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.

In Sweden, harvesting pre-commercial thinning (PCT) stems for energy purposes is a interesting way of financing the high cost of preparing dense stands for a profitable first conventional thinning. This concept can be labelled bioenergy thinning. The aim of this study was to quantify the productivity of a Vimek 404R light harvester with an accumulating Naarva-Grip cutting head during the bioenergy thinning of a self-regenerated stand west of Sunnansjö in Dalarna. The stand was birch-dominated, contained 15 371 stems/ha, and measured on average 4,6 cm Dbh and 7 m tall. Even though the driver was well experienced with the machine, the stand in question was the first one that he ever thinned in this manner. Nevertheless, the driver strived to accumulate as many stems as possible during each crane cycle and chose to cut taller stems in half so as to make the handling and forwarding of the harvested stems easier.

Sammanfattning Titel:                           Utökad möjlighet till skuldsanering för enskilda näringsidkare ? Effekterna av lagändringen i skuldsaneringslagen (2006:548)Datum:                        2011-06-09Lärosäte:                     Mälardalens Högskola, VästeråsInstitution:                  Akademin för hållbar samhälls- och teknikutvecklingNivå:                           Magisteruppsats i företagsekonomi, 15 hpFörfattare:                   Sandra Kohlin och Lina LindbergHandledare:                Leif CarlssonExaminator:                Cecilia LindhProblemformulering:   Kommer lagändringen i skuldsaneringslagen att uppfylla sitt syfte? Vilka effekter kommer förändringen i skuldsaneringslagen att medföra för enskilda näringsidkare?Syfte:                          Syftet med magisteruppsatsen är att beskriva den kommande lagändringen i skuldsaneringslagen (2006:548) rörande näringsidkare. Syftet är vidare att undersöka om lagändringen kommer att uppfylla sitt syfte samt att belysa och undersöka de troliga effekterna av dessa förändringar.Metod:                        En kvalitativ metod valdes till uppsatsen för att få en mer djupgående förståelse av ämnesområdet. Personliga intervjuer har genomförts för att samla in det empiriska materialet. För att komma fram till uppsatsens slutsats har referensramen och empirin jämförts med varandra.Slutsats:                      Syftet med lagändringen är att utöka möjligheten för näringsidkare att antingen starta upp igen efter ett misslyckande eller att fortsätta bedriva verksamhet.

The survey describes a number of risks that Swedish farming companies are exposed to. The risk areas covered by the survey are currency risks, price risks and financial risks. The survey further describes why these risks have a great impact on the future development of the farming companies. The survey highlights the interrelation between the risks and the measures which can be used to minimize the risks, so-called financial instruments. The aim of the survey is to put focus on above mentioned risks and describe how these risks can be reduced to prevent the Swedish farming industry from stagnating in the future. The survey is a secondary survey whereby existing knowledge about risks and risk management is applied to farming companies. The written information on price risks and hedging is primarily derived from foreign sources.

Mindre företag är viktiga för den samhällsekonomiska utvecklingen och för skapandet av nyaarbetstillfällen. Lån har visat sig vara en viktig finansieringskälla för dessa företag, men pågrund av informationsasymmetri och högre operationella kostnader har tillgången tillkonkurrenskraftig lånefinansiering framhållits vara problematisk. Den externa redovisningenkan användas för att minska informationsasymmetri och reducera detta problem.Redovisningskvalitet, upplevd revisionskvalitet och revisionens utfall utgör delar av denexterna redovisningen, vilka i tidigare studier visat sig påverka företags kostnad för lånatkapital. Svenska privata mindre företag är en grupp av företag som tidigare inte behandlats idetta avseende och syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur dessa företags kostnad förlånat kapital påverkas av redovisningskvalitet, upplevd revisionskvalitet och revisionensutfall. Med hjälp av årsredovisningar från ett stickprov om 395 slumpvis utvalda företag ochen regressionsanalys besvaras studiens problemformulering.

The price of Swedish forest properties has gone up by 77 percent during the past five years. Amongst private forest managers the high price level signals optimism and confidence for the future. Many forest owners manage large capital in the forest and a planned economy is to a larger extent demanded to achieve a positive economic result. Forest is long-term and to maximize a single year without planning for the years to come results in less optimization of the parameters available to achieve a favourable economic result. This case study investigates the investment of two forest properties situated in Götaland. The management of the forest has been planned for both properties during a period of ten years.

Earth?s resources have been exploited unsustainably. If an entire conception of exploitationof natural resources does not change now, this will entail enormous costs in the future.This insight has lead to a recently increased interest in clean technologies among privateequity capitalists. In the fourth quarter of 2006 about 10 percent of all private equityinvestments made in the US market were placed in the cleantech industry. Despite a goodinvesting climate in Sweden, Swedish capitalists have shown little interest in cleantechinvestments.

The thesis aims to investigate the farmer?s perception of currency hedging and interest rate bonds and to investigate the farm size of companies categorized by number of acres, has no effect on this. The work also aims to gain an insight into what active farmers consider to be important what to consider when they choosing a bank and a personal banker. The work is based on the survey and has been supplemented by a literature review on the subject. For the survey were selected out randomly 50 farmers with Agriculture and Rural Management education. The requirement of the farmers was that they should be farmers by profession, and also made sure that the farmers of various sizes came with. We got a total of 32 responses within the set response time we said, which was better response than we expected. When the final result came we ranged the farms in a size range. We found out that all farmers in the study diligently follow the market and are easy to assimilate new ideas, providing opportunities to profitability of their business with the different instruments that are available on both the financial level and farm level. The investigation revealed that the major in favor of having a personal banker. They think it´s good to have a special plug to turn to who has knowledge and experience of how the agriculture sector operates.

BakgrundBankers kreditgivning till företag föregås av en noggrann granskning och kontroll av företagets status. För att sänka riskerna till en acceptabel nivå används olika bedömningsverktyg. Kreditbedömingen skiljer sig dock mellan olika banker. Vissa tar in mer information och gör en grundligare riskanalys, medan andra går mer på magkänsla. Kassaflödesanalysen är ett verktyg som vissa kreditgivare använder sig av.

The grain market is facing substantial changes. Tradionally, cereal has been a supply-led market i.e. supply conditions have had a major impact on price level or indirectly, through market interventions implemented through the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP). Just a few years ago, Sweden and the EU were not affected so strongly by world market prices for cereals. EU was a surplus-area and to a substantial degree a local market.

Background and problem: The financial crisis 2008-2009 came out from an over-optimism among those who took the real estate loans in the U.S., and especially so-called subprime loans. After the 2008 financial crisis, it has become a global uncertainty in the financial market with low growth, and even financial crises in the euro countries have appeared. The real estate industry is a capital-intensive industry where companies have a high leverage to implement their investment. This means they have a larger proportion of debt relative to equity than companies in other industries. As investments require a lot of capital, real estate companies become dependent on having a working relationship with both the banks and the capital market.

The Swedish agricultural sector is currently undergoing a substantial structural change. The number of farm enterprises is continuously decreasing and the average farm size is increasing. In combination with increasing number of competitors in the insurance market, the competitive rivalry within this market has increased significantly. With this knowledge in mind, Länsförsäkringar Uppsala initiated this study, which aims to provide an understanding of customer?s view on customer value, related to agricultural insurance and financing.

A large number of farms within the agricultural sector will shortly be facing a point of time where the farm will be transferred to the next generation. The grantor can choose between totally 8 different strategies to transfer the farm, of which purchase, gift and a mixed form of these are the most common. During 2007 almost 10 000 transfers of agricultural estates occurred in Sweden and the expectation for the coming years is that about 15 000 estates will be transferred each year. By the time a transfer is about to materialize there are usually several stakeholders that in one way or another is trying to influence the outcome of the transfer. The choice of transfer method affects the conditions and possibilities for compensating the siblings.

Background and research problem: The former highly inflationary property market is currently undergoing a stagnation process. Investors have been used to annual growth figures in double digits,but now this is no longer considered to be a realistic outlook for future years. According to a report from PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Urban Land Institute, published by Avanza Wealth Management,the three most attractive markets for property investment in Europe are London, Paris and Stockholm. Because of this the authors have focused their investigation on two companies in the London andStockholm. The authors will additionally use an international bank, an estate agent and a consultancy firm for further information, with regards to the property market and risks associated with these typesof investment in particular.

Författare: Narina Bengtsson och Victor Friis-LibyHandledare: Eva BerggrenTitel: Fastighetsbolagens finansiering ? En studie om fastighetsbolagens nyafinansieringsalternativBakgrund och problem: Kapitaltunga bolag som fastighetsbolag är ständigt i behov avkapital. Bankkredit som alltid varit det vanligaste och mest använda finanseringsalternativethar i större utsträckning ersatts med företagsobligationer och preferensaktier. Marknaden försvenska företagsobligationer har växt de senaste åren och fastighetsbolagen står idag för tvåtredjedelar av de totala preferensaktierna på Stockholmsbörsen. Efter den senaste finanskrisensvarade myndigheterna med att ta fram Basel III ? regelverket, som ställer striktarekapitaltäckningskrav för bankerna.