In May 2000 share repurchases were legalized in Sweden, with the purpose to provide companies with an efficient and flexible way to distribute capital. To buy back shares gives companies several benefits which are discussed in our study. The lack of academic research about this topic for Swedish companies gave us an incentive to provide knowledge specifically for this market. When companies announce a share repurchase program they are subject to uncertainty about the society’s reaction and economic consequences. Individuals within a well established organizational field deal rationally with uncertainty by adjusting to their institutional environment. The institutional environment can be defined as an abstract structure of regulations and behavioral norms that guide human’s decisions. This often leads to homogeneity in companies’ culture, structure and output. We ask the question if companies are realizing repurchase programs in a similar way over time, and if share repurchases have been developed as a more common used financial instrument since 2000. Our second question is if companies that decide to buy back shares pursue this under similar economic conditions as a result from becoming homogeneous. The purpose of this study is to describe how institutional pressures in form of coercive, normative and mimetic isomorphism have affected companies’ decision to repurchase shares. We want to explain if there is an upward going trend of share repurchases, a standardized way to repurchase over time and if this decision can be determined by similarities in certain financial indicators of a company’s economic situation. To answer our purpose we used a quantitative research strategy with a deductive approach. The collected data was analyzed in a logistic regression analysis and by interpretations of descriptive statistics. We decided to examine for mimetic isomorphism public companies listed within the industrial sector on Stockholm Stock Exchange from the years 2000-2006. For the test of coercive and normative isomorphism with a logistic regression analysis we had to limit ourselves to investigate the years 2001-2003. In reality the three institutional pressures are working simultaneously and should together lead to a common perception about share repurchases among companies. For our testing we separated institutional isomorphism based on our theoretical preconceptions. This allowed us to analyze each individual institutional pressure and how they interact together. We defined mimetic isomorphism as companies adjusting their repurchase behavior to other companies within the industrial sector. Our result has not shown any indications of such a behavior concerning time, amount or frequency of the buybacks. Testing if certain financial indicators such as excess cash, liquidity, solvency, dividends, volatile operative income, prior year return, growth opportunities, companies’ size, ownership concentration, institutional and individual shareholders could explain stock repurchase activity gave us the possibility to evaluate coercive and normative isomorphism. But the question how institutional isomorphism affects companies’ repurchase decisions still remains unanswered. We have not found any certain financial indicator which motivates companies’ decision to buy back their own shares. The decision might therefore be carried out under very different economic conditions and with different objectives. In the industrial sector and generally in the whole Swedish market only a relatively low proportion of companies buy back shares. The stated findings for the Swedish market imply a need for further investigations over a longer time horizon and for a larger population. Further investigations in this topic which has the potential to provide recent insight into the stock repurchase decision for Swedish companies would enhance and verify our statements.

Svensk kod för bolagsstyrning trädde i kraft 1 juli 2005, Sverige var då ett av de sista länderna i Europa med att skaffa sig en kod. Anledningen till att koden introducerades var för att höja kunskapen om och öka förtroendet för svensk bolagsstyrning, samt att stärka näringslivets effektivitet och konkurrenskraft, detta både inom och utanför Sveriges gränser. Att koden kom just då hade att göra med de stora redovisningsskandaler internationellt sett med Enron och Worldcom som exempel men också med anledning av de felaktiga bonussystem som i Sverige innefattar Skandia, där Skandias förre VD Lars-Eric Petersson i dagarna dömts till 2 års fängelse. De bolag som omfattas av Svensk kod för bolagsstyrning är alla bolag på A-listan samt de på O-listan med ett marknadsvärde överstigande 3 miljarder kronor. Totalt handlar det om 84 st bolag. Denna uppsats syftar till att beskriva hur de berörda företagen på A- och O-listan har mottagit koden med avseende på motstånd till förändring, samt förklara vad motståndet beror på. För att besvara syftet skickades en enkät ut till samtliga bolag. Enkäten utformades för att mäta variablerna förändringsgrad, svårigheter med införandet och graden av nytta med koden, vilka konstruerades utifrån institutionell teori och teori kring motstånd mot förändring. Av den totala populationen på 84 st företag svarade 44 st på enkäten, vilket motsvarar en svarsfrekvens på 52 %. Utifrån teorin och den inhämtade empirin, drogs följande slutsatser. Det har konstaterats att bolagen inte har haft några större svårigheter med att implementera koden. De befintliga rutinerna i bolagen kan inte heller anses förklara hela motståndet. Det är snarare den ökade administrationen som inte har legitimitet genom att det finns en tveksamhet till kodens nytta, som förklarar förändringsmotståndet.

Med utgångspunkt i den livliga debatt som fördes kring bonusutbetalningar i samband med finanskrisen och det skadade förtroende för rörliga ersättningar den resulterade i syftar denna studie till att undersöka hur man idag återskapar legitima rörliga ersättningssystem. Studien ämnar även svara på frågan varför organisationer, trots stora kostnader, väljer att använda sig av rörliga ersättningssystem. Med agentteorin och nyinstitutionell teori som referensramar genomfördes en kvalitativ undersökning vilken bestod av sex semi-strukturerade expertintervjuer. Tre av dessa intervjuer genomfördes med representanter för tre olika organisationer, två av intervjuerna gjordes med oberoende konsulter som specialiserat sig på utformning av rörliga ersättningssystem och slutligen intervjuades en jurist som arbetar med föreskrifter gällande rörlig ersättning inom den finansiella sektorn. Analys av intervjuerna hanterades med etnografisk kvalitativ metodik som utgångspunkt för att skapa ett kodschema kopplat till vår teori. Två analysmodeller användes sedermera på de koder vi fick fram: Den komparativa analysen och den idealtypcentrerade analysen. I studien framkommer att organisationer alltmer använder sig av transparenta system för sina rörliga ersättningar i syfte att legitimera dessa. Alltfler anställda tenderar även att innefattas i det rörliga ersättningssystemet, oberoende av vilken befattning och funktion de har i organisationen, detta för att skapa en större acceptans för systemet. Resultatet visar att det dock fortfarande finns en klick anställda som i många fall står utanför de nyskapade rörliga ersättningssystemen: den högsta ledningen. Vidare finner vi i studien att organisationer använder rörliga ersättningssystem som en styrteknik; i och med att de kopplat ersättning till måluppfyllnad skapas en acceptans för systemet och ifrågasättande av de uppsatta målen minskar. / Based on the lively debate on bonus payments that took place due to the financial and damaged the trust for variable compensation systems, this study aims to answer the question of how to recover legitimate variable compensation for this present day. The study also intends to answer the question of why organizations, despite great expense, choose to use variable compensation systems. Using the New Institutional theory and the Agency theory as frameworks, a qualitative study is performed consisting of six semi-structured expert interviews. Three of these interviews were conducted with representatives of the three organizations, two of the interviews were conducted by independent consultants specializing in the design of variable compensation systems and the last interview was conducted with an expert on variable compensation in the financial sector. The analysis of the interviews was performed with an ethnographic quantitative methodology as a basis to create a coding scheme linked to the proposed theories. From this approach, the interviews were narrowed down to codes which were then analyzed with two different analytical models: the comparative analysis and the ideal type centered. The study shows that organizations tend to increasingly exceed the transparency in the compensation system in order to legitimize them. In addition, variable compensation systems tend to include a greater number of employees, at various levels and functions within the organization, with the purpose of creating a greater acceptance of the system. Despite this, there are still a group of employees which, to some extent, are outside the system: the top management and directors. Furthermore, this study finds that organizations tend use variable compensation as a control technique, due to the connection between compensation and performance that creates an acceptance of the system and decreases the questioning of goal-setting.

This thesis proposes a conceptual framework to analyze the choice of organizational form and assess the shifts in organizational behaviour and form. This thesis argues that the choice of organizational form is an outcome of an individuals or groups mode of identification within the dominant organizational form and property rights structure of society. The framework places/situates the investor-owned firm (IOF) in a position of identification with the dominant ideology and property rights structure of society. The state-owned enterprise (SOE) occupies a position of counter-identification with the dominant ideology and property rights structure of society. The co-operative, on the other hand, represents a dis-identification with both the IOF and the SOE as this form works on and against the ideologies and property rights structures associated with the two former organizational forms.<p>Further, the thesis argues that endogenous and exogenous pressures may cause some organizations to shift their organizational behaviour and form. The researcher examines how internal problems in co-operative organizations (i.e., horizon and principal-agent problems) can exacerbate exogenous pressures (i.e., increasing competition and/or government deregulation) from the market and/or state causing the co-op to imitate the strategies or property rights structure of the IOF in order to cope with these issues. <p>Profiles of the formation of the Saskatchewan Co-operative Wholesale Society and the Consumers Co-operative Refineries Limited and the conversion of the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool are used to illustrate the conceptual framework and support the arguments made in this thesis.

In this thesis we construct for a given smooth, generic Hamiltonian H on the 2n dimensional torus a chain-isomorphism between the Morse complex of the Hamiltonian action on the free loop space of the torus and the Floer-complex. Though both complexes are generated by the critical points of the Hamiltonian action, their boundary operators differ. Therefore the construction of the isomorphism is based on counting the moduli spaces of hybrid-type solutions which involves stating a new non-Lagrangian boundary value problem for Cauchy-Riemann type operators not yet studied in Floer theory. It is crucial for the statement that the torus is compact, possesses trivial tangent bundle and an additive structure. We finally want to note that the problem is completely symmetric.

This thesis proposes a conceptual framework to analyze the choice of organizational form and assess the shifts in organizational behaviour and form. This thesis argues that the choice of organizational form is an outcome of an individuals or groups mode of identification within the dominant organizational form and property rights structure of society. The framework places/situates the investor-owned firm (IOF) in a position of identification with the dominant ideology and property rights structure of society. The state-owned enterprise (SOE) occupies a position of counter-identification with the dominant ideology and property rights structure of society. The co-operative, on the other hand, represents a dis-identification with both the IOF and the SOE as this form works on and against the ideologies and property rights structures associated with the two former organizational forms.<p>Further, the thesis argues that endogenous and exogenous pressures may cause some organizations to shift their organizational behaviour and form. The researcher examines how internal problems in co-operative organizations (i.e., horizon and principal-agent problems) can exacerbate exogenous pressures (i.e., increasing competition and/or government deregulation) from the market and/or state causing the co-op to imitate the strategies or property rights structure of the IOF in order to cope with these issues. <p>Profiles of the formation of the Saskatchewan Co-operative Wholesale Society and the Consumers Co-operative Refineries Limited and the conversion of the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool are used to illustrate the conceptual framework and support the arguments made in this thesis.

This study analyzes the process of the diffusion of structures and practices in an organizational setting using the theory of new institutionalism as the theoretical basis. The explanation of the diffusion process has been subject to major variations due to epistemological and ontological reasons. Former theories of organizational reality looked at organizations as their sole units of analyses and accounted for the diffusion process accordingly / however, today, it is widely observed and accepted that organizational behavior is shaped by historical and environmental factors. This investigation aims to provide evidence for how certain structures and practices diffuse through organizational settings while others do not. Consequently, a qualitative design was conducted to explore the diffusion process in the case of the Council of Higher Education, a high-level bureaucratic organization in Turkey. Fifteen key informants, present or former university rectors and members of the Council, were interviewed and the accumulated data were analyzed qualitatively. Also, the findings were matched and supported with relevant documents analyzed additionally. The findings drawn from the investigation indicate that the emergence of the Council implicates a pattern visible throughout the history of Turkish higher education. The Council is spotted as an important agent in redefining Turkish higher education and thus creating a new organizational field for it. Yet, highly dynamic and interactive face of today&rsquo / s higher education calls for reconsideration of the Council and its functions. A major conclusion that can be reached in this context is that the issue of legitimacy depends on the satisfaction of several demands and expectations at various levels. Therefore, even a formal and regulative organization, such as the Council of Higher Education is prone to the pressures of the organizational field it operates within and is called upon to redefine its structures and implementations accordingly in order to secure its legitimacy.

The purpose of this case study was to understand governance of higher education in the developing country of Belize by examining how governance affects financial and curricular decision-making in higher education in Belize. The study also examined the role of the market in higher education and its effects on curricular and financial decision-making in higher education. Data were collected from higher education administrators and Ministry of Education officials through semi-structured interviews, and from review of institutional and public documents related to higher education. A major finding of this study is that although the Ministry of Education through the Tertiary and Post Secondary Services Unit is responsible for the supervision and development of the higher education system, there is a lack of expertise in this "Unit". The lack of expertise means that there is no one who can advise the Ministry of Education in respect to the direction or development of higher education. The study also revealed that there is a lack of an adequate funding formula to support the University of Belize and the junior colleges. While the junior colleges receive only salary grants, UB receives a yearly subvention for capital and recurring expenditures. The lack of a funding formula to include capital projects stifles the infrastructural development of the institution and affects the quality of education offered. The study also revealed that there is a lack of a national development plan to assist institutions in identifying academic programs that meet national development needs. As a result, academic programs are often identified based on market needs, perceived community needs, and social and religious needs depending on the religious affiliation of the institution. Another finding of the study is the role of the market in higher education in Belize. The market plays or should play a role in guiding higher education in Belize, but there is a need for policies and measures to be instituted to lessen the effects of the market. Also, while competition among institutions is necessary because of the small size of the higher education system, collaboration is even more crucial.

Kvalitetssäkringssystem är vanligt förekommande inom organisationsvärlden idag. Sedan 2009 är alla statliga myndigheter i Sverige skyldiga att ha ett miljöledningssystem, vilket även bör certifieras enligt ISO 14001 eller EMAS. När organisationer inför den här typen av system leder det ofta till stora variationer i utfall. I vissa organisationer blir inte konceptet mycket mer än ett beslutsdokument eller en verkningslös policy, känd i stort sett enbart av ledningsgruppen. Hos andra organisationer implementeras systemet neråt i organisationen och får praktiska följder på den operativa verksamheten, med ett positivt utfall som följd. Variationerna har dokumenterats i tidigare studier där flera organisationer som infört samma koncept har jämförts. Det har skett på ett övergripande plan där forskare har sökt generella svar på vad som orsakar variationerna i utfall. Den här fallstudien bidrar med en djupanalys på mikronivå där en enskild organisation studerats. Det utesluter möjligheten till en jämförande ansats gentemot andra certifierade lärosäten, men å andra sidan lämnar det utrymme för en mer detaljerad analys av den unika organisatoriska kontexten. Organisationen i fråga, Högskolan i Borås, införde 2012 ett ISO-certifierat miljöledningssystem. Studien syftar till att förklara utfallet av införandet genom att analysera vilka påverkande aspekter som förekommit. Empirin som analysen grundar sig på består av datamaterial från semistrukturerade intervjuer samt studier av dokument från en femårsperiod. De påverkande aspekterna står att finna både i drivkrafterna bakom införandet och i implementeringsprocessen av miljöledningssystemet. Tillsammans ger de en detaljerad helhetsbild av vad som gynnat och vad som motverkat processen att få ett kvalitetssäkringssystem att generera effektivt kvalitetsarbete, utifrån lokala och specifika förutsättningar i en organisation. Två aspekter som gynnat implementeringsprocessen av miljöledningssystemet framträder med särskild tydlighet i den här fallstudien; Skapandet av en gemensam vision inom organisationen kring det införda konceptet, samt utvecklandet av artefakter så som strukturer, riktlinjer och rutiner i arbetet med miljöledningssystemet. Det senare förutsätter visserligen inte attitydsförändringar hos individer inom organisationen, men generarar ändå resultatförbättringar och påverkar därmed utfallet positivt. / Quality assurance systems are common in the organizational world today. Since 2009, all Swedish government agencies are obliged to have an environmental management system, which should also needs to be certified according to ISO 14001 or EMAS. When organizations adopt this type of system it often leads to large variations in outcomes. In some organizations the concept will not be much more than a decision document or an ineffective policy, known almost exclusively by the management team. In other organizations the system is implemented down in the organization and has practical implications on the operational activities, with positive outcomes as a result. These variations have been documented in previous studies where several organizations that have adopted the same concept have been compared. This has been done on a comprehensive level in which researchers have sought general answers to what causes variations in outcomes. The contribution from this case study is a deep analysis at a micro level where a single organization has been studied. It excludes the possibility of a comparative approach towards other certified educational institutions, but on the other hand, it leaves room for a more detailed analysis of the unique organizational context. The organization in question, The University of Borås, introduced an ISO certified environmental management system in 2012. The study aims to explain the outcome of this introduction by analyzing the influencing aspects that occurred. The empirical data on which the analysis is based on consists of datasets from semi-structured interviews and studies of documents from a five-year period. These influencing aspects can be found both in the driving forces behind the introduction and also in the implementation process of the environmental management system. Together they provide a detailed overview of what favored and what counteracted the process of getting the quality assurance system to generate efficient quality results, based on local and specific conditions in the organization. Two aspects that favored the implementation process of the environmental management system emerges with particular clarity in this case study; The creation of a shared vision within the organization around the introduced concept, and also the development of artifacts, such as structures, policies and procedures related to the environmental management system. The latter presupposes not changing attitudes of individuals within the organization, but it still leads to performance improvements and thereby affecting the outcome in a positive way.The language of this paper is Swedish.

This study, which was conducted in Sweden, was based on four qualitative semi-structured interviews. The aim of this study was to create an understanding of how a municipality designs the sanction for youth offenders called ”youth service” based on the law that establishes the existence of such a sentence. We interviewed social workers that work at the department of youth service in the municipality of Gothenburg, who exclusively deal with youth offenders’ sentenced to youth service as their job assignment. We asked the social workers how the municipality of Gothenburg has designed and structured its youth service as well as how and why the chosen design came to be. The result was thermalized with four topics: how is youth service designed? The reasoning behind Gothenburg’s design, the adjustment of the process of evaluating the suitability of the sentence youth service for the young offender and lastly, collaboration. Our analysis was based on neo-institutional organization theory and on protective factors that protect against negative outcomes. Based on the result that the semi-structured interviews yielded we found that Gothenburg’s designed work method very well resembled the law and guidelines issued two years subsequent the date the law gained legal force. Additionally, we found that the department for youth service in Gothenburg influenced the guidelines that were issued two years after the law gained legal force. To which degree could not be determined in this study, however some of the social workers stated that Gothenburg did not have to adjust to the guidelines when they were issued and that it was satisfying for them that the National Board of Health and Welfare listened to their organization in the process preceded the issuing of the guidelines. Lastly, the interviewed social workers reported that the municipalities collaborate regarding the design of their respective youth services to increase uniformity. The interviews indicated that Gothenburg’s designed work method was considered successful in that other municipalities contacted Gothenburg in order to study how they worked with the sanction that is youth service. This collaboration might lead to an increase of municipalities acquiring Gothenburg’s work method, which in the future may lead to a nationwide institutionalization of Gothenburg’s designed work method with youth service.