This essay studies the practice of both the political and the administrative leadership at the municipal level from the point of view of the politicians and the chief officers leadership role, and the relationship between politicians and administrators. I discuss and analyse how politicians and senior officials practice leadership, differences or similarities and if their practice of leadership raises any challenges in a democratic framework at the municipal level. I conducted interviews with the municipal political leader and the head of administration at the municipal level in Karlshamn and Sölvesborg. In the analysis I discuss communication as a leadership process which highlights ?enabling elements? and potentials of the leadership process.

The purpose of this investigation is to come across the associations of consumers who are being exposed to a brand extension from a different product category. Moreover, our aim is to contribute to the knowledge of how consumers respond to these extended products, by investigating the influence of the parent brand. To fulfill our purpose, this study was conducted through qualitative interviews with consumers. In order to carry out our investigation and analyze our findings the following theoretical framework has been used: Customer-based equity, Parent brand affect and Perceived fit. Our data was collected through ten semi-structured interviews including consumers of Fiat and Marlboro brand extensions.

The aim of this paper has been to investigate how accounting firms govern their organizations with regards to the complexity in the service that they offer. The service includes the general accounting tasks which through standardization can be cost efficient, the advisory services that entail flexibility, and the relationship with the customer which needs to be taken into consideration when delivering the financial reports. These three components are important but require different approaches when it comes to governing the organization. The conducted case study has shown that the accounting firms govern their organizations bureaucratically and mainly through behaviour and accounting controls. The advisory services demanded by customers are standardized, not analytical, and therefore do not require the firms to take flexibility into consideration.

An impulse or unplanned purchase is a decision taken on the spot without further consideration or reflection. It is the spur of the moment that influences the purchase rather than a deliberated decision. Being loyal to a particular brand means a mutual relationship between customer and company created over time which may result in the customer experiencing a higher value and thus prefer a particular brand before another.Bulk confectionary can be characterized as an impulse product because it is purchased at times without any time of consideration or planning. The question that arises is whether all bulk confectionary purchases are unplanned? Through this study it shall be examined whether any brand loyalty actually exists regarding bulk confectionary; does the customer plan its confectionary purchases in beforehand or do most of them occur through impulses? Furthermore, the study will highlight who the customer is of bulk confectionary in Sweden.The survey was conducted through a combination of a quantitative and qualitative method.

The increased specialisation and complexity in products and services has created the need for Swedish companies to focus more on their core businesses. This has resulted in them opting to buy services and products that lie outside of their core business from consultancy businesses or other types of suppliers. When companies describe their offers in internal and external marketing it is done often in terms of company or service attributes that are not based on customer value or offered value for the customer. The reason for this is that companies have not adapted their services to the different needs of their customers. As a result of this, they run the risk of offering the same services as their competitors and communicate values that the customers either do not understand or experience as value adding.

According to Nosti (2012) banks target youths to find new customers by giving them special offers such as debit cards from a relatively early age. However, Moschis and Churchill (1979) point out that age can affect the level of knowledge in the consumer. Therefore, this essay focuses on youths as consumers. Specifically, youths? awareness of security risks in using bank tools such as debit cards or internet banks was studied.

On a highly competitive market, quality is an important aspect to take into account, both in terms of goods and services. The Swedish timber market is very competitive and to achieve long-term success focus on the customer, in this case private forest owners, is a prerequisite. SCA Skog AB Jämtlands forest management administration is dependent on the acquisition of timber from private forest owners to fulfil their mission to the supply of SCA's paper and sawmills in Sweden with raw material. To be able to develop the cooperation with private forest owners, the administration investigates their quality management by measuring the customer satisfaction index (CSI). The purpose of the study was to identify a practical and systematic method to handle deviations and suggestions for improvements to achieve a higher customer satisfaction.

In today?s society, there are many people who suffer from physical pains due to their work situation. To work sitting down by a desk long hours every day is quite normal but this is a problem. People that sit down and work in the same position all day long the whole week will eventually be affected by long-term work injuries.Large multinational companies around the world offer a customer service where they serve customers who have experienced a problem with that company?s products or services.

This study is made in cooperation with Setragroup AB. Setra is Sweden?s biggest sawmilling company with a turnover of almost 6 billion SEK. 45% of the produced volume goes to the Swedish market where the customers are the DIY-sector and industrial customers. Setra as well as the other Swedish sawmilling companies operate in a very competitive environment.

In a competitive market as supermarkets, hundreds of the same products fight for attention in the shops. Every day thousands of targeted advertising messages is given to us. As a natural result of all this, power is transferred to consumers. You can no longer differentiate yourself by only price and function, thus companies must play on the emotional aspects and create a relationship with consumers. A key to success is to understand people's emotional needs and then satisfying them.In various journals and papers you can find highlighted success stories of strong brands such as Harley-Davidson, Apple and Virgin Airlines.

On a highly competitive market, quality is an important aspect to take into account, both in terms of goods and services. The Swedish timber market is very competitive and to achieve long-term success focus on the customer, in this case private forest owners, is a prerequisite. SCA Skog AB Jämtlands forest management administration is dependent on the acquisition of timber from private forest owners to fulfil their mission to the supply of SCA's paper and sawmills in Sweden with raw material. To be able to develop the cooperation with private forest owners, the administration investigates their quality management by measuring the customer satisfaction index (CSI). The purpose of the study was to identify a practical and systematic method to handle deviations and suggestions for improvements to achieve a higher customer satisfaction.

This thesis examines how knowledge management professionals use trust as a component in the creation of knowledge management systems, and what methods they use for building trust.Adopting a grounded theory approach, interviews with 8 knowledge management professionals active in different industries served as the base for an analysis that identified trust to be the single most important common factor in the data. The concept of trust used by the informants was identified as relating to the knowledge management system itself, rather than other users, employees or groups in an organisation.Building trust, the KM-professionals mainly focused on three methods: simple solutions, system superiority, and implementation security. Using these methods, the KM-professionals seek to ensure system trust by creating opportunities for users to obtain positive experiences of using the system, and thereby generate a foundation for a trust-based relationship between the user and the system..

Several studies have examined the effects of perceived justice of preferential treatments to customers, but few have studied these effects when customers have different input. The purpose of the study is therefore to enhance the knowledge and understanding of the effects of preferential treatments to customers with varying input. More specifically, the study focuses on how perceived justice, customer satisfaction and loyalty are affected depending on the customer's input and received treatment. An experimental study with 263 respondents showed that the perceived justice and loyalty intentions among both the receiver and the non-receiver of the preferential treatment were of highest level when it was given to a customer with large input. Customer satisfaction however, was found to be of highest level when customers themselves received preferential treatment, regardless of the size of their input.

Several studies have examined the effects of perceived justice of preferential treatments to customers, but few have studied these effects when customers have different input. The purpose of the study is therefore to enhance the knowledge and understanding of the effects of preferential treatments to customers with varying input. More specifically, the study focuses on how perceived justice, customer satisfaction and loyalty are affected depending on the customer's input and received treatment. An experimental study with 263 respondents showed that the perceived justice and loyalty intentions among both the receiver and the non-receiver of the preferential treatment were of highest level when it was given to a customer with large input. Customer satisfaction however, was found to be of highest level when customers themselves received preferential treatment, regardless of the size of their input.

Background: Knowledge of customer needs is a key factor in companies? struggle to develop successful products. Several studies illustrate that the main reason for failure in product development is lack of customer understanding. Lately considerable changes have occurred. Large-scale mass production is continuously being replaced by customer orientation, especially in the high technological market.