Purpose: We wish to gain a deep knowledge about product development processes in relation to the aspect of time in companies in highly technological and rapidly changing markets. The purpose is to establish how organizations better can employ time as a resource to make the product development process more efficient. Conclusions: Information we gathered from theory and primary data show that information flow, synchronization and time profit when seeing time in three dimensions are factors which should be reflected in the architecture of a product development process. To illustrate our findings, we decided to create a model..

This paper investigates, through an actor-network theory perspective, how the recreation area Lo?vsta-Kyrkhamn-Riddersvik northwest of Stockholm has developed from being a dumping site into becoming a nature reserve. This investigation also tries to describe and explain which values that have been promoted in the area by the local voluntary associations and companies. Lo?vsta-Kyrkhamn-Riddersvik has been inhabited for more than 3000 years, originally with farming as the most important business.

TitleSystems, Stability and Power. The Discourse of Information in Organizing Knowledge.AbstractThe aim of this Master's thesis is to inquire into the consequences of an unequal distribution of power between information discourses in the field of knowledge organisation. A deconstruction of Jennifer Rowley's and John Farrows introductory textbook Organizing Knowledge from 2000 is related to the major discourses of information in LIS. Questions posed in this study are: What meaning is ascribed to information in the material studied? Which information discourses are given a dominant position? Which are excluded? and: How does this affect the construction of the library and information science student's identity, in relation to practices of knowledge organisation? The theoretical framework is provided by Ernesto Laclau's and Chantal Mouffe's theory of discourse and combined with techniques for text analysis originating from the work of Norman Fairclough.The analysis reveals a strong domination of a cognitive discourse of information that underlines the importance of information systems for the organisation of knowledge.

The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate and develop a useful theory of human behavior that recognizes the importance of our emotions. The new framework, called the theory of emotional choice, is developed by a holistic method in which results from the fields of psychology, sociology and (neuro-) biology are used to mutually support the conclusions. The theory is distilled into six preliminary points, which are based on the finding that we are not thinking as logical, rational and longsighted as is often assumed. Instead the regular human thinking is suggested to be shortsighted, intuitive and ruled by our emotions and our needs for generality, causality and normality.To demonstrate the usefulness of the new framework, it is used in an analysis of financial bubbles. Additionally, the fields of negotiation, election and ethics are suggested as potentially interesting to analyze with the new theory..

The purpose of this study is to find out how teachers work with fairytales in preschools raising several questions;How would the teachers describe the literary environment at the preschools? What does theory say about the literary environment?What type of fairytales do the teachers perceive that they work with? How does theory describe these fairytales?What is the underlying purpose for teachers working with fairytales? What purposes are described in theory?My study is based on qualitative interviews conducted with three teachers working in preschool in a small town. The study is based on hermeneutic theory.  I have also used other theory to complete the study.         The teachers all see the possibility of using storytelling as a means to developing the children´ s vocabulary. Some of the teachers also use books and stories as a way of indirectly addressing ongoing personal problems.                                                                                                      The results of my study show that fairytales can be a valuable tool for personal development for children. Working with fairytales could be crucial to how children develop their curiosity and desire to learn and manage ongoing traumas in their lives.

Differences between groups or individuals in a society with regards to access to information and communication technologies (ICTs) are known as the digital divide. The digital divide pertains to differences in physical access to computers and the Internet as well as knowledgein using technology. Important factors affecting the digital divide are disabilities, age, gender, socioeconomical background, ethnicity and geography. The digital divide appears on several levels: internationally, nationally, regionally and locally. Individuals who, for some reason, have limited or no access to information and communication technologies risk, among other things, to experience social exclusion.

This Masters thesis concerns epistemology in Knowledge Organization KO, as a field of study in Library and Information Science LIS. Using a theoretical model by Birger Hjørland and foucauldian discourse analysis as springboards, this study analyses three epistemological discourses in the practice of KO. The aim of the study is to show how these discourses are constituted and demarcated in relation to KO, as well as to examine how they fit into Hjørlands model. A brief historical outline of some epistemological trends in LIS is sketched, as well as examples of how different epistemological schools influence different parts of KO, e.g. information retrieval, indexing- and classification theory.

In this two-years masters thesis the information practices of former interns are examined in relation to a possible lack of certain kinds of information in the prison environment. The essay is positioned in the research field of information practices which means its looking at all kinds of information, formal and informal. Since the essay is in the field of information practices it means the focus lies in how information is taught whithin contexts and groups. Information is not looked at solely as an individual process but is seen as a collective experience.The method of the essay is that of the qualitative research interview. Besides taking an interest in information practices i investigate whether access of information in prisons could be improved and whether the library organisations could be a part of those improvements.The result of my research shows that information in the prison coming from the correctional institution is not perceived as well functioning.

When constructing an industrial- or hall building, the most common framework materials thatis used are wood, steel or concrete. Due to an assignment from Byggnadstekniska Byrån ABhas a document been created that makes it possible to investigate how the final costs is af-fected by gapes in between elements and which used foundation. And this with steel as thematerial. The purpose with this essay is to investigate which is the most well fitted materialwhen constructing an industrial- or hall building wood, steel or concrete. Information aboutthe different materials has been collected by litterateurs and by different internet pages.

This study aims at contributing to the studies of political implementation. The theory of implementation claims that local implementation that meets the demands of national policies is close to none existing. By examining the implementation of industrial policy in two Swedish municipalities that differs in location, prosperity and political believes I am putting the theory to the test. If the test were to show that the implementation is rather well executed in these two cases, where the risk of failure is great, the questions about whether the theory is valid or not will rise.By interviewing the two local government employees in charge of the work with industrial policy, and studying their strategic documents I got my answers. This by looking at their work but also their attitudes towards the national policy in terms of understanding the policy, being able to work with it, and wanting to work with it.

A description and analysis of the sales process of ERP systems is presented; also the consequences for the parties involved are discussed. The chosen methodological basis is an inductive research design consisting of a case study based on interviews. The analysis of the empirical data is done with a proposed analytical framework. Based on the agency theory, the analysis is tightly knitted together with opportunism. There are three controlling factors: relationships (relationship marketing), contracts (principal-agent theory), and competition.

Goodwill är en immateriell tillgång som funnits inom redovisningen de senaste hundra åren. Hur goodwill ska behandlas diskuteras flitigt av forskare och yrkesverksamma. Från och med 2005 beslutade EU att alla noterade företag i unionen skulle följa IASB:s standarder vid upprättandet av sin koncernredovisning. Med de nya reglerna följde att goodwill ska värderas till verkligt värde och årligen testas för nedskrivningsbehov. Denna värderingsmetod innehåller subjektiva bedömningar av företagsledningen, vilket kräver transparens av företagen i sin redovisning av koncerngoodwill med information om hur nedskrivningsprövningen har utförts.

The aim of this thesis is to investigate which the main determinants of capital structure in Swedish listed firms are and to identify which incentives lies behind managers choice of capital structure determinants. Further, the study investigates whether the Post Keynesian theory and theories which incorporate behavioral aspects can be used to explain the capital structure decisions or if the traditional Neoclassical theory give an better explanation. We have used a qualitative method to analyze the determinants of capital structure and the managers incentives behind capital structure decision. We conducted a survey which was sent to 83 Chief Financial Managers and financial executives in Swedish firms listed on Mid Cap or Large Cap. The questionnaire was on-line which enabled for the respondents to quickly and convenient respond.

Business valuation is something that is carried out on a daily basis and relevant to both small and large businesses. Valuations are often long and complex processes that may be difficult to understand, even for those who have received an education in the field. In this thesis, we try to create a better understanding of how this process works.   Since we are aware of many aspects of the theory behind business valuation, but very little insight into the practical activities, we have chosen a deductive approach, i.e. to go from theory to empirical data.   The conclusion is that the methods presented in the theory is largely used in practice, and that the process of valuation mighty seldom differ between valuations. For the seller to be able to charge a higher value for their companies, it is important to have knowledge of, and review the value-creating factors in the company.

The aim of this study is to investigate wether the participatory democracy is a threat or a complement to the representative democracy. To achieve my purpose I will focus on two different lokal councils, the civil council in Hovsjö and the youth council in Västra Skogås, which have been objects of the urban policy in 1998. The theoretical framework on which this study is based consists of the participation democratic theory, representative democratic theory and implementation theory. By problemizing these theoretical frameworks in comparison with eachother I will mapp how these two lokal councils were implemented. The research question is: In what way was the civil council and the youth council a complement or threat to the representative democracy? In which way was it difficult to implement them?The method used for this purpose is a qualitative comparative case study.