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.

The aim of this study was to investigate how the process of implementing a quality management system for food safety was handled in four different food producing companies in Sweden. The aim was also to analyze what difficulties the companies face and the possibilities that arise when certified. Furthermore, the reason for implementation was discussed as well as the main expectations on the certificate. Implementing a quality management system is a good way of ensuring the quality and hygiene of the food production and it also increases the traceability of food products through the whole food chain. A food safety standard provides a method of preventing problems and crisis and it can also help to handle requirements from authorities, the market and others.

Sustainability reporting in Sweden is a voluntary disclosure action for non-governmental companies. Since 2009 all state-owned companies must however publish a sustainability report according to GRI guidelines and with independent assurance statement. Three different sustainability reporting methods are primarily used: (1) Separate Sustainability Report, (2) Sustainability Report included in the Directors? Report, and (3) Sustainability Report forming part of the Printed Annual Report. The aim of this paper is to explore why some companies choose to publish a sustainability report and identify the motivational factors behind this decision, as well as attain an understanding for companies? choice of reporting method.

Recent studies made by Margaritis and Psillaki,have shown that a lower debt ratio and higher efficiency are correlated in their studies performed oncompanies in New Zeeland. Other researchers have been able to show a connection between other industries than the one used in our studies,among these are Titman and Wessler. These studies have been done with a great selection of companies in different industries and time periods. However most of these researchers have used traditional ratios and variables.This study aims to find and analyze connections between returns and lower debt ratios in real estate companies listed on the Stockholm stock exchange. Instead of the traditional debt-equity ratio we will construct our own taking long term debts and property assets.

This paper describes the rules of the Swedish unemployment insurance as regards the demands on the individual, the obligation posed on the individual based on these demands and the considerations taken by the law regarding the specific situation and personal circumstances of the individual. Special attention is paid to the demand to be available to the labour market and what is considered suitable employment from the viewpoint of geographical mobility. This paper treats ?Arbetslinjen? (Everyone able to work, thereby contributing to his/her own and others' support, shall have the opportunity to do so.), and the amendments of ALF, the law (1997:238) about unemployment insurance, that became active between 1/1 2007 and 1/1 2008, since many alterations were introduced in this period.The result illustrates the demands posed on the individual for him/her to be entitled to unemployment benefit, and the far-reaching demands posed on the unemployed for him/her to be considered available to the labour market from the viewpoint of geographical mobility. The result also shows some of the specific situations and personal circumstances of the individual taken into consideration, but since the amendments are as recent as 1.5 years, the list can not be considered complete, as practice is limited in this field.This paper also treats the Official Employment Agency's monitoring function of the unemployed's willingness to work, and the effect of the regulations not being followed as strictly as per the letter of the law by the Employment Agency officers, leading to insecurity regarding the rights of the individual..

The purpose with this thesis is to demonstrate that other factors than the existing set of rules could influence the Management Group?s decision in regards to depreciation of goodwill. We have explained the conflicts between the management group and the stakeholders by using the Agency Theory and the Stakeholder Model. We have used the Positive Accounting Theory to describe how the management group?s opportunistic behaviour decides which accounting method to use.

Since July 2005 the major companies listed on the Swedish stock exchanges are required to apply the Swedish Code of Corporate Governance. The code states that companies shall have a nomination committee responsible for nominating new board candidates and seek to obtain gender equality in the Board of Directors. This paper examines the trend of board as well as nomination committee composition among Sweden's 60 largest publicly traded companies between 2005 and 2008. Our overall finding is that neither the board nor the nomination committee composition has changed to a notable extent during the period and that the share of newly appointed female board members has actually decreased. However, the trends vary between different sectors.

Revenue is the largest post in the financial statements but is often least described. They are an important element when different companies are compared with each other. Revenue is often associated with assessment which Enron and Prosolvia is two examples of. Enron reported their incomes and assets while their costs and debts were not reported. Thus were a positive image maintained of the company when the financial position in reality were otherwise.

Purpose/Aim: The purpose of this thesis is to define and analyse how Swedish record companies work with digital musical content distributors. A more narrow aim is to show how the record companies and with the digital musical content distributors iTunes Music Store and Spotify create incentives for consumer?s to use legal digital music channels through the Internet. To further circle the core of the problem following questions have been asked: How does the record companies provide iTunes Music Store and Spotify with digital content and what is done by the record companies to retain control over the material? How do the record companies view digital musical sales and what incentives are given to consumers to buy music digitally? Finally, What position of power do iTunes Music Store and Spotify have on the digital content arena?Material/Method: The data collected for this thesis is retrieved through personal interviews with representatives from three of the four major record companies Universal Music, Warner Music and EMI and their Swedish branches.Main results: The consumer?s access to digital content through iTunes Music Store and Spotify is of the utmost importance and is a prerequisite.

This study examines differences between private and state-owned companies' sustainability reports for the year 2010. Three state-owned companies and three private companies in three different industries have been examined. An effort has been put to explaining if differences are related to the owner or to the industry. The basis for this is that the state owned companies are required to present a sustainability report according to shareholder demands, while the private owned aren?t obligated to present their sustainability efforts.The study has a qualitative basis, and empirical data have been collected by the authors.

Forestry has three main aspects to take into consideration today; economical, ecological and socio-cultural. In order to reach the broad policy goals for sustainable forest management, an increased variety of management approaches are requested. Today clear-cutting is the only method used in 96 % of the managed forests in Sweden. The Swedish National Board of Forestry has therefore initiated a project in order to investigate and develop Continuous Cover Forestry (CFF). This study is a part of this project.

To be able to secure a safe and reliable power supply is becoming increasingly important since society depends on services and functions that need continuous power supply. The delivery rate in Swedish power supply is 99.98 % which insists on a high availability. During the past decade several storms has passed Sweden which resulted in large amount of tree felling leading to extended power outages. During these storms many socially critical activities, such as electric utility company Fortum, experienced disruption in mobile communication which affected the crisis management. This paper has investigated Swedish mobile operators? crisis management at Hi3G, Tele2 and TeliaSonera with a case study of the storm Dagmar that hit Sweden during December in 2011.

The concept Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) describes a company's social and environmental work. More and more companies have embraced the concept of CSR and for some businesses, it has become equally important to present its efforts within CSR as to present its latest profits.The purpose of this essay is to establish an overall picture of a company's CSR efforts and to discuss the potential conflict between CSR and the aim for profit We investigate how businesses can improve their CSR effort so that it contributes to a positive development for the society while still creating economic value for the company. The study is based on a qualitative study of four Swedish companies in the fashion industry: Kappahl, Gina Tricot, Åhlens and Indiska. The results show that according to the theoretical framework, the four companies do not reach a complete strategic approach to CSR. To achieve this it is necessary for the companies to change their current CSR-activities..

The information market is constantly changing. With new and improved information technology more people get access to more information faster. However, the number of people educated to handle information also increases. Business intelligence has for a long time been a well-known tool for companies to be competitive. Because of the increased access to information the competition between companies has intensified and more people have become aware of the advantages of business intelligence and how it can help them compete.

Background: Today many companies are competing to get space in our minds. Companies spend a tremendous amount of money on building strong brands. It is not just about making us aware of their logo, today it?s more about giving the brand a ?soul? and to load it with different values. Due to today?s globalization there is also interesting to look at it from a cultural perspective.