Ever since it was first introduced in an article in the Journal of Finance 1952, Harry Markowitz? mean - variance model for portfolio selection has become one of the best known models in finance. The model was one of the first in the world to deal with portfolio optimization mathematically and have directly or indirectly inspired the rest of the world to develop new portfolio optimization methods. Although the model is one of the greatest contributions to modern portfolio theory, critics claim that it may have practical difficulties. Partly because the Markowitz model is based on various assumptions which do not necessarily coincide with the reality.

Syftet med detta examensarbete är att sammanställa maskinkostnader för etableringsmetoderna plöjningsfritt och konventionellt. Vi vill även titta på hur stor kapacitet som behövs på maskinparken för den tänkta gården på 600 ha åker, detta för att hinna etablera grödan inom ett rimligt tidsspektra. Anledningen till att vi valt ett företag på 600 ha är att det är den areal tröskan klarar av att avverka inom rimlig tid. Det medför att vi måste ta en del hänsyn till lägligheten och hur mycket av tiden som är så kallat ?tjänligt väder?.

This study will chart the changeover work, with a standpoint in the SMED-theory, at the company Peter Ernst AB in Värnamo. They are suppliers in plastic moulding industry and delivers to amongst other Saab in Trollhättan and Scania. The company are in a very competitive market, and they have to make manufacturing more efficient and rationalise their costs to be able to compete. A big problem, which the company has identified, is their long changeovers. It brings higher costs, a more stressful work climate and holds back the company from becoming more efficient.Field studies will be conducted on the changeover, which will be observed and filmed.

The costs of logging and of transportation with truck are dominating the total cost of wood delivered at industry. To support the profitability for the members' forestry the processing and handling with the timber has to be as efficient as possible. Increased length of pulpwood in thinning is one conduct that can result in higher productivity and/or lower costs. The study is scaled as a system analysis with the aim to exemplify the differences between working with 3- and 4-meter as standard length of pulpwood, related to biological aspects, timber receipts, cost of logging and cost of transportation with truck. Important aspects are if the change is technically and biologically feasible and economically profitable.

The cost of construction projects have increased during the past few years. Different actors in the construction industry work together to advocate various measures to mitigate these cost increases. One of these measures is to try to improve the efficiency in the phase of production. By striving for a kind of standardization with a constant quest for improvement, the productivity can increase while the costs of production fall.For this thesis has a case study been conducted at the construction company JM AB which is seeking this. They call the approach structured production and have implemented various measures to achieve a more productive output.Based on information from reconciliations, the cost and the spent hours of craftsmen have been analyzed at the company where the case study took place.

With the globalization, companies in the West chose to shift production to developing countries to cut down costs. This had a major impact when child labor and very poor working conditions in these factories were discovered and led many companies to take responsibility for their suppliers and the employees by adopting voluntary so-called Codes of Conduct.There is a subtle balance to enforce improvement of working conditions for employees at suppliers´ factories and to keep costs down. On the one hand, companies would like to conduct extensive audits at their suppliers to ensure code of conduct compliance and thus protect their legitimacy. On the other hand, audits are expensive so companies would like to minimize audits to keep costs down. Companies thus have to strike a delicate balance in relation to how many and what suppliers they choose to audit.

In this thesis proposals for different designs of a borehole thermal energy storage (BTES) have been developed for the building DN-huset in Stockholm, Sweden. To build a BTES results in savings in energy costs by approximately 44 %, i.e. 2 million Swedish crowns annually. Furthermore, a BTES would reduce the annual environmental impact with roughly 75-157 tonnes of CO2 equivalents per year, depending on how the electricity consumption?s environmental impact is estimated.

The aim of this work is to demonstrate how the net present value (NPV) at the time of the first thinning depends on the spacing after pre-commercial thinning, and show how net value from first thinning in same stand is influenced. This study is performed with models based on non-distant dependent growth models for single trees. Two different growth models have been used, one for cleaning (pre-commercial thinning) and one for thinning. The first one yields stem density distributed over diameter classes. In the second one, (the thinning model), it is possible to choose when thinning should be done, the thinning method, thinning grade and numbers of thinning.

In Sweden there are currently two separate guidelines you may use whenperforming calculations on frameworks, BKR and the Eurocodes. Although at theend of 2010 you are not allowed to use BKR any longer and only the Eurocodeswill be viable. The aim of this thesis is to explain how the Eurocodes and EKS work and alsohow they compare to the current guideline BKR. Similarities and differencesbetween these guidelines are also discussed so that the reader will get a betterunderstanding of how the Eurocodes are applied. The areas discussed are asfollows:Principles and adviceSafety ClassesSymbols and IndexesLifespanLoads and partial coefficientThe thesis also deals with the impact that this transition into a new guideline willhave on corporations, guideline costs, education and computer software. As anexample a rough estimate on what costs this transition will create on a companywith 20 employees is also included. Calculations have been performed in order to investigate how the design valuesdiffer between the two guidelines, the Eurocodes and BKR.

Over 80% of Sweden's population lives in urban areas, and half of the country's forest visits will thus be in urban woodlands. Social values ??- how the individual experiences the forest, and the impact of the forest visits on individual health and well-being, are pointing to the importance of managing the urban woodlands.When there comes to the cultivation of the urban woodlands there are usually many opinions to consider.This study aims to investigate the various opinions on the use and forestry in an urban recreation area in ??the City of Trollhättan. The study addresses both general and in four cases specific suggestions on management methods.Data was obtained from both quantitative and qualitative study through survey, interviews and discussions with the users of the recreation area.Trollhättan's goal with the recreation area is to make it accessible to local residents. The users are mainly influenced by the accessibility therefore clearings and thinnings are appreciated.

This thesis project has focused on studying ÅF?s business concept Energy Collaboration, which is their way of selling energy efficiency services. Thereforeongoing projects have been analyzed. The purpose was to determine achieved energy efficiency, costs and profitability for the studied projects. It was concluded that the Energy Collaboration is a good way of selling energy efficiency services, since the customer takes no risk and energy savings of about 15-25 % can be achieved with simple measures.

With the globalization, companies in the West chose to shift production to developing countries to cut down costs. This had a major impact when child labor and very poor working conditions in these factories were discovered and led many companies to take responsibility for their suppliers and the employees by adopting voluntary so-called Codes of Conduct.There is a subtle balance to enforce improvement of working conditions for employees at suppliers´ factories and to keep costs down. On the one hand, companies would like to conduct extensive audits at their suppliers to ensure code of conduct compliance and thus protect their legitimacy. On the other hand, audits are expensive so companies would like to minimize audits to keep costs down. Companies thus have to strike a delicate balance in relation to how many and what suppliers they choose to audit.

The purpose of this study is to illustrate if structural factors to welfare indicators and the internal organisation of handle social assistance in combination with dominating ways of living with their values and norms can be used to explain why the costs of social assistance are low in Säffle township. The character of this study is exploratory, though important aspects in this case was unknown. The empiricism come from descriptive secondary statistics and from qualitative interwievs with three inhabitants in Säffle, whom are experts which means they know the township of Säffle and it´s inhabitants well. Säffle has been studied from four perspectives, of which the first two have a top- or macroperspective. In the study appears two divergent pictures.

The task for this thesis is to design a tool that is used to cut-out preforms of thermoplastic adhesive and also to make an estimate of costs for the stamping tool. The tool is used in the repair process at the MCM production line. The result of gathered information has affected how the design of the stamping tool has developed. The handling of thermoplastic adhesive in the repair process is one of the factors that influenced the design. The adhesive is sensitive for exposure to moisture. Therefore an automated feeding system of the adhesive is not recommended. The users wished for an automated stamping tool.

In Sweden, there an increasing need for transport and this leads directly to fuel demand of the transport sector is expected to increase. Both politicians and industry believes that renewable fuels are a realistic and significant method to reduce the transport sector's environmental impact. This study aims to document the Swedish haulage contractor?s attitude to biodiesel. Also to document the strengths and weaknesses of biodiesel, based on opinions from the ultimate consumers.