Multi-branch companies are facing many challenges in order to become successful. Competitive advantages can be gained through a unified strong brand, standardised products and economies of scale. This normally calls for centralisation. On the contrary is decentralisation, which is said to improve work motivation and local market orientation, which are also competitive advantages. The focus of this thesis is to study how local branch managers want their companies to be structured in accordance with this dilemma.

This Masters thesis aims to study the reading habits of readers of romantic fiction, especially focusing on gender issues. The main areas studied are the function of reading romances compared with reading other genres, and how the readers value romantic and general literature. The thesis is based on qualitative interviews with seven readers of romances, five women and two men. The theoretical background is based on reader response theory and gender theory. Before I started interview the readers I asked them to read two romances; Sidney Sheldons - The best Laid Plans, and Rosamunde Pilchers - The End of Summer, which we later discussed during the interviews.

The business potential of software defined radio (SDR) technology is studied by evaluating whether or not its characteristics correspond to those particular to a disruptive technology. The maturity of the SDR technology concept is illuminated by analyzing the opinions and perspectives of a selection of representatives for different stakeholders in the wireless communications market. Characteristics as, for example, the degree of consensus about the utility of SDR technology and the awareness of features and limitations are studied by application of the theory of technological frames. This theory helps us understand how and when technology evolution takes place. Finally we describe the value network structures of some potentially viable application areas for SDR and suggest some possible business opportunities based on SDR technology.This thesis is carried out as a case study and the research data is obtained from secondary sources, such as literature and Internet publications as well as interviews with people well experienced in the field of wireless communications.

Föreliggande studies syfte var att undersöka behandlingseffekten av ett Internetbaserat självhjälpsprogram med e-poststöd, för personer med olika typer av ångestproblematik. Ett ytterligare syfte var att undersöka behandlingsresultaten när deltagaren själv fick förfoga över behandlingens upplägg och innehåll. Huvudkomponenten i behandlingen utgjordes av sammanlagt 16 moduler hämtade från tidigare Internetbehandlingar riktade mot social fobi, paniksyndrom, generaliserat ångestsyndrom samt depression.Behandlingsgruppen utgjordes av 27 individer som varit kontrollgrupp i en tidigare behandlingsstudie. För samtliga deltagare pågick behandlingen tio veckor. Beroendevariabler utgjordes av självskattningsformulären Clinical Outcome in Routine Evaluation ? Outcome Measure, Beck Anxiety Inventory, Montgomery Åsberg Depression Rating Scale ? Self Rated, Quality Of Life Inventory, resultat på SCID-intervjuer samt kodning av totala symtom.

In this essay I analyze Karin Boye?s first novel, Astarte, focusing on her views concerning norms,ideals and female liberation. The novel is written in a tone of irony, allowing for many of thecharacters to be viewed as caricatures. The theories and methods I use are drawn from genderstudies and queer theory. Queer theorist Judith Butler, and the concepts of performativity, interpellation, genealogy and the heterosexual matrix, are of central importance for my analysis.

AbstractThe aim of this study is to highlight the professional?s perspectives and work with young girls who have eating disorder anorexia nervousa. We assume a social constructivist perspective where the professional?s interpretations and perspectives on the issue anorexia considered. The study is based on a qualitative analysis of interviews with seven professionals in the areas of work, social services, school counselor, school nurse, anorexia unit and child and adolescent psychiatry (BUP).From a thematic analysis of the interviews, three themes emerged.

The aim of this study was to investigate whether a direct shift inpostural alignment results in changes in voice source characteristics. Ninemales with untrained voices were recorded standing in ideal posturalalignment and in the deviant postures swayback and kyphosis characterizedby extended hips and a slump back respectively. The voice source wasderived from the audio signal by inverse filtering. The parameters pulseamplitude, maximal flow declination rate, level difference between the firstand second voice source partials, closed quotient and the normalizedamplitude quotient in relation to subglottal pressure were compared betweenideal postural alignment and swayback and kyphosis respectively. Resultsindicate an impact of changed postural alignment on the voice source.Swayback posture gave significantly less pulse amplitude and maximal flowdeclination rate and significantly higher subglottal pressures thus resulting ina less effective phonation.

Today?s wind power plants are only compensated for their reactive power consumption at no-load. As the wind power plants grow bigger the amount of reactive power they need also increases. This is no longer a problem that can be ignored, especially as the net owners are beginning to charge the reactive power they transport.In this thesis a couple of different methods of compensation and their prices will be discussed and evaluated. Problems, such as self-excitation, that can occur if one fully compensates the wind power plant will also be brought to surface.

The study has examined how some immigrants have managed to reestablish their professional careers in Sweden. Through in-depth-interviewing with six immigrant informants representing different genders, age and professional experience the process of successfully reestablishing a career within the same professional area in Sweden as in their native country is examined.The study looked at structural and individual possibilities and obstacles which affected the individual. In addition the study looked at the personal characteristics and strategies used by the informants to overcome and succeed in adapting and reestablishing their working life.  The study has drawn on human capital and social capital theory for a basic understanding of how education and skills affect. In addition the informants have surpassed structural barriers affecting many other immigrants.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how teachers perceive that they work with science in preschool through aesthetic learning processes as tools both in the indoor and outdoor environment and make visible what the educators' underlying beliefs are that affect how they perceive aesthetic learning processes as tools used to deepen children's understanding of different scientific phenomena.This is an interview study using the phenomenographic approach as a means and method to make visible and report on teachers' views on how aesthetic learning processes can be used to extend preschool children's learning about science. The results are analyzed and discussed based on John Dewey's theoretical ideas about children's learning, aesthetics and science.The study clearly shows that teachers' views on aesthetic learning processes and how they can be used in the work whit science is very divided and in some cases unreflective. The most striking results are that teachers often are unaware that they make use of aesthetic learning processes because they have a more limited view of what it is than we have in the paper. All informants have science as a core subject. Their focus of the activity is located at the showing and visualizeing of scientific phenomena and some of them express that they submit the aesthetic learning processes to their colleagues or that they collaborate with someone who has training in some art form.

Because of among other things the globalization and a focus on core competencies knowledge has become very important for the companies of today, especially for research-intensive companies. The problem is that the companies become more sensitive to how knowledge is created and spread, that is, how organizational knowledge is created. Especially sensitive are companies who are small, young and research-intensive. The purpose with this thesis is to explore how organizational knowledge is created in small, young and research intensive companies.The theory is based on a five-phase model of organizational knowledge creation and four modes of knowledge conversion described by Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995). These concepts constitute the foundation of the analytical model used in the thesis.The study is carried out by qualitative, highly structured interviews with low standardization.

Background and problemThe biggest difference between companies and non-profit organizations are their purposes. Companies? purpose is to generate profit to the shareholders. Non-profit organizations do not have any shareholders and their purpose is to offer service to receivers of benefits.There are a lot of non-profit organizations today and the competition for the donations is rough. Non-profit organizations can influence the publics? decision of who to support by creating a financial reporting that appeal to the public.PurposeThe purpose of this essay is to examine how non-profit goals are measured in non-profit organizations and if there are a practice on the subject.MethodologyWe choose a qualitative approach as we wanted to understand the reality by explaining it with words.

The study examines how efficiency and effectiveness are measured in charity organizations in Sweden. The rules of Svensk Insamlingskontroll, Årsredovisningslagen and Bokföringslagen make up the accounting framework upon which efficiency and effectiveness are measured in charity organizations. The study is based upon interviews with the sector's main actors: Svensk Insamlingskontroll, Frivilligorganisationernas insamlingsråd, auditors and the charity organizations themselves. The interviews are supplemented by studies of the guidelines issued by Svensk Insamlingskontroll. Today's measure of efficiency is the percentage of a charity organization's income that benefits their goals, called nyckeltalet.

Sweden of today is a so-called multicultural society. In this thesis we wanted to examine how mono, multi- and intercultural issues are expressed in culture-political documents. We also wanted to know how librarians for whom these documents are supposed to be guidelines expressed themselves in these matters. Monoculturalism can be described as a static perspective laid upon culture which emphasises cultural purity. A multicultural society describes a society were the nation consists of many different cultures alongside each other, without a genuinely common core.

Title: Information storage - A growing problem? Authors: Göran Svanhall Pär Truedsson Erik Ponnert Tutor: Bengt Carlsson Problem: Every day companies, regardless of size, produces new information that needs to be stored. In the information society of today, the characteristics of the information changes both in size and complexity. This results in higher demands on which storage solution that suits the company and their field of business. New and more innovating storage solutions enters the market, but are they necessary to smaller companies of development active in the IT society? Questions to Answer: Is data storage a growing problem for companies of development active in the IT society? How do traditional storage solutions manage the information growth of today? How urgent is the need of a new storage solution? Which features are prioritized in the future storage solution? Method: By performing a quantitative survey we delivered an inquiry to several companies, which answers will help us answering our above mentioned questions. Conclusion: The consulted companies experience no growing problems what so ever regarding their existing storage solution..