The purpose of this study is to investigate the motives underlying the consumption of alcohol among college students and if the motives differ between genders. The study is based on the following questions: What are the motives underlying alcohol consumption among students? Do these motives differ between men and women? Is there any connection between the motives for alcohol consumption and consumption? The study is a quantitative, empirical comparison study and the data presented is mainly descriptive. The study group consists of students from a university in central Sweden. After an exclusion of five students a total of 81 students participated in the survey, of which 55 were female and 26 were male.

The purpose of this study was to examine leadership in the public sector based on leadership models, organizational factors, conditions and health of employees. The study was divided into sub-study one and two. In sub-study one the design was an observational study using cross sectional design in which 67 first line managers in the public sector answered a survey about conditions and leadership models. Sub-study two was an observational study using case-control design focusing on a health promoting leadership intervention in the municipal sector. Two semi-structured interviews and 41 surveys were collected.

In conjunction with an overview of the organizational structure of the municipality of Arvika the Balanced Scorecard was introduced as a management model. After the Balanced Scorecard has been in use over a period of years the conception of it varies throughout the organization.The purpose of this study is identifying which factors are facilitating and which factors are obstructing when implementing the Balanced Scorecard in the municipality of Arvika. This is a case study of the staff organization of the municipality of Arvika. The study is explanatory as our objective is to describe why the current situation appears as it does today. A qualitative method has been applied during this study.

The motivation for this thesis lies in the knowledge that there is a crucial information need amongst LGBTQ-persons wanting to read fiction related to LGBTQ in order to strengthen their own identity. This particular information need regarding identification has been said to be more central within LGBTQ-communities than within other user groups, largely because they represent a marginalized group in society. Critical feminists, such as Hope A. Olson, have proved that knowledge organization based on systems of subject representation in fact may lead to further marginalization and exclusion of already marginalized groups. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to compare subject representation and social tagging as methods of organizing LGBTQ-fiction.

Ever since the nation-state has existed identity has been a big deal, it is told that identity is a tool needed to be able to receive consensus from the people concerned on a certain matter. As the European Union is continuously shaped and reshaped due to changing geographical borders, as a consequence of new member-states the aim to integrate the Union equally across its surface has not been an easy task to solve. A lack of trust from the inhabitants in the European Union is a fact, and therefore the main duty of the Union has become to rebuild the trust from beginning to end, creating a Union which easily can be identified with. Since the process of national identity relies upon an excluding-including process and the use of the Other, the identification process on an European level has indeed had fierce effects on the inhabitants within and outside the Union.One of many things that this essay aims at showing is how mythmaking has become a way used by the elite in the Union to integrate a European identity, the myths refer back to a Golden Age when Europe was prosperous and in bloom. Among other tools used to integrate and create a European identity we find such as; unity in diversity, a cultural inheritance based on common denominators such as Christianity and Latin traditions, symbols and a European citizenship.

The aim of the essay is to explore how so called ?safe spaces? are built, and the part that creativity can play in this construction. The essay also explores the duality of idea-based social work that at the same time strives to support vulnerable groups and strives to make social and political changes. The essay has its empirical base in the RFSL Ungdom project ?Tusen bilder, tusen ord? (A thousand pictures, a thousand words).

Title: The significance of small talk on leadershipDate of seminar: 13 October 2010Course: Bachelor paper in Business, in Organization, 15 ECTSInstitution: Swedish Business School at Orebro UniversityAuthors: Linda Andersson & Ebba HallbergAdvisor: Gabriella WennblomPurpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify and describe how leadership is affected by the small talk, with these three managers. This with the manager?s perspective as a starting point, within the three services we examined.Research methodology: This paper is based on a qualitative method. Targeted open interviews were carried out with three respondents. Literature in the organizational field has been searched through to give a base for the study.Theoretical framework: This paper uses the theory of communication, the theory of leadership and the theory of small talk.Conclusion: The conclusion we make is that the small talk makes it easier for the modern leadership, this is because the small talk, among other things, allows the manager to spread information and to avoid misinterpretation, and that the manager become more involved in the company.Keywords: Communication, small talk, leadership.

The interest in harvesting wood fuel in conflict stands has grown in recent years as a consequence of the increased demand for biofuel. Conflict stands are young forests that have not been cleaned and have a large number of stems ha-1with a great height and diameter distribution. This means that traditional field measurements in conflict stands are difficult and very time consuming. Therefore, the forestry sector is in need of new, more efficient inventory methods. In this study, the Lidar data from Lantmäteriet?s (the Swedish mapping, cadastral and land registration authorities) new national height model was used in combination with plots from the Swedish national forest inventory from 2009 to create functions for; height, volume, diameter and number of stems.

Franchise theorists have to a large extent failed to keep up with the actual development in global franchise chains. The recent emergence of fast growing multi-unit-franchisees has fundamentally been ignored, and it has been claimed that the new phenomenon can be regarded as a mere replication of the franchisors? structure and control system into sub hierarchies. This study however, suggests that the reality is more complex. Through conducting case studies of two Nordic multi-unit-franchisees, new theories are built explaining how and why control systems are designed the way they are.

Denna studie syftar till att ta reda på vilka element som höjer det innovativa klimatet i företag och organisationer. Utifrån dessa element har författarna skapat kriterier som heter ?Soft innovation?. Visionen är att framtiden skulle kunna standardisera dessa kriterier. En abduktiv metod har använts.

Denna studie syftar till att ta reda på vilka element som höjer det innovativa klimatet i företag och organisationer. Utifrån dessa element har författarna skapat kriterier som heter ?Soft innovation?. Visionen är att framtiden skulle kunna standardisera dessa kriterier. En abduktiv metod har använts.

The municipality of Falkenberg is a result of a unification of several smaller municipalities in 1971, each one with a small library. This left Falkenberg with an unusual large amount of smaller branch libraries. The object of this thesis is to describe and try to understand the political conflicts that have erupted during the period 1971-1994. Through a case study containing press clippings from the local newspaper, different reports, political meeting protocols, a historical background of the library and a study of library specific norms and regulations I can create an image of the heated debate. The participants in this debate can be divided into politicians and civil servants and the conflict circles round the fact that from an economical perspective, there is not enough budget to keep all the small, local libraries.

Företag inom alla branscher arbetar aktivt med att minska sina kostnader genom ökad effektivitet i interna processer, så är även fallet inom daglivarubranschen. Ett sökande efter ny teknik och nya sätt att utveckla branschen står alltid på dagordningen. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) är nästa generations identifieringsteknik för dagligvaruhandeln, det är därför viktigt att tekniken börjar implementeras och användas. Svenska Retursystem är ett företag som tillhandahåller returlådor till den Svenska livsmedelsbranschens aktörer. För att effektivisera användandet av lådorna så har de givit uppdrag om en undersökning om vilka effekter införandet av RFID i deras returlådor skulle ha på användandet.

The purpose of this master?s thesis is to examine whether the role of a public library in a rural community is different from that of a town library. To answer this, a case studie of two public libraries has been made. Interviews, collection of documents and observations were carried out on location in one public library located in a rural area, and one public library, situated in a town. A modified version of an analysis model, originally developed by Andersson and Skot-Hansen, was used to analyse the data.

This thesis is based on an assignment from a unit within an international group manufacturing industrial products. The purpose of the thesis is to analyze and suggest ways to improve the cost accounting system in use at the unit. The main source of empirical data has been interviews with employees. The theoretical framework is based on a comparison between traditional/standard costing and activity-based costing (ABC). The cost accounting system in use is described in detail and classified as a traditional/standard cost accounting system.