This paper is about the new methods and metrics used in industry and business today striving for better revenues and larger market shares. It investigates the relations between the old fordistic and tayloristic way of manufacturing and compares it to the models used in industry today for being competitive, seeking to please customers and becoming more flexible. More specific the paper is about if Six Sigma and lean production are the key for succeeding these days. SKF:s factory in Gothenburg and other companies will make an example for how these methods are used in practice.The aim is to try to answer if these systems with inherited tools and methods are the right way to get the flexibility that is needed for being able to deliver the right goods to customers and market. For a company to be flexible decisions must be made fast and needed changes must be able to be done easy and without too large costs and investments.

This thesis studies how readers of the electronic book (the e-book) use and perceive the electronic medium as a carrier of fiction. In this study it is assumed that fiction is mostly read in printed format. Therefore it is interesting to ask why some readers choose to read on screen. As there are all too few studies conducted on how readers perceive and use the e-book as a medium, this study aims to enrich an undeveloped research area. The study is based upon a qualitative questionnaire.

This thesis was conducted at Linköping University and Saab Aerostructures DPS, Linköping, and focuses on the possibilities of flexible fixturing in machining applications. The thesis is part of the research project "Koofix", which is collaboration between Linköping University and a number of companies.The thesis is aimed towards small batch production which, for Saab Aerostructures DPS, means diverse part geometry and that parts are manufactured in very small numbers, sometimes just one piece. The result of this is that expensive dedicated fixtures are made for most parts. By introducing more flexible fixturing methods to this kind of production the cost of fixtures and tooling will be reduced, and make the production more efficient.New flexible fixturing methods has been presented and evaluated through the thesis, which has resulted in three different concepts. These concepts have been the result of literature screening and study of current manufacturing process at Saab Aerostructures DPS.

The term Temporary places could be used to describe a wide range of shapes, functions and not least different time sets . In this thesis, however, the intention of temporality should be seen as the main definition regarding this subject. This thesis is based on a literature study and the aim is to explore temporary places, their values and their functions. Furthermore, the purpose is also to highlight temporary places as a method to be used by urban planners, in order to create more flexibility in the city planning of today. The thesis describes the underlying factors and conditions creating an increased interest in flexible planning. Furthermore, a number of tactics and applications are presented, all drawn from current research on the topic.

The purpose of the study was to describe the nurse´s role and experiences aroundpreparation of children in front of peripheral venous catheter (PVC) placement andblood draw. The study used a descriptive design with qualitative approach and wasperformed on a pediatric clinic in Sweden. Semi-structured interviews were performedwith seven nurses of whom the first was a pilot interview, which was included in theresult. The recruitment of nurses was made by a purposeful sampling, maximumvariation sampling, with help of the quality coordinator of the pediatric clinic. Thecollected data was analyzed with the manifest qualitative content method.

When living in a small apartment one of the greatest challenges is to make to most out of the available space. Several different furniture are used for different purposes.Another issues arise when having peopleover, which requires additional space andseats. On this basis, the project builds oncreating a flexible combination furniture withmultiplepurposes.Thegoalistomakeapieceoffurniturethatfillsacertainneedwhilenotcreatingjustanotherfurnitureusedforasinglepurpose.Theambitionisfurthertomakechairs,shelvesandsideboardstospeakthesamedesignlanguageandworkwelltogether.Furthermore,thisprojectaimstounderstandandlearnhowadesignprocesscanbecarriedoutfromthoroughandmethodicalresearchtothefinishedproduct.Theprojectalsoinvolvedexploringchangeabilityandunderstandingwhatthiscoulddowithapieceoffurniture.Theresultisapieceoffurniturethatisprimarilyusedasabookcasebutcanbeeasilyrearrangedintoaseatingareaifneeded.Themodelhasbeenrealizedthroughaphysicalprototypewhichreadinessisclosetothefinaldesign..

Intelligent IT-based solutions, often called Smart Grids, are considered to be the future balancers of renewable energy sources. One area within the Smart Grid concept is called demand response, which is focused on making customers more consumption flexible by making them more active in their consumption. In this thesis the aim is to analyze a business model by investigating the income potential for a demand response solution as well as its market potential. This has been done through literature studies, interviews and development of a computational model.The use of 5000 households with flexible consumption can provide a cost reduction of 17.2% or 2.4 million SEK for a balance responsible party during an average year. If the solution is used to make strategic bids on the regulation markets the study indicates that the largest potential for revenues lies within this strategy.

The aim of this Master´s thesis is to examine the debate in Swedish library press concerning outsourcing of public libraries. The two magazines studied are BBL (Biblioteksbladet) and bis (bibliotek i samhälle). The period of time covered by the selected articles is 2005 to 2011. Although there are still quite few cases of tendering arrangements in Sweden, the question has been raised in the last years by the decision of the Municipality of Nacka (Stockholm) to outsource their public libraries. Another important factor for bringing the question into focus has been the general elections of 2006, which brought an alliance of right-wing parties to power.     In this thesis the arguments of the participants are documented and analyzed.

As we dwell in the northern part of Europe, we who livethrough its gloomy winters need to find shelter in the warmthof our homes which cater to our well being. The object ofthis project lies in designing both a flexible, sturdy, and reliablepiece of furniture that yields to one?s intrinsic needs.The aim is to offer a piece of furniture that induces suchcomfort and exudes a feel good haven and refuge to each andevery one of us..

I följande rapport behandlas ämnet förnyelsebar energi i samband med textila material. I resultatet ges förslag till möjliga tillvägagångssätt för integrering av flexibla solceller i väv- och varptrikå. Alternativ till maskintillverkare och maskintyper redovisas och potentiella användningsområden diskuteras. Även förlag på typ av flexibel solcell presenteras. Teorin vilket rapporten grundar sig på är humanekologisk.

This thesis explores the changing prerequisites for accountability in terms of Swedish arms export. The study aims to uncover what has happened with the conditions for accountability in Sweden since the responsibility for export control was transferred from the government to the public administration. By investigating how the term ?accountability? has been used in the literature of democratic theory, an abstract ideal model is being created.  Comparing the changed structural arrangements, with each other and the ideal model, it is concluded that the prerequisites for accountability now seems to be in a worse state than they were before..

The purpose of the study was to investigate, through an experiment, if positive mood promotes creativity and flexible thinking. Participants were a total of 93 college students. The main hypothesis was that subjects induced with positive mood would perform better than subjects induced with negative mood, at a test reflecting creativity. To further explore the implications of priming (subliminal manipulated moods), a neutral control group was included. The cognitive test used in the study was Duncker´s The Candle Problem, a test which aims to get the subjects to apply flexible and creative thinking.

This master thesis is about the collaboration between the custom dairy heifer grower and thedairy producer.The custom dairy heifer grower is a rather unusual strategy of reproductive management inSweden compared to other countries like U.S. and Denmark where the specialization withindairy production gone much further. In these countries the research also has reached muchfurther within this type of industry. However in Sweden there has been research made in thearea of collaboration, but then only within collaborations in the industries of crop production,dairy production and pork meat.The down going trend of profitability within dairy production together with poor profitabilityin the beef industry could partly remedy if more collaborations around heifer contractingwould arise. But since the industry still is of a rare kind in Sweden the knowledge about howthese types of collaborative arrangements works and their contracts are put together is poor.By that the aim of this master thesis is formulated as follows: "how is usually thecollaborative arrangement between the dairy producer and custom dairy heifer growerdesigned".

It can be difficult for young people to find their first job; a solution to this problem may bethrough temporary work at a staffing agency to gain their first experience. As temporary workers,individuals are often forced to frequently change their jobs, which require that the company'sprocesses for introduction are able to transfer the needed knowledge and the temporal employee´s capacity to quickly learn a new role. Knowledge management and knowledge transfer areimportant aspects to most organizations, but how are these aspects used when introducing temporarystaffing personnel to new work? The purpose of the study is to identify the process oftemporary staffing to identify possible suggestions for improvement based on principles ofknowledge transfer. The research question "How can the transfer of knowledge be developed forthe introduction of new staffing personnel?" is divided into sub questions;? ?How is the processto hire temporary staff performed??, ?What problems can occur in the process of introduction ofnew temporal staff?? and ?How can ICT be used to support the introduction of temporal staff??.The theoretical framework is based around theories of the context in which the knowledge transferred,what type of knowledge is to be transferred, the channels that are possible to use to transferknowledge through, employees function as channels to transfer knowledge with a special emphasison the role of the mentor, and the transferee's own motivation and the capacity to receivethe knowledge that is being transferred.To understand the process of hiring temporal staff, a survey was performed using open-ended interviewswith consultants at employment agencies, and with the support of the frameworkDELTA Meta Architecture.

ABSTRAKTTitel: Ledarskap och motivation inom bemanningsbranschen - Konsultchefers uppfattning av motivationsbehovet hos konsulterNivå: C-uppsats i ämnet företagsekonomiFörfattare: Christoffer Rönnqvist och Alice SchmuckHandledare: Maria Fregidou MalamaDatum: 2012-06-14Syfte: Genom att vara anställd hos bemanningsföretag befinner man sig i en trepartsrelation som består av en själv, konsultchefen och kundföretaget. Detta innebär att konsultchefer kan ha det svårt att motivera sina konsulter, eftersom de utför sitt arbete på olika platser. Syftet med detta arbete är att identifiera och analysera konsultchefers uppfattning av motivationsbehovet hos sina anställda i bemanningsföretag. Två forskningsfrågor har undersökts: Forskningsfråga #1: Hur uppfattar konsultchefer vikten av inre motivation hos konsulter inom bemanningsbranschen? Forskningsfråga #2: Vilka verktyg använder sig konsultchefer av för att motivera sina konsulter?Metod: Vi genomförde intervjuer med öppna svarsalternativ som kvalitativ metod med en induktiv utgångspunkt för att uppfylla syftet.