Background: Increasingly, companies choose to finance their business with corporate bonds which has resulted in an increased demand on credit ratings. As such the rating agencies have a very important role in the financial markets. Examining the value of a credit-rating can be very interesting for both issuer and investor. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to identify and define the value of rating. Execution: The study is built upon nine interviews with rated and non-rated firms and investors.

In modern leadership research, leadership is often viewed as a social construction, and under this paradigm various researchers let the media play a central role in constructing leadership. Meanwhile, the question of how the media actors do this is left unanswered. We explore the question of how and why the media construct leadership, from the vantage point of the media actors themselves, and the conditions they work under. Different mechanisms for media construction of leadership are identified in previous research. Through interviews with business journalists at Veckans Affärer, we find recognition for some of the explanatory mechanisms: namely that personification of a CEO facilitates the work of journalists (and sells papers), that personal drama captures reader demand, and that the CEO of a listed company consciously cultivates his or her personal parallel self.

Time has passed since the new standards regarding goodwill were introduced. Duringthe period that occurred pre the financial crisis several companies managed to creategreat goodwill assets on their balance sheet. These assets were highlighted during thefinancial crisis and the aim of this study is to evaluate analysts contemporaryconsideration of these assets. The study will be of interest due to the fact that we nowfind ourselves in-between periods, post financial crisis and pre euro crisis. Ourempirical study has been carried out by interviewing analysts covering IT-companiestraded on the Swedish stock exchange.Our analysts were chosen with consideration to the fact that they were coveringcompanies where acquisitions are common.

I denna uppsats diskuteras sambandet mellan risk, marknadseffektivitet och volatilitet. En studie görs för att se om volatiliteten (kursrörligheten) har ökat i enskilda aktier under tidsperioden 1988-1999. Vidare behandlas vilka faktorer som kan ge upphov till volatilitetsförändringar, vilka konsekvenser en förändrad volatilitet får för olika typer av investerare samt om utvecklingen är förenlig med EMH (den effektiva marknadshypotesen).Studier av volatilitet är intressanta p g a den risk som uppstår för olika marknadsaktörer vid en ökad volatilitet. Uppstår felvärderingar på aktiemarknaden finns även risk för att kapital fördelas på ett sätt som inte är optimalt. I stora drag kan man definiera begreppet volatilitet som ett mått på hur stor osäkerheten är inför den framtida kursutvecklingen för en aktie.

There is no commonly accepted definition of a business method. It ought to consist of a method or a process of doing business. Business methods constitutes a broad category of patents, it is hard to tell exactly what can be interpreted in to the term. Most of the world's legal systems have made an exception from patentability for business methods. In the USA the exception was abolished in a case 1998.

Problem: The question is if investors falls into psychological decision traps when they are about to make an investments decision. Research in other areas suggests that this may be case. The reason is that they are not aware of that psychological decision traps exist. If so, it can lead to pernicious consequences for the return on the portfolios they manage. Purpose: To investigate if investors fall into four different psychological decisions traps: anchoring, confirming evidence, overconfidence and regression towards mean, at investments in IPOs Method: We have collected data through a form of experiment.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to assess whether the overreaction found in ?Does the Stock Market Overreact?? by DeBondt and Thaler still persists today, and by equivalence test if a trading strategy based upon these assumptions would generate abnormal returns. MethodThe research has been carried out by studies of the stocks that for a prior period of one year has over or underperformed their benchmark. The stocks used in my study are all part of S&P500 index, and the period of study runs from three to five overlapping years over the last twenty years. ResultsMy tests indicate that the type of overreaction proposed by DeBondt & Thaler still is present, at least considering the stocks that during the formation period were winners..

This paper deals with how people use public libraries. An attempt is made to distinguishbetween different user groups on the basis of how they use the library. The roles of thelibrary in relation to its users are also discussed.The paper is based on a user study with the cooperation of 195 users. The user studywas carried out at the Public Library of Alingsås 1994. As material for comparisonsimilar studies from Sweden, but even from Denmark, have been used.

AbstractTitle: The Swedish real estate companies choices of valuation within investment properties and its further effects on the qualitative characteristics of accounting.-A study of the Swedish real estate companies listed and non - listed on the stock market, after the application of the international rule board.Background and Problem: From January 2005, all companies, listed on a stock market within the European Union, are required to prepare their consolidated accounts using common set of International Accounting Standards, IAS/IFRS. In Sweden, this opportunity has also been given to non-listed companies, to voluntary implement these rules in their consolidated accounts. One difference between Swedish accounting rules and contemporary International rules, deals with the accounting treatment of investment properties, which foremost affects the real estate market?s accounts. In contrast to the Swedish Financial Accounting Standards Council?s recommendation RR 24, the new standard, IAS 40, permits a choice between different accounting alternatives.

Title: Predictions and explanation models for bankruptcy in stock-companies ? A study of three failed Swedish companies Author: Tim Svanberg Supervisor: Emil Numminen Department: School of Management, Blekinge Institute of technology Course: Bachelor?s thesis in business administration, 10 credits Purpose: The purpose of the thesis is to find explanation for bankruptcy with the help of prediction models. The purpose is also to add explanation by using Behavioral analysis Method: Quantitative research of bankruptcies using financial prediction models and qualitative study of psychological pitfalls. The study is deductive. Results: I found that it is possible to explain the bankruptcies using the prediction models. The behavioural perspective adds further explanation.

Today?s companies offer their products and services through multiple distribution channels in an increasing extent, in order to reach bigger markets and more customers. Multiple channels result in an increased risk for channel conflict.This essay is an exploratory and descriptive study with the purpose to explore some companies? channel conflicts on the basis of sales commission and price differences. A case study has been made at two different companies and the empirical material has been collected with qualitative interviews.We found more channel conflicts in the company that uses sales commissions than in the company that doesn?t.

This thesis examines the verification of the terms and conditions stated in contracts based on the Public Procurement Act. In March 2013 the Swedish state procurement commission released " Good Business - A Strategy for Sustainable Public Procurement " (SOU 2013:12), which found that the proportion of control and verification is relatively low. The thesis examine how verification is carried out and looks for an explanation to why verification is not more oftenly performed. To answer these questions two care studies, based on seven semi-structured interviews, is presented as the empirical material. Network theory has been used to analyse the empirical results, and aspects of commonly used theories such as contract management and "Markets and Hierarchies" by Williamson has also been taken into account.

Since 2005 the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has prescribed a mandatory requirement that all ?Publicly Consolidated Entities? abide by the ?International Financial Reporting Standards? (IFRS). However, due to a difference in institutional elements, between countries, differences in financial reporting are still possible. This essay aims to identify such differences between Swedish and British companies in their adaptation of the IFRS, specifically differences in; ?Disclosure Requirements for Goodwill? specified in ?IAS 36 p 134?.

To invent an optimized product is a complicated process. This process is only half of the work. It is equally important to develop a production system that can produce the product in an  efficient and ergonomic way.After several evaluations of conceptual and detailed drawings a final idea has come to light.The idea intends, to the maximum extent, utilize the facility in a more efficient way through moving assembly lines and stations closer to the flock section and the stock for complete products. To make the production better, stations are placed in more logical places given the assignment they are supposed to accomplish. This improves the material flow radically.

The aim of this study is to examine whether the two factors SMB and HML in the Fama-French Three Factor Model proxy for default risk. The study is based on companies noted on the Stockholm Stock Exchange between 2003 and 2008. These companies are used to create the factors SMB and HML, as well as a default risk factor we call RMS. In a first set of regressions, we examine the explanatory power of the original Fama-French model on a set of portfolios consisting of Swedish companies of different size and book-to-market ratio. The default risk factor RMS is then added to the original Fama-French model.