This thesis attempts to clarify the impact of cultural differenceson customer expectations of service level. Furthermore, wewant to determine whether or not expectations of service differenough to be quantifiable between two countries, Sweden andthe US, mostly regarded as similar in business practices. The conclusion showed that higher ratings on four of Hofstede?s five cultural indexes were associated with higher customer service expectations overall, and in all four SERVQUAL dimensions. This research contributes to retail internationalization and customer expectations theory.

ÖREBRO UNIVERSITY Department of behaviour, social and legal science Social works C-essay 41-60 p Autumn term 2006 Title: Obstacle to employment on the labour market. Grown-up people with mentally retardation. Authors: Hansen Mikael & Sjöberg Marita Instructor of study: Antonson Sivert ABSTRACT The purpose of this paper is to try tofind out how persons with mentally retardation, working in the municipally daily activities develop and participate in everyday life. We especially want to find explanations for why there are so few among the retarded persons who are taking part in the regularly labour market. What will the instructor within the municipally activities achieve with his/her work? In what way will a retarded person have a possibility to participate in society and to take part in daily activities? Trough observations and semi structured interviews havr information and experience been collected.

The Swedish do-it-yourself (DIY) market has expanded in recent years and is today a SEK90 billion market. Competition is fierce, however, and the DIY retail chains compete over market share with extensive marketing campaigns. Advances in computer technology have made it possible to acquire and compile huge quantities of point of sale data. However, due to a lack of economic theories and statistical methods, this data cannot be effectively utilized and the effects of the campaigns are not measured in any detail. In this study a new method was used to examine the effects of marketing campaigns in the DIY consumer market.

Diet and lifestyle are closely interrelated and believed to have a significant influence on four major public diseases - cardiovascular disease, cancer, hypertension and obesity, but also affects functional deficiencies like gluten- and lactose intolerance. Health added-value foods are thought to reduce health-related risks or delay the onset of these major diseases. Therefore, interest among scientists, researchers and the public in general has been growing remarkably over the last decade regarding these special foods. The Swedish market seems to be a good target for health added-values food. However, as there are many risks and cost factors involved for companies to enter the market or invest in R&D, it is important to take a step back and analyze the current market situation.

The concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has lately gained popularity throughout the globalized world. Swedish retail industry is no exception. Though increased levels of explicitly claimed responsibilities of companies, a number of other facts points out a development that contradicts this trend. Labour conditions and forms of employment is substantially retrograding, with an increased level of insecurity characterizing the Swedish retail labour market. At the same time, almost all Swedish retail companies explicitly state claims on social responsibility.

Syftet med studien är att undersöka huruvida vår motivationsmodell som bygger på Herzbergs tvåfaktorteori, stöds och används av ledare inom organisationen Retail House för att motivera sina anställda på distans.Teoriavsnitten ledarskap på distans och motivation samt vår motivationsmodell ligger till grund för empiri, analys och slutsats. Studien har utförts genom kvalitativa intervjuer med tre företagsrepresentanter från Retail House. Uppsatsen finner att Retail House ledning motiverar sin personal i stor utsträckning enligt vår motivationsmodell. Dock har undersökningen visat att företagets speciella sätt att arbeta försvårar motivationsarbetet för ledningen, snarare än distansen till personalen. Det framkom att de faktorer som är bäst lämpade som motivationsverktyg för Retail House är feedback och lön..

This study examines retail atmospherics from a reality perspective. The topic "special exposure" has received research interest in the past but it has not been recognized as a critical consideration in the daily retail business. Too many retailers leave assortment decisions to thumb rules or trial and error. The highest aim of this study is in addressing that gap between theory and practice. To catch the attention of the customer is important in supermarkets because most grocery purchase decisions are made at the point of purchase.

The retail banking market in Sweden is highly concentrated and oligopolistic. This has been confirmed by numerous reports from different competition authorities within the EU, for example the Swedish competition authority. A considerably high number of different sorts of competition barriers has been pointed out in these reports. The competition barriers are mainly directed to the smaller banks and the potential competition. The retail banking market in Sweden is dominated by four major banks, which together has over 80 percent of all market shares.

Due to the increase of the emission of greenhouse gas and climate changes more and more customers demand environmentally sustainable products. The increased demand of sustainable products from cradle to grave is something that has affected the food sector. Many retailers within the food sector feel that they are less or more forced to be environmentally friendly. Nowadays many retailers have chosen to show customers and stakeholders that they want to ?do good? by publishing annual sustainability reports. The Swedish food market has been one of many markets investing in being environmentally friendly.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the relationship between space and consumer interaction at WEEKDAY, a contemporary fashion retail store in Malmö, Sweden. The thesis is based on a qualitative case-study and has a social constructionist approach. In order to understand the interaction taking place between consumer and environment we conducted observations guided by Kenneth Burke?s Pentad.The retail servicescape at WEEKDAY is conceived as a metaphorical stage where drama unfolds, analysing and defining the retail space using Kenneth Burke?s pentad of dramatism. We concentrate on the use of two terms of Burke?s pentad, the scene and the act, almost exclusively as we investigate how the scene stimulates the act.

The aim of this thesis is to examine how salesperson control can be exercised in a retail store environment. A case study has been performed on a Swedish fashion company emphasizing the relationship between the company?s upper level management and their retail store operations in order to describe, analyze and classify the prevailing management control mechanisms. The paper presents an agency theoretical approach to the relationship applying behavior- and outcome based control theory, performance measurement theory and incentives theory in order to give a comprehensive image of the control system. The main finding is that the company?s management control system as applied to the sales force in its retail stores can be categorized as mainly behavior-based despite several explicit outcome-based features..

Problem: Our opinion is that it is important to consider about usability in system development. In this thesis we will focus on usability in point-of-sale systems. The point-of-sale system we base this thesis on is Extenda Retail. Our case study is performed on Ica Kvantum in Bromölla, which implemented Extenda Retail about two years ago. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to figure out what important factors there are to consider, in usability aspects, when developing point-of-sale systems, with focus on the cashier.

Garden center and market gardens are a growing trade, undergoing great changes with new actors and purchasing habits. The interest in gardens and plants is steadily increasing, official statistics show an increase of garden plants and flower consumption, of an annual 3 per cent. Garden centers and market gardens are in great need of development to be able to tackle the prevailing competition, and maintain a steady growth. Many companies are heading for a generation shift and are founding it difficult to find and employ younger managers. The aim of this report is to examine different strategies of garden centers and market gardens through the manager/ owner?s views and opinions about competition, growth and success.

Term: Spring term 2007Study objects: Reitan Servicehandel AB, Vi-butikerna, ICA Sverige ABPurpose: The purpose of this study is to analyse how procurement is used as a strategy to achieve better competitive strength, within the retail food industry.Theoretical: The theoretical chapter illustrates different procurement organisations, multiple and single sourcing, brand equity, consumer behaviour and involvement, Efficient Consumer Response including supply chain and category management and finally Demand Chain Management.Method: For the case studies, three food retail companies have been interviewed: Reitan Servicehandel AB, Vi-butikerna and ICA AB. To illustrate how consumer behaviour influences retail food market, several secondary consumer research studies have been analysed.Conclusions: The results indicate that the procurement organisation can achieve a better competitive strength by a centralised organisation, which make it possible to improve conditions of terms when ordering higher purchase volumes. The sourcing strategies can improve a company?s power within the supply chain. All companies within the study had a very good knowledge about consumer behaviour.

Problem: Our opinion is that it is important to consider about usability in system development. In this thesis we will focus on usability in point-of-sale systems. The point-of-sale system we base this thesis on is Extenda Retail. Our case study is performed on Ica Kvantum in Bromölla, which implemented Extenda Retail about two years ago. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to figure out what important factors there are to consider, in usability aspects, when developing point-of-sale systems, with focus on the cashier. We also wish to find out the cashiers opinions about the Extenda Retail system. Method: The information gathered for this thesis consists of literature and interviews.