This market study was written on behalf of Uni4 Marketing (U4M) and investigates the Egyptian softwood market. The objective was to identify what characterises a good softwood supplier according to Egyptian importers. In addition to this U4M?s competitiveness compared to their competitors was evaluated. The study also identified possible sources of competitive advantage possessed by U4M.

This report looks at the possibility of designing a universal adapter for Flat Blade windshield wipers in cooperation with European Automotive Supplier AB.To understand and see if this is possible, a research and an extensive patent search where done. Then to add structure to the project a Ganttschematic were developed. To generate good and solid ideas, different methods for product development were looked upon.When a method was chosen and applied, a series of concepts emerged. Now the focus was to design and construct all the pieces. The desired manufacture procedures were looked upon as well as materials.

Making the work in the public sector more efficient is something that has been seen as necessary during the later years. One way to do this on municipal level has been to apply solutions former used mostly by private companies. The organisational parts have also been adjusted to existing conditions in this work of change. For example more and more municipalities have come to use the purchaser-supplier model since the beginning of the 1990's. Norrköping, Linköping and Motala have been chosen in this essay for a closer study of the effects of the changes of the 90's, from an efficiency point of view.

This paper examines the customer relationships of a telecom operator and how their customer accounting is done. The aim is to use the framework developed by Lind & Strömsten (2006) to categorize customer relationships and see to what extent the framework predicts which type of customer accounting method is used for each customer relationship. A case study was made at Telenor Sverige AB where different customer relationships are identified and linked to the customer accounting techniques that are used for financial measurement of the customers. Findings include that all but one of the customer relationships described in the framework were recognized at Telenor and that most customer accounting techniques mentioned in the framework were in fact used and associated with different customer relationships. The results of the case study also highlight that some differences exist between the predictions of the framework and the observations at Telenor..

Background: The fierce competetivness that characterize todays market force the companies to differentiate their offerings to a greater extent. The customers do no longer choose their supplier on the attributes of the products alone. Their purchase decisions also depend on the relationship the customers have with their supplier. With new customer channels like the Internet and advanced computer systems companies can increase the value for their customers through a better understanding of the customers needs and preferences. In this way companies can create longterm relationships with their customers.

The aim of this study was to give an insight of the construction of girls in their relationships with friends and lovers in the Swedish magazine Julia. The magazine turns to girls of age nine to fourteen. The research questions were 1) What is the construction of the girls in their relationships with friends and lovers about in Julia? 2) How are girls constructed in their relationships with friends and lovers? Three issues of the magazine from the winter of 2014 were selected as material for the study. Critical discourse analysis (Fairclough, 1992, 2010) was the point of departure in the analysis.

The aim of this paper is to present a case study that increases the understanding of pooled purchasing between independent companies, but also acknowledges the importance of relationships. While previous research has established the advantages and disadvantages of pooled purchasing, our paper shows that successful relationships can render additional synergies and benefits. At the same time, one must consider the time and resources needed to create successful relationships as well as the resulting interdependencies. These implications are well established within the field of purchasing and network theories. However, the authors believe that these implications need to be more explored in regards to pooled purchasing..

The purpose of this thesis is to examine how e-commerce companies work with their relationships to customers. We have conducted a case study of two companies, Koll and Webbshoppen, both active in the e-commerce industry. Our empirical study has shown that it is important for e-commerce companies to create long-term relationships to their customers, but it can be difficult to create these relationships since the companies have little contact to the users of Internet. To build relationships, e-commerce companies market themselves through different types of media to create awareness. It is also essential to be situated high in search engines.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the organizational buying behaviour in the purchase of travels abroad. We have conducted a case study of two companies, one medium sized and one larger. Our empirical studies have shown that the companies? buying process is divided into two types, the process of recruit a new travel supplier and the process of a straight rebuy of a regular travel service. In the recruiting process we found that the evaluation process of the purchase is an ongoing process that contradicts estab-lished theories.

Background: Critical conditions to become an attractive supplier of knowledge based IT-services in the B2B market are many. Besides the fact of supplying a service of high quality one must as a supplier communicate values which are understandable and desirable for a new buyer. Buying a knowledge based IT-service involves several risks; the consultant might not have sufficient knowledge or have difficulties understanding the corporate culture and collaborating with other staff within the client?s organization. Since services are intangible offers and it can be intricate to put right price level for something which can only be evaluated when the project is finished, puts severe strain on suppliers competing with other companies in the same market when looking for new clients.

The lifecycle of fashion products get shorter and shorter. Companies in the fashion business needto make sure that they can offer their customers the right products, in the right quantity at theexact right time. The competition on the fashion market today is tough and if companies aregoing to be successful they need to have access to the most reliable suppliers, and also offer theircustomers products with high quality to attractive prices. It is therefore of highest importance toevaluate and choose the right sourcing strategy. Product category and type of organisation aresome of the factors that will determine which strategy that is most appropriate.

Background: The recent years in the Swedish Fast Moving Consumer Goods industry have been characterized by a palpable shift in power balance, favouring the retailers. Since the shift in power balance has strengthened the negotiation position of the retailers, the suppliers now have to, to a greater extent than before, accommodate to the retailers? goals, whether they be financial or strategic. Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate how this recent power shift has affected the relationships of suppliers and retailers. This development has resulted in the rather new and unexplored area of retailer value, which this study further aimed to explore.

The aim of this Masters thesis is to examine public library and information technology IT discourses to see which relationships are established between them in four library journals. This is done in two steps, where first discourses are defined followed by an analysis of the relationships established between the public library and IT in each discourse. The questions from which the analysis emanates are as follows: What discourses exist around the public library and IT in the library journals? What conceptions of the tasks of the public library are constructed in the discourses? What conceptions of the tasks of IT are constructed in the discourses? What conceptions of the relationships between the public library and IT are constructed in the discourses? The theoretical and methodological starting-points are found in Ernesto Laclaus and Chantal Mouffes discourse theory. 37 articles from four library journals Biblioteksbladet, Bibliotek i Samhälle, DIK-forum and Ikoner - are analysed through a model in five phases.

Projects are often spoken of in the terms of rational systems. However, some researchers point out the relevance of viewing projects as sets of relationships. Little is published about what aspects of relationships that are important for the managing of projects. We have argued for the necessity of such research. With previous research, our case study and interviews we indentified communication, responsibility, cooperation, togetherness and trust as important relational aspects in projects.The overall perceived success for projects in this case, was increased with the adoption of new agile methods.

The purpose of this essay is to illuminate in what aspects IKEA?s organizational culture in Ümraniye in Turkey differs alternatively resembles with IKEA?s organizational culture in Örebro in Sweden. The aim with organizational culture is to analyze the relationships between the leaders and co-workers and the relationships between the co-workers.The study is based on a combination of interviews and questionnaires. We have interviewed people in leading positions and made surveys among IKEA co-workers in two different stores located in two different countries. This combination of the methods gave us a better understanding for how the organizational culture is experienced from two different perspectives.