On the 8th of May 2007 a local power-sharing goverment consisting of Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) was formed in Northern Ireland. The aim of this dissertation is to explore why the DUP, who in the past have opposed all forms of power-sharing decided to form a goverment and take active part in a power-sharing agreement. The study is based on a consociational theoretical framework developed by Arend Lijphart and further developed in a Northern Irish context by John McGarry and Brendan O'Leary. Using this theory the study seeks to understand the broad conditions surrounding the DUP's power-sharing. After a description of consociational theory and the road leading up to the Belfast Agreement,three possible explanations for power-sharing, based onconsociational theory are discussed.

The public sector is a major purchaser of goods and services. By setting requirements for environmental and social considerations in public procurement, an authority has the possibility to use consumer power to influence the actors in a market. The purpose of this paper is to investigate public procurement of textile products in a municipality, in order to gain knowledge about factors that may be important for the use of environmental and social criteria. Håkan Hydén´s (professor in sociology of law) norm model was used as the basis of the analysis, where the conduct was investigated along three dimensions of the norm ? willingness, knowledge and system conditions ? in order to identify underlying factors that can influence the process.The results ? analyzed by using interviews and documents ? show that the procurer's willingness, motivation and knowledge are important factors in this context, as well as the political priority of the municipality.

ABSTRACT Title: the Power distance star ? A study on how cultural power distance affects the business relation between Japanese and multinational companiesLevel: Final assignment for Bachelor Degree in Business AdministrationAuthor: Therese Elofsson and Anna NyströmSupervisor: Jens Eklinder Frick and Jonas MolinDate: 2015 - JanuaryAim: The purpose of this study is to compile available research regarding the cultural aspect power distance, as it is being displayed and handled in business-relations between Japanese and multicultural business contacts. The culture in Japan differs from the culture in the western world and several companies testify that the Japanese market is difficult to act and expand upon. This study aims to provide explanations to these difficulties from a power distance perspective.Method: This study has compiled the theoretical knowledge and research in a model called ?the Power distance Star? (Figure 1), which is created and designed for this purpose.

To be able to secure a safe and reliable power supply is becoming increasingly important since society depends on services and functions that need continuous power supply. The delivery rate in Swedish power supply is 99.98 % which insists on a high availability. During the past decade several storms has passed Sweden which resulted in large amount of tree felling leading to extended power outages. During these storms many socially critical activities, such as electric utility company Fortum, experienced disruption in mobile communication which affected the crisis management. This paper has investigated Swedish mobile operators? crisis management at Hi3G, Tele2 and TeliaSonera with a case study of the storm Dagmar that hit Sweden during December in 2011.

The aim of this exam is about possibility to position a didactical theory of Curriculum for compulsory school, preschool class and the leisure-time centre 2011 (Lgr11). I use Michael Foucault?s discourse analysis to study the syllabuses for social sciences subjects History and Religion. The main theme is to seek what kind of world does these two social study subjects construct for students in high school. The point of using Foucault?s discourse is to seek specific knowledge and words which is used for power positioning.

This thesis analyses the 2005 UK presidency of the Council, and more particularly the negotiations on the future financing of the European Union. The purpose of the study is to discuss whether the holding of the presidency implies political influence for the member state. To analyse the power of the country holding the chair the thesis focuses on the presidency functions of brokering and leadership. The theory suggests that the influence of the presidency is derived from informational and procedural power resources, as well as some leadership resources, such as coercion and reward. A case study was used to analyse whether these power resources were used by the British presidency.

The purpose of our qualitative study is to investigate how the caretakers, in the elderly care,interpret and manage the issue of alcohol problems in elderly people. We have beenperforming semi-structured interviews on 9 people, on different levels in the elderly care.There were 3 elderly care managers, 1 nurse, 1 assistance administrator and 4 auxiliarynurses, who all, at some level, work with alcohol problems in elderly people. Thoseinterviews were performed singularly, with one exception: we interviewed an elderly caremanager and her 2 auxiliary nurses at the same time. To analyse our empirics, we have usedthe theories of Power and Ageism. Our study shows that the auxiliary nurses, who are theones who must deal with these problems, have great difficulties to perform their work becausethey have no qualified knowledge about alcohol problems.

During the last few years, there has been a lot of debate regarding the price ofelectricity on the Swedish market. According to a recent survey from Sifo, anon-bias governmental institute for consumer research and testing, the priceof electricity is what worries Swedish households the most. An investigationof the eciency of the Nordic power grids inuence on the Swedish spotprice is therefore both relevant and valuable. Three quarters of all electricityproduced in the Nordic region is traded at the Nord Pool Spot power market.This survey examines how much of the variation of the swedish spot pricecan be descried by the variation of the nordic system price and how much iscaused because of ineciencies in the power grid. Primarily, linear regressionwith adjustments for endogeneity and heteroskedasticity has been used in orderto analyze data obtained mainly from Nord Pool Spot and Vattenfall AB.The results show that the variation of the system price can account for all butabout 40% of the variation in the Swedish spot price.

The aim of the thesis is to examine discourses about political violence categorised as ?ethnic? in academic literature and the media. Employing the method of discourse analysis, the study analyses news coverage of the wars in former Yugoslavia 1991-1995. The theory applied is based on Michel Foucault?s theory of the relationship between power and discourse in the constitution of knowledge, and the main arguments are supported by the work of the political scientist V.

Background: It has been shown that EDI can yield positive effects within companies. Which effects are possible for a company to direct assign to the introduction of EDI and is it possible to estimate the total effect.Purpose: The purpose of this study is to estimate and analyze the effects of using EDI in electronic business. We also want to contribute with a model for measure and estimate the effects of EDI.Accomplishment: We have studied literature concering EDI and realized a preliminary studie in form of interviews with experts to establish deeper knowledge of EDI. We have also tried to estimate the effects obtained in companies in three different businesses, power, government and transport industry.Result: To obtain as good effects as possible it is important that the co- oporation is built on trust and engagement. Before implementing the EDI-system a thorough overhaul of the processes in the company should be done, involving both the top managers and the staff.

ABSTRACTUniversity: Växjö University, school of social science, department of political scienceLevel: Bachelor?s thesis in political scienceTitle: SHIFTING BALANCE OF POWER? ? an analyze of the new EU-treaty?s consequences for the EC-court.Academic adviser: Associate professor Stefan HöjelidAuthor: Magnus NordahlThis study focuses on the increased role of the European Court of Justice through the establishment of a Constitution for Europe and its impact on the balance of power, both horizontal and vertical.To do this, the study takes its aims from the research problem, formulated as follows:Does the establishment of a constitution for Europe contribute to an increased role for the European Court of Justice and does it create a more legible horizontal and vertical division of power?To reach the relevant analyses and conclusions two precise questions are presented as well as an analytical model. The precise questions are:? Which are the relevant contributions for the balance of power from a perspective of juridification in the new EU-treaty?? What impacts do those contributions have on the so called ?European federalism??The theoretical perspective of this study is rooted in the concept of federalism with special emphasizes on constitution and sovereignty as well as a part about the process of juridification. Along with the presented analytical model consisting of a horizontal and vertical division of power, the empirical material is presented with focus on the new EU-treaty about a constitution for Europe and the European Court of Justice.

This thesis concerns how the power quality in the grid is affected by the connection of wind power plants. As things are at present, Fortum Distribution AB has a number of wind turbines and wind parks connected to the own grid. As the pressure on building and connecting additional wind power is increasing, so is also the interest of how the already existing wind power generation affects the power quality in the nearby distribution grids. The study is performed by direction of Fortum Distribution AB and is limited to the 10 kV/40 kV-grid in Bohuslän, Sweden. The methods for calculation of power quality are compared to the results of a number of measurements.

Management consulting firms are an important part of the knowledge economy and they capitalize on the analytical ability and knowledge of their employees. Much research have been made on large consulting firms and their management of knowledge, but little is known about how small consultancies manage their knowledge. Even less is known about the management of knowledge in small consultancies specialized in change management. These firms rely solely on senior consultants and focus on the human aspect of organizational development. This thesis aims to show how these firms manage their knowledge and also provide an understanding of why.

People with certain types of disabilities have the legal right to ask for an individual plan. The idea is that the plan should be a tool for the disabled to get more power and influence over the planned actions that involves their lives. The aim of this thesis was to study the individual circumstances of interpersonal power and influence in the work of individual plans. The study was done with a qualitative approach, where three executing officers and three individuals were interviewed. The results show that the conditions for the individual?s influence are far more complicated than at first glance.

Companies? ability to differentiate themselves from their competitors becomes increasingly difficult when standardized technical solutions are used, which means that the employees become the most important resource. Many workplaces consist of a mix of employees with different backgrounds and of different ages, which highlight the generational perspective. Previous research has long focused on different generational drivers and of motivation at work, but there has been few studies in which the transfer of knowledge between generations have been examined. With that as a background, a qualitative interview study was conducted at a major IT company to investigate how employees legitimize knowledge and how it affects the transfer of knowledge between generations.