In these days of globalization, with a higher level of openness and interaction over geographical, cultural and economical borders, the importance of the company?s intangible asset, its brand, is gaining importance as a differentiating factor. Building a strong brand and the emphasis on strategic brand management is something that before was given less attention in firms but today we can see a general increase in awareness and relative emphasis in the strategic work of companies.Countries as brands: Is it possible to consider a nation or a country as a brand the same way you consider a product? Well, looking in to the subject it seems to be a rather complex matter and there are many questions to be asked and answer. Nations around the globe are indeed marketing and positioning themselves for several purposes.

In this thesis we have developed a framework of features associated with eCommerce platforms and then defined them. Thanks to our interviews with eCommerce-developers, we have been able to define multiple eCommerce features with the focus on an owner?s perspective. Much of the previous research in the area, takes a user perspective when the functionality of eCommerce-platforms have been assessed and evaluated. We have therefore taken an owner?s perspective in the evaluation of eCommerce platforms and therefore produced a suggested framework with key features associated with the owner's functions.

The aim of this study is to examine how two Kenyan school's approaches gender roles, by what the curriculum says and by how the teachers way of teaching are effecting the creation of gender roles. The aim is further to find out what the Kenyan school settings are, according to gender and equality, and how these are implemented in practice. This was examined through interviews at two local schools in Kenya, with five practicing teachers from grade one through grade six. This work compares the respondents' answers to the research that is related to the topic. Because of lack in the research about Kenya, the research has been based on mostly Swedish investigations.

The focus of this study is on the nature of social support from the rape survivor's perspective. Research has shown that social support is essential to the survivor's ability to recover from rape and that it acts as a powerful tool for the survivor to effectively deal with the PTSD symptoms that follow rape. The research also shows that survivors often receive or interpret reactions after a rape as negative. Hence, these reactions can be detrimental tothe healing process.Qualitative interviews with six women on their experience of social support after rape form the base of this study and Anthony Giddens terms ontological security, fateful moments and bodily self-management are a part of the analytical apparatus. Rape is commonly analyzed from a feminist perspective.

Background: The request for the Reggio Emilia practice has expanded enormously the last couple of years within the Swedish preschools. This particular practice describes the environment as a third educator. This third educator is supposed to work as - not only a tool - but also a support to ease children's learning experiences and help develop their mind. Previous research has shown that design of, for instance, furniture has a way of affecting the children's learning process and development.Aims: The purpose of this study is to see how two different teams of preschool educators on two differed Reggio Emilia inspired preschools work and handle the physical indoor environment. Method: We started out by contacting Reggio Emilia inspired preschools.

The purpose of this thesis was to find out how travel agencies work with relationships to their customers on the Internet. A case study with two companies was conducted, Ticket and Resia. In all four interviews were done, two in every company that served as basis for our conclusions. The study showed that it is important for travel agencies and other types of companies to create awareness of their web site in as many ways as possible and make it easy for the customer to find the web site. The contents on the web site have to be of current interest, it should be well structured and the usage of the web site should be easy.

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.

Background: At this present moment, one of the largest changes in the Swedish employment market is occurring, as the people born in the 1940's are retiring. The Generation Y, people born in the 1980's, will enter. Will this have an affect on motivation and leadership, and in that case, in what way Aim: The purpose of this essay is to investigate whether or not Generation Y (born in the 1980's) has an effect on the perceptions on how to lead and motivate employees. Based on research and our empirical results from qualitative interviews at one of Sweden's largest banks, our research questions are:1. Are executives' and employees' perceptions regarding Generation Y in line with previous research 2.

The purpose of this paper was to investigate how some teachers interpret, teach and assess listening strategies. Our investigation was based on interviews and a questionnaire answered by some year 9 English teachers. Furthermore, the aim was to study whether awareness and teaching of listening strategies are important for teachers in their everyday practice. The results indicate that the teachers interpret listening strategies as purposes for listening, such as listening for detail or the whole. The teachers do not explicitly teach listening strategies, and they do not assess them.

Can landscape architecture be seen as an economical asset rather than as a cost? Can well designed outdoor environments affect real estate values? This study investigates the economical value of landscape architecture and its influence on real estate prices. Research results on the relation between landscape architecture and real estate values are here compiled together with a survey made among players on the Swedish real estate market of their attitudes towards the problem. This study shows that the players on the Swedish real estate market often are unaware of the economical effects of landscape architecture pointed out in the compiled research. The study also shows that to use this information in actual projects several steps need to be taken: better knowledge of the problem, more and better compilations of research results, effective channels to spread the compiled information, proper employment and implementation of the knowledge. Extended knowledge of the relation between landscape architecture and real estate values will result in new ways of making money on outdoor environments. This would in turn have consequences for how the real estate business treat outdoor environments and how landscape architects work. The study is divided into four main questions: 1: Is there a relation between good landscape architecture and real estate prices? 2: What is the view of the players on the real estate market in this matter? 3: Is there more knowledge, research and practical models at hand? 4: What future steps can be taken to broaden the knowledge and apply it to real situations?.

Syftet med vårt examensarbete är att få en inblick i hur lärare agerar och kommunicerar med förskolebarn i åldern ett till tre år om rumsuppfattning i utemiljön. Som metod använder vi oss av kvalitativa intervjuer och observationer för att besvara våra tre frågeställningar. Resultatet visar att lärarnas intresse och kunskap att tolka barnens både verbala och ickeverbala uttryck är en förutsättning för att inspirera till nya läranden om rumsuppfattning. Utemiljöns föränderliga möjligheter inspirerar både barn och lärare i deras kommunikation och utmanar till nya lärande om rumsuppfattning..

This essay is about leadership in libraries within the academic world, i.e. leadership in research libraries. To place our survey in a context we begin the theoretical review with a chapter about organisation theory. We dont think its possible to separate the leader from the organisation so we wanted to describe the organisation and its effect on the leadership. The next theoretical section is about leadership research.

The aim of this Master?s thesis is to investigate the library habits of young people, age 15 to 24. Our empirical data are gathered in a survey distributed to 104 young men and women at three different public libraries. The questions are about how young people use the public library, what media and services they use and whether or not they are content with what the public library can offer them. In our analysis we have compared our results to previous research and used a model by Marianne Andersson and Dorte Skot-Hansen to determine how they use the library.

A lot of various substances can be detected by dogs, as oestrous in cows, endangered species or non-biological substances like accelerants, narcotics, explosives, mines and pollutions and biological substances like identity (suspects), cancer (breast, lung, colorectal and bladder cancer), human remains (cadaver), bacteria and mould in buildings. The dogs are trained using non-scientific methods and not much research in detection training exists. This is a review of different types of dog detection, with focus on new research..

The ambition to use evidence based treatments has spread within the field of Swedish social work. The number of treatments with claim to being evidence based has grown but the research concerning implementation; the procedures being used to introduce new methods in organizations and assure that the method is being used appropriately and continuously, is scarce. The aim of this study was to examine the implementation of Functional Family Therapy (FFT), being an evidence based treatment, in an organization providing social services in the public sector, in Sweden. We used a qualitative research design and conducted interviews with persons involved in the implementation of FFT in the social services in a town in the south of Sweden. We used the practice guidelines provided in Evidence Based Practice (EBP) together with recently published meta- analyses of implementation research, in the field of social work, to examine the implementation of FFT, as being an evidence based treatment.