The ability for companies to anticipate the future and stay in the forefront of the competition is essential for successful business. The tool of Environmental Scanning is basics in the process of developing prescriptive strategies as well as vital in evolving emergent strategies. The complexity lies in gathering relevant information and transforming the information into adequate data, which can be utilised by management to optimise strategies. The purpose of this study is to scrutinise how successfully operating Swedish manufacturing companies, listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange?s ?Large Cap?-list, organise their Environmental Scanning actions and how this affects the development of strategies. Prior research on the subject has been used as foundation to presenting relevant theories.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine whether institutional ownership has an influence on CEO compensation in companies where the institutions have invested. In order to fulfil the purpose of the thesis a quantitative study was carried out within the Swedish corporate context where we have studied Swedish institutional investors and companies quoted on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. Our period of study was the financial year of 2007.The empirical questions at issue is; Was there a connection between Swedish institutional ownership and the size of the CEO compensation, and, does Swedish institutional ownership lead to a certain type of CEO compensation in terms of structure?Our results did not suggest that an increased institutional ownership neither leads to a certain type of salary level nor a certain kind of salary structure. These results contradict earlier American research, which has been done within this area and has previously shown a secured connection.The reasons for our results may be many and it is difficult to state any concrete conclusions to why we received differing results.

This thesis is based on a case study for the real estate manager Mimer in Västerås. Mimer provides a great deal of this city?s rental apartments. Many of their buildings have ventilation systems with a type of heat-recovery called ?heatpipe?.

The purpose of this study was to create a picture of Södra´s round wood transporters usage, and positive or negative experiences of the KOLA-system. The KOLA-system, owned and managed by SDC, is a program for handling timber orders and displaying their locations on digital maps. The study was conducted as a twenty-three question internet-based survey. Of those asked to complete the survey, 57 percent chose to answer the questions. The results of the study indicated that several of the transporters found the system quite good and used it to a large extent. The system also had many deficiencies however, and there was clear potential for further increasing the usage of the system.

The recent development in several countries? legislation and best practice recommendations in relation to corporate governance in general and audit committees in particular have affected Swedish listed corporations in the form of the Swedish Corporate Governance Code and the coming EU-directive. This paper aims to discover what factors affected Swedish listed companies to form audit committees when this was entirely voluntary. We collected data from the annual reports of 121 Swedish listed companies and formed eleven hypotheses as to what factors we believed affected the voluntary formation of audit committees based on Agency Theory, economies of scale and circumstances specific to the Swedish environment. We then analyzed the data through the use of a multivariate logistic regression model.

Syftet med denna uppsats är att granska effekterna av regional integration på FDI hos de länder som blev medlemmar i EU 2004 samt 2007. Utifrån teori gällande sambandet mellan regional integration och FDI, analyseras empirisk data över stock och flöden av FDI till de nya medlemsländerna i syfte att utreda förekomsten av investeringsalstring och/eller investeringsomfördelning inom denna integration av typen öst-väst där det råder stora skillnader i inkomstnivå mellan medlemsländerna. Analysen visar att FDI till de nya medlemsländerna, både från andra medlemsländer och tredje land, har ökat till följd av ländernas medlemskap i EU. Mätt i absolutvärde kan det konstateras att FDI från andra medlemsländer är avsevärt mycket större än FDI från tredje land. Vidare har de nya medlemsländerna upplevt investeringsalstring och investeringsomfördelning från andra medlemsländer samt investeringsomfördelning där FDI från EU15 flyttar från tredje land till de nya medlemsländerna.

The aim of this Master?s thesis is to examine how librarians in two Swedish public libraries view the subject of face-front marketing and literary hierarchy. The questions posed in this thesis are: How do two public libraries in Sweden market fictional literature? Which literature does get marketed? How do the librarians view fictional literature? How do the librarians view marketing? and Does Herbert Gans? literary scale work to examine the marketing of fictional literature in two Swedish public libraries? The theoretical starting-points are Niels Ole Pors? thoughts on stock development, Philip Kotler?s thoughts on the responsible non-profit organisation and Herbert Gans? thoughts on taste-publics and taste-cultures. The empirical material was gathered through qualitative interviews with library staff in two public libraries in the south of Sweden, and by reading a sample of the fictional literature exposed in these libraries.

Syftet med denna litteraturstudie var att ta reda på vilka olika typer av tandskydd som finns, hur vanligt användandet av tandskydd är inom idrott och vad det är som gör att vissa avstår från att använda tandskydd. För att få svar på detta gjordes en sammanställning av tidigare vetenskapliga artiklar. Det finns tre olika typer av tandskydd. Typ I, stock-type, finns i olika storlekar och kan köpas i handeln. Typ II, boil-and-bite, finns också att köpa ute i handeln och idrottaren formar till tandskyddet själv i munnen. Typ III är ett specialgjort tandskydd som tillverkas hos tandläkaren.

Background: There has been an increase in savings and investment in recent years along with an increased interest in responsible investments. Ethical mutual funds has developed and gained increasingly popularity.Aim: The aim of the study is to examine if ethical mutual funds are an equivalent alternative to traditional mutual funds in terms of return, risk and risk-adjusted return on the Swedish stock market.Theory: Beta, Jensen's Alpha, Sharpe ratio, Treynor ratio, and Modern Portfolio Theory.Method: Quantitative survey method, a statistical study.Conclusion:The study concludes that there is no significant difference between ethical and conventional mutual funds in terms of return, risk and risk-adjusted return. The small differences that exist between the two fund groups are in favor of the ethical fund group, indicating that funds is a comparable investment option compared to traditional mutual funds..

This study investigates whether the site index curve method (SICM) and the growth intercept method (GIM) can be used for site index predictions in younger Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) stands than recommended by current guidelines. For SICM it was thus investigated whether the method could be used for stands younger than ten years, and for GIM it was tested whether a starting point for the intercept measurements could be used below the recommended 2.5 meter. This was tested based on measurements taken from experimental stands in Tönnersjöheden Research Forest. For GIM it was found that the method can only be used when the TH-trees of a stand have five complete intercepts above 2.5 meters. For the method to be applicable beyond this, it will be necessary to adapt the underlying equations, perhaps following the Canadian example where a 1.3 meter intercept start is used. In conclusion it is not currently possible to apply the approach beyond the current recommendations. For SICM, SI predictions are accurate for the study area already form year three.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the price effect on the initial day of trading of IPOs and the price effect on the announcement day of SEOs on Stockholm Stock Exchange. A second purpose it to conduct studies on which factors influencing the price effects and if these factors can be explained by the same fundamental ideas. Theories regarding capital structure and the pricing of IPOs and SEOs are covered. The capital structure theories involve; Miller and Modigliani's cost of captial theory, Static Tradeoff Model and the Pecking Order. The Efficient Market Hypothesis is presented and previous theories are investigated.

Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka om revisionsplikten för små och mikro AB bör finnas kvar eller inte. Inom den Europeiska Unionen (EU) är det endast Sverige och Malta som i nuläget har plikten kvar fullt ut. För att få en uppfattning om vad debatten handlar om har vi i första hand studerat aktuella artiklar. Vi har även använt oss av två olika forskarrapporter inom området och litteratur. Åsikter i debatten har vi även tagit del av genom sju stycken olika intervjuer med anställda hos banker, Skatteverket, revisionsbyråer och ägare i små och mikro AB.

Background: Breastfeeding frequency decrease in Sweden and infants born preterm is a particularly vulnerable group to not be breastfed according to current recommendations. Mothers of preterm infants have an extra need of support from the health care system. Mothers' self-efficacy in breastfeeding affects the outcome of breastfeeding. Health professionals' attitudes to breastfeeding have an impact on the breast feeding support they provide to the mothers.Aim: To investigate whether an intervention could strengthen self-efficacy in breastfeeding among mothers of premature babies. A further aim was to investigate whether the intervention influenced health professionals' attitudes to breastfeeding.Method/Design: An experimental study with quantitative approach in the form of questionnaire survey was conducted.

The first four AP-funds have a well-diversified Swedish portfolio, which is managed in similar way as the largest Swedish bank funds. Up until today, there has not been any comparable study that focuses specifically on this part of the AP-funds. Our aim is two-folded; First we will look at how well the AP-funds have managed their Swedish assets compared with Swedish funds of the four largest banks in Sweden during 2002-2006. This will be done by looking at some important key ratios and both absolute and active return. Secondly we will present a descriptive analysis of the management structure within the respective organisations, to be able to draw conclusions regarding the possible deviations in investment return.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the benefit of information literacy instruction in two student groups at Kristianstad University, in relation to development of critical information literacy and within the boundaries of the educational goals. This study takes on a critical information literacy perspective that combines critical pedagogy and standards for information literacy in higher education. Two methods have been used for data collection: interviews and questionnaires. According to the results of the study the information literacy instruction provided by the Kristianstad University Library is important and useful for the students in their academic studies. It also becomes clear that the information literacy differs between the two groups as a consequence of the varying information literacy instruction received by the two groups.