This thesis studies private equity firms' implementation of management control systems in their portfolio companies and whether the systems are affected by cross-national differences. A comparative case study examines five different private equity firms to derive if there are any differences between the private equity firms' management control systems in the United States, Europe and China. The empirical observations are categorized according to the framework developed by Merchant (1985) and further developed by Merchant and Van der Stede (2003). Theory on the effect of multinationality on management control systems, also developed by Merchant and Van der Stede (2003), are used to explain possible findings. The applied theory includes the cultural dimensions developed by Hofstede (1984) and Hofstede and Bond (1988).

I want to, but how? My work is a research of the creative process. I have asked myself how ideas take form and how materials can become bearers of ideas. The work has been treated as an action rather than an object. The result shows my research and my interpretation: the process and result are the same..

Arbetet handlar om inkludering och beskriver en kommuns strategi för att förändra sin verksamhet från en exkluderad särskola till att alla elever erbjuds plats på sin hemskola..

The project has been done in cooperation with Schenker Åkeri AB in Sweden, Halmstad. Theproject is based on an inspection made by Arbetsmiljöverket, where they found minorshortcomings with distribution of goods for the employees. The project is an investigation ofthe drivers? working environment.Schenker Logistics is one of the world's leading providers of integrated logistics services.Schenker Åkeri AB is a subsidiary to Schenker Logistics and transports 2.4 million tons ofgoods yearly.The project started with a background study to evaluate drivers working environment. Wehave studied goods receptions, the working environment, strain injury and injury mechanisms.Methods used was observations, tests, questionnaire surveys and ergonomic andbiomechanical calculations.One result of the study is a working model, which gives recommendations for the maximumweight a driver should push and pull.

The aim of this study is to investigate which management control mechanisms evolve in companies that receive funding from Venture Capital companies and why the management control systems evolve in the way that they do. A case study was performed on three Swedish high technology companies, that all received funding from Venture Capital companies for the first time in 2006. Merchant?s framework, defining all management control mechanisms as either, results control, action control or personnel control, was used to structure the study. Results show that the companies that received Venture Capital all increased the use of management control mechanisms within results control, action control and personnel control.

This thesis examines the multiplatform design issues of a development project using agile project methods and how they were resolved. Data was gathered through observation, photography and keeping of a journal using action research as a methodological framework. The thesis is concluded with recommendations on how to deal with these issues in similar projects under similar conditions..

Aquatic organisms are usually not exposed to single substances but rather to mixtures of toxicants in streams located in agricultural areas. The transport of pesticides used in the agricultural area in Sweden is monitored with continuous environmental supervision every year. During 2002-2008 an average of 10 pesticides were found in each sample and 40% of the samples contained substances with concentrations higher than the Water Quality Standards. Chemical risk management is normally based on single-test evaluations. A problem when assessing mixture toxicities is that the constituents and concentrations of pollutants in the environment vary greatly.

In this paper discourse analysis on the Ethiopian National Action Program (NAP) to combat desertification is made. The aim is to describe how the overall image/picture of desertification, its causes, and effects and of possible solutions are presented in the NAP. The result of this analysis shows that the main cause of desertification is human activities mainly due to the poorly developed socio-economic situation in the dryland areas. It is indicated that an excessive dependency of the rural population on the natural resources, particularly land, is the major cause of land degradation and this deterioration of land is said to have been caused by the rapid population growth, overgrazing, forest clearing as well as past government and institutional failures. In addition it is indicated that the effect of desertification usually involves ecological changes that sap land of its ability to sustain agriculture and human habitation, therefore the most serious threat to human welfare.

Aquatic organisms are usually not exposed to single substances but rather to mixtures of toxicants in streams located in agricultural areas. The transport of pesticides used in the agricultural area in Sweden is monitored with continuous environmental supervision every year. During 2002-2008 an average of 10 pesticides were found in each sample and 40% of the samples contained substances with concentrations higher than the Water Quality Standards. Chemical risk management is normally based on single-test evaluations. A problem when assessing mixture toxicities is that the constituents and concentrations of pollutants in the environment vary greatly.

The purpose of this study has been to investigate how socialworkers describe their attitudes towards reporting childabuse to the police and if they make different decisions when they believe the violence to be honour related and how they handle these questions. The main questions are; How does socialworkers describe their and their colleagues attitudes towards reporting childabuse to the police and when do they believe they should report? Do they describe honourviolence as a specific kind of violence that should be lifted and in what way does it affect their work? The study is written from a legal sociologist perspective with a qualitative approach. Four socialworkers were interviewed and the interviews were analyzed with an anti-racist theory and with the theory about freedom of action.The conclusions is that the socialworkers mostly report childabuse to the police when the violence is physical. This means that children who describes to be subjected to psychological violence, including honourviolence, has poor legal security.

Aquatic organisms are usually not exposed to single substances but rather to mixtures of toxicants in streams located in agricultural areas. The transport of pesticides used in the agricultural area in Sweden is monitored with continuous environmental supervision every year. During 2002-2008 an average of 10 pesticides were found in each sample and 40% of the samples contained substances with concentrations higher than the Water Quality Standards. Chemical risk management is normally based on single-test evaluations. A problem when assessing mixture toxicities is that the constituents and concentrations of pollutants in the environment vary greatly.

In view of the difficulty of recruiting staff to care profession and in terms of the increasing need to find ways of ensuring a good language level in the profession, have an interest in language tests been revealed. The purpose of this paper is therefore to highlight the use of language tests for admission to the care courses for adults in Värmland. What provided This is a survey of the prevalence and an examination of the validity of the test. The issue that this study assumed is: How is language test in connection with admission to the certified health and social care courses for adults in Värmland? How well correlates intent of the use of the language test with the test's validity and reliability?The methods used to seek answers to these questions has been a combination of questionnaires and experiments.

The schools have problems with conflicts and mobbing. One way to deal with this is to focus on the importance of life skills ?SET- Social emotional training?. SET is a program that encourages student?s self-awareness, that is, the understanding students have about themselves and how he or she can relate to it and to others.

The aim of this comparative study is to analyse the French and the Polish regional governance in order to see if there are any differences in their regional ruling systems. Further more I will study their different possibilities in taking part in the European Union regional political market. The shape of the regional systems will be explored both organisationally (study of the institutional entities of the regional construction) and functionally (study of the competencies of the regional body etcetera) to focus on its cause on the regional development. My over all focus will be to find out whether regional rule means differently in the countries France and Poland.Several questions are dealt with and the two main ones are as follows; How do the different structures of the form of government in France and Poland influence the governance on the regional level? Do Poland, as a new member state of the European Union, have what it takes to face the challenges of the new membership; or are there a complex of problems arising from the admittance that prevent its regions from fully taking part in the European regional political market?Some of my conclusions are as follows;There are major differences between the two countries when it comes to their regional ruling systems leading to different abilities in taking part in the European regional political market.

In view of the difficulty of recruiting staff to care profession and in terms of the increasing need to find ways of ensuring a good language level in the profession, have an interest in language tests been revealed. The purpose of this paper is therefore to highlight the use of language tests for admission to the care courses for adults in Värmland. What provided This is a survey of the prevalence and an examination of the validity of the test. The issue that this study assumed is: How is language test in connection with admission to the certified health and social care courses for adults in Värmland? How well correlates intent of the use of the language test with the test's validity and reliability?The methods used to seek answers to these questions has been a combination of questionnaires and experiments.