If Swedish companies are to compete with companies in low-cost countries they have to achieve a more efficient production. The purpose of Total Productivity Maintenance (TPM) is to increase the company's profitability by increasing the productivity. TPM is a method that involves all employees and aims to prevent failures in order to increase the availability of existing equipment.The aim of this paper is to evaluate the implementation process of TPM and give recommendations for the further implementation process. The conclusion and the analysis are based on a case study done at a production department at ABB Cewe-Controls facilities in Nyköping. The case study consists mainly of qualitative data from participation observations, surveys and interviews.Commitment of the management is a key factor in the implementation process of TPM.

Environmental management officers ? leadership and employeeship in local environmental health authorityThe purpose of this study was to illustrate the working situation of municipal environmental health management officers. This is a qualitative study where I have interviewed ten environmental officers in ten municipalities in Sweden. The interviews were based on a half structured interview guide with questions. I have interpreted the interviews through different leadership theories.

Research is a time-consuming endeavor which requires appropriate tools to manage often vast amounts of information. Militarization 2.0 is a research project aiming to explore Militarization in social media. The aim of this project is to design a user interface for supporting researchers in projects involving large amounts of data in qualitative studies. The project will follow the design process of the first version of the Militarization 2.0 research database interface. The design process involves user studies, interviews and design and testing of paper and digital prototypes.

The company Sound Precision has developed a new Line Array loudspeaker system (VHA-40). When using this system, their customers need computer aid to get the best possible sound-quality and control of sound levels for the whole audience. The aim of this thesis is to develop a truly useful sound quality simulator for the VHA-40. The system will help the sound engineers to position the loudspeakers for optimal sound by simulating loudspeaker configurations and visualizing the resulting sound quality and quantity. To solve this a human-centered design (HCD) approach is taken to implement a system that is truly useful for the users, meaning that they will use it more and hence deliver better sound for the audience.

The financial crisis in the beginning of the 1990´s the financial crisis had a strong impact on the Swedish economy. Some of the main actors in the crisis were the largest banks of Sweden which brought a huge amount of losses on themselves. One of the main reasons for this was that the banks focused on volume increases rather than on credit losses. The credit analysis process is performed differently these days and it is the development of this process that is the focus for the authors.This thesis is about the credit analysis process in the four largest banks of Sweden. The purpose of the thesis is to highlight which factors the banks include in the credit analysis process and in how small and medium size companies are treated in this process.

Problem: The corrugated board industry is highly affected by customer uncertainty, various demands and short delivery times. In combination with a complex multi-step production process managers have to be able to identify bottle-necks and gain knowledge and understanding of how different changes in process will affect the production output. <br/><br/>Purpose: The purpose of this master thesis is twofold, (1) to examine applicability of complexity theory through agent-based modelling on a production process (2) to identify improvement areas in order to increase the production output at SKS production site in Eslöv, by modelling and simulating the production process through an agent-based model. <br/><br/>Method: The chosen method of this study is a combination of a case study and a complex system approach. The empirical data was collected through interviews, observation and document studies which were analysed through an agent-based simulation model.

The purpose of this developmental research was to test the new way of working when the students were to take part in planning of cooking during the lessons in home and consumer studies, because the aim of the school is to teach the students to take the responsibility for their studies. The two first lessons should be used by students in the group to plan and organize their meal. During the third lesson the students must be responsible for cooking ready their meal and afterwards they must evaluate the results. The results of this new way of working was new for the students and they thought it was fun to be responsible for cooking during these lessons in home economics. The students in the groups were of wixed ability and they developed their knowledge from the levels of their ability.

Librarians like to think that libraries contribute substantially to the progress of research. However, libraries still seem to have serious problems getting integrated in their parent organization on equal terms with other parts of that organization. The degree of integration of the library is thus the main topic of this thesis and the purpose is to examine how the interaction between librarians and scientists is formed and can be developed. That issue leads to concrete questions concerning what part librarians play in the scientists work and which factors influence the cooperation or lack of cooperation. We have chosen, for reasons of comparison, to make two case studies; one is a branch of a university library and the other is a library in a large pharmaceutical company.

My work deals with large scale design of the urban fringe. The thesis is divided in three parts; ?Current viewpoints?, ?Infra City ? conditions ? and ?Infra City ? project?. In the first part, I go through the history of trade shortly. Then I discuss the concept of nature, which ends up in a linkage between natural science and aesthetics in landscape architecture. The link between those two makes a project stronger and more multifunctional. The object of my case, Infra City, is a mall situated north of Stockholm on both sides of the E4 motorway going to Arlanda airport.

The aim of this paper was to describe hindering and facilitating factors in the transition from upper secondary school and employment for a person with Asperger?s syndrome. In the process we used general systems theory and made semi-structured interviews with five persons in the network of institutions and associations working with the individual. Our findings showed that the hindering and facilitating factors were basically the same depending of the environmental adjustments. The interviews highlighted the following factors: the recent general unemployment rate in Sweden, selfawareness of the individual and the surrounding environment?s knowledge of the individual?s impairment in relation to Asperger?s syndrome.

The objective of this study is to understand how people with psychiatric diseases who are enrolled at a psychiatric clinic experience the recovery process and which internal motivations and external factors influence the process. The study is based on interviews with five people who have been enrolled at a psychiatric clinic. Another aim of the study is to understand how the importance of the outpatient care for the personal recovery and the improvement opportunities of the support from the rehabilitation unit that the interviewees see. The study is qualitative and abductive approach was chosen. This means that the study is based on empirical data supported by established theories.

Carbon offsetting means to offset those greenhouse gases that are caused by our actions. The purpose of this paper is to examine how companies are working with carbon offsetting. The focus of the research is how travel agencies and companies that provides carbon offsetting. The writers also highlight the problems carbon offsetting is facing. The study was performed with qualitative methods through interviews with three companies working with carbon offsetting.

Increased competition in the IT industry has sparked a need for developing faster innovation processes with more predictable output. One of the biggest issues when it comes to achieving a faster flow through the innovation process lies in managing its high degree of variation. Proposing a solution to this problem, Lean Software Development (LSD), was developed to provide a framework for how IT companies should organize its software development process to achieve increased speed and quality. This study examines to which extent LSD, as a set of values, principles, methods and tools, can be used to improve flow efficiency in the innovation process. A case study of a multinational IT company was made by conducting ten semi-structured interviews with current employees.

The work in project has been around since humans began to hunt in groups, building bridges or building of the Great Wall of China. In 1960- and 70´s, the word project got their value it has today. A project means a work done during a decided time, with decided economy and non-recurring nature (Jansson and Ljung 2004). The projects had a general analytical model. It was used for all projects the organization engaged.

 The purpose of my study is to illumine the aesthetic learning process significant in the preschool. Focus has been on allowing educators in different preschools to answer questions valid the use of aesthetic learning processes. I chose to do my study using an opinion poll and a literature review. The result shows that the preschools use aesthetic learning processes and according to the educator?s aesthetic learning process is a very important tool for education in the preschool.  The notable in this study is that the educators have different views of what aesthetic means. The first view is that you only work with aesthetic subjects.