As EU?s authority increased the number of lobbies in Brussels grew. Today there are approximately 15 000 lobbyists in Brussels. EU decisions and EU directives can have a huge impact on companies and organizations. They can however influence these decisions and directives through lobbying.

In Sweden we have a regulated gambling market which means that there are three gambling companies who are operating under the supervision of the Swedish state. These companies have exclusive rights to the Swedish market, divided between them. AB Svenska Spel is one of them and they control all gambling concerning sporting events and the four casinos in Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö and Sundsvall. However, since a few years back several Internet-based companies have entered the Swedish market and the competition has become even fiercer in the last years. Due to numerous marketing restrictions the Internet companies have been forced to find new ways to strengthen their brand.

?Re:Regional? is a diploma work by Sanna Alm and Ylva Hedin, for the Master?s Programme in Spatial Planning presented at the Blekinge Institute of Technology, Karlskrona, Sweden. ?Greater Helsinki Vision 2050 ? International Ideas Competition? was the starting point of this study. The competition was launched the 15th of December 2006 and the closing date was the 31st of May.

Competition is keen in the fashion industry of today. Homogenous products and prices aredriving competition and most firms are struggling hard to attract customers. Brands havebecome one of the most important assets for success and are often critical for the choices of theconsumers. A strong brand is often considered as a substantial value in the eyes of the consumerand gives the individual firm a competitive advantage in the marketplace. To build a strongbrand it takes that the brand identity not is in conflict with the brand image of a firm or a product.Sometimes one of these conflicts exit and sometimes the firms are not even aware of it.In this thesis we study how two firms, Lindex and Prada, perceive their own image and then wecompare how the images of the firms are perceived by the customers.

This report is a study made at Pallco AB. Pallco is a subcontractor that is specialized on steel and aluminium components.The aim of the report is to show an improvement proposal that leads to a reduction of the storage and improve the flow through the production of one item that is a part of a product that Pallco manufactures.With the increasing competition from other countries who can manufacture with lower costs must Swedish companies try to make theirs manufacturing as efficient as possible and remove all waste. By using the tools of Lean Production it is possible to reduce the costs and increase the efficiency.The method we used is value stream mapping. A map of the present condition has been made and then different improvement proposal were discussed. A map of a future condition has also been designed..

The objective of this work was to compare the environmentally gentle soil scarification technique Huminmix (with possibilities to do track-grinding/HMMspår, long-scraping/HMMlångfläck and mounding/HMMhög) with conventional disc trencher, concerning seedling establishment and growth of direct seeded and planted Scots pine seedlings. Inventories were made during June and July 2005, in 34 seeded and 6 planted stands from 2000 ? 2004 (1- 5 years old) of lichen- and myrtillus/vaccinum-type in Holmen Skog AB´s district Norsjö in Västerbotten. The Huminmix-technique had been used for HMMspår in the seeded stands and for HMMhög in the planted stands (HMMlångfläck has been used from the year 2006 for direct seeding). The studied stands had been seeded with the same amount of seeds according to stand data.

The purpose with this essay was to examine and bring a deeper comprehension about brands as a phenomenon. We also wanted to study if strong brands could develop in to strategic competition means and by that expand their market range. To do this we used a qualitative method. We started by gathering a theoretical basis. This gave us a platform, which helped us learn more about the subject, brands.

?Re:Regional? is a diploma work by Sanna Alm and Ylva Hedin, for the Master?s Programme in Spatial Planning presented at the Blekinge Institute of Technology, Karlskrona, Sweden. ?Greater Helsinki Vision 2050 ? International Ideas Competition? was the starting point of this study. The competition was launched the 15th of December 2006 and the closing date was the 31st of May.

Background: With the increased globalization food prices went down for a while, only to skyrocket to new levels. Prices of organic food, which already were more expensive than conventional, are now even more expensive. The current financial crisis results in reduced consumption which creates a threat to the smaller grocery stores. Globalization and the increased competition have had a negative impact on the environment but at the same time the desire to solve these issues has increased appreciably. The environmental aspect has been given higher priority by the individual, which led to a wider range of organic products and dramatically increased the number of stores selling organic products, leading to a greater competition among the stores selling organic food.  Problem definition: What factors are important for organic retail business long term survival?Purpose: Trough case studies analyze and evaluate the organic niche retail companies? strategies of marketing.Methods: This study is based on both qualitative and quantitative research methods.

Soundclash is a phenomenon where groups within the culture of reggae music ?battle? against each other, through strategies including both music and rhetoric. The social interaction in the clash exemplifies the scene hierarchy, in which the participants aim to position themselves as number one. This study includes empirical material from a competition within the Swedish scene, also distributed digitally via Internet sites. The analysis is based on discursive psychology, focusing on rhetoric and the construction of meaning.

A new visual identity for the ski store Alpingaraget in Stockholm has been proposed as the result of this thesis. Theproposal includes a new logotype, various printed matters, design planning of the store, interior design, signs and otherapplications.The theory section is within the field of graphic profiling and with some focus on profiling in stores.A clear visual identity is important for a company because what the company communicates internally and externallyshould be kept as consistent as possible. This is especially important nowadays when more and more similar products andstores are available. This means that the visual identity becomes part of the competition with other products and stores.The base elements in a visual identity are logotype, colors and typograpy. Using these elements according to rules andtemplates makes a consistent visual profile..

Direct effects of the insecticide deltamethrin on zooplankton and benthic invertebrates werestudied during an attempt to eradicate signal crayfish. In accordance with earlier studies theresults of this investigation showed that deltamethrin is highly toxic for arthropods, whileRotifera, Oligochaeta and Mollusca have a higher tolerance. This study concludes thatRotifera in treated ponds coped with the actual concentration of deltamethrin used during theeradication attempt but that they probably got a different abundance and changed compositiondue to a new situation in competition and predation. Crustacean zooplankton totallydisappeared, but approximately a month after the treatment they began to recolonise. All thetaxonomical groups of arthropods drastically decreased in abundance, with total eliminationof the most sensitive groups.

During the autumn of 2007 I attended a course in plantcomposition in Alnarp. The main task during the coursewas to make a proposal for a theme garden that was goingto represent the school at an exhibition in the GardenSociety in Göteborg, during the summer of 2008. Thetheme for the garden was set to ?sustainable development?and we had fully two weeks to work with the proposal.I won the competition and during the spring andsummer of 2008 I developed and realized my idea. Thegarden exhibition was inaugurated the 28th of June andwas open until the 28th of September.

Companies and organizations recognize the importance of collaboration to develop responsibility and ability of change in the workplace. The concept of collaboration was a relatively new idea in business in the late 1980s. In a Nordic context, collaboration is a traditional approach that companies use successfully for competition, survival and development. Collaborative organizational efforts cover management of committed people who can help companies achieve flexibility, customer loyalty, innovation and economic success on a challenging and competitive market. Many theorists believe that collaboration is the key to integrating technology, financial competence and innovation.

The purpose of this study was to investigate, through a qualitative survey, the need of knowledge and strategy in organisations today and tomorrow. The empirical investigation is built on a semi structured interview that was conducted on nine different companies in Gislaveds community. The companies were from three different branches namely: tree, metal and polymer. Three interviews were conducted in each branch.The result from the interviews showed that the globalisation had put the companies under hard competition which had made the need for rationalisation and effectivness more apparent. Having said this, the demands on the organisation and the individuals within it will constantly increase.