Ipendo Systems in Linköping, Sweden, is a small IT consulting firm developing among other things custom portal applications based on Microsoft Sharepoint 2010. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate whether the test tools TestComplete and LoadComplete provide sufficient compatibility for functional and non-functional testing of Ipendo Systems? Sharepoint based applications, as well as design testing related activities to be incorporated into their existing software development framework. A test process maturity framework was chosen and applied for the design of the testing activities, while the test tool investigation resulted in guidelines on how to apply the tools effectively and circumvent any issues discovered..

Bakgrund: I en uppmärksammad artikel från 1958 drar Modigliani och Miller slutsatsen att kapitalstrukturen inte påverkar marknadsvärdet av företaget och därmed är av icke betydande roll för företaget. Detta har lett till uppkomsten av flertalet andra teorier som ser annorlunda på företagets kapitalstruktur och hur denna påverkas av olika faktorer. Skuldsättningen i Sverige har enligt riksbankschefen börjat bli ett allvarligt samhällsproblem och genom att studera företagsledningens påverkan på ett företags kapitalstruktur kan en uppfattning av ett företags två styrorgans, VD och styrelse, ansvar för detta problem skapas. Få tidigare studier har gjorts där dessa styrorgans effekt på kapitalstrukturen studeras, och de som gjorts har främst baserats på amerikanska företag.Syfte: Att identifiera hur faktorer kopplade till respektive styrorgan i företagsledningen påverkar företagets kapitalstruktur.Metod: Studiens forskningsansats är av en deduktiv karaktär då fyra huvudsakliga teorier inom forskningen kring företagets kapitalstruktur ligger till grund för de faktorer som sedan studeras. Faktorer för respektive styrorgans påverkan på ett företagskapitalstruktur sammanställs till en teoretisk modell som sedan operationaliseras till variabler.

The purpose of this thesis is to achieve an increased understanding of factors and considerations of importance to larger companies? purchases of tax consultancy services. Based on a qualitative case study, the thesis more specifically analyzes purchasing companies? perception of quality in tax consultancy services, how the companies organize their purchases of such services and the relationship between purchasing companies and tax consultants. The study suggests that tax consultancy services constitute a heterogeneous group of services which are normally purchased by people in charge of either accounting or tax matters in the purchasing company.

SAMMANFATTNINGI denna uppsats studerar jag social hållbarhet i djupare bemärkelse i syfte att undersöka och definiera åtgärder och arbetssätt som skulle kunna lämpa NCCs byggkoncept - Hållbar renovering. I min studie utgår jag ifrån akademisk forskning och statliga utredningar (som avser bl a miljonprogrammet) samt bostadsområdet Orrholmen som en inspirationskälla. Mitt empiriska material erhålls från intervjuer med NCC, Karlstads Bostads AB och brunnberg & forshed AB.I min analys fokuserar jag på hållbar utveckling, social hållbarhet, brister och potential avseende miljonprogrammet och dess gårdsmiljö, gemensamma och offentliga rum, blandning av bostäder och verksamheter, olika upplåtelseformer, sociala hållbarhetsåtgärder och förslag på fysisk utformning samt analys av bostadsområdet Orrholmen.Sammanfattningsvis visar erhållna slutsatser att social hållbarhet är en dynamiska och komplex dimension och likaså åtgärderna. Kärnan i social hållbarhet är människan och därtill även främjandet av hennes välfärd.De åtgärder som ämnas komplettera Hållbar renovering, bör väljas och bearbetas med omsorg. Brukarnas deltagande före en totalrenovering i kombination med omhändertagande av de faktiska problemen i bostadsområdena skapar positiva och gynnsamma resultat.De allra viktigaste åtgärderna är blandning av såväl bebyggelse och boendegrupper samt låg skala av bebyggelse och blandning av olika upplåtelseformer.Omätbara värden såsom identitet, platskänsla, skönhet och deltagande skapar mervärde och berikar områden.

Studenter är bland de som konsumerar mest alkohol i Sverige. Hög alkoholkonsumtion och extern akademisk locus of control (ALC) har liknande negativ effekter på studier. Denna studie undersökte relationen mellan alkoholkonsumtion, ALC och alkoholrelaterade studieproblem. 120 studenter, varav 91 var kvinnor, deltog genom att besvara en enkät bestående av The Academic Locus of Control Scale for College Students, the AUDIT Alcohol Consumption Questions och en egenkonstruerad skala som mätte alkoholrelaterade studieproblem. Data analyserades med en 2 (riskbruk/ickeriskbruk) x 2 (extern ALC/intern ALC) ANOVA för oberoende mätningar.

Prior studies have shown that earnings management can be used either to inform or to mislead investors about the future performance of a company. However, few studies have examined the impact of earnings management on forecasting return on equity (ROE). The aim of this thesis is to investigate whether the ability to forecast next year's ROE is improved when taking earnings management, measured as discretionary accruals, into account. This is examined by comparing a forecast model that takes the magnitude of discretionary accruals into consideration with a model that does not. The study is based on companies that were listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange during 2002-2012.

To curb greenhouse gases and mitigate climate change is one of the biggest challenges human society face today. Carbon dioxide (CO2) has accumulated rapidly in the atmosphere as a consequence of burning of fossil fuels and deforestation. The aim of this study is to explore two methods to store carbon dioxide in geological formations and biological sinks. The aim is also to discuss the two mitigation options from a sustainable perspective and whether it can lead to a better environment and benefits for local and global societies. The research questions are: Which method to store carbon dioxide, geological or biological, is the most effective? Which method to store carbon dioxide, geological or biological, has the greatest potential to promote sustainable development for local communities?The method used is a comparative case study and presents four case studies that explore the potential for CO2 storage offshore in Norway and Brazil; and in tropical forests in Mexico and Brazil.

The interest in businesses active on the countryside and their funding situation has increased in recent years. In a survey, conducted by Leif Berndtsson (2003), it was reported that there is a lack of external capital in rural areas. According to Berndtsson (2003) the lack of external capital inhibits the rural firm?s growth. The essay attempts to answer whether the shortage of external capital is a factor that inhibits development for rural businesses.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine how the competitiveness of family firms is affected by governance mechanisms. The thesis addresses four governance mechanisms: inefficient labor markets, inefficient capital markets, self control and altruism. We have conducted an abductive method to be able to perform a qualitative research study. In this study two family firms have been examined, ROL and Indiska Magasinet. We conclude that the presence of inefficient labor and capital markets within the studied family firms give rise to negative effects in terms of difficulties of hiring talented employees.

The objective of this thesis is to examine the capital structure of Swedish small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Accounting data from Swedish game developers, combined with the result from a survey, is used to examine their financial conditions and capital structure decisions. We find that non-debt tax shield, firm size, growth opportunities and age are, to various extents, the determinants of capital structure in the game industry, while effective tax rate and asset structure have marginal effects. Our study also implicates that most of the existing capital structure theories can explain SMEs leverage decisions to some extent; however, some adaptation is needed to fit these theories into the SME context. Additionally, we find the existence of a financial gap in the game industry which might need efforts from both demand side and supply side to eliminate..

The purpose of this study explains the relationship between corporate governance and the auditor's role in Swedish family firms with the definitions micro, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and how this relationship is affected by the firms strategy. The study is based on a survey sent out to 3000 Swedish SMEs, of which 280 responses from family firms could be used. Our findings showed that the auditor in the family firms didn?t have a specific role or contributed added value to the firm, and that the strategy didn?t affect the outcome. Furthermore, we found correlation between the perceptions of the auditor's role and added value depending on the family firms type of corporate governance.

The purpose of this thesis is to explore the co-creation process and how value is created based on a service orientation using a network perspective. The thesis is studied from a social-constructionist philosophy, using a qualitative approach of data collection and the theoretical framework includes network theories, theories of service-orientation and co-creation. We have conducted semi-structured interviews with a small firm and its network, which consists of a customer, a supplier and a partner. We found that Håkansson?s ARA framework combined with Ballantyne and Varey?s triangulation of value-creating activities help to acquire an understanding of the actors? bonds, the resources? ties and the activity links that exist in a network.

Syfte:                        Denna studie syftar till att undersöka huruvida avskaffandet av revisionsplikten fick de effekterna som önskades av EU samt Svenska regeringen, vilket var att minska de administrativa bördor och kostnader för mindre bolag. Det har nu gått en tid sen avskaffandet och det är nu möjligt att se vilka effekter som de berörda företagen har märkt av. Metod:                        Undersökningen ämnade utföras med en kvantitativ metod med hjälp av enkäter. Men på grund av få respondenter och stort bortfall används istället en kvalitativ metod. Uppsatsen har en induktiv metod. Slutsats:        Studien visar att alla de företag som ingick i undersökningen upplever en minskning av kostnaderna efter att revisionsplikten avskaffades, samt att majoriteten av företagen även anser att den administrativa bördan minskat. En del av företagen har valt att ta hjälp av konsulttjänster efter att de valt bort revison..

The thesis has two aims to first describe the phenomena by explaining how interim management works and what the charachteristics of an interim manger are. The second aim is to look at the value issue of interim management; What value does an interim manager provide to a company and how do interim managers try to capture and cultivate this?The qualitative method has been used. The interim management market analysed in this thesis can be stated to consist of three parts; the interim manager as a provider of knowledge, a client firm in need of a temporary manager, and an interim agency in between working as an intermediary/supplier. The characteristics of interim managers are; they are in general self-employers and rather generalists than specialists, meaning they are experienced and have great knowledge skills.

In year 2009, a new housing form (here referred to as "owned apartments", in Swedish called "ägarlägenheter") was introduced in Sweden. Owned apartments are in many countries the dominating form of housing tenure, but in Stockholm, to where this thesis is delimited, only four have been established in four years. There are many possible reasons for this low establishment, but the thesis writers believe the main reason to be that the owned apartment is situated in an organizational gap. With the hypothesis that the owned apartment is situated in an organizational gap and that there are opportunities to overcome this gap through interorganizational collaboration of the players on the market, this thesis strives towards examining if this is the case.By using Burt's theory of structural holes the concept of organizational gaps are elaborated to fit this context, since this area is previously unexplored.The data has mainly been gathered through in-depth interviews but also through secondary sources such as previous theses and newspaper articles. It has appeared that the majority of the central players are characterized by conservatism.