In this study our aim is to display a series of possible mechanisms which operateswithin the regions and societies were child soldiers were frequently andextensively used in combat tasks. Our study is based on the assumption thattoday's peace-building strategies are inadequate to describe certain problemsfaced by many post-conflict countries, especially in Africa. We argue that largeformations of child soldiers will, if not properly and immediately addressed, causeserve and structural problems in society, gravely hampering growth andinstitutional capacity. The Issues of Post Traumatic Stress and societal insecuritybrought on by the use of child soldiers poses a serious threat to society as a whole.In this study we use Uganda as an illustrative case to describe the mechanisms atwork..

Konflikter finns överallt i samhället, inte minst i organisationer och företag. Att beskriva olika ledares sätt att hantera konfliktsituationer i sitt ledarskap var därför intressant. Syftet med studien var att undersöka ledares upplevelser av ledarskap och sätt att hantera konflikter. Undersökningen baserades på 14 intervjuer med ledare som har personalansvar från både privat och offentlig sektor. Studien är könsmässigt balanserad.

Purpose: The main purpose of the thesis is to examine the profitability of Momentum Strategies on the Nordic stock markets. This will provide insight and contribute to the debate on efficient markets. Finding profitable Momentum Strategies will provide strong evidence of inefficiency in the market. A secondary purpose is to examine factors which might cause or impact the profitability of the Momentum Strategy. We will look closely at the relationship between the profitability and factors such as risk (CAPM-beta), market capitalization, trading volume and seasonality.

As a result of global competition, companies within the automotive industry are required to improve their production systems to achieve sustainable and competitive production. To attain operational excellence, companies have adopted concepts like lean and World Class Manufacturing (WCM).In order to deliver, companies need to increase the availability and reliability of production equipment. This demands focus on both operational and strategic maintenance, and efficient equipment acquisition and management. The main objective of this thesis is to identify processes and success factors that are necessary for improved maintenance performance. By conducting a case study and by performing a literature review, the following has been studied: 1) how companies within the automotive industry work with maintenance and maintenance strategies, 2) implementation of maintenance strategies, and 3) new acquisition and spare parts management for maintenance. The results show that basic maintenance concepts and related terms are well defined in the literature.

Denna studie fokuserar på konflikthantering och dess egenskaper. Jag har fördjupat mig i praktiska och teoretiska kunskaper i konflikthantering med eleverna. I denna studie kommer jag att intervjua fyra pedagoger, två erfarna lärare och två nyexaminerade pedagoger. Jag kommer också att förklara vilka känslor har för roll i konfliktlösning. Varför jag har valt att skriva om konflikten är på grund av min osäkerhet när det gäller att lösa konflikter med elever så jag har valt att intervjua två erfarna pedagoger.

This paper discusses the strategy and strategic change in the Swedish freight forwarding business and analysis factors that influence the forces of the business. Three companies of various sizes are chosen to be investigated as a case study, outline that cost leadership and differentiation are both important strategies for companies to compete in the market. However, companies outpacing competition do not only pursue either of the two strategies, the need the ability to add one (cost leadership) to the other (differentiation) in relationship to environmental change over time..

The wild boar Sus scrofa population in Sweden has increased rapidly in the last decades which has led to conflicts among stakeholders, for example due to crop damages in agriculture. Thus, there is an urgent need of quantified goals and effective strategies for wild boar management. To develop such strategies, knowledge on population dynamics is fundamental. In this study a deterministic matrix model was used to estimate population growth, based on previously published data. The exponential growth rate for a wild boar population was calculated to 1.48.

Introduction: A job interview is for both the candidate and the company involved, an importantsituation. It might be tempting for the candidate to adjust the answers to the job in question or what heor she thinks the recruiter wants to hear. This behaviour is a part of what socialpsychology would callimpression management. This term means that you try to control the impressions you send out andaccordingly adjust your behaviour for the current situation.Purpose: Candidates usage of impression management is a widely debated subject where theresearch mainly has focused on the candidates, their strategies and the efficiency of impressionmanagement. Our purpose with this thesis is therefore to see how recruiters experience candidatesimpression management in a job interview, how they handle it and what level of acceptance they havefor it.Theoretical perspectives: The theories and previous research used as models for explanation andbasis for discussion is mainly Erving Goffman´s (1974) dramaturgical perspective and thoughts aboutimpression management and Mark R Leary´s (1995) theories concerning impression managementtactics.

Through geopolitical theory this thesis explores how conflicts within states can be read and understood according to an analytical model determining one or several possible causes for the conflict.  The model is created by the author and reflects geopolitical theory by giving three possible explanations to an intrastate conflict: culture, economy or territorial construction. The aim of the thesis is testing this model on two selectively chosen case studies ? i.e. two intrastate conflicts ? namely: the upcoming referendum in Scotland and the terror attack at Tiananmen Square in China.

Entrepreneurial firms face unique challenges in attracting and acquiring human resources due to difficulties associated with resource constraint and organization legitimacy, often described as liabilities of "smallness" and "newness". The aim of this paper is to examine the "smallness" and "newness" challenges met by small entrepreneurial firms, which strategies they apply to counter these challenges, and if these strategies can be explained by the firm's HR philosophy. Since few studies on Human Resource Management (HRM) in small entrepreneurial firms exist, a framework combining theory from the research fields of HRM, entrepreneurship and small firms has been developed. Employing a qualitative case study design of five small Swedish entrepreneurial firms, our findings demonstrate four "smallness" and "newness" challenges and seven strategies that either counteract or prevent them. Furthermore, results showed that the strategies applied seemed to have no significance with regards to the firm's HR philosophy.

Today there is a large consensus about the importance of Swedish schools providingconditions enabling students to develop the ability to manage and learn through information technologies (IT). The goal of this study was to describe and examine how national education goals for the use of IT transformed into municipal IT-strategies for the school. A content analysis was conducted of thirty-eight municipal IT-strategies collected from Swedish municipal websites on the Internet. The content in the municipal IT-strategies was compared with the content in both the Swedish education act and the national curriculum. The results showed that the content in the Swedish education act and the national curriculum in fact was translated into municipal IT strategies, but that the range of strategies concerning technology, pedagogy and content in relation to IT was broad.

Can the lack of functional cross-cultural communication among individuals within an international organization be the reason for cultural clashes to occur, and lead to conflict between two cultures within the same organization?Our aim is to try to create a potential model of how cross-cultural problems can be studied, in order to contribute to the solution of the problem. And to examine whether the theories, which form the basis of our model can be applied in reality.The research have assumed from the hermeneutical approach for a holistic view of the problem area. The deductive approach has been used in order to distinguish whether the theories can be applied to reality, and qualitative research method for collecting data.The focus lies within cross-cultural communications, which defines the various cultural factors that can affect organizational culture. Hofstede dimensions and the social structure are mentioned and cultural factors as language and religion.

Purpose: Corporate communication strategies have a central role in disseminating and creating meaning to the organizations? visions, strategies and goals. But many employees do not know the organization?s overall strategies and goals, nor how well the organization achieves these. The aim of this study was to investigate and describe perceptions about internal communication, primarily focusing on communication about strategies and goals.

During the past decade environmental challenges have been intensified and given increased attention. This implies that businesses in all sectors strategically need to manage these challenges. The service sector is often considered as a sector with a low environmental impact if the direct environmental aspects are assessed. Still, it has been argued that the environmental impact that the sector gives rise to can create severe indirect environmental impacts. The products and services that are produced by this sector have a relatively limited use of physical resources which may make the environmental impact challenging to visualize. Banks belong to the service sector and it is partly banks that make the development of societies possible.

Title: Talent Management: Retention and development of employeesLevel: Bachelor?s Degree in Business and AdministrationAuthors: Amra Abdulic Dzankovic and Anna JaurénSupervisor: Per-Arne WikströmDate: June 2013Aim: The purpose of this study is to examine how an organization can implement talent management strategies to retain and develop their employees. We intend to increase the understanding of talent management by highlighting various strategies to retain and develop employees.Methodology: The study has been carried out with a qualitative approach through a case study in cooperation with a large organization within the public sector in Sweden. Empirical material has been collected through semi-structured interviews with all the divisional managers. An extensive analysis of literature and research connected to Talent Management and tools for retention and development has formed the basis of the theoretical framework.Result and Conclusion: The conclusions we have drawn from this study is that to succeed with Talent Management, and the strategies that are in place to retain and develop employees, there must be an integral and comprehensive approach where business strategy and vision also permeates personnel strategy.