För att vara konkurrenskraftig i dagens globaliserade företagsklimat krävs kostnadseffektiva lösningar som gör det möjligt för företag att möta kundernas krav gällande såväl kvalitet som pris och förmåga att leverera enligt överrenskommelse. Gevalia, ett producerande företag i Gävle, har problem med långa ställtider som markant drar ner deras effektivitet. En universell vedertagen metod för att minska ställtider är SMED, Single minute exchange of die, som anses kunna göras kompatibel i alla typer av industrier. Syftet med detta examensarbete var således att undersöka orsakerna bakom de långa ställtiderna samt hur dessa kan minskas. Vidare skulle en analysstruktur för ställtidsreduktion skapas.  För att uppnå syftet har intervjuer och observationer gjorts på Gevalia, samt en litteraturstudie kring berörda områden. Analysstrukturen som skapades är inspirerad av SMED och PDCA-cykeln. Strukturen innefattar även andra metoder som bland annat 5 Why och 5S, samt tar hänsyn till det mänskliga beteendet.

This paper investigates the compensation for risk in the context of the Swedish stock market with a special focus on downside risk. Using daily market data collected from the A-list of the Stockholm Stock Exchange between the years 1983 and 2005 the purpose is to answer the question whether Swedish investors are compensated for holding stocks with high downside risk, measured as downside beta. Using panel data analysis it is shown, in accordance with most previous evidence in international research, firstly that stocks with high beta values on average experience higher returns than stocks with low beta values, and secondly that stocks with high downside beta values experience higher returns than stocks with high beta values in general. On the other hand, cross-sectional regression methodology using a bivariate regression approach shows that downside beta does not explain excess returns very well. Instead, regression analysis suggest that high upside beta does a much better job in explaining excess return over this time period compared to downside beta.

Competition in the market of interior design during the last several years has drastically increased. The consumers of today are very conscious about what the market can offer and therefore they have high demands on the products. It is not only the function of the product that matters but also the design that makes a difference. Companies are becoming more aware of this and as a result they have to find a way to set themselves apart in order to attract customers. This realization has led designers and economists to cooperate in a different way than before.

Peritonitis is a potentially life-threatening disease in horses. With no published work from Sweden, the objective of the study was to describe the occurrence and demographics of horses with peritonitis and to evaluate the outcome of treatment in terms of short-term survival during a ten-year period in a large clinic in Sweden. Data were examined in a retrospective manner in 69 horses diagnosed with and treated for peritonitis at Universitetsdjursjukhuset (UDS) in Uppsala between 2002-2012. Demographic data examined included age, breed, gender, history, duration of illness before arriving at UDS, reason for seeking veterinary care, initial clinical findings (general state of health, heart rate, respiratory rate, mucous membrane appearance, rectal temperature, abdominal sounds, rectal examination, nasogastric tube results), abdominocentesis results (abdominal fluid analysis including visual inspection, leukocytes and protein, cytology, bacterial culture and sensitivity pattern), complete blood count (CBC), Serum amyloid-A (SAA) upon presentation and a follow up, plasma fibrinogen, plasma protein and albumin, treatments, length of hospitalisation and outcome. All medical records with the diagnosis of peritonitis were extracted from the medical records system Trofast. All records with any other diagnosis code referring to trauma such as rectal tear or ruptured uterus, recent abdominal surgery, external trauma or rupture in the gastrointestinal tract were excluded. To be included in the study, the peritoneal fluid should contain more than 20.000 cells/?L, have a peritoneal protein value of >30 g/L; or have a significantly changed peritoneal fluid sample (orange with increased turbidity or worse) in cases where no data on cells or protein were available. The horses were divided into two groups; one where the peritonitis was deemed to have an idiopathic aetiology (primary peritonitis) and the other group where the peritonitis had a possible aetiology such as intestinal parasites, impaction etc.

Today the Internet is used more and more as a transportation for information. Much of the information is confidential and should not be read by those not privileged. To protect the information from unauthorized access cryptography can be applied. The cryptography algorithms in use today all have their pros and cons. They are therefore suited for different applications.

The purpose of this study was to look at the experiences of midwives in maternalhealth care encounters with non-european-born women and men, and to determine ifmidwives deem any special competence necessary to handle these encounters well.We gathered information by means of qualitative interviews and semi structuredquestions with eight midwives all of whom matched the inclusion criterias and gavetheir personal consent. Midwives from four district health care centers in Uppsalawere included. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed by means of qualitativecontent analysis.The results reveal the experiences from encounters with non-european patients to betwofold. On one hand the encounter is a positive, exiting experience with anopportunity to learn more about a foreign culture and exchange experiences. On theother hand complications can occur as patients may have unexpected expectationsregarding the health care, have great difficulties with the language or haveexperienced traumatizing incidents, all on top of coming to Sweden alone withoutrelatives.In the encounter with non-european-born patients the midwives consider it importantto have special competence in form of knowledge of other cultures and religions asthis provides a greater understanding of the reasoning behind the patients? decisions.Cultural competence is also important as it helps avoid inadvertently insulting thepatient during the encounter.The special competence held by the midwives has been attained from their basic andspecialist education as well as from self acquired experiences and interests.

The ways designers work with craftsmen in other countries can vary alot,but still there are many similarities. In this study we make comparisonsbetween a number of projects involving three different designers and artisansin other countries and parallel that to our own work in South Africa.What we have seen is that there is some common denominators betweenthe different projects that are being taken care of in different ways.Some things that commonly attract the designers seem to be the skills ofthe craftsmen, as well as their colouring, patterns and materials. A furthercommon denominator in the projects is that people?s perception of qualityhas become an important issue. The products that are being developedare often sold in the country of the designer, and therefore a needto insure that the quality of the products is up to the standards expectedin that certain country has occurred.

The usability of the Internet increases for every year. The Weblog phenomenon makes it possible for anyone to easily publish, find information and get in touch with other people through the net. This Essay treats the possibilities the Weblog medium offer Swedish libraries and librarians in library contexts. The purpose of the study is to examine the Web phenomenon: Weblogs, and their significance for a total of eleven Library Heads and librarians together with their view on the Weblog activity at each library connected Weblog, to get comprehension and new knowledge on the usability of Weblogs in the library sector. The foundation for the Essay consists of a qualitative interview study, built on asynchronous e-mail interviews and telephone interviews with blogging librarians and Heads of libraries.

Introduction: Sleep is necessary for human survival. Difficulty sleeping occurs in about one in four adult person in Sweden, insomnia in every ten. There are several reasons for difficulty sleeping, where stress is one of the most common. The quality of life and health are affected negatively. Treatment with proven efficacy against insomnia is not only sleep medication, but also cognitive behavioral therapy, CBT.

Society is characterized by patterns of behavior and interaction that is created and recreated inthe interplay between individuality/collectivity and freedom/constraint, thus represents avariety of social issues and social phenomena. One of these phenomena is social supportexchanges and social capital. In order to obtain views on how this might appear in a specificsociety and contribute to the knowledge about social support exchanges and social capital, thisstudy was done with seven families in a village in Nepal. The village and the families gave aview and an example of how it might look in a place where social support exchanges plays acrucial role in this way of living. Through observations and interviews I have tried to make thesocial support exchange areas and meanings visibile.

Trading financial securities at stock exchanges and other authorized market places is today a particularly important socioeconomic phenomenon in many industrialized countries. A well functioning securities market is crucial for the economic development in these countries. The modern trading with stocks and other financial securities is characterized by the fact that the majority of the transactions at the stock exchanges are carried out through various intermediaries. The ultimate counterparties that are involved in a securities transaction (the seller and the buyer) are often unknown to each other. The anonymity in the securities trading implies several interesting legal problems.

Bakgrund: I och med samhällets globalisering ökar möjligheterna för revisionsmedarbetare till internationell rörlighet länder emellan. En svensk revisionsmedarbetare har idag möjlighet att åka på en utbytesperiod för att tillägna sig ny kunskap; såväl professionell som privat, vilket det finns olika tillvägagångssätt för. Samhälleliga, privata och arbetsmässiga kulturkrockar är något som en revisionsmedarbetare kan uppleva genom ett utbyte. För revisionsmedarbetare bör det vara nyttigt att erfara sådana här skillnader för att skapa ny kunskap, utveckla sin egna samt kunna dela med sig av denna.Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka vilken utbyteskunskap en svensk revisionsmedarbetare har av ett utbyte till USA, hur denna tillägnas, samt om denna kunskap går att implementera i det fortsatta arbetet i Sverige.Definitioner: Utbyteskunskap definieras i denna uppsats som den typ av kunskap som tillägnas vid ett utbyte. Med kunskap avses sådan som kan användas inom revisionsyrket, vilket innefattar kunskap om arbetsmetoder, tillvägagångssätt, sociala förhållanden samt regelverkens uppbyggnad.Resultat och slutsatser: Resultatet av studien konstaterar att utbyteskunskapen består i privata--?, kulturella--? och arbetsmässiga områden, vilka tillägnas genom erfarenhetsbaserat lärande samt praktisk involvering i samhället..

Recent studies made by Margaritis and Psillaki,have shown that a lower debt ratio and higher efficiency are correlated in their studies performed oncompanies in New Zeeland. Other researchers have been able to show a connection between other industries than the one used in our studies,among these are Titman and Wessler. These studies have been done with a great selection of companies in different industries and time periods. However most of these researchers have used traditional ratios and variables.This study aims to find and analyze connections between returns and lower debt ratios in real estate companies listed on the Stockholm stock exchange. Instead of the traditional debt-equity ratio we will construct our own taking long term debts and property assets.

Title: What´s the problem? - A study of revenue recognition in IT-consultant     companiesProblem: How do the chosen IT-consultant companies recognize their revenues? What difficulties do the interviewed companies experience in connection with the revenue recognition?Purpose: The purpose of this empirical study is to study how companies in the IT-consultant industry recognize revenues, and to investigate if the companies perceive any difficulties in connection with the revenue recognition. The aim of the study is to give useful advice and guidelines to companies in the IT-consultant business based on the extracted result. Method: The survey took place in Vasteras and started with a preliminary interview with a certified accountant, who had great knowledge of the subject revenue recognition. Then seven companies from the IT-consultant industry were selected, whereof two took part in semi constructed interviews.  Study of the other five companies? ways to recognize revenue was made through their annual reports.   Conclusion: One of the studied companies recognizes their revenues according to the rules in IAS 18, which is because it is listed on the stock exchange.

Börshandlade fonder (ETF:er) blir alltmer populära som spar- och investeringsalternativ. Antalet ETF:er och variationen av dessa ökar stadigt. Denna studie ser på ETF:er likställda aktier (ur ett värdepappersperspektiv) och syftar till att applicera momentumstrategier på den amerikanska ETF-marknaden, likt Jegadeesh och Titman (1993), för att testa sambandet mellan ETF:ers kapitalvärde och riskjusterad överavkastning, estimerat genom Jensens alfa. Med utgångspunkt från Banz (1981) som visar på samband mellan investeringar i småbolagsaktier och högre riskjusterad avkastning (än motsvarande investeringar i stora bolags aktier). Testet har baserats på portföljer sammansatta på momentum- och contrarianstrategier för att utröna om en ETFs storlek på kapitalvärde är avgörande för en ETFs avkastning.