Background: Since1994, the EU NickelDirective is limiting the release of nickel from objects that are in prolongedcontact with skin. Despite this, nickel is still the most common cause of contactallergy in industrialized countries. This could implicate that other productswith short contact to the skin, which are not restricted by EU´s legislation inREACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicalsubstances), could be a source of nickel or cobalt exposure. There is no limitfor cobalt release within REACH. To determine if there is cobalt or nickelpresent on the surface of a material and if metal can be released in contactwith the skin, there are quantitative and qualitative methods, such as the DMG(dimethylglyoxime)-test, the cobalt spot-test and a method for releasedetermination according to EN1811.Objectives: Laptops are not included in the REACH legislation.

Competition is keen in the fashion industry of today. Homogenous products and prices aredriving competition and most firms are struggling hard to attract customers. Brands havebecome one of the most important assets for success and are often critical for the choices of theconsumers. A strong brand is often considered as a substantial value in the eyes of the consumerand gives the individual firm a competitive advantage in the marketplace. To build a strongbrand it takes that the brand identity not is in conflict with the brand image of a firm or a product.Sometimes one of these conflicts exit and sometimes the firms are not even aware of it.In this thesis we study how two firms, Lindex and Prada, perceive their own image and then wecompare how the images of the firms are perceived by the customers.

AbstractOutsourcing is a business strategy that has developed over the last 40 years. Outsourcing means to let another company do some activity within the company, for example production.The thesis for this paper is: How is outsourcing used in a manufacturing company today and how is the resource efficiency affected by it? The research is divided into two parts, a theoretical part and an empirical part. The theoretical part consists of a study of literature. The works in this study is books, text books, bachelor thesis paper and scientific articles.

An uncountable number of companies are present in foreign markets as a result of what we commonly choose to call globalization. This is especially true for Swedish companies traditionally operating on small markets. A company that is about to establish on a new market is faced not only with possibilities but also with challenges and risks. Researchers have found that companies that establish on foreign markets will have to deal with competitors on the national as well as on the global market, and therefore need consider how they globalize their brands. In addition to this, a brand can only reach international success if its message is coherent within and across every single market.

Textil- och modeindustrin har på senare tid uppmärksammats i allt större utsträckning för att vara en ohållbar bransch och som följd av problemen har en rad etiska modevarumärken lanserats. De tar hänsyn till påverkan på miljö och människorna i produktionen, varför deras produkter kallas etiskt mode. De varumärken och de butiker som säljer etiskt mode har kunder som tar hänsyn till etiska aspekter i sitt köpbeslut, så kallade etiska konsumenter.Senaste decenniet har forskning på etiskt mode genomförts, men då framförallt på den vanliga konsumenten. Då forskning på svenska etiska konsumenter är begränsad har författarna till den här uppsatsen funnit det intressant att se närmare på dem. Tidigare forskning på etiska konsumenter har uppmärksammat ett gap mellan de etiska konsumenternas attityd mot etiskt mode och deras faktiska konsumentbeteende, ett attityd-beteendegap.

Background: Our daily lives and personal interactions are increasingly featuring social media and social networks in particular. Topics regarding social media, its impact on society at large ? both on corporate as well as individual behavior ? has been the focus of many research papers. Personal use of social networks are regularly being mapped out by researchers aiming at clarifying concepts such as engagement, trust and interactivity, and mapped by companies seeking to maximize return on investment concerning their marketing efforts. The aim of our study is (i) to map how companies and/or organizations operating on the Swedish market use their company?s pages on the social media as a way of communicating with their followers and audience, as well as (ii) identifying whether ?Real-Time Marketing?, in our own definition, is used or not.Methods: The research methods used included both quantitative and qualitative content analysis.

Background: The Swedish fashion industry grows steadily, today it?s populated by many small and medium sized companies. Due to the big clothing chains dominant position small businesses risks to be ousted out of the fashion industry.Smaller companies may find it difficult to reach out to the customer by traditional advertising because their budgets are often smaller. It is therefore important for smaller companies to create loyal customers. If the smaller sized businesses in the fashion industry do not follow the rapid developments in society and focus on building strong brands and relationships, they will have problems with surviving in the long run.Problem definition: Which communicative factors are important in the choice of brand strategy to create a long-term survival for small and medium-sized companies in the fashion industry?Purpose: The purpose of the essay is to analyse and evaluate the brand as a communications tool for building a brand image.Method: The data which is being used in the essay is collected from interviews with companies and survey of each company's existing and potential customers.Theoretical perspective: Relationship Marketing Perspective and Transaction Marketing PerspectiveTheories: Brand Strategies, Total Communication, Brand Equity, Involvement Theory, Service Value Profit Chain.Empiric: The empirical data is primary data gathered from interviews with a representative for each company and from the questionnaires distributed to the customers of each company.Analysis: The analysis is an interpretation of the empirical material collected from interviews with each company and customers survey.

Det blir allt vanligare idag att de stora modehusen skapar barnkollektioner. Internationellt sätt har nästan varje stor designer redan gett sig in på barnklädesmarknaden. Jag valde dock att inte fokusera på den internationella marknaden utan undersöka hur den såg ut i Sverige med svenska modeföretag som hade olika positioner. Jag plockade ut ett antal märken som skiljde sig markant i målgrupp. Företagen jag har valt att ha med till studien är Acne, KappAhl och Polarn O.

Public concern and the need of responsible way of doing business have brought forward the issue of sustainability at the forefront of discussion in the last decade. Even though, food retailers are playing an important role in the economy, they are exposed for criticism by media and consumers for any socially and environmentally irresponsible business practices because, the potential environmental and social impacts from their operations are significant. These impacts need to be recognized and properly addressed. The main objective of this study was to assess the sustainable business management of a cooperative food retail business in Sweden, known as Konsum Värmland (KV). The necessary data and information on history and status of KV, and its practical activities concerning the implementation of sustainable development programs as well as the motivation and challenges encountered by KV during the implementation were gathered via reviewing different documents, research papers and press releases; interviewing decision makers and other personnel in KV and other researchers from Swedish University of Agricultural University who have investigated KV.

In a competitive market as supermarkets, hundreds of the same products fight for attention in the shops. Every day thousands of targeted advertising messages is given to us. As a natural result of all this, power is transferred to consumers. You can no longer differentiate yourself by only price and function, thus companies must play on the emotional aspects and create a relationship with consumers. A key to success is to understand people's emotional needs and then satisfying them.In various journals and papers you can find highlighted success stories of strong brands such as Harley-Davidson, Apple and Virgin Airlines.

In today's agriculture efficiency and the capacity of tools and machinery are crucial. In this work we investigate whether it is possible to enhance the capacity of sowing by increasing the work speed of seeders, how seed technology affects seed placement, and if there is any difference between two different brands of seeders and their sow techniques. The seeders we have chosen to compare are Väderstad Rapid drill and Amazon Cirrus drill. The tillage capacity of the seeders and their traction power needs were examined as well.Väderstad Rapid and Amazon Cirrus were tested in a randomized block design with four replicates at three different speeds, 8 km/h, 12 km/h and 15 km/h. The seed placement at the different speeds was examined by dividing the seedbed into four different zones from its surface to its bottom.

Judged by appearance. This is the conclusion of research made on shopper behavior that revealed that consumers tend to go by their instinct when evaluating vacuum cleaners in a purchasing situation. Many buy the first vacuum cleaner they interact with and few buy pre-planned brands. Almost none even turn the machine on before taking a purchase decision.Electrolux Floor Care Europe has their factory for vacuum cleaners in Hungary. Increased competition from China makes it harder to "only" produce vacuum cleaners with good performance.

Klimat- och miljöhänsyn, arbetsförhållanden, att de mänskliga rättigheterna efterlevs och välgörenhet är frågor som på senare år blivit alltmer omdiskuterade. Detta har skapat en ökad medvetenhet och kunskap och högre krav ställs på företag att agera ansvarsfullt inom dessa områden. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) är ett begrepp som innebär att på ett aktivt sätt ta samhällsansvar, utöver vad lagar och regler säger.Enligt den svenska regeringen är Sverige ett land som har en stark internationell trovärdighet när det gäller att ta detta samhällsansvar och många svenska företag har ett välutvecklat CSR-arbete. I Sverige finns även många framstående och duktiga modedesigners, vars tillverkning sällan sker i Sverige, utan mycket av produktionen utkontrakteras. De senaste åren har alltfler företag börjat se sig om efter externa producenter i andra länder, i ett försök att etablera sig på andra marknader och få billigare produktion.

The discussion about organic and fair trade products has been a big issue during the last few years. Despite an extensive knowledge about the environmental problems and a willingness to do something about it, the consumers are not always acting that way. Children do imitate their parents and other adults at an early age, so if the role models do not begin to act, think and dress ethically correct, neither will the children. Three problems have been identified out of the discussion. They relate to the questions of how older school children and parents of younger school children are taking sides regarding the organic/fair trade clothes and how existing trends in the society as well as those in fashion contexts influence their attitudes and consumer behaviour.

The purpose with this essay is to explore the importance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) within the food industry. We have decided to focus on how five different ethical labels are communicated towards students and the standpoint of the study is the students understanding of the communication. The labels that we have chosen to examine in the study are KRAV, Fairtrade, Svanen, Ekologiskt Jordbruk and Rainforest Alliance. The primary research question in the study is? How are the students purchase behavior affected by ethical labels in the food industry??.Throughout the study we will refer to CSR-products as products are stamped with one or several of the named ethical labels.