This essay discusses how Private Equity companies (PE companies) reason when evaluatingpotential companies to invest in through its investment criteria. Also methods they utilized toenhance companies value during their ownership period is treated.PE-companies invest in companies where they can see a good future development. Theintention is that through various methods to increase the company's value prior to divestment.In the UK and the U.S. in particular, the market for PE has long been great. In Sweden, insteadthe developments in the industry went a little slower.

The purpose with this disertation is to find if there are selected factors which can force companies to grow. We have chosen five factors which we think can force the companies; market, strategy, profitability, demographic and institutional factors. We want to examine if there are differences between small and larger companies, and if there are differences between the lines of business.The intention to growth is also influenced by different factors. The organization and the board have an effect on the development. There are also factors that can obstruct the growth, for example control.

Abstract Over the years the consciousness of risk has grown. It?s hard to influence risks, therefore there are guidelines stating that significant risk must be included in the annual report. This paper is a case study; the purpose was to examine how four Swedish listed companies chose to disclose their internal and external risks. Risk is initially described in general sense and then it figures to what constitutes an economic risk.Through a case study of four Swedish listed companies? annual reports we have, through qualitative methods found how the companies chose to disclosure their risks.

Abstract Over the years the consciousness of risk has grown. It?s hard to influence risks, therefore there are guidelines stating that significant risk must be included in the annual report. This paper is a case study; the purpose was to examine how four Swedish listed companies chose to disclose their internal and external risks. Risk is initially described in general sense and then it figures to what constitutes an economic risk.Through a case study of four Swedish listed companies? annual reports we have, through qualitative methods found how the companies chose to disclosure their risks.

By identifying effects that a buyout-firm has on management control systems in its portfolio companies, the aim of this thesis is to explain how such effects differs between the companies and finally to explain why the effects differs even though the companies are owned by the same buyout-firm. The study is conducted as a qualitative case study based on interviews with representatives from the studied buyout-firm and three of its portfolio companies.By analyzing the empirical findings with frameworks and theories within management control systems and value creation, we cannot only identify effects that are common for all portfolio companies but we can also observe differences between the portfolio companies.The identified effects that are common for all portfolio companies are: increased internal reporting burden, increased perceived risk of getting laid off among managers and co-workers and replacement of the board immediately after acquisition.The effects that are observed only for two portfolio companies are: increased focus on short-term planning, higher financial targets, replacement of company management upon acquisition and moving of decision authorities to higher organizational levels. Differences are observed although the portfolio companies are owned by the same buyout-firm due to: differences in management and co-workers equity stake in the portfolio companies, differences in business complexity and differences in planned exit-horizon..

This thesis describes how large Swedish companies finance their debt and identifies some factors that affect their decisions. The study is based on 10 well-known companies of which 9 are listed on Nasdaq OMX Nordic. The results show that the companies display several similarities concerning their debt structure and the factors which their choices are based upon. All companies in this study primarily use corporate bonds for their long-term borrowing, commercial papers for the short-term borrowing, and bank-facilities as back-up. There is a tendency that smaller companies in larger extent use bank-loans for long-term borrowing due to larger emissions costs when using market financing.

The purpose of our essay is to investigate and compare the general and operational risk management in the private and public sector. As an introduction to the subject we describe the differences and similarities between the two sectors. Our survey is based on the term risk, the definitions of risk management, its development and finally the process of risk management. Since our survey is focusing on operational risks we also describe the operational process and the specific operational risks.The method we used to investigate the subject is a quantitative method. A survey was sent to 100 companies in Sweden, of which 50 were private companies and 50 were public companies.

This study was made to compare construction companies for gardens way to work with up following, with purpose to see if there was an efficient and not resource demanded system which gave much value. To achieve the purpose a case study was made. The delimitation for the case study was only to compare the work with up following on individual project. The delimitation on the companies in the study was from ten to sixty employees. That because to reach companies were it´s not the same person how calculates on tenders and than perform the projects. The study was delimitated to the west side of Skåne. T o be able to compare the companies and to find trends, an interviewguide was made and was used during the interviews with the companies.

Abstract Over the years the consciousness of risk has grown. It?s hard to influence risks, therefore there are guidelines stating that significant risk must be included in the annual report. This paper is a case study; the purpose was to examine how four Swedish listed companies chose to disclose their internal and external risks. Risk is initially described in general sense and then it figures to what constitutes an economic risk.Through a case study of four Swedish listed companies? annual reports we have, through qualitative methods found how the companies chose to disclosure their risks.

The number of studies on IFRIC 15 is very limited. The available studies have either been conducted before the introduction of IFRIC 15 or at an early stage of the implementation. This study examines IFRIC 15s practice from a longer perspective. The purpose of this study is to explain the effect that the interpretation IFRIC 15 has had on accounting objectives and qualitative characteristics of the revenue recognition of Swedish construction companies. The study will also analyze whether the construction companies has changed their perception of IFRIC 15 after applying it form a longer time perspective.

Background: Resources that are hard to put a value on and cannot be classified as assets in the balance sheet as well as the development towards the information society has led to an increasing need and use for voluntary information in the annual reports. The increase of voluntary information can foremost be seen in the field of human resources.Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to describe the development of voluntary information about human resources in the annual report of a number of Swedish quoted companies. The purpose is also to see if there is a difference in the development between manufacturing companies and service companies.Method: Six manufacturing companies and six service companies were chosen from the Stockholm exchange A-list. Using both a qualitative and quantitative research method the annual reports of the chosencompanies were studied for the years 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, and 2003. A model consisting of seven categories; health, diversity, recruitment, staff turnover and comfort, benefits and motivation, education and competence development, was developed to clarify were the development took place.Conclusions: After finishing the study one can tell that the amount of voluntary information about human resources in the annual report has increased even though the percentage share of the total annual report only has increased appreciably for manufacturing companies.

The valuation of an asset is one of the most important thing with accounting, though one of the most difficult thing as well. However, in deciding useful service life for an intangible asset and property, plant and equipment, there are quite a margin for the companies, which creates a difference between companies and industries. When computing the value of the inventories there are a few possibilities available for the companies, which also can generate differencesbetween companies and industries. Although these differences can occur, there might be some similarities in the companies? estimates.

The purpose of this degree project is to give an overview of the planning system of four Swedish forest companies. The involved companies are ATA TIMBER, SYDVED, BERGS SKOG and VIDA SKOG. The study is based on information from a literature study and by interviews with personals from the four companies. Each company is described to get a better insight of the companies work and what potential they have. The description of the planning process comes after that. The companies are described separate from each other and will be compared later in this essay.

Abstract Over the years the consciousness of risk has grown. It?s hard to influence risks, therefore there are guidelines stating that significant risk must be included in the annual report. This paper is a case study; the purpose was to examine how four Swedish listed companies chose to disclose their internal and external risks. Risk is initially described in general sense and then it figures to what constitutes an economic risk.Through a case study of four Swedish listed companies? annual reports we have, through qualitative methods found how the companies chose to disclosure their risks.

The topic of our thesis is Packaging Design as a Brand Building Tool and we are presenting the Scandinavian perspective. We found the topic interesting because, from a theoretical point of view, we identified a scarcity in research focusing on packaging design as a brand management tool, and from a practical point of view, we found out that businesses use packaging design at different levels in their communication efforts. Thus we wanted to provide both academia and business world with a clear picture to what extent and how businesses use packaging design in their brand-building process. Therefore the aim of our thesis is to provide practitioners and academicians alike with a better understanding of how packaging design can be used to create strong brands in the FMCG sector in the Scandinavian market. To reach the stated aim first we provided a solid theoretical background of packaging, its elements and its role in the marketing mix.