In order to be able to change, to maintain competitiveness as a company in a world where rapid changes is part of the daily life, it is crucial to have knowledge and methods in how to change. One method, originally developed in Finland, is the Change Laboratory. This method is said to be efficient, not only concerning change aspects but also learning, since change and learning in this method is intertwined. This Master Thesis (20p.) tells about the process of conducting a Change Laboratory with a Swedish high-tech company and analyses factors in the process that makes change possible..

This thesis deals with the legislative problem of thin and thick capitalization of subsidiary companies situated abroad. This kind of companies are often used for tax planning purposes, as means for transferring company profit from a high tax state to a low tax state. Today, the legislative flora around the world mainly focuses on the question"how low/high can the capitalization level of the company be, before thin/thick capitalization can be considered to be at hand?". Instead, this thesis raises the question"how far from the optimal capitalization rate is a probable capitalization level for a company, and can this be an alternative approach to legislation?".

Companies need to receive feedback in order to understand how they should adjust to shifting demands in the market. This study focuses on the Mystery Shopping process and the information it provides. Through qualitative interviews information was gathered which identifies Mystery Shopping as an approach where companies actively seek information withthe help of anonymous ?shoppers?. This method is compared to other research methods in order to identify the characteristics of Mystery Shopping.

Länsförsäkringar in Värmland, Sweden, had during the year 2003 a total level of 6.1 percent of people on the sick-list, which was higher than average in the business (4,5%) and for salaried employees in the private sector (3,3%). The average age of those put on sick-list was 47 years, whish is four years higher than the average for the whole LF-group. The cost for the total amount of people being on sick-list at LF-company (6,1%) was estimated to 1 500 kkr, according to a calculation model coming from Försäkringskassan. For every percent the sick level could be reduced, the company would save 239 kkr. To map out the state of health of each and every collaborator in LF, the company offered all employees to make a health profile at the company's health service, Clarahälsan AB.

From policy to practice - a study of textile companies view about challenges with implementing CSR policies examine the textile companies awareness of which challenges there are with the implementation of codes of conduct in a global supply chain, as well as to analyze how the companies deal with the challenges. With increased globalization many companies have chosen to outsource entire or parts of the production in various developing and newly industrialized countries. However, the working conditions in these countries do not always fulfill the labor standards that are defined in various conventions. The society began demanding companies to take social responsibility. The social responsibility goes under the term Corporate social responsibility (CSR).

Algal bloom is a naturally occurring phenomenon and occurs in all waters around the world but in recent years, algal bloom in the Baltic Sea has become more massive and more widely spread. When an algal bloom negative effects on the seawater quality, it may have an impact on tourism in the Baltic Sea. The aim of this thesis is to study, through a survey based on a production function approach, whether an environmental change as algal blooms, influenced the Gotland tourist accommodation industry and their "production of attractive overnight? in the summer of 2005. The results show that algal blooms did not have a great impact on companies ?production of attractive accommodations".

Volvo Penta has been producing boat engines since 1907 and are world leading in this seg­ment. They have today an extended range and also sell industrial power stations. Quality, safe­ty and environmental care are three core values for Volvo and together they strive to give their customers the right product with the right quality.Volvo has developed a production system named Volvo Production System, VPS, and one of the pillars is continuous improvements. Within this pillar you can find value stream map­ping, which is used to analyze the value stream through the process. This tool gives a wide perspective and helps to keep focus on the entire process instead of just parts of it.Volvo Penta in Vara has earlier done value stream mapping but without good results since they didn?t take set-up times and imbalances in account.

The Swedish energy company Vattenfall is currently the owner of the district heatingsystems in Nyköping and Motala. To be able to also offer cooling solutions tocustomers are becoming more and more important. This report describes the resultsof an investigation of the cooling market in the two cities and the potential needs forcooling today and in the coming 20 years. The total potential for the coming 20 yearsis estimated to be roughly 17 MW for Nyköping and 9 MW for Motala.Two possible district cooling systems for each of the two city centers was modeledand a comparison was made between different cooling techniques namely absorptionand compressor chillers.Absorption chillers driven with district heating during the summer is one way ofincreasing the load in a combined heat and power plant and thereby the possibleelectricity generation. The cost of heat production must be low for absorption chillerto be able to compete as an alternative.

China has in recent years experienced a great economic growth, which has attracted the interest of several Swedish companies. Notisum is one of those companies and they have started up a subsidiary in Shanghai, China. This paper is intended to describe Notisum and EnviTools internationalization to China focusing on the obstacles encountered and how the company handled them. In order to achieve this, empirical data was collected through an interview and a literature review. By studying Notisums and EnviTools internationalization process to China, several obstacles were found.

This thesis deals with the field of warehouse management, focusing on frequency control of stock. The purpose of the thesis is to reduce the warehouse staff mileage by placing an article based on its number of picks, i.e. how frequently it gets picked. In order to achieve relevant results the following four questions have been answered in the thesis: How should the articles be placed with regard to the picking frequency?Which factors, if any, needs to be addressed beyond the picking frequency when articles are placed based on frequency?Can the present picking system be improved?Is frequency placement with regard to the picking frequency profitable to implement for the company?The thesis is based on literature studies and on the data that has been collected from the company?s business system.

Because of the increasing trends in energy consumption and increased environmental awareness, greater focus has been placed on improvement and development of renewable energy sources. An already proven and accepted method is biogas production from anaerobic digestion at municipal wastewater treatment plants.In the waste water treatment process solid material and dissolved pollutants are separated from the water, forming a sludge. The sludge is separated from the process and stabilized during anaerobic digestion or aerobic aeration. Most often, mesophilic anaerobic digestion is used. Because of degradation by microorganisms, biogas with a high content of methane is formed during the digestion.

Background and Problem discussion: Consumers are reached by an average of 3000 marketing messages daily which proves that a company?s marketing needs to be strong and characteristic in order not to lose customers. It is of even greater importance that marketing reaches the chosen target group and is designed in accordance with the company?s vision and is shown where the target group sees it.Purpose: The aim of this bachelor thesis is to study how small businesses use marketing and to recommend appropriate marketing measures given their size, limited budget and secluded location.Method: This study has been made in accordance with a qualitative method with an analytical abduction approach using a case study where the case is Vita Renen. To achieve the aim of this study the authors combined secondary and primary data such as previous conducted research with interviews with the owners and staff of Vita Renen.Result and Conclusion: The result demonstrates that untraditional marketing would be the best option for Vita Renen because they are a company with limited marketing budget and this type of advertising is based on creative thinking and design on pre-existing resources.

Today there is a limited demand for quality certified cereal in Sweden. The demand can in the future increase and become a requirement for the entire market. Since the first of January 2005, grain producers in Sweden are food producers and traceability is important for the food industry. It is possible for grain producers to certify the productions under the certification IP SIGILL. The purpose of this essay is to explore why some grain producers continue to be certified while other producers end the IP SIGILL certification.

Companies today are facing more and different kinds of demands from the society and their stakeholders. It is no longer enough to just deliver the products, and not just the quality of the products that matter. The consumers are getting more conscious about the many ways in which companies affect the society and the environment in which we live. The financial sector, that among others includes stakeholders such as insurance companies, banks and fund companies are starting to realise the importance of the non- financial issues that companies are encountering. Analysing the companies sustainability when it comes to social and environmental issues, has become an increasingly important factor when for example choosing companies to invest in.

This report is a study made at Pallco AB. Pallco is a subcontractor that is specialized on steel and aluminium components.The aim of the report is to show an improvement proposal that leads to a reduction of the storage and improve the flow through the production of one item that is a part of a product that Pallco manufactures.With the increasing competition from other countries who can manufacture with lower costs must Swedish companies try to make theirs manufacturing as efficient as possible and remove all waste. By using the tools of Lean Production it is possible to reduce the costs and increase the efficiency.The method we used is value stream mapping. A map of the present condition has been made and then different improvement proposal were discussed. A map of a future condition has also been designed..