This thesis is based on thirteen qualitative interviews with civil servants and politicians. The purpose of the study is to research these informants? attitudes towards integration and their reflections about immigrants? lower chances in an ethnically segregated housing and labour market. The theoretical frame of references is based on social constructionism and focuses on including and excluding power structures. The empirical material provides both structural and cultural explanations to immigrants? problems as regards inclusion in Swedish society.

Ever since the remains of the ancient city of Pompei was rediscovered in the 18th century it became an important destination for artists and architects. The unique settings made it possible to study the greek and roman art and life which was considered important having knowledge about. As a complement to the architectural education at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm the students could gain funds to make a Grand Tour and visit Pompei.The aim in this study is to explain the study tours the architects made to Pompei by studying their experiences at the site. Fredrik Wilhelm Scholander and Isak Gustaf Clason serves as examples of two swedish architects visiting Pompei on such a tour. In the study I describe why and how these tours were made and why Pompei was an important destination.

The purpose of this study is to explore how different discourses about risk linked to HIV prevention is likely to affect the decisions on the distribution of state funding for preventive activities aimed at 'men who have sex with men' (MSM). This by making qualitative interviews with principals that have an impact on this decision. Using a discourse analytic approach, based on both theoretical and methodological foundations, I investigate the discursive constructions of risk of HIV linked to certain groups and behaviors. MSM is found in the material placed into two different formations of groups, on one hand by the behavior on the other hand on the basis of identity. The identity position is organized discursively from a ?victim? position while MSM provides an "operator" position.

The purpose of this study is to understand the collaboration between school and social services. The primary focus of this study is the subject of interaction. The study analyzes how confidentiality affects collaboration between school and social services and examines what effect the organizations? different roles have on collaboration. The method used is qualitative interviews and the gathered empirical data has been analyzed using theories of discretion and street-level bureaucracy.

Bakgrund: Det rådande pensionssystemet i Sverige består av sex så kallade AP-fonder. Genom åren har pensionssystemet flertalet gånger kritiserats för dess låga avkastning.Problem: Vår huvudfråga är att jämföra AP-fondernas risk och avkastning med aktiemarknaden som helhet, detta ska ske med hjälp av två jämförelseindex: MSCI World och SIXRX.Syfte: Syftet med uppsatsen är att jämföra de fyra första AP-fondernas risk och avkastning med aktiemarknaden som helhet under åren 2002-2010.Metod: Vi har använt oss av en kvantitativ metod, genom att samla in information från AP-fondernas årsredovisningar och hemsidor. Vi har samlat in historisk data, som vi sedan har bearbetat och analyserat.Slutsats: De studerade AP-fonderna har presterat sämre än aktiemarknaden..

Common wisdom dictates that because payment of dividends decreases funds available for investment, a high payout ratio is to be associated with low earnings growth. This notion has been challenged in recent years by empirical research that has found a positive relationship between payout ratio and future earnings growth, both on the aggregated market level and the company level in different countries. This study investigated the aforementioned relationship on the Swedish market by statistically analyzing future earnings growth as a function of payout ratio on a large sample of publicly listed companies over the period 1980 to 2011. The results are in line with those found in previous research and indicate that companies with high dividend payout ratio tend to experience strong future earnings growth. The results are robust to the presence of mean reversion, the use of an alternative accounting measure of earnings, non-symmetrical earnings growth cycles and alternative practices for dealing with outliers..

This essay aims to map the ideas behind the Swedish cultural reform called Kultursamverkansmodellen, and how the ideas are forming a discourse. Furthermore it examines the social praxis on the three levels that constitutes the model. The three levels are the state, the region and culture creators/civil society. This is a qualitative study based on primary and secondary sources collected on the three levels. The theoretical frame of reference is based on institutional theory, on Michel Foucault?s lecture on The Discourse of Language, and on New Public Management.

The relationship between China and Japan has historically been problematic and, in some ways still is. One of the issues where both of the states cannot agree on is the island dispute. While both states are claiming sovereignty over the island and there do not seem to be an ending to it in the near future. If the island dispute continues to escalate it could have a negative impact in the Asian region and eventually rest of the world as well. However due to the complexity of the dispute a deeper knowledge is needed and a mutual understanding is needed.

Mergers and acquisitions are a phenomenon which can occur for a variety of reasons. It may for example be that the organizations want to gain larger market shares or to complement and learn from each other and thus become more competitive. After the completion of an acquisition or merger, a process is initiated to create an affiliation between the two companies' employees. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether there is something that management can do to make the integration process as efficient as possible. The empirical research in this paper consisted of interviews and surveys with respondents from two accounting firms that recently completed a merger.

This thesis is based on thirteen qualitative interviews with civil servants and politicians. The purpose of the study is to research these informants? attitudes towards integration and their reflections about immigrants? lower chances in an ethnically segregated housing and labour market. The theoretical frame of references is based on social constructionism and focuses on including and excluding power structures. The empirical material provides both structural and cultural explanations to immigrants? problems as regards inclusion in Swedish society.

We have performed a case study on Acne Jeans, a creative Swedish fashion company, which initiated a cooperation with the Swedish venture capital firm Öresund. The aim of our paper was to examine what motivates a venture capital firm to transform the management control system of a creative company, into a more formal system of control. Main results: Öresund did not have an excessive impact on the management control system of Acne Jeans, due to three main reasons. First of all, Acne Jeans had a satisfactory management control system prior to the cooperation. Furthermore, the relationship between the two parties was characterized by mutual trust.

Poorly maintained forges are a common sight in the province of Gästrikland. Because of their changed appearance, possible move from the origin location and poor items related knowledge they will rarely qualify for the range of funds available through Länsstyrelsen. Therefore this study deals with the problems associated with the forges in southern Gästrikland, i.e. Hedesunda and Österfärnebo parishes.The aim of the study is to increase the items related knowledge of forges and perhaps form the basis for restoration projects in the area. Eleven forges have been examined and the changes they have undergone have been highlighted.A forge was erected on the farm and was used for the households needs such as producing and repairing tools.

Political realism is a general theory within political science focusing on the principle interest defined as power. The theory?s mutual standpoint is that states are inspired by power politics meaning that military and economic power or security stands in the centre while moral and ethics are placed in the periphery. This essay?s purpose is to analyze realism which helps to understand the development and change of the perspective.

Healthcare in Sweden are in need of a drastic change to meet the requirements of highly developed societies, and information technology is seen as an essential part to get there. However, the Swedish healthcare have to challenge their traditional innovation approaches as well. For example, it has become more common to engage patients in the innovation process through web-based platforms. We have been focusing on an approach called co-creation by studying a workshop, in which potential users and other stakeholders are cooperating creatively to come up with innovative solutions in order to improve healthcare practice. Our findings suggests that co-creation may increase the mutual understanding between different stakeholders, for example healthcare professionals and IT developers, enable horizontal learning through and outside the organization and also to raise concepts and actions that are responding to healthcare needs.

The purpose of this study is to explore and understand the social and structural dynamics of an organization working with questions regarding development. The organization in question is Vi-agroforestry, a Swedish based NGO that works around the lake Victoria basin and the focus will be on their office in Rwanda. I have used a qualitative approach and conducted participatory observation as well as semi-structured interviews to gather data. I have emanated from the individuals in the organization by using a theory of microsociological organisationperspecive to understand how the employees create and is created by the existing social structures. (Blomberg, 2003) Even though the office in Rwanda only is a relatively small part of Vi-agroforestry?s operations it is still highly individual and independent from the rest of the organization.