This bachelor thesis aims to analyse the effects of changes in management control systems following acquisitions, and deduce whether or not these effects are in line with the acquiring firm's objectives of the acquisition. Through a case study of technician consultant firm Energo, acquired in 2010 by ÅF, the study assumes the perspective of the acquired firm. Data has been collected through in-depth interviews at Energo and ÅF and complemented by internal documents to enrich and validate specific facts and statements. Data was then arranged and analysed through Otley and Fierriera's (2009) framework Performance Management Systems to understand how management control systems were constituted before the acquisition, what changes were made following the acquisition, how this process was accomplished and how it was experienced, in order to come to conclusions about the effects of these changes. The study concludes that the changes in Energo's management control system following the integration with ÅF, had significant effects on the outcome of the acquisition, primarily as it led to a high rate of Energo's employees resigning.

Throughout the history, the theories which have shaped our cities have varied from time to time. We have gone from a city development characterized by spontaneousness, where commerce and people side by side shared the space, into a function-based planning where people and functions are being increasingly separated. Regardless the forms of planning the city design causes implications for those who live there when the physical environment controls were we live, work and meet. In today's society where `sustainability ' has become a watchword the current community planning needs to be questioned so we, in the best possible way, can meet future changes. Searching for new planning strategies is part of this and in this essay the term `mixed-use´ will be investigated and analyzed in terms of its social aspects.

Background: Thanks to the globalization and the EU the international trade is growing faster than ever and companies are able to change ownership across the borders of the nations. Today one can talk about global marketplace with a deeper integration of the economies of the world. The rapidly growing list of mergers of Swedish companies since the last 10 years indicates that the global companies of today is using mergers as a strategic tool for continue their growth. However the number of unsuccessful mergers is big. The need of understanding and knowledge about different cultures is growing in the global business climate of today, since the collaborations across de national borders are increasing.Problem formulation: Which international strategies are fortunate in international mergers with Swedish companies?Purpose: The purpose is to analyze the integration of the three mergers; Vin&Sprit ? Pernod Ricard, Astra - Zeneca and Telia ? Sonera.Method: This study is a case study with a qualitative approach.

The gas turbines in the Swedish secondary reserve are reaching the end of their technical lifetime, hence alternative solutions need to be considered. One of the solutions thought to have the greatest potential is the use of so called consumptionreduction. By entering contracts with large consumers, agreements are made to reduce consumption in the event of major disturbances in the power system and thus being used as a secondary reserve. This thesis investigates the feasibility of consumption reduction as part of the secondary reserve. This has been achieved by developing a requirement specification for the disturbance reserve and by studying the technical and economic potential for consumption reduction among a range of consumers.The technical potential for consumption reduction that fulfils the requirements for participating in the secondary reserve are on average 750 MW in SE 3 and 98 MW in SE 4.

Introduction: The concept of CSR was first coined in the 1950?s and refers to corporate vol-untary work to contribute to a sustainable society. In Sweden, companies within the finance sector are among the worst when it comes to implementing CSR in their daily work. The debate on whether companies should engage in CSR activities or not, is extremely relevant nowadays. Right now we are facing a time where the demand on companies to take their social responsi-bility becomes more intensified.

Practical and theoretical learning are methods that are used in schools as a way to prepare students for the working life. Within the practical learning knowledge is not only acquired to learn in practice, but the students must also be able to apply their theoretical knowledge to what he/she does. Against this background, the aim of the study was to investigate the importance of practical learning for students in college / university level and how they are experiencing the stress that may arise out of the loss of practical learning during their education, as well as their vision for working life after completing their education. The population of the study consisted of N = 36, which 18 of these had used both practical and theoretical learning and the remainder had only used theoretical learning. The method was a questionnaire survey with a high proportion of fixed alternative answers according to likert scales.

Due to the globalization and the changes in the market, companies have now realized the importance of a strong brand. This has led to the phenomena outsourcing. The relation between the branding consultant and his or her client has changed. Earlier the consultants worked as a single unit and were given a task to independently accomplish the assignment. Today there has to be co-operation between the two parties.

Purpose:The purpose of this study is to describe and explain the international music company reports of its intangible assets to examine whether similar methods can be applied to the Swedish market.Method:The study was based on a qualitative and abductive research approach. Collected data is mainly from secondary sources in the form of auditor approved consolidated financial statements.Conclusion:The Swedish music companies activate their intangible assets only partially or not at all, despite the fact that assets in the form of music catalogs, rights, contracts and advances are those that generate revenue for the companies. The study has resulted in a description of how the companies are doing on an international level with the IASB and FASB's regulation. With this report, we have found flaws in the way the Swedish companies prepare their accounts according to the current regulations. In the analysis, these shortcomings are highlighted and to what extent these international standards can be applied in the Swedish companies to take a step towards a more accurate picture and a harmonized and comparable accounting..

Ett mönster är uppbyggt av ett motiv som upprepas. Denna upprepning kan fortsätta i all oändlighet. Hållbar antyder långsiktighet. Mönstrets övergripande egenskap är oändlighet. Hur kan denna egenskap hos mönstret nyttjas inom mönsterdesign för att främja hållbar utveckling? Det här kandidatarbetet undersöker mönsterdesignens möjlighet att verka för hållbar utveckling genom att se till begreppet mönster ur ett bredare perspektiv, samt i relation till design för hållbar utveckling.

As scholars argue, there has been a rapid diffusion of civic integration policies in Western Europe the last decade. In the light of the debate about the extent of civic integration policies, recent studies have shown that the diffusion is limited to certain countries. Despite a flurry of literature based on civic integration policies, attention drawn to the implication of these policies has been quite inferior. This paper tries to examine what civic integration policies means in relation to immigration. Are civic integration policies used as an informal tool for the purpose of limiting certain groups of immigrants? I argue in this paper that the conditional factor in the civic integration policies creates a barrier for affected immigrants and their possibilities to gain long term residence.

Umeå Energi are working towards a goal, that in the year of 2018, they will be completely climate neutral. As a part of this, one target is to reduce their grid losses by 4 % of the 2012 level, which corresponds to an overall reduction of the grid losses of just over 1.7 GWh. In many residential areas, the distribution grid is designed and rated for electric heating as the heating in the houses. As many of the houses later has been converted to other types of heating, their electricity use has decreased and the total power output from many of the secondary substations has decreased significantly. Because of this, many of these stations today are well oversized, which in turn means that the energy losses in these stations are unnecessarily high.In this degree project, 25 secondary substations have been studied, all located in residential areas in and around central Umeå.

This study investigates the succession process in family businesses and aims to enhance the understanding of the process as a whole, as well as how family businesses strategically plan for succession. The research is based on a case study of a family corporate group undergoing a transition from the fourth to the fifth generation. A qualitative research approach was employed, involving interviews with individuals from both the fourth and fifth generations, as well as external stakeholders who have influenced the process. The results show that the planning and implementation of succession are complex and that there is a certain lack of existing theory. Empirical evidence indicates that contracts and documentation are crucial for advancing the process. Inclusion of external parties is also important, not only for their expertise but also to provide an objective perspective.

Business Intelligence (BI) is a competitive concept for enterprises to consider. The concept is based on the idea of using business data in order to effectively analyze activities within an enterprise in order to enhance decision processes in the organization.The purpose with this study is to help Akademibokhandeln AB to analyze what BI-requirements they may have, and to create a recommendation on what sort of BI-tool that would fit the enterprise's needs.The requirements analysis was conducted with the help of internal personnel. Four different tools on the BI-market have been examined, analyzed and compared: IBM Cognos 8 (IBM Cognos), Microstrategy 9 (MCST), Qlikview 9 (Qlikview), and SAP Business Objects BI (SAP BO). These tools have been compared with the help of two models (BRI and BCI) that is based on the BI-requirements analysis, with the cost aspect taken into consideration in the BCI-model.Using the BRI-model, the comparison results in a technical evaluation. Here, IBM Cognos gets the highest result just ahead of MCST and SAP BO.

Term: Spring term 2007Study objects: Reitan Servicehandel AB, Vi-butikerna, ICA Sverige ABPurpose: The purpose of this study is to analyse how procurement is used as a strategy to achieve better competitive strength, within the retail food industry.Theoretical: The theoretical chapter illustrates different procurement organisations, multiple and single sourcing, brand equity, consumer behaviour and involvement, Efficient Consumer Response including supply chain and category management and finally Demand Chain Management.Method: For the case studies, three food retail companies have been interviewed: Reitan Servicehandel AB, Vi-butikerna and ICA AB. To illustrate how consumer behaviour influences retail food market, several secondary consumer research studies have been analysed.Conclusions: The results indicate that the procurement organisation can achieve a better competitive strength by a centralised organisation, which make it possible to improve conditions of terms when ordering higher purchase volumes. The sourcing strategies can improve a company?s power within the supply chain. All companies within the study had a very good knowledge about consumer behaviour.

Uppdragsgivare för detta examensarbete är Skanska Sverige AB Region Stora Projekt, som arbetar med stora bro- och anläggningsprojekt. Störst behov ligger i att få ökad kunskap om de Allmännai projekten. Arbetet med anbudskalkyler innebär att förutse projektkostnader och kostnaderna Allmänna kostnader utgör en betydande del av projektets totalkostnad och är svårkalkylerade. Generellt uttryckt utgör denna post de byggkostnader som används gemensamt i projektet. Nyckeltal komprimerar information i syfte att göra den mer lättillgänglig för användaren.Syftet med denna rapport är att få fram nyckeltal tänkta att i första hand användas till att kvalitetssäkra kommande anbudsarbeten.Det material och data som rapporten baseras på är intern information om referensprojekten och slutrapporter.För två av resurserna kan nyckeltal presenteras, samma gäller för en tredje baserat på att referensprojekten har liknande utförande.