This is a thesis about the American empire. I also focus my work to see if this American empire is declining. The two main questions I ask and want to answer in this thesis are: is America an empire and is it in decline?I first conclude that America has been an empire ever since the end of the Second World War. The sheer military and economic power of the American empire matches and exceeds the ones before them.

In the digital era, new services have entered the public libraries, like seeking information on the Internet, in databases, newspapers online etc. But many citizens do not know that these services exist. The libraries have a democratic responsibility to inform about them. In the county of Östergötland a project started in 2001 where libraries in five small municipalities built websites in which they present all their electronic services available. One of the aims was with the help of different kinds of marketing to reach special groups of people, like adult students, small companies and politicians.

The purpose of this essay is to describe how Boverkets Byggregler has affected the cost ofnewly built houses from 2003 to 2012, to Boverkets Vision 2025. The purpose is also to findagent-principal relations in the construction sector.When investing in an energy efficient house the operating costs are reduced compared to aconventional house. But due to the lower operating costs, the investment cost rises. In thisstudy, we find out if it is economically viable to invest in an energy efficient house comparedto a conventional house from the customer's perspective.The study's approach has been qualitatively where we in collaboration with Derome Hus hadaccess to three conventional reference houses and a passive house and data that was necessaryto conduct viability assessments on houses. We conducted five interviews with people fromDeromekoncernen and Varbergs kommun.The calculation methods we have used in this study are present value method, annuity methodand a sensitivity analysis.

This master thesis is about Augmented Reality (AR), a phenomenon that has existed since the mid-fifties but only recently has become available for the general public. This report is a knowledge compilation about AR, focusing on AR in cell phones and the use of the technology in traffic related situations.AR is usually described as adding a digital layer of information onto the real world. There are different technologies to make virtual images; in cell phones sensor-based and camera-based technologies are the most common ones.In this report, the market of AR applications for cell phones has been investigated. Three use cases have also been investigated in order to get more knowledge about the designers' thoughts and visions.In order to analyze the technology and the applications in a broader and more scientific perspective, two theories has been used: Situation Awareness (SA) and the Service Dominant Logic (SDL). These theories seem useful when reflecting on the Swedish road administrations vision, and to investigate what the applications and the AR technology can contribute to the traffic domain.The conclusions of this thesis are that:- AR can be applied on most of the human senses, but augmenting by visualization is most common.- The market for cell phone applications is growing rapidly: AR applications are relatively new but on the rise.

'Hir in the box' is a study about the gender perspective in packaging design and how it is today. The study deals with the product category razors, for both women and men, to examine and compare products with the same function but with different designs. Based on an analysis of how packages are designed for different sexes, information should be given on how gender-neutral packaging can be designed and used in the future to reach the market. The purpose of the study is also to contribute to future research on the subject. To fulfill the purpose of this study, nuanced and in-depth data is collected by means of a small-N-study and a qualitative study in the form of open group interviews where the survey units are reviewed and discussed.

Sales is the foundation for all commercial business and companies that have the best sales process in conjunction with efficient deliveries will do well in the long run. The author of this report was tasked by the Organisation in South Africa to study new/alternative ways of attracting Swedish companies to South Africa and sell the services of the Organisation to these same companies (defined as the sales process in this report) by analysing how similar international service companies do the same. A benchmarking process has been conducted with four similar service organizations in South Africa to examine how these companies work in comparison to the Organization. Surveys have been used for purposes of this study, as the methodology is well suited to provide the author a view on the opinions, perceptions and experiences of the respondents.The project aimed to develop new methods to attract Swedish companies to South Africa or improve and streamline the existing methods. The aim was also to develop new ways to sell the organization's services to Swedish companies.The study concludes that there is little focus on marketing of services within the Organisation.

This is a study about a company in Norrköping, called Stadium AB, and its first steps into the global market. We have studied how the conditions of the company have changed during their expansion. This study is not written from the viewpoint of business economics, it is rather a study from a cultural and social studies perspective. The study deals with subjects such as the globalization of society, organizational theories and leadership. The empiric material consists of Stadium?s staff magazine Tracks, the company?s swedish homepage on the Internet and an interview with Sussi Calås-Jonsson, Chief of the Department of Information at Stadium AB.

AbstractThe development of the construction industry is slower compared to other industries. This implies that there must be improvements in this field. One step to increased effectiveness in construction projects is making the construction process more efficient, therefore resulting in a positive result for both the actual construction project and for the overall branch. The purpose of this study is to identify areas for improvement within the municipal housing company Gavlegårdarna completed construction project, who will then contribute to increased efficiency in their upcoming projects. The work has been performed with the help of two case studies examine construction projects "Fullriggaren" and "The three nursing homes." Opinions about what could have improved the efficiency of these construction projects further have been collected with the help of an interview study among some of the project participants involved in both projects.There have been many studies addressing the topic of how the construction process can be streamlined and similar studies that have been previously conducted.

Örebro UniversityDepartment of Social SciencesSociology and social psychology, Continuation course, 61-90 p.Essay 15 p, Spring -08.Title: ?Youth (work)seekers?Author: Karolina LindellAbstractThis essay focuses on young people?s social background when they apply for their first job. I have interviewed four young people from a small town in Sweden, to see how social background and identity affects their vital conditions in general. I?m interested understanding the relationship between structure and agency.

In supporting an efficient way to gather and develop contact information for the Uppsala Association of Technology Physicist alumni, it is crucial to have in place an adequate and user-friendly system allowing the continuous collection and storage of such contact information. This can achieved by the creation of a website where alumni can enter information about themselves and where such information in turn is stored in a database. A database containing relevant tables has been developed in MySQL. In utilizing phpMyAdmin, the programming language PHP and Web Server Apache, a fully functional website to be included on the Association's website has been created..

Background and problemThe Student union and Länsförsäkringar in Jönköping has an agreement that provides students at Jönköping university with subsidized insurances. The fact that none of the mentioned parties knows what the insurance market at Jönköping university actually looks like makes this an interesting field to study. This thesis will aim to provide the parties with a map of this insurance market and increased knowledge about how students think and behave regarding insurences.PurposeThe overall purpose of this thesis is to increase the knowlegde about students? buying behavior regarding insurences. We will also investigate if there are uninsured students at Jönköping university and quantify that amount.

Our purpose with this study was to look at the pawnbrokers role in the Swedish welfare state from the customers perspective. Our purpose was also to see how the customers used the loan. We wondered why people used the pawnbroker's and how the pawnbroker's could be understood as a providing alternative related to the three spheres state, market and family? Above looking at previous science we also did three interviews with people who worked at a pawnshop, a budgetadvisor and a smaller investigation with customers of a pawnshop.We came to the conclusion that the customer needed the money from the loan to buy food in many cases, according to the investigation we did with the customers. According to the employees the customers needed the money for different things, such as paying the bills or unexpected expenses.

AbstractValue Added Tax, VAT, is a general consumption tax that is added to almost all consumption of goods and services. Despite the extensive work of harmonization of the VAT system relating to electronic services, it can be difficulties in determining the taxable land, something that could affect the internal market in a negative way. The Swedish companyStardollABwas double taxed on certain electronic services that they provided consumers in theUK. The problems that lead to double taxation must be identified to ensure free competition and free movement within the internal market. The principle of neutrality pervades the whole of the EU VAT system which can be derived from principles of the Treaty, establishing the common market, and the introduction of the VAT Directive.

In an attempt to develop a more cost-efficient material for solar   energy applications, nano-particles of nickel oxide composite in a silikatmatris manufactured with solar gelmethod and studied structurally by electron microscopy. Furthermore, the thin film optical properties characterized by Variable. Angel Spectroscopic Ellipsometry. Sol gelfilms suitability as a selective absorber surface is also analyzed by optical modeling..

Research shows that non-european academics are discriminated in the labor market. The purpose of this study is to examine non- European academics narratives about their Job search process. By applying an intersectional approach, this study aims to demonstrate how the interplay of different aspects such as gender, class and etnicity shape the interviewees experience in swedish labour market. A postcolonial perspective is applied in order to contribute to deeper understanding of the discriminating structures that the interviewees deal with.The analysis shows that colonial conceptions are embedded in the validation system and institutions such as employment service. This mechanism affects the interviewees negatively in their Job search process.