Problem: That the clients expectations could be influenced by the relationship either positively or negatively. The relationship phases were redefined by Ruyter and Wetzels in 1999 describing the relationship in depth. Purpose: This paper’s purpose is to identify if there are any patterns in the relationship phases regarding the expectations and to discover how high expectations every phase has. Method: We have chosen positivism as our research philosophy and used a mix of a qualitative and quantitative study where we interviewed eight micro-company managers in Sweden. The paper is based on a deductive approach where we try to validate theories that have already been made. Theory: Our study contains theories discussing the audit profession, relationship phases, and the role of auditors, rules to keep an auditor unbiased, expectations on auditors and how an auditor can keep his objectivity, impartiality and independence. Conclusions: The conclusions of our study are that the expectations vary depending on which relationship phase they are in. Another conclusion is that the communication itself could be a major factor in building their relationship. We noticed that there were patterns between the two.

Background and purpose: Large and micro companies in the clothing industry are working with CSR in different ways and to different extent. There are clear differences between large and micro clothing companies in regard to how their CSR work looks like. This study is about to find out what the differences are between the large and micro companies and what underlying motives they have for working with CSR.Method: The method that is used during this study is a qualitative method. The qualita-tive method involves making a thorough investigation, which also results in in-depth answers and not just answers like yes or no. Results of a qualitative research are often presented as quotations or as a narrative text.In this study interviews are used in order to fulfill the purpose. Answers of how compa-nies work with CSR cannot be gathered just by asking a few standardized questions. In-stead an interview will allow us to come close to the company and understand the whole concept of their CSR work. The companies that have been interviewed are KappAhl, Intersport, Crazy Horse and Alinas.Conclusion: There is a lack of knowledge in the CSR field between large and micro companies. Micro companies do not have the same knowledge, resources or time as large companies have. A difference that has been shown is that the micro companies do engage in CSR activities, although in a small scale compared to the large companies, even if they do not know it themselves. Large companies engage far more in CSR activ-ities and spend a lot of resources on these kinds of activities.The large and the micro companies also have different motives for working with CSR questions. There is a difference between newly established micro companies and micro companies that have been around for a while. The new companies do actually thinkabout CSR and believe that it is important that they are socially responsible, even if they do not have the resources to actually engage in different activities in order to do so. The well established micro company on the other hand does not think that much about CSR and use the same suppliers as they have always done.A clear motive why large companies as KappAhl and Intersport work with CSR is that they want to give something back to the world. Therefore they engage in activities where they have their operations in order to create a better environment. They take their responsibility even externally and not just internally, as the micro companies do.

Det pågår en intensiv debatt i Sverige om revisionspliktens vara eller inte vara i små aktiebolag. Sverige är ett av få europeiska länder som fortfarande har kvar en lagstadgad revisionsplikt för samtliga aktiebolag, och debatten är även av än mer intresse när Svensk redovisnings- och revisionsstandard alltmer anpassas till internationell standard. Ett medlemsland i Europeiska Unionen har möjligheten att undanta små aktiebolag från revisionsplikt. Men på grund av rådande regler i Sverige ska alla aktiebolag följa samma regler, något som ifrågasätts i debatten. Debatten om revisionsplikten är aktuell och viktig eftersom ungefär 200 000 aktiebolag skulle påverkas om revisionsplikten skulle tas bort. Det övergripande syftet med uppsatsen är att bidra till debatten om revisionsplikt för små aktiebolag, genom att gå bakom “ja- och nejdebatte.” Vi kommer att beskriva och förklara attityderna till revisionsplikten, samt till de existerande redovisningsreglerna hos mikroföretag i två olika branscher. För att uppfylla syftet har vi genomfört en kvalitativ studie. Vi har intervjuat ägarna till sex mikroföretag från två olika branscher, nämligen organisationskonsulter och byggnadsentreprenörer. De viktigaste slutsatserna från den här studien är, att oberoende av deras respektive attityd till revisionsplikten är det ingen av respondenterna, som skulle vilja ta bort revisionsplikten för små aktiebolag. Vidare uppfattar respondenterna inom byggnadsentreprenörsbranschen redovisningsreglerna som mer komplicerade än respondenterna inom organisationskonsultbranschen och en förenkling av reglerna skulle inte förändra någon av respon-denternas attityd till revisionsplikten / There is an extensive debate going on in Sweden about the being or not being of the statutory audit for small limited companies. Sweden is one of the few European countries that still have a statutory audit for all limited companies, and the debate is even more of immediate interest when the Swedish accounting and auditing standards are converging more and more to international standards. A member state in the European Union has the possibility to exempt small limited companies from the statutory audit. But due to the current regulations in Sweden, all limited companies are to follow the same rules, which is questioned in the debate. This debate is a current and important issue due to that approximately 200 000 limited companies would be affected if the statutory audit would be abolished. The overall purpose of this thesis is to contribute to the debate about the statutory audit for small limited companies, by moving beyond the “yes and no debate”. We will describe and explain the attitudes towards the statutory audit and the existing accounting regulations among micro companies in two different business sectors. In order to fulfil the purpose, we have conducted a qualitative study. We have interviewed the owners of six micro companies from two different business sectors, namely organizational consultants and building contractors. The main conclusions from this study are that independent of their respective attitudes towards the statutory audit, none of the respondents would like the statutory audit to be abolished for small limited companies. Further, the respondents within the building contractors business perceive the accounting rules as more complicated than the respondents within the organizational consultants sector do, and a simplification of regulation would not change any of the respondents’ attitudes towards the statutory audit.

<p>Det pågår en intensiv debatt i Sverige om revisionspliktens vara eller inte vara i små aktiebolag. Sverige är ett av få europeiska länder som fortfarande har kvar en lagstadgad revisionsplikt för samtliga aktiebolag, och debatten är även av än mer intresse när Svensk redovisnings- och revisionsstandard alltmer anpassas till internationell standard. Ett medlemsland i Europeiska Unionen har möjligheten att undanta små aktiebolag från revisionsplikt. Men på grund av rådande regler i Sverige ska alla aktiebolag följa samma regler, något som ifrågasätts i debatten. Debatten om revisionsplikten är aktuell och viktig eftersom ungefär 200 000 aktiebolag skulle påverkas om revisionsplikten skulle tas bort.</p><p>Det övergripande syftet med uppsatsen är att bidra till debatten om revisionsplikt för små aktiebolag, genom att gå bakom “ja- och nejdebatte.” Vi kommer att beskriva och förklara attityderna till revisionsplikten, samt till de existerande redovisningsreglerna hos mikroföretag i två olika branscher.</p><p>För att uppfylla syftet har vi genomfört en kvalitativ studie. Vi har intervjuat ägarna till sex mikroföretag från två olika branscher, nämligen organisationskonsulter och byggnadsentreprenörer.</p><p>De viktigaste slutsatserna från den här studien är, att oberoende av deras respektive attityd till revisionsplikten är det ingen av respondenterna, som skulle vilja ta bort revisionsplikten för små aktiebolag. Vidare uppfattar respondenterna inom byggnadsentreprenörsbranschen redovisningsreglerna som mer komplicerade än respondenterna inom organisationskonsultbranschen och en förenkling av reglerna skulle inte förändra någon av respon-denternas attityd till revisionsplikten</p> / <p>There is an extensive debate going on in Sweden about the being or not being of the statutory audit for small limited companies. Sweden is one of the few European countries that still have a statutory audit for all limited companies, and the debate is even more of immediate interest when the Swedish accounting and auditing standards are converging more and more to international standards. A member state in the European Union has the possibility to exempt small limited companies from the statutory audit. But due to the current regulations in Sweden, all limited companies are to follow the same rules, which is questioned in the debate. This debate is a current and important issue due to that approximately 200 000 limited companies would be affected if the statutory audit would be abolished.</p><p>The overall purpose of this thesis is to contribute to the debate about the statutory audit for small limited companies, by moving beyond the “yes and no debate”. We will describe and explain the attitudes towards the statutory audit and the existing accounting regulations among micro companies in two different business sectors.</p><p>In order to fulfil the purpose, we have conducted a qualitative study. We have interviewed the owners of six micro companies from two different business sectors, namely organizational consultants and building contractors.</p><p>The main conclusions from this study are that independent of their respective attitudes towards the statutory audit, none of the respondents would like the statutory audit to be abolished for small limited companies. Further, the respondents within the building contractors business perceive the accounting rules as more complicated than the respondents within the organizational consultants sector do, and a simplification of regulation would not change any of the respondents’ attitudes towards the statutory audit.</p>

Submitted by Franciele Moreira (francielemoreyra@gmail.com) on 2017-08-29T15:24:43Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Roitier Campos Gonçalves - 2017.pdf: 4151982 bytes, checksum: d6409ff960ea01e76c484f09050aca04 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2017-09-15T13:14:27Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Roitier Campos Gonçalves - 2017.pdf: 4151982 bytes, checksum: d6409ff960ea01e76c484f09050aca04 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-09-15T13:14:27Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Roitier Campos Gonçalves - 2017.pdf: 4151982 bytes, checksum: d6409ff960ea01e76c484f09050aca04 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-07-21 / This study aims to perform an analysis of the behavior of a Virtualized Server, implemented with Free Softwares in a Micro Enterprise, in order to establish a cost-benefit relation for this implementation, which is satisfactory and consistent with The economic and financial reality of this type of organization, presenting as essential factors for the feasibility of adherence to the product / service, increasing the level of information security and productivity control, in order to combat the misuse of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) resources possibly already implemented in the environment. For this, initially, a bibliographic study was carried out on the conditions of the Brazilian Micro Companies and the level of adhesion of these to ICT, which presented a very low level of adhesion. In the sequence, some free Softwares that could be used in the implementation of the server in Micro Enterprise were analyzed, so that the most effective ones could be listed, however, with a level of maintainability that is appropriate to the type of organization in question. After the selection of the textit softwares, a compromise was made with the Micro Enterprise in which the server would be implemented and tested. Once the tests were carried out, and the data collected were analyzed, the adherence of this type of ICT in Micro Companies is observed, since the implementation of the server did not present difficulties in the adaptation of the employees of the companies and did not represent any impediment to the execution of its actions and, on the other hand, allowed to identify the demand of resources used for each device and also some unsuccessful attempts to access improperly from devices extraneous to the Direction of Micro Enterprise, which, in a contrary situation, Would pose an imminent risk of data loss and / or information leakage. Thus, it is concluded that this type of innovation, besides being economically viable, can represent a significant improvement in the levels of information security and use of ICT resources for these organizations. / Este estudo objetiva realizar uma análise do comportamento de um Servidor Virtualizado, implementado com Softwares Livres, em uma Micro Empresa, a fim de que se possa estabelecer uma relação de custo-benefício para essa implementação, sendo esta satisfatória e condizente com a realidade econômica e financeira desse tipo de organização, apresentando como fatores essenciais para viabilidade da adesão ao produto/serviço o aumento do nível de segurança da informação e de controle de produtividade, em combate a má utilização dos recursos de Tecnologia de Informação e Comunicação (TIC) possivelmente já implementados no ambiente. Para isso, inicialmente, foi realizado um estudo bibliográfico sobre as condições das MPE Brasileiras e do nível de adesão destas à TIC, o que nos apresentou um nível muito baixo de adesão. Na sequência, foram analisados alguns Softwares Livres que poderiam ser utilizados na implementação do servidor na Micro Empresa, a fim de que se pudesse elencar os mais eficazes, contudo, com um nível de manutenibilidade condizente ao tipo de organização em questão. Feita a seleção dos softwares, foi realizada uma pactuação com a Micro Empresa em que o servidor seria implementado e testado. Realizados os testes, e analisados os dados colhidos, observa-se uma situação bastante satisfatória a adesão desse tipo de TIC em MPE, dado que a implementação do servidor não apresentou dificuldades na adaptação dos funcionários da empresas e não representou nenhum tipo de impedimento para a realização de suas ações e, em contrapartida, permitiu identificar a demanda de recursos utilizados para cada dispositivo e, ainda, algumas tentativas, mal sucedidas, de acesso indevido oriundas de dispositivos estranhos à Direção da Micro Empresa, o que, em situação contrária, representaria um risco iminente de perda de dados e/ou vazamento de informação. Assim, conclui-se que esse tipo de inovação, além de economicamente viável, pode representar uma melhora significativa nos níveis de segurança da informação e utilização dos recursos de TIC para estas organizações.

Nya möjligheter leder till nya utmaningar. I takt med att privatpersoners användande av Internet ökat explosionsartat, har även företagens närvaro ökat markant. Företagen ser möjligheter då kostnaden för marknadsföring och varumärkesbyggande on-line ofta är lägre än att gå via de mer traditionella media kanaler. Internets natur gällande kommunikation ger företagen en möjlighet till att närma sig konsumenterna och bygga en relation till dem. Studien ämnar skapa förståelse för hur svenska mikroföretag inom mode använder nya mediekanaler för att bygga upp sina respektive varumärken. Således utfördes ett förståelseinriktat arbete där den empiriska basen består av fyra stycken semistrukturerade intervjuer med tre mikroföretag samt en med en PR- konsult. Där till består arbetet av en teoretisk referensram som behandlar Internet, sociala medier, varumärkesteori, varumärkeskapital och slutligen kommunikationsteori. Studien vittnar om att företag idag aktivt och framgångsrikt kan använda Internet som en del i sitt varumärkesbyggande. Att företagen använder sig av en mängd olika kanaler så som Facebook, bloggar, modebloggar, Newsletters, Twitter etc. för att nå till konsumenter samt att bygga en relation till dem. Men också att detta arbete inte är helt oproblematiskt, då risker uppkommer om arbetet utförs felaktigt. / New opportunities lead to new challenges. As the private usage of the Internet has grown so has the commercial. Companies now get the opportunity to build their brands on-line at a lower cost compared to traditional media. Internets nature enables two- way communication, which companies can use when they try to close in at the customers and to build relationships with them. This study aims to create understanding of how Swedish micro companies in the fashion industry uses these new media channels when they are building their company brands. Thus we performed an understanding-oriented study were the empiric foundation rests on four semi- constructed interviews. Three of these interviews were with Swedish micro companies and one with a PR-Consultant. Beside this, the study consists of a theoretical framework that includes theory about the Internet, social media, brands, brand equity and finally theory regarding communication. The study has shown that companies today can use the Internet as a marketing tool when they are building their company brand. That they use several different media channels on-line such as Facebook, Bloggs, Fashion- blogs, Newsletters, Twitter etc. and that the reason for this is to reach and to build relationships with consumers. But also that this work is not unproblematic and that risks can occur if the work is done in an incorrect way.

The current economic-financial conditions in Italy are characterized by the financial crisis, decrease in demand, increase in taxation and banking credit restriction. Moreover, this aspects add up to structural problems of the Italian economy, like low level of labor productivity and high public debt. Italian industry is formed mainly by micro and small companies, that are suffering particularly this situation. This research wants to identify successful strategies for micro and small Italian companies to face actual difficulties and compete in these dynamics. To do that, the method chosen is the multiple-case and the qualitative research with semi-structured interviews to key respondents and strategic decision makers of three micro and small Italian companies. Starting from the literature review on strategic subjects, this paper wants to contribute to investigate a range of successful strategies that Italian micro-small companies could adopt to overcome current problems. The findings of this research are that part of the strategic process should be internal to companies, adopting a right size and boundaries, a good corporate culture, a rigorous financial management and a deep innovation’s process, both for process and products. Then, the more successful competitive strategy for Italian small company seems to be a hybrid strategy, mostly balanced on differentiation. Finally, a partial diversification by developing new products or/and new markets is a good strategy to diversify the high risk of the current situation and create new possibilities of success.

This dissertation presents an exportation routine and its aim is to facilitate the insertion process of small and micro companies from furniture sector in the international markets. Thus, this work was developed since the needs of finding alternative strategies that would give the opportunity to come into these little enterprising men in the exportation market. In this direction, with the purpose of equating the problem dealt with, this work initially searched to take inferences for the achievement of a practical and adjusted schedule to the furniture exportation micro companies, through an exploratory research to select what already exists organized and correlated with the practical of foreign commerce, in more general level, under the administrative aspects, financials, tributaries and exportation currency exchange and from this moment on, through the deductive method. As for the used procedures technician, the bibliographical research was made and it consisted of the search of information in books, periodic publications (magazines, newspapers), laws, rules, opinions, electronic resolutions and documents that are about the subject. In the case of the exportation program properly said, intend to be an extremely important source of very important consultations because it consolidates in an only document administrative rules, tributaries, commercial, financial and exportation exchange that interact in the external commerce. / Esta dissertação apresenta um roteiro de exportação, que tem por objetivo facilitar o processo de inserção das pequenas e microempresas do setor moveleiro no mercado internacional. Assim, o trabalho desenvolveu-se a partir da necessidade de se encontrar alternativas estratégicas que propiciassem o ingresso desses pequenos empreendedores no mercado exportador. Neste sentido, com a finalidade de se equacionar a problemática levantada, buscou-se, inicialmente, através de pesquisa exploratória, apurar o que já existia organizado e correlacionado com a prática de comércio exterior, em nível geral, sob os aspectos administrativos, tributários, financeiros e cambiais das exportações, e, a partir deste momento, através de método dedutivo, tirar inferências para a realização de um roteiro prático e ajustado às pequenas e microempresas exportadoras de móveis. No que se refere aos procedimentos técnicos utilizados, empregou-se a pesquisa bibliográfica, que consistiu na busca de informações em livros, publicações periódicas (revistas, jornais), leis, regulamentos, pareceres, resoluções e documentos eletrônicos que abordavam o assunto. No que tange ao roteiro de exportação, propriamente dito, pretende ser uma fonte de consultas extremamente importante, pois consolidará, num único documento, normas administrativas, tributárias, comerciais, financeiras e cambiais que interagem no comércio exterior.

This dissertation presents the energetic diagnostic of micro and small retail companies from Santa Maria-RS, allowing to identify the most important reasons of waste, energetic eficientization potential, as well as its impacts on the total electric power consumption. Therefore, energetic diagnostic allows the companies to define administration techniques, strategies and eficientization actions, as well as to determine the magnitude of the proposed actions results. Methodology used was based on expositive analysis from an exploratory research of technical reports from Critical Points Evaluation of the Energia Brasil Program, held in Santa Maria, during the year of 2003 and begining of 2004. Data was quantitatively broached, from statistic methods, whose results represent all the companies population on study. The results show the eficientization potential separated on technical topics (accounts and supplies, electric motors, air conditioning, artificial lighting, cooling and other equipments), as well as the total eficientization potential. Among the technical topics, artificial lighting has shown the biggest potential, followed by cooling, on both company types. The entire analysis, of all topics, for all the population of micro and small retail companies on study, identified high waste levels, reaching 13,5% for micro companies and 11,6% for small companies. These percentages represented a waste of electric power in excess of 13 millions of kWh/year, equivalent to 4,7 millions of R$/year. It was also verified that the investment return time for the energetic eficientization is low, reaching 7,1 months on micro companies and 8,2 months on small companies. This data shows the extend of the waste of electric power for the companies under this study as well as the large contribution that they can offer for a more efficient and smart employ of the electric power. For the companies, energetic eficientization is an important allied on the cost reduction of production as well as to the increase of quality and productivity of their products and/or services. This helps their competitivity, allowing their survival in the market. Therefore, micro and small companies have little knowledge about electric power, harming its administration, what makes them live peacefully with wastefullness / Este trabalho apresenta o diagnóstico energético das microempresas e empresas de pequeno porte comerciais varejistas de Santa Maria-RS, permitindo identificar os principais fatores de desperdício, o potencial de eficientização energética, bem como seus impactos no consumo total de energia elétrica. Desta forma, o diagnóstico energético possibilita às empresas definirem técnicas de gestão, estratégias e ações de eficientização, bem como determinar a magnitude dos resultados das ações de eficientização propostas. A metodologia utilizada baseou-se numa analise expositiva, a partir de uma pesquisa exploratória nos relatórios técnicos das Avaliações de Pontos Críticos do Programa Energia Brasil, realizado em Santa Maria, no decorrer do ano de 2003 e início de 2004. Os dados foram abordados quantitativamente, através de métodos estatísticos, cujos resultados representam toda a população de empresas em estudo. Os resultados mostram o potencial de eficientização separado em tópicos técnicos (contas e fornecimento, motores elétricos, ar condicionado, iluminação, refrigeração e outros equipamentos), bem como o potencial de eficientização total. Dentre os tópicos técnicos, a iluminação apresentou o maior potencial, seguida pela refrigeração, em ambas as categorias de empresa. A análise conjunta, de todos os tópicos, para toda a população de microempresas e empresas de pequeno porte em estudo, identificou elevados índices de desperdício, atingindo 13,5% nas microempresas e 11,6% nas empresas de pequeno porte. Estes percentuais representaram um desperdício de 13 milhões de kWh/ano, equivalentes a 4,7 milhões de R$/ano. Constatou-se também que o tempo de retorno dos investimentos para a eficientização energética é bastante reduzido, atingindo 7,1 meses para as microempresas e 8,2 meses para as empresas de pequeno porte. Estes dados apresentam a magnitude do desperdício de energia elétrica nas empresas em estudo, bem como a grande contribuição que estas podem oferecer para um uso mais eficiente e inteligente da energia elétrica. Para as empresas, a eficientização energética é uma importante aliada na redução dos custos de produção, bem como aumento da qualidade e produtividade de seus produtos e/ou serviços. Isso favorece sua competitividade, garantindo sua sobrevivência no mercado. Entretanto, as microempresas e empresas de pequeno porte possuem baixo conhecimento sobre energia elétrica, comprometendo a gestão deste insumo, o que as faz conviver pacificamente com o desperdício

This dissertation brings a plan for improvements in the form of a technical manual on combating waste electrical energy in micro and small enterprises commercial retailers, energy of diagnosis-based microenterprises and small commercial enterprises retailers Santa Maria- RS. Thus, technical manual enables to micro and small enterprises, eficientization actions and strategies, as well as the determination of the magnitude of the results of actions proposed eficientization. The data were addressed quantitatively, through statistical methods, whose results represent the entire population of firms in the study. The results show the potential of separate technical topics eficientization (accounts and supply, lighting, cooling, and other equipment), as well as the total eficientização potential. Joint analysis of all topics, for the entire population of micro and small enterprises in study identified in waste, reaching 13.5% in micro companies and 11.6% in small companies. These figures represent the greatness of electrical energy wastage in enterprises, and justify the preparation of the plan of improvements to the energy eficientization, which contributes to the knowledge of electricity companies on the subject, motivating the change of attitude with regard to combating waste this white paper, reducing production costs, as well as increased quality and productivity of their products and/or services, favouring competitiveness and ensuring their survival on / Esta dissertação traz um plano de melhorias, sob a forma de um manual técnico de combate ao desperdício de energia elétrica em micro e pequenas empresas comerciais varejistas, baseada no diagnóstico energético das microempresas e empresas de pequeno porte comerciais varejistas de Santa Maria-RS. Assim, o manual técnico possibilita às micro e pequenas empresas, estratégias e ações de eficientização, bem como a determinação da magnitude dos resultados das ações de eficientização propostas.. Os dados foram abordados quantitativamente, através de métodos estatísticos, cujos resultados representam toda a população de empresas em estudo. Os resultados mostram o potencial de eficientização separado em tópicos técnicos (contas e fornecimento, iluminação, refrigeração e outros equipamentos), bem como o potencial de eficientização total. A análise conjunta, de todos os tópicos, para toda a população de microempresas e empresas de pequeno porte em estudo, identificou elevados índices de desperdício, atingindo 13,5% nas microempresas e 11,6% nas empresas de pequeno porte. Estes dados apresentam a grandeza do desperdício de energia elétrica nas empresas em estudo, e justificam a elaboração do plano de melhorias para a eficientização energética, que contribui para o conhecimento das empresas sobre o assunto eletricidade, motivando a mudança de atitude quanto ao combate ao desperdício deste insumo, reduzindo os custos de produção, bem como aumento da qualidade e produtividade de seus produtos e/ou serviços, favorecendo a competitividade e garantindo sua sobrevivência no mercado.