There is an increased pressure for firms to provide the financial market with additional information. Such disclosure is attached with different kinds of costs. In spite of these costs, and in spite of increased mandatory disclosures, firms choose to voluntary disclosure financial information to analysts and others. This indicates that firms also benefit from providing additional information. The subjects of this study is 431 annual reports from firms listed at the Stockholm Stock Exchange for 2002 and 2005 and the objective is to survey factors that can explain variations in firms? voluntary disclosure.

In today?s society there is an increasing demand for renewable energy sources such as sun and wind power. These sources are intermittent, and energy storage is therefore needed to ensure a constant power supply. This report compares pumped hydro energy storage (PHES), compressed air energy storage (CAES), flywheels, batteries, super magnetic energy storage (SMES) and hydrogen energy storage.The opportunities for further development are limited for PHES and CAES in comparison with the other technologies. Lithium-ion batteries and hydrogen energy storage are considered to have the most potential in the future.

The concept of building work environment co- ordinator is a relatively new concept that has its origin in the amendment to the Working Environment Act which came into force on 1 January 2009. The terms; building work environment co-ordinator appointed for planning and design and building work environment co-ordinator for the execution of building or civil engineering work ushered in the industry. Once these disciplines complement one another, you can achieve a smooth handover to ensure a good and healthy working environment.In this thesis, we study a company in Uppsala and their operations and handover by interviewing the relevant staff in question. The result shows that there are currently no present guidelines for how and when the handover should take place, it is up to each individual to provide themselves with the relevant information.If the handover of the work environment would occur to the extent it should it would lead to minimized proportions of unforeseen risks and events that may occur during the production phase, which ultimately leads to a better and healthier working environment..

This report deals with issues related to construction waste. Building material that has not been built into the project is defined as construction waste. Cost of construction waste amounts to 4-12 % of the total cost of the project. Moreover, cost of construction waste is 1-3 % of the production cost. The aim of this study is to increase knowledge about the main causes of waste within the construction industry.

The purpose with this thesis was to describe the importance of the creative industries for a town. We thought that towns could design a strategy to attract creative industries and creative people to establish their business in the town. During the study some important topics, such as a town brand, a town image and a town identity has been identified as factors that can influence and attract people and creative industries. Towns can use these topics in their marketing of the town. The method that we used was a case study: we conducted interviews to collect information about the chosen case study, the town of Skellefteå.

To be allowed to sell Z-suspended vehicles with dipped beam Xenon or LED lighting, Scania have to develop automatic headlight level control. This master?s thesis aims to be the foundation to that development.The thesis consists of several parts; a market analysis of how competitors to Scania and the general vehicle industry solve this problem; several available principles for detecting the amount of control needed; the construction of a test station for sensors, a control unit and components connected controlled by the control unit; a further theoretical and practical development of one principle ? one rotational sensor connected between the chassis and the back drive axis; a state flow model programmed in Simulink that produces the control signal for the headlight leveling from the sensor input.Lastly the thesis gives some recommendations to the further development and implementation of automatic headlight level control on Scania vehicles..

Diet and lifestyle are closely interrelated and believed to have a significant influence on four major public diseases - cardiovascular disease, cancer, hypertension and obesity, but also affects functional deficiencies like gluten- and lactose intolerance. Health added-value foods are thought to reduce health-related risks or delay the onset of these major diseases. Therefore, interest among scientists, researchers and the public in general has been growing remarkably over the last decade regarding these special foods. The Swedish market seems to be a good target for health added-values food. However, as there are many risks and cost factors involved for companies to enter the market or invest in R&D, it is important to take a step back and analyze the current market situation.

The projects objective is to find an alternative method of heating (the current method being via electric heating) the sewage treatment plant on the island Utö in Stockholm?s archipelago in order to reduce the energy consumption and ultimately the cost for heating the plant. The project is given by ?Skärgårdsstiftelsen? (The Archipelago Foundation) and is a part of the larger EU-project ?Green Islands?.A model for the plants total heating demand is established in order to get a good perception of how much money can be saved using alternative heating methods. The heating demand model gives an annual heating demand of approximately 32 500 kWh and a maximum heating power demand of around 24,7 kW.

When contemplating entering an alliance the rationale behind the decision should differ depending on the size of the companies involved as well as on other important factors. The important factors influencing the decision are related to the resource pooling potential of the alliance, the power structure along with the business network the companies are a part of. The analysis has shown proof of a need for cooperation if one wish to succeed in the telecommunication industry and it has also determined which resources that are deemed to be most important to get in touch with, for our study object, to facilitate its access to the market. Those resources are defined as a direct channel to the customer, funds/capital and the access to relevant business networks. To get in touch with these lacking resources, three alternative approaches has been proposed; all of them involving a strategic alliance decision.

Small business enterprises have escalated in Sweden during the last decade. However, new established companies are struggling to maintain their selves during the startup process and according to a survey from Tillväxtanalys, only 68 % of startup companies from 2008 were still active three years later. One of the main reasons is lack of capital and the most common approach to finance companies is to apply for a bank loan. In other words, commercial banks are of great importance for new businesses. Although, the problem arises when there is no previous history from the new businesses that the bank could base its credit assessment on.

This paper presents the results of a workplace study of two smaller companies in the design industry. The core issue has been to investigate the companies use of technical tools and to what extent social praxis influence the daily work. The methods used are based on a qualitative analysis of interviews and observations. Various kind of work procedures, such as verbal and computerized, have been identified, but the most important occurrence was how spontaneous conversations between employees required certain flexibility, since the actors repeatedly were required to change focus and quickly perceive different information. For that reason, a thesis has been defined regarding how the use of spontaneous communication put an indirect need of a flexible working environment and also how this lead to more significant participation and exchange of information, as well as more awareness at the companies..

Green manuring is a way of creating an organic fertilizer by growing a crop that is mowed down. Besides the fertilizing effect this method has been shown to have a positive influ-ence on soil organic matter as well as weed flora, and green manure is an important me-thod of weed control in organic farming in parts of Sweden. However, the release of nu-trients from the green manure varies and can therefore be difficult to control. Risks for losses of nutrients are also present. Although the area of organic farmland is increasing in Sweden, the use of green manure is decreasing.This report contains a literature study which compiles research on the functions of green manure in a cropping system and also how the crop can be used if harvested, for example to produce biogas.

A new shipyard on the island of Beckholmen consisting of a new ship hall and complementary workshops. The program is extended with rentable industrial space for other smaller companies to take advantage of synergies with the yard and to create an active maritime cluster around Beckholmen. By building a marina and a port at the northern shoreline of the island the shipyard can expand their potential customers to non-commercial and larger recreational boats that are becoming increasingly common in Skärgården. The port is also supplemented with a combined naval fuel station, harbor office and a small café. The boat traffic in the region gets a additional stop at the end of the port and act as an additional gateway to Djurgården. Several small retail spaces with direct access to the water is created along the promenade between the port and Djurgården. The shipyard gets a modern and efficient industry building, while the island is made available to the public again, and Beckholmen will hopefully take an equal place in the city's consciousness as it does visually in the inlet to Stockholm..

Why is the e-revolution of the Swedish film distribution lingering? In attempting to answer that question, this qualitative study depicts the distribution market of Swedish film and its actors. Thirteen interviews with representatives of the industry have been conducted in search of an understanding of the current situation. Two important conclusions are made. One is that the strong interdependency between the actors of film distribution is inhibiting the acting space of those who seek change.

Unlike the manufacturing industry, the construction industry is always in motion. Each new construction project brings new opportunities, and it requires a new plan, new organisation, and new suppliers. All construction projects are very different from each other and in terms of a logistical perspective, this is very weak as it makes it difficult to get a flow in the production and to make flawless routines. The way the external and internal logistics are managed, can effect the final product in the time taken to produce it, the quality of the product and the profit made from it. When internal logistics are handled poorly, it could result in materials not being at the right place at the right time, or information not going through to the right person.