In order to stay competitive and to be the first choice for customers in a world driven by a high level of competitive advantage, it is important for companies to stay ahead of the competition by conducting thorough market research. Even if this tends to be the case, many products still fail when reaching the market, leaving companies with great losses. The reason for this could be that the development of existing research methods has stagnated, or that they simply lack the ability to find the true answer as to what intentions underlie consumer?s decision making when shopping. Many believe that a new method is desired in order to get a better picture of what customers really think.

With numerous applications in both military and civilian life, the demand for accurate 3D models of real world environments increases rapidly. Using an airborne laser scanner for the raw data acquisition and robust methods for data processing, the researchers at the Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI) in Linköping hope to fully automate the modeling process.The work of this thesis has mainly been focused on three areas: ground estimation, image segmentation and classification. Procedures have in each of these areas been developed, leading to a new algorithm for ground estimation, a number of segmentation methods as well as a full comparison of various decision values for an object based classification. The ground estimation algorithm developed has yielded good results compared to the method based on active contours previously elaborated at FOI. The computational effort needed by the new method has been greatly reduced compared to the former, as performance, particularly in urban areas, has been improved.

When new land use policies are made, opinions of stakeholders need to be taken in account, to avoid future conflicts. The motivations of commercial enterprises are often clear and easily communicated but due to inaccessibility and language barriers the indigenous people?s perspectives and needs are harder to reveal. This study therefore aims to identify species and sites of importance for the local people in Masihulan village on Seram Island, East Indonesia. This is a first step to facilitate better integration of local people´s needs into local government decision-making processes.Researchers at the Center of International Forestry Research (CIFOR), with headquarter in Indonesia, have developed an approached called ?Multidisciplinary Landscape Assessment? that aims to assess important natural resources for local communities in tropical countries.

Abstrakt: Beslut gällande patienters HLR-status fattas av läkare, men den process som föranleder beslutet bör involvera flera parter. I enlighet med autonomiprincipen ska patienter vara delaktiga i de beslut som berör deras egen vård. Syftet: med denna litteraturstudie var att undersöka några frågor kring HLR/ej-HLR vid vård i livets slutskede. Metoden var en systematisk litteraturstudie, baserad på tio vetenskapliga artiklar. Litteratursökningen utfördes i databaserna PubMed och CINAHL, samt manuella sökningar.

This project report describes a supplement for character creation in a tabletop role-playing game ?Dragons and Demons." The purpose of this project is to improve the character creation for the players? trough the narrative elements such as character?s background story. The applied qualitative methods such as a test panel and a questionnaire were conducted for the evaluation of theories used during character creation and to get feedback on the supplement?s creative value for the players. The aim of the questionnaire was to see how the method for the character creation differs from the regular way of making a character for a tabletop role-playing game and if this idea improves user experience during the tabletop role-playing game.The results of the evaluation are based on answers from novice and experienced players, and conclude that the additional background story creates an insight into the character's past, which makes it easier for novice players to get quick started with character creation.

Bakgrund: Människors förändrade levnadsvanor med upplevelser så som hotell- och restaurangbesök har ökat kravet på den service som förväntas inom branschen. Kravet på ökad service ställer krav på att medarbetare ska vara motiverade till att prestera för att kunna erbjuda den service som efterfrågas och för att företagen ska kunna nå upp till sina uppsatta mål. För att motivera sina medarbetare och få dem att ta beslut som är i enighet med företagets mål kan företag använda sig av ett belöningssystem.Syfte: Syftet med studien är att kartlägga hur belöningssystemet i hotellkedjan är utformat för hotelldirektörerna samt hur bonussystemet uppfattas påverka motivation, handlande och beslutsfattande. Ett andra syfte är att identifiera och analysera de positiva och negativa effekter bonussystemet kan ge upphov till.Metod: En kvalitativ studie har tillämpats och en fallstudie på ett företag inom hotellbranschen har genomförts. Semi-strukturerade intervjuer med fem hotelldirektörer inom hotellkedjan har legat till grund för det empiriska materialet.Resultat och slutsatser: Studien visar att bonussystemet får hotelldirektörerna att bli motiverade till att prestera.

Today?s climate research shows that the climate may increase its temperature. One sector that is being threatened by global warming is the winter tourism of the Swedish municipality A?re. Tourism is an important economical source of income in A?re and is now threatened by a shortened winter season.

Aim: To investigate the observed issues about the economy units? importation in the municipal of Bollnäs, Sweden, and study the internal communication according to this matter. Method: This paper is written as a process where the information flow has been decided by the information held in the interviews. The interviews have dealt with the economy units issues and the communication linked to it, within the oganization. The persons that have been interviewed are Olle Nilsson Sträng -principal of the municipal executive board, Leopold Stoltz - head of the municipal, Jan Lahenkorva? principal of the youth and child care board Maj ?Britt Karlsson? head of the youth and child care management and Eva Eklunddirector of junior school.

The aim of this thesis is to explore possible differences between public and private companies? way to manage projects. In order to analyze the managerial aspects, we have studied the project of a new payment system implemented at the public-transport organization Upplands Lokaltrafik (UL). The project enables mobile payment by text message (SMS). Most theory concerning the management of projects is developed for private companies.

This study uses European researcher Tomas Valasek?s hypothesis about factors required for defence cooperation in order to achieve conditions which can be successfully applied to the Nordic defence cooperation NORDEFCO. The study uses only Norway and Sweden on the grounds that they are the original actors and the driving forces behind the defence cooperation. The factors studied are; the countries' strategic culture, solidarity and trust between countries, similarity in military forces, if similar conditions prevail in the defence industry and if the intentions of cooperation have been clarified.Mainly government documents in the form of propositions, orientations and defence documents are studied, together with previous research in this area and, especially, interviews with representatives of NORDEFCO at military level and policy level as well as outside perspectives from the military attachés in each country. With the intention of studying the extent to which the factors Valasek features may prove to be significant in assessing the conditions for enhanced cooperation in NORDEFCO, the study raises the question of how it is possible to find expressions for the factors.

The purpose of this study is to increase an understanding of what prevents the mandatory reporting law, based on the preschool staff's approach to mandatory reporting law about child abuse and neglect to social services, and how these barriers affect their decision to report. The study will also understand what preschool staff experience facilitates the mandatory reporting process and what can be done to improve the process even more. The questions of the study were based on the purpose of the study and have been formulated in two questions:What prevents the mandatory reporting law requirements for preschool staff and how can these barriers be removed? What facilitates for preschool staff to be confident in the decision to report child abuse and neglect, to social services?The study used qualitative semi-structured interviews with five people working at the preschool, including two preschool teachers and three childcare workers. An interview guide was designed as a help to answer the questions about what the barriers are and what it is that makes it easier for the preschool staff, regarding the decision to report cases of child abuse and neglect to social services.The results, based on the five interviews , shows preschool staff's thoughts of the knowledge on the mandatory reporting law, the mandatory reporting process, their perspective of the mandatory reporting law and the uncertainty surrounding the mandatory reporting law.The study's analysis consists of the results that have been analyzed using the theory of social representations, in which the analysis shows an understanding of how the preschool staff act and think about the mandatory reporting law requirements based on their everyday knowledge.

For almost a century the debate about women as ordained servants in the Church of Sweden has raged on and on. The decision to open up the priesthood for both genders in 1958 was a milestone in the women?s liberation movement as well as it marks an important time in the church history. The debate has mainly been about how to interpret scripture, who has the right to do so, and so on. Feminist theology has become one way in recent decades to paint a wider and more nuanced picture of history and how to interpret the texts often used to repress women.This essay surveys some of the steps towards that decision, as well as it paints a rough picture of what leadership among women in the church could involve before ordination became an option.

It becomes increasingly more important that, as a new buisness, both to be seen and heard in an increasingly harder competition situation where the range of similar products and services increase. It requires a well planned and well thought visual profile to succesfully stand out on the market. To give a good impression, this profile should be both distinct and aesthetically appealing. In the making of a new profile it requires creativity to succesfully think in new directions and to separate from the competition.This practical report presents the production process for a designsolution to the new website Röstförmedlingen (Voice agency), a commission from the production and commercial bureau Bartos media. The task in this project was to create a graphic profile and a lofi-prototype that would represent Röstförmedlingen as a buissness.

Tillgång till relevant information är av stor vikt för SOS Alarm, polis, ambulans, räddningstjänst och förstainsatspersoner. Likaså kan brist på information försvåra en räddningsinsats då det kan orsaka en försämrad situationsmedvetenhet hos aktörerna som kan göra det svårare för dem att fatta goda beslut. En utforskande studie utfördes för att ge en första inblick i vilken information som är viktig för dessa aktörer, vilken information de använder sig av, vilken information de saknar och hur tillgången till information kan påverka situationsmedvetenheten hos aktörerna. Semistrukturerade intervjuer med Critical decision method som utgångspunkt utfördes med nio deltagare där fokus låg på informationsbehov. Två huvudsakliga informationsområden visade sig vara en beskrivning av olyckan och dess geografiskt läge.

Purpose:The background to this study is an upcoming sale of a property. Owner of the property is currently city of Gävle and tenant is Jan Ekroth who runs the hostel Gamla Gefle in the buildings belonging to the property. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether Gamla Gefle AB has the financial ability to acquire the property and if it can be defended in a commercial plane.Method:In this study a qualitative method has been used, in which empirical data has been gathered from interviews and financial data taken from annual reports. These empirical data have been put against our theoretical framework and led to our analysis. In the analysis, cash flows and discounted future values have been calculated to determine the outcome of the investment.Results & conclusion:The study reaches the conclusion that the hostel Gamla Gefle should complete its acquisition of the property, in spite of an decrease of the annual cash flow.