A1257Kraven på företags sociala ansvarstagande har under de senare åren ökat. Allt fler företag arbetar därför med mänskliga rättigheter, miljöpåverkan och en hållbar ekonomisk utveckling för att behålla sin legitimitet. Sedan Kofi Annan år 1999 initierade Global Compact och vädjade till världens företagsledare att tillsammans hjälpa till och skapa en bättre värld har begreppet Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR, vunnit acceptans. 2002 initierade Göran Persson en nationell motsvarighet, Globalt Ansvar. Trots det saknas en tydlig innebörd av CSR och därför riktas vårt intresse mot organisationer och företag som arbetar med CSR.

Breakdowns of welded structures are usually a consequence of fatigue loading. Fatigue fractures are commonly initiated in the region close to the weld toe but can also initiate from the weld root and from discontinuities inside the weld. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the weld quality of welded joints produced at Volvo Wheel Loaders factory in Arvika. The goal of the investigation is to give a clearer insight regarding factors influencing the fatigue strength of the welded joints and thereby give a better foundation for fatigue strength calculations.The investigation is including examination of the weld geometry, weld discontinuities and the effects of shot peening. Mainly three different methods for collecting test data have been used: Plastic replicas cast on the weld profile, weld specimens from a rear frame belonging to a wheel loader of model L110E/120E and Almen testing of the shot peening.The results showed that it is not possible to control even transition between the weld material and the base material without after treatment.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of logotypes within the visual identity and identify possible reasons that motivate companies to change their logo. This paper should also clarify how different parts of the visual identity affect each other and how they are interconnected. The thesis research question is formulated with the purpose in mind and has led to the following question: How can a logo change contribute to enhanced visual identity? Since we wanted to obtain a better understanding of the chosen research area with help of interviews have we chosen a qualitative method for this thesis. During the process we have let the empirical material control the chosen theories.

Det har blivit allt vanligare att företagen redovisar om deras miljöpåverkan samt hur de Arbetar för att minska deras miljöpåverkan. Att företag frivilligt publicerar miljöredovisningar har skapat en diskussion bland forskare, som försöker att besvara frågor som varför företag frivilligt redovisar om deras miljöpåverkan samt hur olika företagsegenskaper påverkar miljöredovisningen. Denna undersökning syftar till att testa om legitimitetsteorin kan förklara sambandet mellan samhällets miljömedvetenhet och företagens miljöredovisning samt undersöka hur egenskaperna storlek och branschtillhörighet påverkar detta samband. Undersökningen bygger på miljöredovisningar hämtade från årsredovisningar och CSR redovisningar för 144 börsnoterade svenska företag från åren 2005 och 2011.  Antalet sidor och innehållet i miljöredovisningarna analyserades med hjälp av en innehållsanalys. Resultatet av denna undersökning tyder på att legitimitetsteorin kan förklara sambandet mellan samhällets miljömedvetenhet och företagens miljöredovisning, samt att företagens storlek och branschtillhörigheten tycks påverka sambandet.

The thesis has been carried out in cooperation with Master Flow AB, Västervik owned by the EWEBE Group. The company produces and sells hot runner systems that are tailor made for the customers.The problem that MasterFlow AB has encountered is in the construction of complex hot runner systems in SolidWorks. With several different lengths, fronts and endcaps that builds the nozzles of the hot runner systems, is affecting the problems for MasterFlow AB. The purpose of this work is to automate the design of hot runner systems so it does not overload the CAD-system SolidWorks.To gain an understanding of the problem, there have been several studies and observations at the company, where the focus has been on how the work is done with the design of hot runner systems. By using help from the corporate management, enough information has been collected to find a solution to these problems.The implementation of design automation has been based on a flowchart that was created.

På senare år har ansvarsfullt företagande blivit en allt viktigare del av företagande, där företag måste ta hänsyn till arbetsvillkor och miljöpåverkan i sin verksamhet. Ett begrepp som är starkt kopplat till ansvarsfullt företagande är Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR). CSR har en lång och varierad historia i litteraturen. Även om CSR nämns några gånger innan 1950-talet, ses tiden efter som den moderna eran för CSR när det gäller definitioner av begreppet. Problemet med CSR är att det är resurskrävande för företag och att begreppet inte är klart definierat. Utöver det kan CSR bli en pappersprodukt där företag använder CSR som ett PR-verktyg.

The aim of this Master thesis was to examine news journalism covering expressions of mourning related to violent or unexpected deaths. What rituals for mourning are brought out in media and do media present guidance to how mourners should behave? The questions examined were: What characterised news events that leaded to texts on expressions of mourning? How was grief framed? Which narrative patterns were there in the texts? How was the deceased represented? How were the mourners represented? 165 texts, from Swedish daily newspapers, covering 93 different news events were analysed. The methods were mainly discourse analysis with focus on identities and relations, but also semiotic analysis with focus on staging and symbols and narrative analysis with focus on patterns for storytelling. The result showed that a news story about ordinary people expressing their feelings of grief has elements of melodrama. The news story is based on the myth of the victim, and formed as a typical story where equilibrium is disturbed when the inconceivable happens and the mourners can by their actions restore equilibrium.

The environmental issues have during the last decenniums gained an increased role in both the political arena and in the market economy. The society is therefore more knowledgeable about the environment and our impact on it. Through this enlightened state, stakeholders tend to put pressure on the organizations of today. They, more or less willingly, incorporate this responsibility to be a part of their business. Entrepreneurs in the environmental area have seen this rising market as an opportunity to gain market shares and other positive outcomes.

I dag blir det allt mer viktigt för modeföretagen att sticka ut och komma med annorlunda erbjudanden för att kunna konkurrera med de andra modeföretagen som finns på marknaden. Konsumtionen har blivit en livsstil och vi skapar vår identitet och personlighet genom den. För människan är det viktigt att tillhöra en grupp, vilket bidrar till att det skapas en märkeshets, där till exempel skjortmärket talar om för andra vilka vi är och vad vi står för.Då konkurrensen har ökat är det viktigare för företagen att jobba med långsiktiga kundrelationeroch aktivt jobba med att locka till sig nya kunder, samt behålla dem. I dag är det större konkurrens om kunderna, därför blir erbjudande företagen förmedlar allt viktigare. Lägger företaget ner tid på att få fram ett bra erbjudande och differentierar sig blir kommunikationen till kunden tydligare vilket i sin tur leder till att företaget får tillfredsställda kunder och högre omsättning.

ABSTRACTTitle:Estate agent is a trusted profession - a study of how real estate broker working on Codes of ConductLevel:Final assignment for Bachelor Degree in Business AdministrationAuthor:Mikaela KarlssonSupervisor:Agneta SundströmDate:2012 ? JuneAim:There is a lack of confidence in the branch of real estate which makes me wonder: How do the bransch of real estate work with Code of Conduct to strengthen their confidence? The aim is to describe and analyze how the branch of real estate works with confidence and codes of conduct.Method:I have an qualitative approach in which interviews have been used to collect data and literature studies to collect theoretical information. The collected material have been analyzed from a hermeneutical perspective.Result & Conclusions:To some extent the real estate branch works with the establishment of Codes of Conduct to strengthen the confidence. This is shown by increased transparency to increase customers commitment in the bidding. As confidence has been risen for the part of the process this indicate that Codes Of Conduct has the ability to strengthen the confidence for the real estate as a branch.Suggestions for future research:One topic that is interesting to study is how the real estate brokerage companies could controll their stakeholders to follow the company´s guidelines for social responsibility.Contribution of the thesis:The thesis gives people involved in real estate branch suggestions on how a trust could be built up by working with Codes of Conduct.Key words:Corporate Social Responsibility, Code of Conduct, confidence, real estate broker, the bransch of real estate..

The Swedish stock-market gives investors an opportunity to benefit from the global growth while financing companies invests and contributes to a socio-economic development. Parallel to the ownership of the funds also follows a responsibility as companies in the funds affect society and the environment. The growth of savings in funds, combined with an increased focus on sustainability has developed SRI (socially responsible investment). Therefore it is interesting to examine whether responsibility is an exception, which only concerns SRI-funds or a general principle, which includes the whole Swedish stock-market.The results of the survey makes it clear that all the Swedish major banks actively works to integrate sustainability within the respective bank's business to achieve a more sustainable financial system. Thus concludes the investigation that responsible investments are a general principle on the Swedish mutual stock-market.How responsibility is integrated in fund management differ between the banks.

Since Brand Management and Marketing in theory mainly been focusing on the consumer market, our main purpose of this essay is to analyze how a brand also can be appealing to the labour market, to attract and engage employees. Keywords attached to our essay are, brands, recruitment, Human Resource management, theories of motivation, corporate identity, employer branding and internal marketing. The study is based on a qualitative research. Our main reason for choosing this research was to get a closer insight for the phenomen and to establish a major understanding for the subject. To get a better knowledge and to answer and fulfil our purpose we have chosen to complete eight interviews, of whom six respondents representing Service firms.

The use of subscription services directed towards customers has become a common phenomenon in a vast number of different industries. We have noticed a clear trend of new businesses emerging solely offering subscriptions, and existing companies altering sales of their products to become parts of subscriptions. But research has not caught up with this trend yet, especially regarding why it occurs and how it affects existing businesses internally. The purpose of this study is to examine the driving forces for change and examine how existing businesses have to change parts of their business models to offer subscription services. The premise of this study has been Vargo & Luschs (2004) Service Dominant Logic with their foundational premises and Business Model Canvas by Osterwalder et.

Syftet med denna studie är att analysera frivilligheten med Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR, en trend kring samhällsansvar som organisationer idag väljer att implementera. CSR är uppbyggt kring frivilliga riktlinjer, standarder och regler vilka kan antas och modifieras av organisationerna. Denna studie ämnar ifrågasätta frivilligheten kring dessa frivilliga riktlinjer, standarder och regler. Studien är en kvalitativ textanalysstudie där avsikten har varit att synliggöra mekanismer som påverkar organisationers frivillighet i CSR-arbetet. Uppsatsen bygger på en analys av tre offentliga organisationers hållbarhetsredovisningar.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to study the companies approach to sustainability and to examine the relationship between the report content and the sustainability efforts businesses are making in practice.Method: The study has a qualitative perspective with semi-structured interviews and content analysis as method to collect data. Three companies were interviewed; Tekniska Verken AB, Apoteket AB and Max hamburgerrestauranger AB. The content analysis was used when collecting data from the three companies? sustainability reports.Frame of reference: Legitimacy theory, Stakeholder theory, Institutional theory, the Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility.Results: The result showed that all companies are prepared to work for sustainable development and that they view sustainability as an integrated part of their work. The sustainability report is the basis for sustainability reporting, which is a way for companies to demonstrate to their stakeholders what they stand for and what they implement in practice.