This thesis has been carried out in collaboration with LEDtec International AB. LEDtec focuses on innovative solutions in LED screens. Everything from large advertising signs to welcome signs in cities, to screens indicating speeds or warning of heavy traffic. The task was to was to help them develop a new version of the control board that is used in some of their products. The reason for this is that their old control board is obsolete and the components that are on it, is no longer manufactured or in need to be renewed.

How can a vacuum cleaner motivate you to use it? From a sustainability perspective,the author asked the question of how such a solution would looklike? These where issues that the project tackled and devised solutions for. Theproject wanted to explore the physical modeling and a large part of the finalresult consisted of a full scale model. The project found that the problem ofvacuuming largely consisted of the problem of storage the product. The projectfound that the motivation for the job, therefore, could be resolved by a betterdesigned vacuum cleaner with a built-in hose, folding handles, which couldbe stored integrated within the vacuum cleaner.

Annual reports are by many considered to be companies primary way to inform their world where the CEO's words are read most carefully by shareholders. The purpose of this paper is to examine the design of the CEO's words in annual reports in light of the financial crisis in 2008. The study seeking explanations for change, similarities and differences in the various texts based on three themes which are results, future and confidence. In this qualitative study five CEO's words are explored by means of a discourse analysis, all from large Swedish industrial companies listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. Some of the results shown is that the CEO tends to talk about the company's results in a self-serving manner and CEO speaks more aboutm the results before than after the crisis.

The study explores collective action in Sweden between 1980 to 1995 using time-series data from the European Protest and Coercion Database. In spite of severe hardship during the crisis of the early 1990s, Swedish strike-rates declined. However, contention merely shifted from workplaces into the streets; there was indeed a protest movement against austerity, as shown by a series of large demonstrations, and some riots, between 1989 and 1993. Further analysis indicates this movement faded as it was increasingly chanelled into the electoral campaign of the labor pary; having won the 1994 election, the organised labor movement no longer had an interest in sustaining the protest movement against austerity..

Scandinavian Biogas is involved in the planning of a combined ethanol and biogas factory in Karlskoga, Sweden. Besides biogas and ethanol large amounts of digester residues will be produced, about 450 000 liquid tonnes residue (~7,3 % Dry Substance( DS)). The objective of this thesis was to investigate possible uses of the residue from the biogas production process ScandgasEthanol developed by Scandinavian Biogas, and to derive a methodological approach how to evaluate and compare handling systems. Three systems where proposed and compared in this thesis; spreading of the untreated residue as fertilizer (system 1), dewatering to a higher DS content to reduce transportation before spreading as fertilizer (system 2) and production of a solid fuel by dewatering and drying the residue (system 3). The general conditions for the proposed systems were investigated in terms of practical viability, economical aspects, environmental impact and energy inputs/outputs.

The aim of this master thesis has been to investigate discussions about public access to Internet in public libraries. Areas of interest were the debate in Sweden as well as in the United States. The approach was qualitative and questionnaires were distributed by e-mail to a number of Swedish public libraries. The results from the survey were then supplemented with a theoretical background and a literature study. The usable questionnaires obtained from 20 libraries showed a rather uniform approach among the Swedish librarians of how the Internet is best provided by public libraries.

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether a so-called "expectation gap" exist between the accounting consultants and their clients. The excistence of an expectation gap has already been confirmed between auditors and their clients. Interviews were conducted with both accounting consultants and managers to find out what expectations they have for each other. The factors that influence the occurrence of an expectation gap and the size of them are many but the most important factor may be regarded as individuals' different needs and requirements. The gap can be reduced or entirely eliminated by ensuring the quality of an accounting consultant's work, for example, REKO and / or that management have more realistic demands that actually can be met.

The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of how medium-sized construction companies adapt and how they choose to reorganize their operations in relation to the recession. The study has as its theoretical starting point theories about organizational learning, the impact of the economy on construction companies and strategies for dealing with recessions. The method used to conduct the study was semi-structured interviews with representatives from 15 different construction companies. The results of the study show that they used several strategies to adapt and reorganize the business in accordance with the recession. Some construction companies had to make cost savings as a result of the recession.

The title of this study came about from the title of Robert Putnams book Bowling Alone, where Putnam mentions that less people are bowling in teams than before. Bowling is still a large leisure activity in the USA but people tend to bowl more and more in small groups and less in organized teams. This study deals with social capital and leisure time. Its aim is to find out if some Swedish people create social capital on their leisure time and also how do they spend their leisure time. Robert Putnams book Bowling Alone serves as main background material along with the work by Bo Rothstein.

This paper aims to examine performance monitoring in project organisations. The number of organisations that regularly performs projects as a key part of their operations grows rapidly, why this topic has become of large interest. Through a theoretical framework developed by Lars Östman in 1977, the performance monitoring system of the Swedish government-owned public utility Svenska Kraftnät is studied closely. The results from this analysis are then linked to an analysis of the organisation's internal structure through Mintzbergs generic organisational structures. Close connections are found between organisational structure and performance monitoring, which leads on to interesting observations about the connection between size of a project organisation and choice of monitoring method..

The aim of this Master´s thesis in Art History and Visual Studies is to examine the existence and theexpressions of openness and interior space in the contemporary Swedish architecture of singlefamilyhouses. Research has focused on open-plan housing with open connections between kitchenand living areas, large windows, walls of glass, high ceiling heights and entresol or loft levels, usingtwo case studies and analyses of seven reference objects. Interpretation is based onphenomenological theoretical perspectives.Houses that are more or less transparent permit views from both the inside and the outside. Adiscussion of this potential dilemma is supported by sociological perspectives on identity, life-style,self-presentation, privacy and publicity..

This thesis is largely about museums and their role and development in and for society. With a field/case study of the District Six Museum in Cape Town, we try to encapsulate a modern function for museums within a context of 1) the current worldwide discussion on museums and their future, and 2) the development of a new democratic nation in South Africa, and museums possible role in that process. Through analysis of interviews made with concerned people within and outside the District Six museum weintend to get a picture of the views on this particular museum and its role and function, for its community and society at large, plus for other museums, as a possible role model. We find that this museum might be close to a type of museum that has been asked for by museologists and others in recent times..

Health and fitness are two controversial and not easily defined topics that affect people in our modern society every day. We believe that we can find a link between individualism, globalization and the stress concerning weight and appearance ideals. Our bodies have turned into a popular subject for the media, and there is no indication that the interest will decline. As the world gets more artificial, "natural" ideals are getting more attention, such as the concept of a strong and healthy body. But there is also a downside, for example with health issues such as cardiovascular disease increasing following the birth of high-fat diets.

In the digitized world many organizations experience a large flow of information. To sort and manage all the information can be difficult. Individuals may experience a phenomenon called ?Information Overload?, due to the fact that the information flow is too extensive. There are various reasons why individuals are affected by this phenomenon.

This study aims to examine how teachers in elementary school reason about and effectively implements special needs education. A qualitative study was made by interviewing four elementary teachers about their own role in dealing with pupils in difficulty. The material was then analyzed using content analysis. The result section is presented by the study's issue and then been analyzed against the background research. In the analysis it follows that the teachers believe among other things that there is too little time and resources to meet pupils in difficulty, the time and resources in schools is essential when it comes to meet students' needs.