Recent years have been very turbulent for most private equity firms. Especially the financial meltdown in global economy has affected the industry, but also the public pressure has made private equity houses change their control strategies towards more conventional methods used in public companies. This thesis aims to put light on the control methods used in listed private equity houses which use a buyout strategy. The paper describes how the control methods change over the different phases the asset experience and how different value generating strategies use altered control methods. Using Merchant's (2003) framework for management control systems and Berg and Gottschalg's (2004) research on value generating strategies in buyouts the thesis shows that action controls as designing instructions for the board and a business plan, together with goal alignment is the commonly used control strategy directly after the acquisition.

In this master thesis, control algoritms using arm side sensors are investigated for an industrial robot. The sensors can be position encoders placed after the gearbox and accelerometers on the robot arms. Control strategies are discussed and evaluated for different models of the robot, after which chosen strategies are applied to a realistic model. Control algoritms using arm side sensors (LQ, dual-loop and PD-PID) are compared to a PID-controller that only uses measurements of motor position for feedback control. The comparison are done with respect to disturbance rejection, oscillation damping, robustness and tracking performance of a reference trajectory.

The purpose of this paper is to view Karlstad Municipality and their financial support to non-profit organizations within equestrian sports. Despite the varying representatives of various equestrian sports in Karlstad, there seems to be a single beneficiary within the sport when it comes to financial support from the municipality. The policies and plans concerning cultural development are directly compared to the Karlstad Municipality and its contribution to these organizations within equestrian sports. Through interviews and reports I have studied the process of financial support from the Karlstad municipality using an intersectionality theory based on Nina Lykkes guide on gender studies and feminist theory. Pierre Bourdieu?s theories on field, habitus and capital are also used as a method to enhance the understanding of equestrian sports and its role in modern Swedish society. The conclusion is that the Karlstad Municipality is, for a several of reasons, promoting non-profit organizations within equestrian sports, which are operating as riding schools.

Background: The use of reward systems can be of strategic importance as well as an affective mean of control for the organization in its work to achieve its goals. The municipal sector is characterized by its transparency and its responsibility for the taxpayer?s money. We therefore wonder which possibilities the municipal sector has to use reward systems as a men of control. Purpose: We intend to research the possibilities that the reward system offer as a mean of control for employees at the higher municipal level, with a special focus on commitment and motivation.

The professional football clubs can today be compared with company with profit aim, but the difference is that they also want to achieve sporting successes. In ten years, the Swedish Premier Division´s turnover has more than doubled and because of the strong economic development the license of elite was introduced. The license of elite´s criteria means that professional football clubs must have positively equity and requirements on approved or authorized auditor. Most of the professional football clubs are run as a non-profit association and legislations for these are relatively unclear compared with limited companies. The purpose of this study is to create understanding for how the audit process is implemented in professional football clubs compared with a limited company.

In this paper the effect of capital structure on profitability has been investigated among Swedish companies. The essay intends to examine how the relationship between debt and profitability appear among Swedish companies and if the relationship differs between industries. The purpose is to find out how debt affects the profitability of Swedish companies.A quantitative approach has been applied. The selection was made among companies listed on Nasdaq OMX Stockholm, which resulted in a sample of 207 companies. Several regression analyzes has been formed, based on the independent variable debt-ratio and the dependent variables profit margin, pre-tax profit margin, operating margin, return on assets and return on equity.

This thesis examines the approach for implementing strategy that has been applied by the study object, Svenska Spel. The specific approach originates from the theories of Elliot Jaques, whose key proposal is that individuals have different capability of carrying out tasks over different time-spans. The main purpose of the study is to analyze how the approach has influenced the management control systems in use, in order to ensure that the strategy is successfully implemented on corporate as well as operational level. Twenty in debt interviews conducted with employees, representing a vertical cross section throughout the organization, are the main source of the study?s empirical foundation.

Studien syftar till att se hur personlighet, söka-arbete self-efficacy och locus of control påverkas av arbetslöshet. Personlighet mäts enligt Costa & MacCraes fem-faktor modell och avser dimensionerna extroversion, neuroticism, öppenhet, trevlighet och samvetsgrannhet. Hypotesen är att det finns skillnad mellan nyarbetslösa och långtidsarbetslösa avseende personlighet, söka arbete self-efficacy och locus of control. Frågeformulär innehållande påstående om ovanstående faktorer besvarades av en grupp nyarbetslösa och en grupp långtidsarbetslösa. Resultatet visar inga signifikanta skillnader avseende personlighet och söka arbete self-efficacy mellan grupperna.

This thesis project has focused on studying ÅF?s business concept Energy Collaboration, which is their way of selling energy efficiency services. Thereforeongoing projects have been analyzed. The purpose was to determine achieved energy efficiency, costs and profitability for the studied projects. It was concluded that the Energy Collaboration is a good way of selling energy efficiency services, since the customer takes no risk and energy savings of about 15-25 % can be achieved with simple measures.

Background: Many companies have outsourced their IT-operations and their expectations of what this IT-outsourcing will contribute to the business are high. Cost cuts are not always a natural outcome of IT-outsourcing. Many companies that have outsourced their IT-operations consider it to be problematic and complex to exercise management control and reach cost control which was the purpose of the IT-outsourcing. Purpose: To describe and analyze what affect IT-outsourcing has on a company?s management control system and a company?s possibility to exercise cost control.

The change of control clause is nowadays a well used covenant in the Eurobond market, with the aims to protect bondholders in case of a leveraged buyout. This thesis intend to evaluate whether the change of control clause is a new phenomenon in the Eurobond market today and to estimate what have been the driven force for the popularity of it. The thesis found that the change of control clause already existed before and thus it is not a new phenomenon. Several factors where found though to explain the extended use of the clause today. Starting in 2005 the LBO activity increased rapidly, exposing almost every company to the risk of LBO.

Background: Running economy is one of the key factors to achieve top performance in endurance events. Little evidence exists for improving running economy using high-intensity interval training while running. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine how HIIT affects running economy and VO2max. Method: 14 well-trained athletes (age 35 ± 8,9 years, height 175 ± 11,7 cm and weight 69 ± 12,2 kg) were divided into two separate groups (HIIT and Control). HIIT group performed 3 HIIT exercises every week for 4 weeks and Control group continued with their separate training programs consisting of mostly traditional endurance training. Results: Running economy showed no improvement in HIIT (pre 38,62 and post 38,62 ml/kg/min, p=1.00) but Control improved (pre 45,41 and post 43,37 ml/kg/min, p=0,03). VO2max decreased in HIIT (mean 61,32 to 60,84 ml/kg/min) and in Control (mean 61,99 to 58,47 ml/kg/min)..

Background: Running economy is one of the key factors to achieve top performance in endurance events. Little evidence exists for improving running economy using high-intensity interval training while running. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine how HIIT affects running economy and VO2max. Method: 14 well-trained athletes (age 35 ± 8,9 years, height 175 ± 11,7 cm and weight 69 ± 12,2 kg) were divided into two separate groups (HIIT and Control). HIIT group performed 3 HIIT exercises every week for 4 weeks and Control group continued with their separate training programs consisting of mostly traditional endurance training. Results: Running economy showed no improvement in HIIT (pre 38,62 and post 38,62 ml/kg/min, p=1.00) but Control improved (pre 45,41 and post 43,37 ml/kg/min, p=0,03). VO2max decreased in HIIT (mean 61,32 to 60,84 ml/kg/min) and in Control (mean 61,99 to 58,47 ml/kg/min)..

The aim of this thesis is to get a better understanding of how the management control system works at V&S Distillers. V&S Distillers went through an organizational change in the beginning of 2005. The marketing function went from being a country-driven to a category-driven organization. Among other things this resulted in increased cooperation between employees in different geographical locations. We aim to analyze how a geographical distance affects relations and the use of management control.

Small companies have fewer resources which often result in an tendency to disregard  administrative tasks. A factor that influences the company?s revenues is the control of its inventories. The purpose of the current study was to analyze which of the two options, leasing or owning your inventory, that could be justified from an economical perspective. Furthermore, the purpose was to describe the optimal inventory level for each option. To meet these objectives representatives for the company was interviewed and a thorough investigation process was undertaken, during which methodological problems were solved.  It was found that leasing the inventory was the most expensive option for the company. Analysis demonstrated that optimal turnover inventory according to EOQ (Economic Order Quantity) would amount to 65,0 thousand Swedish Krona if the company leases their inventory in comparison to 56,0 thousand Swedish Krona if the company owned their inventory.