Energy efficiency is important – but an energy saving potential has yet to reach its full range. Energy services are means to reach that potential and energy companies are stressed as important actors into creating an established market for energy services. Energy services are tools that include providing in-direct services such as energy statistics, audits, declarations, consultations and analysis. It also includes a number of more complex and direct services, for example energy efficiency measurements or service contracts. This report is a result of a study on Danish and Swedish energy companies offering energy services, based on the market they act upon. It aims to find their driving forces for providing energy services. It also looks closer into whether publically and privately owned energy companies differ and if there exist contradictions to both supply energy and energy services at the same time. It also looks into how energy companies are affected and feel about national regulatory instruments. Energy companies in both countries offering energy services are reaching a wide spectrum of client segments and energy services. They often have the possibility to combine and package energy supply with energy services and they can reduce many of the theoretical barriers to energy efficiency by offering energy services. They are driven by a client demand and a closer client relationship, both leading to a decreased supply client fluctuation. A new business opportunity and a green profile strategy are also driving factors. Energy services also help energy companies to decrease heavy investment on existing equipment by having more control over their clients’ energy use and reducing energy utilization tops. Danish energy companies are tied to an energy saving obligation scheme, providing them with conditions, which their market is based, whilst Swedish energy companies offering energy services act on a market that is created by them and their competitors derive from different business backgrounds. There exist an assertive regulatory instrument in Denmark affecting driving factors for public and private energy companies and clients. In Sweden regulatory instruments, such as energy efficiency programmes, subsidises for energy audits and voluntary agreements for industries affect energy companies in a less way than in Denmark, mostly increasing a client demand for energy services. The regulatory instruments in Denmark increase a trust for energy companies as energy service providers as in Sweden they are trusted upon their existing substantial role on the energy market, a reputation of knowledge and experience and a strategy aiming towards visualisation, motivation and education for the clients. Public energy companies feel a responsibility towards their public owners to offer an efficient energy supply and by having a local connection to the municipality they are able to increase competiveness in the region by offering energy services. Private companies are substantially larger than public companies and have a great potential to reach out to a larger number of clients through their existing supply client stock. This is of substantial higher relevance in Sweden than Denmark.

Title: The implementation of a football certification system - Overcoming barriers and fulfilling success factors associated with the implementation process    Level: Final assignment for Master Degree in Business Administration   Authors: Robert Carlsson & Emil Ring   Supervisor: Jonas Kågström   Date: 2012 – 05   Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate which factors that influence the implementation process regarding a football quality certification system and especially the certification system in Swedish elite football clubs. We will further look into which factors that are perceived as success factors and which factors that are perceived as barriers.   Method: Our study has the starting point from a previous study made by Carlsson (2011), where barriers and success factors in the implementing phase of the Swedish football certification process was investigated. In this study we wish to develop our understanding of different clubs’ experiences of the certification process, we have therefore used a qualitative approach where we have interviewed four clubs’ playing in Allsvenskan (first division in Sweden).   Result & Conclusions: We can conclude that even though the work with the certification system is fairly new for the Swedish elite football clubs, it appears as they have a satisfying insight into the organizational demands’ of the certification system.   One significant success factor identified in the study is the clubs’ attitude towards the system, where positive attitude overcomes the experienced difficulties associated with the process. Other importing factors that have a major impact of the overall result of the process is having the right prerequisites in terms of staff, time and documentation before implementing the certification system in the club.   Contribution of the thesis: This study has contributed to provide an extensive framework of the possible affecting factors when implementing a football specific quality certification system. Further contribution is the identification of two affecting factors not mentioned in the theoretical framework, communication in the establishing phase and geographical location.   Key words: Football certification system, quality improvement, success factors, barriers, implementation process

Many researchers have been critical of teachers failure to implement computer use effectively in the classroom. In order to question the role that pedagogical issues may play in the success of the implementation process, this study looks at the beliefs of professional developers who are responsible for helping K-12 teachers learn to teach with computers. Five professional developers from Saskatchewan were asked to describe their professional practice by focusing on what they thought effective use of computers was and how they thought their beliefs affected their practice. The heart of the study was the story of the professional developers experiences and the way in which their practices evolved over time to meet needs they saw.<p>The professional developers were a diverse group of former teachers. They had taught in a wide variety of settings and for varied lengths of time. They were purposefully selected for involvement in provincial initiatives and providing professional development around computers in their home divisions. The participants shared their experiences through an informal semi-structured interview and follow up questions. The transcripts of the conversations comprised the data, and their examples, statements of belief, and experiences formed the basis for the interpretation of the results.<p>The findings revealed that the professional developers identified both first and second order barriers to the use of computers in classrooms. Each person described a transition from traditional professional development practice to a personal style with the deliberate addition of pedagogical emphasis. They concluded that the current practice of teaching with computers generally did not meet their definition of effective and emphasized the need to question why computers are being used the way they are.<p>The findings from this study indicate that the professional developers believed their pedagogy and practice as professional developers to be intertwined. They also confirmed Cooplas (2004) argument that pedagogy is the critical first element for effective teaching with computers. From the prospective of the participants, pedagogy, not technology defines how effective the process of integration is in K-12 classrooms.

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate nurses’ experiences of communicating with patients with immigrant backgrounds regarding language barriers, patient relations and use of interpreter. Method: Eight persons participated in this study. Four registered midwives were interviewed in a focus group and one clinical lecturer with a district nursing background, one midwife and two district nurses were individually interviewed about their experiences. The content was analysed using a qualitative content analysis. Results: Four themes, seven categories and 15 subcategories revealed. The study shows that the interviewees felt ambivalence regarding given information and lack of time in their performance. A good meeting with the patient were determined for the performance. The chatting between the nurse and the patient created a good relationship. Negative aspects which had an effect on the relationship with the patient were when, for example, an interpreter or a significant other was involved. Discrimination was also brought up as a negative impact. If the patient had a limited vocabulary or there were no access to an interpreter the interviewees experienced communication problems. Authorized interpreter and significant other who acted as an interpreter were described in both positive and negative ways. Culture differences affected the work and how the patients adopted the information. Conclusion: When the patient does not have Swedish as a mother tongue, the chatting part of the conversation gets lost. Interpreters, significant others and the Internet are used to overcome language difficulties. Also cultural differences create challenges in these conversations. Our study indicates that more knowledge about these patient encounters is needed.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the influence of e-commerce on the small-size companies in Sweden. This thesis describes the drivers for e-commerce adoption and investigates the barriers and benefits faced from the companies when starting the process of implementation. A qualitative research was performed and an abductive approach was used, where the research findings and the theoretical background were connected by going back and forward in the process of analysis. Interviews with small companies in Värmland Country, Sweden were conducted in order to answer the research questions. This study shows that Swedish companies have relatively well-developed e-commerce strategies comparing to other counties, but the gap between small and large companies is still visible. The decisions for e-commerce adoption are dependent on the knowledge of the owner /manager and e-commerce is extensively used as a marketing tool. Main benefits of e-commerce adoption are improved internal efficiency and increased information exchange. The results suggest that companies value less than before the cost factor and consider the lack of knowledge as a main barrier. At the same time many companies are not motivated enough to make improvements, because of lack of customer demand.

Background: The need for palliative care at home hasincreased in recent years as more people wish to die in their own homes. Toperform good palliative care by addressing patients' needs and desires of lifecare requires a better understanding of how nurses experience palliative careat home.   Aim: The aim of the study was todescribe nurses experiences of caring for patients in palliative care in homecare.   Method: The method was asystematic literature review and the article search resulted in elevenqualitative articles. An inductive qualitative approach was used where nursesdifferent experiences was identified.   Results: Our results are reportedunder two themes:Opportunities and Barriers. Palliative carein home care experiencedby nurses in variousways in which personalgrowth, experience, guidance,trustful communication, cooperation and self-knowledgewas opportunies thatemerged. Barriers experienced by nurseswas ineffective communication,lack of time and abuseof power in palliative care at home. A trusting relationship betweennurses, patients andrelatives, continuous mentoring and reflectionwas considered by nurses to be equippedto carry out worthy of-life care.   Conclusion: This literature review shows the need for knowledgeabout how societynurses perceive opportunitiesand barriers inpalliative care in order toeventually be able to develop and assure the quality of care.

Den teoretiska utgångspunkten för denna litteraturöversikt var Joyce Travelbees omvårdnadsteorier med fokus på kommunikation. Travelbee menar att det är sjuksköterskans ansvar att lyfta kommunikation om hälsa med patienten. I litteraturen framkom att det är sjuksköterskors ansvar att kommunicera om sexualitet med patienter men att denna uppgift inte alltid utförs. Syftet var att kartlägga hinder för sjuksköterskor att kommunicera med patienter om sexualitet. Uppsatsen har skrivits som en litteraturöversikt, vilken ger en överblick över den aktuella kunskapen inom området. Databaserna Cinahl och PubMed användes för att söka fram artiklar. De framkomna artiklarna hade både kvalitativ och kvantitativ ansats. Dessa artiklar analyserades med hjälp av Fribergs analysmetod och resulterade i fyra teman: organisatoriska hinder, professionens hinder, kommunikativa hinder och personliga hinder. Resultatet visade att de organisatoriska hindren främst innefattade hinder som kunde kopplas till yttre faktorer medan personliga hinder var känslomässigt relaterade. Hinder inom professionen kunde kopplas till sjuksköterskors okunskap och nonchalans inom yrkesområdet och kommunikativa hinder belyste svårigheten med att samtala med patienter om sexualitet. Slutsatsen av resultatet blev att den mänskliga faktorn i form av känslor, värderingar och kunskap hos den enskilda sjuksköterskan var den största bidragande faktorn till att kommunikation om sexualitet uteblir. / The theoretical basis for this literature review was Joyce Travelbees nursing theories with focus on communication. Travelbee believes that it’s a nursing responsibility to promote communication about health with the patient. In the literature it appears that it’s the nurses responsibility to communicate about sexuality with patients, but that this task is not always performed. The purpose was to identify barriers for nurses to communicate with patients about sexuality. The essay was written as a literature review which provides an overview of current knowledge in the field. The databases Cinahl and PubMed were used to search for articles. The chosen articles had both qualitative and quantitative approach. The articles were analyzed with the help of Friberg's method and resulted in four themes: organizational barriers, professional barriers, communication barriers and personal barriers. The result showed that the organizational barrier primarily includes barriers that may be linked to external factors while personal barriers are emotionally related. It also shows that the professional barriers describe nurses' ignorance and neglect within the profession and communicative barriers highlights the difficulty of talking to patients about sexuality. The conclusion of the result shows that the human factor in the form of feelings, values and knowledge of the individual nurse was the biggest contributor to the absent of communication about sexuality.

The purpose of this study was to determine the perceptions of school administrators about the use of distance education in Texas public schools. A mixed-method research design was used to determine if these administrators' perceptions were barriers to the implementation of distance education. The study included a series of 17 interviews with school principals and superintendents. Based on these interviews, a survey instrument was developed and sent to a larger sample of administrators. The sample population for the survey comprised administrators from three Education Service Centers in Texas. Results of the qualitative interviews and of the quantitative survey indicated that distance education has the potential to provide greater flexibility in offering high quality coursework and activities. However, administrators perceived that they lack control of these programs, and that the number of students who excelled in distance education was limited. Additionally, administrators perceived that distance education courses were not as good as traditional courses while admitting to a lack of knowledge about distance education. Overall, administrators who believed they had the support of their local school boards were most likely to implement distance education in their districts.

Safety-shaped median barriers have long been employed to keep misguided vehicles on the roadway. In recent years there has been a growing national desire for more aesthetically pleasing roadside safety systems. Adding surface texture is one of the most popular ways to make a more aesthetically pleasing barrier. This practice of adding surface texture can potentially reduce the safety performance of the barrier. The purpose of this research was to develop guidelines for the aesthetic surface treatment of safety-shaped median barriers. Numerical simulation was utilized to develop these guidelines. This was done by first validating the vehicle model that was used in this research, which was the National Crash Analysis Center (NCAC) 2000P Detailed Pickup Truck model. The validity of the vehicle model could be determined by comparing the vehicle dynamics of the simulation to the actual crash test data for the smooth surfaced Single Slope and New Jersey Safety-Shaped barriers. Crash tests involving concrete median barriers most commonly fail crash testing criteria given by the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 350 by excessive Occupant Compartment Deformation (OCD). OCD is excessive deformation of the occupant compartment that would cause severe harm to the occupant. Current simulation vehicle models do not give reliable direct measurement of OCD. To take the place of direct measurement, several parameters were measured to find the best surrogate measure of OCD. The internal energy of the floorboard in the NCAC 2000P Detailed Pickup Truck model gave the best correlation to OCD. By simulating several different past crash tests with passing and failing OCD, limits of internal energy in the floorboard could determine if a simulation had passing, marginal, or failing amounts of OCD. Using the surrogate measure of OCD a parametric study was then evaluated by NCHRP Report 350 standards. The parametric study of 29 simulations varied width and depth of recess between asperities for two different angles of asperities. Guidelines were determined for the 45? and 90? angles of asperities as a curve on depth vs. width of recess between asperities from the results of this parametric study.

<p>Innovation is, in most cases, a necessity for firms in today’s changingmarket place. It has the potential to offer firms numerous advantages,including increased profit and growth. However, innovationis no easy process and there are many barriers and impedimentsto innovation that needs to be overcome in order to efficiently innovate.A study conducted by Vinnova (2007) showed that 18% ofSMEs consider a shortage of qualified personnel as a high barrier toinnovation.</p><p>How are competence barriers to innovation experienced by smallenterprises in the selected sample? Do competence barriers to innovationvary depending on different firm characteristics and in thatcase how? Which consequences do small enterprises encounter as aresult of facing competence barriers to innovation? Are small enterprisesthat face high competence barriers to innovation more likelyto encounter consequences?</p><p>The purpose of this research report is to investigate competencebarriers to innovation within small enterprises and the consequencesthese barriers might result in.</p><p>Competence barriers to innovation are considered moderate in thissample. The highest barrier was shortage of qualified personnel necessaryfor innovation. In general, small enterprises that experienceda higher level of competition also faced higher competence barriersto innovation. The most frequently reported consequences fromfacing competence barriers to innovation were; inability to acceptcertain jobs or contracts, decreased profitability and difficulty in expandingthe business. Small enterprises which face higher competencebarriers to innovation are more likely to encounter consequences.</p>