This paper is about the new methods and metrics used in industry and business today striving for better revenues and larger market shares. It investigates the relations between the old fordistic and tayloristic way of manufacturing and compares it to the models used in industry today for being competitive, seeking to please customers and becoming more flexible. More specific the paper is about if Six Sigma and lean production are the key for succeeding these days. SKF:s factory in Gothenburg and other companies will make an example for how these methods are used in practice.The aim is to try to answer if these systems with inherited tools and methods are the right way to get the flexibility that is needed for being able to deliver the right goods to customers and market. For a company to be flexible decisions must be made fast and needed changes must be able to be done easy and without too large costs and investments.

Then the language learning process and the approach in a preparatory class differs itself from a general class. The methods conducted in a preparatory class are not just focused on teaching as in a more traditional method. Achieving the objectives in a preparatory class depends on the individual student and the cohesion in the group. Students have different backgrounds and knowledge level, therefore it is extremely important that the teachers use different work methods in order to achieve and to promote the students' language development. The aim with this survey is to get the knowledge about what education methods is being used by teachers in a preparatory class.

Since reading difficulties is a growing problem in Society and a problem that hinders Children to take an active part in every day life, I wanted to investigate how the School Library can be an educational resource for students with reading difficulties. Using qualitative interviews, I have gained insight into how three school librarians and two teachers work with Students with reading difficulties at two different Schools.The Respondents feel that they have the Knowledge necessary to work with students with reading difficulties, but Wish they had more Resources in terms of Time and Staff to help Students achieve School Goals even better. There are always new assistive technology for Students with Reading Difficulties, and an important part of the Educational work of the School Library, is to be informed of the Facilities available and how they work. I show, in my Research the importance of cooperation between school libraries and teachers to provide the students with reading difficulties the love of reading and work to promote reading. It is important that the School Librarian is an integral part of the School's Team to take full advantage of every opportunity to help the Reading Impaired Students with Information and finding the right Reading Level.

A growing number of companies realise that to achieve their environmental goals and satisfy stakeholder expectations, they need to look beyond their own facilities and to involve their suppliers in environmental initiatives. A life cycle approach means that the production system should be optimised as whole, across national boarders and individual organisations taking part all the way from extraction to disposal. This study is a Life Cycle Inventory of resources used when producing a piece of cotton garment and the method is based on the standardisation series of ISO 14040-43. The area of study, Tamil Nadu the most southern state of India, accounts for more than 90% of India?s knitwear exports to Western Europe.

The purpose of this essay was to describe and analyse the tension/conflict between external demands and actual conditions, as experienced (and told in interviews) by employees at two social insurance offices in Scania, concerning their roles in the process of working life rehabilitation. The theoretical starting point is the theory of street-level bureaucrats, as defined by Lipsky. The comprehension among the employees were that working life rehabilitation services are approved less today compared to a few years ago. The discretion, i.e. the position to choose among competing alternatives; about what to do, how to do it etc., characteristic of street-level bureaucrats, according to the employees is less prominent, as the routines of handling cases and decision making are regulated.

Projects to equip every student and teacher with a laptop, with the intention to improve academic results, have rapidly spread through the country. New technology, new contents and new ways of learning have changed the learning envi-ronment. The school library, being a part of this environ-ment, faces the same changes and challenges.The purpose of this thesis is to study how the school library is being affected when a One-to-One project is carried out in a learning environment. The research questions concern how the school library is viewed within the organization and also how the change affects both the school library and the school librarian.The empirical material of the thesis includes five qualitative interviews carried out on location, at a single selected school. The interviews are followed by a study of relevant documents, all produced within the organization.To understand the organization in which the school library operates, as well as the school library itself, I chose to divide the theoretical approach in two: Christensen?s et al.

This essay aims to investigate how students in upper secondary school perceive the subject religion A. The study is both qualitative and quantitative and I will use a survey to investigate the perception of religion among students both vocationally oriented and theory oriented. I will use questions concerning religious background and perception on the subject in relation to the curriculum but also try to investigate whether there are differences on perception between the vocational and theory orientation. The theoretical approach is mainly based on the curriculum concerning religion A but former research is also used such as books written by Sven G Hartman (2000), Ulf Sjödin (1995), Ove Larsson (1991), Elsie Davidsson (1989) and Anders Törnwall (1988). The result in the study is that students for the most part perceive the subject religion A as something positive and the background has a connection to their present perception.

There are many researching studies to be found that describes how media relates to men and women differently. Even if it?s a newspaper research or a magazine research they all display the same information. That there are differences in the way that women and men are described or portrayed in articles and pictures. Most of these gender studies are made on a basis of magazines that are mainly intended to men or to women.

The European Council agreed in 2008 on a climate and energy package to combat global warming. This package is valid for each EU member country and means that greenhouse gas emissions must fall by at least 20% and the EU's energy use to 20%, consisting of Renewable Energy in 2020. The Swedish Government has set stringent climate and energy with the intention to set an example for the rest of Europe. For example, renewable energy sources account for at least 50% of energy use and our climate emissions to fall by 40% by 2020. A combination of these goals and a steadily rising oil price has led to an increased demand for wood fuel in the form of such branches and tops.

The business mission of Norra Skogsägarna is to achieve a profitable forestry for the private forest owners. With this as a background it is of interest for the forest owner association to know how forest owners think about voluntary retentions, the methods of increasing production and quality and if there are differences between those who have chosen to certify their forest and those who haven?t. This kind of knowledge is of importance, to in an effectively and adjusted way, help the forest owners achieve a profitable forestry. The objective of this master thesis is to increase knowledge about private forest owners? opinions of the methods of increasing production and quality and to what extent these methods are used.

This study examines how a company adapts its operating control when the environmental circumstances are changing. This is a case study with a qualitative approach which is based on interviews. The main purpose is to examine how an accounting firm adjusts its operating control in order to meet the abolishment of the statutory auditing. Another purpose is to describe how the abolishment of the statutory auditing will influence or have influenced the choice of measures in the balanced scorecard. The question this study aims to examine is: How do audit firms adapt its operating control in order to meet changes in the environment? This question lead to a second question which the study also aims to examine and is How is the abolishment of the statutory auditing influencing the accounting firms goals, measures and focus in the balanced scorecard? The conclusion of this study shows that the abolishment of the statutory auditing has had an influence on the balanced scorecard.

The objective of this qualitative study was to contribute to the understanding of how musical activities affect the participants' well-being and empowerment and to investigate which fac-tors contribute to that effect. Invitations were sent to 13 adult participants in a rock music school in the middle part of Sweden. 7 persons (4 men, 3 women) participated in the study. 4 themes were discussed in focus groups to highlight how informants were affected by the ac-tivity and what factors were important in the context. Results showed that music activities impact on participants' well-being and empowerment through several factors.Themes that appeared were: 1) focus on the present through music, 2) personal development, 3) meaningful leisure activity 4) the group properties.

This case study explores the question of implementation and steering in a society of governance. As an empirical example, a reform concerning the reception of separated refugee children in Sweden is used. As of the 1st of July 2006 the responsibility for providing housing for separated children lies with the local governments rather than with the Swedish Board of Migration, aiming to improve the children's situation. However, implementing this amendment has turned out to be a harder task than expected. Traditionally, the relationship between state and local actors is seen in terms of state steering or local self-government.

As a result of directives from EU, with the ambition to reach environmetal goals, The German organisation Passivhaus Institut has defined a passive house. A passive house is a building that is very energy efficient and makes a small impact on the environment. The energy from the inhabitants as well as the appliances & fixtures in the building should equal the energy that is required to heat the building. A Swedish version of the passive house definition has been defined, taking into account the climate conditions and the difference in building regulations.This thesis is a request from Skanska on how it can improve and develop an ongoing passive house project, involving an infant school. The intention of this thesis is to identify difficulties & display potential development areas for infant schools.The method of research conducted is as follows: interviews of clients, ventilation consultant, consultant for heating system and an energy calculation consultant, an inspection of the infant shcool in process, investigation of completed infant schools and a study of relevant literature.From this research it was found that it is difficult for infant schools to pass the criteria for passive houses. The conclusion of this thesis provide several guidelines on how to improve the outcome of existing projects & the steps needed to be taken for future development in this area..

This bachelor thesis explores the conditions for a harmonized EU gender equality policy. Recently the maternity leave directive has been introduced by the European commission and seeks to improve the conditions for pregnant workers. The controversial subject of this maternity leave has illustrated many of the problems connected to the development of a social dimension in EU. First of all, the debate concerning the maternity leave directive in the European Parliament has shown that both sides in the parliament seem positive towards creating legislation in this matter on EU level. However, parties at the right tend to disagree to many of the amendments in the proposal, such as the maximum entitlement.