AbstractTitle: The Moment Of Truth; A study of service quality assuranceAuthors: Fanni Helminen and Linda ElsborgLevel: Bachelor Thesis in Business Administration, C-level.Advisor: Lars- Johan Åge and Jens Eklinder FrickDate: 2014- JunePurpose: Quality assurance has become a vital concept and an important tool to ensure that employees are able to deliver high service quality. The purpose of this study will be to elucidate how service companies can apply the use of sevenfundamental features supporting service quality in their quality assurance; recruitment and selection; training, teamwork; empowerment; performance appraisals and rewards; communication, and culture (of the organization). Furthermore, we will illustrate how the type of business entity, organizational structure and organizational resources afflicts the seven features.Method: Method: We will, from a hermeneutic point of view, apply and qualitative deductive research method. Data have been collected through a case study. The data have been transcribed and the analytical method has been selected based on the conducting purpose.

The aim of this study is to fill the gap in mathematics education research concerning the relationship between identity and positioning in mathematical collaboration in groups. This study elaborates on the relationship between how pupils see themselves as math students in sixth grade, how they show their identities as math students, in contrast to how they position themselves reflexively in group collaboration while engaging in mathematical problem solving. The theoretical concepts linked to this study are discourse, identity and positioning. Discourse is used to describe and form the setting and context of the study. Identity is seen as a transient and elusive concept formed by the students own perceptions of self through narratives.

Because of an increasing demand from customers and changing external environment, there is a need for continuous improvements, for both manufacturing and service organizations, to meet these demands. Manufacturing organizations have been working systematically with quality improvements for a long time, but it has not been as common for service organizations. Because of that the methods to use for implementation of the systematic improvements have not been designed to fit service organizations, and not either for public organizations. The purpose of this thesis is to explain if and why the Swedish Road Administration?s organizational culture and handling of ideas and deviation support an implementation of continuous improvement management.

This is a case study which investigated the perceived consequences of the organizational change that was implemented in January 2013 at Karlstad University. The study aimed to explore the experiences of the employees concerning the changes in organizational structure and internal communication. This was done through a set of eight individual standardized qualitative interviews with members from different departments. A lot of effort and thought was given to the ethical implications and to create a comfortable and open climate during the actual interviews to ensure that the respondents felt free to speak openly and honestly about their personal opinions and experiences.It is evident that the overall vision was ambitious; aiming to create a more effective organization through cutting off excessive administrative personnel and streamlining decision paths. However according to the opinions of the respondents it was clear that the result was far from the desired goal.

The purpose of this study is to gain increased understanding of managers´ attitudes and knowledge about its role in the internal organizational communication. We want to understand how managers define dialogue and further understand the role that dialogue plays for managers. We want to see whether the different managers highlight some common foundations or differences in the dialogue. With the help of the following two questions we wish to understand managers´ relationship to the dialogue within the internal organizational communication: -What meaning does the dialogue have for managers in the private sector?-What role does the dialogue play in the internal organizational communication according to these managers? We use qualitative interviews as the data collection method of our material. Using material from the interviews and mainly in accordance with William Isaacs? theory of dialogue, wecan answer our questions. The result shows that managers' views on the dialogue in many cases are similar to Isaacs? vision but differs in part. The managers believe that employees are there to contribute to the company.

The aim of this paper is to clarify the importance of communication between parents and educators, as well as collaboration. The survey involves cooperation between parents and teachers in preschool and in the survey; it is the educators? role and approach that is made visible. The issues I answer with the help of the interviewed teachers in the paper are: In what ways considers the interviewed teachers that can create dialogues with parents about children's daily life and activities? How do you describe the interviewed teachers that they interact with parents in preschool and the various forms of collaboration describe the interviewed teachers that they use in preschool?What difficulties consider the interviewed teachers may apply when creating dialogues and cooperation with parents in preschool Using a qualitative research method, the questions have been answered in the paper..

The aim of this thesis is to describe the subject indexing of images performed at the provincial museum of Jämtland and to evaluate the inter-indexer consistency at the museum. The main questions are: How are photographs indexed in the database SOFIE foto regarding Outline-codes, subject headings and natural language keywords? How does these procedures compare to research and indexing projects? How consistent are the indexers at the museum when choosing Outline-codes, subject headings and natural language keywords? Answers are sought by reading articles about classification, image indexing, indexing language, indexing consistency and by looking at a number of projects attempting to standardise image indexing practice in Sweden. The indexing practice at the museum is also described. In addition a minor inter-indexing consistency study, based on the subject indexing of ten photographs made by five indexers at the museum, is performed.

Syftet med uppsatsen är att genom en småskalig, kvalitativ, intervjustudie åskådliggöra hur vuxna upplever att social kommunikation via internet påverkar deras var­dags­liv, med fokus på upplevelsen av egen kontroll och styrning. Forsk­nings­frågorna: Vilka är för- och nack­del­arna? Ökar känslan av social ge­men­skap eller ger kom­munika­tion via inter­net en upp­levelse av isolering? Vad är verklighet i samman­hanget? Hur upplever individ­erna att den soci­ala kom­munikationen tar plats i deras vardags­liv? Upp­levs en känsla av kon­troll eller be­ro­ende?Teorierna som används finns i spänningsfältet mellan teknikdeterminism och bilden av en eman­ciperad an­vänd­are. De baseras på resonemang från Sherry Turkle om hur vi fjät­tras till kommunikationsredskapen och Maria Bakar­djievas syn på att internetanvändning kan ha en frigörande effekt samt att att män­niskor gör ak­ti­va och överlagda val. Som metod för in­sam­ling av empiriskt material an­vänds den kvalitativa forsk­nings­intervjun, för att komma åt det unika i varje persons be­rättelse.

The aim of the study was to examine Swedish preschool and school teachers views upon mother tongue education and cooperation with mother tongue teachers, research covering both topics are very limited. Data collection method for the study were interviews with three teachers from each type of school. The interviews were then transcribed, summarized, and finally analyzed based on the study's theoretical premises, a socio-cultural perspective, Kumashiros theory of non-oppressive teaching and constructivism. The results of the study showed that all teachers considered mother tongue education as important, but time constraints and workload prevented teachers from desirable development of mother tongue education. As for collaboration between teachers and language teachers, most teachers felt that such a thing does not exist, while those who have experience in this type of collaboration believes that it occurs to a limited extent..

Aim: Culture exists in every organization, whether you actively work with it or not. Old cultures often carry traditions and are hard to change. The purpose of this thesis is to describe Gävle Galvan from an organizational point of view and also to investigate the culture from a gender point of view.Method: The thesis is written with a qualitative and narrative approach. I have taken part in three person?s stories through interviews and thereby created picture of their everyday work on Gävle Galvan.

The name of the study means ?The short arm - a study in diversity and arm?s length in the cultural collaboration model?. Right now there is a reform in the Swedish cultural administration where the responsibility for handing out state funds and grants to cultural organizations is changing from the state government to the local regional governments. The purpose of this study is to map the organisational changes caused by the reform and investigate how this affects the regional policies concerning cultural diversity and the arm?s length principle.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to contribute with knowledge regarding the connection between the socialization process and the organizational commitment perceived by junior accountants. Based on Van Maanen and Schein's (1979) model, we intend to identify and describe how selected socialization strategies affect junior accountants? perceived affective, continuous and normative commitment during the initial five years in the firm.Research methodology: Semi-structured interview was chosen as the key approach for gathering essential data. Interviews were conducted at three major accounting firms with a total of eight interview participants. The study has a qualitative approach because of the ability to go in depth on the studied phenomenon.Conclusion: The socialization process consists of individual, informal, sequential, fixed, serial, and investiture strategies.

Roseroot (R. rosea L.) has gained more attention the last years, mainly because of its phy-topharmacologic properties. Even though many reports in roseroot have been published, only a few articles are dealt with the genetic diversity. The Nordic Genetic Resource Center has collected Roseroot material from Sweden, Greenland and Faroe Islands under different expeditions. The samples were analysed to study the genetic diversity study.

AbstractIn the secondary-school program for hotel and restaurant complete courses or parts of courses are placed in workplaces so called workplace education (APU), this means that the content in the course plan must be discussed and be divided in a proper way between the school and the workplace, so that the students is gaining all the parts that is prescribed in the goals for the course.Interviews with tutors and teachers have been performed, with the purpose of investigating how the collaboration between the school and the workplaces should look like so that the APU fulfills the content and quality that are prescribed in the specifications of the education. The study shows that a better structure for collaboration between the school and the workplaces is needed. Lack of time and financial resources are the factors that according to the study reduces the possibility?s to (among other things) perform education of tutors, and for the teachers to plan and follow-up the APU-period..

Syftet med undersökningen är att studera och öka förståelsen för relationen mellan bemanningsföretagens konsultchefer och deras kontaktpersoner vid kundföretagen. Genom att beskriva och analysera hur kontakten mellan konsultchefer och kundföretag ser ut är målet att besvara följande frågor: vem som ansvarar för vad, hur ser konsultchefen respektive kundföretaget på sin och den andra partens roll samt hur de ser på den överlappning som uppstår i ansvar och ledning av konsulterna.Undersökningen är kvalitativ och intervjuer har används för att samla in empiri. Fem personer intervjuades: tre konsultchefer på bemanningsföretag och två kontaktpersoner på kundföretag som hyr in personal av bemanningsföretag.I intervjuerna framkom att faktorer som har betydelse för hur relationen mellan konsultchef och hans eller hennes kontakt vid kundföretaget utvecklas är tid och volym på antalet konsulter som hyrs in. I vilken utsträckning konsultchef och kontaktpersonen vid kundföretaget delar ledarskap tycks hänga samman med om relationen över tid förblir formell eller om det tillkommer mer informellt utbyte. Undersökningen visar att när kundföretagen hyr in konsulter från samma bemanningsföretag under längre tid eller hyr in många konsulter finns större möjlighet till ömsesidigt utbyte i betydelsen att de kan diskutera fram beslut, dela på arbetsuppgifterna och ansvaret gentemot konsulterna samt byta erfarenheter som ökar lärandet..