In this thesis we examine the relationship between board composition and firm performance in Swedish companies. The selection of companies includes all Swedish limited liability companies, with the exception of micro enterprises, that have been active between the years of 2009-2010. We develop hypotheses based on resource dependence theory, agency theory, and the resource based view, and test these with regression analysis against collected data. Specifically, we examine the effects of board diversity, outside directorships, and CEO duality. Our findings show that none of the theories provide sufficient explanatory power of the relationship between board composition and firm performance, and that further research is required to better understand the role and effects of company boards..

This report is the result of a thesis work done at the Department of Engineering Sciences, Uppsala University, and includes 15 ECTS points. The work has been performed at Företag A, a company specializing in electronics whose major product has become a sophisticated tool used by authorities across northern Europe. Företag A has initiated a quality management system according to the criteria set by ISO 9001. Following demands from customers, Company A has now decided to also start working towards a certification according to SS-EN ISO 9001:2008, this work is the foundation for the thesis work. The thesis work has been limited to the production process and the aim has been to enable this process to be certified according to ISO 9001:2008. The work has been performed by analyzing the existing quality management system and the requirements for each process included, whereby the gap between the current and the target state has been mapped. Suggestions have then been made on how this gap can be filled, some of these suggestions have also been carried out during the thesis work. The conclusions drawn are that quality management does not have to be complicated, but quickly becomes so when the complexity of the processes increases.

Beacon AB has been producing Gobos for some time. A Gobo is a small round sheet used in projectors almost like a slide. It is used mostly in the commercial and entertainment business. Today these Gobos are created by using a film (also called mask). A digital exposure machine called LIOS has been developed to make it possible to create Gobos using direct exposure.

This study is about conception in the evaluation of financial assistance within the social services. The aim of this study is to describe and understand how social workers reason about variation, conception and local norms and its significance in the evaluation process. To reach this purpose we have conducted semi-structured interviews with eight social workers in which different themes were discussed and reasoned about. In order to understand and analyze our results we have studied/used the knowledge about tacit knowledge and street-level bureaucracy. Our results showed, as previous research states, that social workers do have conceptions about clients.

The wastewater treatment plant at GE Healthcare's facility in Uppsala deployed a three step vacuum evaporator in 2007. The purpose of this was to pre-treat wastewater containing amines. The purpose of this thesis was to optimize thisprocess by reducing the amount of concentrate without releasing more nitrogen tothe environment and to examine if density could be used as a measurement of whenthe process should be ended.To create a foundation for optimization six test cycles were conducted with samples taken from all three steps. Both concentrate and condensate were tested as well as the incoming solution. Furthermore, the thesis has been expanded with a benchmarking part examining two different evaporators.

Syftet med den här studien var att undersöka om mental trötthet leder till ökad diskriminering av överviktiga. Genom att använda en dual process-modell, inleddes undersökningen med en bedömningsuppgift som deltagarna fick utföra i labbmiljö. Vid ett senare tillfälle fick var och en ombesörja att de genomförde ett implicit associationstest (IAT), följt av en explicit graderingsfråga, där deltagarna uppskattade en eventuell skillnad i normal- kontra överviktigas mentala prestation. Syftet med dessa tester var att ta reda på om diskriminering mot överviktiga existerade inom gruppen i sin helhet på såväl implicit som explicit nivå. Hälften av gruppen hade genomgått en kraftig mental trötthetsbelastning före bedömningsuppgiften, med avsikt att se om bias mot överviktiga ökade vid mental trötthet.

AbstractThis research is about how some swedish teachers in high school choose literature in schools. The purpose is to underline the reasons for how some teachers think about selection, canon, classic and contemporary literature. Two survey methods were used to find the answers, wich consisted of interviews and questionnaires. The letter methods was used to obtain informations about student´s views on literature.Previous research shows that there are different opinions in what kind of literature the pupils should read in school. The results of literature, questionnaires and interviews also showed that the underlying reasons for the choice of literature, varied among those interviewed further forward ofthe students also prefer to read books during lessons, and that they prefer reading books by popular contemporary writers..

pcSKOG-gård is a computerised manager plan for private forest owners, developed by the pcSKOG AB. The program is based on forest stand data, joined with a map of the forest and GIS-applications. The purpose is to offer a program for private forest owners managing the forest and with the possibility of updating the actual status of the forest. The company pcSKOG AB is the leading producer of programs for forest management and has developed the program since 1997. The program is currently the most common program used by private forest owners in Sweden. The aim of this thesis, leading to MSc in forestry, is to investigate the purpose of the private forest owners when purchasing the pcSKOG-gård. The thesis also studies how private forest owners use the program, what they use it for and how the private forest owners state that the program has achieved to fulfil their expectations. The thesis is also a market research concerning the knowledge and attitudes the private forest owners have about the program and associated services. The study material has been collected during two phases.

Communication during the process of Environmental Impact Assessment: Interviews concerning three infrastructure projects Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a method to describe the possible impact of a planned project. The aim of such an assessment is to aid a sustainable development, by supplying a comprehensive basis for decision-making. Today there are many people working with EIA in different forms, representing both different interests within the community, as well as having different individual points of view. The proponent is responsible for the EIA, but it is of interest to study the relationship between the different participants who are involved in this process. The aim of this report is to study how the different disciplines involved have communicated with each other and amongst themselves, what characterises good communication, and if anything should be improved.

Jag har märkt att mina elever har vissa kunskaper som de inte lärt sig under traditionella läroformer; i skolan eller någon annanstans. Det kan vara att de har en känsla för hur film eller musik är uppbyggd, vad som är en snygg bildkomposition, för hur språket talas eller skrivs, eller hur man ska bete sig i olika situationer. Utan att vi är medvetna om det verkar vi ha en intuition och magkänsla inför vissa företeelser i vår vardag. Vad är det då för typ av lärande som sker när vi inte tänker att vi lär oss och inte heller alltid vet att vi kan vissa saker? Vad vi har att göra med är alltså någon form av omedveten process; ett slags implicit lärande.

The purpose with this essay is to take part of the process when a family is placed on the family-institution, Trollbacken. We want to know what makes the social welfare secretaries place a family in institutional care. Has Trollbacken lived up to the social welfare secretary expectations and are the social welfare secretaries following Trollbackens recommendation regarding the follow up treatment. We also want to know to what value the social welfare secretary assigns Trollbackens investigation and are they able to see changes in the family due to the placing on Trollbacken. The method is qualitative and is based on interviews from six social welfare secretaries that work around and in West Sweden.

Detta arbete fokuserar på bedömning i matematik sett ur ett lärarperspektiv. Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur lärare och rektor på samma skola beskriver hur bedömning i matematik utförs, detta för att studera om bedömningen är en pågående process integrerad i undervisningen. Jag studerar hur lärarna och rektorn beskriver undervisning, vilka bedömningsunderlag som används och styrdokumentens funktion. Undersökningen har genomförts med kvalitativ metod genom att intervjua fem lärare och rektorn på en skola i södra Sverige. Den teoretiska bakgrunden utgörs av det sociokulturella och behavioristiska perspektivet på lärande.

Educators have an importance for the pupil?s progress, where the individual adjustment tutoring is varying. The pupil?s self-confidence is also individual and can be affected by the humans in the society. To find every pupil?s knowledge and enjoy creating and learning is a big part of an educator?s work.

The purpose of this study was to highlight LGBT asylum-seekers experiences of expressing their sexual identity or gender identity in the country of origin and in the asylum process in Sweden. By interviewing people who got permanent residence in Sweden because of gender or sexual orientation in Utlänningslagen (2005:716) we have been able to explore their own experiences from expressing themselves. This study analyse these experiences from a social psychological perspective, from this analysis we aimed to obtain a deeper understanding of how the experiences from the country of origin affects on the experiences in the asylum process. This study shows that LGBT asylum-seekers often is facing negative reactions from the environment in the country of origin, these reactions can limit their possibilities to express their sexual identity or gender identity in the asylum process in Sweden. The negative reactions they experience in the country of origin have contributed to that many LGBT people internalize feelings of fear to express themselves, feelings that often stays when they come to Sweden to seek asylum.

Within media and communications studies, questions of taste have often been associated with the dichotomy of high versus popular culture. The French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu has also used mass media products in his studies of class determined tastes and dispositions. In this paper the author uses the theoretical framwork of Bourdieu to examine aspects of social class and legitimate taste in the interior design magazine "Sköna Hem", a market leading magazine within it's genre of lifestyle magazines in Sweden. A specific type of feature article, where a real-life home is portrayed, is studied using the critical discourse analysis of Norman Fairclough. The homes portrayed are predominantly affluent and display elements of conspicuous consumtion as mediated through legitimate taste and cultural capital.