This thesis is about how the front-staff in two service companies experience empowerment. Competition for business in today's society is becoming increasingly fierce, which means that they must find a way to differentiate themselves from competitors. Service has become a way to compete. Front-staff competence and ability to offer a good service is a crucial factor when the company's success is being measured.Empowerment in business is used as a tool to create motivation and satisfaction of individuals at work. Companies using empowerment can create the freedom and opportunities for employees to act at their own intelligence and discretion.

The demand for food, feed, fibre and fuel has increased in Uganda over the past 50 years due to population growth. Recurring extreme climate events such as drought and flooding, in combination with large-scale land degradation, have led to declining crop yields. Lack of equipment, money and socio-economic issues has contributed to low yields. However, the soils in Uganda have the potential to produce much higher yields than they do today. This study, which was carried out in April-June 2013 in Kkingo District, south-east Uganda, examined the effects of agroforestry on yield of cooking bananas in small-holder farming systems. Six farms practising agroforestry and six farms with no agroforestry, which were chosen in cooperation with the NGO Vi Agroforestry, were compared.

This essay begins with a literature study of the different propagation methods for roses, and a survey of the factors affecting the rooting of cuttings in general and rose cuttings in particular. The main part of the essay consists of a practical study of the rooting of rose cuttings. I have chosen to examine how the time of year when the cuttings are taken, and the position of the cuttings influence the rooting. Three different cultivars were used as mother plants; ?Maria Lisa? and two Burnet roses; ?King of Scots? and ?Poppius?. The mother plants were container grown ?King of Scots? and ?Maria Lisa?, and outdoor grown ?Poppius? and ?Maria Lisa?.

The aim of this study is to investigate how the five biggest football clubs in Gothenburg are framed in the local newspaper G?teborgs-Posten. Gothenburg has five clubs in the top two tiers of swedish football (IFK G?teborg, Gais, BK H?cken, ?rgryte IS och Utsiktens BK), which makes them unique compared to other swedish cities. Many of the clubs also have a long history, being some of the oldest in the country, making supportership of the clubs a big part of the identity of many citizens in Gothenburg.

Titel: E-handel ? nästa steg i utvecklingen? En studie om e-handelsutvecklingen av dagligvaror Problem: Vad finns det för anledningar till att e-handel av dagligvaror inte har lyckats etablera sig på den svenska marknaden? Syfte: Vårt syfte är att utröna e-handelns key success factors för dagligvaror, för att öka förståelsen för e-handel som en alternativ distributionskanal för framtida värdeskapande. Metod: Vi har gjort en kvalitativ studie med intervjuer. Undersökningen grundar sig på en fallstudie bestående av de tre dominerande återförsäljarna på marknaden, samt två av dess leverantörer. Sekundärdata har utgjort stöd till kartläggningen av branschen.

Title: Development and continuity: A new institutional case study of a Danish public library in changeAbstract: The purpose of this master's thesis is to discuss and analyse the relationship between the traditional core values belonging to the institution of the public library, and the development work that takes place at the institution. The thesis also investigates the relationships that influence the development work.By investigating a library that is considered progressive in its development work, our purpose is also to unveil alternative values that compete with the traditional core values. By illustrating the perception among seven staff members and the director at Aarhus Public Libraries, we want to illuminate the terms for development among public libraries. In addition to our interviews, an activity plan is studied.We base our study on new institutional theory which focuses on norms and values in an organisation. This focus helps us to understand the development work from a comprehensive view.Our study shows that the development work at Aarhus Public Libraries is taking place in a complex environment that consists of several different actors and different interpretationsof the traditional core values of public libraries.

AimThe aim of this study was to find out how the research that has changed CPR training developed from a historical perspective. The question at issue was: When the recommendations for chest compressions/ventilation, defibrillator and education have been changed, what kind of research led to the development?MethodTo fulfill the aim of this study we chose a review process. First we read the international guidelines for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) published by the American Heart Association (AHA), from year 1980 until year 2010. Secondly we chose the most important changes that had been made within the issues we had selected, then we examined the research that had supported these issues.

This Master thesis has been carried out at Scania CV AB in Södertälje, in collaboration withKTH, The Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm. The focus of this Master thesis isSetBased Concurrent Engineering(SBCE), with the purpose of answering the questions: what isSBCE, how does it work, and for what purposes is it applied.It was early established thatSBCE is often included as a part of Lean product development,which in its turn is often related to Toyota?s way of working. TheSBCE method includesworking with multiple solutions in parallel, eliminating weak alternatives throughout thewhole process. In opposite to a conventional product development process, where it iscommon one at an early stage tries to identify and choose the most promising alternative.Despite the appearance ofSBCE as a resource consuming method, figures from Toyotaindicates the opposite, thatSBCE is in fact a very effective way of working compared to othermore traditional methods.The process of this Master thesis was divided into three phases.

In 2006, Stora Enso Skog implemented an education program in water management for harvester operators, timber purchasers, cut block planners and supervisors. The focus of the program was creating stream crossings with minimal harm to the stream and the surrounding riparian area. This main purpose of this study was to determine the difference in work procedures before and after participating in the program. The methodology consisted of field studies and interviews with harvester operators and their supervisors. The field study looked at how the streams had been crossed concerning the number of crossings, visible damage to the stream and/or the riparian area made by the machines. Biological parameters such as the width and dept of the stream and amount of large woody debris in the stream were also measured. The field result from 30 harvesting sites showed no significant difference between sites that had been harvested before or after the education program. But the harvester operators and their supervisors experienced an increased concern for watersheds after the educational program.

AbstractLean production has become one common concept within industries to make the work more effective and to meet today?s hard competition. A challenge for Chinese production is the threat from new low cost countries. It will become very difficult to succeed to produce to a lower cost than these countries; this led to that Chinese companies must develop new strategies, according to Lee and Zhou (2000). This will put China in front of new challenges and new strategies can be needed to retain their strong competitive advantages.

This master thesis comprises analysis and dimensioning of a keyed joint between a generator axis and a hub with aid from the FEM-software ANSYS Workbench 13.0.The generator axis is a part of a hydroelectric power station that generates electricity with a reactions turbine, a Kaplan turbine. The existing keyway consists of one parallel key with the width 90 mm and height 45 mm. Due to a planned increase of the power of the generated power with 32 % a design study was needed to see if the keyed joint would be suitable for the extra force. Because of the fact that the axis diameter is bigger than the standards covers/recommends a the keyway had to be re-dimensioned. In an earlier assignment from Skellefteå Kraft AB to Sweco Energuide the keyway was planned to be properly dimensioned, but no final solution was approved.During this master thesis a number of different numerical tests were made.

This thesis work has been performed at Volvo Aero Corporation in Trollhättan, at the department of ?hot structures? involving aircraft engine GP7000. The purpose with the study was to investigate the possibility to reduce size of the forging of flanges on the rear turbine frame when purchasing. Thereto examine the parameters that affect the flanges motion during the manufacturing process. The goal was to provide Volvo Aero with foundation to later bring in slimmed forgings.

The process of food production has changed dramatically over the past one hundred years. Industrialization has led to large units of production, manufacturing, distribution, marketing and retail business. The final food product, in this system, is quite often fairly anonymous and the consumer will most likely know very little concerning the origin of the product. In recent years, the market for locally produced food has grown. There is an increasing interest in and demand for locally produced food items.

The research of organizational structure and control in the audit profession suggest that there is a contradiction in that auditors should both nurture collegialities while they at the same time have their own responsibility for their individual development and career. This creates a competitive situation among colleagues who in return are expected to maintain a good social relationship and team spirit with each individual. Subsequently, being part of the collegiality and being highly individualistic, gives rise to a theoretical dilemma where these opposing forces are supposed to coincide with each other.The purpose of this paper is to create a bigger understanding of how auditors at major accounting firms can handle the conflict that arises. In order to explore this dilemma, we conducted a qualitative study based on an abductive approach. We have made seven semi-structured interviews from a localistic view.

Pipe replacements with bathroom renovations are complex construction projectshighly dependent on the construction work carried out in the residents? homes whilethe residents still live there. This fact makes the flow of information from contractorsto the residents of an important success factor. In the current situation thecontractor, Aros Bygg & Förvaltning AB, notifies the residents? information throughpaper notification, which gives managing the work involves a lot of paper work.This thesis examines whether and to what extent the contractor may replace thepaper notification with a web-based information channel.