Agency theory describes the conflict of interest between the principal (stockholders) and the agent (CEO). Aligning the incentives of executives with those of the owners is the most direct way to mitigate the agency problem. If there is no meaningful link between CEO compensation and company performance, it is doubtful that the large sums of assets in public corporations are being managed efficiently. In theory the solution is simple reward the CEO when shareholders wealth increases. The purpose of this paper is to investigate if there is a relationship between company performance and CEO compensation among Swedish companies, in materials and information technology industry.

Objective: The aim of this paper is to see if there are higher restructuring expenses under the item provision for the first year when a new president takes office.Method: The study was done by a quantitative study. Financial statements have been examined for companies listed on the OMX Stockholm Stock Exchange, Large Cap. We have examined all the companies? annual reports between the years 2002-2008. We have looked at the experience of restructuring and other expenses that occur in the context of CEO change.

A large proportion of the energy consumption is in the building industry and a large part goes to heating our homes and premises. In the developing countries' development now threatens the large consumption of energy in our earth's climate. It is in the West world that we must be good role models in terms of energy efficiency. One solution to reduce energy consumption for heating of buildings may be to continue to build low energy houses and passive houses, but it is also about rebuilding the buildings that currently have high energy consumption such as the old Million program Houses. These buildings will be standing many years and their energy consumption will not diminish over time by itself and energy prices will certainly not diminish in the future.

The aim of this paper is to examine the capacity for ethical reasoning of Swedish certi-fied auditors in the five largest accounting firms in Stockholm, and also how ethics courses affect the auditors' ability to ethically statement. To calculate the auditors ability to ethical statement, questionnaire has been used. The questionnaire is based on a psychological instrument, the so-called Defining Issues Test. At the beginning of the questionnaire some questions are asked about the ethics courses. From the questionnaire a calculation was made of an average index called p-score (Principled score).

ABSTRACT  Title:                                       Artifacts as transformational leaders ? A case study at SIBA. Course:                                   Bachelor Dissertation - Leadership Authors:                                 Tobias Barin and Victor Eriksson Advisor:                                 Anders Billström Keywords:                             Artifacts, transformative leadership, organizational culture and leadership Problem formulation:          Which artifacts can be transformative leadership in the electronics industry?  Purpose:                                Create an understanding of store managers and deputy store managers' perception of how artifacts can be expressed in the transformational leadership.                                                Creat an understanding of the importance of artifacts in leadership in the electronics industry. Theoretical framework:       The study?s starting point for the theoretical framework has been Schein (2004) earlier theories of organizational culture, and Bass (1985) theories of transformational leadership. The link between organizational culture and transformational leadership is the basis for the chosen theories. Methodology:                        We conducted a qualitative method with a deductive approach for intent a solution for problem. Personal interviews were conducted with two store managers and two deputy store managers at SIBA. Conclusion:                           We have found that the artifacts: role-models, stories and rituals communicate the transformative leadership. Respondents have described how these artifacts conveys organizational culture but also the transformational leadership..

In the following essay I offer an analysis of the concept of genealogy in the works of Friedrich Nietzsche and Michel Foucault. The genealogical is illuminated as a critical approach, a period and a method. Taking as a point of departure Foucault?s description of genealogy as a historico-philosophical method, with which we can approach the question of how we constitute ourselves as human beings, by analyzing our ideas about knowledge, morals and the self as an acting subject, I go back to Nietzsche, from where Foucault derives his genealogical project. By analyzing how Nietzsche examines the three domains of genealogy, found in Foucault?s description ? knowledge, morals and the subject ? I thereby present a way to read, understand and use the works of Nietzsche, a reading of Nietzsche which at the same time brings out some of the core topics, offering a more profound understanding of Foucault?s genealogical project.

This report describes a study of how educationalists, from one preschool group, approach to and respond to children ?s creative activity in preschool. To answer the survey ?s purpose I used four research questions, which is the following:-What function do the educationalists give the creative activity in the working?-How do they see the importance of thecreative activity for thechild and its development?-How doeducationalists considerthat theyrespond to the child's creative activity?-Is thereany norms surrounding creative activity in preschool?The theoretical base of the study is rooted in the sociocultural perspective, where creative activity and visual arts can be seen as mediating cultural tools. The method is a qualitative interview of five preschooleducationalists.

Vocational rehabilitation is an ongoing issue that directly or indirectly affects everyone at a workplace. In recent years, laws and rules have changed. The 1st July 2008 changes were made in the General Insurance Act (SFS 1962:381). These changes have meant that there is now a so-called rehabilitation chain.  The rehabilitation chain contains time frames for when sick people will have their ability to work tested against their normal work or to other jobs. If a person is considered having enough capacity to be able to work he or she will lose their entitlement to sick pay.The aim of our study is to investigate managers? perceptions of the new rehabilitation chain, with a focus on vocational rehabilitation of long-term sick to get them back to work.The method used was qualitative and data collection was done through nine semi-structured interviews.

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to study the causal relationship between bank sector development and economic growth in four Nordic countries (Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway).Method: Our thesis is based on a quantitative method. The study consists of a compilation and analysis of key financial indicators that represent economic growth and bank sector development. A Granger causality test has been conducted on the time series in order to measure the causal link between economic growth and bank sector development.Theoretical framework: The study is based on the theory of endogenous growth and the causal relationship between bank sector development and economic growth also known as the demand following and supply leading hypothesis. Results: The results of the four countries are ambiguous. Except for Denmark, that follows the supply leading hypothesis, the remaining countries do not show a unanimous result..

New method for measuring road quality- A statisticalstudy of the relationship between road quality andsocioeconomic development A new tool with implications for road maintenance has the potential to yield statistical data for road quality in a large number of regions. This thesis investigates the possibility to develop a method, from this data, for evaluating the effects of road quality on socioeconomic development.The thesis is essentially divided into two parts. Part one looks to qualitatively establish the link between socioeconomic development and road quality and the second part focuses on how to develop a method for evaluating the effects of road quality on socioeconomic development. A method was devised using categorical data and a multinomial regression model. This method provides a comprehensive overview of the complex relationship between a variety of different variables.

The aim of this study was to examine how the interviewed primary teachers in two schools situated in the Stockholm area understand themselves as teachers in relation to their image of the good teacher. The research questions were: How do the informants discuss their image of the good teacher? How do the informants describe their own role as a teacher?A qualitative method, by interviews made with four primary teachers, was used to collect data for the examination. The results from the interviews were analyzed and discussed from the theories and earlier research concerning the role of the teacher and what they describe as the good teacher. The theoretical connection of this study was based on the theories of Vygotsky, Piaget, Bruner, Dewey, Dreikurs, Kounin and Glasser concerning the relationship between the role of the teacher and learning.

ABSTRACT  Title:                                       Artifacts as transformational leaders ? A case study at SIBA. Course:                                   Bachelor Dissertation - Leadership Authors:                                 Tobias Barin and Victor Eriksson Advisor:                                 Anders Billström Keywords:                             Artifacts, transformative leadership, organizational culture and leadership Problem formulation:          Which artifacts can be transformative leadership in the electronics industry?  Purpose:                                Create an understanding of store managers and deputy store managers' perception of how artifacts can be expressed in the transformational leadership.                                                Creat an understanding of the importance of artifacts in leadership in the electronics industry. Theoretical framework:       The study?s starting point for the theoretical framework has been Schein (2004) earlier theories of organizational culture, and Bass (1985) theories of transformational leadership. The link between organizational culture and transformational leadership is the basis for the chosen theories. Methodology:                        We conducted a qualitative method with a deductive approach for intent a solution for problem. Personal interviews were conducted with two store managers and two deputy store managers at SIBA. Conclusion:                           We have found that the artifacts: role-models, stories and rituals communicate the transformative leadership. Respondents have described how these artifacts conveys organizational culture but also the transformational leadership..

As a result of global competition, companies within the automotive industry are required to improve their production systems to achieve sustainable and competitive production. To attain operational excellence, companies have adopted concepts like lean and World Class Manufacturing (WCM).In order to deliver, companies need to increase the availability and reliability of production equipment. This demands focus on both operational and strategic maintenance, and efficient equipment acquisition and management. The main objective of this thesis is to identify processes and success factors that are necessary for improved maintenance performance. By conducting a case study and by performing a literature review, the following has been studied: 1) how companies within the automotive industry work with maintenance and maintenance strategies, 2) implementation of maintenance strategies, and 3) new acquisition and spare parts management for maintenance. The results show that basic maintenance concepts and related terms are well defined in the literature.

Purpose/Aim: To create a communication strategy for PADI Nordic with the intention of getting Swedish divers, who have been certified abroad, to Swedish dive centers.Material/Method: The study is based on a number of personal interviews conducted with a) divers who are active in Sweden, b) divers who are not active in Sweden and c) representatives from PADI and PADI affiliated dive centers.Main results: The main reason that people who have been certified abroad do not dive in Sweden is that they regard it as being too complicated, too cold, too expensive and with nothing interesting to see. These might partly be misconceptions that can be corrected through a communication strategic effort. The best way to change this perception is by two different forms of communication. One will go from PADI Nordic straight to the divers through an email. This will have the purpose of getting their attention, making diving sound interesting and raise their awareness in preparation for the other part of the process.

Agency theory describes the conflict of interest between the principal (stockholders) and the agent (CEO). Aligning the incentives of executives with those of the owners is the most direct way to mitigate the agency problem. If there is no meaningful link between CEO compensation and company performance, it is doubtful that the large sums of assets in public corporations are being managed efficiently. In theory the solution is simple reward the CEO when shareholders wealth increases. The purpose of this paper is to investigate if there is a relationship between company performance and CEO compensation among Swedish companies, in materials and information technology industry.