The accident frequency in the construction industry has shown a downward trend every year but this trend was broken 2010th. It is often lack of precautionary measures within work environment and safety that is the cause of accidents. The big construction companies understand the importance of precautionary measures within work environment and safety, as they spend a lot of money and time on that matter. By examining the work environment and the safety of the small construction companies you can see how they work. The report will presents how these small companies work with work environment and safety, and also how they follow the safety instructions that are available and how they make use of safety equipment.

In order to achieve comparability, which is one of the fundamental principles of accounting, companies should be consistent concerning the accounting policies they use. Only under certain circumstances changes in accounting policies are allowed, and when there is a change in accounting policies, it is important that the change is reported in a way that assures that the financial reports still achieve comparability. The purpose of this thesis is to establish which rules and recommendations about changes in accounting policies that exist in Swedish and German law and what their meaning is. Further, the purpose is to compare these rules and recommendations and discuss their differences and similarities, advantages and disadvantages. Since publicly traded European companies will be obliged to prepare their consolidated accounts in conformity with International Accounting Standards (IAS) from 2005, I also describe the content of IAS 8 which deals with changes in accounting policies, and discuss what the consequences of this transition might be for Swedish and German publicly traded companies considering changes in accounting policies.

Calculations of net present value are based on a discount rate, which requires knowledge about the company?s cost of debt. A common way to do this is by observing the company?s credit rating, when no credit rating is given it?s possible to use a synthetic rating model based on quantitative data to estimate a credit rating. Thus, the aim of this study is to increase the understanding of which quantitative data, in terms of key figures, that can be used to explain the given credit ratings for companies from the Nordic countries.In developing the model, key figures found significant in previous studies are being tested for whether or not they are applicable for companies from the Nordic countries.

Account receivables tie up large amounts of capital in. Various reports show that the actual time for customer to pay their invoices is getting longer. This is a problem both from a society and a business economic perspective. The purpose of the essay is to find out if Swedish companies have longer credit days than normal contractual terms of payment and if so, can the business cycle or the geographical distribution of sales have an impact and does it make a difference if the companies have an active monitoring of the actual customer credit days. To answer this, we studied 12 listed companies in four different sectors between the years 2000-2008. In the analysis, we reason about the results of the study and how the various factors may have influenced the outcome.

The aim of this small thesis is to investigate if the probability of business failure is higher at the time of divestment than at the time of acquisition for portfolio companies that have been subject to private equity ownership. The background for this thesis is the widespread critique aimed at private equity firms, claiming that they increase the risk in their portfolio companies. We have performed a study of 53 buyout transactions, involving Swedish manufacturing companies, covering a time span of 13 years, from 1995 to 2007. We find evidence of an increased risk of business failure for the portfolio companies with a short forecasting horizon (within one year). The absolute increase in the sample is however small.

The aim of this study is to investigate how Swedish listed real estate companies use quantitative sustainability measures - mainly sustainability index with a financial focus. Sustainability management is a controversial issue that is used more and more constructive. A sustainable management approach in corporate cunduct is complex and based on a number of aspects of business visions, objectives and daily procedures. The study identifies aspects that are considered relevant in real estate companies where the selection of sustainability indicators is based on the support of scientific research in this field. The study intendeds to clarify how Swedish listed real estate companies have selected aspects and indicators of sustainability management and how these work towards a sustainable development.

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.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a concept that is growing increasingly important, with more and more companies acknowledging that they have an obligation to the environment in which they operate. We were interested in inquiring into why companies chose to do so, even though there are no laws that condition them to engage in CSR. One answer to this might be that companies use CSR as a way to distinguish themselves from the competition as well as to gain trust and goodwill from the stakeholders. When it comes to Corporate Social Responsibility, the question is no longer whether or not companies should engage in it, but how they can gain competitive advantage by doing so. This study aims at providing a framework for possible ways of integrating CSR and branding, as well as different strategies for CSR-communication. We also tried to define how, and why, consumers respond to CSR-initiatives.

International negotiation is the link between international planning and implementation. The ability to negotiate successfully may very well depend on the efforts being put into preparatory activities, leading to the purpose of this research, to gain a better understanding of pre-negotiation in an international context, by exploring, describing and partly explaining the process. Personal interviews were conducted with two Swedish international companies to obtain thorough information within the area. The collected data from these two cases are discussed, compared and then finally used to draw general conclusions. The study indicates the different issues that either occur or should be considered prior to the first formal meeting in an international negotiation.

As the globalization of companies increases day by day, the need for a clear and comprehensible legislation to overcome the problems with transfer pricing transactions increases as well. Incorrect pricing in transfer pricing situations between companies with close economic ties to each other makes countries risk parts of their taxation income.Swedish legislation uses the internationally accepted arm?s length principle to regulate the transfer pricing transactions. Through the correction rule, the rule is upheld that the pricing between two companies with close economic ties to each other must apply to the same conditions as it would have been if it was between two companies without close economic ties to each other.To ensure that enough material is provided to base the assumption whether or not the correction rule has been followed or not, Swedish legislation provides a number of paragraphs to regulate the matter. The legislation is spread all over and is hard to interpret.

This Master thesis was written in collaboration with the Kalmar-based consulting company Sederkvist Kommunikation. The purpose was to explore the market potential for Sederkvist Kommunikations new software Bellman Marketing. Based on these results a launch plan was created and advoice were given to Sederkvist Kommunikation as to how their new administrative tool could be introduced on the market. Data were collected through semi-structured telephone interviews. The population was Swedish so called Gazelle-companies (growth-companies listed yearly by the business newspaper Dagens Industri) and totally 27 units were examined.

Background: The Swedish Parliament passed a law change in late 2010, suspending the former requirement for all Swedish incorporated companies to have an auditor. The new limit values allow the smallest incorporated companies to dismiss the auditor of the company (or not appoint one in the case of a newly started company). The opinions of abolishing mandatory audit vary, and little research has been done post to the law change. However, a new situation has arisen, meaning the optional choice of voluntary audit, for some companies.Aims and research questions: The aim of the thesis is to examine the reasons behind voluntary audit in Sweden, as well as what value companies, having chosen audit, see in their auditor. The following research questions have been used in order to fulfill the aim of the thesis: ?Why do small private owner-led incorporated companies in Sweden voluntarily choose audit?? and ?What value does the voluntarily chosen auditor add to the companies??Methodology: The research questions were formulated after reviewing relevant literature and scientific articles regarding the topic of voluntary audit, as well as the recent law change in Sweden.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine whether institutional ownership has an influence on CEO compensation in companies where the institutions have invested. In order to fulfil the purpose of the thesis a quantitative study was carried out within the Swedish corporate context where we have studied Swedish institutional investors and companies quoted on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. Our period of study was the financial year of 2007.The empirical questions at issue is; Was there a connection between Swedish institutional ownership and the size of the CEO compensation, and, does Swedish institutional ownership lead to a certain type of CEO compensation in terms of structure?Our results did not suggest that an increased institutional ownership neither leads to a certain type of salary level nor a certain kind of salary structure. These results contradict earlier American research, which has been done within this area and has previously shown a secured connection.The reasons for our results may be many and it is difficult to state any concrete conclusions to why we received differing results.

The Swedish business cycle is in a strong position at the moment, leading to great results and larger profits. This strong business posture has encouraged companies to increase both their liquidity and revenue. Now there is a dilemma, what actions should or could a respectable business take on these newfound liquid assets.The purpose of this paper is to deliver a clear picture of what options there are for such companies listed on the Swedish stock-market, and how the market wants them to act. To these means we have studied the basic theories linked to this subject and reviewed the cause and effects that motivates them. We have also conducted interviews with the people representing the market through their line of business.In the theory we found several options on what companies in similar situations tend to do.

The survey describes a number of risks that Swedish farming companies are exposed to. The risk areas covered by the survey are currency risks, price risks and financial risks. The survey further describes why these risks have a great impact on the future development of the farming companies. The survey highlights the interrelation between the risks and the measures which can be used to minimize the risks, so-called financial instruments. The aim of the survey is to put focus on above mentioned risks and describe how these risks can be reduced to prevent the Swedish farming industry from stagnating in the future. The survey is a secondary survey whereby existing knowledge about risks and risk management is applied to farming companies. The written information on price risks and hedging is primarily derived from foreign sources.