The Swedish food retail market contains of three major actors, ICA, KF and Axfood, all in all dominating 75 percent of the total market shares. The scant number of retailing actors indicates that the Swedish food retail market is a highly concentrated oligopoly, which as a fact has given rise to definite discussions and argumentations concerning the market situation. But is the food retail market imperfect and how do we reach a workable competition? Economic theory does not provide any clear answer on these questions, but is rather divided into two fundamentally different approaches to define competition: the static and the dynamic perspective on competition. In an attempt to examine the competition on local Swedish retail markets, the purpose of this study is to carry out an econometric model estimating the situation.

Kevin Roberts has extended the comprehension of strong consumer brands to a higher level where loyalty beyond reason is established. He calls this new status Lovemarks. As the concept of Lovemark has only been applied in B2C markets, this thesis is directed to find out the applicability of Lovemarks in B2B context. In order to fulfill the research purpose, three main questions are answered based on a cross-sectional research approach: What role do intangible factors play in B2B branding? Is the idea of B2C Lovemarks transferable to B2B context? How should a B2B Lovemark be characterized? The results of the qualitative interviews indicate insights of high investment and involvement, integrated brand communication, balance between function versus emotion, brand?s trustworthy personality, customer partnership, and finally, the potential establishment of B2B Lovemarks.

SUMMARYInventory of raw materials holds an important role in companies within the manufacturingsector. The inventory works as a buffer that secure the supply of materials to the productionunit. The aim of the inventory is to ensure that the company is able to meet the customers?demands despite fluctuations and variations in the material flow. The size of the warehouseand the layout are physical limitations for the quantity of articles that can be stored.

SUMMARYInventory of raw materials holds an important role in companies within the manufacturingsector. The inventory works as a buffer that secure the supply of materials to the productionunit. The aim of the inventory is to ensure that the company is able to meet the customers?demands despite fluctuations and variations in the material flow. The size of the warehouseand the layout are physical limitations for the quantity of articles that can be stored.

Background and problem: Whether or not the pay to executives is fair is widely debated. During the last years especially the variable pay has been in the spotlight. But at what levels are the compensations really at? Media?s focus is mainly on the absolute highest compensations which may result in a skew view on pay-for-performance incentives.Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to establish the levels of compensation to executives in a wide range of randomly selected companies listed on the Stockholm stock exchange during the years 2001 to 2005. Furthermore, the impact of a set of firm specific variables on compensation levels will be analyzed with basis in several hypothesis.Delimitations: The variable pay considered in this thesis will only be variable cash bonuses.

This thesis studies the relationship between book values and market values in different assets and liabilities in Swedish Large Cap companies balance sheets. The aim is to find out if the relationship, the permanent measurement bias, has changed during since Mikael Runstens doctoral thesis from 1998 called The Association between Accounting Information and Stock Prices. Although some changes in the permanent measurement bias are found, this probably is due to other aspects than the introduction of IFRS..

Trading based on technical analysis has its roots in the U.S. financial industry where it has long been common practice, in Sweden however the trading style has not had the same impact. Based on the results from the preliminary study we believe this is about to change and that the topic therefore requires further studying. Several online stockbrokers today provide information and tools for technical analysis to their clients. As the list of indicators to use for creating strategies is so immense it is interesting for an investor to know what actually could be the basis for a profitable investment strategy.

The purpose of this assignment at SSAB Tunnplåt in Borlänge was mainly to investigate and describe the circumstances for the spare parts stored in storage facilities within the area of operation. Even new facilities which could serve as storage rooms and their opportunities for storing spare parts were an important part of the investigation. This because of the need for improved storing of spare parts. Furthermore, market offers where reviewed for storage of spare parts in more tailored designs. The work will culminate in proposals for improvement which is of importance for the development surrounding the storage and handling of spare parts.

The problem area was identified due to the fact that research within internal audit is fragmented and insufficient, simultaneously to internal audit becoming more common in the public debate. Crises and scandals in companies such as Enron in the US and Skandia in Sweden have resulted in new regulations regarding how companies should be governed. These regulations have been established in Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX) in the US, and in Sweden the Swedish code for corporate governance will be implemented in 2005. The regulations imply that companies must provide sound internal control and to accomplish that, companies should have an auditing and consulting internal audit function. The Swedish code for corporate governance denotes that companies can decide to comply or explain why the code is not complied.

Today the human being see energy as a matter of course but the resources that is used for extract energy is today not enough for the world demand. Of all the energy that is used in Sweden today approximately 40 % goes to the building stock. This number will most likely increase if not necessary actions will be made on the already existing building stock since new houses constantly are built which will be added up on the already existing energy supply. This takes cause of action on the already existing building stocks, to fulfill the demands of the future use of energy that has been set by the authority. At the same time the thermal conditions cannot be influenced by the necessary changes that must be made.

SUMMARYInventory of raw materials holds an important role in companies within the manufacturingsector. The inventory works as a buffer that secure the supply of materials to the productionunit. The aim of the inventory is to ensure that the company is able to meet the customers?demands despite fluctuations and variations in the material flow. The size of the warehouseand the layout are physical limitations for the quantity of articles that can be stored.

 Problem: For what type of investors are index funds versus exchange-traded index funds best suited?Objective: The purpose of the paper is to determine how an index fund or an exchange-traded index fund (ETF) suits different types of investors with different requirements in terms of time frame, investment size and purpose of investment. The comparison is based on fees and trade practicality. This is going to describe the advantages and disadvantages with the two different financial instruments.Method: The study is a comparative study using two methods; one of which is a case study, the other is a qualitative interview. The case study focuses on fees and is made on an exchange traded fund (XACT OMXS30) and a simple equity index fund (Erik Pensér equity enhanced index).

SUMMARYInventory of raw materials holds an important role in companies within the manufacturingsector. The inventory works as a buffer that secure the supply of materials to the productionunit. The aim of the inventory is to ensure that the company is able to meet the customers?demands despite fluctuations and variations in the material flow. The size of the warehouseand the layout are physical limitations for the quantity of articles that can be stored.

SammanfattningAvregleringen av den finansiella marknaden har skapat förutsättningar för alternativa marknadsplatser. Företag kan i dag välja att notera sig på icke traditionella börser som inte är knutna till en fysisk handelsplats. För att skapa förtroende och långsiktighet för dessa virtuella marknadsplatser krävs det att vikt läggs vid relationen till kunderna. En del i detta är att ta hänsyn till de faktorer som potentiella kunder värderar i valet av marknadsplats. I dag väljer företag att notera sig på O-listan före någon av NGMs listor och väljer man NGMs lista är det enbart för att kraven där har varit lägre.

At the plant of Sandvik do Brasil in São Paulo there is a need for improving the transport of inserts between the plant building and the stock building. The idea is to install a system with an Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) to take care of this transportation. The purpose of this report is to present which demands there are on the system and to find the best solution according to the demands.To conclude this work a study was made of the plant and the AGV technology was examined. Several providers of AGV solutions were contacted to get information about prices and detailed solutions.The conclusion was that the most suitable system for this application is a small unit load vehicle using inductive wire as guiding system..