The purpose with this disertation is to find if there are selected factors which can force companies to grow. We have chosen five factors which we think can force the companies; market, strategy, profitability, demographic and institutional factors. We want to examine if there are differences between small and larger companies, and if there are differences between the lines of business.The intention to growth is also influenced by different factors. The organization and the board have an effect on the development. There are also factors that can obstruct the growth, for example control.

The aim of this study is to study how sustainability policies are implemented and perceived in the operations of a Swedish fashion company. The fashion industry is affected by strict controls when it comes to transparency and reporting of sustainability efforts. This contributes to a strong focus on sustainability. The theoretical framework revolved around institutional theory where the phenomenas of decoupling and recoupling were central. A qualitative case study was conducted where interviews were the primary source of data.

An ethnographic study loosely informed by the theoretical framework of distributed cognition was carried out in order to describe how mariners have adopted the Automatic Identification System (AIS) in their work practice, or"made the technology their own". AIS is a transponder-based identification and communication system that allows ships to automatically identify and track each other. In addition to facilitating the identification and tracking of ships, objectives behind the introduction of AIS are to"simplify informational exchange", and"provide additional information to assist situation awareness". Participant observation and interviews were made at four different ships, as well as at two shore stations. A focus group was also held at a maritime conference.

The aim of this study was to investigate how the authorities; Social Services, Police and the Office of public prosecutor co-operate with the voluntary organization; Unga KRIS in the matter of young offenders. The purpose was also to investigate the conditions, possibilities, vices and difficulties in the cooperation between the operators. This study was based on six semi-structured interviews with representative from all four operators. The empirical material has been analyzed through a new institutional theory which focuses on values and norms in an organization. The result of this study showed that there were a lot of conditions and possibilities too co-operate between the operators such as through personal contacts. Further the result illustrated a number of difficulties for example that the authorities? different laws don?t connect.

In this study our aim is to display a series of possible mechanisms which operateswithin the regions and societies were child soldiers were frequently andextensively used in combat tasks. Our study is based on the assumption thattoday's peace-building strategies are inadequate to describe certain problemsfaced by many post-conflict countries, especially in Africa. We argue that largeformations of child soldiers will, if not properly and immediately addressed, causeserve and structural problems in society, gravely hampering growth andinstitutional capacity. The Issues of Post Traumatic Stress and societal insecuritybrought on by the use of child soldiers poses a serious threat to society as a whole.In this study we use Uganda as an illustrative case to describe the mechanisms atwork..

Face-to-face communication is always complemented with non-verbal signals that give us clues as to how a message shall be interpreted, but as communication is moved online the possibilities to express oneself becomes more limited.This paper focuses on the instant messaging client Windows Live Messenger and three of the non-verbal functions that it provides (nudges, winks and emotes). The purpose of the paper and its underlying study is to compare the senders' intentions with the receivers' conceptions when it comes to these functions.The study was done as a questionnaire with two different versions of the questions, one looking at the senders' intentions and the other at the receivers' conceptions.The results were then compared in order to look for tendencies. The results showed that the most common intention among the senders was also the most common conception among the receivers, but that the rest of the attitudes didn't match at all. The functions that are supposed to help the conversation flow often create ambiguity instead and lead to vagueness, misconceptions and annoyance..

The purpose of this study is to highlight some aspects of the increased usage of tablets in preschool environments by answering the questions: what does the tablet become in the preschool environment, how much freedom does the children have over its usage.To answer these questions a series of observations were made at two different preschools. The observations were then complemented by interviews with teachers at the same preschools.This qualitative study focuses on some of the didactic questions regarding the tablets, based on a theoretical framework that is within the design-oriented perspective; which addresses the children's? autonomy, the institutional framework and affordance.Our conclusion is that the tablet?s introduction in the preschool has helped the teachers in numerous parts of their documentation, but we can also see that the children's opportunities to make choices regarding the tablet are more limited than with any other resource on the preschool. In our results we also see that when the children get access to the tablet they receive a learning experience, which among other things, strengthens their language skills and their social interaction with each other..

This report presents a study of the basic criteria for computer programmes that may be consideredadequate for aiding children with autism in their education and upbringing. I have based thisstudy on descriptions, opinions and proposals from people who deal with treatment and/orother issues concerning children with autism, as well as relevant literature.The study has been carried out in a major Swedish metropolitan municipality. The intervieweeswere civil servants from this municipality and representing different institutional endeavourson the issue of autism.I used a combination of both quantitative and qualitative techniques, as there was need for bothstandardization and qualitative variation. The main aim of the study was to seek suggestionson how computer programmes should be. That is, if they are to be considered appropriate föraiding children with autism develop their personality.The general conclusion of this study is that computer programmes, that may be consideredappropriate for the above mentioned purpose, should have certain characteristics of whichpedagogic usefulness and user suitability are of primary importance..

Whistleblowing är någonting som i dagsläget blir allt mer känt. Edward Snowden och Wikileaks är det första som kommer till tanken när whistleblowing nämns. I den ekonomiska världen förekommer även Enron som en whistleblowing skandal, som många känner till då det är den största företagsskandal som inträffat under modern tid. Whistleblowing definieras som ett verktyg som ska motverka oegentligheter och börjar införskaffas av fler företag. Medan föregående studier undersöker vad som rapporteras, men också vilka individer som blåser i pipan, förekommer det inte någon studie om hur arbetet med whistleblowing faktiskt ser ut i företagen.

The purpose with this study has been to get a previous knowledge about how pre-school teachers look at the impact of the picture book for children and their language development and participation at the age of three to five years. The study was carried through inquiries at a pre-school in a west Swedish urban district. The study proceed from the sociocultural theory which means that children learn by teamwork with other more experienced individuals. The result shows that the pre-school teachers consciously let the interest of the children guide the choice of books. At the same time they push for the meaning of conversation with the children.

This is a case study that explores the ways in which implemented university reforms have affected employees in the higher educational sector. Previous research within the research field has mainly focused on policy related consequences of the reforms. This is why a study that brings attention to the ways the reforms have affected employees is sorely needed.The aim with the study is to examine whether there is a discrepancy between formal changes and the ways the employees experience them. The study is based on interviews with 8 lecturers from two universities and the material is analyzed mainly through sociological neo-institutional theories, such as Richard Scott?s theory of the three pillars within an informal institution and Helmke and Levintskys theory of the relationship between formal and informal institutions.The results show that there is a discrepancy between the formal changes and the ways employees perceive them.

Den teoretiska bakgrunden bygger på de i litteraturen tydliga grundstenarna för andraspråksinlärning, vilka är varierad undervisning, tryggt klassrumsklimat, kulturella variationer, behov och motivation. Dessutom har samtalets betydelse för andraspråksinlärning lyfts fram och huruvida skapande verksamhet bidrar till samtal mellan eleverna. Syftet med studien var att göra en jämförande studie mellan tidigare forskning och verksamma pedagogers uppfattningar angående vilka faktorer som upplevs viktiga vid svenska som andraspråksinlärning. Dessutom ville vi undersöka huruvida skapande verksamhet stimulerar till samtal och om det därmed kan underlätta svenska som andraspråksinlärning. Studien grundade sig på intervjuer som gjordes i en grundskola för yngre åldrar i ett mångkulturellt område.

I denna studie undersöks skandinavisk grannspråksförståelse på en arbetsplats med anställda från Danmark, Norge och Sverige. Syftet är att ta reda på hur den skandinaviska språkgemenskapen tar sig konkret uttryck på arbetsplatsen. Materialet, som omfattar ett möte och två intervjuer, analyseras med utgångspunkt i ackommodationsteorin och CA (Conversation Analysis), samt i tidigare forskning om skandinavisk grannspråksförståelse.Resultaten visar dels att viss ackommodation (språkliga anpassningar) görs i de interskandinaviska samtalen, dels att förståelsen är asymmetrisk: de svenska medarbetarna tycks ha svårare än sina skandinaviska kolleger att förstå grannspråken. Främst har de svårt att förstå talad danska, och väljer därför ofta att tala engelska med sina danska kolleger. Talad norska förstås däremot betydligt bättre av svenskarna.

Since 1983 all Swedish companies are legally obliged to allow themselves to be audited. Recently the question of whether small companies should be subject to this or not has frequently been discussed. Many find it superfluous and think it ought to be abolished. In England small companies no longer have to be audited. However, in a study by Jill Collis it has been shown that a large number of companies choose to be audited although there is no obligation for them to do so.

Sammanfattning Syftet med detta arbete har varit att undersöka hur två olika samtalsaktiviteter, i moderna språk spanska, påverkar hur samtalare talar i interaktion och uppnår meningsskapande sinsemellan. För att kunna analysera detta har arbetet utgått från Conversation Analysis (CA), en metod som analyserar de olika metoder som deltagare själva använder för att hantera olika aspekter av samtalets organisation och olika problem som kan uppstå i samtalet. Enligt CA är sociokulturella faktorer och andra sociala kategorier endogena i samtalet. Vilket innebär att samtal kan analyseras oberoende av social kontext eller sammansättning av samtalare.Med hjälp av videoinspelad observation har CA använts för att analysera hur samtalare i fyra grupper om tre använder sig av turtagning, reparation och pausering i två olika samtalsaktiviteter på spanska, en med bild och en utan bild.  Undersökningens resultat visar att det inte är den fysiska närvaron eller frånvaron av bilder i sig som leder till skillnader i hur deltagare gör då de interagerar. Det är hur talare och medsamtalare gör för att orientera mot bilderna och deras innehåll som ger upphov till skillnader i hur de använder sig av turtagning, reparation och pausering i samtalskativiteter.I samtalen utan bild orienterade deltagarna mot varandra.