The Net Promoter Score (NPS) has been claimed to be the single most reliable indicator of firm growth and has gained wide adoption among companies in a broad range of industries. This is despite a lack of rigorous scientific testing. The purpose of this study is to examine the predictive strength of the question "How likely are you to recommend [.] to your friends and colleagues " that the metric is based on: how well does it actually predict future consumer behavior Furthermore, the report aims to create a greater understanding of the factors that explain a person's word of mouth (WOM) intention and which behaviours cause that intention to change. A longitudinal study was conducted of 304 consumers' WOM intention regarding two non-carbonated drinks and their subsequent WOM and purchase behavior. The analyses show that the behaviors are captured by the metric to some extent.

For a company to survive it has to make a profit. To make a profit transactions are necessary and to achieve this a company can choose to focus on creating loyal customers. Loyal customers can contribute to secured revenues, increased market shares and reduced marketing costs. Research within customer loyalty has mainly focused on different types of loyalty and the impact it has on customers behavior. However, there is a lack of research concerning which factors that create loyal customers.

The use of thin and attractive models to promote companies' products is widespread among marketers. This is true even for companies whose products have little or no association with beauty or body weight. As the proportion of overweight people continues to grow in many developed countries the ideals used by marketers to attract customers strays further away from the actual attributes of the customers themselves. What is little understood is what effect overweight has on the efficiency of the product promoter. Some limited research has studied how the efficiency of the product promoters in printed advertisements is affected by the existence of congruence between the product promoter and the product itself.

Perchlorate and chlorate are naturally occurring in the atmosphere, from here it sediments into groundwater and soil. The pollution is increased by discharges of perchlorate and chlorate from agriculture and paper mills. Bacteria capable of reducing perchlorate and chlorate to chloride and oxygen can be used to get rid of these contaminants. However an anaerobic environment needs to be sustained in order for this reaction to be used. For this reduction to work in an aerobic environment as well, a greater knowledge of the reducing enzymes, regulating factors and their corresponding genes is needed.

 In this essay the aim was to investigate how the EU is trying to function as a democracy promoter in three particular countries, the so called candidate-countries Croatia, Macedonia and Turkey. The aim was also to analyze if there exist any differences in how the EU functions in these countries as a democracy promoter with a focus on how acts of democracy promotion is taken place. In order to fulfil the purpose of the essay two questions were addressed, how does the EU perform in promoting democracy in the three candidate-countries Croatia, Macedonia and Turkey? And also, is it possible to identify any differences in how the EU functions as a democracy promoter in those three countries?The method used to fulfil purpose and answering research-questions was qualitative text-analysis.  The results of the study were that the EU does perform in a number of ways to promote democracy in the three countries. The main differences are that the EU is using primarily political tools in Croatia and Macedonia which are channelized top-down and economic tools in Turkey channelized mainly top-down to promote democracy.

När man väljer att analysera företag, finns det flera olika värderingsmodeller att använda.En av dessa är Piotroskis F-score. Denna modell har mestadels tidigare använts för att analysera företag på den amerikanska marknaden. Nu vill författarna undersöka hur tillämpbar modellen är på den svenska aktiemarknaden och dessutom kombinera denna modell med en Magic Sixes värdering för att öka dess precision.Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka om F-score i samarbete med Magic Sixes kan generera överavkastning och överträffa den svenska aktiemarknaden.Författarna har genomfört en kvantitativ studie med en deduktiv ansats. Data har samlats in med hjälp av databasen Orbis och Dagens Industri. Författarna har upprättat identiska listor för att beräkna företagens F-score och Magic Sixes.

Hur ska resultatet av ett krig mätas, på vilket sätt är det möjligt att opartiskt bedöma vem som vunnit eller förlorat. I många fall är resultatet uppenbart, ingen tvivlar t.ex. på att Storbritannien vann Falklandskriget, utfallet på slagfältet motsvarar uppfattning av vem som vann kriget. Men i många moderna krig är situationen en annan, utgången kan vara omtvistad, eller så är det svårt att uppfatta om kriget överhuvudtaget har avslutats. I uppsatsen används score-keeping teorin som är ett sätt att analysera resultatet av ett krig, vilken aktör vann? Fallet som analyseras är Libanonkri-get 2006 som utkämpades mellan Israel och Hizbollah och är intressant då resultatet dels är om-tvistat samt att det skedde mellan en stat och en organisation som är grupperad inom och verkar ifrån en annan stat.Uppsatsens syfte är därför att utifrån score-keeping teorin analysera Libanonkriget 2006.Den vetenskapliga frågan som skall besvaras är: Vilken aktör kan sägas ha vunnit Libanonkriget 2006 utifrån score-keeping teorin.Designen för undersökningen är en teorikonsumerande studie av Libanonkriget 2006 där av teorin givna variabler operationaliseras för att kunna ställas mot ett urval ur empirin.

Oxochlorates are anions with a partially naturally occurrence in nature but are also spread by human activities, including the paper industry. These compounds are harmful to both nature and humans, which makes it necessary to find a good way for their degradation. There are two different kinds of bacteria that can use oxochlorates as electron acceptors in their metabolism, bacteria that break down perchlorate and bacteria that break down both perchlorate and chlorate. A bacterium that can break down chlorate under anaerobic conditions is Ideonella dechloratans which holds the genes for chlorite dismutase and chlorate reductase which are enzymes for the degradation of chlorate. Gene expression and enzyme activity of chlorite dismutase are induced under anaerobic conditions, which makes it interesting to find out how this regulation functions in order to better exploit these bacteria in biological wastewater treatment.

Syftet är att med Z-Score och relevanta nyckeltal jämföra konkursrisken för företag i fastighetsbranschen före krisen i början på 90-talet med de företag som är verksamma idag. Dessutom är vår avsikt att utveckla jämförelsen genom att inkludera konkursframkallande faktorer. För att uppnå syftet med uppsatsen använde vi oss av en deduktiv ansats. En kvantitativ metodansats valdes för undersökningen. Teorin utgörs av Z-Score och dess förmåga att bedöma företags konkursrisk, ekonomiska mått för fastighetsbolag och relevanta nyckeltal.

AimThe purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between self-perceived health and level of physical activity among the staff at The Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences (GIH). We focused on the following questions:How does the amount of physical activity affect the self-perceived health among the staff at GIH?  Are there any gender differences in self-perceived health following the amount of physical activity? Do the self-perceived health and the amount of physical activity differ between the various age groups? Are there any differences between the staff responsible for health education compared with the other staff?MethodWe chose a validated questionnaire for our study. It was a combination of two already previously validated questionnaires together with our own supplementary background questions. The questionnaire was presented to 96 respondents and we received 76 answers.

AbstractThe aim of the studie was to investigate if the Pediatric Early Warning Score system, PEWS, is an useful instrument on a children's inpatient ward, regarding the detecting of deterioration in children's vital signs. For this, a quantitative descriptive design with qualitative elements was used. Method: Study specific questionnaires were distributed to 86 persons (helpnurses, nurses and doctors). Of these, 36 answered and sent back the surveys. Results: Of 36 responses 25 felt experienced a faster detection of deterioration of vital signs in the child.

Purpose: To investigate if Altman´s Z´-score model, which calculates financial distress, can be applied on companies established in Sweden and if the financial crisis in 2008 made previously healthy companies go bankrupt.Methodology: Quantitative studies with a positivistic foundation. Empirical data will be collected in order to examine if there is generalizability among the studied objects. Conclusions will be made by comparing the empirical data with the theoretical foundation. Financial distress in firms will be measured.Theoretical perspectives: Altman´s Z´-score model, designed to predict financial distress in private firms.Empirical foundation: A selection of 93 private firms that have gone bankrupt in the years 2008, 2009 or 2010. The firms selected all have a turnover that exceeds 20 million SEK.

As students of graphic design the craft of print is close to our hearts. One of the most essential mediums of the evolution of printing techniques is the poster. In a world where digital mediums are being utilized to a greater degree everyday, our love for the printed poster makes us wonder if the days of the poster are counted.What we did was to take a closer look at the role of the poster in promoting events. We focused on the Stockholm area and did qualitative interviews with three different event promoters. Live Nation which is an international live entertainment promoter, Dramaten which is one of Sweden?s most well respected theaters and Stockholm Live which is a stand up comedy promoter in Stockholm city.From doing this we learned that economics play an important part in defining the role of the poster.

Syftet med examensarbetet är att utifrån ett kundperspektiv undersöka hur kunder upplever e-tjänster i energibranschen. Examensarbetet har använt webbenkät som datainsamlingsmetod. Då all insamlad data inte användes skedde ett dataurval. Den utvalda datan har sedan analyserats med hjälp av befintlig teori för att finna upplevda problemområden och förbättringsförslag. I den teoretiska referensramen redogörs vad en e-tjänst är samt vilka faktorer som är viktiga vid skapandet av en e-tjänst.

Promoters are genetic elements that facilitate the transcription of a gene and they have been found in front of non-coding RNA (ncRNA) genes in different organ-isms, e.g. the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. A similar element, DUSE, has been found in front of ncRNAs in the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum and a part of this project has been to analyze the function of this putative promoter element through cloning and expression studies. A construct to analyze the func-tion of DUSE was successfully designed and introduced into D. discoideum but full expression studies were not finished because of shortage of time.