AbstractThis study aims to investigate the applicability of well-recognized supply chain strategies based on product characteristics. Choosing the right supply chain strategy can be the difference between winner and loser in today?s competitive climate and science offers several recommendations as to which aspects that should be considered. Fisher (1997) and Christopher and Towill (2002) suggest that supply chain strategies should be based on what kind of product the company is handling and that, in order to know which strategy is the most appropriate, the products must be categorized. Some criteria developed for the categorization are lead time, forecast in demand and profit margin.

Research has concluded that meaningless differentiation with trivial attributes sometimes can be a successful strategy. However, the effect varies with respect to certain aspects such as the price of the product and the decision context. How the characteristics of the consumer influence the effect of trivial attributes has until now been unknown. This thesis investigates how the consumer?s level of knowledge and personal involvement influence the effects of trivial attributes on product preferences and product attitudes.

The main purpose of this master thesis is to investigate the information seeking of lay politicians, part-time politicians and professional politicians in connection with the possible upcoming fusion of the two administrative regions, Västra Götaland and Värmland. The focus of this study has been to study how politicians use and evaluate information and sources of information, and to investigate if there are any differences in how different categories of politicians seek information. Seven politicians were interviewed using semi-structured questions, and a phenomenographic approach was used to analyze the data. In Sweden there are few available studies of how politician seek information, but some international studies have focused on information needs, information sources, selection and evaluation of information. I have used previous research, and data from respondents to compile and analyze my results in three descriptive categories.

A pilot-study was used to investigate, types of assistance, assessed needs, outcomes and effects of special-needs assistance given to a subsample of compulsory school pupils in an effort to develop an evaluation strategy for identifying educational impacts of specific special-needs inputs.  Preliminary results indicate a tendency for postive outcomes for most pupils in the pilot group (n = 11) but also that many pupils have residual difficulties.  Pupils with residual difficulties mostly required special education asssitance with Maths, English or Swedish.  More pupils also needed support with behavioral difficulties.  More research and an expanding knowledge base is required in order to effectively evaluate outcomes of teacher support.  Schools need help in devising different methods of assistance and particularly for pupils with behavioral difficulties..

Background: During the year 2002 approximately 27 000 people lost their jobs because of companies filing for bancruptcy. In 2002 the number of companies filing for bancruptcy in Sweden were 6740. This is approximately twice as many as in the year of 1974 when the first major study concerning bancruptcies in Sweden was carried out. The accumulated amount of unpaid bancruptcy claims for the period 1991 ? 1997 was 51 billion SEK.

Students at Jönköping School of Engineering were given an assignment from Jönköping municipality, to evaluate their decision support system, QlikView. The students have also developed proposals for improvement with focus on usability.The Jönköpings municipality has currently got 11000 employees and consists of nine different administrations. The target group for QlikView is approximately 600 first-line managers.The intention of QlikView is that the users can get an overall picture of their business by having all information in just one system.The purpose of the thesis is to obtain a picture of what the users think about the system today and present relevant suggestions for improvement, which the Jönköping municipality can use when the introduction of the new version of QlikView takes place. The research questions that the study aims to answer are:? Has QlikView got a user friendly interface?? How can the interface be improved to become more user friendly?Theories that this work is based on is Jacob Nielsens ten usability principles and Ben Schneidermans eight golden rules.

This report summarizes a Bachelor Degree Project in Integrated Product Development, carried out during the fall 2007 till spring 2008 by three students at the Product Design Engineering Program at the University of Skövde. The project was performed in cooperation with Lundbergs Möbler AB in Tibro. Lundbergs wants to start selling furniture to the public eldercare. The purpose of this project was to adjust one of their chairs. The project layout was to first make a preliminary investigation where the market, competitors? assortment and the purchasing process are studied.

This thesis is about developing a design that provides improved vacuum seal between a lead coating and a plastic coating during plastic extrusion processes of cables. This report is a part of the course MSGC 17 for Bachelor Engineers in mechanical engineering.The work is performed at Nexans Norway AS in Halden where they have a production of high voltage cables for sea-, and offshore industry. A problem they face is that they do not get enough good seal at the attachment to the plastic extrusion machine. They want to achieve a vacuum between a lead coating on the cable and a plastic coating of the cable for plastic extrusion, which is something they do not achieve today. The thesis is thus to come up with a design that provides better sealing against the cable.The work involves a construction part with the phases of product development processes.

Students at Jönköping School of Engineering were given an assignment from Jönköping municipality, to evaluate their decision support system, QlikView. The students have also developed proposals for improvement with focus on usability.The Jönköpings municipality has currently got 11000 employees and consists of nine different administrations. The target group for QlikView is approximately 600 first-line managers.The intention of QlikView is that the users can get an overall picture of their business by having all information in just one system.The purpose of the thesis is to obtain a picture of what the users think about the system today and present relevant suggestions for improvement, which the Jönköping municipality can use when the introduction of the new version of QlikView takes place. The research questions that the study aims to answer are:? Has QlikView got a user friendly interface?? How can the interface be improved to become more user friendly?Theories that this work is based on is Jacob Nielsens ten usability principles and Ben Schneidermans eight golden rules.

This study is based on motivation theory, communication theory and knowledge about change management and workshop arrangement. The aim of the study is to develop a communication strategy which increases motivation for sustainability work in municipalities.Main focus of this report is to (1) determine whether motivation theory is applicable on a municipality?s sustainability work, in order to gain a willingness to change and (2) decide if workshops are suitable platforms for communication with municipalities. The opinion that global, complex problems require local solutions is a starting point for this study. The role of municipalities is claimed to be of great importance and is furthermore suggested to undergo a change in order to meet the current demands.

The comprehensive goal in this study was to examine important factors in an introduction of a new machine team. The aim was to identify what elements should be part of an introduction program for new machine team. The examination was done together with Stora Enso Skog. A new machine team and their supervisors where analyzed during a six month period. The evaluation was done with open interviews of the team members and their supervisors. The main question was what should be included in an introduction program to develop a successful machine team as effective as possible? Interviews of the new team and analyses gave good indications how the procedure should be done.

Titel: En utvärdering av de anställdas arbetsmotivation vid LantmäterietTitle: An evaluation of the work motivation of the employees at LantmäterietLevel: Final assignment for Batchelor Degree in Business AdministrationDepartment of Business AdministrationUniversity of GävleBOX 6052 GävleSwedenAuthor: Söderberg AnnaDate: 2006-06-08Supervisor: Gaddefors JohanEngvall ErikaPurpose: The main purpose of this study is to create a picture of the leadership,communication and organisation cultures effect on the motivation.Nyckelord: Motivation, ledarskap, kommunikation, organisationskultur, LantmäterietKeywords: Motivation, leadership, communication, organisation culture, Lantmäteriet.

The Innovation- and Design Engineer program at Karlstad university is a three year long engineer education. In the last phase a final piece is to be done and in this case Boda Borg in Skellefteå is the company in need of product development. Boda Borg is a company in the experience industry and they are located in nine cities from Gällivare in the north of Sweden to Karlskrona in the south. Boda Borg is a franchise company where every facility is their own. As a visitor you will experience physical challenges as well as intellectual in adventure rooms which are serial linked.

This pilot study investigates possible treatment effects and participants' experience in an internet-based treatment of specicfic phobia. Changes in self-reported phobic fear were examined in a series of case studies and changes in attitudes towards avoidance and approach strategies were examined at group level. Seventeen DSM-IV diagnosed patients with specific phobia participated and 10 out of these completed the treatment.The results show that 80 % of the completing participants were clinically improved after the treatment and that the completing participants were significantly more negative towards avoidance strategies after the treatment. The evaluation of the disposition and user-friendliness of the treatment showed that the participants' overall view of the treatment was positive. The main advantage perceived was the flexible nature of the treatment, while the main disadvantages were the high level of motivation and discipline required from the participants.

The Innovation- and Design Engineer program at Karlstad university is a three year long engineer education. In the last phase a final piece is to be done and in this case Boda Borg in Skellefteå is the company in need of product development. Boda Borg is a company in the experience industry and they are located in nine cities from Gällivare in the north of Sweden to Karlskrona in the south. Boda Borg is a franchise company where every facility is their own. As a visitor you will experience physical challenges as well as intellectual in adventure rooms which are serial linked.