Recent years have been very turbulent for most private equity firms. Especially the financial meltdown in global economy has affected the industry, but also the public pressure has made private equity houses change their control strategies towards more conventional methods used in public companies. This thesis aims to put light on the control methods used in listed private equity houses which use a buyout strategy. The paper describes how the control methods change over the different phases the asset experience and how different value generating strategies use altered control methods. Using Merchant's (2003) framework for management control systems and Berg and Gottschalg's (2004) research on value generating strategies in buyouts the thesis shows that action controls as designing instructions for the board and a business plan, together with goal alignment is the commonly used control strategy directly after the acquisition.

In this master thesis, control algoritms using arm side sensors are investigated for an industrial robot. The sensors can be position encoders placed after the gearbox and accelerometers on the robot arms. Control strategies are discussed and evaluated for different models of the robot, after which chosen strategies are applied to a realistic model. Control algoritms using arm side sensors (LQ, dual-loop and PD-PID) are compared to a PID-controller that only uses measurements of motor position for feedback control. The comparison are done with respect to disturbance rejection, oscillation damping, robustness and tracking performance of a reference trajectory.

Background: The use of reward systems can be of strategic importance as well as an affective mean of control for the organization in its work to achieve its goals. The municipal sector is characterized by its transparency and its responsibility for the taxpayer?s money. We therefore wonder which possibilities the municipal sector has to use reward systems as a men of control. Purpose: We intend to research the possibilities that the reward system offer as a mean of control for employees at the higher municipal level, with a special focus on commitment and motivation.

This thesis examines the approach for implementing strategy that has been applied by the study object, Svenska Spel. The specific approach originates from the theories of Elliot Jaques, whose key proposal is that individuals have different capability of carrying out tasks over different time-spans. The main purpose of the study is to analyze how the approach has influenced the management control systems in use, in order to ensure that the strategy is successfully implemented on corporate as well as operational level. Twenty in debt interviews conducted with employees, representing a vertical cross section throughout the organization, are the main source of the study?s empirical foundation.

Studien syftar till att se hur personlighet, söka-arbete self-efficacy och locus of control påverkas av arbetslöshet. Personlighet mäts enligt Costa & MacCraes fem-faktor modell och avser dimensionerna extroversion, neuroticism, öppenhet, trevlighet och samvetsgrannhet. Hypotesen är att det finns skillnad mellan nyarbetslösa och långtidsarbetslösa avseende personlighet, söka arbete self-efficacy och locus of control. Frågeformulär innehållande påstående om ovanstående faktorer besvarades av en grupp nyarbetslösa och en grupp långtidsarbetslösa. Resultatet visar inga signifikanta skillnader avseende personlighet och söka arbete self-efficacy mellan grupperna.

Background: Many companies have outsourced their IT-operations and their expectations of what this IT-outsourcing will contribute to the business are high. Cost cuts are not always a natural outcome of IT-outsourcing. Many companies that have outsourced their IT-operations consider it to be problematic and complex to exercise management control and reach cost control which was the purpose of the IT-outsourcing. Purpose: To describe and analyze what affect IT-outsourcing has on a company?s management control system and a company?s possibility to exercise cost control.

The change of control clause is nowadays a well used covenant in the Eurobond market, with the aims to protect bondholders in case of a leveraged buyout. This thesis intend to evaluate whether the change of control clause is a new phenomenon in the Eurobond market today and to estimate what have been the driven force for the popularity of it. The thesis found that the change of control clause already existed before and thus it is not a new phenomenon. Several factors where found though to explain the extended use of the clause today. Starting in 2005 the LBO activity increased rapidly, exposing almost every company to the risk of LBO.

Background: Running economy is one of the key factors to achieve top performance in endurance events. Little evidence exists for improving running economy using high-intensity interval training while running. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine how HIIT affects running economy and VO2max. Method: 14 well-trained athletes (age 35 ± 8,9 years, height 175 ± 11,7 cm and weight 69 ± 12,2 kg) were divided into two separate groups (HIIT and Control). HIIT group performed 3 HIIT exercises every week for 4 weeks and Control group continued with their separate training programs consisting of mostly traditional endurance training. Results: Running economy showed no improvement in HIIT (pre 38,62 and post 38,62 ml/kg/min, p=1.00) but Control improved (pre 45,41 and post 43,37 ml/kg/min, p=0,03). VO2max decreased in HIIT (mean 61,32 to 60,84 ml/kg/min) and in Control (mean 61,99 to 58,47 ml/kg/min)..

Background: Running economy is one of the key factors to achieve top performance in endurance events. Little evidence exists for improving running economy using high-intensity interval training while running. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine how HIIT affects running economy and VO2max. Method: 14 well-trained athletes (age 35 ± 8,9 years, height 175 ± 11,7 cm and weight 69 ± 12,2 kg) were divided into two separate groups (HIIT and Control). HIIT group performed 3 HIIT exercises every week for 4 weeks and Control group continued with their separate training programs consisting of mostly traditional endurance training. Results: Running economy showed no improvement in HIIT (pre 38,62 and post 38,62 ml/kg/min, p=1.00) but Control improved (pre 45,41 and post 43,37 ml/kg/min, p=0,03). VO2max decreased in HIIT (mean 61,32 to 60,84 ml/kg/min) and in Control (mean 61,99 to 58,47 ml/kg/min)..

Ett av de mest använda hjälpmedlen i Sverige är rollatorn, ungefär 4 % av Sveriges invånare använder en. Det skapas nya förutsättningar och möjligheter att utforma rollatorns ram och mer specifika detaljer, som handtagen och hur de placeras. Syftet är att undersöka vad som finns dokumenterat om effekter av vridning och vinkling av rollatorhandtag och hur detta påverkar stabilitet och styrka samt vilka synpunkter om utvecklingsmöjligheter som finns för rollatorn? Två studier granskades, och tre personer intervjuades. Slutsatsen som drogs var att vinkling av handtag kan förbättra brukarens steglängd, stegfrekvens och postural hållning.

The aim of this thesis is to get a better understanding of how the management control system works at V&S Distillers. V&S Distillers went through an organizational change in the beginning of 2005. The marketing function went from being a country-driven to a category-driven organization. Among other things this resulted in increased cooperation between employees in different geographical locations. We aim to analyze how a geographical distance affects relations and the use of management control.

When a helicopter is flying, the dynamics vary depending on, for example, speed and position. Hence, a time-invariant linear model cannot describe its properties under all flight conditions. It is therefore desirable to update the linear helicopter model continuously during the flight. In this thesis, two different recursive estimation methods are presented, LMS (Least Mean Square) and adaptation with a Kalman filter. The main purpose of the system estimation is to get a model which can be used for feedback control.

When traffic in large cities increases, it becomes more vulnerable to disturbances such as accidents, stalled vehicles or construction; therefore, traffic jams are more likely to occur. For better control of the traffic at a disturbance the Swedish National Road Administration (SNRA) has traffic equipment which can be controlled from a command centre. This traffic equipment consists of gates and signs with variable messages. This report will discuss the system used for traffic control in Stockholm. It will present proposals designed to improve it.

The purpose of the study is to investigate the possible effects of an unstable ventilation system and its influence on energy use and thermal comfort. The report also explores how qualified personal working with HVAC view and handles system control.In order to meet the requirements in energy efficiency and a comfortable indoor climate control regulation is a prerequisite. With optimized increased complexity of the climate systems, it becomes more challenging to control the system and the risk of unstable control increases. No previous studies about what affect an unstable system can have on energy use and thermal comfort have been found.The report is based on several tests were the controlling variable has been increased until the system becomes unstable. Two different types of unstable systems have been investigated.

Ett högt ohälsotal i arbetslivet innebär stora kostnader för samhället, arbetsgivare och även för de anställda. Forskningen inom detta område har flyttat fokus från att studera ohälsa till att istället studera hälsa och vilka faktorer som befrämjar hälsa i arbetslivet, de så kallade friskfaktorerna. Föreliggande studies övergripande syfte var att studera om upplevelsen av organisationsrättvisa och personlighets¬faktorn work locus of control predicerar upplevd hälsa hos kollektivanställda män och kvinnor. Studien genomfördes utifrån ett kvantitativt perspektiv med 103 deltagare som besvarade en enkät. Svarsfrekvensen var 22,5 % och resultatet visade att work locus of control predicerar upplevd hälsa för männen och procedural rättvisa predicerar upplevd hälsa för kvinnorna.