Background: During extreme market conditions like the period during fall 2008 the discussion of what affects company value becomes apparent. The capital structure is the relation between borrowed capital and equity in a company´s financing mix. What impact changes in capital structure have on company value is a widely debated subject within the theory of finance. If a relationship between capital structure and company value exists the implication is that an optimal capital structure where company value is maximized also exists.Aim: The aim of the thesis is to study whether a certain relationship between capital structure and company value exists among selected stocks and companies listed on Stockholmsbörsens OMXS30.Implementation: With aim to fulfill the purpose of the thesis regression analysis has been performed among chosen stocks and companies. The empirical results eventuating from this have been analyzed from the view of elected relevant theory.Completion and results: We find that during normal market conditions a positive relationship between debt ratio and enterprise value (EV) can be established.

Strong relationships are something that is really important for companies to succeed with, in purpose to increase and protect their market shares. After major research on the subject, it has been found that variables like exchange of relationship, trust, control mutability, satisfaction and commitment are important in the establishment of measuring a relationship. The purpose with this thesis was to: increase the knowledge on how companies measure, and then consequently evaluate, their relationships. To answer the purpose of the study we chose to do a case study at Stadium AB, which is a retailing concern with a high level of customer contact on a daily basis. The conclusion is that trust most likely is the key variable in measuring relationships.

This quantitative study explores how employee perceived efficiency within customer service is affected by standardized routines, digital tools, and motivational factors. The study is based on survey data collected from 42 employees across five customer service departments in a larger organization. The theoretical foundation integrates Weber?s bureaucracy theory, the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), and the Job Characteristics Model (JCM), allowing for a multidimensional analysis to capture the employees' experiences of efficiency. Findings reveal a statistically significant positive relationship between perceived efficiency and both standardized routines and perceived digital tool usefulness and ease of use. Furthermore, the study identifies that skill variety and task significance are positively correlated with experienced meaningfulness, which indicates a potential mediating relationship between these motivational aspects and perceived efficiency.

On Nasdaq OMX Nordic Stockholm there has been a large increase in issues of preferred stocks since the financial crisis 2008. Aiming to explain whether preferred stocks have most of their characteristics relating to debt or equity, we answer four sub questions. Do all preferred stocks share the same features, or do they differ from each other? Our population is similar in characteristics, except for the preferred stock of Swedbank which is convertible and deviates when it comes to participation in dividends - instead of convertible the others are limited and redeemable. Further, the second sub question treats preferred stock in relation to the common stock quantitatively, in market data.

As the staffing agency business is rapidly growing and suffering from accidents resulting in higher sick leave than in other businesses, it is of great interest to analyze which responsibilities prevail between the customer companies and the staffing agencies, when it comes to working environment for hired staff.The purpose of this essay is to clarify the distribution of responsibilities between customer companies and staffing agencies, regarding working environment. I would also like to analyze which consequences this distribution of responsibilities may lead to.To be able to answer these questions, I have chosen to use the legal dogmatic method together with the sociology of law method. I have studied legal sources, literature and also interviewed three persons who are active within the staffing agency business; one person from the Swedish Work Environment Authority, one person from the employers? side and one person from the employees? side.The conclusion of my survey is that the SAM-responsibility is divided equally between staffing agencies and customer companies, since the customer company who hires staff is equated with an employer. The employer must also ensure that there is an organized work adaptation and rehabilitation function within the company.

This is a qualitative study about small auditing firms and their customer relationships with SMEs. It contains a total of eight interviews, two with audit firms and six with SME?s.The purpose of the study is to understand how small audit firms manage their customer relationships and if it exist any expectation gaps between the audit firm and the SME.One of the conclusions is that trust is fundamental and gets stronger over time; it is also linked with the personal relationship between the business owner and the auditor/accountant..

The purpose of this thesis is to examine whether Swedish, Internet-based travel agencies, acting on a consumer market are working towards creating added value for their customers. If that is the case, how and why do they use such a mode of operation.The theoretical framework was based on Grönroos´ ?Augmented service offering?, which treats added value as an addition to the core service. The services offered on five of the larger companies´ websites on the market were examined and 3 representatives of the five companies were interviewed.The study shows that 2 of the examined companies did not produce any added value, while 3 of the companies did produce added value for the customer. The added value was generated through packaging of core-, facilitating- and supporting services for the purpose of differentiating the company towards competitors and generating service fees..

Competition is keen in the fashion industry of today. Homogenous products and prices aredriving competition and most firms are struggling hard to attract customers. Brands havebecome one of the most important assets for success and are often critical for the choices of theconsumers. A strong brand is often considered as a substantial value in the eyes of the consumerand gives the individual firm a competitive advantage in the marketplace. To build a strongbrand it takes that the brand identity not is in conflict with the brand image of a firm or a product.Sometimes one of these conflicts exit and sometimes the firms are not even aware of it.In this thesis we study how two firms, Lindex and Prada, perceive their own image and then wecompare how the images of the firms are perceived by the customers.

Lean is a production philosophy which is about increased resource use while meeting customer requirements. The foundation of lean comes from Toyota and their production philosophy The Toyota Way. Professor Jeffrey k. Liker has worked with Toyota's production philosophy and Lean for a long time and has created a 4 P model and 14 principles that characterize the Toyota production system (TPS), which many sources refer to.The aim of my work is to study the working procedure of asphalt projects from sales to the laid asphalt with a focus on planning and production management. The goal is to examine how the lean philosophy can be applied in planning and production to simplify the flow of asphalt projects based on Likers model and principles.

In a competitive market as supermarkets, hundreds of the same products fight for attention in the shops. Every day thousands of targeted advertising messages is given to us. As a natural result of all this, power is transferred to consumers. You can no longer differentiate yourself by only price and function, thus companies must play on the emotional aspects and create a relationship with consumers. A key to success is to understand people's emotional needs and then satisfying them.In various journals and papers you can find highlighted success stories of strong brands such as Harley-Davidson, Apple and Virgin Airlines.

This report aims to examine how Brunneby Musteri is to update the brand attention for Brunneby Musteri at retail stores. Brunneby wish to assure their brand will catch the customers? eye in the store and therefore get assistance to discover what to improve. The family business Brunneby Musteri (Brunneby) was founded in 1941 and is located nearby Göta Kanal in the county of Östergötland. Brunneby produce products such as lemonade, jam, jelly, marmelade, cider and vinegar.

This report aims to examine how Brunneby Musteri is to update the brand attention for Brunneby Musteri at retail stores. Brunneby wish to assure their brand will catch the customers? eye in the store and therefore get assistance to discover what to improve. The family business Brunneby Musteri (Brunneby) was founded in 1941 and is located nearby Göta Kanal in the county of Östergötland. Brunneby produce products such as lemonade, jam, jelly, marmelade, cider and vinegar.

This report aims to examine how Brunneby Musteri is to update the brand attention for Brunneby Musteri at retail stores. Brunneby wish to assure their brand will catch the customers? eye in the store and therefore get assistance to discover what to improve. The family business Brunneby Musteri (Brunneby) was founded in 1941 and is located nearby Göta Kanal in the county of Östergötland. Brunneby produce products such as lemonade, jam, jelly, marmelade, cider and vinegar.

Titel:                                   Hur väljer företag rätt celebritet? ? En studie om företags tillvägagångssätt för att lyckas med celebrity endorsement Syfte:                                  Syftet med denna uppsats är att beskriva och öka förståelsen för hur företag väljer celebrity endorser och hur detta val kan påverka deras varumärke.Teoretisk referensram:    Teoriavsnittet inleds med förklaring av varumärke och brand equity. Avsnittet avslutas med att celebrity endorsement presenteras.Metod:                               Uppsatsen är en kvalitativ studie med deduktiv ansats där tre semistrukturerade intervjuer har utförts. De fallföretag som intervjuats använder sig alla av celebrity endorsement och är kunniga inom området.Empiri:                              I detta avsnitt presenteras materialet från tre intervjuer med våra fallföretag.        Slutsats:                             Uppsatsens slutsats är att företag måste göra noggranna undersökningar kring varumärket och celebriteten för att valet av celebritet ska bli rätt och att användningen av celebrity endorsement blir lyckad.

The purpose of this paper is to compare two different portfolio strategies consisting of insider transactions and stock recommendations and examine whether they posses any information advantage.  The portfolios are balanced once every three-, six- and twelve- months in the period of 2007-2009. Our results show a pattern for these investment strategies. The portfolio consisting of insider transactions generates a positive return in equity in a negative market environment and the opposite reaction in a positive environment. The result for the portfolio consisting of stock recommendations show a positive return of equity in positive environment and the opposite effect in negative environment. The pattern that has been observed can be classified as an anomaly.