Mergers and acquisitions are a phenomenon which can occur for a variety of reasons. It may for example be that the organizations want to gain larger market shares or to complement and learn from each other and thus become more competitive. After the completion of an acquisition or merger, a process is initiated to create an affiliation between the two companies' employees. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether there is something that management can do to make the integration process as efficient as possible. The empirical research in this paper consisted of interviews and surveys with respondents from two accounting firms that recently completed a merger.

National identity, multiculturalism and invisible norms are three conceptions focused on in this essay. They are discussed and analysed with the purpose of deepening deepen the understanding of their meaning. Further on they become instruments in a study of the Liberal Party's proposal for new politics of integration. My ambition is to distinguish signs of a Swedish national identity in this proposal and to interpret the party's relation to multiculturalism.The method of this essay comprises partly a literature study and partly a qualitative analysis of text.My discussion and analysis ended in an understanding of national identity and multiculturalism as complex and interrelated conceptions. I found parts of a Swedish national identity in the value of working, in the fear of the cultural unknown and of eventual anti Swedish culture, in the idea of Sweden as the best country in the world considering gender equality and in the strong defence for the Swedish language.

Sweden adopted a new anti-discrimination legislation 2009, DiskL, which aim to prevent direct and indirect discrimination in matters of employment and occupation.According to directives and practices from EU, pregnant workers are entitled a special protection from discrimination during employment situations. The purpose of this essay is to study the legal protection for pregnant workers in employment situations and also analyze whether male workers have similar protection when they plan parental leave. Both regulations from the EU-law and the Swedish law are presented and discussed. This because Swedish discrimination legislation is largely influenced by the EU-law.The study confirms that pregnant workers have a strong legal protection against discrimination through directives from the EU and DiskL. Employers must include this protection in employment situations.

The purpose of this study is to do a research about some pedagogues? perceptions of the social phenomenon of bullying, about the roles that can occur and how these pedagogues consider themselves to work accordingly. Our research questions are therefore:What beliefs about the social phenomenon of bullying has the pedagogues?What roles emerge in different bullying situations according to the pedagogues?How do the pedagogues work with bullying and the roles that emerge?The study provides insight into how different approaches to bullying can contribute to various pedagogical implications in anti-bullying work. In our theoretical part we present general issues and the roles that different writers describe.

Den här uppsatsen handlar om mobbing ur elevers perspektiv. Jag har valt att intervjua barn i åldrarna 8-12 år, och barnen kom från två olika grundskolor i mellan Sverige. Den litteratur som används är mestadels baserad på nordisk forskning. I studien redogörs för barnens uppfattning om vilka personligheter som mobbar och vilka som offren är. Hur ser barnen på fenomenet mobbing och hur kan lärare och elever, enligt dem, arbeta tillsammans för att förebygga mobbing i skolan.

I denna uppsats undersöker jag hur det är att arbeta som hbt-aktivist i Litauen, och redogör för hur man som aktivist förbereder sig inför landets första Prideparad: Baltic Pride. Uppsatsens syfte är att ur ett queerteoretiskt perspektiv undersöka hur litauiska hbt-aktivister arbetar för att synliggöras som grupp.Jag undersöker på vilka sätt litauiska hbt-aktivister förhåller sig till, och verkar inom, heteronormativa praktiker i sitt dagliga arbete och i förberedelserna av Baltic Pride. Mitt material består av sex semi-strukturerade intervjuer med litauiska hbt-aktivister.Resultatet visar att det litauiska samhällets i mångt och mycket negativa inställning till hbt-personer påverkar hur aktivisterna väljer att presentera sig själva som grupp. I presentationen av sig själva vill aktivisterna bryta ner stereotypa bilder av homosexualitet genom att iscensätta ett genusbeteende som associeras till normalitet. Inom ramen för Baltic Pride innebär detta en slags Anti-Pride, där iscensättningen av hbt-identiteten som en del av normen uppfattas som en effektivare strategi för att utmana heteronormen snarare än att använda lekar med könsroller, stereotyper eller parodier av normativa genusbeteenden..

Objektet för min studie är Pow-Wow, en grupp som arbetar mot rasism och mobbning på en svensk grundskola. Syftet med uppsatsen är att genom en kvalitativ undersökning titta närmare på hur Pow-Wow, har startats, genomförts och utvecklats. Utgångspunkten är att liknande grupper som arbetar mot rasism är sällsynta i svenska skolor. Därför är det speciellt intressant att titta närmare på hur det kommer sig att Pow-Wow startades på skolan och varför verksamheten har kunnat överleva så länge. För att kunna besvara dessa frågor har jag intervjuat skolans nuvarande rektor, skolans före detta rektor, de två lärare som arbetar med Pow-Wow och en elev som var med under Pow-Wows första år.

Growth of small businesses is vital to the Swedish economy, and many entrepreneurs want their enterprises to grow. However, the business climate of today is more changing than ever, and attributes becoming increasingly important for companies in order to deal with this are flexibility, speed, and adaptability: characteristics normally attributed to small enterprises. As a larger organization often is associated with more rigidity as a consequence of a higher degree of formalization, entrepreneurs are hesitant to seize growth opportunities, as they fear it will have negative impact on the aforementioned competitive advantages their enterprise possesses as a small business. This simple case study of a growing small enterprise investigates the effects of organizational growth on a small business' organizational structure and through its above mentioned advantages. The study finds that avoiding formalization while growing damages the competitiveness of the firm, and concludes that a degree of formalization is a necessity to maintain the flexibility, speed and adaptability in a growing small business..

The thesis focus on how organizations can improve the ability of absorbing coworkers ideas in purpose of gaining long term competitive advantage through innovations. The study was conducted at IKEA AB where a campaign to collect coworkers ideas was a big success given the quantity of ideas collected. This fact allows a comparative analysis of idea management in the shape of campaigns and in comparison, idea management in the everyday line-organization.The analysis show that fundamental factors for innovative environments such as organizational climate, culture and leadership perceives auspiciously by the respondents. However, lack of infrastructure such as systems and processes hinders coworkers ambitions to contribute with ideas.An important issue in idea management is the treatment of incentives for innovation. Results of the study show that the ?soft? incentives ?feedback, encouragement and attention have a higher impact in coworkers willingness to the contribution of ideas than for instance monetary rewards..

The tribo system ice-curling stone was investigated in order to understand the mechanisms behind the stones' behavior on the ice sheet. The problem with non-identical stones should also be addressed.The stone curls, that is, its sliding path deviates from a straight line to the right for a clock-wise rotation and to the left for a anti-clock-wise rotation. Several mechanisms to explain this behavior have been proposed over the years but none has been successful.By carrying out experiments at the local curling rink and studying silicon castings of ice- and stone-surfaces with scanning electron microscopy and vertical scanning interferometry, it has been decided that the curl is not due to dry friction, ice-debris or the difference in friction on the left and right side of the stone. The side force comes from the fact that the friction is higher at the back of the stone than at the front.The contact between stone and ice is never completely dry, nor in the hydrodynamic lubrication regime. It is probably a combination of hydrodynamic lubrication and a contribution from mechanical scratching of the ice.

The study aims to understand the underlying factor why McDonald's customers return despiteprevious failure customer experiences. Why do customers come back to the company thatcontributes to the former dissatisfaction? McDonald's attempt to maintain unceasingpurposeful emergence fail at the local level, where the customer contact occurs. McDonald'sofferings and customers' bounded rationality results in that customers are satisfied with an"ok" experience, which adds to their low expectations of McDonalds. This makes clear thatMcDonald's does not have to make an effort through constant adaptation at the local level toachieve a "great" level of satisfaction.

This study will chart the changeover work, with a standpoint in the SMED-theory, at the company Peter Ernst AB in Värnamo. They are suppliers in plastic moulding industry and delivers to amongst other Saab in Trollhättan and Scania. The company are in a very competitive market, and they have to make manufacturing more efficient and rationalise their costs to be able to compete. A big problem, which the company has identified, is their long changeovers. It brings higher costs, a more stressful work climate and holds back the company from becoming more efficient.Field studies will be conducted on the changeover, which will be observed and filmed.

Purpose: To examine how a tour operator works to implement sustainability in the development of the business, as well as what significance it has to consumers in selecting a tour operator. Furthermore, the purpose is to provide recommendations on how tour operators should work to communicate their commitments.Methodology: The research strategy applied is a case study which follows an abductive approach. Qualitative and quantitative methods were applied to complement each other. A semi-structured interview with a tour operator and a consumer survey constitute the empirical foundation.Conclusion: The conclusion of the study is that consumers show a positive attitude towards CSR, but do not see it as a determinant when choosing a tour operator. Thus, CSR does not constitute a competitive advantage against competitors.

In 1930 a new library reform came into force, which in reality was the beginning of the modern Swedish library. The purpose of this reform was to take measures to promote efficiency, for example to increase library co-operation. The Government grants were at the same time raised considerably. However, as early as in 1930, but especially the following year, the depression hit Sweden. The Government reduced the grants until the first half of 1936.

As the population of senior citizens increase, various housing options are required for an increasing competitive environment within elderly care. This study addresses the concept of profile housing for the elderly by outlining its definition and providing options for the different kinds of housing options available within the municipalities of Stockholm and Solna. The study reveals that these locations have different definitions of what constitutes a profile home. Based on this, should one assume there are further definitions to cover additional municipalities?     This study also touches upon how a group of senior citizens would perceive their living conditions if relocated into such housing. Members of the group have also expressed that they would like to go about their daily activities as they have prior to being relocated. They want health professionals to enable and encourage participation in various daily activities..