The use of balanced scorecards have spread explosively throughout the world during the last decade. This management tool have become very common in a vide spread variety of organisations on all continents. Many balanced scorecard fails though and scorecard theorists often blame the identification- and implementation process as they claim that these lay the foundation for the use of the tool. As my literature study shows, academic research on the area is rare. Particularly the effect on the implementation process from organisational dynamics and organisational structures needs further research.

This study investigates the succession process in family businesses and aims to enhance the understanding of the process as a whole, as well as how family businesses strategically plan for succession. The research is based on a case study of a family corporate group undergoing a transition from the fourth to the fifth generation. A qualitative research approach was employed, involving interviews with individuals from both the fourth and fifth generations, as well as external stakeholders who have influenced the process. The results show that the planning and implementation of succession are complex and that there is a certain lack of existing theory. Empirical evidence indicates that contracts and documentation are crucial for advancing the process. Inclusion of external parties is also important, not only for their expertise but also to provide an objective perspective.

Driveability analysis of terrain data offers an important technique for decision support for all kinds of movements in the terrain. The work described in this report uses a high resolution digital terrain model generated from the laser radar data and further processed by the Category Viewer program, and information from the Real Estate Map. Properties of features found in a filtering process are calculated and compared with a set of rules in a knowledge base to get a driveability cost. This cost is then visualized in a graphical user interface. An evaluation of what driveability is and what it is affected by is performed, and a general cost function is developed, which can be used even if not all relevant information is available.

Zero knowledge protocols is a lesser known type of protocol that can be used for identification. These protocols are especially designed not to reveal any information during an identification process that can be misused later on, neither by the one who should be convinced of the identity of the user, nor by anyone else that is eavesdropping. Many of these protocols are also especially designed for implementation in smart cards. The more common type of card with a magnetic stripe has during the last few years become more susceptible to attacks since they are easily copied. Smart cards combined with a secure identification protocol has been predicted to be the solution to this problem.

 Genotyping can be used to link genetic variation among individuals to certain diseases or conditions. Some known disorders and states that are dependent on single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) are lactose intolerance, venous thrombosis, hereditary hemochromatosis and the difference in sensibility among people to metabolise drugs.In this project a new kit, TaqManÒ Sample-to-SNP KitÔ for extraction of DNA and preparation of the extract for genotyping with real-time PCR and allelic discrimination, was evaluated. QIAamp® DNA Blood Biorobot® MDx Kit was used as the reference method.The purpose of the comparison was to find a method that makes DNA extraction from blood samples cheaper and faster, but with the same reliability as the reference procedure.The results of the evaluation showed a complete agreement of the genotype results between the methods tested, which means that the new method was as reliable as the reference method. The costs of reagents and material would be reduced with 52% if the new method is adopted, that alone would result in a cost reduction of 144 000SEK a year with a sample volume of 650 samples/month. The time for DNA extraction would also be reduced with the new procedure. .

Title Becoming involved in the planning process - from the construction workers perspective.University/Institution Halmstad UniversityKeywordsEmpowerment through participation, construction workers involvement in decision making in the planning process, knowledge management and communication in the planning process, partnering, human resource managementAimThe aim of this bachelor thesis is to provide knowledge and examine how construction workers perceive involvement in the planning process of partnering projects, what they can contribute and what they get out of the planning process.Methodology The study was conducted with a qualitative approach in the form of semi-structured interviews.          The interview studie consist of 10 interviews with construction workers who are specially educated in participating in the planning process at the company ByggDialog AB.ConclusionAll respondents are positive to be involved in the planning process. The main advantages they can see is that they are able to influence technical solutions and methods that will be used later on in the production. Therefore it is important to consider when construction workers should be involved in the planning process so that they get the chance to influence in this decisions.When it comes to the decision making the construction workers should be involved in the decisions that are related to their tasks in the production such as technical solutions, choice of methods and materials. Their main duties and working hours should be in the production.Involvement in planning does not automatically mean that the construction workers are involved in the decision making, it is up to them how much they participate.

The background for this degree thesis is a need to replace the existing seal used to protect equipment containing secret or sensitive equipment used by Swedish Defence. The target design should satisfy both the need for tamper evidence and reduce Life Cycle Cost. In developing a new design for a seal, additional benefits such as improved logistics support and indication of attack methods such as heat and solvents have been considered.The lack of guiding principles for end users of seals became evident during the interviews. Major concerns for the future are education of users, information about actions if a seal is broken and user liability.The design work was divided into several phases. A feasibility study was performed including investigation of theory of labels, materials and possible technologies.

The myth of the user - a study of the user discourse and its visionariesThis study is a discourse analysis of the visions that implicitly are expressed in different texts about user-centered library theory. Several other studies have analyzed the discourse and conceptualization of how the user is expressed in the library debate. Therefore we have chosen to analyze the visions that are expressed by three different sources: the evaluation of the Swedish GÖK project, which was an reorganization of three different libraries in Sweden (Greenhalgh, Worpole & Landry 1995). The influential book by Michael E. Casey and Laura C.

The students participating in my development work will work with a process book for handicraft studies. In the beginning of their studies, the students need practical knowledge about the development of the profession itself, but they also need to be challenged and learn how to solve problems on their own which will help them gain a deeper knowledge of the subject.    I focus on open questions to create a process with the students. This process is created when working with Solution-Focused-Education. Through ?assessment for learning? we can help the students to improve their self-assessment and understanding of the learning process.

In order to understand user behaviour and navigation patterns, user logging is today widely used in analysis and development of user interfaces. These user logs tend to be quite many and can contain a lot of different data. A big issue is how to process and display this data in a perspicuous way to the stakeholder. This study is about how to develop a prototype to handle this issue. It was solved by various methods from human-computer interaction.

This study explores whether environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues affect the monetary value of a company.The samples used in this study have been taken from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) in South Africa. Since 2010, JSE have been categorizing companies using the King Code III criteria to establish a Socially Responsible Investment index (SRI index). Companies that fulfill the required number of criteria are classified as 'best performers' using the SRI index.  In this study the monetary value of a random sample of 'best performers' has been compared to the monetary value of a random sample of companies without an SRI index evaluation.This study found that companies without a SRI index have a higher unique risk, which means a lower stock price with a higher dividend yield. Companies with an SRI index evaluation have a lower unique risk, which means a higher stock price and lower dividend yield. In conclusion, this study shows that SRI adjusted companies have an enhanced monetary value in comparison to non- SRI adjusted companies..

This report presents a thesis project conducted by two students at Mälardalens högskola. The project covers 15 points in industrial design and was conducted during April to June 2014. The principal of the thesis works at Plastic Produkter. The assignment was to develop equipment for an effective way to dose, mix silicon, fill a special designed plastic bag and then seal it. The bag is then formed into a breast model.When a customer for various reasons decides to do a breast augmentation or a breast reconstruction, there may be doubt or uncertainty about the result.

At the beginning of the nineties, a new form of organisation, the process organisation, was about to be born. The features of the process organisation were a flexible organisational that works in a world where the pace of development is increasing all the time. Today there are many organisations that have mapped their processes, but in order to truly become a process organisation, the processes among other things have to be in harmony with e.g. organisational culture. Which effects the organisational culture has on the process organisation is yet unexplored, but however quite crucial.

Development of services that?s provided through mobile application technology in today's modern IT society has become a full-fledged market where numerous players trying to make themselves heard in everything from innovative new services to the further development of existing services. In these services actors wants to find new areas of use by taking advantage of the mobile technology.We have investigated how value is created and how the value is captured in the services provided through mobile applications. Through this, we wanted to identify the critical success factors in how a newly developed service should be designed to create value. This has been done through a thorough literature review, together with an indepth evaluation of existing applications.

Bipolar disorder is a chronic affective disorder, characterized by episodes of mania and depression. Previous studies have shown beneficial results for CBT in conjunction with pharmacotherapy over pharmacological treatment alone. The aim of the present study was to evaluate a CBT treatment in group for patients with bipolar disorder, run by Norrlands universitetssjukhus. The treatment group consisted of pharmacologically stabilized patients (n=12) who received group CBT. They were compared to a control group (n=5) who received pharmacological treatment only.