Background: Businesses are traditionally valued with the so called Discounted Cash Flow-model. When valuing newly-started businesses, surrounded by high uncertainty, and whose capital mostly consists of unrealized business opportunities, the Discounted Cash Flow-model needs to be complemented if the total value of the business is to be captured. A valuation with the help of real options is capable of valuing these unrealized opportunities, which often exist in newly-started businesses. The unrealized opportunities are to be found in the business plan of the business, why this needs to be valued to capture the total value of a newly-started business. Purpose: To demonstrate what the use of real options can result in when valuing businesses.

The transformed municipality ? Economic and social growth in Örnsköldsvik 1997-2007Author: Kristina HanssonThis thesis focuses on the economic and social growth in the municipality of Örnsköldsvik. It is a single case study and the municipality is studied through economic theories concerning regional growth in the period of 1997-2007. The aim is to analyse whether these theories, such as Åke E. Anderssons and Ulf Strömquists K-society, and other more or less microeconomic assumptions, also are applicable in smaller local contexts.

This thesis is about university spin-offs and the competition in high technology industries. In the light of efforts to increase the competitiveness of the European Union, an effective transfer of cutting edge technology from universities to the industry plays an important role. University spin-offs, start-ups founded to exploit academic inventions, are likely to face considerable market entry barriers. This is among other reasons due to high capital requirements for further technology development and lack of complementary resources. With a combination of relevant literature and empirical investigation, commercialisation of technologies within spin-offs is investigated and analysed.

Införandet av redovisningsstandarderna IAS/IFRS år 2005 innebar förändringar för företagen, och en av de större förändringarna var redovisningen till tillgångars verkliga värde. I IAS 36 anges hur prövningar av eventuella nedskrivningsbehov ska genomföras, och det sker genom en jämförelse mellan tillgångens redovisade värde och återvinningsvärdet, vilket är det högre av tillgångens verkliga värde minus försäljningskostnader och nyttjandevärdet. Beräkningen av verkligt värde minus försäljningskostnader vållar sällan problem för företagen, medan beräkningen av nyttjandevärdet är mer komplicerat; framtida kassaflöden från tillgången ska uppskattas och diskonteras med en diskonteringsränta vilken återspeglar företagets kapitalkostnad. Då valet av diskonteringsränta kan vara komplicerat då IAS 36 Bilaga A anger allmänna riktlinjer har två branscher, verkstadsindustrin och dagligvaruindustrin, undersökts för att avgöra hur företag i praktiken väljer sin diskonteringsränta. Undersökningen visade att majoriteten av företagen i undersökningen använt Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) före skatt som sin diskonteringsränta, vilket är i enlighet med IAS 36.

In this thesis an explorative study was undertaken with the aim to study how a number of private care providers, as well as politicians and officials from councils in and around the Stockholm and Uppsala counties, think about the future of the Swedish elderly care from a property perspective, i.e. homes for the elderly. The analysis shows that there is a demand for capacity in 6 out of 16 municipalities, and that the property is an important part of this capacity, and the fulfillment of it. This was mainly due to the cost of capital, but also because of several other factors such as lack of land, a wish to guide the design, ideology, and in many cases a wish to use the property as an instrument of domination to control private health care providers.Also, the property was show to be connected to economic competition, to freedom of choice, and to quality. The problems related to the property in the market for elderly care still remains to be solved.

In 1993 the internal market within the European Union was formed and ensured free movement of goods, services, capital and people. This led to the removal of trade barriers between members of the European Union. When opening up for competition, price differences between countries decreased and more jobs were created. A single currency was introduced by eleven countries in 1999 with the goal of reducing transaction costs, eliminating exchange rate risk and to further simplify trade. In 2001 Greece joined the collaboration and introduced the euro.

Lagret på Scania Parts Logistics AB i Södertälje består av en oproportionerligt stor del av artiklar där lagret är mycket större än den aktuella efterfrågan. Detta överlager binder onödigt kapital och då lågfrekventa artiklar inte har en kontinuerlig och jämn efterfråga är risken stor att överlager skapas för dessa artiklar om för stora kvantiteter tas hem. Syftet med examensarbetet är att hitta orsaker till att överlager uppstår på lågfrekventa artiklar och att ge förslag på hur denna företeelse kan minskas i framtiden. Ytterligare ett syfte är att ta fram en inköpsmodell som tar hänsyn till totalkostnaden vid val av hemtagningskvantitet. Vid tiden för examensarbetets utförande bestod över hälften av alla lågfrekventa artiklars kapitalbindning av ett överlager.

Background: Traditionally defined boundaries and borders between organizations are at present being re-evaluated because of new and tougher demands. Today we can see a trend where these boundaries are being lowered or even eliminated when organizations choose to co-operate instead of compete. Purpose: In order to create an understanding for the partner selection process in the newly founded joint ventures between the companies which are building the Swedish 3G Network, the determining factors are being studied. Delimitation: The studies companies are co-operating as network operators but are at the same time competing as mobile operators. This relationship is in the literature described as co-opetition, which will not be investigated in this paper.

I och med framväxten av samhällsentreprenörer har ett nytt begrepp introducerats påden svenska marknaden. Det handlar om den nya generationen företagare som sermöjligheten i att tjäna pengar samtidigt som de driver verksamheter som skapar ettmervärde för samhället. Samhällsentreprenörerna i Sverige står dock framför ett problem,att på ett hållbart sätt finansiera sin verksamhet.Denna studie syftar till att kartlägga hur finansieringen av svenska samhällsentreprenörerser ut. Undersökningen bygger på en kvalitativ studie där vi har undersökt tresvenska verksamheter, som faller under definitionen ?samhällsentreprenör?.

In subsequent to Post-colonialism the African nations have dilated into different political directions. While some nations have established well-functioning democracies, others are still under authoritarian regimes. The aim of this thesis is to examine if civil society has an impact on democratic development in West Africa. Therefore the theoretical starting point is Putnam?s theory of social capital, but this study will also examine other possible causal explanations for democratic transition.This study will be based on a comparative analysis of Ghana and Guinea.

The aim of this thesis has been to investigate women's experience of the Methadone maintenance treatment and what help they believe they need to be able to recover and to improve their social life and whether the medical- and social workers share the similar view.Our method of investigation has been qualitative interviews with four women in the program, two nurses and a counsellor at the methadone clinic and two social workers, who have female clients in the program.The questions at issue were:* how did the women describe their life situation during treatment, compared to the situation they had while they were addicted to narcotics,* did the women experience that the treatment they get in the methadone maintenance program is giving them a better social life situation,* did the employees at the clinic and at the social office share the similar view about the treatments as the female patients?Main problems seemed to be; meeting new non-addictive friends and finding something to do. We could se that, in different ways, they need more support. It wasn't always clear to the people who work with them whose responsibility it was, depending on workplace and/or personality..

In light of the coming workforce shortage in Sweden the competition for human capital will be intensified on the market where employers compete in order to attract skilled labor. The competition will be most noticeable in the knowledge-intense industries, where the employees are seen as the companies? most valuable asset. The purpose of this paper is to examine how small knowledge-intensive companies can improve their position in the labor market by using the HR-model People Capability Maturity Model in order to affect their companies' Employer Brand. We take the basis of the theoretical framework in which we examine and identify the key dimensions of the Employer Brand concept and present the People Capability Maturity Model more closely.

Svenska börsnoterade företag anpassade år 2005 sin redovisning enligt International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Detta medförde att företagens goodwilltillgångar skulle nedskrivningsprövas. Nedskrivningsprövningen kan göras genom att diskontera framtida kassaflöden med en diskonteringsränta. Denna studie undersöker om företag opportunistiskt justerar diskonteringsräntan vid nedskrivningsprövning av goodwill. Om detta varierar ökar över tid, om företagens börsvärde påverkar och om de tillfällena då företag sänker sin diskonteringsränta jämfört med föregående år ökar det opportunistiska beteendet.

The real estate industry is a sector where the companies generally have a capital structure which is high leveraged. The financing? with the related terms ? is therefore specifically of high importance for the companies in the sector. Traditionally, the way of obtain financing is by borrowing from the bank. Lately, due to new bank regulations, the banks have become more restrictive in their lending which have lead to a growth of other financing alternatives.

This report focuses on work schedules in the retail sector, where work schedules are dynamic and change according to the needs and work schedule is a requirement for an effective structure of the work. This structure is important for maintaining a good order and all this is a requirement for a profitable business for both long and short term future. Work schedule also contributes to safety at the workplace. The purpose of this study was to investigate the transfer of knowledge by work schedules. The HRM employee we interviewed worked in Reitan Servicehandel Sverige AB which includes 7-Eleven, Pressbyrån and Shell.