https://www.mdu.se/

This essay aims to analyze based on the theory SEB and Nordea´s credit assessment process against small enterprises.

Uppsatsen avhandlar begreppet integration utifrån flyktingars uppfattning, samtidigt lyfter jag fram deras upplevelse av integration i Sverige. Forskningen visar att utlänningar i Sverige har sämre levnadsvillkor jämfört med svenskar, blir diskriminerade och utsorterade på arbetsmarknaden på grund av sin etniska bakgrund. Jag har intervjuat fem flyktingar från två olika länder i Mellanöstern i mellersta Sverige för att skapa förståelse för problemområdet.

 Jag har valt att använda olika vetenskapliga synpunkter kring begreppen integration, segregation och diskriminering som utgångspunkt för nämnda problemområde. Eftersom Syftet med min forskning är att få en djupare förståelse av respondenternas förståelse och upplevelse av integration i det svenska samhället, har jag använt mig av en kvalitativ metod med ett hermeneutiskt angreppssätt. Det innebär att deltagarnas ord och berättelser spelar den största roll i uppsatsens tolkningar.  I resultatet framkommer att integration handlar om lika rättigheter och möjligheter, jämlikhet, respekt samt acceptans bland olika sociala grupper i samhället. Samtidigt har jag kommit fram till att flyktingar upplever diskriminering, utanförskap samt känner att de befinner sig i en process av ovilliganpassning i samhället.

Examensarbetet behandlar energieffektiviseringsåtgärder för ett flerbostadshus byggt under

miljonprogrammet. Miljonprogrammet innebar kortfattat att man inom tioårsperioden 1965 till

1975 byggde ca en miljon nya bostäder i Sverige. Anledningen till detta var dels bostadsbristen

och dels låg standard på de befintliga bostäderna.

Flerbostadshus från just miljonprogrammet valdes i detta examensarbete eftersom det är idag ett

mycket aktuellt ämne med tanke på att dessa hus är allmän kända för hög energiförbrukning.

Studier visar att möjligheten för energibesparing är stor inom bostadssektorn, detta gäller i hög

grad för hus från miljonprogrammet.

Miljonprogramshusen har nu stått i 35-45 år, och 40 år var deras uppskattade livstid då de

byggdes. Dessa hus står nu därför inför omfattande renoveringar och det är därför viktig att göra

rätt energibesparande åtgärder i samband med dessa renoveringar.

Uppgiften till detta examensarbete blev i första hand att ta fram byggnadens energitekniska

status idag och att sedan komma med några praktiska och tillämpbara förslag på åtgärder för

minskad energianvändning.

Energieffektiviseringsåtgärder som undersöktes var inre och yttre tilläggsisolering med 100 mm

isolering, fönsterbyte, fönsterrenovering, tätning runt fönster och dörrar, inglasning av balkonger

och värmeåtervinning med frånluftsvärmepump.

Den relativa luftfuktigheten och temperaturen i väggkonstruktionen beräknades för den

befintliga väggen samt med inre och yttre tilläggsisolering. Resultatet av fuktberäkningen visade

tydligt att den yttre tilläggsisoleringen på både väggkonstruktioner – lättbetong och

sandwichelement – är det bästa alternativen ur fuktsynpunkten.

Alla undersökta energieffektiviseringsåtgärder tillsammans visade sig enligt beräkningarna

minska byggnadens energianvändning från ca 167 kWh/m

2 och år i dagläget till ca 90 kWh/m2

och år efter att åtgärderna utförs. Detta avser energianvändning med definitionen i Boverkets

Byggregler, alltså all köpt energi exklusive hushållsel.

Slutsatsen efter beräkningarna visar att installering av frånluftsvärmepump är den bästa och

effektivaste åtgärden för att spara energi. Med de här antagandena som gjorts så kommer 64500

kWh/ år fjärrvärme att ersättas av 43000 kWh ”gratisvärme” och 21500 kWh el.

Beräkningar visar att en yttre tilläggisolering samt fönsterbyte är näst mest effektivaste

energibesparingsåtgärden. Det visade sig att yttre tilläggsisolering även är den säkraste åtgärden

ur fuktsynpunkt.

Tätning runt fönster och dörrar samt inglasning balkonger hade hjälpt något men inte i samma

utsträckning som de övriga åtgärderna. Inglasning av balkonger är en dyr åtgärd och ger endast

en mindre energibesparing.

Abstract

This diploma work was performed because the company Sveriges BostadsrättsCentrum, with the abbreviation SBC, had a need to gain insight into how changes in the Work Environment Act and related regulations which took effect January 1, 2009 affecting their work with the work environment. The changes mean that the client may hand over his work environment responsibilities to a contractor and that he has to select so-called building work environment co-ordinators. At SBC they are working as representatives for tenant-owner's association when a construction is about to be carried out. The purpose was to ascertain how changes may affect the work at SBC. The diploma work intends to educate the staff at SBC how work with the work environment would look like if they met the regulatory requirements. The main issue that the diploma work deals with is whether SBC has the responsibility to select a building work environment co-ordinator for the planning and projecting before the contractor takes over responsibility for the work environment. Questions were answered by information from the Work Environment Act, AFS 1999:3 and other material from the Work Environment Authority. Two interviews with staff at the Work Environment Authority were also held. One of the conclusions drawn from the diploma work is that it’s the client who will select a building work environment co-ordinator for the planning and projecting. That should be done as soon as the planning and projecting has begun. The planning and projecting usually begins before the main contractor takes over responsibility for the work environment as the employee. It is not clear that SBC will take on the client’s responsibility to select a building work environment co-ordinator for the planning and projecting in the early planning, before the contractor takes on responsibility and there are several ways to do this.

Svenska ungdomar i årskurs ett på gymnasiet som har konsumerat alkohol uppgår till 90 % (Ahlström & Österberg, 2003). Alkoholkonsumtionen ökar medan självkänslan minskar (Scheier, Botvin, Griffin och Diaz, 2000) men tidigare studier går isär gällande sambandet mellan alkoholkonsumtion och själv­känsla. Studiens syfte har varit att undersöka sambanden mellan självkänsla och riskbeteende vid alkoholförtäring, hos ungdomar i årskurs ett på gymna­siet.  En enkät som mäter Johnsons bassjälvkänsla (1996), Rosenbergs glo­bala självkänsla (1965), AUDIT´s (1994) frekvens och mängd samt risk­beteende, delades ut till 166 elever, 99 var män. Bassjälvkänslan visade ett signifikant samband med alkoholkonsumtion. Låg självkänsla visade mer problem med föräldrar samt försämrade prestationer i skolan/arbetet, medan en hög självkänsla visade fler oskyddade samlag. Högre alkoholkonsumtion visar på högre riskbeteende. Könsskillnader kunde avläsas vid problem med föräldrar och oskyddat samlag samt visar unga män en högre självkänsla. Resultatet stödjer delvis tidigare studier om signifikanta samband mellan självkänsla och riskbeteende vid alkoholkonsumtion.

Med denna studie ville vi belysa hur före detta hemlösa upplevt de sociala myndigheternas insatser samt vilken hjälp de fick under deras tid som hemlösa. I studien medverkade åtta personer som tidigare varit hemlösa. Vi har tillämpat teorier från sociologer så som Erving Goffman (Stigma), Howard Becker (avvikarkarriären) samt Johan Cullberg (kris och utveckling). Detta för att kunna belysa empirin som framkom i studien. I studien har vi använt oss av sex artiklar från tidigare forskning som handlade om hemlöshet. Detta delades upp i fyra olika kategorier och utifrån dessa har vi tillämpat vår empiri. Denna studie utgår från en kvalitativ metod med en hermeneutisk forskningstradition.

Resultatet i studien visade att hälften utav respondenterna var nöjda med de insatser de fick från de sociala myndigheterna. Vi kunde även se att motivation till förändring inte endast var ett krav från de sociala myndigheterna utan genom motivation fick respondenterna de resurser de var i behov av. Andra hälften var inte nöjda med myndigheternas insatser då en del kraven var alldeles för många och svåra att uppnå. Samtliga respondenter betonade frivilliga organisationers betydelse som bidrog till att respondenterna kunde ta sig ur hemlösheten.

En experimentell vinjettstudie genomfördes för att undersöka hur graden av em-pati för personer med ett självskadebeteende varierar beroende på bakomliggande orsak samt grad av kännedom om ämnet. I studien deltog 121 respondenter som fick besvara en av tre vinjetter: (a) självskadebeteende utan angiven orsak, (b) Självskadebeteende med orsak borderline personlighetsstörning eller (c) Självska-debeteende med orsak övergrepp. Studien visade att ett samband mellan empati och självskadebeteende utan orsak samt mellan empati och självskadebeteende med orsak borderline personlighetsstörning. Inget samband påvisades mellan em-pati och självskadebeteende med orsak övergrepp. Vidare framkom inga signifi-kanta skillnader mellan grupperna i empatigrad, vilket kan ha att göra med att självskadebeteende som enskild variabel var tillräcklig för att generera ett visst mått av empati. Empatimedelvärdet för någon som skär sig låg strax under media-nen på Batsons empatiskala vilket tyder på att medmänniskor känner en genom-snittlig grad av empati för någon som skär sig.

In a small company there is a risk that the management focuses so much on the core business that other administrative tasks are ignored. For example, there is a risk that the company does not control its inventories efficiently.

The purpose of this thesis is to describe and analyze the valuing and control of the inventory in a small retail company with a store and, where appropriate, give suggestions for improvement.

We have studied laws and recommendations regarding inventory valuation and other literature regarding inventory control in retail companies. Additionally we have interviewed representatives for a typical small retail company.

The investigated company does comply with applicable laws and recommendations, but not much more. Furthermore, the company uses mostly feel and experience in its inventory control. The company does not use formal inventory control in any great extent, if any. We have some suggestions for improvements in this regard.

Social loafing kan beskrivas som den begränsning i prestationen individer gör i grupparbete jämfört med vid individuella uppgifter. Studier har påvisat att social loafing kan motverkas, men ingen forskning har påträffats angående ledarskapsstilars inverkan på problemet. Syftet med studien var att undersöka vilken ledarskapsstil som bedöms vara mest effektiv, lämplig och önskvärd i situationer där social loafing inträffat. Som mätinstrument användes en experimentell enkät av faktorielldesign 2 x 2 x 3 x 3 med faktorerna ledarens kön, respondentens kön, situation och ledarskapsstil. Resultatet påvisade att det föreligger könskillnader i bedömning av ledarstil och att ledarstilarna bedöms som olika effektiva i olika sammanhang. Slutsatsen är att det inte finns en ledarstil som är bäst i alla situationer, en god ledare bör vara anpassningsbar utifrån grupp och sammanhang.      

Keywords: social loafing, leadership styles, emotional intelligence, gender differences.

Syfte:  Syftet med studien är att belysa och analysera hur revisorn arbetar för att eliminera risken för att göra väsentliga fel i årsredovisningen. Studien ska även beskriva och skapa förståelse för Revisorsnämndens och små revisionsbyråers arbete och ställningstagande till kvalitetssäkring.

Metod: Utifrån ett hermeneutiskt synsätt och med en kvalitativ metod utfördes personliga intervjuer med tre små revisionsbyråer och Revisorsnämnden. Vid val av informanter tillämpades ett strategiskt urval. I studien har en abduktiv ansats använts. 

Slutsatser: Åtaganden för att god kvalitet ska uppnås i revisionen är revisionsprocessen, rotation på revisionsuppdrag vart sjunde år, tillämpning av analysmodell och etiska normer, FAR SRS:s kvalitetskontroller, internt kontrollsystem och kvalitetssäkring från RN.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the underlying factors that affect or will affect the diffusion of the Companies Registration Office e-service for electronic annual reports in XBRL-format. This is achieved by examining why some Private limited liability companies choose to use the Swedish Companies Registration Office e-service for electronic annual reports, while others have so far chosen to abstain. By examining the practical advantages and disadvantages that can actually occur in the sending of electronic annual reports in XBRL- format, a more thorough picture of the spreading can be presented.

Problem: Då konfektyrmarknaden är välutbredd krävs det att företag inom den branschen noga överväger hur de vill etablera sin produkt på en ny marknad och hur de ska gå tillväga vid en internationalisering. Det finns flera olika tillvägagångssätt vid etablering och internationalisering. Uppsatsen beskriver dock företags etablerings- och internationaliseringsprocess utifrån utvalda internationaliserings- och etableringsmodeller samt ett antal begrepp.

Syfte: Uppsatsens syfte är att beskriva hur företaget Manner har gått tillväga med sin etablering i Sverige med hjälp av erfarenheter från etableringen på hemmamarknaden och distributörens erfarenhet på den svenska marknaden.

Metod: Studien är uppbyggd med två huvudrubriker som är etablering och internationalisering. Data som har använts är primärdata i form av intervjuer som var semistrukturerade och utfördes både i form av personliga intervjuer, mejlintervjuer och telefonintervjuer. Intervjuerna har sedan sammanställts och analyserats utifrån de teorier som valts som den teoretisk referensram.

Resultat: Resultatet av undersökningen visade att företaget Manner har dragit nytta av sina tidigare erfarenheter från etableringen på hemmamarknaden i Österrike. Det beskrivs även hur de har använt sig av tidigare erfarenheter och hur de påverkats av omgivande faktorer med hjälp av internationaliserings- och etableringsmodeller.

Date: 2008-06-04

Purpose: The primary goal of this research is to describe the IT function and examine how its alignment to an organisations strategy affects the way it is organised.

Method: The chosen method was a purely theoretical examination with the use of the case study of Windham International as primary resource and secondary resources such as book and literature review used for the thesis.

Research Questions: How does the alignment of IT to business strategy affect the organisation of the IT function?

Conclusion: One of the findings was that a few researchers seem to suggest that the centralized mode of organising IT was symbolic of the past, while outsourcing and decentralization are the modern approach to organising IT. Wyndham International shows the opposite, after the introduction of the CIO in 2002, centralization was the chosen mode of organisation because that was what would best fit the new strategic approach of the organisation. Insourcing rather than outsourcing proved to be a winning formula.

Title:   Controlling Mälarenergi by Balanced Scorecard 

Seminar date:  2009-01-16 

Institution:   School of Sustainable Development of Society and Technology 

Course:   Bachelor thesis 15hp 

Authors:   Camilla Nilsson, Amanda Agestav 

Advisor:   Ulla Pettersson 

The main issues:                What does Mälarenergi's Balanced Scorecard look like? Which Balanced Scorecard perspectives are important to Mälarenergi? Is Balanced Scorecard a purposeful control model in order for the group management to fulfil the aims of the owners' directives? 

Purpose:                            The purpose is to find out how the group management at Mälarenergi works with Balanced Scorecard. Is Balanced Scorecard a purposeful tool for the group management to fulfill the aims of the owners' directives? 

Method:                             This study is based on a qualitative research method in the form of interviews. We have interviewed one respondent. Secondary data have been produced by literature search. 

Conclusion:                       Mälarenergi uses Balanced Scorecard exclusively at a group management level. The strategic work at the business areas' different division levels takes place aided by a business development model. We believe that Balanced Scorecard is a purposeful tool to use in order to clarify a company's strategy work and reach the goals in the owners' directives. However, Mälarenergi needs to complement the Balanced Scorecard with another model, since the business areas are so different from each other. In doing so, however, there is a risk that not all employees will be involved in the Balanced Scorecard, but that this will become an exclusive tool to the group management. We believe that there is no clear connection between the Balanced Scorecard work done in the group management and the work within the different business areas with their various focus areas.

Frågeställning: Finns utrymmet för en ny verksamhet som E-budgivning på den svenska bostadsmarknaden? Fungerar företagets affärsidé eller är marknaden mättad?                    Kan E-budgivning eventuellt utmana andra aktörer och få en etablerad plats på svenska bostadsmarknaden?

Syfte: Syftet med studien är att undersöka och analysera E-budgivnings chanser på marknaden för en eventuell framgång.

Metod: En kvalitativ intervju med en representant från E-budgivning samt en kvantitativ enkätundersökning bidrog till primärdata. De sekundärdata som samlats är litteratur från böcker, tidsskrifter samt Internet.

Allt fler företag väljer att satsa på Internetbaserade marknaden. Företag bemöter en hård konkurrens på bostadsmarknaden och slåss om konsumenterna som blivit allt mer prismedvetna mycket på grund av Internets framfart.

Studien riktar sig till ett nystartat företag vid namn E-budgivning som är intresserade av att etablera sig på svenska bostadsmarknaden. Under tidigare år har valet av mäklare varit en självklarhet vid försäljning och köp av en bostad. Idag är inte valet lika självklart eftersom flera aktörer trätt in på marknaden och där urvalet av en rad olika alternativ finns att tillgå.

Ett intresse samt funderingar uppkom om hur marknaden kommer se ut i framtiden och vilka chanser och möjligheter E-budgivning har. Genom teorier och empirisk data från undersökningar genom arbetets gång har konstanterandet gjorts att E-budgivnings etableringsmöjligheter ligger rätt i tiden. En stor faktor till resultatet är mycket på grund av teknologiska utvecklingen i kombination med företagets nischade affärsidé.

Däremot passar den långt ifrån alla konsumenter då alla har skilda åsikter och behov vilket även historien bevisar. Studien visar att E-budgivning inte har en chans att hota stora aktörer på allvar, däremot har företaget goda möjligheter att få marknadsandelar med rätt marknadsföring.

Syftet med denna undersökning är att fördjupa förståelse för invandrarkvinnors upplevelser av integrationen i Sverige. Undersökningen syftar på enbart invandrarkvinnor som kommer till Sverige genom äktenskapsmigration. Detta är en kvalitativ undersökning som har genomförts med hjälp av nio intervjuer med invandrarkvinnor som har gift sig med svenskfödda män och flyttat till Sverige. Vi har valt att använda Grundad teori och har kommit fram till olika faser som innefattar faktorer som kvinnorna upplever vara viktiga för integrationen. Genom att analysera de olika faserna kom vi fram till vår kärnkategori som är arbete. Resultatet visade att arbete är kärnan i integrationen och en viktig och avgörande faktor för en lyckad integration. Teoretiska paralleller dras till Antonovskys teori om Känsla av sammanhang (KASAM) för att klargöra upplevelsen av integrationsprocessen.

Den här uppsatsen behandlar ämnet olaglig fildelning på internet. Intervjuer med fem svenska fildelare ligger till grund för en kvalitativ analys av deras egna handlingar. Analysen kretsar kring fem grundläggande teman som syftar till att förmedla en bild av individernas egen bild av fildelning och moraliska dilemman som kan uppstå vid denna handling. Teorin som har används beskriver främst handlingsramarna och samhället som fildelarna kan tänkas befinna sig i. Kopplingar görs mellan individernas handlingar och den övergripande samhällsteorin för att påvisa om de stämmer överränns. Olaglig fildelning är ett utbrett fenomen i Sverige. De fem fildelare som ingick i analysen verkar både ha förståelse för att fildelning är ett så utbrett fenomen, samtidigt som de i stor utsträckning känner att det behövs en lag som reglerar fenomenet. Skivbolagen målas upp som de stora och rika bovarna i frågan.

Mobile buildings offer a flexible supply of buildings as an alternative to permanent expansion or while the existing facilities being renovated or rebuilt. This flexible option is used, however in a rather small scale in the market. Thus, to increase consumption of mobile buildings, there is a need for market research that will contribute to find the factors that customer value.

The purpose of research is to investigate customer values when it leases and/or uses temporary buildings, and possibly encourage new elements that do not exist in the market range yet.

To obtain the valuation factors have been implemented a literature survey and 13 personal interviews were conducted. Interviews took place with people who use these buildings and those who entered a contract to rent these buildings. The study objects are offices, schools and kindergartens.

Turbulence in the world economy with following liquidity problem in enterprises has lead to negative consequences for banks that creates a need for effective credit risk management. To prevent significant credit losses, banks tries constantly to minimize their risks in credit granting through identifying pitfalls.

The purpose is to investigate the factors that contribute to the credit losses and illustrate how Nordea can minimize risks in credit granting.

Data were gathered from the literature review and a case study. The object of study is the Swedish Business Bank Nordea where several credit managers has been interviewed at the regional level. To obtain a volume of credit development in Sweden, gathered the credit granting statistics of the source of Nordea Hypotek AB.

According to the theory credit losses are depending on direct and indirect factors. While direct factors can be affected by a credit analyst, indirect factors are outside of his influence. It can be stated that Nordea has been succeed in minimizing of risks at the considerable degree, with reservation for some improvements, and that some factors that cause losses the bank manage to keep under control.

Bank´s fundamental strategy in risk management is to use reasonable credit granting. All of respondents have stressed the importance of thorough inquiry on new credit application and frequent following up suspicions of payment difficulties with existing borrowers. Through these routines can bank capture problematic business transactions and prevent appearance of credit losses.

Abstract:

Research Problem: To what extent the corporate culture of an international joint venture resembles the organizational and national culture of its parent firms?

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to study and explain the organizational and national culture of the partner companies that are involved in the international joint venture and finds out the extent to which the corporate culture that is embedded in the joint venture possess a resemblance with its parent's culture.

Method: Our research is qualitative in nature and is based upon the case study and the secondary information gathered during the research. We have also taken into account some primary information through conducting three semi-structured interviews from each of the company involved in the joint venture. All the information collected during the course of our research has been analyzed in such a manner that has eventually led us to a formidable conclusion.

Conclusion: After the analysis of results, both from the interviews and the secondary information, we came to a conclusion that the corporate culture at the joint venture possess some similarities with the national and organizational cultures of its parent firms and this likeness depends upon the location of origin of the joint venture and the employees working in it.   

Abstract – “Aggregate complaints in banks MIS”

Date:                       June 8^th 2012

Level:                      Master thesis in Business Administration, 15 ECTS

Institution:                School of Sustainable development of society and technology, Mälardalen University

Authors:                  Abdulla Ahmed Ibrahim         Alexis Andersson

Title:                       Aggregate complaints in MIS – A case study of Nordea Bank

Tutor:                      Carl G Thunman

Keywords:               Aggregate, complaint, dissatisfaction, content analysis, Nordea, MIS.

Purpose:                  The paper aims to develop a model of how Nordea Bank can monitor customer dissatisfaction through aggregated dissatisfaction analysis. Furthermore, the study aims to identify improvement proposals in Nordea based on the developed model and conducted interviews.

Method:                  This thesis consists of qualitative interviews. Personnel at the local office in Västerås has been interviewed as well as Nordea’s customer ombudsmen, former office employee at Nordea, data analyst, head of customer inquiries, Professor of database technology and also a researcher in language technology. A proprietary model was built based on the literature review constructed on variables that were expected to influence the monitoring process. The proprietary model was based on theory and formed the interview guide. The method that was used on the empirical data where “cut and paste”. The method was used to be able to place the interviews under each appropriate heading. The analysis then compared the empirical data with theories from the literature review, to be able to conduct a revised model and come up with a number of suggestions for improvement.

Conclusion:            The model assumes wrongly that complaint and other grievances information can be integrated in the same process. There are several aggravating factors in Nordea's case; discontent information is in the current situation anonymous, it may be too small in scope for it to be profitable integrated or delivered in pre-packaged aggregate form. In this thesis, it became also clear that overall understanding should be based on a results-oriented attitude in which the results of the analysis provide employees with new insights to shape the monitoring process. Even at the central level, Nordea more often tends to follow up individual cases instead of analyzing them systematically in aggregate form, which the model does not take into account.

Date:             2008-11-13

Level:           Bachelor Thesis in Business Administration, 15 ECTS

Authors:      Amina Ahmed Ibrahim               Carol Nakajugo Basudde

Tutor:           Mats Viimne

Title:             Communities – A marketing channel with effect?

Purpose:       To describe communities as a marketing channel and its communication effect. 

Method:       Primary data was collected through face-to-face, telephone and e-mail interviews. These interviews were used to gather information on the case studies used in this thesis. Four Swedish online communities namely Lunarstorm, Glife, Nightlife and Nattstad were used. Secondary data used in this thesis has consisted of books, articles and online sources.

Conclusion:  Companies using communities as marketing channels have the added advantage of a higher segmentation which means that they can easier find and reach their target audience. One of the problems associated with this medium is that today many companies still suffer from a lack of knowledge when it comes to communities due to the fact that this medium has not been paid the attention that it needs. Companies prefer to rely more on the traditional marketing channels like TV, newspapers and radio. With this new found interest in communities and the attention being paid to them in the media, more and more companies are opening their eyes to these new marketing channels and are choosing to learn more about them.

Date: 2008-06-05

Level: Master Thesis in Business Administration, 15 ECTS

Authors: Amina Ahmed Ibrahim Beatrice Yola Konlaan Carol Nakajugo Basudde

Tutor: Sigvard Herber

Title: Are competitors ready to take on a deregulated Apoteket AB? Problem: With the oncoming deregulation of the monopoly, Apoteket AB appears to have a competitive advantage over incoming competition therefore the problem is to find out:

 What competitive advantage Apoteket AB has over its competitors.

 If the competitors have the tools to successfully compete with Apoteket AB.

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to find out whether competitors in Sweden are able to compete successfully with Apoteket AB for the market of non prescription medicine.

Method: Qualitative and quantitative methods have been used in this thesis. In order to achieve the desired result of this research it is appropriate to choose this approach since it enables the researcher to be able to explore all areas of the subject at hand and also give an in-depth discussion and analysis.

Conclusion: Apoteket AB has several competitive advantages over its competitors. It has a strong brand name that is known and trusted by customers. While all three competing companies see themselves as complements to Apoteket AB, we think that the competitors have what it takes to successfully compete with Apoteket. Judging from previous cases such as Norway and Denmark which showed different outcomes of deregulation in the retail pharmaceutical industry, the competitors in both cases have not been on the losing side. Supermarkets, petrol stations and grocery stores in Denmark and Norway were also competing with their respective pharmacies based mainly on price, accessibility and convenience. In conclusion this is an indication that the competitors in Sweden have more than enough tools to successfully compete with Apoteket AB.

Keywords: Deregulation, Pharmaceutical retail, Apoteket AB, Monopoly, Competition.

Problem:

Palaseja is considering Sweden as a prospect market to enter and operate so, a study of Swedish

business environment and its uncontrollable elements is required for Palaseja to serve this purpose

effectively.

Method:

Thesis has followed a combination of exploratory & descriptive research and a qualitative approach

has been applied. Both primary and secondary data have been gathered, primary data was gathered

through interviews from retail stores' officials and Palaseja's sales manager.

Conclusion:

In this study, different environmental uncontrollable elements of Swedish market have been explored

to find out how they can influence a new entrant Palaseja in Sweden. There are a few legal

requirements for Palaseja to enter in food market of Sweden. Economic forces are facing a little slow

down effect due to recent global economic slump but are quite encouraging for any new company

entering Sweden in the long run. Breakfast cereal products that Palaseja produces have found to be a

common part of cultural breakfast habits and huge consumption of breakfast cereal per capita also

seems to be encouraging for new comers in this industry. Competitive forces have been found to be

extremely challenging and quite discouraging in some way. The country of origin effect seems to be

not so strong in Sweden although brand recognition of Palaseja is likely to cause some trouble to

Palaseja's success.

Syftet med denna uppsats är att ta reda på hur vissa svenska revisionsbyråer påverkats av avskaffandet av revisionsplikten. Studien medför även hur svenska revisionsbyråer ska agera för att behålla sina nuvarande kunder.

Industrial living is caused much people do live and work in closed and confined places; offices and residential buildings. This is why in this new world more fresh air which is generally provided by forced ventilation plays a vital role in living of human being. Furthermore because of many different indoor pollutants, like radon and artificial pollutants, the amount of fresh air and in turn the energy consumption has increased. This energy consumption related to ventilation has reached up to about 30 percent of energy used of building section. So making interaction between indoor air quality (IAQ) and optimization of energy saving is a necessary work.  Radon as a natural pollutant is occurred in environment and in many countries threatens people health whereas is called the second causes of cancer. For reducing radon concentration in residential building at the acceptable level forced ventilation is used usually. Ventilation can improve IAQ but in the other side would increase the energy consumption in building sector and just now the contribution of ventilation exceeds up 50 percent of building sector's share. The aim of this thesis is to study the impact of ventilation on indoor radon by using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to achieve indoor air quality and energy efficiency. Application of CFD as a new technology, because of its cost and time savings, and on the other side, of its flexibility and precision is  increasingly grown and can be used as a very important and valuable tool for the prediction and measurement of radon distribution in a ventilated building . Currently, measurement techniques and proposed standards and regulations of indoor pollutants and ventilation, particularly related to indoor radon cannot be able to provide a secure, safe and energy efficient indoor climate. This is why the indoor airflow distribution is very complex and with changing building geometry and operation condition, the treatment of air flow pattern, substantially would be changed, whereas the rules are usually independent of the buildings features. Furthermore, the indoor standards and regulations are based on average amount of pollutants in a room, whereas the pollutant distributions aren't identical and are varied throughout the room. Then the current techniques aren't so exactly valuable and acceptable.

From different methods which is privilege to control pollutants, ventilation method is applicable in existing buildings. Designing effective ventilation can reduce radon concentration to very level low with regarding energy conservation remarks.

This thesis presents results from simulation studies on ventilation and radon mitigation in residential buildings, in view points of indoor air quality and energy savings. The CFD technique is applied to predict, visualize and calculate of mixture radon-air flow. The distribution of indoor radon concentration, air velocity and room temperature also have considered together for achieving indoor air quality and energy saving. The results are also compared with the experimental data and related previous works.

It was found that with increasing ventilation rate, the radon concentration is decreased, but the location of ventilation system is also important. From the simulation results, it is observed that within the ventilated room, there are some zones, which are good for living and somewhere is more polluted. The traditional radon detectors basically show the average value of radon content in 1m­³ of air. That is why detector measuring is not exact and safe.

Simulation results proved that floor heat can be supported ventilation effect and speed up the mixture movement. Floor heating reinforces the buoyancy effect, which is useful to reduce radon content in the floor (seating area) and then lower ventilation rate can be applied.

There are many indoor pollutants in the residential buildings. High insulation and tightness in buildings in order to increase energy efficiency and to lower energy costs is led to the indoor air quality problems. To provide sufficient fresh air and to promote indoor air quality at acceptable level, it is needed to increase ventilation rate to overcome such pollutants.  

The aim of this paper is to study about energy efficient mechanical ventilation to overcome poor indoor air quality and energy consumption associated with radon ventilation.

Ventilation is a good method to dilute radon contaminant and maintain indoor air quality, but in the other hand ventilation is account for about 50 percent of energy use in residential buildings. Designing the required rate and location of ventilation systems and also choosing the best type of ventilation strategies can be provided both indoor air quality (IAQ) and building energy savings (BES).

 Computational fluid dynamics technique as a useful tool can be used to simulate and visualize radon treatment and mechanical ventilation rates for optimizing energy consumption and achieving to indoor air quality.

Results show that the exhaust fan installed in the middle another one in the left side have different impacts on distribution of radon contents in the room. Also when the rate of ventilation is changed from 7.5 l/s to 35 l/s the radon concentration will be decreased. By choosing the optimum features of ventilation system, energy saving can be obtained.

A heat recovery ventilation system enables us to control indoor conditions such as ventilation rate,

temperature, relative humidity and pressure difference. These environmental conditions affect indoor radon

levels.

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a powerful tool for predicting and visualizing radon content and indoor

air quality and is cost effective in comparison with other methods such as full scale laboratory and gas trace

techniques.

In this study a mechanically balanced ventilation system and a continuous radon monitor (CRM) were used

to measure the indoor ventilation rate and radon levels. In a numerical approach the FLUENT CFD package

was used to simulate radon entry into the building and effects on indoor air conditions.

The effects of different ventilation rates, indoor temperature and relative humidity on indoor radon

concentrations were investigated in a one family detached house in Stockholm. Results of numerical studies

indicated that changes of ventilation rate, indoor temperature and moisture by means of ventilation systems

have significant effects on indoor radon content. Ventilation rate was inversely proportional to indoor radon

concentration. Minimum radon levels were estimated in the range of thermal comfort, i.e. at 21 and

relative humidity between 50-70%.

The analytical solution was used to validate numeric results at 3 distinct air change rates. Comparisons

between numerical and analytical results showed good agreement but there was poor agreement between

simulations and measurement results due to the short measuring period.

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a powerful tool for predicting and visualizing radon content and indoor air quality and is cost effective in comparison with other methods such as full scale laboratory and gas trace techniques. The intention of this article is to use CFD to simulate indoor radon distribution and ventilation effects. In this study a mechanically balanced ventilation system and a continuous radon monitor (CRM) were used to measure the indoor ventilation rate and radon levels. In a numerical approach the FLUENT CFD package was used to simulate radon entry into the building and effects on indoor air conditions. The effects of different ventilation rates, indoor temperature and relative humidity on indoor radon concentrations were investigated in a one family de-tached house in Stockholm. Results of numerical studies indicated that changes of ventilation rate, indoor temperature and moisture by means of ventila-tion systems have significant effects on indoor radon content. Ventilation rate was inversely proportional to indoor radon concentration. Minimum radon levels were estimated in the range of thermal comfort, i.e. at 21 and relative humidity between 50-70%. The analytical solution was used to validate numeric results at 3 distinct air change rates. Comparisons between numerical and analytical results showed good agreement but there was poor agreement between simulations and measurement results due to the short measuring period.

There are many indoor pollutants in the residentia lbuildings. Of those radon is a major and harmful indoor pollutant in most countries. Radon sometimes entries to the house through building materials. High insulation and tightness in order to increase energy efficiency and to lower energy costs is led to the indoor air quality problems. Ventilation is a good method to dilute radon contaminant and maintain indoor air quality. The more fresh air is brought into the indoor environment, the better the indoor air quality can be achieved, if the fresh air comes from non polluted ambient source. However ventilation can consume a lot of energy (currently 29-59% of energy building use), especially in cold climate same as Sweden, energy consumption could be much more. Though for coping with high energy consumption the building tightness is acted very well, but for ventilation plays against. This contradiction makes a poor indoor air quality. The aim of this paper is to simulate and visualize radon treatment and mechanical ventilation rates for achieving to indoor air quality. The Fluent (CFD) program software is employed for simulation.

Radon is released from soil and building materials and can accumulate in residential buildings. Breathing radon and radon progeny for extended periods hazardous to health and can lead to lung cancer. Indoor air conditions and ventilation systems strongly influence indoor radon concentrations. This paper focuses on effects of air change rate, indoor temperature and relative humidity on indoor radon concentrations in a one family detached house in Stockholm, Sweden.In this study a heat recovery ventilation system unit was used to control the ventilation rate and a continuous radon monitor (CRM) was used to measure radon levels. FLUENT, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software package was used to simulate radon entry into the building and air change rate, indoor temperature and relative humidity effects using a numerical approach.The results from analytical solution, measurements and numerical simulations showed that air change rate, indoor temperature and moisture had significant effects on indoor radon concentration. Increasing air change rate reduces radon level and for a specific air change rate (in this work Ach = 0.5) there was a range of temperature and relative humidity that minimized radon levels. In this case study minimum radon levels were obtained at temperatures between 20 and 22 °C and a relative humidity of 50-60%

Heat recovery ventilation systems, because of reducing ventilation loss through recovered exhaust air, can play a good role in the effectiveness of ventilation to reduce energy use. In this paper, the impact of a heat recovery ventilator (HRV) on the energy use and indoor radon in residential buildings is investigated. This paper describes the effects of a heat recovery ventilation system on energy consumption in a detached house in Stockholm, Sweden. The performance of the heat recovery ventilation system is examined with respect to radon mitigation and energy saving by measuring the radon concentration and analyzing the life cycle cost of a heat exchanger unit. In this study, a multizone model of a detached house is developed in IDA Indoor Climate and Energy (IDA ICE 4.0). The model is validated using measurements regarding use of energy for heating, ventilation and whole energy use. The results of the measurements and dynamic simulation showed that heat recovery ventilation system 74% energy savings of the ventilation loss, amounted about 30 kWh.m-2 per year. Life cycle cost analysis used for assessing total costs and the result showed that using this system is quite cost-effective and investment would payback during 12 years.

Balanced ventilation with heat recovery has strong effects on radon mitigation and energy saving in residential buildings. This new technology enables improvement of both indoor air quality and energy efficiency without sacrificing either. Reducing radon by means of forced ventilation requires an increase in outdoor supplied air (i.e. ventilation rate), which in turn can increase energy use. Energy losses in ventilation systems are inevitable, but new technologies such as heat recovery systems make it possible to recover most of this ventilation heat loss. Heat recovery ventilation systems, which recover energy from exhaust air, can significantly reduce ventilation losses, and balancing the indoor air pressure plays a positive role in the effectiveness of ventilation to reduce and mitigate radon levels and control indoor air quality. This paper describes a case study which considers the effects of a heat recovery ventilation system on the radon concentration and energy consumption in a detached house in Stockholm, Sweden. The performance of the heat recovery ventilation system is examined with respect to radon mitigation and energy saving by measuring the radon concentration and analyzing the life cycle cost in winter. The results of the measurements and dynamic simulation showed that a heat recovery ventilation system was able to reduce the radon level from around 600 Bq.m-3 to below 100 Bq.m-3 and reduce energy loss from ventilation by 80%, equivalent to around 3500 kWh per year. The results of life cycle cost analysis used to assess total costs showed that this system is cost-effective and investment would pay for itself in 12 years. It should be noted that this saving is a representative sample, and that actual savings would be influenced by a large number of factors. IDA 4.0 Indoor Climate and Energy software was used to perform the dynamic simulations.

Organic food market is very challenging in Europe and growing rapidly as consumers areconcerned about health and environment particularly Sweden is one of the greenest countries.Many of previous researches have been done on attitudes toward organic food consumptionbased on demographics data. This paper presents the relationship between lifestyle which is apart of psychographics and organic food consumption in Sweden. Quantitative data iscollected by survey method consisting of structured question and analyzed the relationship oflifestyle and organic food consumption by regression analysis.The result shows that there is the significant relationship between organic food consumptionand lifestyle. There are also relationships between organic food consumption age, gender,education, income, and perceived risks but we cannot find its relationship with motivationfactor that are health concern, environmental concern and values.

Title: The customers visit at the car dealership – A thesis about customerperceived service quality

Purpose: The purpose of the thesis is to examine customer perceived servicequality during the visit to the car dealership. The information canlater be used by car retailers to improve their service quality.

Method: In order to satisfy our purpose, the authors decided to use bothqualitative and quantitative research methods. The empirical datawas collected by both questionnaires and semi‐structuredinterviews, which both took place at Bilia in Västerås. The abovemethods were both based on and analyzed using SERVQUAL, theGapanalysis and the model for total perceived quality.

Conclusion: The customers pointed out that most of the different dimensions ofthe service delivery can be improved. While keeping that in mind,the study showed greater need for improvement in the SERVQUALdimensions named Responsiveness and Empathy and whatGrönroos calls Functional Quality. These areas can be described ashow the customers are met and taken care of during their visit atthe car dealership. In other words, the main areas that needimprovement are related to the human interaction between thecustomer and the company. According to the authors, if thecompany manages to increase the perceived quality in these areas,a competitive edge will be gained. This will lead to increased salesof used cars.

Markförstärkning i ett vägbygge kan göras på olika sätt. I detta examensarbete jämför vi två av dessa metoder, nämligen massutskiftningsmetoden och användning av kalkcementpelare ur energi- och miljösynpunkt. För att jämföra dessa två metoder togs fram ett excelbaserat räkneverktyg där resultatet av energiförbrukningen fås i kWh och koldioxidemissioner i ton CO₂. Denna jämförelse gjordes för ett specifikt vägprojekt som använde massutskiftningsmetoden för vägunderbyggnaden. Det som ingick i beräkningen var schaktning, fyllning, krossning, sprängning, transporter och kalkcementpelare. För denna uträkning användes data från både entreprenörer som var med i projektet och företag som hade dokumenterade data.

Metoden som förbrukade minst energi och som släppte ut minst koldioxidemissioner var massutskiftningsmetoden. Det som gjorde att kalkcementpelare till en sämre metod var den höga energiförbrukningen som krävdes för tillverkningen av kalk och cement. Det som krävde mest energi i tillverkningsprocessen var ugnar där höga temperaturer krävdes.

Skillnaden mellan utskiftningsmetoden och kalkcementpelare i objektet var att i massutskiftningsmetoden krävdes urgrävningar för att schakta bort jordmaterial med dålig hållfasthet och ersätta det med bergmaterial med hög hållfasthet. I denna metod går energi åt till schaktning, fyllning och transport. Medan förstärkningsmetoden med kalkcementpelare förbrukar energi för tillverkning, transport och installation. Eftersom metoden går ut på att vägbyggnaden ska vila på pelarna genom att borra ner dessa i marken istället för att schakta bort stora volymer och transportera dem till fyllningen så är det lätt att tro att kalkcementpelare sparar energi genom att minska massförflyttning och långa transporter. Resultatet av detta examensarbete har visat motsatsen.

Detta examensarbete fokuserar på energieffektivisering av flerbostadshus som är uppförda under 1960-talet. Eftersom sektorn bostäder och service står nuförtiden för cirka 40 % av landets totala energianvändning, så är det värt att försöka åtgärda befintliga byggnader som läcker onödig stor energi. I den här rapporten redogörs för vilka möjligheter som kan leda till minskad energianvändning i byggnader vid omfattande ombyggnation. Det finns två viktiga anledningar till varför fastighetsbolagen bör satsa på energieffektivisering vilka är ekonomin och miljön. Syftet med detta arbete är att fokusera på att minska energianvändningen i ett flerbostadshus som är beläget i Skultuna. Boendesvanor gällande hushållsel kommer inte att tas upp i denna rapport. De föreslagna åtgärderna berör endast byggnadsteknik och installationsteknik. Nybyggnation av passivhus i kvarteret Berggrottan har redovisats för att ge insikt om de olika byggnadstyperna gällande energiförbrukning och byggnadsteknik. Passivhuskonceptet har diskuterats för att ge inspiration och vetskap om hur man kan applicera passivhustekniken vid ombyggnation och för att se om det är möjligt att skapa ett lågenergihus vid ombyggnation eller inte. Den undersökta byggnaden är en av de typiska trevåningars lamellhus som har producerats i stort antal under perioden 1960-1975. Detta arbete ska fungera som ett utvecklingsunderlag för Mimer som satsar på energifrågorna och vill göra besparingsåtgärder i sina gamla flerbostadshus särskilt de som förbrukar mycket energi. De studerade förslagen har indelats i två kategorier. Den ena handlar om byggnadstekniska åtgärder, vilka är tilläggsisolering av fasader, tilläggsisolering av vindsbjälklaget och byte av fönster. Den andra handlar om installationstekniska lösningar, vilka är montering av Wanpan golvlist och installering av solfångare. Resultatet från utförda energiberäkningar visar att transmissionsförlusterna minskas från 47 % till 24 % om de föreslagna byggnadstekniska åtgärderna följs. Dessutom besparas totalt 116 700 kr/år . Till slut kan konstateras att möjligheten att skapa lågenergihus finns, men om ytterligare åtgärder införs. Det är svårt att bestämma vilka åtgärder är effektivast eftersom det beror i första hand på vilka förutsättningar som finns. Varje byggnad är unik och har sina speciella förutsättningar, så därför är det viktigt att studera den som ett helt system.

Abstract

This degree project comprises 30 credits, i.e. 20 weeks of work. The work mainly deals with the energy balance for a multi-family house in Västerås and the requirements for energy conservation in the Swedish building code, BBR. Calculations of the energy balance are supplemented by a number of interviews.

Energy conservation in general has become more important in recent years and the subject is in line with increased public awareness. This importance and attention is explained by environmental problems in general and global warming in particular, but also by rising energy prices. The Swedish authority Boverket has gradually changed the regulatory framework in order to improve the energy efficiency for new buildings. Boverket issues the Swedish building code BBR which includes energy requirements for buildings. The new BBR 16 was published after only about 6 month after the previous version BBR 15.

This degree project includes a commission from the company Abetong AB to compare the previous BBR 15 against the new BBR 16 and find any changes, and compile these changes as clear as possible. The work also includes answers to some specific questions from the same company. One question is whether existing multi-family houses from the company would meet the new energy requirements of BBR 16. The energy balance of these houses is studied specifically when an exhaust air heat pump or a ventilation heat exchanger is used in order to save energy. To make this work particularly interesting, the window area was changed to see how this would affect the energy use in the buildings.

To answer these questions, the energy simulation program VIP+ was used for calculations. These computer calculations have also been supplemented by hand calculations as a control measure. All results from the different calculations are put together and analyzed in this report.

The overall conclusion from the calculation results is that the existing multi-family houses perform well with the present technology, and that they meet the new energy requirements in BBR 16. This means that no further measures in order to save energy in the houses are necessary in order to meet the newest requirements.

Västerås 2010-05-24

Seif Alamerison

Abstract

The tests work is about the subject "synergism of steel and concrete."

The construction sector is in a strong competition and the different companies in the Prefab

Market has ever tried to develop new design solutions that are efficient and environmentallyfriendly.

The purpose of this report is to highlight different aspects of interaction and size up a columndimension and to examine its efficiency and load capacity as Eurocode 3 and Eurocode 4. A sizing chart that describes the relationship between the torque and normal force shouldalso be made of the interaction .

Studies in recent years have revealed that use of ICT can significantly impact knowledge sharing in organizations by enhancing the knowledge sharing process, reducing knowledge sharing barriers, and introducing technology barriers. While this has been identified in many studies and a significant research has been carried out to identify knowledge sharing barriers, there exists a considerable dearth of research when the question of ‘which knowledge sharing barriers can ICT reduce and how?’ is posed. This thesis aims to address this question by studying the case of an organization using ICT for knowledge sharing. The study was carried out using questionnaire and interview findings and results showed that if ICT is effectively used, a number of knowledge sharing barriers - in addition to time and space barriers - can be successfully reduced. Organizational and individual knowledge sharing barriers saw most reduction by ICT while technology barriers did not see any reduction by use of ICT alone. This is in coherence with different studies that use of ICT for knowledge sharing introduces its own technology barriers. However the results show that if employees are tech-savvy and management considerably supports employee involvement in the process of design and deployment of ICT enabled knowledge sharing, technology barriers can also be greatly reduced and even entirely eliminated.

Target Audience: The management of TeliaSonera is our main target audience. Also students from management, marketing and business administration are our secondary concern.

Problem Statement: “How suitable is Bangladesh telecom market for an internationalized telecom company (TeliaSonera), and what could be a preferable entry strategy for such market?”

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate Bangladesh telecom market in order to find out the potentiality of the market which could be considered by the company to think about starting a business there and also to determine a suitable entry strategy from the company depending on the factors have been investigated.

Methodology: The project is based on both primary and secondary information retrieved in connection with the theoretical framework. A qualitative approach of research and analysis has been considered to reach the desirable result.

Theoretical Framework: The theoretical framework has been created with Porter’s (1998) five forces and National Diamond together with factors that influence the international entry strategy described by Franklin R (1998)

Findings: While presenting the data, we have followed a structure. We have divided all our data in four parts. They are namely, The Focal Company Factors, Home country (Sweden) factors, the Focal country (Bangladesh) Factors, and the Focal country’s (Bangladesh) Telecom market factors. All data have been presented under the respective headings of these parts and also with some corresponding subheadings.

Analysis: The analysis is based on the result of a consolidated evaluation of relevant theory and empirical information collected accordingly. All the collected information has been observed through the gloss of theoretical framework and has been used for answering the problem statement.

Conclusion: After investigating the factors of Bangladesh telecom market, we can conclude that it will be a good idea for TeliaSonera to expand their business in Bangladesh as both the industry and the country has a lot of potential to offer. An Investment entry mode (Joint Venture) has been suggested. It is worth mentionable that this paper is a preliminary idea about the market to encourage TeliaSonera to expand in Bangladesh which reveals the opportunity for further research.