This thesis examines why working time preferences differ between workers and nations, and explains the effect of working time regulation and working time flexibility on negotiating work-life balance. In five separate sections the following working time issues are examined: the number of hours worked by workers in Europe; factors affecting individual working time preferences; how working time preferences are negotiated in the national industrial relations systems of Sweden, France and the United Kingdom; how the institutions of the European Union have influenced working time negotiations through the Working Time Directive; and the benefits and practices available to organisations implementing working time flexibility. Broadly this paper views working time preferences as being a highly personal and influenced by factors such as wages, taxation, culture (national and workplace) and non-work responsibilities. It is argued that negotiating a preferred working time pattern is essential to achieving work-life balance and when such a balance is achieved, workers are more healthy, motivated and committed to their employer. Essentially this provides an incentive for businesses to voluntarily implement working time flexibility beyond the regulatory standards..

Social housing in Northern Europe and the importance of social and political consideration in planning. Focus of the essay lies on the "burning suburbs" of France, based on literature studies combined with a study visit to Les Minguettes outside of Lyon..

The purpose of this retrospective study was to investigate the prescription of antibiotics to dogs at the small animal clinic at Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire, Nantes, France. The purpose was also to compare the possible prescription patterns in France with those seen in a similar study by Petersson (2003) at the small animal clinic at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala. Antibiotics are very important in veterinary medicine and are used both to treat infections and to prevent them. The use of antibiotics however is not without complications and the risk of developing antimicrobial resistance is of most concern. Resistance has been shown to exist against all currently known antibiotics and potentially all pathogenic bacteria could develop resistance to one or more antibiotics. This study analysed the case records for all dogs presented to the small animal clinic at Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire, Nantes, France during October 2001 and March 2002 to identify patients which were treated with systemic antibiotics. For these cases the antibiotic used, classified according to the ATCvet system, and the indication for use was noted. A total of 292 cases (146 per month) resulted in administration of systemic antibiotics.

Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) is a quality control system created by the European Union (EU) to protect integrity of certain food and drinks that are produced in a specific area in a unique way. By protecting these products, the EU can certify that the traditional region-specific methods of food and drink production are preserved. The EU countries that follow such a system are mostly from Southern Europe. For instance in France, the PDO system has helped improve the income for farmers, boosted the rural development and assured protection for farmers against the abuse of their brand and the selling of their products by outsiders. In Sweden, there are no PDO products yet, instead there is Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) and Traditional Speciality Guarantee (TSG) that are not as protective as PDO.

The main part of the goats in the world is located in developing countries, whereas active breeding programs are mainly restricted to Northern America and Europe. Goat milk can be processed to several products and goat cheese is the main product. An organized breeding program is carried out in France and Norway but is not present in Sweden. Important selection traits for milk producing goats include milk, protein and fat yield along with protein and fat content. Functional traits have been more important the past years and they have large economic importance for the farmers.

2005 was the year that all of the 25 member states in the European Union were to ratify the treaty of a constitution for Europe. The year did, however, offer a series of unexpected and slightly shocking events as both France and the Netherlands voted no to the constitution. Because of this the already planned referendums across many of the other member states were either postponed indefinately or the debates simply died down. The fact that two of the most pro-EU countries didn?t ratify the constitution was not only something that certainly raised the question of how future referendums in other, more EU-negative, states would turn out, but it could also be seen as harsh criticism against the EU as a whole.This is a theory consuming study, as it uses different theories of integration to explain the development of the EU, which in turn supports and strengthens the essay's conclusion.

This paper is a critique of the hegemonic democracy ideal in France today, the myth of the Republic. Based on critical theory, the paper also contains a normative attempt giving the chance to subaltern groups to tell their, less often heard, version of the "truth".The theoretical foundation is the ontological narrative perspective, where identities and actions are understood as being constructed by the telling of stories. The interdependent relations of different narrative dimensions are analyzed. The power over who gets to tell the story of the "truth" is understood as decided in the interaction by dimensions of metanarrativity, public narratives, ontological narratives and conceptual narrativity. The author argues, inspired by Chantal Mouffe, that consensus is an illusion based on exclusion of those that differ.

Isaberg Rapid AB is a company that manufactures for instance staplers and glue guns. Headquarters and main factory is located in Hestra but there are also subsidiary companies in Denmark, Netherlands, France, Spain, China and England. There are also two filial factories in France and China.Today has the company no logistic guidelines committed and that leads to problems since the salesmen promise different things to the customers. This contributes too many different logistic solutions for Isaberg Rapid AB. The company has also noted problems with returns of goods.The purpose with this task is to standardize and compile logistic guidelines, usable to all Isaberg Rapid AB's small to midsize customers.

The study of the French market for softwood has been done in collaboration with VIDA AB. The aim of the study was to investigate important product quality and service quality dimensions, the customers? perception of the offering and generally describe the French market and present actors. The market for softwood around the world changes over time and new markets can mean opportunities for the sawmilling industry. The French market is the second biggest European market for softwood, has had presence of actors with sourcing of raw material from the Nordic countries for decades and there is a growing interest for building with wood. Theory being used is about the different dimensions that make up the total quality of softwood, together with intangible dimensions making up the total offering that helps the sawmilling industry to create positive perceived value for the customers. Methodological approach in the study was a case study research design, aimed at providing knowledge about one specific subject in one context. The general description was mostly carried out by literature studies and data from various statistics sources.

The purpose of this study was to identify the way in which history textbooks from the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s used for grades 7-9 depicts World War II from a eurocentric perspective. A qualitative textual analysis was used to achieve the purpose. Three history textbooks from each decade was included in the study, also comparisons have been made to see any changes over time. The study used John M. Hobson matrix describing how the Occident and the Orient are defined from a eurocentric perspective.

I have in this essay looked at what stand NWT took to the three leading countries in The First World War, Germany, France and England, and if it changed during the course of the war.I worked based on the theory that NWT, as a politically conservative newspaper was pro-Germany, which also showed to be true.I have look at the official stand, what is shown in the published material, what stand that the newspaper showed outwards. The result shows that NWT held a neutral stand during the war being loyal to the conservative government. At the end of the war the papers sympathies for Germany are shown more openly in its political material..

Denna uppsats problematiserar huruvida en ledares kulturella bakgrund påverkar dennes arbete. I ett allt mer internationaliserat Europa ökar samarbeten mellan människor och företag över de nationella gränserna i en ökande takt. Detta ställer krav på de ledare som skall samarbeta och samordna över nationella och kulturella gränser. Denna studie problematiserar det interkulturella ledarskapet och hur ledare ställer sig till frågor angående anpassning och samarbete. Då det framgår av Hofstede att stora skillnader finns mellan Sverige och Frankrike syftar denna studie till att undersöka hur svenska- och franska ledares nationella och kulturella bakgrunder påverkar deras arbetsroll.Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur svenska och franska ledares interkulturella erfarenheter påverkar deras arbetsroll.

The purpose of this study is to describe how expatriates at Handelsbanken in France, Hong Kong, China, Russia and Singapore have adapted to the host culture. To illustrate how well they acculturated following seven factors have been chosen: Time, previous international experience, cultural distance, language, work environment, spouse acculturation and met expectations. The study was conducted through interviews with six expatriates and surveys answered by nine expatriates. Our study shows that the expatriates have experienced different lengths for cultural adaptation. The majority of the respondents indicated that it took up to six months before they adapted culturally.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse how work by Swedish artist Ylva Ogland (born in 1974) function as an eye-opener for the social marginalisation of people identified with homosexuality, prostitution and drug addiction. Although highly present in reality, these phenomena were historically, and are still today, hidden from view in public discourse. I have focused on the installations Rapture and Silence and Things Seen, and the still-life painting called Xenia. I argue that these artworks carefully represent the above-mentioned marginalised groups, by way of references to comparable motives in the history of art, from neoclassicism in France, to realism and romanticism..

The Swedish photographer and artist Eva Klasson, based in Paris in the 1970s, gained attention for her series of black-and-white photography of her own naked body, which opened up for an international artistic career in the late 1970s. Despite a promising career she however abandoned photography and disappeared from the artistic sphere only a few years after her debut. There has been a renewed interest in Klasson?s work in Sweden the last decade where she has been exhibited at museums and galleries. Today she is represented at art museums and institutions including Moderna Museet, The Modern Museum of Art, in Stockholm.