Background: The demand for sending letters, in the traditional aspect, has decreased because of electronic sources which have replaced a big part of letter communication. The Postal Service constantly strives for lowering costs and due to the changeable demand, a greater awareness is required regarding recourses and their usage. The previously mentioned measures in combination with commonly occurring quality issues during the collective process at the letter terminal in Alvesta would be improved by applying a lean-perspective to the process. A first step towards saving of time is to apply the ?value stream mapping?-method on the collective process for small and large letters.Purpose: To map the process of collection for small and large letters to be able to identify waste of recourses and furthermore give suggestions on how the Postal Service would be able to reduce the waste of recourses identified.

Purpose ? The purpose of this thesis is to develop a total cost model for container transports and create a tool that calculates a suitable transport quantity from an economic view, which fulfills the demands on delivery service. To achieve this purpose the following questions will be answered:Which costs are affected by the decision between the two transport alternatives LCL and FCL?   How does the decision of sending product LCL or FCL influence the delivery service?  How can a tool be constructed to simplify the decision-making process regarding the choice of sending products LCL or FCL?  Method ? A total cost model was developed. This model is supported from existing literature.

Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats är att utveckla ett underlag till en marknadsplan för klädbutiken Fico Store som ska ligga till grund för ett försök att öka konsumtionsnivån hos de befintliga kunderna, som infattas av både stamkunder och sällankunder.Metod: Vi har valt att använda oss av både en kvalitativ metod i form av en intervju samt en kvantitativ metod i form av en enkät. De har tillsammans redovisats i empirikapitlet i form av text och diagram efter att materialet kodats och bearbetats. Analyser har gjorts löpande i empirikapitlet och i strategikapitlet där empiri har ställts emot teori.Resultat & slutsats: Tydlig positionering och arbete med kundrelationer är av största vikt för en mindre fristående butik. Vår studie visar också att det är svårt att rikta sig mot en viss kundgrupp då samma kläder kan falla många i smaken oavsett ålder. Val av sortiment påverkar i hög grad hur butikens positionering uppfattas.

This exploratory thesis uses qualitative research to investigate how digital music is beeing packaged. The main study consists of 11 deep interviews with key representatives of the digital music industry in Sweden. These are (record companies) EMI, SonyBMG, Universal, Warner, (DSP) InProdicon, (mobile operators) 3, TeliaSonera and (cell phone producer) SonyEricsson. Packaging is a concept of marketing that has specific implications depending on which good or service that is being packaged. Packaging occurs at different levels in the production chain.

This essay discusses people's perception of what is important for their well-being where they live. The main aim has been to find out what factors in the outdoor environments of the city are appreciated and why they are valued positively. A comparison has been made between Uppsala in Sweden and Tarapoto in Peru to see if, and in that case what, differences can be found in the values of people. I chose to carry out a survey study that got a response rate of 57 persons in Tarapoto and 63 in Uppsala. The results show that there are some common basic values, but on the whole the outdoor environments are valued differently in the two cities. In short, the Peruvians value functionality, cleanliness, small distances to family and service, while the Swedes value a central location and short distances to friends apart from functionality and good service opportunities. Conceivable reasons for this might be for example different cultural prerequisits, material standard and climate. .

Purpose: The study aims to, from a companys point of view, describe how strategic work with customer loyalty is done.Conclusion: Another possible way to try to create loyalty is to exceed the expectations whether the customer is a member of the loyalty program or not. A strong brand with a good reputation can also contribute to a stronger loyalty. Reward systems gradually reward the customers since they first need to collect points, or in this case miles, to be able to use them later on. The staff is often educated in service to be able to interact with the customer in a professional manner. One way to interact with the members of the loyalty program is through profiles on the internet.

The aim of this master thesis was to find out about librarians opinions of childrens libraries on the Internet, if it is a resource to reach children. Qualitative interviews were conducted with three librarians who had participated in the construction and development of childrens libraries on the Internet. IT and the Internet play an important role in childrens lives and children are using it to a greater extent. Libraries have begun to integrate IT and Internet into their services and are offering service on the Internet. The public library websites are usually for grown-ups and very few are directed to children.

The essay's aim is to explain how responsibility distribution between private and public bodies, primarily within three important service areas, can be visualised in light of the fact that they have experienced different forms of readjustment. We have chosen to study this by looking at the restoration work taking place after the hurricane Gudrun swept across southern Sweden on January 8-9, 2005; and we have chosen to concentrate on the service areas of electricity- and telephone supply, and public transport. The responsibility distribution has been depicted by carrying out qualitative interviews with employees within both private and public bodies included in the restoration work. The conclusion produced is that there were obscurities in the formal responsibility distribution between private and public actors taking place in conjunction with the hurricane restoration work.In a deeper analysis, the result can be explained by a ?several hands? problem arising since the number of actors has increased as the public sphere has adopted leadership forms influenced by the private business sector.

This study has been executed at the Public Employment Office, an institution that has beensubject for much debate during the last couple of years. The government has instructed theLabour Market Board to change the Public Employment Office toward a more effectiveorganization. This study examines one of the Public Employment Offices that are included in apilot project that aims to improve and develop work methods with the objective to become amore service minded organization. From this starting point we have investigated which effect thisorganizational change has had on the employee within this organization and within the pilotproject. In addition we investigate whether attitudes of the unemployed has an effect on thestaff´s work situation.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the organizational buying behaviour in the purchase of travels abroad. We have conducted a case study of two companies, one medium sized and one larger. Our empirical studies have shown that the companies? buying process is divided into two types, the process of recruit a new travel supplier and the process of a straight rebuy of a regular travel service. In the recruiting process we found that the evaluation process of the purchase is an ongoing process that contradicts estab-lished theories.

The aim of this thesis is to study the effects of self-service on professional qualifications of library assistants in three public libraries in Sweden. The research questions are: - How do the library assistants experience that their professional qualifications have changed since self-service was introduced at the library? - Does the view on library assistants? professional qualifications and future differ between library managers and library assistants? - Does the view on library assistants? professional qualifications and future differ between the three different libraries? The method used is qualitative interviews with six library assistants and three head of libraries from three different public libraries. The theoretical framework for this study is constructed by theoretical ideas about professional qualifications and technology's impact on professionalism. The results indicate that the cognitive qualifications of library assistants have increased and social qualifications both increased and decreased.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate if vacuum insulation panels are a competitive alternative to traditional insulation.Vacuum insulation has been used as insulation in buildings in Germany and Switzerland for a few years. In Sweden the high-performance insulation material is mainly used in refrigerators, freezers and vacuum thermoses. The development is proceeding well and vacuum insulation is becoming more common in the construction industry. Since it is a relatively unexplored material on the market there are many flaws and problems with the material.The questions we have chosen to answer in this report include an increased knowledge of vacuum insulation, various problems that may arise when handling/installation and the pros and cons of vacuum insulation compared to standard traditional insulation.The methods we have chosen to use in this report is a literature study, interviews with various suppliers and manufactures and calculations to show the differences between traditional and vacuum insulation. Vacuum insulation is 5-10 times better insulation than standard traditional mineral wool insulation, mainly at the beginning of its lifetime.Vacuum insulation panels (VIP) have a service life of approximately 50 years, whereas traditional insulation has a service life of approximately 100 years.

In present-day situation many libraries use detectors so that they can be able to prevent attempts too take out books without registering them. The university library in Jonkoping is one of the libraries that have such a detector. But unfortunately it doesn?t always work correct and can also react on other things a part from books. This is a big problem since the library staff don?t have time to check all signals that comes from detector.

Den psykiska ohälsan bland unga kvinnor ökar i samhället idag.  Självskadebeteendet kan vara ett sätt för dem att lindra sin ångest. Tidigare forskning visar att sjuksköterskor upplever en vanmakt och osäkerhet inför denna patientgrupp. Syftet med denna studie är att, genom kvalitativ analys av fyra självbiografier, beskriva unga kvinnors upplevelser av självskadebeteende. Resultatet bygger på fyra huvudkategorier med vardera två subkategorier som illustreras och förtydligas med citat från författarna. Huvudkategorierna speglar fyra områden som har stor betydelse för utvecklingen av självskadebeteendet.

The purpose of this Masters thesis is to investigate how a group of academic librarians perceive distance learners as a user group. We have in our study been influenced by phenomenography, which is both a set of theoretical assumptions and a methodology. The theoretical frame of reference consists of Carol Kuhlthaus different levels of education and Michael Buckland´s information barriers. Using a qualitative method consisting of nine interviews with academic librarians and structural factor such as academic library policies, we have been able to conduct our study. The results of the study are presented in grouped categories of quotations that reflect various perceptions.