Who has the ownership of a company´s long-term strategy, and who should have it? Is it the board of directors or the senior management? Swedish law and regulations seemingly point in one direction, whereas the findings of studying the relationship between CEO and chairman of the board in eleven Swedish listed large- and mid-cap companies, point the other way. In a majority of the companies the senior management have the ownership of the long term strategy whilst the board of directors merely hold a control function. The possible effects on the companies managed as well as the rules and regulations they are managed according to, are analyzed..

Companies and organizations recognize the importance of collaboration to develop responsibility and ability of change in the workplace. The concept of collaboration was a relatively new idea in business in the late 1980s. In a Nordic context, collaboration is a traditional approach that companies use successfully for competition, survival and development. Collaborative organizational efforts cover management of committed people who can help companies achieve flexibility, customer loyalty, innovation and economic success on a challenging and competitive market. Many theorists believe that collaboration is the key to integrating technology, financial competence and innovation.

In this thesis we examine the relationship between board composition and firm performance in Swedish companies. The selection of companies includes all Swedish limited liability companies, with the exception of micro enterprises, that have been active between the years of 2009-2010. We develop hypotheses based on resource dependence theory, agency theory, and the resource based view, and test these with regression analysis against collected data. Specifically, we examine the effects of board diversity, outside directorships, and CEO duality. Our findings show that none of the theories provide sufficient explanatory power of the relationship between board composition and firm performance, and that further research is required to better understand the role and effects of company boards..

AbstractDigital media in general and social media in particular are becoming more and more important to businesses across the globe. It is an effective way to reach out to consumers and establish a good relationship with existing customers. Most companies today use digital media in order to market themselves and to establish good public relations. A lot of those companies have also realized the enormous marketing capabilities that social media provides. However, in spite of the plethora of possibilities that comes with social media it can also, in some cases, hinder the companies ? success.

This thesis deals with the leisure-time reading of fourteen men with two different occupations, teachers of technology and directors of companies. The main reasons for writing the thesis are that very little is written about mens reading habits and also statistics that tell that mens reading decline regardless of educational level. The purpose has been to compare the reading and relations to literature between the two groups of men and to find out if any differences have to do with factors such as social background or age. The questions we have asked our collected data has been what, how and why the men read. We have tried not to investigate the work-related reading although we are aware of the difficulty in separating this from the leisure-time reading.

Companies in the western world can no longer compete by using traditional means such as product and price since the commerce of services continually grows. To avoid similarity and increase competitive advantages modern companies have to be more specified. The competition between companies has increased and customers are harder to reach. Customers of today can afford luxury but trend indicates that originality, identity, and status are more important than factual needs. Products created and consumed at the same time within the service market are often very homogenous (similar).

The numbers of mergers and acquisitions have increased significantly in the last period of time. Although this popularity for mergers and acquisitions, most of the mergers and acquisitions fail to create value. One explanation to this failure of value creation is, according to several studies, how companies treat integration of information systems in the pre-merger evaluation. The research within the field argues that information system integration should have a proactive role in mergers and acquisitions, meaning that information system integration should support the organizational change and normally be considered in the premerger evaluation. The aim of this thesis is to study issues that affect whether companies choose to consider information system integration proactively, when involved in mergers and acquisitions.

The aim of this thesis is to accomplish an understanding on how librarians experience their professional role at private companies. The study is based on qualitative interviews with persons who have a degree in Library and Information science, but does not work as an ordinary librarian. To answer why the respondents work at private companies, this thesis dwells on how the education in library and information science prepares their students to face an alternative career; why the respondents wants to work at private firms instead of a library; if the salary is a key factor in order to choose a career; if the respondents think the companies appreciate their qualifications, and finally, if the respondents think they intrude on other professions' territory? Working at a private company, with a degree in library- and information science, is not, according to the respondents, easy. Although appreciated by their knowledge in the field of information, the interviewees think that the title librarian is hard to cope with.

Konsten att sälja sig själv/The art of selling yourself grasps the complex of problems that occur when artists chooses to start their own record companies. Not only must the artist fulfil the cultural aspects of being an artist but also the economical aspects of running a business. This means that the artist?s identities and roles become more complex. The purpose of this paper is to understand the construction of identities among artists who run their own record companies.

Abstract Title: What factors influence a company's choice of accounting rules?Subject/Course: Business Administration -Bachelor thesis Supervisor: Charlotte HemmingsonBackground: Throughout time several of accounting scandals have been discovered, which has increased the demands and requirements of accounting standards. To ensure that the information companies share in their annual reports will be reliable and useful for its users, it is required that certain regulations are in place to ensure that they are established correctly based on laws and regulations. On the first of January 2014, new rules regarding the preparation of the financial reports were established in Sweden. In other words, new rules were introduced by Bokföringsnämnden regarding category 2 and category 3 accounting rules.Problem: The companies had to make their choice between the two different accounting rules.

The manufacturing industry is currently in a short-term downturn while the competition is increasing. The result of this is that companies must find new ways to bring out their products. Traditional competitive strategies, such as low pricing, is not sufficient today as the customer is inquiring something more than just a good product. Higher demands are presented on an accurate, well functional, communication between customer and companies, as this has become an important strategic factor in achieving long-term profitability.The aim of this independent project was to analyze and evaluate the communication process between a company and its sales companies.In order to illustrate this process, a case study was carried out at Alfa Laval, their sales companies and employees at their distribution center in Tumba. In order to see the differences in attitudes between the management, the sales companies and the employees regarding communication and involvement a gap analysis were used.The theoretical part of the study considers theories about business mission, communication, involvement, quality and creating value.The result showed that a smaller gap exists between the sales companies and the management while a slightly larger one exists between the employees and the management.

The occupational therapist uses meaningful activities to promote health and accomplish functional progress. The professional role is to support and enable for the client to change his/her life. One way to accomplish this is to use the group as a tool. Knowledge is needed about how learning works and which teaching methods exist to promote learning, so it is adapted after the clients´ personal way of learning. The aim of this study was to investigate which pedagogical approaches occupational therapists use in group activities.

The international requirement of Swedish healthcare today is high and due to a good reputation and a long history of reliable methods through extended experience. For those Swedish companies within this business, the process of internationalization is often a attractive option.This study aims to describe, analyze and translate how minor Swedish companies within the care keeping section establish their business on the international market.The study is based upon a qualitative approach and is an empirical study carried out through semi-structured interviews.The result presented in the study shows that internationalization of companies within this business does often require a lot of time and money, is based upon establishments through networks and were learning-by-doing often is used as a strategic approach for the companies penetrating a new market.The study also accounts for major entry barriers, which declares for being to some part of political nature, but mostly of cultural nature.Differences in language and culture are shown in the study to be a major entry barrier and host-countries different cultural levels are very conclusive for the success of internationalization. .

AbstractDigital media in general and social media in particular are becoming more and more important to businesses across the globe. It is an effective way to reach out to consumers and establish a good relationship with existing customers. Most companies today use digital media in order to market themselves and to establish good public relations. A lot of those companies have also realized the enormous marketing capabilities that social media provides. However, in spite of the plethora of possibilities that comes with social media it can also, in some cases, hinder the companies ? success.

Social networks have become an important factor in today?s society. Companies as well as individuals are using these platforms to interact with one another on a daily basis. This phenomenon has mostly been acknowledged by companies on B2C markets where these social network sites are being used to communicate their brand. On B2B markets however, the usage of these platforms have not been as optimistically implemented.