The purpose of this thesis is to discuss how an instrument originally developed for measuring changes toward lean thinking inservice organizations in general should be adjusted in order to be of use in service organizations within the healthcare sector, andin hospital organizations in specific. The adjustments are suggested based on difficulties specifically arising when implementinglean within the healthcare sector.Thesis starting point is a pre-existing lean assessment instrument developed for service organizations in general. The thesis appliesa qualitative method and integrates literature from the health care sector and lean production movement with the expertise of tenacademics and practitioners in order to find difficulties associated with the implementation of lean within the healthcare sector.These difficulties then lie as the substratum for the adjustments suggested to be made on the instrument.The thesis finds that lean, as a philosophy, does not differ between service organizations in general and service organizationswithin healthcare settings. However, due to deficits in the general understanding of lean some adaptions on the instrument mustbe made. First, some words associated with production must be changed to words associated with healthcare.

This Master Thesis is a product development project that has been carried out in cooperation with Scania CV AB. The purpose has been to find the relationship between geometric parameters and the swirl number for an XPI- cylinder head in order to improve the design specification.The increased focus on environmental issues from society leads to tighter emission legislations for the truck manufactures. In order to drive the development forward considerable resources are spent on research and development on diesel engines and its combustion process. The inlet air has a significant impact on the formation of emissions and the flow that is desired is called swirl. Swirl is achieved by making the air rotate around the vertical axis of the cylinder.Earlier cylinder heads that has been developed at Scania CV AB have shown clear relationships between geometric parameters of the cylinder head and the swirl number.

Trade was assigned as a Community responsibility at the founding of the European Community in 1957. It was then recognized that Europe would achieve a greater international influence if it were to negotiate trade deals with one voice. Since then, the basic rule has been that the European Commission negotiates agreements on behalf of the EC, and presents the agreements negotiated for approval in the European Council. Today, the 25-member European Union is the largest trading power in the world, and most member states have decades of experience of coordinating their national trade interests into a common position. However, partly as a result of the complex nature of the trade decision-making processes it is sometimes problematic to identify who or what really influences EU trade policy.

Thesis purpose The study aims to examine the effects vertical and horizontal line extensions might have on the total parent brand equity in terms of strength and its baseline product regarding of market share, loyalty and penetration under an elapsed period of time. The study aims to investigate a number of actual conducted line extensions effect on the above mentioned aspects of Kellers (1993) definition of brand strength as a part of the total brand equity. Methodology The effect of a number of line extensions of the parent brands and the baseline products is being examined in terms of market share, loyalty rate, cannibalization and market penetration. The thesis is focused on the correlations between these different parameters during a certain elapsed time ratio in order to test our theoretically routed hypothesizes in a deductive manner. Occasional correlations are derived from an indexation of data collected from the Gfk database. Theoretical perspective The study is derived from Kapferers (2004) definition of brand equity, where he is dividing the concept into three parts. This study is focused on Brand strength in particular, which is one of the parameters in the above-mentioned theory.

The 1st of January 2009 a new goal was set for the emergency care in Stockholms läns landsting. This new goal stated that 70 per cent of the patients shall not spend more than four hours in the hospital when requesting emergency care. The processes in the emergency room at Södersjukhuset do not cope with this new goal. The authors studied the reasons for this and made suggestions based on the findings. The conclusions were that the emergency room should place doctors much earlier in the emergency care process or implement a system where specialists act as tutors to non-specialized doctors.

Hur samverkar de nationella folkhälsomålen med fysisk planering, och på vilket sätt kan folkhälsomålen beaktas för att förbättra förutsättningarna för ökad fysisk aktivitet hos barn? Denna studie är en fallstudie i Hjo kommun. Studien tar utgångspunkt i kommunens folkhälsoproblematik som visar att det finns en hög förekomst av övervikt hos barn. Intentionen är att undersöka vilka organisatoriska processer som kan underbygga det kommunala arbetet med folkhälsomålen, liksom att ta reda på vilka faktorer i den fysiska miljön som skapar förutsättningar för barns fysiska aktivitet. Avsikten med studien har varit att skapa ett underlag för Hjo kommuns översiktliga planering.

Städerna växer och samtidigt ökar efterfrågan på närodlade och ekologiska grödor. För att klara av att producera närodlat och mer hållbart skulle ett alternativ vara att odla i så kallade vertikala växthus. I Kiruna finns Sveriges största malmgruva som drivs av företaget LKAB vars olika processer leder till spillvärme. I Kiruna är klimatet kallt jämfört med större delen av Sverige och därför erfordras uppvärmning om odling ska kunna ske året runt i ett växthus. Examensarbetets uppgift är därför att undersöka hur man kan utnyttja spillvärme till ett vertikalt växthus i samband med en ny kontorsbyggnad på LKABs gruvområde.

The borehole heat exchangers of today suffer from poor thermal and hydrodynamic performance. The purpose of this thesis is to improve the performance of ground source heat pump systems and thermal energy storages by increasing the energy efficiency of the borehole heat exchangers. For this reason, the annular coaxial borehole heat exchanger (CBHE) has been analyzed. This type of heat exchanger is interesting in terms of both thermal and hydrodynamic performance. A model has been set up in the program Comsol Multiphysics in order to investigate the heat transfer characteristics along the borehole.

During the middle of the 18th century the development of Toyota Production System, TPS, started in order to streamline the processes. TPS was based on the principles of assembly line production but unlike previous performers Toyota let the manufacturing be constantly affected by demand. At the end of the 18th century TPS was described by Womack and Jones in the book "The machine that changed the world - the story of lean producion" where TPS got the name lean. The principles behind lean is to maximize customer value and eliminate waste which means making products and services more valuable to the customer. 1Lean was for a long time a philosophy and an approach limited to industries and production based companies.

This qualitative case study, made with four companies, looks closer at how more effective information management, with the help of IT-systems, affect companies market communication and relations to customers and suppliers. Customer Relationship Management perspective is used and Enterprise Resource Planning-systems are the ground for new technology change. The main conclusions are that new technology affects the outcome of companies? relationships towards their customers and suppliers and that the processes and activities between the involved parties are more closely linked. Also involving your suppliers and external actors makes the information handling more effective and companies that do so most likely have a competitive advantage..

Thesis purposeThe study aims to examine the effects vertical and horizontal line extensions might have on the total parent brand equity in terms of strength and its baseline product regarding of market share, loyalty and penetration under an elapsed period of time. The study aims to investigate a number of actual conducted line extensions effect on the above mentioned aspects of Kellers (1993) definition of brand strength as a part of the total brand equity. MethodologyThe effect of a number of line extensions of the parent brands and the baseline products is being examined in terms of market share, loyalty rate, cannibalization and market penetration. The thesis is focused on the correlations between these different parameters during a certain elapsed time ratio in order to test our theoretically routed hypothesizes in a deductive manner. Occasional correlations are derived from an indexation of data collected from the Gfk database.

The aim of this thesis is to study the possibility of the existence of a specialist in bone tools manufacturing during the Mesolithic. The thesis describes the climate during the Mesolithic, argues for an experimental approach, and describes social organization in hunter-gatherer-groups and the processes behind cultural transmission. It also gives some examples of excavation sites in Scandinavia. An experiment simulating a teaching situation is made, in addition to the theoretical information, with the intent to explore how advanced the crafting of bone really is. The physical result is then studied and documented.

The design process of an interaction design student is mostly collaborative and computer oriented. Based on this, it?s hard to believe that we have not yet found a tool that will facilitate our needs. With this in mind, which elements do we need to promote collaboration in a virtual design process? This thesis will include design processes, collaboration, creativity and virtual awareness, amongst others.

This master thesis covers the development of an automatic tuning process for the existing speed controller for drive systems. The drive systems are resonant two-mass systems where a motor is used to drive a load connected by a shaft. The developed method relies heavily on system identification and the construction of a complete mechanical model of the process. With this approach, the common problem with poor load speed control that derives from measuring only the motor speed can be addressed and solved for a majority of such processes.The automatic tuning method has along with general test functions been implemented in a complete tool for automatic tuning, testing and performance evaluation and reporting for drive systems..

The purpose of this essay was to examine the packaging design´s communications related to the colloquially brand's symbolic capital and how they became meaningful through experience and perceptions that led to the identification processes in the consumer society. There were eight interviews of snuff users who became my main collections materials. My theoretical framework was discourse psychology´s emphasis on language and Bourdieu´s concept provided important tools in the analysis of the material.I could highlight that packaging design and the brand had influenced the informants and given them symbolic beliefs and what it meant to sniff a certain brand. Color, brand awareness and price were crucial in choosing where the informants attributed themselves the cans symbolic values to their identity. It could be inferred high and low status perceptions based on stereotypes in the design itself..