Outsourcing means to contract out work previously done within the cooperation to a supplier.This is an increasing trend today. Traditionally companies have outsourced manufacturing butwith the growing specialization they tend to outsource other activities as well.China?s economical reforms and entrance into the World Trade Organization, WTO, hasenabled international business connections. Since China offers one of the cheapest labours inthe world, many companies have an interest in starting up an activity in the country. Themany foreign investments in China have lead to an economical growth which in turn hasmade it possible for China to invest in the Chinese competence and innovative capacity.The commissioner of this master thesis, SMS, is one of the leading actors in retrieval ofamong other things mounts and stands for flat screens and projectors.

This paper aims to analyze the effect of the American Subprime crisis of 2007 through the perspective ofHaynes Minsky?s model according to Charles Kindleberger. The investigation revolves how the anatomyof a financial crisis develops and how it is applicable to the Subprime crisis. More specific conclusionsare derived from applying Minsky?s model to the three largest American indices; Dow Jones industrialaverage, S&P500 and NASDAQ.To deepen the analysis the Case-Shiller home price indices acts as a second parameter tocompliment Minsky?s perspective with Robert J.

Problembakgrund: Den traditionella investeringsstrategin består av bland annat Modern Portföljvalsteori och Capital Asset Pricing Model, men på grund av empiriska problem efterfrågas alternativa investeringsstrategier. Denalternativa investeringsstrategini denna uppsats består av småbolags-, värdebolags- och momentumeffekt. Detta innebär att forskning visat att investering i småbolag tenderar att ge högreavkastning än i stora bolag, att företag med högt värde tenderar att ge högre avkastning än tillväxtbolag och att man bör satsa på förra årets kursvinnare.Syftet: Syftet med denna uppsats är jämföra, småbolag med stora bolag, värdebolag med tillväxt bolag och årets kursvinnare med årets kursförlorare, på den svenska marknaden för åren 1996-2012, för att se om den ena ger högre avkastning än den andra. Vi vill se huruvida dessa effekter finns på den svenska marknaden.Metod: Vi har använt en kvantitativ studie och jämfört avkastningen mellan de båda grupperna. För att sedan se om vi finner någon signifikant skillnad har ett T-test använts.

AbstractAuthor: Markus Ekström and Albin OlssonAdvisor & examinator: Petter Boye, Thomas KarlssonTitle: Brand Valuation of companiesKeywords: Brand Valuation and Kalmar CountyIntroduction & Problem: The term trademark is originated from the Old Scandinavianbrandr and means stigmatize. A new standard for brand valuation ISO 10668 was adopted in2010, which has created a more reliable valuation method. It used several different methodsbefore, which meant different values but now they have agreed to this standard, which shouldmean that more companies make brand valuation. But that?s not the case, and you can wonderwhy? We also want to see the benefits created for companies, and the benefits companies canget with a valuation of the brand.Purpose: With this essay we want to examine how companies in Kalmar County looks atbrand valuation, if they have made it or not.

The purpose of this essay is to define the meaning of the concept of crime victim and how the crime victim as a concept is constructed. The question is answered through an investigation of the discourse that constructs and reproduces the crime victim. Furthermore the purpose is to open a theoretical discussion which aims to clarify whether or not the crime victim is a subject or an object through an examination of how the individual is constructed as a crime victim by the crime victim discourse.The essay takes a theoretical point of view based on a mixture of Michel Foucault?s and Ernesto Laclau & Chantal Mouffe?s discourse theories. The method used to organize the research ? regarding the meaning of the concept of crime victim ? is Laclau & Mouffe?s discourse analysis which is an extension and a part of the theory mentioned above.The discourse analysis creates a model of the crime victim discourse which answers the question of how the concept of crime victim is constructed, and how this concept should be understood.

PR appears to be an indistinct division and a complicated resource for companies to value. The current circumstances are negative to the credibility and reliability of PR. This study emphasizes how an application of return on investment contributes to a more strategic use of PR and increases the status and credibility for the division.We experience that measuring the economic value of PR is of great importance and of current interest with few prior studies made. The purpose of this study is to find out how a PR-agency and one of its clients relates to and works with evaluation of PR-activities and to which extent the economic contribution of the activity is measured.The foundation which the theoretical reference grounds on is theories of Delusions of PR and the use of benefit-cost analyzes, Stages and Levels for Evaluating Public Relations Programs, Marketing Return on Investment and PR Return on Investment. The theoretical reference serves as a base during the analyze of the study.The conclusion, based on the empirical body of information, is that an application of return on investment could contribute with a higher status and credibility for the PR-division.

In this paper Swedish hedge funds and strategies are discussed and analysed. These new financial forms seem to draw recently a huge attention both in media, press and the academic world. The fact is that hedge funds have existed already for a long time but it is still known too little about them. After the introduction of hedge funds, different asset pricing models are discussed including the most basic of all ? CAPM and further Fama and French three factor model as well as the expanding model with conditioning approach.

The aim of this paper is to shed some light on to what extent the process of making reality of Inclusion, as stated in International Declarations and in Government policies, has reached the actual educational activities in the school system. My chosen method is a case study, in which I have combined a survey with interviews in order to retrieve enough data for my analysis. I have also studied a number of policy documents and relevant literature. My analysis concludes, for the school that I have chosen to study, that there is still a lot to be done before inclusion becomes a reality. There are many obstacles to overcome, for instance; a constant struggle to obtain enough resources and to reach relevant levels of competence within the personnel.

The amount of cargo has since the 1970s increased in Sweden and the road traffic accounts for a large part of the transported volume. In Stockholm County the amount of cargo is calculated to be doubled in size from year 2001 to 2020 which means a greater need for transport is required. Much of these transports are being carried out by haulage companies of varying sizes which acts externally as carriers for their customers. All of this despite a greater awareness, laws and demands regarding environmental performance.The trend shows that the haulage industry in Sweden are moving towards fewer but larger haulage companies, which means that the competition is getting tougher for the smaller haulage companies. Smaller haulage companies and research about their competitive strategies is a neglected part of this industry.

People working with handling parcels in terminals are often victims of musculoskeletal injuries. This is largely due to the hazardous lifting of too many parcels which are too heavy and unsuitable work postures. The human body?s ability to lift and grasp objects is so outstanding that developing a device with the same capability is very difficult.The goal of the project has been to develop a technical device that will improve the handling of parcels with regard to ergonomics. The area of concern was the lifting of parcels between the conveyor belt and the cargo space of the freight car.

Two of Swedens´s major banks, SEB and Handelsbanken, which appears in the same industry and have similar strategy. Both banks can achieve a similar result despite the fact that their reward system looks quite different. An issue that arises from this observation is the relative reward system to the rest of the economy control system.Our purpose of this paper is therefore to examine the reward system in the organization's financial management systems. We wonder if the reward system may be a function of economic control system, or part of the system, or perhaps made independent of the system and then gradually adapted?In our study, we choose to assume a reward system has three functions to manage, motivate and compose the employee group.

When patrolling grocery stores, customers engage in a purchase situation where they face great amounts of information, whereof price is one. This paper intends to shed light on the price information search behavior that customer's exhibit before choosing their products in grocery stores. In order to do so two studies have been conducted, one quantitative and one qualitative, to assemble the data needed to provide statistically significant results. The objective of the quantitative study is to gather data on customer's external price information search, and it is based on the most recent eye-tracking technology. The second qualitative study is complementary and based on interviews with randomly chosen customers that have responded to several questions regarding their price information search, shopping knowledge and experiences.

The purpose of the present study was to examine effects of driver, vehicle, and environment characteristics on Collision Warning System (CWS) design. One hypothesis was made that the capability of collision avoidance would not be same among a driver, vehicle, and environment group with different characteristics. Accident analysis and quantitative analysis was used to examine this hypothesis in terms of ?risk? and ?safety margin? respectively. Rear-end collision had a stronger focus in the present study.

The manufacturing industry is currently in a short-term downturn while the competition is increasing. The result of this is that companies must find new ways to bring out their products. Traditional competitive strategies, such as low pricing, is not sufficient today as the customer is inquiring something more than just a good product. Higher demands are presented on an accurate, well functional, communication between customer and companies, as this has become an important strategic factor in achieving long-term profitability.The aim of this independent project was to analyze and evaluate the communication process between a company and its sales companies.In order to illustrate this process, a case study was carried out at Alfa Laval, their sales companies and employees at their distribution center in Tumba. In order to see the differences in attitudes between the management, the sales companies and the employees regarding communication and involvement a gap analysis were used.The theoretical part of the study considers theories about business mission, communication, involvement, quality and creating value.The result showed that a smaller gap exists between the sales companies and the management while a slightly larger one exists between the employees and the management.

Uppsatsen syftar till att förklara de drivkrafter som fanns bakom den intensiva utveck-lingen av svenska flottans ubåtsjaktförmåga under den senare halvan av 1940-talet. Detta sker genom att utvecklingen studeras ur två olika perspektiv med avsikten att finna vilket av dem som har den starkaste förklaringskraften. Perspektivstudien bygger på två statsvetenskapliga modeller vilka har utvecklats av Graham Allison i boken ?Essence of Decision?. Denna studieväg har tidigare använts av andra forskare i liknande syfte med gott resultat.