The aim of this study is to examine and analyze how management control mechanisms evolve within an organization when a requirement of return on equity is imposed, as well as why the mechanisms evolve the way they do. A case study was performed on Samhall, a Swedish state-owned company, which has the aim to help people with disabilities develop by providing meaningful work. The framework provided by Samuelsson, defining five means of control in organizations was used to structure the study. Further, theories within New Public Management have been used to provide the reader with a proper background to the research area. Theories from the institutional field of organizational research have also been used to provide further depth to our analysis.

This essay covers computer gaming as seen from a perspective of gender theory. The main purpose of the essay is to examine women?s relationship to computer games, and more specifically women?s attitudes to the games they play. The theoretical basis for this essay is sprung from a hermeneutic perspective. The empirical basis for analysis consists of two in depth interviews and game analysis of the two computer games Counter Strike and Final Fantasy XI.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of strategy for grouping calves into group pens with automatic milk-feeding systems on the calves' health and growth rate. The usefulness of changes in feeding behavior recorded by the computerized milk-feeder during periods of illness to identify calves with clinical diease was also studied. In the first experiment, 64 calves were moved in and out of group pens in a continuous way, while 46 calves were transferred into group pens until the the pen was considered "full". The calves in the latter groups were then held together until weaning. It was found that calves in the fixed groups grew approximately 100 g / day more compared to the calves in the dynamic groups. Signs of clinical respiratory disease were less frequent in this group, while the incidence of diarrhoea was slightly higher. In the second experiment health parameters, milk consumption and feeding behaviour was recorded daily for 46 calves.

On today?s competitive market, it is difficult to achieve profitability trough high prices on manufactured products. Profitability must be obtained through low manufacturing costs, high quality and short lead times. One of the companies on the market is Sandvik Coromant, manufacturer of tools and chips for metal cutting. This master thesis investigates the methods of manufacturing for boring bars at the manufacturing unit GVH4 at Sandvik Coromant in Gimo, Sweden.

A study of paleomagnetic remanence and anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) has been performed on the Öje-Diabase in Dalarna, Sweden, and on basic dikes associated with the alkaliquartzsyenite/granite Noran-pluton in central Sweden. Based on isolation of directions of characteristic magnetization in the basic rocks, a division into three different groups (A,B,C) has been made. Group Aconsists of dolerites of Jotnian origin, both dolerites from the Öje-Diabase and dikes associated with the Noran-pluton are included in this group, making them coeval. Group B is suspected to show a re-magnetization from the later part of the Svekonorwegian orogeny. Group C belongs to the Blekinge-Dalarna-Dolerites (BDD). Thermal demagnetization of dolerites revealed two different types of demagnetization behaviours, one where magnetite clearly was the source of the remanence, and an other with a linear decrease in magnetization intensity. The measurements of magnetic anisotropy reveals a magnetic fabric with an almost horizontal foliation and a lineation that indicates a fairly uniform NNW/ S-SE flow direction of the magma..

Hedge funds have the past few years become an increasingly popular investment alternative and in the last decade hedge fund assets managed have quadrupled to USD 2000 billion, a growth rate of around 25-30% per year. One explanation for this substantial increase is that hedge funds' minimum limits on capital invested has declined, which have made ??them available to retail investors. The recent turmoil in financial markets has also contributed to investors finding their way to hedge funds, whose goal is to generate stable returns regardless of how the market develops.Using Sharpe?s, Treynor?s and Jensen's performance measures, I have investigated whether hedge funds manage to generate higher risk-adjusted returns than traditional managed funds.

Evaluation of joint swelling is an important part of the orthopedic examination and can be used to follow a patient?s progress during rehabilitation and therapy. Usually a swelling is assessed by palpating the joint but a more objective, but still easy to use, method would be preferable.This study seeks to increase the knowledge in veterinary rehabilitation by validating four different measurement tools (three recognized and one novel) for the assessment of elbow joint swelling: palpation, tape measure (circumference and figure eight measurement), slide caliper (craniocaudal and mediolateral positioning) and tonometer. This was achieved by calculating the inter- and intra-rater reliability and correlating the results from the different measurements with each other.The methods with best inter- and intra-rater reliability as well as good correlation among themselves were shown to be slide caliper with craniocaudal positioning, circumference and figure eight. Additional studies, with a larger and more diverse material, ought to investigate these methods further..

Purpose: Our purpose is to describe and understand how a project-based, knowledge-intensive firm in the high-technology industry creates and transfers knowledge, seen from two perspectives.Methodology: Our qualitative case study has an explorative approach since earlier studies within our positioning are absent, thus we look at KM abductively. To gain more depth to our study, we mirror our findings from our case company with data collected from three additional organisations.Theoretical perspectives: We see a clear distinction between researchers, either seeing knowledge as an object or a process. Thus, we review theories from both sides, either focusing on the creation or transferring of knowledge. In addition, theories on KM in project organisations areaccounted for.Empirical foundation: The study is based on the empirical foundation which consists of the data received through six interviews with employees at our main case company and, additionally, two interviews at each of our three mirrorcompanies.Conclusion: The study found KM being seen from both perspectives in all four firms. Through this, we found implications for how our case company could proceed in the future..

The topic of our thesis is Packaging Design as a Brand Building Tool and we are presenting the Scandinavian perspective. We found the topic interesting because, from a theoretical point of view, we identified a scarcity in research focusing on packaging design as a brand management tool, and from a practical point of view, we found out that businesses use packaging design at different levels in their communication efforts. Thus we wanted to provide both academia and business world with a clear picture to what extent and how businesses use packaging design in their brand-building process. Therefore the aim of our thesis is to provide practitioners and academicians alike with a better understanding of how packaging design can be used to create strong brands in the FMCG sector in the Scandinavian market. To reach the stated aim first we provided a solid theoretical background of packaging, its elements and its role in the marketing mix.

Ribs from sheep, goat and pig are rarely assessed  to species due to the fact that they are very similar in their morphology and size. The ribs are instead considered unidentifiable although it is possible to see what kind of bone it is. If these ribs would be identified to species not only would species assessment degree of archaeological source material   increase, the relationship between meat-rich and meat poor regions would change.To find out whether there are morphologically measurable differences between sheep, goat and pig ribs, three measurement points on each rib has been defined and measured. At each measurement point two measurements were measured, one medial-lateral measurement and one cranial-caudal measurement. The ratio between the medial- lateral measurement and the cranial-caudal measurement was calculated for each point.

Abstract in English:This essay constitutes a case study based upon in-depth interviews held with people who have, or have had, Exhaustion Disorder (ED), concerning their understanding and use of music and sound, encompassing experiences which are both positive and negative. The intention is to document how the illness influences the subjects' music use. The study shows that the respondents intuitively and consciously are using music by regulating, getting in touch with and manifesting their emotions. Music is an important tool in performing self therapy and to achieve a good existential health. Music can also provoke negative physical and mental reactions and affect the general health status for those diagnosed with ED.

The objective of the present study was to highlight preschool children?s encounters with children?s literature, in a heterogeneous language context.  The idea was to identify significant features in the linkages between the reading of children?s literature, didactic activities and children?s learning, language development and emergent literacy activities.  Our interest was directed towards the activities connected with read-alouds, as well as the preschool teacher?s perceptions of those activities.  The empiric material was collected by use of participant observations of four read-aloud sessions. After the observations the preschool teacher in charge of the observed read-aloud was in-depth interviewed. In addition, the physical print environment in the actual preschool was observed. The results indicate that the physical and social reading environment interact with each other.  Furthermore, the preschool  teachers? approaches and ways of working with literature does not always optimize the language, literacy and content area  learning opportunities for the children.

The rise of social media has created an endless source of possibilities for companies to interact and connect with their target audiences. As it is a new channel, companies may experience uncertainty on how to use it to its fullest potential.The purpose of this study is to describe how the Public Service radio channel, P4 Kalmar, use its Facebook page and how its members perceive the communication on this platform. We have also presented recommendations on how P4 Kalmar can improve the relationship with its members. To reach our conclusions we have combined theoretical references with a quantitative content analyze, a survey and qualitative depth interviews.By analyzing our findings we came to the conclusion that P4 Kalmar have to develop a strategy for communicating on social media. But since no general communication strategy for the organization exists they have to develop one before developing one for social media.

Storm water is rain and melted snow that runs off, primarily from impervious surfaces.Future storm water management is facing the challenges of increased precipitation, asclimate changes, and increased areas of impervious surfaces due to the expansion anddensification of the cities. Impervious surfaces reduce the potential for water to infiltratein the ground leading to increased surface runoff and higher peak discharge.The runoff coefficient is closely related to the percentage of impervious surfaces andrepresents the maximum percentage of a catchment that can contribute to runoff. In thisstudy, the objective was to evaluate the weighted runoff coefficient for three differenturban types; apartment buildings, townhouses and residential areas and a comparisonbetween today and the 1970`s was made.The runoff coefficient was determined by manual mapping of the different surface typesin each area based on data in the form of orthophotos and aerial photographs. The surfacetypes that were mapped were asphalt, permeable areas, tiles, sand/gravel and roof.Tiles and sand/gravel were the most difficult surface types to map. In order to see towhat extent these categories influenced the weighted runoff coefficient a sensitivityanalysis was carried out and the runoff coefficient based on surface type was changed indifferent scenarios.The results of the sensitivity analysis showed that the surface types tiles and sand/gravelhad little impact on the weighted runoff coefficient which in mainly due to the fact thatthe percentage of these surfaces types of the total area is small.The result of the study showed that the largest change in the runoff coefficient occurredin residential areas where the increase in the percentage of impervious surfaces causedby new roofs in the form of porches and garages and from paved or tiled driveways.

The purpose of our thesis is to take a closer look at what lies behind the display of fiction in public libraries. Through interviewing ten librarians and analysing their statements, it examines the mechanisms behind the displaying of books. The analysis was conducted through the application of two different theories, one by Aant Elzinga and one by Douglas Raber. Elzingas theory concerns methods of working, while Rabers theory concerns the purpose of public libraries and attitudes towards power. The following conclusions were drawn from analysing the statements.