We are getting smarter. Our knowledge of the world around us is increasing rapidly and our population spend a big portion of their time in school studying it. But art and craft are moving out to give room for more theoretical subjects. Today many of us can not even fix a torn shirt without help. We buy new ones, they are cheap enough.

The project was performed in collaboration with Husqvarna, one of the world?s leading manufacturer in the market of electric outdoor products. The report is a thesis work of a bachelor mechanical engineer program, in the field product development and design.The project is a study of the development opportunities within drive belt for a gear driven gearbox to one of Husqvarnas petrol powered hedge trimmers. A big part of the project was also to find combinations of materials for all components in the gearbox, to reduce weight and maintain or improve the performance of the system. Belt drive was of interest to investigate as an alternative solution to the current design that can reduce wear on the system at a performance test performed in the company before the product is released to market.

I have been inspired by the Do It Yourself movement. DIY builds on the creativity of the individual, one?s capacity for initiative and one?s desire to realise one?s ideas. I have been inspired by sheets of pattern paper used in the manufacture of clothing, and my line of furniture is based on two-dimensional patterns of furniture. The sections of the pieces of furniture are printed on and relate to a standard sheet of plywood.

The purpose of this thesis is to identify the factors that drive efficiency and effectiveness in technical development projects performed at A?F?s department of product development. In addition to identifying and analyzing these factors, the thesis also analyzes what needs to be taken in to account in order to implement a measurement system that is able to both monitor and control the identified factors.The thesis has been performed in a qualitative manner. It is based on interviews with people from several different technological companies, within different lines of business, all of which are customers to A?F?s department of product development.The results show that there are seven critical factors for project efficiency and effectiveness.

This degree project deals with the concept of creativity and the creative output based on howSwedish upper-secondary design teachers within the Technical Engineering Programexperience this from a student's perspective. The project discusses how the concept creativityis interpreted and how the creative output is regarded by educationalists and professionaldesigners and how this then can be related to literature on the subject and in the steeringdocuments. The purpose of this degree project is to visualize the interviewees' viewpoint oncreativity and the significance of experience, skills, and environment for the creative outputand within the field of design. This in order to, in the pedagogic and didactic situation, enablethe improvement of teaching so that creativity and its output come to show. Moreover, theproject aims to create a ground for discussion of the view of the importance of these skills inthe pedagogic/didactic situation.In order to reach this aim, I have read literature on creativity from several perspectives andcarried out eight qualitative structured interviews: both with three educationalists withoutexperience within the design profession, and with two educationalists who are or have beenactive within the design profession, as well as with three professional designers.

The structural rationalization of the agricultural sector in Sweden has led to many expansive, professional companies orientated towards growth. The agricultural sector is a very capital-intense sector and is characterized by the need for large sums of capital in form of buildings, inventory and arable land. The capital need is especially large for companies who have an ambition of growth and development of the company in the near future. The study is built upon six cases that all can be categorized as large agricultural farms with a turnover exceeding 20 million Swedish crowns. The companies are located in the middle and in the south of Sweden and are in the sector of primary production with focus on dairy-, pork-, egg-, chicken-, beef-, vegetables- and grain production as well as in the business of refining milk towards consumers. The study aims to identify the motives and driving forces that lies behind the growth of a farm-based company. The agricultural companies' motive for growth is studied based on which factors that influence the ambition to grow and to what extent these factors accord to the picture given by earlier research of small companies outside the agricultural sector.

The report is a project in cooperation with the Swedish toy company Playsam. The assignment was to design a new toy to their range of products, a pull along toy in shape of a snail with a mechanical function. The research phase contains studies and analysis of the company, its identity, product range and its customers. The research phase includes all the information needed to complete the project. A number of concepts were presented for evaluation by the company.

Websites today only offer simpler form of technical analysis and are not fun to use, therefore student decided to build a website that makes technical analysis a bit more fun by giving user possibility to experiment with settings for technical indicators and also see clear visible results from analysis. Student decided to build website in ASP.NET. Technical indicators for this project only consist of those who give buy and sell-signals via cross-over, no divergence or pattern finding.This project has three questions that define this project. It?s important that there is good functionality so that performing an analysis is perceived as simple, one question is therefore; what functionality for website is needed in order for analysis to be perceived as more simple?Technical analysis is a pretty complex subject and demands an interface that is perceived as easy to understand and easy to use, it?s therefore important that the interface is well designed, second question is therefore; how should the interface be designed to be user-friendly?When systems grow large they often become hard to develop and later on unmaintainable because of the accumulated complexity and dependency between classes, the code is a mess, the last question is therefore; how can the systems complexity be eased with object-oriented design principles?Jakob Nielsens ten heuristics for User Interface Design were used as inspiration for designing the interface for the website.

The aim of this study was to examine the experience, knowledge and attitude to mandatory reports of mistreatments amongst first line managers and assistance nurses in municipal elderly care. The following questions were at the center of the analysis: how do the different professional groups view having to report their own organization? How can various factors affect the mandatory reporting of mistreatments? What knowledge do the different professional groups have of mistreatments and mandatory reporting? A qualitative research method was used to examine these questions in the form of semi structured interviews and a small document study. The interviews were carried out with assistance nurses and first line manages in elder care, we interviewed four respondents from both professional groups. The interviews were then transcribed and coded with help of a content analysis.

The economic analysis of building contracts is an unexplored field within Law and Economics. This paper makes an attempt to cast some light over the subject and encourage to more research within the field. The main purpose has been to describe why the actual price in a public construction project often turns out to be higher than the contract price and offer a way of handle that risk. In the paper a model is set up that shows an optimal contract given expectations on actual price and gaps in contracts. Cost increases for the buyer can mainly be explained by two situations.

Title:Cash is King ? or is it?Level:Final assignment for Bachelor Degree in Business AdministrationAuthor:Caroline Eng and Jessica HillbergSupervisor:Jonas KågströmDate:2011- 06Aim:There is a long tradition of trading the currency and the first coins can be traced back to Persia already 500 BC. With the modernization of society and the technological advances we have made in recent years, we are now using electronic payments more and more. We pay by card, Internet banking and mobile phone in addition to cash. The purpose of this paper is to follow Swedbank project "cash smart" and have it as a basis when we examine if we are heading for a cash-free society and what obstacles and opportunities there is for a cash-free society.Method:We have used a qualitative method to conduct interviews with two individuals involved in the project "cash smart" at Swedbank in Gävle.

My project is an interpretation and exploration of the book The Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino. It is a play on the swedish words for cities and beaches. By adding the letters R and N the word for cities in the title transforms into the word for beaches. The project is equal parts a color investigation and an exploration of new working methods as it is an development of my approch to graphic design. My aim was to, through a visual, conceptual and playful investigation create a new interpretation of the book The Invisible Cities.

The aim of the study was to examine individual staff experience and management of threats and violence in the acute psychiatric department for children and teenagers in Uppsala. Previous research shows that the experience of threats and/or violence is individual, and that it is difficult to distinguish between these concepts. Research shows that it is particularly vulnerable to work in psychiatry when mental illness is a cause when threats and violence occurs. Threats and violence can result in different consequences for the individual. The study is based on qualitative interviews and the material was collected in the autumn of 2012 at Akademiska sjukhuset.

Abstract Project as a method was defined in the American defense industry in the 1950´s and has since then developed to encompass many different areas such as industrial management, administration, research and development and IT etc. In the cultural sector project is a common way of organizing work and within theatre, which is the focus of this study, one can claim that project as a form of work has been used for hundreds of years, if not by definition.Theatre is generally assumed to be an form of art representing creativity and innovation, highly demanding from an individual perspective relative to the project result, i.e. the final performance. Time pressure, fierce competition, limited resources and responsibility to deliver on time with high quality are natural conditions given.The aim of the study is to find out what circumstances and conditions affect and have a clear impact on motivation and creativity in those working professionally within theatre.This study is based upon qualitative interviews with a limited number of employees with different occupations, within a major publicly-funded Swedish theatre institution.Contemporary research indicates both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation as essential for how we experience and commit ourselves to our work, either as two separate forces but also as they interact.Extensive studies further state our individual experience from work, the conditions provided by the organization and social environment as crucial to our work performance. A positive experience from these factors enhance our motivation and creativity.The results of this study show theatre to be an activity supported by strong visions and clear goals where challenge and creativity are essential and where it´s members show strong commitment to the task whether they are beside or on the stage..

The purpose of this thesis is to identify the factors that drive efficiency and effectiveness in technical development projects performed at A?F?s department of product development. In addition to identifying and analyzing these factors, the thesis also analyzes what needs to be taken in to account in order to implement a measurement system that is able to both monitor and control the identified factors.The thesis has been performed in a qualitative manner. It is based on interviews with people from several different technological companies, within different lines of business, all of which are customers to A?F?s department of product development.The results show that there are seven critical factors for project efficiency and effectiveness.