| 1. |
- Heathcote-Fumador, Ida Eyi, 1984
(author)
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Emergence and Dynamics of Circular Economy Ecosystem
- 2023
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Licentiate thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The circular economy ecosystem (CEE) offers the potential to effectively manage the pressing issue of residual resources, encompassing waste and by-products that pose a challenge to our planet. Among various organizational forms, the ecosystem approach has emerged as the preferred method, fostering cross-industry collaboration to sustainably address residual resources. While business and innovation ecosystems have been extensively studied to understand their emergence, structure, and value proposition, they only provide a partial understanding of how CEEs come into being and manage these resources. Furthermore, CEEs encounter constraints from linear economic practices and environmental conditions. Given the prominent role of digital technologies within CEEs, this study delves into their influence, aiming to uncover their multifaceted impact beyond technical aspects. This thesis sheds light on the distinctive factors driving the emergence of CEEs and how they differ from business and innovation ecosystems. Additionally, it explores the cohesive role played by digital technologies, extending beyond their conventional functions. This exploration is rooted in two case studies, one CEE in Africa and one in Europe. Both cases were selected due to their effective management of residual resources through sustainable approaches, coupled with their incorporation of digital technologies. The findings of this research indicate that CEEs arise as a response to the need for coordinated collective action in the face of linear constraints and the necessity to access interdisciplinary knowledge. The pursuit of interdisciplinary knowledge takes precedence over economic considerations and competition due to the intrinsic motivation to acquire complementary knowledge. In addition, digital technologies act as a unifying force facilitating knowledge appropriation during experimentation, fostering cooperation among stakeholders, rather than promoting competition. This thesis is positioned at the intersection of sustainable transitioning of strategic management and information systems.
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| 2. |
- Bryngelsson, David, 1981
(author)
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On Food Price Implications from Expanded Bioenergy Production
- 2012
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Licentiate thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Bioenergy has been put forward as a solution to energy security and at the same time to climate change. It is, however, dependent on productive agricultural land, which is a limited resource. Introduction of bioenergy on a large scale will thus compete with food production and natural forests for productive land, a competition expected to affect food prices.In this thesis I focus on poverty nourishment issues related to changing food prices and on the mechanisms of land-use competition and how they affect food prices. In the first paper we use two established indicators for poverty and sensitivity to food-price changes, to capture peoples' vulnerability to rising food-prices, in four Sub-Sahara African countries/regions. In contrast to previous studies, we include all food products instead of just one or a few main staples. We found that the vast majority of people are net consumers of food and that the inclusion of more than main staples increases their net position as consumers and thus vulnerability to high food prices. In paper two and three a conceptual and transparent partial equilibrium model of global land-use competition is developed, analyzed and applied. The model is to a large degree analytically explored and price differentials between crops are derived. The model is subjected to a detailed characterization of its mechanisms and parameters in which parameters that are critical to results and conclusions from the model are detected and their impacts depicted. We conclude that the total amount of productive agricultural area is of crucial importance to the price impacts from large-scale introduction of bioenergy. Yields of bioenergy crops are also important since they determine the amount of land required to produce the bioenergy.
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| 3. |
- af Hällström, Anna, 1987
(author)
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If you want to go far, go with others – How using a collaborative project delivery model affects the project network in infrastructure construction projects
- 2021
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Licentiate thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The growth of projects has elicited much interest in the last decades, both in academia and amongst practitioners. The increase in scale and complexity has further brought attention to the particulars of interorganisational collaboration: as projects grow, the relevance and impact of interdependencies between participating organisations rise to the surface. No organisation is an island and so a project becomes an archipelago of interconnected networks. Current literature on interorganisational collaboration focuses on contract and procurement, both important aspects of project management. There is, however, less research pertaining to project realisation and how these changes in interorganisational collaboration shape the project process. A field where this change has been especially noticeable is the infrastructure construction industry, where collaborative project management models have been introduced to reduce adversity and improve project outcomes. These new models necessitate a study of changes these new models bring with them to the conventional ways of work within the field, as they call for new processes and roles in the projects, thus changing how the actors engage with the project network. As such models are based on collaboration, the role of social ties within the project become an especially interesting question. In this work, I expand on the theory pertaining to project networks in the empirical setting of infrastructure projects applying a collaborative project management model, with the aim of examining and gaining a deeper understanding of the collaboration between interorganisational project actors in a collaborative project delivery model. The methods used in this thesis are based in the qualitative research tradition and emphasise interviewing and observation. During this work, 44 interviews were completed in a pre-study and two case projects and observation of both project’s shared office space was carried out. I also analysed project documents and analysed the social network between respondents in the case projects. My results show the importance of social relations as enablers of the realisation of expected benefits of collaborative models. They moreover illustrate the changes necessary for the models to be effective, as well as study how the use of such project models affect the actors’ engagement in the project network.
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| 4. |
- Sweidan, Dirar
(author)
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Data-driven decision support in digital retailing
- 2023
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Licentiate thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- In the digital era and advent of artificial intelligence, digital retailing has emerged as a notable shift in commerce. It empowers e-tailers with data-driven insights and predictive models to navigate a variety of challenges, driving informed decision-making and strategic formulation. While predictive models are fundamental for making data-driven decisions, this thesis spotlights binary classifiers as a central focus. These classifiers reveal the complexities of two real-world problems, marked by their particular properties. Specifically, binary decisions are made based on predictions, relying solely on predicted class labels is insufficient because of the variations in classification accuracy. Furthermore, prediction outcomes have different costs associated with making different mistakes, which impacts the utility.To confront these challenges, probabilistic predictions, often unexplored or uncalibrated, is a promising alternative to class labels. Therefore, machine learning modelling and calibration techniques are explored, employing benchmark data sets alongside empirical studies grounded in industrial contexts. These studies analyse predictions and their associated probabilities across diverse data segments and settings. The thesis found, as a proof of concept, that specific algorithms inherently possess calibration while others, with calibrated probabilities, demonstrate reliability. In both cases, the thesis concludes that utilising top predictions with the highest probabilities increases the precision level and minimises the false positives. In addition, adopting well-calibrated probabilities is a powerful alternative to mere class labels. Consequently, by transforming probabilities into reliable confidence values through classification with a rejection option, a pathway emerges wherein confident and reliable predictions take centre stage in decision-making. This enables e-tailers to form distinct strategies based on these predictions and optimise their utility.This thesis highlights the value of calibrated models and probabilistic prediction and emphasises their significance in enhancing decision-making. The findings have practical implications for e-tailers leveraging data-driven decision support. Future research should focus on producing an automated system that prioritises high and well-calibrated probability predictions while discarding others and optimising utilities based on the costs and gains associated with the different prediction outcomes to enhance decision support for e-tailers.
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| 5. |
- Apanasevic, Tatjana, 1976-
(author)
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Challenges Related to the Introduction of Innovative Services in the Market : Mobile Payment Services in the Swedish Retail Industry
- 2015
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Licentiate thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Mobile payment services are expected to be the next step of the electronic payment evolution. However, the level of penetration in European countries is lower than expected. The focus of most academic research has been in two main areas: (i) mobile payment adoption by consumers and (ii) technical aspects of the service. Consequently, a number of themes remain under-researched. In order to expand knowledge on reasons that affect the wider penetration of mobile payments, challenges related to the introduction of mobile payment services in the market have been explored in this thesis.More specifically, this research has addressed two problem areas: (i) why mobile payments have not been widely adopted by merchants; and (ii) what effects that the introduction of mobile payments has had on the business networks of the involved actors. As an example, we use the mobile payment services applied in the Swedish retail industry. The study is focused on the main groups of stakeholders – the mobile payment providers, the retailers, and the consumers.First, this study has helped to identify what different stakeholders expect of mobile payments and how these services correspond to their needs. In order to analyse the expectations of stakeholders, we have developed an analysis framework based on the theory of diffusion of innovations, the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), and the theory of network externalities. The analysis highlights the expectations of stakeholders and helps to understand what kind of mobile payment service merchants expect and are willing to adopt. One key finding is that existing mobile payment services for retailing could be further improved in order to ensure an enhanced purchasing process for consumers.Second, the research has explored the impact of mobile payment services on the business networks. In order to analyse the relationships and cooperation between business actors, and changes in business strategy and network structure, we used the approach proposed by the Industrial Marketing and Purchasing (IMP) Group. The performed analysis illustrates the following changes in the structure of business networks for the traditional payment solutions (bank cards): (i) emergence of new business actors (i.e. independent mobile payment providers); (ii) new roles and activities of business actors; and (iii) exclusion of traditional business actors (i.e. banks) from the mobile payment systems.All these changes lead to increased complexity of relationships and increased level of interdependence between business actors within the networks. The following changes in the strategies of involved actors have been identified: (i) mobile payment providers seek to achieve a control over the business network; (ii) the retailers affect strategies of the mobile payment providers; (iii) the marketing strategies of business actors include cross-marketing in different sectors. All these changes result in additional value and enhanced quality of service for consumers.In order to analyse a complex and multidisciplinary area such as mobile payments, it is beneficial to use more than one analysis approach. A combination of different complementing methods helps to explore different aspects of the phenomenon and provides a more comprehensive overview of several research aspects.This work contributes to the academic research of mobile payment service adoption by merchants through proposing a theoretical analysis framework. More specifically, the research addresses a new area – expectations of retailers when new solutions are introduced. The framework consists of the following criteria and aspects: technological feasibility, economic benefits, lower service costs, added value of services, network externalities and the problem of critical mass, and finally, ease of use. This framework helps to identify what merchants can expect of mobile payment services.Another area of contribution is the analysis of the effect that mobile payments make on the actors and business networks of traditional payment services. The introduction of new services results in emergence of new business actors, a need to establish new relationships, and increased complexity of a business network. Moreover, in order to succeed, cooperation between all network actors is needed. As a result, business actors have to adjust their services and strategies according to needs of others.
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| 6. |
- Altunay, Maria, 1992
(author)
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Narratives of energy incumbents - Unravelling perspectives on municipal electric utilities
- 2022
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Licentiate thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The dominant narrative in sustainability transitions studies frames electric utilities as incumbents and “villains” who hinder the diffusion of niche innovations (Johnstone et al., 2017; Turnheim and Sovacool, 2020). This behavior is in line with the conception of incumbent actors as part of the dominant sociotechnical regime (Geels, 2002, 2006a), painting the picture of incumbents with a broad brush and limiting nuance. However, several authors have made attempts to illustrate heterogeneity among incumbents and that some can take on proactive roles in advancing niche innovation (Altunay et al., 2021; Ampe et al., 2021; Apajalahti et al., 2018; Berggren et al., 2015; Stalmokaitė and Hassler, 2020). The purpose of this licentiate thesis is to advance this inquiry by unravelling the narratives of electric utilities as incumbents in energy transitions. Three narratives are explored through a synthesis of two qualitative case studies of Swedish electric utilities’ engagement with solar photovoltaics. The thesis is organized along two core questions: how electric utilities engage with this emerging technology at the level of business models and collaborations, and why they choose to engage in certain ways, investigating internal and external drivers. The findings show that most electric utilities engage with solar photovoltaics through a variety of business models and collaborations, depending on a combination of firm-internal factors (i.e., organizational goals, business logics, and resources) and external factors (i.e., the task environment, the institutional environment, and the industry regime). The study illustrates the need for extending dominant narratives, as it shows that electric utility incumbents can support niche innovations, display niche and regime characteristics simultaneously, and react heterogeneously to similar external pressures. As a result, this thesis contributes to pluralizing incumbencies within sustainability transitions.
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| 7. |
- Fichtel, Joakim
(author)
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Interorganizational Networks, Financing and Commercialization of Life Science Innovations
- 2024
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Licentiate thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The biotechnology industry is known for being highly networked and knowledge-intensive, as well as highly internationalized. Young firms within this sector are reliant on long term support from financiers, research collaborators and supply of highly skilled human capital. Further, contributing to the unique circumstances for entrepreneurship in this industry, it is not uncommon for firms to have no product or service, nor revenues, many years or even decades after its founding. Creating and maintaining relationships with their external environment therefore becomes essential for survival.This thesis aims to study how interorganizational networks form over time and to contribute to the understanding of how activities of entrepreneurial actors draw on and shape the networks in which they are embedded. To achieve this, 319 Swedish firms in the Swedish biotechnology industry were studied longitudinally over a period of ten years. Data was collected on their activities and relationships with actors in the entrepreneurial ecosystem surrounding biotechnology firms. A relational database of 7,745 interactions between 2,868 unique actors was constructed and analyzed using social network analysis, and additional statistical analysis was performed using panel data linear regression modeling.The findings suggest that there are significant differences in how structural characteristics of the different layers within interorganizational networks enable and constrain entrepreneurial firms in their relationships with external stakeholders. The entrepreneurial ecosystems are presented as supra-local phenomena, integrated in and through networks transcending traditional geographical confines of ecosystems. The result of this thesis underscores the importance of understanding the multi-layered and international dimensions of interorganizational networks, particularly in a knowledge-intensive and globally interconnected industry like biotechnology. An important outcome of this research is that it underscores the importance of financing for bringing biotechnology innovations to market.
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| 8. |
- Hasche, Nina, 1974-
(author)
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Developing collaborative customer-supplier relationships through value co-creation
- 2006
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Licentiate thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The purpose of this study is to create understanding of the value co-creating process in business relationships, where the dyadic relationship is in focus and both the customer’s and the supplier’s view of the value co-creating process is of interest. In the introductory chapter, it is assumed that the ultimate goal of business logic is to create value, and value co-creation can be regarded as the essential reason why a customer and a supplier engage in a business relationship. Value is created for both the customer and the supplier, but co-created value does not necessarily have to be shared between the interacting parties. In this thesis, the customer’s and the supplier’s intentions for engaging in a value co-creating process are investigated as well as how the value co-created is perceived by the interacting parties. Theories about exchanges and interactions create the theoretical foundation of the interpretation of relationships and the interplay between organisations in this thesis. By gathering input from the value literature, the conceptual framework is further elaborated and a conceptual model of the value co-creating process is presented. A case study has been carried out to obtain an in-depth picture of the value co-creating process in customer-supplier relationships. During the autumn of 2000, the customer, the Technical Office in Zeta Municipality, invited subcontractors to a public purchasing process regarding maintenance of the water and sewage system. “Subcontracting” of municipal activities was relatively uncommon at the time. The supplier, Alpha, had experience of maintaining hydropower plants but the firm had no practical knowledge of maintenance of water and sewage systems. Thus, the situation was new for both parties when they engaged in a value co-creating process in January 2001. The investigated relationship between the Technical Office and Alpha shows that both parties’ intentions for engaging in a value co-creating process can be interpreted as expected value and desired value, where the expected value can be understood as the counterparty’s minimal expectations and the desired value as the features adding value to the counterparty. The Technical Office and Alpha had different intentions for engaging in a value co-creating process. Furthermore, the investigated relationship illustrates that the Technical Office and Alpha perceived the value co-created as expected value, desired value, unanticipated value and received value. Both partners had expectations and desires regarding the relationship, both parties provided unanticipated value to the relationship and both partners received value from the relationship. In this study, expected value, desired value, unanticipated value and received value are given empirical content. The investigated case also shows that most of the value co-created was not shared between the interacting partners and that perceived value changes depending on situation, but also over time. Moreover, the relationship between the Technical Office and Alpha shows that value co-creation can be viewed as a process through which collaboration is achieved.
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| 9. |
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| 10. |
- Nylund, Annette, 1961-
(author)
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Learning at Work and Productivity in Swedish Business Firms : Based on the Swedish MEADOW Survey 2009/2010
- 2017
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Licentiate thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The background of the thesis is the ongoing struggle for better understanding of driving forces for economic growth. Some important and rewarding new steps have been taken the last decades in the research of economic growth theory. For example, the theory includes not only the use of technology but also the creation and implementation of new technology entwined with management and learning practices at work. However, the development of knowledge on the matter can be described as slow. The explanation is argued to be the lack of data, which complicates and prevents the development of theory. The lack of data and the intertwined dependence with the development of theory in the matter constitutes the starting point for the research in the thesis.The purpose of this thesis is to contribute to the development of measures of management of work and learning practices at work that can be used in productivity models. The analyses are based on the micro-level data from the Swedish MEADOW Survey 2009/2010, at Statistics Sweden. Factor and regression analysis are performed, other analytical techniques are also used.Some key findings of how management and learning practices at work can be described and measured show that the business firms use the different practices in bundles. The findings indicate synergy effects on performance when more than one management and learning practice is applied. Two different management approaches are tested, both models predict productivity. However, there is a difference in the productivity model a such when it includes the two management approaches; the measure of the contemporary use has a better fitness then the theoretical model. Focus and delimitations of research questions in the forthcoming doctoral dissertation are discussed, see Future Research – the Logic Next Step, in Chapter 6. Final Reflections.
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