SEB Merchant Banking provides to its institutional customers a true market neutral product called Dynamic Manager Alpha (DMA). The DMA is constructed by a long position in an exceptionally well performing mutual fund and a beta adjusted short position in an appropriate index. The key to making the product market neutral is adjusting with the correct beta, since the beta changes, it is very important to have a good model for predicting beta in the future.This master thesis begins with describing what beta is in a CAPM sense. It then continues with recognizing the so called ?Two Beta Trap?, which separates two kinds of beta.

Service branding is a subject that has been excluded from the traditional branding theory. Our main purpose with this paper is to distinguish what characterizes service branding. To do this, we have looked in to both service marketing theory as well as branding theory. We have also looked at the existing theory concerning service branding. Six qualitative interviews have been performed to explain what characterizes service branding.

The purpose of this thesis has been to explore in what ways Franz Kafka?s ?The Metamorphosis? can be read as a story of gender. By bringing together Judith Butler?s theory of materialization and Lennard J. Davis?s crip theory I have spoken of Dismodernity as the domain of abject bodies that have been repudiated by (post)modern societies as untintelligible and dysfunctional.

This thesis investigates how inventory management is practiced at a Swedish sawmill company, how practice differs from theory in this field and how the company could make more use of this theory. To do this we have performed a study on relevant literature and compared our findings with a field study on Moelven Valåsen AB. Our analysis shows that a large gap between theory and practice exists. We identify several reasons to this, including some sector specific problems when calculating cost rate for timber inventories. Suggestions on solutions to these problems and an example of how a cost rate can be estimated with relatively simple means are presented.

Both contemporary research in History of Religions and current public debate tell us that Christianity as a religious form is challenged in today?s society. Nevertheless, Christianity is often present in secular artistic expression such as fictional literature. The purpose of this paper is to examine how God is portrayed in two late-modern Swedish novels, Djävulen och Gud by Mare Kandre (1993) and Boken by Niklas Rådström (2013).The examination is based on a hermeneutic method using close reading in order to answer the questions asked. The result of the examination shows that God in the late-modern novels is portrayed as a figure with shifting emotions, and in both novels God goes through changes which are in some ways similar.

Projektformen blir allt vanligare i dagens utvecklingsarbete inom företag och dess verksamheter. Med fler projekt uppstår dock nya problem som exempelvis beroenden och resurskonflikter, det handlar inte längre bara om att genomföra ett projekt till utsatt tid och budget, utan även om att genomföra den rätta mix av projekt. På något sätt så vill man få kontroll på det kaos som uppstår i en multiprojektmiljö och det är här projektportföljstyrning, Project Portfolio Management (PPM), kommer in i bilden då detta är ett arbetssätt som underlättar prioriteringar och det löpande arbetet med flera projekt samtidigt.Studien syftar till att få en förståelse för vad projektportföljstyrning innebär och vad den innehåller. Studien syftar även till att visa på de viktigaste delområdena och faktorerna man bör fokusera på för att portföljstyrningen ska bli framgångsrik inom den verksamhet som ämnar använda sig av arbetsättet. Studien är dock avgränsad till vad projektportföljstyrning är, dels genom teori, men även enligt portföljchefer, konsulter och projektledare då det är dessa typer av aktörer som vi genom bekvämlighets och kedjeurval har intervjuat.

Laser for material processing possesses a number of advantages which mean that it has been and will be an important component for a wide range of industries' future development. Cutting materials processing is the dominant use of laser technology and has revolutionized the manufacturing industry. The aim of this thesis is to describe the principles of metal cutting by laser, how laser cutting is applied in practice and to identify how Swedish companies are using laser cutting. For the theoretical and technical description of laser cutting literature studies are the primary source of information. The empirical basis for the mapping of the Swedish industry for laser cutting is grounded on a survey; this includes Swedish companies that use laser cutting in their production.

Tax revenue is crucial in order for states to survive. States vary a lot in terms of tax revenue however, and different explanations are frequently debated among political scientists. Recently, scholars have argued that the variations in tax revenue among European states today can largely be explained by their ability to collect information about the citizens and their belongings during the early modern period (1450-1800). States that were early in acquiring this information in so called cadasters, could use it in order to collect tax. This fiscal capacity thereafter sustained in a path dependent manner.

The aim of this thesis is to investigate which the main determinants of capital structure in Swedish listed firms are and to identify which incentives lies behind managers choice of capital structure determinants. Further, the study investigates whether the Post Keynesian theory and theories which incorporate behavioral aspects can be used to explain the capital structure decisions or if the traditional Neoclassical theory give an better explanation. We have used a qualitative method to analyze the determinants of capital structure and the managers incentives behind capital structure decision. We conducted a survey which was sent to 83 Chief Financial Managers and financial executives in Swedish firms listed on Mid Cap or Large Cap. The questionnaire was on-line which enabled for the respondents to quickly and convenient respond.

IT is often seen as a solution to many problems concerning effectiveness in organizations. Information systems within the healthcare sector is often viewed as medical devices rather than just systems or services. These medical devices are thoroughly regulated by laws, standards and certifications. In this study I participated in an innovative project that aimed to bring new life and use to the old fashioned patient journal by giving it a visual representation through the use of an avatar. I aimed to study the effects of regulators connected with the patient journal as a source of information for the innovative project.

This thesis paper is based on Ian Manners Normative Power Europe-theory with a focus on EU?s military operation in Somalia. By examining documents from EU institutions in the form of reports concerning EU NAVFOR ? Operation ATALANTA ? EUTM Somalia ? EUCAP NESTOR. This study shows that the Normative Power Europe-theory can get expressed and that the EU continues its normative statements in Somalia. This result is an interesting contribution to the theory of Normative Power Europe witch have gotten a lot of critic about how a military operation should effect and diminish the theory..

This essay ? Discourse and Dissonance ? deals with Mary Shelley?s gothic novel Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus (1818). The focal point is the construction of ?Them and Us?, as defined by scholars such as Stuart Hall, viewed in terms of the following categories: race, gender and family, class, and sexuality. Rather than applying an outside perspective, e.g.

Background: The regulation of banks is increasing in order to stabilize the financial market. Despite this increase in regulation, financial crises still continue to occur. The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision is gradually increasing the capital requirements for banks, yet the increase in capital requirements doesn?t seem to solve the problem. This raises the question: how does capital regulation affect banks? Purpose: The purpose of this study is, primarily to illustrate the effects that capital regulation has on risk and efficiency on banks within the European Union, but secondary also study the relationship between risk, efficiency and capital regulation.Method: To achieve the purpose of this study, a deductive approach has been used, where the problem is assumed to be due to an agency problem.

SEB Merchant Banking provides to its institutional customers a true market neutral product called Dynamic Manager Alpha (DMA). The DMA is constructed by a long position in an exceptionally well performing mutual fund and a beta adjusted short position in an appropriate index. The key to making the product market neutral is adjusting with the correct beta, since the beta changes, it is very important to have a good model for predicting beta in the future.This master thesis begins with describing what beta is in a CAPM sense. It then continues with recognizing the so called ?Two Beta Trap?, which separates two kinds of beta.

The purpose of this research is to study the new curriculum in the topic of modern languages in the upper secondary school, and compare the curriculum from year 2011 with the one from year 2000 and thus try to find differences in the content and wordng. The research also aims to investigate teachers' interpretations and understanding of the new curriculum. The study is divided into two sub?studies and those are based on the two methods of text analysis and interview. Text analysis of policy documents is made parallell with some aspects found in the background materials of the upper secondaryschool reform, which can be summarized as precision and globalization.