The profit a company makes is dependant of its employees which means that their competence is important for the company to perform well. The middle manager has a central position in the organization and is expected to take on different roles. This probably puts a lot of demands on the middle managers and their competence. We want to contribute with a comprehension of how learning, competence and needs for competence can look at a middle management level. Furthermore we also want to find out what kind of strategy for competence development the middle managers want the company to use so their competence development can be facilitated.

The concept competence is considered to be difficult to define. Therefore, it may be problematic to define competence in business and to evaluate the level of skills of employees (Thomsen, 2010). In this study the aim has been to identify key competencies for employees working as purchasers for Skanska Nordic Procurement Unit (NPU). These key competencies will afterwards help Skanska NPU to evaluate purchasers? level of competence.The theoretical framework of the study consists of three different parts.

The aim of the study was to examine whether parental leave can serve as capacitating period in life. More specifically our aim was to get a deeper comprehension of the abilities and competencies developed through parental leave and how these can be of use to the individual when at work. 12 semistructured interviews were conducted with employees from a large organization in the south of Sweden. The results were analyzed using a hermeneutic approach. The results of the study show that competencies and abilities such as effectiveness, organizing, multitasking, leader abilities, communication, sensitivity, limiting skills, mindfulness, acceptance, self-confidence and life balance were enhanced during parental leave.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how organisations can keep their crisis preparedness alert although crises do not occur often. A crisis organisation will lay dormant within a larger organisation for long periods of time. This may cause a problem when a crisis does occur if the preparedness has not been kept alive.From previous researchers that we have studied within this field we have identified two distinct methods to do this. The first focuses on the importance of detailed crisis plans, while the other method suggests that it is more essential to develop specific competencies with the employees. We also find that keeping knowledge within an organisation is a matter of organisational learning and memory which we therefore discuss and analyse.We have performed an interview study at E.ON in Örebro, and we have also had the opportunity to read E.ON?s crisis plan.

There are numerous of ideas and theories around the present development in our global society, describing an ever changing era based and propelled by information and communication technology (ICT). How influential has this development been on political visions and intentions and on the business worlds views on important competencies? The purpose of this thesis is to describe the national and international visions of important competencies in the ?information society?. Through a case study, focused on how the training and consultancy industry apprehends and answer to this change and development, as they often act as agents for new trends in the business world both as accommodators and originators. The growth and speed of the universally available information demands knowhow in seeking, analyzing and managing information, and this competence is crucial today.

The Master of Science in Energy Systems Engineering program at Uppsala University started in 2000 and 221 students has graduated since. This master thesis aims to answer what competencies alumni considers most important for successful professional practice. It also seeks to find out how these competencies are reflected in the program to identify potential gaps between importance and how the competencies are being prepared. With inspiration from similar research a method has been developed consisting of two steps: (1) A survey and (2) interviews with alumni. The alumni survey rates the professional importance of 13 competencies and how well the corresponding competency is prepared in the program.

The pre-school is seen by many as the place where children get equipped for the future and the challenges there of. One of the most important aims according of the curriculum for Swedish preschools is that children get the opportunity, in interaction with the pedagogues, to develop their identity and to feel secure and satisfied with themself. Although, in the curriculum of the Swedish preschool system there is a comprehensive focus on the children?s competencies and learning, the importance that the children feel secure is not that prominent. Consequently a paradox occurs between the focus on children?s competencies and their need for care.

To find competencies on a workplace with flex office structure.Companies today, 2012 are facing new opportunities and challenges. Information technology develops, competition is bigger today than ever, increased environmental requirements will be added and new patterns of life and values are occurring. This means that people who work in offices feel strong pressure of conversion, which is something that people experience differently. Therefore it is essential how the working environment is designed in an office. Working in an office means a lot of information processing and we can see large changes taking place.

The concept of leadership development plays an important role within the modern organization. As a result of the increasing interest in developing leadership competencies, investments in leadership development programs are becoming a common part of business strategies. However, the return on those investments is seldom evaluated. The reason for this is considered to be the complexity created by the many factors that influence leadership but have no relation to the program. This is a case study based on interviews with participants from a one-year leadership development program that was carried out at AB Previa.

This report discusses how well the competences the master program in Information Technology, given by the Royal Institute of Technology, meet the demands from the business life. It is made qualitative and about 20 companies have taken part to get the results. The study has been made to see how well the three first years and the entire five year master, with different aiming, meets the demands. The results shows that the master program needs to be remodeled to meet the demands in the more ?softer competencies?, which for example is people management and an understanding about economical, juridical and cultural aspects.

The objective of this graduate work is to gain a better understanding in how pre-school educators are able to work with music in their pre-school activity to promote child development. We also want to enlighten possible factors for the development of children based on music and to form our own ideas of whether teachers choose to apply music in their didactic practice or not.The point of this essay has been to attempt answering on what importance music makes for children's development and learning in pre-school, and how teachers could work with music in pre-school in order to promote children?s development. Our data consists of six interviews and two observations realized at a pre-school in Södertälje.We took heed from the theories laid out by Lev Vygotsky's which describe four different levels of development that includes educational development in social interaction between teacher and child. Our choice of this theory is inspired by our seeking deeper understanding of Vygotsky's theory´s application to the aesthetic approach in the interaction in meaning making and learning.The result of our study confirms previous theory and research in that music as a form of expression has a major impact on children's development.

Outsourcing in IS/IT offers organizations the possibility to use external resources, maximize flexibility and focus on core business, this prompts many organizations today to be less keen on developing IS/IT-services in-house. Sourcing IS/IT is however a complex activity in itself thus requiring competencies in many areas of expertise and lots of organizations has experienced the challenge of managing the necessary competencies to ensure successful Information Technology Outsourcing (ITO). A literature review in the field of outsourcing revealed the lack of a comprehensive competency management framework with the ability to guide competency resource planning in ITO projects. In order to highlight the problem area, an extensive and thorough literature review and an empirical case study which investigated the skills and assets in ITO projects at ten major Swedish organizations was conducted. The study found that it is possible for organizations through structured analysis of their intellectual capital, using the competency framework developed within the study, to plan sourcing processes and prepare the necessary changes to ensure the ITO projects can be implemented with the desired effect..

This essay elucidates upper secondary students? literacy practices, (literacy events, literacy competencies and literacy culture) during a typical day, with focus on the daily literacy practices. A literacy ethnographic study conducted in the environment which participants naturally are, at home, at school and in leisure. The study is inspired of a project, Skriftbruk i arbetslivet, ´Literacy Practices in Working Life´, that conducted by Anna-Malin Karlsson, Per Ledin and Olle Josephson, in collaboration with Vetenskapsrådet ´Science Council´(2002-2004).The result of this study shows that students from professional preparing programs not use such literacy competencies that been tested in traditionally reading comprehension test, particularly much. However, do they read a lot during the literacy practices day by television, computer and mobile phone.

This study is about the use of textbooks in teaching English as a second language and about teachers? attitudes and opinions of using textbooks during lessons. The aim of the study is to receive a deeper understanding of the use of textbooks in English teaching and to learn about why teachers choose whether to use the textbook approach or not. The study contains an analysis of the textbooks the teachers in our study used. The analysis shows the actual content and the types of texts together with the design and the structure of the textbooks.

This study is about the use of textbooks in teaching English as a second language and about teachers? attitudes and opinions of using textbooks during lessons. The aim of the study is to receive a deeper understanding of the use of textbooks in English teaching and to learn about why teachers choose whether to use the textbook approach or not. The study contains an analysis of the textbooks the teachers in our study used. The analysis shows the actual content and the types of texts together with the design and the structure of the textbooks.