Although previous research conclude that mergers and acquisitions do not always lead to improved profitability or increased shareholder return, the number and size of M&A?s is steadily increasing. In this thesis we examine why an acquirer pays a price higher than the market value. Can accounting data explain the size of the premium? 618 European transactions between 1997 and 2008 are examined and relationships between the targets? accounting data and the premium is analysed through statistical regressions.

According to science internal communication is a complicated, yet very important, issue of organizations today. An organization with a successful internal communication shows better results both economically and in terms of coworker satisfaction. The two main theories on communication are sensemaking and transmission. After a century with a transmissionary point of view, researchers stress the importance of sensemaking internal communication.Main question of this thesis is ?Which of the two main theories is the most useful when anchoring important messages in large organizations??According to the results of this study, conducted by interviews, neither one is more useful than the other.

Background: Investors have several options to choose from when the goal is to achieve the highest yield at the lowest cost and risk. Stocks are a common investment options, but is also associated with risks. Portfolios are usually constructed with several different assets to reduce the unsystematic risk of investment. Funds are similar to composite stock portfolios, the big difference is that they dealt with in their entirety and investors may not affect the fund's content. The problem remains that whether you choose stocks or mutual funds there is still uncertainty as to how the future will unfold.

This study investigates a method for identifying human capital and its effect on company valuation. We devise a measure for the efficiency of human capital based on the personnel cost. We include all companies listed in the financial and industry sector on Nasdaq OMX Stockholm in an attempt to examine human capital and its effect on firm valuation. Our results indicate that a higher efficiency of human capital has a positive effect on return on assets. However, we find that our measure can be interpreted in two ways; either as a firm?s level of human capital efficiency or its dependency on human capital, to achieve its net sales and revenue.

The last decade has created an increasing pressure on companies to decrease their impact on the environment and to increase their effectiveness of recycling the company?s resources, especially for the steel industry. Companies have also started to realize the economic aspects of an effective internal reverse logistics. In the past the value of an effective internal reverse logistic was something that companies tend to underestimate and there are few academic studies done in this area. The purpose of this essay has been to identify key factors to create an effective in plant storage, transport, sorting and handling of returned steel. From these factors a generalized model for creating an effective return steel flow will be developed.

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of joint venture announcements on stock prices behavior and simultaneously to test the German stock market (Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse) for efficiency. We tried not only to analyze the general impacts of a JV-announcement but also to look for differences in the market response to announcements of different types of joint ventures, namely: domestic, international, horizontal and vertical. Our expectations of efficient market were confirmed during our paper, which employed the technique of the standard event study. The calculation of abnormal returns which are the signals for market efficiency or inefficiency respectively were based on the market model, establishing linear relationship between the return on the market and the return on an individual security. The parameters of the model were obtained through regression analysis..

The accounting scandals that have attracted attention in recent years have led to internal control becoming a more central part of business activity. Doubts about what firms actually do have increased, all caused by the attention of accounting scandals. To counter this, frameworks and laws evolved and gained a significant role in the organization and its surroundings. The aim of the present study is to find out how four companies in the Kristianstad region are working to ensure its internal control and how they work to minimize risk and reduce uncertainty. We have used a qualitative method and interviewed a person in a senior position in each company.

AimThe purpose of this study has been to help Åtvidabergs FF to find development opportunities by reviewing the internal communication and decision making process within the organization. In this study we have used two models, Johari window and Administrative man.Our study has two main questions. The questions at issues are:? Can Åtvidabergs FF with help of the communication model Johari window identify how the internal communication can improve?? Can Åtvidabergs FF use the Administrative man as a decision model?o Will the use of the model Administrative man lead to better decisions will be made?MethodWe have made a qualitative case study in a positivistic spirit. Data has been collected through half structured interviews.

Title: The internal attractiveness of the sales position within ABB SwedenProblem: What is the cause of the low internal applicants for the sales position at ABB?Purpose: To identify why there are so few internal applicants for the sales position at ABB.Method: In order to achieve the purpose of the study, a survey was conducted amongst the employees of ABB. The target groups were sales managers, sellers and other employees. The result from the survey where then analyzed based on the theory chapter. Conclusion: A GAP-analysis showed a difference in the attitude towards the sales position at ABB.

Denna uppsats utgörs av en jämförande studie vars mål var att utröna huruvida åtta stycken utvalda investmentbolag på Stockholmsbörsen hade varit ett konkurrenskraftigt alternativ som sparform eller inte med avseende på risk och avkastning. Detta jämfört med SIX Return Index och den riskfria räntan under en tidsperiod på tio år, 2001-01-01 till 2010-12-31.Syftet med undersökningen var att den i slutändan skulle mynna ut i generella slutsatser kring investmentbolag som sparform utifrån de data som hämtats in från de berörda investmentbolagens hemsidor.Författarna kunde efter avslutad undersökning dra slutsatsen att investmentbolagen historiskt sett hade klarat sig mycket bra och kunnat uppvisa resultat som varken marknaden eller den riskfria räntan var i närheten av. Även om vissa av investmentbolagen hade presterat sämre än jämförelsemåtten så var dock den samlade bilden att de som grupp hade varit ett mycket fördelaktigt investeringsalternativ. Detta med en genomsnittlig totalavkastning som överträffade index med drygt åtta procent.  .

Background: Investors have several options to choose from when the goal is to achieve the highest yield at the lowest cost and risk. Stocks are a common investment options, but is also associated with risks. Portfolios are usually constructed with several different assets to reduce the unsystematic risk of investment. Funds are similar to composite stock portfolios, the big difference is that they dealt with in their entirety and investors may not affect the fund's content. The problem remains that whether you choose stocks or mutual funds there is still uncertainty as to how the future will unfold.

Aim: The main purpose of this thesis was to investigate how the employees experience theinternal communication and to examine the channels they communitace trough betweenthe departments at Blå Stället in Sweden. This task was given by the unit chiefs at thecompany who?ve seen a need to investigate and improve their internal communication.The goal is therefore also to produce concrete and well-founded proposals on how theinternal communication can bee improved at Blå Stället. Relevant Theoretical frame ofreference was internal communication, information, communication channels, formaland informal communication. To collect data from employees I made six interviews,one from every department and two informers.

The milk production per cow has increased considerably during the last 50 years and due to the breeding for higher milk production also brings decreased reproduction efficiency. In a Swedish study 1996 it was shown that on average only half of all estruses were detected. Every time a farmer fails to detect oestrus it costs the farmer about 1200 Swedish crones and the need of means of detecting oestrus is therofore large. With this study we wanted to investigate if heart rate respectively crystallisation of vaginal mucus (arborisation) could be useful means of detecting oestrus. We monitored two oestrus cycles in four heifers.

Background: There has been an increase in savings and investment in recent years along with an increased interest in responsible investments. Ethical mutual funds has developed and gained increasingly popularity.Aim: The aim of the study is to examine if ethical mutual funds are an equivalent alternative to traditional mutual funds in terms of return, risk and risk-adjusted return on the Swedish stock market.Theory: Beta, Jensen's Alpha, Sharpe ratio, Treynor ratio, and Modern Portfolio Theory.Method: Quantitative survey method, a statistical study.Conclusion:The study concludes that there is no significant difference between ethical and conventional mutual funds in terms of return, risk and risk-adjusted return. The small differences that exist between the two fund groups are in favor of the ethical fund group, indicating that funds is a comparable investment option compared to traditional mutual funds..

According to science internal communication is a complicated, yet very important, issue of organizations today. An organization with a successful internal communication shows better results both economically and in terms of coworker satisfaction. The two main theories on communication are sensemaking and transmission. After a century with a transmissionary point of view, researchers stress the importance of sensemaking internal communication.Main question of this thesis is ?Which of the two main theories is the most useful when anchoring important messages in large organizations??According to the results of this study, conducted by interviews, neither one is more useful than the other.