The creation of value is considered the core purpose and central process of economic exchange. Value creation is now conceptualized as shared by both producers and customers, and value is seen as fundamentally derived and determined in use, the integration and application of resources in a specific context, rather than in exchange, embedded in products and manifested as price. The field of research is abundant with publications but these do not fully further the understanding of value creation and co-creation in a way that is meaningful for theoretical development and decision making in business and marketing practise. Without a thorough understanding of the factors characterising value co-creation, the nature as well as content and locus of co-creation cannot be identified. In that case value co-creation easily becomes a concept without substance. Until now, individual publications on co-creation have focused on few or different aspects, have emphasized the process from either the customer?s or from  the firm?s vantage point, have different theoretical approaches and have ignored the complexity in interactions between actors.The purpose of this essay is to analyse how five fundamental aspects of co-creation of customer value are perceived in contemporary marketing literature. Discussing the different views on co-creation, this essay concludes that thoughthere are evident points of agreement, finding one generally valid doctrine of predestination or value co-creation is improbable.

För att framgångsrikt kunna marknadsföra sina tjänster måste företag ha kunskap om vilka kriterier kunder anser vara viktiga vid val av leverantör. Syftet med denna uppsats var att identifiera vilka kriterier villaförsäljare anser vara viktiga och vilka som anses vara avgörande när de utvärderar och väljer fastighetsmäklare. Undersökningen skedde i form av en enkätstudie. Enkäten skickades till alla privatpersoner som hade villa till försäljning i Piteå kommun under en vecka i maj 2002. Det erhållna resultatet pekar på att respondenterna anser att mäklarens trovärdighet, dennes inställning och uppträdande, mäklarens förståelse för kundens behov och intressen samt personalens kompetens och sakkunskap var de fyra viktigaste faktorerna.

This report is about changes in an organization. Changes is something that every organization sooner or later is bound to do. In many cases the changes leads to problems and conflicts. I have chosen to study one change process in the home help service of the municipality of Bollnäs. The change process I have chosen to study is about changes in the day-to-day work for the employees at the home help service.

This project investigates the cooperation between architect and engineer. The context of the investigation is the design of buildings for a sustainable society. The goal of the project is to further the development of the sustainable built society by increasing the knowledge of the interdisciplinary cooperation between these two fields. The focus is a close cooperation already from the start of a project. By involving both fields in the early design stages it is thought that the knowledge and skills of each field is better utilized.

The purpose of this research is to survey and describe some science teachers? conceptions of which assessment criteria they use at the marking process. Questions which are relevant for this research are the following: 1. Which assessment methods form the basis for science teachers? marking process? 2.

The purpose of this study was to explore experiences of the process of developing a homosexual identity during childhood. We wanted to examine the experiences, feelings and thoughts that young adults, identifying themselves as homosexuals, had growing up in Sweden.For the study a qualitative method was used and nine interviews were made with young adults in the ages of 18 - 30. They answered our questions about their process of developing a homosexual identity, about their friends, family and school and about the society in general. We analysed the material from the interviews using the theory of the coming-out-process as presented by mainly Månsson and Hilte (1990).The main result from the study was that there were some difficulties for our respondents to become aware of their homosexuality and reveal their homosexuality to others. Most of our respondents experienced anxiety and/or fear as they were becoming aware of their sexuality but did become conscious about their homosexuality and accepted it before turning 21 years old.

Preschool has a long tradition of using picture books, both as entertainment and as a resource for educational activities. In science there are two main application areas. The first one is science concepts and the second is to teach basic science process skills. These skills, observing, communicating, inferring, classifying, measuring and predicting reflects the methods used by scientists. Picture books potential to put science concepts and activities that promote the use of science process skills in a meaningful context, recommends using picture books for this purpose.

Problem solving is a big part of design, however a lot of emphasis is put on creativity in research related to the effects of stress. Research has shown that the amount of stress we feel affects idea generation. Stress may also affect the ability to solve problems, however the researchers don?t seem to agree about what the effect of stress actually does.The study was made through experimental sessions where the respondents were asked to solve 4 matchstick puzzles of similar difficulty. Depending on their outcome they experienced more or less stress.

ABB I-R Waterjet Systems combines the robotics and motion expertise of ABB Flexible Automation with high-pressure intensifier/pumping technology from Ingersoll-Rand to provide and continue to develop innovative waterjet cutting systems for global markets. The purpose of this assignment is to develop a process water purifier. The purifier should be applicable as an option to ABB I-R?s production cell Cutting-Box. At first hand the process water should be purified well enough to let out in the municipal sewage system, but the ultimate solution is purifying the process water to the range that recycling is possible. When investigating the different principle of purifying water, a research of different products and their manufactories was done. These different products were compared and the principle of filtration was the most applicable, as most of the products were designed for far larger applications. As the process water contains quite large amount of particles, it is necessary to perform the filtration in different steps. The process water purifier is therefore composed of a module of coarse filtration and one of micro filtration. In the module of coarse filtration the mainly amount of fibres and particles are eliminated. They are kept back in the container unit with the larger fragments and dumped with these when the container is emptied. In the module of micro filtration the filtration is performed in two steps. In the first step particles larger than 50?m are eliminated, in the second step the micro filter is setting the range of purifying, in this case 10?m.

The aim of the study is to examine how the executive leadership and the decision-making process are shaped by the leadership environment in a transition democracy as Venezuela. The questions I intend to answer are: What kind of leadership environment surrounds the leadership and what kind of consequences does it have on the leadership and the decision-making process in Venezuela? To answer my questions I will use the literature: Political Leadership in Liberal Democracies (Elgie, Robert 1995, London: Macmillian), together with the method ?The cultural determinist school of history? by Tomas Spencer, later reproduced by Kellerman. The leadership environment provides unique opportunities for a leader to gain control over the decision-making process. Institutional structures and the needs of the society are major parts in determining how the political leadership is exercised.

During the 19-century a global warming has been observed, which includes increases in global air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of ice and snow, and rising global sea level. There is a clear connection between emissions of greenhouse gases caused by the human and the increase in temperature. Climatic changes caused by global warming can be stopped trough decreased emission of fossil fuels, for example by an increased use of biogas. Biogas is a renewable energy source which is produced through anaerobic (oxygen free) digestion of organic material. The gas is a mixture of methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) and can be among others used as fuel in vehicles.

Abstract                ?Due diligence - A resource demanding process?Date:                     June 8th 2012Level:                    Master thesis in business economics, 15 ECTSInstitution:           School of Sustainable development of society and technology, Mälardalen UniversityAuthors:                Erdinc Kirik                                  Pär Matsson                               11th January 1987                      31th May 1985Title:                      Due diligence - A resource demanding processTutor:                     Staffan BoströmKeywords:             Due diligence, the acquisition process, acquisitions, business valuationResearchquestions:              What are the main factors that Bank X, Nordea and Almi is focused on an examination of a due diligence for an acquisition, focusing on private limited companies?Does the approach between the various banks and Almi differ?Purpose:                The purpose of this paper is to create a checklist for private limited companies to use in the context of application for fundingMethod:                 The study was based on a qualitative study, based on primary data in terms of interviews in the subject of due diligence. Secondary data used in the study consisted of relevant literature and scientific articles.Conclusion:            The study showed that the respondents in general focuses on the same areas within Due diligence. The most important point which the respondents agreed on was profitability and repayment capacity. In overall, all elements in a Due diligence process that has an impact on profitability is important to examine.

Syftet med uppsatsen är att genom att jämföra Jungs religionspsykologiska teori, speciellt den process han kallat ?individuationsprocessen? med handlingen i Alkemisten ochkunna göra en tolkning av boken Alkemisten utifrån Jungs teori för att se vilka psykiska processer boken kan sägas beskriva.Kan berättelsen sägas spegla en individs genomgående av denna process i vår tid?.

Return handling is often regarded as a slow and complex process. Studies have shown that it is not unusual for a return to cost up to nine times as much as a standard outbound delivery. An efficient return handling process is therefore essential to all competitive companies dealing with logistics. This report investigates, analyzes and gives suggestions on development with the purpose to improve the return handling process at LensLogistics AB in Kista, north of Stockholm, Sweden. The study has been conducted from a deliberately practical point of view in order to suggest improvement suggestions possible to implement and thereby change the entire return handling process.

In the year 2002 a commission wasappointed by the government and taskedto clear up possible flaws in the lawgoverning spatial planning (Plan ochbygglagen, PBL). The commission's reportlaid the foundations for a new law whichwas adopted by the Swedish parliament onthe 20th of June 2010 and is scheduledto come into effect on the 2nd of May2011.The purpose of this thesis has been toexamine the changes made in the new law,primarily from a civil-rights point ofview, focusing on the appeal process.This is a highly interesting subjectconsidering one reason behind the newlaw was to simplify and streamline theplanning process while keeping civilrights intact.Through a comprehensive literature studyand interviews with experts the currentplanning process was mapped out andrelevant changes in the new law wereexamined. After the study had beenconcluded we were able to distinguishseveral areas that underwent especiallyinteresting changes;The requirement of a plan program wasremoved and the exhibition process wasremoved and replaced by a writtenreview. Individuals were given thepossibility of requesting a plan notice.The different spatial plan documentswere merged into one single document andthe number of responsible authoritiesfor spatial plans is no longer limitedto one.The study has shown that the aspirationfor a more effective spatial planningprocess has mostly been conducted at theexpense of individual rights.The single biggest obstacle forachieving a democratic planning processis learning how the law works and howthe spatial planning process isimplemented, this is has been proven tobe a very hard and time consuming taskfor individuals to undertake..