AbstractEssay in political Science (c-level) by Karin Forsling, Spring 2007A school for the best interest of the child? - The Swedish School System according to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.Supervisor: Stig MontinThe purpose of this essay is to investigate how the Swedish governments work with the im-plementation of this convention and what progress has been made. The inquiry of this study is to describe how the changing in the Swedish School System correspond to the national strat-egy for implementation of UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in Sweden and how the political protagonists.I have read some of the most relevant documents from the authorities and organisations work-ing with children?s rights in Sweden and papers and communications from the political pro-tagonists.Since UN Convention on the Rights of the Child was ratified by Sweden in 1990 the work for implementation has been quite successful but there are still lots to do. There are still some problems in School such as bullying, insulting, insecurity and lack of peaceful and harmoni-ous school environment.

This essay aims to investigate the affects of interaction between different professions ina municipal project. In the project, professional representatives from the social servicesand schools have collaborated with staff in preschool/school and exchanged knowledgeto improve the work around children with antisocial behavior. It is in this essaysambition to create an understanding of how professional practitioners, with a monopolyon certain knowledge, influences the possibilities and limitations of cooperation in amunicipal project. This is examined through six qualitative interviews with members ofan municipal project. By using theories about professionalization, social closure,alliance strategy and social control it is possible to understand how division intoprofessions creates opportunities and limitations of interaction exchange incollaborative projects.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the existence of the discipline Design Thinking in a project that aims to strengthen Sweden as a brand. The study will generate knowledge about Design Thinking, with the purpose to increase the understanding of how the discipline can be used as a strategic tool in the processes of strengthening Nation Branding. The authors have used a descriptive and qualitative approach where the Shanghai World Expo in 2010 was examined. The theoretical framework contains previous research in the field, data has been analysed in relation to Lockwood's ten principles of how an organization can become more design-minded and Anholt?s hexagon, which features the parameters that creates a country's Nation Branding.

Problem Discussion: Nissan Diesel became a part of the Volvo Group in the end of March, 2007. A year has passed and the integration process is making progress but it is perceived to lack some momentum. Our sponsor would like to understand if there are any potential barriers to the integration process. (Haspeslagh, et al., 1991) and (Pablo, 1994) presents two different sets of determinants that can be used to decide the level of integration; ?difference in organizational culture? and ?strategic task? (Pablo, 1994) and ?Need for Organizational Autonomy? and ?Need for Strategic Interdependence? (Haspeslagh, et al., 1991).

There is much literature covering strategic change under different circumstances but very little concerning how companies act strategically under sudden and radical changes to market conditions. Based on three different events (the terrorist attack in the USA September 11th 2001, the Tjernobyl accident April 26th 1986 and the Islamic revolution in Iran 1979) with such radical changes as a result we chose three companies that were affected (SAS, Asea Atom and Atlas Copco). The result of the events that were studied in this thesis is extremely unusual to their character. The events themselves were sudden and of a temporary nature but the results were long term changes of market conditions. Through personal interviews the authors have tried to establish how the companies have perceived the events and how the top management has strategically handled the situation.

This paper discusses the strategy and strategic change in the Swedish freight forwarding business and analysis factors that influence the forces of the business. Three companies of various sizes are chosen to be investigated as a case study, outline that cost leadership and differentiation are both important strategies for companies to compete in the market. However, companies outpacing competition do not only pursue either of the two strategies, the need the ability to add one (cost leadership) to the other (differentiation) in relationship to environmental change over time..

The concept Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) describes a company's social and environmental work. More and more companies have embraced the concept of CSR and for some businesses, it has become equally important to present its efforts within CSR as to present its latest profits.The purpose of this essay is to establish an overall picture of a company's CSR efforts and to discuss the potential conflict between CSR and the aim for profit We investigate how businesses can improve their CSR effort so that it contributes to a positive development for the society while still creating economic value for the company. The study is based on a qualitative study of four Swedish companies in the fashion industry: Kappahl, Gina Tricot, Åhlens and Indiska. The results show that according to the theoretical framework, the four companies do not reach a complete strategic approach to CSR. To achieve this it is necessary for the companies to change their current CSR-activities..

AbstractTitle: The constant change - A comparative study of profit companies and nonprofit organizations' brand management through social mediaAuthor: Agnes Nobel & Matilda VallgrenTutor: Daniel LövgrenPurpose: The purpose of this thesis was to study profit companies and nonprofit organizations? branding and strategic communication on social media. If social media has supported with new interaction with stakeholders and hence affected the branding work. Also if there are any differences between profit companies and nonprofit organizations.Method/Material: The method that is used in the article is a qualitative research. The research is based on conversations interviews conducted with eight organizations, four profit companies and four nonprofit organizations.Main results: The main result showed that all organizations are actively involved with social media in their strategic communication when in order to increase the interaction with stakeholders and thus strengthen their brand identity. It turned out that all organizations have not adapted the brand to social media, but worked with the organizations values ??and only applied the trademark on social media.

Konsumenter har tämligen lite insyn i omständigheterna kring produktionen av de varor de dagligen konsumerar. I en värld av global handel är det till synes oundvikligt att människor och miljö blir lidande när privata, vinstdrivna företag bara har intresse för just vinst, och statliga myndigheter inte mäktar med, inte har intresse av, eller helt enkel inte anses legitima, att lägga sig i de förhållanden under vilka världshandeln sker. Mot bakgrund av detta har mängder av så kallade NGO:s (non-governmental organizations) bildats för att certifiera varor som lever upp till de specifika organisationernas krav. Dessa organisationer tävlar sedan om konsumenters och finansiärers gunst. Denna uppsats undersöker frågan; Hur framställer märkningsorganisationerna Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance, KRAV och UTZ Certified den egna organisationens verksamhet och målsättning? Dessa fyra organisationer har av olika skäl valts ut som exempel i denna uppsats.

The purpose of this essay is to investigate how four companies in Värmland, Sweden, are working strategically with their brands. This is a qualitative method in which we have used a combination of interviews and literature review in order to investigate the link between brands and the Karlstad region.Even though there is a huge interest in brands, there are only a few companies who can describe clearly what their own brand represents. This probably due to the fact that the brand is still regarded as a tactical tool, rather than as a strategic one. Because of this we find it very interesting to investigate how organizations in Värmland think about this issue. Are brands regarded as a strategic resource, and how strong is the link between their brands and the region?The result indicate that organizations are working strategically with their brands, but they can still get better.

The purpose of this thesis is to illustrate how non-profit organizations map the market of potential donors and how they apply their knowledge about the motives of the potential donors. The case-study of Church of Sweden Aid shows how a Swedish non-profit organization applies this in the daily work. In its strategic marketing the organization actively use marketing surveys in different forms. By employing an analyst Church of Sweden Aid has a possibility to make another step forward in order to understand its donor market and to adjust its strategic marketing plan to it. Church of Sweden Aid says that they don?t work with the donor?s motives.

The practice of residential treatment of youth has been up for debate for quite some time. The debate regarding institutional care has voiced concerns regarding the lack of follow-up and evaluation of treatment and its efficacy. It is especially important with additional research on residential treatment conducted from the perspective of those being treated, as well as the treatment providers. This study aims to add to this field of research. The study is based on two empirical studies conducted through qualitative interviews.

The aim of this thesis is to assess the strategic importance of Central Asia as a whole and interests of great powers in the region in particular within the theoretical framework chosen. The work shows Central Asia as an area of the New Great Game, analogue of the original Great Game which was played out between the British Empire and Tsarist Russia in XIX century. The parallels between the original Great Game and the New Great Game are drawn in order to understand the scope and the true intentions of the players of the latter one. Also, the security issues in the contemporary Central Asia are explored and analyzed to provide with the background for future predictions. Furthermore, the indirect purpose of the thesis is to examine whether the international system has changed from that of two centuries ago by comparing the structure of the international systems at the time of two Games.

When a decision is to be made on what long term strategic forest management plan to use, consideration must often be taken to multiple objectives. Such decisions are very complex and a promising approach to handle them is by Multiple Criteria Decision Analyses (MCDA). The study is based on the problem that the MCDA that have been implemented into forest management planning have only had capacity to compare and evaluate a limited number of management plans; which means that there is a risk the most suitable plan is missed. The aim with this study was to test the applicability of combining the MCDA tools: the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) for including consideration to multi-objectives into strategic forest management planning. The study was based on the process of creating and selecting a management plan, using Heureka PlanWise, suitable for all the major objectives found in the forest holdings of a municipality in northern Sweden.

The study addresses the field of design as a profession and examines the views on strategic management in a design project among nine selected graphic designers. The graphic designers who participate in the study are permanently employed at design companies in Stockholm. The study has a qualitative approach and the method is based on face-to-face interviews. We have chosen to examine this subject due to the opinion among professionals that strategic management in the design industry has increased during the last decades. There is a belief that strategic management in some cases are used too extensively as a way for design companies to make more money.