AbstractDespite that e-business nowadays is established scepsis against it amongst consumers exists. We, as consumers, suppose that this skepticism is caused by bad communication from the e-business companies. This has lead to our suggestion that some con-sumers refrain from e-business because of bad communication or deficient trust.Our purpose with this paper was to investigate factors of communication between companies and consumers within e-business (B2C) from the consumers? point of view. We thereby have drawn conclusions regarding consumers? choice of e-business company.

Since 2005 all companies listed on a regulated stock exchange within the European Union are required to present their financial reports in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and International Accounting Standards (IAS). The purposes of these standards are to accomplish international harmonization of accounting rules to make financial reports more comparable. However, recent research has shown that some firms tend to use goodwill strategically in a business combination by manipulating the acquired assets and consciously allocate the intangible assets to goodwill to reduce the depreciation in the income and decrease costs. This phenomenon may reduce the comparability between financial reports and thus has an opposite effect on the purpose of IFRS and IAS.The aim of this study is to show how the companies involved in this study allocate goodwill strategically. Furthermore, the introduction of the new standards has contributed to that goodwill now is a subject for impairment test, therefore we want to show whether this affected the comparability of the companies in this study.An empirical study was conducted, based on interviews with four Swedish managers.

For innovative organizations and companies it is essential to use existing knowledge to avoid spending time and resources on already existing innovations. By using patent information, companies are able to get a picture of what is already done in their area of interest. The main purpose of the study is to examine the information use in small and medium-sized enterprises that are members of the Swedish Inventor?s Association, focusing on patent information. The study examines the use of patent information and which barriers the companies have to patent information.

On the night of the 26th December 2011, large parts of southern Norrland were struck by the storm ?Dagmar? that caused serious damage to the forests. In the past 10 years wind damage has become a hot topic after several major storms. Forest companies own 25% of the Swedish forest and thus influenced largely by wind damage. The main purpose of this study was to examine whether forest companies attitude towards preventive wind damage actions were changed after the storm ?Dagmar?. The result was developed by doing interviews with two forestry companies.

Background Svenska Spel is a regulated company run by the state and government, where CSR, community and social responsibility is in focus. The highly regulated Swedish gaming market has in recent years become more exposed to competition by foreign unregulated betting companies thru Internet.Problem discussion There are two views regarding CSR and how they are affecting competitive advantage and profitability. On one hand, it suggests that companies foremost shall focus profits and act in the best interest of the shareholders. On the other hand, it connects CSR to be a contributor to competitive advantage that increases the company?s profitability.Problem formulation Svenska Spel is competing with other betting companies who doesn´t act under the same conditions, betting companies that don´t have a responsibility to the state.

Energy price are on the way up to a high level that will not diminish in the future make us to focus more on the sustainable development for a better solution of residential houses. Passive house or low energy housing are one of the solution to make residential more environment friendly, in same time it´s a financial security using less energy, and saving money. The last 10 years in Germany and all around Europe the concept of passive house been developed, and people aim to know more about these concept that leading the market more attractive for passive houses. A passive house is a well designed building highly insulated and air tight with mechanical ventilated system for the whole building envelope that minimizes the use of energy for heating [1].The housing company Mimer has chosen to invest in low energy consumption in every new housing project.  These future plan projects are decided to use less than 75 kwh per square meter annually in purchased energy [2].This thesis is about new constructed passive houses, and focuses on the evaluations of the temperature, and moisture condition for attic, external walls and joist.

Today, companies work with issues concerning Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). A higher demand from customers and other stakeholders as well as an extended legislation are great reasons. Framework and guidelines for sustainability reporting has been developed which includes indices that companies are able to report. Though, for a long term work with sustainability a functional system and internal tool is necessary. Balanced Scorecard, BSC, is a useful tool and efforts have been made to integrate BSC and CSR with purpose to establish the work with sustainability in a more concrete and clear way.

The aim of this study was to examine how two integrating social enterprises relate to and combines social, ecological and economic sustainability and how they work with sustainable development in the field of social work. The study has been focusing on three questions: What are the values underpinning ?Macken? and ?Vägen uts? approach to sustainable development? What motivates these companies to work with ecological sustainability in the creation of new jobs? How do these companies combine social, ecological and economic sustainability? To answer our questions we have been interviewing nine employees through semi-structured interviews combined with observations and this study was analysed through a symbolic perspective. The conclusion of this study showed that these companies worked with specific themes to reach social sustainability. Recurring themes in the study was empowerment, recovery and the employee?s own experience of exclusion.

Social housing in Northern Europe and the importance of social and political consideration in planning. Focus of the essay lies on the "burning suburbs" of France, based on literature studies combined with a study visit to Les Minguettes outside of Lyon..

Social housing in Northern Europe and the importance of social and political consideration in planning. Focus of the essay lies on the "burning suburbs" of France, based on literature studies combined with a study visit to Les Minguettes outside of Lyon..

Social housing in Northern Europe and the importance of social and political consideration in planning. Focus of the essay lies on the "burning suburbs" of France, based on literature studies combined with a study visit to Les Minguettes outside of Lyon..

Background: The relationship between advanced age, presence of illness and impaired functioning is well known. A large proportion of the elderly population has an extensive need of care and service and therefore need help from municipal care. Aging is a transition in life and also affects the person's identity and self image, making the person particularly vulnerable and challenging everyday safety. It is therefore of importance to gain knowledge about which factors at individual and organizational level that support a person-centered nursing care for the elderly so that caring responsibilities and staffing of nursing personnel may be scheduled based on need. Aim: This study aimed at describing dependency and care needs of elderly persons living in ordinary housing, sheltered housing and nursing homes. Furthermore the study aimed at describing how the dependency was related to the staffing of non-licensed and licensed nursing staff in nursing homes. Method: A descriptive and analytical quantitative method was used in the study.

After a series of corporate scandals around the world the trust in the business world was damaged, probably most in the United States but also in Sweden. Voices were raised for an increase in the openness and insight into the affairs of the company whereupon different corporate governance codes were developed in a majority of countries. A Swedish corporate governance code was issued in December 2004 with the purpose to re-establish the damaged trust for the companies and the business world. The Swedish code was accepted by the Stockholm Stock Exchange as an exchange rule for A-listed and larger O-listed companies as of July 2005. The purpose of this essay is to study how the Swedish corporate governance code in fact leads to an increase in trust in the stock market and to study the companies? attitudes towards this code.To fulfil the purpose of this essay, the authors have carried out a survey among the concerned companies where the companies? attitudes towards the Swedish code were collected.

The purpose with this study was to elucidate the pros and the cons with a sale support system. This has been narrowed down into two questions: ?What are the pros and cons for a company that have a sale support system? and what are the pros and cons for a company that does not yet have a system?? Configurator that is a sale support system has been studied. It is a system that presents products by accepting different functions, qualities or parts that are possible to match. It can be used in business-to-business or business-to-consumer situations, through different sale channels, namely direct sale, indirect sale and online sale.

The purpose of this study was to investigate how Swedish retail companies work with CSR internationally.The study also sought to explore the opportunities and challenges that exist, and the stakeholders that motivate companies CSR commitment.The theoretical framework is composed of international CSR guidelines of the OECD and the UN, Carroll's CSR pyramid and three-stage model and Freeman's stakeholder theory. Furthermore a qualitative research approach was applied where four in-depth interviews were conducted with representatives from Axfood, Löfbergs Lila, Oriflame and CSR Sweden.Finally, the study demonstrated the conclusion that the companies CSR strategies are structured in a similar way regardless of the market. CSR attract and retain workers, create a good reputation for brands and results in working conditions, living standards and environmental improvements. Difficulties, however, are the complexity of being able to control each partner and manage differences in language, laws and culture between countries. Finally there are a number of stakeholders that motivate companies to work with CSR, of which shareholders are considered the most important..