AbstractThis thesis is a qualitative study that provides an insight into the Nordic offshore market, focusing on the North Sea and investigates indications of how the near future may develop in the area and how these developments may affect the Nordic seafarers. Questions central to the work are aimed primarily at how shipping companies, agencies and seafarers active in the offshore industry look at future activity in the North Sea, Nordic seafarers' status in the global labor market, and how today's employment conditions look like for seafarers in the global offshore industry. The majority of the information was collected through interviewes and questionnaires. The purpose of this study was to examine whether and how the expected development in the North Sea, in terms of availability of oil and gas, may have effect on the Scandinavian seafarers' future work prospects and employment conditions in the global offshore labor. The conclusions that have been drawn are that competition among seafarers in the offshore industry is higher 2015 than previous years (2000-2014) and are expected to increase.

The increased competition in e-commerce puts pressure on e-businesses which makes it even more important to influence the visitors on their e-commerce sites. An often overlooked marketing tool is atmospherics. With the increased focus on e-commerce from both traditional and new e-businesses this marketing tool becomes even more relevant. The aim of this thesis is to investigate how the atmosphere on an e-commerce site influences the customers' thoughts, emotions and behaviors. We examine the effects the level of stimulus on a website has on the customer's emotions, attitudes, intentions, behaviors as well as the relationship between these variables.

From the early 1990s, psychosocial illness has become an increasing problem in our society. During this period several factors affected the development of the Swedish labor market and created lack of job security. For example, the competition between companies increased, aswell as an increase of demands, efficiency and rationalization. This led to a higher pace in the workplace, and it was noticeably especially in the public sector. According to studies, stress is the main reason for psychosocial illness and affects more women than men.

Tourism has been an expanding market since the first travel agency started in the middle of the 18?Th century, and today it is a global industry, with intensified competition and high demands from the customers. Product development is therefore one of the most important aspects for successful companies, and scientists also agree that the first stages in product development are the most critical. This essay is focusing on those stages, regarding product development on travel agencies, and the research question is as follows: How are new tourism destinations developed and what is the difference in working process between small and big travel agencies? The empirical research consists of qualitative semi-structured interviews with two big and two small travel agencies.

Background: Competence development has become more important since the pressure on effectiveness is increasing and organisations are expected to constantly improvement. The design of the competence development activities is governed by the strategy which in turn will affect the outcome of the same. A knowledge intense business in which changes recently have taken place is healthcare, a business in which competition also has increased as a result from globalization. Due to this, it is highly important to take care of and improve the competence of individuals. According to this, we have found that healthcare is an interesting business to study with regard to competence development.

Swedish contract law is based on the main principle of freedom of contract, which means that a contract is built on a voluntary agreement of both parties. There are exceptions from the principle of freedom of contract. In some instances a party is obliged to contract (kontraheringsplikt), which also is the subject for this paper. Kontraheringsplikt can be described as an obligation for one of the parts in a relation to come to an agreement under normal circumstances with everyone who ask for it. The cases of kontraheringsplikt are rather different.

Background: The competition is getting harder between the universities. To reach the high school students and discover which means of contact they prefer and how they perceive student recruitment are important issues in order to succeed in marketing strategies.Purpose: The purpose with our report is to investigate, analyze and compare the student recruitment in three universities and investigate how the high school students want to be contacted. Then we compare to see if they think alike.Method: We have done a qualitative study and chosen to use focus group interviews for the high school students and interviews for the universities to collect our empirical data. We have compared the empirical data and analyzed it with communication processes and marketing communication as theoretical grounds.Result: All of the universities work approximately the same way with their student recruitment. They put a large effort in the Internet and social networks as well as the personal contact.

The Private Equity industry has over the past years been booming and major external environmental changes have made the industry transform rapidly. Increased competition between Private Equity firms is one of the reasons why the industry has been and is being forced to focus more on addition of value through increased operational management. Consequently, the focus of value addition is by some said to be transferred away from deal making and financial skills, and into active operative management. This case study investigates how the portfolio management, and more specifically the measuring and management of performance, is carried out in a number of leading Swedish Private Equity funds with investments in the biotech sector. The biotech sector is characterized by extensive research and development, and many biotech companies often lack income and other measurable financial parameters in the initial phase.

Due to a growing interest in communication in today?s society the demand for equipment that is used in communication networks increases while the competition between companies that produce this equipment grows. To meet the increasing demand and at the same time having a competitive product development many companies use some effective product design, such as the modular product design. When a modular product design is used it?s good to compare different module configurations for a certain product and to simplify these comparisons some tool can be used.

Background: The increasing competition on the market demand both companies and supply chains to find optimal solutions. The edeavour to reduce inventory levels is a part of this. Earlier, inventory was seen upon as valuable assets, but today they tend to be more and more negative in the eyes of the companies. Inventory demands capital, handling, and space. Therefore inventory creates unnecessary costs.

The aim of our thesis is to study and analyze the components and features a brand should have to provide a solid foundation for brand building. Furthermore, we show how brands can make use of trends in a brand establishment.This paper is written from a qualitative approach. Through both structured and semi structured interviews, we obtained valuable information from our respondents. Our frame of reference and empirical foundation are linked together through an abductive approach which has resulted in our analysis and conclusions.A trend brings with a set of emotional characteristics, which companies can?t influence but must adapt to.

This C-essay is a qualitative study designed to create a basis for understanding how managers involved in school affairs perceive the impact of merit points on students? chances to continue on to higher education and how this will affect individuals' life chances.The study is based on three interviews with managers involved in school affairs. In this paper grades, merit points and socioeconomic class differences are discussed.The aim of this paper is to answer the following questions:? What impact does merit points in language studies and the way different languages are valued, in the system, have for the individual and for society?? Who are the winners in the new grading system and who are the losers; how are different socioeconomic groups affected?The material was interpreted with the help of a report written by Ingrid Nordqvist and Monica Langerth Zetterman called "Secondary School competition field-a regional perspective", a paper written by Helen Raven who did a study on grades, national tests and social reproduction and the Frenchman Pierre Bourdieu's theories.The results show that class differences will increase and that it will be difficult to rise in the social hierarchy in the future..

Nowadays, the world around us is changing faster and faster, the globalization is increasing and harder competition puts extra pressure on companies to be more innovative than ever before. One of the fastest changing industries is the IT industry where the actors always have to be up to date to keep their competitive advantage. The authors want to find out what makes some companies in this industry more innovative than others by examining what internal elements that are necessary for innovation. Much research has already been carried out within the field of innovation and especially about innovation management, although less research exists about smaller, non high tech service companies. Therefore the authors also tries to find out how applicable today?s theories are on this special field and thereby fill a smaller gap in today?s research.

The shooting sport is one of the most widespread sports in the world and it isbeing practice in most countries. Based on their own experiences, in competition -and hobby shooting, the client M4Solutions found a demand and need for ashooting target that is manufactured in Sweden.The purpose of the project has been to develop, with the help of Marcus Walldén,two shooting targets from idea to finished product. These two shooting targets,Plate Rack Target and Dueling Tree, would each be equipped with a mechanicalresetting system but will in the future have the ability to be provided with anelectronic resetting system.The project from the client was divided into two theses. One of these two, writtenby Marcus Walldén, focused on the tripod parts and the overall design work forboth Plate Rack Target and Dueling Tree. The thesis that is presented in thisreport have focused on resetting systems, the design of protective plates and otherperipherals for both shooting targets.This work has primarily been in CAD environment where design, constructionand development has been given free rein.

The horse is a homeothermic animal and to keep a constant body temperature in winter season is important. Acclimatisation is to provide means for a good thermal insulation consisting of skin, hair, and an outer air layer. The skin covers the horses body and it is composed of three main layers where the top layer of the epidermis consists of dead keratinized cells that are constantly being sheed. The dermis is composed of collagen connective tissue that give the skin its strength. The bottom layer with subcutaneous fat provides a thermal insulation and can be used as an energy reserve in cold weather.