The aim of this thesis is to examine what factors that influences the management control in a family business operating in a sector in which they are under-represented. We have therefore conducted a case study of a family business in the finance sector, E. Öhman J: or Fondkommission AB (Öhman). The first conclusion is that the management control in Öhman is influenced by the environment and the increasing size of the company. We have found, however, that it is to an even larger extent affected by the fact that it is a family business even though the company is operating in a sector in which family businesses are not the norm.

Audit is a service of society that takes place in the public interest. To guarantee the quality of auditing a quality control is done with predetermined time intervals. The purpose of this paper is to investigate and analyze the concept quality and the procedure of the quality control and further to tie concepts like trust and ethics to the audit profession. To make the picture complete the paper also provides an insight regarding what deficiencies in quality, in other words failures, means to the audit profession. By performing semi-structured interviews with seven qualified auditors, active on different auditing firms in Skåne, substantial information was collected.

The aim of this thesis is to analyze and explain the similarities and differences in management control between a private and a public primary care company. A comparative case study was developed based on one public and one private primary care company in Stockholm County Council. The framework of Otley (1999) was used to define and limit the area of management control systems, according to his five factors. For the analysis of the empirical results Hood's (1995) seven doctrines of New Public Management was applied, and customized to fit the purpose of the study. The results indicate that the differences between the two organizations are very limited.

Syftet med undersökningen var att se om det fanns någon skillnad i Locus of Control och arbetstillfredsställelse hos män och kvinnor i privat och offentlig sektor. Antal deltagare i undersökningen var 60 där två urvalsgrupper använts bestående av privat (n = 30) och offentlig (n = 30) sektor i Blekinge och Skåne län. Mätinstrumenten som användes var ett arbetstillfredsställelseformulär och ett Locus of Control formulär. T- test, korrelationsanalys, multipel regression och tvåvägs-ANOVA användes för beräkning av data i SPSS. Slutsatser som kunde dras var att män generellt sett är mer tillfredsställda än kvinnor och att offentliganställda är mer tillfredsställda än privatanställda.

The purpose of this study has been to examine how customers, by interacting with each other, can communicate and create the image of a brand. We find this topic to be relevant since there are no previous studies conducted concerning the customers influence on the brand image. Our ambition has been to describe in what ways and to what extent the customer can affect and influence the brand image by communicating with other customers. To fulfill our purposed we have targeted three important questions which are:? In which ways can the customer affect the communicated image of a brand?? To what extent can the customer influence the brand image and the perceived value?? Who has control over the brand, the customer or the company?For this study we have used a qualitative approach in which we have conducted eight personal interviews with brand consultants and the editor of the magazine Dagens Media which has given us the foundation for our analysis.

Abstract The main purpose of this study was to investigate if and how the employees in elderly care experience stress and which underlying causes they understand to be important in their work situation. The purpose was also to investigate whether Karaseks and Theorells demands and control models could be used to explain the employees feelings of stress and to see in which categories the participants are in. Furthermore, the purpose was also to understand the participants work situation and to describe the factors and remedies the employees perceive to contribute to the stress levels at their workplace. 81 questionnaires were distributed at three different locations, two of which were in Ronneby and one in Örebro. 56 people answered the questionnaires. The result yielded that 80% of the participants felt stress during their working hours the last few years. The results are in agreement with the demands and control models which showed that people with high demands and low control experienced a higher degree of stress than people with lower demands and higher control, which corroborates the hypothesis 1.1..

Bandura definierar (1997) outcome expectancy som individens skattning av sannolikheten att ett beteende ska leda till ett specifikt utfall. Utöver individens skattning av sitt eget beteendes följder (individual outcome expectancy), är hennes bedömning av sin grupps möjlighet att nå ett specifikt utfall (collective outcome expectancy) en del av begreppet (Riggs & Knight, 1994). Studien syftar till att undersöka huruvida arbetsrelaterad- self efficacy, locus of control och collective efficacy predicerar outcome expectancy. En enkätundersökning genomfördes med 102 deltagare från olika yrkesgrupper. Resultatet visade att arbetsrelaterad- self efficacy och locus of control samvarierade med individual outcome expectancy och att collective efficacy predicerade collective outcome expectancy.

The purpose of this study is to gain knowledge about how teachers in preschool regard their participation in children's play. Through this study you will get an insight into how teachers' involvement affects children's learning. I have chosen to look at the study from a socio-cultural perspective.The study is based on qualitative interviews with four pre-school teachers.The result shows that teachers believe that it is important to attend in children's play to support, challenge and develop their play. One sees that teachers take different roles based on the needs of the children?s group, such as actively participate in the play, being a supportive teacher, serve as inspiration or to be an observer.

External forces have significant impact on organisations. This study analyzes the implications of one type of external forces in aid-focused NGOs through two qualitative case studies where it is investigated if Sida?s reporting requirements have the intended effects: learning and control using a theoretical framework where it is recognised that the requirements may also result in dysfunctional behaviour: decoupling and colonisation. The study shows that when the demands are the result of institutional pressure rather than an ambition to generate learning and control, the demands tend to be unrealistic and the NGOs therefore decouple the formal fulfilment of the demands from the actual activities. It is argued that a partnership, which incorporates trust and dialogue, is a prerequisite, not only for learning, but also control.

External forces have significant impact on organisations. This study analyzes the implications of one type of external forces in aid-focused NGOs through two qualitative case studies where it is investigated if Sida?s reporting requirements have the intended effects: learning and control using a theoretical framework where it is recognised that the requirements may also result in dysfunctional behaviour: decoupling and colonisation. The study shows that when the demands are the result of institutional pressure rather than an ambition to generate learning and control, the demands tend to be unrealistic and the NGOs therefore decouple the formal fulfilment of the demands from the actual activities. It is argued that a partnership, which incorporates trust and dialogue, is a prerequisite, not only for learning, but also control.

This essay is about the European union freetrade treaty negations with Mercosur. I have in this essay used a qualitative content analysis, to study from the EU perspective the reasons to why, the EU and Mercosur suspended the free trade treaty negations 2004, and after several years resumed the negotiations again in 2010. The purpose of this study is to gain a deeper understanding from the EU perspective of why free trade negotiations were suspended and then resumed. In order to achieve a deeper understanding of this event, I have applied neorealism and neoliberalism on the explicit statements and the implied actions, as these theories may provide different explanatory power of implied causes of negotiations.I have come to the conclusion that the theoretical perspectives can indeed explain explicit statements and implicit actions for suspended and resumed negotiations with Mercosur. The implicit reasons for suspended negotiations are among others that the EU has an egoist thinking concerning a free trade treaty.

Syftet med undersökningen var att se om det fanns någon skillnad i Locus of Control och arbetstillfredsställelse hos män och kvinnor i privat och offentlig sektor. Antal deltagare i undersökningen var 60 där två urvalsgrupper använts bestående av privat (n = 30) och offentlig (n = 30) sektor i Blekinge och Skåne län. Mätinstrumenten som användes var ett arbetstillfredsställelseformulär och ett Locus of Control formulär. T- test, korrelationsanalys, multipel regression och tvåvägs-ANOVA användes för beräkning av data i SPSS. Slutsatser som kunde dras var att män generellt sett är mer tillfredsställda än kvinnor och att offentliganställda är mer tillfredsställda än privatanställda.

This paper examines the non-profit organization Friskis&Svettis in order to gain insight into whether governmentality is used and if it is being used in what way. Furthermore we analyzed the requirements and consequences that that may have developed out of this governance structure. To get answers to the questions asked in this paper, a qualitative approach has been taken by the use of interviews with officials at Friskis&Svettis Uppsala. The conclusions drawn from the survey is that there are factors that indicate that governmentality is used within the organization by way of the use of guidelines which can be seen as a technique to control individuals and point them in the desired direction, and the follow-ups that can verify that the guidelines are being followed by the officials. The guidelines and the follow-up have also been an organizational requirement.

AbstractTitle:The Impact of Management Control Systems on the Purchaser Function - A study of Scania and Sandvik Authors: Mohammad Reza Akhbari and Johanna Sullivan Svensson Published: 2011 Keywords: Management control, purchasing function, impact, control, control instruments, Key Performance Indicators, measurement, communication and organizational structure. Background and problem formulation: In order for a company?s business idea or vision to be fulfilled, the management of a company needs assistance from various means to intentionally affect the operation in the desired direction. Management control concerns activities of both financial and non-financial character in order to implement the strategy of a company and to reach profitability. Since the purchaser function is responsible of spending 50 percent of a company?s total revenue, the function has an optimal starting point to be a key actor in the shaping and execution of a company?s strategic plan.

The purpose of this study is to describe and analyze how auditors are affected by quality controls and if audit practice changes because of quality controls. To fulfill the purpose of this study there has been interviews made with five auditors. The conclusion by this study is that the interviewed auditors work practices are affected by quality controls and that the extent and effect depends on the auditor and the office that the auditor works in. The auditors who worked as quality reviewers at the agencies where they are employed at, we felt that they were more secured in the response towards quality controls. This may be because they are quality reviewers themselves and they know what the quality control requires and what must be met to be approved.