The aim of this master?s thesis is to examine how managers in some public libraries are using performance measurements and to what extent decision making is based on the results. The main questions posed are:??What performance measurements and indicators are used in the libraries examined???What is the attitude towards performance measurements among library managers???How and to what extent are performance measurements and indicators used in the process of decision making???What improvement would library managers wish regarding the development of performance measurements in public libraries?The theory is based on a model of evaluation of the public sector in addition to general steps of evaluation of quality and performance measurement results. The investigation is based on qualitative interviews with seven managers of public libraries in Sweden.

This paper describes and develops a trade off model of optimal capital structure by Bradley et al. (1984). The model is then tested to examine how changes in corporate tax rates affect the optimal capital structure of firms. Based on theoretical implications of the model, four hypotheses are derived stating that firms? optimal debt-to-value ratio is (1) negatively related to financial distress costs, (2) negatively related to non-debt tax shields, (3) negatively related to firm volatility and (4) positively related to the corporate tax rate.

Abstract Thou there are much written about management, are there, according to Mintzberg no simple definitions regarding how managers should operate towards other co-workers or employees. This essay outlines a perspective for study of managers, from an employees point of view. The study was preformed at one private company, and the empirical data was gathered from five employees. The methodological approach contained qualitative methods based on semi-structured interviews. By using this method, a deeper understanding regarding the questions was desired.

Sustainable design - a study on sustainable design and its incentives and barriersThe purpose of this study was to investigate the incentives and barriers existing within companies focusing on eco-design. The aim was also to examine the consumers? thoughts on eco-design and sustainable products. A further aim was to try to concretize important lessons for future work on sustainable production and consumption. Two methods were used for completing this study; a literature study and a practical study consisting of interviews with companies focusing on eco-design and a survey among students.

It has been even more important in the forest sector in recent years to look at the whole chain from suppliers to end users, to improve operations and improve performance and the profits of the company. The research and development have been concentrated on the buyer?s market and product development, probably because this research has capability to give an increased cash flow. But to obtain stability and continuity in the production and selling units, the suppliers should also be investigated. The aim of this thesis is to study a one company's existing suppliers of roundwood and investigate the differences and attitudes they have about the company offerings.

?Intensive family therapy?Journal studyAbstractThe Family board in Falun gives since a couple of years priority to intense familytheraphy work with families in need of help/support. Intensive family therapy (IFT) was developed during the 1970s with the purpose of helping families. The theoretical mainlines upon which the IFT ? model is based is the, structural-, strategic- and systemic perspective.

This thesis treats the topic of user-generated comments connected with news stories on news sites, meaning electronic word-of-mouth combined with PR. The writers have examined how different types of comments affect consumers' perception of the article and also what communication effects these comments generate in terms of attitudes, purchase intent and word-of-mouth intent. The results interesting to the news site owners, is that lots of comments and negative comments generate a negative effect by making the actual article less credible, attractive and worth reading (relative to the subsequent comments). On the positive side, serious comments imply that the news story is perceived as more interesting, than a news story followed by non-serious comments. From a brand equity perspective, the interesting results show that few comments compared to lots of comments, generate a better attitude to the brand, even though there is no difference in how positive or negative the comments are.

An increasing number of automotive supplier companies are investing in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) in order to gain cost advantages. This has happened in a rapid pace since many of these countries did not have any foreign direct investments (FDI) at the turn of the century. The problem now is for how long these countries will be able to maintain the low costs. One purpose was to create a model of country advantages for automotive supplier companies when relocating further production to CEE. This dissertation was written in cooperation with the Trelleborg Group.

Most of my 16 students show a negative attitude towards mathematics and have difficulty understanding why they need mathematics to work as cooks. Their lack of knowledge has a negative effect on their work in the kitchen because they cannot master relatively simple mathematical solutions. The purpose of this study is to examine if an integrated working method of the subjects mathematics and cooking can change students? attitude towards mathematics and increase their understanding of the value of it in restaurant work. An integrated working method means to integrate the core subjects with programme specific subjects and that teaching is directed towards the main features of the vocational programme in order to create a holistic view.A theory of action research has been applied in this study, aiming to change something perceived as problematic through combining theory and practice in the cooking subject.

The role-playing game attracts a growing number of practisers. The aim of this master?s thesis is to examine role-playing literature as phenomenon in libraries through librarians´ attitudes. The paper is based on qualitative interviews with eight librarians: one personal interview with two librarians and six e-mail interviews with six librarians at different libraries. The paper starts with a definition of the term ?role-playing game?, its different categories and genres and a description of its background.

This thesis investigates the effects of active ownership on the return on assets (ROA) of Swedish listed companies during the years 2003 to 2013. Active ownership is operationalized based on the probabilistic voting model that is used to calculate the minimum amount of shares the largest shareholder needs in order to possess control of a contested vote at the shareholder meeting. We study the three largest lists on the Nasdaq OMX Stockholm, having 1454 observations from 207 companies to test our hypothesis. The main result from the study is that there's a significant positive relationship between active ownership and ROA during the investigated period. The active owners' relative strength also proves to have a significant positive relationship to ROA..

The purpose of this thesis is to outline an appropriate model in order for companies to successfully act and compete physically as wholesalers at the same time as acting on the virtual market by selling directly to the end consumer. The approach of this thesis is hermeneutical and abductive with elements of hypothetically deductive approach. Our research has a qualitative research strategy based on case studies and interviews as well as on secondary data. Interviews were conducted with the case company JaymJay Wear AB as well as with other companies, so called mini cases. The secondary data consists mainly of textbooks, web sites and journals.

The aim of this final thesis is to make it easier for the customer of a new designed house to get a picture of what the house will look like inside before it has been built.A method, which can be applied by any construction company who likes to visualize there buildings, has been designed and tested. One works after a regular design planning which is transformed into a three dimensional model of the house. In a rendering program, materials and surfaces are chosen for the model and then a picture of the finished product is made. The programs used for this work are ADT 2006 and VIZ Render.To evaluate the use of this method I?ve chosen to cooperate with LB-Hus which is a housing company that is specialized in building detached houses.

 Date: 2008-10-06Level: Bachelor thesis within Information Technology and business economics, 15p, EIK021Authors: Anna Karlsson, akn05009@student.mdh.seLena-Maria Lindström, llm05002@student.mdh.seMagnus Wretlund, mvd05001@student.seTutor: Marie Mörndal Title: Managing IT-incidents, a case study at ICAs IT department                            OperationsKeywords: IT-incident management, IT-incident management process, IT-incident, ITIL, CCTA Problem: An organization can benefit by having an established management process of handling IT-incidents. But how can this be achieved? Are there step-by-step procedures? What´s included in the management process of IT-incidents? Is the size of the organization relevant to which model is to be chosen? Can the work of the writers of this essay result in a recommendation of a specific model for IT-incident management? These questions lead to the following essay question; How are IT-incidents managed?Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to describe and discuss how IT incidents can be managed.Method: The writers of this essay have performed a case study at ICA, a Swedish food retail company. Eleven interviews with nine different persons have been carried out. The interviews are analyzed in the chapter called Resultat och analys.Conclusion: Our conclusion is that there are both similarities and differences in Dept.

Abstract The extraction and usage of energy give rise to immense environmental problems which helps to accelerate climate change. Energy is an important resource for the community and there are a variety of different types of energy sources available, that are either classified as renewable or non-renewable energy sources. The usage of renewable energy sources cause less environmental impact than the usage of non-renewable energy, which in turn means that the energy?s strain on the environment is strongly affected by the type of energy source used.The aim of the study is to describe to what extent attitudes towards renewable energy are affected by whether the individual is male or female, by examining the hypothesis regarding how women have a closer connection to nature and to a larger extent shows on an pro-environmentally friendly behavior than men, and if it also can be detected on issues related to renewable energy and thus imply that women have a friendlier approach towards renewable energy than men. A number of ecofeminist believe that women have a stronger bond with the nature through her embodiment as a woman and by her maternal role, which according to previous research also leads to the fact that women shows on a more extensive environmental behavior.Through a qualitative research method in the form of semi-structured interviews has three female and three male respondents been asked questions with regards to the environment, individual responsibility and energy.