This thesis deals with co-operation between municipalities viewed from the perspectiveof the small municipality. It poses two questions: How and why doessmall municipalities co-operate? and Which is the place of the small municipalityin a larger organization?. To examine this three Scanian municipalities have beenstudied and one Norwegian municipality is used to provide a perspective on theSwedish discussion.Four theoretical topics guide the thesis. Firstly the core values of municipalities;democracy, autonomy and efficiency.

Quality Assurance in Service Procurement --- Total Quality and Total Quality Management refer to popular management philosophies in organizations these days. The purchasing department has an important part in the strive for organizational quality as several studies show corporate spend is significant and increasing. In this master thesis I study the actions companies take to ensure quality in service procurement. I argue that managing quality when sourcing services is particularly tricky, because of the special characteristics that belong to services. The purpose of the study is to examine whether different actions are taken to ensure the quality of different kinds of services.

Pets like dogs and cats have a considerable importance for humans and research demonstrate a variety of positive economic and social effects in society due to our pet companions. The presences of pets are increasing on a global scale with correlation to economic development in low- and middle income countries. For example dogs have doubled in India over a five year period. The feed industry for dogs and cats is also the fastest growing sector in the food industry and certain pets have a significant animal protein intake which, depending on the choice of resources may provide a high ecological footprint. Examples of environmental effects with distribution and manufacturing of pet food are increased greenhouse gas emissions, waste, use of water and energy.

When models are used to describe physical phenomenon during development or modification of a technical system, it is often possible to reduce both the time needed and the overall development cost. With the use of models it is also possible to investigate the potential of the selected solution, without the need for any expensive details and testrigs. In many cases it is also not possible to test all the aspects regarding the functionality that are desired from the system, without using the complete and final product.In this case a model based approach has been used to optimize the different parameters in the new snubbing mechanism for the Nose Landing Gear Retract Actuator on the JAS39 Gripen.During the simulations, upper and lower boundaries were calculated for the length of the spring and the diameter for the restrictor. The governing constraints were given by the requirements for the retraction time during cold conditions and that the amplitude of the alternating loads in the uplock mechanism were brought to an acceptable level.The most promising results from the simulations were then used in a limited number of trials in the hydraulic rig to verify that the configurations comply with the requirements.The final parameters for the snubbing mechanism were chosen to 35±1mm for the spring and 0.4-0.5 mm diameter for the restrictor..

The purpose of this work was to investigate and provide understanding regarding how AI can be used to make organizations more efficient, where risk management is also discussed. The basic model for the study is the Resource-based view, which is about making use of one's resources which are described through many different perspectives. The method used for this study was a qualitative analysis, which was applied through interviews with several people with high positions within companies and relevant skills, based on insight and experiential knowledge.These people work in different industries, therefore a large part of the work was intended to carry out a comparative analysis between a line of different businesses. The results showed that AI is in a developing phase, and based on the respective industry, it has developed in different ways. Finally, it turned out that AI can make businesses more efficient by, among other things, managing data and automating various work processes faster compared to humans.

The increasing significance of social economy as a concept is linked to general global processes such as the crisis of the welfare state, neoliberal globalization, anti-bureaucracy tendencies and decentralization, but also to a growing political interest in human rights and social development. In Sweden the idea of the social economy generates wide support within civil society as well as within the government and across party political boundaries. Furthermore, what is problematic in this context is the fact that the discussions on the subject tend to be relatively uncritical and often it seems as if though the expansion itself is the main objective. The emphasis on cooperation and the third sector in terms of welfare production implies a set of risks in relation to state responsibility, democracy and the autonomy of civil society. This paper aims to explore those risks and how they can be dealt with within the Swedish context..

This study focuses on the motives that recruiters can or may have within companies, organizations and authorities of using Facebook as a complement in the investigation of potential work-candidates. The study also explores the consequences that could occur regarding the boundaries of private and public spheres when recruiters are researching Facebook-pages of potential work-candidates.The results were collected by qualitative interviews with eight different recruiters from a wide range of businesses in Kalmar.By applying a framework of already identified uses and gratifications, we discovered six different motives of why recuriters would use Facebook as a complement while recruiting work-candidates. The motives are; security, guidance and advice, convenience utility, surveillance, curiosity and economic motives. We also discovered that the following consequences of researching Facebook-pages of potential workcandidates are that candidates are restricted in the possibilities of acting private on their Facebook-pages and that candidates have zero control of their published materials since recruiters sets the limits of what can be thought of as private and as public..

The aim of this essay is to investigate how the author JT LeRoy (a. i. Laura Albert) questions and broadens the concept of authenticity in literature and authorship. My study is based on LeRoy?s novel Sarah [2000] and the collection of short stories The heart is deceitful above all things [2001], as well as articles written about the construction of Laura Albert?s alter ego JT LeRoy.

It is of increasing importance to in the most effective possible way, manage and control all the transactions of raw materials, products and information that are exchanged between an organization and all its operators. These flows and the need for strategy and managing the processes of planning, implementing and control of the supply chain, has given name to the concept supply chain management. Supply chain management involves all movement and storage of raw material, and all the processes that is needed to manufacture a product from origin to consumption. Globalization, technology and increasing time and quality-based competition are all driving forces behind the concept and reasons for an increasing interest in supply chain management.The purpose of this essay is to by using a qualitative case study examine which decisive success factors that can be identified for effective supply chain management. We have compiled different theories on the subject to use for analyzing a case study Li & Fung, who is a successful supply chain management company.

Modern IT systems tend to become more and more complex, while the number of active systems in companies increases. Furthermore, the number of security-related incidents is at an all-time high. These new conditions impose new demands on organizations. For example, it is no longer possible to manually collect and examine the systems log messages.The purpose of this thesis has been to make a comprehensive study of solutions for automated collecting and managing of log messages, analyze the Swedish Armed Forces specification for solutions for central log collection and management, and evaluating exis- ting solutions. The work consisted primarily of literature studies and evaluations of two of the Swedish Armed Forces of selected products: NetIQ Security Manager and Splunk.

The fact that a duty of loyalty within the Swedish company law exists should be regarded as indisputable according to the Swedish doctrine, but its content and scope is however more severe identified. As the duty of loyalty is not regulated in the ABL and the fact that there are not many precedents in this area, means that it is difficult to know the boundaries of the company management´s duty of loyalty. It is also unclear whether the company management´s duty of loyalty to the company also is targeting the shareholders. It is this issue that we intend to discuss in the final chapter of this thesis. In order to answer our questions, we will in chapter two to six give an account of the foundation of the duty of loyalty and thereafter describe the management's duty of loyalty to the company.

In recent years, several scandals have been revealed where public employees been involved. Some researchers argue, moreover, that the NPM's rampage has led to an increase in the risk of corruption in public administration. The Regulation on Internal Control shall, according to the government, lead to adequate protection against corruption by analyzing and managing risks. However, Riksrevisionen have criticized the authorities' protection against corruption to be too unstructured and unsystematic. In addition, they questioned whether the regulation really has significance in the work against corruption.

Background: Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus is a chronical disease that often occurs early in life. In 2005 around 7000 children in Sweden was estimated with type 1 diabetes. When a child gets a chronical disease it affects the whole family. The parents will be the ones who take the main responsible for the child´s care. Purpose: The aim of this literature review was to describe the parents experiences of living with a child with type 1 diabetes.

Aim: The aim of this study was to describe what nurses experienced in connection with waiting time related frustration among patients and relatives in the emergency department and also what strategies nurses use to manage waiting time related frustration.Background: The numbers of emergency department visits are increasing and lead to waiting times which can cause frustration among patients and relatives, a frustration that nurses encounter in their everyday work and need strategies to deal with.Methods: This is a descriptive qualitative study. Interviews are conducted with five nurses, transcribed and analyzed by qualitative content analysis.Findings: The nurses feel inadequate and powerless when they meet patients and relatives frustration. In order to deal with patients and relatives frustration, they use the strategy of participation, which implies to involve and meet patients and relatives needs for information and to be seen. In order to prevent themselves becoming frustrated they use adaptability, by creating an inner calm, not take it personally and to distance themselves from the frustration.Conclusion: The result highlights the importance of managing the activity to reduce waiting time related frustration, for example through reflection and working for reducing waiting times. Further research is also needed..

After the fall of the Iron Curtain the European Union was challenged partly by an institutionalized organization of the union, as well as by a socio-psychology awareness concerning the meaning of the European Union. The increase in European integration has generated a political collaboration where national understandings in identities are constantly being exposed for reconstruction. This results in a collective European identity where states are united in diversity.National identities are created when boundaries are set up in a relation to other states. In these identity constructions there are thoughts and questions raised such as who we are and who we are not. Ukraine and the European Union has, during a long time, had diversified preconceptions concerning who has been the others.