Thesis purpose: The purpose of the master thesis is to analyse the battle of meaning creation regarding the notion of smoking and to reveal the production of unequal power relations. The battle is fought by different stakeholders through means of language and the study focuses on the tobacco industry in Germany. Methodology: A critical discourse analysis is applied with a qualitative research strategy. Our data collection was inspired by grounded theory and is limited in scope through a relevant case within the context of smoking in Germany. Empirical data is collected by means of an internet based document study of publicly available texts.

This essay analyses the act of reading August Strindberg?s novel En dåres försvarstal (A Madman?s defence). It reveals the writer?s motif and purpose with the text and it shows how a certain interpretation of the text is crucial for the writer?s intentions to become reality. But it also shows how this interpretation is threaten by several, both intertextual and extratextual, thematically and structural, factors.

In light of the coming workforce shortage in Sweden the competition for human capital will be intensified on the market where employers compete in order to attract skilled labor. The competition will be most noticeable in the knowledge-intense industries, where the employees are seen as the companies? most valuable asset. The purpose of this paper is to examine how small knowledge-intensive companies can improve their position in the labor market by using the HR-model People Capability Maturity Model in order to affect their companies' Employer Brand. We take the basis of the theoretical framework in which we examine and identify the key dimensions of the Employer Brand concept and present the People Capability Maturity Model more closely.

This report aims to examine the design of a passive house. The design addresses the selection ofmaterial, sizing and selection of both building services systems and building technical features suchas load-bearing framework and moisture control. Interior layout is designed for a family of twoadults and one child.A big part of the report is devoted to an in-depth comparison of three different wall constructions ofpassive house standard. The structures that have been compared are a lightweight timber structure, aheavier concrete structure and a sandwich wall of the brand Weber Leca. The report covers variousaspects such as air flow, wall thickness, the risks associated with the construction, U-value, thermalbridges, power consumption, price, and assembly costs.

This paper investigates the compensation for risk in the context of the Swedish stock market with a special focus on downside risk. Using daily market data collected from the A-list of the Stockholm Stock Exchange between the years 1983 and 2005 the purpose is to answer the question whether Swedish investors are compensated for holding stocks with high downside risk, measured as downside beta. Using panel data analysis it is shown, in accordance with most previous evidence in international research, firstly that stocks with high beta values on average experience higher returns than stocks with low beta values, and secondly that stocks with high downside beta values experience higher returns than stocks with high beta values in general. On the other hand, cross-sectional regression methodology using a bivariate regression approach shows that downside beta does not explain excess returns very well. Instead, regression analysis suggest that high upside beta does a much better job in explaining excess return over this time period compared to downside beta.

This thesis describes the processes of establishing wind farms in Sweden. The workcontains a thorough literature review regarding both the establishing process andproject management, including complex project theory. The main part consists of theexecution of 15 interviews with organizations involved in wind farm establishment.The result of these interviews laid the foundation for a process description identifyingdifferent steps and activities in these types of projects. The outcome was thencompiled in a project model, which includes five phases and four processes.When analyzing the project of establishing wind farms from the theory of complexprojects one discovers that the amount of different requirements and stakeholdersnecessitates a systematical and dynamical project structure. Since projects are in needof different types of competences there are also many consultants and contractorsinvolved.

The average length of life is increasing in the western world, hence the older population is growing. A common health problem among the elderly is malnutrition. Malnutrition causes decreased body strength and is associated with an amplified risk of infections, depression, fractures and increased mortality. The health care system is therefore faced with the challenge to prevent malnutrition among the growing population of elderly. This could be done by providing nutritious foods developed to meet the specific needs of elderly. The overall objective of this project was to test a healthy energy dense drink based on oats targeted for the elderly consumers as a strategy to prevent malnutrition among elderly.

Analogue photography is something that many thought died out in the beginning of the 21?st century as a result of the digital revolution. But that?s not the case. As the digital revolution swept over the world a movement of analogue cameras, and so called toycams grew bigger.

This thesis was made possible by the company Verendus system AB, which is the leading developer of dealership management systems in the caravan and camper market. The goal of the thesis was to create a statistics module for a new producer system envisioned by Verendus. The new system is aimed at manufacturers and importers of caravans and campers, with the goal of enabling its users to create more effective production lines. By providing statistical data to mentioned users they will be able to predict market trends and customize their production lines accordingly. Today such software does not exist which leads Verendus to think that its arrival would lead to a success on the market.Before the development and design of the producer system began, a new agile method had to be developed, MAM (Minimum Agile Method).

Recent changes in Swedish law suggest new groups of ?desired? labor migrants, which international students is an example of. Despite this, international students in Sweden have received little previous attention in the literature. The current study focused on international master students? experiences of job searching in Sweden and challenges they face in job searching, recruitment, and workplaces.

The purchasing of management consulting services has traditionally been characterized by informal and relation based interaction. However, case studies have shown that there is a movement towards more formalized and structured purchasing procedures among buyers of management consulting services. The purpose of this study is to investigate the prevalence and the implications of this professionalization. To investigate to what extent certain mechanisms of professionalization have been implemented on the Swedish market, a survey directed to Sweden?s 500 largest companies was conducted.

On Nasdaq OMX Nordic Stockholm there has been a large increase in issues of preferred stocks since the financial crisis 2008. Aiming to explain whether preferred stocks have most of their characteristics relating to debt or equity, we answer four sub questions. Do all preferred stocks share the same features, or do they differ from each other? Our population is similar in characteristics, except for the preferred stock of Swedbank which is convertible and deviates when it comes to participation in dividends - instead of convertible the others are limited and redeemable. Further, the second sub question treats preferred stock in relation to the common stock quantitatively, in market data.

The purpose of this essay is to investigate how large Swedish corporations within the same industry protect themselves against foreign exchange risks and to determine if there is a general practice for how the protection is done. What is the responsibility structure at these corporations regarding the handling of exposure to foreign exchange?.

This thesis purpose is to determine an explanation of the efficiency in a labour-market related project. ?Enter? is an EU-financed project with a focus on long-term unemployed workers in the district Härlanda, Gothenburg. Starting in September 2004, Enter offers individually based coaching and job guidance to totally 110 young persons with problems entering the labour market. The goal is to provide these people courage to find either full or part time employment or to start study.

Background: Once upon a time the most important resources in an economy were tangible goods. Historically, Swedish company culture has been dominated by engineering and techni-cal innovation has been the focal point. Today, Intangible values drive product development and form a company?s differentiation. Intangibles have therefore become the most prominent resources in a company.