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Genom att sänka ett företags kapitalbindning och höja dess leveransprecision kan det bli mer konkurrenskraftigt. Denna studie baseras på ett fallföretag som vill sänka sitt bundna kapital och som har en leveransprecision på 14%. Syftet med denna studie är att se vilka brister som finns i deras nuvarande arbetssätt för planering samt vad dessa brister leder till med målet att ta fram förslag på hur dessa brister kan motverkas och uppskatta vad effekten blir. Fallföretagets problemområden: Planeringsmetoder och följden av de nuvarande metoderna. Isolationen mellan fallföretagets avdelningar. Bristen på insikt i sin egen kapacitet. En komplex planeringssituation till följd av en produktion med många delprocesser och mycket variation. Efter analys av insamlad data och deras nuvarande metoder så har förbättringsförslag tagits fram för att fallföretaget ska göra rätt med planeringen från start istället för att ständigt förändra produktionsplanen. Detta uppskattas leda till en ökning av leveransprecisionen till 70-80% samt en sänkning av kapitalbindningen med 35-40%.

Sammanfattning Bakgrund: Härlett ur finansiella skandaler har revisorns oberoende i allmänhet ifrågasatts och som åtgärd har EU-kommissionen via ett revisionspaket påfört regler om tvingande byrårotation för företag av allmänt intresse. Den relationella uppdragstiden mellan revisionsbyråer och klienten har således tidsbegränsats. Härav följer diskussioner såväl inom revisionsbranschen som inom litteraturen kring huruvida en sådan tidsbegränsning kommer påverka revisionskvaliteten. I samma diskussioner förekommer inte bara uttalanden om revisorns faktiska och synbara oberoende då även revisorns kompetens diskuteras som beroende faktorer till revisionskvaliteten. Uppsatsen kommer därmed beakta såväl faktiska som synbara aspekter kring begränsade uppdragstiders påverkan på revisionskvaliteten. Syfte: Uppsatsen syftar till att komplettera redan befintliga diskussioner inom det vetenskapliga forskningsområdet som berör uppdragstiders påverkan på revisionskvaliteten. Syftet uppfylls genom att på byrånivå studera hur begränsade uppdragstider påverkar revisionskvaliteten ur såväl faktiska som synbara aspekter. Metod: Multipel logistisk regression kommer analysera insamlad data från årsredovisningar och revisionsberättelser mot faktisk revisionskvalitet. Samtidigt har en enkät utformats, vilken avser att studera tredje parts uppfattning kring synbar revisionskvalitet. Teorikapitlet kommer ligga till grund för såväl definitioner som analyser. Slutsatser: Via analysen av uppsatsens resultat för såväl den faktiska revisionskvaliteten som för den synbara revisionskvaliteten tillåts en samlad slutsats kring total revisionskvalitet. Vad avser faktisk revisionskvalitet ses inte uppdragstidens längd på byrånivå ha någon signifikant påverkan på revisionskvaliteten. Därav förmodas inte revisorns oberoende eller kompetens beröras nämnvärt av lagändringen. Dock diskuteras en indirekt påverkan på revisorns faktiska oberoende varför faktisk revisionskvalitet ändock torde anses positivt påverkad. Tredje part medger att lagändringen upplevs få en positiv effekt på synbar revisionskvalitet trots att revisorn upplevs göra avkall på sin kompetens till förmån för ett stärkt oberoende. Således förväntas den totala revisionskvaliteten bli stärkt av begränsade uppdragstider i relationen mellan revisionsbyråer och klienter. Abstract Background: Derived from financial scandals the independence of the auditor has publicly been questioned and as a result the EU Commission regulated mandatory audit-firm rotation for public companies. Thus, the audit firm and client relationship has been limited. Hence, discussions within the accountancy profession as well as within the literature surrounding the possible effects the change in regulation might have on audit quality. Not only statements surrounding the auditors’ independence of mind and independence in appearance occur in these discussions but also the competence of the auditor as a dependent factor to audit quality. The paper will hereby consider quality aspects in fact as well as in appearance related to mandatory audit-firm rotation and its impact on audit quality. Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to complement existing discussions within the scientific area concerning the effects mandatory audit-firm rotation have on audit quality. The purpose is met while a study on firm-level is conducted combining aspects in fact with aspects in appearance related to a limitation in the length of the firm-client relationship. Method: A multiple logistic regression will be used to analyze data from annual reports and audit opinions against audit quality in fact. A survey has been designed, which intends to study external third parties’ perception of audit quality in appearance. The literature chapter will form the basis for definitions as well as analyzes. Conclusions: Through an analysis of the papers result for both audit quality in fact and audit quality in appearance, a comprehensive conclusion of total audit quality can be made. In regard to audit quality in fact, our result show no significant effect between the length of the firm-client relationship and audit quality. Hence, neither the auditor’s independence nor competence are assumed to be substantially affected by the change in regulation. However, an indirect impact on the auditor’s independence in fact is discussed, which is why audit quality in fact might still be considered to be positively affected. Third parties perceive that the change in regulation positively affects audit quality in appearance despite the fact that the auditor is seemed to sacrifice competence in favour of improved independence in appearance. Thus, the total audit quality is expected to be improved by the mandatory audit-firm rotation.

Antibiotics have been extensively used to treat bacterial infections since Alexander Fleming’s discovery of penicillin 1928. Disease causing microbes that have become resistant to antibiotic drug therapy are an increasing public health problem. According to the world health organization (WHO) there are about 440 000 new cases of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis emerging annually, causing at least 150 000 deaths. Consequently there is an immense need to develop new types of compounds with new modes of action for the treatment of bacterial infections. Presented herein is a class of antibacterial ring-fused 2-pyridones, which exhibit inhibitory effects against both the pili assembly system in uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC), named the chaperone usher pathway, as well as polymerization of the major curli subunit protein CsgA, into a functional amyloid fibre. A pilus is an organelle that is vital for the bacteria to adhere to and infect host cells, as well as establish biofilms. Inhibition of the chaperone usher pathway disables the pili assembly machinery, and consequently renders the bacteria avirulent. The focus of this work has been to develop synthetic strategies to more efficiently alter the substitution pattern of the aforementioned ring-fused 2-pyridones. In addition, asymmetric routes to enantiomerically enriched key compounds and routes to compounds containing BODIPY and coumarin fluorophores as tools to study bacterial virulence mechanisms have been developed. Several of the new compounds have successfully been evaluated as antibacterial agents. In parallel with this research, manipulations of the core structure to create new heterocycle based central fragments for applications in medicinal chemistry have also been performed.

The objective of this study is to investigate how the development regarding the short-term nominal interest rate in Portugal would have differed from that set by the ECB 1999-2011 in a situation where they did not enter the European Monetary Union. To do this, we use the Taylor rule, which incorporates economic activities such as inflation and output and how these deviates from their target. Constructing the Taylor rule, we estimate its reaction functions using an Ordinary Least Square Regression on annual data from the period 1988-1998. The reaction functions serve as weights on the deviations for inflation and output. The result reached is that the interest rate set by the ECB since 1999 is far below that interest rate required by the Portuguese economic situation. Further, we discuss how the influence in the setting of the ECB interest rate differs considering the member countries size.

Automated warehouses are frequently used within the industry. SQL databases are often used for storing various kinds of information about stored items, including their physical positions in the warehouse with respect to X, Y and Z positions. Benefits of this includes savings in working time, optimization of storage capability and – most of all – increased employee safety. IT services company Sogeti’s office in Karlstad has been looking into a project on behalf of one of their customers to implement this kind of automated warehouse. In the pilot study of this project, ideas of a three-dimensional graphic visualization of the warehouse and its stored contents have come up. This kind of tool would give a warehouse operator a clear overview of what is currently in store, as well as quick access to various pieces of information about each and every item in store. Also, in a wider perspective, other types of warehouses and storage areas could benefit from this kind of tool. During the course of this project, a graphical visualization tool for this purpose was developed, resulting in a product that met a significant part of the initial requirements.

This paper examines the impact of estimation error in a simple single-period portfolio choice problem when the investor has power utility and asset returns are jointly lognormally distributed. These assumptions imply that such an investor selects portfolios using a modified mean-variance framework where the parameters that he has to estimate are the mean vector of log returns and the covariance matrix of log returns. Following Chopra and Ziemba (1993), I simulate estimation error in what are assumed to be the true mean vector and the true covariance matrix and the impact of estimation error is measured in terms of percentage cash equivalence loss for the investor. To obtain estimation error sizes that are similar to the estimation error sizes in actual estimates, I use a Bayesian approach and Markov Chain Monte Carlo Methods. The empirical results differ significantly from Chopra and Ziemba (1993), suggesting that the effect of estimation error may have been overestimated in the past. Furthermore, the results tend to question the traditional viewpoint that estimating the covariance matrix correctly is strictly less important than estimating the mean vector correctly.

This paper examines the impact of estimation error in a simple single-period portfolio choice problem when the investor has power utility and asset returns are jointly lognormally distributed. These assumptions imply that such an investor selects portfolios using a modified mean-variance framework where the parameters that he has to estimate are the mean vector of log returns and the covariance matrix of log returns. Following Chopra and Ziemba (1993), I simulate estimation error in what are assumed to be the true mean vector and the true covariance matrix and the impact of estimation error is measured in terms of percentage cash equivalence loss for the investor. To obtain estimation error sizes that are similar to the estimation error sizes in actual estimates, I use a Bayesian approach and Markov Chain Monte Carlo Methods. The empirical results differ significantly from Chopra and Ziemba (1993), suggesting that the effect of estimation error may have been overestimated in the past. Furthermore, the results tend to question the traditional viewpoint that estimating the covariance matrix correctly is strictly less important than estimating the mean vector correctly.