Aim: Based on portfolio theory, which highlights diversification, and CSR, which describes the value of social and ethical responsibility of corporations, this study examines whether there is a difference in risk-adjusted performance between ethical and traditional mutual funds. Ethical funds are limited in their opportunities of diversification and should therefore be limited in their potential perfomance. On the other hand, a focus on social and ethical responsibility can be profitable.Method: The study uses a quantitative approach where we used 25 mutual fund in each category, ethical and conventional mutual funds. The mutual funds and their data has been obtained from www.morningstar.se and www.pensionmyndigheten.se. Historical performance between 2009-2013 were processed to obtain the Sharpe ratio and M2.

After the mandatory rules for clearing was removed in 1994, the clearing area has increased in Sweden. After the storms Gudrun and Per, the areas became planted with new plants, mainly spruce, but also other tree species. Storm areas are now being invaded by naturally rejuvenated birch in the tilling tracks. Since the birch often is initially growing faster than the spruce it is inhibiting the growth and is also damaging the spruce. The purpose of this thesis is to study the new brush saw with chain and compare it with the conventional clearing saw, mainly in terms of performance and ergonomics. The results show that the new brush saw with chain is very good in almost all clearing operations compared to the conventional clearing saw.

The distribution of work related tasks depending on gender leads to different appraisal depending on which gender is performing a task. This aim of this research is to study how gender differences influence task allocation within the restaurant industry. The study is inspired by a discourse analysis perspective complemented by constructivist and critical pragmatic theory. Interviews were conducted in two focus groups with seven participants in total. The analysis is divided into four sections which answer six discourse analytical questions using the interview material.

During the past twenty years, the Swedish school systems have slowly changed to becomemore and more performance-driven. Private schools have been growing in general and, likeindependent schools and schools managed by municipalities, they profile themselves. Schoolsare becoming more performance and result-oriented, which has changed the roles of teachersin a dramatic way and is in general, still changing.By profiling students based on theirindividual performance, schools are able to help students identify themselves and their owngoals. The process of profiling is a slow one in which some teachers adapt more quickly thanothers, and one that is critical for other teachers to learn in order to keep up with the demandsof society.Schools, like ordinary businesses, are in constant competition with each other to keep up withthe newest and greatest models of teaching and to rank among the best in high achievements.Perhaps the downside of this modern school structure is that it is often difficult to have aschool where both school management and teachers see eye to eye. School management must heavily focus on the school?s results as a whole.

This is a study on how eurythmists/educators describe the relationship between the practice of eurythmy and learning in young children. I wanted to find out what concepts these eurythmists/educators use when speaking of learning in relation to eurythmy. In addition I would also like to explore what eurythmists and educators think that children learn when practicing eurythmy. The method of this study is interviews with two educated Waldorf teachers, as well as two educated and practicing eurythmists, in a fenomenological interview setting with open questions. The theories of Merleau-Ponty, on the phenomenological body, has been used when analyzing the interview material - that is; through the understanding of a physical learning in these theories on the phenomenological body I have tried to understand and analyze the interview material.

This report explains how different communication tools can be used in a company?s intranet. It gives a short description of the different parts in an intranet and their field of application, and what communication means. It?s only the communication tools that the company uses that we are illuminating in this report.

This thesis examines the effects of proximity operators and query expansion with synonyms on retrieval performance. The queries were expanded with synonyms and structured with proximity operators where the permitted distance between terms varied from 1 to 3. The expansion terms were selected from the online lexical reference system WordNet. Initial query terms were selected from 28 topics that contained compound words and were chosen on the basis of their expandibility. The English morphological analyser ENGTWOL was used for normalization of query terms.

This report is the result of a thesis work carried out on the Risifrutti production at the company Procordia Food AB. The thesis is at a master level and is the final work for the author to receive a Master of Science in Innovative production at Mälardalen University. The thesis comprises 30 credits and has lasted for 18 weeks. The thesis is mainly a research on whether it is possible to perform an Environmental Value Stream Map (E-VSM) in a food processing industry and an evaluation if the tools E-VSM and Green Performance Map (GPM) are useful in this type of industry. An extra part to this research is to use the results from the E-VSM and give Procordia Food AB information on improvement potentials in the Risifrutti production. The author has found it difficult to collect some of the quantitative data to the E-VSM, mainly regarding energy, but by using the Value Stream Mapping (VSM) tool and other Lean tools the author was able to identify and quantify several wastes in the Risifrutti production. Recommendations for improvements based on these wastes have been given to the company. In the research part of this report the utility of the Value Stream Map, Environmental Value Stream Map and Green Performance Map in a food processing industry have been analyzed. The author has found that the Value Stream Map has been a useful tool since waste and unevenness in the tact of the production has been identified. The Environmental Value Stream Map and the Green Performance Map are also great tools when a company wants to analyze their environmental impact and then invest in environmental improvements. However, no profound energy analyzes has been done in the Risifrutti production because of the lack of energy meters for steam, electricity and compressed air in the production lines..

Performance Management är en process som syftar till att säkerställa att alla inom en organisation arbetar i samma riktning. Detta uppnås genom att öka tydligheten kring organisationens strategiska mål samt koppla dessa till medarbetarens individuella mål. Vidare är det viktigt att kommunicera vad som förväntas av medarbetarna i termer av arbetsprestationer samt hur detta skall uppnås för att lyckas med uppdraget att minska gapet mellan medarbetares arbetsprestationer och ledningens ambitioner (Armstrong & Baron, 2005).Uppsatsens övergripande syfte är att undersöka vilka erfarenheter ledare inom det multinationella telekom- och IT-företaget Logica har av att arbeta med Performance Management samt vilka delar av implementeringen som har varit lätta respektive svåra att genomföra. Vidare vill jag undersöka hur organisationen ytterligare kan förstärka arbetet med Performance Management-processen baserat på ovanstående.Den empiriska undersökningen har genomförts med kvalitativ metod i form av tre stycken fokusgruppintervjuer med ansatsen Experiential Focus Group. Som komplement till fokusgruppintervjuerna har analys av interna dokument som beskriver Performance Management-processen inom Logica, genomförts.Resultatet av undersökningen visar att ledarnas upplevelser av Performance Management-processen varierar beroende på vilken typ av arbetsgrupp man är ledare för.

The aim of this study was to evaluate whether gallop training, rather than regular drive training, is worthwhile for trotters race performance. Another aim of the study was to expand the author?s riding- and driving capacity, and get more practical experience on the impact of interval training on trotters. The sample population in the study was two trotters, one Standardbred, and one cold-blood. Given the small sample population, the results of the study is only indicative on the effects of gallop training on trotters, and not conclusive.

The distribution of work related tasks depending on gender leads to different appraisal depending on which gender is performing a task. This aim of this research is to study how gender differences influence task allocation within the restaurant industry. The study is inspired by a discourse analysis perspective complemented by constructivist and critical pragmatic theory. Interviews were conducted in two focus groups with seven participants in total. The analysis is divided into four sections which answer six discourse analytical questions using the interview material.

Normally the operational amplifier is used as a component in active filter design. The goal for future components in filter design is large bandwith and the use of low supply voltages. The use of current-mode instead of voltage-mode circuits gets a step closer to the required performance. A component that use current as the signal conveying part is the current conveyor. In this report a comparative study between two current conveyor structures of second generation (CCII) is performed.

This is a study on the electronic reference work of some Swedish university and university college libraries. The purpose of the study has been to find out how the service works at the different libraries, to study the electronic reference interview and to find what is important when you start a new electronic reference service in the light of Brenda Dervin's sense-making theory study. Furthermore, we examine the aims of the electronic services offered and the differences between electronic and traditional reference interviews. In the background to the study we place electronic reference services in a context by describing the role of information technology and electronic mail in the libraries. The electronic reference interview is studied with the help of literature on the traditional reference interview.

The world's natural resources are constantly being reduced, which increases the pressure on companies to actively engage themselves in environmental activities. Meanwhile, stakeholders focus is being broadened and it is now important not only to supply a particular product or service but also show that they are actively pursuing an environmental agenda. Companies can use various tools to aid in environmental efforts, but also to demonstrate to the world that the company is actively engaged in environmental activities. One such tool is the environmental standard ISO14001 which provides the company with guidance and support on how the business must manage its environmental efforts. To show a business' progress in environmental performance, it is advantageous to use environmental performance indicators as they enable stakeholders to easily understand how the business works with environmental issues.Authors in the field explain that the environmental management system propagation is limited in service organizations.

This thesis investigates strategies used to include students with language disabilities in schools and whether they differ depending on the age of the students. A interview guide for qualitative interviews was used to interview two groups of respondents (teachers with longer and shorter experience) The material was categorized according to students ages (grade 5 and below respective grade 6 to 9) The results show that there is no common plan for how to work with children with language disabilities in the investigated municipality. However, similar strategies are used for both groups of students, but how the strategies are applied differs..