Purpose: To explore the purchasing function, mainly the supplier selection activities, in the fast fashion apparel industry. The purpose is 1) to explore the criteria associated with supplier selection for fashion products, and 2) to analyze the purchasing activities in order to find characteristics and trends which are considered to be strategic for the buying company. Method: The empirics consist of qualitative interviews with employees with responsibility for the companies' purchasing activities, as well as information gathered from articles, annual reports, and company websites. Result: The study indicates that qualitative criterias have increased in importance, and have become an important part of supplier selection for fashion goods. A number of characteristics where identified as important for purchasing fashion goods, which can affect choice of supplier; examples are increased collaboration, increased re-buys and increased use of logistics services.

Oilseed rape is an important crop in Sweden and is grown on about 90000 ha today. The interest in oil seed pro-duction is increasing because of growing demand and high prices for oil seed both in Sweden and Europe. However, an increased intensity in the oil seed production can bring higher risk of yield losses due to fungal diseases. The purpose of this study was to investigate what different fungi are associated with oilseed rape under field conditions and if their incidence is correlated to crop establishment problems. This study was carried out in three parts: 1) investigations on fungal community structure in roots and rhizosphere soils from young spring- and winter rape plants sampled in failed respectively good establishment patches in four fields, 2) investigations on the pathogenicity of fungi isolated from oilseed rape in controlled environment and 3) investigations on the effect of different fungicide seed treatments on germination and early plant development in a field soil naturally infested with damping off- and Verticillium wilt pathogens. The studies on community structure using a combined approach of standard fungal isolation techniques and DNA based methods revealed a high fungal diversity in three out of four studied fields of spring rape and winter rape. For some unknown reason, very few fungal species were identified from the fourth field.

The process of European Integration and creation of the single market revealed many questions and boundaries on the development and improvement of the European Social Policy. Pension?s sustainability has become the priority issue especially during the EU enlargement processes. Different policy instruments and institutions available to governments of Member States in realization of social objectives resulted in a growing diversity of pension polices which produced different combinations of public and private provisions - ?private-public hybrids? , with the state exercising different degrees of influence in their development.

At the beginning of the nineties, a new form of organisation, the process organisation, was about to be born. The features of the process organisation were a flexible organisational that works in a world where the pace of development is increasing all the time. Today there are many organisations that have mapped their processes, but in order to truly become a process organisation, the processes among other things have to be in harmony with e.g. organisational culture. Which effects the organisational culture has on the process organisation is yet unexplored, but however quite crucial.

This study deals with Swedish nuclear-energy politics from 1980 to 2006. The purpose is to trace and to explain change and stability in three political parties? rhetoric concerning the phase-out of Swedish nuclear-energy and the Swedish government?s nuclear politics. Two hypotheses based on path dependency theory are tested to analyze if rhetoric and politics are developing in separate directions. The first hypothesis is based on the idea that earlier promises from the political parties affect what promises they can make later on.

Today evidence exist that environmental chemicals deteriorate male sperm quality and that testicular cancer is increasing. Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical with estrogenic effects used in the manufacture of polycarbonate plastic and are found in, for instance, plastic boxes, feeding bottles and food containers. Much of the research on how men's reproductive ability is influenced are performed on rats. This review article complies how male rat reproduction is affected by BPA as a model for humans. Studies have investigated how sperm are affected, hormonal changes during reproduction and how reactive oxygen species (ROS) affects sperm.

This study investigates the potential of a rhetorical theory of knowledge to expand beyond its own domain and into political theory, specifically theories of deliberative democracy. Despite the increasing interest in communication in democratic theory in the last decades, the majority of theorists have not turned their interest towards rhetorical science. On the contrary, theorists often regard rhetoric as dangerous and incompatible with the deliberative ideal of reason. The aim of this study is therefore to defend rhetorical science by investigating how the rhetorical theory of knowledge ? as it is presented by Chaïm Perelman and Oldbrecht Tyteca, and further developed by Mats Rosengren and Maria Wolrath Söderberg ? can contribute to the understanding of deliberative democracy.

Fairtrade is a certification of products that has grown from the criticism of conventional trade. By increasing the focus on the producers? economic and social conditions, poverty can be fought and the producers? voice in the marketplace can be strengthened. Fairtrade City is a certification for municipalities who wish to engage in ethical consumption. The purpose of this thesis is to understand the Fairtrade City concept and how this can be a tool for working towards sustainable development. To be more concise, we want to answer the following questions: Why does Örebro municipality work with the Fairtrade City certification and how can Fairtrade City be used as tool for working towards sustainable development? The thesis is based on qualitative interviews and e-mail interviews with members of the steering committee for Örebro Fairtrade City and on literature studies. We have in our thesis identified Örebro Fairtrade City as a result of 1) that Örebro municipality through Fairtrade City wants to change their surrounding environment by engaging in ethical trade 2) that the surrounding environment effects Örebro municipality through isomorphism regarding its way to deal with sustainable development 3) that the municipality through its work with ethical trade becomes legitimized by their surrounding environment.

Background: Acquisitions are a well-known method for increasing company size and strength on the market. But to reach the targets set, more than just a positive economic calculation is required. An atmosphere that supports the company's integration is needed, for which it is of great importance for management to understand the underlying sets of values that exist in the organisation, and to take into consideration the way they might become an obstacle or a tool for a successful integration. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to explain and understand how cultural change occurs and how it affects the employee, as a smaller company is bought and integrated into a larger organisation. Procedure: The analysis is based on theories on organisational culture and organisational change.

Efforts to achieve a moisture proof construction process have proved to be considerably complicated, despite the knowledge and awareness that now exists within the moisture field. Materials, documents, templates and checklists are designed to be accessed but are not used anyway. This may be because such effort has not been prioritized and properly requirements have not existed from the commissioner of a building.This report illustrates how the commissioner of a building project can achieve a moisture proof building process by increasing knowledge, moisture proof planning, and implementation of security moisture routines. Proposals are given on how the commissioner of a building project can work to consistently bring a moisture proof building process in all stages. The difficulty with regular moisture proof efforts, the authors believe is mainly due to the following points:      Many different design solutions.      Lack of experience feedback.      Lack of communication.      Financial incentives.      Attitudes.The interviews in the report have conducted with the help of a qualitative analysis, while the survey has been done using a quantitative analytical method.

Renewable energy and the charging of electrical vehicles will increase in the future. Therefore the risk of outages is also increasing, partly because renewable energy is intermittent and the production amount can change fast. Charging electrical vehicles is often demanding high effect in short time, which could make faults occur. It takes more advanced technology to short the outage time. Today Övik Energi has high reliability in the power grid, but in order to maintain the reliability, it is time to prevent problems that can occur in the future. This thesis has presented a suggestion for the placement of fault detectors Protrol IPS2, in which a total of four detectors is proposed.

The combustion engines in today?s vehicles are getting more and more advanced and there are increasing demands on that the engines should operate during optimal conditions. Examples of internal combustion engine parameters which may be carefully controlled are the rate between fuel and air, that this gas mixture is homogenous enough and that it is ignited at the correct moment. Moreover, the requirements of these parameters vary depending on, among other, engine speed and load. To meet these requirements in all occurring operation conditions, it is required that many subsystems work together.

With starting point in the increasing ill-health in Swedish working life today, in form of for example absence due to sickness and early retirement pension, and the knowledge that the working environment effects peoples health in a big extent, I found it very interesting to inquire into how people within the working life experience health promotion and how this can be developed. A qualitative method was used to receive a deeper understanding for the employees? experiences and data was collected through semi structured interviews with employees on a bank called Ikanobanken, in Älmhult. The result shows, among other things, that respondents find responsibility and the opportunity to influence the learning processes and development important. It also became clear that the respondents find participation, motivation, communication and safety essential factors when related to changes in health behaviours.

The main purpose of this thesis is to investigate four children?s librarians? literature view and their collaboration with pre-schools. My main question at issue is ?What literature view do children?s librarians in this thesis have and how does this reflect their collaboration with pre-schools??. Another purpose is to study the canon process in relation to children?s libraries and pre-schools.

The supermarkets are taking more and more market shares for potted plants the last years, and a greater part is bought without prior planning. Signals from several European countries, for example Denmark and UK, indicate that potted plants with added value have become more and more popular and the added value is based on present trends. The meaning of added value in this thesis is fancy pots, packaging, pins or arrangements. Potted plants with added value sold in supermarkets offer the consumer the advantage of getting a ?ready product? quick and easy.