The use of entertainment in various kinds of business events has recently increased in popularity among Swedish firms. Often, stand-up comedians are hired to entertain the employees or customers during these happenings. Generally, the firm invests a considerable amount of money in this service and is furthermore willing to pay a premium for a famous comedian. Although the market for this type of service is fairly large, the knowledge of the motives behind the investments is yet limited.A grounded theory study is carried out exploring the purpose of the entertainment as well as the rationales behind the preference for a famous comedian over an unknown. Two general types of contexts (internal and external) are identified and a number of objectives related to each type are distinguished.

Management consulting firms are an important part of the knowledge economy and they capitalize on the analytical ability and knowledge of their employees. Much research have been made on large consulting firms and their management of knowledge, but little is known about how small consultancies manage their knowledge. Even less is known about the management of knowledge in small consultancies specialized in change management. These firms rely solely on senior consultants and focus on the human aspect of organizational development. This thesis aims to show how these firms manage their knowledge and also provide an understanding of why.

Sweden is a world leader in listed private equity and ranked fifth in the world in market capitalization. The sector is attracting increasing interest from the investment community. However, the private equity industry in Sweden has historically poor reputation and is criticized for creating value through high leverage, multiple riding and severe cuts. This study analyzes value creation drivers in buyouts from the perspective of the private equity firm using a dataset of 15 realized buyouts by private equity firms listed on NASDAQ OMX Nordic Stockholm. The methodology used separates the value contribution of leverage on the private equity firm's return from internal operational improvements and external variations in transaction multiples.

The aim of this paper is to examine if the two latest Peace Plans in the Palestine-Israeli con-flict observes the sources of the conflict and presents measures in the purpose of solving them. The point of departure is William Azar?s theory of protracted social conflict (PSC). According to Azar, the internal sources of a PSC lies in three clusters of variables: the com-munal content of a society, the deprivation of human needs as an underlying source of PSC, and the role of the state in the deprivation or satisfaction of human needs. The study is de-signed as a multiple-case study where the units of analysis are the Roadmap to Peace and the Geneva Initiative.

Nowadays, the world around us is changing faster and faster, the globalization is increasing and harder competition puts extra pressure on companies to be more innovative than ever before. One of the fastest changing industries is the IT industry where the actors always have to be up to date to keep their competitive advantage. The authors want to find out what makes some companies in this industry more innovative than others by examining what internal elements that are necessary for innovation. Much research has already been carried out within the field of innovation and especially about innovation management, although less research exists about smaller, non high tech service companies. Therefore the authors also tries to find out how applicable today?s theories are on this special field and thereby fill a smaller gap in today?s research.

Futurum.kom is a collaborative marketing project with the aim of strengthening the internal organization of Länsbibliotek Sydost, Regionbibliotek Kalmar and the 25 public libraries within the southeast region. The project intends to externally build the brands of the public libraries in Blekinge, Kalmar and Kronobergs län. This thesis is a study and evaluation of the implementation and results of Futurum.kom?s first campaign "Låna dig rik" at a public library. The analysis is based on the following issues:? What goals does the library have with the "Låna dig rik"-campaign.? What is the feedback from the staff's experience of the users in terms of needs and demands?? In which way does the library choose to implement the marketing campaign and what role do the users have in this process?? What is the internal performance of the library's marketing campaign, what was the experience of the staff of the campaign?? What is the external result of the library's marketing campaign?The method is based on a case study of a single library, with a series of interviews and document analysis of written and electronic documents.

Picker robots are often mounted close to each other above a conveyor belt. To be able topack robots even closer, it is desirable to reduce the footprint of the robot?s base. One way toachieve this is to skew the arms of the robot which makes it possible to move them closer toeach other.This Master Thesis has been carried out at ABB Corporate Research. The purpose is toevaluate the benefits and drawbacks for the idea of making today?s Picker robot morecompact by skewing the arms.

What role should science play in democracy? Political scientists often assume that it is possible to demarcate between ?instrumental? and ?moral? knowledge, and argue that citizens and/or politicians should use their moral knowledge to agree upon political goals and then apply the instrumental knowledge of scientists to achieve them. This straightforward view is challenged by writers in science studies, who identify three major problems in the use of science in democracy: uncertainty, risk and hidden values. They suggest that these problems could be solved through citizen participation.In this essay I perform an analysis of the internal logic of their suggestion. Is it likely that citizen participation enhances the democratic decision making process so as to reduce the problems? The internal analysis shows that it is rational to advocate citizen participation by reasons of legitimacy.

In a sustainable society the use of renewable energy and recycling of materials is of high importance. Wastewater treatment plants use large amounts of energy in the processing of wastewater. This study seeks to evaluate wastewater as an energy resource and to examine treatment plants potential to become sustainable energy producers. The study is based upon the internal processes of Himmerfja?rdsverket.

Inspiration for this work is from the argumentation, which is about following issue: ``If we are on a good way to leave the bureaucratization``.This paper is a study about Scania. Here I will find out at which level of bureaucratization Scania is ranked on. Scania is one of the leading producers of trucks in the world. It is acompany which works global and the analysis of Scania´s environment is as much as theanalysis of the company's internal organization..

The goal of this Masters thesis is to examine how people at the production department of Arkivator Falköping AB perceive the internal organisational communication transfer and exchange of information, by means of a communication audit. The objectives are also to characterise the communication climate and the respondents satisfaction with the internal organisational communication within the organisation. The results of the study are compared with the companys information policy and with previous research in organisational communication. Answers from different demographic groups within the population are compared. The communication audit was conducted using a modified and added version of a questionnaire originally compiled by the International Communications Association.

Background/Problem: Since the IT-burst in 2000 it has been recession within IT-consultant firms (Sif 2004). The tendency is, however, changing slightly and IT-consultants firms are getting more assignments again (Arbetsmarknadsstyrelsen ? AMS, 2004). IT-consultants firms are however still related to stressed per-sonnel (Handelskammaren 2004; Hallstedt 2001). Another critical factor is the communication between management and workers.

Today's fierce competition means that companies constantly must develop their business and internal processes. Focus on processes and continuous improvement is something that characterizes Lean Production which ICA logistics are applying with their concept Leading Logistics. Standardized routines for handling damaged gods were insufficient at the ICA distribution center in Kungälv. Handling and registration of damaged gods were not performed uniformly, resulting in problems with controlling and monitoring the process.The purpose of this thesis was to analyze and make recommendations how the process of internal handling of damaged gods could be improved. Therefore a comprehensive understanding was needed of the entire material flow through the warehouse and important quality aspects such as product safety and delivery reliability.The methods used are literature reviews, interviews and observations to produce a comprehensive process mapping of the current situation at the distribution center.

In this study we examine trade patterns between Turkey and 13 member states of the European Union and how these have developed over the time period of 1983 ? 2006. To represent the industrial and agricultural goods included in the study we look at the United Nations Standard International Trade Classification (SITC). Following, we investigate internal differences in the EU by selecting four countries each to represent the Northern and Southern countries of the EU. Internal differences were studied in relation to the amount of trade occurring between Turkey and the Northern and Southern countries.

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.