| 1. |
- Windahl, Charlotta, 1973-
(författare)
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Integrated Solutions in the Capital Goods Sector : Exploring innovation, service and network perspectives
- 2007
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- With varying degrees of success, a number of firms in the capital goods sector are experimenting with different ‘integrated solutions’ initiatives. Integrated solutions include product innovations which enable increased process control that allows the optimisation of the customers’ processes, as well as business innovations which change the firms’ business models and customer approach. It is not always easy to develop and commercialise these new offerings, especially for firms that have traditionally focused on developing and selling products. Integrated solutions challenge these firms to shift the focus from physical products, spare parts and support services to emphasis on delivery of performance optimisation and productivity.This thesis is a compilation of five papers and five supporting chapters that discuss and analyse the challenges with developing and commercialising integrated solutions in the capital goods sector. The research builds on case studies of firms experimenting with integrated-solution offerings. The firms produce complex, expensive industrial machinery to customers in the process and manufacturing industries. The main case is based on a five-year, in-depth longitudinal study of Alfa Laval, and more specifically of the developments within the wastewater industry. Other case studies include ITT Flygt and Atlas Copco.The thesis shows that the development and commercialisation of integrated solutions represent a multifaceted, iterative and complex process for the firms under study, who need to combine product, service and business innovations, create new business structures, and create new relationships with customers and possible partners. Consequently, the development of integrated solutions is not confined to or explained by one theoretical field in this thesis, but is linked to innovation, service and network perspectives.The thesis also shows that the three activities of innovating, organising and building relationships are dependent on changing market structures, customer demands and business cycles. Therefore it becomes important to manage the coexistence of different types of offerings, such as products, services and integrated solutions.
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| 2. |
- Aldin, Niklas, 1974-
(författare)
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The strategic interplay between logistics and market development : and the influence of electronic commerce
- 2002
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The overall purpose of this study is to describe and analyze how logistics and market development interplay. In order to do this the research topics are to analyze what the requirements on logistics are from a changing marketing strategy, as expansion or changed customer focus, and how logistics may support continued market development. This is particularly interesting when the business environment is changing. Within the research topics Internet-based electronic commerce is given attention, firstly as a marketing channel sensitive to business changes and secondly as an integrated part of marketing and logistics development. In all parts of the study, the choice of processes, structures and organizations of logistics have been in focus, here labelled logistics.The study consists of three parts and a cover. The cover synthesizes and summarizes the parts - one case study and two journal papers. The case study is a study over time of a medium-sized Swedish distributor selling tools and machinery to Nordic industrial sectors and the Baltic States. The distributor has gone through a change in marketing strategy and implemented an electronic commerce portal, which makes it interesting to study. In the journal papers the research topics are further elaborated and analyzed. The first journal paper focuses on the requirements, and the second paper on the contributions created, even though they overlap. In both parts electronic commerce has been considered an important element. In-depth interviews have been performed in the main case study object but also in two other distributors concerning electronic commerce possibilities. The case study describes the development of the case considering changes in marketing, logistics and electronic commerce strategy. It shows how the case company goes through a strategic change that involves expansion, the use of electronic commerce and changed logistics processes, structures and organizations. In journal paper one the market channel possibilities are analyzed for the case and how these require changes in logistics. It is concluded that with an increased environmental insecurity the need of strategic flexibility increases in new marketing channels and as a consequence the need for a centralized logistics organization. In journal paper two is the electronic commerce support for market and logistics development analyzed for three different distributors. It is concluded that electronic commerce efforts need to start at an activity level, but constantly widen the scope. A stepwise approach is outlined that combines market repositioning and logistics refinement. Support for how electronic commerce contributes to market and logistics development is found.This study supports previous research that claims that organizational integration between logistics and marketing is important. In a changing business environment organizational issues become the main focus in logistics. The need for centralized responsibility to tackle new and changing market requirements is outlined as essential in combination with a greater amount of internal collaboration through informal communication. In this study, the organization of logistics has been argued to have a decisive impact on the ability to find the best strategies that integrate logistics and marketing. Therefore organizational issues precede process and structural change. Electronic commerce and structural change become parts of a strategy to adapt to a continuously changing business.Electronic commerce, logistics process, organizational and structural development contribute to marketing development in different ways by combining cost, service and flexibility in logistics. The stepwise approach signals that to come further with electronic commerce, different lines of action in logistics are needed, such as process streamlining to create better co-ordination and customer service or structural change to further expand the market. Accordingly, different logistics strategies are adaptable to different marketing strategies. However, a centralized logistics organization is argued to be a pre-requisite to become strategic flexible for new marketing strategies and being able to create the necessary interplay between marketing and logistics.
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| 3. |
- Ambrutyte, Zita, 1972-
(författare)
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Accounting for cooperation : case study of swedish vertical supply relationships
- 2005
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- During the last decades a combination of business trends has caused companies to rely increasingly on relationships with other firms. Despite the popularity of inter-organizational relationships, evidence shows that many inter-organizational relationships fall short of meeting the expectations of their participants or fall for other reasons. It has been claimed that the degree to which efficiency is created is dependent on the information availability to the decision-makers; in order to assess the benefits and the results of the cooperation, there should be some arrangements by the parties done. The purpose of the study is therefore to provide an empirical evidence of the existing management accounting practice in vertical company relationships, how parties in the relationships use management accounting systems and financial information to determine effective and efficient use of resources through planning, co-ordination and evaluation.When this project started, it was expected that in practice this approach would result in systems that support the relationships and provide the foundations for realising the benefits. The findings provide unexpected results, i.e. the parties in the case rarely use management accounting knowledge or systems in managing relationships. However, the use of management accounting related decisions is almost a daily responsibility for the parties involved in relationships management. The reasons for such a situation might be the prevailing technical culture of most companies. This focuses on quality and processes and treats accounting and control as a staff function that is unnecessary in relationships management. Due to the shortage of funds and initiative the supplier companies often lack expertise and management information systems. However, the case investigated as well as other research evidence shows that decision-making based on management accounting information is becoming more common in managing the relationships and even more benefits could be achieved from improved accounting knowledge use.The mismatch between the empirical data and the expectations could possibly be influenced by two factors. First, it is possible that the case analysed represents a practical example which does not match the ideal case, and therefore the management practices illustrated might have room for changes. The second possibility is that the theories referred to in the thesis, do not represent exactly the likely practical scenarios, and accordingly these theories could be enhanced to better explain inter-organisational practices.
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| 4. |
- Ambrutytė, Zita, 1972-
(författare)
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Management Control : Linking Strategy with Inter‐Organisational Relationships
- 2008
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The alignment of strategies and control systems is believed to affect the chances for firms to successfully achieve competitive edge. Contemporary business trends like globalization, vertical disintegration, the reduction in supplier bases, the focusing of operations and outsourcing of non-core activities, have caused companies to rely increasingly on relationships with other firms. These trends strengthen the awareness of the fact that a company’s success is also built upon the contribution from other players in the total supply network. It is recognised that management control systems play an important role in the management of interdependencies between organisations; yet, there has not been much research into strategy and control systems in interorganisational relationships. The relationship between strategy and control systems in purchasing as an interface towards interorganisational relationships has not received attention in the strategy-management control literature either. Moreover, discussions on inter-organisational control seem often to be divorced from the internal process in the companies concerned.In this thesis, an attempt is made to relate strategy with intra- and inter-organisational controls. The overall purpose is to describe and analyse the effects of strategy on those management control systems used within the purchasing function and to control relationships with suppliers, and further, to propose a framework for understanding how strategy impacts purchasing management control systems and the control of inter-organisational relationships. Two research questions are developed for this purpose, i.e. to examine 1) how a business unit strategy affects management control in purchasing, and 2) how a business unit strategy affects the pattern of management control for inter-organisational relationships. The ideas behind the strategy-structure paradigm are thus extended towards understanding the effects of strategy on the use of controls in inter-organisational relationships. The fieldwork is based on twenty nine interviews with employees at two manufacturing and ten supplier companies, and the data was collected during two periods of time, i.e. 2002-2003 and 2006-2007.This thesis began with the assumption that two companies pursue different business strategies which could be classified by using Porter’s (1980) typologies. It was expected that these different strategies would result in the different use of management control systems in purchasing and in controlling relationships with suppliers. The contribution of this thesis is twofold: firstly, it establishes the pattern of the alignment of business strategy, functional strategy, functional control systems and control of interorganisational relationships, and secondly, it suggests the possible directions towards the refinement of this pattern.
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| 5. |
- Andersson, Karolina, 1975-
(författare)
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Suppliers in collaboration : the impact on the strategies of the individual firm
- 2005
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The general purpose of this thesis is to describe and analyse how collaboration in supplier network influence the individual supplier. The focus is the influence on the supplier's strategic development and how it influences the customer relationship. The empirical data in the study is seven cases, which includes the supplier network Trä 50, five of the participating companies, and their common customer Ikea.The collaborating companies are SME in the furniture manufacturing industry, primarily active on the Swedish furniture market dominated by furniture retailers such as Ikea, Em and Mio. The suppliers are in a weak position and collaboration is often argued as a way to change the situation. During the past decade, large amounts of money have been spent by the EU and the Swedish government to encourage and support collaboration projects, in the furniture manufacturing industry and also in other industries. However, argumentation for collaboration is seldom underpinned with data on the actual outcome for the individual participating company. Therefore is the benefit from collaboration for the individual company central in this thesis.The research questions are based on the view that there is three elements that can influence each other when suppliers collaborate: the supplier, the customer and the supplier network. All influences between these elements are studied in this thesis to understand the collaboration's total influence on the individual supplier. To achieve this was the development of the five suppliers studied, the customer's purchasing strategy and the supplier network's activities.Trä 50 was a collaboration project, founded to reduce the lead-time by 50 percent for the participating companies. The participating companies had high goals and saw collaboration as an opportunity. It was especially exchange of experience and knowledge that attracted them. Trä 50 turned out to become much more than one project. Bonus agreements in purchasing, study tours abroad, a market oriented project, and study visits at each other's companies were some of the activities in Trä 50 during the approximately ten active years. The participants consider Trä 50 as a successful collaboration.Ikea was not a member of Trä 50, but the company was involved in the founding of Trä 50 and different representatives from lkea were often invited to seminars and discussions. Partnerships between Ikea and the individual suppliers were for instance discussed.One conclusion of this study is that collaboration can have significant influence on the individual company, but also not any influence at all. The result depends on factors such as the company's involvement in the activities, the management's attitude to and goals with the collaboration and the fultilment of the goals.All the participating companies did not reach the goal 50 per cent reduction of the leadtimes, but they did improve the production processes, and increased the production capacity. The over aU result from Trä 50 for the participants were improved knowledge development, and personal development for the managers. An additional contact channel to the customer was established through the network. Business negotiations were still held on the single company level, and knowledge development on the network level - a kind of Meta relation to the customer emerged. The knowledge development led among other things to a "fine-tuning" of the companies strategies. The collaboration led to few new customer, but larger volumes at Ikea.The reasons for the success of Trä 50 were many, but some are more noticeable. A friendly and trusting atmosphere emerged among the representatives from the companies. They also worked hard on the projects though, to stay competitive among each other. Furthermore, the companies' had similar problems and the relation to Ikea. The large customer meant many possibilities, but its power was also a threat. The suppliers shared a love-hate feeling toward the customer. The active part that Ikea did take in the collaboration by attending meetings, seminars, and discuss issues such as partnership was another reason to the success.The individual company's relation to the customer Ikea was also influenced. The companies got a broader net of contacts at Ikea. The collaboration made them more visible at the customer, and this led to an improved position for the supplier and the customer-supplier ties were strengthened.
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| 6. |
- Antoni, Marc, 1971-
(författare)
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Inter-project learning : a quality perspective
- 2000
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The development of most sectors in Western economies goes towards a more flexible, project-oriented way of doing business. However, the vast majority of projects exceed their planned budget in terms of time, financial resources and other resources. In companies, which organize work in the form of projects, reinventions of the wheel can also often be observed. One reason for problems of project management is learning deficiencies. Most projects have repetitive components, which make an institutionalization of them useful. However, any formalization should be seen in a balanced relation to the renewal potential of projects.The research presented in this thesis aims to gain insight into enabling factors of Inter-Project Learning. This aim is pursued via theoretical literature studies and the study of organizations. The thesis consists of a frame and four papers covering different aspects of Inter-Project Learning. The areas discussed in the frame and the papers are Project Management, Profound Knowledge. Organizational Learning and Process Management.In the literature it was found that Inter-Project Learning is usually not planned for, which is supported by empirical evidence. Inter-Project Learning activities partly gave the impression of being seen as pleasant side effects. A central challenge for Inter-Project Learning is the understanding and perception of time in projects, since members of a temporary organization have partly other goals than members of the permanent parental organization. Deming's concept of Profound Knowledge was found to be one useful way of achieving a better understanding of the problems surrounding Inter-Project Learning.Experience from projects can be preserved in a process organization supporting Inter-Project Learning. However, it was found that the relation between both project and process organization, as well as between project manager and process owner, in practice is often unclear, which can lead to problems.Furthermore. a distinction of forms supporting Inter-Project Learning in codification and personalization forms was found to be convenient. These should not be understood as mutually exclusive approaches, but rather as a choice of emphasis. Empirical data suggest that the choice of emphasis is not a static one, but can shift over time.Apart of the findings have been combined in a tentative model for InterProject Learning, which shall function as a basis for further discussion. improvement and research.
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| 7. |
- Antoni, Marc
(författare)
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Learning between projects : - in product development contexts -
- 2002
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- A project is often formed with the intention to bring forth a deliverable within a certain time frame. This goal-focus however may lead to suboptimizations on the organizational level. At the same time projects more often than not underperform in a number of aspects, with an especially huge gap in the learning aspect.Thus the research questions addressed in this work concern what is done in organizations to foster organizational learning in project-based contexts, how different actions arc implemented and how the relation between the project and the functional organization affects organizational learning. Deming' s profound knowledge structure has been used to structure the theoretical aspects.It was found that learning in a project context is not a typical activity and needs to be organized for. The reinvention of the wheel still remains a major, unsolved problem for organizations that develop their products via projects. That is partly due to the fact that a project is a natural forum for learning new things. but not a natural forum for learning from past experience. A central finding of this work is that a systems perspective is necessary in project management contexts. Categories related to learning that have been identified are a category relating to documented knowledge, a category relating to learning in personal interaction and a category regarding organizational aspects.Regarding documented knowledge it was found that among practitioners there seems to be an unjustified belief in the ability of documents to solve learning problems of projects. Personal interaction was found to be an effective way for learning, but the risk of information overload by meetings is considerable. Bounded rationality seems to play an important role. As conflicting value systems meet. The forward-orientation, action-focus of projects meets with the long-time perspective of organizational learning.Important elements when researching learning between projects are amongst others feedback, learning incentives. modularization, location of project team members. organizational size, inter-project competition, full-time project managers and the formulation of a learning mandate for the project.
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| 8. |
- Askenäs, Linda, 1972-
(författare)
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Affärssystemet : en studie om teknikens aktiva och passiva roll i en organisation
- 2000
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Denna studie handlar om användning av affärssystem och hur det påverkar organiseringen i ett företag. Studien är retrospektiv och omfattar en tidsperiod på ett decennium och den är gjord på ett ABB bolag. Fokus har varit på divisionens interna verksamhet och de på förändringar som skett under tiden. Studien aktualiserar vikten av att se användningen av ett affärssystem som en del av organiseringsprocessen. I organiseringsprocessen möts individer, struktur och teknik i ett dualistiskt samspel. Utfallet bestäms utifrån vilken av individen, strukturen eller tekniken som just då har drivkraften. I empirin har det framkommit fem olika mönster för hur detta möte sker, där tekniken erhåller olika grad av aktiv eller passiv påverkan. Dessa mönster har studerats och tolkats utifrån metaforiska begrepp, där tekniken har setts som en aktör i organiseringsprocessen. Beroende på hur individer förhåller sig till och hanterar affärssystemet tilldelas det olika roller i organisationen. Den mest aktiva rollen är manipulatör rollen, där affärssystemet påverkar individerna mot deras egna intressen. Byråkratrollen påverkar organisationen genom att den upprätthåller strukturen såsom individerna har beslutat. Konsultrollen har inte en lika aktiv påverkan på individerna, utan möjliggör snarare olika arbetssätt för individerna. En mer passiv roll tilldelas affärssystemet i rollen som administratör, där affärssystemet enbart administrerar informationen åt individerna. Den mest passiva påverkan från affärssystemet är då det inte används alls, i permittentrollen. Att framgångsrikt använda sig av ett affärssystem innebär att individerna aktivt och medvetet tilldelar tekniken en roll. För att kunna göra det behövs en förståelse för hur individerna upplever användningen och hur användningen av tekniken överensstämmer med strukturen.
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| 9. |
- Askenäs, Linda, 1972-
(författare)
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The roles of IT : studies of organising when implementing and using enterprise systems
- 2004
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This study concerns implementation and use of enterprise systems (ERP systems) in complex organisations. The purpose of this thesis is to problematise and understand the social organising of information technology in organisations, by studying the implementation and use of enterprise system. This is done by using a multi-theoretical perspective and studying cases of complex organisations with a qualitative and interpretive research method.The study manages to give a more profound understanding of the roles of the technology. It is found that the enterprise systems act as Bureaucrat, Manipulator, Administrative assistant, Consultant or is dismissed, in the sense that intended users chose to avoid using them. These roles of information technology are formed in a rather complex organising process. A Structuration Theory Analytical Model and Procedure (STAMP) is developed, that serves to illuminate the dynamic relationships of individuals' or groups' interpretations, power and norms and how that affects the implementation and use of enterprise systems. The roles were also found to be different for individuals in similar work conditions. This was due to how they learned their job, what understanding of the job they developed, and what competences they developed. The different kinds of competences found, requested different support from the technology and it also made the individuals take a different approach towards how to use the technology. The study also explores why emotions appear and what they affect, and identifies patterns of emotions and emotional transitions that appear during implementation and use of an enterprise system.The social aspect of using technology is in focus in this thesis. And thus, the technology is not just a tool to make excellent use of; it becomes something more - an actor with different roles. The main contribution is the development of a language and an approach to how to understand the use and implementation of enterprise systems.
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| 10. |
- Bengtsson, Jens, 1973-
(författare)
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Essays on valuation of manufacturing flexibility : an option-pricing theory approach
- 2000
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Flexibility in manufacturing operations is becoming increasingly more important to industrial firms due to e.g. increasing product demand volatility, internationalisation of markets and competition, and shorter product life cycles. Flexibility is hard to evaluate in the traditional way by discounting expected cash flow, but an accessible approach is to consider flexibility as real options and use option-pricing theory. The general purpose of this thesis is to analyse and increase the understanding of product-mix flexibility by using option pricing. Employing option pricing enables a number of flexibility related issues to be analysed. From a manufacturing point of view aspects such as the impact of capacity levels, degree of flexibility in the manufacturing process, and characteristics of product demand are analysed. From a financial point of view aspects such as the impact of correlation between product demand and the market portfolio, and the impact of mean-reverting processes are analysed. The manufacturing contexts are characterised by set-up costs, capacity constraints, and in the presence of several products.
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