Several studies have investigated the relationship between different measures of innovative activity, such as patent statistics and R&D expenditures and some have looked deeper into the differences between large and small firms regarding number of patents issued per employee or per R&D dollar. In this paper, the objective is to find out if there are any indications of a barrier to entry (due to economical factors, lack of knowledge etc) for small firms to get into the field of patent handling. The approach is to first set up a hypothesis based on some simple assumptions about how firms would make decisions about whether to apply for a patent or not and thereafter use econometric methods in an empirical investigation. The data used for this study are figures on number of employees, number of patents granted and R&D expenditures for the Swedish firms in the pulp and paper industry. The main conclusion is that, based on the analysis of the data from this rather limited group of firms, no such barrier can be seen..

In  the  constantly  changing working  life  of  today, where  emphasis  on  human  capital  grows stronger,  the  importance  of  recruiting  and  retaining  good  staff  increases.  Successful recruitment  requires  a  first-rate  recruitment  process.  In  literature  on  recruitment recommendations for successful recruitment are presented.   The  aim  of  this  study  is  to  describe  similarities  and  differences  between  these recommendations and Svenska Spel?s recruitment practice on the basis of a description of the recruitment process at AB Svenska Spel, and also to identify possible reasons for differences between theory and practice.  To  meet  the  purpose  of  this  study  literature  and  scientific  reports  have  been  studied. Interviews  with  five  HR-specialists  and  four  managers  have  also  been  conducted.  The recruitment process is therefore described out of the employer?s point of view.

Networking is an important part, for organizations, in the recruitment process. This since the emergence of Internet networking has become more common and the organizations finds that networking is applied more frequently in the recruitment process. Organizations have noticed that networking often is a more cost efficient option compared to traditional recruitment. Since networking in the recruitment process has increased, we intend to investigate if and how it affects the composition of organizations. This thesis aims to examine networking in the recruiting process, and aims to make no differences between networking offline and online.

The purpose of this study explains the relationship between corporate governance and the auditor's role in Swedish family firms with the definitions micro, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and how this relationship is affected by the firms strategy. The study is based on a survey sent out to 3000 Swedish SMEs, of which 280 responses from family firms could be used. Our findings showed that the auditor in the family firms didn?t have a specific role or contributed added value to the firm, and that the strategy didn?t affect the outcome. Furthermore, we found correlation between the perceptions of the auditor's role and added value depending on the family firms type of corporate governance.

Background and problem:Theory and literature in the field of board recruitment are limited. The theory and literature that existed focused primarily on the recruitment of senior management and CEO. It was identified that no one had examined the factors that influence the recruitment of board members. The underlying factors might cause the board recruitment is not done from a purely efficiency perspective and therefore it is of interest to be examined.Purpose:The purpose of this thesis is to examine and give an insight into the underlying factors affecting the choice of new directors in large Swedish companies.Method:The thesis has had a deductive approach and been based on existing theory and literature to explain the factors that affect board recruitment. The study was quantitative and the sample consisted of all the major Swedish listed companies.Results and conclusions:The survey indicated that board members ethnicity and number of other board assignments were factors that influenced the board recruitment.

Title: Who are you? A study on companies reviewing of Facebook profiles.  Social media has opened up new possibilities in recruitment situations in forms of background checks on social networks such as facebook. Even though there are many advantages, there are few recruitment workers who choose to embrace the possibilities with social networking..

Social inequality, economic imbalances and greenhouse gas emissions are some of the greatest risks threatening society today. Society has become more aware of these risks and has started to demand firms to take more responsibility. During the last 30 years firms and mainly large firms has chosen to work with something called CSR. CSR stands for Corporate Social Responsibility which is the work firms engage with to take responsibility for environment and society as a whole. Scientists and business people has taken two sides towards CSR, one side argues that CSR cost more than it tastes and the other side argues that firms which engage with CSR will gain economic benefits.

Leaders have many tools in their toolbox when it comes to managing their firms, assuring that they are moving in the right direction. One of these tools is vision. Vision can be a powerful tool for steering a company. But to be able to use it fully, you must also understand how vision is best conveyed to employees and followers. If you understand the vision as a tool, you can fully utilize it.

There will be changes in the accounting regulations in Sweden. Firms will be categorised as K1-K4 firms depending on the size of the company. There will be different levels of accounting in the four categories. Firms will always have the possibility to choose a more advanced accounting regulation than the one they are obligated to due to their size. The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate which factors that influence the management in K3 firms in the choice between the K3 and K4 regulation.

Purpose - To analyze the relationship between supply chain management maturity, supply chain performance and financial performance in small and medium-sized enterprises (SME:s).Design/methodology/approach - The data comprises 15 SME:s that participated in a local logistic study in Gävleborgs län. The levels of supply chain mature within these firms were based upon an interview study and the financial performance of the firms was then examined using financial reports-based data.Findings -The results of this study indicate that there is a strong relationship between SCM maturity and SC performance in SMEs, some relationships between SCM maturity and financial performance, as well as some relationships between SC performance and financial performance. This means that if firms use maturity indicators in the SCOR areas to improve their processes, they will most likely achieve a positive effect on supply chain performance and probably also on financial performance. The result implies that the supply chain maturities in these firms are higher than expected with no one at the adHoc level.While this study is based on a rather small number of participating firms, it would be valuable to further test the significance of the indicated correlations between SCM maturity and performance in a large-scale survey.Research limitations/Implications - The research is an attempt to understand supply chain maturity and it´s implication on financial performance. Developing supply chain maturity is an opportunity for a company to gain superior performance.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the determinants of capital structure in Swedish small and medium sized firms. The study includes 24.859 Swedish firms which are further analyzed with regards to their financial characteristics. These characteristics consist of short term debt, long term debt and total leverage. The study compares the relationship between these characteristics and six independent variables.The result shows that profitability is the greatest determinant for capital structure in Swedish small and medium sized firms with regards to total leverage. When profitability increases the total leverage of the firm decreases.

There are many different forms of financing for small businesses and two common financing options mentioned in the study, bank loans and Venture Capital.Venture Capital is a form of risk capital financing, investing in unlisted stock market. The feature of the arrangement is that those people are trying to find companies that can offer unique, attractive and in demand products on a strong growing market. Since VC-firms are taking a big risk in cooperation with the investment, the VC-company strong demands while assessments are made on the company will generate a return in the future.Bank loans are the most common form of financing for companies in the market. Requirements and assessment under the law is hard especially for small businesses because financing entails high risks. Banks require that the liquidity management in the enterprise should be stable because the bank's main objective is to repayment of debt and the interest payable on the capital.The purpose of this study is to examine the requirements and assessments VC-firms and banks make use of the financing of small businesses. .

In this paper we investigate 67 Swedish buyouts in the manufacturing and retailing sector between the years 2004-2012. The purpose is to measure changes in a set of financial key ratios to see if private equity firms are able to improve performance in their portfolio companies compared to a peer group consisting of other firms within the same industries. Furthermore, we examine if there is a difference in the change of the financial key ratios between private equity-owned firms in the two sectors. The key results are that the private equity owned firms have not outperformed their peers with respect to the chosen key ratios. We also conclude that there is no significant difference in the change of the financial key ratios between private equity-owned firms in the two sectors..

In order to attract talented consultants, Sigma, a consultant company, wanted an online game for recruitment. In the game, potential employees? skills could be tested to determine whether they are qualified for the job. This paper presents a general technique for creating such a recruitment game. The report generalizes the recruitment game to a level-based game for the web, where a player should be able to progress from one level to the next by solving a given problem.

The purpose of this essay was to find out how leaders in micro service firms practice HRM and identify which HRM related problems they experience in their leadership. A case study consisting two cases was carried out. The study has shown that leaders in micro service firms use a highly personalised, informal management and involve their employees in the firm?s development. The findings were that leaders of micro service firms do not have any theoretical knowledge of HRM practises because of lack of education.