During the past decade environmental challenges have been intensified and given increased attention. This implies that businesses in all sectors strategically need to manage these challenges. The service sector is often considered as a sector with a low environmental impact if the direct environmental aspects are assessed. Still, it has been argued that the environmental impact that the sector gives rise to can create severe indirect environmental impacts. The products and services that are produced by this sector have a relatively limited use of physical resources which may make the environmental impact challenging to visualize. Banks belong to the service sector and it is partly banks that make the development of societies possible.

Background: The global capital markets have enlarged investment opportunities and thus also the sources of funds for companies which increasingly face global markets for their services and products. Huge capital movements show that investors are constantly searching ways to minimise risk and maximise returns. In the light of the substantial growth of assets in institutional funds, an important question for international finance is the degree to which institutional investors have diversified their portfolios internationally. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the international diversification of portfolio investments of institutional investors in Japan, the US and the UK and deepen into international diversification in portfolios of Japanese institutional investors. Demarcations: Institutional investors can use their power directly in companies or indirectly through capital markets.

The EU has decided that it should be possible for consumers to get information about the origin of the electricity they buy. Therefore, there is a need to examine different systems for electricity disclosure. In this thesis two ways of disclosure have been studied:? Certificate system. A certificate system involves two parallel markets, one for trading electrical energy and one for trading certificates of origin.? Separated Markets.

This study aimed to evaluate the levels of formaldehyde and organic acids that can build up within enclosed spaces. Another goal was to compare two types of paints that can be used as coating barriers within showcases and in turn compare them to the modern, and by many highly recommended, material of Marveseal®. A low volatile waterborne alkyd/acrylate paint and a two component polyurethane paint was compared to Marveseal® in two series of experiments. One series measured the level of formaldehyde, and thus the effectiveness of the three chosen barriers, and the other series measured the level of volatile organic acids, both the acids emitted from the paint itself, and that of the wood. One box in each series were not treated at all and was used as a reference.The fact that different types of materials emit volatile organic compounds have long been known.

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.

Title: Brand Brazil ? A study on brand equity in an emerging market Authors: Anders Andersson & Jonathan Karlsson Subject: Bachelor thesis in marketing, 15 credits Keywords: Brand equity, Emerging markets, Brand awareness, Brand associations, Perceived quality, Brand loyalty Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to gain deeper understanding of how a company operating on an emerging market can work with brand equity, and what benefits it provides to the brand owner. Theoretical framework: The chapter begins with a description of brand equity to be further decomposed to its four dimensions; brand awareness, brand associations, perceived quality, brand loyalty Methodology: A qualitative research method with a deductive approach is conducted, where interviews with Brand/Marketing coordinators for the Brazilian subsidiaries of Volkswagen, Toyota and General Motors, are performed. Empirical framework: The chapter presents performed interviews that are supposed to describe our case studies? work and benefits from brand equity. Conclusion: This study shows that companies operating on an emerging market are working actively with brand equity, often in accordance with theory. The companies also experience positive effects from increased brand equity..

In today?s fashion market there are a great number of actors that offer a huge selection ofproducts. The fashion world today covers the whole world and a result of this, the competitionamong fashion companies are enormous, leading to a tough climate for companies in today?sfashion industry. There is an overproduction of goods on the market and companies mustcompete for customers because of today's homogeneous goods and prices.

The competition amongst companies is getting tougher and the economic markets are getting even bigger with new products and businesses. One way for companies to differentiate themselves from the competitors is through packaging design. If the merchandise is to send a reliable and solid message to consumers, the attributes of the packaging must be consistent and uniform. If the different attributes are not coherent, the message loses credibility towards the consumer. Through the sent messages, the pack signals the products? expected quality and price.This paper includes two studies, in which the main objective is to discover and build understanding about Swedish consumers? perception of a product?s price depending on the pack?s design.

AbstractTitle: 2008- the year of the mobile-TV-markets expansion? (2008- ett år för mobil-tv-marknadens utbredning? Drivkrafter hinder och aktörer).Number of pages: 50Author: Hilda EngstrandTutor: Lowe HedmanCourse: Media and Communication Studies CPeriod: Fall Semester 2007University: Division of Media and Communication, Department of Information Science, Uppsala University.Purpose/Aim: The aim of this research paper is to identify the main operators on the mobile-tv-market and to map out the main forces behind its growth. What are the driving forces that creates a new disribution-market? Also to study how political media-regulation effect and urge the mobile-tv- market.Material/Method: Interviews with people from the mobile-tv-market. To read public-documents, press releases and reports from the government, media-companies and organisations has also been a method used to gain information.Main results: That the mobile-tv-markets growth is a result of several driving forces.

Interest for Mutual funds has been enormous in Sweden and since 1970 has savings increased from 300 million SEK to about 900 billion SEK. An important reason for this increasing is the strong development of the stock markets has got and, the impairment of the public pension and the increasing of necessity of the private saving..

Research Question: Does the pharmacy market seem to change in accordance with the goals stipulated by the government due to the reregulation?This leads to the following sub-questions:Does it seem like the availability of medical drugs for consumers increase?Does it seem like service for consumers get enhanced?Does it seem like the supply of services for consumers increase?Does it seem like the costs of medical drugs are maintained?Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate if the trends resulting from the reregulation of the pharmacy monopoly correspond to the goals stipulated by the government.The purpose is furthermore to compare the reregulation of other Swedish markets and the reregulation of the pharmacy market in other Nordic countries in order to heed their lessons.Method: This study uses method triangulation, with a questionnaire directed to pharmacy customers forming the quantitative basis and interviews with specialists regarding the pharmacy market, forming the qualitative. The study also draws heavily on historic data regarding reregulation of Swedish markets and reregulation of the pharmacy market in other Nordic countries.Conclusions:Availability of medical drugs has increased and will presumably continue to do so. Service quality has increased somewhat and will presumably continue to do so.Supply of services has increased and it will presumably continue to do so.The cost of medical drugs will only increase if it is required in order to satisfy the other goals.  .

SammanfattningAtt köra en elbil kan skilja sig från ett traditionellt fordon på flera sätt. Förväntningarna från förarenmåste tas i beaktning när användargränssnittet i bilens instrumentpanel utformas.Denna masteruppsats behandlar test, utvärdering och nydesign av Huvudinstrumentet i Saabs elbilZero Emission. Huvudinstrumentet är den del av instrumentpanelen som sitter framför ratten ochinnehåller mätartavlor och andra instrument. Andra områden såsom mittkonsolen och musik- ochnavigatorsystem inkluderas inte i studien.Huvudinstrumentet testades och utvärderades med metoder, bland andra heuristisk utvärdering,Cognitive walkthrough och användartest. Användartesten utfördes i en körsimulator med hjälp avtänk-högt-metoden för att möjliggöra för observatören att följa med i testpersonen tankebanor.Med hjälp av resultaten från testutvärderingen skapades en ny design av huvudinstrumentet.Övergripande upplägg och design av individuella delar av klustret utformades parallellt.

The globalization today has led to increased global competition. As companies seek out foreign markets in order to internationalize their operations, it is common that they encounter many cultural problems. Bribery and corruption is a common problem in international trade. Corruption is strongly linked to the national culture which means that corruption is accepted in differing degrees within different nations. This can be a problem when companies establish their operations in foreign markets.The purpose of this essay is to examine and analyze how companies act in a corrupt market without participating in corrupt activities.The authors have performed both a qualitative and a quantitative study.

General concerns about environmental issues may mean that the demand for bio-based products will increase. Opportunities that arise on markets, together with the declining demand for newsprint, may trigger firms in the Swedish forest industry to increase their development of new products. One product that has received a lot of attention during recent years (and is a contender) is nanocellulose. The purpose of this master thesis was to examine the Swedish forest industry?s view on the market potential of nanocellulose.

Syfte: Syftet med uppsatsen är att titta närmare på vad som ligger bakom när Svenska företag beslutar om att internationalisera sig. Närmare bestämt titta närmare på vilka faktorer som är drivkraften i internationaliseringen, och varför väljer företaget det land de gör i Asien.Metod: Jag har samlat in två typer av data för min undersökning, dessa är:? Litteratur? IntervjuerResultat & slutsats: Utlåtandet blir att Svenska företag i Asien väljer land efter vart de tror gynnar dem mest. Företagen vet att det är kulturella skillnaderna och för att minska dessa och de språkliga skillnaderna anställer de inhemsk personal. De politiska faktorerna ser företagen inte som en faktor som påverkar valet av land då det är ett problem som är snarlikt i alla länder i Asien.