This study examines how management consulting firms work with business- and functional strategy and how these strategies are interrelated. More specifically we focus on business strategy (business unit level) and knowledge strategy (functional level) and whether these are aligned or not, i.e. whether strategic congruence exists.A number of recent studies have examined the importance of business strategy and knowledge strategy in management consulting firms separately, but few have pointed out the importance of the alignment between them. With this study we contribute to the strategic field of research with a model that describes how management consulting firms should work with their knowledge strategy given their business strategy. The model is developed through a synthesis between theories in the field of strategic congruence, business- and functional strategies and thereafter tested by an empirical case study of six management consulting firms.

Bachelor thesis in Business administration, School of Business and Economics at Linnaeus University, Controller, 2FE05E, spring semester 2013 Title: Non-profit sport associations management control- A multi case study of management tools Authors: Christoffer Ahlgren, Emelie Andersson and Emelie Nilsson Tutor: Anders Jerreling Examiner: Elin Funck Background: Non-profit sport associations activate a large number of people in Sweden and have a great impact on the social community. Because of the increasing complexity to operate sport associations some are experiencing serious financial problems. The daily financial work has a major impact on how the future unfolds for the sport associations. An adverse economy not only creates complications in the economic field, it also affects the sport itself. Purpose: Our purpose with this paper is to describe and explain how the economy is controlled in non-profit sport associations and the tool that is used to support this process.

A company may use different accounting techniques to adjust accounting information and thereby attract investors. Big Bath Accounting is defined as a strategy used to make changes in the financial statements and reduce the results further when the companies expect negative results. This phenomenon has been observed empirically and occurs when including CEO change and negative results. The aim of this study is to test whether there is another factor affecting Big Bath Accounting, namely remuneration of the CEO. The CEOs should, by changing the accounting information, be able to influence their compensation.

Purpose: To investigate if Altman´s Z´-score model, which calculates financial distress, can be applied on companies established in Sweden and if the financial crisis in 2008 made previously healthy companies go bankrupt.Methodology: Quantitative studies with a positivistic foundation. Empirical data will be collected in order to examine if there is generalizability among the studied objects. Conclusions will be made by comparing the empirical data with the theoretical foundation. Financial distress in firms will be measured.Theoretical perspectives: Altman´s Z´-score model, designed to predict financial distress in private firms.Empirical foundation: A selection of 93 private firms that have gone bankrupt in the years 2008, 2009 or 2010. The firms selected all have a turnover that exceeds 20 million SEK.

This paper analyses how Swedish fine-art oil paintings sold at auctions has performed as a monetary investment during the period autumn 1985 until spring 2006. An average price technique as well as a hedonic regression technique, applied to a sample of 19 213 auction sales, is used to construct price indices. The indices show somewhat different results, which is explained by the inability of the average price model to adjust for relative differences in quality between periods. The hedonic regression model on the other hand captures this effect, why the hedonic index is applied in a financial return model. By adjusting for transaction cost, the financial return of an average investment in paintings is calculated.

Aim: The aim of this essay is to study the communication strategy that the company SATS developed before taking over the company e2. The following questions are to be answered: - what was the planned communication strategy before taking over the company e2? - did SATS follow their original plan when implementing this strategy? ? Which strengths and weaknesses of the communication strategy can be identified based on opinions of the employees?Material/Method: Together with literature and document studies, a qualitative method has been used and seven personal interviews have been conducted. One informant was selected due to professional position; the other six respondents were former employees of the affected company e2.Main results: The main results from the study show that the company SATS did in fact follow their plan very accurately with only some minor changes such as an earlier started education program and exclusion of an initially planned evaluation activity. Communication about the takeover of e2 to employees was quick and clear.

Municipalities must establish budget annually but they are free to decide how the governance should be designed, this can lead to lack of consistency and measurability within and between municipalities. The purpose of this thesis was to present a proposal for a unified and more measurable financial structure of a municipality where this was lacking. In our theory we describe the issues of traditional management control and we introduce an alternative control with non-financial ratios included, called the Balanced Scorecard. In the empirical data it is investigated how the governance of a municipality could be designed, according to the respondents. In the analysis the information gathered to reach the answers to what are considered to be useful governance in municipality, are examined. In the conclusion, we design Balanced Scorecards with both financial and non-financial ratios to the councils of the municipality..

This thesis examines a possible control strategy to minimize flow fluctuations in Uppsala?s district heating system. High variations in flow rate may lead to complications caused by hydraulic constraints in the district heating system. These complications, such as inadequate pressure and temperature levels, increase the risk of heat delivery failures. It is therefore important to avoid such situations both for the producer and for the customers.Typically, the forward temperature is controlled by using a rough correlation with respect to the outdoor temperature.

Social media, such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, have become popular platforms for social communication, and, increasingly, also important channels for business marketing. For a business intending to use social media for marketing, however, developing a strategy and building a trademark can be a challenge. This report describes how a small, newly established business enterprise can develop a digital strategy with clear goals and practical guidelines. The report describes a digital strategy for Gelato Scarfó and shows how this strategy is made concrete through a set of guidelines. The guidelines develop a trademark for identification and loyalty, and give advice on how new materials can be made consistent with the trademark..

The purpose of this essay is to investigate how well vision and strategies communicates from division level to underlying business unit levels with focus on the Balanced Scorecard Concept. The investigation was carried out within the ANS division and two of its underlying business units at the LFV Group (Swedish Airports and Air Navigation Services). ANS is responsible for the air navigation services in Sweden and the production of the services is carried out of the business units AER (En Route) and ATA (Tower and Approach). With Air Navigation Services means supervision and conducting air traffic mainly within national air space. The purpose of the services is to insure that air traffic could be carried out in a safe way.The Balanced Scorecard was introduced for the first time in the beginning of the 1990´s.

Title: Nordea Life and Pension during financial crisis Subject: Business administration, Candidate thesis 15 p. Authors: Seyithan Öngörur och Adnan Yari Instructor: Peter Lindberg Date: 2010-01-13 Key words: Nordea, the financial crisis, advice, marketing, customer relationship Purpose: The purpose of the study is to provide an understanding of how the financial crisis has affected Nordea Life and Pensions market growth based on market share. We also want to give an understanding of what factors may be responsible for the outcome that it may be helpful in future financial crises. Method: A qualitative study was the basis for the study, where three interviews were carried out by the respondents from Nordea Life and Pension.  Theory: In this section we have focused on relevant theory and has divided them into different themes, advice, current legislation, marketing, consumption and buying behavior. Conclusion: The study shows that Nordea Life and Pension had a positive growth during the financial crisis and a number of factors are presented that may be the basis for the outcome.Proposal for further research: Since this study was limited to one company it may be intresting to investigate and examine the consuling industry market as a whole affected by the financial crisis. Contributions: This paper has provided an understanding of how Nordea Life and Pensions affected during a financial crisis, based on market share and the factors that may have been the basis for this..

Trading based on technical analysis has its roots in the U.S. financial industry where it has long been common practice, in Sweden however the trading style has not had the same impact. Based on the results from the preliminary study we believe this is about to change and that the topic therefore requires further studying. Several online stockbrokers today provide information and tools for technical analysis to their clients. As the list of indicators to use for creating strategies is so immense it is interesting for an investor to know what actually could be the basis for a profitable investment strategy.

Since January 1st 2005 all companies listed on a regulated stock exchange within the European Union are required to present their financial reports in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The intention of the introduction of IFRS is to achieve international harmonization of accounting rules in order to make financial reports more comparable between companies from different countries. The purpose of financial reports presented in accordance with IFRS is to provide information that is useful to the users of the information. The aim of this paper is to investigate whether the information regarding goodwill and the goodwill impairment test, presented in accordance with IFRS, in fact is useful to a specific group of accounting information users, namely equity analysts. An empirical study is conducted, based on interviews with seven Swedish equity analysts.

 The luxury market has steadily grown from the industrial revolution and onwards. Changes in society, trends and the increased living standards has enabled more people to consume luxury goods.The world is going through a major economic crisis at the moment. Studies shows that companies that have focused on added value rather than lowering prices has survived past financial crisis. It is also obvious that companies act very different during times of crisis. Adding to the problem is trends that point to a more careful consumption and environmental awareness.

AbstractTitle: Level/Degree/Grade:Authors:Supervisor:Research question:Purpose:How the bank may improve its financial counselling ? A qualitative case study.Bachelor Thesis; Business administration; Corporate finance.Andreas A?strand, Anton Persson, Kristoffer Wedebrand.Hans Mo?rner.How may the bank improve its financial counselling to private investors using portfolio theory?Our purpose is to examine the advice, with basis in portfolio theory, the bank?s financial advisors provide to their clients, the investors, and how they can improve. If we can identify and point out areas of improvement in the financial counselling, we hope to raise the question and contribute with an improved financial counselling. Another positive effect we are hoping for is to improve the situation for the investors whereas all parties benefit from an improved portfolio selection.This study is conducted through a qualitative case study, where we used a deductive approach and collected our data through personal interviews.The conclusion that emerges is that the financial counselling could potentially be improved if financial advisors improve their knowledge in portfolio theory.The originality shapes through the opportunity to investigate a specific bank and because of that an opportunity to examine a specific case more thoroughly was created. Our thesis contributes with opening La?nsfo?rsa?kringar?s and other banks? eyes to how their financial counselling could be improved through new knowledge in portfolio theory.