Analyses of pollen and charcoal in peat cores, together with age-structure data of Pinus sylvestris from a Ledum-Pinus-mire in the Tyresta National Park (south-east Sweden) show the regional vegetation succession and fire history over the last 9000 years. Five major stages of mire development are identified: 1. Lake (c 7000-6400 cal BC); 2. Wet fen (c 6400-6000 cal BC); 3. Deciduous fen (c 6000 cal BC to c cal AD 700); 4.

The study of the French market for softwood has been done in collaboration with VIDA AB. The aim of the study was to investigate important product quality and service quality dimensions, the customers? perception of the offering and generally describe the French market and present actors. The market for softwood around the world changes over time and new markets can mean opportunities for the sawmilling industry. The French market is the second biggest European market for softwood, has had presence of actors with sourcing of raw material from the Nordic countries for decades and there is a growing interest for building with wood. Theory being used is about the different dimensions that make up the total quality of softwood, together with intangible dimensions making up the total offering that helps the sawmilling industry to create positive perceived value for the customers. Methodological approach in the study was a case study research design, aimed at providing knowledge about one specific subject in one context. The general description was mostly carried out by literature studies and data from various statistics sources.

This study has been made on behalf of the Swedish Transport Administration to study the work of the department National Projects. The Swedish construction industry has for many years been characterized by low productivity. By being the largest purchaser of contracts in the industry the Swedish Transport Administration has a unique opportunity to influence the productivity. In order to improve in productivity The Swedish Transport Administration is adopting a new role in which they will order more turnkey projects. In our study, we will focus on how one department within the Swedish Transport Administration, National Projects, can perform successful turnkey projects.To clarify how the department National Projects can perform successful projects, this study identifies critical factors for projects and their links to different phases of the project.

This thesis analyzes the effects of different fertilization strategies on forest management at Holmen Skog in Umeå district. Harvesting volumes, net present values and fertilization intensity are presented for each fertilization scenario. The planning reserve (percentage area older than minimum final felling age) was also analyzed in this study.The thesis covers the analysis of five different fertilization scenarios, varying in fertilization intensity, from no fertilization at all, to fertilization at every harvesting operation (thinning or final felling). A sub-study was also carried out so the reader in detail can see how the different fertilization scenarios affect individual forest stands of different nature. The analysis has been done with the planning tool PlanWise, which is an application of the Heureka analysis and planning system.

The demand for renewable energy is increasing in Sweden. This consequently increases the pressure for and willingness to pay for forest fuels. One method to extract forest fuel from suitable commercial thinnings is the "long top method? (LT-method). With this method saw logs and non-delimbed tops are recovered, i.e.

The purpose of this thesis was to illustrate the use of internal marketing in the hotel industry. It was decided to conduct a case study on two hotels in the same region, Quality Hotell Statt and Pite Havsbad. The case study is based on personal interviews with the managers of each hotel, who have the ultimate responsibility of the internal marketing work. The research questions were based on why the hotel industry work with internal marketing and how the hotel industry work with internal marketing. The study showed that the hotel industry work with internal marketing on daily basis to get low employee turnover rates, increased employee job satisfaction and high quality services.

Africa is one of the regions most affected by climate change. However its forests are important carbon sinks for the whole world, and if recognised as a global public good, could be conserved and contribute to green house gas emission reductions. A global mechanism, Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation(REDD+) aims to help developing countries in reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and enhancement of carbon stocks. REDD+ strategies may, however exclude local forest dependent communities from forests in order to conserve and maximise carbon stocks, thus having a severe impact on local livelihoods. Therefore, how local communities can participate and share benefits from REDD+ is a key concern.This study investigates how three forest dependent communities in the Nazinon forest, in Southwest Burkina Faso could financially benefit from a REDD+ project.

The Swedish automotive industry has since way back been struggling with bankruptcy, abroad buy outs and staff cuts. Competition and pressure on prices are two factors that affect the automotive industry. Because of this, the companies are pressured to continuously developing their work in addition to be able to compete on the market. The aircraft industry has successfully managed to implement additive manufacturing (AM) and for motorsport has several components manufactured with AM been used. When AM is used as a manufacturing method, there are a number of advantagesthat follows.

Total protection is often the option chosen when protecting forests with high environmental values. An alternative to total protection is application of management regimes that do not interrupt continuity of tree cover. This study focuses mainly on continuous cover forestry (CCF) in forest stands already protected. All objects are situated in the county of Jämtland in northwest Sweden. The purpose of the study was to attain a greater knowledge about CCF practices.

Modern forest owners are very familiar with forest management and forest economics. Therefore they have high demands for quality in forest operations. Guarantee of quality in the shape of self-checking activities is an important tool to guarantee a well managed forestry operation. To meet the forest owners? demands on guarantee of quality and the entrepreneurs wish of an easy method for self-checking, the forest owners association, Södra skogsägarna, has developed a new method for thinning inventory. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the method that is used for self-checking and to find ways to develop and improve of the method. The data has been collected by inventory in a number of stands with circle-area survey and with strip survey, which is method that is used for self-checking. The results show that the strip survey does not diverge more than ±10 % in measuring values of basal area, number of stems, roads share, thinning quotient, outtake of basal area and total volume compared to circle-area survey.

This thesis examines underpricing and the long run performance of IPO firms on the Swedish equity market during 1994-2010. We further investigate whether any correlation exist between underpricing and post-IPO performance during 36 months. We use a sample of 80 IPO firms. To examine the aftermarket performance we compare total return of each firm with a matching industry index. In order to strengthen our analysis, we run a second test, comparing actual return for each firm with expected return, adjusted for firm specific risk.

Internet dating is a relatively new phenomenon that, in using the opportunities of the internet, has taken traditional dating to a new level. The business idea is simple as such. The company provides its customers with a platform that enables interaction, leaving the value creation to the customers. A qualitative study is conducted investigating and mapping the Swedish market for Internet dating. It is researched what the characteristics of the companies are, what the Internet dating businesses in Sweden offer, what the prevailing market conditions are, and lastly what challenges lie ahead for the industry and how they can be solved.

The Department of Forest Products and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences has received means from Vinnova for a preliminary study of the organisation of logging work of today and how a better logging organisation should be brought about. This thesis reports results from qualitative interviews with nine forest machine contractors regarding the situation of their companies. The interviews have been analysed with respect to the genesis of the companies, which tasks they perform or that they could consider perform-ing, business relationships of the companies, relationships between the different partners of the companies, and the state of competition experienced by the contractors. The companies have developed either from the contractor previously being machine operator employee or from that the contractor in making has owned a machine and needed work. Their primary business is mechanised logging.

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 forests of Sweden are constantly changing. Map studies indicate that the amount of deciduous trees in Sweden has decreased in recent years in favor of the coniferous trees. The National Forest Inventory has since the early 1920s monitored the Swedish forests and in recent years has made the old data digitally available. In the present project, we have investigated how the numbers of stems in different diameter classes have changed for birch and other deciduous trees. The inventory was conducted in the same manner as in the first forest inventory.