This paper examines the interpersonal and intercorporate networks of interlocking boardmembers among Sweden's 50 largest publicly traded companies in 1985 and 2005. We find that both the interpersonal and intercorporate networks of 1985 are considerably more coherent and densely connected than those of 2005. The observed changes in social network structure are compared to changes in company ownership in Swedish publicly traded companies during the same period, and it is found that the observed changes in network density and cohesion can be related to a notable increase in the number of foreign board members. These results imply that the social organization of the Swedish system of corporate governance has changed notably during the period. Social network theory suggests that these changes can explain the greater demand for external regulation, decreased homogeneity of board members and increase in board member compensation observed under the period.

This thesis discusses various approaches that venture capitalists have when evaluating investment prospects. The thesis is a case study of the business angel network Firm Factory Network. The empirical material is based on an extensive interview with Firm Factory CEO Daniel Kaplan. Our conclusion is that Firm Factory Network uses both informal and formal methods when they evaluate interesting prospects..

Abstract The increased focus on social capital theory has made its way into labour economics. This has led to the creation of a vast literature about the use of networks and informal search methods in the labour-market, a literature that to some extent also deals with immigrants search behaviour and their relatively high unemployment rate. Characteristic for the literature in the area is the lack of analysis of actual networks. Which types of contacts do these networks contain; how are the networks used in the labour-market; and which type of network generates a high amount of social capital. These questions are important for the general understanding of how social capital functions, within the labour-market, but also for the understanding of how immigrants use their networks in order to find themselves jobs.

The interest in companies that are based outside the cities has grown, and many of these companies have focused their activities around service. The countryside companies meet some difficulties in marketing and communication with other entrepreneurs. A network with service based companies in the countryside could help the individual companies to promote themselves and also give inspiration and new ideas to develop their business. The aim of this study is to investigate how a countryside network can be organized but also what conditions is needed to make the network function. The theory is based on a literature study of the three major topics "countryside", "networking" and "marketing".

The purpose with our study is to create an understanding of how tourism stakeholders within a tourism network can affect a Destination Marketing/Management Organization?s (DMO?s) work with the destination branding process. To fulfill this purpose we have clarified different relationships that can influence the DMO?s place marketing. In order to limit our study we have chosen to focus on two Swedish destinations, Öland and Norrköping, and their DMO?s.

Regional European Offices with the purpose to represent regions and municipalities in the EU-system have had a substantial expansion over the last years. One example is the North Sweden European Office for the counties of Norrbotten and Västerbotten, consisting of seven different headmen who are representing both the private sector as well as the public system. This diverse leadership representation makes North Sweden a very good example on a so called Quango, organisations that stand under simultaneous influence from both public and private sectors. These Quangos opens up new possibilities to solve public problems, but they also bring together two different working models which is not always easy to handle for a Quango. According to earlier surveys some characteristic Quango problems within North Sweden exist, for example the ability to prioritize and thereby be as effective as possible.

Research about social support and social networks has mostly concerned the impact on a person?s wellbeing and health. However an aspect largely neglected is how social support within the social networks can affect the process of giving up a drug abuse. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to a better understanding of what role the social support within different relationships can have on the process of giving up drug abuse. Furthermore the aim is to examine how a self-help group can provide social support in the transitional period after leaving a drug abuse.

In this paper, a small business network with around 30 users is analyzed with respect to security, performance and usability. Based on this analysis, two suggestions on how to solve the problems listed are given. The first suggestion focus on keeping a low budget, while the other tries to deal with the problems more thoroughly. One advantage of the first suggestion is, in addition to not straining the company's budget more than nessecary, it does not involve too great changes in the way the network is used and administered. On the other hand, the smaller budget leads to certain compromises, and there is a risk that similar problems occur again if, for example, the company would grow.

In recent years, the internet has exploded of images. Not at least in the popular photo-sharing network Instagram as one of the fastest growing social network for the moment. Millions of people around the world share pictures and expose themself for friends and family. We were therefore interested in which experiences and attitudes users have towards their identities in relation to their self-image and self-presentation on Instagram. Furthermore, whether they in general have a primary interest in using Instagram as a tool to experiment with images to present their identity on Instagram, in which way they approach their Instagram follower?s expectations on how they present themselves on Instagram and if they are aware of any strategies in their self-presentation on Instagram.The result of this study is the fact that our respondents thinks that they do not intend to have a primary interest in experimenting with images on Instagram to present their identitiy, it is rather something that comes naturally in how they present themselves on Instagram.

This paper describes a case study of the largest film production ever conducted in Scandinavia. The study aims at explaining the complex relationships in the network structure in which the project took place. Coordination of creative projects carried out in a network context, includes handling conflicting interest and contradictions. Creativity needs space and freedom while projects need structure and coordination, whereby controlling these projects becomes complex. Adding to the complexity, does the loose form of organization that the network structure represents, without any long term structure.

Because social media is personal and reaches users directly, it has become an important means of communication for companies trying to reach out to their audience (Nygren & Wadbring, 2013). Especially the possibility of interactivity has been discussed as social media's big advantage. But how much two-way communication is actually possible on social media? This is a quantitative study that focuses on how Swedish Facebook users in the ages of 16-25 interact with companies on the social network. The aim was to contribute with increased information and knowledge about how the users mentioned above interact with the companies as well as how the users perceive the companies communication and presence on Facebook.

The purpose of this study was to examine how youth useFacebook and how Facebook perceives construct their own identity. Anotherquestion was if the construction of the self-identity is different between thegenders.The study is based on empirical material that has been collected by usingquestionnaires. The questionnaire was handed out in three different classes in3rd grade in secondary school in southern Sweden. The analysis in this studywas based on two different kinds of theories, Erving Goffman?s social theory ofdramaturgical analysis and stigma and Yvonne Hirdman?s gender studies.

The purpose of this study was to examine parenthood of young mothers from a professional point of view. The professionals work in a medium-sized city in Sweden and they represent different professions to give a broad perspective of the subject. The questions in the study were: What were the advantages of being a young mother of today and were there any problems with being a young mother, from the professionals perspective? What role did young mothers network and family play, from a professional point of view? From a professional point of view, how well did society handle young parenthood? How do the professionals handle the young mothers they met? Studies with reference to professionals' thoughts and expectations of young mothers were few, therefore the professionals were given a central position in this study. A qualitative method was chosen, for this study.

The aim of this study was to use stories from three people who previously lived in homelessness to increase the knowledge of the social network's impact on the process of exiting homelessness. In order to answer our questions, whether the social network facilitated or hindered the way out of homelessness, we have used a narrative method to take advantage of these person's life stories. As a theoretical perspective, we used the ecology of human development, based on the idea that human development occurs in interaction with their environment at different levels. Results showed those interviewees' networks had a significant impact on their path out of homelessness and that these relationships both facilitated and hindered this process. At the same time, these relationships affected our interviewees in different ways and were found in various areas of life, which indicates that there is more than one way out of homelessness.

The purpose of the study isto,based on network theory, systems theory and development ecological systems theory,understand parent?sexperiences of having children with autismspectrum, as well as understand the importance of social networksfor the parents. All of the intervieweeswere mothers. The results showed that it is important to parentsto have contact with other parents who are in the same situation as them. Many of the interviewees had a small social network.