| 1. |
- Wising, Jenny, et al.
(författare)
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‘Life with a device’ : the octogenarians’ experiences with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator—a qualitative study
- 2021
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Ingår i: European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing. - : Oxford University Press. - 1474-5151 .- 1873-1953. ; 21:2, s. 161-168
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- AimsImplantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) treatment has expanded due to its effectiveness. However, there are concerns about complications, and use in the most elderly has been questioned. There is scarce data on qualitative aspects regarding experiences of living with an ICD among patients above the age of 80 years. The aim of this study was to explore octogenarians’ experience, knowledge, and attitude of living with an ICD.Method and resultsWe used semi-structured interviews to collect data from 20 patients, aged 80–89 years (90% men). The data were then structured and analysed through deductive thematic analysis network approach using the ATLAS.ti v.8.4 software. The framework of the analysis was based on the Successful Aging Theory. Three main themes emerged regarding the patients’ experiences: Life goes on; Their Health, The Janus-Faced Device; Their attitudes, and Mind the gap; Their knowledge. None of the octogenarians regretted receiving their ICD, instead, they presented with feelings such as gratitude towards the device. However, a lack of knowledge about the devices was expressed, which can be a risk for potential complications, in turn causing suffering and unnecessary concerns.ConclusionOverall, the ICD did not pose a threat towards successful ageing. It was mainly considered a life-saving device. However, the lack of knowledge might hinder informed choices close to death and contribute to ethical dilemmas when deactivation of the ICD is a reasonable option.
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| 2. |
- Hilletofth, Per, et al.
(författare)
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Coordinating new product development and supply chain management
- 2010
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Ingår i: International Journal of Value Chain Management. - : InderScience Publishers. - 1741-5357 .- 1741-5365. ; 4:1/2, s. 170-192
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Effective implementation of the new product development (NPD) process not only enables management to coordinate the efficient flow of new products, but will also assist to support ramp-up of various supply chain activities and other related activities supporting the commercialisation of the product. Thus, companies need to address all these issues in parallel to be successful and this requires some kind of integrative product development approach. The purpose of this research is to increase the understanding of how NPD is connected to supply chain management (SCM) by investigating how the NPD process is structured and executed in two international manufacturing companies seeking to realise an innovative, predictable and efficient product development. Several essential linkages between NPD and SCM have been derived from case study findings concerning important issues for successful product development.
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| 3. |
- Eriksson, David, et al.
(författare)
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The importance of the retailer for an OEM developing innovative products
- 2011
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Ingår i: Conradi Research Review. - : Vaasa University of Applied Sciences. - 1459-0980. ; 6:2, s. 63-81
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The supply chain strategy research has generated many frameworks for matching the supply chain with the nature of demand, market, consumers, or products. Recently many companies have implemented innovative new product development processes in order to increase revenue. However, research on the importance of the retailers for an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) adopting a leagile supply chain strategy for innovative products, is scarce. Using the case study method, this research investigates the need of collaboration between an OEM and its retailers. This research aims to richen the knowledge about demand supply chain management (DSCM), and the coordination of demand and supply processes between companies in the demand-supply chain. This research shows that there are several measures that may be used to monitor performance, and that collaboration is important for the case company.
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| 4. |
- Hedenstierna, Philip, et al.
(författare)
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Design of a Framework for Inventory Control - Evaluation of Forecasting and Inventory Control Systems
- 2009
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Ingår i: Flexible Automation and Intelligent Manufacturing 2009 (FAIM 2009). - Middlesbrough, UK : Curran Associates, Inc.. - 9780956230331 - 9781615676279 ; , s. 573-580
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Managing inventories so that overall costs are kept low, while service levels are maintained is the central issue of inventory control, which only regulates two things: the size and the timing of orders. This is typically executed through a planning method, such as the reorder point system or, less frequently, the periodic order quantity system. These take into account a forecast, supposed to gauge the average future demand, and a predetermined safety stock, buffering against forecast errors and demand uncertainty. Pure demand also influences the system, as transactions affect the inventory level. It is crucial to understand how a complete system of demand, forecasts, safety stock calculations and planning methods work together to measure service level and overall cost of the system. This paper outlines a framework for the unambiguous representation of the relations between methods that interpret environmental parameters to plan orders. A number of simulations based on the framework are run to show, how the integration of the inventory control functions may affect the overall performance of the system. The usefullness of the framework lies in its ability to make a system duplicable (i.e. to transfer an inventory control system to a simulation model, or vice versa). Not only is this property important for creating simulation models that exactly depict the system being analysed, it also enables the study of a complete system for order planning, as opposed to optimising individual methods. Studying an inclusive system allow the same metrics to be used to evaluate changes to any method in the system. Another benefit of this approach is that the system's metrics directly reflect changes in the environment. Simulations based on this framework are precise and substantially easier to evaluate than models not adhering to any standard.
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| 5. |
- Hilletofth, Per, et al.
(författare)
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Agent Based Decision Support in Manufacturing Supply Chain
- 2009
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Ingår i: Agent and Multi-Agent Systems: Technologies and Applications. - Berlin, Heidelberg : Springer Berlin/Heidelberg. - 3642016642 - 9783642016646 - 9783642016653 ; , s. 677-686
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Supply Chain Management (SCM) is becoming increasingly complex and an intensified competition in the end-markets has started to create a situation where co-operation requirements between companies in a Supply Chain (SC) are increasing. The old mechanistic operations management solutions are becoming obsolete and advanced decision support is increasingly needed to realize efficient and effective management of complex SCs. The objective of this research is to contribute to the understanding of how Agent Based Modeling (ABM) can advance decision making and to discuss why ABM should be regarded as method to realize Information Fusion (IF). In this research work an agent based model of SCM has been implemented in a simulation platform to provide an approach for evaluation of decision and management alternatives. Research shows that this kind of decision support system is based on IF, since it collects and fuses information from different sources into a situation image that provides effective support for human decision making
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| 6. |
- Hilletofth, Per, et al.
(författare)
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Coordinating new product development with supply chain management
- 2011
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Ingår i: Industrial management & data systems. - : Emerald Group Publishing Limited. - 0263-5577 .- 1758-5783. ; 111:2, s. 264-281
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to form an understanding of how new product development (NPD) relates to supply chain management (SCM), why the two fields should be coordinated, and how this may be done.Design/methodology/approach – This research uses a literature review and case study research. The case study considers a Swedish company that operates on a global basis in the furniture industry. Empirical data have been collected mainly from in-depth interviews with key persons representing senior and middle management in the case company.Findings – This paper stresses the need to produce innovative, value-adding products, as well as the necessity to quickly deliver them to the market. Companies that face mature business environments may encounter problems due to a high emphasis on either the value-creation processes, or on the value delivery processes. Therefore, NPD activities need to be coordinated with SCM activities on a strategic level, lest competitiveness will be lost.Research limitations/implications – The research is limited to one case company; replication studies would enhance understanding of the studied phenomenon. There is a wide need for research exploring how various parts of demand and supply chains should be managed in order to fully utilize the advantages of the consumer-oriented enterprise.Practical implications – This paper provides insights for researchers and practitioners on how to coordinate and balance NPD (demand side) with SCM (supply side) activities. It highlights that companies should organize themselves around understanding how consumer value is created and how these processes may be coordinated to provide that value. The two processes must be given equal attention and importance to avoid sub-optimization.Originality/value – The need for coordinating NPD and SCM activities has been emphasized in the literature but still remains relatively unexplored. This paper contributes by investigating this issue further.
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| 7. |
- Liljestrand, Johan, et al.
(författare)
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The (educational) meaning of religion as a quality of liberal democratic citizenship
- 2016
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Ingår i: Journal of Curriculum Studies. - : Routledge. - 0022-0272 .- 1366-5839. ; 48:2, s. 151-166
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Religion has become a prominent issue in times of pluralism and in relation to citizenship in school and in society. As religious education (RE) is assigned to be one of the main school subject where issues of what religion is are to be raised, RE teachers’ conceptualizations of religion are of vital concern to investigate. In this article, RE teachers’ descriptions of ‘religion’ are scrutinized and analysed in terms of implications for citizenship with special regard to the role of RE. Three vital conceptions of religion emerge in teachers’ descriptions. First, religion is mainly individual or private, secondly, it denotes ethical guidance, and thirdly, it relates to sociocultural systems for thinking. Taken together, these conceptualizations share two characteristics about religion: religion as being individual-centred and private, and religion as being mind oriented. Out of this analysis, we discuss the role of religion and RE in contemporary liberal democratic life in society. The discussion is concluded by addressing two key things; the importance of the RE teacher as a curriculum maker, and the importance of religion and RE as active interventions in today’s contemporary discussion about pluralism in liberal democratic societies.
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| 8. |
- Hilletofth, Per
(författare)
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Demand-Supply Chain Management
- 2010
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Purpose: This research aims to enhance the current understanding and knowledge of the demand-supply chain management (DSCM) concept by determining its elements, benefits, and requirements, as well as by analyzing key elements of the concept. Methodology: This research has utilized the case study strategy and the survey strategy, however, the case study strategy dominates. The case study research has involved five companies originating from Sweden and the collection of empirical data mainly from in-depth interviews with key persons representing senior and middle management. The survey research targeted the largest firms in Sweden and Finland and empirical data was collected through an online questionnaire. Findings: This research has established that the main elements of DSCM include market orientation, coordination of the demand and supply processes, viewing the demand and supply processes as being equally important, as well as value creation, differentiation, innovativeness, responsiveness, and cost-efficiency in the demand and supply processes. It has also been revealed that the main benefits of DSCM include enhanced competiveness, enhanced demand chain performance, as well as enhanced supply chain performance, while the main requirements of DSCM include organizational competences, company established principles, demand-supply chain collaboration, and information technology support. A key element of DSCM further investigated is differentiation focused supply chain design. It has been shown that these efforts can be organized into a process of five stages. In addition, it is important that this process is addressed in parallel with the new product development (NPD) process, that information is exchanged between them, and that they are directed on the basis of the same segmentation model. Another key element of DSCM further investigated is coordination between NPD and SCM. This research has identified several significant linkages between these management directions, which motivate the use of an integrative NPD process where the NPD functions are aligned with the main supply functions in the company and other sales-related functions supporting the commercialization. A final key element of DSCM further investigated is the significance of regarding the demand processes and the supply processes as being equally important. This research has revealed that logistics outsourcing can be risky, if it results in the supply processes being considered less important. Nevertheless, if senior management regards the outsourced processes as equally important as the in-house processes, the effect of logistics outsourcing on company strategies and direction in SCM could be reduced and logistics outsourcing could instead provide an opportunity to improve the design and differentiation of the supply chain. Research limitations/implications: This research has proposed, described, and further analyzed a demand-supply oriented management approach. Such a management approach stresses that the demand processes and the supply processes have to be coordinated and directed at an overlying level, in order to gain and sustain a competitive advantage in competitive and fragmented markets. This research is mainly explorative in nature, and more empirical data, from similar and other research settings, is needed to further validate the findings. Another limitation of the research is that it is essentially limited to Swedish companies (even if some Finnish companies are involved in the survey), however, many of the case companies have a large international presence and are among the top three in their industries, facts which provide some grounds for generalization. Practical implications: This research provides researchers and practitioners with insights into how to develop a demand-supply oriented business. It shows that companies should organize themselves around understanding how customer value is created and delivered, as well as how these processes and management directions can be coordinated. In order for this to occur, the demand and supply processes must be considered as being equally important and the firm needs to be managed jointly and in a coordinated manner by the demand- and supply-side of the company. It is also important that value creation is considered in both the demand and supply processes. Originality/value: Despite strong arguments from both researchers and practitioners for a demand-supply oriented management approach only a minority of companies appear to have effectively coordinated the demand and supply processes. This might be influenced by the lack of research examining how the demand and supply processes can be coordinated, what benefits can be gained by coordinating them, and what requirements are necessary to succeed. This research contributes by investigating these types of aspects further.
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| 9. |
- Hilletofth, Per
(författare)
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Differentiated Supply Chain Strategy - Response to a fragmented and complex market
- 2008
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Supply Chain Management (SCM) aims to synchronize the requirements of customers with the flow of materials from suppliers, in order to satisfy the needs of the customers as costefficiently as possible. This has become a difficult task due to several developments in the market, such as increased competition, increased demand variability, increased product variety, increased amounts of customer-specific products, and shortening product life cycles. These developments, due in part to globalization, provide additional management challenges and new practices in which supply chains are designed and managed, and can eventually make the difference between companies staying competitive or not. The overall purpose of this thesis is to investigate how complexity and globalization affect supply chain design and operations. The main emphasis has been on producing descriptive results of the studied phenomenon. This research involves five case studies covering international transportation structures used in SCM, the selection of supply chain strategies in different business environments, and the role of information systems and technology in achieving the objective of SCM. In this thesis it has been concluded that in order to cope with increasingly complex and fragmented markets companies need more differentiated transportation structures, modes, and supply chains. Furthermore, to effectively manage this, information systems and advanced decision support tools are required. In addition, this thesis has shown that current taxonomies for supply chain strategy selection are too simplistic due to three major problems: they mediate that it is a question of choosing one supply chain strategy for the entire company,they regard markets as rather homogeneous, and they link each supply chain strategy to a specific business context. Instead, it has been concluded that in order to better satisfy differing customer needs in various markets it is increasingly necessary to develop a differentiated supply chain strategy by utilizing different manufacturing and delivery strategies concurrently. Thus, a need exists for new taxonomies for supply chain strategy selection which recognize that the markets are becoming more fragmented and complex, that customer preferences differ across customer/market segments, and that there is a need to differentiate the supply chain strategy. This thesis also highlights several requirements of a differentiated supply chain strategy. Firstly, extended supply chain collaboration is required, since a differentiated supply chain strategy will involve more supply chain partners than a traditional supply chain strategy. Secondly, there is a need for more transportation mode alternatives, particularly intermodal, both in supply and distribution operations, due to the fact that differentiation requires diversity. In this thesis, intermodal landbridge freight services are highlighted as one interesting avenue, which could potentially facilitate a more differentiated supply chain strategy. Thirdly, more integrated information systems are needed along with decision support tools. This study illustrates that agent based modeling appears to be an interesting method for developing realistic decision support tools in the context of complex supply chains. An interesting aspect for further research is to investigate how different manufacturing and delivery strategies can be used concurrently in international supply chains. Moreover, there are several requirements and opportunities of a differentiated supply chain strategy, and these have to be investigated further
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| 10. |
- Asplund, Anna, et al.
(författare)
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E-procurement beyond the buyer cost perspective
- 2010
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the 22nd NOFOMA Conference. - Kolding : University of Southern Denmark. - 9788792471055 ; , s. 483-498
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: The objective of this paper is to provide and argue for a comprehensive view of e-procurement that involves both the buyer and suppliers and that goes beyond looking at mere cost reductions on the buyer side. More specifically, the paper describes benefits and barriers of implementing e-procurement solutions for both buyers and suppliers.Design/methodology/approach: This paper reports on a literature review combined with a case study. The case is a public organization in Sweden, which prepares to implement an e-procurement solution. Interviews were also conducted with a selection of suppliers to the case organization.Findings: In e-procurement literature, drivers and barriers are often viewed only from the perspective of a buying organization. Benefits are mainly cost-related for the buying organization, while barriers often include suppliers. It is proposed that benefits and barriers should include both buyers and suppliers. The literature review and the case study findings form the basis for further investigation into this problem area.Research limitations/implications: This study focuses on a public organization in Sweden. Yet, it could have implications for many public or private organizations considering implementing e-procurement systems.Practical implications: This research suggest that organizations to a greater extent should take the supplier´s side into account when implementing e-procurement solutions.Originality/Value: The study highlights a full cycle view on e-procurement taking both buyer and supplier into account.
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