Bakgrund: I och med den rådande lågkonjunkturen har konsumenter i allmänhet blivit alltmer prismedvetna och konkurrensen inom försäkringsbranschen har hårdnat mer och mer. Det har dessutom visat sig att såväl privatkunder som företagskunder har blivit alltmer missnöjda med försäkringsbolag och är inte lika lojala som för några år sedan. Syfte: Syftet är att utreda vad kundlojalitet bygger på för att därefter utarbeta förslag på åtgärder så att befintliga kundrelationer kan bli mer långvariga och kunderna mer lojala hos företag inom försäkringsbranschen. Genomförande: För att uppfylla syftet har data samlats in dels genom intervjuer med anställda på vårt fallföretag, If Skadeförsäkring i Norge, och dels genom en enkätundersökning gjord på företagets kunder. I det här fallet småföretagskunder. Resultat: För att få lojala kunder krävs det att försäkringsbolag i likhet med andra företag skapar en nära relation till sina kunder. En fungerande kommunikation blir därför en viktig faktor så att kunden får mer kunskap om själva försäkringarna. Det gäller att kunderna får en annan inställning till försäkringsbolag och detta skulle kunna göras genom att försäkringsbolagen visar mer på att de hjälper till att förebygga skador. Vidare gäller det att på bästa möjliga sätt skapa värde för kunden, det vill säga se till varje enskild kunds behov. Ju fler unika kundfördelar som kan erbjudas desto svårare blir det för kunden att byta försäkringsbolag. Dessutom är det viktigt att företaget bemöter kunden på det sätt som efterfrågas av vederbörande oavsett om kunden har råkat ut för en skada eller inte.

Our work focuses on an analysis of the processes for full and partial annealing of aluminium coils. Due to inefficient production management these processes show high inventory levels, long lead times and decreased delivery performance. We have also found inadequacies in the ways costs for these processes are distributed. We have established a new process mapping by initially investigating the strategic dimensions of the company and the processes for annealing, in order to later on establish performance measures congruent with the business objectives. Furthermore we have conducted extensive calculations and analyses to facilitate the successful implementation of a Just-in-time production philosophy, including necessary process improvements and redesigns to be made. Our proposed changes will lead to shorter lead times and low levels of WIP, which are important success factors of a JIT-based production philosophy. To do this we have developed a capacity analysis tool with which it is also possible to analyse other processing scenarios or the effect of load changes and/or product mix variations. This tool can also serve as a benchmark for capacity analysis of other processes. Finally, we have been able to establish more accurate costs per machine hour for full and partial annealing to be implemented in the managerial system. We believe that the processes for annealing are not the only ones suffering from poor cost control, why we would suggest that Sapa Heat Transfer investigates the cost distribution in more processes, and also develops and follows better guidelines for cost control.

The legal situation of companies costs for investing in computer software in an income tax law perspective is described by a tax law guidance that generelly acount these costs according the principles of research and development. If there is any reason to classify the costs differently, it could mean that immediate deduction not will be allowed. For this reason it is important to establish what the legal situation would be in a more nuanced tax law classification. The tax law categories that will be analysed in the thesis are research and development, inventories, intangible assets, stocks and ongoing projects. The purpose of this thesis is mainly to give examples of what such an income tax law classification can look like.While dealing with the problems of classifying the costs some situations of competition will occure. My conclusion is that it is important to bring out the multiplicity and the comlpexity that marks the legal situation in question. In each specific case yet some situations can occure that I haven’t been close to border on. The income tax law classification of companies costs in computer software shall be descided with the very purpose of the specific investment in mind and as only parameter.

<p>This research examines the effectiveness of these dispute resolution mechanisms in environmental disputes and what improvements should be made in order to make those mechanisms suitable for these types of disputes.</p>

Absorptive capacity is fundamental for small-middle enterprises to increase their innovativeness and competitiveness in the market place. Human resources, being the most important asset in SMEs, might help firms to obtain adequate levels of absorptive capacity through a planned set of human resource practices. The hu-man costs of implementing such practices, however, cannot be neglected, and this paper studies the relationship between these different variables.

The main objective of this paper is to prove that liquidity costs do exist in option pricingtheory. To achieve this goal, a martingale approach to option pricing theory is usedand, from a model by Jarrow and Protter [JP], a sound theoretical model is derived toshow that liquidity risk exists. This model, derived and tested in this extended theory,allows for liquidity costs to arise. The expression liquidity cost is used in this paper tomeasure liquidity risk relative to the option price.

The purpose of this thesis is to explore disruptions Swedish wind turbines onshore are exposed to, and to estimate their economic impacts on the operators. We want to investigate whether there is a need for a more developed service and maintenance market within the Swedish wind power market. This study focuses on wind power, a renewable energy source in an emerging market, which experiences exponential growth. Sweden is a minor actor in the wind power market with a production of around 2 TWh yearly. The government aims at a total production of 10TWh in 2015 and 20TWh in 2020, which equals an annual growth of 24%. However, we hypothesize that the Swedish wind power market is negatively affected by a service and maintenance market which is underdeveloped due to a lack of competition. This results in lengthy repair times and disproportionate costs for wind power operators. The study was carried out by conducting semi-structured qualitative interviews and by sending out a survey to approximately 300 wind power operators. Six interviewees were wind power operators and one interviewee was a representative from an independent service supplier. We have also analysed the current cost situation of operators with theories about maintenance costs and we have also carried out an industry analysis on the service and maintenance market, which was based on Porter’s structural industry analysis. After conducting a structural analysis of the service and maintenance market, we can conclude a lack of competition today as there is a dominance of the wind turbine manufacturers as the service supplier. Furthermore we can see that this lack of competition has negative effects on the efficiency of the service and maintenance provided. The results also stress a need for a more developed service and maintenance market. We have found that the profitability for the Swedish wind power operators is challenged if the service and maintenance market is not keeping pace and meeting the demands of the rapidly growing Swedish wind power market as a whole.

The objective of Paper [I] is to analyze potential effects on the Swedish forest sector of a continuing rise in the use of forest resources as fuel in energy generation. An increasing use of forest resources as an energy input may have effects outside the energy sector. In this paper we consider this by estimating a system of demand and supply equations for the four main actors on the Swedish roundwood market. In Paper [II], we estimate a dynamic factor demand model for the Swedish pulp industry. We find weak evidence of adjustment costs for capital. The results suggest that the user cost of capital is a significant determinant of pulp industry investments. We also find that pulp industry investments are insensitive to variations in the price of electricity. Paper [III] proposes a flexible form of adjustment cost function. An empirical illustration shows that the flexible form can detect both convex and non-convex adjustment costs. Furthermore, the flexible form permits testing for the experience effect on adjustment cost. The objective of paper [IV] is to analyze the price formation for wood fuel used by the Swedish district heating sector. According to previous research there is a significant potential for increasing the use of wood fuel in Sweden. The question raised in this paper is why this potential is not realized. According to our results we cannot reject the efficient market hypothesis for all years. The objective of Paper [V] is to test for market power on the market for biofuels. To achieve our objective we make use of the idea of Granger causality. If past values of quantity contribute significantly to the determination of price, quantity is said to Granger cause price, which we will treat as a sign of market power. According to our findings this effect is present.

The purpose of this study was to examine a relationship between perceived health and sport participation with objectives as follows: (a) to examine how athletes perceive their health and understand its importance for sport and life; (b) to examine what strategies athletes use to enhance their health and under what conditions they put their health at risk in sport; (c) to analyse social influences on athletes related to sport and health and (d) to analyse a position of health among athletes’ perceived “benefits” and “costs” of athletic career in its relation to satisfaction with sport participation. The perceived health and sport participation working model (Stambulova, Johnson, Lindwall & Hinic, 2004) was used as the theoretical framework for this study. Thirty six competitive athletes – representatives of different sports - were interviewed using a structured interview guide with both qualitative and quantitative questions. Inductive and deductive analyses were used to treat the qualitative data and to develop category profiles. SPSS was used to treat the quantitative data (descriptive statistics). The results show that the athletes’ attitude to their health is double sided. A majority of the athletes value health as important for life but at the same time 69% of them put their health at risk in their athletic career (e.g, practicing or competing when ill or injured). A majority of the athletes also use self enhancing strategies (e.g., injury and overtraining prevention), but are at the same time draining their health related resources. Health was the second highest perceived benefit of sport participation, but it was also the second highest perceived cost. Social influences are also contradictive as the athletes significant others express positive opinions about the link between sport and health, but they also often “push” athletes to put their health under risk in sport. The results are discussed in relation to the corresponding literature and the perceived health and sport participation working model.

The paper, with a brief summary of timber floating in Sweden and also of some previous re-search in this field, contains a study on costs for timber-floating in the river Dalälven located in central Sweden. The public used timber-floating system in Dalälven and the historical background about this activity is described. The study is focused on the total costs for timber-floating in the public open floating system in Dalälven from 1900 to 1970, the year before the timber-floating was definitively closed down. Also the costs for separating the logs of a specific owner when they reached the point where they could be separated from the timber of other owners are analyzed.