Brands are the instruments corporates use to create and communicate brands reputation. Within the different industries for consumer products intangible assets such as brands are known to have great importance for corporate prosperities. When consumers experiences a specific brand symbolizes best possible value for money, the corporate behind it has managed to create a unique competitive advantage that should be to its full potential. Strong brands can pose the difference between winning or loosing on the market. Due to this brands should be considered as cost-effective instruments since they help create financial advantages such as consumer loyalty.

Society and technology develop together in interaction processes. Because of the development of information technology, the Industrial society has been left behind in favor of a society where information is the key production factor, i.e. the Information society. In the Information society, social functions and processes are organized in networks. These networks integrate geographically separate markets to parts of a complex global economic system.

This is a qualitative study where the purpose was to investigate what professionals experience to be the reason for an individual to become addicted to gambling and continues to gamble even though it leads to negative consequences. The purpose was also to investigate what the professionals experienced was of importance for an individual to recover from a gambling addiction. The study was based on qualitative semi-structured interviews with knowledgeable individuals in the field. The main findings of the study were that the motivation for individuals with a gambling problem to continue gamble was that they saw gambling as the solution to their problems by winning back lost money. It was common that gambling was an escape from anxiety, guilt, shame, and other gambling-related problems such as financial liabilities.

AbstractThis paper intends, through a qualitative study to examine and analyze how a particular type of financial firms cooperate, and what this entails. The case study issue which shall be answered is "What does the firms Credit Suisse and Orn & Cie SA gain out of cooperating with each other?". By setting the general theories in the subject joint ventures, partnerships, against the empirical material gathered via interviews and data collection in Geneva, Switzerland  answers to what the cooperation between the two parties has resulted in for the respective companies has been found. The survey shows that the prevailing model of cooperation creates significant benefits for the two companies.

ABSTRACTThe aim of this study is to analyze the aspects which have formed music-students? interest to perform music in various ways. Two of these aspects are family and school. Furthermore, -the study analyzes what music itself, and its performance mean in these students? social and personal lives.

This study has examined how teachers in primary education with experience of inclusion look on inclusive education. The study was based on the concept of inclusion and how it is made possible in primary school. The study was conducted using semi-structured qualitative life-world interviews with three teachers in primary education with included pupils with learning disabilities in their class. The results show the complexity of having a pupil with learning disabilities in class. To interpret, follow and then assess under two syllabuses are seen as difficult.

The purpose of our study is to provide a deeper understanding of the organization at alive concert. We want to identify and bring together different agents implicit knowledge and make it explicit. We contribute to the theoretical discussion by examining how liveconcerts are organized and why, what goals there are to participate in the organizationof the concerts as well as how the organization manage and control towards these goals.Our study is based on 15 interviews with different agents involved in the creation of liveconcerts. The study has shown that the organization of live concerts is similar to atemporary, imaginary organization because there is a temporary and implicit structure.Relationships are created by the agents? cooperation and customer relations with thesubcontractors.

This paper examines the concept of heritage and which factors that determines how we evaluate and select what should be considered cultural heritage. This has been examined using a qualitative study involving interviews with seven people working within different parts of the cultural heritage sector. The purpose was to get a picture of what the public sector?s cultural heritage consists of and why so. The research question was: What gives the status of cultural heritage? This was examined by looking at further questions: What defines the concept of cultural heritage? Who decides what should be considered cultural heritage? What is significant when discussing cultural heritage? One conclusion is that the concept itself is experienced as diffuse but that the meaning can be summarized as the traces we leave behind to be preserved by future generations.

Syftet med uppsatsen är att med utgångspunkt från redovisningsprofessionen tydliggöra skillnader mellan nuvarande redovisningsstandard och den kommande IFRS-standarden. Utifrån vårt syfte kan frågan ställas om hur implementeringen av IFRS kommer att ske? För att lösa detta problem har vi valt att strukturera upp uppsatsen utifrån ett internationellt, nationellt och ett företagsperspektiv. Vi har grundat våra analyser på intervjuer genomförda med revisionsbolag. Utifrån dessa analyser har vi sedan kommit fram till att professionen ser på internationaliseringen som en naturlig process i positiv riktning.

The bachelor's thesis is to examine the explanatory factors affecting the choice of capital structure in real estate companies. The analysis is based on data collected from the main financial reporting from 2007; all listed real estate companies listed on Swedish, Norwegian, Danish and Finnish stock market. Based on previous research and theories, we have defined five independent variables that are linked to the debt ratio, which are: profitability, growth, firm size, cost of debt and operational risk. The statistical tests have resulted in that we can say with certainty that profitable firms tend to have a lower debt to equity ratio. We can also say with certainty that property companies with high interest costs have a high level of indebtedness..

The composition of the board of directors and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) are two widely researched subject and discussed by the media. This study aims to examine the impact of the board of directors' composition on CSR performance among the largest companies listed on Nasdaq OMX stock exchange 2008 in Stockholm, Sweden. A linear regression analysis is applied to investigate the relationship and evidence is found that board attributes have an effect on CSR performance. Among these; the size of the board, outside directors and employee representatives all have a positive impact on environmental performance. Furthermore; female, outside directors and employee representatives have a positive impact on social performance.

This study evaluates the retention of nitrogen and phosphorus in four newly constructed wetlands in the municipality of Falkenberg, Sweden. The four wetlands have been selected because they have been specifically constructed with the aim to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus in farming areas. The process of selecting the specific wetlands has been done in collaboration with the county administration in Halland. Through field studies in collaboration with the landowners where the wetlands are sited, the areas that provide the wetlands with water were determined. The size of these drainage areas were determined in a GIS computer program. The type of land use within the drainage areas was also determined.

This study is a semi-­structured, qualitative depth-­interview study investigating Swedish institutional investors' perception of the fact that companies purchase non-­audit services from its signing auditor and if they see this as a threat to auditor independence. The study focuses on independence in appearance rather than independence in fact. The study is based on the current media debate on auditor independence and aims to provide a deeper insight to enlighten legislators how users of audited financial information look at the problem. The study builds on agency theory's notion that there is an information asymmetry between management and shareholders, which the auditor is to reduce. The results show that Swedish institutional investors perceive that there is a threat to auditor independence when companies buy non­-audit services from its signing auditor.

The purpose of this essay is to investigate whether the implementation of the Solvency II directive will create a competitive advantage for the Swedish insurance companies compared with other insurance companies in Europe.Therefore the theoretical perspective illustrates the specific requirements and risk culture of the insurance industry and defines the critical success factors for a successful implementation of the directive. The empirical foundation is built on the QIS 5 reports for Sweden and Europe, interviews with the financial services and If insurance company as well as information from a seminar organized by KPMG. The analysis shows that the Swedish insurance companies meets the capital requirements of Solvency II by a large margin and that they are accustomed to risk management and reporting requirements from the traffic light model. This implies that the three critical success factors for a successful implementation of Solvency II are met, although with some limitations, and that Swedish insurance companies could possibly have a competitive advantage.     .

The aim of this masters thesis, based on discourse analysis and organization theory, is to study how individuals in different Swedish cultural organizations- and agencys are working with disaster preparedness.The purpose of this is to examine whether organizational structures affect different persons work, cooperation and practical application concerning disaster preparedness in collaboration with both external and internal organizations.The research shows that disaster preparedness are affected by priority issues as well as financial resources causing consequences for future work concerning this kind of issues.Another problem which is also examined and discussed in this thesis are the problematic approach to personal initiative which today is the leading operation for the organizations to deal with disaster preparedness instead of creating professional titles for the persons handles these complex issues..