Many corporations turn to IT-outsourcing to focus more on their core competence or to cut the IT-budget. There is one caveat, the costs presented at a first glance does not always present the entire truth. Instead the costs run deeper and so-called hidden costs exist beyond the contractual cost. Reducing these hidden costs may very well be crucial to the entire IT-outsourcing endeavor. However many firms are not aware of these costs and as such they have a reduced chance of success.

The purpose with this examination task is to investigate what purchasers and building contractors think of ISO 9000 and the function of it within the building trade.In this material both the purchaser´s and the building contractor´s viewpoints and attitude towards ISO 9000 is being object to an investigation, in order to get a just picture of the function of the quality work within the building trade. The general opinion of ISO 9000 has proven to be positive. During the work with this investigation it appeared that nosystem is that good that it can´t be improved. A widely spread opinion is also that ISO 9000 means a lot of paperwork but also that the certified companies are well organized. Above all the majority demands a standard that is more adjusted to the building trade..

This study examines how managers in the public sector experience and manage their digital maturity in the context of digital transformation. The study is based on qualitative interviews with twelve managers and three developers in a municipality in western Sweden and is analyzed based on a theoretical framework that combines individuals digital maturity (DIMI model) with organizational conditions. The results show that managers' digital maturity is influenced by both individual and organizational factors. At the individual level, the importance of digital competence, self-efficacy, and willingness to participate in and lead change are emphasized. At the same time, organizational conditions such as coordination, resources, technical support and clear governance are required.

The work of the board in owner-managed firms often differ compared to the work of the board in large listed companies. Since the owners are working in different roles, the board in owner-managed firms might discuss topics outside the typical boards agenda, such as questions relating to ownership structure and operational matters. This thesis examines what external board members can contribute with in owner-managed firms, and which the most frequent difficulties are for the owners when deciding to recruit external board members. Through qualitative interviews, three owner-managed firms have been studied, which together with two expert interviews and five seminars, creates the empirics. In the analysis, the empirics are compared to what the earlier theory states.

As commonly known, Social Media is a rapidly growing area. Since consumers to a great extent are present in Social Media, this new internet environment is increasing in relevance for consumer marketing. For controversial brands that are regulated in conventional marketing channels Social Media is an extra ordinary marketing opportunity, since social media is a legal grey area. More and more controversial brands are taking advantage of this opportunity, but the effects of these marketing activities are fairly unknown. Therefore there is an interest in examining the controversial brands marketing progression in Social Media.

AbstractObjectivePatients with Parkinson?s disease often have symptoms of dysphagia. These swallowingproblems have consequences for quality of life as well for the physical wellbeing of thepatients. AimThe aim of this study was to describe and correlate Swallowing Quality of Life (SWAL-QOL)scores, self-assessment of swallowing function using a visual analogue scale and the resultsfrom a fiber endoscopic evaluation of swallowing function in patients who had been selectedfor Deep Brain Stimulation in caudal zona incerta. A secondary aim was to correlate diseaseduration with results from SWAL-QOL and the fiber endoscopic evaluation of swallowingfunction.MethodTen male Parkinson?s patients (age 45-69 yrs, median 61.5 yrs) who were selected for DeepBrain Stimulation completing the Swallowing Quality of life form, as well as rating theirswallowing function using a visual analogue scale and undergoing a fiber endoscopicevaluation of their swallowing function.    ResultsThe median total SWAL-QOL score was 94% while the mean was 91%.

The purpose with this study is to examine school-leaders?, school-librarians? and teachers? expectations and aims for their school-libraries at two different schools in the city of Växjö. The study is based on these five questions:· How do school-leaders, school-librarians and teachers think about learning?· What function does the school-library have?· What roles do school-leaders, school-librarians and teachers have in the school-library?· How do school-leaders, school-librarians and teachers experience the co-operation in the school-library?· How would school-leaders, school-librarians and teachers wish that the co-operation should be?To be able to answer these questions I have done thirteen qualitative interviews and studied literature relevant to the subject. Three different theories are used as a theoretical framework; the traditional perspective, individual constructivism and social constructivism.

As IT service departments in organisations are becoming more complex and customised, the indirect costs are increasing in relation to the total costs. The difficulty of fully estimating and identifying the spread of the cost in the IT service department is increasing. As a result, firms tend to budget the business unit as a total cost rather than as a spread of defined costs. In order to deal with this challenge an ABC calculation will be applied. The Time Driven ABC model will be conducted in OMX´s Servicedesk unit within the IT services.

Purpose: The primary aim of the study was to analyse and discuss how employees with a secondary nursing education describe their occupational character whilst working as well as the conditions for caring acts in a changing progress towards professionalism.Questions: What are the conditions to provide a high standard of care in this changing progress? What influence does it have on the occupational character ?Method: Critical case study and focus groupsConclusion: One of the central findings of the field study was the identification of two occupational identities; traditional and pedagogical orientated. These two occupational character traits are connected with different types of occupational competence and demands different theoretical knowledge. They also have different regards concerning the new title; social omsorgsassistent. A conclusion of the study is that a professional project of a non-specific nature is unable to stress the different levels of knowledge and competence that occupational identities have when one seeking professionalism..

Leaders in modern working life are confronted with frequent use of temporary groups. The purpose of this study was to examine possible reasons for swift trust towards leaders in temporary groups. The target group of the study was school employees. An opinion poll was carried out in the occupational group (n = 35) which made it possible to make statistical comparisons. The result showed that the following aspects were important for the development of swift trust in leaders: personal attributes, image related attributes, competence and experience, leadership and also social competence.

Svenska Aerogel AB has developed the material Quartzene® which is of the typeprecipitated silica and contains calcium - magnesium silicate ((Ca, Mg) SiO3). Thematerial is used for molecular filtration of contaminated air. Qartzene?, which is inpellet form, is porous and has a high internal surface which is a requirement for themolecular filtration. With the use of various impregnations, filtration can affect thedesired outcome.

This master thesis studies distributed navigation which isa function implemented in a future network based combat information system to improve the accuracy in navigation for combat vehicles in a mechanized battalion, above all in the event of loss of GPS. In the event of loss of the GPS the vehicles obtain dead reckoning performance through the backup system that consists of an odometer and a magnetic compass. Dead reckoning means a drift in the position that makes the accuracy in the navigation worse. The distributed navigation function uses position and navigation data with measurements between the vehicles to estimate the errors and uncertainties in positions, which are used to improve the accuracy in position for the vehicles. To investigate and demonstrate distributed navigation, a simulation environment has been produced in Matlab.

In many products a compromise between ground clearance and the required space to store the product has to be made. This problem attracted the attention of the authors of this thesis.The objective of this project is to develop a functioning solution to a foldable wheel. The solution should be applicable to several types of product groups. A limitation for this work has been made so that the work only covers solutions for lighter vehicles.The purpose is to drive this project forward, so that a solution can be found. Furthermore the purpose of the report is to clarify how the authors proceeded to design and construct the wheel according to a fixed specification.

The author contacted designers Claesson Koivisto Rune Arkitektkontor in August 2007regarding his Master thesis at KTH. The company had discussed the possibility of creating achair made from molded pulp. The author was taken on as a manager for the project. Theobjective was to produce design documentation for a paper pulp chair which was to belaunched at the in 2008 Milan Furniture Fair. The purpose of the thesis was to develop aproduct with scientific methods as well as to investigate how to make collaboration betweendesigners and engineers easier through communication.The project went through four basic stages: Information, Analysis, Synthesis and Evaluation.Information on paper pulp, molded pulp, chair design, sitting postures and the existingmarket of molded pulp furniture.

This report's aim is that by field measurements determine the function of Aprobo soundproofing material dB2 for reducing impact sounds, the measurements is done in ?the school for fine art? in Umeå also known as ?konstnärligt campus building nine?. The construction technique is used in areas sensitive to impact sound between different floors in the building. The measurement?s is also to do a function control of the buildings sound quality compared to Swedish and European standard when it comes to air sound, impact sound and reverberation time .