Human capital is professional service firms' most valuable resource and its quality is closely linked to the quality of its services. The purpose of this study is to investigate how professional service firms appraise their employees. A comparative study between an architecture firm and a management consulting firm is conducted with the aim to identify and explain similarities and differences in performance appraisal. Two qualitative case studies are performed and interviews as well as documents are used to explore the area. The thesis builds on a critical perspective and it has an explorative approach.

Through the growing use and availability of information technology the dependency of Internet is today increasing. Internet makes ways for a more mobile business communication that cost less. One of the latest applications of Internet technology are intranet and extranet. I have asked myself the question how intranet and extranet can affect companies efficiency and competitive advantage. In order to answer this question I performed a case study at Ericsson and ABB.

The aim of this Masters thesis is to examine the user service discourses in the field of public libraries that can be identified in four Swedish library journals. Also which underlying causes that control the discourses and the consequences of them are examined. Questions in this study are: which discourses can be found, what characterises them, what kind of different discourses concerning technology in society control the user service discourses and what are the consequences of them. The theoretical starting-point is Ernesto Laclaus and Chantal Mouffes discourse theory. The method is text analytic.

 We have chosen to write our thesis within a transport company. The work was carried out at DHL activities in Uppsala. DHL is one of the leading transport companies worldwide. Our interest lies in more efficient and advanced transportation and terminals, as globalization and new trends require effective solutions.The aim of our work is to explain the need for information technology applications in road haulage and associated terminal operations. Furthermore, we analyses terminal and applied information technology.

A valid arbitration agreement constitutes a bar to court proceedings as well as a prerequisite for arbitral proceedings. In NJA 2008 p. 406 and NJA 2012 p. 183, the Swedish Supreme Court applied the so-called doctrine of assertion with respect to the issue of whether a dispute should be settled by arbitration or litigation. Prior to these judgments, it was uncertain if the doctrine of assertion was applicable regarding this issue.

Delirium är ett vanligt tillstånd på intensivvårdsavdelningen (IVA) och forskning visar attpatienter som drabbas av delirium har högre mortalitet, längre vårdtider på sjukhus och sänktlivskvalitet lång tid efter vårdtiden. Det finns olika former av delirium: hyperaktivt,hypoaktivt och blandformer. Den vanligaste formen, hypoaktivt delirium, är lätt att feltolkasom översedering eller depression. Att använda sig av bedömningsinstrument kan göra attdelirium upptäcks tidigare och att patienten snabbare får adekvat vård, vilket kan lindraförloppet. Det har utvecklats olika instrument för att bedöma om patienterna har delirium.Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka om användandet av CAM-ICU (ConfusionAssessment Method for Intensive Care Unit - ett bedömningsinstrument av delirium) är ettanvändbart mätinstrument för sjuksköterskan att upptäcka delirium hos patienter som vårdaspå IVA.

This report is the final step in the Bachelor of Science program in Building Construction Engineering, Department of Engineering Sciences, Uppsala University.The purpose of this study is to highlight the difficulties and possibilities that could involve the introduction of new energy efficient technologies and changing work around this technology. This study focuses on energy use at a construction site or other temporary workplace where so-called portacabins are in place to address the need for temporary facilities.The method for obtaining knowledge on the subject was mainly interviews with site managers working in Svevia AB's various activities. In conjunction with the interviews I visited construction sites and portacabins if it was possible.My most important suggestion to Svevia AB concerns a better organization in order to make poratacabins more efficient on energy and costs. The company should also evaluate and monitor the energy efficient portacabins that are in operation.Expected energy savings of new technology may not materialize if there are gaps in information, education, technical services and technical maintenance. It is very important to utilize the experiences of new technology.

This thesis is about new technology in academic libraries in the form of Patron Driven Acquisition. As libraries take part in the digital era, a new model of patron driven acquisition has emerged. This model gives users more influence over the libraries electronic book collection. The collection development model changes libraries traditional role in the collection development process, from collecting for the future to the present.The purpose of this thesis is to gain knowledge of what acquisition librarians think about the effects of PDA on the collection, the acquisitions role and the cost structure. The theoretical framework relies on Christensen?s theory about disruptive technology and was used to interpret outcomes of new technology in libraries and its staff.Five librarians from four different Swedish university libraries were interviewed using a qualitative semi-structured method to carry out the investigative part of this thesis.

The purpose of this study was to look into the work of care organizers for elderly care, in three municipalities in southern Sweden, and how they use the law and local guidelines to evaluate the need for home care. The intention was to determine if presence of relatives makes a difference in the needs assessment and if the care organizers practice harmonize with the guidelines. To do this, we did a qualitative study alongside with analyzing each of the local guidelines. By interviewing five care organizers, we were able to see their side of elderly care and how they combine the law and local guidelines in their daily work with elderly care. Our main themes are, in short, the law and local guidelines, the view of care organizing and needs and also closeness to relatives.

Regardless of what discipline nurses work in, wound care is one of the tasks. Caring for wounds involves early detection of signs of infection, in order to avoid complication. Wound infection extends suffering for the patient and causes unnecessary costs for society. The aim was to describe how nurses can identify infection in wounds. Method: The design of the study was a literature review, where13 scientific articles were examined and analyzed.

The Third International Assessment of Educational Progress (TIMMS) and the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) during the last decades regarding the results of mathematics teaching shows that China have a better performance than Sweden?s.Swedish teacher-guidelines focus on developing student?s individual interest and confidence for mathematics. In the Chinese teaching-guidelines for Mathematics Curriculum Standards, Ordninary Senior Secondary, the focus is given on: Elevate their mathematics literacy necessary for future citizenship and Development of citizen´s qualities (s.3).Teachers are the primary factors that impact teaching and learning of mathematics. Two teachers from Sweden and two from China were interviewed and their methods were compared in my study. The aim of my study was to understand mathematics teaching in China and Sweden.

The present project is a first step towards a new Swedish assessment tool to examine phonological ability in preschool-aged children. The work consisted of developing a word list with words that was considered to reveal a child?s phonological ability and to try out the word list on pre-school children. The reason was to make sure that the words existed in the vocabulary of the children in the chosen ages. A word list consisting of 109 words, which convey relevant phonological information, was created.

Title:The issue of unplanned stoppages caused by failure in medical technology equipment ? A study within the hospital of Kalmar with a focus on manage-ment, security and quality Author:Anna Förster, Ambika Linder, Sandra Nyqvist Tutor:Thomas Karlsson Institution:Linnaeus School of Business and Economics - Linnaeus University Kalmar Date:2011-01-14 Purpose:The purpose of this study was to examine unplanned stoppages caused by medical technology equipment failure in the healthcare operation within the hospital of Kalmar. Our study is based on a number of specifically selected incidents which show the consequences these disruptions cause in management, security and quality within the operation. Our intention was also to examine what role the medical technology department of the hospital plays in the care production operation during these unplanned stoppages. Method:Through a qualitative study we have generated material from a number of interviews with staff working in the hospital of Kalmar.

I följande studie kommer rekryterings- och utvecklingsmetoden Assessment Center (AC) attstuderas. Syftet med studien är att utifrån verksamma organisationers erfarenhet av AC skapa en ökad förståelse för; metodens innebörd, vilka argument som ligger till grund förorganisationers användande av metoden samt dess värde för organisationer. Studien är avkvalitativ karaktär och fokus fästs vid tolkning och förståelse av AC baserat pårespondenternas subjektiva uppfattningar och upplevelser. Studiens teoretiska referensrambehandlar; Human Resource Management, rekrytering, personalekonomi, Talent Management och Assessment Center. Empiri har samlats från sex verksamma organisationer, varav fem organisationer vilka arbetar med AC samt en organisation som har påvisat ett eventuellt intresse av att utveckla ett AC.

The real estate industry is a sector where the companies generally have a capital structure which is high leveraged. The financing? with the related terms ? is therefore specifically of high importance for the companies in the sector. Traditionally, the way of obtain financing is by borrowing from the bank. Lately, due to new bank regulations, the banks have become more restrictive in their lending which have lead to a growth of other financing alternatives.