Lower energy use in buildings is a result of increasingly stringent energy requirements across Europe. When conventional district heating technology is used in areas with low energy consumption heatlosses do not fall even though the amount of energy delivered is reduced. This reduces income for thedistrict heating company. To maintain their economic viability the district heating companies? majorchallenge is to implement new solutions that minimize heat loss.

This master thesis is an attempt to study the joint-use solutions between the public library and the public preschool in the local district Kristineberg in the community of Borås. The two main questions are; what kind of joint-use library is the activity at Kristineberg? What kind of advantages and disadvantages do the actors experience from the joint-use activity at Kristineberg? The analysis is based upon the interviews with eight informants with different connections to the joint-use library and public preschool. I also use documental analysis and literature studies. Relevant theories, such as Andersson´s and Skot-Hansen´s analysis of the role of the public library and Bundys, Imhoff´s and Dornseif´s theories about joint-use libraries are presented and later used in the analysis.

Abstract: After their introduction, technical systems designed for Situational Awareness have changed the possibilities on the battlefield. Today, Swedish tanks use a system known as the TCCS. This system offers many advantages to a tank platoon, but does it also bring disadvantages? This essay examines pros and cons with the TCCS. To find these the author uses a Swedish Armed Forces analyze model in a comparative study.

AbstractOne of the most common business models for agriculture is according to Lantbrukarnas Riksförbund (2010) that two or more agricultural companies merge and form a company together. To create strong owners and to be competitive there is a recognized need to create relationships between small firms according to Mazzarol , Mamouni Limnios and Reboud (2013). Oerleman and Assouline (2004) argues that it is possible to achieve success in agriculture by following certain strategic priorities.This paper examines why farmers choose to venture into collaboration and whether cooperation are linked to the strategies of the company. The paper also discusses the pros and cons of partnerships in agriculture. A qualitative comparative research design has been used to answer to the topics and we have interviewed respondents from four different agriculture companies, which have been active in some form of cooperation or collaboration.

In January 2005 the emission allowance system was introduced within the European Union and the first period ends at the end of 2007. The system was introduced in order to decrease the wastes of carbon dioxide and the system is a part of ratifying the Kyoto ?protocol which first period runs between 2008-2012.The idea of the system is to reduce the wastes of carbon dioxide where it costs less to do so and the expenses for the society therefore are as diminutive as possible. Different theories explain that companies can benefit from environment legislation and can depending on the company?s attitude gain Competitive advantages improve its productivity and thereby increase its profitability.With this in mind, the study aims at examining how the introduction of the emission trade system has influenced Swedish smaller companies in the distant heating industry, with focus on the factors attitude, innovation, competition and profitability.

The purpose of this essay is to investigate whether the implementation of the Solvency II directive will create a competitive advantage for the Swedish insurance companies compared with other insurance companies in Europe.Therefore the theoretical perspective illustrates the specific requirements and risk culture of the insurance industry and defines the critical success factors for a successful implementation of the directive. The empirical foundation is built on the QIS 5 reports for Sweden and Europe, interviews with the financial services and If insurance company as well as information from a seminar organized by KPMG. The analysis shows that the Swedish insurance companies meets the capital requirements of Solvency II by a large margin and that they are accustomed to risk management and reporting requirements from the traffic light model. This implies that the three critical success factors for a successful implementation of Solvency II are met, although with some limitations, and that Swedish insurance companies could possibly have a competitive advantage.     .

Intelligence is an elusive concept with strong links to business intelligence , in which organizations have recently more and more have incorporated the use of IT (Information Technology). A research carried out recently have identified the importance of effective monitoring, but there are few studies showing how organizations actually work in the field.A qualitative study consisting of the interviews with employees at an IT company was done to see how external monitoring is carried out in practice, in a specific company and how it would help the company to develop. The company we visited did not work with special procedures of any kind regarding external monitoring but still knew about the term and its meaning.The conclusion account for detected patterns as well as difficulties, including the definition of external monitoring which differs a lot between individuals. The patterns discovered points to the importance of clarity and objectives regarding the use of external monitoring for it to be effective and measurable.Keywords: External monitoring, Business Intelligence, Competitive Intelligence..

The competition between the Swedish municipalities has increased as the world has become more globalized, which means that they need to become more attractive for sustaining sound finances and not to find themselves to have a downward trend. One possibility to show the attractiveness of a place is by using place marketing and therewith attaining a stronger brand position. There are 20 suburban municipalities in the county of Stockholm, of which six are multicultural or are having a minimum of 20 percent immigrants among the residents. These immigrant areas are segregated based on class, income and culture. Problems associated with these areas have historical aspects that dates further back than modern immigration does.

Companies in the western world can no longer compete by using traditional means such as product and price since the commerce of services continually grows. To avoid similarity and increase Competitive advantages modern companies have to be more specified. The competition between companies has increased and customers are harder to reach. Customers of today can afford luxury but trend indicates that originality, identity, and status are more important than factual needs. Products created and consumed at the same time within the service market are often very homogenous (similar).

This master thesis sets out to compare the different public transport modes in Stockholm city.Both energy consumption and air pollution are compared. The chosen transport methods are car,bus and metro.Traditionally the rail industry has had environmental arguments as a strong competitiveadvantage when it comes to passenger transportation. However, in recent years the automotiveindustry has been getting more positive media attention regarding environmental issues, forexample Roger Kemp?s statement that the car is the most environmental friendly passengertransportation mode in the UK. This study will show the environmental advantages of railwaytraffic in cities.The energy sources of the world are not endless and the use of the different sources affects theenvironment in different ways.

The climate at the labour-market in Sweden today means that students who have recently passed their examinations find it quite difficult to find work. The competetiveness calls for a strategy to find advantages in the employment process. The strategy explored in this thesis is called personal branding. We believe that by building a strong personal brand you can increase the possibilities to influence the decisions of those responsible for recruitments in our society. The question we ask ourselves in this essay is how to build a personal brand with the power to give students a competetive advantage in the employment process.

During the autumn 2009, a 15 hp degree project was accomplished. The objective of the study was to describe different equipment alternatives, suitable for fresh market apple harvest. A field study was conducted during the harvest period to evaluate the efficiency (kg / person/ hour), using the different equipment. Four different systems are described in the study; Pick-ing-bag, Picking-train, Pluk-O-Trak and the Conveyor Harvester. The information about the systems is based on interviews with growers together with previous studies.

The Swedish food retail market contains of three major actors, ICA, KF and Axfood, all in all dominating 75 percent of the total market shares. The scant number of retailing actors indicates that the Swedish food retail market is a highly concentrated oligopoly, which as a fact has given rise to definite discussions and argumentations concerning the market situation. But is the food retail market imperfect and how do we reach a workable competition? Economic theory does not provide any clear answer on these questions, but is rather divided into two fundamentally different approaches to define competition: the static and the dynamic perspective on competition. In an attempt to examine the competition on local Swedish retail markets, the purpose of this study is to carry out an econometric model estimating the situation.

Mathematics is a central topic in today's education debate, including discussion of its educational quality and various teaching methods. Today basically two different teaching methods are used; one is the textbook based method, with the book in focus and the other one the laboratory method by which teaching is performed through practical applications. The purpose of this study was to examine four primary school teachers' view of these two teaching methods by means of four relevant inquiries. By interviewing the four teachers, advantages and disadvantages were highlighted and the purpose was achieved. In order to support the analysis, two theories applied; the socio-cultural perspective and the cognitive perspective.

As the number of people owning a smartphone rapidly increases so too does the opportunity for various researchers to exploit this technology. The possibility to recruit people to participate in research studies improves and with it the chance to get more diversified target groups in terms of age, socio-economic status, geographical location, etc.In this essay, I argue that the opportunities smartphones offer in terms of collecting research material is vastly underestimated in several areas, bearing in mind the advantages they present. In order to support my argument, I shall present a case study carried out in the research area of happiness ? an area where the use of smartphones has provided significant opportunities for research.In order to gather the advantages and disadvantages of this method of study from the participants? perspective, I have followed a happiness research study which is a collaboration between Umeå University and The University of Stockholm. I have interviewed the participants of this study in order to assess the advantages and opportunities that smartphones offer in research programs.Overall, the participants? opinion of this research method was generally positive and it was considered to be quite easy to participate in the study and respond to the questions asked.