The war between Georgia and Russia awakened the world pretty brutally when a small country like Georgia tried to restore order in South Ossetia. The war between the two countries took place over five days in August 2008. This paper discusses the Russian operational art and its development after the war. The starting point is to test the traditional and classic Russian theory of operational art. The aim is to describe and discuss the Russian operational experience and any developments and trends in the Russian Federation's armed forces. The purpose of describing the theory behind the operational art is to create an independent analysis model. The essay?s analysis is based entirely from qualitative research with the collection of qualitative data in the form of texts and documents with a holistic perspective. Initially, the theory chapter is created from an inductive approach to identify, define and describe the operational concept and principles, creating a theoretical model of explanation. The developed analytical model is based on the Russian theory of operational art and takes off from a deductive approach to the collected empirical data. The results of the performed analysis results are interpreted and the product of this presented in the operational conclusions. Russia had a strategic ability to win the war by means of strategic resources related to tempo, simplicity and shock effect on the Georgian troops. Russia carries out a variety of reforms and the outcome of the war demonstrates the importance of Russia having a strategic capacity to make use of one in the type of conflict that Georgia represents. This success shows that the strategic capabilities are initially a success factor, while the deficiencies in the operational and tactical levels cannot be accepted in the long run, but must be developed.

This study examines how management consulting firms work with business- and functional strategy and how these strategies are interrelated. More specifically we focus on business strategy (business unit level) and knowledge strategy (functional level) and whether these are aligned or not, i.e. whether strategic congruence exists.A number of recent studies have examined the importance of business strategy and knowledge strategy in management consulting firms separately, but few have pointed out the importance of the alignment between them. With this study we contribute to the strategic field of research with a model that describes how management consulting firms should work with their knowledge strategy given their business strategy. The model is developed through a synthesis between theories in the field of strategic congruence, business- and functional strategies and thereafter tested by an empirical case study of six management consulting firms.

The purpose of this report was to investigate how the Umeå School of Business and Economics at Umeå university can work to increase the share of courses and programmes that discuss sustainable development. Furthermore the purpose was to develop an action plan that can be used to increase that share. Methods used were a questionnaire directed towards the educators at the Umeå School of Business and Economics and an assessment of the content of courses and programmes connected to the Umeå School of Business and Economics. There was no clear structured way of working with education for sustainable development, but at the same time there was a will to integrate sustainable development in the education. Curricula were according to the educators an important tool to achieve this integration, their experience were that there are not enough time, people and money to work with sustainable development in the education and they would like to see more clear directions from the management.

Tourism has been an expanding market since the first travel agency started in the middle of the 18?Th century, and today it is a global industry, with intensified competition and high demands from the customers. Product development is therefore one of the most important aspects for successful companies, and scientists also agree that the first stages in product development are the most critical. This essay is focusing on those stages, regarding product development on travel agencies, and the research question is as follows: How are new tourism destinations developed and what is the difference in working process between small and big travel agencies? The empirical research consists of qualitative semi-structured interviews with two big and two small travel agencies.

Through a quantitative examination, 26 pedagogies in the pre-school activity answered a few questions in an enquiry about outdoor education. The purpose with this examination was to find out what pedagogies think and apprehend about outdoor education, and also if the "education plan" is in their minds during outdoor activities and if they see them self´s as competent in nature studies. They have also answered questions whether they think that they have good outdoor environment that stimulates children´s development and learning and if there´s any forest that they visit on regular basis.The pedagogies think that during time spent outdoor, it´s the motor skills that are best developed. All of the pedagogies mentioned above think that they need to get more educated in nature studies and also that pedagogies attitude towards time spent outdoors affect the children. They do not think about the goals and intentions of the "educations plan" all the time.

Today?s society has become a society of information were communication has become more important to manage, both for companies and for the person as an individual. If you want your message to be successful you have to plan your communication and also evaluate the result. The administration of health and care in Karlstad had already planned and performed an information campaign, ?Vård & omsorg ? Mer än ett jobb? (translation ?Health & care ? More than a job?), and therefore we got the assignment to investigate the rate of success.The investigation is based on both theory and empiric.

This master of economics paper discuss that the globalization has lead to increasing internationalization among small Swedish IT- companies in the service sector. Sweden has a long history of foreign trade but in the beginning of the industrialization only large companies that produced goods answered for the foreign trade. Before, the Swedish companies begun their operations abroad in fairly nearby markets and only gradually penetrated far-flung countries. Now this is no longer possible. When small companies nowadays seek growth in other countries there is no time internationalize with the same approaches as before, especially when the company offers a service.

Problem: The authors have, during the process of development of this thesis, tried to create an understanding of how a number of organizations, all working with different approaches around the ?brand Sweden?, perceive the efficiency and benefits of using extended concept around embassies as a tool in their strategic work. The embassies in question have an evolved concept in the sense that they don not only hold a traditional political and legal role. The problem facing us authors was the issue whether theses embassies are efficient arenas to coordinate the forces and resources of the organizations concerned, in the mission to enhance the visibility and awareness of Sweden abroad.Purpose: The purpose is to describe the strategic work with marketing Sweden to be able to look in to whether the evolved concept behind the embassies in question are used as a tool in within the work of the organizations. We wish to research this to be able to evaluate if this arena is perceived as efficient for the organizations concerned.Method: In order to get a background to which one establish and communicate a nations brand the authors have studied literature within the subject.

The purpose of this masters thesis is to examine how managers in public libraries are managing financial cuts. Questions posed are: What strategies are used by the library manager to handle the cuts and how are the strategies being worked out? What are the consequences of the cuts? How do the managers use their library plans in the work with the cuts and how do the plans change as a consequence of the cuts? Library managers in eleven communities are interviewed about their financial cuts in 2003 and/or 2004. The result shows that cuts are made in different ways. The study analysed the managers statements with a model about strategies created by Oulton.

Through a quantitative examination, 26 pedagogies in the pre-school activity answered a few questions in an enquiry about outdoor education. The purpose with this examination was to find out what pedagogies think and apprehend about outdoor education, and also if the "education plan" is in their minds during outdoor activities and if they see them self´s as competent in nature studies. They have also answered questions whether they think that they have good outdoor environment that stimulates children´s development and learning and if there´s any forest that they visit on regular basis.The pedagogies think that during time spent outdoor, it´s the motor skills that are best developed. All of the pedagogies mentioned above think that they need to get more educated in nature studies and also that pedagogies attitude towards time spent outdoors affect the children. They do not think about the goals and intentions of the "educations plan" all the time.

During the past decade environmental challenges have been intensified and given increased attention. This implies that businesses in all sectors strategically need to manage these challenges. The service sector is often considered as a sector with a low environmental impact if the direct environmental aspects are assessed. Still, it has been argued that the environmental impact that the sector gives rise to can create severe indirect environmental impacts. The products and services that are produced by this sector have a relatively limited use of physical resources which may make the environmental impact challenging to visualize. Banks belong to the service sector and it is partly banks that make the development of societies possible.

Small!size!enterprises!within!the!outdoor!industry!seldom!use!a!structured!process!or!method!when!involving!users!in!product!development.!One!reason!for!this!is!that!many!structured!development!processes!are!designed!for!large!companies!with!very!different!resources.!When!involving!users!in!product!development!processes,!the!most!common!user! is! an! elite! athlete.! She! or! he! often! has! different! requirements! than! the! regular!consumer!and!in!the!customers?!point!of!view;!this!leads!to!nonCmaximized!developed!products.!!The! result! of! this! thesis! is! a! user! involvement! process! for! small! outdoor! companies!based! on! the! Sister! Kenny! Research! Center! Innovation! Handbook,! a! product!development!process,!which!itself!is!based!on!a!phaseCgate!model.!The!process!focuses!on!the!user!category!enthusiastic!amateurs,!since!this!is!what!companies!in!the!industry!require.!The!process!also! focuses!on!how!and!where! small!outdoor! companies! should!involve!users!and!give!recommendations!on!how!many!users!that!should!be!involved!in!a! product! development! process,! different! from! what! the! theory! recommend.! The!process! also! builds! on! that! ideas! should! come! from! the! users! first,! and! then! being!further!developed!by!the!company's!product!developers.!The!degree!of!communication!between!users!and!the!company!is!shown!and!the!report!clarifies!the!user!involvement!intensity!in!product!development!processes.!!The!involvement!process!that!has!been!developed!has!also!been!summarized!in!a!guide!that! can!be!used!by! a! company!on! a!daily!basis.!This! contains! information!on,! among!other!things,!how!users!are!selected!and!how!to!plan!a!workshop.!!! !.

This study investigates the succession process in family businesses and aims to enhance the understanding of the process as a whole, as well as how family businesses strategically plan for succession. The research is based on a case study of a family corporate group undergoing a transition from the fourth to the fifth generation. A qualitative research approach was employed, involving interviews with individuals from both the fourth and fifth generations, as well as external stakeholders who have influenced the process. The results show that the planning and implementation of succession are complex and that there is a certain lack of existing theory. Empirical evidence indicates that contracts and documentation are crucial for advancing the process. Inclusion of external parties is also important, not only for their expertise but also to provide an objective perspective.

In order to become even more competitive, a partnering with other niche players is essential in achieving a competitive advantage and it enables opportunities for reintermediation. From an intermediate perspective, there are great possibilities for those who become content coordinators to enter the market. By becoming a bundler of services and products, the content coordinators will become the actors that will capture the most profit in the value web. The value creating drivers that have been identified in the business landscape of intermediates concern owning the content or owning the customer relationship. We find the possibilities of an intermediate actor, such as a content coordinator to achieve competitive advantage through strategic fit is subject to the context and the ability of creating more innovative and co-creative distribution systems.

Due to the increase of the emission of greenhouse gas and climate changes more and more customers demand environmentally sustainable products. The increased demand of sustainable products from cradle to grave is something that has affected the food sector. Many retailers within the food sector feel that they are less or more forced to be environmentally friendly. Nowadays many retailers have chosen to show customers and stakeholders that they want to ?do good? by publishing annual sustainability reports. The Swedish food market has been one of many markets investing in being environmentally friendly.