Recently, the selections of ethical funds are increased; at the same time investors with social and moral preferences have increased in the capital market. There are currently debates on whether ethical funds perform better or worse than funds without ethical criteria. This also involves a vivid discussion on whether investors know about the consequences of investing in ethical funds. Therefore, this study involves theories about the rationality and decision theory, in addition to what mainly control the investment decisions. The study also discusses portfolio theory since this is one of the underlying theories behind fund management and its development.The purpose of this study is to explain if ethical limitations in the selection of securities affect risk and return in the fund portfolio.

This thesis examines the effects of proximity operators and query expansion with synonyms on retrieval performance. The queries were expanded with synonyms and structured with proximity operators where the permitted distance between terms varied from 1 to 3. The expansion terms were selected from the online lexical reference system WordNet. Initial query terms were selected from 28 topics that contained compound words and were chosen on the basis of their expandibility. The English morphological analyser ENGTWOL was used for normalization of query terms.

Performance Management är en process som syftar till att säkerställa att alla inom en organisation arbetar i samma riktning. Detta uppnås genom att öka tydligheten kring organisationens strategiska mål samt koppla dessa till medarbetarens individuella mål. Vidare är det viktigt att kommunicera vad som förväntas av medarbetarna i termer av arbetsprestationer samt hur detta skall uppnås för att lyckas med uppdraget att minska gapet mellan medarbetares arbetsprestationer och ledningens ambitioner (Armstrong & Baron, 2005).Uppsatsens övergripande syfte är att undersöka vilka erfarenheter ledare inom det multinationella telekom- och IT-företaget Logica har av att arbeta med Performance Management samt vilka delar av implementeringen som har varit lätta respektive svåra att genomföra. Vidare vill jag undersöka hur organisationen ytterligare kan förstärka arbetet med Performance Management-processen baserat på ovanstående.Den empiriska undersökningen har genomförts med kvalitativ metod i form av tre stycken fokusgruppintervjuer med ansatsen Experiential Focus Group. Som komplement till fokusgruppintervjuerna har analys av interna dokument som beskriver Performance Management-processen inom Logica, genomförts.Resultatet av undersökningen visar att ledarnas upplevelser av Performance Management-processen varierar beroende på vilken typ av arbetsgrupp man är ledare för.

The aim of this study was to evaluate whether gallop training, rather than regular drive training, is worthwhile for trotters race performance. Another aim of the study was to expand the author?s riding- and driving capacity, and get more practical experience on the impact of interval training on trotters. The sample population in the study was two trotters, one Standardbred, and one cold-blood. Given the small sample population, the results of the study is only indicative on the effects of gallop training on trotters, and not conclusive.

As an assurance company has an overconsolidation which must be settled the question that needs to be solved is how to do it. Which are the legal rules that the assurance company has to look after? What is a settling of overconsolidation in a legal meaning? Does an assurancepolicy have to be decided? Why did not the Swedish competition authority (Konkurrensverket) accept the policy from SPP and what can be the consequenses of that decision? Are there any tax rules that needs to be solved?.

This cross-sectional study investigated the use of health benefits in relation to the self-rated health of employees at two medium-sized industrial enterprises in Hälsingland. The method used to investigate this was through a self-designed questionnaire consisting 19 questions about health, lifestyle and health benefits at the workplace. A total of 100 questionnaires were distributed in the two companies, hence 50 surveys at each workplace. The response rate was measured to 88 % and 74 %, which means a loss of 6 persons and 13 persons. The results showed that Company nr 1 offers its employees a health benefits consisting of free access to gym in the company premises after working hours and financial contributions to training-cards.

Abstract: Private equity used to be synonymous with tremendous yields and rates of return. However, the private equity market trembled in 2008, due to the financial meltdown caused by the worldwide credit crisis. Considering the current low number of exits within the private equity industry, the purpose of this thesis is to examine if there has been any change in how private equity firms control their portfolio companies since the inception of the crisis. One private equity company and two portfolio companies have been studied. The case study is prepared from interviews with senior directors in the portfolio company and investment managers in the private equity firm.

The textile business is one of the oldest industries of our time, and it employs nearly 1.4 million workers within the European Union alone. It is not unusual that this is the foundation of a country?s industrialisation. Even though the industry brings many positive factors, there are also negative factors that will influence the industry?s growth in the future.

Problem: How should a company act to sustain a strong identity and thereby a strong brand image when operating in a changeable world?Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to analyze whether the corporate identity of Academic Work is strong or fragmented. Further more this thesis aims to give recommendations on how the company could continue working to maintain a strong brand image. Methodology: The thesis is a case study of Academic Work. The study is based on data collected from interviews, a poll as well as data from the company website.

In this study we aim to investigate what employees at a callcenter see as prospects, opportunities and barriers of learning within a company. To answer the purpose of this essay, two questions were formulated; "What opportunities for learning does employees experience in the company?" and "How can learning in the workplace improve for the sellers?". First, we present what previous research has highlighted regarding workplace learning and learning within the callcenter industry. Afterwards we present ten semi-structured interviews with leaders and sellers within a telecom company in Stockholm.

Companies today are expected to communicate their responsibility to the world around them. Society?s expectations differ and stakeholders are demanding that companies act responsibly on matters related to climate, work environment and human rights. The purpose of sustainability reports is that companies should measure, present and take responsibility in relation to their internal and external stakeholders. It is intended that a reasonable picture of the company's sustainability performance should be communicated, containing both positive and negative effects.Companies efforts with sustainability issues is industry-dependent and industries with significant environmental problems perform the most advanced environmental statement.

The strategy when you change the visual part of the brand identity is often referred to as Corporate rebranding and is seen as a good way to show that a company has undergone a change. Despite high risks and high costs, this strategy has become more common and there are companies today who make the choice to change an already well-known graphic profile. This phenomenon is what underlies this essay?s problem statement: Why does a company with an already well-known graphic profile choose to change it and how does the process behind the change occur? In what way have the company?s customers recognized the change and how has the company?s image changed in this context? The purpose of this essay is therefore to explore the process that occurs when a company in the sport and fashion industry changes its visual identity and to explore how the company?s customers have perceived the change.To fulfil the purpose of the essay a case study was carried out on a company?s Corporate rebranding process. The company that was chosen was the Swedish sports retail chain Stadium Sweden AB who decided to change its graphic profile even though their logo was one of the two most recognized in their field.

This essay has examined the effects that new issues had on the four Swedish football clubs that are organized as sport limited companies. The difference between a limited company and a sporting limited company is that the clubs always have majority ownership by the 51% rule. Previous research on sport limited companies and on new issues has been associated with the agent theory and the pecking order theory in order to explain the effects.The thesis is a qualitative study with an inductive approach, where the interviews have been selected as the method of collecting data. Through the years the clubs have performed new issues several times. The study says that the clubs perform a new issue for two reasons, either for investment purposes or because they have a poor economy and must collect liquid assets.

In today?s competitive market, design is an important element for the companies. They must succeed with delivering an increased value and an experience for the consumer to be able to survive. The Swedish company?s have become better in the design area, the higher standards the consumer?s demands forces the company to invest more in design.

Normally the operational amplifier is used as a component in active filter design. The goal for future components in filter design is large bandwith and the use of low supply voltages. The use of current-mode instead of voltage-mode circuits gets a step closer to the required performance. A component that use current as the signal conveying part is the current conveyor. In this report a comparative study between two current conveyor structures of second generation (CCII) is performed.