Title: To sell the country of Lagom: a study of the Swedish Institute?s re-branding of Sweden and impact on the swedish citizens Authors: Rebecca Dahl & Ellinor Thungren Aim: The purpose of this thesis is to study the Swedish Institute?s branding of Sweden. We have explored if the branding is consistent with the picture that Swedes generally have of themselves and Sweden, and also looked at which consequences differences in this picture may have. Method/Material: Semiotic analysis and interviewMain Results: The results of the thesis shows that SI?s branded image of Sweden agree with the picture that Swedes have of themselves and Sweden.

The aim of this study was to investigate whether the Swedish Institute of public health care uses paternalistic information in their alcohol publications. My intention has also been to examine to what extent the paternalistic information is being used. This is determined simply by how frequently paternalistic information is found in the publications. I chose to analyse five publications that contain alcohol related information and had a clear motive. My results show that all five publications use paternalistic methods with the intention to change readers, or people in their surroundings, alcoholic behaviour. Though this is quite a small essay, I have suggested extended research of the subject ? preferably of all 176 alcoholic publications presented by the Institute of public health care..

This thesis is intended to respond to the extent to which South African textbooks on the subject of history is linked to the governmental policy documents and whether they are producing and reproducing national identity. The two textbooks are aimed at students in grade 10. Both books were produced in 2008 but published by different publishers.The essay is based on Norman Faircloughs critical discourse theory which has been supplemented by Michael Billings theory Banal Nationalism, which assumes that it is the national words that remind us daily of our homeland that is producing and reproducing national identity.  The survey shows that both textbooks are closely tied to the government policy document for the teaching of history. The textbooks refer to the policy, both explicitly and implicitly. The two textbooks reproduce a common national identity in South Africa based on the discussions taking place in society.

Detta projekt är resultatet av ett examensarbete från en Civilingenjör i Teknisk Design med inriktningen Produktutveckling vid Luleå Tekniska Universitet. Projektet har utförts i samarbete med Nordic Sport AB och handlar om att utveckla nya vagnar för kastgrenarna inom friidrotten; spjut, kula, diskus och slägga.De tänkta kundernas behov av funktion och estetiska krav undersöktes genom informationsinsamlig i form av marknadsundersökningar, konkurrentanalyser, enkäter och intervjuer med företaget. Med hjälp av den insamlade informationen sammanställdes en kravspecifikation som stöd under projektets gång.Genom ett systematiskt arbete med problemlösningsmetoder som bland annat brainstorming och en workshop så togs en stor mängd dellösningar fram som kunde uppfylla de krav och önskemål som ställdes på de nya vagnarna. Utifrån dessa dellösningar konstruerades en helhetslösning utifrån viktningar som sedan låg till grund för konceptgenereringen.Designen på vagnarna togs fram genom diskussioner med Nordic Sport och en 3D-modell skapades, denna modell utvecklades sedan vidare i samspråk med Nordic Sport för att få fram ett slutgiltigt koncept.Resultatet blev en materialvagn, uppbyggt i ett modulsystem, som med små förändringar passar till alla fyra materialen som ska transporteras. Färgen och formen följer Nordic Sports nuvarande sortiment och deras varumärke nordicsport.com.Då vagnen har ett mycket modernare utseende och stora förbättringar kring användbarhet och ergonomi jämte konkurrenterna så kan Nordic Sport behålla sitt anseende som leverantör av kvalitetsprodukter och ta ännu fler marknadsandelar..

This paper is an assessment of whether the Nordic countries constitute an optimum currency area (OCA) or not. Hodrick Prescott-­?filtered data of real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and rate of employment are used to investigate the similarity of business cycles between the target countries through a series of correlation analysis with Sweden as the base reference country and also by using a linear regression model. Additionally there is an evaluation of trade volume and labour mobility between the countries. Our results indicate that Iceland had the least similar business cycles within the Nordic countries and that the area should therefore possibly comprise Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. .

AbstraktLiksom skolan utgör en arena för alltmer pluralistiska elevgrupper med vitt skilda erfarenheter strävar konstmuseer idag efter att vara en representativ arena för en alltmer globaliserad konstvärld. Den problematik de står inför, samt hur de hanterar den då de arbetar för att inte reproducera en normerad maktrelation mellan västerlandet och resten av världen är kärnan i mitt arbete. Med postkoloniala frågeställningar om makt och diskurser försöker jag belysa vilken identitet vi i den västerländska kulturen ger både dem vi beskriver, samt oss själva, när vi definierar "icke-västerländsk" konst på ett specifikt sätt. För att kanalisera de postkoloniala frågeställningar jag undersöker tittar jag närmare på utställningen Africa Remix, (Moderna Museet i Stockholm 2006 ? 2007) eftersom den var en utställning som medvetet förhöll sig till den representationsproblematik som jag undersöker.

I denna rapport presenteras det examensarbete som Emanuel Öhman utfört under vårterminen 2012 på Mälardalens Högskola. I rapporten redovisas det projekt som utförts för att vidareutveckla en häckvagn som används inom friidrott.Uppdragsgivaren Nordic Sport AB har i dagsläget en häckvagn på marknaden, som bland annat kommer användas i friidrotts-EM 2012 i Helsingfors. Syftet till vidareutvecklingen av häckvagnen är att sänka produktens fraktkostnad.Direktiven var att ta fram ett koncept som uppfyller kundkraven som ställs på produkten, samt att minska produktens volym och vikt, då dessa är direkt styrande av fraktkostnaden.Projektet börjades med en problemförståelsefas för att få en ökad kunskap, samt ta reda på vilka önskemål och krav som ställs på produkten. Utvecklingen av den befintliga produkten utfördes med olika produktutvecklingsverktyg.Resultatet blev en häckvagn vars helhet påminner om Nordic Sports nuvarande häckvagn, där vikt och volym reducerades. Samt att vagnens ramkonstruktion kunde dimensioneras ned efter simuleringar och beräkningar.Analysen visar att konceptet uppfyller de krav som ställs på produkten på ett mer resurseffektivt sätt än vad Nordic Sports nuvarande produkt gör och projektets mål kan ses som uppnått.I slutsatsen framgår det att projektet gått bra.

Purpose/Aim: The purpose of this paper is to describe how a number of strategically selected employees at the Swedish Institute, with the purpose to promote Sweden in the world, look at the challenges facing Sweden concerning nation branding in the new era of cooperation within the European Union. I examine how these people look upon the work of public diplomacy and nation branding in order to actively participate and influence the EU's common communications platform.Material/Method: The method used in this thesis is qualitative interviews. The reason why I chose this method is because I consider it to be the most appropriate in order to collect information about how these selected employees at the Swedish institute regard the challenges that lay ahead in terms of nation branding within the European Union.Main results: On the basis of the results I have gained by dint of the analysis, it can be concluded that it is of utmost importance to take the societal changes, which are a result both of the worldwide globalization and the EU cooperation, into consideration when designing a future communication strategy for the Swedish Institute. The nation-state continues to play an important role in Sweden, but its importance is declining as the EU cooperation is progressing. The citizens? identity plays a crucial role in designing a nation?s communications strategy, and from the analysis I conclude that we move not from a Swedish to a European identity, but towards a pluralistic union where multiple identities meet under one umbrella; the EU..

This thesis is intended to respond to the extent to which South African textbooks on the subject of history is linked to the governmental policy documents and whether they are producing and reproducing national identity. The two textbooks are aimed at students in grade 10. Both books were produced in 2008 but published by different publishers.The essay is based on Norman Faircloughs critical discourse theory which has been supplemented by Michael Billings theory Banal Nationalism, which assumes that it is the national words that remind us daily of our homeland that is producing and reproducing national identity.  The survey shows that both textbooks are closely tied to the government policy document for the teaching of history. The textbooks refer to the policy, both explicitly and implicitly. The two textbooks reproduce a common national identity in South Africa based on the discussions taking place in society.

The aim of this study was to investigate whether the Swedish Institute of public health care uses paternalistic information in their alcohol publications. My intention has also been to examine to what extent the paternalistic information is being used. This is determined simply by how frequently paternalistic information is found in the publications. I chose to analyse five publications that contain alcohol related information and had a clear motive. My results show that all five publications use paternalistic methods with the intention to change readers, or people in their surroundings, alcoholic behaviour. Though this is quite a small essay, I have suggested extended research of the subject ? preferably of all 176 alcoholic publications presented by the Institute of public health care..

During the Nordic Bronze Age, houses were not exclusively connected with profane contexts, but did also feature in burial places, a peculiar fact when considering the careful separation of settlements and graves. What kind of houses do we find in these sacred contexts? What did these houses stand for? Why was the house symbolism chosen to accompany the dead? And why did the house symbolism flourish during the Nordic Bronze Age? To answer these questions three representatives for the house symbolism in Sweden are discussed in more detail, such as the burial in longhouses, peculiar houses called cult houses and house urns. Further, the phenomenon has been put in its temporal, geographic, social and ideological context, where aspects such as trade and settlement structure are presented. The house symbolism is, however, not confined to northern Europe.

Sales is the foundation for all commercial business and companies that have the best sales process in conjunction with efficient deliveries will do well in the long run. The author of this report was tasked by the Organisation in South Africa to study new/alternative ways of attracting Swedish companies to South Africa and sell the services of the Organisation to these same companies (defined as the sales process in this report) by analysing how similar international service companies do the same. A benchmarking process has been conducted with four similar service organizations in South Africa to examine how these companies work in comparison to the Organization. Surveys have been used for purposes of this study, as the methodology is well suited to provide the author a view on the opinions, perceptions and experiences of the respondents.The project aimed to develop new methods to attract Swedish companies to South Africa or improve and streamline the existing methods. The aim was also to develop new ways to sell the organization's services to Swedish companies.The study concludes that there is little focus on marketing of services within the Organisation.

Purpose: The main purpose of the thesis is to examine the profitability of Momentum Strategies on the Nordic stock markets. This will provide insight and contribute to the debate on efficient markets. Finding profitable Momentum Strategies will provide strong evidence of inefficiency in the market. A secondary purpose is to examine factors which might cause or impact the profitability of the Momentum Strategy. We will look closely at the relationship between the profitability and factors such as risk (CAPM-beta), market capitalization, trading volume and seasonality.

South Africa has been among the top ten wine producing countries for at least 20 years. Even though the land under grapevines is decreasing globally it is still increasing in Africa. The awareness of environment has strengthen the last years and South African producers experience a high demand of environmentally friendly produced wine, especially from the European market. This demand was the driving force behind the development of the world unique sustainability certification, Integrated Production of Wine (IPW), which is inscribed in the South African legislation. What makes this certification unique is that consumers can trace their product all the way back to the farming practices owing to the identity number specified on the IPW Integrity & Sustainability seal on certified products.

The aim of our study is to explore the empowerment process among micro-business owners in Kayamandi, a black township of Stellenbosch in South Africa. What are the positive and negative implications for the empowerment process? Another aim is to find out the role of local and international support in this process. The theoretical framework of this study revolves around the concepts of gender, power and empowerment. Our methods are qualitative interviews and observations.