The topic of this thesis interest is the relation between branding as a place making/marketing technology and the process of regionalization. The main proposition advocated is that the officially communicated image of the Øresund Region, as a cohesive place and community, is a space that has been configured with branding and can be described as a territorial simulation. The concept of territorial simulation consists of two conjoined terms: simulation which aim at explaining the idiosyncratic brand image, as a social formation, which does not represent the place it imitates but commoditise it; and territorial which seeks to visualize the process of the unfolding of this image as a territory. The main argument is made in the third chapter, which traces the process of actualization of the brand image as a territory: ?Øresund?.

I am in this essay to find out how to successfully combine new development with preservation of natural values, mainly large scale vegetation and ground formations.This is done by studies of three developments. The first development, Engeltofta backe, lies 7 km northeast of Gävle. The expectations of natural preservation were not fullfilled when this area, after the explotation, did not have any vegetation of value left. The second example, Östra Kvarnskogen in the community of Sollentuna, shows, as far as one can tell at the moment, a sucsessful combination of new development and preserved nature. The third example is a development in the community of Kullön. In this area the ambition of combining preservation and development was fullfilled. After studying vital documentation in each planning process, I made interviews with different actors in each of the three processes. I thereafter compared the different documents and answers from the interviewed persons to find out if there were any significant similarities or differences which could be of importence when natural values is to be preserved in new developments. My conclusion of this study is that it is of great importence to define key expressions often used in the process, such as natural values and preservation.

This thesis examines the conditions for participation in the decision making process of a possible mine establishment in Storuman municipality in the north of Sweden. This is done through a case study where the main actors are the mining company Nickel Mountain AB, the municipality Storuman and the Sami village Vapsten. As a theoretical framework Cecilia Eriksson?s division of democratic theories is used as a starting point. Methods as described in deliberative democratic theory, such as discussion by effected community members, are seen as a method within the participatory democratic tradition, not a theory of its own.

It might seem obvious that public opinions should be included in the planning process. However, it is not clear to what extent. Statutory forms of public participation attract little interest since many people feel that it is hard to make a difference. The purpose of this study was to engage those that normally do not get to speak their mind in the planning process. In this study, two methods for conducting ?on-street surveys? were investigated.

Sammanfattning Utvecklingen och utbredningen av Leveraged buyouts förvärv har ökat i Sverige de senaste 5-15 åren, detta kan vara ett resultat av ett mer flöde på kapital och intresse av att investera. Dessutom har förmodligen den allt mer mogna private equity marknad tillsammans med det ökande behovet av effektivisering av bolagen bidragit till att allt fler förvärv sker med belånat kapital. Vi har i denna kvalitativa uppsats intervjuat tre private equity företag med syfte att försöka klargöra vilka investeringskriterier som ligger till grund för en leveraged buyout-transaktion, samt vilka branscher som lockar dessa private equity företagen. I slutsatsen har det framkommit att PE-företagen gör investeringar i mogna företag utan några preferenser på specifika branscher. Vidare har vi funnit att de två viktigaste faktorer som PE-företagen tar i beaktning vid investeringar är stabila kassaflöden och kompetent företagsledning i målbolagen..

När innovation inte längre kan uppnås enbart genom effektivisering är ett alternativ att skifta fokus till användaren istället. Genom att lära känna användare och deras kontext genereras insikter vilka ligger till grund för nya koncept och idéer. Denna strategi kallas designdriven innovation.Den här uppsatsen behandlar en deltagande observation på Acreo i Norrköping, ett forskningsinstitut som utvecklar tryckt elektronik. Acreo är en teknikutvecklande verk-samhet som jobbar utifrån en teknikdriven utvecklingsprocess. Verksamheten upple-ver dock problem att övertyga tänkbara intressenter om potentialen i tekniken.

The purpose with this essay is to study how a micro enterprise builds a brand. This because the current situation makes it difficult to stand out from the vast amount of marketing messages available in the market without having an extensive marketing campaign. Small companies do not have the opportunity to put a lot of recourses as money into marketing as the large companies do. Neither do they afford to repair a brand failure.Brand building is a process that constantly is in progress in a company, large or small. To make this process concrete we have chosen to study the four factors; brand awareness, perceived quality, brand associations and brand loyalty.

The purpose of this thesis is to explore and analyze the processes and efforts involved in rebuilding the war-torn state of Afghanistan. The examined period span from the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001, to the elections in 2005. This period, commonly known as the Bonn-process, sets out the initial time for the reconstruction of the state.A theoretical framework, which considers the necessary mechanisms for successful state-building, will be used to analyze Afghanistan's re-building process. The mechanisms include the prerequisite of a stable security environment, emerging from a cease-fire, together with the development of a well-functioning economy, re-introduction of rule of law and rejuvenating civil society.The failure to establish a secure environment has had a devastating impact on all analyzed aspects of the re-building process. It is therefore crucial that the international society continuing to assists the Afghan government in its efforts to strengthen its capacity, in order to improve the security situation.

At Sandvik Materials Technology, Argon gas is used as furnace atmosphere when heattreating hot rolled wire. Upon heating chromium steel wire, a rich oxidelayer forms on the wire surface. The abstract of this masters thesis is to enhance the understanding of the constitution of the oxidelayers and the influence of the furnace atmosphere. This will be achieved by performing a number of annealing experiments on laboratory level. Also, the aim is to understand the chemical reactions and physical mecanisms controlling the pickling process.

Syftet med den här uppsatsen är att jag vill dokumentera min kreativa process från första gången jag börja skriva nytt material, till att för första gången framföra det för en publik för att sedan utveckla till en hel (examens) konsert. Huvudfråga: hur fungerar min kreativa process och hur förhåller jag mig till den? Jag har använt mig av att skriva processdagbok under ett och ett halvt år. Jag har kommit fram till att jag i min kreativitet behöver vara strukturerad och ha ett visst mått av disciplin och rutiner och försöka hålla en distans mellan mig och mitt skapande och samtidigt våga vara öppen och driva processen framåt även om jag inte riktigt vet vad slutmålet blir.Min uppfattning om ordet kreativitet har också under arbetet med denna uppsats förändrats. Från att vara något abstrakt och mystiskt med en bild av att de som kallades kreativa var speciella människor, genier, som mer eller mindre hade en speciell gåva till en uppfattning om att kreativitet är en egenskap vi alla har som med rätt förutsättningar och sammanhang kan övas och utvecklas..

Title: ?? Then came the realization that I was just like them. That I have a gambling addiction?? This is a qualitative study of four former gamblers and their experience of getting out of the gambling addiction. The study is about how individuals have overcome a gambling addiction.

Colours have been proven to have both a great physical and psychological impact on human beings. This essay investigates the rebranding of 37 Health Care Centers, located in Norrbotten, Sweden, and how 10 interviewees have experienced the new choice of colour on the logotypes of these Health Care Centers.The theoretical framework used in this research process, consists of theories related to rebranding, the communication process, encoding/decoding and Goethe?s Theory of Colours.To gather information about how the 10 inhabitants have experienced the new choice of colour, a semistructured form of interview was used. In addition to these interviews, three people employed by Norrbotten County Council (NLL) were interviewed, to get to know more about the rebranding process and the message behind the chosen colours of the logotype.Results show that the inhabitants had an overall positive reaction to the new colour choices, but that younger target groups lacked information about the new logotype and the rebranding.Due to these results, recommendations were made that NLL should expand the quantity of media channels to reach these younger target groups, and thereby be able to attract more patients to their Health Care Centers. NLL would also profit from investigating the inhabitants experiences related to the new colour choices themselves, but in a larger scale, to achieve greater knowledge of how to proceed with colour choices in the future..

During the milling of Sandvik Coromant?s world leading Drill with replaceable inserts,the CoroDrill880©, burrs appear around the milled surfaces. The burrs are removedusing different methods, one of which is deburring with special brushing machines thatare integrated into milling cells. The machines of the type Sinjet, use a Siemensguidance system. The deburring results are not satisfying and manual deburring isrequired afterwards.

Background: In our case study we have been studying a company that during the last seven years have tried to implement the control system Balanced Scorecard. They have during this period made three attempts. According to Kaplan and Norton, the creators of Balanced Scorecard, it should take about 16 weeks to implement a Balanced Scorecard. Purpose: Our purpose is to investigate which factors that influence the possibility to implement Balanced Scorecard. Method: We have conducted a case study where we have studied implementation at three levels in a company.

Background: Patients with cervical spinal cord injuries are often dependent on a mechanical ventilator due to the damage on the innervation to breathing musculature. During rehabilitation they have to be trained to regain own breathing. This unweaning process may give respiratory complications, which are main causes to morbidity and death. These respiratory complications are traditionally treated in an intensive care unit (ICU), which means that the patients have to return back to these emergency units.Aim: To investigate number, length and causes of returns to intensive care units and the length of the weaning process. Further, to compare if a multidisciplinary approach to the weaning process may reduce ICU returns and to shorten the weaning process.