November 1, 2010 the audit requirement in Sweden for small and medium enterprises was abolished, after many years of discussion. This essay aims to examine the effects of the abolishment of the audit requirement on credit. The intention is to draw conclusions about how the possible negative effects of the abolishment of the audit requirement could be prevented.The study has been made using a qualitative method to get a clearer and broader explanation that leads to deeper understanding. It includes an interview with creditors from one of the largest banks whose position represents a large group of lenders. In addition to the lender, two auditors with years of experience have been interviewed.Analysis of collected data has shown that there are both advantages and disadvantages of abolished mandatory auditing.

AbstractTitle: External communication and brand strategies in Swedish municipalities? Author: Philip Hagne & Einar Svensson? Tutor: Jessica Gustafsson? Purpose: The aim of this thesis was to study and obtain greater understanding on how Swedish municipalities use external communication and branding strategies to gain and attract more residents. The key questions to be answered in this thesis were: What does the external communication look like in the selected municipalities? Are the selected municipalities trying to establish their own brand? What does the work on creating the brand look like??Method/Material: This thesis is based on material collected trough interviews with people working with external communication in eleven swedish municipalities. The selected municipalities where divided into two groups based on their negative or positive population growth between 2005 and 2012.

This essay is a case study of how two non-profit organizations, in the same line of business work with external communication and new media such as Internet and social media (Facebook and Twitter).Both these organizations are located in different countries and the purpose of the case study is also to find out if the differences in their work methods in communication depend on organizational or cultural differences. The case study was conducted in the organizations Sverige Amerika Centret in Karlstad, Sweden and The Swedish Council of America in Minneapolis, US. A qualitative approach executed through interviews and a qualitative content analysis of the organizations annual report from 2010. The result of the interviews and the document content analysis shows that there are differences in the way these organizations handle their work with external communications and new media. One of the organizations uses new media more actively in their work with communication and through that channel creates a relationship with its external audiences. The theories that has been used for this case study is Organization communication, Intercultural communication, Public Relations and Organization culture. Keywords: external communication, new media, culture and employees..

Abstract: Private equity used to be synonymous with tremendous yields and rates of return. However, the private equity market trembled in 2008, due to the financial meltdown caused by the worldwide credit crisis. Considering the current low number of exits within the private equity industry, the purpose of this thesis is to examine if there has been any change in how private equity firms control their portfolio companies since the inception of the crisis. One private equity company and two portfolio companies have been studied. The case study is prepared from interviews with senior directors in the portfolio company and investment managers in the private equity firm.

The work of the board in owner-managed firms often differ compared to the work of the board in large listed companies. Since the owners are working in different roles, the board in owner-managed firms might discuss topics outside the typical boards agenda, such as questions relating to ownership structure and operational matters. This thesis examines what external board members can contribute with in owner-managed firms, and which the most frequent difficulties are for the owners when deciding to recruit external board members. Through qualitative interviews, three owner-managed firms have been studied, which together with two expert interviews and five seminars, creates the empirics. In the analysis, the empirics are compared to what the earlier theory states.

Studien har handlat om att ta fram riktlinjer för hur extrahering, transformering och inladdning (ETL) av kreditbedömningsinformation bör göras när det kommer till att införa ett Data Warehouse (DW). Ett kvalitativt angreppssätt har använts med både en fallstudie och en intervjustudie, där fallstudien genomfördes med Asitis AB som är en systemleverantör förfinans- och reskontrafinansiering (factoring) för att undersöka potentiella affärsmöjligheter med ett DW med kreditbedömningsinformation. Intervjustudien användes för att samla in värdefull information från individer inom alla berörda problemområden, och användes sedan i fallstudien. Resultatet var både framgångsfaktorer och fallgropar för ETL-processen med kreditbedömningsinformation som kan fungera som stöd för organisationer med detta behov. Det har visat sig att ETL-processen för kreditbedömningsinformation utgör ett område med stor potential för affärsmöjligheter, där det krävs hög kompetens, domänkunskap, proaktivitet och juridisk kunskap vid genomförande av ETL-processen..

Banks have been some of the biggest operators on the market of business customers financing. When the Swedish Förmånsrättslagen was changed 2004 the banks became more restrictive to allow traditional bank loans. The change made it more difficult for customers to get their loans granted. For that reason customers had to find other forms of financing. Factoring is an alternative that means companies can mortage/sell their claim on customers to finance companies.

The purpose of this research was to examine what motivates and influences an individual to invest in a project or company through equity-based crowdfunding. The intention was therefore to identify internal and external motivation factors and examine how external social factors such as the Internet, other individuals? investment decisions and interaction in social groups affect an individual when he or she invests through equity-based crowdfunding. The results showed that both internal and external motivation factors are important components of an investment through equity-based crowdfunding. External motivators proved to be for example yields and helping entrepreneurs.

The aim of this paper is to try to explain how specific, foreign policy decisions are made, and why one state decides to use violence against another state. A qualitative method is used, and text and documents are analysed. The two theoretical points of departure are central within foreign policy analysis: realism´s theories on external threats and constructivism´s theories on ideas´ policy influence. The empirical case chosen is the US decision to use military violence against Iraq. The paper investigates whether the real threat from Saddam Hussein´s Iraq was the cause of the American military attacks, or whether the ideas of leading politicians in the USA were decisive for the decision to invade the country.

Background: Increasingly, companies choose to finance their business with corporate bonds which has resulted in an increased demand on credit ratings. As such the rating agencies have a very important role in the financial markets. Examining the value of a credit-rating can be very interesting for both issuer and investor. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to identify and define the value of rating. Execution: The study is built upon nine interviews with rated and non-rated firms and investors.

Title: ?When The Line Between Transmitter and Receiver Blurs? ? A Study of how organizations look at social media as part of their external communication and how they respond to the environment in the new media toolNumber of pages: 49 (51 including enclosures)Author: Ida Hansson KällTutor: Cecilia StrandCourse: Media and Communication Studies D 30hpPeriod: Spring 2010University: Division of Media and Communication, Department of Informatics and Media,Uppsala UniversityPurpose/Aim: The aim of this essay is to study how five organizations look at social media as part of their external communication and how they respond to the environment in the new media tool.Material/Method: A qualitative method has been used. Five interviews as primary sources have been conducted with representatives from each organization.Main results: The main results of the study is that organizations have to integrate social media as part of their external communication plans in order to face and respond to their surroundings in a new interaction and multi-way communicative platform. Results also show that organizations are well aware of the importance of making use and participate in social media.Keywords: blogs, external communication, facebook, respond to the environment, social media.

Samhället går mot en mer tjänsteinriktad och kunskapsintensiv produktion vilket har lett till att immateriella resurser har fått en större betydelse för företagens ekonomier. Några av resurserna uppfyller kriterierna för en tillgång och finns med i företagens balansräkningar. När företag är i behov av kapital ser bankerna till företagens balansräkningar för att göra en kreditbedömning. De måste då bedöma immateriella tillgångar.  - Hur bedömer kreditgivare företags immateriella tillgångar? - Vilken betydelse har denna bedömning för kreditgivningsbeslut? Syftet med studien är att beskriva hur kreditgivare bedömer immateriella tillgångar och vilken betydelse denna bedömning har för kreditgivningsbeslut.En kvalitativ studie har genomförts där datamaterialet har samlats in genomintervjuer med respondenter från tre olika banker. Två av de undersökta bankerna bedömer inget ekonomiskt värde på immateriella tillgångar men dessa är med och påverkar helhetsbedömningen av ett företag. Betydelsen av detta är att företag med för stor andel immateriella tillgångar får svårare att bli beviljade kredit och straffas med högre kostnader.

Banks have been some of the biggest operators on the market of business customers financing. When the Swedish Förmånsrättslagen was changed 2004 the banks became more restrictive to allow traditional bank loans. The change made it more difficult for customers to get their loans granted. For that reason customers had to find other forms of financing. Factoring is an alternative that means companies can mortage/sell their claim on customers to finance companies.

Small business enterprises have escalated in Sweden during the last decade. However, new established companies are struggling to maintain their selves during the startup process and according to a survey from Tillväxtanalys, only 68 % of startup companies from 2008 were still active three years later. One of the main reasons is lack of capital and the most common approach to finance companies is to apply for a bank loan. In other words, commercial banks are of great importance for new businesses. Although, the problem arises when there is no previous history from the new businesses that the bank could base its credit assessment on.

In the recent years auditing scandals all around the world, deficient internal control has attracted a lot of attention. This has contributed to further requirements on insight and internal control. Those scandals have seriously damaged the auditor?s profession and contributed to a reduced trust among the public. Therefore an extensive work to recover and stringed the trust was started all around the world.