ABSTRACT Title: the Power distance star ? A study on how cultural power distance affects the business relation between Japanese and multinational companiesLevel: Final assignment for Bachelor Degree in Business AdministrationAuthor: Therese Elofsson and Anna NyströmSupervisor: Jens Eklinder Frick and Jonas MolinDate: 2015 - JanuaryAim: The purpose of this study is to compile available research regarding the cultural aspect power distance, as it is being displayed and handled in business-relations between Japanese and multicultural business contacts. The culture in Japan differs from the culture in the western world and several companies testify that the Japanese market is difficult to act and expand upon. This study aims to provide explanations to these difficulties from a power distance perspective.Method: This study has compiled the theoretical knowledge and research in a model called ?the Power distance Star? (Figure 1), which is created and designed for this purpose.

On three occasions, in 1973, 1993 and 2005, Swedish parliament and government has resolved to integrate the, previously independent, foreign offices beloning to the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) with the Swedish embassies. The implemenation of the integrationreform has however been a lengthy process. This thesis adresses two main issues: how has the integrationreform been able to remain a viable recipe for organizational change over time and why has the integrationprocess taken so long? Lastly I assess the possibility for effective implementation following the decision 2005.Based on New Institutionalism I conducted an historical analysis of the integrationprocess to explore the conditions for reform. My results indicate that the integrationreform primarly suited the interests of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, making the Foreign Serivce more effective and clarifying the Ministry's responsibilty for Swedish development cooperation policy.

The purpose of this study is to increase an understanding of what prevents the mandatory reporting law, based on the preschool staff's approach to mandatory reporting law about child abuse and neglect to social services, and how these barriers affect their decision to report. The study will also understand what preschool staff experience facilitates the mandatory reporting process and what can be done to improve the process even more. The questions of the study were based on the purpose of the study and have been formulated in two questions:What prevents the mandatory reporting law requirements for preschool staff and how can these barriers be removed? What facilitates for preschool staff to be confident in the decision to report child abuse and neglect, to social services?The study used qualitative semi-structured interviews with five people working at the preschool, including two preschool teachers and three childcare workers. An interview guide was designed as a help to answer the questions about what the barriers are and what it is that makes it easier for the preschool staff, regarding the decision to report cases of child abuse and neglect to social services.The results, based on the five interviews , shows preschool staff's thoughts of the knowledge on the mandatory reporting law, the mandatory reporting process, their perspective of the mandatory reporting law and the uncertainty surrounding the mandatory reporting law.The study's analysis consists of the results that have been analyzed using the theory of social representations, in which the analysis shows an understanding of how the preschool staff act and think about the mandatory reporting law requirements based on their everyday knowledge.

Syftet med denna litteraturstudie var att beskriva faktorer och copingstrategier som påverkar/inverkar på personer med MS i beslutsfattandet kring graviditet och föräldraskap. Samt hur kvalitén var på gjorda studier inom detta område. Metoden var en deskriptiv litteraturstudie och sökning av artiklar gjordes i databasen PubMed (Medline). Sökningen resulterade i 13 vetenskapliga artiklar från fem länder med både kvalitativ och kvantitativ ansats, publicerade mellan år 1999-2010. Resultatet visade att avgörande faktorer som påverkar beslutsprocessen om att skaffa barn eller inte var bristfällig information, oro och rädsla kring hur graviditeten påverkar MS, behovet av stöd från andra, barnens och kvinnornas välbefinnande samt samhällets attityder.

For almost a century the debate about women as ordained servants in the Church of Sweden has raged on and on. The decision to open up the priesthood for both genders in 1958 was a milestone in the women?s liberation movement as well as it marks an important time in the church history. The debate has mainly been about how to interpret scripture, who has the right to do so, and so on. Feminist theology has become one way in recent decades to paint a wider and more nuanced picture of history and how to interpret the texts often used to repress women.This essay surveys some of the steps towards that decision, as well as it paints a rough picture of what leadership among women in the church could involve before ordination became an option.

This essay discusses the decision of licensing for nursery and school teachers. In Swedish society there has for a long time been discourse about professionalisation within various industries, including teaching. One strategy towards achieving professional status is official authorisation of a profession, which occurs when a profession obtains licensing. In February 2011, the Swedish government announced the decision that nursery and school teachers would be licensed. This means that only those with an education can be employed as a teacher and obtain that license.

The Swine flu (H1N1) erupted in 2009 and wasquickly spread over the world and developed into a pandemic, with a great threat against people?s health. It was soon discovered that the H1N1?virus had a different character than the seasonal flu, since it especially affected younger individuals and the consequences from the disease were expected to be more severe. In Sweden it was decided to provide a free of charge vaccination against the H1N1-virus, and the Swedish vaccination ratiobecome relatively high compared to other countries.

Objective: In recent years there has been an increasing interest within the clinical (medical) science in measuring people?s health. When estimating quality of life, present practise is to use the EQ-5D questionnaire and an index which weighs the different questions. The question is what happens if the individuals estimate there own health, would it differ from the public preferences? The aim is to make a new prediction model based on the opinion of patients and compare it to the present model based on public preferences.Method: A sample of 362 patients with unstable coronary artery disease from the Frisc II trial, valued their quality of life in the acute phase and after 3, 6 and 12 months.

The aim of this thesis is to investigate which the main determinants of capital structure in Swedish listed firms are and to identify which incentives lies behind managers choice of capital structure determinants. Further, the study investigates whether the Post Keynesian theory and theories which incorporate behavioral aspects can be used to explain the capital structure decisions or if the traditional Neoclassical theory give an better explanation. We have used a qualitative method to analyze the determinants of capital structure and the managers incentives behind capital structure decision. We conducted a survey which was sent to 83 Chief Financial Managers and financial executives in Swedish firms listed on Mid Cap or Large Cap. The questionnaire was on-line which enabled for the respondents to quickly and convenient respond.

Syfte: Syftet var att undersöka patienternas tillfredsställelse med den information de erhåller under inneliggande vård på en allmänmedicinsk vårdavdelning på ett mindre sjukhus i Mellansverige. Vidare var syftet att undersöka om patienterna ansåg sig vara delaktiga i beslut kring behandlingar, undersökningar och omvårdnad.Metod: Kvantitativ deskriptiv enkätstudie. 32 patienter deltog i studien. Datainsamlingen pågick under tio veckor och data analyserades med hjälp av deskriptiv och icke-parametrisk statistik.Resultat: Majoriteten av deltagarna uppfattade att de helt eller delvis fått tillräcklig information gällande sitt sjukdomstillstånd, aktuella behandlingar och undersökningar samt den omvårdnad som utförts av vårdpersonal. Män uppfattade i större utsträckning än kvinnor att informationen hade varit tillräcklig.

The background to this project came from my interest for letters and how to make a typeface. The result is the lowercase letters for this typeface, and the journey to learn the process of making it..

This study aims at examining the prospects for a policy transfer of a Swedish municipal environmental policy (that of Växjö) to the French urban commune Blois, for which an ambition of becoming a leading eco-city in France, was declared by the mayor in 2008.In the analysis, emphasis is laid on mechanisms to institutionalize the main environmental policy principles, such as political and institutional structures and processes. Other prospects for an institutionalization of a new environmental policy that are to be investigated are economic structures as well as visions of the different decision-makers concerned. Research methods used in the study are qualitative interviews, document studies and a questionnaire.The findings of the analysis show that today?s prospects for an environmental policy in Blois close to that of Växjö, are clearly limited. The limitations can partly be found in economic structures but these seem to be rather related to a lack of priority amongst actors.

For almost a century the debate about women as ordained servants in the Church of Sweden has raged on and on. The decision to open up the priesthood for both genders in 1958 was a milestone in the women?s liberation movement as well as it marks an important time in the church history. The debate has mainly been about how to interpret scripture, who has the right to do so, and so on. Feminist theology has become one way in recent decades to paint a wider and more nuanced picture of history and how to interpret the texts often used to repress women.This essay surveys some of the steps towards that decision, as well as it paints a rough picture of what leadership among women in the church could involve before ordination became an option.

The purpose of this essay was to analyze the management and steering of the social welfare service. The objective was specifically to examine how the leaders approach their position as managers of the social welfare service, and also how they approach their way of steering. The social welfare service acts under political decisions, but the management interpret and transform these decisions into actions. The managers of the social welfare service are therefore important from a democratic perspective. The study was based on five qualitative interviews with two managers of the unity, two departmental managers and the head manager of the social welfare service.

Introduction: The interaction between different care facilities and professions is important in the care of older patients. Patients do not always get enough time to recover and often have a continued need for care. A discharge process of good structure in which the patient and relatives are participating and the continued need of care is assured is of importance in care of older patients.Objective: The overall purpose of this study is to compare the discharge process for patients over 75 years old admitted to a emergency medicine ward respective a emergency medicine ward with geriatric focus at a medicine clinic, to compare discharge process between these wards and evaluate the patients situation at home after discharge.Methods: A survey of medical records with a protocol and a telephone survey have been performed. Data was analyzed with descriptive and analytic statistic. Patients at the medical wards MAVA and care unit number 21/34, which are 75 years or older and are discharged to their own home, within the municipality of Göteborgs stad, in Sweden, are included in this study.Results: The discharge process differed between medicine wards with emergency medicine and geriatric focus.