The civil war in Sierra Leone was a very complicated conflict, both in its origin as well as in its realization. Many actors, along with the diamond trade, played vital parts in making the war carry on for a decade. In this paper I will try to clarify the relations between the actors and the diamonds, first and foremost the part the diamonds played in the conflicts start and continuation. I will also show what has happened in the country and in the diamond industry after the wars conclusion. What I find is that diamonds did not play the only part in the origin of the conflict but that the poor economic state the country was in had its part.

This paper examines how companies in a transparent industry work to satisfy the customer in an extended way, to offer value added products that in the end enables the customer to be loyal to the company. We have studied the insurance industry in Sweden and have focused on five different insurance companies. Four of them, Folksam, Länsförsäkringar, Trygg-Hansa and Dina Försäkringar, where we have focused on Ölands Försäkringar which is part of the Dina Försäkringar group, are some of the largest insurance companies in Sweden. The fourth company is Swedbank which is a bank that has started to offer insurances.Our results demonstrate that it is important for the company to see the customer not only in a profitability aspect; the company has to find out what the customer gets in return. In that case the possibility for the customer to change company decreases and the chance that the customer becomes loyal increases.

In Sweden has the temporary agency work industry settled in an explosive way since the deregulation of the unemployment agency monopole in 1993. The demand of civil right for the employer that is rented out confronts the entire labour law regulation with new challenges.The purpose with this paper is an investigation of the principle of equal treatment in The Swedish temporary agency work act and also to create a deeper understanding of the effects of labour and employment relationship. An investigation of relevant collective agreements will be done to highlight the difficulties the principal of equal treatment is exposed to. Further on is there a will to gain understanding for the wage concept and what possible can be included in the wage concept in relation to the principal of equal treatment in The temporary agency work directive. By using the dogmatic method, an approach to descriptive identifying relevant sources of law and clarify the legal situation in the area.In the conclusions it will be determined that the principle of equal treatment in The Swedish temporary agency work act have different effects depending on if the temporary agency or if the client corporation is tied to an collective agreement alternative if a collective agreement is completely missing.

At the end of 70s and the beginning of 80s, 18 terminals was built and used for chipping wood residue from clear cuttings. Most of the terminals was terminated before the 2000s but with the high oil- and energy prices that we can see today there might be a place for these terminals again. The goal with the study was to analyze and compare economical differences between 5 different logistical systems, collected data was used with a set of formulas. The systems include long range transport of slash, chips and bundles. Three of the systems include transport by lorry to industry the last two includes a terminal with access to train transport.

Abstract.The levels of dioxin and comparable substances rose to a large extent in our environment during the second half of the 20'Th century. This was the result of the synthesis of, and careless usage of these substances in cooling fluids, hydraulics, pesticides etc. Background levels of dioxins and furans in sealed samples prior to this era suggest that former sources of these substances existed. Salt glazing is a method of adding a smooth acid resistant exterior to stoneware ceramics. The technique has been in use since the 16'Th century, maybe even earlier than that.

This study is about how videogamecompanies and Swedish newspapers represent masculinity and femininity in the covers of the games Assassins Creed 3, Grand Theft Auto 5, Bayonetta and Tomb Raider along with the reviews being done in conjunction with the game. The reviews has been published in the following newspapers: Aftonbladet, Svenska Dagbladet, Expressen and Göteborgsposten. The image that is formed in our society about how a man and a woman should be and behave will be the basics of this study. The covers of the games often represent what the game itself is about and what it contains and the reviews also conveys what the consumer who buys the game gets. The video game industry has grown in recent years to become one of the largest entertainmentindustries, but despite this, there has not been many studies on how this media represents masculinity and femininity.

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to investigate whether abnormal stock returns could be identified as a result of a layoff announcement during weak economy.Method: An event study methodology.Theory: Efficient market hypothesis, signal theory.Empirical results: Quantitative data from observations of stock prices in thirty two companies listed on the Nasdaq OMX Stockholm, in the period 2008 -2012.Conclusion: The results indicate that the market reaction was negative because there were negative abnormal returns on the Stockholm Stock Exchange during the period 2008-2012 in connection with the layoff announcements. The market reaction was milder when staff reductions were carried out as a result of a restructuring and stronger when staff reductions were carried out as part of a cost reduction program.The layoff announcements elicited different market reactions depending on the company's industry affiliation. The most negative reaction was in the Healthcare industry. Negative abnormal returns were lower in industries Industrials, Consumer Services and Consumer Goods. There were no abnormal returns for shares of companies in the industry Financials.

line of business/industry and family, to more clearly discern how male and female norms are acquired among female entrepreneurs. The purpose of this study was to gain a greater understanding and knowledge of women's conditions regarding entrepreneurship, in relation to society's norms. The study is based on a textual thematic analyses, using two themes derived from Helene Ahls ?The Scientific Reproduction of Gender Inequality. A Discourse Analysis of Research Texts on Women`s Entrepreneurship?.

When the competition is getting stronger and companies must work harder to find new markets, new products and create new needs to reach growth, it appears strange that they overlook an obvious target segment right in front of their eyes. For some years ago, marketers of fashion brands feared that older women would wear their clothes, because it gave bad promotion for the young economically viable target group. Today, older women have difficulties finding clothes with right fit, style and personal taste. They would gratefully accept a brand, they felt were aimed for them. The purpose of this study is to give new ideas to companies in the fashion industry, how to reach this target group, but also be a contributing reason for older women to see the market opening for them.

This report is a study made at Pallco AB. Pallco is a subcontractor that is specialized on steel and aluminium components.The aim of the report is to show an improvement proposal that leads to a reduction of the storage and improve the flow through the production of one item that is a part of a product that Pallco manufactures.With the increasing competition from other countries who can manufacture with lower costs must Swedish companies try to make theirs manufacturing as efficient as possible and remove all waste. By using the tools of Lean Production it is possible to reduce the costs and increase the efficiency.The method we used is value stream mapping. A map of the present condition has been made and then different improvement proposal were discussed. A map of a future condition has also been designed..

 The sawmill industry is a relative fragmented industry that is in an economic upswing andwith a hard competition. The customers have high demands on their suppliers and the highcustomer demand make it necessary for the companies to make a streamlining in planningand production. For that reason it is very important that the planning- and productionprocesses aren?t to complex and with a simple structure.The purpose of this report is to study and map out a marked out part of a planning- andproduction process, from adjust works to final delivery, at a company in the sawmill industry.Different methods have been used for the report, among others interviews and subordinatedmaterial.We have mapped out a marked out part of the planning- and production process at theCompany. This part we have studied, and we have analysed the process it self and otherthings connected to the process.We see the planning- and production process in the Company as complex.

Songs from the Crypt: Mapping the Forces that Hinder the Digital Revolution of Music Distribution This paper seeks an explanation to the low market share growth of the commercial digital music distribution in Sweden. The analysis identifies a spectrum of obstacles that hinder the digital distribution technology from becoming the main form of music distribution in Sweden. These obstacles make the digital music distribution less favourable in comparison with physical distribution from the consumer?s point of view. The authors suggest that in order for the digital distribution of music to become competitive the digital product would either have to be developed further to offer more customer value or the so called a là carte retail model would have to be replaced by a subscription-based distribution model.

After the formation of the European Union internal market in 1992, member state specific obstacles and barriers were largely removed. This was especially the case in harmonised industries where standardisation and technical regulation have led to legal certainty. Despite this, a large range of trade regulation continues to remain distortional to trade, in addition to the ongoing tariffs and subsidies. The key trade regulations relate to a number of areas involving technical regulations such as production labelling and the protection of intellectual property rights. Whilst policy makers claim justification based around the need to correct market failure in delivering desired outcomes, the question is whether these regulations are appropriate responses to market failures or if they have simply been imposed in an attempt to protect domestic markets.

Intresset för sömlösa stålrör med stora ytterdiametrar i förhållande till tunna väggtjocklekar har ökat tillsammans med att högre hållfasthet i olika stålsorter tillkommit. Detta gör det möjligt att tillverka lättare, billigare och mer materialeffektiva stålprodukter med samma eller högre hållfasthet som tidigare.Denna nya utvecklingsriktning medför förändringar och utmaningar i en av företaget Ovakos produktionslinor i Rörverk 5 Hofors, vilket de har behov av att samarbeta med maskinkonstruktionsföretaget BEKAB för att utvärdera och utveckla.I Ovakos produktionslina i Rörverk 5 finns en del av ett asselvalsverk som kallas för "förreducerare". Denna del av asselvalsverket ser Ovako ett stort intresse i att utvärdera och utveckla för att bättre anpassas till den nya utvecklingsriktningen.  En känd utmaning hos förreduceraren sen tidigare är att den från början är framtagen för att reducera ner ett kvalitetsproblem hos rörprodukterna som kallas för trattbildning. Projektet fördjupar sig därför inom trattbildning för att bättre förstå grunden till förreducerarens nuvarande design för att därefter genomföra en redesign av förreduceraren.I en nulägesanalys av nuvarande förreducerare framkommer ett flertal olika produktionsutrustningsproblem med tillhörande kvalitetsproblem hos rörprodukterna. Projektet väljer därmed att fokusera på de produktionsutrustningsproblem som ger störst effekt för förreduceraren om de löstes.

Summary Title Are older consumers of interest for the Swedish Apparel market?A study of older consumers? attitudes and interests in apparel Deadline 12 January, 2007 Course FEK 533 Authors Brusk Kutlay and Linda Nordén Tutors Björn Carlsson and Roland Knutsson Keywords Older consumer, apparel, lifestyle, attitudes, consumer behavior Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate weather the 50+ segment is a strong market for apparel, i.e. if it is an interesting market for the Swedish apparel industry. The aim is to contribute to a better understanding of consumers? attitudes toward apparel shopping on the Swedish market.