Sammanfattning Syfte: Utvecklingen inom bygg- och anläggningssektorn går emot att företag måste bidra positivt till samhället där de är verksamma för att få kontrakt på entreprenader inom offentlig upphandling, exempelvis genom att bidra till den sociala hållbarheten. Sverige är ett av flera länder i Europa som sticker ut med initiativet att främja och förbättra det samhällsutvecklande arbetet som företag gör. Social hållbarhet kan defi-nieras med orden; hälsa, utbildning, säkerhet, styrning, samhällsengagemang och lika förutsättningar. Målet med arbetet är att ge insyn och exempel på medelstora kommu-ners syn på social hållbarhet i upphandlingar av bygg- och anläggningsentreprenader. Metod: Litteraturstudier, dokumentanalyser och intervjuer har genomförts. Tillsam-mans utgör de en fallstudie av tre medelstora kommuner. Litteraturstudierna har ge-nomförts för att skapa ett teoretiskt ramverk för arbetet. Dokumentanalyser av doku-ment från kommunerna har varit del av empiriinsamlingen. Intervjuer med företrädare för organisationer inom kommunerna som upphandlar bygg- och anläggningsentre-prenader har genomförts som en del av empiriinsamlingen. Resultat: Diskrepans rådde mellan intervjurespondenternas uppgifter angående socia-la krav i upphandlingar av bygg- och anläggningsentreprenader och kommunala poli-tiska beslut. Respondenterna ansåg i stort att politiska initiativ angående sociala krav i nämnda upphandlingar saknades. Politiska beslut och upprättade dokument påvisade att motsatsen skulle råda; kommunernas arbete med social hållbarhet var högst aktivt enligt politikerna. Konsekvenser: Intresset i frågan angående sociala krav i upphandlingar av bygg- och anläggningsentreprenader är påtagligt från såväl politiker som tjänstemän. En utökad kommunikation dem emellan är av stor vikt för arbetets utveckling. Begränsningar: Studien utfördes inom tre medelstora kommuner i före detta Skara-borgs län. Regional utveckling i frågan om social hållbarhet kan ha påverkat kommu-nerna i en gemensam riktning avskild från andra delar av landet. / Abstract Purpose: The current development in the construction sector is trending towards a required positive contribution to the society in which they're active in order to procure construction contracts in the public sector, for example by contributing to social sus-tainability. Sweden is one of several European countries that stand out in the initiative to further and improve the socially developing work done by companies. Social sus-tainability can be defined as follows: health, education, public safety, government, social engagement and equal opportunity. The aim of this work is to provide perspec-tive and examples of midsized municipalities' thoughts on social sustainability in pro-curement of construction contracts. Method: Literary studies, document analysis, and interviews have been conducted. Together, they embody a case study of three midsized municipalities. The literary studies were conducted in order to create a theoretical framework for the essay. Doc-ument analyses of documents from the municipalities have been a part in the empiri-cal acquisition process. Interviews with representatives from municipal organisations which procure construction contracts have been conducted as part of the empirical acquisition process. Findings: There was a discrepancy between the information provided by the inter-viewees regarding the social demands in the procurement of construction contracts and the political decisions made by the municipalities. The interviewees usually posit-ed that political demands in these procurements were thoroughly lacking or nonexist-ent. Political decisions and established documents showed the opposite; municipal work with social sustainability was very active according to the politicians. Implications: The interest in the question of social demands in the procurement of construction contracts is significant, both from politicians and white collar workers. An expanded communication between the two is of grave importance for the devel-opment in the sector. Limitations: This study was conducted in three midsized municipalities in what used to be the fief of Skaraborg. Regional development in the question of social sustaina-bility may have affected the municipalities in a collective direction without regards to the rest of the country.

This essay is a business history about the Swedish midsized tobacco company J A Boman & Co, previously Ferd Körner and Körner & Boman, which was part of the blooming tobacco industry in Sweden during the 19th century.  One purpose of the essay is to fill a gap within both business history in general and the study of tobacco companies in particular, since they both tend to favor studies on larger companies. The other purpose is to find a methodological way to study a smaller sized, older company with very few sources from the actual company. The essay seeks to answer questions about the company’s production history and how it changed over the years. The study takes use of both qualitative and quantitative methods to examine the company and how it developed over time. It is not an essay deeply embedded in theory, it rather seeks to use different theoretical approaches. One approach is a micro level macro theory, that claims that a company only can be understood through the macro level and that the company, itself being the micro level, can deliver exciting new findings that creates a deeper understanding for the macro level. Throughout the essay, the company’s production statistics are examined, and combined with newspaper articles, letters and previous academic works within the field, the essay closes in on answers to the questions that were introduced in the beginning. The examination of the company finds that the midsized company managed to survive through adaptability to its time and circumstances. The company chose to sell their products through merchants instead of directly to the consumers, unlike most of the other tobacco companies at the time. The methodological problem, which was part of the essay’s purpose, was resolved by the combined method described earlier in the abstract, although the essay would admittedly have been better if there had been some papers left from the examined company.