Foreign invested SMEs have recently become increasingly interested in China. The enterprises are in this report categorized as second wave companies since they follow the footsteps of previous pioneers, of which mostly were larger companies. The ambitions of the SMEs are either to sell products on the ever expanding Chinese market or to utilize the potential of low cost production for global markets. The existing literature is fragmented and solely based on the experience of larger companies. We believe that SMEs are facing new and different challenges, and thus a new generic theoretical frame work is desirable.

In the 1940s, 50s and 60s the two youth movements of the beats and the hippies emerged in the United States. Disagreeing with the progressive positivism of the previous generations these youths were part of a counter culture that adhered to an ideal of living in the present.Alan Wilson Watts (1915?1973), most known for his popularization of eastern philosophy and religion in general and Zen-Buddhism in particular, became one of the most influential and well-read advocates of the new movements. Drawing upon eastern philosophy and religion as well as modern psychology, Watts challenged the western world view by rejecting the dualism of self and environment, arguing that man is one with God and nature and claiming that nothing exists but the present experience here and now.Based on Watts? view of man and reality, and in the context of the emerging youth movements, this study examines Watts? criticism of western culture and society as well as his view on happiness and the possibility of a better life for the individual living in the west.The study shows that, according to Watts, the root of the problem facing western society lies in man?s incapability of distinguishing concept from reality, preferring abstract ideas and symbols to the experience present in everyday life.

With a shifting world market and periodically profitability issues, Swedish farmers seekalternative ways to enhance their profitability. One interesting alternative to get a highervalue and enhance products is biodiesel, a way to improve the profitability on a farmscale.The diesel that is produced and sold, already have a mixture of 5% biodiesel, andthere is a possibility to add more biodiesel to it. By developing new engines severalengine-manufacturers now allow a mixture up to 100% biodiesel in their engines. Hencethere is a market for an increased production of biodiesel. The aim of this study were toinvestigate the possibilities and the problems related to farm-scale production ofbiodiesel, and to study the profit margin in the production.

The aim of this essay is to study how the University Church is represented in student newspapers. By conducting an inductive thematic analysis on sixteen articles chosen from newspapers distributed by the student union at three Swedish universities, the main purpose of the study is to further understand the role and function of the University Church in a contemporary Swedish context. Three themes emerging from the initial step of the thematic analysis were chosen for further analysis: (1) a secularized church?, (2) provocation and (3) reasons to seek out the University Church. The themes were then highlighted by two theoretical perspectives: Mark Chaves? theory of internal secularization and a theoretical framework developed by Anders Bäckström with the aim to explain the role of the church as a welfare agent in Sweden.The study shows that the University Church is portrayed as both an ambiguous and complex organization.

När man väljer att analysera företag, finns det flera olika värderingsmodeller att använda.En av dessa är Piotroskis F-score. Denna modell har mestadels tidigare använts för att analysera företag på den amerikanska marknaden. Nu vill författarna undersöka hur tillämpbar modellen är på den svenska aktiemarknaden och dessutom kombinera denna modell med en Magic Sixes värdering för att öka dess precision.Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka om F-score i samarbete med Magic Sixes kan generera överavkastning och överträffa den svenska aktiemarknaden.Författarna har genomfört en kvantitativ studie med en deduktiv ansats. Data har samlats in med hjälp av databasen Orbis och Dagens Industri. Författarna har upprättat identiska listor för att beräkna företagens F-score och Magic Sixes.

Product development is essential for all companies that want to survive in competitive markets regardless of the characteristics of the product that the company sells. Companies that sell products within product categories which can be seen as bad, also need to develop their products in order to remain competitive. If these bad products add a positive attribute, for example that they get organic, a contradiction within the product arises and they get incongruent. This thesis investigates which effects that follow a launch of an incongruent product. The thesis also examines if these effects are affected by the strength of the brand under which the product is launched.A total of 240 respondents participated in an experimental study where product incongruity was manipulated for two different product categories, where one well known brand and one unknown brand were examined in each category.

The purpose of this thesis is to describe and analyze how the mining equipment producers on a global market manage to handle the changing conditions concerning customer value. Our approach has been a comparative analysis between two different sites in order to answer the purpose. The case studies at Metso Mining have been made through interviews and visits at two geographical markets, South America and Scandinavia. The theoretical framework applied on our empirical findings is based on Blue Ocean Strategy, Customer Value and Resourced Based View. The empirical foundation is based on interviews with Metso Mining employees at Sorocaba in Brazil and Kiruna/Gällivare, Trelleborg and Staffanstorp in Sweden.

Bakgrund: Dagligen diskuteras utländsk makroekonomiska data i svensk media, där förväntningarna på utvecklingen av dessa sätts i sammanhang med utvecklingen på den svenska börsen.Syfte: Målet med den här studien var att utröna i hur stor utsträckning denna information kan anses vara betydande för en aktieinvesterare med kapital på den svenska börsen. Hänsyn togs även till börscykler samt varierande tidsperioder.Genomförande: Med grund i the Arbitrage Pricing Theory genomfördes multipla regressionsanalyser, med det svenska indexet OMXS30 som beroendevariabel. Undersökningarna baserades på månadsdata för perioden april 1991 till och med augusti 2006. Den makroekonomiska datan försköts därtill en period för att ta hänsyn till variablernas eventuella fördröja effekter på Stockholmsbörsen.Resultat: Integrationen mellan börserna visade sig ha ökat över tiden, med undantag för extraordinära perioder som IT-boomen, där makroekonomiska fundamentaldata istället slås ut. En positiv utvecklingen av långräntan samt konsumentförtroendet i USA tyder på en samtida börsuppgång i Sverige.

The construction and use of buildings in the EU accounts for half of the EU?s extracted materials and energy consumptions, and a third of greenhouse gas emissions. In the past decade, the construction sector has responded to such concerns by focusing on post production energy efficiency. However, new findings indicate that upstream construction processes influence emissions significantly ? necessitating a shift in focus to include material choices and building processes.

Calculations of net present value are based on a discount rate, which requires knowledge about the company?s cost of debt. A common way to do this is by observing the company?s credit rating, when no credit rating is given it?s possible to use a synthetic rating model based on quantitative data to estimate a credit rating. Thus, the aim of this study is to increase the understanding of which quantitative data, in terms of key figures, that can be used to explain the given credit ratings for companies from the Nordic countries.In developing the model, key figures found significant in previous studies are being tested for whether or not they are applicable for companies from the Nordic countries.

The rising demand for electricity and heat raises a big challange for the society and engineers. Many products have been introduced to the market to supply more energy to the energy systems. Absolicon AB is a Swedish company that develops and markets a combined heat and power generating product. The product, Absolicon X10, uses a parabolic trough to concentrate the radiation of the sun onto a receiver. The receiveris equipped with mono crystalline solar cells and is cooled by a circulating liquid media.

The aim of this study is to analyse how female neopagan practitioners form their identitiesindividually as well as collectively. Using Ernesto Laclau?s and Chantal Mouffe?s discourse theory and Anthony Giddens? descriptions of late modernity and self-identity, I intend toinvestigate my informants? construction and upholding of a meaningful identity and sense ofself. I will also look at how the neopagan movement can be viewed as a phenomenon closely interwoven with the overriding tendencies in our contemporary society. Neopaganism is an umbrella term that is used to describe a number of modern nature religions that take their inspiration from pre-Christian traditions.

This study aims at examining if abnormal returns have existed on theSwedish stock market surrounding the ex-dividend period between the years2002 and 2006. The ex-dividend period that is studied is the ex-dividend dayplus the following five days. The stocks that have been studied are the thirtymost traded stocks which together constitute the index OMXS30.Furthermore, the study investigates if the size of the dividend has an effecton the size of the abnormal returns.Previously performed studies on both the Swedish stock market and foreignstock markets have shown that abnormal returns exist during the ex-dividendperiod. However, the results from these studies are not unambiguous, why itis interesting to follow up these studies with a new study.The method used for investigating the existence of abnormal returns aroundthe ex-dividend period has taken its starting point in the previouslyperformed studies. However, some changes have been made in order tocalculate for differences in risk between different stocks (using beta) whichhas been neglected in the previous studies.The results of our study are that abnormal returns have existed for four outof six days in the ex-dividend period when calculating a mean value over allfive years.

Due to recent legal enactments regarding carbon dioxide emissions, the car industry is facing higher demands. An effective way of reducing these emissions is to minimize the weight of the vehicle. This thesis constitutes a feasibility study on whether or not it is applicable for the car industry to utilize an inner floor structure comprising composite materials. The principal was the projectSåNätt, in which the main participant was Volvo Cars Corp. In consultation with a reference group, consisting of delegates from the industry and KTH, a specification of requirements was produced.

Background: Companies with a high level of research, such as biotech companies, rarely generates any profit in the begining. Mostly their history is short and their pipelines usually consists of one or a few products only. Significant for the line of business is also a future very uncertain, where relevant objects of comparison are few. Altogether the facts above makes valuation of Biotech companies difficult. Swedish Biotech companies, compared to their american competitors, seem to be of relatively low value.