Approximately ten people die every year at building sites in Sweden. Every year TheWork Environment Authority (Arbetsmiljöverket) receives 3200 accident reportsfrom the construction sector. The Swedish building contractor Skanska has the vision:?Zero accidents?. Only at Skanska Sweden, where this diploma work is preformed,350-520 accidents and mishaps are reported every year for the last 5 years.

This paper describes the redesign of a site (Kolonn.se). Some of the problems with the site were a lack of structure and a design that was unclear both visitor and search engines. The site now has a new design and structure that has been taking form in Axure prototypes that has been tested and applied into WordPress. The results are a site with a new main menu, new graphic profile and logo. Also SEO-adapted content such as correctly structured headers, meta tags, descriptions and key words that has been implemented in the content.

The study of the French market for softwood has been done in collaboration with VIDA AB. The aim of the study was to investigate important product quality and service quality dimensions, the customers? perception of the offering and generally describe the French market and present actors. The market for softwood around the world changes over time and new markets can mean opportunities for the sawmilling industry. The French market is the second biggest European market for softwood, has had presence of actors with sourcing of raw material from the Nordic countries for decades and there is a growing interest for building with wood. Theory being used is about the different dimensions that make up the total quality of softwood, together with intangible dimensions making up the total offering that helps the sawmilling industry to create positive perceived value for the customers. Methodological approach in the study was a case study research design, aimed at providing knowledge about one specific subject in one context. The general description was mostly carried out by literature studies and data from various statistics sources.

The Sand Catcher                                                       The thesis project The Sand Catcher investigates the encounter between permanent structures and an ever-changing landscape. The migrating sand dune Råbjerg Mile in northern Denmark is 40 meters high and moves more than 15 meters every year. By introducing a solid structure on the site, the fast movement of the sand dune is emphasised and thereby our view of time and space.Through intuitively building models with varied openings and densities I investigated how architectural elements react with sand. From these experiments a series of spatial features and effects were found, generated from the meeting with the sand.The Sand Catcher is a solid and permanent structure. The sand is the liquid element that generates new spaces, circulations and experiences.

The report by Boverket (2004), Hållbara städer och tätorter i Sverige - ett förslag till strategi says that large and somewhat intact green areas are better than severalsmall. Linking rural natural areas with the city's green areas, improves the opportunities for recreation and biodiversity (Boverket 2004). To create this, there isneed for a green structure in the city and its surroundings. But how to create this structure and what are the problems with the green areas in the city today? Thescenario that more and more people choose to settle in urban areas is a trend which not appears to decline, and at the same time our green spaces in cities and ruralareas decreases (Boverket 2007).

The market for biofuels from the forests have had a positive development and the job initiators for this master´s thesis wanted to examine the profitability of a method for harvesting forest fuel, which was unfamiliar to them. The method was the ?long tree tops-method?, here called the LT-method. The LT-method is characterised by the fact that timber is harvested as the only roundwood assortment while the rest of the stem, which in other cases would become pulpwood, is harvested as forest fuel together with the logging residues. The method is based on the assumption that advantages in handling of the forest fuel assortment such as increased load weights for forest hauling and truck transportation, should compensate for the lower price for pulpwood when sold as forest fuel. The aim of the study was to compare the profitability of the LT-method with the GROT-method (harvest of timber, pulpwood and logging residues) and conventional logging without any harvest of forest fuel, and aslo to try to identify factors affecting the profitability of the different methods.

Due to recent legal enactments regarding carbon dioxide emissions, the car industry is facing higher demands. An effective way of reducing these emissions is to minimize the weight of the vehicle. This thesis constitutes a feasibility study on whether or not it is applicable for the car industry to utilize an inner floor structure comprising composite materials. The principal was the projectSåNätt, in which the main participant was Volvo Cars Corp. In consultation with a reference group, consisting of delegates from the industry and KTH, a specification of requirements was produced.

Financial bubbles are characterized by a large increase in the economic growth on the market as a whole or in specific industries. The change gives rise to an increase in the capital needed to finance this growth. Companies typically have a choice between equity and debt capital to finance its business and the mix of these types of capital is often referred to as the company?s capital structure. There has been a lot of research done in the field of financial bubbles and ofcapital structure, as of yet no studies seem to address these two areas in combination.The aim of this study is to examine if financial bubbles affect a company?s capital structure and through this also examine if the supposed changes in capital structure can be generalized.The study comprise of two identical time-series which examines the changes in leverage and the choice of financing during the Swedish real estate bubble in the early nineties and the IT-crash at the end of the 2000th century.

Ett sekellångt förbud mot att bygga hus med trästomme högre än två våningar har gjort att värdefulla kunskaper om träbyggandet gått förlorat samtidigt som andra material istället etablerat sig på marknaden.För utvecklingen av flervåningshus i trä har Växjö blivit en förebild för andra städer i Sverige och resten av världen. Med denna studie vill författarna skapa en uppfattning om var i utvecklingen vi står idag samt tillvarata erfarenheter från fyra representativa projekt.Målet har varit att ta fram faktorer i produktionsprocessen som påverkar tid, kvalitet och ekonomi för flervåningshus i trä. Dessutom har det undersökts i vilken grad och på vilket sätt erfarenheter från tidigare projekt omsatts i senare projekt.Arbetet resulterar i ett antal punkter som är viktiga att ta ställning till vid en byggnation av flervåningshus med en träbaserad stomme. Dessa punkter berör bl a vad som behöver beaktas vid hög prefabriceringsgrad, varför och hur väderskydd bör användas samt hur sättningar påverkar en träbyggnad. Utvecklingen är starkt beroende av kontinuitet och av att fler hus av denna sort byggs.

On a highly competitive market, quality is an important aspect to take into account, both in terms of goods and services. The Swedish timber market is very competitive and to achieve long-term success focus on the customer, in this case private forest owners, is a prerequisite. SCA Skog AB Jämtlands forest management administration is dependent on the acquisition of timber from private forest owners to fulfil their mission to the supply of SCA's paper and sawmills in Sweden with raw material. To be able to develop the cooperation with private forest owners, the administration investigates their quality management by measuring the customer satisfaction index (CSI). The purpose of the study was to identify a practical and systematic method to handle deviations and suggestions for improvements to achieve a higher customer satisfaction.

Financial bubbles are characterized by a large increase in the economic growth on the market as a whole or in specific industries. The change gives rise to an increase in the capital needed to finance this growth. Companies typically have a choice between equity and debt capital to finance its business and the mix of these types of capital is often referred to as the company?s capital structure. There has been a lot of research done in the field of financial bubbles and ofcapital structure, as of yet no studies seem to address these two areas in combination.The aim of this study is to examine if financial bubbles affect a company?s capital structure and through this also examine if the supposed changes in capital structure can be generalized.The study comprise of two identical time-series which examines the changes in leverage and the choice of financing during the Swedish real estate bubble in the early nineties and the IT-crash at the end of the 2000th century.

While conducting our practical training we experienced how the structure and the complexity of the municipal administration could, from a white-collar workers perspective, become a limitation and burden for efficient work. Deriving from this experience we found an interest in how politicians reasoned with regards to their relationship with supervisor in municipal old-age care. Kouzes och Micos (1979) ?Theory of organizational behavior in human service? became our point of departure. Their framework was therefore the foundation for our research and work throughout this paper.Our aim with this research was to examine how politicians viewed their relationship with supervisor in municipal old-age care.

On a highly competitive market, quality is an important aspect to take into account, both in terms of goods and services. The Swedish timber market is very competitive and to achieve long-term success focus on the customer, in this case private forest owners, is a prerequisite. SCA Skog AB Jämtlands forest management administration is dependent on the acquisition of timber from private forest owners to fulfil their mission to the supply of SCA's paper and sawmills in Sweden with raw material. To be able to develop the cooperation with private forest owners, the administration investigates their quality management by measuring the customer satisfaction index (CSI). The purpose of the study was to identify a practical and systematic method to handle deviations and suggestions for improvements to achieve a higher customer satisfaction.

The Sand Catcher                                                       The thesis project The Sand Catcher investigates the encounter between permanent structures and an ever-changing landscape. The migrating sand dune Råbjerg Mile in northern Denmark is 40 meters high and moves more than 15 meters every year. By introducing a solid structure on the site, the fast movement of the sand dune is emphasised and thereby our view of time and space.Through intuitively building models with varied openings and densities I investigated how architectural elements react with sand. From these experiments a series of spatial features and effects were found, generated from the meeting with the sand.The Sand Catcher is a solid and permanent structure. The sand is the liquid element that generates new spaces, circulations and experiences.

While conducting our practical training we experienced how the structure and the complexity of the municipal administration could, from a white-collar workers perspective, become a limitation and burden for efficient work. Deriving from this experience we found an interest in how politicians reasoned with regards to their relationship with supervisor in municipal old-age care. Kouzes och Micos (1979) ?Theory of organizational behavior in human service? became our point of departure. Their framework was therefore the foundation for our research and work throughout this paper. Our aim with this research was to examine how politicians viewed their relationship with supervisor in municipal old-age care.