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 reason for performing an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is to incorporate environmental concern in different kinds of plans and projects. The purpose of such an assessment is to identify and describe direct, indirect and cumulative environmental impacts.Geographical Information System (GIS) is a tool that can be used to combine spatial extension of both sensitive areas and different environmental impacts in a quick and easy way. Because of that, descriptions of environmental impacts and motivation of different standpoints on a specific issue can be more correct and easier to make if GIS is used as a tool.Hence, GIS can contribute to improve the quality of Environmental Impact Assessments. If the benefits of using GIS are to out weight the costs, geographical information of satisfactory detail, actuality and accuracy need to be available at reasonable prices.In this paper, case studies are carried out for three different geographical analyses to investigate the use of GIS as a tool in EIA. From these case studies, more general conclusions about the benefits and limitations of using GIS for Environmental Impact Assessments are also drawn.

Due to increasing international competition and new technology IT-consultants has been forced to oversee their business models lately. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the process and consequences of a shift in business model for a consultant by using a methodology based on action research. The empirical foundation consists of a field study with observations, notes, interviews and business related documents. The case describes a consultant?s process of shifting business model from profits based on man-hours to selling a standardized system.

The importance of good information security and safety grows larger and larger for each day in the information society of today. This concerns citizens, companies and public authorities. At the Swedish Transport Administration, the operation of an information security and safety process has evolved over the years to guarantee that the public authority can be trusted by its citizens, cooperating companies and other public authorities. This responsibility has been assigned to the Information Security and Safety Department (Informationssa?kerhetsavdelningen, ITsa?).In this thesis the aim is to review to what extent ITsa? achieves any business benefits for the Swedish Transport Administration, and to analyze, streamline and come up with solutions to improve their workflow.

The purpose of this essay is to examine how same-sex couples experience the second-parent adoption process. To assist us, we have used our questions: how do the couples describe their experiences of the adoption process? Which are the couples? stories about the experience of contact with the involved professionals? What are the opportunities and barriers for same-sex couples to start a family? How do the couples describe their experience of reactions from the community and society, and how do they think the future will look like for same-sex couples? This study has been achieved through a qualitative approach. The empirical data is based on seven semi-structured interviews with same-sex couples or pair members that want to or have had a second-parent adoption. The theory we have used for analyzing the results is phenomenology with focus on queer theory, heteronormativity, and power.

Vocal Cord Dysfunction (VCD) is characterized by paradoxical vocal cord movement during inspiration or expiration, and generally affects adolescents and predominantly women. Previous studies have shown a large inconsistency concerning terminology, definitions, etiology, assessment, differential diagnosis, co-morbidity and treatment. The purpose of this study was to map knowledge on and management of VCD in Sweden. The study was conducted as a written survey addressed to speech-language pathologists and physicians, and attained an answer percentage of 79 percent. The results showed that several professions were involved in the management of these patients, but no clear pattern of referral could be observed.

Generally in Macedonia keeping farm records and farm business planning is not often practiced like an ordinary activity in farming. Therefore one of the crucial things to do it is to comprise and continuously practice record keeping of farm data. The efficient and justified farm business planning should be based on farm records about the previous work of the farm, which will bring a structured approach for planning all the activities, as well as provide a good basis for attracting investors and creditors for the additional expansion of the business.Given that sheep breeding holds an important part of the livestock production in Macedonia, there is a need for adding analytical sheep enterprise budgets to support the farm business planning process at sheep farms.The aim of this research was to develop sheep enterprise budgets created on the best production practice for Macedonian conditions of breeding and test their applicability into the farm business plan model Agriwise Macedonia. The sheep budgets were composed with a process of data collecting consisted of direct farm data (for the cases), expert's consultation and relevant desk research, as well as a literature study. The aim of doing it was to attain more accurate calculations of the enterprise budgets, which will result in a more precise outcome in the farm business plan model Agriwise Macedonia.

Syftet med vår studie var att undersöka, analysera och diskutera lärarens, elevers och föräldrars medvetenhet och engagemang om elevernas progression inom läsinlärningen. Analys och slutsatser byggde vi på våra resultat och modern forskning om barns språkinlärning. Detta gjorde vi med hjälp av en klass bestående av 1 lärare, 19 elever och deras föräldrar. Vi använde oss av kartläggningsmetoderna God Läsutveckling och Ordkedjor, enkäter och intervju. Resultatet av vår studie visade att kartläggningsmetoden var betydelsefull, men metodvalet inte var det avgörande för läsutvecklingen hos eleverna.

Det finns många olika Data Mining-processer som kan tillämpas i ett Data Mining-projekt. Fördelen med att använda en Data Mining-process är att projektet blir strukturerat, processen kan hjälpa till att minska risker som annars kan uppstå och kan medföra att projektmålet förändras. Data Mining-processen som studien har undersökt är generell och studien försöker därmed precisera olika faser av processen, för att anpassas till ett prognostiseringsprojekt.Studien utvärderar den preciserade prognostiseringsprocessen genom att följa och dokumentera ett prognostiseringsprojekt på en tillverkningsindustri. Studien analyserar teoretiskt vilka implikationer tillverkningsindustrin kan möta och även om studiens framtagna process är tillämpningsbar i detta fall. Studien visar att det på en teoretisk nivå går att genomföra studiens preciserade Data Mining-process och visar även vilka risker som kan uppkomma om ett prognostiseringsprojekt inte följer en Data Mining-process..

Vi har skapat en inspirationsbok. En inspirationsbok som egentligen består av två böcker i samma paket. Från ena hållet är det en bok fylld med illustrationer och konstverk som vi anser motiverar och inspirerar. Från det andra hållet är boken fylld av slumpbilder för att hjälpa unga kreatörer, designstuderande och allmänt den yngre formintresserade skaran med att komma bort från hjärnans logiska tänkande under en idéprocess. I denna textsamling kommer ni att kunna läsa om våran process.

När ett IT-företag ska utveckla ett system behöver de en systemutvecklingsmetod. Denna metod används för att de personer som arbetar i ett projekt ska ha en mall för hur de ska utföra sitt arbete. Vad som enligt litteratur verkar vara ett problem idag är att företagen har en metod men använder den inte på ett bra sätt eller inte alls. Detta leder till ostrukturerade projekt utan sammanhang. Om någon slutar i projektet är det svårt för någon ny att sätta sig in i det arbete som gjorts.

Background: The lack of knowledge regarding preschool children's mental health prompted Uppsala University, in collaboration with Uppsala Kommun, to start a study in which children aged 3, 4, and 5 years are screened using the "Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire" (SDQ). This screening method has been introduced into the majority of Uppsala County child care centers (BVC), and the nurses' experience of working with this method is examined in this paper.Method: A qualitative approach with semi-structured questions was used to interview ten nurses who pioneered the SDQ Method. The interviews where recorded, transcribed and analyzed using content analysis.Results: Three themes and nine categories were identified from the interviews. The themes were: "Attitude and motivation are important when working with the form", "Clearer overall picture with preschool answer", and "A tool to identify difficulties". The results show that the nurses were satisfied with the form.

Studies indicate that between 6-9% of all children has some type of voice problems. Voice problems in children may have different etiology and can affect all ages. In Sweden, there is a lack of a standardized questionnaire addressed to children with voice problems and their legal guardians. The purpose of this study was to translate and validate the Pediatric Voice Handicap Index (pVHI) in Swedish children aged 6 to 10 years. The study was carried out through an internet-based assessment form for children referred to speech and language pathologist/ phoniatrican due to voice disorders in Sweden and a matched control group of children without voice problems.

Det finns ett behov av personer som klarar av att generera en mängd fräscha, slitstarka och kreativa idéer under press. Denna undersökning omfattar hur mångsidiga Art directors kan arbeta för att framställa och producera material som håller hög standard. Fyra Art directors har intervjuats och givit sin åsikt i ämnet. Utifrån resultaten av intervjuerna och en mängd kreativa tekniker har vi utfört en grundläggande idéprocess. Resultatet av denna process är en konstutställning där vi har skapat ett koncept med fokus på miljö och framtid. - There is a need for people who can generate a large amount of fresh, durable and creative idéas under pressure. This investigation concerns how versatile Art directors work to manufacture and produce material of high standards. Four Art directors have been interviewed and given us their opinion on the subject.

The objective of this study is to understand how people with psychiatric diseases who are enrolled at a psychiatric clinic experience the recovery process and which internal motivations and external factors influence the process. The study is based on interviews with five people who have been enrolled at a psychiatric clinic. Another aim of the study is to understand how the importance of the outpatient care for the personal recovery and the improvement opportunities of the support from the rehabilitation unit that the interviewees see. The study is qualitative and abductive approach was chosen. This means that the study is based on empirical data supported by established theories.