The concept of a Sharia compliant financial system has been a frequently discussed topic among scholars, bankers and media since the 1960th. It origins from the prohibition of interest, riba, which is stated in the Quran. Islamic banking is spread across the Muslim world and also exists in some western countries. This paper will try to create an image of what Islamic banking is in theory and in practice. This will be done by looking into the different methods of interest free banking, the Quran and the annual reports of four Islamic banks in different countries.

Many companies choose to market their products and brands with help from celebrities. This is not a new phenomenon, though, this strategy is something that we consumers start to get used to and the risk that the consumer unconsciously unselects the message grows. A recently much-disputed theory is the use of incongruent marketing. This means that companies uses a marketing message with the objective to not match the consumer?s expectations.

This is a study of predictions made by the press during the financial crisis in Asia in the autumn of 1997. The study includes a qualitative, quantitative and comparative analysis of the Swedish newspapers Dagens Nyheter, Svenska Dagbladet and Dagens Industri. In the last chapter a quantitative analysis of the newspaper Finanstidningen, that today no longer exists, has also been made for comparative reasons. A theoretical framework is also set in the study to explain how the predictions can affect the economy. The quantitative analysis shows that 2/3 of the texts in the traditional morning papers Dagens Nyheter and Svenska Dagbladet included predictions about the crisis from an Asian or global perspective, while only 1/3 of the texts in the financial newspapers Dagens Industri and Finanstidningen included such predictions.

The concept of a Sharia compliant financial system has been a frequently discussed topic among scholars, bankers and media since the 1960th. It origins from the prohibition of interest, riba, which is stated in the Quran. Islamic banking is spread across the Muslim world and also exists in some western countries. This paper will try to create an image of what Islamic banking is in theory and in practice. This will be done by looking into the different methods of interest free banking, the Quran and the annual reports of four Islamic banks in different countries.

AbstractAt the UN Conference on Environment and Development in 1992 the nations stated that traditional environmental policies were not sufficient to handle the multidimensional challenges posed by sustainable development. Governments needed to broaden their political decision making procedures in order to coordinate and integrate environmental, social and economic policies. Therefore a new tool was introduced in Agenda 21, National Strategies for Sustainable Development (NSDS). The aim of an NSDS would be to bring together actors from all parts of society to jointly reach a consensus on how to work towards the vision of a sustainable society. An NSDS would be seen as a strategic tool to help focus national policies for SD.

Many of today?s societies are built on established financial structures that are controlled by states and central banks. These structures are built on a clear perception of economic systems as established but invisible institutionalised concepts that are operated by millions of organizations worldwide. An idea of counteracting against centralized economies by introducing a currency that no state or bank controlled was developed in the beginning of the 20th century. In 2008 the idea was realised by the introduction of Bitcoin, which is a digital currency and transaction system without any centralized emitter or controlling organ.

This master?s thesis attends to a debate in the Swedish daily press concerning the public library which arose after the Swedish Moderate Party?s publication of their cultural political document Kulturen 2.0. This document contains a number of standpoints, of which three directly concern the public library: charges on book loans, libraries on contract and politically balanced purchase policy. In all, 28 articles are examined by means of an idea and ideological analysis. The purpose is to find out what is behind the conflicts surrounding attitudes about the public library's mission and activity in an era of needs for change.

This final thesis consists of an investigation of how suitable it is to vertically integrate forest in Swedish forest companies. Different strategies to obtain raw materials have been evaluated and the advantages and disadvantages have been weighted against each other. The investigations contain a number of interviews with represents from companies with different strategies and persons that in different ways have faced the question of issue. An account study of SCA´s forest ownership has also been performed. The benefits for a forest company to vertical integrate forest consist mainly of safety in delivery, control over the supply chain and company image.

Introduction: Analysts worldwide valuates stocks and companies by using different valuation models. The models are used to calculate how much public company?s stocks are worth and to identify whether stocks are over- or undervalued.  Objective: The objective of this essay is to study which valuation models are mainly used by financial analysts in Swedish banks. The purpose is also to study how reliable these models are considered. Method: The empirical study is based on a qualitative approach through interviews with financial analysts. The study includes both primary data (interviews) and secondary data (literature, websites and scientific articles)Theory: The theory chapter includes methods of analysis (fundamental and technical analysis), Valuation models, components of valuation and an example of a valuation with the Discounted cash flow model. Empirical study: The study includes a qualitative research that consists of interviews with financial analysts.

Social media on the Web has become more common over the last decade and in recent years it has grown immensely. The social media with the highest amount of members is Facebook, where not only private persons are found - companies started to establish their profiles on the network in 2006. However, little is known about how these companies succeed and reach their audience with information dissemination and interact with them. The aim of this study is to contribute with information to local companies on how they can manage to maintain their activity with different approaches and strategies. This study examines how three different local companies chooses to spread information and maintain relationships with their members on Facebook.

This report is a literature review that aims to describe marketing contexts for mango production in Kenya. The institutional conditions in the country are not well developed for marketing purposes, which causes many difficulties and problems for the society. In Kenya most mango producers are poor small-scale farmers with limited resources. Mango is a perishable commodity and to keep its value and quality it is essential to have the opportunity to sell the mangos in the right time. Inefficient and undeveloped infrastructure and marketing systems hinders the mangos to reach the market in time though, which causes large losses of produce.The Kenyan mango production has increased during the last decade but due to market losses for the producer, the small-scale farmers? profits have not improved.

To be a part of the future we have to make a profit, one way to improve the profit margin is by reducing the fixed costs. This paper discusses the financial results of equipment cooperatives in crop production. Through a case study of three farms in Södermanland, we have an example of how it can look today and how it could look tomorrow. The three farms are crop-producing farms with slightly different orientation. Jursta Gård, 155 hectares, and Djursnäs Säteri, 215 hectares, have grains crop and oilseed crops as the main crops, and Nibble Gård, 340 hectares, mostly have pasturelands and some grain crops.

Background: Small businesses are key participants in the growth at the Swedish market, partly for the labour opportunities, the technology and economic development. These companies should get resources to grow, both political and economic resources. The medtech companies in an introduction and expansion phase meet with problems concerning the financing of their growth. Key participants whom offer financing are Venture Capitalists.Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine Venture Capitalists demands on medtech companies in an introduction and expansion phase. A comparison between the demands and how well medtech companies achieve them will be done.

This paper discusses the strategy and strategic change in the Swedish freight forwarding business and analysis factors that influence the forces of the business. Three companies of various sizes are chosen to be investigated as a case study, outline that cost leadership and differentiation are both important strategies for companies to compete in the market. However, companies outpacing competition do not only pursue either of the two strategies, the need the ability to add one (cost leadership) to the other (differentiation) in relationship to environmental change over time..

Title: The mortgage limitation and its impact on the mortgage marketLevel: Final assignment for Bachelor Degree in Business AdministrationAuthor: Mattias Arnkvist and Magnus Vitasp PerssonSupervisor: Lars SteinerDate: 2011 ? MayAim: We have conducted this report to find out what effect the mortgage limitation has had on the mortgage market since its introduction in autumn 2010. The mortgage limitation has both before and after the introduction been a topic of discussion as it affects many and above all makes it diffucult for certain customer groups.Method: This report was written by a qualitative method. The report uses qualitative and quantitative data. The quantitative data we have in the report are printed literature in books, articles and journals as well as data taken from Internet.