This dissertation aims to explore how an investment appraisal differs depending on if it is conducted by a municipal or a private real estate company. Municipal and private real estate companies are not performing on totally equal terms in the property market. A municipal company in Sweden has a public service mission. The consequence due to that mission is that they have limited yield potential but on the other hand the right to certain subsidies. They are also limited by the law of public purchasing (in Swedish: Lag om offentlig upphandling) in the investment process.

Problem formulation: The awareness and importance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is growing within both corporations and society at large. The corporate progress in sustainable development can be both profitable and essential for the potential to compete globally. The value of sustainability reporting may differ between industries and companies of different sizes. The demands for sustainability reports are expected to increase. By 2010, no previous survey on sustainability reporting practices had been conducted within Swedish corporations. Purpose: The aim of the current study was to examine sustainability reports within Swedish corporations during 2010 and to compare the findings with preceding surveys to determine differences over time and between corporations.

Background: Companies with a high level of research, such as biotech companies, rarely generates any profit in the begining. Mostly their history is short and their pipelines usually consists of one or a few products only. Significant for the line of business is also a future very uncertain, where relevant objects of comparison are few. Altogether the facts above makes valuation of Biotech companies difficult. Swedish Biotech companies, compared to their american competitors, seem to be of relatively low value.

Purpose: The puspose with our essay is to investigate how an acquisition can affect leadership. We want to specialize us by analysing how a leadership and the employees in a smaller company can be affected by an acquisition by a larger organization. We also want to investigate how a good leadership should be in a small company due to an acquisition.Methodology: This essay is based on a qualitative method.Theoretical: We have used theories concerning leadership, theories about small and large organizations and theories about consequences after an acquisition. Empirical foundation: Our empirics are based on stories from our five interviews from employees and leaders in Experian.Conclusions: Consequences can appear due to an acquisition. Only mild consequences appeared in the case of Marknadsananalys.

Podcast is a new audio media in Sweden and has become larger and increasingly more popular in the past few years. In line with this, companies have seen the opportunity to use this type of marketing in the new coveted media and have created a new marketing tool in the form of sponsorship. Previous studies in this field indicate that this is a very effective method to reach a broad audience, but it still is a relatively new area with very little research in existence today. This study is an analysis of how receptive listeners are to marketing through podcasts and the ability companies have to create a sustainable and effective strategy for successful marketing through this type of medium. The collection of data for this study consists of two different qualitative interviews, the first one with listeners that were chosen, and the second with the sponsor company for two of the largest podcasts in Sweden. The essay´s empirical evidence shows how receptive listeners are to marketing via podcasts, what their podcast habits look like, what form of approach in marketing they prefer, and how often they take part in different offers. From the interviews with listeners and sponsoring companies in the study, it is concluded that the best and most effective strategy for marketing through podcasts is to weave advertising in the conversation and therefore increase the credibility and disturb the listener as little as possible.

Alien plants that have intentionally been introduced to an area for cultivation in public or private gardens constitute the primary pathway of introduction for invasive alien species that spread into nature. Garden owners want species that have satisfying characteristics, these characteristics are often also linked to plant invasiveness. Thus, the horticulture industry plays an important role by making scientifically based decisions and phasing out invasive plants and replacing them with alternative species with satisfying characteristics, but low risks of becoming invasive. This thesis aimed to examine the sale of and the attitudes towards alien plants in the horticulture industry in Sweden. Alien terrestrial plants identified to have a severe risk, high risk or potentially high risk of spreading and becoming invasive according to ArtDatabankens assessment, were examined to see if they were for sale.

This essay is an enquiry about how companies as participated in a Lean pro¬duction education use this education. The essay describes also how one works with the implementation of Lean production and how they believe that they will work. The enquiry tries to create an advisory material for other companies that are in the beginning of implementing their own Lean production systems. There these companies? gets a picture of how other companies have done during their try to create a functioning Lean production system.

Sustainability and the role of companies in terms of emissions and environmental impact has become increasingly more relevant. In 2014, the EU decided to introduce the NFRD, a directive that makes it mandatory for companies that meet the requirements to report on sustainability. This thesis aims to examine how four large Swedish industrial companies report about sustainability in connection with the introduction of NFRD, looking at the years 2015 (2014), 2017 and 2022 from an environmental viewpoint. Furthermore, the study also intends to investigate how the companies write about their sustainability work, as actual achievements or what they have ambitions to do in the future. In order to carry out the study, a content analysis with elements of both qualitative and quantitative features has been used called the CONI method.

To be able to protect themselves from credit risk, the banks must constantly check the performance of  the companies they have lent money to. There are many mathematical models for predicting financial distress. These models use accounting-based ratios, which often are historical and not representative for the present situation. This study describes how the banks do in practice to find signals of insolvency in time and the variables they are observing for doing that.In addition to financial reports which the company sends in to the bank at least once a year, also the relationship between them and information from different information  agencies are of great importance to track  signals of insolvency. Poor profitability is the primary cause of insolvency.

As of 1 July 2008 the revised Swedish Code of Corporate Governance applies to all Swedish companies whose shares are traded on a regulated market in Sweden. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate whether the introduction of the revised Code has affected the disclosure practice among Swedish companies. We investigate a sample of 43 small and mid cap companies listed on the OMXS Exchange that has previously not been covered by the regulation. We develop a disclosure index, measuring the disclosure level in annual reports before and after the introduction of the Code. The results from the study show that disclosure level has not increased after the introduction of the Code.

The Swedish pharmacy market will be re-regulated in July 2009 which will present private actors with an opportunity to enter the market. Several risks and uncertainties are associated with such an entry. The purpose of this thesis is to increase the understanding of identification and management of risks and uncertainties associated with entering the Swedish pharmacy market. We also intend to investigate similarities and differences in risk identification and risk management as well as create an understanding of the underlying reasons for these similarities and differences. Three companies interested in entering the market have been interviewed and the interviews were conducted with an open approach to avoid influencing the companies? answers.

From a management point of view, enabling organizational creativity is often referred to as reducing immediate control, increasing autonomy and enhancing the access to slack resources. At the same time, the business environment of today is fiercer than it was only a decade ago, and this renders a quest for more efficient approaches to competitively run a business. This paper aims to examine creative industries and more specifically try to identify a set of elements that are common for successful companies. As this industry has not been subject to any considerable array of studies, this thesis seeks to establish a structure for how to take both organizational models and leadership theories into account when developing an understanding for the process, organization and leadership of the creative business. By studying six separate creative companies, our findings suggest that conventional theories on organizational creativity do not adequately account for all factors that contribute to these companies' creative success.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how social media can affect and influence the B2B-relationship. Social media is now a widespread and accepted tool for communication in many B2C-companies; therefore we find it interesting to examine how social media can find its place in the communication mix of B2B-companies. We are also aiming to distinguish standards in how social media is practiced and discussed in the context of the B2B-market. We have applied a qualitative method for this study and we have interviewed seven respondents, which are experts in social media or working with market communication at B2B-companies in Sweden. During our study we have identified several comparable attributes within the B2B market and their opinions about how social media should be approach and adopt in the communication mix of the company..

An information system is something that evolves over time to enhance the company that is using it. The technology for building an information system is also evolving. New methods and new programming languages make system development easier. As new technology breaks ground and the demands of a company?s information system grow, the company will sooner or later get to a point where a change in the base of the system is necessary.

Our essay treats the use of the annual report when it comes to marketing. Today there are many different ways for companies to reach out with their different messages; the thing that caught our interest was if the annual report is such a way.The annual report is an external accounting report which task is to give information to interested parties of companies. The annual report can be used to examine if the company has followed and achieved their goals. In other words it?s an important source of information that can be found about a company, which different interested parties can take part of for analyze.