As a result of global competition, companies within the automotive industry are required to improve their production systems to achieve sustainable and competitive production. To attain operational excellence, companies have adopted concepts like lean and World Class Manufacturing (WCM).In order to deliver, companies need to increase the availability and reliability of production equipment. This demands focus on both operational and strategic maintenance, and efficient equipment acquisition and management. The main objective of this thesis is to identify processes and success factors that are necessary for improved maintenance performance. By conducting a case study and by performing a literature review, the following has been studied: 1) how companies within the automotive industry work with maintenance and maintenance strategies, 2) implementation of maintenance strategies, and 3) new acquisition and spare parts management for maintenance. The results show that basic maintenance concepts and related terms are well defined in the literature.

Close to the city center of Reykjavik lies the combined national- and university library of Iceland. Usually, these two types of institutions are separated. The purpose of this essay is to investigate how the library in fact selects the new digital material to offer the users in Iceland, and if the combined mission creates any problems or conflicts.The investigation examines the planning and the content of the digital library, what user groups are addressed and how the organisation is held together despite the different missions. If cultural context in Iceland makes a difference for what is selected and offered to the users is also discussed.Six informants in strategic library positions dealing with the digital national- or university library, were interviewed. The answers have been analysed in light of the library&information literature on building and maintaining digital library collections and organizational and marketing theory.The main result of the study is that the informants do not see a conflict between the missions of the organisation, although traces of a struggle were found in some areas.

Communication is essential for the survival of an organization. The management formulates strategies to ensure thatthe organization will get to where they want it to go. The strategy is then communicated to the co-workers through the line manager. But who is to say that the co-worker experience the message the same way as the line manager or the management for that matter? The purpose of this study is toinvestigate how the middle managers at Southern Älvsborg Hospital experience strategic internal communication andfurther how they communicate with their co-workers.Through a case study approach, the case being the communication of the hospitals research strategy, I conducted 13 interviews.I analyzed the material from the interviews using a hermeneutical approach and I used an interpretative approach to get a deeper understanding.

The aim of this paper is to apply Robert N. Bellahs theory of civil religion, within a Swedish societal context. Bellahs theory was designed in, and influenced by American culture. Therefore, the ?translation? of Bellahs theory does not come without problems.

In April 2010 Vägverket (the Swedish National Road Agency) andBanverket (the Swedish National Railway Agency) will merge intoTrafikverket (the Swedish National Traffic Agency). Trafikverket willassume unified responsibility for the risk management that atpresent is responsibility of Vägverket and Banverket separately. Atpresent, as it will be shown in this thesis, Vägverket and Banverketshare the same theoretical background for risk management but usedifferent implementations often within the same agency. The use ofdifferent implementations results in a reduced transparency of therisk management both within and outside the agencies: this willbecome even more problematic when they will be fused intoTrafikverket.The aim of this thesis is to review the current risk managementmethodologies used at Vägverket and Banverket and to suggest aunified tool for the risk management at Trafikverket. This will bedone by focusing in particular on construction projects, one fromVägverket (Partihallsförbindelsen) and one from Banverket(Nynäsbanan).

This thesis examines the reasons to why railway projects conducted by Banverket (Swedish National Rail Administration) could be expected to cause significant effects on the environment, on which grounds the County Administrative Board and Swedish National Rail Administration base their decisions/assumptions and highlight regional differences between the different Swedish national rail administrations regions. Total 24 railway projects, conducted or being conducted, during the time period 2001 - January 2010 have been analyzed and studied. These projects represent eight different measures/activities which are dispersed throughout all five of the Swedish National Rail Administration´s different regions. Swedish legislations demands that the planner of a new railway project shall first conduct a pre-study and then conduct a public consultation which provides the participants an opportunity to provide input. The County Administrative Board shall then decide if the project could cause significant effects on the environment.

In January 2007 the Öresund committy changed its statutes to become a more politically oriented lobby organization. This change can be interpreted as one part of a continuously evolving process where the Öresund region is emancipating itself from the national states in a multi-level European environment. By focusing on this latest development the thesis puts forward the importance of political institutions, as well as politicians and civil servants as actors in them, as crucial factors in the process where the region is gaining political power. The thesis shows how the political cross-border cooperation in the Öresund region is being institutionalized which affects its power relations to other levels in the multi-level system, predominantly the national states. In other words, there is a connection between power and institutionalization.The Öresund committee has by gaining better access to policymaking agendas on the national levels proven that the organizational change has already started to bear fruit.

National libraries hold large, valuable repositories of often unique materials. How can we ensure that the knowledge is accessible without endangering the materials that hold the knowledge? Digital preservation is meant to solve this problem. With more and more material being accessible digitally, users are expected to do more and more of the finding on their own, instead of being guided by librarians. What kind of knowledge do the librarians have, that cannot be mediated through a system? How is the knowledge of experienced librarians passed on to new librarians? What is the difference between physical and digital materials? I have interviewed senior and junior librarians of Det Kongelige Bibliotek in Copenhagen, Nasjonalbiblioteket in Oslo, the National Library in Helsinki, and Kungliga Biblioteket in Stockholm to learn about their journey to knowledge of their collections.

This essay examines the debate that arose in connection to the sale of Carl Larsson?s monumental painting Midvinterblot in 1987. My main purpose is to examine which meanings the debaters ascribed Midvinterblot and in which way the debate influenced the paintings significance as cultural heritage. I will therefore argue that the debate initiated a renegotitation of the paintings meaning as cultural heritage. In the debate the debaters emphasized the National Museum?s responsibility over cultural heritage, Midvinterblots aestethic, the paintings economic value and its national implications.

AimThe study aims were to identify young adults? sources of nutritional advice on the Internet and how they perceive the credibility of these. The study also aimed at exploring young adults' knowledge of national recommendations issued by the National Food Agency.MethodA web-based survey was distributed on the social media platform Facebook. The questionnaire contained a total of 14 questions regarding online nutritional advice and its credibility. Finally, it requested the respondent's knowledge and credibility of the national nutritional recommendations.

In article 1.2 c) EC regulation 852/2004 it says that the regulation is not applicable to producers who directly supply small quantities of primary products to the final consumer or to the local retailers who in their turn directly supply the final consumer. An almost identical regulation can be found in article 1.3 c) EC regulation 853/2004. The supply by a primary producer of small quantities of primary products, of animal origin or not, are consequently excepted from these two hygiene regulations. In article 1.3 EC regulation 852/2004 and article 1.4 EC regulation 853/2004 it says that the member states are to establish national rules in their national legislation as to the regulation of exception for small quantities. The aim of this study was to investigate the handling of small quantities of primary products distributed locally in Sweden but also the handling of these products in other countries.

Purpose:Only 60 percent of the newly started companies survive their three first years. The purpose of this report is to obtain a deeper understanding regarding how newly started companies work with their positioning and if there are some kind of a relationship between positioning and the survival rate of newly started companies.Research questions:Do newly started companies know what position is? Do they incorporate positioning in their day to day marketing?Approach:We have used a hypothetical-deductive way of reasoning and a qualitative study to gather the information needed. We have through interviews asked our questions to six newly started companies in three different cities.Findings:In our essay, we reached the conclusion that newly started companies do not spend sufficient time or energy on positioning their products. The companies interviewed only market their product as a good product.

This study is on how small companies can use the Internet as a part of their marketing strategy to gain a leverage on their competitors with small means to survive and expand in the global market. Many Swedish small companies still don?t have a sufficient knowledge on how to use the communication channel despite the various advantages the Internet offers.Case studies were conducted of how AdLibris, A-lotterierna AB and SF-bokhandeln perceived the importance of using the Internet as a part of their communications strategy.This new communication channel demand new ways of applying traditional marketing principals. Careful analysis of the interviews and how the answers relate to new and old marketing theories makes the bulk of this study. The conclusion is that the Internet solely is not enough, a combination with traditional marketing tools is the way to succeed in their marketing efforts.

This study is based on previous research concluding that sub-national actors now function on a complex arena where the nation state is not the sole and self-evident channel to the European Union. Based on that assumption, the thesis is intended to create understanding of the nature of the relationship between the West Sweden regional office and its Värmland commissioners in the case of regional action.The relationship between the regional office and its members was examined in a case study of open consultation around the EU?s new EU 2020 strategy. The questions posed in the thesis are answered by interviews with representatives of West Sweden and certain Värmland members of that organization. The results of the interviews were then analyzed based on a fusion perspective, which addresses various indicators for regional action.The results of the study show that the West Sweden regional office can assume a clearer role in regional influencing, but also that Region Värmland plays an important role in influencing the EU.

ABSTRACTTitle: First steps towards successful recruitment ? A study about a small Swedish firm?s recruitment strategyCourse: Bachelor Dissertation - LeadershipAuthors: Filip Agby, Damir Macanovic and Thomas MennerdahlAdvisor: Anders BillströmKey Words: Recruitment in small firms, recruitment strategy, wrong fit recruitment, HRM, right staffProblem enunciation: What pros and cons could the choice of recruitment strategy mean for a small Swedish firm. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to give recruiters a better understanding of how a small Swedish company could use different recruitment strategies, together with systematic preparations, to affect the experienced recruitment result. Another purpose is to study if earlier mentioned international research about small firms? recruitment strategies is applicable to a small Swedish firm.Theoretical framework: The section initiates by introducing the reader to the subject through describing Human resource management with a focus on recruitment.