| 1. |
- Alänge, Sverker, 1951, et al.
(författare)
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Evaluation of Industrial Policy: The Case of the Swedish Textile and Clothing Industry
- 1994
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Ingår i: Small Business Economics. - 1573-0913 .- 0921-898X. ; 6:6, s. 465-475
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper evaluates the Swedish industrial policy for the textile and clothing industry and provides an interview-based method for assessing the rational for and the effects of state intervention. The rational for government intervention was analyzed based on the existence of possible sources of market failure, such as the function of the capital market; high risk aversion in firms; shortcomings in available information or in business/entrepreneurial competence; and finally, also positive external effects such as demonstration effects were considered. It was found that the Swedish industrial policy, in the period 1970-1990, was general and defensive in character. In the majority of firms interviewed, government policy had either no effect at all on firm behaviour or where effects were found there were no underlying market imperfections. Only in a minority of firms was it found that the policy alleviated market imperfections and changed firms' investment behaviour in a way which was judged to be beneficial for the firms' competitiveness. Therefore, the Swedish industrial policy for the textile and clothing industry was associated with very substantial inefficiencies in the use of sizeable resources.
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| 2. |
- Alänge, Sverker, 1951, et al.
(författare)
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From job-less growth to growth-with-less-jobs: Employment and equity impact of technical and organisational change
- 1996
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Ingår i: Science and Public Policy. - 1471-5430 .- 0302-3427. ; 23:1, s. 27-38
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- New technical innovations in the form of new production technologies are known to affect productivity, but organisational innovations and new ways of designing products have now been found to have a profound influence on productivity. These innovations have moved the industrialised countries into a stage in which industrial growth is accompanied by the continuous reduction in industrial employment. This development will greatly influence our society and put stringent demands on our political decision-making apparatus to avoid a growth in the 'wealth of nations' going hand-in-hand with a growth in poverty.
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| 3. |
- Alänge, Sverker, 1951, et al.
(författare)
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Some Aspects of An Analytical Framework for Studying the Diffusion of Organizational Innovations
- 1998
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Ingår i: Technology Analysis and Strategic Management. - 0953-7325 .- 1465-3990. ; 10:1, s. 3-21
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The objective of this paper is to explore the extent to which the more recent literature on innovation and diffusion, with a prime focus on technical innovations, can contribute to a useful analytical framework for studying the diffusion of organizational innovations. We review that literature, compare the intrinsic features of technical and organizational innovations, and explore what these differences may mean for an eventual analytical framework specifically developed for studying organizational innovations. We conclude that the received 'innovation' literature has a great deal to offer but that some modifications are required. In particular, we suggest that the role of factors 'inside' the firm and of non-market mechanisms for transfer of organizational innovations needs special emphasis.
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| 4. |
- Alvi, Osman Zulfiqar, 1980, et al.
(författare)
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A Mature Capability Model: Towards Dynamic Sustainability
- 2009
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Ingår i: Proceedings from the 16th International EurOMA Conference, June 14-17 2009, Gothenburg.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Many approaches have evolved throughout the years in the form of change programs to address quality /development /process issues. Either misunderstood or lost their essenceduring implementation, the change initiatives and development programs rarely helped organizations sustain their change efforts and lack addressing core issues.Unfortunately, maturity models also belong to the same blood line and lack equipping organizations to have self sufficient insights to underlying issues so that they matchtheir changing demands. The use of universal capabilities i.e. learning and motivation are discussed to help organizations develop their maturity for dynamic sustainability
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| 5. |
- Alänge, Sverker, 1951
(författare)
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A System for Ensuring the Quality of University Education: Course evaluation, reflection days, alumni evaluation and visiting committees
- 2005
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Ingår i: Chalmers University of Technology self evaluation for the Swedish Board of Higher Education 2005. ; , s. 4-
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This text presents a system for quality assurance of university education which is used at the department of Technology Management and Economics at Chalmers University of Technology. To make sure that the students that graduate have the required knowledge and skill we use a number of interlinked instruments on different levels and during different time periods: 1) Examination, 2) Course evaluation, 3) Reflection days, 4) Internal Program evaluation with students in on-going programs and with students at graduation, 5) External Program evaluation which either is internally initiated (Visiting Committee, Alumni evaluation, Evaluation with the assistance of employers and supervisors for recently graduated) or Externally initiated, for example by the Board of Higher Education.
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| 6. |
- Alänge, Sverker, 1951
(författare)
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Acquisition of Capabilitities through International Technology Transfer
- 1987
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The focus in this thesis is on the acquisition of static and dynamic capabilities in LDC industry. This has been studied in small industries in Tanzania, which were started through international technology transfer, in which small producing firms from Sweden acted as technology suppliers (The Sister Industry Programme).The data has been collected during an eight-year period, beginning from the start of the first projects in Tanzania in 1978. In total, interviews have been conducted in 22 Tanzanian firms and 18 Swedish firms, supplemented by interviews with authorities and consultants. An in-depth study of acquired capabilities was carried out in 1983, forming the basis for an assessment of the technology transfer programme. An analytical scheme was made for the analysis of static and dynamic technological and managerial capabilities. These include production/administrative and inventive/entrepreneurial capabilities. Furthermore, during the course of the research, a method was developed for estimating the dynamic long-term effects in terms of magnitude of the capability contribution from the international technology transfer project.It was found that capability acquisition is a complex and long-term process, of which an international technology transfer project is only one step. Previous industrial experience is essential in order to benefit from an overseas training programme. While small scale industries were shown to be excellent in transferring production capabilities, they were less successful in the transfer of administrative and dynamic capabilities. This was primarily due to their inherent weakness of having a shortage of qualified personnel for training activities. However, through long-term cooperation, initially based on a contract and later developing in to a business relationship, and recurrent training periods in Sweden, it has been shown that several of the small Tanzanian firms have been able to acquire substantial stocks of dynamic capabilities. The Swedish firm has thus supplied the Tanzanian firms with new information and knowledge, having the double function of compensating for weaknesses in the local Tanzanian network and sometimes serving as a link to an international market. Based on these findings, the present study also makes some additions to the conceptualization of the infant industry process. Lastly, recommendations are provided for improving a sister industry type of technology transfer.
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| 7. |
- Alänge, Sverker, 1951, et al.
(författare)
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Backcasting - What is a sustainable future and how do we reach it?
- 2014
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Ingår i: Chapter 5 in Alänge, Sverker & Lundqvist, Mats eds. (2014) Sustainable Business Development: Frameworks for Idea Evaluation and Cases of Realized Ideas, Chalmers University Press, Gothenburg. - 9789187463037 ; , s. 63-69
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This chapter is about ways of defining sustainability in an actionable way, in order to innovate and change the way products and services are being developed. The starting point is the four system conditions for sustainability developed by Holmberg (1995) and the Natural Step (a non-governmental organization). The second part of the chapter proceeds to introduce one particular proven way to introduce sustainable strategies in organizations, the ‘backcasting approach’ (Holmberg 1998; Holmberg & Robèrt 2000). The chapter ends by suggesting a combined backcasting/scenario planning approach (Alänge et al. 2007).
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| 8. |
- Alänge, Sverker, 1951, et al.
(författare)
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Board of Directors and Major Organizational Change Programs: An empirical review of implementation of Scania Production System and TQM
- 2009
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Ingår i: Proceedings from 16th International EurOMA Conference, June 14-17, Gothenburg.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The importance of top management commitment for the success of major change initiatives such as Toyota Production System and TQM has been emphasized in literature, while the role of boards, has been in less focus. The purpose of this paper is to analyze how the board of directors affects the long-term sustainability of major organizational change. This study is based on three case studies of the diffusion of complex organizational innovations such as Scania Production System (SPS) and Total Quality Management (TQM). The first case is from the health care industry in the public sector, the second from the automotive industry and the third from the steel industry. Findings from these case studies were then compared to literature on success and failures of major change programs.As Beer (2003) commented, a TQM transformation is a long-term process requiring a fundamental shift in management practice and culture. In the best of all worlds, a committed high quality management can contribute to sustain such change processes. In our case studies, top management commitment was key for the adoption, implementation and sustainability of complex organizational innovations such as SPS and TQM. However, a committed top management does not “last for ever” – in the ‘world of organisations’ leaders are replaced and the very units that are in focus are being restructured, merged or sold, which deeply affect the long term change processes. One of the cases studied have been able to keep stability in leadership and has successfully developed their organization to best practice in the world (the company in the automotive industry). The other two cases, however, have ceased to exist the way they “used to be” when they started their implementation of the innovation TQM – At the down-turn of a business cycle a new CEO was hired to the steel company, with the task of cost cutting and turning the company more profitable. The hospital became part of a merger leading to the formation of the largest hospital in Northern Europe. The managing director and key personnel left the hospital and today the present management has put up ambitious goals for processes (e.g. the fractured thigh-bone operation process) which are identical to the ones that were reached already 10 years ago, but through the turmoil of reorganisation the way to reach these goals was partly forgotten and the competences needed for process improvement had been dispersed. This pattern is however not unique (cf. Book, 2006) and the issue of sustaining change long term falls back on the governance structure – on boards and owners. If they don’t understand the essence and complexity of organisational changes such as Scania/Toyota Production System, Lean Production, Six Sigma och TQM, (all ‘organisational innovations’ consisting of essentially the same ideas and practices) – then the risk is that committed leaders are replaced with new ambitious leaders who are given new directions by boards, which basically leads to the destruction of ambitious change processes before their full potential benefits have been realized. This study focus on the role of the Boards in sustaining major organizational change programs. As the importance of the board has not been emphasized in literature about organizational change, this study provides additional insights into the conditions for long- term sustainability of organizational change.
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| 9. |
- Alänge, Sverker, 1951, et al.
(författare)
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Building Teams and Organizational Learning in China: A case illustrating how Action research can be used in a cross-cultural context to support new ways of working between universities and industry
- 2012
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Ingår i: The 10th GLOBELICS International Conference, 9-11 November, 2012 in Hangzhou, China. ; , s. 4985-5007
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- In 2010, the Chinese Geely Holding Group bought Swedish Volvo Cars. During the build-up phase of a first new factory in Chengdu, Swedish and Chinese managers were employed to work in parallel and on equal terms. However, these cross-cultural teams did not appear to work as effectively and harmoniously as was expected. Due to Volvo’s history of working with the Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, Volvo decided to design a project together with Chalmers with 3 key-objectives: 1.To understand what was supporting and hindering their cross cultural teams. 2. To support the teams to learn from the results and to experiment with new ways of working and learning. 3. To develop a research team that included both Swedish and Chinese professors and students. As a result, a cross cultural team was created between Chalmers and the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC). An action research approach was designed, including feedback workshops to support leaders to become aware of and to experiment with new ways of working and learning together. Action research was found useful for the Swedish/Chinese company to improve its leadership groups and to enhance its relations with universities in a new cross cultural setting.
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| 10. |
- Alänge, Sverker, 1951, et al.
(författare)
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Contracting industrial designers: A way towards improved product development
- 2009
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Ingår i: Proceedings from the 16th International EurOMA Conference, 14-17 June 2009, Gothenburg.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper analyzes the contracting process of external industrial designers for concept development in two Swedish industrial firms. A specific focus is on what factors contribute to misunderstandings and less efficient collaboration. A recommendation is that awareness aboutcontracting processes with a special focus on clarity could have benefits in form of improved efficiency and better product solutions
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