Purpose - To analyze the relationship between supply chain management maturity, supply chain performance and financial performance in small and medium-sized enterprises (SME:s).Design/methodology/approach - The data comprises 15 SME:s that participated in a local logistic study in Gävleborgs län. The levels of supply chain mature within these firms were based upon an interview study and the financial performance of the firms was then examined using financial reports-based data.Findings -The results of this study indicate that there is a strong relationship between SCM maturity and SC performance in SMEs, some relationships between SCM maturity and financial performance, as well as some relationships between SC performance and financial performance. This means that if firms use maturity indicators in the SCOR areas to improve their processes, they will most likely achieve a positive effect on supply chain performance and probably also on financial performance. The result implies that the supply chain maturities in these firms are higher than expected with no one at the adHoc level.While this study is based on a rather small number of participating firms, it would be valuable to further test the significance of the indicated correlations between SCM maturity and performance in a large-scale survey.Research limitations/Implications - The research is an attempt to understand supply chain maturity and it´s implication on financial performance. Developing supply chain maturity is an opportunity for a company to gain superior performance.

The current curriculum requires a well functioning school library and an active use of it. In junior school grades 1-3 the children primarily learn basic skills. Knowledge about libraries and how to use them and different media is part of these skills. Therefore my intention was to investigate how school libraries in junior schools look, how they are used in the training and how they could be used in junior school education. I focus on the pedagogic role of the school library and the library as information center.I begin by going through what the school law and the curriculum say - or do not say - about the use of the school library.

The purpose in this Bachelor degree project has been to create a visual identity and to design a compilation cassette for the small music distributor Kyrkvägen Kassett. My way of approaching the task has been to draw parallells between the cassette as an obsolete music format and more or less abandoned or anachronistic formats, materials and printing methods in the graphic design area. The result is a visual identity that is built upon materials and methods of production rather than specific visual elements. The work is to be seen as a tribute to the small non-profit producers of music and graphic design. As often done in the DIY movement, I chose to consider my lack of practical knowledge in these fields not as an encumbrance but as an asset and an incentive.

Background and Problem discussion: Consumers are reached by an average of 3000 marketing messages daily which proves that a company?s marketing needs to be strong and characteristic in order not to lose customers. It is of even greater importance that marketing reaches the chosen target group and is designed in accordance with the company?s vision and is shown where the target group sees it.Purpose: The aim of this bachelor thesis is to study how small businesses use marketing and to recommend appropriate marketing measures given their size, limited budget and secluded location.Method: This study has been made in accordance with a qualitative method with an analytical abduction approach using a case study where the case is Vita Renen. To achieve the aim of this study the authors combined secondary and primary data such as previous conducted research with interviews with the owners and staff of Vita Renen.Result and Conclusion: The result demonstrates that untraditional marketing would be the best option for Vita Renen because they are a company with limited marketing budget and this type of advertising is based on creative thinking and design on pre-existing resources.

This bachelor of economics paper discuss that the increasing globalization has put the small companies in the Swedish textile and clothing industry in a situation where internationalization has become a necessity. Furthermore has the European Union lead to that this type of companies has to seek growth on foreign markets with great socio cultural distance from the home country, Sweden. Nowadays there?s no time to internationalize in the same course of action like before. Before, the Swedish companies begun their operations abroad in fairly nearby countries and only gradually penetrated more far-flung markets.

To investigate the possibilities for effective soil tillage, that could imply lower costs, lower negative environmental impact and in addition a meaningful occupation for foraging pigs, a field experiment was carried out in Gränna, Småland, during growing season 2006. The experiment contained two treatments that were repeated three times and were carried out on a couch grass-infected fallow on a light soil close to Sweden?s second largest lake, Vättern. Ploughing was one treatment and pig rooting followed by ploughing, was the other. The experiment was conducted according to the guidelines of organic growing and seedbed preparation was done the same way in the two treatments. The pigs, three groups of five half-year old Linderödssvin (an old Swedish breed), was encouraged to perform an even tillage by strip-grazing, i.e.

Hunger is a problem in some parts of the world (www, FAO 1, 2012). The lack of food is often a result of insufficient knowledge in soil fertility management (Röing de Nowina, 2012). Ongoing hunger and malnourishment are quite prevalent in Sub-Saharan Africa and are often combined with poverty (www, FAO 1, 2012). Farming is the most common occupation in this area and the farms are often small-scale farms with subsistence crops and a few cattle. The farmers who operate these small-scale farms are economically a weak group.

This thesis investigates if a system for small scale electricity production located in anurban environment can be profitable. The work has been divided up into two parts,one extensive literature study and one case study. The purpose of the literature studywas to investigate the area, resulting in a choice of which technology to be studied indepth in a case study.In the case study a system containing small scale wind turbines and photovoltaicsmounted on Gränby Centrums roof was examined. From data containing wind power,wind direction and total irradiation, possible production from a system weresimulated. Three products of each technology were examined in the simulations.From the simulated production an economic analysis was carried out, this toinvestigate if a system is profitable.

In this essay there will be four text books from grade 1 studied, the first one are from the year 1976 and it will be going forward to the year 2012. The aim of this study is to see how the genders are depicted and represented, as well as what roles the genders are given. I do also want to see if there is a notable change in this over time. I will be doing a study based on the quantity of the contents, and I will also be doing a critical discourse analysis.The result of the study showed that there were more gender-based constructions that referred to women in all of the four books, which indicates that women are represented more often in these reading books. It is most common to portray the genders in their stereotypical roles, which again are present in society, but sometimes these roles are depart from what?s present in society.

-------------------------- 4AbstractThis study is a qualitative case study in order to delineate how visible learning processes in the classroom. The study draws its theory from researcher John Hattie's findings about effective teaching. Data collection is taken from a class in grade 2 in a medium-sized Swedish municipality. The result demonstrates how the communication takes place in the classroom based on the teacher's strategies and planning in relation to pupils' interests and their own initiative. Is there a mutual feedback between teachers and students while teaching? From five perspectives, and the definition of what visible learning is all about, the results shows many good examples of excellent teaching.

The essay?s purpose is to illustrate the topic of parental leave and the distribution of the domestic work in the households. Furthermore this essay aims to investigate the following questions:§ Which factors will be of importance while considering how to divide the parental leave?§ How do families with small children distribute the domestic work?§ What are the opinions regarding equal allocation of parental leave quotas in families with small children?We have used a quantitative method to gather our empirical data. Surveys were handed out to parents visiting six ?Öppna förskolan? in Örebro.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the determinants of capital structure in Swedish small and medium sized firms. The study includes 24.859 Swedish firms which are further analyzed with regards to their financial characteristics. These characteristics consist of short term debt, long term debt and total leverage. The study compares the relationship between these characteristics and six independent variables.The result shows that profitability is the greatest determinant for capital structure in Swedish small and medium sized firms with regards to total leverage. When profitability increases the total leverage of the firm decreases.

In this thesis, it is investigated if it is possible to create a common factor of the work tasks done by an air traffic controller, which then can measure workload. This will lead to the development of a tool to measure workload at small airports. In the research project a questionnaire is created to measure the different tasks an air traffic controller has. The same questionnaire will also measure the number of environmental factors that exists around the air traffic controller. To measure the validity of the questionnaire, the authors are using NASA-TLX.

The aim of this project has been to raise the production efficiency of Daliff Precision Engineering through reduced transportation time and a more standardized manufacturing process. The problem has upraised because of a big and diversified product flora without any standard products and with just small batches ordered. The report also tries to show the work procedure with general analytical methods and be an example of how a similar problem can be resolved. The transportation time is being proposed to be reduced through a change in the layout of the factory. By moving a few manual machines, dispatch and burring to more efficient locations, the total transportation time will be reduced by 55 %.

This paper intends to examine the knowledge challenges in small IT companies which is going through rapid growth. The movement of information and knowledge is a social and very complex process. The challenge for technology is the social as information and knowledge requires. To believe blindly that technology will solve the problem is what many people think. In order to understand how technology can support information and knowledge management one needs to understand what information and knowledge is.