New Zealand is currently the third largest global producer of kiwifruit and thus plays an important role in the international market. Exports of kiwifruit are also of significant horticultural value for New Zealand and in 2007 the kiwifruit industry accounted for export values of NZ$790 million. The global kiwifruit market has experienced substantial changes in recent years and is likely to change significantly in the near future due to developments in production sources, adjustments to trade policy settings and shifts in consumer preferences. The New Zealand kiwifruit industry needs to consider what the impacts of these changes might be so that future strategies can be constructed effectively. Little quantitative modelling has been done in New Zealand to consider the impacts of changes to the global kiwifruit industry. The major contribution of this research was the development and calibration of a kiwifruit industry-specific partial equilibrium trade model. The model was then used to examine the impacts on New Zealand producers of these trade-related changes in the global kiwifruit market.

This study has been conducted on behalf of Vectura Consulting AB with the purpose to examine how different actors perceive the dimensions of sustainability and sustainable construction. The purpose is also to provide an understanding of existing barriers and opportunities for sustainable construction within the industry and exemplify with different directions for the actors in order to develop sustainability. The study has approach the research problem by using systems theory, developed by Checkland, to identify the relevant system. Other systems theories has been used as an theoretical framework in order to identify barriers and opportunities, which in this study are based on Hughes?s theory about reverse salients and salients.

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.

Ur ett företagsekonomiskt perspektiv finns det ett stort intresse av att utveckla innovativa tjänster då forskning visar att det skapar hållbara konkurrensfördelar. Fastighetsföretag arbetar med tjänsteutveckling för att fylla sina fastigheter och arbetar tätt ihop med sina kunder där efterfrågan styr utvecklingsprocessen. Föreliggande studie testar Wang & Tsais (2012) tjänsteutvecklingsmodell där metoderna tjänstekartläggning, ?service blueprint? och ?axiomatic design? utgör verktyg för fastighetsföretag. Med dessa metoder ska företaget identifiera kundernas behov och leverera en ny tjänst som uppfyller både interna och externa krav.

The aim of this study was to examine nursing personnel?s knowledge about oral health care and attitudes towards the free assessment of the oral status done by the dental service for elderly and handicapped persons in a municipality in the south part of Skåne, and also how personnel experience the free assessment of the oral status done by the dental service and how it functioned at the facilities. The study was carried out by sending out 150 questionnaires to nursing personnel at six special housing facilities. 73% (110 personnel?s) answered the questionnaires.

The purpose of this thesis is to discuss the possibilities of, and interest in, a digital download service at the music departments of the libraries. I chose to conduct my study at the city library of Gothenburg. I studied the legal download services that exist today and I did a statistical survey among the users of the music department, followed up by interviews to see how they took to the idea. From the inquiry I learned that a majority of the users was negative to having a digital service replacing the physical department, although a majority was positive to try a digital service. I also used the inquiry to compare the reasons for downloading music to the reasons for borrowing records from the library, but there was no significant difference.

Background: Media has for a long time been reporting about the audit industry, often focusing on so-called auditing scandals. Economic journalism has grown stronger, the corporations are given more and more power in society and the public interest is increasing. We intend to examine how mass media affects the expectations gap and how the auditing firms operate strengthening the society?s confidence in the industry after mass medial exploitation. We also want to investigate whether the relatively new phenomenon social media is affecting the auditing firms and industry?s external communication, as well as what consequences negative publicity may have for the individual auditor.Aim: The aim of the study is to create an understanding of the audit industry?s relation to the media as well as to describe and analyze how mass media?s coverage is affecting the audit industry, auditing firms as well as the individual auditor.

The purpose of this study is to perform an in-depth analysis of what effects a privatization of a service organization has on the management control system within the organization. The paper studies a service organization which provides service for the county council in Östergötland, Sweden. The result is based on interviews with several people, both within the acquiring private company and also within the county council in Östergötland, and analyzed using Samuelson?s (2005) framework from his study ?Organizational, Governance and Control ?. The major finding in the thesis is that the factors that have had the largest impact on the changes in management control are the new owner demands and the degree of operationalization of the overall goal..

The purpose of this study was to describe and analyze youth community service in the Kalmar municipality. Our focus was on juvenile offenders and predecessor of public authorities. The juvenile offenders in our study have completed youth community service. A qualitative study was undertaken which include seven interviews. Our empirical data were compared and analyzed with previous research data.

The underlying aim of this paper is to find out how the management and employees in a grocery store on a relatively small community in Sweden is experiencing Technology-Based Self-Service (TBSS), and self-scanning. And how store management and employees experience that the self-scanning ability is received by their respective consumers. Several open individual interviews were conducted with the administrative head of sales and various employees working at different departments at Coop Forum in Skara In offering self-scanning, we believe that the store provides consumers with an opportunity to perform their daily purchases by an easy and flexible approach, which we believe will have a positive impact on the entire store visit. A positive store visit, we believe play a major role in consumers choosing to do their shopping in the store.The issue to be elucidated in this paper is; How do management and employees in a grocery store perceive that self-scanning influence consumers' purchase and the service the shop offers? Why would a supermarket use self-scanning as part of the service they offer to their consumers? The report concludes the similarities and differences experienced by administrative sales manager and employees compared to previous research on the subject.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine whether Swedish, Internet-based travel agencies, acting on a consumer market are working towards creating added value for their customers. If that is the case, how and why do they use such a mode of operation.The theoretical framework was based on Grönroos´ ?Augmented service offering?, which treats added value as an addition to the core service. The services offered on five of the larger companies´ websites on the market were examined and 3 representatives of the five companies were interviewed.The study shows that 2 of the examined companies did not produce any added value, while 3 of the companies did produce added value for the customer. The added value was generated through packaging of core-, facilitating- and supporting services for the purpose of differentiating the company towards competitors and generating service fees..

It generally takes 10 to 12 years for a new drug to hit the market. The pharmaceutical industry invests huge sums in these early stages of research and development. In spite of the rapidly rising research and development expenditures fewer and fewer blockbuster drugs are being developed. Longer lead times and aggressive generic post-patent competition have narrowed the timeframe for the pharmaceutical companies to profit on their investments.In the face of these threats the pharmaceutical industry has developed a battery of strategies to prolong market exclusivity and to maximize return on investment. These emerging strategies are commonly known as Life cycle management (LCM), which actually is more of a concept than a method.

The aim of this master's thesis is a comparative study on units for civic information in Göteborg. The study is based on a project currently in progress at the main public library in Göteborg. It is observed that according to the library's mission statement the library aims to become the most competent intermediary of civic information in Göteborg. This statement suggests a competitive strategy towards other intermediaries of civic information. The mission statement does, however, also state that their goal is to be obtained in cooperation with other intermediaries.

Mitt examensarbete behandlar frågeställningen om hur synen på ett bra barnprogram skiljer sig åt hos public service kanalerna, TV4 och övriga kommersiella kanaler? Detta berör också frågor om vem som egentligen avgör vad som är bra barnprogram; är det producenterna eller mottagarna? Jag har valt den här frågeställningen där för att jag har en nyfikenhet på och ett intresse av hur barnprogrammen skiljer sig mellan kanalerna och hur de kommer att se ut i framtiden.Public Service syftar till att ge allmänheten en särskild sorts berikande programutbud inom radio- eller teveverksamhet. Termen public service har flera olika betydelser; Ofta används den för att beteckna de företag som finansieras av någon slags tv-avgift, har ingen eller begränsad reklam och/eller är statligt ägda/kontrollerade.  Det är idag ett turbulent läge för Public service och trycket från de kommersiella kanalerna har sannolikt en inverkan på programverksamheten. Under arbetets gång har det slagit mig vilken stor inverkan producenter och inköpare har på begreppet ?bra? underhållning. Jag har tittat på befintliga barnprogram och gjort en semiotisk analys av dem.

CSR, Corporate Social Responsibility, has become increasingly important in a globalised world where the responsibilities of companies and governments are somewhat blurry. The textile industry is an industry where long supply chains and raw material production in developing countries are factors adding to the complexity and difficulties of solving ethical issues. Cotton production faces many environmental, social and financial challenges in the value chain. Therefore this case study takes a closer look at five Nordic home textile companies, Ikea, Hemtex, S Group, Moko and Finlayson, and how these companies choose their cotton related CSR tools and communicate their work on this area. These companies are of various sizes and therefore the resources for CSR work are also different, as well as the perceived values for working with CSR.