Competence is a complex concept that encompasses many facets. This study aims fora better understanding of the concept. Many branches of business administration science would benefit from a better understanding of competence and, through that understanding, find solutions where competence is one of many variables. By combining a positivistic and phenomenological approach, this study has created a broader understanding of the concept of competence.The study combines systematic study of the relevant literature with in-depth interviewswith people representing both the employer and the union within the staffing company world.The results show that quantifying competence is a complex and next to impossible task, as it would involve including the whole concept of competence in the calculations. When this is done, the phenomenon itself becomes so complex that it loses its validity.This is why theorists who want to perform this type of calculations put most of the competence complexity in ?the black box?.

Service branding is a subject that has been excluded from the traditional branding theory. Our main purpose with this paper is to distinguish what characterizes service branding. To do this, we have looked in to both service marketing theory as well as branding theory. We have also looked at the existing theory concerning service branding. Six qualitative interviews have been performed to explain what characterizes service branding.

This paper is about the extent to which simplified penetration calculations ofsmall-caliber projectiles is a useful tool for assessing the physical protectioncapability. The work should be seen as an attempt to create an accessible tool inthe form of a simplified equation that allows for a better and safer use of thenaval vessels. The tool will also be used at different levels so that decisions andinstructions could be clearer.Performed calculations show a very limited capacity of a ship's basic design interms of physical protection against the use of small-caliber projectiles.How do we know that the calculations correct? By verifying the calculations withpractical shooting tests, a substantial condition to answer the question will becreated. To shoot against a material with two different thicknesses estimated toproduce perforation and non-perforation is a good approximation of the equationusability in the context..

This paper is about the extent to which simplified penetration calculations ofsmall-caliber projectiles is a useful tool for assessing the physical protectioncapability. The work should be seen as an attempt to create an accessible tool inthe form of a simplified equation that allows for a better and safer use of thenaval vessels. The tool will also be used at different levels so that decisions andinstructions could be clearer.Performed calculations show a very limited capacity of a ship's basic design interms of physical protection against the use of small-caliber projectiles.How do we know that the calculations correct? By verifying the calculations withpractical shooting tests, a substantial condition to answer the question will becreated. To shoot against a material with two different thicknesses estimated toproduce perforation and non-perforation is a good approximation of the equationusability in the context..

This case study aims to explore how decision making is performed under circumstances characterised by high uncertainty. We have identified and interviewed two types of organisations dealing with investments in pharmaceutical drug development, a business characterised by high uncertainty. We have found that the two types of organisations we have interviewed display different decision making behaviour evaluating the same type of investment. Further we have explained these differences in decision making behaviour by using relevant decision making theories. This study has showed that different forms of decision making are appropriate depending on the conditions facing the decision maker..

Highly polluted urban storm water from e.g. highways can contain large amounts of heavy metals that may cause harm if they are discharged into recipients. To remove the heavy metals a possible low-cost method that does not require much maintenance, could be the use of reactive filters with filter materials consisting of industrial residues or other cheap mineral based materials. Dissolved metal ions are removed by reactive filters through the processes of ions binding to active sites on the surface of the filter materials, or by formation of insoluble precipitates.The ability of CaO-treated granulated blast-furnace slag, iron oxide coated sand, olivine and nepheline to remove seven heavy metals (Cr, Cd, Cu, Ni, Zn, Pb and Hg) from urban storm water was studied. Initially batch experiments were performed where the effect of pH, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and dissolved ions on the adsorption efficiency was studied.

While almost 23 percent of the students in the Swedish upper secondary school are foreigners, only a fraction of the school libraries? collections consists of literature written in other languages than Swedish or English. This study examines how five school librarians experience the task of working with literature composed in foreign languages in the multicultural and multilingual school of today. The results of the qualitative interviews are analyzed in relation to the legislation and policy documents that the school libraries are working by, and also in relation to the theoretical framework of sociocultural theory and the theories on second language acquisition developed by linguist Jim Cummins.The study shows that while multilingualism is discussed as an important matter in the legislation and policy documents that the school libraries work by, the librarians in this study largely view the question of foreign literature as peripheral. Most part of the librarians connects first language reading to leisure-time activities rather than curricular activities, and stresses that the Swedish language should be prioritized in Swedish schools.

SammanfattningSyftet med studien var att studera skillnader i vilka mål bordtennisspelare använder sig av beroende på målinriktning. I studien deltog 103 bordtennisspelare (60 män och 43 kvinnor) tävlandes i division ett till tre. Metoden som användes i studien var en kvantitativ undersökning och bestod av enkäterna Collegiate Goal Setting in Sport Questionnaire (Weinberg, Burton, Yukelson, Weigand, 1993) och Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire (Duda & Nicholls, 1992; ref i Duda, 1998). Resultatet i studien visade flera signifikanta skillnader mellan bordtennisspelarna med högre resultatinriktning och bordtennisspelare med en lägre resultatinriktning när det gäller uppfattning om målsättning. Resultatet visade exempelvis att bordtennisspelarna med högre resultatinriktning oftare satte resultatmål och prestationsmål jämfört med bordtennisspelare med en lägre resultatinriktning.

Is it possible to conduct a joint organizational change despite different circumstances and different starting points, and still talk about the same organizational change? Can all the work that leads to more efficient operations fall into the same category? How can such concept gain legitimacy? The result shows that by talking about a concept, in this case, Lean, as something that leads to a better and more efficient organization, without for that matter have to set a defined content of the concept you still can present the process as one concept. Tough the concept will be practically blank. But there is still a rhetorical value in the concept of Lean. The organization institutionalizes the concept and obtains in this way legitimacy from its surroundings.

The purpose of this essay is to study the two cases ?The hijacking of a bus in Årdal? & ?The double murder in Ljungsbro? from media ethics aspects.  The aim for this study is to clear up if the the Swedish newspapers have reported according to the mediaethic rules and to see if there is any differences between the newspapers reporting. The following theories has been used to reach the objective: the journalism task, news values, the liberty of press and speach, media ethical rules and discursive discrimination. The study has used a critical discourse method formed by Teun a. van Dijk to analyse the material, mainly through macro- and microstructures.

A business is always dependent on its customers. It is therefore important to ensurethat customers are satisfied with the product and the warranty included.The study was conducted in cooperation with the building contacting companySkanska Sweden. The aim is to use interviews to collect and process experiences in order to answer the question: How should the recovery process in the construction industry be performed to ensure a professional handling of warranty? The results have shaped my conclusions and I have turned them into a proposal that companies in the industry can benefit from. The study indicates that the industry is not geared for a five year warranty, which was introduced in 2004 and 2006.

We have performed a study much similar to Ritter?s (1991) about long-term aftermarket performance of IPOs on the Swedish market during the years 1990 to 2002. The study resulted in evidence for that Swedish IPO do underperforms their benchmark-portfolios during a 36-months period. Though, the grade of underperformance depends of the chosen benchmark. The study is mainly focused on a particular benchmark, a portfolio of non-issuing firms matched by size and sector.

AbstractAim: The aim of this study was to investigate if treatment with ?dry needling? in myofascial triggerpoints (MTrPs) in the rotatorcuff muscles may affect impingement symptoms such as pain during provocative tests, shoulder mobility, and function. The research questions were: Does the value of pain change on the Visual Analog Pain Scale (VAS) between before and after treatment? Do the positive provocative tests for impingement change between before and after treatment? Does the active shoulder mobility change between before and after treatment? Does the self-rated function change between before and after treatment?Method: The study was a prospective randomized intervention study and 19 persons with impingement symptoms (mean ± standard deviation; 58 ± 18 years, and shoulder pain duration 3.9 ± 1.6 months) were randomized into two groups. The groups were tested before, directly after and 3 weeks after treatment.

This report was written by Lisa Bengtson and Hanna Paradis and describes the degree thesis "Environmental impacts of solid waste treatment in the Metropolitan Region, Santiago, Chile ? a comparison between current system and incineration with energy recovery". The purpose of this thesis was to investigate if incineration with energy recovery could be motivated through an environmental perspective as an alternative to landfilling of solid waste in Santiago, Chile. The study was performed with Life Cycle Analysis as a theoretical base. In Santiago, situated in the thirteenth region of Chile, Región Metropolitana, lives 6,5 million inhabitants. The major part of the solid waste produced in the region is landfilled on three different sanitary controlled landfills situated outside the city center.

The purpose of this Master's thesis is to find possible explanations of variation in light scattering in a fine paper. Samples were collected from each second tambour during a time period of two weeks from a paper machine at MoDo Paper, Husum. Two data sets, consisting of 20 and 95 observations, were selected for extensive analysises of tensile and structual properties. The data was evaluated with multivariate data techniques using the programs Simca and Extract. The results of PCA- and PLS- analysises pointed out 3 of 52 variables as important for the variations in light scattering.