During the last years, the moral and ethics in companies has been a growing subject in media. Large multinational companies are to a bigger extent using workforce in developing countries and the working conditions at the workplaces in those countries, are more or less controlled. Even if a company carefully controls its own business, it can be using subcontractors that for instance use child labour or forced labour, or in some other way makes human rights abuses. When the world gets more globalized and the market where the companies act gets bigger, there will be new issues for companies to handle. The companies have to satisfy not only the interests of the costumers and the shareholders, but also the environment around it, containing many different stakeholders.

Since the 1980s, companies have taken a larger interest in quality and it´s economic impact within the company. Having the knowledge that it´s not quality that costs money, but it´s rather the lack of quality. The work immerses itself in the field of cost of poor quality and the development of key performance indicators.The thesis is performed at Bufab Holding in Värnamo. Bufab Holding is a trading company which mainly buys and sells C-parts. C-parts include fasteners, other small metal-, rubber- or plastic parts such as wires, springs and electronic fasteners.The aim of this thesis was to make a survey of the cost of poor quality and to find key performance indicators (KPI) for cost of poor quality that can be continuously monitored.

Denna studie är av kvalitativ art och syftar till att undersöka huruvida crowdfunding kan överbrygga ett eventuellt finansiellt gap för svenska företag och entreprenörer. Undersökningen fokuserar på tre typer av respondenter, vilka är representerade av företag som brukar crowdfunding som finansieringsform, bolag som fungerar likt ombud för att förmedla kapital med hjälp av finansieringsformen samt respondenter vilka opererar likt investerare i projekten. Studien teoretiska referensram är uppdelad i två sektioner, varav den första avser att beskriva crowdfunding utifrån generiska teorier, vilka utgörs av the Pecking Order Theory samt the Agency Principal Theory. Den andra sektionen ämnar mer specifikt beskriva crowdfunding samt belysa dess revenyer och brister och utgörs av tidigare forskning inom området. Studien mynnar ut i en slutsats att crowdfunding, genom dess tre former, kan utgöra en lösning i form av att metoden kan fungera likt ett komplement för att åter balansera det finansiella vakuum nyföretagare upplever i samband med erhållande av kapital..

Eco certification of small housesTo construct an environmental friendly building and show that as a company you care for the environment, is presently very attractive in the Swedish real estate market.This degree thesis covers the environmental certification called ?Svanenmärkning? the Swan, witch is the Swedish equivalent to the European standard ?the EU Flower?. It is concentrated on the certification process in small houses that the Swedish institute of standard, SIS, has presented. We have worked together with the company Faluhus witch is a Swedish producer of small family houses.Faluhus is located in the town of Borlänge, Dalarna and has produced family houses since the 1950:s. They have a great heritage born in the old Swedish mining culture, with great wooden mansions and country homes.

The purpose of this paper is to describe how the workgroup and I developed and construc­ted an Intranet at Pharmacia & Upjohn, Helsingborg. The Intranet was constructed by the help of WWW-technique. The intention was to increase and improve the distribution of infor­mation in the large company. Some of the employees were interviewed and asked what they could gain by using the Intranet for information distribution instead of the usual papers. They also got a chance to tell us what they thought about the whole idea with the Intranet.

The purpose of this essay is to examine how same-sex couples experience the second-parent adoption process. To assist us, we have used our questions: how do the couples describe their experiences of the adoption process? Which are the couples? stories about the experience of contact with the involved professionals? What are the opportunities and barriers for same-sex couples to start a family? How do the couples describe their experience of reactions from the community and society, and how do they think the future will look like for same-sex couples? This study has been achieved through a qualitative approach. The empirical data is based on seven semi-structured interviews with same-sex couples or pair members that want to or have had a second-parent adoption. The theory we have used for analyzing the results is phenomenology with focus on queer theory, heteronormativity, and power.

The purpose of this paper is to try to get an understanding of the underlying causes and reasons that students starting in seventh grade junior high school seek out a particular group, and the extent to which they do so.The work is based on the questions: How do students perceive the meeting with their prospective bench-companion in a new composite class? What should a teacher consider when it comes to bench placement in a new composite class? Do the students change, and if so to what extent, friends when they start high school? What are the factors that affect/have affected the students' choice of friends? How large a role does the school play for pupils relationships? What thoughts and feelings do the students have regarding new encounters?I have conducted in-depth interviews with six adolescents in grade seven as the basis for the understanding of how students relate to group selection and group affiliation, and I have then compared this material with previous research on the subject. Furthermore I have availed myself of literature in social- and group psychology.The conclusion which has emerged is that the most important component of a group-process is the sense of solidarity and security, and the results show that students largely retain their old relationships rather than adding new, when they start high school. Hence the teacher plays an important role in ensuring that any imbalance in the group is offset and make sure that nobody is excluded, but also to help make room for new groups and be aware of the sensitive and responsive phase of life that the young people are in..

Today we are living in a knowledge-society where knowledge sharing is of utmost importance for companies in order to keep their competitiveness. Therefore, it is a much debated issue - in both the academic and the corporate world - in what way one should handle the knowledge which continuously is created within companies. The aim of this study is to describe how practitioners share tacit knowledge within a large knowledge company. By that we aim to get an answer to how the chosen theoretical models regarding tacit knowledge relate to the empirical world. In this study we will focus on tacit knowledge in contrast to explicit one.

It has become more and more common that companies in the service sector are beginning to understand their own effect on the environment and thus the need to contribute to a sustainable development through acting in a deliberate way. Serious environmental work can help a company to improve their image and in that way win competitive advantage that leads to improved profitability. In a short time perspective, adjustment to the environment is an opportunity to gain competitive advantage and an opportunity to develop a profile. In a long time perspective it is about survival. The environmental work has become a sequel to the work with quality.

In recent years the elderly care in Sweden has gone through several structural changes with the main purpose of delivering a more efficient service. The aim of this study is to compare the management control system in a privately and a publicly managed elderly home. A qualitative study was conducted which included interviews, observations of meetings and reviews of relevant documents. To be able to identify possible differences the framework of Hood consisting of seven dimensions was used. An analysis of the selected dimensions showed that the differences in management control were minimal and Brunsson's theory of politicization and 'company-ization' were used to explain why..

During my final examination project, I have been working with a design process to develop a new set of candle lanterns for the company Sagaform AB. This company has a large and significant role on the Swedish interior design and retail market. The assignment was developed when the company stated that they would like to supplement and expand its existing range of products. The research and surveys I have done have helped me to create eight different concepts and one of them ready to compete with the existing candle lanterns on the market. The result of my concept proposal expected to be included in Sagaform?s 2013 spring catalogue. During the project I have developed 3D-rendered images, a physical model, and a solid foundation for making prototypes. The Balloon has an attractive design language that fits both every day and more festive events.

Venture capital firms and private equity firms have been the subject of much controversy in the last decade. During this period economies throughout the world have seen a steady increase of these types of firms as owners of companies. In Sweden this has certainly been the case and many argue that this trend will continue to grow stronger in the future. This trend is by many regarded as dangerous and as a threat to the ownership model that has characterized the Swedish economy for decades. Family ownership has been widely regarded as the most beneficial and responsible ownership model in Sweden.

Leadership is essential for every company. Its strength or weakness of direction, clarity, and evaluation affects success or failure of its organization. With the complex structure of the big and global companies today leadership is more challenging. The traditional view of leadership, with the single individual possessing all the competences and skills, is therefore being challenged by an alternative way of leadership, a shared leadership. Existing research on the subject is still scarce, which makes further studies in this field important.

Background and Problem: Human Resources are considered one of the most important assets when competing with other companies. There are a lot of studies made in general on the subject while studies considering a specific context are missing. To consider the context when adapting a HR-strategy is interesting as the structure of the organization and the environment affects both the organization and the individuals within it. To study how the controversial context affects an organization is particularly interesting as the context is subject for discussion in the society.Aim: The study's purpose is to investigate how Human Resources are handled in a controversial business and to identify success factors when adapting the strategy to the controversial context.Methodology: The study started out by collecting theories connected to the subject with Fombrun, Devanna & Tichys HR-cycle. Interview questions where made based on the theories and answered by three of the case company's employees, whom all are well familiar with the case company's HR-strategy.Conclusion: We have come to the conclusion that there are no remarkable differences when handling Human Resources in a controversial context then in earlier published theories.

This study deals with sustainability reporting in three governmental and three non-governmental Swedish companies in different industries. With increasing demands from the society regarding company?s CSR - Corporate social responsibility, the perspective of accounting gets broader and covers even non-financial information to meet not only the owners? demands but also others stakeholders' requirements. Sustainability has become an important tool for creating company?s business value and a positive sustainable external image.