Studiens syfte har varit att förklara i vilken utsträckning icke-finansiellt beroende hos revisorer kan uppstå genom revisorernas identifikation med klienter samt undersöka dess effekter på revisorns oberoende och objektivitet. Vidare har vi försökt undersöka hur klientidentifikationen kan påverkas av professionell identifiering och revisorsrotation. Således har vår problemformulering varit ”Hur identifierar revisorerna sig med sina klienter hur detta påverkar revisorns objektivitet? Hur påverkas klientidentifikationen av revisorns profession? Hur kan revisorsrotationen bidra till en minskning av identifikationen med klienten? ”.Det empiriska materialet har samlats in genom en elektronisk enkätundersökning som skickades ut till 1200 godkända och auktoriserade revisorer i Sverige. Bortfallet blev 87 %, den bakomliggande anledningen kan vara att enkäten skickades ut i samband med alla deklarationer. Vidare har den insamlade materialet bearbetats och analyserats i statistikprogrammet (SPSS) med hjälp av olika analysmodeller.Studiens resultat visar att svenska revisorer identifierar sig med sina klienter och att denna identifikation uppstår på grund av den sociala relationen mellan revisorn och klienten. Det icke-finansiella beroendet som uppstår genom identifikationen med klienter visar dock ingen påverkan på revisorns objektiva bedömning, vilket tyder på att revisorn oavsett klientens önskemål gör en korrekt bedömning vid en redovisningstvist. Vidare visar denna studie att48identifikationen med professionen leder till ökad identifikation med klienten. Detta har sin grund i den sociala identitetsteori som antyder att individer kan identifiera sig med olika sociala grupper samtidigt och att den ena identifikationen inte behöver utesluta den andra. Slutligen har vi visat att revisorsrotationen inte kan bidra till en minskning av identifikationen med klienten. Tidigare forskning visar nackdelar med revisorsrotationen, så som merkostnader och förlorad förkunskap, vilket indikerar i att rotera revisorn var sjunde år är ingen korrekt lösning som kan gynna både parterna. / The purpose of this study was to explain the extent to which non-financial dependence of auditors may arise from auditors' identification with clients and examine its effects on the auditor's independence and objectivity. Furthermore, we have attempted to examine how the client identifier can be influenced by professional identification and auditor rotation. Thus, our problem was "how auditors identify themselves with their clients how this affects the auditor's objectivity? How is the client identifier of the auditor's profession? How can the auditor rotation contribute to a decrease in identification with the client? ".The empirical data were collected through an electronic survey sent to 1200 approved and certified public accountants in Sweden. The loss was 87%, the underlying reason may be that the questionnaire was sent out in all declarations. Furthermore, the collected material processed and analyzed in the statistical program (SPSS) using various analytical models.Our results demonstrate that Swedish auditors identify with their clients and that this identification occurs due to the social relationship between the auditor and the client. The non-financial dependency arising from identification with clients, however, shows no effect on the auditor's objective assessment, which indicates that the auditor whether the client wishes make an accurate assessment of an accounting dispute. Furthermore, this study shows that the identification with profession leads to increased identification with the client. This is due to the social identity theory suggests that individuals may identify with different social groups at the same time and that one identification need not exclude the other. Finally, we have shown that auditor rotation can‟t contribute to a decrease in identification with the client. Previous research shows the disadvantages of auditor rotation, so that additional costs and loss of entry, indicating that rotate auditors every seven years is not a proper solution that can benefit both parties.

Purpose - The purpose of the thesis is to record the content of the information shared by buyer to supplier in independent dyadic business relationships in the clothes manufacturing industry of Imbaba and Warrak, Great Cairo, Egypt. The objective is as well to describe how this sharing is managed in terms of communication frequency, order cycle time and information technology used. Methodology – A case study was performed on four companies in the clothes manufacturing industry of Imbaba and Warrak, Egypt. The empirical data was collected through six semi-structured interviews. The results were thereafter analyzed through a summarized framework. Findings - The content of shared information is mainly of traditional character, nevertheless do 50 % of the relationships as well include elements of additional soft information. When the information sharing is performed through regular communication do the frequency vary with an average of 0.43, once every 2.3 days. The order cycle times vary from delivery the same day as order placement to three days after order placement, with an average of 0.5 days. The information is shared through two different information technologies: face-to-face and telephone. Research implications – Imbaba and Warrak are considered one of the poorest districts in the Great Cairo region. The region has although seen great development the last 12-15 years and is today a main district for the industry of clothes manufacturing in Cairo. The role of information sharing yet appears to be poorly examined. Originality/value - Making the situation evident to the case companies will impact on their possibilities to make further improvements within the area of information sharing. Key words Information sharing, dependence, independence, dyad, content, frequency, order cycle time, information technologies. Paper type Bachelor Thesis

The purpose of this study was to examine how the design of the wards, at Björnkulla nursing home, affects the residents’ wayfinding ability and autonomy. Thus, the aim has been to make a design proposal that, trough color and design can increase the residents’ chance to independent mobility. Since the study aimed to examine how the environment affect and can support people with dementia, qualitative methods were used. Observations of the two dementia wards were carried out as a starting point, and as a means to compare the different design of the two wards. The observations were complimented by two informant interviews, with people linked to the nursing home, the head of unite and the occupational therapist. The result show that staff, in most cases, guides the residents between the common room and the residents own apartments. In addition, the residents ask for help when they need to visit the toilet and often remain seated in the same place throughout the day, with the exception of those who exhibit wandering behavior. The results clearly state that people suffering from dementia are dependent on the spatial design in order to orient themselves independently. The results also show the benefit of an open floor plan with almost immediate visual access to main destinations. The major weakness, of the wards current design, concerns the ability of the residents to independently find their way from the common room back to their own apartment. Mainly because the doors do not distinguish themselves from each other. This would suggest that the most important design feature, for a person suffering from dementia, is transparency. In the meaning direct view of the destination. Complimented by clear and distinct landmarks. The design proposal therefore supports aiming as a wayfinding strategy. As a result it contains a color-coding system, that distinguish the residents doors, and additional landmarks that facilitate wayfinding from one decision point to the next, when the doors are not directly visible. Also included in the design proposal is a concept that can help minimize wandering. / Avsikten med studien har varit att undersöka hur utformningen av avdelningarna, på Björnkulla äldre- och demensboende, påverkar de boendes orienterbarhet och självständighet. Därmed har syftet varit att finna ett gestaltningsförslag som via färg och form kan ge de boende större möjligheter till självständig rörlighet. Eftersom studien syftar till att utreda hur miljön påverkar och kan stödja personer med demens, har kvalitativa metoder använts. Som utgångspunkt utfördes observationer på boendets två demensavdelningar, eftersom dessa skiljer sig åt i sin utformning. Observationerna lade grunden för informantintervjuer med två personer som är knutna till boendet; enhetschefen och arbetsterapeuten. Resultatet visar att personalen i de flesta fall följer med de boende mellan de gemensamma utrymmena och den egna lägenheten. Dessutom ber de boende om hjälp när de ska till toaletten och blir ofta sittande på ett och samma ställe i de gemensamma utrymmena. Undantaget är de personer som uppvisar vandringsbeteende. Resultaten påvisar tydligt att de dementa är beroende av miljöns utformning för att kunna orientera sig självständigt. De visar också styrkan i den öppna planlösningen och en nästan omedelbar visuell tillgången till avgörande platser. Bristerna, i de befintliga avdelningarnas utformning, finns framförallt när de boende ska ta sig tillbaka till de egna lägenheterna eftersom dörrarna inte särskiljer sig från varandra. Det talar för att de viktigaste aspekterna för att stödja en dement person att orientera sig och hitta självständigt på en avdelning, är visuell transparens och tydliga, distinkta landmärken. Gestaltningsförslaget stödjer på grund av detta wayfinding strategin aming. Det innehåller därför ett färgkodningssystem, som särskiljer de boendes dörrar. Färgkodningssystemet kompletteras också med ytterligare landmärken som kan stödja orientering från beslutspunkt till beslutspunkt, när dörrarna inte är direkt synliga. Dessutom ingår, i gestaltningsförslaget, ett koncept som kan hjälpa till att stimulera till mindre vandringsbeteende.

Redan i samband med Kreugerkraschen i början av 1930-talet började man ifrågasätta och ställa krav på revisorers oberoende. Problematiken kring revisorers oberoende är än idag en högst aktuell fråga. Effekten av en revisor som inte förhåller sig oberoende kan vara att företagets intressenter förses med information som inte är rättvisande. Bakomliggande faktorer som kan påverka revisorers oberoende är revisionsbyråns arvoden och klientföretagets storlek. I denna studie kartlägger vi andelen orena revisionsberättelser och going concern-varningar hos företag som gått i konkurs. Vidare kartlägger och analyserar vi potentiella samband mellan svenska revisorers uttalanden i revisionsberättelsen och revisorernas arvoden samt klientföretagens storlek. Vi studerade om revisionsberättelserna var rena eller orena samt om någon varning kring företagets fortlevnad utfärdats. Studien omfattar aktiebolag som gått i konkurs under perioden 2010-01-01 till 2010-08-31. Det finns tidigare forskning som påvisar ett samband mellan höga arvoden till revisorn och ett minskat oberoende hos denne samtidigt som andra studier påvisar motsatsen. Det finns även studier som bekräftar att företags storlek påverkar revisorns oberoende. I vår studie har vi kommit fram till att det finns ett samband mellan det totala arvodet till revisionsbyrån och andelen orena revisionsberättelser. Vi har även funnit ett samband som tyder på att revisorn blir mer kritisk och att andelen going concern-varningar ökar ju högre arvoden ett företag betalar till sin revisor. I vår studie har vi också funnit att klientföretagets storlek har påverkan på andelen orena revisionsberättelser (ju större företag desto lägre andel orena revisionsberättelser) medan företagets storlek inte har någon inverkan på andelen going concern-varningar. / Already in the Kreuger crash in the early 1930s the society began to question and make demands on auditor’s independence. The question of an auditor’s independence is still today a topical issue. The effect of an auditor who is not independent is that the company´s annual report provides the stakeholders with false information. Underlying factors that may affect the auditor`s independence can be the company’s auditing fees as well as the size of the company. We have in this study categorized and analyzed differences between Swedish auditor`s statements in audit reports and auditors fees as well as the size of the client company. We chose to study the auditors statement in the company’s annual audit report and if any warning about the survival of the company were issued. We chose to limit our study to only Swedish companies that has gone bankrupt during the period 2010-01-01 to 2010-08-31. Previous research state that there is a correlation between high fees to the auditor`s firm and the auditor`s loss of independence, while there is studies that state the opposite. There are also studies that confirm that the company’s size affect the auditor`s independence. We have in our study confirmed that there is a correlation between size of the total fee to the auditing firm and the share of clean audit reports. We have also found a correlation that indicates that the auditor is more critical in the audit and that the share of going concern-warnings increases when the fees to the auditor increases. The size of the client company has, according to our study, influence on the share of clean audit reports (the share of clean audit reports increases when the companies are larger) while the size of the client company has no effect on the share of going concern-warnings.

Ageing has become a significant research area in the last few decades. The most important reason that makes ageing issue significant is the increasing rate of the older indviduals within the population all around the world. Statistical data on ageing both in Turkey and in the world reveals that, in the near future, the number of population over 65 will increase dramatically. It can be asserted that there will be an urgent need of specifically designed accommodation for this portion of the population. Hence, this thesis intends to search for and practice a design solution for the elderly housing. One of the instruments that supported the formulation of such a solution is the subject of &lsquo / universal design&rsquo / . Within the scope of this study, the principles of universal design and its relationship with ageing are defined, examined and evaluated. It is accepted that living environment has effect on the enhancement of the individual&rsquo / s quality of life. For this reason, the relationship between person and environment is briefly discussed in congruence with principles of universal design and provision of quality of life. Accessibility, safety, privacy, autonomy and independence are the common concerns of universal design and provision of a higher quality of life. With review of the definitions of specific elderly housing types, another approach for this study is to make a case study of the existing architectural solutions for the elderly housing. This helped to understand architectural approaches to the relationship between ageing and environment in the world. In the light of the findings, an architectural project, presenting a habitable environment for the elderly, is proposed. For the project, the concept of &ldquo / assisted living&rdquo / as a new category for elderly housing, is chosen.

The purpose of the present study is to identify 10th grade students&rsquo / use of proof schemes in geometry questions and to investigate the differences in the use of proof schemes with respect to their cognitive style and gender. The sample of the study was 224 tenth grade students from four secondary schools. Of those, 126 participants were female and 98 participants were males. Data was collected at the end of the academic year 2005-2006 through uses of two data collection instruments: Geometry Proof Test (GPT) and Group Embedded Figure Test (GEFT). GPT, included eleven open-ended questions on triangle concept, was developed by researcher to investigate students&rsquo / use of proof schemes. The proof schemes reported by Harel and Sowder (1998) were used as a framework while categorizing the students&rsquo / responses. GEFT developed by Witkin, Oltman, Raskin and Karp (1971) was used to determine cognitive styles of the students as field dependent (FD), field independent (FI) and field mix (FM). To analyze data, descriptive analyses, repeated measure ANOVA with three proof schemes use scores as the dependent variables and a 2 (gender) x 3 (cognitive styles: FD, FM, FI) multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) with three proof schemes use scores as the dependent variables was employed. The results revealed that students used externally based proof schemes and empirical proof schemes significantly more than analytical proof schemes. Furthermore, females used empirical proof schemes significantly more than the males. Moreover, field dependent students used externally based proof schemes in GPT significantly more than field independent students. Also, field independent students use analytical proof schemes significantly more than field dependent mix students. There was no significant interaction between gender and cognitive style in the use of proof schemes. The significant differences in students&rsquo / use of proof schemes with respect to their gender and FDI cognitive style connote that gender and FDI cognitive styles are important individual differences and should be taken into consideration as instructional variables, while teaching and engaging in proof in geometry and in mathematics.

Most of the microelectronic circuits fabricated today are synchronous, i.e. they are driven by one or several clock signals. Synchronous circuit design faces several fundamental challenges such as high-speed clock distribution, integration of multiple cores operating at different clock rates, reduction of power consumption and dealing with voltage, temperature, manufacturing and runtime variations. Asynchronous or clockless design plays a key role in alleviating these challenges, however the design and test of asynchronous circuits is much more difficult in comparison to their synchronous counterparts. A driving force for a widespread use of asynchronous technology is the availability of mature EDA (Electronic Design Automation) tools which provide an entire automated design flow starting from an HDL (Hardware Description Language) specification yielding the final circuit layout. Even though there was much progress in developing such EDA tools for asynchronous circuit design during the last two decades, the maturity level as well as the acceptance of them is still not comparable with tools for synchronous circuit design. In particular, logic synthesis (which implies the application of Boolean minimisation techniques) for the entire system's control path can significantly improve the efficiency of the resulting asynchronous implementation, e.g. in terms of chip area and performance. However, logic synthesis, in particular for asynchronous circuits, suffers from complexity problems. Signal Transitions Graphs (STGs) are labelled Petri nets which are a widely used to specify the interface behaviour of speed independent (SI) circuits - a robust subclass of asynchronous circuits. STG decomposition is a promising approach to tackle complexity problems like state space explosion in logic synthesis of SI circuits. The (structural) decomposition of STGs is guided by a partition of the output signals and generates a usually much smaller component STG for each partition member, i.e. a component STG with a much smaller state space than the initial specification. However, decomposition can result in component STGs that in isolation have so-called irreducible CSC conflicts (i.e. these components are not SI synthesisable anymore) even if the specification has none of them. A new approach is presented to avoid such conflicts by introducing internal communication between the components. So far, STG decompositions are guided by the finest output partitions, i.e. one output per component. However, this might not yield optimal circuit implementations. Efficient heuristics are presented to determine coarser partitions leading to improved circuits in terms of chip area. For the new algorithms correctness proofs are given and their implementations are incorporated into the decomposition tool DESIJ. The presented techniques are successfully applied to some benchmarks - including 'real-life' specifications arising in the context of control resynthesis - which delivered promising results. / Moderner Schaltungsentwurf fokussiert hauptsächlich synchrone Schaltungstechnik mit allen inhärenten Problemen. Asynchone (d.h. ungetaktete) Schaltungen zeichnen sich jedoch nicht nur durch das Fehlen der Taktversatzproblematik gegenüber ihren synchronen Pendents aus, sondern auch insbesondere durch geringeren Energieverbrauch, günstigere EMV-Eigenschaften, hohe Performance, Modularität und Robustheit gegenüber Schwankungen in der Spannungsversorgung, im Herstellungsprozess sowie Temperaturunterschieden. Diese Vorteile werden mit höherer Integration sowie höheren Taktraten signifikanter. Jedoch ist der Entwurf und auch der Test asynchroner Schaltungen erheblich schwieriger verglichen mit synchronen Schaltungen. Entwurfswerkzeuge zur Synthese asynchroner Schaltungen aus Hochsprachen-Spezifikationen sind zwar inzwischen verfügbar, sie sind jedoch noch nicht so ausgereift und bei weitem noch nicht so akzeptiert in der Industrie, wie ihre Äquivalente für den synchronen Schaltungsentwurf. Insbesondere fehlt es an Werkzeugunterstützung im Bereich der Logiksynthese komplexer Steuerungen („Controller“), welche kritisch für die Effizienz – z.B. in Bezug auf Chipfläche und Geschwindigkeit – der resultierenden Schaltungen oder Systeme ist. Zur Spezifikation von Steuerungen haben sich Signalflankengraphen („signal transition graphs“, STGs) bewährt, die auch als Entwurfseinstieg für eine Logiksynthese von SI-Schaltungen („speed independent“) verwendet werden. (SI-Schaltungen gelten als sehr robuste asynchrone Schaltungen.) Aus den STGs werden zwecks Logiksynthese Automaten abgeleitet werden, deren Zustandszahl aber oft prohibitiv groß werden kann. Durch sogenannte STG-Dekomposition wird die Logiksynthese einer komplexen Schaltung ermöglicht, was bislang aufgrund von Zustandsexplosion oft nicht möglich war. Dabei wird der Spezifikations-STG laut einer gegebenen Partition von Ausgangssignalen in viele kleinere Teilnetze dekomponiert, wobei zu jedem Partitionsblock ein Teilnetz – mit normalerweise signifikant kleinerem Zustandsraum im Vergleich zur Spezifikation – erzeugt wird. Zu jedem Teilnetz wird dann eine Teilschaltung (Komponente) mittels Logiksynthese generiert. Durch die Anwendung von STG-Dekomposition können jedoch Teilnetze erzeugt werden, die sogenannte irreduzible CSC-Konflikte aufweisen (d.h. zu diesen Teilnetzen kann keine SI-Schaltung erzeugt werden), obwohl die Spezifikation keine solchen Konflikte hatte. Diese Arbeit präsentiert einen neuen Ansatz, welcher die Entstehung solcher irreduziblen Konflikte vermeidet, und zwar durch die Einführung interner Kommunikation zwischen den (zu den Teilnetzen gehörenden) Schaltungskomponenten. Bisher werden STG-Dekompositionen total durchgeführt, d.h. pro resultierender Komponente wird ein Ausgangssignal erzeugt. Das führt gewöhnlich nicht zu optimalen Schaltungsimplementierungen. In dieser Arbeit werden Heuristiken zur Bestimmung gröberer Ausgabepartitionen (d.h. Partitionsblöcke mit mehreren Ausgangssignalen) vorgestellt, die zu kleineren Schaltungen führen. Die vorgestellten Algorithmen werden formal abgesichert und wurden in das bereits vorhandene Dekompositionswerkzeug DESIJ integriert. An praxisrelevanten Beispielen konnten die vorgestellten Verfahren erfolgreich erprobt werden.

<p>Revisorns oberoende är ett ämne som det har diskuterats mycket kring det senaste årtiondet och efter de senaste årens redovisningsskandaler har äm-net aktualiserats igen. Det är ett svårgripbart ämne och det är upp till revisorn själv att avgöra om han/hon är oberoende och när detta är hotat. Revisorns huvudsakliga uppgift är att granska företagens årsredovisning, bokföring samt dess förvaltning. Det här ska genomföras självständigt och oberoende från företaget och andra intressenter. Revisorns roll har utvecklats från att endast vara en renodlad kontrollant till att idag även agera som konsult, vilket medfört att revisorns oberoende ställning ifrågasatts allt oftare. För att förhindra det här har Revisorslagen (2001:883) utökats med analysmodellen som både prövar och kan säkerställa revisorns oberoende.</p><p>Syftet med uppsatsen är att beskriva vilka uppfattningar som föreligger vad avser revisorns oberoende och analysmodellen i små revisionsbyråer bland godkända revisorer, kreditgivare och Skatteverket samt förklara vad eventuella skillnader i uppfattningarna beror på.</p><p>Vi har valt att göra en kvalitativ undersökning där vi undersökt hur revisorerna själva samt hur olika intressenter förhåller sig till oberoendeproblematiken och analysmodellen. Personliga intervjuer har genomförts med två godkända revisorer, två kreditgivare och en representant från Skatteverket.</p><p>Studien visar på att oberoendeproblematiken inte är ett så stort problem som media uppmålar. Revisorerna anser sig själva som mycket oberoende, vilket även kreditgivarna och Skatteverket gör. Intressenterna har stort förtroende för revisorerna.</p><p>Revisorerna anser att analysmodellen är ett hjälpmedel för att säkerställa oberoendet. När de tillämpar modellen upptäcker de lättare olika omständigheter som kan hota oberoendet och kan då i ett tidigt stadie vidta motåt-gärder för att eliminera hoten så att revisorerna kan ta sig an uppdragen. Dock är övriga respondenter inte direkt medvetna och analysmodellen och dess effekter, vilket troligen beror på att modellen är ett internt verktyg för revisorsyrket. Revisorerna upprätthåller sitt oberoende genom att inte sätta sig i beslutande ställning, d.v.s. agera rådgivare i samband med granskningen. Det är enligt alla respondenter viktigt att skilja på revisionsrådgivning och fristående rådgivning för att revisorn inte ska få ett inflytande och beroendeförhållande till sina klienter.</p> / <p>Auditor independence is a subject that has been discussed a lot the last ten years and after the last years accounting scandals the subject is up for discussion again. It is a subject that is very difficult to grasp and it has been up to the auditor to judge when he/she is independent and when it is threatened. The auditor’s primary task is to control a company’s annual statement, book-keeping and how the company is managed and the auditor is supposed to do this independently. The role of auditing has developed from being a controlling function to a more consultant function and the results of this have been that the independence of the auditor has been questioned. To prevent this, a new Auditor Act (Revisorslagen 2001:883) has been added with the Analysis model. The auditor should test every new audit commission according to the model before accepting the mission.</p><p>The purpose in this thesis is to describe conceptions regarding auditor’s in-dependence and the Analysis model within small firms of auditors, according to auditors themselves, credit granters and Tax department. We will also explain what possible differences in the conceptions depends on.</p><p>We have used a qualitative method where we have investigated how auditors themselves and different participants’ remain to the problematic within audit independence and the Analysis model. We have carried out personal interviews with two auditors, two credit granters and one person from the Tax department.</p><p>This research shows that the problematic with audit independence is not that huge as media says. The auditors’ see their self as independent and the credit grantors and the Tax department also agree.</p><p>The auditors consider the Analysis model as a support to remain their independence. The model helps them to see obstacles with different audit commissions, but the model also helps them to eliminate these obstacles so that they can accept the mission. The other respondents are not conscious about the model and its effects. We believe this depends on the fact that the model is an internal support for the auditor professions. The auditor maintains their independence by not being a deciding part for the company, i.e. act as a consultant in connection to the controlling function. It is important to distinguish between the consulting part within the auditing and the non-audit services, in order for the auditor to not reach dependency to their clients.</p>

<p>Interactions between combinatorics and statistical mechanics have provided many fruitful insights in both fields. A compelling example is Kuperberg’s solution to the alternating sign matrix conjecture, and its following generalisations. In this thesis we investigate two models from statistical mechanics which have received attention in recent years.</p><p>The first is the fully packed loop model. A conjecture from 2001 by Razumov and Stroganov opened the field for a large ongoing investigation of the O(1) loop model and its connections to a refinement of the fully packed loop model. We apply a combinatorial bijection originally found by de Gier to an older conjecture made by Propp.</p><p>The second model is the hard particle model. Recent discoveries by Fendley et al. and results by Jonsson suggests that the hard square model with cylindrical boundary conditions possess some beautiful combinatorial properties. We apply both topological and purely combinatorial methods to related independence complexes to try and gain a better understanding of this model.</p>

Diss. Helsinki : Helsinki Universitet. 2008.