Near Field Communication, NFC, is a short-range wireless communication technology that enables data exchange between devices in a secure way. A NFC phone has the potential to enable the convergence of wallet, phone and keys, but as many other technological innovations, the launch is struggling. We have discovered that technological innovation is only the first step. For an innovation to be adapted, there need to be business model innovation too. Many actors form the ecosystem of NFC and the business model for each service is still an unsolved problem.

This thesis examines why working time preferences differ between workers and nations, and explains the effect of working time regulation and working time flexibility on negotiating work-life balance. In five separate sections the following working time issues are examined: the number of hours worked by workers in Europe; factors affecting individual working time preferences; how working time preferences are negotiated in the national industrial relations systems of Sweden, France and the United Kingdom; how the institutions of the European Union have influenced working time negotiations through the Working Time Directive; and the benefits and practices available to organisations implementing working time flexibility. Broadly this paper views working time preferences as being a highly personal and influenced by factors such as wages, taxation, culture (national and workplace) and non-work responsibilities. It is argued that negotiating a preferred working time pattern is essential to achieving work-life balance and when such a balance is achieved, workers are more healthy, motivated and committed to their employer. Essentially this provides an incentive for businesses to voluntarily implement working time flexibility beyond the regulatory standards..

Internet and convergence culture has changed the terms of the media landscape. When old media converge and new ones take form, questions about how these should be classified arise, which is accompanied by new challenges in terms of ethics and regulations. One of these newfound mediums is podcasting; an expanding auditive pull-medium available through streaming or downloading on the Internet.This study, which was conducted as a quantitative content analysis, examines the use of sponsorship in four of the most popular Swedish podcasts. This was done as an attempt to understand how producers of a new and unregulated medium choose to go about presenting their sponsor, without having any ethical guidelines to follow. Traditional media is already regulated and have ethical guidelines, that for example regulate how to address a sponsor, but in the new and expanding world of podcasting there are no ethical rules and guidelines.Our study shows that the placements of the sponsorship messages tend to vary and that there is very little consensus regarding how these podcasts choose to present their sponsor.

?Development of methods for the planning and implementation of ditch clearing with modern methods?, is a long title for an exam work but that is what this report describes. In Sweden, we have a limited area available, and with the present development with increasing market oil prices, and enormous forces on the renewable energy sources, we need every hectare possible to protect the output of the forests. So with this in mind, many people are now considering how to increase the production of the forests that are already available. A part of production increases is to manage the existing forests, and not to allow this area to go to cultivation or become marshland. We manage our forests in a way that benefits the environment, and we consider that our working practice over the years has shown us to be correct and well functioning. A part of our way of producing forests is to ensure that we have functioning drainage systems in the forest holdings which we administer. The responsible at Holmen Skog requested a good method to make inventories of the drainage systems of Holmen forests. This Degree Project is about ways to identify and implement drainage systems with modern methods. It deals with authorities regulations, and how they operate in different counties.

Many media buyers annually spend money on advertising which will not be of benefit to their own brand; the fact that consumers confuse from which brand they have heard or seen commercials, comes as news to nobody. The phenomenon of media confusion has however earned much less attention. As a greater part of the total marketing budget is being spent on the media investments, on behalf of the actual advertising production, the more interesting it turns out to maximize the effects of the media expenses. The search for optimization is somewhat practised today by brand managers who are daringly adding a few more media channels to support their TV-campaigns. Buying ad space in TV is nevertheless much more expensive than the radio equivalent.

Studies have shown that user participation is a good method when improving or developing a product. The method gives a company insight in what the customer wants and needs. It has also been shown that user participation benefits all parts included. For example, it creates a greater relationship with customers than most other methods do. Webportals is one of the most interactive systems online and it gives companies a unique chance to improve and maintain their relationship with customers.

A clean and affordable energy source for cooking is deficient in developing countries. People rely on fuels that contribute to environmental, social and health problems.Biogas is an alternative energy source and an increased investment in small-scale biogas production can in several developing countries be found. Several projects have started to use the technology in developing countries because of the benefits with biogas. Some cases in the establishment of biogas plants have succeeded and some have not. The study is a literature review supplemented by two field studies.

The purpose of this study was to estimate the removal of biomass in connection with thinning operations in young stands that are dominated by small diameter trees. The economy of such operations depends on the products generated as well as the performance of the harvesting systems. Conversion tables designed to predict the outcome based on harvesting method was another goal of this study. Removal of biomass affects the nutrient composition of the site. Therefore it is a purpose that this study will provide researchers with some variables that can be utilized when studying this aspect. Trees were harvested and divided into bunches based on diameter.

Since 1987 until November 2010, the entrepreneurs who choose to conduct its? company in the Swedish corporate form aktiebolag had no opportunity to evade or deselect the mandatory audit. The only choice that really was there to make was to which audit firm they would turn to and the Swedish auditor?s position was rather unchallenged. Today the circumstances are different and the small businesses have been given a chance to take charge of their own situation now being able to remove the auditor.

The aim of this work is to develop new conceptual designs for the fairings that are situated between the fin and the rear fuselage on the new version of the JAS 39 Gripen aircraft, called the Gripen E/F. The designs presented should show a profit in the form of lower weight. To achieve weight loss, the possibilities of using other construction materials other than those which are available at Saab today were studied. Therefore, a material survey was carried out in which the market for modern construction materials was studied to get an idea of today?s level of technology.

I uppsatsen undersöks den period då den svenska ekonomin uppnår den fulla sysselsättning som sedan blev normen för hela efterkrigstiden. I arbetet genomförs en sammanställning av fackföreningarnas arbetslöshetsstatistik som publicerats i Sociala meddelanden varje månad under perioden 1935-1948. Materialet har därefter bearbetats och utifrån förbundsredovisningen har arbetslöshetsserier skapats för sju av industrins delbranscher. Utifrån bearbetningen sammankopplas arbetslöshetsstatistiken för respektive sektor med de uppgifter om förädlingsvärden, sysselsättning och löner som publicerats i den officiella industristatistiken och som ett resultat av arbetet med svenska historiska nationalräkenskaper.Med hjälp av materialet prövas två hypoteser som kan härledas från den  Nykeynesianska teorin för arbetsmarknaden. Den första hypotesen berör sambandet mellan löneutrymme, löner och arbetslöshet.

By exploring different forms of urban cultivation and looking into future gains of sustainability, I want to focus on unconventional and perhaps necessary ways of building, living and making a living. This will be made through study of literature on the topic.Urban cultivation could be anything from a pot of basil in the kitchen window to a city farm. The core of the concept is that the food is produced where it is eaten, in or in direct vicinity to the city and that it is produced ecologically. There will be many benefits, ecological, economical and social.The world is at a turning point right now where consumption patterns and the industry processed food are questioned and it is important that the things we consume are genuineand authentic. We want food that is locally and ecologically produced; food that we can trust.

This study is about state officials who handle applications for sickness benefits and about municipal officials who handle applications for financial assistance. The purpose of this study is to explore the differences between the two professional roles regarding their conception about their exercise of authority, in terms of flexibility, individual adjustment, empathy and legal security.The study has a qualitative approach and is based on structured interviews with two state officials and two municipal officials. The questions that this study aims to answer are:- Is there a difference between state officials and municipal officials regarding their experience and use of flexibility? - Is there a difference between state officials and municipal officials regarding their perceptions of legal security, individual adjustment and empathy in their exercise of authority? - What kind of bureaucracy can you find in the two organizations?The results show that the state officials in this study have very limited flexibility due to legislation which makes their exercise of authority neither empathic nor individual. The municipal officials in this study state in their turn that the law entails broad flexibility and the opportunity for them to be empathic and to make individual decisions.

A clean and affordable energy source for cooking is deficient in developing countries. People rely on fuels that contribute to environmental, social and health problems.Biogas is an alternative energy source and an increased investment in small-scale biogas production can in several developing countries be found. Several projects have started to use the technology in developing countries because of the benefits with biogas. Some cases in the establishment of biogas plants have succeeded and some have not. The study is a literature review supplemented by two field studies.

This thesis explores the opinion of different participants in the music business regarding music being made available at the public libraries. The aim of the thesis is to answer the following questions; which are the most important issues concerning the distribution of music? How do the informants perceive the public libraries mission and activity in regard to make recorded music available? Which are the benefits/disadvantages with music being made available at public libraries? Seven qualitative, semi-structured interviews were conducted with representatives from the following organisations; SKAP (The Swedish Society of Popular Music Composers), FST (Society of Swedish Composers), SAMI (Swedish Artists and Musicians Interest Organisation) SMF (The Swedish Society of Musicians), SOM (Swedish Independent Musicproducers), IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry) and EMI Music Sweden. A study of literature and articles generated nine themes, which constitutes the frame of reference for the thesis. The result shows that several of the informants have not reflected upon the public library as an important actor when it comes to the distribution of music.