Recent years have been very turbulent for most private equity firms. Especially the financial meltdown in global economy has affected the industry, but also the public pressure has made private equity houses change their control strategies towards more conventional methods used in public companies. This thesis aims to put light on the control methods used in listed private equity houses which use a buyout strategy. The paper describes how the control methods change over the different phases the asset experience and how different value generating strategies use altered control methods. Using Merchant's (2003) framework for management control systems and Berg and Gottschalg's (2004) research on value generating strategies in buyouts the thesis shows that action controls as designing instructions for the board and a business plan, together with goal alignment is the commonly used control strategy directly after the acquisition.

The aim of this study was to measure the castration coverage and the attitudes among people towards castration in an area in Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi, where a castration program has been running for a few years. Another aim was to review the literature to examine the link between castration coverage and rabies prevalence. Two areas (Area 25 and Area 23) in Lilongwe were studied through standardized household interviews. In Area 25, a non-governmental organization had been castrating dogs weekly to twice weekly for free for 3 years. In Area 23, no official organization had done castrations, and this area therefore acted as a control in the study.

This is a study of predictions made by the press during the financial crisis in Asia in the autumn of 1997. The study includes a qualitative, quantitative and comparative analysis of the Swedish newspapers Dagens Nyheter, Svenska Dagbladet and Dagens Industri. In the last chapter a quantitative analysis of the newspaper Finanstidningen, that today no longer exists, has also been made for comparative reasons. A theoretical framework is also set in the study to explain how the predictions can affect the economy. The quantitative analysis shows that 2/3 of the texts in the traditional morning papers Dagens Nyheter and Svenska Dagbladet included predictions about the crisis from an Asian or global perspective, while only 1/3 of the texts in the financial newspapers Dagens Industri and Finanstidningen included such predictions.

Moelven Skog AB is currently working actively to increase the number of certified forest owners in private small-scale forestry. This study was conducted in collaboration with Moelven Skog AB and seeks to learn why private small scale forest owners not yet have certified their forestry and what should be done to increase the number of certified forest owners. The study was conducted through a questionnaire study. The result of the study shows that information needs of forest certification to private small scale forest owners is great. Many non-certified forest owners have not even heard of either PEFC or FSC. The majority of respondents also have no education in forestry.

The research of this Masters thesis examines if during a specific period of time, Environmental scanning connected to Swedish public libraries is discussed in journals that are directly connected to the field of Swedish libraries. The method employed was content analysis of articles, news items and ads with the intention of finding out the extent of Environmental scanning and who carries it out and how and what is scanned. The research covers the period from 2004-01-01 to 2004-08-31. During the research period 1387 articles, news items and ads were analyzed. The study focuses on 81 selected published units that directly include references or discussion about Environmental scanning.

The subject of this master thesis concerns the area of change in libraries, with special orientation towards privatisation. Its aim is to investigate how privatisation is portrayed in one of Sweden?s largest library magazines, Biblioteksbladet, in order to gain insight into why these portrayals are what they are, and what consequences they might get. Three theoretical viewpoints create the general base of the thesis; first, Fairclough?s critical discourse analysis (CDA) theory on the relations between text and society; second, Audunsson?s theory concerning how change is dealt with in public libraries; and third, a conceptual framework on privatisation consisting of definitions and perspectives of the phenomenon.

The purpose of this study is to analyse asylum seeking converts understanding of their conversion process based on church context, specifically within the realm of evangelical church and theology. Through the method of content analysis this essay analyses six qualitative interviews done with converts from two Islamic traditions to Swedish free church Christianity. The essay discusses the results through the lens of Lewis Rambos seven-phase theoretical concept of conversion. The important results given by this study shows that the first contact with other Christians in a new country, which creates a new community serving as an interpretive framework for their lives, triumphs the question of the theological perception for the conversion. Also, the results shows that intellectual understanding of the doctrines of faith is less important relative to the conversion process best described by the words touched, taught, and transformed.

The decisions for investment are forward-looking and the base of a long-term strategy. The research within investment have focused on diverse formulas which are used in financial assessment, which also should be complemented with qualitative evaluation. Consequently, the focus should not only be on the execution of the formulas. Less time have been spent on research concerning what actually initiates the investment proposals and affects the decision-making. This will be highlighted in this essay.

This thesis is a cultural theoretical case study of the art project (O)önskad samhällsförbättring.Via an analysis of the project, that is based on theories of power, resistance and contemporaryurban development, it examines the construction of urban space, its impact on public art including the ability of art to initiate evolvement of the urban public space.The last decades art has plaid an important role in what is called the creative city; to become attractive nodal points of the global economy, larger cities increasingly invest in art,culture and creative industry. Simultaneously the urban public space is limited to activitiesand expressions of art that are presumed to create economic growth. This introduces animpression of what is allowed and what is not allowed, possible and not possible, wished andnot wished which, as a consequence, evolves the public space. The events during the artproject and the reactions that followed enlightened these limitations. This tells a story, not only about the structuring process of the local urban space, but also important changes that are created as a simultaneous effect at different levels in society, as well locally as globally.

Convective snowbands is a weather phenomenon that is associated with heavy snowfall in a limited area. They are formed over ice-free parts of e.g. the Baltic Sea when there is a cold easterly airflow over relatively warm water. These convective snowbands can cause large amounts of snow along the Swedish east coast, often causing traffic hazards. Sometimes they can even paralyze an entire community.  In this study, convective snowbands that have formed over the Baltic Sea during the period 1980-2009 are examined, in order to find out how often they occur, what place they are most common and in what month they usually appear.

Syftet med uppsatsen är att formulera en utvecklingsstrategi för Piteå med målet att bli en framgångsrik skridskodestination. Frågeställningen blir således, hur kan Piteå bli en framgångsrik skridskodestination? Vi använde oss av en kvalitativ metod och för att samla material så utförde vi fem stycken intervjuer och bearbetade relevant litteratur kring destinationsutveckling. Vi arbetade efter en abduktiv ansats som står för en arbetsprocess som går från verklighet till teori, till verklighet och till teori igen genom att pröva formulerade teorier i verkligheten. Resultatet analyserades med förförståelse kring upplevelseproduktion och -ekonomi och vi kom fram till slutsatsen att en utvecklingsstrategi för att utveckla Piteå som skridskodestination bör innehålla arbetssätt för att; ?Arbeta med destinationsutvecklingen på en kommunal nivå ?Utföra- och tillämpa en riskanalys och en beredskapsplan ?Bibehålla en ekonomiskt, social och miljömässigt hållbar destination ?Skapa en image för Piteå som vinterdestination ?Erbjuda evenemang av god upplevelsekvalitet Vi har kommit fram till att Piteå har stora möjligheter att bli en framgångsrik skridskodestination, för att åstadkomma detta krävs det att lokalbefolkning, kommun och näringsliv samverkar inom destinationen Piteå mot ett gemensamt mål.

In what way has the ethnic housing segregation changed from the 1970´s until today and has the politics concerning these matters dealt with the ethnic segregation as a phenomenon that occur due to free choices of ethnic groups or as a stigmatization and marginalization of ethnic groups? To be able to find out what actual changes there are to be seen in the political measures regarding the ethnic housing segregation from the 70´s until today, I have made a discoursive investigation of some of the states official investigations from each of the decades. I chose to focus on a qualitative analysis and my theoretical framework consists of theories considering grouprights as well as structural and cultural explanations.I realize that the changes have been proportionately high retorically, but the actual changes have not been that obvious. I find a retorical development that has changed from the idea of the great impact of the immigrant in the ethnic segregation process, at the same time as huge differences between groups emerge, to establish a gap between us an them and a stigmatization of ethnic groups. The development somehow seems to have reconnected to the first stage.

This thesis is a case-study of an ongoing court case between the Swedish Competition Agency and Växjö Municipality about a set-up requirement to the long-distance heating system for newly built private houses on municipality owned land. This requirement was set up as part of the municipality?s long-term environmental goals; however the Competition Agency claims that the demand is damaging the free market in the municipality. The purpose of this thesis is to determine which normative assumptions the decision makers have based their actions and re-action on, and whether or not these assumptions are valid, thru theoretical ideal types. This is determined via method of textual analysis.

Vellinge is one of few municipalities in Sweden that refuses to accept refugees. The subject of this thesis is to find out how the local politicians in Vellinge make their considerations when they decide not to welcome refugees. The analysis uses the representation theory as a starting point. The two ideals of the representative role, either as a bound mandate or as a free independent role, is the base of the analysis. Vellinge is in the analysis compared to Lomma, a very similar municipality in southern Sweden that for a long time alsohas refused to accept refugees, however suddenly in 2007 decided to change their mind.

The purpose of this study was to increase the knowledge and understanding of what impact support-groups, such as represented by Qvinnoqulan, can have on women with drug-addiction. The questions at issue for the essay was: How does a selection of women who participate in Qvinnoqulan describe their thoughts, experiences and reflections of the group? What sense has Qvinnoqulan made for the women on a personal level and for contributing to live a life without drugs? To answer the questions a qualitative method was used and five interviews were made with women who participated in the activities of Qvinnoqulan. To analyze the data a social constructionist perspective and an empowerment perspective was used. The result of the study showed that the women were in the process of rebuilding a new life without drugs and reconstructing a new identity.