The demand for shorter lead-times and increased delivery reliability puts pressure on companies to provide more efficient logistic services. One strategy to deal with this demand is by outsourcing logistics to a third part. The development of logistics information systems enables increased control over business supply chains. This is why Green Cargo aims to create a Logistics Control Tower (LCT) solution to provide it?s customers with better information with higher availability.

The purpose of the study was to investigate, through an experiment, if positive mood promotes creativity and flexible thinking. Participants were a total of 93 college students. The main hypothesis was that subjects induced with positive mood would perform better than subjects induced with negative mood, at a test reflecting creativity. To further explore the implications of priming (subliminal manipulated moods), a neutral control group was included. The cognitive test used in the study was Duncker´s The Candle Problem, a test which aims to get the subjects to apply flexible and creative thinking.

Studien syftar till att se hur personlighet, söka-arbete self-efficacy och locus of control påverkas av arbetslöshet. Personlighet mäts enligt Costa & MacCraes fem-faktor modell och avser dimensionerna extroversion, neuroticism, öppenhet, trevlighet och samvetsgrannhet. Hypotesen är att det finns skillnad mellan nyarbetslösa och långtidsarbetslösa avseende personlighet, söka arbete self-efficacy och locus of control. Frågeformulär innehållande påstående om ovanstående faktorer besvarades av en grupp nyarbetslösa och en grupp långtidsarbetslösa. Resultatet visar inga signifikanta skillnader avseende personlighet och söka arbete self-efficacy mellan grupperna.

Titel: Mystery Shopping - en studie av franchisekedjor i Sverige Författare: Bodil Carlson och Mikael Hugosson Handledare: Thomas Michel, Universitetslektor, IEM Kurs: Kandidatarbete i Företagsekonomi 10 poäng, FEC007 Institution: Institutionen för Ekonomi och Management Syfte: Trots att Mystery Shopping tillägnas relativt stor uppmärksamhet i massmedia finns det idag ingen forskning med inriktning mot företagsekonomi. Syftet med denna studie är att bidra till en ökad medvetenhet om Mystery Shopping, kartlägga dess förekomst samt försöka besvara frågan huruvida Mystery shopping är en vedertagen teknik för kvalitetskontroll i serviceföretag. Metod: Studien genomfördes i två steg, en förstudie med ett Mystery Shoppingföretag samt en huvudstudie inriktad mot svenska franchisekedjor. Den definierade målpopulationen bestod av 44 franchisegivare Av dessa besvarade 29 företag enkäten. Slutsatser: Av de 29 tillfrågade företagen hade 22 kännedom om Mystery Shopping.

Title:   Controlling Mälarenergi by Balanced Scorecard Seminar date:  2009-01-16 Institution:   School of Sustainable Development of Society and Technology Course:   Bachelor thesis 15hp Authors:   Camilla Nilsson, Amanda Agestav Advisor:   Ulla Pettersson The main issues:                What does Mälarenergi's Balanced Scorecard look like? Which Balanced Scorecard perspectives are important to Mälarenergi? Is Balanced Scorecard a purposeful control model in order for the group management to fulfil the aims of the owners' directives? Purpose:                            The purpose is to find out how the group management at Mälarenergi works with Balanced Scorecard. Is Balanced Scorecard a purposeful tool for the group management to fulfill the aims of the owners' directives? Method:                             This study is based on a qualitative research method in the form of interviews. We have interviewed one respondent.

Environmental issues is now taking a growing place in society and to ensure that companies meet public expectations and do their part in working towards a sustainable development, environmental management system is said to be an effective tool (Almgren & Brorson, 2009).This case study has examined a company's environmental management system in order to find strengths and weaknesses within the ISO 14001 system. The work was carried out using interviews, document reviews and analyzes in which the three main concepts control the report ; "daily work", "audit" and "environmental aspects".The results shows that the daily work looks different depending on where you are; in the production or at the office. The audit examined all documents related to the environmental management system and the study showed that the biggest strengths was the commitment and waste handling while areas such as environmental goals and management review needed improvement. As a result of the deficiencies identified, suggestions for improvements was proposed. The investigation of the routine of the environmental aspects showed an incomplete routine where the red wire from identification to evaluation was missing.

The change of control clause is nowadays a well used covenant in the Eurobond market, with the aims to protect bondholders in case of a leveraged buyout. This thesis intend to evaluate whether the change of control clause is a new phenomenon in the Eurobond market today and to estimate what have been the driven force for the popularity of it. The thesis found that the change of control clause already existed before and thus it is not a new phenomenon. Several factors where found though to explain the extended use of the clause today. Starting in 2005 the LBO activity increased rapidly, exposing almost every company to the risk of LBO.

Pathogenic microorganisms pose a big threat towards food production. Meanwhile, negative impacts on humans and environment are seen by the use of pesticides. Biological control agents are an alternative to the use of chemical pesticides, and plant-growth promoting rhizobacteria, such as Bacillus amyloliquefaciens has been shown to have good properties as biocontrol agents. Before these bacteria can be used commercially their impact on other soil organisms has to be evaluated. This thesis looks into what biocontrol bacteria are and how they might affect earthworms.

Resultatet av denna undersökning och detta arbete har visat på ett ifrågasättande av systemet, av såväl anställda som chefer. Huvudanledningarna är framförallt okontrollerbarheten, den låga motivationsfaktorn och vad belöningen grundar sig på. Vår slutprodukt består av ett antal förslag till förbättringar av Kopparmyntet inom Swedbank.

Background: Running economy is one of the key factors to achieve top performance in endurance events. Little evidence exists for improving running economy using high-intensity interval training while running. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine how HIIT affects running economy and VO2max. Method: 14 well-trained athletes (age 35 ± 8,9 years, height 175 ± 11,7 cm and weight 69 ± 12,2 kg) were divided into two separate groups (HIIT and Control). HIIT group performed 3 HIIT exercises every week for 4 weeks and Control group continued with their separate training programs consisting of mostly traditional endurance training. Results: Running economy showed no improvement in HIIT (pre 38,62 and post 38,62 ml/kg/min, p=1.00) but Control improved (pre 45,41 and post 43,37 ml/kg/min, p=0,03). VO2max decreased in HIIT (mean 61,32 to 60,84 ml/kg/min) and in Control (mean 61,99 to 58,47 ml/kg/min)..

To distribute goods to customers in urban areas is necessary to support the economic and social development in the cities, but has consequences that affect both residents of cities as well as the environment. The environmental effects of these types of transport involves not only the emissions of various pollutants, but also an increased noise level inside the cities. Many companies and organizations are working hard to change the distribution pattern to streamline transport in the urban area, while environmental impact is reduced. This is in line with what is called the City Logistics. The purpose of this thesis is to create a method for describing and measuring a given transport solution in order to compare it with an altered transport solution to achieve a more sustainable development.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine and analyse which effects a service strategy has on the control system of an organisation. The thesis takes a service perspective, and it is assumed that a service strategy gains competitive advantage and that the goal of the service strategy is to increase the customers? satisfaction level. A qualitative in-depth case study was performed on a Swedish beauty company. The organisation?s vertical structure was examined, from central to local level.

Background: Running economy is one of the key factors to achieve top performance in endurance events. Little evidence exists for improving running economy using high-intensity interval training while running. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine how HIIT affects running economy and VO2max. Method: 14 well-trained athletes (age 35 ± 8,9 years, height 175 ± 11,7 cm and weight 69 ± 12,2 kg) were divided into two separate groups (HIIT and Control). HIIT group performed 3 HIIT exercises every week for 4 weeks and Control group continued with their separate training programs consisting of mostly traditional endurance training. Results: Running economy showed no improvement in HIIT (pre 38,62 and post 38,62 ml/kg/min, p=1.00) but Control improved (pre 45,41 and post 43,37 ml/kg/min, p=0,03). VO2max decreased in HIIT (mean 61,32 to 60,84 ml/kg/min) and in Control (mean 61,99 to 58,47 ml/kg/min)..

The interest for power and energy measurement has greatly raised with todays increasing electricity prices and enviromental awareness. In the search for energy efficient solutions, the measurements are more complex due to increasing of non linear components. Harmonics and non sinusoidal voltages put high demands on sampling and filtering. Meanwhile, the price must be controlled so the customer still will find it interesting to invest in smaller plants. ITT W&WW asks for a robust, heat resistant power meter with compact dimensions to allow mounting inside the casing of a pump.

Researchers at Karlstad University have developed a method for making paper ion conducting. The reasearchers want to test this technique in various applications and produce products that make use of the ion-conducting paper. Hopefully this will drive the development forward and result in new applications for the ion-conducting paper.This study was to test the possibility of manufacturing a gas sensor of conducting paper along with electrodes of conductive polymers printed on the paper. By comparing the paper sensor with an electrochemical cell in which the electrodes of conductive polymer replaces electrodes of metal and ion-conductive paper replaces the liquid electrolyte in the electrochemical cell, it was hoped that it would be possible to measure the oxidation and reduction reactions that a gas could introduce at the electrodes.It was shown that it is possible to measure a potential difference in the range of 0.3 V to 0.5 V between the electrodes when exposing an electrode to 100% oxygen. The reaction that takes place is relatively slow and the reaction rate is partly due to the distance between the electrodes.Since the sensor can measure oxidation and reduction reactions it is possible that, in further development of a sensor, the sensor can be made ??into a versatile sensor with more applications than gas measurement as there are many more ways to oxidize or reduce the electrodes than by exposure to oxygen.During the study there have been discussions and meetings held with various companies in the sensor industry to be able to specify what the market demands of a sensor made ??of paper and the requirements that must be placed on the sensor for it to be interesting for the companies..