What attribute affects salience on a political agenda? How come some reforms are implemented while others are not? These are essential and central questions for our society. Our society, our democracy and our everyday life are dependent of these factors; communication is the condition. In the 2011 budget from the Swedish conservative government, the question of lowering the VAT on restaurant- and catering services was the single most debated reform. This was occasioned from 2009 when the European Union allowed, for the first time since Swedish entry in 2005, a lower VAT on restaurant services.

This thesis of 15 hp has been implemented at Halmstad University, incollaboration with Saab Dynamics in Linköping. Saab Dynamics is a companyoperating in the defence industry where competition is tough. This necessitatesnew ways to increase efficiency in the company, which is the basis for this thesis.Saab Dynamics wants to introduce simulation driven design. Since SaabDynamics engineers have little experience of simulation, required a usermethodology with clear guidelines. Due to lack of time, they chose to assign thetask to students, which resulted in this thesis.The aim of the thesis is to develop a methodology in mechanical design, wherethe designer uses the FE analysis early in the design process to develop thestructures' mechanical properties.

Wetlands are important ecosystems and form habitat for both common and threatened species. In Sweden, as well in many other places on earth, there is a lack of wetlands. There is an expressed will to adjust this lack through restoration of wetlands with reduced function and through construction of new wetlands. Follow-ups and evaluations are important steps to optimize these actions. The wetland Vattenparken was constructed 1999 ? 2000 for treatment of surface water.

This thesis of 15 hp has been implemented at Halmstad University, incollaboration with Saab Dynamics in Linköping. Saab Dynamics is a companyoperating in the defence industry where competition is tough. This necessitatesnew ways to increase efficiency in the company, which is the basis for this thesis.Saab Dynamics wants to introduce simulation driven design. Since SaabDynamics engineers have little experience of simulation, required a usermethodology with clear guidelines. Due to lack of time, they chose to assign thetask to students, which resulted in this thesis.The aim of the thesis is to develop a methodology in mechanical design, wherethe designer uses the FE analysis early in the design process to develop thestructures' mechanical properties.

This two years master?s thesis consists of a domain analysis on the local Swedish newspaper Gefle Dagblad (GD). The domain analysis was developed by the Danish library and information scientist Birger Hjørland. The purpose of this theory is to understand the information behavior of individuals by studying the social and collec-tive context which surrounds this person. According to Hjørland, four different areas need to be studied in order to analyze a domain.

A growing need to strengthen ones position on the market, even as a city in competition with other cities, has resulted in an increasing number of municipalities developing brand platforms. When the city of Umeå developed their platform, they identified decision makers and investors as one of four important target groups.The aim of this study is to explore the portrayed image of the city of Umeå in two Swedish trade journals which addresses the specific target group decition makers and investors in both public and private sector. The aim is also to compare the image of Umeå in the two papers, to the ambition of the municipality, expressed in the brand platform.In order to make the observations as firmly established as possible, the method of the study is a combination of a quantitative content analysis and a qualitative text analysis. The study draws on the theories of Eli Avraham and Philip Kotler, concerning how to improve city images and how to market a specific city among others. The study shows that the city of Umeå in large extent is portrayed in accordance to the ambition which the municipality expressed in the brand platform.Umeå is displayed as an expanding city.

Today's fierce competition means that companies constantly must develop their business and internal processes. Focus on processes and continuous improvement is something that characterizes Lean Production which ICA logistics are applying with their concept Leading Logistics. Standardized routines for handling damaged gods were insufficient at the ICA distribution center in Kungälv. Handling and registration of damaged gods were not performed uniformly, resulting in problems with controlling and monitoring the process.The purpose of this thesis was to analyze and make recommendations how the process of internal handling of damaged gods could be improved. Therefore a comprehensive understanding was needed of the entire material flow through the warehouse and important quality aspects such as product safety and delivery reliability.The methods used are literature reviews, interviews and observations to produce a comprehensive process mapping of the current situation at the distribution center.

The negative trend of newspapers reading gives the owner of several paper manufacturingcompanies in the West worries. Producers should be more concern to strengthen their marketpositions in order to maintain profitability in the paper mills. Holmen Paper is a medium sizedpaper mill company with all of their production in Europe. Sales are mainly made to printingcompanies operating in European countries. In order to strengthen their economic strengthHolmen Paper needs to increase the market share in markets where they have the greatestprofit margins.

A growing need to strengthen ones position on the market, even as a city in competition with other cities, has resulted in an increasing number of municipalities developing brand platforms. When the city of Umeå developed their platform, they identified decision makers and investors as one of four important target groups.The aim of this study is to explore the portrayed image of the city of Umeå in two Swedish trade journals which addresses the specific target group decition makers and investors in both public and private sector. The aim is also to compare the image of Umeå in the two papers, to the ambition of the municipality, expressed in the brand platform.In order to make the observations as firmly established as possible, the method of the study is a combination of a quantitative content analysis and a qualitative text analysis. The study draws on the theories of Eli Avraham and Philip Kotler, concerning how to improve city images and how to market a specific city among others. The study shows that the city of Umeå in large extent is portrayed in accordance to the ambition which the municipality expressed in the brand platform.Umeå is displayed as an expanding city.

This thesis of 15 hp has been implemented at Halmstad University, in collaboration with Saab Dynamics in Linköping. Saab Dynamics is a company operating in the defence industry where competition is tough. This necessitates new ways to increase efficiency in the company, which is the basis for this thesis. Saab Dynamics wants to introduce simulation driven design. Since Saab Dynamics engineers have little experience of simulation, required a user methodology with clear guidelines.

The purpose of this study is to create an understanding for marketing directors? viewabout how event marketing effect the company?s brand equity in four separatebusinesses. Our question formulation the study aims to answer is:How does event marketing effect the brand equity in international companies?We have chosen to perform a qualitative study with a semi structured research interviewto find out how event marketing as a marketing method, can be applied from theperspective of a marketing director in relation to our theoretical reference frame.To create structure and increase the understanding of our thesis, we will describe thebasics in brand and sponsorship theory, which will fall in to the marketing method ofevent marketing. Further we will describe the brand equity model that we will latermodify for our purpose.

This project was led on behalf of Bombardier Transportation in Västerås, Sweden, incollaboration with KTH Stockholm and EPFL Lausanne. This project is connected to thedevelopment of a new and simplified tilt system for rail vehicles.Growing competition from other means of transportation has forced railway companiesthroughout the world to search for increased performances.Travelling time is the mostobvious performance indicator that may be improved by introducing high-speed trains.They require very large curve radii and long transitions curves not to impairridecomfort, another performance indicator. Building new tracks adapted to high speedtrains is very costly and can only be justified where the passenger base is large.Trains with the capability to tilt the carbodies inwards the curve is a more cost efficientalternative. The tilt inwards reduces thelateral force felt by the passengers allowing thetrain to pass curves at enhanced speed with maintained ride comfort but increases thefrequency ofmotion sickness.The benefits of tilting trains are improved speed capability in curves and enhancedpassengers comfort, but at higher buying and maintenance cost. As the conventionaltrains increase their speed in curves, the performance advantage of tilting trains isreduced while their prize is still kept significantly higher and constant.

The agricultural sector has historically seen stable prices and a relatively constant demand for its products. Companies within the sector have generally had few loans and large sums of money tied in assets. The profitability of the companies has on the other hand been low. Together these circumstances have determined the creditors? demands on the companies within the sector and have formed the rules and regulations that exist today.

The ambition of this paper is to study the construction of the categorization between ?us? and ?them? in a religious minority, represented by Jehovah?s Witnesses and a nationalist political party, represented by the Swedish Democrats. This will be done by a discursive psychology analysis of their official publications on each group?s website. By a deductive study using Henri Tajfel?s Social Identity Theory trying to disclose the psychological processes; social categorization, social identity, social comparison and psychological distinctiveness.

This thesis of 15 hp has been implemented at Halmstad University, in collaboration with Saab Dynamics in Linköping. Saab Dynamics is a company operating in the defence industry where competition is tough. This necessitates new ways to increase efficiency in the company, which is the basis for this thesis. Saab Dynamics wants to introduce simulation driven design. Since Saab Dynamics engineers have little experience of simulation, required a user methodology with clear guidelines.