PurposeThe purpose of this thesis is to provide a deeper understanding of how e-commercecompanies within the fashion industry are working with lead times and illustrate andanalyse differences and similarities between companies.Research question- In which ways are e-commerce companies within the fashion industry working withshort lead times?MethodologyThis thesis is based on a qualitative research method in order to achieve a greaterunderstanding of the chosen topic, of how the chosen companies are operating and toprovide room to our own interpretations and reflections. Interviews through telephonewere used to gather the Empirical data from six different e-commerce companies withinthe fashion industry.ConclusionsAfter completing the theoretical and Empirical analysis it can be concluded that leadtimes are considered essential for all of the participating companies but there is adifference in which way they look at, and how they work with lead times. Somecompanies stressed that short lead times are an important aspect of competition andclaimed that this is something they are constantly working with. For others the balanceand matching of supply and demand was the most important factor rather than toachieve short lead times.

The Main problem: How small-sized manufacturing companies can create and sustain a stable position in the industry, which leads to profitability.Purpose: The purpose with this essay is to compare two small-sized manufacturing companies, Datek Industrielektronik AB and AB Micatrone to study which strategical resources each company possesses. At the same time analyse if the strategical resources are to be consider as sustainable competitive advantage.Method: A case study has been implemented in two small-sized manufacturing companies. The collected primary data derives from semi-structured interviews.Theoretical framework: The theoretical framework is based on The Resource-based view where the independent variables are the VRIO-model, resource tree and external resources. The dependable variable is sustainable competitive advantage.Empirical foundation: The Empirical foundation is based on the compilation of the few conducted interviews with Datek and Micatrone.Results & Conclusion: Datek and Micatrone show both similarities and differences in what creates their sustainable competitive advantage. The management of both companies creates according to the VRIO-model sustainable competitive advantage.

Children are said to be the future of our society. Hence, how we take care of our children is a cause of concern. This is evident in much of the social work that is carried out in Sweden. One of the times when we find children to be the most vulnerable is when they, for different reasons, are separated from their biological families and placed in foster care. Based on the fact that Sweden over the last century has experienced an increased immigration intake we wanted to take a closer look on how this change of the population dynamics has influenced foster care in the country.

As of today, securitization is an established product on the capital market. The first transaction was made in the US in the 1970s. Since then the product has been developed and today there are several different structures of the product. Internationally securitization has been used for two reasons. Originally securitization was used to gain capital relief, but since capital requirements such as Basel II were implemented, the usage of securitization changed to more of a funding source.

The purpose of this study is to examine what characterizes brand identity and positioning regarding festivals on the current Swedish festival market. In relation to our purpose we are also going to analyze how festival attendees relate to a festivals brand identity. Our research question is as follows:What characterizes festivals brand identity and positioning on the current Swedish festival market?This study has been written with a qualitative research method and an inductive approach. Our Empirical foundation is built on a rich content based on personal interviews.

Authors: Maria Bergholtz, Alexander WestessonTutor: Daniel EricssonTitle: Performance Measurement of Creative work ? a culture study at PS CommunicationKeywords: Key Performance Indicators, Organizational Culture, Macro-culture, Subculture,Micro-culture, Art, Business, Creativity, PS CommunicationIn the paper?s introductory chapter, the chosen problem area regarding art and business willbe presented. The paper?s studied Empirical case will also be introduced here. This then leadsto the reports chosen research questions:How do the company management and the companies? creative personnel approach differ inthe discussion regarding performance measurement on PS Communication?-What causes these differences?What impact does the corporate culture have in the discussion about performancemeasurement of PS Communication?-Is the corporate culture weak or strong?The purpose of this paper is to resolve the stand still in the discussion regarding performancemanagement by creating an understanding of different people active in the organization?sapproach to performance measurement.

This thesis, titled ?Change, choice and conditions?, is written by Lina Skantze and Bianca Zandén. The study explores the process in which individuals? attempt to end their criminal career, focusing on the interplay between path of life, choices, and conditions. The method is qualitative, and the Empirical material consists of interviews with four young adults that all have experience of criminality.

The purpose of this essay is to illustrate the importance of the school library in a selected junior high school. My investigation is based on both theoretical and Empirical studies. The aim of the theoretical part is to create a platform and refer to thoughts, roles and laws concerning the activity of the school library. The Empirical investigation consists of two parts: questionnaires among students and teachers, plus interviews with students, teachers, headmaster, school librarian and the management of education. Everybody shows a positive attitude towards the school library and considers it important for the students exams.

Management research has during the last decades devoted itself to finding new solutions as to how companies in a better and more efficient way can take advantage of the human resources to create added value. This brings up the problem of understanding, making visible and identifying these resources and to be able to influence them. A section of the issue of understanding that has grown stronger lately builds on the role of emotions in transformation of resources. Research into this issue has shown a discrepancy where a common view seldom can be assumed. This leads to the first aim of the essay; to create a theoretical framework for understanding and dealing with the role that emotions play when it comes to creating added value in a company.

The purpose of this case study is to examine and analyze CEO: s and the sales departments incentive program of the case company. Also to find out if the present incentive program is effective.The survey is a case study where a combination of qualitative and quantitative approach has been used. Relevant Theories is applied on the Empirical material..

Abstract Semester and year: Spring, 2008Writers: Victor Andersson and Filip ForslundTutor: Thomas HelgessonProgram: Marketing program, Halmstad University - School of Business and EngineeringTitle: Differentiation from a consumer perspective - How important is differentiation from a consumer?s perspektive when choosing a residence? Presentation of problem: How important is differentiation from a consumer?s perspective when choosing a residence?Purpose: The purpose is on basis from previous theories on the subject to describe what kind of differentiating that from a consumerperspective is the most important when choosing a residence. Key words: Differentiation, brand, apartment market Methodology: This thesis is built on an qualitative method, where eight open individual interviews have been made. Our choice of respondents was based on what kind of respondents that could give us the most accurate information on the subject which we based on relevant variables. Theory: The framing of the theories is based on a marketing perspective within the area of differentiating and focuses on how companies use different tools to differentiate their offer to create competitive advantages.

Thesis purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to determine how a technolo-gically enhanced shopping tool, synergizing eCRM tech-niques with personalized promotion at the point-of-sale, can increase customer loyalty by considering perceptions of current grocery retailer loyalty programs in Sweden. Methodology: An exploratory research was undertaken in the light of a qualitative method collecting primary data through focus group interviews. Theoretical perspective: The major considerations regarding theoretical aspects, for this thesis, can be addressed by Behavioral/Attitudinal loyalty and Relevance of Promotion. Empirical data: The Empirical data, in regards to primary data, was ga-thered based on four focus group interviews. Conclusion: The conclusions of the thesis imply, that in order to make a loyalty program successful, it needs to firstly be conven-ient for the customer; easy to join, and provide an easy and time efficient display at the point-of-sale.

The purpose of this study has been to examine online travel magazines as an information source and as a virtual service scape. The traditional travel magazines are facing a change due to the technological development and the web has become an important platform for both customers and companies. The virtual service scape opens new opportunities for interaction and we found a great interest in examining which possibilities and limitations travel magazines are facing. This study is based on a qualitative approach because we wanted to gain a deeper understanding and a complete picture of our chosen subject. We have completed six interviews; three of them were consultants, one publishing director, one editor and a research student.

This study discloses home-care organizations in one municipality in Sweden and five units work with implementing the social services legislated value base for elderly people. The aim of this study is to gain an understanding of personnel and managers perception of the value base and its implementation in the practical work with the elderly. A qualitative method has been used to analyze the questions raised by the aim of this study. The Empirical data was retrieved by semi-structured interviews with managers and their personnel in homecare service The Empirical data was analyzed on the basis of the neo-institutional theory, Michael Lipsky?s theory concerning street-level bureaucrats and previous research regarding implementation of social policy and the practical home-care work.

The aim of this study has been to investigate how the death of a close relative is described in pictures and texts through the eyes of a child character in three picture books. The analysis has also considered how the child character copes with the tragedy and how he or she finds support in the grief process. The books analysed here are Resan till Ugri-La-Brek (1987), Farväl, Rune (1986), and Jättebra Olga! (2010). Since these are works of fiction, this study does not assume that they are an accurate reflection of reality, but the way the child characters act and cope with their grief has been compared with the findings of Empirical research on how children react in real situations.The material has been examined by means of a qualitative literary analysis comparing the books according to the research questions. The study finds that the child characters receive evasive explanations from people around them concerning what death means, for instance that the person is sleeping.