The presidency of the European Union (EU) is one of the most important institutional actors for the improvement of democracy and equality between the member states. To hold a presidency is a big task and for many countries a tough challenge. What makes a presidency successful? The purpose of the thesis is to examine this question using Ole Elgströms? ?four properties for defining a successful presidency? as the theoretical background. This thesis will employ a comparative framework of four countries, using size and age (age understood as ?time being an EU Member State?) as the defining factors.

Product development cycles become shorter and shorter. The time from idea to market has become an important competitive factor. Despite this, methods used for making the product development process faster are surrounded with uncertainty about their efficiency. The purpose of the thesis is to describe the pros and cons of ?best practice? methods for shortening lead times and how these methods effect the lead times in research and development.

AbstractA general store is a grocery store that is located in the countryside. In today's modern society, it is difficult for general stores to compete with the supermarkets and discounters in terms of price and supply. The purpose of this thesis is to create an understanding of both the rural merchants and its customers? perspective on a well-­?functioning general store. We have conducted a case study of three general stores where we interviewed the merchants about how they do to please their customers? needs and identify key elements of a well-­?functioning general store.

This paper concerns the flagging out of merchant navy vessels and its consequenses. Flaggingout is method used by ship owners in order to gain advantages. Under a different flag, thevessel's legal residence become the subject of another country´s laws. Toward the end of thefirst decade of the 20th century ferry -and passangervessels trading in the Baltic Sea wereflagged out from Åland to the flag of Sweden. Flagging out to Sweden is not common but thespecific circumstances for this trade has made the Swedish ship's register interesting for shipowners.

The use of digital technology in preschool has been a question aboutif it will be used. By the new curriculum for preschool, it now is a question about how it will be used. My experience shows that many pedagogues are still afraid that the children will miss the interaction whit other children when they are using digital technology.The aim of the study is to see if it is social for the children to use digital technology in preschool.This study is made by inquiry, qualitative interviews and observations.My result shows that children are social active with each other while using digital technology. Turn taking and time determines who will play and what the conditions are. The thesis concludes that children perform social interaction when using digital technology.

This paper discusses the advantages and disadvantages of using different benchmarking models to measure and compare the efficiency of Swedish gas distributors. It also discusses to which extent the results of a benchmarking study should influence the revenue-cap which will be implemented in the gas distribution sector in Sweden from year 2011. The discussion is based on arguments from both theory and practical applications of benchmarking. The results suggest that benchmarking Swedish gas distributors against distributors in another country using a parametric model is most favorable, but the reliability will be increased if non-parametric models are used also. Partial and total productivity measures could be used to confirm results of other benchmarking analyses.

The purpose of this study was to examine why adventure treatment is mainly directed towards young men and how that can be related to the construction of masculinity.Our questions were:- What were the social workers thoughts and images about masculinity?- Why did they think adventure treatment were suitable for young men and for what reasons?- How did the social workers describe their role as treatment providers?This study was a qualitative study that was based on six interviews as well as observations. We tried to find patterns and deviations in our empirical material. Then we connected them with previous research and theories. The social workers described the typical client as a competitive kind of person, interested in physical activities and with boyish manners.

This paper deals with a partly new development in the Swedish law system, somewhere in the boundary between political science and jurisprudence. A new instrument -artbrott- has successively become more popular among lawyers and politicians. The new instrument -here translated to classified crimes- signifies that the perpetrator is sentenced to prison even though the seriousness of the crime committed is not in itself serious enough for such a consequence. The reason for this policy stance is to create a prevention against crime of that specific character among the public. The use of this instrument has grown considerably both concerning types of crimes as well as in application.

The study examines the meaning of having a dog in the workplace of personnel who work with therapy. The purpose was to examine the personnel?s view of dogs in their work envi-ronment. The study uses two theories. One is ?psychosocial work environment? and the other theory used is ?symbolic interactionism?.

This thesis aims to investigate SAAB AB´s possibilities to use synthetic instruments in their test systems. The reason for this is reducing costs and the risk of obsolescence which is common when test systems operate for several decades.The market around synthetic instruments has been explored in the search for suitable hardware and software. Software has been developed in LabVIEW and synthetic instruments have been created with the help of IVI-drivers. The hardware consisted of PXI-instruments (Waveform generator and Digitizer), connected to a computer using a fiber optic link and PXI-chassi. The created instruments was then compared to common instruments used today, and the comparison turned out well.

In recent time, agile methods have been devoted much attention, and the concept is widely used in the IT industry in particular. An increasing number of companies are interested in this way of working. The following report is the result of a study on the ability to create value for customers in business development through the use of agile methods. We ask what the advantages and limitations of agile methods are in the creation of customer value. Grounded Theory and an initial literature review was used to answer this question.

This thesis concerns partial discharges in stator windings and the possibility of analyzing data using statistical methods. Partial discharges, or PD, are a physical phenomenon in which discharges occur locally due to large electric fields. PD can occur in or adjacent to the insulation of stator windings and causes breakdown of the insulating materials. PD measurement can provide an idea of how widespread the PD activity is. A technique to measure and analyze PD that has become very popular over the last few decades is phase resolved PD patterns.

The aim with this study was to investigate how a few teachers in Swedish, at upper secondary school, are using computers in their teaching, and what approach they have towards using computers in teaching. A qualitative study has been made to accive a result, on this matter, were five currently teaching teachers in Swedish, at different upper secondary schools, have been intervjued. The teachers answered questions concerning how and in what speciefic fields of study they use computers, the computer program and -tools they are using and what benefits and disadvantiges they see with computers in teaching. They also answered questions concerning the availability of computers at the schools which they are working. The study showed that the way teachers are using computers in their teaching, and the amount they are using them varied between the teachers; but all are using computers mainly with the purpose to write texts and to search for information. All teachers also had in common that they are using computers not as frequently and in a different way when grammar is concerned. It appered that the teachers were mainly positive to use computers in their teaching, even if some teachers acknowleadged more disadvantiges than the others.

Modern air battles are very dynamic and fast, and put extreme pressure on pilots. In some unpredictable situations, like new discovered threats or mission plan deviation because of enemy aircraft, the pilots might need to replan their predefined flight route. This is very difficult, if not impossible, to do since numerous factors affect it. A system that can help the pilots to do such a thing is needed. Previous work in this field has involved methods from artificial intelligence like A*-search.

The purpose of this study is to highlight how a ring road and an external retail establishment may affect the city commerce. Umeå is the study object with interesting undergoing changes including a new external retail area south of the city and a new transport route that will lead the through traffic around the city.The study is based on a review of previous studies and a qualitative method. Four interviews were conducted with people who have a connection to commerce and/or municipal planning and where considered able to contribute with rich and relevant information. The result shows that the commerce in Umeå will be significantly strengthened in the context of a new external commercial establishment when the city?s overall attractiveness increases.