This paper deals with how seamen onboard Merchant ships flying the Swedish flag apprehendthe culture, information and leisure possibilities that offer them by the Swedish GovernrnentSeamen's Service, HKF.The objective with this work is two folded: first of all suggest some actions to be taken inorder to improve the situation for seamen, based on the results from interviews with crewsonboard three Merchant ships.Secondly, draw the attention to HKF's activity in general and to the activity of the SwedishSeamen's Library in particular, for people working within libraries.The result of this examination shows that people onboard really regards the service carriedout by HKF as very good in general, but there are some activities which hopefully can beimproved. However, perhaps the most important role can be played by the shipping companies,based on the wishes that came about from the seamen. These conclusions and discussion aredealt within chapter 8..

This thesis studies private equity firms' implementation of management control systems in their portfolio companies and whether the systems are affected by cross-national differences. A comparative case study examines five different private equity firms to derive if there are any differences between the private equity firms' management control systems in the United States, Europe and China. The empirical observations are categorized according to the framework developed by Merchant (1985) and further developed by Merchant and Van der Stede (2003). Theory on the effect of multinationality on management control systems, also developed by Merchant and Van der Stede (2003), are used to explain possible findings. The applied theory includes the cultural dimensions developed by Hofstede (1984) and Hofstede and Bond (1988).

The thesis examines the crisis that the Swedish-flagged Merchant marine underwent in the 1990s, that resulted in a narrow market for the Swedish-flagged fleet. In order to save the industry, the TAP- agreement was created, consisting of three parties, government- market and interest organizations.  Purpose in this thesis, is to exam how the TAP-agreement was carried out in relation to the parties, and how it correlates in relation to how the global political economy affected the Swedish maritime politics. Two questions are presented. Is the TAP agreement an expression of Swedish corporatism?  Which aspect of Global Political Economy is characteristic for the TAP agreement? A case study is preformed in three steps. The different parties of the TAP-agreement have been interviewed.  A comparative study of two Swedish crises has been performed, in order to establish the correlation between them, in regards to corporatism.  A survey, with the aim to pinpoint which aspect of Global Political Economy is characteristic of the TAP agreement. Findings in this thesis are that the TAP-agreement was designed through corporatism, and that the most important aspect of all, the Swedish flag was worth saving, for all parties. .

Recent years have been very turbulent for most private equity firms. Especially the financial meltdown in global economy has affected the industry, but also the public pressure has made private equity houses change their control strategies towards more conventional methods used in public companies. This thesis aims to put light on the control methods used in listed private equity houses which use a buyout strategy. The paper describes how the control methods change over the different phases the asset experience and how different value generating strategies use altered control methods. Using Merchant's (2003) framework for management control systems and Berg and Gottschalg's (2004) research on value generating strategies in buyouts the thesis shows that action controls as designing instructions for the board and a business plan, together with goal alignment is the commonly used control strategy directly after the acquisition.

The present MA thesis analyzes how body and blood functions as historical and narrative elements in Yu Hua's novel Chronicle of a Blood Merchant (1995). In the novel, the story and the plot can not be regarded as disparate items; the two levels of the text are tightly interwoven by what the thesis introduces as a sangvinolent narration. The term conceptualizes the use of blood as a structural element and the thrust of the text, in this case how the ability to sell blood is a prerequisite for the story and the plot.Close readings reveal the structural correlations between the blood-selling main-character Xu Sanguan in the plot on the one hand, and in the story on the other, which can be detected to have, inter alia, an effect on the temporality of the narrative. Themes linked to identity, belonging and survival (performativity, mimicry, reification and alienation) permeate the text. In the novel the body and bodily fluids are sacrificed in order to form and enforce perceptions of identity and societal roles.The rhetorical use of ?blood and tears? (Ch.

As a consumer, you can use cards for payment more or less everywhere you go, however, it is not certain that the card can be used for all purchases. When a customer pays with card there arises a card transaction fee charged to the Merchant. This is a big problem for businesses where transactions with small amounts are a large portion of sales. An observation at the beginning of this study showed that seemingly similar Merchants have chosen to solve this problem in different ways. Some Merchant?s refuses card purchases below a certain amount, while others accept card with any purchase.

Syfte: Syftet är att belysa hur ett belöningssystem lämpligen bör utformas så att önskade effekter uppnås. För undersökningen använder vi fallföretaget Thule. Metod: En abduktiv ansats väljs för arbetets förhållningssätt till arbetsprocessen, medan en kvalitativ fallstudie anslår riktlinjer för empiriinsamlingen. Teoretiska perspektiv: Vi använder teoretiska kriterier för utformning av belöningssystem från forskare på området, Merchant och Thompson & Strickland. Empiri: Vårt empiriska material består av besöksintervjuer med koncernledningen samt med personer från divisionsledningen i fallföretaget Thule.

The work aims to clarify what nautical officers onboard in today's Merchant can do to help reduce bunker consumption during the voyage? The question we have asked ourselves during the autumn term in 2008 much was said about the premium bunker prices, and how the future could affect our daily lives as nautical officer. We felt here that the school had relatively little knowledge of the subject and therefore felt that it would be interesting to identify how it really looks like onboard the ships today. To collect information we contacted 7 Swedish companies that operate with different types of vessels, in order to get a broad picture of the whole industry. For shipping companies we asked questions about how actively they were working on the issue and what methods they used.

This study aims to examine the effect the evaluation system used by the Stockholm County Council, has on how the healthcare providers themselves conduct the evaluation regarding their own operations. This is done through a qualitative case study of the evaluation systems of the Stockholm County Council and of four primary healthcare producers concerning one primary healthcare contract. The evaluation systems were analysed using Merchant and Ver der Stede's (2007) framework for different types of control. In order to give a more detailed picture this framework was complemented with different types of performance measurement. The evaluation that the Stockholm County Council conducts was found to have little influence on the providers own evaluation with the exception of the quality indicators that are rewarded with a monetary bonus..

This paper concerns the flagging out of Merchant navy vessels and its consequenses. Flaggingout is method used by ship owners in order to gain advantages. Under a different flag, thevessel's legal residence become the subject of another country´s laws. Toward the end of thefirst decade of the 20th century ferry -and passangervessels trading in the Baltic Sea wereflagged out from Åland to the flag of Sweden. Flagging out to Sweden is not common but thespecific circumstances for this trade has made the Swedish ship's register interesting for shipowners.

Denna uppsats undersöker hur olika nivåer av gameplay i spel påverkar motivationen hos testpersoner som deltagit i en undersökning där de fått spela olika serious games framtagna med syfte att lära ut det japanska skriftsystemet kanji. Metoden för undersökningen är baserad på teorier och tidigare undersökningar av bland andra Owston, Wideman, Sinitskaya Ronda och Brown (2009), De Grove, Merchant och Van Looy (2009) och Csikszentmihalyi (1990).I undersökningen har 27 testpersoner fått testa tre olika spel med olika nivå av gameplay, och har sedan i ett frågeformulär fått redogöra för bland annat hur underhållande och utmanande de fann spelen.Resultatet av undersökningen är ickesignifikant, men visar ändå indikationer på att mer gameplay ger mer underhållning. Den största slutsatsen undersökningen ger är dock att olika varianter av gameplay är att föredra, då olika personer ofta har olika smak baserat på tidigare spelvana m.m..

Today, maintenance is a big part of the daily life on board ships. It is also one of the bigger expenses a shipping company has and without any loss of quality tries to run as economically advantageous as possible. In the hunt for economical savings the shore-based industry has subsequently applied the use of condition based maintenance, CBM, were a component is maintained according to its actual state. This leads to a reduction of maintenance costs since no parts are unnecessarily replaced. However, within the maritime sector a periodical maintenance is still the most commonly used maintenance system.The purpose of this paper is to chart the factors that are the reason for the low implementation of CBM on board the Swedish Merchant fleet's ships.

The purpose of this study is to highlight the maritime students' views on and visions for their future career. The results will be used by maritime academies, ship owners and unions to develop their activities in the desired direction and work together for a well-functioning labour market in shipping in the future. To determine the students? views and visions, interviews were conducted with graduating students at the maritime academies in Sweden. The results show that the reduced Swedish Merchant fleet worries students, but that the majority is positive about finding a job after graduation.

Den här undersökningen handlade om hur idag aktiva, kvinnliga nautiker i den svenska handelsflottan upplever sin situation ombord och hur de ser på sin framtid till sjöss. Syftet var att utröna ifall nautikeryrket i sin nuvarande form passar kvinnor och ifall något kan göras för att göra det mer attraktivt för dem. Bakgrunden var den låga andelen kvinnor inom yrket. Jag valde en kvalitativ undersökningsmetod där jag analyserade data från fem semistrukturerade intervjuer. Denna metod valdes eftersom jag framförallt ville förstå den genusproblematik som kunde finnas ombord. Resultatet visade att det inte finns något i nautikerns arbetsuppgifter som inte kan utföras av en kvinna och att särbehandling p.g.a. kön och sexuella trakasserier drabbar kvinnliga nautiker i begränsad omfattning.

Den svenska handelsflottan har de senaste åren varit utsatt för massiva utflaggningar vilket har lett till att många sjömän har fått gå i land eller sökt arbete under annan flagg. Trots problemen med utflaggning och en potentiell minskad arbetsmarknad har sjöingenjörsprogrammet de senaste åren inte haft några större problem att fylla sina utbildningsplatser. Framtiden är fortsatt oviss och konkurrensen från andra sjöfartsnationer ökar. Syftet med denna undersökning var att undersöka vilka bakomliggande attityder och förväntningar som gjorde att studenter år 2013 valde att börja studera på det fyra åriga sjöingenjörsprogrammet i Kalmar, samt att mäta inställningen till den allt mer krympande svenska handelsflottan. För att genomföra detta arbete användes en enkätundersökning där förstaårsstudenterna på det fyraåriga sjöingenjörsprogrammet utgjorde populationen.