Multi-branch companies are facing many challenges in order to become successful. Competitive advantages can be gained through a unified strong brand, standardised products and economies of scale. This normally calls for centralisation. On the contrary is decentralisation, which is said to improve work motivation and local market orientation, which are also competitive advantages. The focus of this thesis is to study how local branch managers want their companies to be structured in accordance with this dilemma.

This study is based on a statistical analysis of fundamental key ratios on the Stockholm Stock Exchange during the period 2004-2012. In total 35 financial ratios of 90 companies were tested, ultimately five ratios remained within the 5% significance level. These ratios were ROA, P/B, Total Yield, EV/EBIT and Operating Margin. A custom made investment model was created based on the purpose to achieve a risk-adjusted excess return. The results in general did not show any significant difference in return between the model's portfolio and index.

This study is about job training for people with psycho-social problems without income. The purpose with this sort of job training is to bring these people back to the regular labor market as well as the experience of having a job. In the labor market situation in Sweden today there?s no guarantee that the individual will return to the labor market after having undergone job training. The aim of this study is to understand how supervisors at job training activities experience that the organizations of the activities and resources affect their work.

The aim of this paper is to examine how gender roles are described in two children's books and compare the results against the curriculum Lgr11 's values. The compared books have different aims though one of the analyzed books claimed to go against the gender roles and the other one isn?t. The method of analysis is discourse analysis and deconstruction of the text by using Nikolajeva´s (2004) pattern for stereotype gender descriptions and Kåreland´s (2005) analysis of story actions based on gender representations in children's literature. The analysis of the texts shows that there are differences between how the two books characters are described depending on gender. What emerges is that in one of the books femininity is valued high but instead it lacks equality between the sexes, while in the second book the main characters are described as equal even though the other characters are described in a stereotypical way.

Problem: Today Frigoscandia Equipment Europe, FSEE, is not sure how their CRM-system, MSMS, is used along with other solutions at the different regions throughout Europe. The company is interested in a usage evaluation describing by who and how the system is used. FSEE is also concerned about the users opinions of future development and improvements.Management is also concerned about how MSMS would support the After Market and gain full leverage of the IT investments. MSMS is today only used to a limited extent in a few of the After Market departments, and FSEE is interested in what an overall usage would mean in terms of improved internal communication, customer focus and information management. The following questions will therefore be investigated in this study:· How, by whom and where is MSMS used within FSEE?s After Market and Sales divisions today?· What does the After Market division at FSEE gain from using MSMS?· What has to be done to improve the usage of MSMS at FSEE? Purpose: The purpose of this Master Thesis is partly to examine the current usage of the Sales and Marketing System within FSEE?s After Market and Sales divisions.

The society has strongly developed and changed the condition of the trades. The retail trade is no exception; it has changed and developed in the same pace as society. The retail trade is a very broad and extensive trade as all people come in contact with frequently. In the past people shopped locally but nowadays people have the entire world as their marketplace because of the development of Internet. Globalisation gives customers wider opportunities, which demands new and different sales concepts.

The aim of this study is to analyze Hinduism in upper secondary school textbooks using a gender-based perspective. The specific material used consists of four textbooks, whereof two are published prior to the curriculum Lgy 11 and two are published after Lgy 11. In order to analyze the textbooks the following methods are used: content analysis, picture analysis and comparative analysis. First, the contents and pictures of the textbooks are analyzed using theories on gender. After this analysis the results are compared to the relevant curriculum and its guidelines for the analyzed subject.

Purpose/Aim: This study is an analysis of the view on masculinity, male sexuality and creation of identity with the television series Queer as folk as a base. The analysis is partly based on a semiotic analysis of the representation of masculinity and male sexuality from an episode of the chosen television series Queer as folk, and partly based on a thematic analysis of focus group discussions with young men with different sexualities.Material/Method: This study is based on focus group interviews and a semiotic and thematic analysis. The focus groups consisted of three men in three different groups and were chosen on the criteria of gender and sexuality. All groups were presented with an episode of the television series Queer as folk to see how they perceived masculinity and male sexuality. Their discussions were analyzed with a thematic analysis and the television series Queer as folk with a semiotic analysis.Main results: The three analyzed characters in Queer as folk showed different representations of masculinity and male sexuality.

In public relations and marketing, lawsuits traditionally connote crisis. The purpose of this study is to explore the design and critical considerations concerning risks and opportunities when companies voluntarily initiate lawsuits with the partial aim to get publicity in the mass media. In the following paper, the communicative aspects of two such Swedish cases in the European Court of Justice are studied?a large corporation challenging the Swedish monopoly on gambling and a small company challenging the government on their restrictions for individuals to import alcoholic beverages. The case studies have been conducted through interviews, analysis of legal acts and press articles.

This thesis examines the deregulation reform of the Swedish railroad industry, focusing on passenger transport between 1988 and 2005. The purpose of the thesis is to examine the effects from the deregulation reform on prices, market concentration and to determine whether SJ (the state owned incumbent) has been conducting strategic behaviour in order to prevent new entrants to the market. The chosen method consists of interviews with the MD at SJ between 1988 - 1998 Mr Karl-Erik Strand, the transportation researcher at SSE Mr Gunnar Alexandersson. Statistical sources and companies financial reports have also been used. The results that I have found were besides the fact that the market concentration is still significant high and the profitability among the operators low, is that the prices has increased more than CPI during the period but the competitive tendering has resulted in lower government subsidies after the deregulation.

 Saab Microwave Systems (SMW) is a business unit within Saab AB that manufactures and develops different types of radar- and sensor systems for naval, airborne and ground based forces as well as within the market for civil security. In addition to the manufacturing of radar and sensor systems they also provide different types of service concepts. The business unit has 50 years of experience within the area of developing radar systems and is considered to be one of the market leaders. When applying an assemble-to-order production strategy with products at this level of cost price the product lead-time is vital and becomes an important part of the strategy within marketing and sales. Within SMW there is a new department called Supply Management (SM) that provides the supply of incoming and outgoing material. Within SM there are four sub-departments working with activities such as planning, purchasing, receiving inspection, storage and distribution.

The aim of this study is to examine the factors that motivate people to seek employment at a start-up company. We have conducted a qualitative study by interviewing ten people at six different start-up companies in Stockholm. Empirical findings show that the interviewed are mainly motivated by the possibility to work with challenging work tasks and the possibility to influence and acquire responsibility. Furthermore, status and other self-fulfilment factors such as building something from scratch that can create value and the possibility for a potential ownership is also contributing to the interviewed motivation to seek employment at a start-up. Factors such as an attractive labour market and a possibility to take a temporary break from the university, have contributed to the overall low risk perception of working at a start-up company.

Title: GMO Food ProductsThe issue of marketing and selling them in Europe - A Business and Legal Perspective.Author: Shane KingSupervisors: Anneli Carlsson and Ewa RabinowiczProblemThe European Unions regulations in regard to GMO?s and the approval process for both release into the environment, and onto the market, has been under fire by the USA along with Canada and Argentina. The WTO has ruled on this issue in favour of USA et al.The problem that was identified was in regard to consumer opinion in the EU. How could the EU meet its numerous international trade obligations while at the same time meetingthe needs of the citizens of the Union? Added to that was the issue of whether or not the?EU? perspective was indeed an EU perspective or rather the perspective of a fewMember States.

This paper was written at the Baltic Business School in Kalmar. The purpose was to analyze and determine the importance of packaged holidays within the tourism and travel sector and how value can be created for the customer. This have been done with a focus on the chosen parts; customer needs and how packaging can create value, how companies can work to give the customer increased value through packaging, last but not least how companies segment the market and if there are specific segments that prefer packaging. We have applied the qualitative method through conducting four face-to-face interviews and one phoneinterview. The purpose of this paper is not to generalize, but to show patterns in the chosen subject.

A tight economy and a keen competition force the Swedish agricultur to do a structural rationalization. The quantity of farmers is less but the units are growing. How to make money I think some kind of niche is necessary. In my examwork I have locked how to farm herbaceous plant and the marking of herb to feedstuff for horses. Today health food and alternative medicine are accepted to use and there is an increase in demand. The Swedish market for herbaceous plants to horses is small and the products are mostly imported. But there is a group of consumers who is willing to pay a higer price for Swedish cultivated herbs. The only way to find out which herbaceous plants I could cultivate is to make a test cultivate. I think that the market for herbaceous plants is growing.