Several industrial scandals, especially those about Enron and WorldCom, have lead to an intense debate about the independent audit and the independent auditor. A substantial part of the auditor?s income originates from counselling, and therefore the role of the auditor may be seen as double, and the auditor?s objectivity may be questioned. In the year of 2002, a new Auditors Act was legislated in Sweden. In the 21 § of the act, a model based on principles was introduced, to test the auditor independence in every single case.

We have performed a historical research, trying to establish the auditing conditions, in terms of adjustments over time. Our purpose with this essay was to demonstrate the facts behind the independence of the auditor, and hopefully give the reader some new information.Our questions at issue were: What in the debate, regarding the independence of the auditor, in concern of the scandals, is most relevant each decade?Witch aftermath has influenced the regulation regarding the independence of the auditor?What we thought was the best way to answer this question was to study a large amount of journals according to the current decade, since 1930 and forward. The journals presented different persons opinions regarding the scandals, and we used them as an instrument to analyse the regulations and after-effects of the scandals.Our conclusion is that in purpose to make the auditor independent, the debate among competent and well-informed people in the line of business has, through the decades, frequently recurred to strive towards a more homogenous auditing..

This thesis compares four relevance feedback methods. The Rocchio and Ide dec-hi algorithms for the vector space model and the binary independence model and Okapi BM25 within the probabilistic framework. This is done in a custom-made Information Retrieval system utilizing a collection containing 131 896 LA-Times articles which is part of the TREC ad-hoc collection. The methods are compared on two grounds, using only the relevance information from the 20 highest ranked documents from an initial search and also by using all available relevance information. Although a significant effect of choice of method could be found on the first ground, post-hoc analysis could not determine any statistically significant differences between the methods where Rocchio, Ide dec-hi and Okapi BM25 performed equivalent.

Introduction:By insight in the company and by monitoring the management, the board has an important function in creating trust in governance of the company. Furthermore, the board reduces the asymmetry of information between the owners and the management, which also is the function of the auditor, by auditing how the board governs the company and the accounting. In case the board does not effectively monitor the management, the auditor has to extend its monitoring, which increases the owners agency costs through the audit fee. The board composition can affect how effectively the board practices the monitoringProblem: How is the audit fee affected by the board composition?Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explain how the board composition affects the audit fee.Method: The study uses a quantitative method, where the data was collected from the annual reports of 112 limited companies listed on the NASDAQ OMX Large and Mid Cap lists on January 2, 2012.

The purpose of this essay is to examine if the judgments of accountants differ, in different cases, between the old and the new law. The method we used to investigate the differences was a combination of experimental and non experimental. Our analysis is based on a survey investigation with ten cases. These cases are produced from a model in which the accountant tests his independence. The survey was sent by mail to about a hundred accountants.

In this thesis a prototype board for data aqcusition is designed and manufactured. The board is compliant with Compact PCI Express and it can sample an analog signal with two time interleaved ADC:s. Furthermore, the board is also equiped with one FPGA for the possibility of signal processing. The thesis also include a study for investigation what is needed for a total solution for data aqcusition, represention and managing the sampled data with LabView..

In order to survive constant economic, environmental and political challenges, it has appeared to become increasingly important for a firm to recognize the significance of corporate governance. In this thesis, the structure of the board at Smartner Ltd will be outlined and the relationship between the board members and the CEO will be clarified. In addition, the aim is to analyze the corporate governance system at Smartner Ltd to be able to outline and clarify the distinct relationship between the CEO and board of directors..

Abstract   Study: Degree project in teacher education, Advanced level, 15 hpUniversity of Skövde.Title: ?The aim is for them to manage as much as possible on their own? ? a qualitative study of preschools´ indoor environment as a pedagogical tool for the independence of children.Number of pages: 31Author: Jenny Karlsson, Marie PerssonTuto: Gunvi BrobegDate: 2009-01-28 Keywords: Independence, indoor environment, preschool, pedagouge This study aims at examining the indoor environment of three different preschools as a pedagogical tool for the independence of children. Is the design of the premises adapted to the height of the children? Can they themselves reach the material they need and is it possible for them to reach their outdoor clothes or do they constantly have to ask for help? In order to acquire a deeper understanding of the different views of the three preschools, the question is asked: what are the pedagogues thoughts of the indoor environment of their own preschool in the perspective of childrens independence and what affects their choice of furnishing, planning etc? The preschool curriculum clearly states that the children must be given the opportunity to develop their independence. We have experianced that the pedagogues feel that they are unable to plan the environment as they wish and thus, interest is also pointed towards the question: are there any limiting factors that affect the design of the indoor environment, and, that being the case, which are they? The study is based on qualitative observations and interviews because it is in its interest to discern patterns and categories rather than quantity.

The composition of the board of directors and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) are two widely researched subject and discussed by the media. This study aims to examine the impact of the board of directors' composition on CSR performance among the largest companies listed on Nasdaq OMX stock exchange 2008 in Stockholm, Sweden. A linear regression analysis is applied to investigate the relationship and evidence is found that board attributes have an effect on CSR performance. Among these; the size of the board, outside directors and employee representatives all have a positive impact on environmental performance. Furthermore; female, outside directors and employee representatives have a positive impact on social performance.

In this essay I will look at the independence of the Swedish municipalities. By looking at articles for the biggest journal in Sweden on this subject Kommun aktuellt I will look at the discussion for the years of 1978 and 1998 to see if one can draw some parallels in the debate and see if some subjects are always returning in the agenda for the independence. The autonomy of the Swedish municipalities is a very important part of the Swedish welfare model. The municipalities handles for example both the primary schools and the social welfare services. Both these institutions are money draining and the municipals right by law to claim local tax does far from all the time cover its expenses.

The Catalan movement of Independence is a well debated subject in Spanish news for the last decade. This thesis aims to examine what kind of identityarguments that spanish versus catalan newspapers make about the independence movement, in relation to nationalism and national identity. This is to deeper the understanding about the current complex situation in the Iberian Peninsula. The research shows that identityarguments about the independence movement presented by catalonian newspapers clearly put focus on identifying the ethnic and cultural reasons for the growing nationalism in the region, as well as discussing the political possibilities and obstacles of a sovereign Catalonia. In comparison, the identityarguments presented by spanish newspapers has another view of the situation, where the political aspect of the nationalistic catalan movement, identify the process as defying the Spanish Constitution and challenging the traditional historic unity of Spain.

Feedback is a tool that can be used to give students the confirmation of their accomplishments , helping them to increase understanding of the results of a performance and to alert students if change is required for future performance. Other studies and reports regarding clinical practice in education has shown that students feel that feedback has good impact on learning and positive effects such as enhanced self-confidence. Onboard training forms a major part of the education at the four-year nautical science education in Kalmar, in four years, one year is spent on board ships. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to find out how students at the four-year nautical science program in Kalmar felt that they receive feedback after completing on board training and how they wish that such feedback would be given. Six students were interviewed, three from grade one and three from grade three.

This thesis for the Master of Science degree was performed at Solectron Corporation in Norrköping. The background for the thesis was a need to develop and build two test fixtures to automatize testing and adjusting of transmitter modules (TX-fixture) and receiver modules (RX-fixture) which are head devices in DWDM-systems. The basic elements for the test fixtures are: Test board, switch board and DC/DC board. The main function of the test board is to handle communication between the transmitter and receiver modules and supply voltage to these modules. The test board was insufficient and modified with a microprocessor to handle the communication between the PC and the receiver module.

Background and problem:Theory and literature in the field of board recruitment are limited. The theory and literature that existed focused primarily on the recruitment of senior management and CEO. It was identified that no one had examined the factors that influence the recruitment of board members. The underlying factors might cause the board recruitment is not done from a purely efficiency perspective and therefore it is of interest to be examined.Purpose:The purpose of this thesis is to examine and give an insight into the underlying factors affecting the choice of new directors in large Swedish companies.Method:The thesis has had a deductive approach and been based on existing theory and literature to explain the factors that affect board recruitment. The study was quantitative and the sample consisted of all the major Swedish listed companies.Results and conclusions:The survey indicated that board members ethnicity and number of other board assignments were factors that influenced the board recruitment.

New laws and recommendations within corporate governance during the last years have affected the way board of directors work. The board is said to have and fulfill three roles: a control role, a service role and a strategy role. These roles could be understood by three theoretical theories: the agency theory, the resource dependence theory and the stewardship theory. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether, and if so how, the board work differs between two small firms based on these roles, given that one of the firms is a publicly listed firm and the other is a privately owned firm. Using a qualitative case study as research method we find that the board work differs between the two companies when it comes to these roles.