This paper is an event study on Initial Public Offering?s return behavior after the dot com bubble. Cumulative Abnormal Returns are used to measure the performance against a market index. The results suggest that the market correctly prices IPOs in the long run thus upholding the Market Efficiency hypothesis. Moreover, value weighted CARs show that large IPOs are more likely to outperform smaller IPOs, however in the long run there is an unpredictable pattern.

Servicescape is a research area within service management which processes the effect that the environment has on the service experience. The purpose of this essay is to find out how servicescape, with focus on the ?background music?, affects customer behavior in a clothing retail store. Through manipulation of the background music?s tempo the essay aim to explore to what extent this part of the servicescape a) affect the customers approach and avoidance behavior, b) is affected by customers with a hedonic or utilitarian shopping behavior, c) affects pleasure, arousal and dominance perceptions for the customer, and d) how the servicescape is perceived.Key words: Servicescape, approach-avoidance behaviour, pleasure, arousal, dominance, hedonic-utilitarian behaviour..

The aim of this study was to examine how children in ages 3 to 4 use the public library with the research questions: What does children?s, in ages between 3 and 4, information behavior look like when they visit a public library in leisure time with a parent? What is the nature of interaction between child and parent, child and the staff of the library, and between child and other visitors? What is the function of the cultural tools in relation to the children?s information behavior? The theoretical frame of reference consisted of Lev Vygotsky?s ?the zone of proximal development? and Roger Säljö?s theory about using cultural tools. To answer the questions I have observed 4 children together with their mothers and siblings at a public library. From the result of the observations I found that every child had their own information behavior. Two of the children only used one kind of cultural tool ? books.

University of VäxjöSchool of Social SciencesBachelor Thesis in Political ScienceTitle: ?Sverigedemokraternas valframgångar 2006 ? En ulv i fårakläder??Author: Emma Haraldsson and Åsa NeuschützTutor: Emil UddhammarThe aim of this study is to explain Sverigedemokraterna?s electoral success in 2006 and the essay assumes that some form of change has occurred. To study this change two hypotheses have been constructed. The first hypothesis concerns the change within Sverigedemokraterna and the second hypothesis concerns the change of the Swedish voters attitudes.Kirchheimers catch-all theory is used to explain the change in Sverigedemokraterna. The catch-all theory states that parties have to change their structure to maximise the number of votes.

The debate about women and equality is a very burning issue in the Swedish society today. There are a lot of articles, TV-programs, books and web sites treating the position of female leaders today. There are also a lot of myths strongly attached to our minds hindering the equalization process between men and women.The main purpose of our study was to look at women as leaders and identify potential tendencies in businesses sectors dominated by mainly men or women. We also wanted to find out whether leadership behavior is more or less oriented towards relations- or task in any of the chosen sectors. It was even in our interest to see if our chosen respondents supported the myths in our society about male and female qualities.We interviewed 20 women in four different sectors, two dominated by men (Computer/It, Transport) and two dominated by women (School, Healthcare).

Despite Sweden's ranking as one of the least corrupt countries in the world, recent studies suggest that the prevalence of corruption in the private sector is growing, now approaching international levels. Over the past couple of years, Sweden has witnessed a growing number of scandals involving unethical behavior on the part of its corporate sector. Corruption has gained the attention of authorities, legislators and the public - putting the private sector under pressure to take action to prevent such corporate misconduct. As a result, companies increasingly prioritize strategies and policies aiming to prevent corruption. This study aims to contribute to the understanding of the role of leadership in such preventive work.

Scarcity due to supply, demand or in time is all factors that affect consumers´buying behavior. The scarcity principle describes how scarce resources appear moreattractive to the customer's eyes than unlimited does. When something is scar thecustomer often draws parallels to the quality and price, that the product will bemore expensive and better. People hate to be deprived of choices. When a certainproduct is scar, the customer will desire the product even more.

In the light of the criticism from the Swedish Consumers? Association towards the actions of modern fund managers on the Swedish Sustainable and Responsible Investment (SRI) market, discussions of change has increased. The reasons underlying a change and communication process are scarcely focused on. Thus, grounded on theories in the fields of Critical Management Studies (CSR), Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), change and communication, this study analyses how a change of implementing revised SRI communication is carried out at Handelsbanken Asset Management, existing motives for the change in communication, and how key actors can affect the process. A participant observation and in-depth interviews were carried out enfolding a discussion that contributed with a critical analysis and discussion, concluding external motives to be dominant and that key actors of the change process are influential to a various extent.

EU is an organization that has expanded really fast during the last years. When you read about different EU membership processes you notice that some processes have been much faster than others. Spontaneously you think that this depends om that some countries have not been fulfilling the Copenhagen criteria. However, during the last decennium some scientists have written articles about motives that have affected the membership processes. The basic problem in my essay is how we are supposed to understand a membership process? Since I was interested in if I could see the same inconsistent behavior pattern in other membership processes I chose to study Turkey and Croatia.

The purpose of this essay is to analyse how the leadership and the structure of the organization affect the process of changes within a specific department in Lunds kommun socialdepartment, from the director of social work to the co-workers at Utredningsenheten för ungdom och familj. We aim to answer the following questions;How does the structure of organisation affect the process of change?What do the co-workers and the leaders believe is the best way to engage the co-workers in the change?How does the leaders view their own leadership in the process of change?How does the co-workers view the leadership in the process of change?How does the leadership affect the process of change?To develop an organisation and to make it a functional, change is a necessity. The leaders are they who create the change but the co-workers are they who make it happen. In the process of change, leadership and the leaders capacity to create motivation for the co-workers, is therefore a matter that is decisive to its success.This is a study based on a qualitative method, where the interview is the main source of empirical material.

This thesis investigates the underlying factors behind sexual risk-taking and non-risk-taking behavior with regard to Sexual Reproductive Health (SRH) among adolescents in Lusaka, Zambia. The Qualitative Approach was used for data collection and analysis and using the theory of Social Construction, the author explains how different contexts and aspects in the Zambian Society, that is Traditional, Socio-economic, Political, etc., influence the sexuality or sexual behavior of young people in Zambia. Hermeneutics was used to interpret the meanings in the texts/transcripts acquired through data collection and from the author?s knowledge and understanding of the Zambian historical and cultural contexts within which the participants of the research were constructed. Max Weber?s Ideal Type concept was also used to explain that each young individual?s sexual behavior is uniquely constructed by societal aspects.

The purpose of this study is to examine the attitudes towards criminality among adolescent people. The main goal of this study is to find out, which risk factors are for criminal behavior among the youth. It?s also to understand if gender and ethnicity of the adolescent people plays any part in their attitudes towards criminality and risk factors for criminal behavior. The study has been carried out using a quantitative method for the data collection.

Organizations today face changes continuously as the society, the surroundings and the technology change. The information technology used in organizations has become essential, where intranets are a big part of it. Many organizations embrace social intranets, and these kind of changes has an impact on the members in the way they work, handle information and communicate. As many organizations and the members in it face new kinds of changes, they also face new kinds of challenges. This paper presents an interview study at Smurfit Kappa Kraftliner in Piteå, whom are about to go through a change process unlike any other change they have ever gone through before.

University of VäxjöSchool of Social SciencesBachelor Thesis in Political ScienceTitle: ?Sverigedemokraternas valframgångar 2006 ? En ulv i fårakläder??Author: Emma Haraldsson and Åsa NeuschützTutor: Emil UddhammarThe aim of this study is to explain Sverigedemokraterna?s electoral success in 2006 and the essay assumes that some form of change has occurred. To study this change two hypotheses have been constructed. The first hypothesis concerns the change within Sverigedemokraterna and the second hypothesis concerns the change of the Swedish voters attitudes.Kirchheimers catch-all theory is used to explain the change in Sverigedemokraterna. The catch-all theory states that parties have to change their structure to maximise the number of votes.

AbstractThis thesis discusses ideological and rhetorical change of the Moderate Party of Sweden. The aim of the thesis has been to study the party during a time-span of almost 20 years, trying to identify changes related to each of the three party leaders.A hypothesis was developed, suggesting that the three party leaders each represented a different kind of ideology namely neo-conservatism, neo-liberalism and social liberalism. By studying newspaper articles and protocols from the Swedish Parliament, riksdagen, I was able to verify the hypothesis in all but the first party leader, Carl Bildt. It was showed that his ideology had more in common with New Right than with neo-liberalism.After identifying these changes I looked for explanations within Party Strategy Theory and Social Change Theory. My conclusions were that the changes could be understood by the great loss of voters in the election of 2002 and that agents within the Moderate Party acted upon the ambition to win new and old voters to the party, thereby recognizing the need for change.Keywords: Ideological Change, Rhetorical Change, The Moderate Party,Neo-Liberalism, Neo-Conservatism, Social Liberalism..