The Department of Human Work Sciences at Lulea University of Technology, Sweden, has, since the autumn of 1991, been conducting a research project that offers a free advisory service regarding matters of the working environment to companies with fewer than 50 employees. The model used has offered the companies 16 hours' free advisory service and an additional 75 hours at half price. The project is financed by the Swedish Council for Work Life Research. This service is offered to all types of small company - both those that produce goods and those that produce services. A total of 148 small companies have contacted the service. At present the improvement process in these companies is being evaluated. The material presented in this paper represents only a part of the evaluation. In the evaluation the following questions are considered: why is the company interested in issues concerning the working environment? what advantages does the company derive from an improved working environment? does an improved working environment, with the introduction of new technology, result in any financial gain.