Title: The significance of small talk on leadershipDate of seminar: 13 October 2010Course: Bachelor paper in Business, in Organization, 15 ECTSInstitution: Swedish Business School at Orebro UniversityAuthors: Linda Andersson & Ebba HallbergAdvisor: Gabriella WennblomPurpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify and describe how leadership is affected by the small talk, with these three managers. This with the manager?s perspective as a starting point, within the three services we examined.Research methodology: This paper is based on a qualitative method. Targeted open interviews were carried out with three respondents. Literature in the organizational field has been searched through to give a base for the study.Theoretical framework: This paper uses the theory of communication, the theory of leadership and the theory of small talk.Conclusion: The conclusion we make is that the small talk makes it easier for the modern leadership, this is because the small talk, among other things, allows the manager to spread information and to avoid misinterpretation, and that the manager become more involved in the company.Keywords: Communication, small talk, leadership.

Franchise theorists have to a large extent failed to keep up with the actual development in global franchise chains. The recent emergence of fast growing multi-unit-franchisees has fundamentally been ignored, and it has been claimed that the new phenomenon can be regarded as a mere replication of the franchisors? structure and control system into sub hierarchies. This study however, suggests that the reality is more complex. Through conducting case studies of two Nordic multi-unit-franchisees, new theories are built explaining how and why control systems are designed the way they are.

Recent studies show that manufacturing companies to a larger extent use historical cost accounting in their internal accounts, at the expense of calculated costs. The explanation behind this is claimed to be that firms are subject to careful scrutiny by the stock market. Consequently, top management stresses the need of evaluating all parts of the firm from external accounting. However, lower management levels express a general concern that the incentive to invest in machines will decrease. This master thesis aims to investigate whether or not there is an objective reason behind this concern.

In the light of the criticism from the Swedish Consumers? Association towards the actions of modern fund managers on the Swedish Sustainable and Responsible Investment (SRI) market, discussions of change has increased. The reasons underlying a change and communication process are scarcely focused on. Thus, grounded on theories in the fields of Critical Management Studies (CSR), Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), change and communication, this study analyses how a change of implementing revised SRI communication is carried out at Handelsbanken Asset Management, existing motives for the change in communication, and how key actors can affect the process. A participant observation and in-depth interviews were carried out enfolding a discussion that contributed with a critical analysis and discussion, concluding external motives to be dominant and that key actors of the change process are influential to a various extent.

This essay is about personal assistance for persons with considerable intellectual disabilities.The purpose with the study is: to examine personal assistance for individuals, who can`t speakfor themselves, to examine how the individuals can determine and get influence into theirassistance and how they can get help with it, to examine the role of an representative inrelation to the serviceuser´s assistance and examine if there are factors of gender in theinterviews.The chosen method is qualitative interviews.The interviews has been analysed through earlier research about personal assistance andtheoretical perspectives like: influence, integration and citizenship and discussed throughperspectives of social psychology.The main conclusions are: the influence the serviceusers can have is through persons whoknow them very well, the role of the representatives are indistinct, the serviceusers can´tdetermine their assistance themselves and need help with it from relatives, representatives,personal assistants and managers, the persons who know the serviceuser intimately are best totransform the needs to assistance. The factors of gender, are that there are more men aspersonal assistants than in the care of elderly, and the representatives are mostly men. Thepersonal assistants appreciates the time they have for the serviceuser, the work can be lonelyand demanding..

This paper seeks to investigate whether there is a positive relationship between bonus as a part of total executive compensation and lower accounting quality among Swedish companies. In this study, accounting quality is defined as the degree by which a company's earnings are subject to earnings management. To detect earnings management accrual-based modified Jones model is applied to companies listed on the Large-, Mid- and Small-Cap lists on the Stockholm stock exchange during 2011. We find a statistically significant positive relationship between bonus as a part of total executive compensation and lower accounting quality. Thus, in line with prior research, our results suggest that managers, interested in maximizing their bonus, will select income increasing accruals to manage earnings upwards.

Course: Master's Thesis in Business AdministrationPurpose: The purpose with this paper is to give an insight, and to compare, the project management of two IT-projects ? one which product was implemented and put into use, and one, which was implemented but no longer exists on the market. Furthermore also examine the critical success factors that influence the success respectively the failure of the IT-projects. Method: To attain the purpose with our study we have chosen a qualitative method. We have carried out interviews with two of the project managers of the IT-project of the two large companies.Result: A couple of problems occurred within the IT-projects of the large companies.

In light of the recent scandals in Europe involving food labelling, this study will be focusing on food labelling. This study?s purpose is to investigate the extent of knowledge concerning labeling and presentation of food in the different food stores in Halmstad.The study was conducted out of our own interests with the guidance from the environmental health office. The study included nine different food stores of different size. The focus in this study was to verify how well five selected products follow the labeling rules.

The purpose of this master thesis is to investigate what the work situation of children's librarians looks like in the year 2000, after the changes in society which took place since the 1980's. Did the tasks of children's librarians change during the nineties, and if so, in what way and why have they changed? Which new knowledge needs emerged for children's librarians during the nineties, and what was the cause of these new needs? Finally I want to know which needs for professional development arose, and how these needs are fulfilled. The thesis is based on qualitative interviews with children's librarians, library managers, library consultants, one representative of the Swedish school of Library and Information Studies and one member of SAB's children and youth committee. The study reveals that the identity of children's librarianship is strongly associated with the stimulation of language and reading.

Problem: Today Frigoscandia Equipment Europe, FSEE, is not sure how their CRM-system, MSMS, is used along with other solutions at the different regions throughout Europe. The company is interested in a usage evaluation describing by who and how the system is used. FSEE is also concerned about the users opinions of future development and improvements.Management is also concerned about how MSMS would support the After Market and gain full leverage of the IT investments. MSMS is today only used to a limited extent in a few of the After Market departments, and FSEE is interested in what an overall usage would mean in terms of improved internal communication, customer focus and information management. The following questions will therefore be investigated in this study:· How, by whom and where is MSMS used within FSEE?s After Market and Sales divisions today?· What does the After Market division at FSEE gain from using MSMS?· What has to be done to improve the usage of MSMS at FSEE? Purpose: The purpose of this Master Thesis is partly to examine the current usage of the Sales and Marketing System within FSEE?s After Market and Sales divisions.

Propose/Aim: The aim of this thesis is to examine the professional role of the Community Manager working for gaming companies. The thesis will examine which background and previous experience a Community Manager should have and the tasks included in the assignment to see how this new role can contribute to the development of gaming companies.Material/Method: The method used in this study is of a qualitative character. The data has been gathered through e-mail interviews with five people working as Community Managers in the gaming business and in addition, through a textual analysis of five job advertisements. The results were analyzed on the basis of carefully selected theories in the field of strategic communication.Main results: The main result of this study is that the Community Manager's most important task is to act as a link between the players and the game developers by communicating with both sides. The Community Manager can receive important feedback from the players which can contribute to the game development. .

To have a functioning organization where there is a self-development for employees them selves, as well as between managers and employees, where employees are empowered and work for the organization and its goals. Feedback seems to be the main instrument to solve problems and create that organization. At the Military Academy Karlberg and the basic officers training there is a lot of discussions about feedback and how it is supposed to be carried out. This essay discusses the matter of how well we live up to the demands set by leadership classes at the Military Academy, what the platoon leaders do think about how feedback takes its expression. The questions about how feedback is used are to be answered by interviews with five platoon leaders and their thoughts about how feedback is communicated at the Academy.

There are several Project Management Softwares onthe market today. These tools are powerful andextensive to the degree they become too timeconsumingand complex and therefore often defeatits original purpose. This is the case especiallywhen the project manager is inexperienced and/orthe scope of the project is moderate.The purpose of this thesis arose from this context,there seems to be a gap between a home-made MSExcel spread sheet and the advanced softwaresavailable. The thesis and the product has beendeveloped in alliance with Faveo ProjectManagement with the shared goal to create a toolwhich is easy to use but still covers the essentialareas of project management theory. The tool willbe used internally by Faveo-employees as well asexternally together with Faveo?s clients in aneducational purpose.

Our purpose was to examine why and how to start a ?bridge building enterprise? between qualified Chinese human capital and Swedish structure capital. The theoretical framework consists of literature from well renowned authors and is divided into four different parts: Intellectual Capital, Knowledge Management, China & Intercultural understanding. The empirical foundation has been gathered from a great variety of different sources in an attempt to cover the many complex angels in which this subject can be looked upon. Chinese students, managers in international companies with experience from China, Chinese employees in Swedish companies and different people with good knowledge of different areas of China are all among our respondents.In our conclusion we have reached the three following conclusions for why one should start a ?bridge building? enterprise in between qualified Chinese human capital and Swedish structure capital:-To fill future shortage of qualified human capital in Sweden.-To improve communication between Swedish companies and the Chinese market.-To develop qualified Chinese human capital with western standards..

Background: As the economy turns up and down, and companies sometimes face loosing employees, it is important for them to make sure they do not loose competence at the same time. Therefore a need to handle competence efficiently exist. Purpose. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate what measures companies take to minimise the risk of loosing competence from the company, at times of layoffs and in general. Methodology: We mainly used interviews to gather information.