The creation of value is considered the core purpose and central process of economic exchange. Value creation is now conceptualized as shared by both producers and customers, and value is seen as fundamentally derived and determined in use, the integration and application of resources in a specific context, rather than in exchange, embedded in products and manifested as price. The field of research is abundant with publications but these do not fully further the understanding of value creation and co-creation in a way that is meaningful for theoretical development and decision making in business and marketing practise. Without a thorough understanding of the factors characterising value co-creation, the nature as well as content and locus of co-creation cannot be identified. In that case value co-creation easily becomes a concept without substance. Until now, individual publications on co-creation have focused on few or different aspects, have emphasized the process from either the customer?s or from  the firm?s vantage point, have different theoretical approaches and have ignored the complexity in interactions between actors.The purpose of this essay is to analyse how five fundamental aspects of co-creation of customer value are perceived in contemporary marketing literature. Discussing the different views on co-creation, this essay concludes that thoughthere are evident points of agreement, finding one generally valid doctrine of predestination or value co-creation is improbable.

The purpose with this report is to highlight the value which Enterprise Architecture (EA) can bring,including the effects that can emerge, for a business. In the report we also study how Enterprise Architecturemay serve as basis for generating even more business value. The study is based on a theoretical frameworkwhich covers the following perspectives; architecture design, strategy development, management of changeand evaluation of IT-investments. Gathering and analysis of empirical data has been performed using acustom-developed model which is based on a model from Sogeti called Dynamic Architecture (van DenBerg and van Steenbergen, 2006) and Innovation Value Institute?s maturity curve (Innovation ValueInstitute, 2008) for Enterprise Architecture management.Explaining the value of Enterprise Architecture is invariably an important topic since many organizationsexpect to be able to generate quick value of the investments made in Enterprise Architecture.

This master thesis covers the seasonal planning of a small scale hydropower system. The system in this study is owned and operated by Mälarenergi Vattenkraft AB. The total system consists of 4 different main rivers with 24 hydropower stations and several dams. The total installed power in the system is 43.75 MW. Most of the hydropower stations are regarded as small scale hydropower stations and thus entitled to green certificates.In this report the issue of planning is formulated as an optimization problem.

Svensk Växtkraft is the owner of the biogas plant in Västerås. The company is planning to increase their treatment capacity at their biogas plant. In connection to this work it is also possible to make some energy saving changes to the biogas plant. The objective of this study was therefore to make an electricity and heat survey of the biogas plant, a detailed study of the heat consumption in the sanitation step and also a comparison of energy consumption with the present sanitation method and an alternative strategy where the waste is treated in 55 °C during 10 hours (the current method is heating to 70 °C during 1 hour). The energy survey was conducted in close collaboration with staff at the biogas plant. The current during normal operation was measured, power was calculated and multiplied by the time of usage to obtain the energy consumed.

The aim of this case study was to investigate the role of leadership and interpersonal relations among staff during implementation of lean at a University Hospital in Sweden. The 15 respondents were leaders and staff members from different wards and clinics, who had started working according to lean principles. One of the methods used was explorative, low structured interviews. Other methods used for gathering information about the case was attending lectures about lean healthcare at the hospital, part-taking in the lean game and reading articles about lean and the implementation in both daily press and on the intranet of the hospital. The results showed that an open and accessible leader that coaches his/her staff and supports their work, helps the staff to develop a lean identity.

The world is getting smaller. Global markets, political processes and communication technology bring people together. Even though many of these processes are dynamic and constructive, they have also resulted in a need for better and more effective ways of international conflict resolution. This thesis investigates central issues connected to the concept of humanitarian interventions in relation to current and future legislation of the European Union. The overall question is whether the rapid globalization process has resulted in a change of international law towards more liberal view where authorization of the security council is not always needed? And, if there has actually been such a liberalization, how does that affect the legal possibilities for the European Union to carry out armed operations without the consent of the global community? The conclusion of the thesis is that international law has been modified mainly in two aspects: First, the concept of sovereignty is no longer seen merely as a right of the nation, but also as a responsibility.

The public libraries were quick to adapt to the changes that the Internet brought on, and today library websites are an important part of the public library. To meet the needs of teens today, the library website could offer a range of contents to make it an attractive place on many levels; both the academic needs as well as social and recreational needs should be addressed.The aim of this thesis is to evaluate public library websites for teenagers in Sweden, and to examine how well the websites address the developmental tasks and needs that teenagers have. The method used is website evaluation, one quantitative and one qualitative. A total of 60 public library sites for teenagers were evaluated, using 11 criteria based on Havighursts developmental tasks. The quantitative evaluation measured how many functions each website had per criteria, and showed that the majority of the sites had one or two functions for most of the criteria.

There are an increasing number of people suffering from depression and depressed mood. Concurrently important benefits have been noticed from the effects of massage, effects that can be assumed to restore individual?s health with depression and depressed mood. The aim of the study was to examine the importance of gentle massage in connection with depression and depressed mood. The research was based on scientific studies that were applied through the databases Cinahl, elin@Kristianstad, PsycARTICLES, PsycINFO, PubMed and the journal Vård i Norden as well as by manual searches.

This report will outline a proposal for the improvement of the baggage sorting facility at Arlanda airport. Swedavia is a state owned company group that operates, owns and develops airports in Sweden. One of their main roles is to create accessibility needed to facilitate and streamline the work at the airport.Swedavia is constantly working to develop new solutions and enhancements that will help to standardize and automate the work at airports without major impact on climate and above all adapt these solutions to work.The project has been aimed to identify and isolate the problem at the check-in counter, investigate the possibility of setting a speed control on the DC motor driving the luggage conveyer belt at the check-in desk so that the luggage does not lose tracking already there, as well as evaluate the new sorting systems planned to be introduce in the upcoming refurbishment of the sorting area.To determine the parameters that are used to regulate the speed of the baggage conveyor belt, information about the inputs and outputs that participated in the process was gathered. Information was collected both practically and theoretically. Process was followed and monitored by the supervisor of the company, and a theoretical study was done separately on my own.

This study has taken place in two nature reserves in the municipality of Uppvidinge in the Kronoberg region in southern Sweden. These have been chosen by the County Administrative Board to be part of a bigger landscape of fire affected nature, and prescribed fire has been implemented in these. The areas are called Ösjöbol and Berga fly and have been burned 2012 and 2013 respectively. Non-burned areas have been inventoried as well. Vascular plants and mineral soil have been inventoried with the Hult-Sernander-Du Rietz scale of five levels. Issues emanate from the County Administrative Board?s goals for prescribed fire: how sticks and herbs were affected, how much soil was uncovered, how the structure and fire favoured species were affected, and how deciduous trees and spruces (Picea abies) were affected. The study shows that the soil increased, as well as the fire favoured species.

The primary purpose of this paper is to find the determinants of first-day returns on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. Our research will cover the 1996 ? 2004 periods. Our secondary purpose is intended to find a profitable trading strategy with regard to future IPOs on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. By using regression analysis, focusing on company specific factors and the IPO process, we hope to find a function exhibiting statistical significance, determining future first-day returns from which construction of a profitable trading strategy will be possible.

Coreträning består av statiska och dynamiska övningar för bålmuskulaturen. Syftet med studien var att ta reda på om det fanns ett samband mellan bålmuskulatur och balans samt om en träningsperiod med Coreträning kunde påverka balansen. En litteraturstudie har gjorts där åtta artiklar granskades. Dessutom bestod studien av en empirisk del där nio försökspersoner fick sin statiska och dynamiska balans testad före och efter en 4-veckors period med Coreträning. Som mätmetod användes unilateral stance test med NeuroCom® Balance Master® 8.03 och dynamic balance test med Biodex® Balance System.

ABB is one of the world?s leading engineering companies in power and automation technologiesand their solutions improve performance while lowering environmental impacts for energycompanies and industries. ABB FACTS designs equipment and plants for series and phasecompensation.This thesis has been performed at ABB FACTS on the Mechanical Design (DM) department inVästerås, Sweden. The purpose of the thesis was to develop and design calculations andsimulation tools for ABB FACTS?s standard series capacitor platforms.

The following report comprises my bachelor´s thesis in Industrial design, 30 hp. It is executed in collaboration with Bonum senior housing, who has been the client and assignment- maker of this project.The goal was to design a bench for their entrances, which could represent not only the needs of the target group but also Bonum as a trademark. The work is done with great care for both human kind and the environment, with sustainability as beacon.The design process has been followed.Initially, you will find the definition of a bench for entrances, the framework including inclusive as well as sustainable design, a function- and market analysis followed by the inspiration part of the project. Getting to know the target group and their specific needs has been essential for this work.Investigations about what senior house living and senior products are and what the target group thinks and feels, has been done. As a result, two ?personas? has been developed.With the help of a purposely chosen group of people, surveys and ergonomic studies has been executed, as well as prototype-testing.The fact-finding has formed the stable and unavoidable foundation of this project, which later on gets more creative and idea based.

Earth science is a dynamic system science that explores the structures and processes of the earth. Knowledge about the earth is important for citizens since the science is a vital part in the sustainable development of the society. Without good basic knowledge the citizens don?t have the possibility to anticipate in the questions and decision-making that concerns e.g. anthropogenic climate change. In the Swedish school system earth science is not an independent subject until academically studies at the University?s.