Länsförsäkringar in Värmland, Sweden, had during the year 2003 a total level of 6.1 percent of people on the sick-list, which was higher than average in the business (4,5%) and for salaried employees in the private sector (3,3%). The average age of those put on sick-list was 47 years, whish is four years higher than the average for the whole LF-group. The cost for the total amount of people being on sick-list at LF-company (6,1%) was estimated to 1 500 kkr, according to a calculation model coming from Försäkringskassan. For every percent the sick level could be reduced, the company would save 239 kkr. To map out the state of health of each and every collaborator in LF, the company offered all employees to make a health profile at the company's health service, Clarahälsan AB.

The recent accounting scandals in large companies in both USA and Europe, such as Enron and Scandia, have led to a huge debate about the quality of financial reports approved by auditors who, at the same time, offer consultancy service to their audit clients. Many researchers and experts argued that there is a role conflict when an auditor offers consultancy service to audit clients. They argue that the main duty of an auditor is to verify the truthfulness of the company's financial statements. Giving consultancy service to the audit clients will impair the auditor's role to examine the company's books independently because of the economic bond between auditors and audit clients.As a result of the Enron scandal, the legislators in the USA have made restrictions to how auditors provide non-audit service to audit clients. However, the legislators in Sweden, unlike the US, did not choose to introduce such restrictions.

Vocational rehabilitation is an ongoing issue that directly or indirectly affects everyone at a workplace. In recent years, laws and rules have changed. The 1st July 2008 changes were made in the General Insurance Act (SFS 1962:381). These changes have meant that there is now a so-called rehabilitation chain.  The rehabilitation chain contains time frames for when sick people will have their ability to work tested against their normal work or to other jobs. If a person is considered having enough capacity to be able to work he or she will lose their entitlement to sick pay.The aim of our study is to investigate managers? perceptions of the new rehabilitation chain, with a focus on vocational rehabilitation of long-term sick to get them back to work.The method used was qualitative and data collection was done through nine semi-structured interviews.

The paper will clear out the student perspective in order to examine students' attitude towards what would be important to touch on a matter of life. The essay will explore what is important for students to discuss and respond to their environment in schools and perceived to be relevant to talk about in life skills. There is an object which deals with gender and masculinity in the study. The study would examine whether a student perspective on life can affect the current knowledge of gender structures in the school. Qualitative research interviews were carried out in seven students in grade 9 at a school located in inner suburbs of Stockholm.

AbstractThe employer is obliged to initiate negotiations with the union organization to which the employer is bound by a collective agreement. This applies both to decisions which imply a substantial change in workplace operations or employment conditions of the individual employee. In case law this obligation has been very extensive through all cases that have been up in the Swedish Labor court. Due to this fact the employer?s duty to negotiate has been interpreted very broadly.

Abstract:According to the curriculum of the Swedish school the pupils should develop their historical consciousness. The aim of this study was to find out which pupils develop this consciousness by listing to an historical novel, talking about that book and writing stories. The study went on for four weeks and the subject of the teaching was the Middle Ages. 28 pupils took part and a variety of methods were used: 1: questionnaire about the lives of the pupils, 2: Making observations of their attitude to the teaching and 3: story writing. The results show that the social background does not influence the development of an historical consciousness.

Denna uppsats handlar om medelålders personers inställningar till robotar i vården. Utmaningen är att fylla gapet som skapas mellan ökandet av äldre och minskandet av vårdgivare. Robotar i hemmet ska fungera som ett hjälpmedel för äldre personer där de ska kunna bo själva längre och även känna självständighet. Uppsatsen undersöker hur personer mellan 40 och 60 år ser på robotar i hemmet och om de hade kunnat tänka sig ha en sådan hemma när de blir äldre. En jämförelse görs mellan 20-40 åringar från en tidigare studie som genomfördes för ca 15 år sedan och dagens 40-60 åringar för att ge svar på frågan: Har synen på robotar och inställningen till dessa förändrats över tid sedan den sista undersökningen år 1998? Vilka mönster finns det ? likheter och skillnader?.

Carbon offsetting means to offset those greenhouse gases that are caused by our actions. The purpose of this paper is to examine how companies are working with carbon offsetting. The focus of the research is how travel agencies and companies that provides carbon offsetting. The writers also highlight the problems carbon offsetting is facing. The study was performed with qualitative methods through interviews with three companies working with carbon offsetting.

The intension with the thesis is to investigate how mass communication is adopted as a strategy to increase the membership activity within religious communions in Sweden. In the years past it has shown a decreased activity within religious communion, deliberate strategies have been missing and efforts on resources for less effective strategies have been made. The study has been carried out through a review of existing theory within the field of subject, communication within religious communion and the use of mass communication within religious communion. The Swedish church was chosen as a case, where three persons were interviewed. The result from this study shows that the Swedish church communication operates on several different levels: these are detached and self-determinate.

Human capital is professional service firms' most valuable resource and its quality is closely linked to the quality of its services. The purpose of this study is to investigate how professional service firms appraise their employees. A comparative study between an architecture firm and a management consulting firm is conducted with the aim to identify and explain similarities and differences in performance appraisal. Two qualitative case studies are performed and interviews as well as documents are used to explore the area. The thesis builds on a critical perspective and it has an explorative approach.

Title: A study about conditions for leadership in knowledge-intensive firms.Authors: Cecilia Ekström and Niklas SandbergKeywords: Leadership, knowledge-intensive firm, hierarchies, followers.Background: Leadership is becoming one of our greatest social myths and is considered a total solution for many problems that occur in an organization. The view of leadership is usually from a top-down perspective, which contributes to an often underestimated view of the follower. Just as it is important to understand the leader's view of leadership, it is important to understand how employees view the structure from which the leader derives its legitimacy. The existing conditions in knowledge-intensive firms, such as autonomy, place special demands on the formal leadership.Purpose: The purpose of this study takes an employee perspective, to understand what the conditions are for formal leadership in knowledge-intensive firms.Method: A qualitative research method was used and empirical material was collected through interviews with employees in knowledge-intensive firms. The empirical material was analyzed by the respondents? mental images which were set against the theoretical framework of the thesis.Conclusions: The conditions for formal leadership in knowledge-intensive firms make it advantageous to have a leader with a withdrawn role.

The purpose with our essay was:-          To study how personal assistants understand their occupation role.-          To describe the attitude of personal assistants to the right of self-determination of their care receivers. We have used a qualitative research method called phenomenografic. The empirical material was based on four interviews that served as the data collection methods. The interviewees were four women from two different municipalities of Middle Sweden. The interviewed personal assistants work with adult people who have mental disabilities. As a result we came up with eight categories which showed that personal assistants, despite some difficulties, perceive their careers as crucial for society?s well being. The phenomenon of self-determination was much easier to describe than to put to practice.

This study has been executed at the Public Employment Office, an institution that has beensubject for much debate during the last couple of years. The government has instructed theLabour Market Board to change the Public Employment Office toward a more effectiveorganization. This study examines one of the Public Employment Offices that are included in apilot project that aims to improve and develop work methods with the objective to become amore service minded organization. From this starting point we have investigated which effect thisorganizational change has had on the employee within this organization and within the pilotproject. In addition we investigate whether attitudes of the unemployed has an effect on thestaff´s work situation.

Då människor befinner sig till stor del av sin vakna tid på arbetsplatsen har denna blivit en viktig arena för hälsofrämjande arbete. Studier visar hur viktigt det är för företag att ha en frisk och välmående personal. Fokus ligger då oftast på företagets behållning av hälsofrämjande arbete. Syftet med studien var därför att beskriva hur anställda upplevde hälsofrämjande arbete på sin arbetsplats. Kvalitativa intervjuer genomfördes med samtliga anställda på ett litet företag.

The purpose of this study is to explore students? perceptions and experiences of the school-subject Swedish. Ten qualitative interviews with students in school year nine have been carried out and the results of these interviews constitute the basis of this study. The result shows that students have a straight-forward attitude towards Swedish as a school-subject. The students identify skills such as reading, writing and speaking, and work in school mainly concerns perfecting these skills. The students think of Swedish as a subject with a clear purpose and find it important and useful. The result also shows that the students want grading for the purpose of further motivation.