As a result of global competition, companies within the automotive industry are required to improve their production systems to achieve sustainable and competitive production. To attain operational excellence, companies have adopted concepts like lean and World Class Manufacturing (WCM).In order to deliver, companies need to increase the availability and reliability of production equipment. This demands focus on both operational and strategic maintenance, and efficient equipment acquisition and management. The main objective of this thesis is to identify processes and success factors that are necessary for improved maintenance performance. By conducting a case study and by performing a literature review, the following has been studied: 1) how companies within the automotive industry work with maintenance and maintenance strategies, 2) implementation of maintenance strategies, and 3) new acquisition and spare parts management for maintenance. The results show that basic maintenance concepts and related terms are well defined in the literature.

Title: The impact of service quality on customer loyalty - when a service changes from being free to become surcharged Authors: Carl Johan Olsson, Marcus Johansson and Victor Carlsson Supervisor: Hans LundbergCourse: Bachelor thesis in business administration, 15 Credits (15 ECTS) Keywords: Service quality, customer loyalty, price movementPurposeThe purpose of this essay is to increase the understanding if the perceived quality by the service users correlates with a future loyalty to a service when it cease from being free, to become charged.? Does the perceived quality of a service by the service users affect a future loyalty to a service, when it cease from being free, to become charged?MethodIn this essay we have chosen to implement a quantitative research method based on a survey. This choice was made in order to reach a sufficient large amount of service users and empirical data to answer our problem.ConclusionsAccording to the theory, customer satisfaction can be expressed through a comparison between customer?s expectations and the experience of using a service, and there are also positive correlations between service quality and customer satisfaction. Additionally, loyalty is based on service quality and customer satisfaction.

Tidigare forskning har påvisat vilken positiv verkan olika sorters samarbeten har på innovationer. Interorganisatoriska samarbeten är ett samlingsnamn för olika typer av samarbeten mellan organisationer och dessa kan exempelvis vara nätverk, allianser och forsknings- och utvecklingssamarbeten där det sistnämnda behandlas i vår studie. Organisationer som är involverade kompletterar varandra istället för att konkurrera med varandra. Interorganisatoriska samarbeten uppstår när organisationer söker effektivitet och konkurrensfördelar. Genom att ingå i ett interorganisatoriskt samarbete uppstår en samarbetsfördel som uppnås genom att organisationerna kan tillverka och bistå med olika faktorer som andra organisationer inte kan eller har möjlighet till.

The purpose of this study is to develop a general understanding of the areas of alliances and service quality as well as their relation to each other, through a consumer perception. Further, to discover more detailed and close up knowledge of customer perceived service quality within airline alliances. This is done by identifying particularly significant dimensions in the service process that have an influence on the perceived service quality.The thesis is based on qualitative study using a critical incident technique to explore the issue of service quality. In the research of the material the iterative approach has been used. The primary information sources are the interviews with customers-members of airline alliance.

The first of May 2005 changes were made in the Annual Accounts Act. The 2006 Annual Report of companies with more than ten employees or assets over 24 million SEK must include environmental information in the directors' report if it affects the company's development, result or position. A survey made by KPMG 2007 investigating the environmental information of companies listed on Large Cap Segment of the OMX Stockholm exchange showed that only a third of the companies, included in the survey, complied with the new law requirements. I have examined how the environmental information in the directors' report is formulated and why the information is formulated in that fashion. I have examined seven companies listed on the Large Cap Segment of the OMX Stockholm exchange. Four companies from the materials sector and three banks from the financials sector were included in the survey.

Syftet: Målet med studien var att utvädera kliniska intraorala foton som diagnostisk metod för att bedöma tandslitage (attrition, erosion och abrasion) och jämföra dessa bedömningar med kliniska registreringar. Material och metod: Studien genomfördes på Tandvårdskolan i Malmö, där man slumpmässigt valde ut 30 vuxna patienter. Dessa patienter undersöktes med avseende på tandslitage (attrition, erosion och abrasion) och kliniska foton togs. En månad efter kliniska registreringen gjordes en bedömning av de kliniska fotona, utan att ha kännedom om resultatet av de kliniska registreringarna. Båda undersökarna har på samtliga patienter utfört klinisk registrering och fotobedömning oberoende av varandra. Intra- och interobservatör överensstämmelse uppskattades genom Cohen?s Kappa- koefficient. Resultatet: Intraobservatör överensstämmelsen mellan bedömningar av foton och kliniska registreringar var måttligt-till-god med ett P-värde på 0,039-0,046.

Cloud computing is a new buzzword within the IT-industry, and introduces a whole new way of working with IT. The technique delivers web based services, which results in that the user no longer needs to install an application locally on a computer. Since the application no longer needs to run on a local entity, but in a datacenter located on a service provider, the users no longer need any specific hardware more than a computer with an internet connection. Cloud computing also offers IT-infrastructure and development environments as services, these three service types is better known as cloud services. Through the usage of different types of cloud services, the need for maintenance and hardware is significantly reduced.

The purpose of this study was investigating the means which rule the social worker?s choice of institution placing youths and how they match the youth?s individual need compared with the type of home. The questions were: Which significance has the characteristics of the youth and their family for the placing? Which significance has the characteristics of the institution? Which significance has the social workers? way of working, investigation, theories, economy etc.? A qualitative way of interviewing has been used. Eight interviews were done; six with social welfare secretaries who place youths and two social workers who work with coun­selling and placement.

This study investigated the possibility of implementing three standards, Transistion Minimized Differential Signaling (TMDS) and two versions of Stub Series Terminated Logic (SSTL), for inter-chip communication in a specific manufacturing process. The two SSTL standards were implemented in one transceiver system while TMDS was implemented in a separate system. The evaluation was done with Spice simulations on schematic level with some parasitic capacitance and resistance. The idea was to investigate the possibility of implementing these standards and get an idea of eventual shortcomings. In order to create models as a basis for evaluation, simulation environments with models for circuit board and packages were created and transmitters and receivers were designed.

The survey aims to highlight and describe how the schools' teaching strategies look like in the work of pupils from the neuropsychiatric disability AD/HD (Attention Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder). The pedagogical strategies have been investigated in an integrated and segregated teaching method. The study is qualitative in nature where the interviews conducted, first with a student who has been diagnosed AD/HD but also with teachers from each school who is well versed in student teaching and work. The results of the study show that knowledge and commitment about AD/HD is crucial to students' role and function in school. If knowledge and commitment is sufficient for the student teaching tailored to student needs and the risk of misunderstandings occur decreases. Security is a key factor for students who have been diagnosed AD/HD and learning form in itself is no guarantee that students will feel safe. Students have in the two teaching methods stressed that they feel safe at school and with their education and therefore has no teaching method preferred.

My essay is concerned with intercultural leadership and practical knowledge. The essay is about ethical dilemmas and the diversity of issues we face constantly at the preschool. In my story I examine the different views of knowledge and the opportunities to lead people in an intercultural way, and how they relate to each other. I start by looking at the ethical ideas that form the basis for our actions and our view of knowledge. Then, I examine how the practical wisdom guides the ethical dilemmas that arise at the preschool.

Since the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) was adopted in 1979 there has been evident progress in the area of women's rights in great parts of the world, although this progress is still foremost concentrated to the Westernhemisphere. In Argentina, the work with gender equality and women's rights set of strongly during the last decade. The country has ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishmentand Eradication of Violence against Women "Convention of Belem Do Para" but still women and girls are victims of structural discrimination and serious impunity of their rights on a daily basis.The current situation proves that the positive changes within the context of international and national law do not necessary reach out to the population to the same extent. In the light of the lacking popular involvement and knowledge of their rights, a different type of solution is desirable. Therefore it would be of interest to examinate the role of Non Governmental Organisations (NGO:s) when it comes to implementing human rights in the society and ?the every day life?.

The purpose of this masters thesis is to study two subject gate-ways within the field of Swedish higher education and academic research, concerning structuring and selection of Internet resources to facilitate information retrieval for their target groups, and also to study two co-operation projects in the same field, one national and one European, to see how the co-operation is being carried through and how the gateways in the projects can serve from a wider perspective. The gateways, AGORA and NOVAGate, are being studied mainly by their Web sites and two e-mail interviews with persons responsible for the gateways. Facts about the national project are principally based on an interview with BIBSAM. The European Renardus is being studied out of articles and information on the Web site. From the results of the study it is being clear that the purpose of the gateways is to make a quality-selection of information accessible via the Internet and thereby facilitate for their target groups to find usable information.

The school is responsible to make sure that each students´ individual needs are met as well as that the lessons are suitable for all students´ ability. As this is the case it is very interesting to evaluate how this is done in reality. The purpose with the study has been to shed light upon what different methods teachers in various schools use in order to individualize their teach­ings. Are their obvious differences in the way teachers work with individualization and how does this affect the students? The teachers in the different schools provided me with informa­tion on how they work in order to teach, stimulate and motivate well achievers as well as stu­dents who find school more difficult.

This essays main focus will be on emergency shelters in disasters, and their understanding in gender awareness, by focusing on the way gender is constructed and seen. This dissertation will examine documents from Australian Red Cross and IASC (Inter Agency Standing Committee) in order to explore how they work with gender and shelter related issues. The objective is to examine and with help from these documents see how gender is constructed. The method and theory is based on Carol Bacchis; What?s the problem represented to be approach? (WPR-approach).