Länken mellan hållbarhetsredovisning och förbättrat hållbarhetsarbete : En fallstudie av Umeå Energi

Omgivningens ökade krav på ansvarstagande och transparens leder till att företag i allt större utsträckning väljer att visa hur de arbetar med samhällsansvar och hållbarhet. Begreppet hållbar utveckling syftar till att bedriva en verksamhet som inte äventyrar kommande generationers behov, och kan sägas utgöra kärnan i arbetet och redovisningen av ansvarsfrågor. Att hållbarhetsredovisa innebär att företag, utöver den ekonomiska aspekten, även redogör för dess sociala och miljömässiga påverkan på samhället. Ett av de mest accepterade ramverken för detta är Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), vars grundsyfte är att redovisningen ska bidra till utvecklat hållbarhetsarbete. Syftet med studien fokuserar till hur GRI:s riktlinjer kan förbättra arbetet för en hållbar utveckling. Vi avser att undersöka fallföretaget Umeå Energis hållbarhetsarbete för att se vilka förutsättningar som finns för införandet av en trovärdig hållbarhetsredovisning. Uppsatsen genomfördes med fallstudien som forskningsstrategi och datainsamlingen bestod av ostrukturerade och semistrukturerade intervjuer med delar av Umeå Energis ledning. Den teoretiska referensramen behandlar forskningsområden som kan hänföras till GRI:s riktlinjer, och utgör därför relevans. Studiens slutsatser vilar på vårt deduktiva angreppssätt som syftat till att koppla ihop teori med det insamlade intervjumaterialet. Vi har även varit öppna för explorativa inslag, vilket kan urskiljas i en mer generell modell. Umeå Energi har i grunden goda förutsättningar för införandet av en hållbarhetsredovisning, med en engagerad ledning och stora ambitioner inom miljöaspekten för att nå en hållbar utveckling. Studiens slutsatser visar att Umeå Energi bör arbeta mot en gemensam definition av dess samhällsansvar för att få ett mer enhetligt arbete inom organisationen och kunna identifiera väsentliga frågor att rapportera. En förbättrad dialog med intressenterna bidrar till att Umeå Energi får fokus på de viktigaste hållbarhetsfrågorna, och genom att proaktivt arbeta för en överensstämmelse mellan samhällets värderingar och företagets, kommer även legitimitet att utvinnas. Vidare indikerar studien att tydligare mål inom den sociala aspekten kan hjälpa Umeå Energi till mer struktur i arbetet. Vi har även uppfattat att det är av relevans att hållbarhetsredovisningens syfte som ett styrverktyg genomsyras i hela ledningen för att på så sätt strategiskt kunna sträva mot ett förbättrat hållbarhetsarbete. Studien resulterar i en rekommendationsmodell som visar att det är företagets värdegrund, intressentdialog och samsyn på syftet med hållbarhetsredovisningen som ligger till grund för ökade förutsättningar för införandet av en trovärdig hållbarhetsredovisning

Hur redovisar svenska börsnoterade företag sina nedskrivningsprövningar av koncernmässig goodwill? : En jämförande studie tio år efter införandet av IFRS

2014 was the tenth year that publicly listed companies within the United Nation applied the common framework IFRS when preparing the annual reports. Since then, goodwill has been a very controversial area. According to IFRS, goodwill is considered to have an indefinite financial lifetime whereon linear amortization is replaced with annual impairments testing. The framework was introduced to increase the comparability of annual reports and thereby depart from a society with several accepted accounting principles.The purpose of this study was to describe and compare how Swedish listed companies present their impairment testings in their annual reports. This was done by mapping their impairment testing’s during 2014 and analyzing differences in the companies assumptions regarding discount rate, rowth rate and forecast period. The purpose was achieved by a document study of secondary data of 2014 annual reports published by 58 of the 72 Swedish companies listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange Large Cap. The result indicates lack of comparability between financial reports since many companies did not declare and justify their assumptions. According to the study, the companies that did not present their assumptions regarding their impairment tests did less impairment. The study also reviled that these companies often are found in the same industry. In accordance with previous research, impairment tests are characterized by subjective interpretations and assessments.Validerat; 20160310 (global_studentproject_submitter

"Jag har redan jobbat färdigt för idag": berättelser om att vara nattarbetare : En narrativ analys av nattarbetares upplevelser och identitetsskapande

The purpose of this bachelor thesis is to examine how identity manifests itself in night workers narrations of their experiences with night work. Through examining this we aim to find a greater understanding of how night work might influence identity formation. To achieve this narrative analysis was applied to seven semi-structured interviews conducted with night workers. The analysis was based on a theoretical framework consisting of symbolic interactionism as well as theory related to both individual and collective identity. The analysis showed that the participants had many positive experiences with night work, including health benefits and better working conditions in comparison to both their own previous experiences with daytime work and their colleagues working daytime. It also revealed that their night work at times was perceived as being called into question by their surroundings, for example by the general discourse regarding night work, labor unions, employers and day time colleagues. This sometimes caused a need to defend both oneself and one’s decisions but also night workers as a group. Identity as a night worker manifested itself both as a sense of community among night workers and a distance between night workers and different non-night workers. Also, identity formation as a night worker appeared to be dependent on contextual factors such as the general discourse surrounding night work, research and norms.

"Jag har redan jobbat färdigt för idag": berättelser om att vara nattarbetare : En narrativ analys av nattarbetares upplevelser och identitetsskapande

The purpose of this bachelor thesis is to examine how identity manifests itself in night workers narrations of their experiences with night work. Through examining this we aim to find a greater understanding of how night work might influence identity formation. To achieve this narrative analysis was applied to seven semi-structured interviews conducted with night workers. The analysis was based on a theoretical framework consisting of symbolic interactionism as well as theory related to both individual and collective identity. The analysis showed that the participants had many positive experiences with night work, including health benefits and better working conditions in comparison to both their own previous experiences with daytime work and their colleagues working daytime. It also revealed that their night work at times was perceived as being called into question by their surroundings, for example by the general discourse regarding night work, labor unions, employers and day time colleagues. This sometimes caused a need to defend both oneself and one’s decisions but also night workers as a group. Identity as a night worker manifested itself both as a sense of community among night workers and a distance between night workers and different non-night workers. Also, identity formation as a night worker appeared to be dependent on contextual factors such as the general discourse surrounding night work, research and norms.

Tailoring the physical characteristics of solution blown cellulosic nonwovens by various post-treatments

Nonwovens are increasing in demand due to their versatility which enables use in a broad range of applications. Most nonwovens are still produced from fossil-based resources and there is thus a need to develop competitive materials from renewable feedstock. In this work, nonwovens are produced from cellulose via a direct solution blowing method. Cellulose was dissolved using the ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate (EMIMAc) and was regenerated into nonwovens by coagulation in water. The properties of such nonwovens were previously rather stiff and papery-like and the aim of this work was to improve the softness and feel of the materials by simple adjustments of the post-processing steps, i. e. washing and drying. It was shown that by primarily changing the drying method, it was possible to create a much softer and bulkier material using the same solution blowing parameters