This paper replicates a test performed by Burgstahler and Dichev (1997), which identifies a kink in the frequency distribution of earnings for companies listed on American stock exchanges. Their claim, that the kink is evidence of earnings management, has however been dismissed as a methodical consequence. To address this concern, this paper not only replicates the test in general, but also performs tests on a split sample, where founding family-owned companies are separated from the others, since earlier research has shown that founding family ownership is correlated with less earnings management. The results are in line with the findings of Burgstahler and Dichev, with a significant kink in the frequency distribution in the general test. The findings also show that the significance of the kink increases in the non-family-owned sample, while it disappears in the family-owned sample.

This report is part of an Bachelor of Science work in forestry, conducted for the community of Borås, Sweden. In order to create a forest management plan for the area of Hestra, a survey was conducted. People living in the area were given the opportunity to reply to the survey. The questions in the survey are both personal and forestry-related. The aim is to reach out to the different categories of people when it comes to age, living and the different aspects of visiting the woods.

Kartläggning av de inställningar som finns hos förvaltningsfastighetsföretag med anledning av införandet av IAS 40 samt praxis. Intervjuade företag: Brinonva, Castellum, Heba, Kungsleden och Akelius..

Title: Management control of facility efficiency in municipalities - A case study of Halmstad municipalityLevel: BachelorSeminar date: 2012-05-31Authors: Markus Nilsson & Sara MattssonAdvisor: Sven-Ola CarlssonKey words: Control management in municipality, facility efficiency, management by objectives, internal rents and incentivesBackground: The public sector owns and manages a large property portfolio and in the municipalities, the properties are always a big cost item. Because of the outside world changes and the public interest, the properties should be used as efficiently as possible.Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe how control management of facilities looks like a municipality. The paper also seeks to explain how employees work to make the facilities more efficient in a municipality.Methodology: The authors use a qualitative method with open interviews.Theoretical perspectives: The choice of theory was made with the field of management control and facility efficiency in mind. The theory therefore includes management by objectives, internal rents and reward systems, motivation and communication within organizations.Empirical foundation: The organization has undergone a reorganization 2010/2011. There are no clear incentives to reduce facility costs.

Detta arbete består av designen av ett gränssnitt för webbplatsen whatismykidplaying.com. Designen var tänkt att ge hög användbarhet för målgruppen och testades av användare i ett think-aloud test. De fick testa och utvärdera hur väl gränssnittet fungerar och  deras feedback utvärderades och resultaten låg till grund för förslag på förändringar i gränssnittet, vissa som sedan blev implementerade. Studien har utgått från de olika stegen i en användarcentrerad utvecklingsmodell, analys - design - utvärdering - återkoppling, och en iteration har genomförts.Som utgångspunkt, för att öka användbarheten i webbplatsens gränssnitt, användes diverse regler och riktlinjer för hur användbarhet bäst kan uppnås, när designen gjordes. Hur väl dessa regler och riktlinjer fungerat tillsammans, i detta projekt och design, blev således en del i think-aloud testest utvärdering.

There is a need for examining the accessibility of public web sites and for several reasons. First, public organizations possess considerable amounts information of interest to its citizens and which ought to be easily accessible. Secondly, international and national guidelines for web publishing support the different types of requirements experienced by web users and, in particular, with regard to accessibility for people with disabilities. The thesis examines the design of public web sites from two different aspects. Web sites can be built up and structured from the management view of the public organization, or, they can be constructed with a view to user needs and requirements.

Uppsatsen syftar till att studera hur verksamhetsstyrningen på fyra utvalda företag ser ut i goda och dåliga tider. Vi har använt oss av ett kvalitativt angreppssätt genom ställda enkätfrågor till chefer samt en chefsrekryterare. Angreppsättet är även abduktivt då vi växlar mellan empiri och teorier. De utvalda företagen är placerade i Brandingers modell över planeringssituationer för att sprida dem enligt kriterierna "föränderliga affärsförutsättningar" och "lätthet att förändras". Vi har kommit fram till ett antal hypoteser som visar på tendenser att mer förändringsbenägna företag förändrar sin verksamhetsstyrning i större utsträckning.

The management of information is one of the key aspects within a successful andefficient product development process, particularly regarding complex products.Scania CV AB is at the moment developing a new IT-system, OAS, which aims tomanage the company?s product data. With this as a background, the purpose of thismaster thesis is to identify the cross-functional user needs within Scania?s organizationconcerning product data and the management around it.To fulfill the purpose, an empirical study consisting of 40 personal interviews with 50representatives from different functions within Scania?s organization was carriedthrough. The empirical data was then analyzed focusing on identifying thecross-functional needs and issues.The study points out that there is a big potential regarding improvement among themanagement of product data.

The Mobile phone has contributed to massive changes in the way that human beings communicate with each other and is a part of society?s globalization. Opinions differ in the area of user interface where some feel that mobile phones exclude users such as senior citizens or users with an intellectual or a physical disability.Universal Design ??design for all?, is a vision that intends to bring about settings, products and services that suits as many people as possible irrespective of an individual?s needs and prospects. The criteria for ?design for all? are among other things flexibility, user friendliness, comprehensibility and a high tolerance for mistakes.The purpose of this essay was to investigate the mobile phones graphic user-interface from the theory of a universal design.

The main objective of this thesis was to develop appropriate strategies and find factors that affect the usability of parameterized designs. This was accomplished by investigate the user-interface and how it is designed to meet the user's information needs. The thesis also embraces the basic theories in terms of investigation, cognitive design principles and human behavior patterns in the interaction with the machine. The approach has led to an explorative investigation in this subject area.The thesis also had the purpose to achieve more efficient ways for development of motor chainsaws at Husqvarna AB's department Global Cutting Equipment. That can be achieved through reduce costs of development per sold unit.

Syftet med denna undersökning är att identifiera, utifrån leverantörens synvinkel, lämpliga förändringar i processer som leder till reducering av slöseri i byggprojekt. Därefter vill vi ta fram en referensram för hur Supply Chain Management bör utformas och styras för att genomföra förbättringar inom de identifierade förändringsområdena.Uppsatsen bygger på en kvalitativ fallstudie av en materialleverantör i branschen, samt en vetenskaplig rapport inriktad på slöseri inom byggprojekt. Fallstudien baseras på material från interjuver och observationer. Både byggbranschen och fallföretaget studerades utifrån utvalda teorier om slöseri och värdeskapande samt Supply Chain Management.Den teoretiska tyngden ligger på Supply Chain och Supply Chain Management. Därefter användes teorier för slöseri och värdeskapande samt vilka beståndsdelar och hur man ska analysera de olika beståndsdelarna.

Umeå University currently uses two Course Management System, Moodle and Sakai (Cambro). Both Moodle and Sakai are based on open source code and are today the two more popular choices among Swedish Universities. They both have different strengths and weaknesses both from a technical perspective and a user perspective. This can create problems for a course responsible/teacher when it comes to planning the course structure at a distance course but also when planning the course structure on a campus course that uses a Course Management System. With this as my starting point my formulations of questions become:How do the Course Management Systems that Umeå University uses differs, both from a technical perspective and user perspective?What possibilities is there in the Course Management Systems to use a different Course Structure?Is there a noticeable difference on the view of Course Management System of teachers and students at different departments?The purpose with my essay is to create a basis that course responsible/teacher can use to plan the course structure.

Syftet med denna studie inom den svenska dagligvaruhandeln är att studera vilken attityd konsumenter har och varför, när de värderar utbudet av EVM och LVM i butiken. Jag ville ta reda på vilka attibut och känslomässiga värden det är som påverkar konsumenten när, hon/han i sitt medvetnade positionerar EVM och LVM i förhållande till varandra. Eftersom problemområdet utgör en kunskapslucka inom Category Management litteraturen valde jag en explorativ inriktning. Genom den kvalitativa metodens djupintervjuer sökte jag uppnå en förståelse för problemområdet. det som farmkom i studien var att om man inom Category Management säger sig ha konsumenten i fokus så måste butikens varumärkesportföljen ses över.

The purpouse of this study is to find out how and if a Content Managment System (CMS) can benefit from applied User Experience Design (UX). A work project has been executed where a client wanted the students to create a user friendly CMS for adding content to a global hotel review site. A prototype of a CMS was created based on literature studies about UX and CMS. The prototype of the user friendly CMS was then tested through user tests and interviews with key users. After input from the key users the prototype was changed until the users were satisfied with it..

The work has been performed in collaboration with Jönköping University. The aim of this work has been to study different methods for mobile adaption of large CMS (Content Management System) websites, where the website of Jönköping has been used as a reference.The website at Jönköping University is used daily by current students, faculties, prospective students and external users. Research carried out by the University shows that the use of mobile devices has increased, and it is therefore necessary to examine the mobile adaptation of the large CMS website.A layout proposal has been suggested by determining which method that is most relevant for mobile adaption of a large CMS website. The website should adapt to different resolutions and devices according to how the existing website is based in the current situation. Emphasis has been put on menu operations, to navigate through the large website in a user-friendly way.