The world has changed its understanding of environmental issues dramatically and more people are showing awareness of social and environmental problems. Various stakeholders have increasingly begun to show an interest in how companies are taking responsibility for their actions. This has led to an improved activity amongst organizations to make their production consequences positive. They work with Corporate and Social Responsibility (CSR). In order to communicate their responsibilities, many companies work with CSR and ethical guidelines.

Title: Culture?s Affect on the Determinants of Customer Satisfaction in Retailing: The Case of a European Retailer in the U.S. and China Date of the Seminar: 29th of May 2007 Course: BUS 809 Master thesis in International Marketing Authors: Lisa Bustamante Chesley Norman Charlotte Valind Advisors: Johan Anselmsson Cecilia Cassinger Keywords: International Retailing, Determinants of Customer Satisfaction, Culture, United States, China Thesis purpose: Our study aims to identify the determinants of customer satisfaction of two national cultures in a global retail setting, in order to clarify what role culture has, if any, in customers? satisfaction with an international retailer. Further, this will uncover if a Western perspective of determinants of satisfaction is a universal means of capturing what satisfies customers across cultures in a retail setting.

Background: Since1994, the EU NickelDirective is limiting the release of nickel from objects that are in prolongedcontact with skin. Despite this, nickel is still the most common cause of contactallergy in industrialized countries. This could implicate that other productswith short contact to the skin, which are not restricted by EU´s legislation inREACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicalsubstances), could be a source of nickel or cobalt exposure. There is no limitfor cobalt release within REACH. To determine if there is cobalt or nickelpresent on the surface of a material and if metal can be released in contactwith the skin, there are quantitative and qualitative methods, such as the DMG(dimethylglyoxime)-test, the cobalt spot-test and a method for releasedetermination according to EN1811.Objectives: Laptops are not included in the REACH legislation.

The present study concerns a concept development of a product idea that Bengt Magnuson, associate professor, had when a heavy storm caused a widespread power failure of long duration. With a basic power-producing unit one should be able to get through a power loss. The product could also be useful for other tasks if different modules are connected, e g grass mower or snow-blower.According to the product idea the basic unit will be able to produce electric power enough for a fridge, freezer, TV, and a few electric lamps. Normally the basic unit can be used e g as a mower, when such a module is attached. An increased number of tasks would make the contraption useful and tempting for those who do not own an electrical power set in reserve.

The process of food production has changed dramatically over the past one hundred years. Industrialization has led to large units of production, manufacturing, distribution, marketing and retail business. The final food product, in this system, is quite often fairly anonymous and the consumer will most likely know very little concerning the origin of the product. In recent years, the market for locally produced food has grown. There is an increasing interest in and demand for locally produced food items.

Title:Chillchain for cut flowers ? how the distribution works.Author:Anna-Maja Svarén, student at Lund Institute of Technology, mechanical engineering.Supervisors:Annika Olsson, Department of Design Sciences.Bengt Sahlberg, Bioett AB.Problem:How does the distribution of cut flower works regarding temperature, losses, responsibility, complaints, packaging and weak points?Purpose:The purpose is to map the distribution of cut flowers, with focus on losses in the temperature, from farm to store. The goal is to identify weak points in the chillchain and to se how wrong temperatures affect the flowers. The results can be a help to secure the chillchain.Method:The work started with a problem; map the distribution of cut flowers with focus on temperature losses. Data was collected on the basis of this problem, then analysed, and finally conclusions were drawn.Conclusions:The affect handling and distribution has on a cut flower is very complex.

Competition is keen in the fashion industry of today. Homogenous products and prices aredriving competition and most firms are struggling hard to attract customers. Brands havebecome one of the most important assets for success and are often critical for the choices of theconsumers. A strong brand is often considered as a substantial value in the eyes of the consumerand gives the individual firm a competitive advantage in the marketplace. To build a strongbrand it takes that the brand identity not is in conflict with the brand image of a firm or a product.Sometimes one of these conflicts exit and sometimes the firms are not even aware of it.In this thesis we study how two firms, Lindex and Prada, perceive their own image and then wecompare how the images of the firms are perceived by the customers.

Title: The mortgage limitation and its impact on the mortgage marketLevel: Final assignment for Bachelor Degree in Business AdministrationAuthor: Mattias Arnkvist and Magnus Vitasp PerssonSupervisor: Lars SteinerDate: 2011 ? MayAim: We have conducted this report to find out what effect the mortgage limitation has had on the mortgage market since its introduction in autumn 2010. The mortgage limitation has both before and after the introduction been a topic of discussion as it affects many and above all makes it diffucult for certain customer groups.Method: This report was written by a qualitative method. The report uses qualitative and quantitative data. The quantitative data we have in the report are printed literature in books, articles and journals as well as data taken from Internet.

Title: The mortgage limitation and its impact on the mortgage marketLevel: Final assignment for Bachelor Degree in Business AdministrationAuthor: Mattias Arnkvist and Magnus Vitasp PerssonSupervisor: Lars SteinerDate: 2011 ? MayAim: We have conducted this report to find out what effect the mortgage limitation has had on the mortgage market since its introduction in autumn 2010. The mortgage limitation has both before and after the introduction been a topic of discussion as it affects many and above all makes it diffucult for certain customer groups.Method: This report was written by a qualitative method. The report uses qualitative and quantitative data. The quantitative data we have in the report are printed literature in books, articles and journals as well as data taken from Internet.

The financial crisis in 2008, effected companies around the globe and forced them to change their operational strategies, in order to survive. Companies with international links needed to consider external effects and due to that adapt their strategies on a global level. Demands for goods and service were decreasing and companies could only manage the cost during a recession to not face bankruptcy. Organisations need to reconsider their optimal strategy as this will determine their future outcome when managing a crisis as the one in 2008. British Airways - Air Cargo is a global company with an international network which serves about 80 countries, with about 200 destinations.

The rise in prevalence and severity of obesity and related diseases imposes increasing costs on society. The objective of this thesis is to discuss and estimate the possible effects of a so-called fat tax as a tool for minimizing these costs. Two alternatives for differentiation of the value-added tax (VAT) on food are compared. The first alternative is an increase of the VAT levied on food containing saturated fatty acids. The second alternative is a subsidy on fruit and vegetables in the form of a VAT at zero percent, instead of today?s twelve percent.

This master thesis is an early concept development project about using plastic films and sheets as materials for shaping openings for Tetra Pak packages. It is also a technical introduction highlighting the areas of importance for the development of plastic film and sheets openings. The master thesis has been carried out as a co-operation between Chalmers University of Technology, KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Tetra Pak AB.The master thesis study presents an introduction that gives an understanding of the technical complexities and design possibilities of using thin plastic films and sheets in liquid carton openings. The knowledge is then transferred into five design concepts which points out the areas of opportunity. The technical introduction is widespread and extensive covering current packing trends, the liquid carton package and openings, thermoplastic material properties, and thin film and sheet manufacturing and shaping.

Title: The role of social media on today?s markets ? Companies? desire to understand theircustomersAuthors: Kristoffer Avci-Nåmark & Patrik WidlundBackground: The markets of today are characterized by dynamic conditions because of thecontinuous change in consumer preference. Due to this, the interaction between the company and its consumers is gaining importance as companies find the need to increase their knowledge about the market. Out of this need social media has emerged as a tool forcompanies to improve their communication with customers. The popularity of social media isincreasing at a rapid rate and sites such as Facebook now has around 500 million usersworldwide.

The aim of the study is twofold, to generate a sensory profile of Swedish wine today and to investigate the opinion of both wine producers and wine experts on viticulture in Sweden and wine from grapes grown in Sweden, achieved through a contextual analysis comprising a literature study and interviews with wine producers in Sweden and Denmark and wine experts from Sweden and Germany, and a sensory analysis at the company Ipsos. ?Mixed methods? was the chosen research strategy as the semi-structured interviews gave qualitative results and the sensory analysis would give quantitative results displayed as spider charts. There is a lack of studies investigating how the Swedish wine is perceived by consumers and consumers might be unaware that the Swedish wine, established through ?trial and error?, is increasing in quality every season, creating a need to display the sensory profile of Swedish wine to strengthening the perception of Swedish white wine. This study shows that the Swedish white wine today is a wine with a fresh, citrusy and flowery aroma and a fresh, citrusy and green apple taste, however, a sensory analysis cannot show if the attributes are those that are desired by the customer, a consumer test is necessary to conclude that. Trends point towards locally produced products, one reason why Swedish wine has great potential, yet the future needs to be secured through job opportunities and education. Creating an approval system for Swedish wine is suggested as a future improvement, it is a common procedure in most wine regions.

AbstractOutsourcing is a business strategy that has developed over the last 40 years. Outsourcing means to let another company do some activity within the company, for example production.The thesis for this paper is: How is outsourcing used in a manufacturing company today and how is the resource efficiency affected by it? The research is divided into two parts, a theoretical part and an empirical part. The theoretical part consists of a study of literature. The works in this study is books, text books, bachelor thesis paper and scientific articles.