Bachelor thesis, Business Administration and Economics Programme, School of Business and Economics at Linnaeus University in Va?xjo?.Spring of 2015 Title: Performance measurement from a cost leadership perspective - A case study on Gekås.Authors: Adrienn Csiszer, Hannah Lundberg & Helena WennerströmTutor: Eva GustavssonExaminer: Karin Jonnergård Keywords: Performance measurement, Performance measurement systems, Generic strategy, Cost leadership strategy, Financial and non-financial measurements. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine how a company with a clear cost leadership strategy chooses to work with performance measurements, with a view to comparing a practical example to theorethical approaches. Methodology: The method chosen for this paper is a case study on Gekås AB. The presented data were collected through interviews conducted with four employees on Gekås. Conclusion: The study concludes that for a business with cost leadership strategy the financial measurements are more important than non-financial meausurements. For Gekås it is important to keep the performance measurement simple and understandable for the employees. They only use three measurements (sales, hours and sales per hour) in planning and in evaluation.

In this pilot study, we have investigated what the two biggest newspapers Aftonbladet and Dagens Nyheter, and the two largest union affiliated journals Lärartidningen/Lärarnastidning and Skolvärlden has written about teachers in their professional roles, and investigated if and whether their reporting has changed over time. In the study, we have also examined what the newspapers and the union affiliated journals emphasize as status enhancing and status lowering factors for the Swedish teaching staff. We have furthermore analyzed our material through Leif Mathiassons theoretical framework in the anthology Uppdrag Lärare ?En antologi om status, yrkesskicklighet och framtidsdrömmar, in which he describes the creation of the image of the school as a medial and political construction. To reinforce Mathiassons theoretical framework we have also presented and used the agenda theory, the gestalt theory and the priming theory in our concluding discussion.

Over the past decade, the fashion industry has experienced a relatively high rate of consumption with material and clothing becoming increasingly subject to waste and disposal. As a result of the increased awareness within the industry the interest in CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) amongst retailers has increased substantially in an attempt to shy away from the critically amplified media attention. In addition the underlying demand from external stakeholders has forced companies to ensure they focus and act upon each stage of the product life cycle.This study provides a further in depth analysis of the fashion industry and conveys the key messages and steps that firms are taking in response to the external pressures and requirements based on four different merged process areas. This research paper examines the impact of CSR on two Swedish fashion retailers Åhléns and JC and shows how accountability relates to the external expectations and norms that prevail in society. The result shows that the firms do meet the demands within each sub category as a response to market demands.

1 January 2005 came the new reconstructed version of IAS 40. It came to compensate the earlier ÅRL and FAR who was applied within the European Union. These new standards came to be called as IAS/IFRS. The standards? are supposed to make sure that the differences between the different countries won?t be so split.

Abstract Integrated mental training is a method that entails a systematic and long-term training of mental processes (thoughts, images, emotions) that aims to enhance performance as well as gratify feelings and improve thought processes. This training develops an alternative system of control by using substitute state of consciousness and self-hypnosis. The method is concerned with both mindfulness and performance approaches, which is crucial in order to feel and function better. The intent of this study is to highlight the experience of the different steps of integrated mental training to gain an understanding of how, where, and when changes occur. To achieve the objective of this study, a qualitative empirical method was used.

It is important for firms to continually develop their offerings as the business landscape develops in order to sustain their competitiveness (e.g. Schumpeter, 1934; Ansoff, 1979; Porter, 1985; Trott, 2012). In a context of globalization, rapid technology development and changing customer needs, the paper packaging industry is urged to enhance its product development activities (Hansen & Niskanen, 2007; Björkdahl & Börjesson, 2011). However, there is little research about paper packaging firms? product development processes (ibid).

The aim of this thesis is to contribute to a better understanding of the FRA-law. The focus of the study is to examine how Swedish politicians relate to the new draft of this law on intelligence. Key themes in the study are security, threats, surveillance and privacy. The power relationship between the individual and the state is also examined. Empirical data used in this study consists of a spoken plenary debate in the House which was held in connection with the adoption of the FRA law in June 2008.

The purpose of this essay is to analyze the EU discourse in the Swedish media. The questions that the analysis seeks to answer are; what image of EU is portrayed in the Swedish media? To which degree does the EU discourse fulfill media?s ?news values?? And what are the potential effects of the discourse on EU?s reputation? After several demarcations, I chose 8 articles form Sweden?s four largest newspapers to base the analysis on.    The theoretical and methodical structure behind this analysis is the theories and practices of Fairclough?s critical discourse analysis. Added to the theoretical structure are also theories about reputation and theories about news values. The method used in the analysis is a modified version of Fairclough?s three-dimensional model of critical discourse analysis.

This paper aims to investigate the terms and conditions of a lesbian gaze and a lesbian spectatorship from a feminist and queer theoretical point of view. The empirical material consists of three paintings by the American artist Romaine Brooks (1874-1970).  Brooks was based in Paris in the early 20th century where she was surrounded by a group of intellectual and usually cross-dressing lesbians. The women within this context are the ones depicted in Brooks? paintings and this makes her one of the first artists in modernity to openly portray lesbian and cross-dressing women.

The aim of this two years master?s thesis in library and information science is to study how children and librarians recommend books through the website Barnens bibliotek. In the scope of this aim it also tries to answer the following questions: What qualities in books do children and librarians respectively emphasize when they write book recommendations? How do they formulate the recommendations? And finally, how do their respective recommendations differ?To examine these aspects a total of 50 book recommendations were chosen and analysed through an hermeneutic approach. Out of these 50, 30 were written by children and 20 were written by librarians.

Most companies and organizations today depend on technology connected to the Internet. Schools and offices have therefore been providing computers, phones and other technology to the employees. The recent technological development and decline in prices for technology have contributed to making these products a part of everyday life for most people. This has made it very common for employees and students to bring their own devices into school and workplaces.The aim of this study is to define what "Bring your own device" means for Swedish companies and organizations and how it has been implemented in those. The aim is not mainly to generalize to all Swedish companies but create an understanding how the trend is used to provide a basis for continued research in this area.

This thesis aims at studying representatives from three groups in the Egyptian society with an ethnographic method and with regards to their experiences, reflections and stories of the Egyptian revolution. The material of the thesis is based on ethnographic fieldwork and on interviews.The purpose of the study is to explore different themes in the informants? stories related to society, freedom, social justice, human values, peace and civility. The purpose is also to examine the informants' stories with emphasis on various informal learning processes that occurred in the Egyptian social change.The study finds that according to the informants a society should be characterized, among other things, by human values, social justice, non-violence and peaceful methods and approaches. Various informal learning processes involving both individual citizens and active members of civil society and NGO groups were found to be practiced to be able to accomplish these changes in the Egyptian society to create a better future.The degrees of involvement of the various learning processes not only reflect differences between informants regarding the social and cultural background.

The Swedish Institute is a public agency promoting Swedish interest, national image and confidence around the world. This work attempts to investigate how communication and a process over time influences and effects public diplomacy. The analytic discussion is based on a single case study research of this Institute representing ideas in the international science field of public diplomacy. The theoretical ideas of public diplomacy are placed in a theoretical perspective of social constructivism. The method is qualitative, with excerpts taken from interviews, literature, newspapers, articles, state public reports and social media.

The aim of this paper is exploring questions regarding the problem of absenteeism among high-school students in Sweden. Fifteen students attending an urban high-school have been interviewed about their views and experiences of absenteeism. The author analyzes the students? answers by taking into account two different sociological approaches which give two different explanations about the way young people experience and estimate education. The French sociologist Bourdieu theorized that differences in cultural capital influence the permanent internalization of patterns of thought and behavior.

This thesis on the sustainable urban development has the intent to discuss the conservator?s position in alteration of the built environment. An essential component of the thesis consists of a case study in the form of an entry in an open architectural competition for the development of Furuset, an urban residential area in Norway. The thesis? discussion is based on two approaches to change and socio-economic transformations, considered being dominant within the heritage theory and practice: the production of ideas and great narratives and conservation as an instrumental tool.