The DuPont formula is one of the most well known and basic tools used for financial statement analysis and is highly useful for understanding firms strategies and operating environment. Previous studies on American listed companies have also shown that analysis of the changes in the DuPont components is useful in forecasting contexts. In this thesis we test whether disaggregating the change in return on net operating assets provides incremental information about future performance for Swedish listed and not listed companies. We find that the change in asset turnover is a leading indicator of increased profitability for both listed and private companies, regardless of size. We also find evidence that the usefulness of the disaggregation for understanding future performance is greater in capital intense industries and lesser in service industries..

This paper examines the impact of conscious shelf management on online grocery stores. An S-O-R framework is used to unveil if some established shelf management techniques from physical stores are applicable in an online context. We also explain some of the cognitive processes customers experience as they get exposed to online buying situations. A main study with two data sources is conducted: one quantitative website experiment with 168 participants who got exposed to five different organisation patterns within five different categories; and one more qualitative eye tracking experiment with 20 participants. The results indicate that a disorganised product page evokes not only different scan paths and cognitive patterns but also generates higher sales.

The aim of this thesis is to investigate how a valuation of a company preceding an acquisition can be affected by the fact that a strong brand is attached to the target company. Techniques to value a company and theories of brands are well developed, but the link between them is partially missing even though the needs to value brands have increased. A case study of five Swedish acquisitions is conducted to identify possible complicating and simplifying factors and how these are handled in the context of a valuation of an acquired company with a strong brand. Important findings are that a decreased volatility of future earnings can lead to more accurate prognoses and valuations due to the existence of a strong brand. A strong brand can, on the other hand, also make the valuation of the target company more difficult due to the fact that it is a subjective asset which increases the overall risk of the company.

Swedish school children exhibit deteriorating knowledge results in terms of reading comprehension. Previous research shows that a method to increase the level of knowledge is the use of evidence-based learning techniques. Test based learning generates what is commonly referred to as a test effect, which proved to strengthen the relationship between learning and memory, as well as being applicable to various test formats. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether test based learning, in terms of learning english words leads to increased performance in a reading comprehension test, more specifically a cloze test. The study was based on a within-group design and was conducted three times over four weeks.

The first ad was published in Sweden 1645. Advertising itself is not a new phenomenon, it's just the conditions that has been changed. Today, advertising is a matter of course in our daily lives, every day we are exposed to thousands of messages that wants to persuade and convince us to consume. In this paper, we have looked into the semiotic and rhetorical tricks that are used for this particular persuasion, and we have investigated whether they have changed in the last 60 years or if the same tricks are still being used today. Our two hypotheses is: A) the rhetorical and semiotic basis of an ad looks the same today as 60 years ago.

In a time where many Asian metropolises experience an expansive development new urbanconditions are created and the already existing disappears or being replaced. Asian cities develop ata pace that is unprecedented in our history and which, through a western perspective can seemharsh. By focusing on an urban complex in Chengdu, capital of the southwestern province ofSichuan China, the study asks; is it possible to see this rapid urbanization from another perspective?The study examines the local and global dimensions of Raffels City, and how concepts such asnostalgia and authenticity, related to the city, can be understood in an urbanization that is so markedby massive demolitions. The study shows that these concepts can be expressed in several ways, andthat an awareness of them does not necessarily control the view of the city..

This thesis considers the use of an oldrock cavern as thermal energy storage.With a large system of differentchillers a model was created to find anappropriate future system. There aremainly two trajectories to take. Eitheran installation of chillers needs to bemade or the rock cavern can be used tomeet the future demand of districtcooling in Solna, Sweden. Additionallythis thesis investigates the possibleuse of different techniques to utilizethe phase change energy of water.Simulation shows that it?s possible toutilize the phase-change energy of afluid; however it?s not economicallyfeasible due to the thermodynamiceffects on the Carnot cycle.

S2 CRM is a Customer Relations Management system built in classic ASP that runs on a web server servicing customers with varying needs. The purpose of this thesis work is to convert parts of the system to the web development environment ASP.NET. The purpose is also to gain knowledge of the framework itself. The ASP.NET environment is compared with another framework, JBoss Seam, in order to understand the differences and to evaluate the possibility of using another framework than ASP.NET, when building the new system. The outcome of this comparison is that although JBoss Seam is just as good, and in some aspects better than ASP.NET, the use of ASP.NET simplifies the continuation of development on the S2 CRM product.

The intention of this thesis in political science is to understand how the European Union fights and prevents discrimination against the Roma minorities in Sweden and Romania, and how the implementation works in reality. The study consists of defining what it means to be objectively discriminated, what ethnicity really means and how the implementation process consist of a comparison and statement has been made by the national governments and comparing how two socioeconomically different member states handle EU directives and implement them in Sweden and Romania. The main findings of this study was that EU policies lack the capital and explicitness that is needed for great results to be accomplished and that the governments in both countries have different issues with implementing the protection of the human rights and Roma culture, and that EU needs to be more practical and develop in a faster pace. .

This thesis deals with two types of agrarian remains in relation to settlement remains; clearance cairns, low stone walls and house terraces in the area of Northeastern Uppland and the area north of Lake Mälaren, during the middle Iron Age. The aim whit this thesis is trying to get a better understanding of the relation between agrarian and settlement remains in Uppland. Three places have been chosen where these three elements are present and they are interpreted through Richard Whites concept of middle ground but also Landesque capital. The three elements have shown to be expressed in different ways in all three sites. It is possible to see two areas with different traditions, but also to see two areas that closely interact with each other, this opens up for a new discussion around agrarian remains in both areas.

This work is about presenting the weave in a new and different context, by bringing textile and glass together. The work is characterized by material and shape experiments with silver and copper weave and hand blown glass. From experiments and sketches, the work has resulted in four sculptures, symbolizing four selected stages in a lifecycle; the birth, the development, the maturity and the death. One important part of the work has been to combine different materials and techniques.Studies of literature, sketching, handweaving and integration of silver and copper weave in the glass have been important methods in the working process. Inspired by the flower, the human being and the universe, a story about the life cycle has taken shape.The paper describes the working process with choices and analyses.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has the potential to be used for the diagnosis and study of osteoarthrosis in the equine tarsal region. In the development of new diagnostic MRI techniques cadaver specimens are often used. To allow the use of cadaver legs for these types of studies it is important to know the effect of time after death on the MRI image. Since the relaxation times are temperature dependent, it is interesting to examine whether the time after death and the temperature of the cadaver may play a role in the image appearance and quality. The radio pulse sequences that show the different types of tissues are also important to know when pathological evaluation with MRI is used.

This thesis investigates the effect of profit growth and profitability on market capitalization amongst Nordic companies during the turbulent period 1997-2005. Our results suggest that profitability have a significant impact on market capitalization for six of the nine years studied, whereas profit growth does not seem to affect market capitalization. Consequently, our results imply that the effect of other factors on share price performance may be greater than previously suggested. These findings are only partly in line with theories on corporate valuation which suggest that market capitalizations are to a great extent driven by both profit growth and capital returns, regardless of whether the stock market is particularly unstable..

The most dominating type of company in Sweden is the small-sized business and it usually lacks its own marketing department. The purpose of this paper was to analyze several small Swedish businesses which are specialized in different sectors of the Mechanic/Technology industry but they are similar in terms of having niched products and they are leading companies in the world. The objective was to do research about how small businesses work with marketing despite its lack of resources and capital.This survey has shown that customer contacts, customer relationships and especially for those investigated companies, it was very important to focus on globalization and product development in order to build a Point of Difference..

This study examines the effects of credit risk and information disclosure in the new bank regulating system Basel II on bank and bank customer. The effects are then discussed in a perspective of the economic man and information asymmetric theories. Furthermore is the Basel II effects on the capital adequacy of Andelsbanken för Åland examined.The approach of the study is qualitative and several interviews with individuals on different levels of the examined bank, Andelsbanken för Åland, have been carried out during the collecting of empirical facts about the effects of the regulating change from the Basel I system to Basel II.The research findings are as follows:Andelsbanken för Åland have increased its capital adequacy ratio from 12,7 percent to 14,4 percent, mostly due to lower risk weights on housing mortgages compared to Basel I. Andelsbanken för Åland have started to use a completely new credit risk and customer assessment system which classifies every customer and gives them a credit rating. The system cause a much heavier information gathering of the customers profile as well as a much better assessment of risk than the previous system, which the bank finds positive.