Some theorist, like George Ritzer and Max Weber, claim that everything has its optimal process and that all companies therefore will strive towards standardization. Researchers like Paco Underhill and Pine & Gilmore on the other hand, claim that an increasingly global competition forces businesses to focus more on consumer demands, experiences and differentiation. This thesis challenges these statements with empirical data by looking at shopping malls and their strategies as well as consumer preferences. It arrives at the conclusion that output is primarily driven by customer demand, and that consumers value a certain part of predictability..

The success of self-service technology in retail grocery stores cannot be ignored, and the fact is that every other grocery store in Sweden has implemented the self-scanning or self-checkout systems. The trend is that the technique is spreading into other markets with potential to increase productivity for companies and enhance the service for customers. Fast fashion is one branch that is left untouched by the development in payment processes, and despite the leading companies extensive focus on fast service, the concept of self-service technology has not yet been tested. This paper undertake a quantitative, experimental approach to the issue and examines the effect self-checkout would have on Fast fashion- customers. By presenting a scenario with and without self- checkout and afterwards asked about the respondents experience, we can provide the marketing world with new insights.

In our globalized society massconsumption is widespread. However there is a trend showingthat people are starting to re-use clothes instead of buying newly produced garments. Reasonsfor buying secondhand clothing are many. During the 1950s people strived to look likeeveryone else but in the 1960s this changed. Subcultures grew stronger.

This essay focuses on the term usability while conducting a user centred system design. Usabilitymeans to what extent a user can use a product to achieve effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction.Development using a user centered system design means that knowledge about the end-users andit?s opinions becomes a crucial part of the development process. The question of this essay is if usinguser centred system design will lead to good usability.We used methods from a user centered system design point of view while developing an applicationfor a Swedish bookstore company called Bokia AB. This included user and task analysis following by aclose relationship between the developers and end-users by using sketches and showing themprototypes of the system while collecting feedback.After concluding our case study we determined that using methods from user centered systemdesign could be used as a great tool to further improve the usability and to improve an applicationssuccess chances..

The report is part of the university´engineer program within Industrial Organization and Economics with specialization in Logistics and Managment at Jönköping´s university.Skoghall´s mill underlies a large supply chain, which means there should be a lot of areas in need of small improvement measures. This report illustrates a small part of one of these areas and is focused on the loading distribution services in the terminal Vänern.At the moment there´s a very unequal load of the load carriers SECU box and Container at the terminal. Skoghall´s mill has the desire to equalize the high and low load levels of the 2 loading carriers named previously. One of the options to solve the problem is to set a limit of how much the carriers can load per week or per day. The mill also wants it to be investigated if the proposition would influence the customers in any way and if both the company and its customers could handle a lower level of delivery services in case the proposition was to be applied.The goal to be achieved with this thesis is to provide balance to the unequall loading of the 2 load carriers, SECU and Container, and investigate whether or not the Skoghall´s mill´s customers, could manage the lower degree of delivery service that the proposition would imply.For this goal to be achieved, random sample investigations were taken from orders of a customer that is provided with SECU load carriers and the same was made with a Container´s customer.

This thesis focuses on the motives and incitements for voluntary work. The main question for this thesis is why people get involved in voluntary work. What are the motives and incitements for voluntary commitment and what do people gain from this kind of commitment? The thesis is based upon qualitative research methods at Frivilligcentralen in Norrköping. The theoretical perspectives are a community commitment, satisfaction of being part of a meaningful context, altruistic and self-interest and an increased pace of social changes.

As a part of Göteborg Energi?s work towards a smarter electric grid, the company has chosen to investigate the possibilities of automation in their middle voltage grid. In Europe, there are example cases where these technologies already are installed which many articles on the CIRED conference 2011 proved. Netcontrol Oy in Finland has, together with Tekla, created an automated SCADA system that Vattenfall in Finland today uses. The grid mainly consists of 10 kV open loop fed city grid and this automation is mainly designed for this type of grid.

Studiens syfte var att undersöka huruvida ett pilotprojekt bestående av en ny typ avmedarbetar- och lönesamtal i Sandvikens kommun givit någon effekt på rolltydlighet,empowerment och arbetstillfredsställelse. Vidare var syftet att undersöka sambanden mellanrolltydlighet, empowerment och arbetstillfredsställelse. En enkät besvarades av 62förskollärare. Genom t-test undersöktes skillnaden mellan förskollärare som deltar i projektet(N=34) och andra förskollärare (N=28) gällande dessa variabler, men inga signifikantaskillnader kunde visas. En multivariat regressionsanalys visade i enlighet med tidigareforskning ett samband mellan rolltydlighet och arbetstillfredsställelse, men något sambandmellan empowerment och arbetstillfredsställelse visades inte.

Value stream mapping is a tool that is frequently used by many different companies. It is a great tool used to achieve the work that follows the theories of lean production. The tool is used, however, only frequent on the factory floor and the method is also designed based on this type of use.An interest of applying the method on administrative parts of the company has occurred lately. Administrative parts of the company refers to the part that does all the planning such as purchasing, receiving orders, customer contact, contact with factory floor and other work that is made around the actual manufacturing. But the knowledge about applying value stream mapping on the planning part of the company is lacking because the method is relatively new.In this work, a comparison is made between the introduction of value stream analysis on production and planning.

Många kända teorier inom psykologin beskriver motivation som en drivkraft, vilken är viktig för individens vilja att arbeta. Trivsel och motivation leder tillsammans till välmående på arbetet. Arbetsvillkor och uppskattning är viktiga faktorer för individens trivsel och motivation på arbetet och brister av dessa kan leda till vantrivsel och minskad motivation. I denna studie intervjuades åtta medarbetare om motivation och trivsel inom vårdyrket och syftet var att se om anställningsstatus har betydelse för trivsel och motivation. Skillnader i motivation och trivsel fanns beroende på anställningsstatus.

This report examines the possibility of developing a modular system for concrete homes that cancontribute to greater diversity of today's market. The issue was whether it ? from a competitive pointof view ? is possible to produce smart prefab modules that customers themselves can combine to avilla. The report addresses the question how the modules and wall panels should be designed for thegreatest variety of floor plans.With regard to what is asked of the customer interviews where held for the purpose ofunderstanding concrete's popularity and elements of high value in their homes today. The answersfrom the interviews laid ground for four prototype homes which were made to demonstrate how theelements can be combined to achieve different types of houses..

Sweden has a great tradition of pattern in both wallpapers and fabric, where colours and shape matters a lot for the customer. I have through my examination project tried to expand the views and find new alternatives and shapes for the obvious pattern traditions. I have therefore worked with what could be on the verge of attractive or repelling. To create a curiosity of what is considered to be commercial. From the prospective of the body organs I have created physical patterns for fabric and wallpapers.

Studier har visat att frivilligt barnlösa individer stereotypt har betraktats vara olyckliga och otillfredsställda, något som inte har fått vetenskapligt stöd. Syftet med den här tvärsnittsstudien var att undersöka om det föreligger några skillnader i livskvalitet och livstillfredsställelse mellan frivilligt barnlösa personer och föräldrar i den svenska populationen. Forskningsfrågan undersöktes med en enkät som bestod av självskattningsskalorna QOLI (Quality Of Life Inventory) och SWLS (Satisfaction With Life Scale). 130 deltagare genomförde studien varav 54 är frivilligt barnlösa individer och 76 är föräldrar. Studien visade att det inte finns några signifikanta skillnader mellan grupperna med avseende på livskvalitet och livstillfredsställelse.

This qualitative study aims to examine what career opportunities the Swedish employment service Arbetsförmedlingen can provide, as well as how the employees perceive their career development opportunities. Furthermore, we have touched on what it is that makes employees feel satisfied with their job and workplace, and also stay in the organization. The study was conducted on one of Arbetsförmedlingen?s offices in northern Sweden and the informants consisted of six employment agents, an executive assistant and a head of division. The result of the study has been analyzed using theories within the field of career development.

Kevin Roberts has extended the comprehension of strong consumer brands to a higher level where loyalty beyond reason is established. He calls this new status Lovemarks. As the concept of Lovemark has only been applied in B2C markets, this thesis is directed to find out the applicability of Lovemarks in B2B context. In order to fulfill the research purpose, three main questions are answered based on a cross-sectional research approach: What role do intangible factors play in B2B branding? Is the idea of B2C Lovemarks transferable to B2B context? How should a B2B Lovemark be characterized? The results of the qualitative interviews indicate insights of high investment and involvement, integrated brand communication, balance between function versus emotion, brand?s trustworthy personality, customer partnership, and finally, the potential establishment of B2B Lovemarks.