The common literature about strategic alliances offers a very fragmented picture. This thesis gives a theoretical overview on strategic alliances and builds the basis for the following examination of the different dimensions most strategic alliances have. The examination of the different dimensions is the crucial point of this thesis. Here the reader gets a detailed insight into the different dimensions and the implications they have on the design of a particular strategic alliance. This examination leads in the end to a more differentiated view on strategic alliances and the insight that no simple models exist, which give a sufficient basis for decision-making and understanding strategic alliances, today.

This thesis, entitled The Headmaster and the Music, is based on interviews with four headmasters, who are all working in the Swedish compulsory school. The purpose is to investigate how they view music, both in general and as a school subject. Since the research on this topic is scarce, the study can be described as explorative.The result shows that the headmasters? personal experiences have an impact on the way they view music. Four different focus points on music in school have emerged from the material, and these represent the four very different views that each headmaster holds.

AbstractThis essay analyse, from a normative perspective, what can be exspected of an etical asylum policy. The theorical base is derived from Gerard Delanty´s notion of civil cosmopolitism.The ethical outlook is based on utilitarianism. The questions this essay answers are:1) Which are the basic premises for an ethical asylum policy?2) Does the Swedish asylum policy forfill these premises?The study analyses in general terms the Swedish asylum policy. It analyses both the asylum law and the work of the executive authority.The analyse also includes a brief look at two asylum cases.

This essay focus on Jean-Jacques Rousseau and David Hume and how they in their writings describe the doctrine of the original sin, and what they replace it with. The theoretical framework this essay work form, is Peter. L Bergers theories concerning society and religion as a social construction, were religious systems purpose is to establish order and previewed a meaning for people. From a history point of view religious system and institutions have had a significant role in establish system that will provide people with explanations about the world. In the eighteenth century, during the period in Europe often named as the enlightenment a new sort of criticism took place against religion.

During my time as a student at the School of Library and Information Science in Borås there was an ongoing discussion regarding whether or not the library and librarian were facing an identity crisis and what future consequences this may lead to. The discussion was and still is of interest to me since it most likely will have an impact on the identity I soon will make part of my self as a professional librarian. This master?s thesis is an attempt that to through discourse analysis seek clarity in what the future identity of the library and the librarian may consist of. I do so by examining articles from the two library journals Ikoner and Biblioteksbladet.

Antalet företagsförvärv har under de senaste åren ökat kraftigt, men trots detta misslyckas flerän två av tre av förvärven, eftersom de inte uppnår de synergieffekter som var motivet bakomdem. Det blir allt vanligare att företag tar hjälp av konsulter vid ett förvärv istället för attgenomföra hela processen själva. Frammanad av internationella konsultbyråer introduceradesbegreppet Due Diligence (DD), företagsbesiktning, i Sverige i början av 1990-talet. HumanResource Due Diligence (HRDD) är ett begrepp som närmast innebär att de mänskligadimensionerna av förvärvet analyseras. Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka omkonsultföretag som hjälper företag vid förvärv använder sig av Human Resource DueDiligence, det vill säga en analys av humankapitalet, organisationskulturen och integrationen,alternativt om elementen belyses med andra genomförda analyser.En kvalitativ studie har genomförts där tre konsulter från olika konsultföretag har intervjuats:KPMG, PwC och Ernst & Young.

The study is quantitative and is about working men and women?s view of male and female leadership. The intention of the study is to see if the men and women have a different perception of male and female leadership and also if they have different personality types. The method used was a survey where the sample is 80 participants, 31 men and 49 women from four different companies. Previous research shows that the perception of male and female leadership can be different, and that the reason can be prejudices and beliefs.

This Master thesis discusses the development of a virtual human soft tissue object for use in exercise applications of various medical procedures.The soft tissue object to be developed shall look like, feel like and behave as living human tissue. It shall give the user a realistic feeling of weight, softness and roughness, and shall behave in a correct way for exercise purposes. The soft tissue model is to be used in a three dimensional stereo graphic environment with haptic feedback. A prototype for practicing the procedure of inserting a catheter is built. The prototype is used to evaluate the potential of the virtual environment for medical exercise applications, and to assess the realism and usability of the soft tissue object.

Human Resources (en benämning för personalarbetet) är ett yrke som idag blir allt populärare. Trots detta visar statistik att en majoritet av kvinnor både studerar och arbetar med personalfrågor. Studien har därför som syfte att undersöka varför Human Resources branschen har en ojämn könsfördelning. Detta görs genom en historisk inblick i branschens utveckling i relation till samhällets förändringar, där en analys av texter ger en bild av dagens personalarbete. De teoretiska utgångspunkterna består dels av socialkonstruktivism och dels av begreppen mjuk och hård Human Resources Management.

My project is about attitudes towards disabled people, about our fear for those who are different, about acceptance, ideals and normality.My inspiration has been prosthesis, and mostly people that are born without limbs. Through my research I have come across a lot of questions. Such as, why is a prosthesis so important and for whom? Why is it so important to be normal? What is normal and for who? People that are born different se upon themselves as normal, until they realize that others don?t. Many of them want to learn how to deal with life without prosthesis. And therefore they reject these. Sometimes the prosthesis is aids that are highly necessary.

Syftet med detta examensarbete var att undersöka vilka faktorer som påverkat acceptansen hos användare, inom den kommunala verksamheten, vid införande av ett datoriserat system. Med acceptans menas att användarna ska kunna utföra sina arbetsuppgifter på ett bra och lätt sätt. Studien har gjorts utifrån användarnas perspektiv.Genom att genomföra en intervjuundersökning på ett flertal kommuner där användarna använder systemet Vabas/Duf, har undersökts hur användarnas upplevda acceptans påverkas av faktorerna delaktighet, användbarhet och lättanvändhet, vid införande av ett datoriserat system. Delaktigheten vid införandet av ett system innefattar även information och utbildning.Resultatet från undersökningen visade att delaktigheten ökade användarnas acceptans. Ingen avgörande slutsats kunde däremot dras mellan acceptans och faktorerna användbarhet och lättanvändhet, då resultatet från de båda grupperna inte visade någon märkbar skillnad..

The aim of this study was to investigate, illuminate and discuss teacher?s and multilingual student?s view on the connection between their mother tongue and their learning of other languages. This qualitative study is based on interviews with eight students in the 8th grade and two language-teachers from the same school, as well as ethnographic observations during English and Swedish lessons. With the help of some relevant theories, the empirical study is compared, analyzed and interpreted. The results show that the theories and informant?s view on the connection between the mother tongue and other languages are similar, which is that the mother tongue must be fully established before a new language can be taken in..

The purpose of this study is to examine secondary teachers' perceptions of conflict, conflict management, conflict prevention and conflict communication. In addition to theory, I conducted individual interviews and focus group discussions. Most teachers have a common view and argues that a conflict occurs when two or more individuals do not agree on something. Typical conflicts are about grades, teachers' changing professional roles and cellphones in the classroom. In my view, it seems as if the mobile phone has taken over the core conflict that caps created for some 10 years ago, functioning now as the dominant symbol in an ongoing development process providing space for meeting and dealing with conflicts in a constructive way..

Många multinationella företag (MNC) ställs inför problemet hur de skall kunna implementera sina strategier i alla sina dotterbolag då det kan finnas både stora kulturella och legala skillnader mellan olika länder. Ett område som detta märks tydligt på är human resource management (HRM) då företaget måste anpassa sig till både den lokala arbetsmarknadens regler och lagar samt MNC:ts övergripande strategi. För att kunna hantera det här problemet finns det flera lösningar och ett vanligt sätt är att föra över mer eller mindre beslutanderätt till dotterbolaget.Den här uppsatsen undersöker vilken autonomi ett svenskt dotterbolag till ett amerikanskt läkemedelsbolag har när det gäller HRM. För att kunna undersöka det har vi gått igenom aktuell forskning inom området för att se vad som finns skrivet om liknande fall utomlands. Därefter har vi gjort en fallstudie med två kvalitativa intervjuer på Merck Sharp & Dohmes (MSD) svenska dotterbolag.

The activity of interest groups in the political process of the European Union has given rise to a broad debate concerning the effect on European democracy these groups have. As relatively powerful political actors, the question of these groups? views on the EU and how the union should be is an important one. The status of these groups owns democratic representation also affects the democratic status of the EU. Being based on a number of theories, this study adopts an ideology analysis for the purpose of testing these theories on two cases ? the Swedish environmental organizations World Wide Fund for Nature and The Swedish Society for Nature Conservation.