The foremost objective of business organizations is to generate value for shareholders and to opt for strategies which optimize it. Hence it is of key concern for business leaders to appreciate how operations best are run to maximize value creation. This study explores how financial theory can reveal the link between one particular business strategy and the corresponding effect on shareholder wealth. The question in focus is whether construction companies can enhance their value creation by implementing shift-work to increase the weekly production rate. The thesis particularly targets apartment block projects in Sweden and has the construction company Peab AB as primary object of study.

The market offers more and more products that are claimed to have medicallypositive effects (like increased blood perfusion etc.) due to their magneticproperties. The objective of this study was to investigate if blankets containingpermanent (static) magnets have a greater impact on cutaneous blood circulationthan ordinary blankets without magnets. Eight standard bred horses were used in across-over study. The cutaneous temperature was presumed to reflect blood flowin the skin and therefore thermography and local thermistors were used to indicatechanges in circulation. Baseline values were registered before the blanket wasapplied.

The main purpose of the study was to collect normative data for Lundamaterialet,revised version, divided into phonology and grammar, for childrenaged 4:6-5:11. Another aim was to explore how children aged 3:0-5:11 had acquiredprepositions and different forms of comparison. 195 children with typicallanguage development participated. The children were divided into six groups,116 children from the three oldest groups participated in the normative data. Theresults showed an increasing mean value with age for both phonology and grammar.The older children had acquired the prepositions and the forms of comparisonbetter than the younger ones.

This report treats a Master Thesis performed at Scania CV AB. The task was to create a computer model of a hydraulic actuator system in the software AVL Hydsim. The system consists of two spring-loaded masses with surrounding hydraulic components. The purpose of the model is to study phenomenon and problems in the system, as well as to be a support in the development of the system. It is not supposed to be used to study absolute values in its current form.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate an existing user interface. The company in question has a web-based user interface (available through logging in via their website), but they are interested in making the process of using the interface more convenient and the interface more accessible, so that users without a background in computing can properly manage the interface. At the same time they want to apply additional functionalities in order create and to manage increased traffic on the company?s website. For this reason it is important to take into account the issues involved in human-computer interaction (HCI) as well as aspects of cognitive psychology in order to make the tool and the web interface more usable, more motivational, and therefore more efficient and professional.

We have produced a process mapping and from there developed a document management plan for the research service at the Labour Movement Archives and Library (ARAB) in Stockholm, Sweden. The project was conducted during five weeks in the spring of 2011 at ARAB and the resulting classification structure and document plan has been formulated and presented to the staff at a seminar. We found that the institution in some cases were suffering from an inadequate documentation in a number of the identified processes, and also in their records management and archiving. In this additional memorandum follows an analyzing discussion of activity-based document- and archive management, e-archives and process mapping. We have accordingly tried to standardize the process of research services and contribute to a more adequate document management within the institution.

This study hopes to provide a deeper understanding for the situation that pupils in dyslexia and special education teachers are experiencing. The aim is to examine how students with dyslexia and special education teacher / special needs education teacher are experiencing difficulties, resources, additional adjustments and support. The aim is also to examine the experience in opportunities for improvement and what similarities and differences exist between students and special education teacher / special needs education teacher regarding the allocation of resources. The study is made with focusing on a certain dilemma perspective, using methods such as interviews. The results of the study point to lack of time, time pressure, teachers 'skills, management directives and students' understanding of their own learning as factors affecting resource allocation, in which all factors influence each other and are interdependent of each other..

This thesis examines the presence of threats and violence directed towards animal welfare inspectors/ officers. The main tool is a survey regarding threats and violence directed at animal welfare inspectors/officers. The questionnaire was distributed to animal welfare inspectors/ officers who worked on 15 of the country's 21 provincial governments. The response rate of the survey was 68.9 percent. The main conclusion of the study is that threats and violence directed at animal welfare inspectors/ officers are common.

The purpose of this study was to investigate how young adults withunilateral cleft lip and palate assess their own speech and communication,and to let speech and language pathologists make a perceptual analysis ofthese individuals? speech at the age of 19 years. An additional aim was toexamine the relationship between these two different ways of evaluation.Data was collected through perceptual analysis from audio recordings and byusing a self-report questionnaire based on the ICF-structure (InternationalClassification of Function, disability and health). Altogether, 33 peopleparticipated. One third of the participants had no speech deficiencies.

As a designer, I find myself daily being confronted with choices which eventually can be summarizedas how we experience something. What?s the function, feeling, what colors should there be, shapes,materials, etc. Different parts will be combined to create an entirety. The only question is why we areaffected so differently by the same entirety.In this project I have examined how the relationship between a space and a product affects ourperception of a coherensy and what it is that makes us experience it so differently.I wanted to find a way to methodically explore the importance of the coherency for the experience ofa product and a space in relation to each other, in order to produce a material that can form the basisfor further work on the spatial context.I?ve looked into the psycological term central coherence and formed a scale that shows the humanabilities to perceive a context in various psychological conditions.

The absence of female directors on Swedish corporate boards is currently a hot topic for both politicians and business leaders all over the world. This thesis aims to discuss reasons for the scarcity of women on boards in Swedish publicly listed companies as well as what actions are taken to alter the composition of these boards. A rigorous selection of gender theories have been used together with data collected from in-depth interviews with mainly board members and nomination committees. Extensive analysis has led to findings that historical perceptions of differences between men and women linger as of today, which prevents women to reach top executive levels as well as board positions. The increasing use of headhunters has encouraged companies to look beyond male-dominated networks in an attempt to widen the range of potential board nominees.

A large cost at the construction sites today is the labour cost of the workers. But unfortunately the worker potential is not used to full. It is not unusual to take into a count with a work-­?place-­?additional-­?time of 50% in some cases. By increasing the workers' motivation and responsibility for their tasks may reduce the time considerably, which also increases the potential for greater gains in construction projects.By using the situational leadership may the workers level of maturity develop entirely.

Never before have so many moved so frequently as now. Mobility lies at the centre for the concern ofstates, business and technological development. Some even claim that we are witnessing a mobility turn inthe social sciences. However, as the capacity to move has increased so too has the control and surveillanceof mobility become more extensive. Since September 11, 2001 security has been the defining paradigm fora variety for actors.

When searching for better and more practical interfaces between users and their computers, additional or alternative modes of communication between the two parties would be of great use. This thesis handles the possibilities of using eye and head movements as well as voice input as these alternative modes of communication. One part of this project is devoted to find possible interaction techniques when navigating in a computer interface with movements of the eye or the head. The result of this part is four different controls of an interface, adapted to suit this kind of navigation, combined together in a demo application. Another part of the project is devoted to the development of an application, with voice control as primary input method.

Results from previous studies have showed that people with depression has an impaired verbal fluency. The aim of this study was to investigate whether individuals with depression also generate more words containing negative valence. Controlled Oral Word Association test were administered to a group of 13 mildly depressed individuals and a group of 20 non depressed individuals. The fluency and valence of the words produced was analyzed.The results showed no significant differences between the groups regarding either verbal fluency or negative valence. However, a significant positive relationship was found between a negative mood and negative valence.