The purpose with our study is to investigate in which way a public field of action has succeeded to make the economic management more effective and also find out which factors/activities that have contributed to get the result of the budget in balance. We also want to find out in which degree the balanced scorecard (BSC) has contributed to the positive result of the budget. Method: We had started out from the qualitative method theory which is based on the hermeneutic theory, because we will interpret and understand. With this starting point we have chosen to use a case study with semi-standardised interviews supplemented with information from different documents, and to get the theoretic connection we have studied literature in the subject field. The analyse and even the theoretic connection have then started from, for this study, a special analyse model.

This Bachelor's thesis in Environmental Science studies the quality of an index of performance measurement of Swedish municipalities' sustainability governance offered by the environmental magazine Miljöaktuellt. Executed for six consecutive years, this evaluation is arguably the most comprehensive and widely spread local sustainability assessment in Sweden. Contextualizing this quantitative measurement tool in the paradigm of New Public Management, the research questions posed are: 'to what extent does the index employed by Miljöaktuellt correspond to the requirements of a set of quality criteria for sustainability assessment?' and 'is the index appropriate as a measure of, or a goal for, Swedish municipalities' internal sustainability efforts?' Through the perspective of evaluation theory, Miljöaktuellt's index is seen as a performance evaluation, thus categorizing this study as a meta-evaluation. Through a qualitative thematic approach, the index is analyzed using the 8 BellagioSTAMP-principles that were developed as tools for assessing quality of sustainability assessments as themes for the analysis.

Bachelor thesis, Business Administration and Economics Programme, School of Business and Economics at Linnaeus University in Va?xjo?.Spring of 2015 Title: Performance measurement from a cost leadership perspective - A case study on Gekås.Authors: Adrienn Csiszer, Hannah Lundberg & Helena WennerströmTutor: Eva GustavssonExaminer: Karin Jonnergård Keywords: Performance measurement, Performance measurement systems, Generic strategy, Cost leadership strategy, Financial and non-financial measurements. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine how a company with a clear cost leadership strategy chooses to work with performance measurements, with a view to comparing a practical example to theorethical approaches. Methodology: The method chosen for this paper is a case study on Gekås AB. The presented data were collected through interviews conducted with four employees on Gekås. Conclusion: The study concludes that for a business with cost leadership strategy the financial measurements are more important than non-financial meausurements. For Gekås it is important to keep the performance measurement simple and understandable for the employees. They only use three measurements (sales, hours and sales per hour) in planning and in evaluation.

One year Master's thesis, Degree of master in Business and Economics, School ofBusiness and Economics at Linnaeus University, Management, 4FE10E SpringSemester 2014.Author: Johanna Björklund and Sarah Gustafsson.Mentor: Magnus Forslund.Title: Lean in the public sector - Potential barriers to a long-term Lean work.Background: Organizational changes are something that is constantly done inorganizations, and in the last decade, there has arisen a plethora of different changemodels. A reorganization that is popular among companies today is Lean. Lean is aconcept that was developed within the Japanese automotive industry, but has evolvedfrom the Japanese shop floor and is now a concept that can be found in, for example,several Swedish municipalities.Purpose: The purpose of this study was to create an understanding of why the conceptLean may have difficulty getting a hold in the in the long term.Methodology: The study was done with a qualitative research approach and through anabductive approach. As we intended to create an understanding, of what potentialbarriers that may affect that a Lean work, in some cases, does not become a long-termcondition, it seemed natural to choose a hermeneutic approach to knowledge. Theempirical data collected via individual unstructured interviews, through a groupinterview, and by non-participant observations.

A budget consists of figures showing how much a particular activity has access to during a given year. With a balanced scorecard, these figures and guidelines can be converted in to more easily understandable non-financial instructions for the employees. One of the most significant differences between the budget and the scorecard is that the budget focuses on short-term results while the scorecard focuses on long-term visions and goals. With a long-term thinking the leaders can  set more long-term goals and also make more well-planned investments which increases the possibility for the organization to evolve and become better in the long term. By combining the two instruments a good balance between short and long term perspectives can be achieved, which creates a more effective steeringIn the 1990s, many of the municipalities introduced needs budget, one of them was Gothenburgs municipality.

On the first of January 2012, a new public authority was formed in Värmland, due to a new legislation on public transport. The first task for the new public authority was to produce a plan for the development of public transport. In order to do so, it had to execute an extensive consultation process about the long-term goals of public transport. The purpose of the thesis is to investigate how a public authority can use a consultation process as a means to clarify accountability and produce unified goals. To answer that, I have done a case study about how the new regional public authority in Värmland for public transport has acted in the process of writing a plan for the development of public transport.

The aim of this report is to give the reader insight into the development of theweb-based accounting application SuperBooky. Accounting is a complex task thatmany beginner entrepreneurs struggle with. The development of this application wastherefore focused on making accounting as convenient and as easy as possible. Theend product targets small enterprises and its functionality was designed with this inmind.To make sure that the application was designed in a user-friendly way, polls werecarried out among individuals with basic accounting knowledge. These polls werethen used as a basis when the application was under development, to ensure that itwas well-suited to the target audience.This project was carried out as a bachelor?s thesis for Chalmers University of Technologyand University of Gothenburg during Spring 2015.

We studied the understanding of public librarians of the required qualifications for a public librarian, what these qualifications embody and how they should be used, and if there are any differences between geographic regions. We also compared our results to the Library Code, which describes the responsibilities of the public libraries. To complete our study, we interviewed fourteen public librarians at eight different public libraries located in both urban and rural areas in Sweden. Our results showed that even though the qualifications specified by the Library Code were identical, they were emphasized and used differently by the public libraries included in our study. This illustrates that the public libraries prioritize and focus differently on the various aspects of the Library Code.

This paper deals with the use of Internet at Swedish public libraries. The author asks whether public libraries should or should not limit access to information available on the Internet. Starting from the American discussion, concerning Internet at public libraries, the author shows the Swedish attitudes. The paper demonstrates that many Swedish public libraries have adopted rules forbidding retrieval of certain kinds of information, such as hard-core pornography and racist propaganda. The persons in charge of such actions claim that public libraries should provide high-quality educational literature and should not spread mass-produced, provocative information.

In this paper we investigate 67 Swedish buyouts in the manufacturing and retailing sector between the years 2004-2012. The purpose is to measure changes in a set of financial key ratios to see if private equity firms are able to improve performance in their portfolio companies compared to a peer group consisting of other firms within the same industries. Furthermore, we examine if there is a difference in the change of the financial key ratios between private equity-owned firms in the two sectors. The key results are that the private equity owned firms have not outperformed their peers with respect to the chosen key ratios. We also conclude that there is no significant difference in the change of the financial key ratios between private equity-owned firms in the two sectors..

Local cultural environment planning in Sweden often comes to rely on municipal heritage plans. These plans are meant to facilitate management of local cultural values, work as a tool for local planning and increase awareness of cultural environments for the public. In the last decades public participation in planning has become more and more of the ideal strategy, challenging the idea of cultural environment planning as an expert-led field. The idea of the field as one that implicates public participation as a strategy has been fortified in Sweden through national goals, government bills and conventions. Nevertheless the implementation of public participation in municipal heritage plans remains quite uncharted. The aim of this study is to explore public participation in regards to how municipal heritage plans are developed and the perception of public participation in cultural environment planning amongst professionals, comparing bigger and smaller municipalities.

Utbildning är en central del av samhället. På senare år har offentlig sektor genomgått en rad förändringar vad gäller styrreformer samt förändrade huvudmannaskap, främst inom skolverksamheter. Genom det fria skolvalet har den kommunala verksamheten mött nya utmaningar. Den kommunala skolan drivs då av förändring och av att genom positionering utnyttja sina gränser samt även anpassa sitt förhållningssätt gentemot samhället. I denna studie undersöks hur en kommunal grundskola genererar positivt värde för elever och personal med syftet att urskilja faktorer som är betydelsefulla för en skolas värdeskapande. Metoden för studien har varit att intervjua chefer samt lärare om deras syn på vad i skolans verksamhet som är värdeskapande samt hur en skola kan utveckla sitt handlingsutrymme.

The accounting of today results in reports that are valued according to one kind of value.There are advocates who recommend that the accounting should be expanded by one orseveral columns, which would enable that other methods of valuation could be used. In thisessay we examine how the ?multi column reporting? can alter the outcome of a financialanalysts? valuation procedure.In this essay we used existing theories about the financial analysts? usage of information toreach the lack of information we found and which we aim to erase whit this essay. To do thiswe studied decision theories and theories regarding information processing, and by interviewswith three financial analysts. After we collected the information needed for the analyses, wethen also compared the results of the interviews with related theories.The theories about decision in this essay concern whether a decision is based on rationality,bounded rationality or irrationality.

Title:Balanced scorecard in the public sector - the balancing of conflicting objectives.Level:Final assignment for Bachelor of Science in Business Administration.Authors:Erika Sundström and Lisette Lundstedt.Tutor:Stig Sörling and Tomas Källquist.Date:2014-05-20.Purpose:The purpose of our study, from a management perspective, is to increase understanding of how the public sector can develop and use the balanced scorecard to balance conflicting objectives.Method:Hermeneutic approach, Literature review, Qualitative case study.Result and conclusion:Under certain conditions, the balanced scorecard can help to deal with conflicting objectives in a public organization. Stakeholders and objectives are important factors for a balanced control. This is due to the fact that many different stakeholders often leads to the creation of conflicting objectives. Numerous and unclear objectives lead to both conflict and uncertainty. The organization?s structure and culture are other factors that also influence.

Housing cooperatives in Sweden practice very long depreciation times for their buildings and assets, subsequently depreciation costs are very low. This study aims at addressing issues relating to potential upward revisions of these costs and the revenue levels needed by housing cooperatives to address these changes, while also providing a detailed summary of some chosen financial ratios under different circumstances. This study's results are based upon recent (2015) market data within the Stockholm region, collected through a manual process and analyzed quantitatively. On average, housing cooperatives EBIT do not cover their financial costs and have low profit margins. The average depreciation time is considerably above what a technical evaluation by other sources may state.