AbstractLean production has become one common concept within industries to make the work more effective and to meet today?s hard competition. A challenge for Chinese production is the threat from new low cost countries. It will become very difficult to succeed to produce to a lower cost than these countries; this led to that Chinese companies must develop new strategies, according to Lee and Zhou (2000). This will put China in front of new challenges and new strategies can be needed to retain their strong competitive advantages.

Denna uppsats utreder samspelet mellan politisk kultur och politisk ekonomi i Jordaniens politiska liberaliseringsprocess genom en litteraturstudie förankrad i kulturspecifik forskning. Det teoretiska huvudsyftet är att pröva Michael Ross teori om förhållandet mellan beskattning relativt offentlig service och politisk liberalisering, på en djupare nivå. Högre beskattning relativt offentlig service antas ge representation, politisk liberalisering och demokratisering. Vi kartlägger vilka kringliggande faktorer denna ekonomiska cost-benefit-modell fungerar tillsammans med.Vår slutsats är att den ekonomiska cost-benefit-modellen samspelar med en kulturell cost-benefit-modell. I Jordanien tillfredställde inte regimen befolkningens krav på subvention av exempelvis bränsle och basmatvaror.

I den här uppsatsen undersöks och utvärderas metoder för att beräkna indirekta socioekonomiska effekter till följd av transportinvesteringar. De projekt som ligger till grund för denna jämförelse finns på gemensam europeisk samt på nationell nivå. Projekten har använt sig antingen av kvantitativ analys, i form av multikriterieanalys alternativt cost-benefit analys, eller av kvalitativ analys, för att utvärdera effekterna. Slutsatserna består i att det är svårt att beräkna dessa effekter och att det därför är viktigt att metoden speglar den underliggande informationen. En verbal metod som speglar osäkerheten är ofta att föredra framför en metod som presenterar exakta monetära mått trots att den underliggande informationen är osäker..

As a result of increased energy prices more and more energy-efficient homes are coveted. An energy-efficient alternative is passive houses, which is characterized by an extremely well insulated building envelope that recovers the heat without the use of radiators or under floor heating. But a passive house requires a higher investment cost than a conventional building project, since it will require more construction materials, training of construction workers, greater land area, and long construction period. But the lower operating cost expects to pay back the higher cost of investment. We therefore question how profitable a passive house is in relation to houses built according to modern conventional building techniques.The aim of our study is to investigate the viability of passive houses compared to convent­ional houses.

A large cost at the construction sites today is the labour cost of the workers. But unfortunately the worker potential is not used to full. It is not unusual to take into a count with a work-­?place-­?additional-­?time of 50% in some cases. By increasing the workers' motivation and responsibility for their tasks may reduce the time considerably, which also increases the potential for greater gains in construction projects.By using the situational leadership may the workers level of maturity develop entirely.

Road transports stand for a great part of Sweden?s total CO2-emissions. Transports are expected to increase over the coming years, and with those the emissions. A greater environmental awareness leads to increased demands for environmentally friendly transport. The aim of this thesis is to study the consequences of changing transportation modes from road to railway.

Fuel wood is currently the third largest assortment from the forest in Sweden after pulpwood and lumber. Branches and tops i.e. logging residues are one of the assortments of fuel wood which is a common by-product after harvesting nowadays. The way to utilize, disintegrate and transport the logging residues varies between northern and southern Sweden. Branches and tops are collected throughout the year at appropriate stands, but are consumed mainly wintertime.

The climate changes that are occuring in the world have resulted in that the EU callingfor a 20 % reduction in energy consumption to the year 2020, to reach that goal theEU want the public sector to go forth as a good example. Västfastigheter owns andmanage the hospital buildings in the Västra Götaland region. To be able to reducetheir energy usage Västfastigheter has hired several consulting firms to chart out theenergy consumption on each hospital building. The biggest energy savings potentialhave been calculated and what the cost will be to perform each action. The energyaudit have been completed and stand as the decision basis for Västfastigheter?s choiceon which action packages that should be implemented.

Based on 30 years of work experience in TV and film production, I have made a phenomenological analysis of my perception of meaning in work - how it arises and how it is undermined. The story starts in my experience of early professional film making in the 1980's and describes how a change to work in TV production required the development of a new professional identity. The text also illustrates how as a female director I have managed my role in a male dominated and structured work environment. Being defined as an exception from the male norm has pushed me towards femininist reflection and the need to redefine my own work role - the generally accepted view having felt uncomfortable. An analysis of structural change in TV and film production shows how market pressures and ways of thought have increasingly invaded cultural endeavour. Professional spheres of influence are weakened, while developments in the media are characterised by a commercialism which encroaches more and more upon artistic, spiritual and moral values. This attitude, where quality is in retreat, has transformedprogramme makers from creative originators into becoming suppliers of raw material in a factory- like process geared to produce great volume at low cost.The aim of this essay is to show how changes in society and in TV and film making have affected my perception of my work.

The purpose of the study is to highlight the issue of student loans securitization, and assure the importance and benefits that could be realized by performing such a transaction. The methodology is a case study for The National Board of Student Aid. It is a qualitative study, mainly using interviews, literature and scientific articles. By using this information we construct a securitization transaction structure ?CSN 2006-1?, and conduct a cost/benefit analysis.

This thesis describes the new construction of a small house and it includes studies of three heating systems: geothermal heating, district heating and pellet. The purpose of this thesis is to project a small house which can manage Building Regulations, BBR conditions and then examine three possible heating systems for the small house. This thesis is a literature study which gives an understanding of the heating systems technical structure, properties and costs. An empirical study completes the literature study by giving a deeper understanding of district heating costs and pellet costs. The empirical study contains two interviews, one of which was conducted in a district heating corporation and the other interview was conducted in a pellet corporation.

The energy that the earth receives from the sun hourly has potential to cover a year?s energy demand in the world. Further, this type of energy is environmentally friendly, natural and free of cost. This report covers solar energy in an urban environment and consists of a case study of installations of photovoltaic cells in a part of the city of Stockholm. It is mainly the economic aspects that are covered but there is also a discussion about the practical consequences and the sustainability as a result of integration of solar energy in an urban environment. The aim of the study is to present results from economic calculations for utilization of solar energy in chosen buildings in Kungsholmen in Stockholm.

In recent years, the demands for effectiveness and evidence in social work have increased in all work areas, including that of healthcare. This has sparked the discussion on concepts such as practical- and theoretical knowledge and their respective roles in social work. In the light of this, the purpose of this candidate thesis is to investigate healthcare social workers understanding of practical- and theoretical knowledge in the working process as well as their respective influence and importance. This candidate thesis is based on three interviews with social workers from different departments in Norrlands Universitetssjukhus in Umeå, Sweden. To provide range to the thesis, the interviewees were chosen from a purposeful sampling.

The aim of this thesis is to examine how personnel working with asylum cases at the Swedish Migration Board handle their role as administrators of asylum. For the study 7 asylum administrators were interviewed and the analysis was made with influence from the method critical discourse analysis. To understand the themes in the analysis I have used Michael Lipskys theory about street-level bureaucrats. Main results from the analysis of the interviews were that the street-level bureaucrats had certain strategies for managing the difficult aspects of the job. The interviews also showed that the participating informants had difficulties with different identity positions..

Sweden has distinct seasons with cold winter and temperatures down to minus 25 ?C andpleasant summers with temperatures above 20 ?C. During spring and autumn there could becomechallenges with precipitation. The diverse climate in Sweden affects many homeowners. For thepeople living in leisure boats and permanent housing boats the seasonal changes are clearlyimpacting their economy and the indoor climate.