The market for fashion and interior consists of a large amount of retail chains, which together creates high competition. To be able to compete and to be the most obvious choice for the customers, retailers must review their activities that exist in the company and improve them. This concerns store chains since it is so important that the stores communicate the retailers strategy and it is very critical because of the impact that the stores have on the communication with customers. It is after all in the stores that the buying decision is made. With this information, it is important to strive for uniformity through the chain and especially the stores.

Yesterdays common fertilizing strategy was to apply phosphor (P) and potassium (K) in thefall a few times in the crop rotation. In the spring only nitrogen (N) was applied. Recent trialsand studies has shown that this strategy, N+P/PK, is ineffective compared with the systemwhere NPK is spread every year in the spring. The strategy with annual NPK-fertilizer in thespring has proven to be better for the crop, the environment and the farmers economy.In the NPK-system the crop responds with higher yields and better quality, especially in thespring cereals. This is mainly because of an interaction between the different nutrients in thefertilizer.

Liljedal Communication AB is a marketing company with twelve employees in Örebro. In the marketing business is it extra important to work creatively to reach the target market with a message.Creativity is defined as the creation of new ideas where the idea is adequate, useful and feasible. Organisational creativity is created by individuals in the right environment for using their creativity. In this paper we present theories about creative individuals and the situation that affects their creativity. Furthermore theories are presented about different strategies that aim to increase creativity.

Background: Change factors have appeared in advertising and customer understanding has grown among companies, which have led to important competitive advantages. Advertising agencies are not the only ones benefiting from this expertise anymore, but companies are starting to thus take clients from advertising agencies. They are also taking intermediaries, such as production, over more and more jobs from advertising agencies. This has led to an even tougher competition in the market and that advertising agencies are losing their jobs. The increased competition in the market, has also led many companies choosing to change its advertising agency, to think in new and changing strategies in the enterprise.

The BSC is a widely used management tool that is turning the vision and strategy into operational goals. However, after analyzing the criticism received by the BSC, it seems as if its internal focus, rigidity, static-ism and mechanical mindset limits the company?s ability to create a strategy that takes important external factors into account. As we see it, the BSC?s limitations can create a risk for strategic inertia.

Accounting firms operate in environments with high competition for graduates and students today expect employers to be present on Facebook and the like. We aim to describe whether two major accounting firms use social media in their graduate recruitment. We chose to do case studies of Grant Thornton and Ernst & Young and how they use social media channels aimed towards graduates. Through a through study of how the two companies communicated through various social media, we concluded that Grant Thornton was significantly better than their larger competitor at social media use. Both companies use Facebook as their main communication channel.

The main purpose of this report is a first step to cover the scarcely investigated subject of interspecific competition between roe deer, Capreolus capreolus, and fallow deer, Dama dama. The report focuses on the distance between individuals of roe and fallow in the study area as well as which factors that is affecting the variation in distance depending on fallow deer group size and changing population density over time and in two areas. For additional information the history of the populations, such as harvest and distribution, is also investigated. The report came to the conclusion that interspecific competition between the species do occur. The elevated distance between individuals of the two species is clearly significant. The most important factor affecting the distance seemed to be the size of the fallow groups.

In the era of urbanization and globalization, many small, rural and post-industrialcities struggle for growth. The competition for citizens and visitors is intense, andone commonly used strategy is to promote the city to a target audience. Placemarketing, however, is homogenized to a great extent. Marketing thus seems likea useless approach, yet almost every city does it.By using discourse analysis and institutional theory, this essay aims to explainwhy the city of Kramfors markets itself. There are several problems arising due tothe marketing of places, especially concerning the discrepancy between the city?simage and identity.

When the independent upper secondary schools were started in 1992, it meant a change in the competitive relationship for the local upper secondary schools. A reduced number of students during some years ahead, while the number of independent upper secondary schools increase will probably result in tougher competition between upper secondary schools.The purpose of this study is to review and compare financial and performance management between a public and an independent upper secondary school. The dissertation will focus on the now existing competitive relationship between the two types of upper secondary schools.The theory underlying the study is Porter's model - five competitive forces. The model is applied to the local upper secondary school and used to identify competitive factors affecting upper secondary schools. The study is using a qualitative approach with five interviews at two upper secondary schools, one independent and one public, located in the same town.The comparison of financial and operational management of upper secondary schools indicate that the differences are not as great as we first imagined, but that there still are some differences.

Background: Balanced scorecard is a relatively new strategy in analysing activities in a company. To carry out a strategy in an organization a successful implementation is very important. Strategy implementations are unique for each organization and to succeed it has to be formulated and implemented with the individual companies particular conditions as starting- point. A problem is that the implementation sometimes is treated as a small detail in the planning process. This problem depends on how the strategic plans is carried out.

The failure of Structural Adjustment Programs and its neoliberal policies to effectively reduce poverty have led to the creation of Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) by The World Bank and International Monetary Fund. PRSP, connected to both the Comprehensive Development Strategy and the HIPC initiative, are built on the notion of national ownership and stakeholder participation and thereby expand potential conditionality to include matters of governance. This thesis examines the evolution of PRSP and how the process of participation affects national governance structures. By analyzing the role of rules and norms within the World Bank and IMF from a historical point of view the thesis explains why the participation process has developed the way it has. It concludes that neoliberal norms, still at heart within the World Bank and IMF, have an impact on the process of participation within nation states and thereby its governance structure.

Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att beskriva och analysera hur två olika organisationer arbetar med strategisk HRM vid högkonjunktur respektive lågkonjunktur.Metod: För att besvara studiens syfte har vi valt att tillämpa en kvalitativ undersökningsmetod. I studien har både primärdata det vill säga intervjuer samt sekundärdata i form av årsredovisningar, årsöversikt, hållbarhetsredovisning och hemsidor använts.Slutsatser: Den första slutsatsen i denna studie är att Coca-Cola Drycker Sverige AB och TV4 AB ser på HRM som mycket betydelsefullt och att medarbetarna är en central tillgång som kan utgöra en konkurrensfördel. Den andra slutsatsen är att Coca-Cola Drycker Sverige AB inte använder olika HR-strategier vid olika konjunkturer. Emellertid upplever vi att de gör små förändringar i sitt HR-arbete i olika konjunkturer men att de ständigt följer de övergripande HR-strategierna. TV4 AB arbetar på olika sätt med HRM vid olika konjunkturer.

The purpose of this essay is to examine the Swedish relations to Nato and by doing so see on what terms the cooperation is executed and why. However, Sweden is not a member of Nato and is thereby not seen as an ally of the organization but even so Sweden has a close cooperation with Nato. The theories used in this essay is The Rational Actor Model and The Organizational Behaviour Model by Graham Allison and Philip Zelikow. To this a number of additional theorises are used as to complement these two main theories. The aim with these theories is to see which one gives the most satisfying explanation of the Swedish strategy to cooperate with Nato and still not be a member of the alliance or if all theorises are needed.

This paper discusses the issue of trade dress imitation in the grocery sector. Our study has its starting point in the conflict that may arise between a brand owner and an imitator following an imitator?s marketing actions. In this study we look at the Market Court?s precedents in which this question has been addressed.

Parallel imports often lead to lowered prices and is therefore regarded as good from a consumer's point of view. From a business'point of view this is not always the case. When do parallel imports occur? Is it possible to prevent parallel imports to protect an introduction of a product in another member state? The purpose of this thesis is to present situations where parallel imports occur and to see if it is compatible with competition law to prevent parallel imports. Furthermore I will analyse the future development after the group exemption of vertical restraints enters into force in June 2000.