The purpose of this thesis was to illuminate and create a deeper understanding of a reputation?s value during crisis in business environment. We aimed to investigate how companies and organizations build up their reputation to prevent crises and how reputation affects the outcomes of a crisis. The theoretical section is based on various scientific articles. A case study was conducted based on interviews with two respondents from two different companies and organizations.

The recent financial crisis has entailed in a fierce debate whether CEOs variable remuneration has caused unsound risk exposure in public companies. Hence it is considered as interesting to elucidate if this connection exists empirically. With grounding in principal-agent theory, and its implicit assumption of risk adverse agents, this study aims to find empirical evidence for a positively correlated relationship between CEOs variable remuneration and company risk exposure. Through a regression analysis of multidimensional data from 102 listed Swedish companies during the period of 2000-2009, we show that the relationship between CEOs variable remuneration and company risk, in contrast to our expectations, is significantly negative. The coherent result is interpreted as the inherent risk in companies seems to explain the usage of variable remuneration for CEO, rather than vice versa.

Internet and information technology today has a rather obvious role in the activities of companies and organizations. All cash transactions within and between companies is digitized, communication within the company is done via e-mail, sales and marketing is done largely with marketing and ads on the Internet. This has resulted in economic benefits for companies and organizations, and facilitated the work for them. However, this has also led to new threats have emerged. Companies and organizations is well aware that there are numerous threats that comes with using the Internet and Information Technologies but exactly what those threats are for a mid-sized company in Sweden is not clarified anywhere.

Background: Commerce over the Internet has exploded in recent years. For many companies it has become a necessity to offer their products overthe Internet. This new market ought to change the conditions for relations between customers and suppliers. Purpose: Our aim is to describe and analyse the factors that influence the relations between customers and suppliers, from a customer view, when commerce is conducted over the Internet.Delimitations: The study is limited to B2B commerce with IT-products. Methodology: The thesis is based on a study of the company IMS, their e-commerce site and organisations that buy IT-products over the Internet.Conclusion: Internet opens up new possibilities for custom designed offers.

South Korea is one of the fastest growing economies of the world and experts claim that it?s headed towards the same direction as Japan. This doesn?t imply that the countries are similar to an extent where companies don?t have to consider the differences while entering the host market. This study was conducted for the purpose of giving a view of the business climate in the countries and thereby could help companies who see the countries as potential host markets.

BackgroundToday a common approach to solve a complicated problem is to assemble a temporary workforce in order to solve the problem by working together within a project. One of the difficulties with working in projects is to maintain the planned budget. Working hours and costs are often exceeded. Many companies presume that any certain project will succeed, a presumption that leads companies not to anticipate risks involved in a project. In companies today there is seldom time for evaluation or moderation of a project, in order to have time for evaluation there is a great need for an adequate planning of the project.IntentThe intention with this study is to create a model for planning, budgeting and evaluation of projects within consultancy companies.MethodWith the help of interviews and discussions within the group Hamnar och Byggkonstruktioner at Sweco has evidence to present a proposal on planning, budgeting and monitoring been developed.ResultsA model has been developed to ease for consultancy companies to plan, budget, monitor and evaluate projects.

The purpose of this essay is to investigate whether the implementation of the Solvency II directive will create a competitive advantage for the Swedish insurance companies compared with other insurance companies in Europe.Therefore the theoretical perspective illustrates the specific requirements and risk culture of the insurance industry and defines the critical success factors for a successful implementation of the directive. The empirical foundation is built on the QIS 5 reports for Sweden and Europe, interviews with the financial services and If insurance company as well as information from a seminar organized by KPMG. The analysis shows that the Swedish insurance companies meets the capital requirements of Solvency II by a large margin and that they are accustomed to risk management and reporting requirements from the traffic light model. This implies that the three critical success factors for a successful implementation of Solvency II are met, although with some limitations, and that Swedish insurance companies could possibly have a competitive advantage.     .

In recent years e-commerce has experienced a big increase in usage. Internet however, cannot offer the same level of personal contact as traditional shops can.E-commerce is characterized by impersonal and standardized web shops that do not stimulate any emotional connection between the customer and the company. Without this personal contact with the customer the possibilities for the company to stimulate loyalty decreases. Loyalty however, is as important in e-commerce as it is in traditional commerce. The authors of this paper chose the following problem for the study:What marketing strategies are fortunate for e-commerce companies to use to create loyal customers?To research this subject the authors saw it fit to combine qualitative and quantitative research methods.

In the early 1990?s more and more companies of the Swedish public sector were exposed to competition, and this started the debate on how such actions might affect the business and even society.The first chapter examines how the public sector and especially health care, is financed and managed. We also explore what it means to be exposed to competition and find that there are many different ways of exposing the public sector to competition. The study examines dental care as an example of a market with both publicly and privately owned companies. The purpose of this paper is to explore how publicly and privately owned health care companies view their relationship with their consumers.

The purpose with this final assignment is to find out how the old and the new regulations about Goodwill affect the Swedish companies, how their results and value of Goodwill changed since the regulation from IFRS took place. We will attempt to find out if the companies are better of with a yearly write-off or an impairment test every year to see if a write-down is necessary..

Companies today face more and more demands from society and stakeholders. It is no longer about just satisfying shareholders, sales and making a profit. Consumers are becoming more aware of products effects and the consequences it has on humans, our environment and the generation ahead of us. NGO:s and society request that companies take responsibility and actions toward a more sustainable business. Many investors analyze companies? sustainability regarding social and environmental issues when it comes to choosing a company to invest in.

The management of information is a significant competitiveness in companies. Companies stored and save information every day, and it is very common to save de information in different sources. This makes de management of information complex. To mange, monitor and analyze the information, companies can use a system called Business Intelligence. BI system is an analytical system that extracts and converts data into useful information that helps employees to make informed decisions.

Social media on the Web has become more common over the last decade and in recent years it has grown immensely. The social media with the highest amount of members is Facebook, where not only private persons are found - companies started to establish their profiles on the network in 2006. However, little is known about how these companies succeed and reach their audience with information dissemination and interact with them. The aim of this study is to contribute with information to local companies on how they can manage to maintain their activity with different approaches and strategies. This study examines how three different local companies chooses to spread information and maintain relationships with their members on Facebook.

AbstractAuthor: Markus Ekström and Albin OlssonAdvisor & examinator: Petter Boye, Thomas KarlssonTitle: Brand Valuation of companiesKeywords: Brand Valuation and Kalmar CountyIntroduction & Problem: The term trademark is originated from the Old Scandinavianbrandr and means stigmatize. A new standard for brand valuation ISO 10668 was adopted in2010, which has created a more reliable valuation method. It used several different methodsbefore, which meant different values but now they have agreed to this standard, which shouldmean that more companies make brand valuation. But that?s not the case, and you can wonderwhy? We also want to see the benefits created for companies, and the benefits companies canget with a valuation of the brand.Purpose: With this essay we want to examine how companies in Kalmar County looks atbrand valuation, if they have made it or not.

The purpose of this thesis is to show what advantages and opportunities social media offer for B2B-companies (business-to-business), and how they can be used for marketing communications.We have studied how companies can use social media, for example evolving the organization, developing products/services, staying up-to-date, building relations, creating customer loyalty and engagement, building the company?s identity and image, and affecting the buying decisions. We have also studied how B2B-companies can choose media channels, set goals, and measure the results.We have carried out interviews, through phone and visits, with four chosen companies that fit our criterias: Swedish B2B-company that is successful in social media.The result of the interviews show that B2B-companies use social media for various purposes, for example networking (to create and build long term relations with other companies) and to improve the company?s image among the end customers. Most of our interviewees reach their end customers (consumers) in first place and customers (companies) in second place, since many B2B-companies do not yet use social media.Half of our respondents mention that social media should not be used for advertising and campaigns (one way communication).