It is important that organizations today focus on continuous improvements in order to face the growing competition in the world. A company needs a corporate culture that supports and encourages the employees to be creative and innovative in their work. This is necessary for the company if they are striving towards continuous learning and development within their organization.The main purpose of this paper is to investigate how the culture differences between Sweden and China affect Sandvik AB. We will also study how the company manages continuous improvements and what consequences culture differences have on their work.Our paper is a single case study at Sandvik AB in Sweden and China. We have visited Sandvik in Sandviken to conduct a series of interviews with employees of different position within the company and with dissimilar work tasks.

Uppsatsen undersöker hur horisontella governancestrukturer påverkar olika mekanismer för metagovernance. Fokus för undersökningen är Eskilstuna kommun som valt att förändra synen på styrning från vertikal till horisontell, från government till governance. Då metagovernance innebär indirekt och informell styrning i pågående processer studerades just en pågående process där tjänstemän under nätverksliknande former skulle utforma en handlingsplan. Uppdraget var initierat från den politiska nivån.Undersökningen är uppdelad i två delar. Den första delen är en allmänt inriktad respondentundersökning som handlar om de förändrade strukturerna i organisationen.

Problem: In society of today corporate competence is an important factor for survivor and development. IT is developing rapidly and can not be ignored by companies. Then need for people with IT-competence is conquent increasing. A survey of corporate IT-competence is therefore of interest for companies as well as for local authorities. To determine the IT competence within an organisation, this competence has to be measurable.

Begreppen ha?llbarhet och CSR, corporate social responsibility, ses ba?da som ett sa?tt fo?r ett fo?retag att ta socialt ansvar fo?r samha?llet och samtidigt minimera risker fo?r ova?ntade ha?ndelser. Bankernas roll i att bidra till en ha?llbar utveckling a?r betydande pa? grund av sin fo?rmedlande roll i ekonomin. Bankerna har en stor inverkan pa? den ekonomiska utvecklingen i va?rlden.

Bakgrund: Behovet av bolagsstyrning är stort för mindre familjeföretag, då det kan hjälpa dem att hantera deras komplexa omvärld. Framförallt är det styrelsen som har en viktig roll när det gäller bolagsstyrning i familjeföretag. Ett aktivt styrelsearbete är viktigt för att de ska kunna stå sig i den ökande globala konkurrensen. En extern styrelseledamot kan bidra till ett aktivt och effektivt styrelsearbete och därmed ge företaget konkurrensfördelar. Det finns dock vissa problem förknippade med tillsättandet av externa styrelseledamöter som kan påverka valet att ta in utomstående i styrelsen.

The main argument of the thesis is that multinational companies (MNCs) can promote democracy through corporate social responsibility (CSR). MNCs hold some prerequisites giving them the means to create positive changes. But they lack one important prerequisite: knowledge about local conditions. Therefore the best CSR result is reached through partnerships with local NGOs.H&M's CSR-work in Bangladesh, including a partnership with the Bangladeshi women's rights organisation Karmojibi Nari, serves as an illustrating case. It is argued that the CSR-work promotes democracy through strengthening the civil society, through indirectly implementing national laws concerning labour legislation and human rights and through raising awareness about rights and legislation among the workers.The CSR process changes the terms for both NGOs and MNCs.

Konkurrensen om kompetent personal ökar och flertalet faktorer används därför för attattrahera och rekrytera kvalificerad arbetskraft. Företag lägger idag stort fokus på corporatesocial recponsibility (CSR) och studier har visat att CSR spelar stor roll för potentiellamedarbetare i sökandet efter arbetsgivare. Syftet med denna uppsats är således att undersöka,beskriva och analysera huruvida studenter på avancerad nivå vid ett svenskt universitet,värderar CSR som en attraktiv faktor hos en framtida arbetsgivare. Den teoretiskareferensramen utgår från tre områden vilka berör CSR, employer branding samt social identitytheory (SIT). Uppsatsen baseras på en kvantitativ metod i form av en enkätundersökningbland 230 studenter på avancerad nivå vid ett av Sveriges största universitet.

Abstract   This degree project comprises 30 credits, i.e. 20 weeks of work. The work mainly deals with the energy balance for a multi-family house in Västerås and the requirements for energy conservation in the Swedish building code, BBR. Calculations of the energy balance are supplemented by a number of interviews. Energy conservation in general has become more important in recent years and the subject is in line with increased public awareness. This importance and attention is explained by environmental problems in general and global warming in particular, but also by rising energy prices.

Background: Practical blood flow restriction (pBFR) combined with resistance training has been proven to facilitate muscle strength despite training at low intensity. However, research investigating the effects of long-term pBFR-training and its periodization with strength training (ST) at a higher intensity is lacking, as well as the effects of occlusion training on blood lactate levels (BLL) over time.Purpose: To compare the effects of 2 weeks of pBFR training followed by 2 weeks of ST (BFR-ST) with 2 weeks of ST followed by 2 weeks of pBFR training (ST-BFR) on anaerobic performace and BLL.Method: 5 adults (age 23 ± 2 years) with a minimum of 1 year of ST experience were recruited and randomized into BFR-ST (n=2) or ST-BFR (n=3). Anaerobic performance was measured using a 30-s Wingate-test and BLL samples were collected <1 and 5 minutes post-Wingate. Data and samples were collected before the intervention and after the 2 protocols.Results: No differences were seen between groups in anaerobic output or BLL after 4 weeks of training (p>0,1 for all values). A decrease in time to peak power (tPP) were seen in both groups with an advantage for BFR-ST (-37 ± 8 %) over ST-BFR (-27 ± 22 %).

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate why Linas Matkasse has greater success in terms of market share than Middagsfrid despite the similarities of their concepts. The study will also examine potential and existing customers' image of the brands and corporate brand awareness.Method: This study is based on a triangulation in which both quantitative and qualitative methods are treated in the form of personal interviews and a questionnaire survey.Theoretical perspectives: Four theories are addressed in this study and they treat the brand from different aspects. The theories process how to create value, personality dimensions, how companies should act and strategies around brand.Empiricism: The empirical material consists of five interviews, one of which was with the brand manager at Middagsfrid. Then two interviews were conducted with consumers of Linas Matkasse and two interviews with consumers of Middagsfrid. A questionnaire survey has also been conducted.

In these days we can witness a growing number of combined school and public libraries in Sweden. It can be explained as an economy measure or as an attempt to develop the library work. The aim of this thesis is to picture how working in combined libraries affects high school librarians? own apprehensions of their professional identity. The results are based on in-depth interviews made with four high school librarians, working not only towards the students but also the public.

Bakgrund och Problem: Det har visat sig att en gemensam nämnare bland de bakomliggande orsakerna till den senaste finanskrisen var bristande intern kontroll. Det var även en av orsakerna till att en svensk bank i augusti år 2010 gick i konkurs och det kan ses som högst oväntat med tanke på de utvecklade regler, ramverk och granskningar som finns för de svenska bankerna idag. För att den interna kontrollen i ett företag ska fungera väl måste den integreras i hela verksamheten. I dagsläget finns det tecken på att det råder en lucka mellan den interna kontroll som styrelse vill uppnå och den som når fram till medarbetarna i banken.Syfte: Uppsatsens syfte är att studera hur de fyra svenska storbankerna arbetar med intern kontroll idag samt analysera kommunikationen och integrationen av den interna kontrollen i verksamheten. Vidare vill vi bidra till en insikt om hur intern kontroll integreras och blir en del av det dagliga arbetet i banken.Metod/Empiri: Då studien undersöker hur kommunikationen och integrationen av intern kontroll ser ut i de svenska storbankerna, ansågs en enbart kvalitativ metod med intervjuer av personer som aktivt arbetar med intern kontroll inte vara tillräckligt.

A growing number of companies realise that to achieve their environmental goals and satisfy stakeholder expectations, they need to look beyond their own facilities and to involve their suppliers in environmental initiatives. A life cycle approach means that the production system should be optimised as whole, across national boarders and individual organisations taking part all the way from extraction to disposal. This study is a Life Cycle Inventory of resources used when producing a piece of cotton garment and the method is based on the standardisation series of ISO 14040-43. The area of study, Tamil Nadu the most southern state of India, accounts for more than 90% of India?s knitwear exports to Western Europe.

The purpose of the present study is to describe adult second language learners? experiences of mathematics learning from a past and contemporary perspective. What experiences in mathematics do they bring? What does it mean to learn Mathematics through their new language?The study is based on life-world narratives from five second language students with another native language than Swedish. Today they all study at a Swedish folk high school, at upper secondary level and they have previously studied at this level in Mathematics. The result shows that the meeting with the Swedish school and folk high school context is confusing.

Businesses role in society is changing. Corporations are expected to take responsibility, not only for their traditional business conduct, but also for social and political issues. A rise in globalization and international trade has led to an increased interest in the concept of CSR. Accordingly, stakeholders are expecting multinational companies to be accountable for existing issues in developing countries. New business models are needed to meet increased expectations of responsibility and shared value creation. Based on an understanding of the need for new business models a multinational corporation is studied in a local context, where a radically new way of doing business is developed.