The aim of this master?s thesis is to examine how exchange students experience looking for information in their new life situation during a semester in Prague. A further purpose is to investigate what barriers they have faced and how this affected their information behavior. Six qualitative interviews of students constitute the empirical foundation for the study. The interviewees are from six different European countries, were all participating in the Erasmus program, and all had social sciences/humanities/art as their main subject.

Background ? The last 20 years healthcare has been facing increased demands on efficiency and increased customer satisfaction. This despite reduced resources and increasing demand. These demands are presents in all departments within healthcare organisations, including medical laboratories that currently receive an ever-increasing number of remittances. Laboratory flows are quickly becoming overloaded with samples and related materials.

Abstract: The purpose of this thesis is to study the importance of having a website for traditional service companies as well as the factors that might influence its importance. This is done by answering three research questions that all contribute to the answer of the main purpose. A qualitative study has been performed including eight interviews with respondents from eight different service companies presenting four different types of businesses. The empirical findings of the study are analyzed with the help of the theoretical frame of references in order to identify the most interesting conclusions. The results of the thesis state that the main purpose of the website among the studied companies is to rationalize and save costs.

The main purpose of this Master?s thesis is to do a benchmarking study of the marketing activities at the public library of Valdemarsvik. The purpose is also to describe and get a deeper understanding of benchmarking as a method for improving library activity. Four major problem areas are addressed: How can one use benchmarking as a tool to achieve change? How can one learn with benchmarking? What similarities and differences are there between benchmarking and other similar methods for competence development? Is benchmarking better than other similar methods for competence development? The empirical approach was qualitative and the method chosen was action research.

Background: We have identified the combination of Knowledge Management and Human Resource Management as interesting because of this constellation has been mentioned scarcely in previous studies. There also seem to be some interesting correlations with personnel turnover.Aim: The aim of this study is to describe and understand the theoretically best combination of Human Resource Management and Knowledge Management, by creating a model. The model is also going to be tested empirically through consulting firms, to see if they meet the ideal combination. With this model we also want to describe in what way the different combinations of strategies will affect the personnel turnover.Definitions: A huge part of this study concerns the theoretical area Human Resource Management, which we have entitled HRM. Similarly, Knowledge Management has been entitled KM.Completion: The study is designed both as a literature review and as a comparative case study in which empirical data has been collected through qualitative interviews with four Swedish management consulting firms.Results: The best combinations of KM and HRM are according to this study that strategies should consist of a thoroughgoing personalization or codification.

AbstractTitle: Cooperation between social enterprisesLevel: Final assignment for Bachelor Degree in Business AdministrationAuthor: Anna HammarbergSupervisor: Maria Fregidou-MalamaDate: 2012 - JanuaryAim: The aim of the study is to investigate social enterprises and the Glada Hudik-model to understand how social enterprises cooperate and how they can develop the cooperation through Social Enterprises in Co-operation (SAK). Method: I have done a qualitative research study. I have studied literature to get theoretical background. I visited a seminar to get information and inspiration. Interviews have been done with six persons to get empirical information.      Result and conclusions: Through this study I have seen that social enterprises can co-operate to strengthen their position in the community. Together they can run issues they have in common, undertake major assignments and purchase material to get better deals.

The objective of this study is to understand how people with psychiatric diseases who are enrolled at a psychiatric clinic experience the recovery process and which internal motivations and external factors influence the process. The study is based on interviews with five people who have been enrolled at a psychiatric clinic. Another aim of the study is to understand how the importance of the outpatient care for the personal recovery and the improvement opportunities of the support from the rehabilitation unit that the interviewees see. The study is qualitative and abductive approach was chosen. This means that the study is based on empirical data supported by established theories.

The purpose of the study is to examine how retailing trough brand owned outlet stores effectsthe fashion brand. The problem that the essay is aimed to solve is how the fashion brand isinfluenced by selling through outlets and what opportunities and risks it has on the brand. Thestudy has been carried out by qualitative methods using interviews to answer the questionformulation. Three empirical perspectives have been chosen; an expert-, business- andconsumer perspective which have been linked up with three applicable theories. The fashionbrand Acne and its two stores; the flagship store and the outlet store have been chosen as acase study.

Problem: Which factors affect customer satisfaction in a non-physical bank relation? Purpose: The purpose with this thesis is to study what creates customer satisfaction in a non-physical bank relation. We look at this by conducting a case study in which we studied the opinion of customers who uses the e-bank at FöreningsSparbanken. Method: We have used a qualitative data method through which we have received answers from our respondents, these we have interpreted to form information, which we have used in our analysis. In our Empirical study we have used a case study in which we have chosen to interview both customers and co-workers to get an answer to our problem.

Partly as a reaction to a perceived crisis in contemporary democracy, the nineties witnessed an upsurge in different forms of citizens? fora, dedicated to the promotion of increased participation by the citizen in the political process. Youth councils are a special point in case as they entail the general characteristics of a deliberative forum, with an emphasis on political learning. This study aims to undertake an evaluation of a regional youth council in the region of Skåne in the south of Sweden. Through qualitative analysis, the study aims to portray the origin, purposes and consequences of such a forum.

This study was about how pupils described their school situation with special education. The specific focus was on pupils which are described as ?troubled pupils?, unconcentrated pupils?, pupils in social and emotional difficulties or characterised by similar concepts. The study was based on a sociocultural perspective and an interactional perspective. The empirical material consisted of interviews with eight pupils in age between 9 to 12 years old and who had special education.

The purpose of this essay is to investigate the airline industry and its part in the mobile community. Further on, to investigate the factors that throughout history are having an impact on the airline industry and have lead to the condition of today. Through this information we are outlining the future of the airline industry.This essay has been written in a qualitative approach. The empirical gathering has been made through interviews based on open discussions between the interviewers and respondents. We started out with creating a theoretical pre-understanding and continued by comparing how well these theories matched the reality.The gathering of the theoretical material was chosen on the basis how well it matches the subject of our essay.

Purpose: To find out in what ways signs of healthier varieties in store, affect and possible change, customer behaviour. Methodology: The study has a positivistic view on the world. The research is conducted by an abductive approach using theory and empirical data alternately. Both quantitative and qualitative methods have been adopted in order to see changes in customer behaviour as well as explain it. Theoretical perspective: The study is based upon theories in the areas of customer behaviour (buying behaviour and decision making) and the store environment that could affect that behaviour (total merchandise process and point of purchase communication).

A variety of studies have been conducted on the use of the balanced scorecard in the public sector. Fewer studies, however, is made at a lower, more local level within municipal departments. The aim is to describe the scorecard application by two different departments, while scorecard adjustment over time and actors and their rules are addressed in this context. This has led us to the following problem: How can scorecard application be described in two different departments in a municipal context? In the theoretical framework we presented fundamental theories of balanced scorecard in different contexts, a scorecards translation process and the rules that guide and limit the actors in the organization.

The aim of this study is to examine the factors that motivate people to seek employment at a start-up company. We have conducted a qualitative study by interviewing ten people at six different start-up companies in Stockholm. Empirical findings show that the interviewed are mainly motivated by the possibility to work with challenging work tasks and the possibility to influence and acquire responsibility. Furthermore, status and other self-fulfilment factors such as building something from scratch that can create value and the possibility for a potential ownership is also contributing to the interviewed motivation to seek employment at a start-up. Factors such as an attractive labour market and a possibility to take a temporary break from the university, have contributed to the overall low risk perception of working at a start-up company.