As a consumer, you can use cards for payment more or less everywhere you go, however, it is not certain that the card can be used for all purchases. When a customer pays with card there arises a card transaction fee charged to the merchant. This is a big problem for businesses where transactions with small amounts are a large portion of sales. An observation at the beginning of this study showed that seemingly similar merchants have chosen to solve this problem in different ways. Some merchant?s refuses card purchases below a certain amount, while others accept card with any purchase.

The purpose of this essay was to investigate which factors the individuals found important in the process of becoming a person with a drug-free life. The framing of the questions we had were to get the experiences, thoughts and wishes of the drug users. The survey was based on thematised qualitative interviews and focused in the personal stories of the interviewees. We interviewed four women and five men, all of which had several years of drug-abuse behind them. We found similarities and patterns and we could identify that the three most important things was the own motivation, will and that the drug-abuser had the possibility to change their social network and had the ability to find other important things in life..

Diversity of ground beetles (Col: Carabidae) in managed riparian grasslands. The carabid community in moist seminatural grasslands was studied at three different sites in mid-Sweden. Pitfall trapping was carried out during six weeks in spring and early summer 2003. Eight transects, each containing seven pitfall traps, were placed in three different management regimes, either late or continous grazing, or meadow. The species composition was analysed by ordination analyses, i.e. DCA and CCA.

As a company it is required to work with strategies to minimize costs such as packaging and logistic costs. The increased market of industrial produced wooden buildings results that the time and the cost which the packaging of prefabricated building elements consume, is experienced to be in greater need of development than before and demands a better solution. The aim with this dissertation was to discover how the development of the handling of the packaging can improve the packaging process. The goal was to present improvement proposals for a simplified and thereby a more efficient production in time and cost perspective.The packaging process which includes packaging, handling, storage and transport were studied. Interviews were made with participants from the market for manufacturers of wooden houses and a case study was made at the company A-hus.

(sjuksköterska).

Titel: Value stream mapping in practice ? A case study at Light MyFireAuthors: David Rydman and Tomas ÖnnemarMentor: Veronica Ülgen SvenssonExaminer: Åsa GustafssonBackground: Companies push their prices in today's markets to be competitive, which means that companies need to find ways to reduce costs while maintaining profits. (Cudney, 2009) According to Bergman and Klefsjö 2007, the basic rule of quality improvement says "there is always a way to achieve higher quality at a lower cost". One way is to improve a company's processes to get a more efficient flow and improvements that may cut costs. (Bergman & Klefsjö, 2007) Why it's important to look at the processes are that they often contain waste that can be eliminated.

Title: Management control of facility efficiency in municipalities - A case study of Halmstad municipalityLevel: BachelorSeminar date: 2012-05-31Authors: Markus Nilsson & Sara MattssonAdvisor: Sven-Ola CarlssonKey words: Control management in municipality, facility efficiency, management by objectives, internal rents and incentivesBackground: The public sector owns and manages a large property portfolio and in the municipalities, the properties are always a big cost item. Because of the outside world changes and the public interest, the properties should be used as efficiently as possible.Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe how control management of facilities looks like a municipality. The paper also seeks to explain how employees work to make the facilities more efficient in a municipality.Methodology: The authors use a qualitative method with open interviews.Theoretical perspectives: The choice of theory was made with the field of management control and facility efficiency in mind. The theory therefore includes management by objectives, internal rents and reward systems, motivation and communication within organizations.Empirical foundation: The organization has undergone a reorganization 2010/2011. There are no clear incentives to reduce facility costs.

Background: Sleep-disturbances in persons with Alzheimer´s disease are prevalent. They are characterized as increased frequency and duration of awakenings, decreased slow-wave sleep, REM-sleep and increase of day-time napping. Depression and lower quality of life are associated with sleep-disturbances. Altogether a significant source of stress for caregivers and an important factor in institutionalization. Non-pharmacological treatment alternatives are rare.Method: Single-case A-B-C design, with non-concurrent multiple baselines, a pilotstudy.Aim: To explore if an educational program on sleep, sleep disturbances and behavioural change directed towards caregivers improved sleep, depression and quality of life in persons with Alzheimer´s disease living at home.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a progressive neurological disease which causes a slow degeneration of the body. Living with this disease means being exposed to severe strain and every day could bring new losses. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis does not cause any harm to the intellect, the mind remains unaffected. The aim of this study was to achieve an understanding, and to shed light on the nature of positive life experiences of people living with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. This literature study is based on detailed examination of three person's narrations taken from their autobiography and biographies.

This paper presents a study that evaluates the performance of stock recommendations issued on Swedish stocks during 2003. The selection of recommendations in this paper originates from banks, major brokerage firms and financial press located in Sweden. The total of 171 recommendations consisted of 99 buy recommendations and 72 sell recommendations. Forecast revisions presented in this paper suggest that Investment managers have no ability to predict performance winners, nor do their forecasts in general have any significant impact on stock prices. A mere 50 percent of the recommendations in this revision had a weak ability to outperform their benchmark indexes as in other similar revisions.

The aim of this study has been to take part of six ex-alcohol addicts? narratives about their lives with starting-point in which factors that has been significant and/or determining to be able to leave a life in abuse and what change this process has implied for their identity. To achieve the purpose with this study has three questions been formulated. These are what in the person?s life have been important in the process of a life free from alcohol, what were specific and decisive that effected the decision to stop using alcohol and what is the attitude to them self and their new role as an ex-alcohol addict. Alcohol is a drug that is legal and accepted in the society and it´s hard to discover an addiction.

This essay aims to explore the philosophical meaning of the expression ?present and real? in Clara ? or, On Nature?s Connection to the Spirit World by F. W. J. Schelling.

Studier har visat att frivilligt barnlösa individer stereotypt har betraktats vara olyckliga och otillfredsställda, något som inte har fått vetenskapligt stöd. Syftet med den här tvärsnittsstudien var att undersöka om det föreligger några skillnader i livskvalitet och livstillfredsställelse mellan frivilligt barnlösa personer och föräldrar i den svenska populationen. Forskningsfrågan undersöktes med en enkät som bestod av självskattningsskalorna QOLI (Quality Of Life Inventory) och SWLS (Satisfaction With Life Scale). 130 deltagare genomförde studien varav 54 är frivilligt barnlösa individer och 76 är föräldrar. Studien visade att det inte finns några signifikanta skillnader mellan grupperna med avseende på livskvalitet och livstillfredsställelse.

Studier har visat att frivilligt barnlösa individer stereotypt har betraktats vara olyckliga och otillfredsställda, något som inte har fått vetenskapligt stöd. Syftet med den här tvärsnittsstudien var att undersöka om det föreligger några skillnader i livskvalitet och livstillfredsställelse mellan frivilligt barnlösa personer och föräldrar i den svenska populationen. Forskningsfrågan undersöktes med en enkät som bestod av självskattningsskalorna QOLI (Quality Of Life Inventory) och SWLS (Satisfaction With Life Scale). 130 deltagare genomförde studien varav 54 är frivilligt barnlösa individer och 76 är föräldrar. Studien visade att det inte finns några signifikanta skillnader mellan grupperna med avseende på livskvalitet och livstillfredsställelse.

Many people perceive a division between an online world and the ?real? world outside of the World Wide Web. However, this view often leads to a reduced sense of importance ascribed to what takes place online, even though it affects life in very real ways. In our study we aim to explain the importance of how meaning is built in to sociomaterial compositions. By analyzing comment fields hosted by a Swedish IT-journal we illustrate how what is being said interplays with the technological platform in various ways.