This study examines how management consulting firms work with business- and functional strategy and how these strategies are interrelated. More specifically we focus on business strategy (business unit level) and knowledge strategy (functional level) and whether these are aligned or not, i.e. whether strategic congruence exists.A number of recent studies have examined the importance of business strategy and knowledge strategy in management consulting firms separately, but few have pointed out the importance of the alignment between them. With this study we contribute to the strategic field of research with a model that describes how management consulting firms should work with their knowledge strategy given their business strategy. The model is developed through a synthesis between theories in the field of strategic congruence, business- and functional strategies and thereafter tested by an empirical case study of six management consulting firms.

Background: During the 2000s, there has been an increased interest in studying business management and strategy implementation with customer focus in public organisations. To achieve business goals it is important to continuously work with strategies to meet customerdemands for increased efficiency and service. Purpose: The aim of the essay is to examine how to work on strategy implementation in a municipal real estate company from a management perspective in order to achieve overall goals. Method: The study?s methodology is a case study based on qualitative telephone interviews that were conducted with representatives in managerial positions from various levels of the company. The choice of the qualitative data was considered relevant in relation to the chosen topic of the thesis. The empirical data was then compared to the theoretical framework of the thesis. Results: Strategies guide the company to achieve the overall goals, which are later on broken down into operational targets.

Syftet med vår undersökning av nybilsförsäljarna i Blekinge är att klargöra hur deras belöningssystem är uppbyggda. Sett ur ett ledningsperspektiv vill vi också veta hur de uppfattar sitt belöningssystem, och om de skulle vilja att det utvecklades vidare. Vi vill också ta reda på huruvida deras belöningssystem resulterar i de effekter som de eftersöker, och om systemet resulterar i ett positivt ekonomiskt resultat..

Foreign invested SMEs have recently become increasingly interested in China. The enterprises are in this report categorized as second wave companies since they follow the footsteps of previous pioneers, of which mostly were larger companies. The ambitions of the SMEs are either to sell products on the ever expanding Chinese market or to utilize the potential of low cost production for global markets. The existing literature is fragmented and solely based on the experience of larger companies. We believe that SMEs are facing new and different challenges, and thus a new generic theoretical frame work is desirable.

The most predominant method for forest harvesting in Sweden is the cut-to-length method based on two-machines, a harvester that fells trees and cut them in a predefined length, and a forwarder which transports logs to a landing area for further transport to a processing facility. New machine solutions have to be much gentler to the ground than today?s machines. To be able to develop a forestry machine that preserves the terrain requires a proper understanding of the interaction between tire and soil.The goal of the project is to contribute to the existing knowledge of forest machine tire-soil interaction and to develop a tire-soil model that enables dynamic simulations of forest machines operating in rough terrain. The modeling has especially been focused on the interaction between tires and soft ground.A comparison of theoretical data of different WES-based terrain interaction models and a comparison test data from a full scale field test is presented.

This master thesis attempts to answerthe question if a startup with amaterial innovation needs a specialbusiness development model. Mainstreambusiness development literature is notwell adapted to the rigor of testing anew material and bringing it tomarket. This was studied using threedifferent methods. First of thetheories that are considered canonicalfor high tech business development wasexamined. The next step was to go into the role of a business developer inone of the hottest high tech materialinnovation startups this decade,Disruptive Materials.

Den ökade globaliseringen och senaste finanskrisen ställer höga krav på uppföljning och medvetenhet av ett företags prestation. Business Intelligence (BI) är ett område vars syfte är att förbättra en organisations prestation genom analys av historisk data. BI är ett komplext område som inte bara handlar om tekniska lösningar, även om det är en förutsättning. För närvarande investeras det mycket i olika BI-lösningar och företagen behöver veta vad resurserna bör läggas på. I dagsläget finns det ingen modell som bedömer ett företags arbete med Business Intelligence utifrån ett flertal dimensioner.Syftet med den här studien var att utveckla en mognadsmodell för Business Intelligence och sedan jämföra de undersökta företagen Axfood, Scania och Systembolagets mognad.

When contemplating entering an alliance the rationale behind the decision should differdepending on the size of the companies involved as well as on other important factors. The importantfactors influencing the decision are related to the resource pooling potential of the alliance,the power structure along with the business network the companies are a part of. Theanalysis has shown proof of a need for cooperation if one wish to succeed in the telecommunicationindustry and it has also determined which resources that are deemed to be most important toget in touch with, for our study object, to facilitate its access to the market. Those resources aredefined as a direct channel to the customer, funds/capital and the access to relevant businessnetworks. To get in touch with these lacking resources, three alternative approaches has beenproposed; all of them involving a strategic alliance decision.

AbstractBackgroundEvery company has some kind of employee turnover and we can tell that som business has higher employee turnover than other business. Employee turnover is individual for all companies but in companies that is in the same business simularities can be seen. The employee turnover in the line of business hotel, merchandise trade and restaurants was according to Confederation of Swedish Enterprise closer to 40 % during the period of 2006-2007 and close to the business with highest turnover, the service sector. This is comparable to the buildning activity that with it?s 22 % is one of the business with lowest turnover.

Detta examensarbete har genomförts på företaget Navigate Consulting Business Solutions AB, ett konsultbolag som erbjuder tjänster inom affärssystem, såsom val av affärssystemslösning, implementering och förvaltning.Företaget vill utöka sitt framtida affärssystem, Oracle E-Business Suite R12, genom att lägga till tidrapporteringsmodulen Oracle Time and Labor. För att ta reda på om tidsrapporteringsmodulen möter verksamhetens krav och förväntningar är det nödvändigt att företaget får en uppfattning hur systemet möjligtvis kan lämpa sig, innan de bestämmer sig för att implementera.Med detta som bakgrund och utgångspunkt syftar detta examensarbete till att visualisera den tidrapporteringsprocess och de krav som Navigate har för Oracle E-Business Suite R12, genom användning av prototyp.En inkrementell och iterativ arbetsmetod har tillämpats vid utveckling av denna prototyp. Resultatet av detta examensarbete är en interaktiv prototyp över företagets tidrapporteringsprocess. Stora delar av deras krav har visualiserats, och det har totalt producerats femton skärmbilder för att utveckla prototypen. Dessa har kopplats samman och tillförts med interaktivitet genom prototypverktyget Justinmind Prototyper.Trots att det har inneburit en tidskrävande process för utveckling av prototypen har man funnit potentiella fördelar.

Title: Communicate ? to provide an opportunity Authors: Ida Eriksson & Petra LindbergTutor: Johan Grinbergs, Mälardalen UniversityExaminer: Cecilia LindhSubject: Bachelor's essay, Business AdministrationKeywords: communication, internal communication, channels, communication models, communication theory, information, organizationPurposeThe idea of this study was to describe how ABB Sweden?s internal communication and information appeared in Västerås. The aim is also to see what tools and channels they use to communicate information internally and see how employees perceive them in Västerås.MethodWe have read literature in form of books and articles that discuss theories on the subject communication including internal communication, channels and tools. Interviews were conducted with employees of ABB and were to serve as the basis for our empirical work. A survey by the Communication Center was made in the spring 2010 and was also the basis for our empirical work.ConclusionsThe communication has been increasingly from one-to two-way communication. To get a functioning organization, it is required that the internal communication in the first place will work.

The most vital for a business is to understand how to please and satisfy its customers in order to make them loyal to the company. Companies weapon for competition in the retail business is defined through the retail mix. The retailer however often have limited resources whereas they have to prioritize between the factors included in the retail mix. The main purpose for this paper is to investigate what kind of internal connections that may occur between the factors in the retail mix, with focus on the job satisfaction as a catalyst on driving the values of the parameters included in the retail mix, where the factor service is the starting shot for the others included..

This thesis investigates the possibilities offered to a working landscape architect by anincreased and altered use of digital 3D environments. A basic assumption is that increased useof digital three-dimensional environments promotes the creative processes and presentationoptions of landscape architects.The thesis is based on literature studies and communication with working landscapearchitects, and includes an investigation of the visualization methods available in the Blender3D modelling software. The thesis provides a thorough survey of what it means to model inthree dimensions, as well as of what modelling methods are feasible for a landscape architectto use. As landscape architects, we work with human and unique processes, and thus it isdifficult to develop standardized and automatic software for our profession. One possiblesolution is to turn to open source development, where software and models are shared andanyone can contribute.

Bakgrund: Dagens snabbföränderliga värld och höga konkurrenstryck ställer krav på innovativa investeringar för en verksamhets fortskridning. Nytt paradigm inom IT-branschen är molntjänst, där utbjudande leverantör bör ta hänsyn till vissa faktorer för att erhålla ett gynnsamt utfall. Vanligt förekommande inom IT-branschen är att nyttja Business Case i beslutssituationer där olika faktorer noga övervägs innan investeringsbeslut fattas.Syfte: Studiens syfte är att med hjälp av Business Case identifiera och belysa avgörande faktorer och riskkällor vid investeringsbeslut. De identifierade riskkällorna ska också undersökas i syfte att söka minimera dem. Med hjälp av teoretisk och empiriskt underlag ämnar studien sammanställa ett Business Case för säkrare investeringsbeslut vid multidimensionella IT-investeringar.Metodik: Detta är en fallstudie utifrån en kvalitativ forskningsmetod.

This study is about the female entrepreneur in rural areas in Sweden. Five women were interviewed with the aim to examine their way of living (livsform), their motivation, what significance it is to be a woman in business and how female entrepreneurs can be encouraged to start their own business. The conclusions : ? The women in this study live an independent life , but the their way of life (livsform) has changed during their life ? Female entrepreneurship can be promoted trough greater knowledge of the female business, better advice to the entrepreneurs, more networking groups and reducing bureaucracy. ? The driving forces for the women is to do what they like and are interested in, at the same time as they have time for the family and children. They also like to work in the rural areas. ? Female entrepreneurship can be promoted through greater knowledge of female businesses in the community, by creating virtual meeting places such as networking groups and mentor groups on internet.