The purpose of this essay was to try to find out if the optimal farrowing pen exists. By interviewing producers, veterinarians and salesmen and also through a literature study, I have tried to evaluate advantages and disadvantages regarding different types of pen formations and environmental details. The interviews with the producers showed that they all were satisfied with their particular farrowing pen. It also showed that one material can be functional in one farrowing pen but not in another. The determining factor for the outcome of the farrowing pen was the individual experience and the way of thinking of the producers. The veterinarians were of the opinion that there today were no existing farrowing pens that responded to the pigs needs. However, the results on the farms were generally good. The salesmen thought that the production costs could be lower if a sort of a standard pen was used.

For many companies, the Internet has revolutionized the relationship they have with their customers concerning costumer service. The use of Information Technology in regard to Internet as a media has provided companies with the opportunity to build customer databases in order to target their customers individually. The airline industry was one of the first pioneers to use the full potential of Internet to improve customer relations and its profits which we aim to investigate in greater detail in our thesis.Our thesis answers the question on how Scandinavian Airlines' (SAS) Eurobonus department uses their website to create valuable and profitable relationships with SAS loyalty club members through direct marketing. In order to answer our research question, three key informants have been interviewed - each representing different sub departments at Eurobonus; service and support, IT and marketing. Our results were that the Eurobonus department use direct marketing methods by sending customized e-mail offerings to target specific customer, using their customer databases.

Every business is subject to service failures. The process of correcting these failures and turning disappointed customers back into happy ones is called service recovery. This is particularly important in the hotel business, where there are many moments of truth where customers may become dissatisfied. To further complicate things, service recovery is a process where you may have to correct errors of others - people beyond your control. The research field is relatively new and there are no turn-key solutions as to how to systematically work with service recovery.

This report describes the development of a well?functioning and aesthetically appealing web portal and associated database for a company called Svensk Kredit & Försäkringsförmedling AB (Translated: Swedish Credit & Insurance intermediation AB). The portal will test customers' creditworthiness through another company called Business Check in Sweden AB.Administrators to the web portal have a special user interface to display all customers, to disburse the money to the customer and edit customer information. A super?user interface is available for administrators where they can change the information on all administrator accounts.Many aspects of security has been addressed because the web portal will handle personal information.

Nynas produces bitumen at two refineries in Sweden. The bitumen is shipped to seven depots along the swedish coast line, and from the depots special trucks handle the transportation to customers. Recently Nynas has transformed its supply chain and closed down a few depots. At the moment the company is considering a further reduction of the number of depots. In connection to these discussions an analyse of the companys distributionsystem and of possible changes is required.

The Art Library uses the newspaper cuttings archive to provide her customers with newspaperarticles about art. This archive has the following problems; there is little space left inthe paternoster lifts, the articles can only be found on keyword and to maintain the archive,much labour is required.This research aims to find out how the Art Library can provide her customers with newspaperarticles which will cost as little as possible.Six possible solutions are given. Out of these the solution with "Artikel-sok" was recommended.According to this solution the Art Library should no longer maintain the archive, butuse "Artikel-sok", a database from Bibliotekstjänst which contains descriptions of articlesfrom many Swedish newspapers and magazines. These articles can be ordered from Bibliotekstjänst.The old newspaper cuttings archive will be used for articles from before 1979,because these are not being taken up in the "Artikel-sok"..

Almost all people in Sweden have to visit a grocery store at some point, which are facing plenty of different kind of hygiene risks. They will face both employees and other customer - all of them are possible to give the innocent customer some kind of infection. Does the shopkeeper know this Maybe, maybe not. Nevertheless, there's a lot of work to do for a shopkeeper who wants to understand his customers. The shopkeeper needs to understand how to decrease the customers' risk perception, as well as how risk and media fits together.

Course:Business Administration, Master Thesis, Second Level, 30 Credits.Authors:Sara Frännlid and Helena RamstedtTutor:Jim AndersénTitle:Internet, relationships and loyalty ? Best praCtice foR the bankMarketPurpose:The study aims to explain how banks use electronic customer relationship management, eCRM, to create loyal customers. A figure will be created, which will enlighten the factors a bank should focus on when enhancing customer loyalty through the internet. Through interviews with two successful banks is it possible to study how a bank can successfully create loyal customers.Methodology:A qualitative method in terms of semi-structured interviews is used. The empirical results were then analyzed with the theory in order to contribute with a new figure.Theoreticalperspective:The theory describes how a bank can create a loyal customer over the Internet.

Today bonuscards are used widely to encourage customers to return for more purchases. Many of those bonuscards are today made of paper which is negative for the environment and since they are not very valuable they are also easy to misplace. The mobile version of these cards most often needs an active download and/or other processes before use and are therefore not so easy to use spontaneous. This project aims to make it easier to handle these bonuscards with today?s smartphones and solve the given problems.

The purpose of this thesis is to show what advantages and opportunities social media offer for B2B-companies (business-to-business), and how they can be used for marketing communications.We have studied how companies can use social media, for example evolving the organization, developing products/services, staying up-to-date, building relations, creating customer loyalty and engagement, building the company?s identity and image, and affecting the buying decisions. We have also studied how B2B-companies can choose media channels, set goals, and measure the results.We have carried out interviews, through phone and visits, with four chosen companies that fit our criterias: Swedish B2B-company that is successful in social media.The result of the interviews show that B2B-companies use social media for various purposes, for example networking (to create and build long term relations with other companies) and to improve the company?s image among the end customers. Most of our interviewees reach their end customers (consumers) in first place and customers (companies) in second place, since many B2B-companies do not yet use social media.Half of our respondents mention that social media should not be used for advertising and campaigns (one way communication).

The increased media clutter requires of brand managers to be innovative and creative in their choices of marketing communications in order for brands to be salient in the minds of consumers. Recent studies emphasize incongruent marketing as a means of "standing out" from this competitive clutter and reaching existing and new potential customers. The aim of this thesis is to examine the effects of brand incongruent sponsorships (sponsorships which are incongruent with established brand associations) on consumer response to well-established brands from the perspective of high and low levels of loyalty. A quantitative survey was conducted and the results show that incongruent sponsorships improve brand attitude, brand interest and brand credibility, while not affecting ad attitude, purchase intention and word-of-mouth intention for customers of low loyalty. For highly loyal customers the findings were that brand attitude, brand interest, brand credibility, purchase intention and word-of-mouth intention remained unchanged while ad attitude decreased.

The purpose of this study was to examine customer attitudes towards flagship stores and how they perceive them. To ascertain this, and obtain answers to the research questions covering the study's main issues, we decided to turn to the customers who recently visited a flagship store.Our background theory is based upon literature from previous research done on the subject in the form of scientific articles and books. We present the theoretical concept that explains how flagship stores are used as a marketing tool and what impact they have on the new market. These will be helpful in answering our questions when we evaluate our results.!A theoretical framework, consisting of three value dimensions, was used as a support throughout the implementation of the study. These three values; hedonic, practical and social, should give us a better idea of what customers experience and what they value when they visit the flagship stores.!The method used in our investigation is of quantitative form, so that it can be feasible on a large crowd to thus contribute to a quantitative result.

The purpose of this study is to analyse how a distribution and sale-network for quality softwood lumber should be designed to fit sawmilling companies? business concepts, and at the same time satisfy customer needs regarding delivery time and quality aspects. This thesis work is a case study based on a sawmilling and retail company in Sweden. AB Karl Hedin is a private owned sawmilling company with 500 employees. The company?s turnover is 1500 million SEK, it includes 4 sawmills, 16 builders merchants stores and a packaging company.

The purpose of this master?s thesis is to contribute to the development of business relationships between a supplier and its customers. The research area and research problem was further developed into three research questions. The research questions concerns the following subjects: the substance of business relationships and dimensions within relationships management that can be used in order to contribute to the development of a company?s business relationships.

This Master Thesis within Marketing and Strategy investigates the values customers perceive within the Real Estate market in the inner City of Stockholm. The dependent variable is customer satisfaction, and it could be explained by 1) the feeling of light and uniqueness of the apartment, 2) that the apartment is of a satisfying size, 3) the address of the apartment, 4) and the economics, the common areas of the building, and the bidding process. The feeling of light and uniqueness, combined with the number of square meters, and the monthly fee of the apartment, are also identified as the price driven functions of this market. A quantitative method is used to investigate the market, where 107 apartment buyers completed a survey..