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.

The project was performed at SiemensIndustry Drive Technologies with theobjective to provide actual values forthe energy savings potential withinSiemens scope of practice.In Sweden the electrical drives standfor about 30 % of the total electricityconsumption and about 60 % of theelectricity consumption within theindustry. During the pre-study phaseelectrical drives with pump applicationswere identified as large energy users.Because of this a case study at one ofSiemens customers, Stora Enso Fors wasperformed. The system that was evaluatedduring the case study was a throttledsystem with a centrifugal pump forpumping pulp.The results yielded that a saving ofover 50 % could be achieved by replacingthe throttle valve with a variable speeddrive, a frequency converter. Thepayback period was two years and twomonths and the present value for thetotal life cycle cost of the variablespeed system was 662.566 SEK lower thanfor the throttled system. As aconsequence, Stora Enso Fors is advisedto invest in a frequency converter forregulation of the system.The general conclusion is that a focuson system efficiency is the mostimportant factor in energy efficiencyprojects and that the system regulationmethod has a large impact on the overallsystem losses and hence its efficiency.Energy efficiency potential forthrottled systems with centrifugal pumpsis large and significant economicalsavings can be made through investmentswith short payback time..

Storm water is defined as runoff from precipitation such as rain or snow. It is collected in sewage disposal systems and since it mainly originates from urban areas it can contain high levels of heavy metals, nutrients and oil etc. Polluted storm water is currently treated by different methods such as wet ponds, constructed wetlands and filter strips. This study investigates these methods, which in earlier studies have shown to give varying results regarding their treatment efficiency.This thesis has been written on commission of SWECO VIAK and was aimed at studying those parameters that may affect the treatment efficiency of nutrients and heavy metals in storm water treatment facilities (STF:s). Through literature studies the dominating treatment processes in ponds and wetlands were examined.

Efficiency has become an important objective for many providers of welfare services. Among Swedish schools, both private and public, increased administrative demands seemingly influence operations, and affect teachers negatively through perceived stress. Simultaneously, Swedish students scored an all-time low in the latest PISA survey, and are now performing below the OECD-average in science, mathematics and reading. A central administrative task in the Swedish elementary school is the parent-teacher conference, which is an important activity in supporting the development of the student's knowledge and social skills. Lean is a well-established operations framework, which has proven successful in order to improve process efficiency.

The purpose of this research was to examine the current field of management in non-profit organizations, mainly focusing on managerial approaches, but also the impact of organizational size on the shaping of governance. Non-profits are widely discussed in contemporary research, particularly due to the increasing external pressure on voluntary organization to professionalize the way they work in line with standards in the private sector. Due to this our thesis aims to investigate whether professional, bureaucratic approaches are useful when governing a non-profit organization, or if social structures are enough to ensure goal congruence and efficiency. To conduct this research qualitative interviews were carried out and a case- study was made, using the Swedish Karate Federation as object of study. Results show that formal and more professional structures are useable to achieve efficiency and prevent inertia within the organization.

With the globalization, companies in the West chose to shift production to developing countries to cut down costs. This had a major impact when child labor and very poor working conditions in these factories were discovered and led many companies to take responsibility for their suppliers and the employees by adopting voluntary so-called Codes of Conduct.There is a subtle balance to enforce improvement of working conditions for employees at suppliers´ factories and to keep costs down. On the one hand, companies would like to conduct extensive audits at their suppliers to ensure code of conduct compliance and thus protect their legitimacy. On the other hand, audits are expensive so companies would like to minimize audits to keep costs down. Companies thus have to strike a delicate balance in relation to how many and what suppliers they choose to audit.

AbstractThe development of the construction industry is slower compared to other industries. This implies that there must be improvements in this field. One step to increased effectiveness in construction projects is making the construction process more efficient, therefore resulting in a positive result for both the actual construction project and for the overall branch. The purpose of this study is to identify areas for improvement within the municipal housing company Gavlegårdarna completed construction project, who will then contribute to increased efficiency in their upcoming projects. The work has been performed with the help of two case studies examine construction projects "Fullriggaren" and "The three nursing homes." Opinions about what could have improved the efficiency of these construction projects further have been collected with the help of an interview study among some of the project participants involved in both projects.There have been many studies addressing the topic of how the construction process can be streamlined and similar studies that have been previously conducted.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how the traditional airlines' strategies are affected by the low-cost carriers emergence and their business model and in wich ways they can achieve profitability. Furthermore we also want to examine the factors that affect the airlines' efficiency and competitiveness.The results of this study shows that the growth of the low-cost carriers have affected the network airlines' strategies as they, among other things, had to also lower their fares. This has forced them to revise their cost and efficiency in their entire operation. The result has also shown that the network companies can not come down to the same level of low costs as the low-cost carriers, and must therefore examine their ability to increase revenues instead. .

This study aims to investigate how federations manage to balance the economies of scale through collaboration and autonomy. This is done through a case study on Länsförsäkringar. The lack of modern research on federations makes the federative structure an interesting field of study. Previous research has shown a general perception that an increased pressure on efficiency and economies of scale creates a stronger common unit that eventually creates an imbalance in the federation. It is therefore interesting to look at the balance, which exists between the member units and the common unit of a federation.

In the latest edition of NRC (2007) the feeding recommendations for Ca and P to growing horses were increased with 35 and 25 %, respectively, based on results from a Canadian study showing that daily endogenous fecal losses of Ca and P were greater than previously suggested. A Ca absorption efficiency of 50 % is used for all horses. However, the true absorption efficiency might be as high as 70 % in young horses. P absorption efficiency is assumed to be higher for growing horses because their diets are often supplemented with inorganic P. Thus, an efficiency of 45 % is used for growing horses as compared to 35 % for mature horses.

When it comes to the priority of a project proposal, a variety of factors is affecting theoutcome. In the municipal sector, factors of non- economic nature appears to be particularlyimportant when the organization is not intended to be profit-making.This study's research question is What problems can occur around an energy-efficiencyproject proposal in a municipal organization? The purpose of this study is to gainunderstanding of what possible problems an energy efficiency project proposal mayencounter, in the municipal implementation process as well as the problems of a changingownership can bring.To conduct this study, the method was qualitative in nature. We have cooperated withVarberg Energi AB and Varberg kommun, which has stood as respondents for the empiricalbasis of the study. In this study, we have conducted four personal interviews.In this study, we have found that there may be several problematic factors associated with anenergy-efficiency project proposal in a municipal organization.

The idea of bringing mindfulness into organizations has become increasingly popular. While previous research has shown positive effects of mindfulness practice in individuals, consequences of introducing mindfulness in organizations remain largely unexplored. This thesis examines those consequences through a qualitative study. We conducted semi-structured interviews with members of two case companies. Based on the effects which mindfulness has been shown to have on individuals, our analysis was especially focused on the areas of efficiency, effectiveness and organizational culture.

Between 1965 and 1974, the Swedish Parliament decided to build one million dwellings, called Million Program. The million program buildings were erected with new, untried design solutions, in a short range of time, and at low cost. The residential buildings from that time are now greatly in need of renovation. The municipal housing company, Gavlega?rdarna, renovates and improves the energy efficiency at some of it?s apartment buildings in the district Sa?tra, Ga?vle.

The constant need of energy is something that affects us all no matter our current situation. Whether we are driving our car to work, taking the elevator or using the oven to cook dinner we end up relying on energy. Our whole society is continuously striving to achieve a higher grade of efficiency and the process of supplying ourselves with energy is no exception. The importance of appliances in our everyday life cannot be exaggerated and thus the importance of their high efficiency.Efficiency is already a keyword in the appliance industry with labels, stars and numbers helping us choosing the most suitable option for the task ahead. No matter how efficient appliances often use pure electricity as their energy source.

The purpose of the study was to investigate the use and losses of energy in an existing older building. Another purpose was also to look through various options for heating systems with renewable energy in the building. The aim was to reduce the use and losses of energy. The first step was to study the related electricity bills of the building and also perform measurements and calculations of the building envelope and ventilation. The next step was to find out the possible actions for energy saving by performing measurements and calculations.