The aim of this study has been to, through a couple of chosen theories, examine in what way and for what purposes Japan has used its international aid system, How can the nation have been said to have implemented and acted in lines with the philosophies and principles set forth in the ODA declaration. What approaches, concerning positive and negative aid sanctions in the matters of aid to Cambodia and Burma, have been chosen and what have the motives for these choices been. What have been the determining factors of the outcome related to these sanctions - economic, political and/or matters of identity? I have found that a concern for possible decrease in economic profit and investment related areas, combined with a feared loss of political prestige and worsened diplomatic relations to the neighbouring countries in the Asian society, have come to overtrump the notion of advocating democracy, human rights, environmental and anti-militaristic issues..

Law firms are defined as knowledge-intensive companies. Due to the dependency regarding the resource of knowledge among the firms employees and to the fact that they often are categorised as a type of professional service firm. The purpose of this study is to investigate the different types of profitsharingsystems as a form of reward with focus on the theoretical differences and effects of the True Partnershipmodel and the Stockholmmodel. In addition to these models we will look into the Human Resource processes of; recruiting, integration, retaining and development of employees. The main purpose of the study is to examine the theoretical level on how the profitsharingsystems effect different Human Resource processes and through the knowledge of these connections using this as an analogy when to analyse other law-firms and knowledge?intensive company?s.

Individuals of today are living in a community that encourages an inactive life. For many individuals exercise is an important part in their life and can be a health factor and contribute to the joy of living. Some environments in the individuals? everyday life are of supportive character. These supportive environments can make it easier for the individual to make healthier choices.

The aim of this paper is in part to distinguish the ideas raised in the Swedish political debate on the new discrimination law in relation to protection of groups. Is protection by law against discrimination needed for the individual or the group? If it is needed for members of groups, are these groups viewed on as static or variable. Are there any conflicts present between group interests? We link these ideas to three different theoretical perspectives: multiculturalism, feminism and intersectionality and further examine the differences and contradictions between the perspectives represented by members of parliament.

This study highlights how pre-school teachers in a monocultural Swedish district looks at the concept of multiculturalism and what multiculturalism and /or intercultural approaches means in their pre-schools. The study takes its starting point in Johannes Lunneblads thesis "Förskolan och mångfalden" (2006) and Lpfö-98 (2006). The present study is a qualitative study in the form of interviews and the study have an intercultural and intentional perspective. The study shows that preschool teachers in the area perceive multicultural work as a compensatory education for children with non-European background. An analysis of the interviews on a deeper level shows that there is a broader understanding of multiculturalism that includes the class, sexuality and everyone of the children's "home culture?.

Abstract The aim of this study is to find out how teachers view the importance of reading in the teaching of foreign languages. In relation to this, we wish to gain understanding of what teachers want to achieve with reading, how they choose texts and what difficulties they encounter in getting their students to read. Six teachers from three different upper secondary schools in southern Sweden were interviewed for the study. We also examined the text-materials that they were using for their instruction. The findings show that students read mostly adapted texts from textbooks and, to a limited extent, authentic materials.

The purpose of this Masters Thesis is to explore the impact of spare time reading fiction on the identity of teenage boys, and what it really means to them. To investigate this, we have focused our investigation on how teenage boys relate to and what they search for in their reading. The data collection is based on 8 interviews with boys in the age between 14 and 15 and on literature on the subject. The theoretical framework focuses on the reading theories of Joseph A. Appleyard, the transactional theory of Louise M.

The purpose of this essay was to examine and shed light on bullying as a groupprocess, a social phenomenon taking place in a school setting, to increase the understanding of the phenomenon. A theoretical overview of the litterature on bullying was made to investigate bullying and to give the reader a view of the researchfield. A total of 77 articles was studied. With the intention of studying bullying from a groupsychology perspective a metaanalysis was performed discussing groupphenomenon such as rolebehavior, responsibility, cohesiveness and norms in comparison to bullying episodes.Stemming from this analysis the question whether bullying can be view as a response to groupthink emerged. This question also constituted the secondary aim of this thesis.

The purpose of this study is to examine how adolescents can participate and have influence in the society, by making obstacles and opportunities that are considered central for their possibilities to power visible. National and international research indicates that adolescents opportunities to participation and influence are limited by the structures of society. A qualitative method was chosen, in which group interviews were made with 14 youths in development areas in Örebro. Theories are presented which constitute tools for analysis of the obtained results and has been chosen based on power- and participation perspective. An analytical model has been used to illuminate what kind of participation adolescents have in different parts of the society, where the concepts from the theoretical perspectives, power and participation are inserted.

The concept of leadership development plays an important role within the modern organization. As a result of the increasing interest in developing leadership competencies, investments in leadership development programs are becoming a common part of business strategies. However, the return on those investments is seldom evaluated. The reason for this is considered to be the complexity created by the many factors that influence leadership but have no relation to the program. This is a case study based on interviews with participants from a one-year leadership development program that was carried out at AB Previa.

The study sheds light on pupils individual plans of development and portfolios from the perspective of children. It has an ethnographic standpoint. It was carried out on children and pupils in pre-school, pre-school class and third grade. By further investigating how children and pupils use their individual development plans and portfolios, in which settings and to whom they communicate them, this study is able to grasp the discourse that is created around the instrument itself. This study is also interested in and aims to find the theoretical frame, in essence, which envelops both the construction of childhood and children?s own activities within the limitations and opportunities that this structure offers.

This thesis explores the validity of feminist poststructuralist theory in relation to gender and culture. Within the theoretical frame¬work of Judith Butler, combined with insights from the field of post-colonial theory, different perspectives of the dilemma of universalism are discussed. Primary sources for the study are policy documents from the Swedish government, literary texts and newspaper articles. The results show a number of paradoxes which need to be continually and critically kept unsolved. This does not mean an end to feminist engagement in other contexts than one's own but rather the need for theoretical awareness and self reflection.

Goodwill accounting has for a long time been, and with the implementation of IFRS in 2005, has become an even bigger issue. Critics mean that reporting of goodwill impairments is subject to discretion that can be used by the managers. We have applied a study made by Carlin and Finch (2009) on Nasdaq OMX Stockholm during 2006-2012. Our study contains 50 of the 255 public companies at 2012-12-31. The purpose of the study is to investigate if companies use an opportunistic discount rate when testing for impairment in goodwill and if the relation between goodwill and net profit before taxes, goodwill intensity, is an incentive for opportunism.

The purpose of this essay is to examine how theory and practice intertwines through theactivism of the feminist punk performance collective Pussy Riot. I have also focussed on the political tools with which the activism is performed. Within the academic context of gender studies, I believe there is a need for research that aims to reduce the gap between scholarly and activist feminism. The theoretical framework for the analysis in this essay consists of material feminist theory and postmodern theory. The empirical material is a diversified assemblage of images, court excerpts, newspaper columns, interviews, lyrics and videos.

The aim of this essay is to analyze how media constructs strategic positional statements in debates of great immediate interest in order to stress ideological standpoints. Two questions are derived on the basis of this aim.- How is Russia positioned in Svenska Dagbladet's and Dagens Nyheter's editorials in the debate on the Swedish defence during 09-01-13 - 09-01-31?- Are there differences in the positional statements between the newspapers?In the study a Critical Discourse Analytical (CDA) approach is applied, and more specifically that of Teun A. van Dijk. Both the theoretical basis and the methodological tools are based on van Dijks CDA.