| 1. |
- Barletta, Ilaria Giovanna, 1988
(författare)
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Towards a framework for enabling sustainable production systems: a life-cycle perspective
- 2016
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis contributes to scientific knowledge by offering the foundation of a framework that helps stakeholders such as managers and engineers to enable sustainability over the entire lifecycle of the production system, from planning to re-use. In this thesis sustainability can be assessed through performance indicators and is understood through its triple bottom line of: economic, environmental and social sustainability. Within the framework, the requirements for designing a sustainable production system drove the choice of methods and key performance indicators (KPIs) used to assess sustainability performances of the production system in object. The methods employed to assess sustainability were: novel energy KPIs, a set of social sustainability KPIs, life cycle assessment, and discrete event simulation. The framework has been applied to the case of an automatic piece of sorting equipment for electronic waste, with the aim of foreseeing the sustainability impacts of its implementation in a facility run by manual labor. For the case study of production systems using machine tools, the use of newly developed energy efficiency KPIs proved to enable more effective energy management and saving. Possible lack of commitment to sustainability from companies and lack of necessary data can hinder the applicability of the framework. All in all, the framework and the methods can offer decisional support for the stakeholders who want to foster sustainable production.
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| 2. |
- Adam, Abderisak, 1988
(författare)
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Managing construction challenges: Viability of a dynamic capabilities approach for the public client
- 2016
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Construction clients in the public sector face a large number of challenges in designing, procuring and managing construction projects in a manner that is conducive to the organization’s overall goals. In particular, clients have faced challenges in delivering projects that satisfied the projects’ goals with respect to cost overruns, delays and sustainable construction. The role of the client in managing these challenges has more recently been emphasized with a growing number of studies and governmental reports calling for the development of the client’s capabilities.This thesis examines the capabilities of the construction client through a dynamic capabilities framework, particularly with respect to the activities of sensing, seizing and transforming. Furthermore, the thesis explores whether the concept of dynamic capabilities is a viable approach for understanding how to manage the clients’ capabilities in a way that ensures that construction-related challenges are addressed. The thesis is based primarily on a case study of a large public construction client located in Sweden.Findings are presented in three appended papers. The thesis concludes with a discussion on the viability of using a dynamic capabilities framework in the specific case described in this thesis. It is argued that the concept of dynamic capabilities is inadequate for capturing the specific context in which public client organizations operate. Suggestions for alternative approaches to understanding the management and development of capabilities are then discussed.
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| 3. |
- Bergman, Martin, 1985
(författare)
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Affective Surface Engineering for Product Design
- 2016
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Design research, sensation and perception, hard metrology, emotional functions, semantics, surface roughness, product interaction, core values, total appearance… the list of scientific phrases never ends. Yet, what do they mean and how shall we use it when we are communicating with the industry and our end users? Is it possible to link the product experience to process parameters, put a number onto it? When you can measure spoken needs or even better, implied needs, of a product, and relate that data to the production, it is possible do create advanced products with high interaction stimuli. By joining engineering sciences (hard metrology) with design science (soft metrology) correlations between customer’s product experience (emotional functions) and surface properties (technical functions) can be established.The research briefly handles an optimization process where the framework from Kansei Engineering (KE) is used to evaluate the semantics issues primarily regarding materials and functional surfaces of products. The basic idea is that; the stakeholder’s experience shall be observed already at the phase of ideation in the product development process, which then facilitates the project (in regard to the total appearance) later on when a concept reaches the production stage. The results presented in this thesis are carried out through a number of case studies together with the industry. The main result and aim of the research is a developed robust approach that links emotional functions with technical functions, which in the next step facilitates the improvement of the total appearance of a product. Nevertheless, it should be recognized that research is not yet complete. It is an iterative process, which confirms that the loop of the method needs to be complete. The developed method is a toolbox with the fundamental tools and workshops to facilitate the correlation process mentioned above, however the packaging of the final step in the method is not yet complete. The future research outlook will focus on the “independent industry implementation” where the method is used by the industry by guidelines only, thus without researchers support.
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| 4. |
- Liwång, Hans, 1974-
(författare)
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Risk-based ship security analysis – an approach based on civilian and military methods
- 2012
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The demands on maritime operations today are increasingly higher in terms of control, efficiency and cost. The margins for accidents and security incidents are therefore decreasing. In the area of ship safety the regulations, guidelines and methods have a history and culture of systematic research, development and implementation. In contrast, international security is highly politicized and therefore not as transparent. The result is that a tradition of ship security is not as well established.The overall aim of this thesis is to propose a method for ship security analysis that increases the overall safety of the crew and the ship. The objective is to develop a method that is systematic in order to ensure that assessment and response are complete and effective, and that the process is documented to provide evidence of decision-making.The method used is probabilistic risk assessment where quantitative analysis is central. The proposed approach is consistent with the requirements of maritime safety work. However, in the work here, the proposed methods are specifically tested for security cases. This is because hazards (without intent) and threats (with intent) evolve in different ways into risk. Therefore, they must be analysed differently in order to capture the causal relationship.The proposed approach consists of three steps: the first step consists of a threat description that documents qualitative and quantitative aspects that together describe how the threat most likely will act in relation to the ship’s vulnerability; the second step uses the threat description to define the system studied as well as the scenarios that collectively describe the harmful consequences; the third step evaluates the risk with tools from probabilistic risk assessment.The overall conclusion is that the proposed method brings the procedure and results of ship security analysis into the open and therefore allows for criticism, improvements and shared risk knowledge, not possible with less structured methods. The results also show that the calculated probabilities agree with available statistics, which indicates that the analysis succeeds in describing the central causal relationships of the scenarios modelled.
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| 5. |
- Persson, Urban, 1961-
(författare)
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Realise the Potential! : Cost Effective and Energy Efficient District Heating in European Urban Areas
- 2011
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The Member States of EU27 need to accelerate the integration of energy efficient technology solutions to reach the 20% energy efficiency target set for 2020. At current pace, projections indicate that only half of expected primary energy reductions will be reached. To meet the energy demands of growing populations and a vibrant economy, while simultaneously reducing primary energy supplies, the European continent faces a new kind of challenge never previously encountered. The identification and application of feasible, competitive, and comprehensive solutions to this problem are of highest priority if the remaining gap is to be closed in time. How is this multi-dimensional and complex dilemma to be dissolved? In this work, expanded use of district heating technology is conceived as a possible solution to substantially reduce future primary energy demands in Europe. By extended recovery and utilisation of vast volumes of currently disregarded excess heat from energy and industry sector fuel transformation processes, district heating systems and combined generation of heat and power can improve the general efficiency of the European energy balance. To investigate the possible range of this solution, this thesis introduces a set of methodologies, theoretical concepts, and model tools, by which a plausible future excess heat utilisation potential, by means of district heat deliveries to residential and service sectors, is estimated. At current conditions and compared to current levels, this potential correspond to a threefold expansion possibility for directly feasible district heating systems in European urban areas and a fourfold increase of European excess heat utilisation.
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| 6. |
- Polesie, Pim, 1982
(författare)
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Improving productivity in construction: a contractor perspective
- 2011
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Improving productivity in construction has been a lengthy battle. Several debates, articles, reports and books have acknowledged that productivity in construction must be improved. Numerous theoretical and practical solutions to improve productivity have been developed over time both in academia and in practise. A problem with developing theories on how to improve productivity is that there is no generally accepted definition of the term. Productivity has different meanings for different individuals, dependent on context, background and profession. It is therefore likely that suggestions on how to improve productivity will be interpreted differently. In order to improve productivity in construction, the concept itself must first be explored from a context specific perspective. Throughout this thesis it is the production managers’ views that are under scrutiny.The aim of this thesis is to identify factors that influence productivity in construction and to explore the production managers’ views on potential improvements of productivity. Various aspects of productivity are presented and synthesised into a model where inputs are related to outputs through a transformation process. Resources, costs for the use of resources, and the value added in the process are factors in this model.The thesis is based on three papers, each focusing on its own research question. Paper I presents the difficulties of evaluating productivity by exploring the multiple usages of the term in construction. Paper II further examines productivity by analysing what views production managers have concerning their firms’ productivity improvements by reducing the unnecessary use of resources. Paper III explores what views production managers have concerning their roles when productivity is improved through increasing standardisation by exploring the relationship between the production managers’ need for freedom in their construction projects and the firms’ need for standards that improve productivity. The main findings confirm that resources, costs for the use of resources, and the value added are terms that need to be considered when productivity is to be improved from a production manager perspective. Conclusions are drawn that production managers are not averse to implementing standards or reducing the use of resources to improve productivity. Instead, the short-term cost focused approach prevailing in the construction industry hinders the managers from finding and establishing standards that can improve project productivity in their project organisations. Keywords: construction industry, contractor organisations, production manager perspective, productivity, transformation process, use of resources, value added
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| 7. |
- af Hällström, Anna, 1987
(författare)
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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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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)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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| 8. |
- Albrecht, Martin
(författare)
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Enabling socio-technical transitions – electric vehicles and high voltage electricity grids as focal points of low emission futures
- 2017
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Today humankind is facing numerous sustainability challenges that require us to question CO2 intensive practices like those present in the transport and energy sector. To meet those challenges, many countries have adopted ambitious climate targets. Achieving such targets requires an understanding of the wider socio-technical context of transitions. The aim of this licentiate thesis is therefore to analyse such socio-technical transitions towards low-emission futures enabled by the electrification of passenger cars and high voltage grid development.A combination of different transitions theories (for ex. Multi-level perspective and Technological innovation systems) and institutional theory has been used. To reach the aim paper I analyses the climate impacts of electric vehicles (EVs) and policy measures to achieve a breakthrough scenario for EVs. The results show that a mixture of short and long term policies are needed that take into account the technology development stage and behavioural aspects of EV adopters. Paper II addresses the need to include the high voltage transmission grid and its planning procedures as a central part of debates on transitions. Therefore the opportunities, challenges and reasons for conflict in the established regime are studied. The results show that in order to achieve a sustainable grid development regime, it is necessary to spend time on achieving legitimacy and social sustainability. The third paper uses semi-structured expert interviews and focuses on innovation dynamics for EV adoption. By focusing on dynamics instead of single policy measures, it is possible to grasp interactions within a niche, but also in between a niche, regime and landscape. The results show that strong initial technology legitimacy was needed to start substantial innovation dynamics. This could be further strengthened with a strong and broad coalition of actors. Both those factors led, if present, to an improved variety and match of policy instruments.As such this thesis has shown that transitions are not just about technology or policy instruments as such but about the dynamics and processes needed to enable them. This can be relevant in other transitions that otherwise may underestimate the importance of these components.
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| 9. |
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| 10. |
- Salzer, Corinna, 1984
(författare)
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Sustainability of Social Housing in the Urban Tropics
- 2016
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The Licentiate thesis looks at sustainable building approaches for social housing in emerging economies. It combines theoretical concepts with practical applications of sustainability and underlines the relevance and strength of multi-dimensional development. At the example of the Philippines, the conceptual framework for a multi-perspective development process of a bamboo-based building system is developed. Sustainability Assessment Criteria are defined based on data from three stakeholder clusters: (1) Builders and users of traditional bamboo houses in the Philippines; (2) Stakeholders involved in using forest products for housing in countries around the world; and (3) Stakeholders in the field of social housing of the Philippines. Through a qualitative content analysis, research areas are identified and categorized into five dimensions of holistic sustainability: technology, society, ecology, economy, and governance. The Licentiate names methods leading to measurable, quantitative endpoints for those research areas and presents selected results: from mechanical property and fire resistance testing in the technical pillar, to environmental impact assessment in the ecological dimension as well as pathways towards a legal approval as contribution to the governance pillar. An accompanying implementation project is introduced, producing outputs in economic, social and governance dimension, and a pathway for the course of the PhD is shaped. By the end of the PhD thesis, a holistic sustainability assessment of the building technology will be provided for the given context of social housing in the Philippines.
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