The structural rationalization of the agricultural sector in Sweden has led to many expansive, professional companies orientated towards growth. The agricultural sector is a very capital-intense sector and is characterized by the need for large sums of capital in form of buildings, inventory and arable land. The capital need is especially large for companies who have an ambition of growth and development of the company in the near future. The study is built upon six cases that all can be categorized as large agricultural farms with a turnover exceeding 20 million Swedish crowns. The companies are located in the middle and in the south of Sweden and are in the sector of primary production with focus on dairy-, pork-, egg-, chicken-, beef-, vegetables- and grain production as well as in the business of refining milk towards consumers. The study aims to identify the motives and driving forces that lies behind the growth of a farm-based company. The agricultural companies' motive for growth is studied based on which factors that influence the ambition to grow and to what extent these factors accord to the picture given by earlier research of small companies outside the agricultural sector.

Sustainability Reporting has emerged and transformed over the past decades as a voluntary practice by companies across industries that desire to show proof of good conduct and environmental; social; and economic responsibility. As industrial food production is one of the largest contributors to contemporary environmental problems, it might be expected that reporting within the industry would be both well established and well understood. Unfortunately, it is neither. In light of the food industry?s considerable environmental impact and the growing popularity of plant-based food as a more sustainable alternative to dairy products, this paper assesses and briefly discusses the Sustainability Reporting of two companies in the plant-based food and beverage industry. The research was designed to compare the practices of Europe-based Alpro and US-based SoDelicious, and this study has two major purposes: to describe the reporting of the case companies and to subsequently compare their practices to the other as well as to global reporting standards. The empirical study in this paper was conducted through content analysis.

The position of middle-management is a role where the manager is at risk of being caught between its management and its employees. Elderly care is an industry that has been discussed a lot, to a large extent on how businesses should be managed and by whom it should be conducted. Middle-management in the business of elderly care thereby possess a vulnerable position in a controversial industry. In this study the aim is to investigate the managers' roles and tasks in both the public sector and the private sector in elderly care. It also aims to examine whether there are differences between the roles and how they in such cases is manifested.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the outreach services for children and youths in a specific area, in this case Västra Götalandsregionen. In particular this thesis will examine the development in the outreach services for children and youths from 1990-2010. Our thesis will also examine if the financial crises affected the outreach services for children and youths, and how control documents influence the work of the librarians. This study is based on interviews, document and literature studies. For the analyses we used Torgil Persson?s theoretical model.

AbstractTitle: An industry with a lacking trust ? PR-consultants about their own responsibility and how they can contribute to an increased trust for their profession (En bransch med bristande förtroende ? PR-konsulter om sitt eget ansvar och hur de själva kan bidra till ökat branschförtroende)Number of pages: 68 (79 including enclosures)Author: Ebba GöranzonTutor: Göran SvenssonCourse: Media and Communication Studies DPeriod: Spring 2008University: Division of Media and Communication, Department of Information Science, Uppsala UniversityAim: The aim of this essay is to study the Swedish PR-industry and the distrust that is directed towards it. The starting point is different PR-consultants opinion about their profession and industry. What do they think needs to be done to increase the trust for the industry and what kind of responsibility do they think they have?Method/Material: Together with literature studies, a qualitative method has been used and five in-depth interviews with PR-consultants have been conducted.

The construction industry has been heavily criticized in the past few years for its development of productivity compared to the manufacturing industry. In 2009 the Social Care Center developed a report that treated och criticized different errors within the construction industry. For instance competence, construction errors and performance had showned bad results which had to be improved. A common sentence within the building industry is that ?every project is unique?. Today it?s common for a construction company to have costs for material and services which exceeds two-thirds of the total cost.

In Sweden there are 299 000 working in the construction industry. The construction industry is one of the industries where most accidents occur every year. During the last ten years there have been 111 death accidents in the construction industry and 48 of them were falling accidents. That means, in average, one death accident every month.Falling accidents gives serious injuries to the persons who are affected by them. It is anticipated that this report will investigate the factors beyond the falling accidents and also to present proposals that can decrease the number of falling accidents in the future.To secure a healthy and safe construction site it is of great importance that both the employers and the employees cooperate towards the same goal.

The overall aim of this study is to investigate how social workers who are dealing with financial assistance are experiencing discretion in their daily work. The aim of the study is also to examine how social workers who are dealing with financial assistance relates to the controlling and the supporting functions of their daily work and how this in turn affects the attitude to the client. In order to examine the aim of the study, qualitative method was used. Eight social workers have been interviewed and presented with two fictitious cases that they have been able to discuss. Theories regarding the street-level bureaucrat and its discretion have been used to interpret and understand the collected material.

This report deals with activities that from a CSR perspective are considered to create a shared value for a medium-sized construction company in Sweden. The CSR definition used in the report is the European Commission?s since it reflects the valuecreating aspects of CSR, in contrast to the traditional philanthropic aspect of CSR.Companies in the building construction industry have difficulties identifying activities that create value in society and in the company. The aim with the project is to, from a CSR perspective, identify and evaluate value creating activities in a building construction company. The activities will be evaluated with respect to competitiveness and how they can be implemented into an organization.

The employment structure consists of different sectors, whose share of the total employment rate is all part of an economic structural conversion according to this thesis applied theoretical approach. A structural conversion, which consist of recurring crises, such as the financial crises in the early 1990s. This crisis and its effect on the Swedish economy is well-documented, while the shortage regarding the effect on a smaller scale, in a local and regional context, provides this thesis purpose. More specifically, a comparison between the two neighbouring towns of Malm? and Lund, will constitute the local contexts in this research.

Trading financial securities at stock exchanges and other authorized market places is today a particularly important socioeconomic phenomenon in many industrialized countries. A well functioning securities market is crucial for the economic development in these countries. The modern trading with stocks and other financial securities is characterized by the fact that the majority of the transactions at the stock exchanges are carried out through various intermediaries. The ultimate counterparties that are involved in a securities transaction (the seller and the buyer) are often unknown to each other. The anonymity in the securities trading implies several interesting legal problems.

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.

Ever since it was first introduced in an article in the Journal of Finance 1952, Harry Markowitz? mean - variance model for portfolio selection has become one of the best known models in finance. The model was one of the first in the world to deal with portfolio optimization mathematically and have directly or indirectly inspired the rest of the world to develop new portfolio optimization methods. Although the model is one of the greatest contributions to modern portfolio theory, critics claim that it may have practical difficulties. Partly because the Markowitz model is based on various assumptions which do not necessarily coincide with the reality.

This report deals with activities that from a CSR perspective are considered to create a shared value for a medium-sized construction company in Sweden. The CSR definition used in the report is the European Commission?s since it reflects the valuecreating aspects of CSR, in contrast to the traditional philanthropic aspect of CSR.Companies in the building construction industry have difficulties identifying activities that create value in society and in the company. The aim with the project is to, from a CSR perspective, identify and evaluate value creating activities in a building construction company. The activities will be evaluated with respect to competitiveness and how they can be implemented into an organization.

This thesis concerns an energy audit of a food industry. The company's business consists of boiling and peeling shrimps, and producing mayonnaise-based salads. This type of work involves energy-intensive processes, such as steam generation, compression of air and refrigeration of large spaces. These needs are supplied with electricity. Furthermore, the industry is a major consumer of district heating, particularly for heating the supply air in the ventilation system.