Title: Competition for small audit firms ? a qualitative study on possible competitive strategies and how the upcoming changes will influence competition on the audit market    Subject: Auditing Tutor: Margareta Paulsson  Authors: Per Dahlström and Martin Holmberg Purpose: The purpose of this study is to develop an understanding how smaller auditing firms use competitive strategies and why. The result aims to work as a support for owners and leaders of audit firms as they make decisions of how to compete in the future. We would also like to explore how smaller audit firms view the change of the mandatory audit, that is, our intentions are also to examine how they think the consequences on the market will be and their view on its affect on the competition of the market.    Methodology: Our methodological approach was characterized by a hermeneutic approach in order to explain and understand why the smaller audit firms do what they do. Our approach is a combination of inductive and deductive as it allows us to develop an understanding of the subject, then gather our empirical data and from that draw valid conclusions.

The aim of this study is to evaluate whether the value of occupant load is over or under estimated when the Swedish general value for department stores, 0,5 person/m2, is used for dimensioning shopping centers. The data that was analyzed derives from seven shopping centers and one department store. A conservative method was used to calculate the occupant load factor. The analysis shows that two groups can be discerned: one group that is characterized by a lower occupant load factor that does not exceed 0,3 person/m2, and one group with a higher occupant load factor. Shopping centers with a higher occupant load factor are located centrally in large urban areas.

The climate changes that are occuring in the world have resulted in that the EU callingfor a 20 % reduction in energy consumption to the year 2020, to reach that goal theEU want the public sector to go forth as a good example. Västfastigheter owns andmanage the hospital buildings in the Västra Götaland region. To be able to reducetheir energy usage Västfastigheter has hired several consulting firms to chart out theenergy consumption on each hospital building. The biggest energy savings potentialhave been calculated and what the cost will be to perform each action. The energyaudit have been completed and stand as the decision basis for Västfastigheter?s choiceon which action packages that should be implemented.

The purpose of this degree project is to obtain a greater understanding of how the support for abused immigrant women is designed and if these measures respond to the women?s own wishes and needs. I also want to investigate the possible advantages and disadvantages, there are under the social ser­vi­ces and voluntary organizations (NGOs) and women themselves when it comes to spe­cific sup­port measures for immigrant women. On which basis have these support measures been designed and what experience or research starting points are based on? To what extent do they answer to women?s needs according to the staff, and to the women's own view?The study is based on qualitative data consisting of five interviews and one case report of an abused woman.

This thesis has examined the Tekla Structures modeling software and answered the question of whether it could act as a suitable modeling program for the design department at Bjerking AB in Uppsala. The method used in this work is a case study of a previous project with existing basis to work form. The demarcation of the study was to examine only the usability of the foundations of in situ concrete. The work examined three main areas within the design process. The first was to model the concrete elements then to model the reinforcing and ultimately production of the drawings. Because Autodesk Revit was the existing modeling program in the Department conducted the evaluation as a comparison between the two programs.

Abstract Background: More and more people receiving palliative care in the home, leading to increased responsibility for the next of kin. Being a caregiver and at the same time next of kin is a complex situation for everyone involved. Next of kin´s everyday life changes drastically when everything revolves around the one who is seriously ill.Aim: To describe next of kin´s experiences of being caregivers to a palliative sick person at home. Method: A literature review in which eleven qualitative scientific articles were analyzed and summarized. Results: The results revealed three themes; experience of support, experience of changes in life and experience of strategies.

Järnvägen transporterar människor samt gods billigt och miljövänligt. I Sverige identifierar Trafikverket flera alternativa sträckningar när de planerar en ny järnväg. Landskapets karaktär, miljöförhållanden, geologi, tätortsstruktur, befolkningsutveckling, resande och transporter är exempel på kriterier som kan påverka beslutet om var dessa sträckningar ska placeras. Geografiska Informationssystem (GIS) kan standardisera processen för att identifiera flera möjliga korridorer.Syftet med detta examensarbete är att ge rekommendationer på hur GIS, särskilt cost path och känslighetsanalys, kan användas vid planering av nya järnvägskorridorer. Ett testfall i Blekinge län valdes för att illustrera potentialen i dessa metoder.

This essay is a qualitative study whose aim is to see how to find a good balance between family life and managership. The result could give concrete proposals on how help can be designed to prospective female managers. The study is based on interviews with eight female managers. The interviews have been inspired by the narrative approach with the focus on how these women have tried to find a balance between management and family life and which obstacles they faced and the support they have had. The results of the study has shown that the support that the woman has been given by their spouse / partner has been one of the best and most important support for her to full fill her mission as being a manager as well as a mother.

The purpose of this bachelor degree thesis is to analyze technical issues associated with an implementation of a low sloping trash rack with narrow spacing. A hydropower plant in Umea?lven was used as a case study. The basis for the study was a model where trash racks were dimensioned for inclinations between 25 and 45 degrees. Corresponding head loss, durability and water speed through the rack were then determined for each inclination.

The climate changes that are occuring in the world have resulted in that the EU callingfor a 20 % reduction in energy consumption to the year 2020, to reach that goal theEU want the public sector to go forth as a good example. Västfastigheter owns andmanage the hospital buildings in the Västra Götaland region. To be able to reducetheir energy usage Västfastigheter has hired several consulting firms to chart out theenergy consumption on each hospital building. The biggest energy savings potentialhave been calculated and what the cost will be to perform each action. The energyaudit have been completed and stand as the decision basis for Västfastigheter?s choiceon which action packages that should be implemented.

The aim of this study has been to examine if an implementation of a One Stop Shop in the public sector and its IT-support can serve as a motor for business development. By examine the relation between the One Stop Shop and the public administrations we have tried to answer this question. The municipality that we have examined underwent a big change, seven years ago, when they implemented a One Stop Shop including a IT-support called Flexite. But despite these seven years and the fact that Flexite has changed approach from a Case Management System to a Support System for Business Development the municipality have not adapted to this change. .

Abstract Tutor - Anders Richtnér History - Theories suggest that Lean Product Development strategies dramatically increase a company's performance through enabling faster T-T-M, Quality and Costs of Product Development. Purpose - The purpose of this paper is therefore to investigate whether the implementation of LPD actually affect corporate performance measurements T-T-M, Quality and Cost, in a positive way. Methodology - This Bachelor thesis is an exploratory investigation of the concept of Lean Product Development within a global IT- company, performed through four case studies, interviews and complementing corporate performance data. Findings - With empirical data and subsequent analyzes in mind, we note the following; it is clear that the project that produced the best results, in terms of T-T-M, Quality and Cost, also was the one furthest in the process of implementing Lean Product Development..

The purpose of the literature review was to examine barriers and facilitators to life style changes experienced by patients with coronary heart disease. This knowledge could be of use to the nurse in her role as a support to the patient in the process of life style change. The result from this study shows that family support, knowledege about the disease and motivation are important factors when changing life style behaviors..

Abstract Children with neuropsychiatric disorders often require special arrangements from the society. These measures could target the child itself, its parents, or other parts of the social network surrounding the child. Parents of children with neuropsychiatric disorders are often deeply engaged both in their child and in these measures.Three parents of children with neuropsychiatric disorders, and four counselors in different habilitation centers, were interviewed. The purpose of this qualitative interview study was to describe the methods with which the counselors worked to support parents of children with neuropsychiatric disorders, and to understand how the parents experienced this support offered by the counselors.The qualitative interviews with counselors and parents followed a thematic interview guide. A structured interview form was used.

The report addresses four main tasks, situation analysis of the company's total costs and transportation volume, cost analysis associated with the adjustment of the filling ratio, transport costs for the expansion and new expenses on a combination of expansion with new adjusted filling ratio.  Increasing transport costs for the company was the main reason for the request of the current situation analysis. A survey of the total cost with the actual volumes and transport provider pricing is the basis of the analysis that extends from May 2006 to October 2008. The results show an increase in costs, both overall expense and per cubic meter of transported goods. Volume spreads, trends, and seasonal variations are according to our and the company?s expectations.