Sweden has had statutory audit, which also includes a management audit, for all companies since 1988. A legislative proposal now suggests that the statutory audit shall be abolished for all small and medium sized companies starting on July 1, 2010. The aim for this master?s thesis is therefore to study how the service of auditing will be affected by the legislative proposal. To answer the research question the authors have taken on a qualitative approach and fifteen interviews with representatives for different Swedish auditing firms have been completed.

Service Design is a relatively new, unexplored and exciting phenomenon that through an interdisciplinary work methodology designs services. A discussion has been going on for a long time regarding whether there is a difference between products and services. Services are often classified as immaterial, heterogeneous, non-storable and inseparable in relation to products. A question that arises is if something specific characterises the work methodology used regarding service design. The aim with this paper is thus to explain the work methodology when working with service design.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine how the public libraries work towards SFI (Swedish For Immigrants) based on the views of the overseeing librarians. To study this we have asked the following research questions:What distinguishes the public libraries? work towards SFI according to the responsible librarians? What distinguishes the communication between SFI teachers and the librarians according to the responsible librarians? What opinions are held by the librarians in regards to their work with SFI?We have used a semi structured interview method with seven librarians in charge of the activities with SFI at small and medium sized public libraries in a rural area of Sweden. The theoretical framework is composed of Marianne Andersson and Dorte Skot-Hansen?s model for analysis of the local public library profile and the authors? definition of collaboration.

The Swedish boat industry is considered quite conservative and subject to only limited development. The purpose of the study is to explain the structure of the boat industry, to analyze and evaluate ways of competing and provide recommendations for developing a competitive strategy. The aim of this thesis is to explain how to be competitive in the Swedish boat industry. To be able to do so three areas are used to deepen as well as broaden the understanding. The three areas within competitiveness we have chosen to highlight are differentiation, individualization and distribution.

Sweden experienced a decline in exports of 16 percent in the period after the financial crisis. The decline has created a lot of question marks regarding the traditional exports which has started a process with the aim of finding Sweden?s next cash cow in export.Sweden adopted stringent environmental laws early which positioned them as a strong nation in environmental awareness. The stringent environmental legislation meant that the Swedish companies were required to minimize the environmental impact, which created a demand for eco-efficient products. Despite the early demand for eco-efficient products, the international success of the Swedish cleantech companies has been modest.The government can increase firms international competitiveness by encouraging, supporting and promoting activities on the domestic market.

Today's society is characterized by constant changes. In order to adapt to the development, organizations must continuously come up with innovations and invest in new projects. As a result, the responsibility of organizations' leaders has increased. Parallel with this development, more and more firms incorporate mindfulness in the organizations, and many managers choose to practice mindfulness themselves. This case study is based on interviews with business leaders that have completed a course in mindfulness.

Problem: The Swedish wage-setting has changed since the time for the breakthrough of the industrialism until today. Before that, wages often consisted of perquisites or goods that could be exchanged against other goods. Rural people were often self-sufficient. In some cases the farmer owned the land, in other cases they where tenants. At the time for the breakthrough of industrialism the demand for similar labour were increased.

Som skoglig sektorsmyndighet är det Skogsstyrelsens uppgift att omsätta regeringens skogspolitiska mål i praktiken. De behöver därför ha kunskap om deras arbete faktiskt ger effekter i skogsbruket. Ett verktyg för att undersöka effekter är utvärderingar. Genom en utvärdering kan Skogsstyrelsen se vilka effekterna är samt få ett underlag till att förändra och utveckla framtida projekt. Denna studie syftade till att utvärdera effekter hos deltagare avseende kunskapsinhämtning och användningsgrad samt deltagarnas upplevelse av vattenkvällarna i projektet Skogsbruk och vatten inom Landsbygdsprogrammet hos Skogsstyrelsen i Östergötland.

Background: Associated with the change in the regulations in 2009 concerning how goodwill should be handled in the acquisitions, brand valuation is increasingly recognized. Goodwill will now be identified and the brand will therefore be separated to be individually evaluated. The valuation has a problem with a number of factors that will influence the choice of method, to obtain a reliable value Aim: The purpose of this study is to examine the method used for brand valuation associated with the acquisition situations. In addition, it aims to gain a better understanding of brand valuation and its problems.Method: The study has a qualitative basis, where three key people of brand valuation have been interviewed. These work as valuation specialists at various accounting firms, this to get answers that could be compared.

This thesis takes its starting point in the humanistic cultural-geographical concept of place, with the aim of achieving a greater understanding of what constitutes the place Mon today. Mon is located in the northwestern part of Dalsland. Until 1879, the area was described as outlying land, but with the extension of the railway between V?nern and the Norwegian border, Mon's station community emerged. In the mid-20th century, all activities in Mon were phased out, and since then, the place has been inhabited by only about 10 year-round residents.

Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka förändringar i det rurala landskapet i Norrbotten och undersöka och analysera hur människor upplever dessa. Undersökningen är gjord genom en fallstudie med byn Armasjärvi som utgångspunkt. Fallstudien består av tre delar, litteratur- kart- och intervjustudie. Litteraturstudien behandlar Norrbottens och Armasjärvis rurala landskapshistoria som sedan drygt 1000 år är präglad av jordbruk. Litteraturstudien behandlar även människors relation till landskapet, som är unik och beror av bland annat värderingar och erfarenheter, vilket sedan speglar synen på land-skapsförändringar.

Background: When firms grow through acquisitions it is commonly debated whether the two entities ought to be better off as standalone companies rather than as a merged company. This thesis aims at discussing this issue of M&As advantages and disadvantages in terms of source of synergies from the perspective of resource allocation. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to describe and analyze to what extent pre-M&A differences (against similarities) in resource allocation and corporate culture between the acquiring and target firm have an impact on the post-M&A performance. Theoretical framework: Efficient market hypothesis, resource based view, strategic fit. Methodology: A longitudinal study is conducted on the EU market during 1992 to 2002 based on balance sheet and income statement data.

In the rural districts of Sweden, especially in Skåne, the political party Sverigedemokraterna is gaining more and more territory. The aim of this thesis is to examine if the presence of Sverigedemokraterna has had an effect on the other political parties in Kävlinge and Svedala municipality, with focus on images and collective identity. The aim is also to examine what influence Sverigedemokraterna might have on the political agenda of the two municipalities. In order to be able to fulfil the purpose of the essay, we chose to combine three kinds of qualitative methods; interviews, observations and literature studies. We used theories about images and collective identity to examine in which way the municipal politicians tend to classify Sverigedemokraterna in terms of different images and if their presence has effected the other politicians in terms of forming a collective identity.

Syfte: Syftet med vårt examensarbete är att försöka identifiera och analysera hur revisorer definierar revisionskvalité och hur de förvissar sig om att de genomför revision med hög kvalitéMetod: För att nå fram till ett resultat har en abduktiv ansats med en kvantitativ metod använts för denna explorativa studieTeoretiskt perspektiv: Studien utgår ifrån befintlig teori och vetenskapliga studier men även resultatet av våra pilotintervjuer som använts för att urskilja faktorer som kan förklara vårt syfte. Teorier som använts är professionsteori, institutionell teori och byråkulturell teoriEmpiri: Det empiriska materialet grundar sig på en enkätundersökning som vänder sig till Sveriges revisorer i FARs medlemsregister. Det empiriska materialet har analyserats av statistiska testerResultat: Analysen påvisade att de faktorer som har den största positiva påverkan på revisionskvalité är expertis tillsammans med revisorns kompetens.

This study addresses the issue of mergers between consulting firms. Previous research has shown that there are specific factors that determine the outcome of a merger and that success is more likely if companies are more similar. The purpose of the study is therefore to define relevant factors and understand when resemblance matter and under what conditions disparity may cause problems. Furthermore, the aim of the study is to find a pattern of which factors are more important in a successful merger. The problem of the study is addressed through a qualitative research approach and is conducted on six different mergers.