Export is a top priority for Sweden's economy but for Swedish companies it may involve uncomfortable risks of exporting without sincere consideration. When the United Nations Security Council puts an embargo against a country, this often mean an import and export restriction. The thought is to push undemocratic regimes into respecting human rights. When the embargo is in force, however, the parties are not able to fulfill their contractual obligations, which practically means that the agreement will be suspended. The problem is what happens when an embargo is in force for a longer period of time.

Master Thesis in Business Administration, School of Business Administration, Linaeus University, Finance 4FE03E, Spring 2011Authors: Benni Hansson, Axel SandquistTutor: Christopher von KochExaminer: Sven-Olof CollinTitle: Compensation as a means of monitoring or recruiting ? a study on ownership structure in Swedish listed companies.Keywords: CEO compensation, compensation structure, ownership structure, ownership types, ownership concentration, agency theory, resource dependence theory, managerial theoryBackground: There has been extensive research on CEO compensation, however not a lot on Swedish listed firms. Many studies have an agency theoretical perception on CEO compensation. In accordance with this, compensation is used as a means to solve monitoring and incentives problems.Purpose: The aim of this study is to examine the role of CEO compensation, by studying ownership structure.Method: To examine the role of CEO compensation we use a multi-theory approach, based on agency theory, resource dependence theory and managerial theory. The companies examined are Swedish listed firms the in years 2005 to 2009.

Energimätning och övervakning kan bidra till minskad energiförbrukning genom att hjälpa en användare att ta beslut över energianvändandet. Valet av examensarbete gjordes p.g.a. behovet att ge användarna möjlighet att påverka sin energiförbrukning och övervaka sina elprodukter. Ett koncept togs fram där toppvärden på spänning och ström, effektfaktor, spänning-ens vågform, aktiv, reaktiv och skenbar effekt mättes. Samtliga värden skickades till en server som lagrade informationen och innehöll en hem-sida för presentation.

Holmen Skog is one of the largest forestry companies in Scandinavia and they depend heavily on a large network of forest roads for production and logistics in connection to their forestry operations. The company recently introduced a new system for planning of road management. The system will also be developed with the intention to facilitate the monitoring of actions performed by road contractors. This report will provide information to support future decisions regarding further development of the system, after its introduction. In addition to a presentation of results from interviews, the report also provides a smaller study of the different subjects associated with roads, process work and process development. The study is largely based on interviews with road contractors that perform work for Holmen Skog today.

Introduction: A complex interaction between muscles, tendons, bones, joints and nerves are required for optimal function of the human hand. It is known that an individual?s grip strength is vital for performance of physical demanding tasks such as strength training with free weights. Strength training including a thicker grip around the bar may enhance the strength of the grip in the athlete without other special routines for grip strength development. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the difference in performance in multiple repetitions in two strength training exercises using two different sizes on the bar, to look for correlations between grip strength of the subjects hand and the amount of repetitions executed with two different size of the bar and finally the correlation of hand size and the amount of repetitions executed with two different size of the bar.Method: 15 strength training men (23,9 ± 4,1 years), underwent measurements of hand size, maximum grip strength, 1 repetition maximum (1RM), a 80 % of 1RM weight strength test with two different  bar sizes.Results: The results from the present investigation indicates a 21,1 % reduction of 80 % of 1 RM weight performance in repetitions executed in the bench press with the thicker diameter of the bar and a 66,2 % reduction in repetitions executed with a 80 % of 1 RM weight in the lying bench row with the thicker diameter of the bar.

Title: Register now and stay in touch ? a study about the relationship between CRM-system and business performance.Purpose: The purpose with the study is to identify if there is a positive relationship between CRM-system and business performance in Swedish multinational companies in the industrial sector.Audience: This essay is addressed to the Swedish multinational companies in the industrial sector.Methodology/ Approach / Design: We have applied a qualitative method, with a deductive approach. Through an in-depth interview with the case company Benzlers AB, which provided the empirical basis, supplemented with the CSI-values.Conclusion: The study has presented evidence, that there is a positive relationship between CRM-system and business performance which has been confirmed by the positive increase in the CSI-value after the implementation of the CRM-system.Originality/ Value/ Contribution to knowledge The study contributes with its own results that fill in the knowledge gap about the subject in Sweden. The study finds that the CRM-system effectives the interaction with the customer and thereby business performance increase, with the CSI-value as unit. This therefore increases the value and importance of investigation of Swedish multinational companies, whose purpose is to satisfy the customer and at the same time, increase the business performance.Future research: For future research we suggest publishers to base the empirical basis through additional in-depth interviews with added case companies. In order to confirm the relationship between its validity in the industry, and also indentify what happens between inputs and outputs, which leads to increased business performance.Keywords: Customer Relation Management (CRM), CRM-system, customer satisfaction, business performance, Customer-Satisfied-Index.Thesis type: Business economy 61-91, Bachelor essay, Marketing (15 credits), spring 2010th..

Abstract Tutor - Anders Richtnér History - Theories suggest that Lean Product Development strategies dramatically increase a company's performance through enabling faster T-T-M, Quality and Costs of Product Development. Purpose - The purpose of this paper is therefore to investigate whether the implementation of LPD actually affect corporate performance measurements T-T-M, Quality and Cost, in a positive way. Methodology - This Bachelor thesis is an exploratory investigation of the concept of Lean Product Development within a global IT- company, performed through four case studies, interviews and complementing corporate performance data. Findings - With empirical data and subsequent analyzes in mind, we note the following; it is clear that the project that produced the best results, in terms of T-T-M, Quality and Cost, also was the one furthest in the process of implementing Lean Product Development..

This study investigates how performance management in primary schools can facilitate learning, relating to theories of efficient schools. This is done through a qualitative study of the performance management systems in two public primary schools in Sweden. The schools selected were similar in all major aspects, except pupil grades, where there was a clear difference between the schools. The analysis revealed differences in how the schools handled the process of management by objectives, the professional development of teachers as well as routines, rules, and policies. We conclude that having a rooted process for management by objectives, professional development of teachers, and clearly formalized values, gives a school a good foundation to support a pupil's learning and development..

En effektiv och lönsam logistik kan företag använda som en konkurrensfördel. Det gäller att hitta en balans mellan att exempelvis ge hög service till kunderna och samtidigt tvingas ta hänsyn till höga kostnader för lagerhållning. Denna uppsats syftar till att beskriva och analysera hur Peak Performance hanterar denna balans mellan logistikkostnader, kapitalbindning, leveransservice och miljö. Tre av dessa delar är hämtade från en modell av Lumsden (1998). Vi har därefter modifierat modellen och tillfört den fjärde komponenten, miljö.

Performance management innebär att rikta hela organisationens energi genom att sätta mål för medarbetare som ligger i linje med organisationens strategi. Genom att på detta sätt öka tydligheten kan organisationen förbättra prestationer och öka dess möjligheter för utveckling mot konkurrenskraftighet på kort och lång sikt.Ändamålet med denna uppsats var att genom två undersökningar kartlägga hur chefer respektive medarbetare upplever att arbeta med performance management och genom det och en litteraturstudie få en bild av begreppet. Kartläggningen gjordes med både enkäter till medarbetare och intervjuer med chefer. Från enkätsvaren framkom att respondenterna upplevde målen som motiverande och att det fanns en öppen dialog inom organisationen. Både hos medarbetarna och cheferna verkar det finnas en viss oklarhet kring begreppets syfte.

BackgroundToday a common approach to solve a complicated problem is to assemble a temporary workforce in order to solve the problem by working together within a project. One of the difficulties with working in projects is to maintain the planned budget. Working hours and costs are often exceeded. Many companies presume that any certain project will succeed, a presumption that leads companies not to anticipate risks involved in a project. In companies today there is seldom time for evaluation or moderation of a project, in order to have time for evaluation there is a great need for an adequate planning of the project.IntentThe intention with this study is to create a model for planning, budgeting and evaluation of projects within consultancy companies.MethodWith the help of interviews and discussions within the group Hamnar och Byggkonstruktioner at Sweco has evidence to present a proposal on planning, budgeting and monitoring been developed.ResultsA model has been developed to ease for consultancy companies to plan, budget, monitor and evaluate projects.

Background: When firms grow through acquisitions it is commonly debated whether the two entities ought to be better off as standalone companies rather than as a merged company. This thesis aims at discussing this issue of M&As advantages and disadvantages in terms of source of synergies from the perspective of resource allocation. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to describe and analyze to what extent pre-M&A differences (against similarities) in resource allocation and corporate culture between the acquiring and target firm have an impact on the post-M&A performance. Theoretical framework: Efficient market hypothesis, resource based view, strategic fit. Methodology: A longitudinal study is conducted on the EU market during 1992 to 2002 based on balance sheet and income statement data.

Human capital is professional service firms' most valuable resource and its quality is closely linked to the quality of its services. The purpose of this study is to investigate how professional service firms appraise their employees. A comparative study between an architecture firm and a management consulting firm is conducted with the aim to identify and explain similarities and differences in performance appraisal. Two qualitative case studies are performed and interviews as well as documents are used to explore the area. The thesis builds on a critical perspective and it has an explorative approach.

This thesis which is about working with mathematics teaching has no effect/impact on performance and understanding of pupils. The study is intended to gain insight on working in mathematics education which has an impact on performance and understanding of students who are ethnically Swedish and foreign ethnic. In order to compare the ethnic Swedish and foreign students of ethnic understanding, I judged from their performance on the tests taken in year three. The qualitative approach permeated the work, both interviews and observations which were included in the survey. The qualitative study was chosen to get an understanding of how mathematics teaching is conducted in two different areas.

Denna studie fokuserar på företagsstorleks inverkan på sambandet mellan Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) och Corporate Financial Performance (CFP). Huvudsyftet är att mäta om effekten av CSR på CFP skiljer sig mellan små och stora företag noterade på Nasdaq OMX Nordic Stockholm. Perioden som studeras är åren 2006-2009 samt år 2011. För att utröna om företagsstorlek har inverkan på sambandet tillämpas modererande regressionsanalys som går ut på att fastställa huruvida någon interaktionseffekt förekommer eller ej. Vi kontrollerar även för variablerna bransch och tid.