| 1. |
- Wennström, Johan
(författare)
-
Market, State, and Morality : Two Studies of How Left and Right Undermined Moral Motivation in the Swedish School System
- 2017
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The bulk of the literature on the New Public Management (NPM) has been blind to the moral dimension of the market-oriented reforms of the public sector. However, this thesis studies the potential for institutional arrangements such as financial incentives and other market mechanisms to undermine intrinsic, moral motivation among both“producers” and “consumers” of tax-financed welfare services. The first paper demonstrates how the promotion of NPM-like ideas by various left-wing and right-wing agents after 1968 led to the erosion of a professional ethos among Swedish teachers. The second paper shows how an ill-conceived school voucher reform in Sweden, implemented under the banner of NPM, has encouraged moral hazard on the part of schools. The thesis demonstrates an ecumenism between the left and right that with few exceptions has been overlooked in political science. It also demonstrates that public administration systems that have adopted market-oriented reforms need morality in order to function in accordance with the principles underlying these institutions.
|
|
| 2. |
- Birch-Jensen, Andrea, 1989
(författare)
-
Are you really listening to what your customers are saying? Making use of customer feedback in the era of servitization and digitalization
- 2018
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- As digitalization and servitization are transforming the customer offering, and as customers’ wishes and needs are growing increasingly complex, the processes related to understanding how customers perceive the offering need to adapt accordingly. Thus, the customer feedback channels and content are impacted, creating challenges and opportunities for firms in both service and manufacturing industries. Offering digitally connected services alters the customer- firm interface, while also opening up new feedback channels into the firm. Moreover, since customer requirements are becoming more complex and market changes are occurring at an increasing rate, firms need to possess processes for gathering and utilizing customer feedback in general, and customer satisfaction information in particular. This thesis sets out to explore the use of customer feedback in the era of servitization and digitalization, in order to identify the prerequisites needed to use customer feedback for service improvements. The thesis builds on two qualitative studies, which operationalize the purpose through the lens of customer-initiated feedback, and firm-initiated feedback. The first study explores the processes needed to understand and react upon customer-initiated feedback of digitally connected services. The second study explores the customer satisfaction information usage process, and bridges this process with the firms’ service improvement processes through the use of dynamic capabilities. The findings of the thesis add to the emerging research field residing in the intersection of servitization and digitalization research, through its exploration of challenges related to using customer-initiated feedback of digitally connected services and the impact these have on the firm’s established quality improvement processes. Furthermore, the thesis investigates how organizational capabilities and organizational learning can support the use of customer feedback.
|
|
| 3. |
- Fazl Mashhadi, Azadeh, 1980
(författare)
-
The Influence of Learning on Naturalization of New Practices -The Case of Robust Design in Product Development
- 2010
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The Influence of Learning on Naturalization of New Practices– the Case of Robust Design in Product DevelopmentAzadeh Fazl MashhadiDepartment of Technology Management and EconomicsDivision of Quality SciencesChalmers University of TechnologyABSTRACTCustomers appreciate a robust product which performs its desired function consistently and independently of the sources of variation during its life cycle. In order to deliver a robust design to customers, the upstream activities during the product development process should proactively support such a result. Even though there have been methods and methodologies developed for robust design in product development, such as Taguchi Methods, Robust Design Methodology, Design For Six Sigma, and robust design practices, companies are still struggling with the application of robust design in practice. Volvo 3P is one such company that has begun to apply robust design in the product development processes since 2004. Volvo 3P has recognized that in order to utilize robust design to its full potential, there is a need for cultivation and local growing of the concept in the organization’s context. Through this approach robust design can also achieve its continuous application. This is referred to as naturalization of robust design in the present thesis.This thesis firstly elaborates on Volvo 3P learning from a previous unsuccessful initiative for introducing robust design through an external consultant. The obstacles in the organization and weaknesses in the initiative are discussed. Secondly, it describes the influence of learning on the individuals at Volvo 3P experiencing what lies in the robust design concept for them in practice and therefore changing their way of working. And finally it elaborates on how Volvo 3P has utilized a learning alliance with the Division of Quality Sciences at Chalmers University of Technology as a means to create a learning environment in which robust design is cultivated in the organizational context and grows into the practices in a natural way. In this thesis also the key attributes to achieve learning alliances are identified as a learning relationship, reflection-in-action, mutual learning, and sharing of knowledge and experiences on the organizational level.The thesis identifies four contributions to the research community based on practice which are also valuable for industry. These contributions can be summarized as a broader view of the robust design concept, development of a concrete view for robust design practices in an organizational context, the positive influence of learning for naturalization of robust design, and the learning alliance as a method to create such learning.Keywords: robust design, naturalization, learning, robust design practices, learning alliance, action research
|
|
| 4. |
- Fichtel, Joakim
(författare)
-
Interorganizational Networks, Financing and Commercialization of Life Science Innovations
- 2024
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)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.
|
|
| 5. |
- Gatenholm, Gabriella, 1989
(författare)
-
Toward resilient product-based service supply chains
- 2021
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Circular economies represent a step toward breaking the linear production model in supply chains. As drivers of enhanced circularity, product-based service (PBS) offerings extend and/or intensify the utilization period of products and thus decelerate the flow of resources. As a result, transitions to PBSs can yield outstanding, sustainable commercial benefits, including minimized resource input into production and the reduction of waste, all without jeopardizing growth. At the same time, PBS settings are highly servitized, entail different flows of people and knowledge, and engender new uncertainties, especially regarding product lifetime and product quality. Although a new way of handling such variation in PBS supply chains involves optimizing logistical tradeoffs, PBS supply chains are subject to uncertainties not only during normal market situations but also during volatile situations, including the COVID-19 pandemic. This thesis is based on research that followed a qualitative approach using abductive reasoning. Compiling three papers drawing from three studies conducted across several manufacturing industries, the thesis outlines the relationship between circularity and resilience and provides guidance toward realizing resilient PBS supply chains. Study 1 investigated logistical tradeoffs that support enhanced circularity in PBS supply chains, whereas Study 2 probed disruptions and responses in PBS supply chains following a major external event. Last, Study 3 examined the intersection between resilience and sustainability in manufacturing supply chains. The results of those studies in light of findings in the literature underscore three major findings. First, PBS supply chains have to be understood from a wider perspective on logistical tradeoffs (i.e., material versus people, people versus knowledge, and knowledge versus information) added to the traditional logistical tradeoff between material and information in product-based supply chains. Second, the intersection between circularity and resilience showcases the capacity of those logistical tradeoffs to respond to disruptions and thus cultivate resilience in PBS supply chains. That finding highlights the importance of improved local knowledge that is as close to consumers as possible. Third, the thesis provides a framework of three building blocks for developing resilience in PBS supply chains: (i) developing adaptive resilience, related to Mode I of resilience, to alter normal service offering or delivery; (ii) developing transformative resilience, related to Modes 2 and 3, meaning the notion of extending or radically changing the service offering or delivery; and (iii) integrating those dimensions of resilience with sustainability.
|
|
| 6. |
- Heathcote-Fumador, Ida Eyi, 1984
(författare)
-
Emergence and Dynamics of Circular Economy Ecosystem
- 2023
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)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.
|
|
| 7. |
- Insanic, Igor, 1978
(författare)
-
Organising Product Recovery in Business Networks
- 2012
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The licentiate thesis includes an analysis of different ways of organising product recovery. The aim of product recovery is raw materials conservation, which is strongly related to sustainable development. The focus of this thesis has been on the physical flows from the disposers towards new end-users through different product recovery options that include recycling, remanufacturing, and refurbishing. In this thesis a framework for analysing different ways of organising product recovery in inter-organisational networks is developed. The framework applied in the study relies on the Industrial Network Approach (e.g. Håkansson et al., 2009). The analysis of empirical findings has been performed in all three network layers of the ARA model (Håkansson and Snehota, 1995), in the activity pattern, resource constellation and in the web of actors. The key research issue in the activity layer is to identify differences between activity structures with regard to principles of postponement and speculation, and activity interdependencies. In the resource layer, the research issue is to explore adaptations and tensions. With regard to the actor layer, the main research issue deals with how business relationships in terms of inter-organisational information exchange and the positioning of actors affect activity coordination and resource combining. In addition to the analysis through the models of the Industrial Network Approach, the concept of transvection (Alderson, 1965) is used as a complement to study product recovery to analyse various ways of organising product recovery. The concept of transvection regards all activities as either sorts or transformations with regard to identity, time, place, and form. Sorting is the decision aspect concerned with classification of objects and the direction of transformations of these objects.A qualitative case study in the PC industry has been conducted, with a focus on an actor, who is performing and coordinating different product recovery activities and options together with third party logistics providers and retailers of used products, as regards disposers’ different needs. The concept of transvections effectively elucidates various ways of organising activities with regard to principles of postponement and speculation as well as how sorting decisions direct and re-direct the objects in the network. Structuring of information in time, place, form, and identity dimensions supports sorting rules that steer objects into different product recovery options. This organisation of information facilitates sorting, activity coordination, and resource combining between firms. Information sharing provides possibilities for matching supply and demand of the reprocessed products and enhances resource utilisation. This thesis highlights the significance of a network perspective on organising product recovery, which adds to the literature on reverse logistics and Closed Loop Supply Chain Management. Analytical tools which were developed within the Industrial Network Approach can be applied to investigate organising product recovery. The results of this study can be useful for managers to understand the effects of integrating forward and reverse physical flows.Keywords: industrial networks, reverse logistics, closed loop supply chain management, product recovery, organising, activity coordination, resource combining, transvection, sorting.
|
|
| 8. |
- Pushpananthan, Gouthanan, 1989
(författare)
-
The emergence of innovation ecosystems: Exploring the role of the keystone firm
- 2019
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- During periods of technological change, firms seek new collaborations and sometimes even reach out to competitors in order to obtain new resources and competences. Understanding the collaborations surrounding new technologies has implications for firms pursuing opportunities with new technologies. The notion of ecosystems is increasingly used in literature to address value creation activities involving a network of firms. The purpose of this licentiate thesis is to understand the emergence of new innovation ecosystems. Previous research on ecosystems recognizes “keystone” firm as the anchor that ensure growth and stability in the ecosystem. However, the activities that foreshadow the development of an ecosystem and the role played by a prospective keystone firm in the emergence of an ecosystem is undertheorized. Based on a longitudinal case study of a technology development program at an automotive firm, the findings presented in this licentiate thesis show how the joint venture established by the incumbent firm led to the development of a modular technology. The main findings illustrate how the incumbent automotive firm attracted a network of actors that develop innovative solutions and other complementarities for the technology. The network of actors developing offerings for the modular technology, in turn, facilitated the incumbent firm to position itself as a keystone firm and orchestrate the emergence of a new innovation ecosystem. The thesis contributes to theory by showing how a firm can orchestrate the emergence of an innovation ecosystem and position itself as the keystone firm.
|
|
| 9. |
- Bryngelsson, David, 1981
(författare)
-
On Food Price Implications from Expanded Bioenergy Production
- 2012
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)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.
|
|
| 10. |
- Hulthén, Per, 1974
(författare)
-
Venture capital as a tool for regional development: Exit patterns and long-term consequences
- 2019
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Venture capital (VC) funded high-tech startups are often cited drivers of economic impact and catalysts of regional growth. Public support of high-tech startups and investments into venture capital has thus been a popular focus for public policy globally in the past decades. This is despite that the long-term, and post-exit, impact of most venture capital funded startups is little known, especially for regional development. To the degree startups have been tracked after exit, there is evidence of startups both growing and disappearing post-exit, with exit route often suggested as an influence of post-exit growth as well as relocation. The purpose of this thesis is thus to investigate the suitability of venture capital for regional development, by studying the long-term and post-exit outcome for venture capital funded startups. This licentiate dissertation builds on four studies on startup exits. The first study, ‘Migration patterns of venture capital funded startups’, explores quantitatively startups exits in five innovative regions: San Francisco Bay Area encompassing Silicon Valley, Colorado, North Carolina, Israel and Sweden. Conclusions are that regional exit patterns are dominated by acquisitions, with ownership of the most valuable startups concentrated to Silicon Valley. In the other four regions, only a small portion of the value of the startups remain owned in their regions. The second study, ‘Growth of Swedish venture capital financed startups after IPO and acquisition - the case for exit-centric policy?’, quantitatively tracks the post-exit growth of venture capital funded startups in Sweden 1992-2010. Conclusions are that post-exit growth is dependent on exit route. Startups which exit by IPO grow faster than acquired startups, and half of the acquired startups are consolidated within a couple of years after exit. The third study, 'Venture capitalist's exit choice: Deciding the fate of successful startups', examines how venture capitalists make exit choices for startups. Conclusions are that venture capitalists alone decide on exit, overriding entrepreneurs if required, with a preference for acquisition exits and a reluctance to take firms public. The final fourth study, ‘Startup exits and the evolution of entrepreneurial ecosystems: Exploring divergent paths’, maps qualitatively the post-exit behavior of entrepreneurs, business angels, venture capitalists and key employees in startups dependent on the financial exit success. Conclusions are that growing entrepreneurial ecosystems require a minimum of profitable exits, and without which entrepreneurial ecosystems will stagnate and depopulate. This thesis increases our understanding the long-term regional economic consequences of using venture capital to accelerate startups. Venture capital accelerate startups in the time period following their initial investment until the exit. At exit, the venture capitalists have a preference of exiting by acquisition, rather than going public, with the most valuable startups acquired by firms in Silicon Valley. Acquired startups have lower post-exit growth than startups going public, and many acquired startups are consolidated post-exit. For regions other than Silicon Valley, the likely outcome is that their most valuable startups will not remain long-term in their ecosystems. Regions using venture capital as a policy tool for regional growth, should consider modifying their policies to account for the startup migration effects and consider supporting alternative funding mechanisms in their entrepreneurial ecosystems.
|
|
