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..

In this paper discourse analysis on the Ethiopian National Action Program (NAP) to combat desertification is made. The aim is to describe how the overall image/picture of desertification, its causes, and effects and of possible solutions are presented in the NAP. The result of this analysis shows that the main cause of desertification is human activities mainly due to the poorly developed socio-economic situation in the dryland areas. It is indicated that an excessive dependency of the rural population on the natural resources, particularly land, is the major cause of land degradation and this deterioration of land is said to have been caused by the rapid population growth, overgrazing, forest clearing as well as past government and institutional failures. In addition it is indicated that the effect of desertification usually involves ecological changes that sap land of its ability to sustain agriculture and human habitation, therefore the most serious threat to human welfare.

Att byta jobb är kostsamt, både för individen och för företaget.Men vad är det som gör att man stannar på jobbet, är det kollegorna, lönen eller möjligheten till utveckling?Studien genomförs på en kommun, fiktivt döpt till Solrosen en organisation som är uppdelad på olika nämnder och aktiebolag. På tre olika organisationer inom Solrosens kommun har sammanlagt sju intervjuer genomförts. Fem av intervjuerna var med personer i ledarpositioner och två av dem var med medarbetare. Intervjuerna och studien har varit av en kvalitativ art.Syftet med uppsatsen är att visa hur man använder verktyg så som kompetensutveckling, se hur lärandet hos och utvecklingen av personalen på arbetsplatsen ser ut och se hur man hanterar den befintliga kompetensen.

Incubators have grown more popular in recent years. Studies have shown that companies that have been part of an incubator grow faster and have a higher survival rate. The Swedish government realizes that this benefits the economy. Therefore they have started different funding programs in order to support the incubators. The thesis aims to explore the underlying reasons for why companies that have been part of an incubator often experience high growth.

Over the next few years, major investments in healthcare buildings is to be performed. Most surgical theaters are in need of technological upgrades as the technology is outdated. In most cases not only a refurbishment is performed but also an expansion. The basis for expansion, is due to a large increased number of patients, but also to the complexity of the refitment. Partly it's because evacuations are difficult to implement and the disturbance that occurs in conjunction with the refitment.Löwenströmska hospital undergoing a technical upgrad.

This thesis aims to describe the differences and similarities between a male dominated sector and a female dominated sector based on gender mainstreaming documentation as well as through interviews with people working within the sectors. The sectors that were chosen in this study were the fire department and the nursing and care administration of Växjö municipality. Both of the administrations? genders mainstreaming documents were subjected to content analysis in order to describe differences and similarities between the administrations. The analysis found that there were differences in approaches between the administrations were the nursing and care administration had aims of achieving a specified amount of men working within the administration, which the fire department didn?t have.

SAMMANFATTNING Examensarbete, Human Resource Management, Ekonomihögskolan vid Linnéuniversitetet, Organisation, VT2013.  Titel: ?Medarbetarsamtal ? vilken funktion fyller de?? Handledare: Kjell ArvidssonFörfattare: Josephine Berg, Magnus Ivarsson och Martina Jonsson Examinator: Mikael Lundgren Bakgrund: Att det hålls årliga medarbetarsamtal tillhör vanligheterna på de flesta företag, såväl inom privat som inom offentlig sektor. Men är det någon mening med att ha medarbetarsamtal? Vi undrar om de finns endast för att fylla ett ceremoniellt syfte, om det är något ledningen bestämt utan att förklara varför för de anställda? Syfte: Syftet med vår studie är att försöka ta reda på hur chefer och medarbetare upplever medarbetarsamtalför att se om dessa samtal fyller någon funktion eller om de existerar någon egentlig anledning. Metod: För att besvara studiens syfte har ett induktivt angreppssätt med en kvalitativ metod valts som grund för uppsatsen.

Human rights have been added to the new curriculum which came into force the 1st of July 2011 in the Swedish Upper Secondary school. The purpose with this master thesis is to compare the old and the new curriculum as part of an examination of what way they affect the Social Science education. Further the analysis focus on what is affecting discourses in the Social Science about human rights, as well as its communication and incorporation in its education. The empirical material consists of the schools steering documents and interviews with Social Science teachers. The theoretical framework is based on human rights education (HRE) and curriculum theory.

Den ökade globala konkurrensen har resulterat i att många företag försöker uppnå konkurrensfördelar genom att ingå i olika sorters allianser. För att en allians ska bli framgångsrik spelar integrationsprocessen mellan företagen en viktig roll. Under denna process uppstår ofta problem som är kultur- eller personalrelaterade vilket innebär att Human Resource funktionen får betydelse för hela alliansens framgång. Vi har i vår uppsats undersökt vilka värdeskapande HR-aktiviteter som måste skyddas i samband med en allians, för att förhindra att det enskilda företagets unika värdeskapandemöjligheter förstörs. De företag som ingick i studien var Astra Zeneca, Volvo och Stora Enso.

Counselling is one of the most commonly utilized tools in the work place. The purpose of this paper is to explore how four employers utilize early counselling sessions related to absences due to illness. A qualitative research method has been used and four human resource managers have been interviewed. The research questions have been divided into three categories: the counselling structure, the counselling model and the counselling dilemmas. The interviews have been transcribed and processed through these three categories.

ISO14001:2004 : A Human Ecological Tool?This is a study by means of litterature analysis and personal experience to find out wheather you could call ISO14001:2004 a Human Ecological tool. The ISO14001 is an environmental management system. I'm approaching the issue from a users' perspective and putting my experience of implementing the ISO 9001 at my work to good use. Though my personal experience is limited to the implementation of the ISO 9001, it is quite relevant to the task since the update of 2004 the ISO14001:2004 is brought closer to the ISO 9001 standard in many ways.

Right-wing populism has through the past decades flourished in several countries in Europe. Research has shown that right-wing populism is, with its political starting point in ?the people?, focusing on the majority and is sometimes excluding the minorities from the politics. Since human rights regulations are mainly a protection of minority rights, the aim is to examine if the politics of the Sweden Democrats, as a case of a growing right-wing populist party, is a threat to human rights and in that case, in what respects. The thesis is supposed to answer the question in what respects the politics of the Sweden Democrats contravene with the European Convention?s protection of minority rights.

There is an expression called ?grief of climate? that refers to feelings of powerlessness and heaviness related to the environmental problems of today. A feeling that every move we make has bad consequences for nature. This essay is an investigation of how art in general and jewellery art in particular can be a way of discussing and visualizing current environmental problems and the complex relationship between human and nature. I am discussing how artworks dealing with a dark and dystopian picture of the relation can be seen as the memento mori of our time.

This study has been made on behalf of the Swedish Transport Administration to study the work of the department National Projects. The Swedish construction industry has for many years been characterized by low productivity. By being the largest purchaser of contracts in the industry the Swedish Transport Administration has a unique opportunity to influence the productivity. In order to improve in productivity The Swedish Transport Administration is adopting a new role in which they will order more turnkey projects. In our study, we will focus on how one department within the Swedish Transport Administration, National Projects, can perform successful turnkey projects.To clarify how the department National Projects can perform successful projects, this study identifies critical factors for projects and their links to different phases of the project.

The concept of security is a contested one. The United Nations definition in UNDPs Development report of 1994 is the most authoritive and commonly cited. The civil war in Sudan has led to 2 million deaths and over 5.5 million refugees. In a resolution from 2005, the UN decided that the war in Sudan was a threat to international security and peace. The 10th of January UN decided that a peace commission ought to be send with 10 000 military and civil men including 700 policemen.The main purpose of this thesis is to improve our knowledge of those factors which can cause an increased risk of conflict within a state, and how that can affect the social conditions for individuals.