Demands on businesses are constantly increasing and the competition in the market-place is becoming ever tougher. To gain the long-term confidence of customers, not only the best businesses, but also the best supply chains are required.Volvo Cars is experiencing a changing competitive situation and their retailers are having trouble stocking the right spare parts. Shorter product life cycles and the growth of Volvo?s product program result in an increase in the number of spare parts to be stocked. In order to adapt to market trends and meet customer demands, Volvo has developed the LDC model, establishing a number of regional warehouses in strategic locations in Sweden, de-signed to supply spare parts to the regions? retailers through so-called Vendor-Managed In-ventory (VMI).The purpose of the study is to examine Volvo personbilar Sverige?s (VPS) motivation for a modified customer-service strategy through LDC.

Title: The appraiser?s choice of valuation method ? factors that influences the choice of company valuation methodsSeminar date: 04/06/07Course: Master thesis in Business Administration, 10 Swedish credits.Authors: Anne Benedicks and Veronica ÖbergAdvisor: Eron OxingProfession of category: Financial analysts, auditors and company lawyers.Key words: Company valuation, valuation methods, cash flow analysis, comparative valuation, the net asset value method.The Main Issue: What is of decisive importance when choosing a special company valuation method?Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify, analyse and evaluate the most common methods of valuation for financial analysts, auditors and company lawyers and those factors that influences the choice of method.Method: A multiple survey has been implemented for the actual profession categories. Primary data was collected through semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire survey.Theoretical: The theoretical frame of reference is based upon the paper?s dependent variable, i.e. the role of the appraiser.

In today?s IT world where software is constructed in a rapid pace, testing has become a crucial area to master when testing has to be done at a greater speed. To still be able to handle the demands of high quality software, companies have to spend more resources on testing and introduce test automation. By automating test cases the testers can gain time which they can spend on doing more complex testing and thereby increase the quality of the software.In this thesis we have helped Extenda AB, who delivers systems to retail companies, to introduce test automation in one of their customer specific projects. This has been done using their own in-house ?capture/replay? tool ECP (Extenda Cashier Player).We have also derived a process that explains how Extenda can introduce test automation on other customer projects.

Syfte: Syftet med vår studie är att utreda och analysera hur två kommunala bostadsföretag arbetar med kundorientering idag jämfört med för tio år sedan. Vårt mål är att utifrån en uppföljande studie redogöra för hur kundorienteringstankarna har utvecklats under den senaste tioårsperioden. Arbetar de kommunala bostadsföretagen mer kundorienterat idag jämfört med för tio år sedan? Vi vill även öka kunskapen kring kundorientering och belysa vilka fördelar som finns att vinna hos de kommunala bostadsföretag som väljer att arbeta kundorienterat. Metod: För att genomföra studien har vi samlat information från litteratur och från två intervjuer. Intervjuerna har utförts personligt på respektive respondents kontor.

The aim of this Master?s thesis is to examine boys?/young men?s forming of masculinity and gender identity and how discussions around gender stereotypes and conceptions represents themselves in contemporary youth novels. Gender theory based upon R.W. Connell?s theoretical framework which discusses masculinities in plural is used.

Abstract______________________________________________________________________Title:A study about creating understanding for different kinds of empowermentLevel:Bachelors thesis in Business Administration, 15 creditsAuthor:Fredrik LegovicSupervisor:Tomas KällquistDate:2014 - JuneAim:The main purpose of this study is to increase the understanding for different kinds of empowerment and how it affects the staff in the public sector.Method:The choice of method was based on the research aim. The method used to meet the objective was qualitative. The qualitative study was conducted with a hermeneutic basis, where individuals were asked to describe their experience of empowerment and how they feel affected of it. This thesis has a deductive approach, where existing theories dealing empowerment formed the basis for the design of interview substrate, which is then paired with the empirical evidence, based on this the conclusions was drawn.Result & Conclusion:What separates the different kinds of empowerment and how it affect the staff depends most of all on how the management chooses to communicate and share information with their staff.Suggestions for future research:A study regarding managers that works with different kinds of empowerment, and how that affects them, could be regarded as an interesting future research.Contribution of thesis:It shows that different kinds of empowerment affect the staff in different ways, which I made clear to the readers.Keywords:empowerment, thinking skills, relations and organizational - structure and theory.

Denna uppsats behandlar service, ett fenomen som har växt sig starkare de senaste årtiondena och som har kommit att bli ett avgörande verktyg för många företag för att kunna skapa marknadsfördelar. Att ett företag förvaltar mötet dem och kunden emellan på bästa sätt är ofta en kritisk faktor för att få kunden att återvända till butiken även nästa gång. Vissa företag är mer och andra är mindre beroende av ett bra servicesystem och därför är syftet med denna uppsats att undersöka huruvida serviceförväntningarna hos två olika kundgrupper liknar eller skiljer sig från varandra. Kundgrupperna som valts ut tillhör konfektionsföretagen, H&M som är en kedja i lågprissegmentet och Acne som är ett företag i högprissegmentet. Frågeformuleringen som besvaras i uppsatsen gäller som följer: Hur skiljer sig H&M-kunden från Acne-kunden i sina förväntningar på service i butik? För att besvara frågeställningen används en kvantitativ metod en så kallad muntlig strukturerad intervju som är riktad mot de två kundgrupperna.

The purpose of this essay is to describe how Boverkets Byggregler has affected the cost ofnewly built houses from 2003 to 2012, to Boverkets Vision 2025. The purpose is also to findagent-principal relations in the construction sector.When investing in an energy efficient house the operating costs are reduced compared to aconventional house. But due to the lower operating costs, the investment cost rises. In thisstudy, we find out if it is economically viable to invest in an energy efficient house comparedto a conventional house from the customer's perspective.The study's approach has been qualitatively where we in collaboration with Derome Hus hadaccess to three conventional reference houses and a passive house and data that was necessaryto conduct viability assessments on houses. We conducted five interviews with people fromDeromekoncernen and Varbergs kommun.The calculation methods we have used in this study are present value method, annuity methodand a sensitivity analysis.

Event is something that an increasing number of Swedish cities are investing in since it contributes to higher attractiveness of cities and generate economic revenues. New arenas are built around Sweden to meet the increasing demands to host such events. Event projects are carried out in Sweden and it is important that the planning phase is carried out thoroughly to get a successful project. This thesis aims to look more closely at selected organizations and how they plan their projects and whether it is possible to follow project plans in the event projects. Karlstad has many events that recur annually, including the Swedish Rally.

Veterinary medicine is not merely an area of occupation but also an area of business. In a business the customer service is its identity and brand and more importantly what makes the client choose and recommend the clinic to other potential customers. The licensed veterinary nurse is habitually the one who first meets the clients at the clinic. Therefore it is particularly important for the licensed veterinary nurse at the clinic to offer high-quality customer service. The object of this study was to understand and elucidate how the pet owners experience the encounter with the licensed veterinary nurse at different stages in their contact with the clinic.

It is becoming increasingly important for companies to meet customer demands due to intense competition in today's global market, that forcing companies to improve their offerings and become better at managing their supply chain (Shen et al., 2006).  Long lead times can be reduced by using different methods and strategies shows various researches. Lead times occur in the planning, production, inventories and handling of products (Treville et al., 2003).The aim of the study is to develop a method to analyze the factors that affect the length of internal delivery lead time in manufacturing companies. The method also included suggestions for reducing delivery lead-time to internal customers.The main factors that influenced the length of the on delivery lead times has summarized to make a selection among the factors that can have the most significant impact. The selected elements will be used as a method to analyze how these areas affect a company?s length on internal delivery lead times.The study shows that the causes of the long delivery lead times was the location of the customer order point, uncertain forecasts, long material and production planning time, and long waits in the production and storage.The delivery lead time, according to this report?s suggested improvements reduced by centralizing CODP and makes more reliable forecasts.

AbstractTitle: The Moment Of Truth; A study of service quality assuranceAuthors: Fanni Helminen and Linda ElsborgLevel: Bachelor Thesis in Business Administration, C-level.Advisor: Lars- Johan Åge and Jens Eklinder FrickDate: 2014- JunePurpose: Quality assurance has become a vital concept and an important tool to ensure that employees are able to deliver high service quality. The purpose of this study will be to elucidate how service companies can apply the use of sevenfundamental features supporting service quality in their quality assurance; recruitment and selection; training, teamwork; empowerment; performance appraisals and rewards; communication, and culture (of the organization). Furthermore, we will illustrate how the type of business entity, organizational structure and organizational resources afflicts the seven features.Method: Method: We will, from a hermeneutic point of view, apply and qualitative deductive research method. Data have been collected through a case study. The data have been transcribed and the analytical method has been selected based on the conducting purpose.

Purpose: We will understand and explain Dell?s value gap through an extended intellectual capital theory. This will be done by deriving the value to the different parts of the intellectual capital value scheme. We will also use value scheme to describe the ongoing strategy shift. Methodology: The qualitative method and an abductive reasoning have been employed during the progress.

Good business relations can contribute to the success of IT-outsourcing, and create new business opportunities. Despite a sharply increasing trend to outsource IT-operations there is a high degree of failures related. The cause may be that some important factors have not been taken into account. The purpose is to investigate elationships within IT-outsourcing and test if specific factors identified by previous research are being concerned in IT-outsourcing relationships and also to investigate the view IT-outsourcing customers and suppliers have on business. Research shows that business relationships are widespread throughout companies. It demonstrated that a small number of business relationships can have a major impact on a company's financial performance and may create stability. Business relationships can be divided into an arm's length relationships and strategic alliances depending on the degree of involvement.

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact that idealised body images found in media have on the body-image and wellbeing of young men and women. The study was carried out using questionnaires based on the BAQ and HAD scales to examine the participants' views of themselves as well as symptoms of anxiety and depression. Time spent by the participants using different kinds of media, as well as their degree of social support, was used with the purpose of examining relations and differences in body-image between men and women. The questionnaire contained advertising images to examine whether short time exposure had any impact on the participants. In order to determine this, one half of the questionnaires contained idealised body-images, whilst the other half contained images without human objects.