Abstract: Since the recession caught the market in fall 2008, multiple companies have suffered due to their former aggressive investment behavior. Huge goodwill piles have been collected ready to be doomed by the market. The aim of the study is to investigate equity analysts? consideration of goodwill in a recession market. An empirical study is conducted, based on interviews with ten Swedish equity analysts that follow companies with relevant goodwill status.

Titel: Franchisee-based brand equity inom fastighetsmäklarbranschen ? Varumärkets värde för franchisetagare Nivå: C-uppsats i ämnet företagsekonomiFörfattare: Ebba Granberg, Malin BloomHandledare: Jonas KågströmDatum: 2015 - majSyfte: Syftet med denna studie är att analysera vilka källor franchisetagare påverkas av i skapandet av FBBE inom tjänsteföretag. Detta med avseende på vilken betydelse varumärket har i franchisekonceptet och huruvida detta påverkar franchisetagarens intentioner att ingå i ett franchiseavtal samt bibehålla franchiserelationen.Metod: Då syftet med studien är att analysera franchisetagarens påverkan av FBBE, har således studien genomförts med en kvalitativ forskningsansats. Semi-strukturerade intervjuer har utförts med 12 franchisetagare inom fastighetsmäklarbranschen, vilka alla arbetar i Stockholmsområdet. Materialet har därefter analyserats med hjälp av dataanalysprogrammet Nvivo10 och presenterats tillsammans med resultaten för studien.Resultat & slutsats: Studien introducerar en ny modell över FBBE inom den svenska fastighetsmäklarbranschen.Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Denna studie är avgränsad till ett specifikt geografiskt område och det kan därför vara av intresse att upprepa en liknande studien inom samma bransch, men i ett annat geografiskt område.

This paper aims to clarify how four customer magazines and digital versions of the magazines are being used by their target group. It focuses on the Ikea customer magazine specifically. After the analysis the conclusion is that out of the four companies customer magazines only one, Ikeas Live magazine, fully re-used the editorial content from the printed magazines on their digital platform. The interviewees were six readers of Ikeas customer magazine Live and two experts from a Stockholm based content firm. After the conducted interviews it became clear that none of the interviewees read the digital version of Ikeas magazine Live.

Abstract The internationalisation of a company is enabled by integration of markets. New markets mean new revenues, but also demand capital to finance the expansion. To bring in new capital may offer new possibilities but also higher debt-equity ratios, which affect how external interested parties value the company. This thesis, inspired by previous and mainly US based research, researches the debt-equity ratio of Swedish multinational and domestic companies, sampled from the Stockholm Stock Exchange. The research questions have focused on the impact of certain internationalisation variables on the debt-equity ratio; how does the debt-equity ratio differ between international and domestic companies? Can a difference be explained by the degree of internationalisation? Can a difference be better explained by the presence of international ownership? By measuring the concept internationalisation as both trade and presence, the questions were operationalised into four hypotheses.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine and analyze the characteristics of the management control system private equity firms use to manage their portfolio companies. The thesis takes a share holder value perspective, and it is assumed that the goal of the management control system is to increase the shareholder value in the portfolio company. In a qualitative study two private equity firms and two portfolio companies, one for each private equity firm, were studied in detail. In total, nine in debt interviews were completed. The results from this study suggest that the characteristics of the control system are dependent on the surrounding context; the focus on shareholder value and the specific characteristics of the private equity industry shape the characteristics of the management control system.

Abstract ? ?Customer relationships ? A case study on Nyby Torshälla Riding Club?Date: December 20th 2011Level: Bachelor thesis, 15 ECTSInstitution: School of Sustainable development of society and technology, Mälardalen UniversityAuthors: Linn Ericsson, Elenor Flodin, Emma Jakobsson22nd June 1987 24th April 1987 24th May 1989Title: Customer relationships ? A case study about Nyby Torshälla Riding ClubTutor: Daniel TolstoyKeywords: Relationship marketing, customer relationships, customer loyalty.Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to analyze how Nyby Torshälla Riding Club maintains their customer relationships. This is to get a deeper insight into how small service companies, in a business to consumer market on a local basis, strategically can work with their customer care.Method: The study was qualitative in its nature and was based on an inductive approach. The primary data has been collected through personal interviews and since the respondents were selected strategically, this means that a non-probability sampling was used. The secondary data that has been used for this thesis was based largely on literature, articles and the Nyby Torshälla Riding Club website.Conclusion: This study indicates how small size service companies can benefit from nurturing their customer relationships.

The structures of organizations have gone through a dramatic change over the last years; as a result customer service is no longer a small side activity but a critical part in customer relationship management. Development in information technology has created opportunities as well as challenges for organizations when it comes to providing a customer service with capacity of sensing and responding to customers' needs. Previous research shows a relationship between customer response capability and customer knowledge processeses, this study investigates and confirms this relationship. However, findings show that dedication and understanding for customers needs has a direct impact on both customer response capability and customer knowledge processeses, this result indicates that customer knowledge processes and customer relationship management are difficult to differentiate. Furthermore, this study explores IT-related resources impact on customer response capability and customer knowledge processes.

The aim of this thesis is to describe how service companies through adjustment of the customer?s zone of tolerance can influence customer?s perception of the service during the processes of service delivery and create customer satisfaction. The method used was case study approach utilizing personal interviews, which were conducted at two service companies. The study showed that the aspects of the service that have greatest importance for the customer?s assessment of the service and customer satisfaction among others are personal treatment and that personel behave in the way that makes the customer feel itself taken good care of and unique.

This study examines the eWOM effect, more specifically: how customer reviews effects consumers. The study is based on a modified version of the Regulatory Focus Theory which describes consumer behavior using consumer consumption goals. The purpose of this study was to examine how positive and negative customer review's influence consumers when analyzing products that are equally characterized by two consumption goals: promotion and prevention goals. The authors combined quantitative (questionnaire) and qualitative (focus groups) research methods with the sample selection for both research methods being based on students of Södertörns University. Results indicate that negative customer reviews have a stronger influence on consumers than positive customer reviews when analyzing products that are equally characterized by the promotion goals and prevention goals.

Den senaste tiden har en mängd samarbeten, eller så kallade co-brandings, mellan olika företags varumärken vuxit fram. Avsikten är att förstärka sitt eller sina varumärken med hjälp av ett annat varumärke som är förknippat med någonting unikt. Hur bedömer man resultatet av denna co-branding? Har det egna varumärket förstärkts eller har det försvagats? För att klargöra detta resultat måste varumärkets Brand Equity mätas. Med brand equity menas det kapital som varumärket representerar.

I denna studie studeras brand equity och dess påverkan på köpbeslutsprocessen. Hur påverkar brand equity köpare? Vilka steg i köpbeslutsprocessen påverkas? Genom att studera detta kan säljande företag få en ökad förståelse för hur köpare resonerar vid inköp, vilket kan användas när de ska utforma effektivare säljstrategier. Dessutom kommer beslutspåverkande roller att studeras för att resultatet ska bli mer praktiskt applicerbart då det ofta är flera individer som är inblandande när företag ska genomföra inköp.Studien har en kvalitativ ansats med semistrukturerade intervjuer som grund för att studera vilken betydelse varumärken har under köpbeslutsprocessen i byggbranschen.Intervjuerna har genomförts med sju individer som är ansvarig eller haft en stor roll vid inköp av maskindrivna handverktyg på sina företag.Det resultat som studien kommer fram till påvisar att brand equity har betydelse. Ju starkare ett varumärkes brand equity är desto mer påverkan har det på köpbeslutsprocessen.

This study examines the equity cost of capital between two periods distinguished by substantial differences in IPO activity. In light of the stemmed IPO flow to the Swedish stock exchange in 2012, this study regards the conjecture that the IPO count is related to the prevailing cost of equity capital for certain periods. By application of the Residual Income Valuation model the cost of equity capital is abstracted from sampled stock prices and compared at two points in time for which extreme highs and lows of IPO activity were observed. Using randomized samples from 1999 and 2012, significant differences between the estimated costs of capital are established. The findings indicate that the equity cost of capital, much as it may help influence, nevertheless plays a subordinated role in the going-public decision..

The National Property Board (SFV) has been appointed by the Swedish government to administer all property of cultural value owned by the Swedes collectively. The commission includes maintaining the soul and character of each individual building, to adapt these buildings to present needs and requirements, and furthermore making them available to the public. The return on equity demanded by the government is based on the CAPM used within the real estate industry. The theoretical assumption that organizations are either function-driven or pay-driven will serve as a starting point, after which SFV will be defined as a function-driven organization with a pay-formed management control system. This paper aims to examine how applying a pay-formed management control system will affect a function-driven organization.

High brand equity is a great asset for companies that operate their business in a free and competitive market. Brand equity can arise from both product-related and non-product related attributes and may be viewed from many different perspectives. This study examines which different attributes that contribute to enhance brand equity from customers point of view at the Swedish market for agricultural machinery. The study have been developed using a comprehensive literature search in order to investigate the field regarding brand equity and brand image. The literature review results in one product specific and one non-product specific approach in order to examine factors that contribute to enhanced brand equity. This takes the form as one survey-based approach regarding the non-product related attributes which is examined by interpreting the extra value added by different attributes.

This study examines the equity cost of capital between two periods distinguished by substantial differences in IPO activity. In light of the stemmed IPO flow to the Swedish stock exchange in 2012, this study regards the conjecture that the IPO count is related to the prevailing cost of equity capital for certain periods. By application of the Residual Income Valuation model the cost of equity capital is abstracted from sampled stock prices and compared at two points in time for which extreme highs and lows of IPO activity were observed. Using randomized samples from 1999 and 2012, significant differences between the estimated costs of capital are established. The findings indicate that the equity cost of capital, much as it may help influence, nevertheless plays a subordinated role in the going-public decision..