A large proportion of businesses around the world is today ISO 9001 certified and is consequently conducting internal audits on a regular basis. It has however not been possible to conclude that internal audits always add value to the organisation, despite the large utilisation of this tool. Some authors, e.g. Alic & Rusjan (2010) and Wealleans (2000), mean that there are possibilities that internal audits may be used as a value-adding improvement tool. This has led to the emergence of this master?s thesis.The purpose of the case study was therefore formulated to examine how internal quality audits can be made more effective and used as an improvement tool.

Quality assurance for Scania engine componentsScania engines have become one of the world?s most renowned corporations in themanufacturing of engines. This is mostly due to the quality and performance thatScania have shown. However, this does not stop Scania from trying to achieve moresuccess in the fields of development and research to assure the quality of theirengines.The purpose of this thesis is to show how Scania ensures the quality of the enginecomponents, both those who made externally and internally at Scania, also inclusivethe manufacturing and assembly process.Three engine components were examined: D16 block engines, water pump andXP-Iinjectors. The study included the whole process from the step of supplying therow materials to the last step in production functional test.In this thesis an investigation of how other companies are working with qualityassurance was conducted.

Banks find themselves at a highly competitive market where it is important to achieve high customer satisfaction if they want to attract customers and stay competitive. Some studies suggest that the gap between customer expectations and perception within the five quality dimensions influences the customer satisfaction. With SERVQUAL the authors of this thesis have investigated the suggested relationship and have discovered no indications of a relationship between the gap and customer satisfaction. Instead the results indicate that there is a relationship between perceived service and customer satisfaction. The thesis also indicates that the most important quality dimension for the bank customer is reliability.

The aim of this master thesis is to measure library service quality in two groups of libraries, newly developed and well established, and to see if there are any differences in the users perception of the dimensions in LibQUAL+. The thesis also examines the different perception of quality for the user groups: undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty. Another approach is to test the Swedish translation of LibQUAL+. Different theories on service quality are presented but the main theories are from the marketing perspective. The grounding and development of LibQUAL+ is described as well as the use of the instrument in different libraries.

The purpose of this thesis was to investigate whether accounting quality is a priced factor by investors. The event studied is the release of year-end result and the release of the annual report. To assess accounting quality a sample of 30 companies listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange during 2003 to 2007 are studied. We assess accounting quality by the absolute size of discretionary accruals using the modified Jones model developed by Dechow et al. (1995).

The purpose of this study was to examine and describe how politicians and directors of care define and experience quality in aged care facilities. Further on we wanted to compare on which fundamental principles the participants base their opinion about quality and how they work with quality. To reach our aim we conducted five interviews with politicians and directors of care. The results show that it is hard to determine quality in an unambiguous and objective way. Quality in aged care appears to be about relations and encounters amongst people.

This examination paper concerns how a organization can reach right quality. In this case the focus is on the communication of the soft product quality within an organization to achieve right quality. To fulfill the aim of this study a case company has been used to be able to show the absence in the topic. The questions of the study are: How have the customer?s needs been communicated within the organization? What absences are there today concerning the communication of the customer?s needs within the organization? How can the communication of the customer?s needs within the organization improve?The aim of this study is to describe and analyse how the transmitting of the customer?s needs concerning soft product quality is made today in the case company and to reach any improving suggestions.

All companies wants? to be as profitable as possible. The company in question is one of the leaders in it´s field in Sweden. In order to increase profits as much as possible it is important to identify and eliminate eventual quality defect cost as far as possible.This study was performed in Huddig AB, and the purpose of this study is to try to develop a routine for monitoring the quality defect costs, and to improve communication and create feedback between production and aftermarket.In addition to an extensive literature review on quality defect costs most of the work have been conducted at the company. Own observations and interviews have been done with the staff to get a picture of the current situation and to try to come up with improvement proposals.During the study it was proved that much of the quality defect costs in essence, derived from the production, which is seen as positive because it is the easiest part of the company to improve.

Today's Swedish large-scale forestry uses almost exclusively computer-aided bucking. It allows the harvester computer, using an optimisation price list (steering price list), to maximize the value of each tree. The optimisation price list can be adjusted so that the industry gets the raw material it demands from the forest. There are various simulation programs that can be used when constructing a optimisation price list. The simulation program merchandise a database of stem shapes using a given price list and mimics a harvester's work. To get the demanded raw material for the industry it is important to use a well-adjusted optimisation price list.

The company Sound Precision has developed a new Line Array loudspeaker system (VHA-40). When using this system, their customers need computer aid to get the best possible sound-quality and control of sound levels for the whole audience. The aim of this thesis is to develop a truly useful sound quality simulator for the VHA-40. The system will help the sound engineers to position the loudspeakers for optimal sound by simulating loudspeaker configurations and visualizing the resulting sound quality and quantity. To solve this a human-centered design (HCD) approach is taken to implement a system that is truly useful for the users, meaning that they will use it more and hence deliver better sound for the audience.

The company Sound Precision has developed a new Line Array loudspeaker system (VHA-40). When using this system, their customers need computer aid to get the best possible sound-quality and control of sound levels for the whole audience. The aim of this thesis is to develop a truly useful sound quality simulator for the VHA-40. The system will help the sound engineers to position the loudspeakers for optimal sound by simulating loudspeaker configurations and visualizing the resulting sound quality and quantity. To solve this a human-centered design (HCD) approach is taken to implement a system that is truly useful for the users, meaning that they will use it more and hence deliver better sound for the audience.

On commission of the County administrative board in Värmland County a method was developed for analysis of the occurrence of artificial land use at lakes and watercourses. With artificial land use is meant land significantly affected by man. Two bases have been used to carry out the analysis. In one of the analysis the vegetation database and in the other GSD¹-Marktäckedata (land cover data) was used (this method has been used by County administrative board in Jönköping County).The analysis comprises all watercourses within Alsterälven river basin. The digital water bodies are created by the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute on the basis of GSD-Översiktskartan (general map).

The increasing public concern regarding the government?s priorities in spending public resources puts pressure on public organisations to address quality issues in their practice. In United Kingdom both BRTF (Better Regulation Task Force) (BIS, 2005b) and the Hampton report (BIS, 2005a) highlighted management and quality problems in public organisations in UK. These reports revealed obstacles within institutions? intent to offer recommendations and appropriate solutions for agencies working with legal enforcement and control.

Teenagers are the group that spends most money on clothing. When choosing clothes, the so called internal and external signals could affect the perceived quality of the teenagers. The external signals are for example price, brand and place of purchase while the internal signals are the physical composition of the product as for example garment and size. The perceived quality is the attributes that the teenagers perceive that the specific article of clothing has. Today?s marketing, within the fashion line, is mostly to present the design of the product and aim the marketing for curtain segments and to keep a distance to others that are not within the segment group.

Most of the goats in the world exist in the developing countries where they are important in the meat industry. In Europe, goats are mostly kept for milk production although the interest for meat is growing. Goats have a thin carcass with only small amounts of intramuscular fat, which gives a lean meat. This thin subcutaneous fat cover can cause cold shortening when chilling the carcass. By using electrical stimulation cold shortening can be prevented.