Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka och skapa förståelse för vilka framgångsdrivarna är för företagsekonomiska institutioner.För att kunna uppfylla syftet har vi tagit fram BEN-modellen. Modellen består av ett antal framgångsdrivare som kan leda till konkurrensfördelar samt bestående konkurrensfördelar för en företagsekonomisk institution. Dessa leder i sin tur till framgång, något som vi själva definierat med fyra olika mätbara variabler; söktryck, genomströmning av studenter, ställning i arbetslivet samt forskningsproduktivitet.Studien har genomförts på tre olika företagsekonomiska instituitioner där intervjuer och samtal genomförts med personer i ledande befattning på respektive institution. Som komplement till intervjuerna har empiriskt material insamlats i form av statistik för att kunna utröna hur framgångsrika de är enligt BEN-modellen.Studien visar att ambition och entreprenörsskap är två viktiga framgångsdrivare. Dessa två drivare kan en institution erhålla genom finansiella resurser.

The first aim of this thesis is to descriptively identify and chart the activities of the strategic intelligence and environmental scanning that take place at the regional collaboration network Regionförbundet Örebro. This identification is essential in reaching the comprehensive and primary aim of the thesis: to discuss, through normative discourse, what the options of improvement are and in which ways systematic operations can be integrating parts in the organization. In order to offer guidance of development from the perspectives of environmental scanning, the question at issue has emanated from activities concerning the present methods of working at Regionförbundet Örebro.During the creation of this thesis, several interviews have been made with people who are regarded to be key roles within the regional collaboration network. An analysis has been made, based on governing documents and answers from the interviews, where possible improvements of the business have been identified. The inferences become parts of a greater potential of amelioration since they are presented as active solutions and proposals that can be directly adaptable to the organization.Our proposals of improvements/ameliorations are constituted by a number of concrete/explicit points such as: a wider public information supply and an introduction of several annual routines and methods..

This essay reviews the situation for small actors in the Swedish clothing industry. In this essay we assume that loyalty is a requirement for survival on the competitive clothing market. Four small actors have been analyzed up on theories on loyalty, brand equity, relationship marketing, service marketing, quality, interactive marketing, distribution and value creating activities. The chosen actors are Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair, Boutique Sportif, Jenny Hellström and Ida Sjöstedt. The conclusion of the essay is that it is possible for small actors on the Swedish clothing market to build loyal relationships with their customers.

During the last year there has been a globalization of trade. Because of the development ofmore sophisticated information's - and communication technology the boundaries and thephysical distance have been smeared out between company as well as countries. Furthermoreit generates that many companies have restructured to global value chains. Because of theincreased access the marketplace has become harder and more competitive than ever.Since the customers nowadays have more access to product information the consume patternsand behaviour has been changed. Through the increased knowledge the consumers requiresmore of the products.

Farmers Cooperative has in recent years developed from national markets to cross-border, international, collaborations. One example is the merger between the Swedish dairy company Arla and Danish MD Foods, where the companies collectively are sought to reduce transaction costs and thus improve efficiency. The Swedish market for commodities (fertilizers and pesticides) in agriculture has for many years been dominated by a few large players, with little opportunity for grain associations and local grain companies to offer their customers a varied range of commodities with a competitive pricing.To change this state, a majority of Swedish and Danish grain associations and local grain companies have established a trans-national cooperation. Through the establishment of the organization DLA Agro, they offer their customers a good variety of products with competitive prices. This study investigates thus according to the theory of cooperative models to what extent and how the DLA Agro helps to create benefits for the Swedish member companies.

New technologies and new consumer behaviors are having a large impact on mediacompanies. The biggest change is in the behavior of the younger demographic whereold platforms like television are abandoned for new online platforms. In this newworld, media companies and organizations need new tools and business models tostay competitive. One such tool is Design Thinking, a term used to describe a cognitivedesign-specific set of activities used during a design process. It has been popularizedin commercial areas and there the term is used to describe an applicable workflowused to promote the skills required to use Design Thinking.

Inom utvecklingen av de flesta typer av datorsystem används datormodeller för att strukturera lagringen och användningen av data. Likaså finns det flera olika datamodelleringsmetoder att välja bland för detta ändamål. I samarbete med ett företag har en fallstudie genomförts med syfte att undersöka hur agiliteten i två av dessa metoder påverkar utvecklingen av ett Data Warehouse (DW).  De två datamodelleringsmetoder som undersökts är Data Vaulting och Hyper Agility och arbetet har fokuserat på att undersöka skillnaderna mellan dessa när det gäller mängden ETL-kod som måste skrivas, funktionaliteten i datatransformationerna, möjligheten till att uppdatera systemstrukturen samt den totala kostnaden för utvecklingen av DW-lösningen. Inom ramen för fallstudien har en litteraturstudie genomförts och kombinerats med material från sex intervjuer, där respondenterna varit konsulter såväl som företagsrepresentanter.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) issues have been received much attention in businessand management practises globally. Jensen & Yeh (2009, 3) state that ?The agenda ofCorporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has emerged as a factor in the process of globalization,and Chinese companies may sometimes feel pushed into this agenda without a clearunderstanding of the rationale behind it?. China?s textile and apparel industry, amanufacturing-based economy with its products bounding up with the consumers worldwide,has been facing enormous pressure to take CSR initiatives, particularly in relation toenvironmental issues and labor standards.

The competitive environment forces companies to find new ways to meet their customers? needs and satisfy their wants. Companies have to get to know their customers and therefore they collect more and more information about them. The purpose of this study was to examine how convenience stores use customer information. To meet this case study?s purpose two interviews were carried out at both a central level as well as a local level at the studied company.

Hemp is a versatile plant with many uses that has been around for thousands of years. The plant is highly adaptable andwill cultivate in almost any soil. It has excellent remediation properties and has shown to be relatively consistent when itcomes to crop yields. The aim of this literature survey is to examine how hemp can be used to be considered asustainable energy crop in Sweden through database searches and interviews. Hemps characteristics as an energy cropand its remediation properties is evaluated and compared with other plants that are used in Sweden.

Background: Literature regarding brand identity within the service industry is relatively under developed. As a result one theory is used for both the service and product brands, even though there is a significant difference between a product and a service. As a result of this, the brand identity within the service industry has consequences. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to contribute to the brand identity within the service industry. This is done by focusing on how and why this work is done.

På dagens hårt konkurrensutsatt marknad är inte bara priset en viktig konkurrenskraft, även relationen mellan kund och leverantör kan spela en avgörande roll för om det blir en affär eller inte. Möjligheten att låta kunden vara delaktig i produktutvecklingsprocessen är även ett sätt att stärka kundrelationerna. Uppsatsens syfte har därför varit att undersöka kundrelationerna både från leverantörens och kundens perspektiv. Avsikten med uppsatsen var även att undersöka hur kundrelationer och kundinvolverad produktutveckling kan användas för att skapa konkurrensfördelar inom Business-to-Business. Almedahls var även intresserade av att närmare undersöka möjligheterna för digitaltryck, vilket är en ny tryckprocess för företaget.Vi gjorde därför en fallstudie på Almedahls, ett tillverkande företag inom textilbranschen.

Brands are the instruments corporates use to create and communicate brands reputation. Within the different industries for consumer products intangible assets such as brands are known to have great importance for corporate prosperities. When consumers experiences a specific brand symbolizes best possible value for money, the corporate behind it has managed to create a unique competitive advantage that should be to its full potential. Strong brands can pose the difference between winning or loosing on the market. Due to this brands should be considered as cost-effective instruments since they help create financial advantages such as consumer loyalty.

För att ta reda på hur väl en Multi-Agent-Systems-bot kan stå sig mot andra, icke-MAS-bottar, så har vi implementerat en bot till brädspelet Arimaa. Botten är implementerad i C++ och den kan spela mot andra bottar, eller människor, genom Arimaas officiella hemsida. Syftet har varit att skapa en fullfjädrad bot som både klarar av att spela korrekt, och att spela bra. För att ta reda på om MAS är en bra designfilosofi för Arimaa så har vi utmanat ett antal av de bottar som andra människor skapat och lagt upp på hemsidan. Alla bottarna har under tiden de legat uppe blivit rankade genom tävlingar och utmaningar och flera av dessa har tävlat om stora pengar, vilket betyder att människor har lagt mycket tid på dem.

Background: Due to outsourcing, the material flows in the telecom equipment industry have undergone major changes, which in turn has imposed new challenges for packaging supplier Nefab who delivers to the industry. In order to achieve market intelligence, Nefab wants to map the material flows, and investigate possibilities of further reusable logistical packaging systems.Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to describe the typical features of the logistical material flows in a technically based, rapidly growing industry, and analyze the driving forces and obstacles, which influence the selection of logistical packaging system. Procedure: After developing a theoretical framework consisting of general logistical theories and theories related to logistical packaging, we have interviewed companies in the logistics channel of Ericsson Radio Systems.Results: We have found the main characteristics of material flows in our investigated industry to be Variations in Demand, Focus on Time-to-Customer, and Globalization of Logistics Channels. Regarding driving forces and obstacles in the selection of logistical packaging systems, we have identified Transportation Characteristics, Customer Demands, Quality, Handling & Administration, and Current Packaging System as important factors..