Today in Sweden, apples are mostly cultivated for direct consumption, i.e. dessert apples. Apple breeding aims at developing cultivars with new and improved qualities in order to meet the demands of different target groups and to increase the interest in apples on the market. Different target groups have different views on the qualities of an apple. The consumer, for instance, wants an apple that is tasty and beautiful, while the grower, in addition, wants an apple cultivar that is healthy, has good winter hardiness and a predictable, annual productivity.

The behaviour of consumers has changed rapidly during the last decade, and a healthy lifestyle and an environmental mindset has become part of everyday life. This is also something that has become prominent in the supermarkets, where the organic products are increasingly winning shelf space. Several consumer behaviour studies have shown that the attitudes towards organic products and labels are predominantly positive. According to traditional marketing theory, these kind of attitudes should affect consumers? purchase intentions in a positive manner, as well as the actual purchase behavior.

Within the interconnected global markets of today; people, products, and information travel at a pace never met before. In light of the global retail markets recent integration, consumers are opened up to new products and are beginning to develop a vetted interest in the heritage of those products. Within literature this process has been coined "Country of Origin" COO, and its impacts on consumer attitudes, product value- assessment, and overall behaviors has been one of the most emphasized areas of "international business" studies, during the last three decades. Numerous studies have shown a correlation between positive or advantageous associations to a country of origin, and the actual products representing and coming out of that country. It is by this synergetic process that so-called positive COO-effects are brought forth.The goal of this thesis stems directly from the still unexplored potential for Swedish firms to differentiate their products and brands on new international markets, through a strategic and coherent communication of relevant Swedish COO-effects.

To act responsible in relation to environmental, economic and social issues is a trend that is spreading among businesses and their investors. In order to assess business risks, ethical interested investors are calling for open, honest, clear CSR information that can be followed up in corporate sustainability reports. The ability to communicate about risks and to meet investors requests already in the business analytic process can save resources and increase the company?s profitability.The idea that companies should take responsibility for their impact on society from economic, environmental and social perspective is called Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR. In addition to CSR, there is another three-letter abbreviation in this context, PRI ? Principles for Responsible Investment ? which are principles, signed by ethically interested investors.

The aim of the study was to compare productivity in first thinning of birch stands, when either energy- or pulpwood was harvested. The systems total profitability was also compared by including forwarding and chipping costs. A Gremo 950 HPVR harvester was used and the same driver was used under the entire study. During the pulpwood harvest a Logmax 4000b harvester head was used and a feller buncher head made by Silvatec was used during the energy wood harvest. Six study unit pairs were located in a birch dominated stand outside Ängelholm in Skåne.

Research issue: The transition from Basel II to Basel III becomes consuming for banks, financially. But Basel III should be profitably for financial market economy. Risks in the financial world is very complex. Is Basel III is sufficient to manage risk and future crisesPurpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the application of Basel II and the transition to Basel III in Sweden with the banking system in focus.Method: The study has a qualitative research methodology for the collection of empirical data. The study is based on interviews with four large banks of Sweden (Swedbank, SEB, Nordea, Handelsbanken) and with Finansinspektionen.

Bakgrund: Detaljhandeln har under de senare decennierna genomgått en förändring där större kedjor tar allt mer plats. Den levande debatten om vikten av småföretagandet i Sverige gör att frågan väcks om vad som händer med småföretagen i detaljhandelns utveckling. Samverkan kan vara ett sätt för småföretagen att konkurrera mot de större aktörerna. Småföretagaren beskrivs inte sällan ha en önskan om att arbeta självständigt och en stark vilja om hur det egna företaget ska drivas. Då två av tre småföretag ändå väljer att regelbundet samarbeta med andra företag är det av intresse att undersöka vad småföretagen har för motiv till samverkan.Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka varför småföretag väljer att ingå organiserad samverkan.

In a time when milk producing farm businesses face decline in profitability it is of great importance to examine how the situation can be improved. This thesis is a study off efficiency in milk producing farm businesses represented by Swedish, Dutch and German farms. The aim of this study is to investigate whether any differences exist between companies in these countries. Moreover, the study includes a mapping of a number of factors that determine how efficient milk production can be managed. This mapping is based on a literature review on prior efficiency studies followed by qualitative interviews with milk production advisors as well as a questionnaire sent out to dairy farmers in Sweden.

Purpose:Our purpose with this essay was to see how a health promotion initiative could be profitability and how human resource cost accounting could be used for decision making. Does it cost more than it taste? Method:We have been using qualitative interviews with politicians, human health developerand accountants in a municipality. We have also collected data from a university lecturer which shows numbers from the health promotion initiative and how it is been affecting the involved staff. Result:The result show us that the politicians, human health developer and accountants all want to introduce physical exercising at work.

This report presents an investment calculation based on an assumed initial investment of a new saw line to an existing sawmill. In order to get as close to reality as possible, we have received data material from northern forest owners who recently made an initial investment in their sawmill in Kåge. In order to calculate and evaluate investments are several different methods, but we, we have chosen to use the discounted cash flow method. The method sums up with the help of a fixed cost of capital together with any future costs and revenues, thereby giving a present value of the investment. We also do a sensitivity analysis to examine how selected factors affect the investment research they change. The study is carried out to a fictitious investment, and therefore the result should not only be studied as a result of the figures. The purpose of this study was that with the help of an investment calculation studying the profitability of a hypothetical investment, and by means of a sensitivity analysis to study the sensitivity of investment to changes. The result demonstrates that the calculations according to the present value method requires a lot of information of the prospective investment.

Ravelsmarks gård have now reached the stage when there are few options for the future. The options are either a construction of completely new farm buildings or a winding up of the milk production. Present on the farm today there is 65 dairy cows plus recruitment. 44 cows stand in long-stalls and 20 cows stand in short-stalls. The objective of this study was to examine the profitability of a completely new cowshed. In order to get costs for investments different milking systems and equipment for feedstuff have been compared. The systems in the investment budget have been chosen on recommendations from advisers, salesmen and on the basis on what is suitable for the farm. One system where a so-called mix feeder wagon is used for the roughage seemed to be best suited for Ravelsmark. The different prices obtained for the manure well show that there are possibilities to decrease the investment costs.

This paper includes astudy of the mutual fund market investors during a selected timeperiod. The reader is given a descriptive picture of how people in different age groups have  acted  in  conjunction  with  the  last  major  financial  crisis.  It  has  been  studied whether people in the different age categories have saved,purchased or sold during this time  period  based  on  theories  and  analytic  material  from  one  of  the  largest  fund operators in Sweden. The result enlightens people?s activity and risk appetite in relation to the fund market. The essay results in an explanation of the underlying cause of the behavior        of         the         people         in         the         different         age         categories.The paper assumes that the market is cyclical and that more crises will occur in the future.

Denna uppsats behandlar kommunal samhällsplanering, med fokus på handelsetableringar. Uppsatsen tar avstamp i den utveckling med externalisering och koncentration av detaljhandeln som pågått under de senaste decennierna. Denna utveckling är såväl lokal som regional och har inneburit att detaljhandeln koncentrerats till centralorternas stadskärnor och externa stormarknader. Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka vilken aktör som bestämmer över denna utveckling. De aktörer som undersöks är dagligvaruhandeln och samt kommuner.

Thesis purpose: The aim of this paper is to extend the knowledge of what influences the purchase decision of functional food in the store. By applying the M-R model in a new setting - the dairy department in grocery retailing in Sweden - and adding variables related to health attitudes, the aim is to contribute to existing research concerning in-store purchase decision making and store environment as well as consumer attitudes. Methodology: This thesis employs a quantitative strategy with a deductive approach and data has been collected with questionnaires. Theoretical perspective: Environmental psychology serves as an overarching framework where, more specifically, certain aspects of store atmospherics and some variables concomitant to health attitudes provide the theoretical base. Empirical data: The empirical data consists of customer purchasing a functional food product, Proviva, and this is contrasted with a test group, Bravo.

Inspired by the current debate over the effectiveness of Public Relations (PR), the authors of the following thesis have sought to analyze how PR and advertising differ in terms of how they affect consumers. The subject of the thesis was chosen due to the lacking knowledge of how PR shapes consumer attitudes and intentions. The authors wish to upset the institutionalized myths which dominate in the PR-business. One example of such a myth is that the effectiveness of PR can be measured by the number of press releases an activity produces and that PR?s superiority over advertising is due to its higher trustworthiness.