The automotive industry is a highly competitive market characterised by low profit margins or huge losses. Cost reductions have been of top priority for all OEM?s (Original Equipment Manufacturer) and will continue to be so for many years to come. Beside cost reductions, reducing the time-to-market is of greatest importance to stay in the competition. OEM?s that are slow to market with products that neither matches customer expectations nor the products of their competitors, will soon loose market shares and see their economical performance falter.

How can the object based art help us, as viewers and as makers, to access a supplanted emotional state?One way of positioning yourself within the corpus-field is to step outside the traditional borders of the field and aim for other values within the objects, such as a visible working process, a storytelling or an emotional relationship to the object.  It is a way of taking a step from the traditional silversmithing towards some kind of free undefined corpus-art.  To reach for suppressed feelings is one way to find an importance within the artistic work, to give it a purpose.By investigating the concept of the sublime and the surrealist movement I try to find examples on how you, both as a viewer and as a maker, can put yourself in an emotional/intuitive state.  Through interviews with Jewellery and corpus artists I get a maker?s perspective which I compare with my own reactions to their work.Works of art can be used as a catalyst to reach, and maybe also to process, unattended feelings. This creates a strong emotional connection to the work.  As a maker you can, for example, do this by working with it as a theme, or by using an intuitive working method.

The subject of this bachelor thesis is discrimination and unfair treatment in the employment process where employers discriminate against job applicants. The purpose of this study and research questions is to investigate and clarify the legal protection available against discrimination and unfair treatment of pregnant women and persons on parental leave during the employment process and how this protection differs between men and women. This thesis highlights the Swedish law and EU law regarding discrimination and unfair treatment of individuals. The concept of discrimination and its requisites will be accounted for and exemplified by case law. This statement will be analyzed along with the relevant case law of the EU-court and the Labor-court.

The aim of this study was to examine the social relationships between children and librarians during reference interviews. Using qualitative interviews with five children's librarians I illustrate attitudes and behaviours during a reference situation which take place in psychological, social and even in pedagogical contexts. The literature review comprises studies of the reference interview with children and youth, a description of interpersonal communication and finally social interaction and dialog between teachers and pupils. The main result of this study was the demonstration of a dichotomy in modes of interpersonal communication. In one mode, the social frame is emphasized.

The Intellectual Capital Statement facilitates the mapping of interdependent and simultaneously impacting intellectual capital factors in a unique way. The process-orientation of the German approach differentiates it from its predecessors and gives an advantage over alternative procedures. By combining these aspects with the possibility to communicate the company?s efforts and progress in the field of intellectual capital, the German Intellectual Capital Statement (Wissensbilanz) provides an effective management tool..

This essay answers the question: How can a manufacturing business fulfill the information demand in the processes; purchasing, production, warehousing, order and delivery?The question has been answered through different kind of studies, such as literature, documents, Internet search, interviews and observations. The essay is written from a hermeneutic point of view and by using qualitative research. The result has been validated by two different manufacturing businesses.A simple information logistic model is the result of a comparison made between theory and empery. The aim of the model is to describe how a manufacturing business can fulfill the information demand by using different methods.

Sweden has had statutory audit, which also includes a management audit, for all companies since 1988. A legislative proposal now suggests that the statutory audit shall be abolished for all small and medium sized companies starting on July 1, 2010. The aim for this master?s thesis is therefore to study how the service of auditing will be affected by the legislative proposal. To answer the research question the authors have taken on a qualitative approach and fifteen interviews with representatives for different Swedish auditing firms have been completed.

Within the literature and film sciences there are clear models of storytelling and methods of creating a good story. In the game industry it's more difficult because the games are often non-linear, and games are a less established medium than the other two. With this study our purpose was to examine game developers and methods they used when creating a videogame, with focus on storytelling. Four interviews were made with representatives from four different videogame companies in Sweden. The information from the interviews was put in relation to theories regarding the structure of videogames and an established model for creating videogames.

AbstractDoes Geography Matter? A Study of the Bologna Process from a Policy Transfer Perspective.Essay in Political Science (D-level) at Karlstad?s University by Beatrice Högå, Spring 2007Tutor: Susan MartonThe purpose of this essay is to generally see how theories of policy transfer can help us to better understand the process through which the Bologna Process is being spread throughout Europe, and to specially see if geographic placement, i.e. in the heart of Europe, plays a role in how well and how fast the Bologna Process is implemented.To be able to answer the purpose, I have used Evans and Davies theoretical model on policy transfer network to describe the Bologna Process. Furthermore, Sweden and France are the countries being examined when they differ on the independent variable. From there, I have applied an analytical tool, namely process tracing, to examine whether there are differences in the two countries? work with the implementation of the Bologna Process.I have designed six specific research questions:Have France performed more extensive work than Sweden when it comes to implement the two-cycle system?Have France performed this work earlier?Have France performed more extensive work than Sweden when it comes to recognize awards and periods of study?Have France performed this work earlier?Have France performed more extensive work than Sweden when it comes to quality assurance?Have France performed this work earlier?After applying the analytical tool to be able to answers these research questions, the answer to the general question Does geographic placement, i.e.

The purpose of this Master?s thesis is to perform a user oriented evaluation of the International Library?s website. The questions posed in this study are; for what purpose do the users in this study turn to the International Library?s website; what does the users information searching process consist of when visiting the site; how does navigation, layout and content effect the users satisfaction with the website; do the users in this study consider that the International Library?s website can be improved and if so, how? The study was performed with a user oriented approach where six qualitative interviews with librarians who use the website were conducted. These interviews were analysed using Brenda Dervin?s Sense making-theory and Leclercq?s theory about user satisfaction.

This study aims to create an understanding of how employees relate to directives that come from a level above them in the hierarchy and is to be implemented in their working activities. This is studied by examining a case where a work group has tried to implement orders, given to them by the government and through a work group in the level above them in the organizations, concerning how employees working with child health care is to educate parents regarding the child convention. The method that have been use in this study is group interviews with 19 child health care nurses and the two main questions that are asked is why has it been difficult to implement the orders and how have the child health care nurses expressed their resistance to the changes, this since only five of the nurses had begun working with the child convention. The theories that have been used focus on how resistance towards change is expressed, organizational incapability and reluctance towards change, as well as how grass root bureaucrats relates to change. The conclusion that can be drawn from this study is that it is important to let the concerned parties participate from the beginning of the process, to minimize their reluctance to the changing process.

The smartphone is part of our daily life. Smartphone users type on a screen area that is no larger than the palm of a hand. To help with this endeavor the software known as AutoCorrect was created. However little is known about how AutoCorrect actually change the language and if AutoCorrect users at all perceive the impact it has. This study aims to find out if our test subjects are aware of AutoCorrect?s presence and how much it influences them.

In which ways have composing processes in music appeared over the past 300 years? How may composing processes work today? What does new technology do to this processes?The key purpose of this study is to investigate various composing processes. A further purpose is also to gain an awareness of how we use modern technology by computers and their notation programmes.The research design of this thesis includes a display of literature related to composing processes. along with an analysis of the writer?s own experiences in the area.

The aim of this two year master thesis is to study the knowledge production within the field of Textile Studies at Uppsala University, with special focus on the use of artifact documentation as a research method. With domain analysis as a theoretical framework, ontological and epistemological assumptions as well as historical and social aspects are studied in relation to the research process. Qualitative research methods are used, including interviews, observations and text analysis. In the analysis of the knowledge processes in the field, perspectives on tacit knowledge and the concept of documents, are used as a theoretical basis. In the field of Textile Studies, the artifacts are used as one of the main objects of study, along with archival and pictorial sources. The main epistemological assumptions are that artifact analysis is dependent on a knowledge base, where technical handicraft skills, contextual knowledge and practical experience of object observation are the most important qualifications.

Quality was earlier only an issue for the company?s quality departments but today is the entire organization involved in quality- and improvements work. With the customers in focus, both external and internal, quality and improvement work should be integrated in the daily activities. The management shall state goals and visions together with a policy. Through participation the correct requirements for a successful work are created.With SPC, statistics process control, there is an opportunity to perceive variations in the process and with the correct tools make it stable.