China is one of the fastest growing markets of today and attracts billions of dollars in foreign direct investments. Swedish companies have not been late to follow and operate on the Chinese market driven by opportunities in sales, production, and sourcing. However, there has been limited research made on how and why Swedish companies extend their sourcing efforts in China. By combining research within the internationalization of export activities, concepts from global sourcing, and gathered empirical data from leading Swedish companies operating in China, the thesis develops a framework for analyzing the internationalization process of sourcing in China..

Sammanfattning Titel: Processer för Know-how transfer Seminarium: 2007-01-16 Nivå: Magisteruppsats i företagsekonomi 10p Författare: Emma Salde och Kristina Korelic Handledare: Carl R Hellberg och Anette Svingstedt Nyckelord: Know-how transfer, tacit kunskap, process, inlärning och kommunikation Problem: ? Varför satsar man på know-how transfer? Finns det någon speciell anledning eller faktor som påverkar företag till att genomföra detta? ? Hur går man tillväga för att samla den know-how som finns inom ett företag och skapa en produkt - tjänst av den som man säljer till kunder? ? Vad finns det för svårigheter och kritiska faktorer som påverkar denna process? Syfte: Syftet är att beskriva och analysera processen för know-how transfer. Metod: Vårt tillvägagångssätt har varit en fördjupning av de teoretiska studierna med komplement av intervjuer med två olika företag som är verksamma inom know-how transfer. Innan intervjuerna genomfördes så gick vi igenom sekundärdata. Vår empiriska undersökning är av kvalitativ karaktär, med frågeschema som utgångspunkt.

As the media attention society on the world climate change, interest in the environment and social impact has increased. This has in turn made even more companies choose to maintain a sustainability report that contains the three aspects of economic, environment and social impact. The demand for sustainability reports has increased among stakeholders. It has made the companies that establish this form of reports experienced economic benefits. The sustainability report than became a useful way to compete among businesses.

The aim with this study was to investigate the effects a change of manufacturing process would have on the mechanical properties of drill bits made of a WC/Co composite used for stone cutting. The method used today is sintering, where the material is heated in a conventional sintering oven. The other method was microwave sintering, where the material is heated by radiation in the microwave region. Also an investigation of the manufacturing cost were made.The main difference between the two heating methods is that the conventional way is a rather slow process and the microwave method is very fast. The material is also heated homogeniously in the method with mirowaves, aposed to the case with the conventional sintering where the material is heated from the outside in.This makes the material harder and more wear resistent.

Åtta semi-strukturerade djupintervjuer genomfördes i syfte att kartlägga svenska formgivares och förlagsanställdas strategiska och kreativa arbetsprocess samt olika attityder vid arbetet med praktverk och coffee table-böcker. Dessa böckers termer och definitioner diskuterades även, samt boktypens förut-sättningar och utmaningar på marknaden. I denna rapport presenteras funna teman rörande dessa tankemönster och attity-der, samt en generell beskrivning av arbetsprocessen. Produktionen av coffee table-böcker och praktverk fanns vara komplex på grund av att den involverade många personer, tog lång tid i anspråk, var kost-sam och hade relativt små vinstmarginaler vilket därmed kunde förenas med vissa risker. Respondenterna upplevde generellt arbetet som spännande, roligt och givande.Studien belyser även förekomsten av en viss diskrepans vad gäller associationerna till termerna ?coffee table-bok? och ?praktverk?.

Organizations that want to maintain a good innovation capability can seek knowledge both within and outside its boundaries. Opening up innovation processes, through so-called open innovation, allows organizations to combine internal and external knowledge sources in order to include previously excluded perspectives to the innovation process. This study examines how knowledge is created and transferred when conducting open innovation through crowdsourcing. It is done based on Nonaka?s (1991; 1994) theory of how knowledge is created through conversion processes, where implicit knowledge can be converted into explicit knowledge and vice versa.

The use of digital devices are widely spread among us. Children have an iPad in their hands before they learn how to talk and we bet you look at your smartphone more times a day then you would like to admit? Interaction through these devices have become so natural in our daily life that we get confused when a retailer does not offer a website or an app. The habit of searching for information in the most accessible channel and buying in the one that offers the benefit of convenience, and of course, saves you money and time, is a common way of shopping these days. This is referred to as multi-channel shopping.

Syfte: Vårt syfte är att analysera vilken inverkan kulturella skillnader har på kontrollfaktorn som är en del utav transaktionskostnader i den operationella fasen av outsourcing processen. Empiri: Flash AB, en svensk detaljhandlare och Fuda Industrial Ltd, en kinesisk tillverkare, har blivit intervjuad för att ge oss ett kulturellt perspektiv angående deras relationshantering. Slutsatser: För att kunna hantera kulturella relationer mellan två skilda kulturer, som den svenska och kinesiska, måste båda ta hänsyn till varandras värderingar, beteende och attityder. Kulturell intelligens är ett sätt att uppnå detta. Resultatet av en stark integrerad relation i den operationella fasen i en outsourcing process, har direkt påverkan på transaktionskostnader.

Organizations today face changes continuously as the society, the surroundings and the technology change. The information technology used in organizations has become essential, where intranets are a big part of it. Many organizations embrace social intranets, and these kind of changes has an impact on the members in the way they work, handle information and communicate. As many organizations and the members in it face new kinds of changes, they also face new kinds of challenges. This paper presents an interview study at Smurfit Kappa Kraftliner in Piteå, whom are about to go through a change process unlike any other change they have ever gone through before.

This study addresses the issue of mergers between consulting firms. Previous research has shown that there are specific factors that determine the outcome of a merger and that success is more likely if companies are more similar. The purpose of the study is therefore to define relevant factors and understand when resemblance matter and under what conditions disparity may cause problems. Furthermore, the aim of the study is to find a pattern of which factors are more important in a successful merger. The problem of the study is addressed through a qualitative research approach and is conducted on six different mergers.

The theory that concepts that are interpreted subjectively in building care creates problems in how the concepts are defined in practice within the current governing documents and guidelines for building care. This essay has studied concepts in the building maintenance literature to investigate whether there is consensus in compliance practice within the building process. In the study, 9 concepts have been investigated through conversational interviews and questionnaires answered by practitioners with extensive experience in building care processes. In the survey, an attempt is made, to measure how big or small the consensus is between practitioners who often need to collaborate within the building maintenance process. The investigation shows that existence of the concepts in building maintenance is very common in the theoretical literature examined but is almost completely absent in the craft area. Since laws, regulations, principles, and guidelines have defined concepts to support the decisions in the building maintenance process, it can be concluded that there is a lack of practice for compliance.

Title AB Volvo Pentas packaging system ?process and packaging logisticsAuthor Peter Powell, Lund's Technical CollegeSupervisors Annika Olsson, Lund's Technical CollegeJan Svensson, AB Volvo PentaProblem - Packaging requirements ? Which requirements are there, how do they affect each other and how are they fulfilled?- Packaging process ? what is the line of action when developing new packaging and making adjustments in existing ones? Who has the responsibility to do what?- Packaging logistics ? How is the packaging system adapted to transport efficiency and handling?Objective To create an overall picture over how the packaging system affects and is affected by different functions and players within and beyond the company boundaries, to give a clear picture of how changes in the packaging system is made today and how it could work and finally to give suggestions for cost savings affected by the packaging system.Method The methods used for this thesis has mainly consisted of action research and at some extent case studies. As a previous employee at the department of logistics at Volvo Penta I?ve taken part of the environment, information and prerequisites that this thesis discusses on a daily basis. Case studies have been used for the collection and analysis of data concerning packaging logistics as I?ve chosen to consider only specific markets and packaging.Conclusions This thesis has highlighted the demands that are placed upon engine packaging throughout all concerned units and how these demands affect each other, positively and negatively.

In this essay I analyse three of my own texts included in an unpublished collection entitled till Narcissus' minne. Genres are discussed and a detailed study of how the writing process has progressed is done. The essay does not follow any specific literary or scholarly method of analysis, but to some extent the sphere of interpretation is explored. By associative interpretation the special logic of dreaming, the activity of the unconsciousness and the expansive accessibility of the memories, which characterize the texts, is traced. These structural features open a link to the way of psychoanalytical interpretation, but the essay does not strive for a complete account.

This report is the result of a thesis work done at the Department of Engineering Sciences, Uppsala University, and includes 15 ECTS points. The work has been performed at Företag A, a company specializing in electronics whose major product has become a sophisticated tool used by authorities across northern Europe. Företag A has initiated a quality management system according to the criteria set by ISO 9001. Following demands from customers, Company A has now decided to also start working towards a certification according to SS-EN ISO 9001:2008, this work is the foundation for the thesis work. The thesis work has been limited to the production process and the aim has been to enable this process to be certified according to ISO 9001:2008. The work has been performed by analyzing the existing quality management system and the requirements for each process included, whereby the gap between the current and the target state has been mapped. Suggestions have then been made on how this gap can be filled, some of these suggestions have also been carried out during the thesis work. The conclusions drawn are that quality management does not have to be complicated, but quickly becomes so when the complexity of the processes increases.

The purpose of this Masters Thesis is to explore the process of selection that librarians face when selecting and acquiring cultural magazines to public libraries. The methods used are qualitative interviews and literary studies. A brief review is given of acquisition policies at public libraries and of cultural magazines and the important role they play in public libraries. Five interviews have been made at five public libraries to find out what factors affect the process of selection when it comes to cultural magazines. Two theories are used as a basis for the analysis of the result of the interviews and literary studies.