This thesis studies private equity firms' implementation of management control systems in their portfolio companies and whether the systems are affected by cross-national differences. A comparative case study examines five different private equity firms to derive if there are any differences between the private equity firms' management control systems in the United States, Europe and China. The empirical observations are categorized according to the framework developed by Merchant (1985) and further developed by Merchant and Van der Stede (2003). Theory on the effect of multinationality on management control systems, also developed by Merchant and Van der Stede (2003), are used to explain possible findings. The applied theory includes the cultural dimensions developed by Hofstede (1984) and Hofstede and Bond (1988).

Hearing is considered to be the most important sense for the communication between people. Several studies have shown that hearing loss can lead to deterioration in quality of life, reduced social activities, feelings of alienation and hence the increasing incidence of depression symptoms.An early audiological rehabilitation is a prerequisite for proper communication among people with hearing loss. Knowledge has been shown to be of great importance and structured learning and individually targeted approach can be expected to facilitate the audiological rehabilitation.The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of an educational effort for people with hearing loss where the effort was made in the distance within the audiological rehabilitation and was followed-up by professional phone support, through a randomized controlled study.The study group consisted of 69 hearing aid users who were randomized by an independent person into two groups, an intervention group and a control group. The intervention group (n = 33) had access to the book "When the sounds are weaker - on hearing and hearing aids". The group received weekly topic-based information related to the different chapters of the book, in five rounds.

The aim of the study was to study the phenomenon of dyslexia on the basis of a literature study. I did a thorough exposition of what dyslexia is and its history and previous research in the area. Further I assumed two questions at issue which were What testimonies are there from the literature of how it is to live with dyslexia? and What learning styles are there for people with dyslexia? I have taken part of testimonies that are to be found about how it is to live with dyslexia according to the people themselves that live with it. In the second question at issue I move on to present a couple of learning styles that are used.

The demand of nature tourism is increasing and new ways to satisfy tourists are necessary.The goal with this report was to answer that demand by exploring the possibilities for backcountry skiing north of Torneträsk. This area was chosen because it is unexplored. This hasbeen succeeded by an extensive fieldwork. Aspects like topography, routes, slope angles andgeological places of interests where recorded. The results has shown that back country skiingis well suited for this area and poses no negative impact on the natural habitat.

The purpose of this study was to investigate produced laser data from the new national height model's airborne laser scanning in Sweden, what quality it has and whether it can be used for forest management planning. From airborne laser scanning one can obtain information on forest variables such as tree species, height, diameter and basal area. Norra skogsägarna is the principal employer of this project and they wanted know to the quality of the laser data which needs to cope with their standards. If the laser data the quality required it can replace some of the operations performed by field planners. To examine the quality of the produced laser data a control tax assessment has been performed in 30 forest departments. This was done in an objective manner.

Title:   Controlling Mälarenergi by Balanced Scorecard Seminar date:  2009-01-16 Institution:   School of Sustainable Development of Society and Technology Course:   Bachelor thesis 15hp Authors:   Camilla Nilsson, Amanda Agestav Advisor:   Ulla Pettersson The main issues:                What does Mälarenergi's Balanced Scorecard look like? Which Balanced Scorecard perspectives are important to Mälarenergi? Is Balanced Scorecard a purposeful control model in order for the group management to fulfil the aims of the owners' directives? Purpose:                            The purpose is to find out how the group management at Mälarenergi works with Balanced Scorecard. Is Balanced Scorecard a purposeful tool for the group management to fulfill the aims of the owners' directives? Method:                             This study is based on a qualitative research method in the form of interviews. We have interviewed one respondent.

The formulation of visions into practical projects is an important part of the professional expertise of landscape architects. This expertise includes the gathering, structuring, improvement and utilization of knowledge. Project models have been developed to provide tools for the implementation and governance of projects, as well as means of learning, reflection and survey of individual projects. The aim of this thesis is to describe some general project models and their theory, and to describe practical, real-life examples of project models used within landscape architecture. Questions asked are: ? How do the processes of idea to construction in landscape architectural projects lool like? Do project models have a relevance for the mission of landscape architects? ? Is a common project model used within such projects, or is the project model varying depending on e.g.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate if there are any differences regarding syntactic complexity in written language between persons with (phonologically based) reading and writing difficulties and a control group. Earlier research has pointed to such a difference, indicating that texts written by subjects with reading and writing difficulties display a lower grade of syntactic complexity than text written by control groups.Two texts each from 48 subjects (24 from each category) were collected. The subjects were divided in two age groups, one consisting of 15-year-olds and the other of university students (adults in various ages). The subjects were selected through a word decoding test and a spelling test, where the lowest performing formed the group of reading and writing difficulties and the highest performing formed the control groups. All subjects had Swedish as their mother tongue.The syntactic aspects studied were number of words per syntactic sentence (Sw.

The ambition with this study is to look into and create an understanding for how an intranet can work as a support system in work processes in capacity as a source of knowledge. We want to enhance the understanding for which kind of knowledge that can be coded in and transmitted by an intranet, and which that is lost in this process. We also want to clarify what it takes to get this knowledge, in collaboration with the intranet, to support the work in an organization. It is a qualitative case study at a Swedish bank. It consisted of semi standardized, half structured interviews with five people in one of the bank?s local offices.

Deliberate self-harm are a growing problem among young people in Sweden. It's not only the child that suffers from the behaviour, even the whole family. Parent´s need the right support from the healthcare staff for their own wellbeing, but also to be able to give good support for their child. Par-ent´s experiences are of importance for the nurse in the healthcare of the child and their families. The aim of this study was to describe parent´s experiences of living with a child with a deliberate self-harm behavior.

Studies have shown that politicians are significantly more likely to become victims of violent crime than other citizens in Sweden. In fact increasing political rank and engagement are directly proportionate to increased risk for violence. Threat towards politicians is not only dangerous to the individuals involved but also to the democratic system as a whole.Political scientists the world over have done a lot of research on democracy, but I have been unable to find a single method or theory that examines how violence, threat and harassment affect political leaders and democratic systems.The aim of this study is to expand the existing model made by Tommy Möller, professor in political science. In his model he presents 11 factors that affect political leaders ability to act. My aim is to develop his model by adding a 12 th factor ?violence, threat and harassment?.

This study examines gender differences in the perception and utilization of social support in traditional female- and male workplaces. This study confirms results from earlier studies which suggest that there are gender differences. The survey instrument measures four types of social support: informational, instrumental, appraisal and emotional among 314 working women and men. Women report higher levels of social support on all four types. There is a significant difference in instrumental support between women working in female dominated workplaces compared to men working in male-dominated workplaces and between some of the trades.

This master thesis has been carried out at Scania R&D at the department for Powertrain Control System Development during the winter of 2010/2011. In the thesis the writer examine and evaluate the existing method for collecting information from the tests carried out during the development of the Powertrain Control Systems software. It also contains suggestions for how a new method that enhance the validation elements could look like.The master thesis uses Vicentes theories of the ecological approach and theories of how knowledge sharing of tacit and technical information works within an organization and between the organization and its customers. First a workplace analysis at Scania R&D is carried out to see how Powertrain Control Systems work and how they test their software. Second a control task analysis, where the aims decided on after the interviews, is compared to the existing method.

I denna studie undersöktes om känsligheten för stress varierar mellan olika ångestsyndrom. Respondenterna utgjordes av 36 män och 47 kvinnor, samtliga medlemmar i Svenska ångestsyndromsällskapet, som fick besvara 15 bakgrundsfrågor samt PANAS, SE-formuläret och Locus of Control. Några skillnader i stresskänslighet kunde inte påvisas. Dock uppvisade kvinnor högre grad av extern Locus of Control än män, medan män hade fler sömnproblem än kvinnor. Bortfallet i undersökningen är betydande eftersom del av respondentgruppen föll bort.

The purpose of the study is to investigate the possible effects of an unstable ventilation system and its influence on energy use and thermal comfort. The report also explores how qualified personal working with HVAC view and handles system control.In order to meet the requirements in energy efficiency and a comfortable indoor climate control regulation is a prerequisite. With optimized increased complexity of the climate systems, it becomes more challenging to control the system and the risk of unstable control increases. No previous studies about what affect an unstable system can have on energy use and thermal comfort have been found.The report is based on several tests were the controlling variable has been increased until the system becomes unstable. Two different types of unstable systems have been investigated.