Abstract: Private equity used to be synonymous with tremendous yields and rates of return. However, the private equity market trembled in 2008, due to the financial meltdown caused by the worldwide credit crisis. Considering the current low number of exits within the private equity industry, the purpose of this thesis is to examine if there has been any change in how private equity firms control their portfolio companies since the inception of the crisis. One private equity company and two portfolio companies have been studied. The case study is prepared from interviews with senior directors in the portfolio company and investment managers in the private equity firm.

 The current estimations in regards to the increase in environmental threats underline the importance of influencing individual behavior towards a more sustainable lifestyle. At the same time current trends show an increasing interest into ecologically produced foods around the world and that the consumption has seen a major rise in the 20th century. It is therefore of great importance that companies show their interest and commitment in order to offer and influence the consumer into choosing the environmentally sustainable alternative. Also, in order to properly reach out to the consumers, it is of outmost importance to map out their attitude towards these types of products. It is equally important, in order to fully realize the potential of successful positioning, to show an understanding for the underlying decision processes that dictates purchase.

Extensive cattle management was reintroduced in Sweden during the 1950´s and 60´s. Usually this term refers to suckler cows for meat production that is kept outdoors all year around. Suckler cow farms tend to become fewer but bigger over time. Still however most of the farms with beef cows are small. Extensive animal husbandry can lead to animals becoming shy which leads to difficulties when they are handled due to veterinary treatments, marking, transport etc.

Arbetsmiljö är ?summan? av både fysiska, sociala och psykiska upplevelser som en arbetstagare möter i arbetslivet. Dessa upplevelser skapas eller formas av olika faktorer som arbetstagaren dagligen möter på sin arbetsplats. Då psykosocial arbetsmiljö idag är en relevant och aktuell fråga är uppsatsen inriktad på detta ämnesområde.I uppsatsen framställs den psykosociala arbetsmiljörätten ur tre olika perspektiv - rättsdogmatiskt, historiskt och empiriskt. Det rättsdogmatiska perspektivet är grunden för uppsatsen då det undersöks hur den psykosociala arbetsmiljön regleras i arbetsmiljölagstiftningen, samt vilket ansvar arbetsgivare respektive arbetstagare har gentemot den psykosociala arbetsmiljön.

During the 20th century Sweden faced an increased proportion of workers registered as part-time unemployed, especially in the care sector. However, due to many valuable efforts, aimed at solving the problem of part time unemployment and political decisions, the number of people who are part-time unemployed has declined since the late 20th century. We have investigated part-time workers preferential right to extending their working hours. According to Section 25 a of the Employment Protection Act, part-time employees who have submitted an interest in increasing their working hours has a preferential right to increased working hours, with the assumptions that full-time employment with the employer will meet a labor need that the employee has sufficient qualifications for.Qualitative interviews have given us information about how Karlstad Community and a private care company deal with part-time unemployment and their workers preferential right to extending their working hours. We have found that people who work for Karlstad Community have an opportunity to choose their number of workings hours, thanks to a political decision made in Karlstad Community, aimed at solving the part time unemployment in the care sector.

The aim of this two-year masters thesis is to look for the Swedish public library´s core business, using theories about competence. The approach is qualitative. It is done by studying the Unesco Public Library Manifesto, the Swedish library legislation, the education in library and information science, two important Swedish library related journals and by asking public librarians about their work and point of view regarding competence.The research shows mainly two sides of the core competence of public librarians: information technology competence and literature knowledge. The conclusion is that the two meet in the idea of mass education, which could therefore be called the Swedish public library´s core business..

Social media constitutes an increasing part of organizations and businesses today, regardlessif its segment is B2B (Business to business) or B2C (Business to consumer). The use ofsocial media has been self-evident for many companies, especially throughout the B2C area.The study examined attitudes towards Web 2.0 and social media in the B2B-segment, andwhat advantages and disadvantages that might exist with the use of the implementation. Inorder to answer the research question a qualitative case study on the company IFS (Industrialand Financial Systems) was made..

Internet commerce is nowadays a well known phenomenon. There is awareness that a lot of newly created companies operate their business through the Internet. You can see a tendency where many young people try to establish an Internet business with the hope of success and expansion on today?s fierce market rivalry. To achieve success, companies have to consider factors like business concept, logistic knowledge, future vision, resources and contacts when initializing their business.Having this in mind, we can clarify the purpose with this paper: ?To analyze in what way On-line shopping companies that sell consumer electronics, cell phones and music/entertainment products, have expanded? The paper is based on telephone interviews with three On-line shopping companies.

Sammandrag: Företag strävar kontinuerligt efter att bygga ett välkänt och framgångsrikt varumärke. De strävar efter att tillfredsställa konsumenters behov för att öka varumärkets värde, brand equity. Genom att försöka avgöra konsumenters inställning till ett visst varumärke och deras förhållning till ett utökat sortiment i en ny produktkategori syftar denna uppsats till att diskutera och utforska förändringen av varumärkets brand equity. Vid denna undersökning har H&Ms varumärke och deras nya sportkollektion använts som exempel. Teorin behandlar varumärkets värde, brand equity, utifrån ett konsumentperspektiv samt utvidgning av produktutbud hos varumärken.

Purpose/Aim: The purpose of this thesis is to define and analyse how Swedish record companies work with digital musical content distributors. A more narrow aim is to show how the record companies and with the digital musical content distributors iTunes Music Store and Spotify create incentives for consumer?s to use legal digital music channels through the Internet. To further circle the core of the problem following questions have been asked: How does the record companies provide iTunes Music Store and Spotify with digital content and what is done by the record companies to retain control over the material? How do the record companies view digital musical sales and what incentives are given to consumers to buy music digitally? Finally, What position of power do iTunes Music Store and Spotify have on the digital content arena?Material/Method: The data collected for this thesis is retrieved through personal interviews with representatives from three of the four major record companies Universal Music, Warner Music and EMI and their Swedish branches.Main results: The consumer?s access to digital content through iTunes Music Store and Spotify is of the utmost importance and is a prerequisite.

In the early 1990?s more and more companies of the Swedish public sector were exposed to competition, and this started the debate on how such actions might affect the business and even society.The first chapter examines how the public sector and especially health care, is financed and managed. We also explore what it means to be exposed to competition and find that there are many different ways of exposing the public sector to competition. The study examines dental care as an example of a market with both publicly and privately owned companies. The purpose of this paper is to explore how publicly and privately owned health care companies view their relationship with their consumers.

Every year 67000 tons of food is wasted by Swedish retail stores. The waste implies financial losses for the retailer and it has a huge impact on the global environment. Reducing in-store food waste is thus a win-win situation for both retailers and society. The most effective way to reduce waste is primarily by optimizing the logistics of supply, but customers expect a store with a wide range of products and stuffed shelves. Thus there will always be products about to expire.

This paper deals with the use of Internet at Swedish public libraries. The author asks whether public libraries should or should not limit access to information available on the Internet. Starting from the American discussion, concerning Internet at public libraries, the author shows the Swedish attitudes. The paper demonstrates that many Swedish public libraries have adopted rules forbidding retrieval of certain kinds of information, such as hard-core pornography and racist propaganda. The persons in charge of such actions claim that public libraries should provide high-quality educational literature and should not spread mass-produced, provocative information.

Interest deduction limitation rules have an important function as the regulations prevent the Swedish tax base to decrease. However, the restrictions must not be at the expense of the business environment. Interest deduction limitation rules that do not work in a satisfactory manner are likely to make Sweden a less favourable country to establish in. The first Swedish rules which were aimed to restrict interest deduction threaded into force in 2009. The rules were applicable to intercompany loans related to acquisitions of part ownership rights and the aim was to reduce tax avoidance through corporate group-loans. The rules proved to be ineffective since the avoidance continued and the Swedish rules could not tackle the problem.

I denna uppsats om visuell kommunikation kommer olika teorier att tas upp, vi har genomfört intervjuer med kunder, gjort observationer i butiker och sammanställt fakta för att ta reda på hur en förbättrad visuell kommunikation av de miljövänliga plaggen kan påverka konsumenter att handla mer miljövänligt. Engelsk titel: Visual communication- sales promotion of eco-friendly garments in storesEngelska nyckelord: Visual communication, Sustainability, Environmental clothing, Consumer behaviorSammanfattning på engelska:.