Background: The global capital markets have enlarged investment opportunities and thus also the sources of funds for companies which increasingly face global markets for their services and products. Huge capital movements show that investors are constantly searching ways to minimise risk and maximise returns. In the light of the substantial growth of assets in institutional funds, an important question for international finance is the degree to which institutional investors have diversified their portfolios internationally. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the international diversification of portfolio investments of institutional investors in Japan, the US and the UK and deepen into international diversification in portfolios of Japanese institutional investors. Demarcations: Institutional investors can use their power directly in companies or indirectly through capital markets.

Numerous studies raise the topic of highly educated immigrants whose education and list of qualifications devalue in the context of the Swedish labour market. However, little is known of those with foreign background who enter into higher education in Sweden. Our study attempts to shed some light onto the value of higher education relative to that of a person?s ethnic background. The background material features nine in-depth interviews of foreign background academics, as well as data extracted from an extensive survey study previously carried out at Växjö University. Initially, the quantitative data showed that students with foreign background, including Swedish-born children of immigrants, had not managed to find qualified work upon completion of studies to the same extent as their Swedish background counterparts.

The project is a thesis which intends to strengthen the form language and increase the user friendliness of an International Moth. This is a single handed dinghy with only one sail. It sails on two hydrofoils and receives a very high speed compared to its size, and are therefore often referred to as ?the Formula One on water ?. The result is a new concept where the aerodynamic forces have been used to stabilize the boat and relieve the hydrofoils.

The aim of this essay is to examine which of the two approaches within the field of conflicts that best explains the conflict between Georgia and Russia using negotiations, dialogue and conciliation. According to the first approach negotiations are used to handle a conflict, according to the second approach negotiations are used to solve a problem.  The focus will be on how the two states acted and how the dialogue from the European Union as a conciliator was brought before the war escalated in 2008. The EU is today an important actor within the international politics and has established close relations to the two states. The conflict goes back in history and is still not solved. In the fields of international studies, there is a realistic view that claims the international politics to be shaped by suspicions between states as main actors. War is never far away, what is claimed to be solved through diplomacy.

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) proposes vibration standards for the evaluation for machine damage due to vibration in rotational machines, where some vibration parameters are given to measure the vibrationgrade. This work evaluates the relevance of the vibration standards in hydro plants that are proposed by the ISO, and also investigates if there are methods used in other countries could have greater importance. Through statistical analysis of collected data we got a better understanding of relation among different vibration parameters, and also the importance of correct choice of the parameters for the evaluation of vibration. We have found that the vibration standards available today in hydro plants are not reliable for the judgment of vibration?s grade.

This paper is a case study of a local labour market project. The aim of the study is to investigate the staff?s way of working with unemployed people, receiving social assistance, in order to reduce the payment of social assistance in four adjacent city districts of Stockholm. Other objectives of the study are to investigate which criteria the staff uses when selecting participants for the project, in which way the participants? background affects the measures taken by the staff and how the staff experiences working as part of a project.

The aim of my study was to describe and interpretate how an international adopted person look back at and describes her learning process individually and in interaction with others. Data are based on one in-depth interview with a phenomenological inspired approach.The findings showed that the interviewee has repressed a great deal of her former life from her country of origin. According to the interviewee, the process of learning in interaction with other people has worked well. She has furthermore never felt that other students have treated her differently based on her appearance. There is some ambivalence in how the interviewee describes this though, which opens up for other interpretations..

The Swedish legislation regarding tax reduction for gifts to nonprofit organizations was stated year 2011/12. The legislation includes tax reduction for donors if the gift refers to a nonprofit organization whose work consists with ?charity for an economical need? or ?scientific research?. To be included as approved recipient the recipient has to apply for approval. This approval includes both an application fee and an annual fee.

The aim of this paper is to describe and explain which policy instruments for human rights (HR) the United States and the European Union use towards Burma and to examine the priority given to HR in their respective foreign policy. From the results of an empirical analysis this paper seeks to analyze the US and the EU as powers in the international system and aims to explain their behavior from this theoretical perspective. From the theoretical approaches used I conclude that these actors act in different ways regarding the Burmese issue. This is partially due to the structure of the international system. Both actors primarily use different forms of diplomatic tools and sanctions to try to force change for HR in Burma.

This study investigates the corporate sustainability activity, linked to the company's core business, which is a relatively unexplored field in a Swedish context. The study examines how the organization has used management control for its sustainability activity within two social initiatives; and whether these initiatives have generated value for the organization and involved stakeholders. Management control of social initiatives are examined within the theoretical framework of The Sustainable Balanced Scorecard and the organization's value creation contributions are outlined in accordance with a definition of the concept of Creating Shared Value. The method used for the implementation of the study is a qualitative study, embodied in an illustrative case study of a large Swedish company operating within financial sector. The empirical data was collected through 12 in-depth interviews with representative interviewees within the organization and with other stakeholders involved in the company's social initiatives.

According to the EC fuel regulations 2 % bio fuel has to be blended in all fuel by the year 2005, and 5.75 % by the year 2010, which means ethanol for gasoline driven vehicles, so there will be a substantial demand for ethanol. Brazil already has an established industry for producing ethanol and is the leading producer and exporter of fuel ethanol. My purpose with this paper is to investigate why Brazil decided to develop ethanol production on a large-scale operation and to find out today?s situation. Focus will mainly be on ethanol production with sugarcane as a feedstock.

In this essay I examine how a municipal- and an independent upper secondary school compare to the ideal types the Company and the Political organization and how that affects the school practise as it?s described in policy documents. The conclusions are that the municipal school on a number of variables correlate to the ideal type the Political organization. At the same time the school reforms of the 1990s are considered as an intention to ?companylize? the municipal school and a number of tendencies how that have affected the municipal school are shown.

This paper deals with the subject internal communication. We received this assignment from Region Värmland, an organization formed jointly by the 16 municipalities in the county of Värmland, to take responsibility for regional development, growth issues, culture and adult education in Värmland. The organization consists of a number of geographically dispersed units with specialized working areas. In this type of organization, there are high demands on internal communication as a tool to coordinate the organization?s different units and integrate their work, in order to reach the common goals.

Systems development methods has always been an important part of the systems development process. It affects not only the product, but also the organization itself. Today more and more companies are abandoning the more rigid traditional methods for the more flexible agile ones. A transition like this is bound to affect the product and the organization, but in what ways? Is it a difficult transition to make, and how does it affect social environment and dynamics? Does it change how people communicate information to each other? This study was conducted at a local branch of a larger international IT-company.

The value of a good reputation for organizations is increasing today as consumers and citizens become more aware of brands. If a crisis hits an organization, there is now more to lose than before concerning reputation. Therefore the organization?s communication strategies must be developed to sustain the organization?s reputation during and after a crisis.In the field of crisis communication there are two distinguished theories which concern what an organization with help from crisis communication should do to undergo a crisis without losing its reputation. These theories are image repair theory and situational crisis communication theory (SCCT).