In today's society, the availability of energy plays an integral part in our everyday lives. Unfortunately, the price of energy in Sweden has increased in recent decades. A large part of our energy consumption goes to heating modules for houses, where heating methods that depend on energy sources such as electricity, district heating, fuel oil, gas and biofuels are the most common ones. During the winter period, the increase in energy costs becomes significantly evident, especially for small property owners. This increase in energy cost is most noticeable for home owners with electric heating.This thesis is written at the Halmstad University, in cooperation with a company, which makes parts of this thesis confidential.

 Problem: For what type of investors are index funds versus exchange-traded index funds best suited?Objective: The purpose of the paper is to determine how an index fund or an exchange-traded index fund (ETF) suits different types of investors with different requirements in terms of time frame, investment size and purpose of investment. The comparison is based on fees and trade practicality. This is going to describe the advantages and disadvantages with the two different financial instruments.Method: The study is a comparative study using two methods; one of which is a case study, the other is a qualitative interview. The case study focuses on fees and is made on an exchange traded fund (XACT OMXS30) and a simple equity index fund (Erik Pensér equity enhanced index).

Purpose: The purpose of this study has been to investigate whether Frennberg & Hanssons earlier study of anomalies still are correct, and if these are valid for certain sectors. Methodology: In an effort to find seasonal patterns on the Swedish exchange market, we have used the average daily returns. By using these patterns we have created investment strategies which have then been tested over a 10 year period. We also used t-tests to verify our results. Conclusions: We have been able to prove a change in the seasonal patterns that Frennberg & Hansson presented in their study.

Kevin Roberts has extended the comprehension of strong consumer brands to a higher level where loyalty beyond reason is established. He calls this new status Lovemarks. As the concept of Lovemark has only been applied in B2C markets, this thesis is directed to find out the applicability of Lovemarks in B2B context. In order to fulfill the research purpose, three main questions are answered based on a cross-sectional research approach: What role do intangible factors play in B2B branding? Is the idea of B2C Lovemarks transferable to B2B context? How should a B2B Lovemark be characterized? The results of the qualitative interviews indicate insights of high investment and involvement, integrated brand communication, balance between function versus emotion, brand?s trustworthy personality, customer partnership, and finally, the potential establishment of B2B Lovemarks.

A clean and affordable energy source for cooking is deficient in developing countries. People rely on fuels that contribute to environmental, social and health problems.Biogas is an alternative energy source and an increased investment in small-scale biogas production can in several developing countries be found. Several projects have started to use the technology in developing countries because of the benefits with biogas. Some cases in the establishment of biogas plants have succeeded and some have not. The study is a literature review supplemented by two field studies.

This essay describes and compares the extensive reindeer management to the more intensive, but grazing based, sheep management system in Sweden. Differences and similarities between the two production systems will be investigated by elucidating the economy, land use and possibilities to influence production and economy through breeding, feeding and product development. The reindeer management area covers the northern part of Sweden whilst the sheep management is dispersed over the country. Both reindeer and sheep are ruminants and have relatively high demands on the quality and digestibility of the feed however reindeers graze on mountain-and forest lands whilst sheep often graze inaccessible areas or cultivated grasslands. Selection intensity is generally lower in the reindeer management compared to the intensity in sheep breeding.

Syftet med uppsatsen är att beskriva och analysera hur belöningssystemen är utformade i detaljhandeln med inriktning på hemelektronikföretag.Fallstudien gjordes på företagen Siba, OnOff, Thorn och El-Giganten..

A successful acquisition is based upon good preparations before the integration process..

Background: Inter-organisational ways of working have become more and more common during the last decades. In order to attain efficiency and productivity, such inter-organisational relationships need to be governed and controlled. However, studies have shown that inadequate control is one of the main reasons for why inter-organisational relationships fail. One of the means that can be used for governing and controlling a business is management control. The use of management control in inter-organisational contexts is a quite unexplored area of research at the present time, which might seem somewhat surprising considering the fact that inadequate control is a common explanation for why inter-organisational relationships fail.

En sammanfattning av uppsatsen på maximalt 8000 tecken..

The capability to know what knowledge there is and where it resides within an organization is becoming increasingly important in the new knowledge-based economy. This paper takes on a practise-based view of knowledge in order to decide on a course of action for how to successfully implement knowledge management within a knowledge-based company. By considering all knowledge as more or less contextual and socially constructed, knowledge is divided into three dimensions depending on the degree to which it is tacit, namely: information, knowledge and skills. The paper then discusses inhibitors and enablers for transferring knowledge via these three dimensions respectively. The empirical findings are based upon a case study of Faveo. It is shown that Faveo, like most organizations, has til now focused on the collection of codified knowledge, i.e.

The purpose of this thesis was to look into how event management companies got knowledge about their customers? expectations and how they are influenced by these expectations. A case study was conducted based upon interviews with two employees from two companies that are in the business. The study has shown that event management companies do try to get awarness about their customers' expectations, especially by listening and discussing with the customer. Personal contact is an efficient way of communicating and a way to avoid misunderstandings, which is a common mistake when customers' expectations are not met.

Background: Markets in Financial Instruments Directive, MiFID, was implemented in Swedish law in 2007 and aimed to increase competition of the securities market in order to achieve efficiency and lower transaction costs and to enhance investor protection. Another aim was to increase confidence in the market. After the implementation of MiFID some doubts had been highlighted regarding its intentional effects. This evoked the authors? interest to examine the directive?s effects and its impact on investors? trust.Aim: To examine how various participants in the Swedish securities market experienced changes since the implementation of MiFID in 2007, and its impact on the securities market and minor investors' trust.Method: The study applied a qualitative method with a deductive approach to describe, interpret and understand the problem area.

This paper studies the research foundations created in 1994 from the former wage earners? funds out of a portfolio management point of view. Firstly it describes the seven largest foundations and their different portfolio management structures. Secondly it analyses the performance of these foundations measured as the intercept, Jensen?s a, in a linear regression of the excess returns of a portfolio versus a proxy for the market, as well as the Sharpe-ratio.

As a result of increased energy prices more and more energy-efficient homes are coveted. An energy-efficient alternative is passive houses, which is characterized by an extremely well insulated building envelope that recovers the heat without the use of radiators or under floor heating. But a passive house requires a higher investment cost than a conventional building project, since it will require more construction materials, training of construction workers, greater land area, and long construction period. But the lower operating cost expects to pay back the higher cost of investment. We therefore question how profitable a passive house is in relation to houses built according to modern conventional building techniques.The aim of our study is to investigate the viability of passive houses compared to convent­ional houses.