The thesis explores the meaning of the concept "children's best" in relation to the social Swedish parental insurance debate from a post-structuralist view. The main material has been taken from daily news papers and the methodological as well as theoretical basis is provided for by Laclau & Mouffes discourse theory. In particular has the concept "empty signifiers" been of use when investigating "children's best" as a strong argument on both the "pro" and "against" sides of the debate of an individualized parental insurance. The theoretic purpose of the thesis is also to examine the poststructuralist/feminist dilemma in order to approach a more pragmatic and useful model of the two combined provided by Alcoff and Fraser. One conclusion is that "children's best" may never have an objective answer and will be a changing concept in time, ideology preference and discoursive field.

Purpose                           The purpose of this study is to create an understanding of how e-commerce companies use loyalty programs in order to retain their customers and to increase its consumption, and compare this with customer perceptions of loyalty and learn what makes them loyal. Theoretical framework      The theoretical framework starts with definitions of loyalty and customer loyalty. Further, it discusses what a loyalty program is, how rewards today and in the future affect the consumers, and other promotion offers that are commonly used. The theory also discusses how previous points work in e-commerce. Method                                                    To take advantage of the companies? point of view and at the same the customers? perspective, the survey is based on a combination of a qualitative and quantitative study. In the study, two companies in the fashion industry were interviewed and 391 respondents participated. Empirical study                 In the empirical study the interviews with the two e-commerce companies are first presented, which revolves around their use of loyalty program.

Active environmental activity?? a comparative study of the municipalities environmental activityThesis in Political Science D-Level at Karlstad University byJenny Ljung Spring 2008Tutor: Michelle MichelletiThe threat against our climate is one of our biggest challenges today. The awareness of the problem has grown rapidly for the last years in governments on international, national and regional level. The Swedish government is recognized as one of the leading countries in the climate and environmental work internationally. The Swedish municipalities play a big role in this successful work.

This thesis discusses the global regime complex concerning the management of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, and how different regimes concerning these resources cooperate or stand in opposition to each other. Because of changes in US patent law and the establishment of TRIPS, patent claims over plant genetic resources has increased dramatically globally. This, amongst other things, in turn has lead to the development of CBD which in turn lead to the creation of access and benefit laws in many countries. To create a free flow of genetic resources for food and agriculture the ITPGRFA, with its multilateral system, were negotiated. The aim of this thesis is to investigate which consequences the regime complex concerning plant genetic resources for food and agriculture can have on the rights of small farmers, agricultural research and food security in the global South.

Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka finansiella institutioners syn på hävstångsinstrument och utifrån detta utreda om instrumenten är ett bra investeringsalternativ för småsparare.Metod: Uppsatsen har en kvalitativ inriktning då tre intervjuer har genomförts för att besvara syftet. De finansiella institutionerna som intervjuades är Handelsbanken, CMC Markets och SIP Nordic fondkommission. Vidare har studien en deduktiv infallsvinkel där teorier används som grund för det empiriska materialet. Utifrån intervjuer och tidigare studier har en slutsats sedan utformats för att besvara syftet. Resultat & Slutsats: Uppsatsens resultat talar för att hävstångsinstrumenten är ett bra alternativ för småsparare som är intresserade, risktoleranta och aktivt söker kunskap.

Tillgänglighet handlar om rätten att kunna delta. Att kunna utöva sina medborgerliga rättigheter och skyldigheter. Att ha samma möjligheter som alla andra. Tillgänglighet är därmed en fråga om respekt. I ett otillgängligt samhälle respekteras inte den grundläggande principen om allas lika värde.

Denna uppsats behandlar små och medelstora fastighetsföretags möjligheter att finansiera sigmed lånat kapital, till belåningsgrader som ligger högre än de som de traditionella bankerna vill låna ut till. Uppsatsen syftar till att kartlägga vilka finansieringsalternativ som finns på den  svenska  kapitalmarknaden  för  små  och  medelstora  fastighetsföretag  och  hur  dessa finansieringsalternativ kan utvecklas.Studien har en kvalitativ ansats. Kartläggningen baseras dels på sekundära källor, och dels på information  tillskansad  genom  intervjuer  med   personer   verksamma  inom   fastighets- finansiering, fastighetsägande eller inom akademin.Bland de alternativa finansieringsformerna på kapitalmarknaden för denna typ av företag finns  främst  mezzaninfinansiering  och  obligationsfinansiering.  Mezzaninfinansiering  är skulder som upptas med sämre säkerhetsläge än normala banklån.   Obligationsfinansiering upptas  på  kapitalmarknaden  genom  att  skulder  tas  upp  från  aktörerna  på  marknaden. Säljarreverser,  tilläggsköpeskilling,  banklån  med  hög  amorteringstakt  samt  kapital  från medinvesterare  är  andra  former  av  alternativa  finansieringsformer  som  förekommer  på marknaden, och som företag med framgång kan använda sig av i vissa situationer.Efterfrågan  av  alternativa  finansieringsformer  är  stor.  I  studien  menas  att  mezzanin- finansiering är den av de alternativa finansieringsformerna på kapitalmarknaden som fungerar bäst. Marknaden förväntas dock kunna utvecklas och det bedöms finnas plats för fler aktörer.

Based on phenomenological hermeneutics and narrative theory the study explored how parents experience and create meaning when the child receives the diagnosis of autistic disorder. Interviews were conducted with eight parents and the analysis concerned both contents and form in their stories. The resulting aspects of the contents is presented in seven areas: stories about the time before the diagnosis, seeking help, receiving the diagnosis, the meaning of the diagnosis, coping, living with autism and stories about the future. The six resulting aspects of form included: chronology of the stories, creating order out of chaos, cultural norms, rewriting the story about the child, aspects of metaphors and changing perspective. The conclusion of the study is that the diagnosis serves as a way for the parents to transform experiences into a meaningful whole.

Tourism in the Arctic and Antarctic is increasing rapidly. In both Polar Regions, the cruise tourism is predominant. Several of the tour operators arrange trips under the banner of ecotourism, meaning that the trips should be ecologically sustainable. To ensure ecotourism standards there are different types of certifications; for cruise travels in the Arctic there is AECO (the Association of Arctic Expedition Cruise Operators) certification, and for travels to the Antarctic IAATO (the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators). Promoters of ecotourism argue that these trips are important because they create support for conservation work among tourists making them ?polar ambassadors?.

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.

This essay illustrates the rules and procedures when it comes to inclusive labor markets. In Sweden we have a labor market program called entry-level jobs, which makes it easier for immigrants to get work since our public employment agency pay remuneration to the employers.In this essay I am answering the following questions:How does the work of our public employment agency and trade union looks like before, during and after an employee has gotten a subsidized employment called entry-level job, and in which way can this work be improved if necessary?How extensive do entry-level jobs contribute to increased integration and establishment on the labor market for newly arrived immigrants?How does the Swedish measure on entry-level jobs approach within the scope of European regulations about measures for inclusive labor market?To find answers to my questions I have used social science methodology and juridical method. I have performed document studies and interviews with concerned parts.The conclusion of above subordinated questions is that we need to extend the Swedish laws covering entry-level jobs so that the concerned parts know which assignments they will be responsible for when problems emerge on a workplace.When it comes to if entry-level jobs contribute to increase integration and establishment on the labor market it seems to be more important to integrate the immigrants quickly, and with which quality it is made does not seems to matter. The public employment agency has to emphasize the importance of Swedish language so that the employees can be independent from authorities in the future.

There seems to be a consensus in the world that the climate is changing, bringing unpredictable and severe consequences for both humans and nature. The feld of social work is known for helping misfortunate individuals and groups, and is said to deal with people in their environments. Yet there seems to be a lack of giving these environments meaning as also something natural. This thesis has the purpose of exploring the connection between social work and the physical environment made by research literature, using the methodology of literature review. The questions asked is in which ways the physical environment can be connected to human welfare; if so, what implications are there for the feld of social work, and fnally how can the discussion be understood using a typology over environmental sustainability presented by Andrew Dobson.

This two years master?s thesis in Library and Information Science examines book reviews and articles aboutbooks and authorship in media directed to children between the ages of 8 and 14. The aim is to increase knowledgeof children?s reading choices and view of reading. This is motivated by the decrease in literacy and sparetime reading among Swedish children and adolescents.

Title: Culture?s Affect on the Determinants of Customer Satisfaction in Retailing: The Case of a European Retailer in the U.S. and China Date of the Seminar: 29th of May 2007 Course: BUS 809 Master thesis in International Marketing Authors: Lisa Bustamante Chesley Norman Charlotte Valind Advisors: Johan Anselmsson Cecilia Cassinger Keywords: International Retailing, Determinants of Customer Satisfaction, Culture, United States, China Thesis purpose: Our study aims to identify the determinants of customer satisfaction of two national cultures in a global retail setting, in order to clarify what role culture has, if any, in customers? satisfaction with an international retailer. Further, this will uncover if a Western perspective of determinants of satisfaction is a universal means of capturing what satisfies customers across cultures in a retail setting.

Demand has become increasingly difficult to forecast in today?s volatile markets. Being able to produce towards real demand is becoming vital for companies, since inventories of finished goods are expensive to maintain and because miscalculated products tie up capital that in the end is never repaid. More and more companies are using postponement strategies to delay the process of producing until real demand has become known. Tooling Support Halmstad is a company within the manufacturing industry, which has become aware of the benefits with postponement strategies for parts of their production.