Since the 1980s, companies have taken a larger interest in quality and it´s economic impact within the company. Having the knowledge that it´s not quality that costs money, but it´s rather the lack of quality. The work immerses itself in the field of cost of poor quality and the development of key performance indicators.The thesis is performed at Bufab Holding in Värnamo. Bufab Holding is a trading company which mainly buys and sells C-parts. C-parts include fasteners, other small metal-, rubber- or plastic parts such as wires, springs and electronic fasteners.The aim of this thesis was to make a survey of the cost of poor quality and to find key performance indicators (KPI) for cost of poor quality that can be continuously monitored.

The sludgebark and to a certain extent the bark were until a decade ago waste products without any economic value that were thrown away. A number of environmental laws and increcing energy prices have improved the prerequisites for increasing the use of these materials. At Seskarö sawmill they burn the sludgebark and a great deal of the bark in the sawmill furnace. The sludgebark has a number of disadvantages compared to bark during burning. The sludgebark is often wet which means the energy net from burning often gets low.

It is clear that media advertising is one of the crucial marketing tools for companies in order to promote their products and services. As we are moving towards more and more economic integration, both on a regional and global scale, the question about standardisation of media advertising has become increasingly important and is nowadays subject to discussion in most international companies. This thesis deals with the issue of standardisation in a region where the process of political, legal and especially economic integration is taking its course, but where cultural and linguistic diversity is still a remaining fact: Europe. The aim of this thesis was to investigate the potential gains from a standardised advertising approach but also to identify its limitations. Especially on a market place like Europe, with its diverse cultural and linguistic background, a fully standardised approach might be difficult to implement.

This essay aims to emphasize and clarify the positions that exist within the current globalization debate. The positions are the neo-liberal, the opponents, the pragmatists and the skeptics. The text presents and explains their ideological, moral and political positions and beliefs about the world, the nation state, the society and the individual; in light of Steven Lukes? and Antonio Gramsci's theories regarding the interaction and the relationship between power and hegemony. The methodological starting point is the ideology-critical analysis; in which their arguments in the current globalization debate is highlighted and categorized.

Rules for damages that are effective are important to create legal security and a public procurement that fulfil economic effectivity. Those rules are effectivly created for example when the demand of evidence is possible for the damaged supplier to fulfil. Yet the rules cannot be too low without leading to an uncertain procurement for the public purchaser. Thus one have to balance the interests of a public purchaser against the interests of a damaged supplier. This balance leads to a public procurement involving rules of damages where the public purchaser cannot escape duty of damages just because the demand of evidence is too hard to fulfil..

Abstract The increased focus on social capital theory has made its way into labour economics. This has led to the creation of a vast literature about the use of networks and informal search methods in the labour-market, a literature that to some extent also deals with immigrants search behaviour and their relatively high unemployment rate. Characteristic for the literature in the area is the lack of analysis of actual networks. Which types of contacts do these networks contain; how are the networks used in the labour-market; and which type of network generates a high amount of social capital. These questions are important for the general understanding of how social capital functions, within the labour-market, but also for the understanding of how immigrants use their networks in order to find themselves jobs.

The European Union is originally an economic organization that has developed into including more social and cultural questions. These questions are especially important when the Union expands with so many different cultures and traditions to take into concideration.I have from an identity perspective studied the relation between the European Union and the candidate country of Turkey. Using theories including the Other I have discussed the relationship between us (Europe) and the Other (Turkey) and Turkey's possibilites to become a member of the Union. My conclusion will include a discussion on the basis of three dimensions; History, Economy/Politics and Religion. I believe there are hindrances for Turkey to become a member of the European Union.

The aim of this thesis is to study how librarians in Swedish libraries perceive the task of mediating fiction. What are the librarians private relationships to fiction and how do they perceive the position of fiction in contemporary society? What views have they developed of the borrowers approach to fiction and how do they perceive the borrowers increasing influence in the library? How do librarians prioritise and which principles form the basis for their purchase of fiction? How do they categorise fiction in the library and how much do economic and political factors influence the decision making process for the purchase of fiction? Finally, how do they define their roles as mediators of fiction and which strategies do they adopt to communicate which literature the library has to offer? The material used in this study was acquired using a qualitative interview technique in which six librarians with experience of literature mediation partook..

The current demanding business environment requires corporations to act fast in finding effective solutions to problems given the myriad of challenges they face (Dyllick & Hockerts, 2001). The challenges include the impact of climate change on business practices, natural resource consumption, chemical pollution, technological change etc. Moreover, the forces of globalization, heightened concerns about the deteriorating quality of the physical environment and increased stakeholder power are also increasingly having a real influence on business practices (Rainey, 2008). Since 1992, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) has encouraged the adoption of the concept of ecological efficiency (eco-efficiency) to support business efforts aimed at addressing some of these challenges. The aim of eco-efficiency is to reduce the amount of energy and materials used in production processes to achieve economic and environmental benefits (WBCSD, 2000).

This study concerns the energy future of the county of Stockholm up until 2050 and describes how the energy consumption can be compared to today with the use of scenario methodology. Within energy future studies the backcasting approach is well known and has been put to use in this study. Due to the characteristics of backcasting the study is self-fulfilling, i.e. the future energy scenarios presented in this study satisfy the targets set up in this study. In the light of what may be the largest challenge of our time ? the climate change - the aim of this study is to describe how the energy consumption in a fossil fuel free Stockholm county in the year of 2050 may be.

The purpose of this paper is to find out which portfolio theory one should use during a financial crisis. We will examine two different portfolio theorys, the Minimum Variance portfolio and the beta portfolio.We have chosen to study two different portfolios, and followed their development during the financial crisis with its start in 2008 and the IT bubble with its start in the middle of 2000.The data has been collected from OMX internet database making it quantitative study. The beta portfolio's objective is to follow the index and the Minumim Variance portfolio´s objective is to spread the risk by investing in stocks with low volatility. By following the two different portfolios, and compare the development to the index, we will be able to determine which theory is most suitable to use during a recession. The studyperiods we chose were both in a recession and it turned out that the most appropriate portfolio to use was the Minimum Variance portfolio because stock in this portfolio tends to be less sensitive to economic fluctuations..

This thesis explores how the Swedish magazine Morgonbris depicted women's new roles in the workforce during World War I and whether these depictions challenged or upheld contemporary gender structures. The study addresses two main questions, how Morgonbris portrayed women's new roles in the workforce and how this portrayal challenged or upheld contemporary gender structures. And also how the magazine integrated the ideal of respectability to engage and mobilize female workers, analyzed through Ronny Ambj?rnsson's descriptions of respectability ideals. Using Hirdman's gender system theory, which examines the maintenance of gender power structures through separation and hierarchy, and Ambj?rnsson's work on respectability ideals, the study employs a qualitative content analysis of articles from Morgonbris during the war years. By identifying and analyzing expressions of class and respectability ideals, the research uncovers strategies used to engage and mobilize female workers. The results show that Morgonbris portrayed women's entry into traditionally male-dominated labor sectors as a significant shift that challenged established gender roles.

With the elevated oil prices of today it is necessary to look for other heating alternatives. If the oil price continues to develop in the same way it has done the last years it will soon be impossible for many producing garden companies to survive. The purpose of this diploma work is to compare three different fuel options in order to find the most economic one considering the conditions of Katrinebergs Handelsträdgård AB. In relation to oil it is profitable to change to any of the three alternatives: wood chips, wood pellets and grain. The most profitable option is to change to wood chips. This alternative has a payoff time less than three years and after that the annual saving compared to the oil is relatively high. The annual cost is 65 % of the cost of the oil alternative.

This Master degree project has been performed at the Braviken paper mill on papermachine 53 (PM53) which produces newsprint paper. The current economic situationhas contributed to declining demand for newsprint, which means it is extra important tobe competitive by high energy efficiency. Particularly as energy prices are expected torise when the economic growth returns.One way to increase energy efficiency is by reducing the water use in paper and pulpmills and consequently save energy through reduced heating of water. The thesis's maintask is to evaluate whether a water purification plant (microflotation plant) forpurification of process water in PM 53 is profitable. The microflotation plant enablesreuse of warm process water instead of losing the energy to receiving waters.

This study examines how the stock prices are affected when articles, which negatively describe the companies? incentive programs, are published. According to the efficient market hypothesis, only new information should have an effect on the stock price. Furthermore, this study aims to examine whether this reaction is dependent of the economic climate. During the period of September 2005 to September 2009, stock price data was collected from the NasdaqOMX stock exchange and 75 articles were gathered from leading Swedish newspapers.