This essay investigates employee buyouts and does so from a number of different perspectives. Employee buyout is a term that describes a way of ending an employment through an agreement where the employee gets a sum of money in exchange of leaving their employment. Technically it is neither a resignation, since the employee gives up the employment in exchange of money, nor a dismissal since the employer does not have legal grounds for dismissing the employee. Employee buyout is not an illegal way to end an employment, as long as it is the result of a mutual agreement between the employer and the employee. In this essay I investigate and analyze employee buyouts in relation to 7 § in the Swedish employment protection act, and also Swedish employment protection in relation to regulations from EU regarding employment protection.

There are certain organizations that manage to handle risk in such a successful way that they almost stay error-free, in spite of the fact that they daily face the risks of accidents. These organizations are usually given the name High Reliability Organizations (HRO). While the most common example is that of a nuclear plant the variety of what organizations can fit into the category is extensive.The purpose of this study is to describe safety culture and theories about HRO and how these can be found in practise within an organization.This qualitative research uses influences of ethnography in its method. The ethnographical approach was picked due to the field of the study and the cultural context in which it is set.The results of the study identify a number of elements sorted into four themes. These themes are deemed compatible or non-compatible with relevant existing theories.

Today, the management concept of lean has stretched far from its origins in the Japanese automobile industry. When reaching the Swedish restaurant industry, the conditions for a successful implementation of lean change as a result of the high employee turnover and the significant amount of part-time employees characteristic for the industry. Combined with a high-end service profile, these workforce characteristics seem inconsistent with some of the basic principles of lean. By conducting a case study, this thesis aims to investigate the effects of a variable workforce on the enablers for a successful implementation of lean in a high-end service industry. Using a theoretical framework consisting of enablers for an implementation of lean in services, the study finds that the variable workforce inhibits an implementation of lean by complicating the effects of traditional training, as well as the possibility of understanding the lean concept at all levels of the organization.

Adam Smith?s economic theory is often subject to criticism, in which it is claimed to be inherently inconsistent. Recently, criticism from well-known scholars has arisen claiming Smith should be characterized a labor value theorist anticipating Karl Marx. This study seeks to analyze whether such criticism is legitimate. Firstly, the economic theory of Smith is discussed in terms of consistency, and secondly, a number of typical and main points of the critique, from the most influential of his contemporary critics, are lifted up and analyzed.

This essay is about how organizations reveal their employees in the annual report. The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which organizations reveals their employees in the annual report, and the purpose has three questions: How do the organizations present their employees in the annual report? What do they choose to report? What motives lies behind?The problem today is that organizations can´t account the employees as assets, they can only be accounted as an expense in the income statement. This can lead to that stakeholders can´t convey an organization's "true" value.With a combination study, we examined how organizations certified by Investors in People presents the employees in their annual reports. In the framework, we have, among other things dealt with personnel mandatory disclosure in the Annual Account Act, the difference between private- and public sectors accounting.

In today's fast-paced, intense and complex media environment, it is hard for non-profit charity organizations to reach out and get their messages heard.In this study we examine whether the theories of advertising signaling also applies for charities. Past studies of the signaling theories indicates that higher perceived advertising expense leads to more positive effects on purchase behavior and brand perceptions. However, we believe that this does not apply for a charity organization. We argue that since charitable organizations have a fundamentally different mission than commercial companies, they will need different ways to signal quality and credibility, and therefore the common signal-theories will not hold for these organizations.To test our hypotheses, we conducted two surveys where the respondents saw one of five versions of the same ad for a well-known Swedish charity organization, or one of two ads for a commercial corporation. The ads had been manipulated to simulate different levels of perceived cost.Our results shows that perceived ad cost only affects attitude towards the ad if a charity was the sender, whereas perceived ad cost affects intentions, attitudes and credibility if a commercial corporation was the sender.

The aim of this study was to examine women shelters conditions as an organization and how these conditions affect their work with children who have experienced family violence and live in their shelters. In order to achieve a more profound and comprehensive view of the women shelters and their work with these children we selected to execute a qualitative method with semi-structured interviews with collaborators from nine different shelters in Sweden. We found that the women shelter as a non-governmental organization was bicameral and complex where their work with children distinguishes on several areas. We discovered that the women shelters were an organization, affected and formed by its environment. From our empiricism we could distinguish differences on a municipality level where collaborations with schools and social services occur in a resource guided hierarchy which influences the women shelters work with children.

IKEA is probably one of the most well known Swedish companies in the world. During thepast decades millions of people all across the globe have decorated their homes according tothe style of IKEA. But just exactly how big and influential are they? Many, if not to say all,municipalities in Sweden wants IKEA to establish and build their famous stores in one oftheir towns. But at what cost? When deciding on a municipality to establish in, IKEAnormally tends to have an advantage when it comes to controlling the conditions and terms ofthe establishment.To undertake this dissertation I use a theory based upon the inter-organizational theoriescalled resource dependency theory.

The aim was to examinehow managers, based on similar education and policy background, perceive their leadership today, and how it according to them, maybe developed in the future. The sample consisted of younger and older managers within the same organization, with diverse experience in managementand leadership roles. Data were collected by two focus groups interviews and analyzed bya thematic analysis. The results indicated that managers, regardless of age and experience, have similar views on their management role and are in general positive regardingtheir leadership, despite stressand time pressure related issues. They have also suggested similar changes for future management and leadership roles.

Today, the catering personnel are an essential part of the safety organization on board Swedish passenger vessels in ferry services. Their responsibilities for the safety on board have increased in connection with the changes in regulations made on the shipping industry. These changes have been mostly related to human factors and structural leadership in the last 25 years.A well-functioning safety organization requires competence and commitment from every individual. Previous researches on Swedish passenger ferries concerning the safety organization have raised issues regarding the catering personnel?s perception of the safety on board.

How does IT-consultants reason in their consulting process regarding the development of a clients IT-based internal recruitment system? The purpose with this paper is to investigate how an IT-consultant is reasoning in a consulting process and investigate whether consultants are using established models and methods in their work. We have chosen to work with a qualitative examination to attain our purpose. In our work gathering the empirical facts we have been working with a case study, an observation and a simulation exercise. The combination of these has made it possible to carry out the paper and produce the most correct data possible. Conclusion: We state that IT-consultants do not use any theory-based methods, they use process methods created by themselves and their company.

In this report the two authors, and project contributors alike, describe their work withdeveloping a solar cooker intended for usage in the developing countries of the world.Specifically, the work aims at developing a new, solar heat driven cooking device, possiblybased upon the current product. This should, in comparison to the current product, be lighter,easier to transport and to produce. Also, the new product?s production mustn?t be more costlythan today and the included materials and components must be obtainable from within theBolivian national borders where the product is currently produced. During the project, certainadvantages with a more efficient, and, above all, a more moderately priced product, werediscovered.

Liberal theorists typically argue that state action should not favor any particular conception of the good or meaningful life. On this view the defining characteristic of the liberal state is neutrality among rivaling ideas of the good. This thesis argues that state neutrality is impossible to maintain in practice. Two different versions of state neutrality; neutral justification and neutral aims, are used to analyze a wide range of political issues. It is concluded that far from being neutral, the liberal state favors individualistic and market oriented conceptions of the good life.

This bachelor thesis, written as a part of the European Studies at Gothenburg University, is concerned with the European Unions? (EU) climate political governance in their both climate- and agricultural policy, and in particularly the question whether it is sustainable. This thesis intends to problematize if it is possible for the EU to continue to pursue its current agricultural policies, while at the sametime maintain its role as a sustainable actor on the global arena. The framework of theEUs? climate policy governance disciplines this analysis.

The aim of the study was to understand limitations and possibilities to the discretion of managers in order to fulfill wishes of users. The study is based on six interviews, three with managers and three with staff in common homes for mentally disabled people. The study took place in a municipality in Sweden in the spring of 2010. We used an interview guide with specific themes and questions. The theoretical framework was based on organizational theories as well as theories about management and discretion.