The concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has lately gained popularity throughout the globalized world. Swedish retail industry is no exception. Though increased levels of explicitly claimed responsibilities of companies, a number of other facts points out a development that contradicts this trend. Labour conditions and forms of employment is substantially retrograding, with an increased level of insecurity characterizing the Swedish retail labour market. At the same time, almost all Swedish retail companies explicitly state claims on social responsibility.

In Sweden there are 354 000 private individuals owning forest. Of these forest owners there are at least two thirds that are self-employed, which means that about 215 000 forest owners conduct some kind of work in their own forest. Those numbers do not refer to firewood production, but every year 7.3 million piled cubic meters of firewood are used for heating Swedish households. This implies that many households are also producing firewood. The objective of this study was to assess and analyse the small-scale firewood production in the Umeå-region in terms of persons engaged in the work, equipment used, produced volumes and share of forest-owning households involved in these activities. According to results from a questionnaire, the average firewood producing person is a man between 40-60 years old.

The thesis explores how the category religion is used discursively in Swedish public debates and in what way the discourses can be related to debate-positions. The thesis also exploresquestions of power and how social identities are negotiated: which identities are madepossible ? and encouraged ? by the discourse, and which are being excluded?The specific cases chosen are: (i) the election of Omar Mustafa as a substitute member of the governing board of the Social Democratic party in April 2013, (ii) the appointment of Elisabeth Svantesson as Minister of employment in September 2013, (iii) the debate concerning male circumcision (2011-2013), and, (iv) the debate about Jewish home education(2012-2013).The theoretical and methodological perspectives used in the thesis are discourse analysis and Pierre Bourdieu?s theory of social fields, usually interwoven together. Discourse analysis is mainly used to explore how the category of religion is attached to central binaries in the debates such as faith/politics, private/public, secularism/fundamentalism, etc., and also how chains of equivalences are established. Bourdieu?s theory of social fields is used tocontextualize the discourses in the specific debates and relate them to orthodox and heterodox debate-positions.

I dagsläget har alla människor en sorts relation till sin bank. Relationen kan vara alltifrån sparande, lån, aktier och med mera. Produkter och tjänster mellan de olika bankerna har blivit likartade efter avregleringen år 1986. Detta har medfört att det har blivit alltmer viktigare för banker att vara konkurrenskraftiga i sina produkter och tjänster till sina kunder. I detta fall har fler banker investerat mycket på sina resurser för att få lojala kunder.

Most of us sometimes in life visit a restaurant to relax and eat some good food. In that case, we trust that the food they are serving is of good quality and safe which prevent food poisoning. As a consumer you mostly do not have any insight what?s happening in the kitchen at the restaurant. What is really going on when they prepare the food? An introduction of the Smiley system could help you as a consumer in the choice of restaurant.

Title: What shall we play? -A study of the importance of genre spread in music education. The aim of this study is to examine music teachers' and music students' reflections on the importance of genre spread in music education. The study covers music education in municipal primary schools and municipal music schools/schools of arts and music. I have used both quantitative and qualitative methods in my study.

This master of science thesis intends to examine how the established innovation theoriesinteracts with the social and cultural phenomena arising from the reduction in communicationcosts as a result of the development of the internet.The aim is to present a knowledge inventory of attitudes to and experiences of an openapproach, with emphasis on collaborative innovation, in product and service developmentdriven companies in different fields. The studied theories and the empirical results forms thebasis for an analysis of how companies can benefit from the diversified knowledge that existsoutside their borders as well as an exploration of the potential for this kind of knowledgeexchange to act as a catalyst for innovation.The theoretical part of the study is based essentially on two tracks: (1) innovation theories witha focus onopen innovation and user innovation, and (2) a broad review of how theories ofdiversified knowledgeand collective intelligence has become possible to apply in an innovationcontext. The empirical part of the study is based on material obtained from semi-structuredinterviews with respondents from six companies.The results show that companies have implemented unstructured innovation initiatives withoutany formal links to the structured product development processes, which are part of thecompanies core activities. The main conclusions include the following insights: There is a needfor structured links between the unstructured initiatives and the core activities, which makes itpossible to take promising ideas to market. The companies also have to lose some control of theunstructured initiatives; consequently it is impossible to pinpoint what the outcome will be.

The ambition of this project is to make an overview of the Swedish upholstery industry and to make a suitable complement to the Carl Malmsten upholstery collection.The Swedish furniture industry employs about 20 000 people in 815 companies. Totally the branch had a turnover of 17,5 billion Swedish krona in the year 2000. Of these 815 companies most of them are small family driven companies with low-tech industry. 10 % of the 815 companies stand for 60% of the production. These are large-scale companies and have a hi-tech industry, even compared with other types of industries.

Syfte: Syftet med studien var att skapa förståelse för hur konsultchefers ledarskap blir präglat a trepartsrelationen som uppstår när det är två parter som är ansvariga för en konsult. Vi ville skapa oss en inblick i hur konsultcheferna leder sina konsulter och hur de arbetar för att motivera dem. Vidare ville vi skaffa oss en uppfattning över hur konsulterna upplever situationen.Metodik: Studien har genomförts i form av en fallstudie på två bemanningsföretag med utgångspunkt i en induktiv forskningsansats. Data har samlats in genom en kvalitativ metod där sju semistrukturerade intervjuer med personer på fallföretagen har genomförts.Slutsats och slutdiskussion: Genom studien har det framkommit att trepartsrelationen är ett komplext fenomen där chefen inte ses som den traditionella ledaren utan snarare som en administratör. Genom trepartsrelationen har det framkommit att problem kan uppstå då konsultchefernas roll blir likt medlare istället för chef.

Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka vilka samband det finns mellan värderingar, föreställningar och normer kring miljön till agerande för ekologisk hållbarhet i det vardagliga livet. Vår hypotes var att det finns samband mellan affekter kring miljöns framtid och agerande till hållbar utveckling. För att söka svar på syftet och bekräfta hypotesen har enkäter med frågor gällande individens värderingar, föreställningar och normer om miljön samt frågor om miljömässigt agerande skickats ut via e-post till 119 deltagare i åldern 23-65 år. Svarsfrekvensen var på 59 procent. Resultatet visade att det fanns ett flertal starka samband mellan miljömässiga värderingar, föreställningar och normer till individens agerande och hypotesen om att det fanns samband mellan affekter och agerande för hållbar utveckling verifierades.

The purpose of this essay is to acquire variables that explain and may be used as a base for wage estimation in the private sector in Sweden. The factors that are assumed to have an impact on wage estimation are based on earlier Swedish and international studies. Business survey data, which is based upon monthly questions to firms in various sectors of the Swedish economy posed by the Swedish National Institute of Economic Research, will be analyzed to find out weather they have an impact on Swedish wage settings or not. Tests including business survey data are yet rarely frequent, why this essay will be some kind of a pioneer within the area. To estimate significant factors that influence wage setting in Sweden, three different wage equations have been modeled and tested with a regression model.

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to investigate to what a few preschool teachers and mother-tongue teachers consider the influence mother-tongue training has on children. The thesis also looks into how these teachers cooperate and view about the mother-tongue training organization structure and what support mother-tongue teachers get in the concerned preschools. More specifically:What influences do three preschool teachers and three mother-tongue teachers consider that mother-tongue training has on the development of the children?Which support do the three mother-tongue teachers receive from the preschool principals and other preschool pedagogues in their work? - Is there any cooperation between them?In what way do the three preschool teachers and the three mother-tongue teachers think that the mother-tongue training organization structure affect the children?s status in the group?Method: In order to achieve a deeper understanding of the context, a qualitative method based on interviews and observations was employed and relied upon. Three preschool teachers and three mother-tongue teachers from two different preschools in the same municipality were interviewed to acquire answers to the questions concerned.Result: The result of this enquiry shows a direct and explicit comprehension that mother-tongue is immensely important for children?s development.

SammanfattningUnder det senast decenniet har en påtaglig förändring ägt rum i samhället, där miljöproblematiken kommit att bli ett av de mest aktuella och uppmärksammade ämnena. Bland företagen förmedlas ett miljöengagemang som ger intryck av att miljörörelsen på allvarhar lyckats flytta in i näringslivet domäner. Den ökade miljöorienteringen bland företagen har medfört att det blivit svårare att urskilja de företag som utnyttjar den nya ?trenden? för att öka affärsnyttan från de företag som verkligen har ett gediget miljöengagemang. Hur kan ett företag som har ett genuint miljöengagemang förmedla detta på ett trovärdigt sätt utan att försvinna i bruset av den ökade miljöprofileringen? Med utgångspunkt från Klättermusen, ?ett av Sveriges mest miljömedvetna företag? söker denna uppsats svar på hur man kan kommunicerar sitt miljöengagemang på ett effektivt och trovärdigt sätt och hur vida detta skapar positiva attityder hos konsumenter på outdoor marknaden i Sverige.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the employees´ duty of loyalty to their employer when making statements on social media networks and if this opposes the employees´ right to freedom of speech. Another purpose of this thesis is to investigate freedom of speech from an EU juridical point of view. Also a discussion concerning gender issues on this subject takes place is presented in the thesis. The questions to answer the purpose of this thesis are the following: Where is the line drawn for what an employee can publish on a social media network without breaching their duty of loyalty towards their employer?, and How does an employee´s freedom of speech relate to these types of statements on a social media network? The method used for this thesis is the classical legal method.The legal inquiry shows that duty of loyalty is a hidden clause in all employment contracts, and it must be respected by the employee.

On a highly competitive market, quality is an important aspect to take into account, both in terms of goods and services. The Swedish timber market is very competitive and to achieve long-term success focus on the customer, in this case private forest owners, is a prerequisite. SCA Skog AB Jämtlands forest management administration is dependent on the acquisition of timber from private forest owners to fulfil their mission to the supply of SCA's paper and sawmills in Sweden with raw material. To be able to develop the cooperation with private forest owners, the administration investigates their quality management by measuring the customer satisfaction index (CSI). The purpose of the study was to identify a practical and systematic method to handle deviations and suggestions for improvements to achieve a higher customer satisfaction.