Human capital is professional service firms' most valuable resource and its quality is closely linked to the quality of its services. The purpose of this study is to investigate how professional service firms appraise their employees. A comparative study between an architecture firm and a management consulting firm is conducted with the aim to identify and explain similarities and differences in performance appraisal. Two qualitative case studies are performed and interviews as well as documents are used to explore the area. The thesis builds on a critical perspective and it has an explorative approach.

AbstractThe market?s demand to purchase more cost effective products is continuously increasing. The producers are forced to become more efficient and flexible with resources to produce high quality products at a low cost in order to maintain or increase market shares. With this in mind Isaberg Rapid AB is requesting a project to increase efficiency in the assembly cell of hammertackers. The company has found in Kaizen-events that there is a potential of efficiency improvements in the assembly group that has not been achieved.The objective with this paper is to identify the major factors that influence the efficiency in the assembly cell for hammertackers.

ABSTRACT:Uppsatsens syfte är att studera manlighetskonstruktionen i två pjäser av Eugene O´Neill: The Iceman Cometh och Long Day´s Journey Into Night. Detta genom att undersöka vilka mottyper till den normativa manligheten som förekommer i pjäsen, i vilken grad männen i pjäserna har behov av en homosocial arena för att få sin manlighet bekräftad och om kvinnan har någon roll att spela i maskulinitetsskapandet.I The Iceman Cometh är den tydligaste mottypen alkoholisten. Denne är en man som gett upp i kampen om att uppnå statusen av en ?self-made man?. Exempel på en konkurrerande manlighetsbild finns i de karaktärer som har ett förflutet inom den amerikanska anarkiströrelsen.

In this thesis, the impact of collective ratings on customers? perception of a product is examined. The empirical data comes from an experimentally designed survey where the effect of collective ratings is measured in the setting of a traditional advertisement for a feature film. In contrast to what previous research would suggest be to the expected outcome, the authors of this paper concludes that in comparison with alternative designs of advertisements, there are no measurable advantages of including collective ratings in advertisements from the marketers point of view. We find two explanations to the result: (1) people tend to self-report that they are more influenced by collective ratings than they actually are, and (2) the advertisement which lacked a rating could be as attractive due to cultural interpretations of white spaces..

??Masada shall never fall again!? A study about Masada as an Israeli national myth during the 20th century? by Sara Tibblin. This essay is about the Israeli national myth of Masada, a cliff in the Negev desert that was the setting of a collective suicide in 73 AD, at the end of the Jewish uprising against the Romans. This story has later been rediscovered and has during the 20th century become a national myth in Israel. This essay will examine how the national myth of Masada has been used in different contexts in Israel during the 20th century and which part it has played when it comes to the national identity of Israel. My findings have afterwards been explained with help of Eriksens theory regarding national myths from the book Historia, myth och identitet (History, myth and identity) (1996).   .

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the plaintiffs and the defendant?s prospects to change their claims and pleas in optional civil actions and how the rules for the modifications of a suit are affecting the framework of the process. The plaintiff's general ability to expand and alter the claim is found in the chapter 13, 3 § of the Act of Procedure and the basic principle is that a claim is not to be changed. From this basic principle exceptions are allowed to claim another fulfillment or to expand the process with a claim for interest or other additional obligations. The plaintiff can also limit his or her claim or expand the claim with new legal foundations as long as the issue of the process does not change.

This investigation is a pilot survey whose main purpose is to investigate with work evaluation and attitude analysis whether the orthopedists and surgeons work can be equaled, why the wages differences exists between women and men, and also which preventive measures the organization can use to even out the wages differences between the genders. In relation with the investigation I have applied the reflexive way of thinking to establish which difficulties come up in the work of gender-equality.The result?s from work evaluation displays that the works are equivalent but the salaries are not, which can depend on value discrimination,gender discrimination and the organization theory.Wages differences between women and men depend on, according to the informers, partly by historical explanation and partly by the old directors who was allowed to retain regular salary when theypost transformed. The common point of view is that men have a larger work experience and therefore a higher salary.The managements attitude towards gender-equality issues is of absolute importance in order to achieve and bring a change within the organization.The measure positive special treatment is proposed to be used as an improving method to achieve (gender)equality between the posts and to even out the wages difference between the sexes.To establish whether or not gender discrimination exist in the investigated organization there needs to be done a whole lot supplementary studies like a complete wage (salary) mapping which includes all supplements and more interviews among the organizations all occupation groups..

What are the competencies and qualifications required by employers concerning the first line executives in medical care? In this paper we aim to scrutinise this question by analysing the significance of terms reproduced by employers in advertisements between 1971 and 2007.Our survey concerns 93 advertisements and two interviews with knowledgeable authorities on personnel administration in the county council of Jönköping municipality, Sweden. Using a theoretical framework developed by Ellström our results point out how the demands of the employer have changed starting in the 1970?s. We set fore, as a way of conclusion, the setting of competency and qualifications required by the employer have not only increased but appears much more comprehensive and far more complex than ever before..

The application of performance-based pay system among enterprises is becoming more frequent. Performance-based pay systems is used by organizations in hope of increasing productivity and have become more flexible. Employees may perceive the performance-based salary as a motivator or a threat depending on lifesituation and personality. At a perceived threat, the employee may become stressed. Work-related stress has become a serious social problem that can have consequences for both companies and individuals.

This addresses the problems when a film doesn?t easily fit in to one specific genre. Using No Country for Old Men as an example the study analyses the film from a Western perspective. Is it possible to say that it is a western? To determine that, I compare a number of acknowledged westerns, on the basis to list a number of generic conventions.

Denna uppsats undersöker en informationskampanj från Fair Trade Center (FTC) som drevs under hösten 2012 under namnet A wage to live on. Uppsatsens syfte är att utröna om Fair Trade Center har nått ut med sitt budskap till media och söker detta svar genom fyra frågeställningar; Har FTC nått ut med sitt budskap till de undersökta medierna (Aftonbladet, Expressen, DN och SvD)? Vilket budskap har FTC med sin kampanj (utifrån mål och material)? Verkar Kalla Faktas reportage ha påverkat medias respons? Är FTCs budskap samstämmigt i mål och material? Fokus för uppsatsen ligger på vecka 43 2012 då detta var fokusvecka för kampanjen. Mot en bakgrund kring teorier om budskapsstrategier, målgrupper och olika mål och tidigare forskning kring framgångsrika kampanjer har jag genom retorikanalys som huvudsaklig metod gått igenom utvalt material. Materielet består av Fair Trade Centers egna pressmeddelande och debattartikel samt utvalda tidningars respons under fokus perioden.

Syfte: Att klargöra vad det finns för likheter hos de nyheter som publiceras av privatpersoner på sociala medier för att sedan plockas upp och bli till nyheter i de traditionella medierna.Metod: Kvalitativ forskning.Material: Fem nyheter som skapats av privatpersoner och publicerats på sociala medier och sedan plockats upp av traditionella nyhetskanaler.Huvudresultat: De fem fall som studerats i denna uppsats indikerar att man som medborgare, med rätt sorts materiellt, kulturellt och socialt kapital, i vissa specifika fall, har möjlighet att påverka den traditionella nyhetsagendan genom att publicera text eller video på sociala medier..

Approximately one third of all patients in primary care have a psychosocial component to their illness that requires adequate professional treatment. However, primary care is insufficiently prepared for these patients. The aim of this case-study was to evaluate a pilot project in primary care offering psychotherapy as a treatment alternative. The data collected includes 1) data from 352 referred patients regarding demographics, diagnosis, treatment duration and pre- and post health status, 2) a patient-satisfaction questionnaire and 3) interviews with six therapists and five medical doctors. The treated patients improved significantly and showed a high degree of satisfaction.

The aim of this thesis is to make a contribution to the field of design oriented theory, regarding young children and their way to digital competence. My research question is: How can a preschool with a certain pedagogical ICT-design give the children affordances for media play and for developing a digital competence?The European Parliament points out digital literacy as one of the Key Competences for life long learning. A digital competence is built on basic ICT (Information and Communication technology) skills. Skills you can develop any time during life, weather you are young or old.

Den ekonomiska globaliseringen och ökade världshandeln har lett till att multinationellaföretag till viss del fått ta sig an den roll som stater tidigare har haft och många företaghar börjat använda sig av corporate social responsibility (CSR) som ett verktyg för detta.Frågan är om utvecklingen har gjort att andra aktörer, såsom fackföreningar, som tidigarevarit en självklar aktör på den politiska arenan och en given del av den svenskaföretagssfären, nu kommit i skymundan. Det leder vidare till frågan om vadfackföreningar i så fall har för roll idag. Det föreligger ett gap i forskningen vad gällerfackföreningarnas roll i CSR-diskursen samt levnadslöner i utvecklingsvärlden, som kanses som en del av CSR-konceptet. Ambitionen är att denna kvalitativa flerfallsstudie skakunna bidra till den kunskapsbrist som tycks finnas gällande svenska fackföreningar ochderas syn och roll vad gäller CSR och specifikt levnadslöner. Resultatet av studien visaratt svenska fackföreningar överlag är skeptiska till CSR och att ett införande avlevnadslöner är komplext.