The characteristic of services as an effort carried out in a "moment of truth" implies a risk for failures. This study sheds new light on how alternative offerings that customers are initially exposed to can affect satisfaction and loyalty in the service failure and recovery context. More specifically, two aspects of the initial offering are studied: promised general service quality and the presence of a promise about a specific product attribute. Based on a presentation of the main theoretical perspectives, hypotheses are formulated and a scenario-based experiment in a hotel setting is designed to explore these. The results indicate that a higher level of promised service quality can result in more positive evaluations of satisfaction and stronger word-of-mouth intentions than for a lower level of promised service quality.

This paper examines the relationship between the experienced quality in the offering of a brand, emotional attachment and consumer commitment. The study aim to explore several dimensions of the experienced quality in the offering of a brand. Further we examine two conceptualizations of emotional attachment - Brand Attachment and Brand Love - and intend to declare the two of being two separate phenomena. We then conduct a relationship-based analysis wherein the mediating ability of Brand Attachment and Brand Love, between the experienced quality in the offering of a brand and consumer commitment, is examined. Therefore we conduct a focused quantitative study, wherein 171 customers of the fashion retailer H&M have responded to a comprehensive survey both online and in-store, to examine this fun-damental relationship and its components.

Improved wireless datacommunication with the forest machines might be the next big step in the logging process. The use for wireless communicationsystems within the forestry is among other things to report the production from the forest machines, to supply the machine opera-tors with the right information and for safety. CDMA2000/ 450 is a third generation mobilecommunicationsystem which could replace the old NMT- 450 and for comparatively low costs. The reason for the low costs is that you only have to use the old NMT- 450 masts and supply them with new equipment. In the test of CDMA2000/450, that has taken place in northern Uppland, two kind of files have been sent.

Purpose ? The purpose of this thesis is to develop a total cost model for container transports and create a tool that calculates a suitable transport quantity from an economic view, which fulfills the demands on delivery service. To achieve this purpose the following questions will be answered:Which costs are affected by the decision between the two transport alternatives LCL and FCL?   How does the decision of sending product LCL or FCL influence the delivery service?  How can a tool be constructed to simplify the decision-making process regarding the choice of sending products LCL or FCL?  Method ? A total cost model was developed. This model is supported from existing literature.

The purpose of this study was to describe how women with fibromyalgia experienced their quality of life. The method used was a literature study with a descriptive design. The search for scientific articles was done by the databases Academic Search Elite, CINAHL, Medline via PubMed and Cohrane Library. The articles were quality-tested and the content studied, resulting in four categories as follows. Research involving the physical aspects of the quality of life showed that sleeplessness, tiredness and pain was commonly occurring symptoms in women?s daily life which affected their life-situation.

Denna uppsats är en fallstudie som går ut på att beskriva företaget Icehotel AB och hur de gått tillväga för att bli ett attraktivt turistmål och framgångsrikt företag.Vi har genomfört en kvalitativ undersökning där vi intervjuat företagets VD Yngve Bergqvist samt kunder som besökt Icehotel. I resultatet redovisas svaret från dessa intervjuer.Vi har valt att lägga tyngdpunkten på marknadsföringen av Icehotel och hur de lyckats nå ut till människor från hela världen. I teoridelen tar vi upp Turistmarknadsföringens 8 P och Attraktionsutveckling. I analysen tillämpar vi sedan dessa på företaget.I slutsatsen diskuterar vi kring hur Icehotel gått tillväga för att bli ett framgångsrikt företag. Vi tar upp promotion av företaget, samarbetspartners samt den professionella marknadssegmenteringen..

ABSTRACTBackground: To be stricken with a cardiac infarction is among other things linked to different risk factors.  Many studies show that the participants in cardiac rehabilitation programs learn to deal with the risk factors, increase their quality of life and lessen the risk for re-infarction.Objective: To describe the lifestyle and perceived quality of life of the individuals after having participated in cardiac rehabilitation program and to see if they had maintained their results up to a year after having a cardiac infarction.Method: The 19 individuals who had participated in cardiac rehabilitation in 2010 after having had a cardiac infarction were asked to participate in the study. Everyone agreed to participate. The study was made analyzing the surveys, one a locally made, that the individuals had filled out four and eight months after cardiac infarction, and the other the generic Quality of life questionnaire EQ-5D, that the individuals had filled out two and twelve months after cardiac infarction. Result: The individuals have not changed their lifestyle after having participated in cardiac rehabilitation which can be interpreted that they have followed existing recommendations. The mean weight increased with one kilogram, no depression is shown and they stress less.

The rise in prevalence and severity of obesity and related diseases imposes increasing costs on society. The objective of this thesis is to discuss and estimate the possible effects of a so-called fat tax as a tool for minimizing these costs. Two alternatives for differentiation of the value-added tax (VAT) on food are compared. The first alternative is an increase of the VAT levied on food containing saturated fatty acids. The second alternative is a subsidy on fruit and vegetables in the form of a VAT at zero percent, instead of today?s twelve percent.

In order to measure the quality of the logs, one can with help of Fast Fourier Transform technique get the signals resonance peaks. With help of these peaks you can see whether the quality of a tree is good or bad. This report contains the work of a where a program has been developed to be able to process a vibration created by an automatic hammer hitting on a log of wood. From the processed signal the program should be able to show both the raw wavesignal and the processed measured data from the resonance peaks. Beyond the raw wavesignal and resonance peaks the program should also be able to control the automatic hammer.

The Thesis purpose is in the context of system development validate the Scrum Methodology. Projects concerning information technology are difficult to manage and tend to fail in quality, time or costs. Scrum presents a new view of the system development. Better cooperation between customers and developers, continuous follow-up on daily basis and extensive communication in the development team are all characteristics of Scrum. Scrum is described as a new paradigm by its founders but has been criticized by experts of system development too.

Nowadays the majority of the thinnings made in Swedish forests are done by machines, harvesters and forwarders. The most common model in thinning with a harvester is strip-road operated thinning and stand-operated thinning with one intermediate passage between the strip-roads. This study is a time study with some quality follow ups on a strip-road operated thinning model, a stand-operated thinning model with one intermediate passage between the strip-roads and a stand-operated thinning model with two intermediate passages between the strip-roads. The machines in the study were a small harvester (Forestline MPM C90) and a medium sized forwarder (Timberjack 1110). The study was made in Litsnäset outside the city of Östersund in Sweden and was made during the autumn 2007. In a lodgepole pine stand six study units (0,6 ha) were thinned with the three different models, two study units per model.

Data retrieved from airborne laser scanning represents a new source of forest data. Today, the technology has matured so that it can function in an operational environment. The aim of this study was to compile areas of application of laserdata in forestry. Moreover to analyze costs and accessibility of laserdata. The goal was to provide private forest owners information to support assessments of possible benefits of laserdata.

In order to produce grain in an economically rational manner numerous decisions have to be made. One of these decisions is what tillage system to use. The cost of the tillage system is a large part of the total cost in grain production. Different tillage systems result in different distribution of fixed costs, operating costs and timeliness costs. The price of the produced grain and cost of inputs also affect the best way to produce grain.

Background: An accountant is supposed to secure that the information from a company is true and fair. Recently consulting, or giving advice, has grown to be a major part of an accountants daily work particularly in smaller companies which may have insufficient financial competence themselves. This means that an accountant occupies two parts, as an independent reviewer and as an initiated advisor, which have caused controversy. Purpose: The purpose is to outline and explain how the accountants and audit customers regard an eventual discrepancy between performing the audit and consulting, and to give suggestions how to manage this. The purpose is also to define what customers perceive as quality in consulting an auditor.

Aim: To investigate the quality of life and the social life situation, with special focus on the consequenses of fear of hypoglycemia (FoH), in Islet transplanted patients.Method: 11 patients were included, four women and seven men, who have been Islet tranplanted at Uppsala University Hospital during the years 2001-2009. Two questionaires, Short Form 36 (SF-36) and the Swedish version Hypoglycemia Fear Survey (Swe-HFS) were used to investigate the quality of life, in relation to fear of hypoglycemia. Also, telephone interviews were conducted to investigate the patients social life situation in relation to FoH, after Islet transplantation and were analysed using content analysis method.Results: The mean value for quality of life was lower than that in the normal population. Three out of ten patients experienced FoH. Three predominant themes were revealed, one theme associated with pre- transplant, was ?Struggle for control of Social Life Situation? and two themes associated with post-transplant, were ?Regain power and controll of  Social Life Situation? and ?At Peace with the balance between the Present and the Future?.Conclusion: The patients experienced improved control over social life situation and quality of life in relation to FoH may been improved following islet tranplantation..