Stress and burnout are two words that are commonly occurring in many contexts today. More and more people experience that they are stressed and that they does not feel well. The long term sick -leave increases as a consequence of people being burned out. These phenomena prolong over all ages, sexes, classes and professional categories, which probably means that the construction industry would not be spared.  In the construction industry, stress and bad health are no new phenomenon, already during the 1970s and big parts of the 1990 s, the construction sector were exposed to the phenomena.A sector that has a large turnover annually cannot presumably be faultless.

During the last decade executive coaching has become an increasingly popular method of management development. Few studies have been conducted within this area, especially in Sweden, and little has been said about the construction of management in executive coaching. The purpose of this master?s thesis is to study executive coaching from a social constructionist perspective, focusing on the construction of management. The two research questions are: How is management constructed in executive coaching? How can we understand the construction of management in executive coaching? Additionally, we identify gender as a social construction of importance and thus include a gender perspective in our analysis.

This essay examines the visual art of Helena Blomqvist with theory of performativity from Judith Butler among others, with a focus on the potential of visual art to question and dislocate norms. It consists of an analysis of three works of art from three aspects: the work of art, the viewer and the situation, and eventuates in an analysis of how the works relate to representation and norms. The construction of the works is related to Butler's theory of identity construction..

In this report we examine the NFC (Near Field Communication) technology as far as the development has come until today. We adress different use areas and explain the technical funcionality. By using data collection methods as a specialist interview and also a survery we want to detect potential risks and safety-issues in implementation of the new technology. Our main-focus in this report is to examine how NFC can play an important role in the developement of social interaction and social media. By compiling our data and research materials we will analyze and present a report conslusion.

This thesis tries to clarify why more houses such as passive houses is not built and at the same time the differences is described with the conventional construction as a starting point. Sweden has set environmental objectives to reduce energy consumption in buildings by 50 percent by the year 2050 compared to 1995. The passivehouse concept could have a significant role, particularly in the reconstruction of buildings with high energy consumption. For sustainable building the passivehouse technology is an economically viable concept while benefiting the environment. Initially an introduction is given of the background to the problem, purpose and objective of the thesis.

As the use of smartphones and other mobile technology in our society is constantly increasing,so too does the possibilities of visually impaired persons increase as they are becoming moreable to enhance their quality of life with the help of mobile assistive technology. The purposeof this study was to explore how rehabilitation and habilitation organizations, which areworking with the visually impaired, should approach new technology. We have researched thisby examining the possibilities, opportunities and barriers of using mobile assistive technology.Based on this, we formulated the following research question: What factors are important forrehabilitation and habilitation organizations to consider in order to support, promote andcreate quality of life through the use of mobile assistive technology in their work with thevisually impaired? To answer the above question an exploratory study was made at an eyeclinic in the Västra Götaland region. The study was done through a series of qualitativeinterviews with both staff and patients at the eye clinic.

Augmented reality is an interesting technology which has increased in popularity the last couple of years. Even though we see more and more of this technology the use of it doesn?t match up to its true potential. This paper aims to investigate the possibilities of this technology and illustrate how companies can use it in their business to reach out to customers in a new and exciting way. The study consists of three parts.

This thesis is about university spin-offs and the competition in high technology industries. In the light of efforts to increase the competitiveness of the European Union, an effective transfer of cutting edge technology from universities to the industry plays an important role. University spin-offs, start-ups founded to exploit academic inventions, are likely to face considerable market entry barriers. This is among other reasons due to high capital requirements for further technology development and lack of complementary resources. With a combination of relevant literature and empirical investigation, commercialisation of technologies within spin-offs is investigated and analysed.

Title Becoming involved in the planning process - from the construction workers perspective.University/Institution Halmstad UniversityKeywordsEmpowerment through participation, construction workers involvement in decision making in the planning process, knowledge management and communication in the planning process, partnering, human resource managementAimThe aim of this bachelor thesis is to provide knowledge and examine how construction workers perceive involvement in the planning process of partnering projects, what they can contribute and what they get out of the planning process.Methodology The study was conducted with a qualitative approach in the form of semi-structured interviews.          The interview studie consist of 10 interviews with construction workers who are specially educated in participating in the planning process at the company ByggDialog AB.ConclusionAll respondents are positive to be involved in the planning process. The main advantages they can see is that they are able to influence technical solutions and methods that will be used later on in the production. Therefore it is important to consider when construction workers should be involved in the planning process so that they get the chance to influence in this decisions.When it comes to the decision making the construction workers should be involved in the decisions that are related to their tasks in the production such as technical solutions, choice of methods and materials. Their main duties and working hours should be in the production.Involvement in planning does not automatically mean that the construction workers are involved in the decision making, it is up to them how much they participate.

This qualitative case study, made with four companies, looks closer at how more effective information management, with the help of IT-systems, affect companies market communication and relations to customers and suppliers. Customer Relationship Management perspective is used and Enterprise Resource Planning-systems are the ground for new technology change. The main conclusions are that new technology affects the outcome of companies? relationships towards their customers and suppliers and that the processes and activities between the involved parties are more closely linked. Also involving your suppliers and external actors makes the information handling more effective and companies that do so most likely have a competitive advantage..

The purpose of this report is to examine various roof structures that can operate in a warehouse with large spans. The building that is examined in the report is currently under construction, and the roof construction has already been selected. The selected roof system will therefore be compared with some other structures and materials that have been possible. The report will evaluate three different frame materials, two insulating barriers and two overlaying materials. Another important part in major construction projects is the roof safety.

The aim of this study was to gain a comprehension of managers experience of their identity and their construction of identity in the work sphere. 14 semi-structured interviews were performed with managers in the public sector. The interviews were analyzed from a hermeneutic approach. The results showed that the managers´ experience of their identity and their construction of identity were full of nuances and was characterized by a being and a becoming. The managers had several social identities at their disposal, which were brought to the fore due to the situation.

Tylö AB is the leading manufactor of sauna cabins in Europe, but there is a lack of a sauna lightning produced by Tylö. The project of developing a new sauna lightning series was assigned two students at the developmentengineering program at Halmstad University. The main problem with lightning in the sauna is the heat and security aspect. The selection fell on LED technology as the lightning source, thanks to its small measures and low heat emission. The work of constructing of a lightning armature which the capability of cooling down the LED lightning was carried out during autumn ?06 and spring ?07.

Tylö AB is the leading manufactor of sauna cabins in Europe, but there is a lackof a sauna lightning produced by Tylö. The project of developing a new saunalightning series was assigned two students at the developmentengineeringprogram at Halmstad University. The main problem with lightning in the saunais the heat and security aspect. The selection fell on LED technology as thelightning source, thanks to its small measures and low heat emission.The work of constructing of a lightning armature which the capability of coolingdown the LED lightning was carried out during autumn ?06 and spring ?07.

This thesis is written at WSP management and investigates the practice of pre-project planning and feasibility studies at Swedish construction companies, through the study of the ongoing feasibility study of the mall Sturegallerian in Stockholm, and through interviews with experienced project managers in the construction industry. There is currently a big span in the way Swedish construction companies plan the pre-project phase and the aim of this thesis is to present a more generic and standardized way that helps minimize project risks and maximize efficiency and profit. The result is a generic model which can be used in pre-project planning. The model describes the phases in the preproject planning process and the activities that span these phases. Is also describes the categories of professions that need to participate in the preproject planning group and which activities that each profession executes. The other result is a list of factors that need to be considered for a well performed pre-project phase, as found during the interviews. Among others the thesis stresses the importance of involving the client as a key participant in the process.