The executives of a firm possess considerable influence over a company's financial reports. The numbers can be adjusted in a favorable direction by engaging in Earnings Management, which harms the reliability of the financial reporting. Previous research suggests that Earnings Management can differ between genders. In recent years the debate about a woman's role in the business world has received generous attention in media. Moreover, the presence of women in leading positions has become a relevant issue for firms.

In this qualitative study the authors explores, by studying several quality-development models what quality in leadership is. The models are: Total Quality Management; SIQ?s model for customer-oriented organizational development; the EFQM excellence model; the ISO 9000:2000 standard; and Six Sigma. These models will be compared from Deming?s list for upper management; the Situational Leadership Theory; and the Contingency Theory.

In non-profit organizations, surplus of the organization goes back to the organization's members. We have noted that Hyresgästföreningen initiated a change in 2005 when the organization merged its local membership registries to a national registry. There are few studies explaining how non-profit organizations are using management in an organizational change. What happens with the business management at an organizational change that is similar to the change in Hyresgästföreningen? The aim of this thesis is to explore how the governance of a nonprofit organization is changing at an organizational change.

The aim of this study was to investigate how the process of implementing a Quality Management system for food safety was handled in four different food producing companies in Sweden. The aim was also to analyze what difficulties the companies face and the possibilities that arise when certified. Furthermore, the reason for implementation was discussed as well as the main expectations on the certificate. Implementing a Quality Management system is a good way of ensuring the quality and hygiene of the food production and it also increases the traceability of food products through the whole food chain. A food safety standard provides a method of preventing problems and crisis and it can also help to handle requirements from authorities, the market and others.

The purpose of this study was to understand how the concept of quality as an idea was spread to and translated in municipal elderly care. A central question was: How does literature, policy documents and key people describe the function and meaning of the concept of quality? The method of analysis was a qualitative case study with a critical discourse. The theoretical framework of the study is mainly what is known as institutional theory and a line of thought describing how ideas are transferred and spread. The theoretical focus is on how original ideas are interpreted and why they gain a foothold in new contexts.

More than 90 % of all business activity in the world market consists of small and midsized companies today. Recent studies have shown that there has been an increase in small companies? certification to ISO's management standards. Smaller organizations tend to have more limited amounts of resources at their disposal than larger ones. This can result in difficulties during the implementation process of ISO 9001.

The quality of meals is included in the constant improvement of each preschool. The study is carried out on behalf of the City of Malmö and Environmental Management and focuses on this quality work. By compiling a checklist of meal quality and by identifying what the meal quality means for persons working with the meal (managers, cooks, educators and parents), it is our wish that this will be a help in their quality work. To inspire the composition various organizations working methods and ways to manage, evaluate and make use of different models and tools to improve the dining quality, has been studied. In the literature, the work has received confirmation of theories that emerged during the analysis work of what a meal is and how quality can be measured. The results show that food quality is described as a complex concept consisting of different parts, where the food, atmosphere, service, together form the meal quality. The semi-structured interviews and the inquiry form, have given an indication of the preschool work with quality in the meal activities and it shows that on a wide range and large differences.

Today older people?s health and life quality are current topics of conversation in society. The number of old people is increasing and their health is deteriorating, that is why there is a need of new ways of meeting their necessities. In this study we have tried to illustrate heads of districts reasoning concerning pets? significance for old people in special housing.

Restrictions in nature conservations are increasing the influence of forest management. Nobel broadleaved forests are more influenced than other forests, because they are considered to be more valuable than other forest types in Skåne. There has been a lack of knowledge about the amount that is set-aside for nature conservation and what types of forest that is concerned. These are the main questions to be answered in this thesis. Moreover has the timber quality been compared between set-aside and non-set-aside areas since it affect the financial conditions for the forestry in nobel broadleved forests. The last asked question deals with the financial consequences of set-aside.

Abstract. Title: Supply Chain Optimization ? for Sourced Production. Authors: Patricia Möller and Andreas Paulsson. Tutors: Jan Eskil Hollen ? Business Developer, Lilleborg as, Orkla, Everth Larsson ? Department of Industrial Management and Logistics, Division of Engineering Logistics, Lund University, Carl-Henric Nilsson ? Department of Economics and Business Administration, School of economics and management, Lund University.

Quality was earlier only an issue for the company?s quality departments but today is the entire organization involved in quality- and improvements work. With the customers in focus, both external and internal, quality and improvement work should be integrated in the daily activities. The management shall state goals and visions together with a policy. Through participation the correct requirements for a successful work are created.With SPC, statistics process control, there is an opportunity to perceive variations in the process and with the correct tools make it stable.

 There is a lack of research in the field of quality improvement efforts based on profound knowledge in social services. The current situation is therefore a significant knowledge gap in terms of studies of this type of systematic quality work and how it is applied in practice. This study therefore intends to describe Pilbackens quality work and further examine if the profound knowledge is consistent with quality work in microsystems by an analysis of Pilbackens work. The present study has been performed by a qualitative method and the material is collected through semi-structured interviews. In order to analyze the study?s result have profound knowledge and the model microsystems been used.

Purpose: To contribute to the understanding of the relationship between private labels and the retailer brand in grocery retailing. Methodology: We use structured interviews as a cross-sectional method for quantitative data collection. The existence of the relationship is tested through correlation analysis and regression analysis. Theoretical perspective: Perceived quality of private labels and of retailers are the main theoretical concepts for this thesis. Additionally, we introduce the concept of loyalty to show the benefits of a positive consumer image.

Systematic quality work in preschool ? How preschool teachers thinking and working with systematic quality work The purpose of this study was to investigate how Swedish preschool teachers thinking and working with systematic quality work. All Swedish preschools are required to work systematically with quality. This involves several steps that follow each other in a specific order. It includes following up, documenting and evaluating preschool activities.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect that price has on quality expectations and customer satisfaction and how price fits into a customer satisfaction model. An experiment in which participants are subject to scenarios of a high or low quality flight are used to test the hypotheses. The analysis shows that perceived quality has a bigger impact on satisfaction than price. Furthermore, price and quality do not affect customer satisfaction independently of each other. The importance of value compared to quality changes whether the actor is a high or low price actor.