International negotiation is the link between international planning and implementation. The ability to negotiate successfully may very well depend on the efforts being put into preparatory activities, leading to the purpose of this research, to gain a better understanding of pre-negotiation in an international context, by exploring, describing and partly explaining the process. Personal interviews were conducted with two Swedish international companies to obtain thorough information within the area. The collected data from these two cases are discussed, compared and then finally used to draw general conclusions. The study indicates the different issues that either occur or should be considered prior to the first formal meeting in an international negotiation.

ABSTRACTSofie Haag: Yrke: Operaproducent. En studie av operaproducentens roll och betydelse Sverige 2008. Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för musikvetenskap, 2009.The aim of this essay is to provide a better understanding of the role of the Swedish opera producer (often called "production manager") and the opera organisation in which he/she works. Very little has been written about this role, in Sweden as well as internationally. To fill this apparent gap, this study presents the results of inteviews with representatives of ten of Swedens´opera organisations, as well as three case studies.

The management of information is one of the key aspects within a successful andefficient product development process, particularly regarding complex products.Scania CV AB is at the moment developing a new IT-system, OAS, which aims tomanage the company?s product data. With this as a background, the purpose of thismaster thesis is to identify the cross-functional user needs within Scania?s organizationconcerning product data and the management around it.To fulfill the purpose, an empirical study consisting of 40 personal interviews with 50representatives from different functions within Scania?s organization was carriedthrough. The empirical data was then analyzed focusing on identifying thecross-functional needs and issues.The study points out that there is a big potential regarding improvement among themanagement of product data.

Extern validitet hos personlighetstest kan studeras genom att testet ställs motvariabler som mäter arbetsprestation. Syftet med studien var att undersökavaliditeten hos det arbetslivspsykologiska personlighetstestet UPP (Sjöberg,2008). Ett hundra anställda inom polisen, varav 50 kvinnor, tog testet via enInternetplatform. Som externa kriterier användes i studie 1 (N = 100)polisens lönekriterier och i studie 2 (N = 46) ett objektivt kriterium i form avantal förhör för utredare. Resultaten indikerar att vissa variabler i UPPtestetvisade tillfredsställande validitet mot de externa kriterierna.Emotionell stabilitet uppvisade tillfredsställande validitet mot kriterierna ienlighet med tidigare forskning.

Our purpose with this research has been to obtain a deeper insight and understanding for the phenomenon and term ?weekday-luxury.?Through our research, we have found a link between value, service, brands and consumer behaviour into a relationship that we termed ?weekday-luxury.? This link of values is particularly interesting to us and we are curious about the underlying motivation to ?weekday-luxury? and the driving forces underlying the phenomenon. We have noticed in society that people need something extra in their daily lives and we attempt to speculate where their perceived value lies through the concept of ?weekday-luxury." Our goal is to determine a deeper understanding and insight into this phenomenon and how it meets our needs through an identifiable pattern. We also analyze the nature of ?weekday-luxury? and its meaning.

The aim of this essay is to get a deeper understanding of a teachers' profession and to get knowledge of how earlier experiences can influence you as a teacher. I have interviewed a female teacher, Pia to get this understanding. As a tool to get the teacher's whole story I used the life story method. In her profession she is influenced by her own importance of security as a child.Her own needs of security has given her an deeper understanding for pupils like herself during the childhood; insecure and afraid. Her understanding for all kinds of behavior among the children has increased by her own experiences.The story shows that Pia is frustrated by the fact that she can't control her own working time.

Slutsatsen i vår studie är att syftena för inhyrning av personal är likvärdiga mot tidigare studier som utförts. Vi har i studien klargjort att flexibilitet är fortfarande ett centralt syfte att hyra personal istället för att anställa. Vi konstaterar även att motivet ?undvika LAS? inte är ett vanligt syfte att hyra personal, även fast undvikandet av LAS är en omdiskuterad faktor i den teoretiska referensramen. Tidigare studier visar att den största anledningen till att hyra personal från ett bemanningsföretag, är som ett alternativ för vikariat.

This study deals with branding at an individual level and aims to explore what a personal brand means, what benefits that?s obtained by actively working with a personal brand, as well as the strategies and methods used in the development of it. It has also meant a restriction in choice of interviewees made to informants who are familiar with and active in the personal branding process in their daily life. The essay is based on a qualitative research approach; six people working in various occupations were interviewed by a desire to generate information from different perspectives. The result shows that a personal brand is all about credibility, authenticity, and the image you present to others.

Learning Management Systems (LMSs) hold great potential to support learning activities, for example by providing teachers and students with new and extended spaces for interaction and collaboration. However, this potential appears to be difficult to realize, and despite their perceived learning benefits, the reality is that LMSs are being used primarily for administrative purposes. Meanwhile, external pedagogical tools are successfully put into practice to improve learning outcomes, and the aim of this study is therefore to identify and discuss benefits and disadvantages associated with the LMS as a concept. By interviewing secondary school teachers, we disentangle the idea of integrating administrative and pedagogical aids into a single platform, providing detailed insight into the use of digital tools in secondary education. The study contributes to a deepened understanding of integrated learning environments, and we conclude that there is a conflict between structure and flexibility that needs to be addressed before determining the design of a digital learning space..

It?s known that the drug information patients get at discharge from hospital is often insufficient. Patients? ignorance of which drug they use and how to take them can lead to drug related problems, can cause suffering and heavy expenses.The aim of this study was to shed light on the patients? understanding for drug information, which was given at discharge from hospital. The literature survey was used as a method and based upon a systematic choice of scientific articles, which were found in different databases during the period of April 1 to May 31, 2008.

Introduction: The work process of a consultant can be divided into five different stages, where the entry stage is the most important when linking the subject to legitimacy. A great deal of research regarding legitimacy exists, although within areas outside of consulting. Through examining consultant's and potential client's perception of what legitimacy is and how it is created we can determine the importance of the phenomena in building a business relationship between these parties. Research question: How does legitimacy arise between a consultant and a client in the entry stage of a work relationship? Purpose: The purpose of this study is to develop a deeper understanding of how legitimacy is created in the initial stage of a new consultant/client relationship. We also intend to examine the qualities and circumstances which lead to a consultant to acquire an assignment. Method: We have, from an inductive approach of research, collected empirical data in order to gain a deeper understanding of legitimacy in the initial stage of a consultant/client relationship.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the primary motivation for studying abroad among students at Södertörn University, and also examine how the time studying abroad will affect the students on a personal level. The essay is based on a qualitative approach of ten interviews with students who have already completed an exchange program. With the help of the theoretical concepts of push and pull factors, motivation categories, human capital and previous research, the results and analysis showed a coherent pattern. It turns out that the majorities of students are primarily motivated by the opportunity to enjoy a nice nature, new environment and get to know new people. The time studying abroad mostly contributed to the student?s personal development and also gave an understanding of other people and different cultures.

This paper explores the theoretical and practical uses and limitations of battle-field archaeology. The author aims to paint a big picture of the subject of exca-vating, understanding and theorising about historical battlefields done every day by archaeologists. Its approach places much weight on a quantity of examples rather than exploring specific excavations in every detail, in an effort to give the reader an understanding about how battlefield archaeology works. It stresses the need for battlefield archaeology as a way of obtaining and securing impor-tant archaeological and historical information before it is lost to science. The author tries to evaluate the subject in a critical and pragmatic fashion in order to establish a clear understanding about the facts of battlefield archaeology..

The mobile jukebox is an idea for a new kind of smartphone application that would allow users to dictate the music playing at various establishments. The mobile nature of the innovation allows for the possibility of a more ubiquitous service. Conducting a quantitative as well a qualitative study, the authors have found significant interest in this innovation service among potential users and potential distributors of the service. Furthermore, it is shown what aspects are important for decision makers to make a decision on whether to integrate the service into the operation of potential distributors of the service.  .

Purpose: The purpose of our thesis is to analyze the application of models from product branding on job-seeking business students as a way to establish a personal brand.Conclude: We found that the principles of product branding closely resembles those of personal branding and are therefore applicable. The models that build a products brand can do the same for a business student. Thereby we can conclude that personal branding does derive from product branding..