During the past year it has been made possible to buy back a company?s outstanding stock. This is done in order to change the capital structure towards a situation with less equity. A change in capital structure means a change in the cost of capital for a company and by that a change in the value for the stockholder. This Master Thesis studies the relation between capital structure and business risk.

This thesis is based on an exhibition at the county museum Upplandsmuseet in Uppsala, Sweden. During an internship at this museum I got a chance to produce an exhibition, with some guidance from the museum staff. This exhibition was created with the purpose of teaching about agriculture in the late 19th century and also about the magnificent workmanship of Alrik Klingberg, who have carved these wooden objects for over 50 years. Each one of the objects possesses a story and a memory. The memories that Alrik Klingberg has incorporated into the objects are mainly from his childhood at a croft in northern Uppland.

Today the Internet is used more and more as a transportation for information. Much of the information is confidential and should not be read by those not privileged. To protect the information from unauthorized access cryptography can be applied. The cryptography algorithms in use today all have their pros and cons. They are therefore suited for different applications.

Title: Establishing in China?s ?good-enough? market - A benchmarking study on Scandinavian engineering industries? further establishment in China. Problem discussion: The Chinese market is gaining importance for Scandinavian engineering industries and is by many considered a crucial market to be successful in. These companies have a tradition of producing premium products for premium customers. However, in China many are currently experiencing the threat from local competitors producing products of somewhat less quality aimed at the vast Chinese middle market - the good-enough market.

In scientific investigations on how organizations can learn from their mistakes the perspective is usually that of the social engineer; the object is to prevent human errors through modeling the system in a certain way. The aim of this paper is to explore the learning process from a different standpoint than those usually applied in organizational learning and error theory. By studying the learning process in Swedish health care I seek to discover how theoretical presumptions affect the outcome in terms of what we actually learn. The theoretical framework draws on two major discussions in contemporary political science; the question of structure and agency and the question of whether to focus on formal or informal structures when explaining organizational behavior.The investigation shows that Swedish health care tend to understand human errors as a result of formal organizational structure. Such a view leads to insufficient explanations to why errors occur but is useful in producing preventative measures.

The aim of this thesis was to investigate if the robotized welding method FSW (Friction Stir Welding) could be applied for joining a rotating structure in an aero engine at Volvo Aero Corporation. FSW is expected to introduce less defects than today?s welding methods and could therefore be suitable for critical aero components. The material is the nickel based alloy Inconel 718, however a material experimentation is outside the scope of this report.The main goal of this study is to verify if the ESAB ROSIO robot based FSW-system has a suitable work space to be able to weld the rotating structure, and if the welding tool has accessibility to the joints. The FSW-process needs a rigid fixture, and a number of fix-ture concepts are presented based on a proposed weld sequence.

 The sawmill industry is a relative fragmented industry that is in an economic upswing andwith a hard competition. The customers have high demands on their suppliers and the highcustomer demand make it necessary for the companies to make a streamlining in planningand production. For that reason it is very important that the planning- and productionprocesses aren?t to complex and with a simple structure.The purpose of this report is to study and map out a marked out part of a planning- andproduction process, from adjust works to final delivery, at a company in the sawmill industry.Different methods have been used for the report, among others interviews and subordinatedmaterial.We have mapped out a marked out part of the planning- and production process at theCompany. This part we have studied, and we have analysed the process it self and otherthings connected to the process.We see the planning- and production process in the Company as complex.

Under det senaste decenniet har CSR blivit ett alltmer vedertaget begrepp, både inomföretagssektorn men också i samhället. CSR agerar idag verktyg för främjandet av hållbarutveckling och dess allt mer framträdande roll på marknaden tillsammans med företags behovav att förhålla sig till de marknadsanpassade förändringar som sker. Det har skapat ett behovav att företag implementerar, men också förstår vikten av att inneha att engagemang församhällsansvar. Uppsatsen ger en bred teoretisk referensram kring CSRs främsta grundpelarevilka beskrivs ur ett socialt, ekonomiskt och miljömässigt perspektiv där varje område är likaviktigt för ett lyckat CSR-arbete. Idag råder det mindre forskning om CSR inom SMEs, änvad det gör i multinationella företag.

This thesis was conducted at Linköping University and SAAB Aerostructures, Linköping, and focuses on the automation of flexible fixturing in machining applications. At Linköping University a project called "Koofix" is conducted with support from Strategiska stiftelsen and several manufacturing industries including SAAB Aerostructures. The purpose of this project is to develop a more cost-effective, flexible, technique for fixation of workpieces during processing and assembly.Fixtures are an important part during the machining process, especially if you process the parts with high accuracy. Today a large number of fixtures are used at SAAB and they would prefer to reduce the number of fixtures by using flexible fixtures instead. SAAB uses one fixture for each article and this result in a high fixture cost and it also takes time to design and construct a new fixture.There are several advantages with using a flexible fixture such as that you can process workpieces with different length, height and thickness in the same fixture.

Inspection errors are nowadays usually written with pen and paper during building inspections. A company in Stockholm is developing a method by which inspections are made digitally from the beginning and where the inspection attachments shall be stored in a database. The idea of this method is that entrepreneurs can use the database to get an experience feedback from previous surveys so that they can improve their production processes. One problem that occurs is how inspection errors will be sorted into the database. They have to be sorted so that contractors or clients can use and sort out the information in a sensible way when they want to evaluate and make improvements in their production processes.This thesis examines how the inspection errors can be sorted in a structured manner.

The formulation of visions into practical projects is an important part of the professional expertise of landscape architects. This expertise includes the gathering, structuring, improvement and utilization of knowledge. Project models have been developed to provide tools for the implementation and governance of projects, as well as means of learning, reflection and survey of individual projects. The aim of this thesis is to describe some general project models and their theory, and to describe practical, real-life examples of project models used within landscape architecture. Questions asked are: ? How do the processes of idea to construction in landscape architectural projects lool like? Do project models have a relevance for the mission of landscape architects? ? Is a common project model used within such projects, or is the project model varying depending on e.g.

This is a report for our thesis that was conducted as a conclusion of our bachelor degree in Business engineering at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH). The work is done in cooperation with the firm Navigate Consulting Business Solutions AB.They have their leading expertise in Oracle E-Business Suite and has previously chosen to implement Oracle EBS R12. The modules that are planned to be implemented are general ledger (GL), accounts payable (AP), accounts receivable (AR), project module (PA), purchases, and CRM. For a consulting company like Navigate, it is particularly important to have a simple and effective time reporting process. We were therefore asked to provide new tabs with a decision-making process to determine if Oracle Time & Labor (OTL) is a useful time tracking system for their business.In order to achieve the company´s aim and objective we decided to follow a development method with five different phases.

This thesis has been carried out in collaboration with the IT Company MPQ consulting AB in Halmstad. The task we were assigned by MPQ concerned the development of a scooter that can be used year round. We have with the companydeveloped the criteria and requirements for the product in which the goal is toproduce a primary solution that meets the set criteria and fall within the project'sboundaries.The project involves a wide range of different design methods for idea generationand idea development. The project also addresses engineering methods such asprinciple and primary engineering. Occurringmethods in the project include FredyOlsson principle and primary engineering in cooperation with SVID's - Swedishindustrial design process, etc.The final solution will be presented in the form of sketches, CAD models withassociated drawings and a rendering from the program Keyshot..

This essay has discussed and analyzed a draft for an idea about a network called EduSync. This idea is based on that teachers and students, attending and holding courses, all over the world should be able to find and interact with each other. EduSync is founded from a new learning theory, connectivism. Interviews, participation in a conference and two workshops have been used to gather information and different points of view concerning e-learning, for example possibilities and problems with this idea of a network.  A comparison of web communities and e-learning environments that exists today was also done. The gathered information from persons as well as literature resulted in a discussion concerning learning and what would or would not be possible with the creation of EduSync.

The aim of this thesis is to investigate which the main determinants of capital structure in Swedish listed firms are and to identify which incentives lies behind managers choice of capital structure determinants. Further, the study investigates whether the Post Keynesian theory and theories which incorporate behavioral aspects can be used to explain the capital structure decisions or if the traditional Neoclassical theory give an better explanation. We have used a qualitative method to analyze the determinants of capital structure and the managers incentives behind capital structure decision. We conducted a survey which was sent to 83 Chief Financial Managers and financial executives in Swedish firms listed on Mid Cap or Large Cap. The questionnaire was on-line which enabled for the respondents to quickly and convenient respond.