This paper replicates a test performed by Burgstahler and Dichev (1997), which identifies a kink in the frequency distribution of earnings for companies listed on American stock exchanges. Their claim, that the kink is evidence of earnings management, has however been dismissed as a methodical consequence. To address this concern, this paper not only replicates the test in general, but also performs tests on a split sample, where founding family-owned companies are separated from the others, since earlier research has shown that founding family ownership is correlated with less earnings management. The results are in line with the findings of Burgstahler and Dichev, with a significant kink in the frequency distribution in the general test. The findings also show that the significance of the kink increases in the non-family-owned sample, while it disappears in the family-owned sample.

On-site sewage systems are common on the countryside of Sweden with approximately one million on-site systems installed. Due to insufficient function, these contribute significantly to the total discharge of phosphorus to rivers and lakes, causing eutrophication. In order to reduce eutrophication and to fulfil one of the environmental quality objectives, the decision was taken by the Swedish Government in 2005 that 60 % of phosphorous in sewage sludge is to be recycled to arable land before 2015. To make recycling a reality, new solutions have to be found. Federation of Swedish Farmers (LRF) takes an active interest in this issue and has initiated this study. One problem is that the food industry is sceptical towards recirculation due to the risks that products from sewage systems may contain pathogens, heavy metals and unwanted chemical compounds, e.g.

This report is part of an Bachelor of Science work in forestry, conducted for the community of Borås, Sweden. In order to create a forest management plan for the area of Hestra, a survey was conducted. People living in the area were given the opportunity to reply to the survey. The questions in the survey are both personal and forestry-related. The aim is to reach out to the different categories of people when it comes to age, living and the different aspects of visiting the woods.

Kartläggning av de inställningar som finns hos förvaltningsfastighetsföretag med anledning av införandet av IAS 40 samt praxis. Intervjuade företag: Brinonva, Castellum, Heba, Kungsleden och Akelius..

Title: Management control of facility efficiency in municipalities - A case study of Halmstad municipalityLevel: BachelorSeminar date: 2012-05-31Authors: Markus Nilsson & Sara MattssonAdvisor: Sven-Ola CarlssonKey words: Control management in municipality, facility efficiency, management by objectives, internal rents and incentivesBackground: The public sector owns and manages a large property portfolio and in the municipalities, the properties are always a big cost item. Because of the outside world changes and the public interest, the properties should be used as efficiently as possible.Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe how control management of facilities looks like a municipality. The paper also seeks to explain how employees work to make the facilities more efficient in a municipality.Methodology: The authors use a qualitative method with open interviews.Theoretical perspectives: The choice of theory was made with the field of management control and facility efficiency in mind. The theory therefore includes management by objectives, internal rents and reward systems, motivation and communication within organizations.Empirical foundation: The organization has undergone a reorganization 2010/2011. There are no clear incentives to reduce facility costs.

I vår produktion har vi tagit fram ett system för order- och lagerhantering, med vikt på realtidsuppdateringar, åt en extern mottagare där infrastrukturen inte hängt med i företagets utveckling. Vi valde detta projekt i syfte att bredda våra kunskaper inom både programmering och projekthantering. Denna slutreflektion tar upp den förundersökning vi gjorde för att kunna besluta om vilka verktyg vi använde i utvecklingen, den tar även upp vårt sätt att hantera och planera projektet. Under projektet har vi arbetat med en egenutformad arbetsprocess vilken även beskrivs här. --- Our production has been to design a system for ordering and supply management with emphasis on realtime updates to an external recipient, where the infrastructure has not kept pace with the development of the company. We chose this project in order to broaden our knowledge in both programming and project management. This text brings up the investigation we made to decide which tools to use in the development, it also brings up the way we managed and planned our project. During the project we have worked with a self-designed software development process which is also described here..

Uppsatsen syftar till att studera hur verksamhetsstyrningen på fyra utvalda företag ser ut i goda och dåliga tider. Vi har använt oss av ett kvalitativt angreppssätt genom ställda enkätfrågor till chefer samt en chefsrekryterare. Angreppsättet är även abduktivt då vi växlar mellan empiri och teorier. De utvalda företagen är placerade i Brandingers modell över planeringssituationer för att sprida dem enligt kriterierna "föränderliga affärsförutsättningar" och "lätthet att förändras". Vi har kommit fram till ett antal hypoteser som visar på tendenser att mer förändringsbenägna företag förändrar sin verksamhetsstyrning i större utsträckning.

The management of information is one of the key aspects within a successful andefficient product development process, particularly regarding complex products.Scania CV AB is at the moment developing a new IT-system, OAS, which aims tomanage the company?s product data. With this as a background, the purpose of thismaster thesis is to identify the cross-functional user needs within Scania?s organizationconcerning product data and the management around it.To fulfill the purpose, an empirical study consisting of 40 personal interviews with 50representatives from different functions within Scania?s organization was carriedthrough. The empirical data was then analyzed focusing on identifying thecross-functional needs and issues.The study points out that there is a big potential regarding improvement among themanagement of product data.

The idea for the project emerged when Nilorn wanted to get better control over their supplychain and improve operational efficiency. The company also want to reduce their expenses inthe continuous process of improving profitability. By choosing the right option oftransportation and mode of transport there are large potential savings for the company. Thisenables Nilorn to reduce the transportation costs and strengthen the environmentalresponsibilities by reducing their environmental impact.The flow of goods within Nilorn has over the past years increased significantly and most ofthe gods today is transported by air. The aim of this thesis is to analyse the supply chain of thecompany and evaluate the potential economic savings in this area.

This paper is intended to provide a picture of which associations water can wake in the human mind from the perspectives of garden history as well as from that of environmental psychology. I hope to paint a fairly broad picture of our perception of water that can serve as a basis for discussion and as a starting point for different forms of design work in landscape architecture. The historical perspective emphasizes the importance of water as a condition for the emergence of gardens and in a wider perspective the importance of water in early cultures. Also, I describe a picture of how water has been used throughout the history of gardens from early Egypt to the baroque era. The garden history analyzed from an art historical perspective gives a picture of human associations to water, and the history behind these associations is presented. As a compliment to the art history approach, I have chosen to highlight our associations with water from the perspectives of environmental psychology and evolutionary science.

Fruit flies (Tephritidae) are serious pests that cause enormous losses for farmers in many countries. The frequent use of insecticides in controlling fruit flies in fruits and vegetable has not resulted in sustainable management of the pest. Problems associated with this complete reliance on chemical control are many residues of insecticides in crops, health problems for farmers, contamination of water and soil, insecticide resistance development and decrease in natural enemy populations. The implementation of control measures that do not imply an added burden to the environment and/or the farmers is urgent. More knowledge about the ecology of fruit flies is the basis for finding new and better ways to control this pest.

Syftet med denna undersökning är att identifiera, utifrån leverantörens synvinkel, lämpliga förändringar i processer som leder till reducering av slöseri i byggprojekt. Därefter vill vi ta fram en referensram för hur Supply Chain Management bör utformas och styras för att genomföra förbättringar inom de identifierade förändringsområdena.Uppsatsen bygger på en kvalitativ fallstudie av en materialleverantör i branschen, samt en vetenskaplig rapport inriktad på slöseri inom byggprojekt. Fallstudien baseras på material från interjuver och observationer. Både byggbranschen och fallföretaget studerades utifrån utvalda teorier om slöseri och värdeskapande samt Supply Chain Management.Den teoretiska tyngden ligger på Supply Chain och Supply Chain Management. Därefter användes teorier för slöseri och värdeskapande samt vilka beståndsdelar och hur man ska analysera de olika beståndsdelarna.

Umeå University currently uses two Course Management System, Moodle and Sakai (Cambro). Both Moodle and Sakai are based on open source code and are today the two more popular choices among Swedish Universities. They both have different strengths and weaknesses both from a technical perspective and a user perspective. This can create problems for a course responsible/teacher when it comes to planning the course structure at a distance course but also when planning the course structure on a campus course that uses a Course Management System. With this as my starting point my formulations of questions become:How do the Course Management Systems that Umeå University uses differs, both from a technical perspective and user perspective?What possibilities is there in the Course Management Systems to use a different Course Structure?Is there a noticeable difference on the view of Course Management System of teachers and students at different departments?The purpose with my essay is to create a basis that course responsible/teacher can use to plan the course structure.

Syftet med denna studie inom den svenska dagligvaruhandeln är att studera vilken attityd konsumenter har och varför, när de värderar utbudet av EVM och LVM i butiken. Jag ville ta reda på vilka attibut och känslomässiga värden det är som påverkar konsumenten när, hon/han i sitt medvetnade positionerar EVM och LVM i förhållande till varandra. Eftersom problemområdet utgör en kunskapslucka inom Category Management litteraturen valde jag en explorativ inriktning. Genom den kvalitativa metodens djupintervjuer sökte jag uppnå en förståelse för problemområdet. det som farmkom i studien var att om man inom Category Management säger sig ha konsumenten i fokus så måste butikens varumärkesportföljen ses över.

After been told that an ordinary winter service for our combine should cost more than 20000 SEK, not included spare parts, I decided to write this paper about today?s requirement of the workshop on a farm. I think that the lack of proper premises is the reason way not more of the ordinary machinery maintenance or upkeep is performed on the farm. When I did my literature survey I found that the Swedish environmental code, set by the Swedish law regulate how drain or sewer should be built. The environmental code however leaves a lot for your own interpretation. It might not be so bad but it must be very hard for the local environmental office to interpretation the regulations, since they are the ones that gives permission for the sewer in your workshop.