There has been an increase in the importance and amount of information concerning publicly traded stocks in recent years. When analyzing and valuing stocks finding new ways of collecting information has therefore increased in importance. This thesis aims to explore how meetings with management can impact the stock valuation done by the security analysts. Furthermore the case study examines what kind of information analysts can receive by interpreting management at these meetings. This case study of ten Swedish security analysts show that the analyst?s stock valuation is directly or indirectly affected by the meetings.

The study has shown that retailers in the mid-price segment differentiate their brand through developing a strong company identity around the brand. The personality involves store atmosphere, merchandise and advertising. Larger companies have chosen to lay the responsibility on management level, which facilitates on store level. By controlling the strategies on a central level the company can make sure that the stores are steered in the direction that the company wants them to be steered in, and also that they follow the positioning-concept. The company can also devote its efforts to working with its core value, which is service.

This thesis presents a comparative study of image registration at two picture collection libraries. The two registration systems are analyzed as to the theoretical principles behind them and their practical application, and related to theoretical tools for subject analysis and bibliographic standards. While a growing number of picture collections now digitize their material, generally accepted standards and methods for the registration of digital images are still lacking. Many different systems coexist, often developed in-house in response to ad hoc needs and based on traditional registration tools created for textual documents, resulting in internationally incompatible mixed-format systems. The two picture collections examined here, however, have opted for similar, standardized tools for registration and subject analysis, and while there are differences in their application and focus, they have both considered issues of cross-system compatibility.

As the information society becomes increasingly flooded with digital images, the need for efficient image retrieval systems increases as well. To handle the vast amounts of data involved, the indexing process needs to be run automatically, using content-based descriptors extracted directly from the digital image, such as colour composition, shape and texture features. These content-based image retrieval systems are often slow and cumbersome, and can appear confusing to an ordinary user who does not understand the underlying mechanisms. One step towards more efficient and user-friendly retrieval systems might be to adjust the weight placed on various descriptors depending on which image category is being searched for. The results of this thesis show that certain categories of digital images would benefit from having extra weight assigned to colour, texture or shape features when searching for images of that category..

In a comparing survey this thesis investigatesclassification systems for dams in Sweden, Norway,Finland, Switzerland, Canada and USA. Theinvestigation is aiming at an understanding of howpotential consequences of a dam failure are takeninto account when classifying dams. Furthermore,the significance of the classification, regarding therequirements on the dam owner and surveillanceauthorities concerning dam safety is considered andreviewed. The thesis is pointing out similarities anddifferences in the line of dam safety.The survey of dam safety is firstly based upon legalrequirements in the different countries andsecondly on guidelines regarding dam safety. Damowners generally are ultimately responsible for thesafety of their dam, and often have their ownroutines regarding how this safety is to be achieved.In this thesis, however, the legal requirements aremainly focused upon.The investigation has resulted in an outlining ofeight areas, where the classification systems in thevarious countries have been compared.

This report presents a method for modelling a computer system from a security perspective. The questions that are going to be treated are:? What defines a secure system and how does the company relate to these factors?? What are the threats today based on hardware/software, human factors and company routines/policies?? What measures should be taken for the organisation to reach a higher level of security for their systems?? How do we develop a method for classification of security and what components should it contain?? What changes are reasonable and necessary with the respect to the company?s resources?The report has been done through interviews and analysis of existing systems on Fla?kt Woods AB. From analysis of material, the aspects judged relevant to the subject and to the company?s needs, have been compiled to a document.

When the independent upper secondary schools were started in 1992, it meant a change in the competitive relationship for the local upper secondary schools. A reduced number of students during some years ahead, while the number of independent upper secondary schools increase will probably result in tougher competition between upper secondary schools.The purpose of this study is to review and compare financial and performance management between a public and an independent upper secondary school. The dissertation will focus on the now existing competitive relationship between the two types of upper secondary schools.The theory underlying the study is Porter's model - five competitive forces. The model is applied to the local upper secondary school and used to identify competitive factors affecting upper secondary schools. The study is using a qualitative approach with five interviews at two upper secondary schools, one independent and one public, located in the same town.The comparison of financial and operational management of upper secondary schools indicate that the differences are not as great as we first imagined, but that there still are some differences.

A large proportion of businesses around the world is today ISO 9001 certified and is consequently conducting internal audits on a regular basis. It has however not been possible to conclude that internal audits always add value to the organisation, despite the large utilisation of this tool. Some authors, e.g. Alic & Rusjan (2010) and Wealleans (2000), mean that there are possibilities that internal audits may be used as a value-adding improvement tool. This has led to the emergence of this master?s thesis.The purpose of the case study was therefore formulated to examine how internal quality audits can be made more effective and used as an improvement tool.

Respiratory disease with airway inflammation as main characteristic is common in the horse. It is a syndrome that is not yet fully understood. The etiology, pathogenesis and classification into different disease states are subjects for discussion and under continuous revision. Despite a number of modern techniques, the diagnostic procedure is challenging. There is no test considered to be gold standard when diagnosing these diseases.

The relatively poor economy in European dairy farming might be improved from efficient feeding systems and dietary management. Increasing herd sizes and transition to loose housing systems in Sweden, increases the possibilities for other feeding systems than separate feeding that is the traditional feeding system in Sweden. Other possible feeding systems are partial mixed ration (PMR) and total mixed ration (TMR), where the TMR system sometimes is associated with overfeeding and thereby increased environmental impact and high feed cost. Diets providing nutrients above or below animal requirements are considered as unbalanced, which in turn are associated with reductions in health, fertility and milk production. On the other hand, a balanced feed ration improves feed efficiency, nitrogen utilization and profitability.

Kenya is a country of 35 million people and is situated in Eastern Africa. 70% of thepopulation works within the agricultural sector and for many of them food insecurity is amajor problem. Maize and beans are today the staple food for many households. Goodfarming conditions enable two harvests per year and a potential maize yield of 4-5 tons perhectare.A major problem for many farmers in this area is the increase of the weed striga. The weedcauses severe yield losses, and has a major economic impact on smallholders.

Using a feministic perspective and a critical approach, my purpose is to discuss bibliographic classification, a central aspect of Library and Information Science. More specifically, my aim is to demonstrate the norms and the dominating thoughts regarding the organization and representation of knowledge, subjects, and social categories in classification systems. I review previous research involving critical approaches to classification. These show that classification systems are a reflection of the context in which they are created, with the result that universal assumptions can be questioned. Some studies also present problems inherent in hierarchical structures.

The aim of this Master?s thesis is to study the effects that geographical distance have on the control systems in a scattered organization and how this, ultimately, affects the employees in terms of loyalty and motivation. In order to do this, a case study has been conducted on a multinational travel group and its local branches in Thailand. The study is based on a selected number of theories focusing mainly on control systems in multinational contexts as well as on theories regarding communication and autonomy. The conclusion of the study is that geographical distance has led to a rather large autonomy for the local branches and that the headquarter to a large extent rely more on formal control.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the reason behind thedecision by a company regarding the desire to use mobile access to theirERP-system and to discover whether this will involve any loss offunctionally in comparison to using the ERP-system on a computer atthe office. In addition, the pros and cons involved in using mobiledevices for accessing the ERP-system will also be examined. Semistructured telephone interviews were conducted with companies whicheither used or did not use mobile devices in relation to their work. Atelephone interview was also conducted with a consultant who isworking with the implementation of ERP-systems and mobile solutions.The survey showed that companies with staff working in the field assellers, service personnel and construction workers want to gain directaccess to their ERP-system so as to be able to act directly and takedecisions, to have the ability to provide more efficient order processingand to send out invoices more quickly. Those companies which have notopted to use mobile devices at work within this field are those whichare unsure of the connection to the Internet and the capacities availablewithin cellphones.

The study has shown that retailers in the mid-price segment differentiate their brand through developing a strong company identity around the brand. The personality involves store atmosphere, merchandise and advertising. Larger companies have chosen to lay the responsibility on management level, which facilitates on store level. By controlling the strategies on a central level the company can make sure that the stores are steered in the direction that the company wants them to be steered in, and also that they follow the positioning-concept. The company can also devote its efforts to working with its core value, which is service.