In May 2005 the Swedish cinema chain Astoria Cinemas is founded and in July two years later the company goes bankrupt. In this thesis Astoria Cinemas is used as an example to illustrate the conditions for a culture-producing company in a commercial market. The purpose of the thesis is to discuss the strategies for cultural production that has been used by the actors involved in the Swedish cinema market, and also to discuss the structural environment on that market. It is a qualitative study based on interviews and documentation. A few conclusions are possible to draw from the empirical material, one is that Astoria Cinemas? management did not agree on the company?s business strategy and therefore might have acted strategically inconsistent.

Level: Thesis in Business AdministrationDate: 20009-06-11Authors: Anders Johansson & Johan MyhrE-mail: anders@clubsilk.nu,  johan@clubsilk.nuTutor: Mona AnderssonTitle: Company valuation according to Value Based Management ? application to SkiStarProblem: Different operators constantly supervise Companies listed at the stockmarket. The stock exchange market is continuously updating the companie?s present value and their forecasted value. It is important that the companies are able to communicate with the market so that the stockvalue reflects the real value of the company.

This paper includes astudy of the mutual fund market investors during a selected timeperiod. The reader is given a descriptive picture of how people in different age groups have  acted  in  conjunction  with  the  last  major  financial  crisis.  It  has  been  studied whether people in the different age categories have saved,purchased or sold during this time  period  based  on  theories  and  analytic  material  from  one  of  the  largest  fund operators in Sweden. The result enlightens people?s activity and risk appetite in relation to the fund market. The essay results in an explanation of the underlying cause of the behavior        of         the         people         in         the         different         age         categories.The paper assumes that the market is cyclical and that more crises will occur in the future.

The purpose of this study was to examine the experience of organizational culture among salespeople at a specific workplace. The purpose was also to investigate what motivates these salespeople in their work and the impact culture has on their motivation. We have used a qualitative research method to collect the empirical material. With the help of seven interviews, including six salespeople from one of Sweden?s biggest electronic retailer and also one information interview with a sales consultant, we attempted to find the answer to how they perceive the organizational culture and how it affects their work motivation. The following questions are used to fulfill this purpose: ? How do the salespeople experience the organizational culture? ? What motivates the salespeople in their daily work? ? What effects does the organizational culture have on the salespersons motivation? As analytical tools we have used are the concept of organizational culture, Schein's description of the three components of culture and Herzberg Motivation-Hygiene theory. The results of the study indicate that the salespeople experience a positive organizational culture and that this culture promotes fellowship and unity between colleagues, which in turn contributes to an enhanced motivation.

This paper is about the new programming language from Microsoft, C# (See Sharp) and the .NET Framework. They are still in beta-version, but will be released on the market in February 2002. This paper presents C#, not in detail but the characteristics that distinguish the language. A comparison is done with C++ and Java, since C# is most resembling to these languages. Both C# and Java have been developed from the mother- language C++.

With the advent of a range of social networks, librarians all over the world have startedto ask themselves how this new technology can be used as a way to market theirlibraries. Today's information websites and search engines are difficult competitors forlibraries and information centers, and are forcing traditional information institutions tomarket themselves in new ways.Marketing theories have traditionally concerned themselves with money transactionsand marketing of specific services and/or products. Relationship marketing theories, onthe other hand, focus more on the relationship between the customer and the companythat produces the product or service. These two parties are seen as co-producers, andrelationship marketing theories tend to focus more on a win-win situation, than on thecompany gaining power of the customer. The relationship is the important thing, and thetheories concentrate to a great extent on how to nourish these relationships.This paper is a discussion about whether Facebook as a social network is a usable toolfor library marketing.

Common wisdom dictates that because payment of dividends decreases funds available for investment, a high payout ratio is to be associated with low earnings growth. This notion has been challenged in recent years by empirical research that has found a positive relationship between payout ratio and future earnings growth, both on the aggregated market level and the company level in different countries. This study investigated the aforementioned relationship on the Swedish market by statistically analyzing future earnings growth as a function of payout ratio on a large sample of publicly listed companies over the period 1980 to 2011. The results are in line with those found in previous research and indicate that companies with high dividend payout ratio tend to experience strong future earnings growth. The results are robust to the presence of mean reversion, the use of an alternative accounting measure of earnings, non-symmetrical earnings growth cycles and alternative practices for dealing with outliers..

Pre-workout (PWO) is one, fast-growing, supplement on the market that promise fat burning, bigger muscels and energy and by buying these expensive supplements, you can get your dreambody faster than others. This study is mainly about researching why people use PWO and what experiences they have about using these supplements. By using a qualitative method I have found out that the participants mainly uses PWO to get energy and focus. This study also shows that my participants thinks that there is a difference in energy between using and not using PWO..

The aim of this thesis is to examine user experience and engagements in interactive cinema.A great deal of the research that is conducted today involves creating interactive films, toexplore and examine film structures. In this study, we build on this research by comparingthree different interactive film structures. To carry out our study, we have categorized threedifferent interactive films after three different models to define their narrative structureand interface. To examine the experiences of those structures we have performed anexperiment where we have collected data from the three different sources; interviews,observations and surveys.It is difficult to draw conclusions about how an interactive film should be constructed asdifferent structures apply to different narratives. Based on our research the conclusion canbe made that the combination between the narrative structure, the narrative content, theaesthetics, the implementation of interactivity and how the film?s interface is constructed ismore important than building a specific structure for an interactive film.

This thesis work is about how technical consulting companies can accept their organization before a coming recession. Technical consulting companies are together with the rest of the actors in the construction business constantly depended on the current economic situation on the market. How to adapt the organisation depends on the current situation on the market.To adapt the organization in the best way possible the companies need to recruit and educate personal. It is then very important to find a solution on how the current change of generation in the companies will be handled. The large and very much competent group of 40-talists will in a few years retire.

A growing need to strengthen ones position on the market, even as a city in competition with other cities, has resulted in an increasing number of municipalities developing brand platforms. When the city of Umeå developed their platform, they identified decision makers and investors as one of four important target groups.The aim of this study is to explore the portrayed image of the city of Umeå in two Swedish trade journals which addresses the specific target group decition makers and investors in both public and private sector. The aim is also to compare the image of Umeå in the two papers, to the ambition of the municipality, expressed in the brand platform.In order to make the observations as firmly established as possible, the method of the study is a combination of a quantitative content analysis and a qualitative text analysis. The study draws on the theories of Eli Avraham and Philip Kotler, concerning how to improve city images and how to market a specific city among others. The study shows that the city of Umeå in large extent is portrayed in accordance to the ambition which the municipality expressed in the brand platform.Umeå is displayed as an expanding city.

This pilot study investigates possible treatment effects and participants' experience in an internet-based treatment of specicfic phobia. Changes in self-reported phobic fear were examined in a series of case studies and changes in attitudes towards avoidance and approach strategies were examined at group level. Seventeen DSM-IV diagnosed patients with specific phobia participated and 10 out of these completed the treatment.The results show that 80 % of the completing participants were clinically improved after the treatment and that the completing participants were significantly more negative towards avoidance strategies after the treatment. The evaluation of the disposition and user-friendliness of the treatment showed that the participants' overall view of the treatment was positive. The main advantage perceived was the flexible nature of the treatment, while the main disadvantages were the high level of motivation and discipline required from the participants.

A growing need to strengthen ones position on the market, even as a city in competition with other cities, has resulted in an increasing number of municipalities developing brand platforms. When the city of Umeå developed their platform, they identified decision makers and investors as one of four important target groups.The aim of this study is to explore the portrayed image of the city of Umeå in two Swedish trade journals which addresses the specific target group decition makers and investors in both public and private sector. The aim is also to compare the image of Umeå in the two papers, to the ambition of the municipality, expressed in the brand platform.In order to make the observations as firmly established as possible, the method of the study is a combination of a quantitative content analysis and a qualitative text analysis. The study draws on the theories of Eli Avraham and Philip Kotler, concerning how to improve city images and how to market a specific city among others. The study shows that the city of Umeå in large extent is portrayed in accordance to the ambition which the municipality expressed in the brand platform.Umeå is displayed as an expanding city.

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.

In this study we examined co-workers experiences of having a previous colleague as their leader, which is relatively common. We made qualitative interviews with six social welfare administrators who had been through this situation at work. The questions had been concentrated at how they were affected by the previous relationship, what expectations they had, and their view of how the business had been handled by their leader. The result of these interviews has then been connected to two leadership theories. The conclusion of the study was that the experience of the situation differs.