Ever since it was first introduced in an article in the Journal of Finance 1952, Harry Markowitz? mean - variance model for portfolio selection has become one of the best known models in finance. The model was one of the first in the world to deal with portfolio optimization mathematically and have directly or indirectly inspired the rest of the world to develop new portfolio optimization methods. Although the model is one of the greatest contributions to modern portfolio theory, critics claim that it may have practical difficulties. Partly because the Markowitz model is based on various assumptions which do not necessarily coincide with the reality.

Background: Sweden has, since 1983, had a statutory audit for all joint-stock companies. However, according to EG?s fourth corporation directive, member countries can decide on their own if this applies for small joint-stock companies. An investigation was launched in the fall of 2006 to form an opinion on the importance of the audit reporting by law and what an abolishment of this rule would mean for small joint-stock companies. Critics are claiming that the cost of audit for small companies is exceeding the cause in these micro companies.Audit is regulated by Swedish translation (RS) of International Standards on Auditing (ISA) and is to be applied in all companies comprised by the statutory audit.

Sex equality law within the European Union is well developed and has since the Rome Treaty, given rise to several directives and other judicial acts on this matter of community law. The concepts of direct and indirect discrimination emerge from the general principles of Equal pay and Equal treatment and have been codified and amended several times until present.The lasts years, authors within the field of Equality Law has been pointing out that there is a common desire for Simplification of discrimination law in Europe. The question has arisen whether this Simplification could be implemented trough the introduction of a general justification defence for direct sex discrimination.The concept of direct sex discrimination - when a person of one gender is treated less favourably, on the grounds of gender, than a person of the other gender would be treated in similar circumstances - leaves no possibilities for such justification today. Indirect sex discrimination ? which arises from the equal application of neutral rules that shows an adverse impact on one group ? can be justified if the rule answers to true requirements of the job.Does the proposition that direct discrimination should be justified find support in the inconsistency of the present legislation? This paper will examine this and other questions concerning the wish for a general justification defence through studies of case law from the European Court of Justice as well as differing opinions from authors within the field of equality law..

Laser scanning is a method of surveying that has evolved rapidly in recentyears. The technique is based on a laser scanner set up, which can document a structureusing pulsed laser beams. Each time the laser hits a surface it is partly reflectedback to the scanner that stores the point. By using strategically placed targets, storedpoints from different scans can be merged into a point cloud. A point cloud is avisualization of the scanned object with a very high accuracy.

SAMMANFATTNING Under det senaste decenniet har utvecklingen inom svensk lagstiftning gått oerhört fort fram. Anledningen är att de svenska redovisningsreglerna har anpassats efter de internationella som i första hand är avsedda för större bolag. Konsekvenserna blev ett allt för stort och komplext regelverk för de mindre bolagen. Bokföringsnämnden inledde därför arbetet med att ta fram förenklade redovisningsregler för de allra minsta företagen, de så kallade K1-företagen. Även regeringen har uppmärksammat de ökade kostnaderna för redovisningsarbetet vilka i dagsläget uppgår till 1 645 miljoner kronor för svenskt näringsliv.

Discussions of structural racism has now moved to the forefront of the Swedish society, and many researchers have sought to understand what form it takes, how it is manifested, how it is exploited and challenged. At the core of this debate we find the media, and its logic embedded with mechanisms of Simplification and polarization.Media is our key source of knowledge and information, why it also affects our norms, beliefs and preconceptions. Media thus has the power to mediate, amplify or challenge how we conceptualize the world, and subsequently our (unconscious) racist beliefs.To investigate how media content is influenced by underlying colonial or racist assumptions and stereotypes thus becomes a way to investigate our understanding of reality.In accordance with postcolonial thought, structural and symbolic racism is embedded in language and hidden in images, and surface in the form of domination and feminization, and the portrayal of the subaltern ?Other? as passive and irrational.This paper thus departs from postcolonial theory and media logic to undercover hidden patterns of structural, symbolic and historically contingent racism in one of Sweden?s most prominent in-depth foreign TV-magazines, namely Korrespondenterna.Adopting Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), this paper explores to what extent racist and colonial stereotypes are reproduced and/or challenged in Korrespondenterna?s representation of Sub-Saharan Africa.In line with postcolonial theory it is found that historically contingent racialized stereotypes are prevalent in Korrespondenterna, and that tendencies of portraying Africa and Africans as passive, feminine and irrational are prevailing.It is thus argued that media logic, imbedded with mechanisms of Simplification, polarization and intensification, contributes to the use of colonial stereotypes in media, and thus to the mediation of structural and symbolic racism..

In a phonological assessment, the aim is to obtain systematic and reliable data of a child's speech output, which can then serve as a basis for a decision on an appropriate intervention (Wolk & Meisler, 1998). Whether phonological assessment should be derived from an analysis of picture-naming or a conversation with the child, and whether the two methods for elicitation generate equivalent results, has been debated among clinicians and researchers for an extended time (Masterson, Bernhardt & Hofheintz, 2005).The aim of the present study was to compare two methods of speech elicitation for phonological assessment: spontaneous conversation and picture-naming, respectively. In the study, the procedures have been used when assessing children with phonological disorders as well as children with typical language development. The results are presented using two levels of phonological analysis; degree of phonological impairment, in terms of percentage of phonemes correct (PPC), and type of phonological impairment, in terms of phonological Simplification processes. Eighteen (18) children participated in the study, nine (9) with phonological impairment (age 3;10 ? 5;11), and nine with typical phonologic development (age 3;2 ? 4;6).

The purpose with this essay is to enlighten the small business´ existence at times of expansion, identify threats and possibilities and also to try to find ways to encourage growth in the small business.To answer our purpose we carried out a literature study to later implement six interviews with small business leaders. We separated the companies into three categories; small business without employees, small business with 2-5 employees and small business with 6-10 employees.We confirm that the main reason why small business leaders think both once and twice before hireing new labour force are because of the high costs. The change in government has so far not given the small business what was promised, but there is still hope for improvement and Simplification.The economic part of owning a company has been pointed out as the greatest threat in relation with expansion and the big responsibility in another persons possibilities to earn his/her living is also burdensome. The possibility to take on more work increases with the number of workers, which is positive..

This is an examination that investigates how parental guidebooks advise parents on how to solve conflicts between them and their children. The main purpose of this essay is to examine what these parental guidebooks say about rebuke. The following four questions will help to answer the main investigation. These questions are:What do different parental guidebooks write about rebuke?What do parental guidebooks consider to be the goal of rebuke?Which are the consequences of rebuke according to the parental guidebooks?Are there any clear patterns and connections that can be shown?To find an answer to these four questions, I have used eight parental guidebooks.

In 2005, Outokumpu began to implement its system of continuous improvement, OK> 1, at Avesta Jernverk. OK> 1 has not generated sufficient results on plant KPI:s. The purpose of this study is to identify the understanding,  participation and commitment regarding to OK> 1, and to suggest some actions to make OK> 1 more successful with emphasis on these three aspects. The thesis shall also determine whether there are any differences in the attitude towards OK>1 between Blue Collars and White Collars.The study consisted of a survey, and interviews. The output from these methods were processed and analyzed and finally resulted in a SWOT ? analysis and suggested actions for improving the understanding, participation and commitment towards OK>1.

Purpose: The purpose with this empirical study is to investigate how many companies have chosen to apply the K2 framework and see why the remaining companies have chosen not to.Methodology: A choice of a quantitative approach has been applied to collect information and create a foundation for the problem. Furthermore a qualitative approach has been selected to cover the remains.Theoretical perspective: This section contains a presentation of the agency theory, the institutional theory, the k-project and a comparison of K2 and the existing regulation.Results: Three out of 143 companies applies BFNAR 2008:1. 13 out of 143 companies use self-generated intangible fixed assets. Out of 29 contacted companies only three know about K2. The 29 companies are from various lines of business within an area.Conclusion: The conclusion of our research is that the majority of the companies did not reject to use the K2 regulations.

Due to lack of knowledge about motivation in Swedish for adult immigrants (SFI ), I have chosen to write about motivation. Motivation is a complex concept to understand. It has different meanings depending on what context the term is put in. In this study , you will read about the external and internal motivation . But also about integrative and instrumental motivation.

The purpose of this paper is to perform an in-depth analysis on how the events that took place in Skandia AB during the end of the 1990s have been portrayed in media, and how this has affected the general debate concerning bonuses and incentive plans. The paper studies relevant newspaper articles published in Sweden?s largest business newspaper, Dagens Industri (DI), over a period ranging from 2002 to 2008. The major findings of this paper include that bonuses are widely used as incentives in Swedish companies and that the issue of bonuses as an incentive form has lead to a prevalent debate. Furthermore, the questionable events that took place in Skandia AB during the end of 1990s have affected the general debate concerning bonuses.

Due to lack of knowledge about motivation in Swedish for adult immigrants (SFI ), I have chosen to write about motivation. Motivation is a complex concept to understand. It has different meanings depending on what context the term is put in. In this study , you will read about the external and internal motivation . But also about integrative and instrumental motivation.

The purpose of this master?s thesis is to examine the use of the concept cultural heritage in Swedish governmental cultural policy. Ten official reports, reaching over a time period of seven years (1997-2004) are examined in the following way: What is cultural heritage? What functions/ values does the cultural heritage have? Whose heritage is a cultural heritage? With some Simplification you can say that there are two different views on cultural heritage in the documents. The most common way to refer to cultural heritage is a category of chosen historical objects whose preservation is motivated by their function as sources of information and knowledge about the history and development of the Swedish society.