Från Colosseum till Allianz Arena : En explorativ studie om processen att förändra ett företags grafiska profil

The strategy when you change the visual part of the brand identity is often referred to as Corporate rebranding and is seen as a good way to show that a company has undergone a change. Despite high risks and high costs, this strategy has become more common and there are companies today who make the choice to change an already well-known graphic profile. This phenomenon is what underlies this essay’s problem statement: Why does a company with an already well-known graphic profile choose to change it and how does the process behind the change occur? In what way have the company’s customers recognized the change and how has the company’s image changed in this context? The purpose of this essay is therefore to explore the process that occurs when a company in the sport and fashion industry changes its visual identity and to explore how the company’s customers have perceived the change. To fulfil the purpose of the essay a case study was carried out on a company’s Corporate rebranding process. The company that was chosen was the Swedish sports retail chain Stadium Sweden AB who decided to change its graphic profile even though their logo was one of the two most recognized in their field. With the help of existing theories on brands and Corporate rebranding two interviews and a survey was conducted for this study. After this case study we have come to the following conclusions; The reason for the brand change was primarily the need to modernize the graphic profile in context of a larger reorganization of the company. The process can be described in four main phases: Initiation phase, Planning phase, Development phase and Launch and implementation phase. The study also showed that most of the customers had noticed the change and that the company’s image had changed for the better as they managed to maintain the core values of the brand while making it more contemporary and unique. We have also come up with three propositions that can be used in future research on this subject: 1. A reason for a brand change might be that the old graphic profile needs to be modernized to practically suit new media, 2. The choice of the Phase in/Phase out strategy is controlled by the availability of various resources and 3. To distance the brand from its heritage doesn’t need to be a pitfall for a brand change

Small and Medium Sized Food Producers - how are they affected by the trading blocs and the distributors’ own brands? : A case study of three SME in the food industry

Background: The Swedish food industry has changed dramatically during the last decades and to become and remain as a player has become a demanding task for several of the small and medium sized enterprises (SME). The trading blocs have increased the development of their own brand (DOB) and this has given the SME new competition but also the possibility to produce these products for the trading blocs. In addition to this the trading blocs have be-come more and more centralized and to strengthen their position in nego-tiations and other aspects which are important for the trading blocs. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to increase the understanding of how the trad-ing blocs, with their development of their own brand, affect the Swedish small and medium sized producers in the food industry. It is also to look into what kinds of strategies that are used by the SME in order to tackle the competition from the distributors own brands. Method: To fulfill our purpose a qualitative approach has been used for this thesis. Seven different interviews have been done, either by phone or face to face, with the three largest trading blocs and with four the SME in Sweden, three producing and one distributing company. Conclusion: The focus on low prices and the trading blocs’ stronger, central position on the market have made the competition more intense. To be or remain as a player on the market it is important for the SME to be a supplier to the trading blocs. However, since there are many players striving to become a supplier it is a tough situation and the price becomes an important factor. The trading blocs want low prices and keep pushing the suppliers to keep them low, or even lower them. This price focus is a major issue for the SME, and the DOB have become an important mean for the trading blocs to keep prices low. Due to scenarios like this it is very important for the SME to have strategies in place and the most common and most efficient is the bypass and flanking attack strategies. These two strategies are intense and keep the SME alert when it comes to product development and new innovations

A parametric study of the energy and moisture performance in Passive House exterior walls

Adding insulation to improve the energy performance of a building with a traditional Swedish wooden construction may increase the risk of mould growth in the wooden construction. There is a need to address this potential problem since the amount of passive houses and low energy buildings are increasing as a means to reduce energy use, energy dependency and greenhouse gas emissions. This paper evaluates energy performance and moisture performance simultaneously in order to create a more holistic approach. Space heating demand, peak load for space heating and risk for mould growth are evaluated. The analysis of these three different aspects shows that there is no contradiction between moisture safety design and energy efficient design. It may however not be suitable to increase the amounts of insulation in traditional wooden constructions without considering risk of mould growth

Reducing Moisture Transients in the Paper-Machine Drying Section with the Mid-ranging Control Technique

A new control strategy using feedback control has been developed for the multi-cylinder paper dryer configuration to reduce moisture transients in the drying section. The air system in the blow boxes was used to control the fast moisture transients in the paper machine. The new control system was combined with a previously developed physical model and was then compared with a conventional moisture control system. The comparison concerned the ability to restore the moisture ratio for two different dynamic changes, a moisture disturbance and a paper grade change. By combining the conventional steam control loop with an air loop, it was possible to significantly decrease the transient of the moisture disturbance

Evaluation of models for the steam supply system to improve control of the paper dryer

The possibility of reducing the transient times at grade changes in paper production and machine start-ups on the paper machines has highlighted the need for increased knowledge of the steam supply system. Models in this area have been presented in previous work and it is of interest to compare these models with each other and evaluate them against experimental data. This paper reports on the results obtained from measurements on an industrial paper dryer. Step responses as well as the dynamic changes caused by new set points for the control system are examined. The two models are derived from different disciplines and comparison between these will be presented. The first model will provide estimations of the heat transfer coefficients in the condensate layer as well as the coefficient between the cylinder and the paper. This model is based on physical properties and first principles. The second model is a linear process model, written in the Laplace operator as a transfer function. This model is based on input-output data, a black box model, where the input and the output are the experimental data from the paper machine

Productivity increase from a better understanding of dynamic processes and control of the paper dryer

The development of simulation models describing the process dynamics and tuning of the control systems for the multi-cylinder dryer section is presented. This includes models and controls of the condensate system, the sheet moisture content at the reel as well as moisture gradients in the thickness direction of the sheet

Ischemia mobilizes histamine but not pancreastatin from ECL cells of rat stomach: evidence for a cytosolic histamine compartment.

Histamine in the rat stomach resides in enterochromaffin-like (ECL) cells and mast cells. The ECL cells are peptide-hormone-producing endocrine cells known to release histamine and chromogranin-A-derived peptides (such as pancreastatin) in response to gastrin. Ischemia (induced by clamping of the celiac artery or by gastric submucosal microinfusion of the vasoconstrictor endothelin) mobilizes large amounts of ECL-cell histamine in a burst-like manner. This report examines the ECL-cell response to ischemia and compares it with that induced by gastrin in rats. Arterial clamping (30 min) and gastric submucosal microinfusion (3 h) of endothelin, vasopressin, or adrenaline caused ischemia, manifested as a raised lactate/pyruvate ratio and mucosal damage. Whereas microinfusion of gastrin released both histamine and pancreastatin, ischemia mobilized histamine only. The mucosal concentrations of histamine and pancreastatin, the number and immunostaining intensity of the ECL cells, and the ultrastructure of the ECL cells were unchanged following ischemia. The long-term effects of ischemia and reperfusion (60-90 min) on gastric mucosa were examined in rats treated with the proton pump inhibitor omeprazole for 4 days. The activity of the ECL cells was suppressed (reflected in low histamine-forming capacity) but returned to normal within 1 week, illustrating the ability of the ECL cells to recover. We suggest that ischemia mobilizes cytosolic ECL-cell histamine without affecting the storage of histamine (and pancreastatin) in the secretory organelles and without causing lasting ECL-cell impairment

“In a Way We Took the Hospital Home”—A Descriptive Mixed-Methods Study of Parents’ Usage and Experiences of eHealth for Self-Management after Hospital Discharge Due to Pediatric Surgery or Preterm Birth

The costly and complex needs for children with long-term illness are challenging. Safe eHealth communication is warranted to facilitate health improvement and care services. This mixed-methods study aimed to describe parents’ usage and experiences of communicating with professionals during hospital-to-home-transition after their child’s preterm birth or surgery for col-orectal malformations, using an eHealth device, specifically designed for communication and support via nurses at the hospital. The eHealth devices included the possibility for daily reports, video calls, text messaging, and sending images. Interviews with 25 parents were analyzed with qualitative content analysis. Usage data from eHealth devices were compiled from database entries and analyzed statistically. Parents using the eHealth device expressed reduced worry and stress during the initial period at home through effective and safe communication. Benefits described included keeping track of their child’s progress and having easy access to support whenever needed. This was corroborated by usage data indicating that contact was made throughout the day, and more among families living far away from hospital. The eHealth device potentially replaced phone calls and prevented unnecessary visits. The eHealth technique can aid safe self-treatment within child-and family-centered care in neonatal and pediatric surgery treatment. Future research may consider organization perspectives and health economics