To achieve a working collaboration in a big, complex organization where there are vast requirements on both quality and profitability is not always an easy task. An example of this is the organization that was created in the Swedish railway industry following a series of deregulations during the past 25 years. A partial market in this organization is the railway maintenance. In order to achieve a working collaboration between actors in this organization the so-called Purchaser-provider model (PPM) is presently used for the procurement of rail maintenance projects. Previous research has shown that this market-based instrument has clear positive effects regarding the cost-efficiency but hinders the collaboration.

Title: A new battle, the same bottle: A case study of the visual communication of Absolut Vodka and how it?s positioned towards different market segments.Author: Anna von Friedrichs Grängsjö & Niklas SvanlindhTutor: Jessica GustafssonPurpose: To overview the visual communication of Absolut Vodka and how it?s positioned towards different market segments. Absolut Vodka is a brand that reaches a vast range of consumers through a single consistent marketing strategy. The hypothesis was that one can reach many different market segments with the marketing of a product by constantly keeping some components of the communication the same while constantly changing others. Key questions to be answered are: How do Absolut Vodka address their target audiences in their visual communication? Which market segments does the visual communication of Absolut Vodka seem to address?Method/Material: The research was conducted through a qualitative research study in which four Youtube videos by Absolut Vodka were analyzed.

Forces of innovation alter the course of many industries. Currently there is a restructuring of the Swedish energy sector due to deregulation. This in combination with advanced technologies generates an innovative and a highly changeable environment. The result is differentiation of services and products. New actors are emerging and corporations grow larger.

The purpose of this thesis has been to build a parameterized model of a prototype motor in the program Solidworks, to use in future optimization of aspects of effectiveness and weight. The result were two models. The first model were one minor part of the whole design in 2D, to be able to optimize and study the minor part with a faster loss simulation. The second model was the whole design in 3D. The whole model were done with the three programs Solidworks, Comsol and Matlab.

This bachelor thesis has the purpose to visualize and document the air movementsprovided by different ventilation principles in an operating theatre. The visualizationwill be made as simple as possible in a physical model. The model and thedocumentation should be able to use in educational purposes.The study is based on the two most common systems for airflow, currently used inoperating theatres. The first principle is displacement ventilation in which the air issupplied at low velocity along the floor. The second principle is vertical parallel laminarairflow in which the air is compressed like a piston from ceiling to the floor.A review of literature resulted in the choice of size, design, and scale factor for themodel, as well as choices of ventilation principles and airflows.

AbstractEffective January 1, 2005 publicly listed companies were obliged to adopt a new financialreporting standard (IFRS/IAS). The objective of IFRS/IAS was to increase transparency andcomparability in financial reports between companies. The authors have chosen to write aboutIAS 40 where the accounting treatment for investment property and related disclosurerequirements are regulated.The purpose of this thesis is to investigate potential effects of valuation of investmentproperty at fair market value for real estate companies at times when market price decreasesand to investigate what an acceptable difference for the valuation could be.To fulfil this purpose the authors have chosen a qualitative method interviewing accountants,property analysts and a credit analyst to obtain a deeper understanding of the problem. Basedata for the thesis have been collected during meetings, telephone interviews and e-mails.Additional data was collected from public available sources such as the internet, relevantprofessional magazines and professional newsletters. The authors have designed a modelshowing how Income and Balance Sheet statements are influenced by changed valuation ofinvestment property.

General concerns about environmental issues may mean that the demand for bio-based products will increase. Opportunities that arise on markets, together with the declining demand for newsprint, may trigger firms in the Swedish forest industry to increase their development of new products. One product that has received a lot of attention during recent years (and is a contender) is nanocellulose. The purpose of this master thesis was to examine the Swedish forest industry?s view on the market potential of nanocellulose.

Background: In 1998 it was stated that Swedish municipalities would report the pension liabilities according to the mixed model where the pension liabilities before 1998 was moved from the balance sheet. The mixed model has been criticized by economists for not showing the total pension liabilities. To remove some of the liabilities in the municipalities balance sheets means that the solvency improves. Some municipalities have decided to go against the municipal accounting law and recognize all of the pension liability as a liability according to the full funding model. When two accounting models are being used the comparison of the municipalities' financial statements is much harder.Purpose: The main purpose of this study was to study the reason why some municipalities apply full funding model rather than the mixed model.

The subject for this paper is the Class Action against Skandia Association, a civil organization formed in 2003 with the aim of claiming compensation for some 1.2 million life insurance customers. The background to its formation was one of the largest financial scandals in Sweden in recent times, involving a number of questionable affairs within the insurance corporation Skandia and its subsidiaries, most notably the life insurance company Skandia Liv. The interests of both the stake- and stockholders of the company seem, in certain ways, to have been grossly misrepresented. The scandal, as well as the reaction it spawned, pose a number of questions. In this study, we focus on two: a possible, and in many ways apparent crisis in the representation of interests in Swedish society, and the role of civil society in upholding the balance between these interests.We argue that what is often held to be the ?greed? or ?immorality? of individuals in scandals such as Skandia is, to a great extent, a mere reflection of the ?rational? underpinnings of modern-day capitalism.We find that trust has been a key mechanism of control in the relationships between consumers and agents in pension and life insurance markets, and that ?the Swedish model? that distinguished post-WWII Swedish society was a model heavily based on trust towards existing models of bureaucratic governance.

AbstractEffective January 1, 2005 publicly listed companies were obliged to adopt a new financialreporting standard (IFRS/IAS). The objective of IFRS/IAS was to increase transparency andcomparability in financial reports between companies. The authors have chosen to write aboutIAS 40 where the accounting treatment for investment property and related disclosurerequirements are regulated.The purpose of this thesis is to investigate potential effects of valuation of investmentproperty at fair market value for real estate companies at times when market price decreasesand to investigate what an acceptable difference for the valuation could be.To fulfil this purpose the authors have chosen a qualitative method interviewing accountants,property analysts and a credit analyst to obtain a deeper understanding of the problem. Basedata for the thesis have been collected during meetings, telephone interviews and e-mails.Additional data was collected from public available sources such as the internet, relevantprofessional magazines and professional newsletters. The authors have designed a modelshowing how Income and Balance Sheet statements are influenced by changed valuation ofinvestment property.

The EU Services Directive has caused an intense debate across Europe. Its purpose is to remove obstacles to trade and to open up the public sector to increased competition. The Swedish labour movement has been deeply involved in the policy process, and union leaders have proclaimed the compromise reached in the European Parliament in April 2006 as a success.In the paper two major aspects have been considered: the meaning of the Swedish model and the process of Europeanization. The Swedish model previously allowed for a strong labour movement, through a social democratic hegemony, but the EU membership has implied new conditions for union influence. The paper examines how this change has affected the strategic choices of the Swedish labour movement, and how it has been manifested in the union's work with the Services Directive.

This report was written as a result of a Bachelor Degree Project at the School of Technology and Society at University of Skövde spring 2007, together with Jede AB in Mariestad. The report covers the development of a door to a coffee vending machine that is under construction, and will in a chronological order describe the project from ideas to final product.The project started with a rather extensive feasibility study that thru market research and user tests sorted out the opinions of potential customers, concerning today?s available assortment. Technical areas concerning materials and manufacturing methods were also scrutinized for the consideration of the possibilities of a future production.The next step was to constructively generate ideas and thoughts that later on could grow to be potential solutions. After several weeks of hard work and pieces of good advice and recommendations from the assigner, four comprehensive concepts were built up.

I denna uppsats undersöker vi huruvida invandrare diskrimineras på den svenska arbetsmarknaden. Vi undersöker även om förhållandet skiljer sig när vi endast tittar på gruppen kvinnor, och gör en jämförelse mellan svenskfödda kvinnor och invandrarkvinnor. Vi använder oss av två modeller för att estimera löneskillnader, dummyvariabel modellen och Blinder-Oaxaca modellen. Våra resultat ger tydliga indikationer på lönediskriminering gentemot invandrare, kvinnor och en ännu tydligare lönediskriminering gentemot invandrarkvinnor. Vi anser att invandrarkvinnor drabbas av en så kallad dubbel diskriminering, där den övriga populationen i genomsnitt ges 28,4% högre lön än invandrarkvinnor..

The purpose of our essay is to examine if variation exists in the way that auditors try their independence, this so called analysis-model. We will suggest some factors that influence the way auditors practise the analysis-model. The institutional theory predicts no differencies since the normative pressure could be expected to be severe. But we found that among other things people?s qualifications, personalities and audit firm?s size and age influence the way auditors try their independence.

AbstractEffective January 1, 2005 publicly listed companies were obliged to adopt a new financialreporting standard (IFRS/IAS). The objective of IFRS/IAS was to increase transparency andcomparability in financial reports between companies. The authors have chosen to write aboutIAS 40 where the accounting treatment for investment property and related disclosurerequirements are regulated.The purpose of this thesis is to investigate potential effects of valuation of investmentproperty at fair market value for real estate companies at times when market price decreasesand to investigate what an acceptable difference for the valuation could be.To fulfil this purpose the authors have chosen a qualitative method interviewing accountants,property analysts and a credit analyst to obtain a deeper understanding of the problem. Basedata for the thesis have been collected during meetings, telephone interviews and e-mails.Additional data was collected from public available sources such as the internet, relevantprofessional magazines and professional newsletters. The authors have designed a modelshowing how Income and Balance Sheet statements are influenced by changed valuation ofinvestment property.