Background: Today businesses are largely structured in projects and temporary organizations. In many companies, the ability to pursue projects is decisive for the business efficiency and competitiveness. The risk literature do not discuss identification and handling ofproject risk in building- and construction companies to a large extent, which has led us to investigate how project risk can be treated and handled in Swedish building- and construction companies. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to cover and describe business risk in Swedish building- and construction projects with focus on different risks and risk tools, and also to modify a model for evaluating the business risk maturity. Realization: This thesis has both traces of a case study and a cross-section study and examines eight different companies that are active in the building- and construction business.

With the globalization, companies in the West chose to shift production to developing countries to cut down costs. This had a major impact when child labor and very poor working conditions in these factories were discovered and led many companies to take responsibility for their suppliers and the employees by adopting voluntary so-called Codes of Conduct.There is a subtle balance to enforce improvement of working conditions for employees at suppliers´ factories and to keep costs down. On the one hand, companies would like to conduct extensive audits at their suppliers to ensure code of conduct compliance and thus protect their legitimacy. On the other hand, audits are expensive so companies would like to minimize audits to keep costs down. Companies thus have to strike a delicate balance in relation to how many and what suppliers they choose to audit.

Background: As the economy turns up and down, and companies sometimes face loosing employees, it is important for them to make sure they do not loose competence at the same time. Therefore a need to handle competence efficiently exist. Purpose. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate what measures companies take to minimise the risk of loosing competence from the company, at times of layoffs and in general. Methodology: We mainly used interviews to gather information.

Issuing convertible bonds for financing purposes has never become widespread practice amongst Swedish companies, in spite of the instrument being common in international markets. Economic theory based on efficient markets suggests that companies should gain no financial benefits from using convertibles and the Swedish situation could be interpreted as in line with this reasoning. However, there are Swedish companies that have chosen to issue convertibles and the Swedish market therefore seems both supportive and contradictory to the existence of benefits of convertible bond financing. Little research concerning the Swedish market has been conducted and the purpose of this explorative thesis is thus to enhance the understanding of the Swedish market for convertibles. This is achieved by conducting in-depth interviews with six listed Swedish companies that have recently issued convertible bonds.

In light of the coming workforce shortage in Sweden the competition for human capital will be intensified on the market where employers compete in order to attract skilled labor. The competition will be most noticeable in the knowledge-intense industries, where the employees are seen as the companies? most valuable asset. The purpose of this paper is to examine how small knowledge-intensive companies can improve their position in the labor market by using the HR-model People Capability Maturity Model in order to affect their companies' Employer Brand. We take the basis of the theoretical framework in which we examine and identify the key dimensions of the Employer Brand concept and present the People Capability Maturity Model more closely.

On 1 January 2005, IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards)was mandatory for all listed companies within the European Union. The introduction is to create a transparent and consistent reporting. Mainly to provide companies, investors and financiers the same access to world capital markets. Since the introduction of IFRS, the goodwill value is determined by annual impairment tests. If an impairment of goodwill is a fact the goodwill decreases in value.

Many companies choose to position themselves in New York. The city is one of the main cities when it comes to advertising. The competition is strong and for new companies, it is hard to survive on the market.In our thesis we have investigated how Swedish people, who open new advertising agencies in New York, should market themselves to be successful on the market in New York.To gain as much information as possible about this subject, we traveled to New York and interviewed three advertising agencies, who were started by Swedes, and also the Consulate General of Sweden, and Swedish Trade Council.Our investigation resulted in that the best way to be successful on the American market is to differentiate your work from what the market has to offer. By doing this potential customers may find your work interesting and thereby chose to work with your company..

In the recent years auditing scandals all around the world, deficient internal control has attracted a lot of attention. This has contributed to further requirements on insight and internal control. Those scandals have seriously damaged the auditor?s profession and contributed to a reduced trust among the public. Therefore an extensive work to recover and stringed the trust was started all around the world.

The purpose of this study was to investigate how Swedish retail companies work with CSR internationally.The study also sought to explore the opportunities and challenges that exist, and the stakeholders that motivate companies CSR commitment.The theoretical framework is composed of international CSR guidelines of the OECD and the UN, Carroll's CSR pyramid and three-stage model and Freeman's stakeholder theory. Furthermore a qualitative research approach was applied where four in-depth interviews were conducted with representatives from Axfood, Löfbergs Lila, Oriflame and CSR Sweden.Finally, the study demonstrated the conclusion that the companies CSR strategies are structured in a similar way regardless of the market. CSR attract and retain workers, create a good reputation for brands and results in working conditions, living standards and environmental improvements. Difficulties, however, are the complexity of being able to control each partner and manage differences in language, laws and culture between countries. Finally there are a number of stakeholders that motivate companies to work with CSR, of which shareholders are considered the most important..

In Sweden, there an increasing need for transport and this leads directly to fuel demand of the transport sector is expected to increase. Both politicians and industry believes that renewable fuels are a realistic and significant method to reduce the transport sector's environmental impact. This study aims to document the Swedish haulage contractor?s attitude to biodiesel. Also to document the strengths and weaknesses of biodiesel, based on opinions from the ultimate consumers.

Abstract The purpose of this study is to identify how Swedish clothing companies strategically communicate CSR ? the issue being that CSR communication is frequently scrutinized and criticized. This is examined using semi-structured interviews with six company representatives. The result is presented thematically, dealing with (1) conditions for CSR and CSR communication, (2) how to manage the issue with criticism and (3) which communication strategies companies use. Following conclusions are drawn: the companies can be divided into Mirvis and Googins phases integrated or engaged/innovative, with conditions characterizing these phases.

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.

November 1, 2010 the audit requirement in Sweden for small and medium enterprises was abolished, after many years of discussion. This essay aims to examine the effects of the abolishment of the audit requirement on credit. The intention is to draw conclusions about how the possible negative effects of the abolishment of the audit requirement could be prevented.The study has been made using a qualitative method to get a clearer and broader explanation that leads to deeper understanding. It includes an interview with creditors from one of the largest banks whose position represents a large group of lenders. In addition to the lender, two auditors with years of experience have been interviewed.Analysis of collected data has shown that there are both advantages and disadvantages of abolished mandatory auditing.

Problem formulation: Recent results from the European Food Information Council?s consumer research on nutrition information and food labelling revealed that most consumers have little understanding of the nutrition information found on food products, feel that there is little authority regulating these matters and wish for a more trusted source of information and regulation and lastly it was found that consumers accept their limitations and have little motivation to even read or learn about nutrition information. Thus what are the reactions of the various legal authorities to this problem? How are food retailers and producers responding to the needs of the consumer? How are consumers then reacting to these two players in the industry and the changes they are making?Purpose: The purpose of this research is to gain new perspective and a better understanding of relationship between consumers, companies and legal instruments in relation to nutrition and health claim labelling of food products. Method: The nature of this multi-disciplinary research has led to the study of all three areas, business administration (containing consumer behaviour) and business law, which are contained in this paper.

Internet dating is a relatively new phenomenon that, in using the opportunities of the internet, has taken traditional dating to a new level. The business idea is simple as such. The company provides its customers with a platform that enables interaction, leaving the value creation to the customers. A qualitative study is conducted investigating and mapping the Swedish market for Internet dating. It is researched what the characteristics of the companies are, what the Internet dating businesses in Sweden offer, what the prevailing market conditions are, and lastly what challenges lie ahead for the industry and how they can be solved.