Danish Health Care system. Where good governance was defined as governance aligned with reward structure and measurement of performance to support the general strategy. The barriers are that the reward system and performance measurement do not support good governance, because they do not support the right behavior to increase performance, do not motivate, are institutionalized. LUP was sent out to 140.000 patients, who had been admitted more than 24 hours to a department. We wanted to check if the patients were equally satisfied with our enhanced recovery program, and therefore we sent out a reduced LUP questionnaire to a selected group of patients, where we could use the previous LUP as a historical control and found no difference. In this process it became apparent, that there were several methodological problems in LUP, why we made our own questionnaire to address these. The problems were methodological and related both to the phrasing and the reporting. We then sent our newly developed questionnaire to a matching group of patients in which we made a paired analysis of attitudes and experience, which made us able to define causal relations, which was the purpose of the LUP, but which could not be done due its composition. The fact that LUP is used as direction for action renders it an enormous impact on health care professionals´ motivation. Because the contract is not clear, a manipulation takes place, and cream-skimming is favored by the survey, because it only examines one perspective of quality, which is patient perceived quality, whereas the rest of the criteria, concerning pathway are related to organization and structure which is attributable to the principal, and therefore is not controllable for the professionals. It is part of the accreditation process, which is regulative, and does not make professional sense in the way it is implemented, due to an excess registration, that is not evidence based. Quality has become an institutional myth and isomorphism is prevailing due to the institutionalization of the quality improvement organization. This fact is further underlined by the lack of an efficient electronic patient paper to support registration and research. In a political environment with a lot of double communication like “remove all bureaucracy, but register everything, save but it must not affect quality”, it is increasingly hard for the line leader to motivate the healthcare professionals, also due to the fact that the registration is beyond meaningfulness, and their primary motivation factors professional pride, social recognition, and autonomy are not respected through the publication of surveys and they are further subdued to control by the accreditation structure that does not make professional sense, because it is only a benchmark of perceived quality to be used politically and not a reliable instrument for quality improvement or related to treatment specific indicators.

URI:

http://hdl.handle.net/10417/3120

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Bilag 5 Baggrundsdata Mini-LUP.xlsx (143.6Kb)

Bilag 6 Baggrundsdata SKEMA-NYT.xlsx (143.1Kb)

jens_g_hillingsoe.pdf (2.509Mb)

La rupture décomplexée

En undersøgelse af fransk udenrigspolitisk diskurs overfor Afrika

Elkjær Kristensen, Annie (Frederiksberg, 2011)

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Abstract:

La rupture décomplexée - une étude du discours de la politique étrangère de la France envers l’Afrique Ce mémoire vise à comprendre ce qui constitue la relation de la France actuelle avec ses anciennes colonies en Afrique. Ainsi, cette recherche s’inscrit dans une littérature académique qui traite la notion de la francophonie et la politique étrangère de la France en Afrique. Plus spécifiquement, l’étude cherche à discerner la relation franco-africaine cinquante ans après la décolonisation de ses anciennes colonies en Afrique. Pour cela cette étude retrace et explique la notion de la francophonie, ainsi que les événements jugés pertinents pour établir une connaissance approfondie de la relation et appréhender l’analyse. L’analyse principale de la relation franco-africaine se fait à partir de cinq discours tenus par le Président de la République Nicolas Sarkozy entre 2007 et 2010. L’analyse se fait dans un cadre théorique basé sur une interprétation de l’analyse critique du discours de Norman Fairclough, qui vise à démontrer la relation entre le discours et les conditions sociales. Pour soutenir cette analyse, le cadre théorique est complété par des notions de la rhétorique énoncée par Jonas Gabrielsen, qui permettent d’identifier les mécanismes et la signification des discours. Le président Sarkozy constate dans le discours prononcé à Dakar que:”Le problème de l'Afrique, c'est qu'elle est devenue un mythe que chacun reconstruit pour les besoins de sa cause” (Dakar, 2007:5). Cette citation relève bien la problématique de ce mémoire, à savoir, l’influence du discours sur les conditions sociales. L’étude empirique des discours du président Sarkozy démontre qu’il existe trois discours transversaux: la rupture, les valeurs et la mondialisation, qui servent à légitimer la politique étrangère de la France en Afrique, et par conséquent la présence de la France sur le continent africain. Corrélativement, ses discours indiquent que la francophonie en tant qu’institution et notion culturelle est liée à la politique étrangère de la France, même si elle n’est pas explicitement formulée dans le discours. En conclusion, ces résultats me mènent à poser les questions suivantes: que signifie le discours français pour la conception de l’indépendance des anciennes colonies? Et comment l’Afrique explique et interprète-t-elle ses relations avec la France et la francophonie institutionnelle d’une part et comme notion culturelle d’autre part?

URI:

http://hdl.handle.net/10417/1992

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annie_elkjaer_kristensen.pdf (3.882Mb)

Latin American Integrated Market (MILA)

A step in the development of Latin American financial markets

Rossel, Diego Yepes; Zambrano, Diego Mauricio (Frederiksberg, 2013)

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Abstract:

Latin American emerging economies have growth substantially during the last decade, gaining participation in international investors’ portfolios. The necessity of having more developed financial markets in these countries has been recognized not only by investors, but also by governments, which are mainly concerned to achieve sustainability of economic growth. Since this has become a common goal for governments in Latin America, financial integration and economic agreements have become part of the strategy for the development of the region. The objective of this study is to provide an overview of a current financial integration process, which is the Latin American Integrated Market (MILA) formed by Chile, Colombia and Peru, which is an initiative of the economic integration called the Pacific Alliance that also includes Mexico. The first stage of this integrated market, a common stock trading platform, offers possibilities of diversification for investors, becoming more attractive and developing financial markets size. However, there is a long way to go in order to improve the different dimensions of financial markets development such as depth, efficiency, access and stability. The study identifies the potentials of this integration, as a result of the member’s synergies and diversity, recognizing the advantages over other economic blocks in the region and the challenges for the future development that this market faces. This not only highlights the aspects that should be developed such as equity market and bond market, but also suggests new areas that have not been considered by this integration such as new financial instruments and potential additional markets. The findings in this study suggest that despite the notorious individual economic growth of each MILA country and that their integration has allowed them to compete against the giant in the region, Brazil, the full potential of the integration has not been materialized. MILA has only advanced 20%, which is the result of the abolition of several direct transaction cost and the integration of stocks systems, but advancing the remaining 80% will require more complex developments such as homogenization of financial regulation, financial reporting and economy policies, which are the cause of several barriers for financial integration. As it is concluded through this study, as countries’ economic development increases, the importance of financial markets increases. Therefore, policy makers will need to continue improving financial markets, so they do not become a limiting factor to the economic development.

URI:

http://hdl.handle.net/10417/4275

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diego_yepes_rossel_og_diego_mauricio_zambrano.pdf (3.244Mb)

Latino Portrayals on Primetime Television in the United States

Villumsen, Anne (Frederiksberg, 2012)

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Abstract:

Formålet med dette speciale er at undersøge hvordan Latinos er fremstillet og repræsenteret på primetime TV i USA, og hvilke konsekvenser dette kan medføre. Dette speciale formoder at Latinos bliver underrepræsenteret på primetime TV i forhold til hvor stor en procentdel Latinos udgør af den samlede befolkning i USA, og at Latinos ofte bliver fremstillet negativt, enten i form af stereotyper eller som underlegne i forhold til den hvide majoritet i USA i form af Othering, separation af majoritetsgruppen og minoritetsgruppen. Derudover formoder dette speciale at TV som et magtfuldt medie, er med til at skabe seernes holdning til den latinamerikanske befolkning i USA. Befolkningen i USA der har rødder i Latin Amerikanske lande er steget dramatisk gennem de seneste årtier, og Latinos er nu blevet den største minoritetsgruppe i USA. Dette afspejles dog ikke når man ser primetime TV, hvor Latinos er underrepræsenterede i mængde, og ofte fremstillet i stereotypiske roller. Eftersom at TV er et magtfuldt medie der viderebringer information og nyheder til seerne og er med til at skabe seernes holdninger, er det vigtigt at se på hvordan en minoritetsgruppe som Latinos bliver fremstillet når de er til stede på primetime TV i forhold til hvordan Latinos bliver opfattet af seerne. Latinobefolkningen i USA har i mange år været koncentreret i nogle få stater, og mange amerikanere har ikke haft direkte kontakt eller kendskab til Latinos, og hvis det eneste kendskab disse mennesker har til Latinos stammer fra oplysninger de har fået fra TV, vil disse oplysninger være det, der skaber seernes billede og opfattelse af Latinos. Derfor er det vigtigt hvordan Latinos bliver fremstillet på primetime TV, da der på dette tidspunkt er flest seere, og hvis disse seere kun bliver eksponeret for negative billeder af Latinos, vil dette kunne influere deres holdning til Latinos i en negativ retning. Latinos har gennem tiden været underrepræsenteret på primetime TV i forhold til hvor stor en gruppe Latinos udgør i den samlede befolkning i USA. En række undersøgelser fra 2000 til 2010, har sat tal på hvordan Latinos er repræsenteret og fremstillet på primetime TV i USA, i form af antal og karaktertræk, hvilket er blevet sammenlignet med andre etniske grupper, så som den hvide og den sorte del af befolkningen i USA, for at bestemme om der er nogle karaktertræk der i højere grad bliver repræsenteret af bestemte grupper mere end andre. Gennem de år der er blevet undersøgt, fremstår Latinos både positivt og negativt i resultaterne, hvor det mest gennemgående træk hvor Latinos skiller sig ud, er ved at de er den eneste gruppe er repræsenteret i roller der i ofte taler med accent, og de i øvrigt fremstår som den eneste gruppe med lavere kendskab til engelsk. Sammen med gruppen af sorte amerikanere, bliver Latinos i øvrigt fremstillet som værende de mindst intelligente, samt andre negative karaktertræk der sjældent bliver set blandt hvide roller på primetime TV. Ved at blive fremstillet på denne måde gentagende gange, kan det billede fremstillet på TV være med til at danne et billede af Latinos hos seerne baseret på TV-versionen frem for et mere overordnet realistisk billede af Latinos i virkelighedens USA. Derudover skaber de negative fremstillinger en distance mellem Latinos og de andre etniske grupper, og Latinos bliver fremmedgjort og ”Othered”, ved at de bliver fremstillet som om, de ikke taler det officielle sprog i USA flydende. Komedieserier, sitcoms, er en genre der oftest er repræsenteret på primetime TV, men denne genre er også en af de genrer med mest homogene sammensætninger af roller, og oftest er sitcom-genren den mindst mangfoldige når man ser på etnicitet. Undersøgelser viser at Latinos gennem tiden har været meget underrepræsenteret i denne genre i forhold til andre genrer, hvilket gør det interessant at undersøge hvordan Latinos er fremstillet i sitcoms, eftersom de forekommer mere sjældent, og derfor har færre chancer for at skabe et positivt billede af Latinos hos seerne. Der er fire succesfulde sitcoms gennem tiden der har haft bærende roller der har været besat af Latinos, og i disse findes der gennemgående temaer og eksempler på stereotyper og Othering af Latinos, men også mange positive træk der i bred grad er med til at Latino-rollerne i serierne fremstår sympatiske om end de også stadig i mere eller mindre grad bliver fremstillet som underlegne i forhold til USA's hvide majoritet. Konsekvensen af at Latinos bliver fremstillet stereotypisk/ensformigt og er underrepræsenterede på primetime TV i USA, er at eftersom seere vil danne sig et billede ud fra det de ser på TV, så vil deres opfattelse af Latinos primært være negativt baseret på de få og negative fremstillinger de ser på TV, især hvis de ikke har kontakt med Latinos i den virkelige verden. For at seere får et bredere forhold til Latinos på TV er det derfor vigtigt at Latinos repræsenteres i større mængder og at de bliver portrætteret i roller der giver et nuanceret og realistisk billede at Latinos i samfundet i USA. De eksisterende stereotyper er ikke nødvendigvis forkerte, men ingen stereotyper kan repræsentere en hel gruppe. Så selvom Latinos for eksempel udgør en stor del af de ansatte inden for ufaglært arbejde og i servicejob, så er de også repræsenteret blandt uddannede i højere sociale lag. Derudover er mange Latinos ikke immigranter, men børn af immigranter, og de er dermed født og opvokset i USA. Hvis Latinos til stadighed bliver fremstillet i portrætter der ikke stemmer overens med virkeligheden, skaber det et forkert billede af Latinobefolkningen som helhed, hvilket seernes holdning til Latinobefolkningen i USA er baseret på, og dermed vil Latinos som gruppe fortsat blive ”Othered” og set som fremmede i USA af den hvide befolkning.

URI:

http://hdl.handle.net/10417/3560

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anne_villumsen.pdf (755.3Kb)

Law 540 of 6. June 2007

Alic, Adisa; Korgaard, Frederikke (Frederiksberg, 2008)

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Abstract:

The thesis analyses if the introduction of the Danish Selskabsskattelov (SEL) §§ 11 B and 11C has entailed consequences for other than private equity companies. Further we discuss whether the initiative can be considered as being in compliance with the principle of proportion according to EU Law. The effect is analyzed both from a legislative and economical paradigm. We initially define the methodology and theories applied, where after we have divided our thesis into two main chapters, a legal and an economic. The purpose of the first chapter, The Legal Analysis, is through a dogmatic approach to the accessible regulation and legal sources, to find the content of the regulation in SEL §§ 11 B and 11 C. The regulation is found to differentiate between subsidiaries placed in Denmark and in other EU member state. We find that only 20 % of share capital can be included in the calculation of the asset value in terms of tax, when the subsidiary is placed outside Denmark. This is in conflict with the principle of proportionality. We arrive at this conclusion by using a proportionality-test with three steps. First we access if the objective is legal, next if the means are suitable and last if the means are more intrusive and/or extensive than necessary. By applying our interpretation of the rulings from the European Court of Justice we conclude that SEL § 11 B is not a proportional measure. This is due to the fact that the means are more intrusive than necessary, since it does not only affect private equity funds, but also ordinary companies with a desire to expand to another member state. In chapter 2, The Economic Analysis, we attempt by combining financial theory with empirical data to conclude on the actual consequences of the regulation, hence this chapter is divided into two parts. In part 1, we introduce Modigliani & Miller´s theory on capital structure. We find using a few assumptions applied to a WACC optimization calculation that there indeed exist other motivational factors than tax when setting the financial policy on equity debt ratios. In part 2 we include an empirical study, based on financial data from Amadeus. Based on the companies’ 2007 reported asset base and net interest expenses, we conclude that a broad selection of Danish companies is affected with some concentration in a number of industries. We find that more than 30% of Danish real estate companies from Amadeus, with interest expenses above DKK 20m, are directly influenced on their future earnings.

URI:

http://hdl.handle.net/10417/343

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adisa_alic_og_frederikke_korgaard.pdf (942.7Kb)

LBO af Dansk Supermarked

Oldrup, Nicolas West; Bjerg, Frederik Høgdahl (Frederiksberg, 2014)

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Abstract:

Executive Summary: The whole setup around a private equity fund is fascinating. Buying companies and developing them to achieve extremely high returns from 20% to 25% seems very appealing to most people in the financial world. Private equity funds mainly invest in unlisted companies with potential for resale later. Private equity funds inject equity in to companies and buy existing shareholders out of the companies, either wholy or partly. in whole or in part. Private equity funds typically invest in companies over a 3 to 7 year period and then sell them to new owners with a profit. The companies invested in, typically face a development that places great demands on the owners in terms of capital, resources and capabilities. One example could be a company moving towards international expansion. The private equity fund provides the necessary capital and management for the company to grow and achieve the new targets agreed in collaboration with management. Dansk Supermarked is a company that has gained a large market share in Denmark and the possibilities for growth seem to be limited. Therefore it is necessary to look for new markets for further growth. The Swedish and Polish markets for grocery shopping have been analyzed and it is estimated that in these markets there are good opportunities for growth. To evaluate Dansk Supermarked as an investment case for a private equity fund, it is necessary to value the company. In this task Dansk Supermarked is valued using the DCF model both with optimal capital structure and an LBO capital structure. In theory, it may well be that one can take advantage of leverage and achieve a lower WACC - and thus a higher business value in the DCF model. In reality, the valuation is transparent to all parties and the price of the company will not be higher as a result of financial leverage. Furthermore, the underlying cash flow is alike, and it should cost the same regardless of the debt structure. In this task a private equity fund will pay 47.447 million DKK for Dansk Supermarked, which is 6.447 million DKK more than Salling Fondene bought Dansk Supermarked for 7th of January 2014. The DCF model is extremely sensitive to changes in the factors WACC and growth (g). For example if WACC is changed from 7.5% to 9.0% and growth is changed from 2 to 3 the enterprise value of Dansk Supermarked in this task is 41.000 million DKK. After five years of ownership of Dansk Supermarked the private equity fund will sell the company. If the company can be traded to a multiple of 13.4 times EBITDA as it was between Salling Fondene and A.P. Møller Mærsk, the achieved return on investment would be 19.45%. If the trading multiple decreases to 12 times EBITDA, the return on investment decreases to 16.57%. In the last example the private equity fund’s required rate of return will not be achieved. Therefore, the private equity fund needs to sell Dansk Supermarked to a multiple of at least 13.4 times EBITDA in 2018 to provide a satisfactory return. Another option is to sell before 2018 when the IRR is very sensitive when cash flow over time is due. If Dansk Supermarked was sold a year before the end of the holding period in 2017 to a multiple of 12x EBITDA, the achieving return on investment would be 19.44 %. The private equity fund is forced to exit as soon as possible or as the latest in 2018 at a multiple of 13.4 times EBITDA or higher, to achieve their required return on investment.

URI:

http://hdl.handle.net/10417/5223

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nicolas_west_oldrup_og_frederik_høgdahl_bjerg.pdf (2.686Mb)

Valuation model Base case.xlsx (210.5Kb)

Valuation model LBO.xlsx (225.0Kb)

LBO af H+H International A/S

Vibe, Lasse (Frederiksberg, 2015)

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Abstract:

Over the last couple of years attempts to takeover the Danish listed aircrete company H+H International A/S have been made. The potential buyers were both private equity sponsors and strategic buyers. Until now these attempts have not resulted in actual takeovers, which underlines the relevance of analysing H+H International as a potential target for a Leveraged buyout (LBO). However, the company’s debt-equity ratio has increased over the last couple of years, and probably frightened away some private equity sponsors. From a learning perspective it is therefore interesting to analyse what the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) would be, when doing an LBO transaction on this specific company. Furthermore, it is interesting to investigate whether the calculated IRR would be satisfactory for a possible private equity sponsor. To examine this the company and the LBO process is briefly described. Secondly, the valuation models are theoretically analysed in order to justify the most suitable models for the various parts of this thesis. For the overall valuation analysis the Adjusted Present Value approach (APV) is preferred due to its flexibility with regard to debt in the forecast horizon. Furthermore, a liquidation model is used to estimate the amount of senior debt used in the takeover. Eventually, a valuation multiple is selected to determine the exit price, which makes it possible to calculate the IRR. All these models need both qualitative and quantitative inputs and value drivers, and therefore strategic and accounting tools are used to analyse the historic performance within these areas. All conclusions are then tested in a sensitivity analysis, to make sure that the results are valid. This thesis concludes that a private equity sponsor would achieve an IRR in the range of -0,35% to 30,10% depending on the timing of the exit, given the presented assumptions. This thesis reveals that a private equity sponsor would require a return around 20 %, which makes H+H International a very interesting case from a private equity sponsor’s point of view. However, this result is very sensitive to changes especially concerning the exit price, the revenue growth, the production costs, and the risk free rates applied to calculate the cost of capital.

URI:

http://hdl.handle.net/10417/5701

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Lasse_Vibe.pdf (3.209Mb)

LBO af Kesa Electricals

Brüel, Christian (Frederiksberg, 2012)

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Abstract:

The purpose of this master thesis is to analyze the possibility for a UK leveraged buyout (LBO) for Private Equity (PE) investors during a difficult financial environment. But how exactly does this current difficult environment influence the PE funds’ ability to conduct public-to-private (PTP) transactions in the most sophisticated and largest market for PE, the UK? From the theoretical discussion I find that PE funds create value through direct value creation in the form of operational effectiveness and indirectly through the reduction of agent cost occurring in the public corporation. The high level of debt should be negative in a recession, because it increases the likelihood of bankruptcy. On the other hand, bankruptcy theories provide arguments for why PE owned firms could be able to operate with higher debt without increasing the risk of bankruptcy. Through more stable cash flows and easier access to new equity, they could neutralize the effects of the higher debt. The empirical research of PE funds and their portfolio companies showed that on average PE funds improve the profitability and productivity of the portfolio companies before and after the financial crisis and generate a higher return in the funds than for comparable firms, although the variation in the funds’ performance are huge. To test the theories and the empirical research I conduct my own financial PE target screening of current UK public companies, using a number of different financial criteria. From this I identify 25 potential target companies from a pure financial perspective. I selected Kesa Electricals (hereafter, Kesa) as a case study for a potential PTP transaction because of the company’s current low valuation and the potential turnaround of this company, which could make it an attractive Leveraged Buyout (LBO) case for a PE investor. Finally, I conduct a strategic assessment of Kesa combined with a profitability analysis. These analyzes makes the foundation of a budget for the DCF-valuation. The overall conclusion is that the LBO of Kesa would generate an IRR of 183 %. Compared with the required return of 30 %, the overall recommendation is that the LBO case is an attractive investment for a PE investor. As always with DCF-analyzes one must take into account that the results are highly sensitive to the assumptions in the model.

URI:

http://hdl.handle.net/10417/3293

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christian_bruel.pdf (2.778Mb)

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Abstract:	Det ønskes ud fra en praktisk tilgang til DCF-modellen at bestemme værdien af Rockwool med inddragelse af rentefradragsbegrænsningsreglerne ved et fiktivt kapitalfondsopkøb.
URI:	http://hdl.handle.net/10417/524