The structural rationalization of the agricultural sector in Sweden has led to many expansive, professional companies orientated towards growth. The agricultural sector is a very capital-intense sector and is characterized by the need for large sums of capital in form of buildings, inventory and arable land. The capital need is especially large for companies who have an ambition of growth and development of the company in the near future. The study is built upon six cases that all can be categorized as large agricultural farms with a turnover exceeding 20 million Swedish crowns. The companies are located in the middle and in the south of Sweden and are in the sector of primary production with focus on dairy-, pork-, egg-, chicken-, beef-, vegetables- and grain production as well as in the business of refining milk towards consumers. The study aims to identify the motives and driving forces that lies behind the growth of a farm-based company. The agricultural companies' motive for growth is studied based on which factors that influence the ambition to grow and to what extent these factors accord to the picture given by earlier research of small companies outside the agricultural sector.

Topography is an important parameter for catchment hydrology, since it is a driver for water flow. Moreover, topography serves as a basis for hydrological models, e.g. ?Top-model?, which is based on a topographical wetness index (TWI). Few studies of TWI have been conducted on agricultural catchment scale. Four fields were studied in a Swedish drained agricultural catchment in order to evaluate the influence of topography on soil wetness.

Organizations over the world increasingly start to realize the possibilities of the use of a social intranet, also known as Enterprise 2.0. The social intranets can be used to collaborate and communicate with colleagues in the workplace. Both Cook (2008) and Coope (Barnett, 2011) say that Enterprise 2.0 is about to fundamentally change the way organizations communicate. But do companies know how these tools can be used?The study emanates from three questions:How can social intranets be used in business?How can internal communication and collaboration get easier through the use of a social intranet?What are the possible risks with the use of social intranets?In this study we have in a qualitative manner been interviewing two companies that currently use social intranets in their daily activities ? Securitas and Skåneme-jerier.

In today's Sweden there are approximately 23 000 combination companies, and most of them have a connection with the agricultural sector. The most common type of additional operation is some form of contracting.The aim for this degree project is to answer the following question: which problems and key factors exists within combination operations? The main topic will be within coordination and management questions within agricultural companies with an additional operation.Litterateur written earlier within this subject will be used in this thesis. Mainly litterateur which contains information about combination companies and diversification of some sort. There are also other theories used in this thesis such as; resource based theory and decision making theory in order to understand the problems and key factors within combination companies.In order to investigate the aim of this thesis we have chosen to perform two qualitative interviews with the managers of two different combination companies.

The inequality and separation of sexes seen in organizations may lead to inefficient use of human resources. Therefor, a more equal organization could lead to higher productivity and efficiency. Inequality within organizations is a problem also for the society as a whole since who is chosen for a position is not depended upon merits, leading to inefficiency. To not reflect upon traditional division of labor and decision-making could also lead to an undemocratic and unjust society. The aim of this thesis is to explore women and men?s engagement a family business in an agricultural setting. Gender theorists argue that gender arises from the social situation in society.

Social enterprises are increasingly gaining ground as an organisational form in Sweden, however the institutional structures for financing these types of organisations are yet to be established. With its usual origin within the civic society, social enterprises prioritise a higher goal than to maximise economic profit, which often causes these organisations to be dependent upon resources from external constituents within its institutional environment. The aim of this study was to examine how a social enterprise, which derives from the civic society, acts to mobilise resources from constituents in its institutional environment. This was executed through a case study of Jordbro Världsorkester (JVO) - a typical organisation in the civic society which takes the form of a social enterprise - by identifying how assets were used to gain resources in strategic responses to institutional processes and examining how institutional processes affects how JVO acts. Throughout the study, qualitative interviews were conducted with JVO and constituents in its institutional environment and a theoretical framework was developed which explains how capital is used to gain more capital in an emergent strategy of strategic responses as the organisation gets in contact with institutional processes from its institutional environment.

By using pollen analysis and 14C-dating, the history of vegetation and land use at the old shieling place (Sw: fäbodställe) Öjingsvallen in Ängersjö parish, central Sweden, was studied. The aim of the study was to answer the following questions: 1) When was Öjingsvallen established as a shieling place? 2) What was the land use at Öjingsvallen? 3) Was the use of Öjingsvallen as a shieling place affected by the agricultural crisis in the 14th and 15th centuries? 4) Is there any relation between the establishment and land use of Öjingsvallen as a shieling place and the historically known increase in the number of shieling sites known to have taken place in the 16th and 17th centuries? 5) Was the use of Öjingsvallen as a shieling place affected by the iron production in the area? According to the study, Öjingsvallen was probably established as a shieling place during the period A.D. 300-700. The main land use at this time was forest grazing.

Information security is an essential part of all information systems; especially in large organizations and companies dealing with classified material. Every large information system has an architecture that includes many parts that together form an Enterprise Architecture. The aim of this thesis is to study how to describe several security functions in an Enterprise Architecture and also how to ensure accountability between requirements and the implementation of the security functions. The description is for stakeholders on a conceptual level rather than a technical level. The study has been carried out by comparing the theoretical framework that has been formed by a study of the literature, and the empirical framework that has been formed by a group discussion and interviews with Information Security Consultants from Combitech AB.

This master thesis presents a Model for Evaluating and Managing Interruption Risks in connection with Business Continuity Planning (BCP), developed for Swedwood International. The model consists of a template with instructions. The model should be easily understood and useful for establishing a plan for BCP. This is achieved by including the contents and procedure of BCP and the main supplychain risks in the model. The purpose of a BCP plan is to describe how an enterprise will return to business as usual after an interruption, e.g.

Bakgrund: Hand i hand med dagens ökad fokus på risk har intresset ökat för ettriskhanteringskoncept som kallas Enterprise Risk Management (ERM). Tanken medmodellen är att hantera risk övergripande istället för isolerat på separata områden iföretaget. De största fördelarna med modellen sägs vara bättre beslutsfattande inomorganisationen, att riskmedvetenheten ökar och att intressenter får bättre förtroendeför företaget.Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats är att jämföra den teoribildning om ERM som växerfram med praktisk erfarenhet från icke-finansiella företag som implementeratmodellen. Målet är också att skapa förståelse för både för- och nackdelar medmodellen.Avgränsning: Undersökningen har inriktats på icke-finansiella företag eftersom färrestudier har gjorts inom området.Metod: En kvalitativ fallstudie av två icke-finansiella företag har genomförts med enabduktiv ansats och en blandning av explorativ och deskriptiv design.Resultat: Undersökningen visar att ERM skapar vissa positiva effekter för företagenmen också att en del problemområden har identifierats. De begränsningar i modellensom uppstår anses vara nära relaterat till svårigheten med att hantera mjuka risker ochproblemet med att ERM kan bidra med för stor passivitet i verksamheten dåminimering av risk blir mer omfattande.

Horse-hair lichen Bryoria bicolor is a red-listed lichen species in the category Vulnerable. It is an oceanic lichen and it is often found on boulders and cliffs in a semi-open environment with a high humidity in the agricultural landscape. The species can also be found as an epiphyte on trees, mostly in boreal forests in the provinces of Dalarna, Härjedalen and Jämtland. In the agricultural landscape, there has been indications on that B. bicolor show a decline, and this studie aimed at examining the extent and causes of this decline.

The importance of chemical use is enormous for areas such as agriculture, industry and medicine and hence a prerequisite for our modern society. In order to protect humans and the environment from the negative effects of chemical use, chemical regulations have been used at a relatively early stage in our history. The purpose of REACH, the new chemical regulation of the European Union, is to generate new knowledge of chemicals within the European market and to increase the responsibilities of the enterprises when it comes to risk management. Whether the enterprises will implement the regulations or not will be of vital importance for the realization of the law?s intentions.The purpose of this study was to identify possibilities and problems that can occur when a downstream-user SME is about to implement REACH.

Den omgivning organisationer idag ställs inför blir alltmer krävande. En allt hårdare reglering, hot från nya teknologier, samt de företagsskandaler som härjat i media, har lett till att dagens organisationer ser på risk på ett nytt sätt. En utveckling som nyligen skett inom riskhantering är Enterprise Risk Management (ERM). Denna uppsats undersöker den roll ERM, och i synnerhet ett nyutvecklat ramverk som används för att implementera ERM, har i en organisations riskarbete. Ramverket, COSO:s ERM, består av åtta kontrollpunkter som enligt ramverket bör finnas i en organisation som utför sitt ERM-arbete på ett korrekt sätt.Studiens syfte är att undersöka likheter och olikheter mellan en organisations riskarbete och COSO:s riskhanteringsramverk samt den teoribildning som skapats kring Enterprise Risk Management.

Bark-stripping by red deer (Cervus elaphus) cause extensive damage to economically valuable spruce trees (Picea abies) in Swedish forests. The underlying causes for bark-stripping are not fully understood, and the frequency and severity of damage unpredictably differ between regions. In this study, I investigated if landscape structure (e.g. agricultural dominated landscape opposed to forest dominated landscape), forage availability, population density and disturbance (e.g. roads and settlements) affect bark-stripping frequency.

The Common Agricultural Policy the European union´s common agreement about the agriculture financial support. A major change is about to take place in the next 3 years. This reform affects the first 15 members as well as the 10 new members in CAP2. This study contains a future of how agriculture will look like in Sweden in 10 years. The study is mainly based on interviews with key-persons3 in Sweden. The first part describes the CAP-reform in theory, the second part the interviews and the last is a conclusion of the material. The future will see larger farm units.