| 1. |
- Jennings Saul, Caroline
(författare)
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Extending Access : Perspectives on Business Model Innovation in Water and Sanitation Service Provision
- 2019
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Many organizations are attempting to improve the well-being of people living in poverty, whether it be philanthropic, through offering transformative services, or buying into the doing well by doing good ethos of corporate Base of the Pyramid (BoP) strategies. Some of these efforts are being directed towards extending access to safely managed water and sanitation services to everyone. There are many factors that contribute to the complexity of reaching universal water and sanitation coverage including limited finance, cultural practices, and localized effects of climate change. Once a community has access, sustaining it can be hindered by poor design, maintenance, or governance.The aim of this dissertation is to examine the roles of business models and business model innovation in providing and later scaling water and sanitation services in low-income countries. In doing so, it brings together poverty alleviation and business model theories to address barriers specific to the water and sanitation sectors. This dissertation is a compilation of seven different papers that follow a case study approach. The cases used in these studies are of non-governmental organizations, social businesses, small and medium-sized enterprises, and multinational enterprises that work in the water and sanitation sector in low-income countries.The findings of this dissertation span theoretical levels: business models, business model innovation, and capability development and sectors: water and sanitation. Each paper contributes to the intersection of at least two of these factors, e.g., by classifying business models and business model innovations in water service providers or examining the multiple business models used by a single sanitation service provider.Overall, this dissertation has analysed key theories in market-based approaches to poverty alleviation with regard to business model thinking and provides insights into offering services and expanding social impact in BoP markets.
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| 2. |
- Löfberg, Nina, 1979-
(författare)
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Service Orientation in Manufacturing Firms : Understanding Challenges with Service Business Logic
- 2014
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Globalisation and competition from low-cost countries has pushed manufacturing firms towards offering services to remain competitive. However, increasing the service orientation of a manufacturing firm to find new ways of value (co-)creation has presented several challenges, such as the fact that services do not provide the expected revenues, and resistance from both the sales force and from customers towards services.The aim of this thesis is to understand challenges linked to increasing service orientation in manufacturing firms, by means of goods and service business logics. The thesis emphasises the three dimensions of business logics – value perspective, service business strategy, and service offering – and studies them empirically in service divisions in the pulp and paper industry and in the automotive industry.The findings show that firms with inconsistency between the three dimensions face certain challenges. Most often, the firms have a value perspective of goods business logic, but a service business strategy and a service offering of service business logic. Therefore, the most important and most difficult challenge to overcome in order to increase a manufacturing firm’s service orientation is the employees’ value perspective.Three service manoeuvres were key to overcoming this challenge: changing employees’ mind-sets, starting to value services, and separating products and services. Although separating products and services could be assessed as a service manoeuvre consistent with goods business logic, it facilitated an increased service orientation. The fact that goods business logic manoeuvres led to a higher degree of service orientation, whereas service business logic manoeuvres did not always do so, is discussed as a service orientation paradox.
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| 3. |
- Gustafsson, Anders, 1985-
(författare)
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Industrial policy : Political considerations, payoffs, and peculiar incentives
- 2018
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis consists of four independent papers. They deal with some aspects of industrial policy, namely public supports to firms that are intended to support innovation and growth at the firm level, using Swedish data. Two papers study the efficiency of current Swedish policies by estimating the effects of subsidies and public loans to firms, respectively.The results on subsidized firms suggests that there are some positive effects on profits and productivity, but these diminish and disappear over time. The results of public loans are more positive with long lasting effects on productivity and sales but only for smaller firms. Public loans do not lead to an increase in the number of employees in the firms that receive them.The third paper studies the selection of firms for subsidies and the incentives firms have to seek them. By modeling the decision to seek subsidies as a trade off between producing in the market and seeking grants, the results suggest that firms with low market productivity might self-select into seeking grants. The empirical results are in line with the theoretical predictions.The final paper studies the incentives that politicians have to implement programs and policies that they know will be inefficient. Since a lack of political action can make the politicians look incompetent, incumbentens have incentives to implement policies even though they know that these will be ineffective, to signal competence towards the voters.
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| 4. |
- Högström, Claes, 1979-
(författare)
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Fit in to stand out : An experience perspective on value creation
- 2014
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In order to grow and survive, a firm must create value with consumers in ways that both fit in with consumer demands and stand out from competitors. Focusing on and understanding consumer and firm assessments of value and creation of value has become a central scope in the contemporary strategic management and marketing literature for understanding and explaining firm survival and success. Consequently, the overall aim of this thesis is to provide a conceptually and empirically grounded understanding of consumers’ and managers’ value assessments and behavior in value creation.This thesis draws on a consumer experience perspective and theories on social construction, organizational identity, self-congruence, and the theory of attractive quality, and combines multiple qualitative and quantitative studies. The findings in this thesis shed light on the interplay between consumers, firms, and contextual structures in value creation. Contextual structural, cultural, and political forces are shown to affect and be affected by the shared and individual cognitions of value creation that firms and consumers use in their assessment and creation value.The results of the study enhance the understanding of how firms can adopt various strategic schemas or organizing logics to optimize different types of use value creation when choosing between opposing and contradictive demands in their value creation. Furthermore, the thesis provides a deeper understanding of the hierarchical nature of consumer judgments of value that can be used to enhance the effectiveness of firm prioritizations and as a foundation for future value-creating strategies.
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| 5. |
- Knutsson, Erika, 1975-
(författare)
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Bundling for consumers? : Understanding complementarity and its effect on consumers' preferences and satisfaction
- 2011
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- It is a common market practice to offer two products in a package, so called bundling. While much research investigate how companies can use bundling to increase sales and profit, less is known about how bundling can be beneficial for consumers. There are many advantages with bundling for consumers, as bundles often are offered at a reduced price and provide convenience and reduced risk. But there are also major drawbacks, for example reduced freedom of choice and increased risk of over-consumption. In the present study, the general aim is to increase the understanding of how consumers’ perceive bundle value. To achieve this, focus is turned to bundle composition, more specifically the complementarity between bundle products, as a source of value for consumers. By exploring what complementarity is, how it influences consumer preferences for and satisfaction with bundles and how it interacts with bundle discount insights about the overall value of bundles for consumers is gained. In five scenario-based experiments, the influence of different kinds and different degrees of complementarity on consumers’ perceptions of bundle value is studied and compared to evaluations of separate products. The results show that bundles generally are not preferred over separate products and that they only exceptionally provide more satisfaction. However, the results also highlight the influence of bundle composition on consumer evaluations. Generally, bundle complementarity has a positive effect on preferences and satisfaction, especially when combined with a discount. The results also illustrates that complementarity is a multifaceted concept. Many kinds of relations between bundle products are considered complementary and the degree of complementarity may vary within and between different types of complementarity. Based on the results it is suggested that the notion of complementarity is closely related to consumers’ everyday practices and the value bundles provides in use. When consumers understand the value that bundle products provide in use, the perceived complementarity increases and preferences and satisfaction is positively influenced. It is suggested that bundling can be used as a strategic tool by companies to increase value for customers. By considering their customers’ needs and practices companies can compose bundles that are perceived as complementary and offer value-in-use.
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| 6. |
- Löfgren, Martin, 1975-
(författare)
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The Leader of the Pack : A Service Perspective on Packaging and Customer Satisfaction
- 2006
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Almost everything we as consumers buy in a store has a package. Packages have many functions – some, if not all, present marketers with the opportunity to gain competitive advantages. The packaging influences the usage behavior long after it has influenced the purchase, therefore it is an interesting empirical context to study within the field of marketing. Nevertheless, academic attention to packaging has been sparse over the last two decades even though the industry focus on packaging as a strategic tool has grown over that same period. Exceptions in the marketing literature are investigations of packaging and brand communication, advertisement-package coordination, and packaging size and shape. In contrast to the traditional approach that views packaging as a complimenting non-product-related attribute, it is suggested in this thesis that packaging is a product-related attribute that does affect the customers’ experiences of products.The overall aim of this thesis is to develop and test theoretical models and provide empirical evidence of customer experiences in the context of packaging from a service perspective. To study packaging from a service perspective is relevant for several reasons. One reason is that packaging can have several functions, which include more than the physical package. Another reason is that packages are carriers of information that is interpreted by customers. The combination of function, information, the physical package, and its content creates the total customer experience.The results of this thesis provide increased knowledge about packaging and customer experiences from a service perspective. On an attribute level, quality attributes such as protection and usability are categorized according to Kano’s theory of attractive quality. The results show that customers’ evaluations of packages are multi-dimensional. On a comprehensive or an overall level, structural equation modeling is used to investigate the consumption process. We conclude that the quality attributes of packages need to be designed to display quality both on the shelf in a store and during usage and consumption at both the attribute and comprehensive level.
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| 7. |
- Sandén, Bodil, 1973-
(författare)
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The Customer's Role in New Service Development
- 2007
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Given today’s industry dynamics, new service development is becoming increasingly important to the competitiveness, growth, and survival of organizations. Unfortunately, new service development has proven to be a complex and difficult task. Numerous reasons are stated in the literature such as the difficulty of understanding and anticipating latent customer needs and insufficient market research techniques. To facilitate proactive learning about the customer, recent findings stress customer involvement in the development process and observations of customers in real action.The overall objective of the dissertation is to contribute to an increased knowledge of customer involvement, i.e., the role of customers as contributors and co-creators in new service development. The thesis draws on theory from market and learning orientation in conjunction with a service-centered model, and provides an extensive review of literature on customer involvement in innovation. In five separate studies, this doctor’s thesis addresses the customer’s role in innovation activities in various industries (e.g., Staffing Services, Airline Services, and Mobile Telecommunication services).In this thesis it is argued that interaction is not only the focal point of services, but also the essence of customer involvement. A special emphasis is put on supporting techniques as these are the means by which customer information and knowledge are created. In addition, results are provided showing that customer involvement in innovation pays off. Companies that engage in collaborative innovation with customers can expect improved customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, and profit margin.
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| 8. |
- Shams, Poja, 1980-
(författare)
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What Does it Take to Get your Attention? : The influence of In-Store and Out-of-Store Factors on Visual Attention and Decision Making for Fast-moving Consumer Goods
- 2013
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Decision making for fast-moving consumer goods involves a choice between numerous similar alternatives. Under such demanding circumstances, a decision is made for one product. The decision is dependent on the interaction between the environment and the mind of the consumer, both of which are filled with information that can influence the outcome. The aim of this dissertation is to explore how the mind and the environment guides attention towards considered and chosen products in consumer decision making at the point-of-purchase.Consumers are equipped with several effort reduction strategies to simplify complex decision making. The selection of strategies can be conscious or automatic and driven by information in the environment or the mind of the decision maker. The selected decision strategy reduces the set of options to one alternative in an iterative process of comparisons that are fast and rely on perceptual cues to quickly exclude irrelevant products. This thesis uses eye-tracking to explore this rapid processing that lacks conscious access or control. The purpose is to explore how product packaging and placement (as in-store factors), and recognition, preferences, and choice task (as out-of-store factors) influence the decision-making process through visual attention.The results of the 10 experiments in the five papers that comprise this thesis shed new light on the role of visual attention in the interaction between the environment and the mind, and its influence on the consumer. It is said that consumers choose with their eyes, which means that unseen is unsold. The results of this thesis show that it is just as important to be comprehended as it is to be seen. In split-second decision making, the ability to recognize and comprehend a product can significantly impact preferences. Comprehension stretches beyond perception as consumers infer value from memory structures that influence attention. Hence, the eye truly sees what the mind is prepared to comprehend.
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| 9. |
- Tronvoll, Bård, 1964-
(författare)
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Customer Complaint Behaviour in Service
- 2008
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- It is vital for every service provider to get feedback from its customers. This is especially important when a customer has perceived an unfavourable service experience. One way to receive feedback from these customers is to encourage and make it easy for them to complain. Scholarly knowledge about complaint behaviour gives the service provider valuable insight about service problems and how to improve e.g. service offerings, service processes and interactions, to increase customer satisfaction, loyalty and profit. For that reason it is argued that customers who have an unfavourable service experience should be encouraged to complain, because if not, the provider risks losing the customer and thus future revenue. Previous research within complaint behaviour has mainly focused on the static description of motivation, antecedents, or the outcome response of complaint behaviour. The research has mainly explored different features linked to the market, the provider, the service and/or individual customer’s issues. To learn more about the customer’s complaint behaviour there is a need to take a dynamic and processual approach. This may help providers to serve customers more correctly and prevent unfavourable service experiences. The main aim of this dissertation is to enhance the knowledge of the dynamic behavioural processes in customer complaint behaviour. The dissertation will contribute to conceptualise different aspects of customer complaint behaviour. In addition, the dissertation will give an empirical grounded understanding of contextual and emotional aspects that may help to recognize the complexity of the complaint behaviour process. The contribution is a portrayal of different models describing the dynamic process of complaint behaviour including a new customer complaint behaviour model. Customer complaint behaviour is viewed as action and reaction - as a dynamic adjustment process that occurs during and/or after the service interaction, rather as a post-purchase activity. In order to capture these adjustments, a new conceptual complaint model is suggested which holds three thresholds for complaint behaviour and emphasis three different behavioural categories in the complaint process. Further, the dissertation gives an explanation of contextual and emotional issues that influence the complaint behaviour. The dissertation also includes an epistemological framework to anchor the paradigmatic belongings of service research as a basis for the design of studies in the area of customer complaint behaviour.
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