Att undersöka bokföringsmanipulation är av stor betydelse bland stora företag eftersom manipulationer hos stora företag har stora risker för kunder och andra intressenter. Om många småföretagare skulle genomföra bokföringsmanipulationer, skulle konsekvenserna bli större än för stora företag. En redovisningskonsult som hjälper småföretagare att sköta löpande bokföring och rapportering till myndigheter har möjligheter att förhindra lagöverträdelse och genomföring av bokföringsmanipulation. Tidigare forskning fokuserade främst på stora företag som manipulerar för att presentera sina rapporter på bättre eller sämre sätt än det finns i verkligheten. Undersökningen har fokuserat på en redovisningskonsult och hens agerande på bokföringsmanipulation. Genom identifiering av flera utgångspunkter som kan påverka redovisningskonsultens agerande, försökte vi skapa förståelse kring redovisningskonsultens valmöjligheter och motivering till agerande.  Uppsatsen har inriktat sig att genomföra tre semistrukturerade intervjuer med redovisningskonsulterna. Intervjuerna har baserats på intervjuguide som utformats utifrån teoretiska antagande samt för att besvara undersökningens frågeställningar. Studien har abduktiv ansats eftersom den ger möjlighet att göra val mellan olika tolkningar som var antagna från respondenterna.  Resultaten visade sig att det kan förekommer bokföringsmanipulation bland företagare. Det finns olika riskgrupper bland kunder som kan försöka att manipulera med bokföringen. Om en redovisningskonsult vill driva långsiktiga verksamhet, undviker han eller hon att ta kunder som vill genomföra bokföringsmanipulationer. “Det är inte lönt” säger en av respondenterna. Det finns behov av framtida forskning kring omständigheter som nystartade redovisningsbyråer påträffar med kunder som vill genomföra bokföringsmanipulationer. Ytterligare förslag är en undersökning med liknelser och skillnader i agerande och påträffande av bokföringsmanipulation mellan kvinnliga och manliga redovisningskonsulter. / To investigate accounting manipulation is of great importance among large companies because manipulations at large companies have great risks to customers and other stakeholders. If small businesses were to carry out accounting manipulations, the consequences would be greater than for large companies. An accounting consultant who helps small businesses with accounting and reporting to authorities has the potential to prevent violations of the law and accounting manipulation. Previous research focused mainly on large companies that manipulate to present their reports in a better or worse way than they are. This thesis has focused on an accounting consultant and its actions on an accounting manipulation. By identifying several starting points that can influence the accounting consultant's actions, we tried to create an understanding of the accounting consultant's choices and motivation for action. The thesis has focused on conducting three semi-structured interviews with the accounting consultants. The interviews have been based on interview guides designed based on theoretical assumptions and to answer the survey's questions. The study has an abductive approach because it provides an opportunity to make choices between different interpretations that were adopted from the respondents. The results showed that there may be accounting manipulation among entrepreneurs. There are different risk groups among customers who may try to manipulate the accounting. If an accounting consultant wants to run a long-term business, he or she avoids taking clients who want to perform accounting manipulations. "It does not pay," says one of the respondents. There is a need for future research on circumstances that start-up accounting firms encounter with clients who want to carry out accounting manipulations. Another suggestion is an investigation comparing the differences in actions and the findings of accounting manipulation between female and male accounting consultants.

[pt] O setor da refrigeração possui um papel essencial e crescente na economia global, com um aumento na quantidade de sistemas operantes. A necessidade de desenvolver novos refrigerantes tem sido cada vez mais frequente, a fim de atender a legislações ambientais cada vez mais rigorosas. Igualmente, medidas envolvendo a introdução de novos materiais, como os nanofluidos, tem sido uma constante. Neste trabalho, um sistema de refrigeração usando uma mistura nanolubrificante POE-diamante e refrigerante R410A foi simulado. Dados experimentais cedidos pela Universidade Federal de Uberlândia (UFU) foram usados para a elaboração e validação do modelo. O simulador utiliza a equação de Peng-Robinson para o cálculo das propriedades termodinâmicas e o método de fronteira móvel para a modelagem dos trocadores. O impacto das nanopartículas em relação aos parâmetros críticos foi avaliado a partir do princípio do isomorfismo e da natureza de ambos os materiais: fluido base e nanopartículas. A convergência da simulação do ciclo de refrigeração foi obtida com o método do simplex modificado, que mostrou-se adequado para tal aplicação, apresentando convergência satisfatória em todos os casos. As temperaturas de evaporação, condensação e de descarga do compressor são obtidas a partir das condições de operação do compressor, dos dois fluidos de transferência de calor, do grau de superaquecimento no evaporador e também do grau de subresfriamento no condensador. Superfícies de resposta foram criadas a fim de avaliar o efeito de cada uma das variáveis (temperatura de evaporação, frequência do compressor e concentração de nanopartículas) utilizadas no estudo do coeficiente de performance (COP), da capacidade frigorífica e da potência do compressor. A temperatura de evaporação possui um impacto significativo sobre a capacidades frigorífica e o COP, enquanto que a potência é mais afetada pela frequência do compressor. A concentração de nanopartículas, apesar de possuir um efeito marginal, não deve ser desprezada, devido à modificação que causa sobre as propriedades termofísicas da mistura. / [en] The refrigeration sector has an essential and growing role in the global economy, with an increase in the number of operating systems. The need to develop new refrigerants has been increasingly frequent, in order to meet increasingly stringent environmental legislation. Equally, measures involving the introduction of new materials, such as nanofluids, have been a constant. In this work, a cooling system using a POE-diamond nanolubricant mixture and R410A refrigerant was simulated. Experimental data provided by the Federal University of Uberlândia (UFU) were used for the elaboration and validation of the model. The simulation uses the Peng-Robinson equation to calculate thermodynamic properties and the moving-boundary method for modeling the heat exchangers. The impact of the nanoparticles in relation to critical parameters was evaluated based on the principle of isomorphism and the nature of both materials: base fluid and nanoparticles. The convergence of the refrigeration cycle simulation was obtained with the modified simplex method, which proved to be adequate for such application, presenting satisfactory convergence in all cases. Evaporation,condensation and discharge temperatures are obtained from the operating conditions of compressor and both heat transfer fluids, the degree of superheating in the evaporator and also the degree of subcooling in the condenser. Response surfaces were created in order to evaluate the effect of each of the variables (evaporation temperature, compressor frequency and nanoparticle concentration) used in the study of the performance coefficient (COP), refrigeration capacity and compressor power. Results have shown that the evaporation temperature has a significant impact on the cooling capacity and the COP, while the power is mainly affected by the compressor frequency. The nanoparticles concentration, despite having a more attenuated effect, should not be neglected, due to the change it causes to the mixture thermophysical properties.

The field of sustainability accounting and reporting has developed immensely during the past couple of decades. Various reporting guidelines, recommendations, and standards had hit the market recently. However, Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has remained the most widely used framework for reporting sustainability and is considered a standard for reporting sustainability. Thus, using GRI 11: oil and gas standard as a proxy, the research was aimed to investigate, if standardization of sustainability reporting is perceived as an incentive, or poses a ceiling effect to potential sustainability reporting and performance. Thereby answering the following questions; (1) Is the organization willing to (or can) do more or less than that is required to be reported as per GRI Framework, in terms of reporting? (2) How does the company perceive the shift from GRI general standards to Sector-Specific Standards with respect to sustainability performanceA case study is conducted on an oil and gas EPC using qualitative research methodology. The data is collected through semi-structured interviews and three sustainability reports of the same organization. It was found that despite the apparent willingness of doing more than what is required to be reported by the standard, KPIs w.r.t. industry relevance are under-reported. Furthermore, it was found that GRI has proved to be an incentive for guiding the organization’s sustainability reporting. Even if the sector-specific standard/ guideline is considered a ceiling for sustainability reporting, the ceiling tends to be very high for the current performance of the organization.

I föreliggande uppsats studeras tillämpningen av Customer Relationship Management i svenska statliga myndigheter, med särskilt fokus på berörd personals uppfattningar om CRM-system. Undersökningar kring ämnet har tidigare verkställts i bland annat Västeuropa och USA och i dessa studier har tonvikt lagts på hur verksamhetens effektivitet har påverkats av CRM, men inga undersökningar av liknande slag har ägnats åt svenska myndigheter. För att genomföra en sådan studie, inriktad mot svenska förhållanden, har semistrukturerade intervjuer med CRM-kunniga personer på 7 stycken svenska myndigheter genomförts. Undersökningen är baserad på en fenomenografisk forskningsansats och ett antal olika teorier har tillämpats för att kunna tolka det empiriska underlaget från intervjuerna. Teorierna som kommer att beröras gäller Customer Relationship Management, New Public Management, Kritik mot NPM, De fyra E:na, Kunder/klienter, Kommunikationsstrategier, Tillit, Organisationsförändringar/motstånd samt Isomorfism. Analysen har tagit stöd av dessa teorier, varigenom undersökningen har kunnat genomföras från ett allsidigt perspektiv. En slutsats som dragits efter genomförd analys är att respondenterna upplevde att CRM-system har en avsevärd potential att effektivisera de berörda myndigheternas verksamhet. En annan är att det finns ett behov av CRM-forskning inriktad mot svenska myndighetsförhållanden, eftersom dessa på många sätt skiljer sig från de som råder i utlandet. / In the present essay, the application of Customer Relationship Management in Swedish government agencies is studied, with a particular focus on the perceptions of the personnel concerned with CRM systems. Research on the topic has previously been carried out in, among other places, Western Europe and the USA, and in these studies emphasis has been placed on how the business's efficiency has been affected by CRM, but no research of a similar kind has been carried out in Sweden. In order to conduct such a study focused on Swedish conditions, semi-structured interviews with 7 Swedish government authorities have been carried out. The investigation is based on a phenomenographic research approach and a number of different theories have been applied in order to interpret the empirical data. Those to be invoked concern Customer Relationship Management, New Public Management, Criticism of NPM, The four E's, Customers/clients, Communication strategies, Trust, Organizational changes/resistance and Isomorphism. The subsequent analysis has been supported by these theories, whereby it has been possible to carry out the investigation applying an all-round perspective. A conclusion drawn from the analysis was that the respondents felt that CRM systems have considerable potential to streamline the operations of the relevant authorities. Another is that there is a need for CRM research aimed at Swedish government authorities, as these differ in many ways from those that prevail abroad.

This publication-based dissertation concerns the syndication and value creation activities of heterogenous corporate venture capital funds over six chapters. The first chapter serves as an introduction to venture capital heterogeneity and syndication and provides an overview of the four research papers included in the dissertation. The second chapter is a systematic literature review of recent research on heterogeneous venture capital syndication. Therein the underlying motivation, dynamics and results of fund- and affiliation-heterogenous syndicates are clearly identified, integrated and promising avenues for further research are specified. The third chapter is a research paper on the value creation activities of investment syndicates among independent and corporate venture capital funds. Building on a cross-industry sample of 35 interviews this inductive study identifies the determinants of value creation, integrating them in a matrix comprising shareholder relationships, corporate setup, venture lifecycle and deal terms. Chapter four is a research paper that empirically observes how corporate venture capital units leverage the resources of their incumbent parents to generate value for their portfolio firms. Based on case studies of 11 corporate venture capital units the paper reveals the mechanism behind corporate venture capital value creation holistically and identifies eight design elements that result in a typology of four distinctive archetypes. The last research paper is chapter five and concerns the distinct impact structurally heterogeneous corporate venture capital funds have on portfolio firms operating efficiency. Employing the longitudinal, European Union sponsored VICO dataset the paper finds differences in CVC structure, autonomy and objectives to have implications on firm efficiency. The present dissertation is concluded in the sixth chapter, highlighting contributions, limitations and promising avenues for further research.

In this dissertation, we investigate various aspects of signed graphs, with a particular focus on signings and sign-symmetric signed graphs. We begin by examining the complete graph on six vertices with one edge deleted ($K_6$\textbackslash e) and explore the different ways of signing this graph up to switching isomorphism. We determine the frustration index (number) of these signings and investigate the existence of sign-symmetric signed graphs. We then extend our study to the $K_6$\textbackslash 2e graph and the McGee graph with exactly two negative edges. We investigate the distinct ways of signing these graphs up to switching isomorphism and demonstrate the absence of sign-symmetric signed graphs in some cases. We then introduce and study the signed graph class $\mathcal{S}$, which includes all sign-symmetric signed graphs, we prove several theorems and lemmas as well as discuss the class of tangled sign-symmetric signed graphs. Also, we study the graph class $\mathcal{G}$, consisting of graphs with at least one sign-symmetric signed graph, prove additional theorems and lemmas, and determine certain families within $\mathcal{G}$. Our results have practical applications in various fields such as social psychology and computer science.

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This study focuses on the factors influencing the diffusion of FinTech in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, analysing both financial institutions and technology companies. The research acknowledges the challenges associated with the spread of FinTech and aims to address these issues. The research employs Institutional Theory. To achieve comprehensive insights, a qualitative technique is employed. The initial phase involves an extensive literature review to understand FinTech and identify gaps in academic research. Subsequently, the impact of PESTEL factors is highlighted based on the literature. In the third stage, semi-structured interviews are conducted with 25 participants, representing three to four individuals per country. The Thematic Analysis approach is employed to analyse the interview data. The study's findings reveal that several factors significantly influence the adoption of FinTech services as a preferred transaction method. Perceived utility, security, and social impact concerns are identified as drivers of behavioural intentions. Additionally, the technical attributes and ease of use of digital tools impact behavioural patterns. Furthermore, the innovation and technical features embedded within FinTech products and services contribute to their diffusion and acceptance. The research has practical implications for both academia and practitioners in the FinTech industry. It assists financial service providers and institutions in designing user-centric FinTech products and services. Enhancing security and usability is crucial to improving the user experience and consumer confidence. By considering technological and behavioural characteristics and analysing the impact of PESTEL elements, this study contributes to the existing literature on technology diffusion, providing valuable insights to academics and practitioners.

Denna studie undersöker hur små och medelstora företag i Sverige implementerar EU:s NIS-direktiv genom sina cybersäkerhetsstrategier och -policyer. Syftet är att identifiera de huvudsakliga utmaningarna och framgångsfaktorerna i denna process. Genom intervjuer med ledande personer inom dessa företag framkommer det att ledningens fulla engagemang är avgörande för att integrera NIS-direktivens krav i den dagliga verksamheten. Studien identifierar tvångsmässig och mimetisk isomorfism som viktiga faktorer för anpassning, där företagen påverkas både av regulatoriska krav och av att efterlikna framgångsrika strategier från andra företag. Resultaten visar att proaktiv riskhantering, inklusive regelbundna utbildningar och användning av standarder som ISO 27001 och NIST, stärker företagens motståndskraft mot cyberhot. Användning av externa konsulter är en effektiv strategi, trots de höga kostnaderna. Studien betonar behovet av skräddarsydda cybersäkerhetsstrategier som tar hänsyn till varje företags unika förutsättningar och behov / This study investigates how small and medium-sized enterprises in Sweden implement the EU's NIS Directive through their cybersecurity strategies and policies. The aim is to identify the main challenges and success factors in this process. Interviews with key individuals within these companies reveal that strong leadership engagement is crucial for integrating the NIS Directive requirements into daily operations. The study identifies coercive and mimetic isomorphism as significant factors for adaptation, where companies are influenced both by regulatory demands and by mimicking successful strategies from other firms. The findings show that proactive risk management, including regular training and the use of standards such as ISO 27001 and NIST, enhances companies' resilience against cyber threats. The use of external consultants is an effective strategy, despite the high costs. The study emphasizes the need for tailored cybersecurity strategies that consider each company's unique conditions and needs.

Titel: Harmonisering av global hållbarhetsredovisning - vilka möjligheter och hinder finns det? Nivå: Examensarbete på grundnivå (kandidatexamen) i ämnet företagsekonomi Författare: Emma Magnfält och Martina Bäckstedt Handledare: Asif M. Huq Datum: 2024 – Maj  Syfte: Studiens syfte är att undersöka möjligheter och hinder för harmonisering av global hållbarhetsredovisning med utgångspunkt i intressenters remissvar till IFRS General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related Financial Information (IFRS S1). Metod: I denna studie har en kvalitativ metod med en abduktiv forskningsansats tillämpats, som innefattar en innehållsanalys av 39 remissvar avseende feedback på första utkastet av IFRS S1. En jämförelseanalys av utkastet och den utfärdade standarden IFRS S1 har utförts. Resultat och slutsats: Resultatet visade att det finns både likheter och skillnader i de åsikter intressenter har på utkastet till IFRS S1. Skillnader mellan geografiska områden kan hänföras till institutionella faktorer vilka bottnar i tvingande isomorfism och länders olika utvecklingsgrad, medan skillnader mellan intressentgrupper hänförs till normativ isomorfism. Likheter hänvisas till tendenser av normativ isomorfism. Det visade sig även att ISSB kategoriserar intressenter och till viss del tillgodoser intressenternas behov. Examensarbetets bidrag: Studien bidrar med ett aktuellt perspektiv över förutsättningarna för harmonisering av global hållbarhetsredovisning. Bidrag ges även i form av teoretiska insikter i hur såväl tvingande som normativ isomorfism påverkar möjligheterna till harmonisering av global hållbarhetsredovisning. Studien möjliggör ett bredare perspektiv av ISSB:s standardsättarprocess. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Framtida forskning kan undersöka intressentgruppers synpunkter mer djupgående än vad denna studie fick möjlighet att göra, samt undersöka utfallet av den globala hållbarhetsredovisningen som efterföljer den utfärdade IFRS S1.  Nyckelord: Harmonisering, hållbarhetsredovisning, intressentteorin, institutionell teori, isomorfism, country-of-origin effekt / Title: Harmonization of global sustainability reporting - what are the opportunities and obstacles? Level: Student thesis, final assignment for Bachelor Degree in Business Administration Author: Emma Magnfält and Martina Bäckstedt Supervisor: Asif M. Huq Date: 2024 – May  Aim: The purpose of the study is to investigate opportunities and obstacles for harmonizing global sustainability reporting based on stakeholders' comment letters to IFRS General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related Financial Information (IFRS S1). Method: In this study, a qualitative method with an abductive research approach has been applied, which includes a content analysis of 39 comment letters regarding feedback on the first draft of IFRS S1. A comparative analysis of the draft versus the issued standard IFRS S1 has been made. Results and conclusions: The results of the study showed similarities and differences in the feedback stakeholders left for the draft of IFRS S1. Differences of opinions in geographical areas stems from institutional factors created by coercive isomorphism and countries' different developmental stages. Differences between stakeholder groups relate to tendencies of normative isomorphism. Similarities of opinions also depend on normative isomorphism. The study also revealed that ISSB categorizes stakeholder groups and accommodates stakeholder needs to a certain degree. Contribution of the thesis: The study contributes with an updated perspective of harmonizing global sustainability reporting. Theoretical contributions are given through the insights in how coercive and normative isomorphism affects the possibilities for harmonizing global sustainability reporting. The study brings insights into ISSB's standard-setting process. Suggestions for future research: Future research can examine the views of stakeholder groups in more depth than this study was able to, as well as investigate the outcome of global sustainability reporting that follows the issued IFRS S1. Key words: Harmonization, sustainability reporting, stakeholder theory, institutional theory, isomorphism, country-of-origin effect