In this qualitative study the authors explores, by studying several quality-development models what quality in leadership is. The models are: Total Quality Management; SIQ?s model for customer-oriented organizational development; the EFQM excellence model; the ISO 9000:2000 standard; and Six Sigma. These models will be compared from Deming?s list for upper management; the Situational Leadership Theory; and the Contingency Theory.

This study test the short-termism of companies listed on the market OMX Stockholm 30. We will use a deductive point of view where the purpose of this study is to investigate whether corporate short-term returns can be explained by the independent variables related to corporate governance and compensation practices. This is to investigate whether there is an intentional action on raising the short-term return in order to achieve a higher CEO compensation. In the study, theories dealing with corporate governance and agency theory have resulted in two hypotheses. Basic Hypothesis H1 is: if short-termism of Swedish industry due to the company's short-term returns can be explained by the independent variables related to the company's management and compensation. This hypothesis could not be verified through the quantitative study. Alternative Hypothesis H2 is: the compensation of a CEO can be explained by the independent variables related to company performance and size.

This thesis is a case-study of an ongoing court case between the Swedish Competition Agency and Växjö Municipality about a set-up requirement to the long-distance heating system for newly built private houses on municipality owned land. This requirement was set up as part of the municipality?s long-term environmental goals; however the Competition Agency claims that the demand is damaging the free market in the municipality. The purpose of this thesis is to determine which normative assumptions the decision makers have based their actions and re-action on, and whether or not these assumptions are valid, thru theoretical ideal types. This is determined via method of textual analysis.

Confrontation naming is commonly used in speech and language pathology to diagnose neurogenic communication disorders and evaluate naming ability. The existing Swedish assessment instruments for adults consist of pictures depicting nouns. In this study, parts of the instrument An Object and Action Naming Battery were used, containing pictures depicting both nouns and verbs. The study?s purpose was to explore the degree of difficulty in the material, based on the naming of the participants, and examine whether different variables correlate with the results in confrontation naming.

En god arbetsmiljö är en lagstadgad rättighet för arbetstagaren enligt Arbetsmiljölagen. Arbetet med att säkerställa en god arbetsmiljö kallas arbetsmiljöarbete och är en nyckelfaktor för att skapa hälsosamma och attraktiva arbetsplatser. Medarbetarundersökningar är en undersökningsmetod i det systematiska arbetsmiljöarbetet men kan också användas i syfte att ta reda på medarbetarnas uppfattningar om sin arbetssituation med målet att skapa verksamhetsförbättringar.I denna studie har syftet varit att undersöka vilken roll som medarbetarundersökningen spelar i chefernas arbetsmiljöarbete. Studien undersökte hur cheferna arbetar med arbetsmiljöarbete och hur arbetet med resultatet från en medarbetarundersökning genomförts. Studien genomfördes på en funktion med tre organisationsnivåer och bygger på 12 kvalitativa intervjuer med funktions-, avdelnings- och enhetschefer.Studien visar att medarbetarundersökningen spelar en viktig roll i chefernas arbetsmiljöarbete på alla organisationsnivåer både som diskussionsunderlag i ledningsgrupper och i dialogen med medarbetarna samt som bevis på att genomförda arbetsmiljöinsatser fungerar.

Several surveys indicate that corporate leaders still consider the aligning of IT and business functions as a top management issue. The aim of this thesis is to illustrate how coordination emerges between IT and business departments and how formal structures intended to coordinate are influenced by human action. To deepen the understanding of this phenomenon we seek to analyze IT/business coordination from a perspective based on practice theory. A field study was conducted where observations and informal interviews were carried out at the IT department of a global company. The empirical analysis indicate that coordination problems between IT and business departments is in part affected by embedded factors such as different goals and perspectives on how IT is to be used in the organization or how to design IT related processes.

The high level of competition and the rapidly growing technology development has created new challenges for today's businesses where they are forced to deliver more customized products at a lower price and a shorter time period. This places high demands on the companies' ability to design and develop better products in a more efficient way. In addition to developing products, the design process focuses on securing long-term success for the company by developing nourishing skills. However, to achieve an effective design process the companies must improve their ability to plan as well as use their knowledge base in a more efficient manner. Toyota's product development system is a critical component for companies to address challenges that they?re facing and offers a great potential to create significant competitive advantages.

Background: Markets in Financial Instruments Directive, MiFID, was implemented in Swedish law in 2007 and aimed to increase competition of the securities market in order to achieve efficiency and lower transaction costs and to enhance investor protection. Another aim was to increase confidence in the market. After the implementation of MiFID some doubts had been highlighted regarding its intentional effects. This evoked the authors? interest to examine the directive?s effects and its impact on investors? trust.Aim: To examine how various participants in the Swedish securities market experienced changes since the implementation of MiFID in 2007, and its impact on the securities market and minor investors' trust.Method: The study applied a qualitative method with a deductive approach to describe, interpret and understand the problem area.

Every year, approximately 700 000 individuals´ visit an emergency ward in Sweden as a result of injuries and to the emergency ward at Umea University hospital (NUS) about 12 000 injured arrive every year. This study is a retrospective cross-sectional study that surveys injuries caused by crashes among 153 pedestrians and 53 bicyclists, who have been injured in a geographically well defined area during the period January to June 2009. The aim of this study is to survey injuries among pedestrians and cyclists and to examine what preventive measures could reduce these injuries in the Umeå municipality. The results show that falls caused by slipper surface are common among both pedestrians (71 %; n = 109) and bicyclists (32 %; n = 17). Almost one third of the pedestrians (34 %; n = 43) were in the age of 65 or older.

Conditions for Swedish forestry are expected to change in the future due to the climate. Among other things, increased production is expected in a warmer climate, mainly because of a longer growing season. With the changing climate risk of damage by such as insects, fungi and storms are expected to increase. Hence, it is of highest importance for private forest owners to spread these risks in the way they cultivate their forest. In this study a qualitative method was used to examine ten private forest owners with forest properties within Kronoberg county, Sweden in their attitudes and actions to prepare in terms of climate change and if they have been affected by the climate change debate in their forest decisions.

Many invasive species propose a big threat against the native fauna in the area that they colonise. Today the raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides) is speeding from Finland over the border in to northern Sweden. A project to stop the spread and eliminate the individuals that already have established was initiated in the autumn of 2008. To investigate areas that might be interesting for raccoon dogs and to confirm sightings, cameras with auto triggering mechanisms are used. To get the raccoon dog in front of the camera some kind of lure is used. In this study three kinds of different lures was tested against each other?s.

In this paper the authors aim to examine the effects on consumers using different strategies in a campaign within social marketing. A model by Evans et al (1996) has been used in order to see the different steps in which advertising catches the viewers? attention and eventually leads to action or purchasing. However, in the case of this thesis, the intention of the chosen campaign is to change the consumers? attitudes and behavior towards alcohol.

Vi beskriver i denna rapport hur vi, som två studenter vidÖrebro universitet, utvecklade ett nätverksbaserat action-spel för datorer i Windows-miljösomsedanvarmed ochtävladei nordens största spelutvecklar-tävling, Swedish Game Awards. I spelet,som vi döpt till Battle of Life, tar sig spelaren an en farlig och oförlåtande värld och måste slåss mot andra spelareför att överleva. Vi förklarar i denna rapport hur vi, under tio veckors tid,utvecklar ett spel från grundenoch vilka verktyg och metoder vi använde oss av för att genomföra uppgiften. Vi beskriver projektets mot-och framgångar samt hur vi löste de problem vi komi kontakt med under utveklingens gång.Vi går in djupare på varför vi gjordevissa designbeslut och hur de påverkade vårt slutliga resultat.Avslutningsvis diskuterarviom utveklingsprocessen och spelets eventuella framtid, både från vårt eget perspektivsom utvecklaremen även från ett samhällsenligt perspektiv..

Piled friction soil show a set-up which is increasing with the time after installation. The cost could be reduced if the set-up had been taken into account when designing but in Sweden it is very unusual to do that. Previous studies showed that set-up can vary between 25 % and 75 % during the first 90 days after pile installation. This showed that the effect of the phenomenon is difficult to predict. A study involving five projects have been carried out by specifying certain parameters like pile type, method for pile installation and test method for measure the bearing capacity in friction soils located in Sweden.

Regional European Offices with the purpose to represent regions and municipalities in the EU-system have had a substantial expansion over the last years. One example is the North Sweden European Office for the counties of Norrbotten and Västerbotten, consisting of seven different headmen who are representing both the private sector as well as the public system. This diverse leadership representation makes North Sweden a very good example on a so called Quango, organisations that stand under simultaneous influence from both public and private sectors. These Quangos opens up new possibilities to solve public problems, but they also bring together two different working models which is not always easy to handle for a Quango. According to earlier surveys some characteristic Quango problems within North Sweden exist, for example the ability to prioritize and thereby be as effective as possible.