ProblemThe manufacturing industry is a mature industry where the profit margins are small and the competition is hard. This makes it hard for both manufacturers and resellers to gain market shares and reach reasonable profit margins only by selling products. Therefore Swecon who is reseller for Volvo Construction Equipment tries to find alternative methods and ways to increase their profit. An alternative source of income could be to develop the range of services that are connected to the ground products.PurposeThe purpose of the thesis is to examine how Swecon in southern Sweden can improve their offers of existing services connected to the ground product and investigate the demand of new such services.MethodThis study is based on a qualitative study of five of Swecons local offices and five of Swecons customers. The empirical framework is mostly based on personal interviews but in some cases information was retrieved by using phone interviews.

The projecting time in the construction industry needs to become more efficient toshorten the amount of time it takes to project a build. One of the North's leadingconstruction company NCC constuction Sweden AB has developed a form ofcollaboration called ?NCC project studio? that they use in some projects today.My thesis consists in bringing forth the most important aspects of the collaborationform called NCC project studio. The point of this is to use my thesis to help thecompany develop a quality document that can assist them when starting collaborationbased on NCC project studio in the future.The conclusion of my thesis was that much of the focus needs to be on explaining tothe participants what NCC is aiming to gain from working with the NCC projectstudio and also which important parts that needs to be worked on..

This thesis has aimed to study steering process and institutionalization in the context of educational policy work. This has been conducted by using empirical material from the political decision-making process that preceded the implementation of a new national program on how principals should be educated and certified. By using an aggregated theoretical point of view containing new institutionalism and traditional Swedish curriculum theory, the process was analyzed from different perspectives. The results depict a process that contained several actors who tried to shape the principal education program differently. From the theoretical perspectives, the decision-making process could be understood as an act of both self-interest as well as trust in their own beliefs and cultural values.

In this thesis, the impact of collective ratings on customers? perception of a product is examined. The empirical data comes from an experimentally designed survey where the effect of collective ratings is measured in the setting of a traditional advertisement for a feature film. In contrast to what previous research would suggest be to the expected outcome, the authors of this paper concludes that in comparison with alternative designs of advertisements, there are no measurable advantages of including collective ratings in advertisements from the marketers point of view. We find two explanations to the result: (1) people tend to self-report that they are more influenced by collective ratings than they actually are, and (2) the advertisement which lacked a rating could be as attractive due to cultural interpretations of white spaces..

Building with volume element is relatively new and has started to increase more and more. The regulations that exist to regulate and determine how the transports of volume elements are to be conducted are diffuse and not very well adjusted to address the issues with transporting volume elements. Today there are a number of instances that a company has to turn to in order to get a somewhat different view, what regulations say and interpret it in order to know what applies and not applies regarding the transportation of volume elements. regulations. The rules that are in place make it tough for the volume element producing companies to develop and continue to be active on the market.

High heels ? a fashion that has not gone out of style after hundreds of years. Despite their esthetic advantages, high heels become uncomfortable and harmful after repetitive and long term use. With this as a starting point, Huyen Nguyen ? a student at the Innovation Engineering Program at the University of Halmstad ? decided to make a final thesis project. The project goal has been to combine the esthetic advantages of high heels and bring a comfortable solution to the equation.

This thesis aimed to describe how the ideological dividing line concerning the welfare state has changed between the two largest governmental parties in Sweden, the Social Democrats and the Moderaterna, during 1990 to 2010. The scientist Mark Blyth points out that ideas are important instruments for structural and institutional change by identifying ideas as weapons, blueprints and cognitive locks, which were being used in the theoretical framework. The empirical data was made by a qualitative analysis of the parliamentary speeches and debates from both parties held every year. The results shows that the budgetary law passed in 1997 became a new institutional blueprint, which changed the political conditions for the Social Democrats. Furthermore, the results point to a change in the Moderaterna?s rhetoric concerning the welfare state to a more pragmatic view. .

This thesis discusses the existential consequences for the human being in creatio ex nihilo, where the main subjects of discussion are contingency, freedom and identity. The starting-point of the discussion lies in the presentation of the history of the doctrine of creation, especially the doctrine of creatio ex nihilo. Once the historical and philosophical importance of the doctrine of creation is clear, the anthropological and theological consequences are obvious; creation is contingent and at the same time deeply dependent upon God. The contingency of creation may bring a sense of non-necessity among people, and therefore it makes the question of human freedom and identity in the doctrine of creation utterly important..

Nature conservation on certified small private forest owners- a comparison between the two certification systems FSC and PEFC in southern Sweden Today two different certification systems are used in Sweden to certify forest, FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) and PEFC (Pan European Forest Certification). During the last years certification of forests in general and different certification systems have frequently been debated. FSC is a globally widespread system and about 10 million ha out of 23 million ha Swedish forest is FSC-certified. The FSC-standard is mainly used by major forest companies and to some extent also by smaller private forest owners. PEFC is a European system and about 2 million ha Swedish forests is PEFC-certified today.

This study of literature from the period 1920-1955 has shown that the profession of gardeners in Sweden went through several structural changes in the early and midst 20th century. The gardeners knowledge, which used to cover the whole horticultural spectra, was due to that no longer appreciated or useful. Prior the 1920?s the gardeners, especially the skilled craftsmen working for the upper-classes, were the ones who led progression in the horticultural field forward and their qualifications were many and diverse. Due to many factors, such as low economic and social status, functionalistic style and the fact that the branch were rationalized and modernized in general, lead up to a point where the gardener of old no longer fitted in, in the much more globalized and modern world of the 1950?s. .

The common literature about strategic alliances offers a very fragmented picture. This thesis gives a theoretical overview on strategic alliances and builds the basis for the following examination of the different dimensions most strategic alliances have. The examination of the different dimensions is the crucial point of this thesis. Here the reader gets a detailed insight into the different dimensions and the implications they have on the design of a particular strategic alliance. This examination leads in the end to a more differentiated view on strategic alliances and the insight that no simple models exist, which give a sufficient basis for decision-making and understanding strategic alliances, today.

The aim of this essay is to problematize the role of living support in a group home and to examine staff reflections about the users' opportunities for and possibly limits to self determination and, in addition to this, how they work towards supporting this right. The study is conducted through seven semi-structured qualitative interviews. The theoretical points of departure are theories of empowerment and paternalism. We have analysed the study results from the vantage point of these theories. The results are consistent with earlier research showing lack of guidance for supporters and also a lack of common approach towards users..

A new system of public transportation that can simplify and shorten the trips made throughout the city, anddo that both cheap and environment-friendly. Sounds like good news. This new system, though, require anall new type of infrastructure, differing from what we are used to see in our cities. Podcar, or PRT, as thesystem is called can become a transport revolution, possibly. If that revolution does happen it is crucial that webeforehand have studied the possible effects it can cause on our city environment, from a spatial point of view.This thesis thoroughly describes the function and essence of the PRT system and presents what is availabletoday and in what forms.

What are the competencies and qualifications required by employers concerning the first line executives in medical care? In this paper we aim to scrutinise this question by analysing the significance of terms reproduced by employers in advertisements between 1971 and 2007.Our survey concerns 93 advertisements and two interviews with knowledgeable authorities on personnel administration in the county council of Jönköping municipality, Sweden. Using a theoretical framework developed by Ellström our results point out how the demands of the employer have changed starting in the 1970?s. We set fore, as a way of conclusion, the setting of competency and qualifications required by the employer have not only increased but appears much more comprehensive and far more complex than ever before..

This study explores employees subjective experience of their employment relation before and during an outsourcing process and has its starting point in the concept of the psychological contract. Eight employees, in the process of being outsourced, were interviewed. The focus was on ?the employees? individual experiences and stories about the subjective and perceived employment relationship. Data were analyzed using basic qualitative analysis.