Abstract 

Master's thesis, Master of Science in Business and Economics - Controller, Linnaeus University School of Business, Växjö, spring semester 2023. 

Title: Does one plus one really equals two? 

A qualitative case study on how a private organization handles management control tensions after an acquisition. 

Background & problem

Acquisitions have become a popular approach to achieve fast and high growth. Nevertheless, it has been shown that the majority of acquisitions fail due to the difficulty of integrating the structural, cultural and strategic differences of the companies. To address these differences, it is crucial to design a management control system that considers the systems of the acquiring and acquired firms. However, existing research has not shed light on how firms should construct their control systems following a completed acquisition. The lack of interaction between the two firms eventually led to internal conflicts, also known as management control tensions. 

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine an organization's management control system both during and after a business acquisition. Particular attention has been given to identify and illustrate the tensions that have arisen in management control and to investigate the underlying reasons for their emergence. Finally, the investigation also aims to find and explain how these tensions in management control are handled within a private organization. 

Method

The research has investigated a private organization that carries out corporate acquisitions. The starting point for this investigation has been through a qualitative research approach with semi-structured interviews, where a case study with an explanatory character has been applied. The empirical collection has been obtained from both the acquiring and acquired companies' employees. In addition, internal documents and annual reports have been used to complement the empirical material of the study. 

Conclusion

The study identified five management tensions that have arisen after acquisitions; "Power to employees vs Formal structures", "Old systems vs New systems", "Old monitoring procedures vs New monitoring procedures," "Old benefits vs New benefits", "Old identity vs New identity". The emergence of these management control tensions is explained on the basis that there are contrasts in the management control systems of the acquiring and acquired company. Moreover, it is because the acquired employees had expectations that were not met after the acquisition. In addition, institutional logics have been another contributing factor, with one logic weakening the other. How these five management control tensions have been tackled depends on the circumstances and is thus context dependent. 

Keywords: Mergers and acquisitions, integration process, formal controls, informal controls, institutional logics, management control tensions 

Abstract

Industry 4.0 signifies the latest phase of industrialization, focusing on digitalization, automation, and data exchange, utilizing different technologies to increase productivity and competitiveness. This work aims to identify and analyze the use of Industry 4.0 technologies in the procurement process to improve efficiency. The research questions focus on which technologies are used and their role in improving efficiency, limited to the procurement process within supply chain management, using a structured literature review as a method.

The use of IoT, CPS, Big Data Analytics, Blockchain, and Cloud Services automates procurement activities. IoT is used for real-time monitoring and automated inventory replenishment. CPS coordinates both digital and physical components in order to improve traceability and decision-making. Big Data Analytics forecasts demand as well as evaluates supplier performance. Blockchain ensures transparent and secure transactions with the help of smart contracts. Cloud Services manage real-time data and improve communication and collaboration in the supply chain. These technologies play a central role in effectiveness for the procurement process where manual inventories decrease, supplier negotiations become more efficient and demand forecasts, traceability, and decision-making improve. This, in turn, increases transparency, ensures transactions, and facilitates strategic decisions, leading to improved efficiency, resource management, and competitiveness.

Purpose 

The purpose of the work is to compile information on Industry 4.0 technologies using a systematic literature review to identify the use of technologies in the purchasing process and analyze what role these technologies play in improving efficiency.

Methodology 

A systematic literature review was conducted to gather relevant data which in turn was used to analyze and answer the research questions.

Background: Electrification has resulted in an increased demand for lithium-ion batteries, which has created increased competitive pressure on the market. To maintain competitiveness and meet stakeholders' expectations, significant investments are required on the part of the company. Micropower Group, which is a leading manufacturer of chargers and lithium-ion batteries, is making a large-scale super capital investment in a new production facility. Considering that sustainability is a current topic, the company has chosen to construct the facility based on a green profile.

Purpose: The purpose of the study is to analyze and describe the early stages of the investment process, as well as when and in what way sustainability becomes decisive in the process, more specifically from initiation to decision. By proceeding from this purpose, other non-financial dimensions that play a role are also highlighted.

Method: The study is a qualitative case study that has conducted semi-structured interviews to collect empirical material. Respondents were selected through both strategic and snowball sampling. The theoretical frame of reference mainly consists of books, and scientific articles from Linnaeus University's databases, such as Google Scholar and OneSearch.

Conclusion: The original motive behind the super capital investment was the aspiration to have a leading position in the market, which required increased capacity. Emotions were central during the investment assessment and the decision was based on strategic considerations and its consistency with the company's long-term growth strategy, structure, culture, and values. Micropower Group integrated sustainability in the early stages of the investment process, mainly during propulsion and partly in decisions, by prioritizing social and environmental benefits and improvements in the work environment for strengthened corporate image, long-term growth, and profitability as well as a competitive advantage.

This study focuses on organizational learning within Swedish uppersecondary schools, specifically examining the conditions that enable this process to occur. Swedish schools have transitioned from a highly centralized system to one of the most decentralized in the world. This shift has resulted in greater local autonomy, but also increased responsibility for individual schools. The introduction of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) into Swedish upper secondary education has brought uncertainty regarding how schools should approach and integrate this technology. By using Dixon's learning cycle as a theoretical framework, the study analyzes how information is generated, integrated, interpreted, and acted upon within the schools. The results indicate that there are conditions conducive to organizational learning in both schools with regard to generative AI, but also highlight factors that may hinder this process. 

Purpose

Policy for women's entrepreneurship is designed to promote economic growth, not least in depleted rural areas, but very little is known about the contributions of rural women entrepreneurs, their needs or how the existing policy is received by them. Using a theoretical framework developed by Korsgaard et al. (2015), the authors analyse how rural women entrepreneurs contribute to rural development and discuss the implications for entrepreneurship policy. This paper aims to focus on the aforementioned objectives.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors interviewed 32 women entrepreneurs in rural Sweden representing the variety of businesses in which rural Swedish women are engaged. The authors analysed their contributions to rural development by analysing their motives, strategies and outcomes using Korsgaard et al.'s framework of "entrepreneurship in the rural" and "rural entrepreneurship" as a heuristic, interpretative device.

Findings

Irrespective of industry, the respondents were deeply embedded in family and local social structures. Their contributions were substantial, multidimensional and indispensable for rural viability, but the policy tended to bypass most women-owned businesses. Support in terms of business training, counselling and financing are important, but programmes especially for women tend to miss the mark, and so does rural development policy. More important for rural women entrepreneurs in Sweden is the provision of good public services, including for example, schools and social care, that make rural life possible.

Research limitations/implications

Theoretically, the findings question the individualist and a-contextual focus of much entrepreneurship research, as well as the taken-for-granted work-family divide. How gender and how the public and the private are configured varies greatly between contexts and needs contextual assessment. Moreover, the results call for theorising place as an entrepreneurial actor.

Practical implications

Based on the findings, the authors advise future policymakers to gender mainstream entrepreneurship policy and to integrate entrepreneurship and rural development policy with family and welfare state policy.

Originality/value

The paper highlights how rural women respond to policy, and the results are contextualised, making it possible to compare them to other contexts. The authors widen the discussion on contributions beyond economic growth, and the authors show that policy for public and commercial services and infrastructure is indeed also policy for entrepreneurship.

The last decades have seen major welfare state retrenchment in Europe, not least in Sweden with public sector downsizing, including privatization of schools, care, and health care. The rhetoric connected to privatization stressed the unique opportunities for formerly publicly employed women to start their own businesses in sectors now open for enterprise. Did this materialize? Analyzing twenty years of empirical research on women's entrepreneurship in Sweden we find that privatization resulted in oligopolization and masculinization of the market(s), and that gendered public sector practices were reproduced in the private sector – women turned from low-wage labor to low-profit entrepreneurship. In addition, divisions among women along lines of ethnicity resulted.

Background: Working remotely, either fully or partially, has had significant implications for organizations. As a result of Covid-19 and the increase of remote work, the need for control has increased. At the same time, there has also been an increased need for trust in employees when they have to perform their tasks from home without supervision. Control and trust are two well-studied areas, where previous research has studied perceptions of control and trust and the relationship between the two ideals. It also appears from previous research that control can cause tensions in different ways. Attention has also been paid to how remote and hybrid work affects control and trust. The current research literature, however, fails to shed light on how tensions arise and are managed between control and trust in connection with remote working.

Purpose: This study aims to create an understanding of tensions between control and trust in a hybrid working company by highlighting how tensions arise and how they are managed in a hybrid working company.

Method: This study has been carried out on managers and employees of a case company and therefore constitutes a one-case study. In order to fulfill the purpose of the study, we have used a qualitative research strategy and performed semi-structured interviews. The method also describes how the collection and interpretation of the empirical material has been done.

Conclusion: All in all, we have identified a common trigger that is primarily the basis for tensions arising in the studied company. This study has resulted in tensions arising in situations, based on individuals' perceptions, which are primarily related to remote work. The common trigger has been named distancing and has contributed more knowledge about how forms of work give rise to tensions between control and trust from a distancing perspective. The most prominent way to manage tensions between trust and control demonstrates the importance of communication to prevent or extenuate competing relationships between control and trust.

Intense global competition for natural resources, manifesting in negative environmental externalities, has forced hospitality and tourism stakeholders to adopt strategies that may result in economic growth in tandem with environmental conservation. One such strategy is to cultivate travellers' loyalty to the tourism destinations and encourage them to participate in environmentally friendly activities. Using the affective theory of social exchange, social identity, stimulus-organism-response, tourism consumption system and attachment theories, this study proposes and tests a configurational model that predicts the antecedents of visitors' pro-environmental behavioural intentions (PEBIs) regarding their desire to revisit (REVI) and recommend (RECI) the services that they experienced. Fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis was applied to assess the effect of memorable tourism experiences, place attachment, and demographics on these outcomes. The findings revealed that multiple configurations can predict visitors' intentions at tourist destinations. This study's implications for theory, practice, and future research directions are also discussed.

This chapter presents a methodological contribution to promote behavioural change in tourism. The authors argue that the sophisticated and modern tourist demands meaningful experiences that trigger self-actualization that can lead to self-transcendence. The concept of ‘transmodernity’ is then introduced, showing how the transformation goal is to change a person into a specific direction addressing broader sustainability goals. The chapter further draws on empirical data in a nature-based setting to illustrate the influence of methods on testings and evaluations, and also, how they shape people’s thinking, theory crafting, and knowledge producing.

Despite a vast literature conceptualizing a memorable tourism experience, empirical studies overlook the context in which those experiences are produced and compiled into actions that benefit the environment. Accordingly, we need to better understand to what extent the experience of megafauna enclosures strengthens visitors' overall support for wildlife protection. To close this knowledge gap, we study memorable tourism experiences in the Bison enclosures within Poland to better understand the significance of the environmental context in which the experience induces support for protecting the species. To this end, the study employs both symmetric and asymmetric models to uncover the complexity of individual behavioural paths. The PLS-SEM results confirm the role of memorable experiences in the relationship between attitudinal and behavioural outcomes. In a complimentary manner, the fsQCA results reveal how environmental planners can analyze complex constellations of internal and external factors to elucidate the conditions that generate visitor support for wildlife protection.

Sustainability reporting is increasing rapidly, nowadays corporations face larger and larger requirements that they work with sustainability and that they present their sustainability work. Both legally required and not legally required expectations and requirements changes how the corporations work and drives the change forward. Previous studies show that the new laws in sustainability reporting often are very difficult, complicated and demanding to follow for the corporations. This study examines how the corporation's sustainability work has changed and which of the legal and non legal requirements has driven the change. This study is abductive with a qualitative approach, this study used a case study of two companies in the automotive industry to be able to answer the research question. The result of this study showed in contrast to the previous literature that the two companies in the case study weren’t highly affected by the legal requirements in sustainability reporting that were introduced. This was mainly because the two already had adopted a great sustainability routine in their work. This finding was the biggest difference from the previous literature and theories. Further it was found that the non legal requirements were the biggest and the most driving changes for the corporations. The non legal requirements were the ones that were driving the change and were the most demanding for the two corporations. This study resulted in that the legal requirements weren't as complicated and difficult for the corporations as the previous literature suggested, instead it was the non legal requirements in the form of stakeholders that was driving the change for the corporations.

Purpose: The purpose of the essay is to depict principals' work in preventing mental health issues among their teachers.

Method: The study is based on a deductive research approach where a qualitative research method has been applied.

Conclusion: The study has shown that the principals have a broad perspective on health and are aware that a good mental health among teachers is crucial for a successful school environment. The principals are thus introducing many different initiatives and make adjustments based on their workplace and the needs of the employees.

Purpose. This conceptual, multi-voiced paper aims to collectively explore and theorize family entrepreneuring, which is a research stream dedicated to investigating the emergence and becoming of entrepreneurial phenomena in business families and family firms. Design/methodology/approach. Because of the novelty of this research stream, the authors asked 20 scholars in entrepreneurship and family business to reflect on topics, methods and issues that should be addressed to move this field forward. Findings. Authors highlight key challenges and point to new research directions for understanding family entrepreneuring in relation to issues such as agency, processualism and context. Originality/value. This study offers a compilation of multiple perspectives and leverage recent developments in the fields of entrepreneurship and family business to advance research on family entrepreneuring.

Context: Dynapac have been using reusable load carriers since the 1980s, when they implemented carriers for tires. The load carriers are mainly used to deliver goods, and the central position is that there must be an availability of the load carriers to be able to deliver the goods on time. The load carriers are being shipped back to the supplier after the goods have been used in the assembly line. Dynapac is experiencing significant issues regarding the information flow of their reusable load carrier. They have no way of tracking or tracing the carriers, neither do they know how many carriers they own nor where they are. 

Purpose: The purpose of the study is to propose a standardized routine for the internal processes involving load carriers, based on Dynapacs current processes for handling reuseable load carriers.  

Method: The study constitutes a qualitative case study at Dynapac Compaction Equipment AB, where data has been collected through semi-structured interviews and observations. The selection for the interviews was based on targeted selection in order to obtain representative information for the final results of the study. 

Results: The study identified several different deficiencies regarding the management of reuseable load carriers. The problems that were discovered can be standardized with the help of a register or index combined with RFID-technology that can be integrated with Dynapacs business system SAP. With the implementation of a register, can Dynapac also introduce continuous inventory to keep the problem from appearing again. 

Bookkeeping and accounting is a prevalent feature of small organizations, which has changed face quite substantially with the advent of personal computers and, later, the Internet. The emergence of digitalized accounting procedures has taken place in a nexus of different types of actors (e.g., software developers, accountancy firms and the businesses themselves), regulatory frameworks (e.g., bookkeeping laws and accounting standards) and technical frameworks (e.g., standards for software interactions with banks and tax authorities). Altogether, this has made the paths taken in this process to be largely national. In general, this process of digitalization is largely undocumented and untheorized in research despite its profound impact on practice. Against this backdrop, this chapter has a descriptive and forward-looking approach, documenting the case of how Swedish bookkeeping practices of small organizations became digitalized, which can work as a reference case for comparisons with other national contexts.

In a time where the implementation of technical solutions has become common in the audit industry, the auditor's way of performing judgments of a company's financial reports has changed. The purpose of this essay is to, based on the Technology Dominance Theory and the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), contribute knowledge about the consequences of digitization in the auditing industry, specifically on the role of the auditor and its professional judgment. In addition, the paper examines the effects that digitization has on the required skills in today's digital audit environment. In the essay, a deductive research approach is used, and a qualitative method is applied in the form of semi-structured interviews with authorized auditors in Sweden. The essay shows that the implementation of digital tools challenges today's auditors to develop professional judgment in high-risk areas. The process of extracting and transforming audit evidence into appropriate digital formats has also been shown to result in an improved judgment capability. However, the paper could not show any differences in whether the use of digital tools can dominate professional judgment among authorized auditors. Furthermore, the paper identifies some of the qualifications that may be in demand as a result of the implementation of digital audit tools.

Användningen och upprättandet av hållbarhetsredovisningar har under de senaste åren ökat,på ett såväl nationellt som internationellt plan. Dagens företag ställs inför allt ökande tryckfrån interna och externa intressenter att bidra till en positiv utveckling genom aktivhållbarhetsarbete samt redovisning av sådana hållbarhetsrelaterade åtaganden. Inte minstvisas detta genom framväxten av nya lagregleringar, vilka medför att allt fler företag idagomfattas av lagstadgade krav på upprättandet av hållbarhetsredovisningar. Genom den ökadeanvändningen av, samt upprättandet av hållbarhetsredovisningar blir det intressant attundersöka inställningen till sådana hållbarhetsredovisningar bland redovisningsekonomer -vilka utgör den yrkesroll som anses besitta en nyckelroll vid upprättandet av sådana slagsicke-finansiella rapporter. Utifrån detta avser denna uppsats att undersöka inställningen tillupprättandet av hållbarhetsredovisningar bland svenska redovisningsekonomer samthuruvida ökad användning och ökat upprättande av hållbarhetsredovisningar kräverkompetensutveckling inom yrkesrollen redovisningsekonom. Genom ett kvalitativttillvägagångssätt har studien genomförts i form av semistrukturerade intervjuer medredovisningsekonomer och redovisningskonsulter, verksamma i det svenska näringslivet. Desammanfattande slutsatserna visar att inställningen till såväl hållbarhet överlag som tillföretags upprättande av hållbarhetsredovisningar generellt är positiv bland svenskaredovisningsekonomer. Därutöver belyser slutsatserna hur en, i årsredovisningen, ökadspecificering av hållbarhetsredovisningens utformning hade underlättat arbetet medupprättandet av en sådan slags icke-finansiell rapport. Slutligen konstateras en önskan omförbättrade kompetenser för upprättandet av hållbarhetsredovisningar bland svenskaredovisningsekonomer samt en vädjan om att inkludera kunskaper för upprättandet avhållbarhetsredovisningar i ekonomprogram på universitetsnivå.

Background: Standard costs are, according to researchers, outdated and irrelevant. Despite this, standard costs are used in today's manufacturing industry. There are also very few studies on how standard costs are used in practice, which has created a discrepancy between product costing in theory and practice. There is also a lack of research on how standard costs in manufacturing companies in Sweden are calculated, which leads to the following purpose.    

Purpose: Based on the above background, the following purpose of the paper is to analyze the use of standard costs in a manufacturing company and the underlying motives and situations to why they are used.    

Method: The paper has investigated a large manufacturing company in Sweden that uses standard costs. The starting point has been through a qualitative study with semi-structured interviews. The empirical data has further been collected from the controller team in the case company as well as internal documents to substantiate the process of how standard costs are used.    

Conclusion: The paper has identified how and why standard costs are used. Budgeting is the basis for calculating standard costs. Two reasons why standard costs are used are to facilitate decision-making and internal accounting.

Background: Russia's warfare against Ukraine has caused disruption for companies trading with either country. The intertwined economies created by globalization have brought complexity to logistics management, especially for global companies. Successfully managing logistics risks is crucial for global companies to enable themselves to maintain a strong position. 

Purpose: The aim of the study is to describe the key aspects of how global manufacturing companies approach logistics risk management in the context of Russia's warfare against Ukraine. The aim is that the results of the study will also be useful for similar companies, and therefore be helpful to them in future similar events. 

Method: The study applies an abductive methodological approach. The authors have used semi structured interviews to collect empirical data. With the help of a developed theoretical framework, the empirical data is analyzed to answer the research question. 

Conclusion: Xylem has successfully managed the situation of Russia's warfare against Ukraine. The two outstanding aspects that enabled the successful management were the relationship with shippers and the ability to adapt and work flexibly. The situation created by Covid meant implementing strategies that laid the foundations for a resilient supply chain that could withstand disruptions. 

Purpose: This study examines the role of auditors in preventing financial crime in order to increase knowledge and awareness of the duties and effectiveness of auditors in crime prevention, to understand the ongoing conflict surrounding the role of the audit industry in these efforts.

Method: The study is based on a deductive research approach with a qualitative research approach used to collect in-depth perspectives through semi-structured interviews with respondents from various actors. The study collected primary data from three chartered auditors, a financial police investigator and an economics crime auditor from the Economic Crime Authority (EBM).

Conclusion: The conclusion shows that auditors play a critical but complex role in crime prevention work, which is not always in line with actors' expectations. Strengthening auditors' functions and clarifying legal requirements and ethical standards can bridge the expectation gap. In addition, improved cooperation between agencies and continuous training of auditors in new trends in financial crime could improve auditors' effectiveness in preventing financial crime.

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to analyze how companies can improve theirunderstanding of the economic profitability of their marketing activities by examining howcompanies currently work to follow up on the profitability of digital marketing, as well asthe potential for improvement that companies perceive in the ways they work.

Method: A qualitative method has been employed in this study, where four interviewshave been conducted with three respondents who work on evaluating the profitability ofdigital marketing. The collected empirical data has then been compared with currenttheories in order to enhance understanding of the subject.

Results: Companies today primarily use ROAS (Return on Advertising Spend) to measurethe profitability of marketing, and the data that forms the basis for evaluation is providedand processed by Google and Meta's AI models. However, these are treated differently bycompanies, which has been found to correspond to their experience and expertise in thefield.

The most significant aspects that were highlighted were the improvement and utilization ofAI and data analysis tools, as they are at the core of evaluating the profitability ofmarketing activities. The respondents are convinced that AI will play an increasinglyimportant role in evaluating the profitability of digital marketing, where the ability tounderstand and manage these AI models will be crucial for companies in the future.

Denna undersökning fokuserar på hur digitala interaktioner påverkar motivationen hos svenska och danska artister inom populärmusikgenrer. Genom en kvantitativ ansats formulerade vi fyra propositioner och genomförde en enkät med 99 artister, främst DIY-artister som har släppt musik under den digitala eran.

Resultaten bidrar till en fördjupad förståelse av hur digitala interaktioner kan ses som en form av social feedback och hur det påverkar artisternas motivation att bygga en karriär inom musikbranschen.

Vi kan konstatera att digitala interaktioner, även om de inte är den enda faktorn, är en viktig faktor att beakta för att etablera sig inom musikbranschen, särskilt under den digitala eran då möjligheterna har ökat.

Component accounting concerns the accounting management of tangible fixed assets. In many cases, these assets consist of different parts with varying economical and technical lifespans. Real estates are regarded as such assets whereby the building frame, roof and facade could be examples of distinguished components that should be accounted for separately. Swedish companies applying the K3-framework need to manage their accounting accordingly.

This study´s focus relates to real estate companies’ application of component accounting. The aim of the study is to investigate differences and similarities between different companies, also in comparison to published guidelines on this topic. Furthermore, the study seeks to understand the implications of component accounting. A qualitative method has been applied where interviews have been conducted with four companies that form the basis of the empirical data. To achieve the purpose of the study a comparative multiple case design has been used. 

The results show that component accounting is uniquely applied between companies and is often characterized by estimations. However, similarities between the companies as well as the guidelines do also exist. The implications that follow depend in part on how it´s applied, although increased depreciations, profit smoothing, increased book values and the componentization´s impact on comparability have been found to be some of the main consequences. 

This paper examines how strategy implementation and daily work processes impact each other,and how strategy-related change occurs. We use the lens of institutional theory to understandhow strategy and control processes are woven through a prominent international manufacturingorganization. We show that the interplay between the formal and indigenous institution steers strategy implementation as well as daily work. We find that both strategy implementation and daily work are directed by the indigenous institution, and maintained through communication of the intentions, or mission, of the formal institutions without specification of ways or meansby the formal institution. It is control through intention, or mission. Strategy implementation,which is usually understood to be a separate, activity, is in this case a set of communications that flow through the indigenous institution and are filtered and transformed in such a way thatthe implemented strategy is not the same as the strategy prescribed by the formal institution.In this case, the indigenous institution is revealed to be in a long-term engagement with the issue of where control should be located, and it introduced the concept of “position ownership”as an unofficial operating strategy, even though the concept has no existence in the formal institution or formal strategy. This paper clarifies boundaries between the formal institution of management documents and structure, and the realm of action, in which the indigenous institution dominates. The concept of the indigenous institutions reifies the underlying interactions of the participants in an understandable and useable way, revealing the durabilityand reflection jointly realized by participants. Adding this perspective to our way ofunderstanding work gives us a way to understand the capacity of organizations to be both steady and flexible. It also provides a way to understand the difficulty of attempting to controlchange initiated by the formal institutions.

This study examines the implementation of ESG ratings and their impact on the Swedishstock market within the real estate, banking, and industrial sectors. ESG ratings assesscompanies' sustainability based on environmental impact, social responsibility, and corporategovernance. The aim is to analyze the relationship between ESG ratings and stockperformance, as well as investors' behavior in investment decisions. The study focuses onlarge companies within the Large Cap segment in the Swedish market during the period of2016-2019. The methods include qualitative interviews to gather investors' perspectives anddescriptive analysis to quantitatively examine returns based on ESG scores. The study findsno statistically significant relationship between ESG and companies returns. Investors'decisions are not solely based on ESG ratings but also on other factors.

Background: Founded by Ingvar Kamprad in the 1940s, IKEA is a global leader in affordable, design-oriented furniture. With the rise of e-commerce and changing consumer preferences, IKEA faces challenges in adapting to technological developments in retail. Continuous improvement, defined as a management strategy focusing on incremental progress and quality improvements, is crucial for IKEA. Effective implementation of continuous improvement requires the active involvement of employees, which is greatly influenced by the governance framework. Research shows that enabling governance, which promotes experimentation and collaboration, is crucial for successful continuous improvement, while constraining governance hinders innovation.  

Purpose: The purpose of the study is to provide an understanding of how governance affects continuous improvement and employee engagement, and what possible improvement suggestions there are for IKEA's current processes regarding continuous improvement.  

Method: This study is a qualitative case study at IKEA with a deductive approach. The empirical material has been collected through semi-structured interviews, documents obtained and public organizations' web pages. The frame of reference consists of documents, literature and scientific articles.  

Conclusion: Governance influences continuous improvement and employee engagement through five key factors. These key factors are corporate structure and management commitment, continuous improvement practices, financial and non-financial measures, policies and rules, and communication of culture and values. Based on Adler and Bory's framework, it becomes easy to understand the link between the management of these five key factors, continuous improvement and employee engagement. The analysis of IKEA's continuous improvement management system identifies shortcomings in the evaluation process, incentives and reward systems, which can be addressed with improvement suggestions that include establishing teams to monitor improvements, anonymizing documentation, involving co-workers in goal setting and introducing a comprehensive incentive program. These measures aim to foster a culture of continuous improvement, increase engagement and ensure that resources are used efficiently, favoring long-term success.

Theheighteneduseofautomatizationindifferentmarketshasmadeahugeimpactformany differenttypesofcompaniesthatwanttotakeadvantageofthetechnicalachievementsto remaincompetitiveinthemarket.Automatizationhasmanydifferentaspects,makingit importantforcompaniestodeeplyanalyzetheorganizationalstructureandcurrent operativecapacitytodecideifautomatizationcansatisfytheircurrentandfutureneeds.Itis alsoimportanttodevelopeffectiveinvestmentcalculationstocorrectlyassesstheviability ofautomatization.Thisstudyaimstoexploretheeffectsofautomatization,specificallyin fieldsincompanieslikeeconomy,competence,ergonomicsandefficiency,aswellas understandingwhichmethodsandcriteriasAteaLogisticsABusesinassessinginvestment ofautomatedcharacterandwhatriskstheseinvestmentscanpotentiallyhaveinthework environment.Thisisdonebycomparingthetheoryofthesedifferentconceptswiththe empiricalevidenceprovidedbythecompany.Byanalyzingempiricalevidencewiththe literature,thisstudyaimstogiveinsightsonthedifferenteffectsthatautomatizationcan havebasedondifferentparameters.

An escalating concern about the environment amongst the general population, businesses trying to make their way forward on the hunt for market shares and profitability, and customers that nowadays are used to extreme flexibility in their purchase and return process due to the immense growth of e-commerce. These observations can all be considered facts, but do they correlate with each other when a customer tries on a pair of pants and decides to return them to the retailer? The purpose and reason for why this thesis was conducted was to gain an understanding of how fashion e-tailers in Sweden balance the needs of consumers, company finances and environmental concerns when designing their return policy. The thesis was conducted as a multiple case study, using a qualitative research method where the primary data was collected from six in-depth semi-structured interviews with practitioners within the field, representing e-tailers in the fashion industry. The findings obtained from the interviews were put in context, analysed, discussed and compared with literature from previous research using a thematic analysis approach. The authors can conclude that balance in the return policy is difficult to achieve. Various avoidance techniques are being used in order to maintain balance, and customer satisfaction is seen as a vital part of the return process. Sustainability is difficult to define and the participants interpreted the phrase in various ways. It was therefore complicated to analyse the environmental impact from product returns. Basically, it is difficult to know what the most sustainable initiatives are, and even though our participants take some environmental initiatives, there is room for improvement. The research provides valuable managerial implications from a new perspective that the researchers believe is more comprehensive, and gives suggestions for future research within the field of study. 

Bakgrund: Konkurrensen för företag har blivit allt större i takt med ökad globalisering vilket ställer krav på effektiva arbetssätt. Godsmottagningsprocessen är avgörande för en effektiv lagerhantering vilket minskar förseningar längre fram i logistikflödet. En effektiv godsmottagningsprocess säkerställer att rätt varor finns på rätt plats vid rätt tidpunkt. Genom en kartläggning av godsmottagningsprocessen hos Martin & Servera i Halmstad har deras icke-värdeskapande aktiviteter och dess bakomliggande orsaker kunnat identifieras. Förbättringsåtgärder med syfte att eliminera dessa icke-värdeskapande aktiviteter för en effektivare godsmottagningsprocess undersöks i studien.

Syfte: Syftet med studien är att identifiera icke-värdeskapande aktiviteter och dess bakomliggande orsaker i godsmottagningen hos Martin & Servera i Halmstad för att därefter presentera förbättringsförslag för en effektivare godsmottagningsprocess.

Metod: Studien är en kvalitativ fallstudie hos Martin & Servera i Halmstad. Empiriskt material har samlats in genom kvalitativa intervjuer med personal och egna observationer av godsmottagningen.

Slutsats: De icke-värdeskapande aktiviteter som har identifierat är väntan, onödiga transporter, onödiga lager, onödiga rörelser och defekter. Orsakerna bakom dessa icke-värdeskapande aktiviteter är bristfälliga krav på leverantörer, kostnadsbesparingar och att det saknas tidbokningssystem somorganiserar lastbilarnas ankomst till godsmottagningen, certifieringskrav, säkerhetskrav, bristfälligt internt informationsflöde, säsongbaserad efterfråga, manuell hantering och ej erfaren personal. För en effektivare godsmottagningsprocess har studien förslagit att företaget satsar på tidbokningssystem, ökade krav på leverantörer, standardisering av arbetsprocesser och en ökad cross-docking.

Background: Digitalization involves access to digital information, streamlining of operations, and new solutions through emerging technologies. The discussion on future changes underscores the need to prepare for new challenges and adapt working methods through education and knowledge exchange. This process positively impacts companies and society by improving communication and making work processes more efficient, which is essential for market survival. Controllers provide companies with crucial information for decision-making and management, and they are responsible for areas such as budgeting and process analysis. New opportunities and threats emerge, affecting the role of controllers within companies.

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to examine the general impact of digitalization on the working methods of controllers and to explore controllers' perspectives on remote work to identify the new challenges or opportunities it has introduced.

Method: The methodology chapter begins with an account of the study's choice of method, research design, and case company, as well as a summary of the theoretical framework. Following this, the data collection process is presented, which is based on semi-structured interviews, an interview guide, and the selection of respondents. Furthermore, the approach to analyzing the empirical material is described, including transcription and thematic analysis. Finally, the study's quality criteria and ethical considerations are presented.

Conclusion: Digitalization has influenced the controller's work methods by implementing technologies that streamline workflow. This frees up time for value-creating tasks and improves decision-making. Despite challenges such as the need for education and resistance to change, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Digital tools like Excel, Power BI, and Teams are now indispensable for controllers at Scania, also enabling remote work. The study shows that digitalization and remote work enhance efficiency, productivity, and flexibility, contributing to better work processes and insights for the company.

Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att redogöra för de utmaningar och möjligheter anställda upplever med att bibehålla en sund work-life balance när de arbetar på distans. 

Metod: Studien har sin utgångspunkt i teorin, därmed innebär det att en deduktiv forskningsansats har använts. En kvalitativ forskningsstrategi har använts och studiens empiriska data har samlats in genom strukturerade intervjuer för att testa teoretiska utgångspunkter gentemot respondenternas upplevelser.

Slutsats: Studiens resultat visar att arbete på distans till största del bidrar med fördelar som flexibilitet och kontroll, vilket kan förbättra livstillfredsställelse, arbetsprestation samt reducera rollkonflikter. Det ger anställda mer tid för sina olika roller och uppgifter, vilket främjar välbefinnande. Arbete på distans bidrar även till utmaningar som otydliga gränser mellan arbete och privatliv, särskilt för de med småbarn, och kan resultera i isolering och minskat engagemang. För att bibehålla en sund balans mellan arbete och privatliv är det viktigt med tydliga gränser och effektiva strategier för att hantera kraven från båda sfärerna.

Background and problem: The auditing industry has an essential role in today’s society. The industry is constantly evolving, driven by digitalization and, more recently, artificial intelligence. This leads to changes in job tasks and robots taking over human skills. Therefore, this study aims to investigate how the implementation of artificial intelligence affects auditor’s job satisfaction. 

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to contribute with a deeper knowledge of how artificial intelligence is applied in auditing and whether it has affected auditors' job satisfaction and their tasks within the hierarchical structure.

Method: The study utilizes a qualitative cross-sectional design, including semi-structured interviews. This approach allows for deeper interviews with room for interpretation and analysis of the collected data. 

Conclusion: The study's results show that artificial intelligence has a positive impact on the auditing industry from several perspectives. Job satisfaction has been positively affected as monotonous tasks are eliminated, making work more efficient and interesting. Higher job satisfaction leads to better quality in audit reports. The results also indicate that the hierarchical structure of auditors has changed, with tasks being replaced and the hierarchy can be moved one step in the future. 

Workplace conflicts arise from a variety of underlying causes and are an inevitable aspect of the job. The application of techniques that foster cooperation and communication is a common trend in conflict resolution. In light of this, this study uses the paradigm provided by Bolman and Deal's book "Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice and Leadership" to examine how a case study organisation manages conflicts. Four perspectives are used in the study to analyse conflicts and conflict management: structural, HR, political, and symbolic. These viewpoints are presented separately in the conceptual framework, together with pertinent models and theories. Nine people from various departments and roles were interviewed for the empirical material in order to learn more about their perspectives on conflicts, the parties involved, and conflicts resolution techniques. The conceptual framework is applied to the analysis of the interview compilation in order to find patterns and enhance dispute resolution techniques. The study concludes by demonstrating the benefits of adopting a multi-perspective strategy in order to prevent taking a biassed stance on conflicts.

Background: Performance measurement aims to steer the organization in a direction that is in line with the company’s overall goals and strategy. It is a control tool that was initially designed for the industrial sector, which resulted in questions being asked as to whether the measurement can be applied to the service sector. The auditing industry is a form of professional service business, where the work consists of many intangible factors.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate and describe how performance measurement is designed within the auditing industry, from the auditor’s perspective. Further deepening in efficiency will be carried out, to see how audit firms work with measurement around this.

Method: This study is based on a qualitative method with an abductive approach. Semi-structured interviews have been conducted with certified auditors. This with the aim of getting answers to our questions and gaining a deeper understanding of performance measurement in the auditing industry.

Conclusions: We can conclude that the focus regarding the design of performance measurement in the auditing industry is on non-financial measures at the operational level and that more focus is on financial measures higher up in the organization. Evaluating and motivating are two prominent reasons for measuring performance. Furthermore, utilization rate is a frequently used metric to measure productivity.

This study will be investigating the relationship between short-term and long-term interest rates with the OMX30 stock return expressed in percentage, as well as the effect that the interest rates have on the stock return. The data used in this study has been collected from the dataprogram Datastream with monthly observations from January 2003 until December 2022 resulting in 240 different variables within all three factors over a period of 20 years. While performing OLS estimation, the result estimated by using R-studio shows a negative correlation between the interest rates and the percentage return of OMX30. Furthermore, the Granger causality test shows that the short-term interest rate does have an impact on the market whilst the long-term interest rate does not have any direct effect on the stock market in Sweden.

This essay examines the relationship between exchange rate volatility, estimated using a GARCH model, and level of trade for Sweden and Finland. The data used was collected from Refinitive Eikon Datastream with monthly observations for the time period January 2005 - December 2022. The obtained results indicate that the volatility of the Swedish Krona and Euro positively increases the level of trade for Sweden respectively Finland according to the ARDL model. However, while examining different time perspectives the conclusions resulted in inconclusiveness for the countries and perspectives. The ARDL bounds test for Sweden corresponded with inconclusive results regarding a possible positive long term relationship between SEKs exchange rate volatility and level of trade. Furthermore, the Granger causality test did not state a short term relationship between the two variables for Sweden nor did it state a reversed relationship. On the other hand, for Finland, the ARDL bounds test and Granger causality test denied both a long term and short term positive relationship between the EURs exchange rate volatility and level of trade for Finland. However, for Finland a reversed Granger causality test was shown indicating that the level of trade has an impact on the volatility of the EURs exchange rate.

Background: The separation between owners and those in control has brought about significant changes between owners and those with operational control. This separation has posed numerous challenges between principals and the agents acting on their behalf. However, research indicates that when the management holds equity in their own company, they tend to act in alignment with the shareholders' interests. On the other hand, other studies have shown that insider ownership can have negative consequences for the company, in the form of management entrenchment, where insiders prioritise their own interests. Therefore, the relationship between corporate performance and insider ownership remains a topic of divided opinions.Furthermore, Sweden is known for having a high concentration of ownership, making it particularly interesting to examine the relationship between insider ownership and corporate performance in the Swedish market.

Purpose : The purpose of this study is to investigate how the proportion of insider-owned shares among individuals in board and executive positions in Swedish companies influences corporate performance.

Methodology: The study adopts a quantitative research approach with a deductive stance. The sample of Swedish companies is analysed using relevant variables in panel regressions. The study applies agency theory, management entrenchment theory, stewardship theory, resource dependence theory, the shareholder model, the stakeholder model, and asymmetric information to examine potential relationships between insider ownership and corporate performance.

Conclusion: Insider ownership within the management positively impacts corporate performance in Sweden, identified by the performance metrics ROE and ROA. However, total insider ownership, board insider ownership, CEO insider ownership, and chairman insider ownership did not show significant relationships with corporate performance. The positive relationship between management insider ownership and corporate performance could be explained by factors such as asymmetric information, trust in management, and monitoring of management. Further research is needed to understand how the board's monitoring indirectly affects corporate performance in the Swedish market, as per agency theory.

Background and problem: The audit industry has been described as a male industry where the female role does not match the stereotypical image of an auditor. Nowadays, auditing is not only a male profession, but it is said that women's opportunities to reach higher positions in the industry are affected by various factors. It is equal between men and women among the lower positions but not among the higher ones. Sweden is one of the most equal countries in Europe, but despite that, it is not equal among the higher positions in auditing firms. Previous studies have found that there are factors that prevent women from advancing up in the career ladder, but what it is that affects Swedish female auditors with children is still unexplored. Thus, this study is intended to contribute with research on women's experiences and obstacles as mothers within the auditing industry in Sweden.

Purpose: The purpose of the study is to create an understanding of the gender equality problem in the higher positions in the auditing industry, and whether motherhood can be a factor that can explain the underrepresentation of women in the higher positions in the industry.

Method: The study has been done using a qualitative method and the empirical material has been collected through semi-structured interviews with women in the audit industry.

Conclusion: The study shows that it is not motherhood that constitutes an obstacle for women, but instead it is being on parental leave and then if necessary working part-time to be able to balance family life with working life that creates obstacles. Furthermore, it is these factors that affect women's careers. Motherhood leads women to make different choices than before they had children. These choices mean that the mothers change their career goals and show that they prioritize differently after having children and therefore take parental leave for a longer period or work part-time to have time with the children when they are still young and dependent on their mothers.

Background: The construction industry is accident-prone. To motivate employees to work in risky work environments, companies use reward systems. The rewardsystem in turn shapes the social and organizational work environment. However, all employees are motivated by different rewards, which in turn characterizes the workplace and its working environment.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate and analyze how companies’ reward systems shape the organizational and social work environment within the construction industry. Furthermore, the aim is to find out how the organizational and social work environment in turn shapes the physical work environment.

Method: We have used two research designs; a cross-sectional study and multiple case studies that we have carried out at 5 different companies active in the construction industry. The empirical material has been collected through semi-structured interviews with 10 people from these companies. The study has an inductive research approach.

Conclusion: We concluded that the reward system is involved in shaping the organizational and social work environment because, among other things, rewards determine how motivated the workers are and how they are thus intrigued with each other. Social cohesiveness was also what we considered to be the closest connection to the physical work environment.

Over the past three decades, interest in the topic of Business Incubation and more specifically University Business Incubation, has increased, due to its potential to encourage entrepreneurial activities, which initiate innovation and economic development. The literature on entrepreneurship devotes significant attention to BI as a tool for supporting entrepreneurs in overcoming difficulties associated with starting a business. Meanwhile, the fact that incubators themselves are vulnerable to different challenges needs to be sufficiently highlighted in the research currently in publication. By adopting an incubator’s perspective on developing entrepreneurs and, therefore, its dynamics that form new ventures, this qualitative study has focused on difficulties adjacent to the administration of the incubator. By building on the Black Box model of incubation, the Triad model, as well as Institutionalized entrepreneurship, the researchers have contributed to the phenomena of UBIs, and the many challenges they encounter when incubating business tenants. The thesis has successfully confirmed the inherent value of ensuring the financial viability of publicly financed incubators while shedding light on the challenges involved in achieving self-sufficiency. This examination has delved into the acquisition of government funds by incubators and explored the opportunities and constraints accompanying such support. Building on existing literature, which identifies sustainability and growth as key indicators, this study has provided empirical evidence and analysis that underscores the detrimental impact on the incubator's core mission when these criteria are not maintained.

In recent years, startups have become frontrunners of innovation. Large corporations today are trying to keep up with startups but are falling behind due to long bureaucratic processes. In order to keep up with the startups, corporations collaborate with startups through accelerator programs and acquisitions. The purpose of this study is to understand the decision making process corporations go through when they decide to interact with startups to reach their innovation goals. The study has used a qualitative research approach in the form of a multiple case study to look into the decision making process of larger corporations. Three corporations of various sizes have been interviewed with a total of 5 respondents. The gathered empirical data was analyzed through inter organizational relationships, open innovation and a conceptual framework. 

The empirical data in this research displayed that companies use a mixture of strategies, including internal R&D, acquiring startups and corporate-startup collaborations, to reach their innovation goals. These alternatives are evaluated based on factors such as financial gain, feasibility within the organization, and input from different stakeholders, including experts within the relevant fields. Companies are aware of the risks involved, but are willing to take in order to remain competitive, avoid losses and stay innovative. They furthermore tend to choose multiple alternatives to spread their chances for gaining innovative ideas, in order to avert loss and diminish sensitivity. Ultimately, the companies use startup collaborations to minimize losses when acquiring startups, to stay ahead of their competitors, and to help them remain innovative as they grow. 

This study investigates the effect of dividend policy on firm value andfinancial performance. Whether dividends affect firm value or financialperformance has been a contentious topic for decades and has been describedas a puzzle. We examine Swedish listed firms by running multiple regressionswith panel data. The regression results of this study suggest that dividends donot affect firm value but has a positive impact on financial performance. Ourfindings oppose several existing theories and previous studies on the topic,regarding firm value. But regarding financial performance, most of theexisting theories are in line with our results.

Introduction:

Since the start of the digital age back in the 70s, digital technology has become a main tool for us humans to work, communicate, and enjoy ourselves on a day-to-day basis. The major push that set this new chapter of human life was due to the first military-manufactured computers of the time. The usage and development since then have grown exponentially all across our lives, affecting everything from hospital visits in Hong Kong to a late-night shopping experience in Stockholm. This leads us to today, where businesses are taking technological advances every day to keep their customers happy and satisfied, but also setting the bar higher and higher between their competitors. Some store owners have even figured out that physical human presence is not even needed in physical stores. The benefit is that the upkeep costs drop and almost no employees are needed; this is beneficial for small store locations in sparsely populated areas. In Sweden, it has become a huge problem that small towns and villages slowly die due to high upkeep costs for store owners. With these unmanned stores, the trend could change to the possessive. However, it is also pressured by the very technology-demanding Generation Z. Setting pressure on this retail sector to keep up and find the right way to proceed with their businesses in a way that fits Generation Z’s demand long term. 

Purpose:

This specific study will try to explain how different enhancers and inhibitors affect consumer acceptance according to Generation Z for this store concept in Sweden. The researchers of this thesis believe that this study is needed because of the vast growth of unmanned stores and the lack of research it has, especially in Scandinavia.

Methodology:

In order to answer the research question, nine different hypotheses were created with different inhibitors and enhancers derived from previous research. Furthermore, a combination of online and face-to-face questionnaires was conducted, whereby 133 valid respondents were collected. The data was then analyzed with the help of a multiple regression analysis.

Conclusion: 

From this research, it can be concluded that for the investigated enhancers: high levels of technology readiness, usefulness, and enjoyment were all factors affecting Gen Z´s acceptance of unmanned convenience stores. Furthermore, that lack of human interaction affects Gen Z´s resistance towards unmanned convenience stores. These results can be used for future research and for companies targeting Gen Z to shop at unmanned convenience stores.

Background: Affective priming is well-established in various fields, but it has often been overlooked in marketing. While subliminal advertising has been explored, supraliminal advertising remains less understood, indicating a significant gap in the research. However these kinds of concepts have not been brought into a qualitative nature which has led the field to miss out on various insights which could indicate a more profound outlook from the consumer's perspective in an everyday context. 

Purpose: Therefore the purpose of this thesis is to increase understanding of the influences of affective supraliminal priming on advertisement attitude in an everyday context. 

Methodology: To gain this new outlook a participant driven photo-election was adapted along with a semi structured interview. 10 participants were selected for the interviews. From the interview both verbal cues and nonverbal cues such as the photos collected by the participants and their body and facial expressions. The interviews were analysed with the method of thematic analysis. 

Findings: The findings gained was seen to be related to how affective supraliminal priming may elicit some positive reactions; however, the affective supraliminal priming is quite dependent on situational factors and the everyday life of the consumer. Factors such as goal-relevant cognition, mood and need. As well as the situational factor of tiredness. Further it was visible that associations may influence how the advertisement attitude is formed, where coffee association elicited positive reactions and digital advertisement elicited negative reactions. 

Conclusion: In conclusion the study gained a nuanced perspective of affective supraliminal priming and advertising, how this is quite dependent on the everyday life and circumstance of the consumer and that these situations may influence how the consumers form their attitudes. 

For question 1

Background:The knowledge of being able to manage and remedy deficiencies within social sustainability in the supply chain forms the basis of this study. Social sustainability is becoming increasingly important for companies in order to maintain their place in the market. By implementing social sustainability strategies and ensuring social sustainability, they can create a competitive edge. There are tools that businesses can use, such as sustainability consultants who compile reports on the social sustainability of a supplier. On the other hand, there is a lack of models to apply to remedy the deficiencies that may have been identified.          Purpose: The study aims to develop a model that companies can apply to ensure social sustainability of their suppliers in China with the help of sustainability consultants.          Method: A qualitative case study has been carried out to investigate how a company works with social sustainability, their challenges in order to develop a suitable model. The study has primarily used semi-structured interviews to collect empirical material in order to obtain an in-depth analysis. Conclusion: The result of the research is illustrated in figure 12 on page 88 which is a developed model for companies that they can use to ensure social sustainability. The model is divided into four steps, followed by several sub-steps that guide companies how to proceed in different scenarios. The four different steps are named: awareness, requirement specifications, communication and collaboration and finally follow-up. 

For question 2

Background: In recent years, many companies have chosen to use suppliers located in China, due to several positive aspects. However, there are challenges, including the low wage level and social sustainability deficiencies at the factories. It is known that the workers are worse off than in other countries linked to wages and working conditions. There is currently limited information on whether the various variables are linked.      Purpose: The research aims to investigate a possible connection between the geographical location in China, the worker's salary and social sustainability deficiencies.          Method: The study's second research question is primarily based on a cross-sectional design to be able to compare and identify potential relationships between different variables. In order to be able to show the result in numbers, it is carried out based on the quantitative research strategy. The empirical material consists of reports designed by the company's sustainability consultant, which means that it is a secondary source.      Conclusion: The results of the research showed no correlation between the different variables: geographic location, salary and social sustainability deficiencies. The indication - 0.07183 was so weak that no connections could be drawn. 

Abstrakt

Title: Advising companies on tax planning

Introduction: In Sweden, there is an opportunity for small and medium- sized companies to make use of end-of-year dispositions, which are seen as a legal means of tax planning. When deciding on tax planning, companies can seek the help of an accountant who provides advice on matters relating to corporation tax. The motives of the companies stakeholders are also interesting to take into account when choosing tax planning.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate how accountants give advice to small and medium-sized companies in tax planning and what motives the companies have for tax planning. This is to create greater insight and understanding of how companies plan tax based on different accounting theories.

Method: The study used a qualitative method. Semi-structured interviews have been conducted with respondents in Kalmar County. The collection was carried out with audit firms and small and medium-sized companies.

Result: The accountant acts as a link in tax planning between the company and the owner. Closing dispositions are the SME approach to tax planning. When deciding on tax planning, the owner has the final mandate.