The purpose of this paper was, on the basis of the association?s annual reports, to describe appropriate key performance indicators for non-profit associations. The purpose was furthermore to study how the associations show their goal-attainment. The research was delimited to contain the second category of non profit associations, which include sports associations. The authors choose three non profit associations, which according to the law, shall draw up annual reports. The three ice hockey associations HV71, MODO Hockey and Frölunda Hockey Club, were thereafter chosen on the basis of those delimits.

This essay conducts a descriptive analysis of the ideas expressed by NATO´s official security strategy "Strategic Concept" from 2010 and the European Union?s security strategy "A Secure Europe in a Better World" from 2003. The purpose of this analysis is to examine whether the ESDP and NATO are compatible with each other when it comes to the role of security policy actor. To do so, I´ve chosen to analyse the actors' security strategies based on three dimensions. These dimensions are: Their view of the international scene, their views on cooperation and their views on how to reach security.

Social policy has now received an increased attention in the European Union. The European welfare states experience a high level of unemployment, which the EU now tries to handle through the European Employment Strategy (EES). The core of this essay is whether the welfare institutions of the European member states are integrating through an institutionalization process or not. Within the EU four different types of welfare models can be identified: the Scandinavian, the Continental, the Southern and the Anglo-Saxon. The welfare models differ in the institutional settings e.g.

Researchers and practitioners have recognized the need for ?transforming? every policy of the company into a competitive advantage tool. Thus, both the pricing approach and the supply chain practices of the firm have emerged as an important determinant of success. In this study, however, we are not only interested in these two aspects, but also in a third one-namely cultural conflicts as an obstacle and challenge. The interaction of the tree factors is extensively presented against the backdrop of Skanska and four of their closest Polish suppliers.

Background: Brand strategy tends to become an important management issue. It is therefore interesting to reach a greater understanding about how companies work to make their existing brands stronger. The purpose of a brand is to influence the customers? view of the brand image. The literature is insufficient concerning how leaders handle the process of repositioning a brand, in order to change the brand image.

Problem: That the stakeholder?s expectations don´t answer to what auditors can and may do have been a problem for several years. This problem was defined for the first time by Liggio at 1974. Since 1974 there have been several researches about the expectation gap for auditors.Purpose: The purpose of our study is to research what the audit effort in HQ Bank means for the expectation gap.Theory: The theories in our study discuss the audit profession, the definition of the expectation gap, how trust develops between individuals, the regulations that the authorities discuss and a review of earlier researches in this subject.Method: We have done a qualitative study in which we interviewed approved auditors at PwC and Convensia in addition we interviewed the chief lawyer at the Swedish financial supervisory authority to answer our purpose.Conclusions: The conclusion of our study is that the expectation gap exists between the auditors and the stakeholders. Another conclusion is that the incidents in HQ Bank have influenced the expectation gap in a negative direction, to reduce the expectation gap we suggest that adjustments of the regulations must be done and that the auditors themselves must inform their stakeholders what auditors can and may do..

The aim of this Master?s thesis is to investigate the meaning the reading group of the public library has to a number of users. To fulfill the aim the following three questions have been formulated: 1) What do a number of users expect from the reading group of the public library? 2) Which approach/attitude or approaches/attitudes do a number of users have to reading and to talking about reading? 3) How do a number of users experience the ongoing reading group?The research is founded on qualitative interviews with five users that take part in three different reading groups in public libraries. The theories that are used is the theory of three so called strategies - the pragmatic, the traditionalistic, the emancipatory ? and the theory of flow.

Vi har valt att inrikta oss på småföretag, och hur informationen från deras ekonomisystem används i samband med beslutsfattande, vi har även tittat på om det finns andra informationskällor som beslutsfattarna använder sig av än de formella som till exempel ett ekonomisystem utgör. I problemdiskussionen framgår det att den formella informationen påverkas av den informella informationen. För att skapa en inblick i hur informationsanvändandet vid beslutsfattande såg ut valde vi att göra fyra fallstudier på småföretag. Metoden som användes i denna studie var av kvalitativ karaktär samt i form av en fallstudie. För att samla in empirin till denna studie gjordes personliga intervjuer med Vd:n i de olika företagen.

Background: The valuation of growing crops is problematic partly due to weather conditions. 2011 showed that of all cultivated crops 42% were autumn sown which makes up a significant proportion of the total arable land in Sweden. This presented an opportunity to investigate more closely the methods and options used in the inventory valuation of biological assets. Problem: What options are there in the valuation of own-produced inventory specifically in the form of growing crops? Objective: This study's aim is to create an increased understanding of an agricultural company's options for inventory valuation of biological assets. In the survey of the options this study has found two main categories: rule-and principle-based accounting. Methods: A qualitative study with an abductive approach.

The global market is becoming increasingly integrated and to keep up with growing competition and to achieve even greater success, companies expand to foreign markets. Previous studies have shown that the concept of psychic distance has an important impact on international performance regarding small and medium-sized enterprises (SME). The aim of our study is to provide the reader with a deeper understanding of how psychic distance influences export performance regarding Swedish SMEs. Through a single case study of a Swedish SME, we chose to research three different markets in three different continents. Our findings show that psychic distance influences export performance through export marketing strategy and active learning.

The lifecycle of fashion products get shorter and shorter. Companies in the fashion business needto make sure that they can offer their customers the right products, in the right quantity at theexact right time. The competition on the fashion market today is tough and if companies aregoing to be successful they need to have access to the most reliable suppliers, and also offer theircustomers products with high quality to attractive prices. It is therefore of highest importance toevaluate and choose the right sourcing strategy. Product category and type of organisation aresome of the factors that will determine which strategy that is most appropriate.

The cost of capital for traded companies is basically assessed on information from thefinancial market. Small and non-traded companies are lack of this necessary financialmarket information in order to determine an appropriate equity risk premium and tocompute the cost of capital.In the absence of financial information necessary for an external investor, it is difficult toevaluate a non-traded company with the Capital Asset Pricing model (CAPM), which isbased on the financial market information. It measures only the systematic risk, which isthe contribution of one share to the market risk of a portfolio. It is therefore important tofind models that reflect the small and non-traded companies? real business value and theirunique characteristics.

Title: The appraiser?s choice of valuation method ? factors that influences the choice of company valuation methodsSeminar date: 04/06/07Course: Master thesis in Business Administration, 10 Swedish credits.Authors: Anne Benedicks and Veronica ÖbergAdvisor: Eron OxingProfession of category: Financial analysts, auditors and company lawyers.Key words: Company valuation, valuation methods, cash flow analysis, comparative valuation, the net asset value method.The Main Issue: What is of decisive importance when choosing a special company valuation method?Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify, analyse and evaluate the most common methods of valuation for financial analysts, auditors and company lawyers and those factors that influences the choice of method.Method: A multiple survey has been implemented for the actual profession categories. Primary data was collected through semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire survey.Theoretical: The theoretical frame of reference is based upon the paper?s dependent variable, i.e. the role of the appraiser.

The executives of a firm possess considerable influence over a company's financial reports. The numbers can be adjusted in a favorable direction by engaging in Earnings Management, which harms the reliability of the financial reporting. Previous research suggests that Earnings Management can differ between genders. In recent years the debate about a woman's role in the business world has received generous attention in media. Moreover, the presence of women in leading positions has become a relevant issue for firms.

The management of water resources and waste water varies between the countries of the EU. For many years, a large part of the water in Europe has been contaminated by, among other things, insufficiently treated waste water and emissions from agriculture. The EU Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC and the Urban Waste Water Directive 91/271/EEC are intended to harmonize fresh-water management and waste water management within the whole EU, aiming at safeguarding drinking water of good quality and a high quality of all water within the EU today and in the future. There are however some problems concerning the waste-water directive. One problem is the huge investment needed in Slovakia to fulfil the demands of the waste-water directive for waste-water management in larger communities (with more than 2000 inhabitants).