In the early 1990?s more and more companies of the Swedish public sector were exposed to competition, and this started the debate on how such actions might affect the business and even society.The first chapter examines how the public sector and especially health care, is financed and managed. We also explore what it means to be exposed to competition and find that there are many different ways of exposing the public sector to competition. The study examines dental care as an example of a market with both publicly and privately owned companies. The purpose of this paper is to explore how publicly and privately owned health care companies view their relationship with their consumers.

The purpose of this thesis is to bring forward and discuss the American vision for space exploration found at NASA's homepage, how the vision is popularised and why. NASA's homepage is analyzed as popularized science and the theoretical perspective emanates from the field of popular science and especially the work of Johan Kärnfelt. The historical reference is made up by Howard E McCurdy and he's thoughts about space and the American imagination. The analysis is based on a number of documents that popularize the vision for space exploration and is intended for the public. These documents describe the future plan for NASA and US space exploration..

Ever since it was first introduced in an article in the Journal of Finance 1952, Harry Markowitz? mean - variance model for portfolio selection has become one of the best known models in finance. The model was one of the first in the world to deal with portfolio optimization mathematically and have directly or indirectly inspired the rest of the world to develop new portfolio optimization methods. Although the model is one of the greatest contributions to modern portfolio theory, critics claim that it may have practical difficulties. Partly because the Markowitz model is based on various assumptions which do not necessarily coincide with the reality.

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to identify and analyze innovative products and services within the telecom industry, letting these findings constitute possible ways for CSPs to innovate the experience of their customers. Methodology: The research in this thesis was conducted from a qualitative approach and data were collected using primary- (expert interviews) and secondary sources (journals, articles, web sites etcetera). In addition, a research design entailing four sequential steps was created to stipulate and illustrate the logic underpinning the methodological process. Theoretical perspectives: The theories are divided in three groups. Background theories ? these intend to capture the problematic nature of the transforming telecom industry, examples of such theories are; value chain theories and ecosystem theory.

The purpose of this study was to investigate pupils' and teachers' experiences of using the simulator computer game Minecraft in connection with the Swedish school competition Future City. The study examines how students (ages 14-15) and teachers have experienced the use of Minecraft, what the students have learned in relation to everyday education and the different forms of education during Future City and also examine which patterns that exists in the experiences of the students, with personal interest of and knowledge of Minecraft as a benchmark. The study was conducted through individual semi-structured interviews with both students and teachers. The analysis of the results is based upon a theoretical perspective that includes a socio-cultural view of learning, as well as the lines of reasoning in previous research about computer games and learning. As a general approach towards the study, and in a way, a justification of the chosen research method, a hermeneutic approach was used.

The forest in the county of Småland has been utilised for a long time. One of the most important forms of utilisation of wood has been charcoaling for the benefit of the iron industry. Shortage of forest in relation to the iron industry, was discussed already in the 17th century in Sweden. The aim of this study was to analyse the purchase and consumption of charcoal at Storebro Bruk, an ironwork in Småland, during the period 1793-1850, as well as analyse the shortage of forest at the time. To determine the utilisation of the forest in the area, I have used historical sources from Storebro Bruksarkiv.

"Anders Andersson had a fire in his tar-kiln ". Analysis of Jonas Åström 's peasant-diary 1868-1891 Peasant diaries are notes written by farmers, crofters and other people connected with small-scale agriculture. The notes give unique information about diverse aspects of rural life, for example, personal relationships and work, travel and regularity of church attendance. One such diary was written by Jonas Åström who lived in the county of Västerbotten, Sweden. The main aim of this study is to describe the work done by farmers in the 19th century, focusing on their use of forest resources, as recorded in his diary.