The hospitalization of childbirth and maternal care in Sweden is from an international perspective quite unique. It was implemented already in the beginning of the 20th century and fully mainstreamed by the 1960?s. This essay examines the professional discussions of midwives and doctors as depicted in their union?s membership papers, during the hospitalization period.

This paper examines the reasons behind firms considering backsourcing. While firms experience problems with their outsourcing activities, backsourcing emerges as an alternative solution. Firms primarily take cost considerations into account when reconsidering their outsourcing practices, but this only scratches the surface. A deeper analysis is needed, since cost increases arise from issues such as quality defects and cooperation problems. Even though production costs are low, outsourcing always implies transaction costs.

The main aim of this thesis is to examine what motivates people to become entrepreneurs and how they are motivated to continue being it. We have decided to focus on four elements: the driving force of being an entrepreneur, the environment, the individual background and important personal characteristics of the entrepreneur. Qualitative interviews were carried out with six information consultants. The theoretical background has its focus on entrepreneurial motivation. A model of entrepreneurial motivation by Naffziger, Hornsby and Kuratko 1994 is presented.

Background: A company?s choice of capital structure is influenced by the access to internal and external capital but also by the opportunities and threats that the management perceives in the environment and the management?s attitude towards risk. How an individual perceives and interpret the environment depends on the cognitive structures, which are shaped by personality, background and earlier experiences. Accordingly cognitive structures can be expected to influence the choice of capital structure. Purpose: Out of a cognitive perspective we intend to study the relationship between the way a company views it?s environment and what capital structure it chooses to have, in order to contribute to an increased understanding about what lies behind a company?s capital structure policy.

The essay deals with the subject about branding and the communicative process that entails between businesses and consumers. The purpose of this paper is to increase understanding of the opportunities and risks of brand building through sponsorship and Co-Branding. This descriptive analysis is made by highlighting the partnership between two strong brands in the Swedish market, Åbro & AIK, and how internal and external associations related to their impact on brand equity. The study has led to the conclusion that the sponsorship should be seen as synonymous with Co-branding, ie. a synergy between two or more brands.

Interest in the implementation of AGV-systems (Automated Guided Vehicle) has in recent decades increased. The reason is that it allows companies to perform reliably and secure internal transport while reducing the need of personnel. It is one of todays most advanced and complex material handling system that can independently make their own decisions regarding flow paths and traffic control. An AGV-system consists of transport units carrying cargo from point A to point B, and communicates using a computer.The purpose of this study is to develop a model on how to proceed in order to design an AGV system in heavy industry. The model is tested by a case study of a company in the metal industry to determine if the model works and gives the correct result.

A social intranet is an information and communication channel that is relatively new. There is still a small amount of research done around social intranet and what it is, and also on what organizations and their members may benefit from using such an intranet. Therefore, this paper was written with the purpose to em-phasize the reasons, possibilities and difficulties of implementing and using a so-cial intranet. With interview as method we took part of the experiences and views on social intranet from a number of organizations that are using or is about to establish a social intranet, and also from companies who deliver the service. Through the use of previous research in organizational communication, we then analysed the responses we received from our respondents.

Since the Maastricht Treaty the European Parliament has gained competence in the decision-making process and the Parliament is today one of two decision-making institution, next to the Ministers of Council. In this study the main focus has been to shed light over the negotiation culture within the European Parliament, which up till now has been a neglected research area. This is of great significance because the internal negotiations in the European Parliament decide the external negotiation position with the other institutions.After face-to-face interviews with MEP:s and assistants I have been able to identify certain characteristics to create an understanding of the negotiation culture in Europe's elected Parliament. The negotiations are oriented towards a problems-solving approach and the prevailing apprehension is consensus-based negotiations instead of the existence of political blocks. The committees are stronger than the European party groups, which further encourage negotiation.

AbstractWhy don't (some) regimes with formal democratic features undergo transition to democracy? Which are the internal dynamics of these regimes that can offer comprehension to this state of affairs? The main purpose of this thesis is to advance the above questions, and, on a lower level of abstraction, examine the case of Egypt. The Egyptian regime is characterized by, for instance, a multiparty-system, steps toward economic liberalization, and some level of persistent state opposition, and has been considered on the way to liberal democracy, but can still hardly be estimated as such.Thus, the thesis takes part in a theoretical framework on democratization, and further analyzes the case of Egypt on grounds of socioeconomic development, political culture, and class configuration. By this contextual approach, the thesis adduces that a low level of modernization, an incomplete democratic political culture, and a bourgeoisie supported by the state are impending significant factors. The thesis additionally remarks on the interconnection of the adopted theories, and discusses a potential need for new theoretical propositionsA secondary aim of the thesis also gives some insights into the concurrence of regime stability and the absence of democracy in, what often could be labelled, authoritarian regimes.

The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the design and function of an engine production management?s control system and its intended function, and to contrast it with the present management control systems in use on an operational level. Interviews conducted with employees from all levels of the engine production are the main source of this study?s empirical foundation. Information has also been gathered from relevant written material such as annual reports, internal documents etc.

Under de senaste åren har användningen av interna sociala nätverk (ISN) markant ökat. En orsak till detta kan vara den ökade användningen av publika sociala nätverk (så som Facebook eller Twitter) på arbetstid, då detta tenderar att sänka arbetsmoralen och effektiviteten hos de anställda. Ett ISN fungerar i princip som ett socialt medium, men dock innanför ett företags eller organisations interna väggar och fokuserar mer på att främja samarbete, kommunikation och kunskapsutbyte. Detta examensarbete utreder hur man kan implementera ett ISN i en mindre organisation och få det att leva i ett företags vardag. Vanligtvis används ISN inom större företag för att främst hitta och dela kunskap inom organisationen.I denna avhandling kommer jag (baserat på genomförda metoder) skräddarsy ett gränssnitt för Xtractor Interactive AB i ett ISN som heter Totara Social.

Due to recent legal enactments regarding carbon dioxide emissions, the car industry is facing higher demands. An effective way of reducing these emissions is to minimize the weight of the vehicle. This thesis constitutes a feasibility study on whether or not it is applicable for the car industry to utilize an inner floor structure comprising composite materials. The principal was the projectSåNätt, in which the main participant was Volvo Cars Corp. In consultation with a reference group, consisting of delegates from the industry and KTH, a specification of requirements was produced.

Vattenfall Heat Uppsala runs the waste incineration plant in Uppsala, which produces district heating, process steam, district cooling and electricity. Vattenfall Heat Uppsala has decided to introduce an energy management system with the aim to increase the energy efficiency of the plant. The basis in such a system is to make an energy mapping.In this thesis an energy mapping has been performed at the waste incineration plant with the aim to identify and determine the size of energy flows. The investigated energy flows are used fuel, produced and used steam, produced district heating and cooling. Also the use of electricity to run the processes has been investigated.

Internal communication exists in all organizations and is ongoing. It is of great importanceto communicate effectively when deficiencies can have serious consequences. The tsunamithat swept over South East Asia's coast in 2004 is indicative of this. At that time the consequenceswere loss of efficiency and productivity of businesses, health care, police and themilitary. All because of the lack of information.Employees in an organization take many decisions that affect the entire organization.

The aim of this thesis is to map the current internal information flow at Volvo Uddevalla, to detect obstacles in the flow and to find out how these obstacles can be avoided. The aim is also to describe how a corporation, in this particular case Volvo Uddevalla, creates knowledge and use information. The study is performed in order to create a base for the coming implementation of a new information standard. The method used is conducting an information audit investigating the current management of documentation according to the changes that have to be made to carry out the claims from the standard. The investigation is made by way of interviews with 16 of the employees at Volvo Uddevalla.