During the middle of the 18th century the development of Toyota Production System, TPS, started in order to streamline the processes. TPS was based on the principles of assembly line production but unlike previous performers Toyota let the manufacturing be constantly affected by demand. At the end of the 18th century TPS was described by Womack and Jones in the book "The machine that changed the world - the story of lean producion" where TPS got the name lean. The principles behind lean is to maximize customer value and eliminate waste which means making products and services more valuable to the customer. 1Lean was for a long time a philosophy and an approach limited to industries and production based companies.

Background: The global responsibility for multinational companies is a current matter of subject. Now when the world increasingly is getting globalized, economic growth is created, which brings a bigger demand of responsibility on companies. The leading companies from every industry is often becoming the frame for how the production process works and is therefore exposed to outer pressure which, for example, is coming from consumers and the media. Since consumers at present are more aware of what they are buying and where it comes from, it is important that the companies take social responsibility. We have therefore studied three big companies within the clothing industry to see in witch way they are taking their social responsibility.Purpose: Our purpose was to explore how companies within the clothing industry describe their work with Corporate Social Responsibility, code of conducts and where the incentive behind this work is coming from.Method: We have, through a qualitative study, examined how three large companies work with Corporate Social Responsibility.

Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att analysera hur framgångsrika CSR-användande företag verksamma i Sverige har utformat CSR-arbetet. Utifrån denna information ska ett ramverk skapas innehållande styrverktyg och styrtekniker för att underlätta företags arbete med att styra CSR-insatser.Metod: Studien bygger på fem intervjustudier som är genomförda på fem framgångsrika företag verksamma i Sverige. Den teoretiska referensramen är framtagen genom akademiska tidsskrifter och böcker. Den empiriska datan är insamlad genom semi-strukturerade intervjuer genomförda på plats och genom telefon.Slutsats och rekommendationer: Resultatet av denna studie visar att den främsta anledningen för de undersökta företagen att arbeta med Corporate Social Responsibility bygger på ekonomiska fördelar. Intressentstyrning är den främsta faktorn för att lyckas med arbetet med Corporate Social Responsibility.

Corporate Social Responsibility is a concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns into their core business and in their interaction with stakeholders on a voluntarily basis. The purpose with our thesis is to study how Swedish insurance companies work with Corporate Social Responsibility and to analyse the underlying strategies of the companies? social, environmental and economical activities. We will analyse where, how and for whom value can be created with CSR. Where does the value creation take place, how can it be created through these activities and who will benefit from Corporate Social Responsibility? Theories point out that companies need to assemble and value the total package of benefits to be able to create successful corporate initiatives.

The competitive situation for businesses has experienced drastical changes as an effectof globalization and changes in consumer demands. Product related competitive advantages arerisking to quickly become presumptions for competition. The demand for increased innovationpace, along with the intense price competition, has led to buisnesses trying to find new ways todifferentiate themselves and Corporate Social Responsibility has became one way of doing so.The bad working conditions associated with the textile industry have rised a debate about thebusinesses? Corporate Social Responsibility. The future is heading towards more and morecompanies choosing to take their social responsibility, many of those experiencing this to be anadvandage in the relation with the consumers.

Small hydropower plants have been an important source for electricity for many years. During the 70?s the general thought was that nuclear was the future. Around 2000 small waterpower plants were shut down. It wasn?t profitable to invest in.

The purpose of this research aims investigate whether front line personell are brand carriers who can affect the customers brand experience. This present study focuses on commercial fitness centers in Kalmar. Like brands, training is taking part in people?s everyday lives; fitness centers are offering the customer a wider range of group training.This thesis is based on a qualitative approach whereby eight interviews have been carried out with two members of the board and six employees of the front line. Additionally, this thesis is also based on three focus groups with four customers, representing the majority of each fitness centers.The research findings highlight that the front line employees are very important as they are seen as the brand; therefore the front line employee?s personality and behaviour will influence the customer?s view of the brand.

Since their invention in 1999, CubeSats have become a widespread standard for small picosatellite missions. CubeSats allow for quick development of satellite payloads and launch in space without the high costs of a normal satellite. Emphasis during the CubeSat design process is placed on use of commercialoff- the-shelf (COTS) components and reuse of previously-designed units.This report describes the interfacing of a scientific magnetometer, the Small Magnetometer in Low-Mass Experiment (SMILE) to such a CubeSat mission, the Space Weather using Ion spectrometers and Magnetometers (SWIM). Design of a complete platform for use in multiple such missions is presented here.Modularity is one of the key aspects followed in the course of the work. A new board containing the analog pick-up and compensation circuitry for SMILE has been designed to fit inside a CubeSat frame.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a topic that is becoming increasingly important in today's society. CSR is a concept whereby companies voluntarily integrate social and environmental concerns both in their business but also in interaction with their stakeholders. The society of today sets high expectations for how companies take their social responsibilities, especially in industries where the risks to individuals and the environment are high. In this study, we tried to answer the following questions; what kind of responsibility do companies in the plastics and chemicals industry claim to take and why might this be due? What differences exist between the investigated companies in the industry and what may these differences be rooted in? The purpose of this study was to obtain an understanding of the interest in working on sustainability in the plastics and chemicals industry.

In Sweden the social assistance from a historical perspective, has been a part of the social legislation, since the 18th century. In that time called poor relief. Through the centuries this has established the social assistance we have today. With focus on the child, we have attempted to illustrate how the social workers consider the child perspective when they are dealing with the social assistance. We wanted to get a view of how the social worker reasons about needs the children have and how they can see that the benefit has been provided for.

This thesis discusses the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility, which means that companies are taking a voluntary accountability towards the society with a view to improve it. Today's stakeholders and people in general have higher demands and expectations on businesses and its products or services than before. This is driving more and more companies to consider questions like voluntary responsibility so that they can maintain public confidence. Confidence towards the banking sector is particularly important to avoid financial crises. Our study focuses on leadership impact on CSR.

This diploma work was performed because the company Sveriges BostadsrättsCentrum, with the abbreviation SBC, had a need to gain insight into how changes in the Work Environment Act and related regulations which took effect January 1, 2009 affecting their work with the work environment. The changes mean that the client may hand over his work environment responsibilities to a contractor and that he has to select so-called building work environment co-ordinators. At SBC they are working as representatives for tenant-owner's association when a construction is about to be carried out. The purpose was to ascertain how changes may affect the work at SBC. The diploma work intends to educate the staff at SBC how work with the work environment would look like if they met the regulatory requirements.

On board ships different type of maintenance activities take place. Some of those require working with vibrating handheld tools. Traditionally there is a high awareness of the risks with different type of duties such as protecting the skin from oil or other chemicals, the eyes from splashes and hearing from high noise levels. The experience we have from our time as on-board cadets are that there is less information about vibration hazards available compared to the information concerning other hazards on board.There are threshold values that workers, by law, are not allowed to exceed when working with handheld vibrating tools. The purpose of this study is to investigate how common the use of this type of equipment that can cause damage by vibrations, to the hands and arm amongst the deck crew, and if the crew informed about the risks involved.

Södertörn University was built in the suburb of Stockholm to bring hope for students that aren?t used to study. Ever since the university was built there has been a debate on internet message boards such as Flashback and a discourse has developed in the recent five years. The public discourse has had a negative influence on how the university is perceived by the public. The purpose of this study is to analyze how this discourse has developed the image of the university and how it has evolved.

Background: The board of directors is a key player in corporate governance. Their role is to ensure that the corporations are run with the interest of the shareholders as the main focus. In the beginning of the 21st century, a survey was made about the confidence of the Swedish business community and in which criticism was directed to the board of directors. The boards were deemed inadequate in their function and were often solely composed by members with similar experiences and competence, therefore lacking in diversity. In order to improve the competence and work of the board of directors, the Swedish code of corporate governance was introduced and its recommendations comprehend the boards? size and composition.