<p>In this paper we investigate small and young companies’ motives for internationalization. There are many reasons for companies to engage in foreign direct investment. This study is based on theories including four categories of internationalization drivers that motivate firms to establish themselves abroad. Theses categories consist of market, resource, efficiency, and strategic resources seeking motives. A fifth category was added in order to include network seeking motives.</p><p>The survey was conducted using a web based questionnaire. The target population consisted of companies that are members of nine Swedish business incubators and science parks. E-mails were sent to representatives in the incubators and science parks and were then forwarded to the companies, asking them to participate in the study.</p><p>We conclude that the member companies of Swedish incubators and science parks responded most positively to network and market seeking motives. We therefore regard the companies as network seekers and market seekers. Four motives were by the responders associated with the highest degree of importance. Two were in the category of network seeking motives: starting new collaborations and staying close to main client or supplier. The other two were in the category of market seeking motives: reaching new markets and limitations of the home market.</p>

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The present thesis is based on four studies focusing on alcohol consumption among Swedish adolescents, and therewith related psychosocial and genetic factors. One main objective was to study the reasons for drinking alcohol among different population - representative samples of adolescents in order to identify motives for drinking. Relationships between these drinking motives, alcohol consumption, and alcohol - related problems were also investigated. Three motives emerged from this study: social - enhancement, coping and dominance. The association with alcohol consumption and alcohol - related problems was positive for social - enhancement and coping motives, but negative for the dominance motive. A significant heritability of alcohol use disorders has been demonstrated by family, adoption and twin studies. Environmental influences have also been acknowledged to play an important role in the development of alcohol use disorders. Moreover, the interaction between genetic and environmental factors is likely to influence the risk - resilience for alcohol use disorders. In view of this knowledge, plausible candidate polymorphisms were considered in gene - environment interaction models. An effect of the genetic polymorphisms was only present when a G x E model was considered. A genetic variant of the clock gene Period2, in an interaction with sleep problems, was studied in relation to alcohol consumption among adolescents. High alcohol consumption was associated with the AA genotype of the PER2 SNP10870 polymorphism, in an interaction with several and frequent sleep problems, among adolescent boys. A genetic variant in the opioid µ receptor 1 gene, in an interaction with alcohol consumption, was studied in relation to depressive symptoms. Depressive symptoms were predicted by the G allele of the OPRM1 A118G polymorphism, in an interaction with high alcohol consumption, among adolescent girls. Additionally, the PER2 SNP10870 and the OPRM1 A118G polymorphisms were studied in a sample of severely alcoholic females. Furthermore, alcohol consumption was assessed by using different instruments, such as biomarkers and surveys. Comparisons were carried out to identify the most suitable method to assess alcohol consumption among adolescents. Questionnaire and interview seemed more suitable tools than biomarkers in this regard.The results eventually support the importance of psychosocial and genetic influences, and their interaction effect on alcohol consumption among adolescents.

Background: Sponsoring is a topic that has always been present but in different forms. Recently however, it has become even more popular and companies today invest small fortunes on becoming sponsors of different events, individuals and teams. However, there is still not much research done within this field, hence we find it interesting to investigate further. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to investigate, from a strategic marketing perspective, what a sponsoring organization wants to accomplish by sponsoring a sports team and how it affects brand awareness. Method: In order to solve our purpose, we have conducted a case study concerning HV71 and four of their sponsors, to understand why they have become sponsors, and also to test whether this sponsorship affects brand awareness amongst viewers. This information was gathered by collecting qualitative data to be able to understand the motives behind sponsoring, as well as quantitative data where the aim was to test brand awareness and its affection. The qualitative data was gathered by conducting interviews with four different sponsoring organizations; Kinnarps, Säkra Försäkringar, Elmia and M-Clean Papertech, while the quantitative data was gathered by the use of questionnaires which were handed out to viewers at three different occasions.          Conclusion: This thesis shows that there is a common denominator in why to engage in sponsorship within sports amongst the sponsors of HV71 namely, the need for media exposure and getting the brand name out in the market. By possessing various sponsorship rights, varying results of brand exposure and awareness can be achieved. In strategic marketing sponsoring aims at a more long term increase in Brand Awareness.

Corporate Social responsibility (CSR) has become a key issue for today’s corporations. This type of responsibility refers to the continuing commitment of businesses to voluntarily behave ethically and contribute to economic development while simultaneously improving the quality of life of the workforce, families, local community and society at large. While traditional business models primarily emphasize the economic aspects of a company’s activities (e.g. profitability and growth), the modern one stresses the social and environmental impacts. Recent scandals have put customers’ trust on the frontline, leading to an exponential growth in the interest of corporate social responsibility. Today, unethical behavior can no longer hide in the dark waiting around for an investigation to ensue. Wrongdoings are in an instant communicated to the world via computers and broadcasted by media. Consequently, it is no longer about what corporations say they will do but rather when and how they will do it. Findings and resulting conclusions show that although there is a lack of definitional clarity of the notion of CSR, the concept is embodied by and refers to the triple bottom line: Profit, People and Planet. CSR can be implemented through codes of conduct, contracts, education, training, guidelines and principles. The benefits of having a CSR engagement program are numerous and include strengthening profits, enhancing brand recognition and reputation, risk management and boosting employment relations. Motives behind having good CSR include social betterment and sustainable change. It is about building up a well-functioning corporation that possesses strong values and can manage risks and become a more competitive brand. The brands that will succeed in the future will be those that tap into the social changes that are taking place today.

In this paper we investigate small and young companies’ motives for internationalization. There are many reasons for companies to engage in foreign direct investment. This study is based on theories including four categories of internationalization drivers that motivate firms to establish themselves abroad. Theses categories consist of market, resource, efficiency, and strategic resources seeking motives. A fifth category was added in order to include network seeking motives. The survey was conducted using a web based questionnaire. The target population consisted of companies that are members of nine Swedish business incubators and science parks. E-mails were sent to representatives in the incubators and science parks and were then forwarded to the companies, asking them to participate in the study. We conclude that the member companies of Swedish incubators and science parks responded most positively to network and market seeking motives. We therefore regard the companies as network seekers and market seekers. Four motives were by the responders associated with the highest degree of importance. Two were in the category of network seeking motives: starting new collaborations and staying close to main client or supplier. The other two were in the category of market seeking motives: reaching new markets and limitations of the home market.

Sustainability reporting has emerged as an outcome of corporate social responsibility, giving companies an opportunity to show transparency towards their stakeholders. The Global Reporting Initiative, a largely voluntary sustainability reporting standard, has become increasingly popular, providing a framework making reports consistent and comparable. However, Holmen, SAS, SKF, Vattenfall and Vin &amp; Sprit were the only Swedish companies complying with application level A, the highest level of compliance, of the GRI framework in their 2007 sustainability reports. The purpose of this thesis is therefore to analyze why these five Swedish companies are sustainability reporting and why they are doing so according to the GRI standard. A theoretical background regarding CSR, sustainability and GRI is provided in order to get a basic understanding of the context of the thesis. The theoretical framework for the study is based on the stakeholder concept and the legitimacy theory, utilizing the internal marketing and brand identity theories for the analysis. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the five managers of the companies in order to gather the relevant data. The study showed that the five companies investigated are sustainability and GRI reporting as a result of their company size, industry type, reporting tradition, ownership structure and various stakeholder-driven motives. The motives were found to be specific to either sustainability or GRI reporting, where the majority were linked to the practice of sustainability reporting.

Consumers are increasingly engaging with brands on social networking sites (SNS) through activities such as sharing, commenting, liking and recommending products or brands to other consumers. These types of recommendations are referred to as electronic word‐of‐mouth (eWOM) and are proven to have a significant influence on consumers’ purchasing decisions. Previous research has investigated motives for traditional WOM and motives for eWOM on opinion platforms. This study proposes that eWOM on SNSs is a combination of traditional WOM and eWOM on opinion platforms. By using a sample of 154 Swedish Facebook users, this study explores why consumers engage in positive eWOM communication on SNSs. This is done by testing 6 validated motives that are identified in previous research in the new context. The resulting analysis suggests that consumers’ need for social interaction and desire to express positive emotions are the primary drivers behind engagement in positive eWOM communication on SNSs. The findings confirm that eWOM on SNSs contains elements of both traditional WOM and eWOM on opinion platforms and should thus be considered as a unique context where eWOM takes place.

Background &amp; Subject discussion: Financial reporting and earnings affect stakeholders’ decisions and is a vital component in firm’s information disclosure. Management possesses considerable influence over financial reports. Earnings consist of a cash-flow and accrual component. Earnings can be affected by managers’ judgment and decision either by accrual-based earnings management or real activities manipulation. Earnings management affects the relevance and reliability of financial reporting and is widely researched. Europe is consolidating and accounting and audit standards are harmonizing. Real activities manipulation is unobserved in Europe. Increased attention and regulations of earnings management are inducing more creative methods to alter earnings, such as stock repurchases. Purpose: The main purpose of this study is to investigate if real activities manipulation can be observed in Europe and to what extent in relationship to accrual-based activities to avoid reporting small losses. An underlying purpose is to study different methods of RAM, including some newer approaches to detect hypothesized RAM by stock repurchases. An additional purpose is to evaluate the different utilized detection methods to clarify effectiveness. The final purpose is to consider possible effects of EM on reliability and relevance of financial reporting. Conclusion: The result concludes that earnings management are performed by real activities manipulation. Stock repurchases, decreased discretionary expenses and production cost all indicate earnings management to avoid reporting earnings below a specific benchmark. The result questions the reliability and relevance of reported earnings.

Collage students’ news consumption has been a very popular research topic in media in pastfew years. But students’ involvement in news dissemination remained unnoticed andunexplored, especially in relation to democratic engagement. This study provides an overviewin this respect along with news consumption. The research reports the outcome of a surveyconducted among 124 Swedish college students, aged between 18 and 24, in spring 2012. Thestudy investigates college students’ news consumption and news dissemination of in terms ofmotives. The analysis suggests that motivations behind collage students’ news consumptionare independent of channels/media. Consumption motives appear to be similar betweentraditional and contemporary news media. Furthermore, news consumption and newsdissemination seem to be driven by completely different motives.