| 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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| 11. |
- Bengtsson, Marie, 1977-
(författare)
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The Art of Replicating
- 2008
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Fokus för den här avhandlingen är företag som växer genom replikering, det vill säga genom att skapa och driva liknande enheter på många olika platser, så som t.ex. McDonald’s och Starbucks. Replikerande företags livscykel beskrivs normalt i termer av en initial utforskande fas, följt av en exploateringsfas där standardisering är en hörnsten i företagets strategi - vad som därefter följer är emellertid oklart. Varsamt åldrande innebär dock vanligtvis att man måste anta de utmaningar som följer i kölvattnet av stabilitet och förändring.Modeindustrin kan beskrivas som oberäknelig och föränderlig, och har varit så i århundraden. Konkurrensen är stenhård och efterfrågan är svår att förutse då mode och trender hela tiden förändras. Med tanke på det beroende av standadisering som finns i replikerande företag kan man fråga sig hur ett företag i modebranschen kan hantera en replikeringsstrategi. Den trade-off som finns mellan fördelarna av standardisering och fördelarna av lärande och anpassning ställs på sin spets i ett sådant företag.Renässansen stora konstnärer mötte en liknande utmaning om än i lite annan form. Baserat på kollektivt arbete skapade renässansens verkstäder såväl replikor som nya verk i mästarens namn. För verkstaden betydde det att de skulle replikera mästarens stil till den grad att enskilda bidrag från lärlingar inte gick att skilja från mästarens eget arbete. Nya lärlingar var tvungna att lära sig att “emulera” mästarens stil och fungerar som en förlängning av hans hand och öga.Den här avhandlingen tar därför avstamp i konstens värld, mer specifikt i Renässansen, för att utforska hur ett konstinspirerat förhållningssätt kan öka vår förståelse av replikeringsprocesser i erfarna företag som är verksamma i starkt föränderliga branscher och vars strategi bygger på replikering. Det empiriska underlaget för avhandlingen är en djupgående fallstudie av den svenska modekedjan Hennes & Mauritz, och bygger på deltagande observation såväl i etablerade butiker som under öppningen av nya.
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| 12. |
- Berglund, Magnus, 1968-
(författare)
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Strategic Positioning of the Emerging Third-Party Logistics Providers
- 2000
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The dissertation deals with the so-called Third-Party logistics Provider (TPLP) with the purpose of explaining strategic positions of the emerging TPLPs. The development of Third-Party Logistics (TPL) can be said to have occurred during the last 15 - 20 years and have created a new kind of service, i.e. the management and execution of logistics process. These services have created a new market and consequently a new type of service provideris emerging. These service providers predominantly originate from traditional offerings in the logistics area, e.g.transportation and warehousing activities. However, previous works on TPL have neglected the provider's situation especially by not explicitly recognizing the shifts from single activity services to comprehensive and coordinated multiple activity offerings and from a functional support orientation to a process approach.Strategic positioning is an established perspective on strategy, but the use varies considerably. In this dissertation strategic positioning is connected to how TPLPs create value for their clients which links positioning to skills or capabilities. Furthermore, the position is regarded as a result of the fit between activities, resources and strategic positioning. This theoretical frame of reference, based on strategic positioning and value creation for service organizations, is new in the literature on TPL. The general methodological approach of the study is alternation between empirical findings and theoretical analyses in a stepwise pattern. Since the organizations studied had not been theoretically analyzed before, empirical observations were instrumental in describing the novel phenomena. The empirical foundation of the dissertation is two studies executed during 1996-7 and 1998-9. The first study contains 21 Australian, European, and North-American TPLPs. The second study is based on 53 European TPL buyers. Both studies used a combination of questionnaires and interviews for collecting data of both quantitative and qualitative character. The empirical analysis is best described as a qualitative approach supported by statistical techniques whenever possible.The dissertation presents a comprehensive empirical description of the current status and anticipated change of both the TPLPs and their customers. The main contribution of this dissertation is however: tools for describing TPLPs, a model of the value system that connects providers and buyers of TPL, and a position model for TPLPs. The conclusions of this dissertation include that the TPL industry shows signs of strategic differentiation along the two strategic dimensions operational vs. conceptual focus and range of activities. Of these two the operational vs. conceptual focus is strong enough to promote as a position model, with the main positions standard services and solutions. A hypothesis is proposed that states that the strategic position of the TPLPs depends on which set of value creation modes they use, which results in differences in the required capabilities, skills and resources. In short the standard service providers should focus on operations whereas the solution ones needs exceptional conceptual skills in analyzing logistics requirements and developing solutions. The results should however be considered as hypotheses due to the research design used and thus need further empirical testing which is suggested as important future research.
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| 13. |
- Berglund, Magnus, 1968-
(författare)
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Third-party logistics providers : towards a conceptual strategic model
- 1997
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The purpose of the study is to: 1. develop a model for studying the strategies of third-party providers, and 2. preparing empirically supported hypotheses regarding the TPL providers strategies. Empirical data has been gathered from 21 Australian, European, and North- American targeted TPL providers, all recognized as large, innovative or influential industry representatives.The thesis propose an empirically supported model for studying positions or for positioning of TPL providers, based on both served markets and internal industry variables. Further, the TPL providers expected development, the values delivered to clients, and activity and capability for supply chain integration are explored.The results of the study indicate that the TPL providers in general have similar strategies, and expect to develop in similar ways. The main values provided to clients are Cost and the possibility to Focus on Core, and the main mechanisms for creating that value are Operative Competence and Systems Development.
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| 14. |
- Björkegren, Charlotte, 1971-
(författare)
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Learning for the next project : bearers and barriers in knowledge transfer within an organisation
- 1999
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This study concerns knowledge transfer within an organisation. More specifically this encompasses knowledge transfer between projects and the organisation in which the projects are performed. The study has been conducted at STORA Corporation, a large Swedish industrial organisation within the pulp and paper industry, where two major investment projects at two different mills, divisions, and countries have been carried out. Through visits to the mills and by conducting interviews with participants from the projects a thematically structured story illuminating events related to knowledge transfer has emerged.The thesis concludes that different types of knowledge are developed within a project: process- and product-related knowledge, project-organising knowledge and technical knowledge, meaning that even though the end product differs between two following projects, experiences and knowledge from previous projects can be utilised in projects with similar procedures. Since there is no natural transfer mechanism between projects, because of their temporary nature, knowledge transfer becomes problematic. Through the concepts of knowledge bearers and knowledge barriers, this problem is addressed.The study actualises the importance of having a dual approach to project management, i.e. to not only focus on the traditional dimensions of time, cost and quality, but also take into consideration what the experience gained in one project can mean for the efficiency of the next project. From the view of the company as a whole, therefore, the metaphor of projects as learning experiments is introduced emphasising the explorative character of projects, i.e. gaining knowledge that can be exploited in the next.
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| 15. |
- Blomvall, Jörgen, 1974-
(författare)
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Optimization of Financial Decisions using a new Stochastic Programming Method
- 2001
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The topics of this dissertation are the development of a new Stochastic Programming method and the application of Stochastic Programming in finance. Stochastic Programming is an area within Operations Research that has grown considerably over the last ten years. With new Stochastic Programming methods and more computer resources, Stochastic Programming has become a tool that at least for the moment foremost is used in the financial area. The first contribution in the dissertation is an extensive test of how well one could manage an option portfolio with optimization. When the investment strategy is back tested over a ten year period, the achieved return is much higher than the index even when the increased risk is considered. The second contribution is a new method to solve Stochastic Programming problems. The approach builds on a primal interior point approach. It shows that the resulting subproblems can be efficiently solved with Dynamic Programming. With a parallel implementation of the algorithm we manage to solve very large scale optimization problems with up to 5.8 million scenarios, 102 million variables and 290 million constraints in 80 minutes.
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| 16. |
- Bröte, Staffan, 1971-
(författare)
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Towards market driven manufacturing systems design
- 2002
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Few companies can compete on price/cost alone. With increasing customer expectations alternative ways of adding value is desirable. One way to diverge from competitors is to select a market or market segment in which to compete. Criteria for focusing on a specific market segment are the attractiveness of certain markets, and companies' ability to meet the demand of different market segments. Strategy can be seen as problem solving within a competitive environment. The use of strategy is a way of seeking to increase market share. Designing a manufacturing system supporting a certain strategy contributes to a company's competitiveness. The objective of this dissertation is to develop an approach for linking manufacturing system design to customer demand, through manufacturing strategy.Axiomatic design is in this thesis chosen as a tool to structure the linkages between strategy and manufacturing system design. The starting point is to analyze an existing framework that is based on the principles of axiomatic design. This framework, the Production System Design and Deployment framework, is analyzed from both a design perspective and a manufacturing strategy perspective. As a second step, a design perspective is applied to manufacturing strategy. The possibility to apply a design perspective to strategy creation/planning is analyzed. Further, axiomatic design is used to link manufacturing strategy to the manufacturing system design.An axiomatic design approach to the design of manufacturing strategy is presented. The approach consists of three domains. The first domain represents the market demands. The second domain represents the manufacturing strategies designed to meet the market demands in the first domain. In the third domain variables of the manufacturing system design is represented.When designing a manufacturing strategy based on axiomatic design, the manufacturing strategy becomes linked to customer demands. Further, the presented approach link manufacturing system design to the designed manufacturing strategies, thereby supporting linkages between system design and market demands.The use of axiomatic design in the approach has several advantages. It highlights the relationships and linkages between different goals, strategies and process variables. Another advantage is the way in which the design principles guide the designer in achieving an acceptable solution.
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| 17. |
- de Paula, Andes, 1968-
(författare)
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Dynamics of corporate strategy from a value chain perspective : A study of the Swedish telecom and construction industries during the 90’s
- 2006
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Changes in sectors and industries have brought new challenges to corporations as well as been important driving forces for the dynamics in strategy at the corporate level. With the dramatic developments of the 1990’s in mind, such as multilateral free-trade agreements, liberalization, privatization, sharp industry growth/decline, increased competition and globalization, in particular within the telecom and the construction industry, this study contributes to describing and understanding strategic change at the corporate level as well as changes in the division of work within value chains. Strategy is defined as intentions, decisions and actions that relate to bundling and unbundling at different strategic levels, aiming to establish and reestablish a value chain position. Thus, outsourcing, M&As, modularization and systems development and sales are important strategic components which are examined from a value chain perspective. From a value chain perspective, the purpose of this study is to describe and understand strategic change at the corporate level in the telecom and construction industries during the 1990’s. More specifically this study shall contribute to describing and understanding (i) the dynamics of and between M&As, outsourcing, modularization and systemization, as well as (ii) industrial and financial drivers to strategic change.The conclusions describe strategic change from a value chain perspective using three descriptive patterns, including an increasing degree of specialization and need for interorganizational coordination across the value chain. In addition, outsourcing and modularization of systems and an increased scope of offering through systemization and BOT-projects, result in the fact that due to M&As the horizontal boundary of the firm sometimes goes beyond the industry scope while the vertical scope is often narrowed through outsourcing. The conclusions also focus on understanding the content of strategic change, that is to say the dynamics of and between mergers and acquisitions, outsourcing, modularization and system sales. These findings are summarized in nine explanatory patterns. These patterns show that the strategic decisions of bundling and unbundling at the corporate and functional level through mergers and acquisitions, outsourcing, systemization and modularization are guided by an industrial as well as a financial logic. By considering the descriptive and explanatory patterns found this study, the conclusions also include what to expect during the next decade with regard to corporate strategy from a value chain perspective in five predictive patterns.
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| 18. |
- Elg, Mattias, 1968-
(författare)
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Performance measures and managerial work : a modified behavior setting approach to the study of usage of performance measures in managerial meetings
- 2001
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The application of different technologies in managerial work has received widespread attention among both academics and practitioners. Performance measures constitute one such technology related to planning, coordination, control and improvement of organizational activities. What kind of significance do performance measures have in their usage in managerial work? This study focuses on the various social, material, temporal and spatial resources of usage of performance measures; the activities taking place within meetings where performance measures are being used, and the significance of performance measures in the coordination of units within a hierarchical organization.The usage of performance measures is conceptualized by a modified version of behavior setting theory, which was originally developed by the psychologist Roger Barker and his research group. A behavior setting can be seen as a small-scale social system whose components include people and physical objects. This social system is guided by its setting program; the goal and the sequentially ordered activities. To fulfil the requirements of the focus in the present study, a setting program must partly consist of activities devoted to the usage of performance measures.The empirical study encompasses observations from managerial meetings (selected by a formal procedure) within various hierarchical levels of a manufacturer of complex industrial products. Some of the themes highlighted in this study are: I) the social, material and temporal environment of managerial work influencing the usage of performance measures; 2) that the usage of performance measures is mainly a reflective activity emerging from the organizational history; 3) that linkages between hierarchical levels, such as leadership and population overlapping as well as performance measure overlapping, both limit and enable coordination; and 4) that performance measures within the studied context constitute an important role in creating knowledge about organizational activity.
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| 19. |
- Elmhester, Karolina, 1975-
(författare)
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Små företag i strategiska nätverk : hur påverkas det enskilda företagets utveckling?
- 2008
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The purpose of this thesis is to describe and analyse the impact collaboration in strategic networks has on the individual company’s development. The particular focus is especially on whether the collaboration has contributed something to the individual company, which in the long run can help to improve the possibilities for a better outcome. The study is based on three research questions: 1) what happens on the network level respective the company level during collaboration; 2) what is the link between the activities of the strategic network and the individual company, and 3) what is the reason why the individual company is affected.The empirical data in the study consists of four strategic networks, and eleven participating companies. The study began in late spring 2004 and ended in spring 2008. Data was collected on several occasions during the study period. The companies that participated in the strategic networks were small and belonged to the wood product manufacturing sector. All four strategic networks participated in Nutek’s “Träklusterprogram” (Wood cluster program) which ran 2003-2005, but they all continued being active after the program ended. There are previous studies on strategic networks, but by studying both the strategic networks and the participating companies, this thesis adds new dimension, a discussion as to how collaboration could affect the participating companies’ strategies and development.The thesis shows that collaboration in strategic networks, which in reality is a relatively small part of a company’s operations, could have a significant strategic importance for example on the production process, marketing and external relations.Interesting findings from the study include indications that there may be a clear difference in how the individual company is affected, depending on whether the strategic network has market or competence related goals. Moreover, collaboration in strategic networks can improve a business executive’s self-confidence and infuse him or her with inspiration, with the result that he or she will dare to invest and take on more challenges. Among other things, this can have the effect that the company’s strategies are implemented and goals reached.For the strategic network, the results indicate that an enthusiastic, committed leader of the collaboration seems to diminish the importance of a well-structured organization, that is to say that a leader with drive is more important than a formal organization. The thesis also stresses the importance of a socialization process in strategic networks in order for them to be successful, in the sense that the participants should get to know each other and their respective companies. Finally, the company representatives’ commitment to the collaboration and their attitude to it tend to overshadow the importance of other factors.
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| 20. |
- Enberg, Cecilia, 1976-
(författare)
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Knowledge Integration in Product Development Projects
- 2007
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Denna avhandling handlar om kunskapsintegration i produktutvecklingsprojekt. Med kunskapsintegration avses processer av mål-orienterad interrelatering med syfte att dra fördel av de kunskapskomplementariteter som finns mellan individer som har differentierade kunskapsbaser. Förmågan att integrera specialiserad och distribuerad kunskap är betydelsefull för många företag då den bidrar till att förklara skillnader i produktutvecklingsframgång. Dock saknas det detaljerade, empiriska, studier av kunskapsintegration. Mot denna bakgrund är syftet med denna avhandling att undersöka vilka kunskapsintegrationsmekanismer som är lämpliga att använda i olika projektkontexter.Avhandlingen är baserad på två longitudinella realtidsstudier av produktutvecklingsprojekt. En detaljerad redogörelse av projektarbetet, tillsammans med en analys, presenteras för respektive projekt. Därefter görs en komparativ analys, i vilken såväl likheter som olikheter mellan de två fallen och deras respektive projektkontext diskuteras. En iterativ modell för kunskapsintegration förslås som ett resultat av studierna. Den iterativa modellen har ett flertal egenskaper som kan bidra till att öka vår förståelse för kunskapsintegration i empiriska projektkontexter. För det första visar den på vikten av att förstå i vilken utsträckning som kunskapsproblematiken i ett specifikt projekt medför behov av såväl ”aktion” som ”interaktion” och hur dessa kompletterar varandra i en iterativ process. För det andra indikerar den betydelsen av artefakter och hur dessa kan bidra till såväl aktion som interaktion. För det tredje tar den hänsyn till det faktum att aktion och interaktion medför olika kostnader för kunskapsintegration.
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| 21. |
- Enberg (f.d Frohm), Cecilia, 1976-
(författare)
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Collective competence in an interdisciplinary project context
- 2002
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- An increasing number of articles in management journals has recognised knowledge as being the organisation's prime resource, and particular interest has been given to the ways in which knowledge is managed by organisations in order to stay competitive. Management of knowledge incorporates aspects related to the question of how to co-ordinate knowledge held by highly specialised individuals and projects are often considered to be a solution to this problem of coordinating different knowledge bases. Therefore, this study, exploring the processes involved in the establishment and maintenance of collective competence, is undertaken in the context of an interdisciplinary development project. Learning processes in highly constrained projects are also explored.The findings suggest that collective competence is reached from the basis of two different logics, an interacting logic and an interrelating logic, each associated with a number of different processes. These processes make possible the creation of a representation of the context that forms the basis of each individual's contribution to project work.
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| 22. |
- Engevall, Stefan, 1966-
(författare)
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Cost allocation in some routing problems : a game theoretic approach
- 2002
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In many situations a set of decision makers have the opportunity to cooperate. In this way they may reduce the total cost for satisfying their objectives. However, the reduction of cost is often not enough to motivate cooperation. The problem of how to divide the total cost (or gain) among the decision makers must also be solved.This thesis include the modeling of cost allocation problems related to some routing problems. The cost allocation problems are formulated as cooperative games and we compute cost allocations based on concepts from cooperative game theory, such as the core and the nucleolus. 'We illustrate the problems using real-life data from Norsk Hydro. We consider how to divide the cost of an optimal traveling salesman tour among the customers that were served on a tour, and how to divide the cost of au optimal solution to a vehicle routing problem with a heterogeneous fleet among the customers served. These problems are formulated as a traveling salesman game and a vehicle routing game, respectively. For these games, we present procedures based on constraint generation to decide if the core is empty or not, and to compute the nucleolus.One subproblem in the constraint generation procedures is a generalized multiple tour problem. In this problem each customer has a demand that either can be satisfied or not. If it is satisfied, revenue is collected and there are also travel costs to pay. A tabu search heuristic is used to identify which customers to serve and 011 which routes, with the objective to maximize the collected revenue minus the cost of traveling. We present numerical results based on a set of test instances.We also consider the node weighted Steiner tree problem. In this problem there are costs associated with connecting the nodes of a network to a tree. In addition, there is a potential revenue to collect at each node, if it is connected. The problem is to decide which nodes to connect, and how, so as to maximize the revenue collected minus the connecting costs. For this problem, we suggest a Lagrangean-based heuristic to produce strong lower bounds and to obtain feasible solutions. We present numerical results based on a set of test instances.
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| 23. |
- Fransson, Daniel, 1978-
(författare)
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Outsourcing strategies for wood product manufactering firms : driving forces and strategic development
- 2005
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In this thesis outsourcing in the wood product manufacturing sector (WPM) is studied. More specifically, the study aims to describe and analyse outsourcing strategies for firms in the WPM industries (door, floor and window). Firms in the WPM sector have previously not dealt with outsourcing to any large extent and have usually handled all manufacturing activities in-house. Recently, however, firms in the WPM sector seem to more and more considering outsourcing parts of their manufacturing. Using frameworks developed in other business contexts, this thesis will focus on these firms' outsourcing strategies. A multiple case study research strategy based on six case companies is employed.This study confirms that WPM firms are focusing increasingly on outsourcing, which means that all manufacturing of components and products will not (and does not need to) be handled in-house. The case companies have a varied degree of outsourcing experience. When there is a need for strategic development by increasing customer orientation outsourcing becomes an inevitable ingredient for the companies studied. Today, the manufacturing of many types of wood components (often at the beginning of the value chain) is no longer considered as a core competence and creates little added value for the customer. This creates a strong driving force for outsourcing the manufacturing of these items. Instead, the companies' focus is on those activities that enable differentiation on the market, as it is now these that are considered as core competencies of the corporation. Four major driving forces for initialising outsourcing can be identified: (1) increasing customer orientation for strategic development, (2) optimising the balance-sheet to achieve fmancial effectiveness and focus resources on core activities, (3) strategic flexibility by not handling everything in-house and (4) minimising costs to achieve operational effectiveness and improve relative cost position.The firms studied define outsourcing strategies on the basis of components and products, not certain activities. The primary focus is on component outsourcing, but in the future outsourcing will also include more products. Outsourcing strategies seem to enable more focus factories and in the future more component manufacturing will be outsourced to suppliers in low-cost-countries, where both labour and raw material costs are lower. Outsourcing strategies for products involve the outsourcing of products where little contribution to competitiveness can be obtained by manufacturing in-house. Thus, the products suitable for outsourcing are considered more as non-core products that are needed to keep or expand product diversity. The outsourcing of wood components is becoming an important strategy and, in line with product outsourcing strategies, the WPM firms' focus will be on those components that create differentiation, other components will be considered for outsourcing. In this way the firms studied intend to go from buying sawn timber, considered as a bulk commodity, to a component strategy. Components considered for outsourcing are not regarded as any major determinant of competitive advantage but are not viewed as problematic either. The component outsourcing strategy includes decreasing the supplier base to have some major first tier suppliers. However, the companies that have been studied are not likely to apply a single sourcing strategy. The suppliers will take over this initial manufacturing, and this development also places more responsibility on these suppliers and entails higher demands on supply reliability.The former resistance to not working closely with the primary wood industry seems to have decreased and the WPM firms seem less need of having in-house processirlg of the raw material and component manufacturing. However, a recurring theme is the need to reduce the risks of dependency and to ensure supplier competence, when considering the outsourcing of components.A fundamental requirement for outsourcing must be that there is a developed market to outsource to. However, the companies studied intend to outsource wood components even though they realise that there is no well developed supplier market as today there are not necessarily any or only a few companies that can manage a supplier role in an outsourcing agreement. What the case companies have in common is the difficulty to outsource to a supplier market where the firm needs to find suppliers that have the competence to handle the outsourcing of components, and also the scale and the fmancial possibilities to offer comparative advantages. There seem to be very few suppliers available who have sufficient capacity and competencies and the companies studied instead intend to develop their suppliers, but the strategy for this varies. Three ways for handling supplier uncertainty and development when outsourcing components can be identified: (1) wait for a market to develop, (2) proactive development of suppliers and ensure reversible outsourcing (3) partnering with larger supplier with sufficient size, competence and financial possibilities.
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| 24. |
- Grundström, Christina, 1965-
(författare)
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Gaining influence in standard-setting processes : a discussion of underlying mechanisms in 3G mobile telephony technology development
- 2003
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The environment in which companies operate is such that standards become increasingly important due to the built-in rigidities resulting from previous technology investments and network externalities. The research question is: How can a market-leading company gain influence on the formation of standards perceived as vital for the company-s continued business? The purpose of the dissertation is to explore, describe, and characterise how such influence may be gained; it thus aims to reveal some of the mechanisms underlying a technology standard-setting process. Market-leading here is interpreted as the company wanting to lead the development of the market by influencing the standards that will prevail in it, thereby aiming to secure market leadership (in measurable terms).The dominant design concept, including technical, commercial, and procedural dimensions, serves as the basis for the theoretical discussion. From the review of literature it is concluded that the dominant design concept marginally addresses the emergence of a dominant design. Therefore the present study takes on a company "inside-out" perspective to examine how underlying mechanisms may be revealed.The empirical data address the third generation (3G) mobile telephony core and access networks or the 3G infrastructure, which can be treated as the core technologies for the new 3G system. The data stem mainly from interviews with individuals involved in the process at Ericsson, the mobile telephony systems developer. One outcome of the research is a case that describes the story of 3G infrastructure standard setting from Ericsson's view.On the basis of empirical data and theoretical framework, four foci are developed and used for analysis of the data. The foci developed are people and their relations, organizations and their relations, technology perception, and influencing others.The point of departure is that the technology dimension is of utmost importance in this type of standard-setting process where a system of core technologies is chosen. After exploring and describing the process from the inside-out perspective, however, the overall finding from the research is that human behaviour plays the central role as individuals constitute the process by advocating and negotiating technology, form the organizations, embody the relations (including various types of network), and influence others in the market. Since people are at the core of standard-setting processes, a truly managerial issue is how to use the right people for the right tasks with proper timing during the process.The findings from the 3G study are also related to the findings made in earlier research in a broader contextual analysis.Critical to managing the standard-setting process is an understanding of where to fit a given standard into the technical hierarchy and the standards hierarchy. The maturity of the industry also needs to be analysed and addressed. It is concluded that each standard-setting process is a mix of de jure and de facto standard-setting mechanisms with "in-between arenas" and that there are a number of sub-processes.A model characterising the roles of people with various functions over time and in a standard-setting process constitutes the main outcome of the research. This model constitutes three different functions (technical, tactical, strategic) and three process stages (research, formal standardisation, informal standardisation) thereby characterising nine different roles.
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| 25. |
- Grundström, Christina, 1965-
(författare)
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The many faces of standards and phases of standardisation in product development : findings from two exploratory case studies involving software
- 2000
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Product development, in-house or in collaboration with other parties, is considered one of the key issues to consider for any company interested in developing its business. Software of some kind is increasingly central to new products. At the same time standards and standardisation processes are affecting more and more aspects of society, increasingly so due to the globalisation of the world economy. This thesis takes an exploratory approach to what interactive roles the phenomena standards and standardisation take in product development processes involving software and viewed this from multiple organisational levels. By analysing two cases, the conclusion that standards have several different faces and standardisation has different phases is drawn. It is also concluded that standards and standardisation are complex and dynamic, but manageable. Regardless of the organisational level studied, standards and standardisation involve the management of people interacting. For future research it is suggested that standardisation processes are researched from the perspective of the arenas where they are shaped. Future research should also include a better understanding of when it is advisable for a company to take an active approach to standardisation.
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| 26. |
- Henningsson, Markus, 1975-
(författare)
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Retail trade demands on distributors : strategic and operational implications
- 2005
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The global trend of consolidation holds true also within the British Do-It-Yourself (DIY) retail trade and Builders Merchants (BM), resulting in inter alia the rise of 'mega-retailers' such as B&Q. The manufacturers and suppliers of wood products have been slow in the adaptation to the changed market situation. The suppliers' limited adaptation can to some extent be blamed on low levels of knowledge on the actual demands from the reshaped retail trade landscape.Wood based products. are from a retail trade perspective, a strategically important product which often represents from 4% to 20% of the retailers total turnover. Due to the products' relatively low-valued and bulky character, the retailers normally refuse to distribute them through their internal distribution centers, hence requiring the supplier to provide that service. Very low academic interest has been placed on this phenomenon. Thus, the purpose of my thesis is to describe and explain the demands of retail trade on suppliers of wood based products and explore what consequences these have on a strategic and operational level within a supplying company. The study is commissioned by SCA Timber, whereby the focus is not placed on theory generation, but rather on bridging theoretical gaps and increasing the knowledge in the area.To meet the purpose of my thesis, a case study has been conducted in the UK including three cases; first the supplier and also focal case company SCA Timber Supply UK (SCATS), followed by the DIY and BM segments described as two separate cases.The analysis shows, that the British DIY retailers and national BMs can be divided into three groups reflecting their demand profiles (DIY, BM1 and BM2). These demand profiles can be translated into corresponding offers building upon three parts; the core offer, augmented supporting services and long-term relations. In the later part of the analysis, different strategic options are discussed and their consequences are analysed against three perspectives; the marketing channel, customers and competitors.Distribution is a critical part of the core offer to the groups DIY and BM1. On the well-consolidated British distributor market, the distribution service needed acts as a strong entry barrier to competing suppliers with no own distribution solution. The entry barriers are raised further due to the close channel partnerships developing between supplier and buyer, where the latter can be seen as outsourcing some traditional gatekeeping functions to the supplier in order to increase the competitiveness in the whole marketing channel. Further my study stresses the importance of a high dynamic effectiveness within the supplier's organisation in order to have and maintain a high flexibility towards changes in the customers' demand profiles, and to provide its customers with individually adapted offers.
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| 27. |
- Johansson, Glenn, 1967-
(författare)
-
Environmental performance requirements in product development : an exploratory study of two development projects
- 2001
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In recent years, Ecodesign has attracted increased attention from researchers. In this thesis, the term Ecodesign refers to the actions taken and activities carried out originating from the incorporation of environmental performance requirements in a product development project. Earlier Ecodesign research has primarily focused on the development of various tools for supporting practitioners. Only a few studies have focused on how the incorporation of environmental performance requirements affects development projects and the changes that a development organisation undergoes to become more environmentally conscious. The objective of this thesis is therefore to explore characteristics of product development projects originating from the incorporation of environmental performance requirements.The empirical material has been collected from two in-depth case studies of product development projects in which new and complex business-to-business products were developed. The first case study addressed a project in which a telecommunications product was developed. The study occupied approximately 1 ½ years and was performed as a real-time, longitudinal study. The second case study was performed as an ex-post study and addressed a product development project in which a new power generating gas turbine was developed.The analysis, which takes as its starting point a number of essential product development elements derived from the literature, revealed a number of differences between the projects. These differences seem largely tobe due to different levels of Ecodesign experience in the development organisations carrying out each project. When relating the development organisations' level of Ecodesign experience to a three-phase model of theEcodesign integration process presented in earlier research, it was found that one of the organisations fitted into the model, whereas the other did not. On the basis of this finding, a fourth Ecodesign integration phase was detected and denoted the Innovative Ecodesign phase. Complementing the existing model with this new phase, the so-called Extended Ecodesign Integration model was developed. The model shows that the focus in development projects carried out within development organisations in the first three phases of Ecodesign seems to be set on the environment and integration of Ecodesign in the development process. Development organisations that have reached the Innovative Ecodesign phase tend to direct efforts in the projects mainlytowards the application of new technology and technical problem solving in order to fulfil the environmentalperformance requirements.
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| 28. |
- Johansson, Pontus, 1974-
(författare)
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Adapting manufacturing strategy to industrial after-sales service operations
- 2006
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This dissertation is initiated from an increased awareness within industry of the importance of services in general and of after-sales services in particular. The scope of this research is to analyse how the specific characteristics of after-sales services affect a company’s manufacturing strategy, which in effect should become an operations strategy not only considering the manufacturing of goods. Considering the after-sales service as a product, consisting of both good and service characteristics, the objective of this dissertation is to develop conceptual models for an improved long-term management of operations where production of both new goods and after-sales services are competing for the same or similar resources. Specifically, the structural decision categories of a manufacturing strategy, process technology, capacity, facilities, and vertical integration, are adapted to include the demands of after-sales service products.The research result is an extension of the existing manufacturing strategy framework, which is transformed towards a more general operations strategy framework capable of providing managerial guidance for a larger set of products than just pure goods. Tools are developed for analysing what processes would be suitable for the after-sales services, and whether the after-sales processes should be merged with, or separated from, the new goods process. An extended long term service capacity framework is also introduced, looking specifically at the needs of after-sales service operations. Through seven case studies as well as a survey of 45 Italian providers of both manufactured goods and services, the after-sales supply chain is mapped and classified with respect to vertical integration and facilities.
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| 29. |
- Johansson, Pontus, 1974-
(författare)
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Manufacturing strategy perspectives on industrial services
- 2003
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The service sector is in most western countries dominating the gross domestic product, often with a share of over 70 %. This is also reflected in manufacturing companies, whose products have gone from being pure goods to contain more and more service characteristics. Examples of this are found through constructs such as the extended product and product packages. Industrial services, the supply of after-sales services related to industrial goods, is one type of product that many manufacturing companies offer. The effect such products have on the manufacturing part of a company is investigated here, in the light of existing theories for building a manufacturing strategy. Strategic concepts such as product profiling, product-process matrix, and competitive priorities are transferred to an industrial service setting. The results show that the manufacturing strategy framework needs to be adapted to the service content of the supplied products.
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| 30. |
- Jönsson, Petter, 1977-
(författare)
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Modular Innovation in Mature Structures : a study of barriers and drivers between young and established organizations
- 2005
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The field of interest in this study is modular innovation. This type of innovation replaces an old parr of an existing product or adds new functionality to an existing product. Modular innovations are important to increase the performance of an existing product and retain the competitiveness of the product. The purpose of this thesis is to: suggest some explanatory factors that can influence how and if modular innovation, which adds new functionality to an existing product, can become adopted within a mature industry. To achieve this purpose the analysis has been divided in two levels. The first level analyses how the modular innova· tion firs with the product architecture of the final product. The second level analyses how the industrial structures within the industry affects the possibilities for an entrant firm to establish oneself as a new supplier. The empirical data is collected from the automotive industry. The study is based on in-depth interviews.The study illustrates that there is a difference between modular innovation that replace an existing module and modular innovation which adds new functionality to an existing product. In addition, the driving forces for replacing and adding innovation are different. The driving force for modular innovation which adds new functionality is linked with recognition of new needs. In contrast, replacing modular innovation is driven by competitive forces based on well-known parameters and the search for new technical solutions which can improve the performance of the existing module.The study shows how industrial structures affect the possibility for entreating firms to introduce new modular innovation. Although the innovation in technical terms very well fits the final product it is far from certain that the innovation will become adopted. Aggravating circumstances for new entrants is the lack of organizational resources. Due to the lack of resources, entreating firms can benefit from having owners active within the target industry. Moreover, the imerdependences between the established firms in the industry obstruct the possibilities of established firms to adopt innovations from new suppliers.
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| 31. |
- Kihlén, Tobias, 1976-
(författare)
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On Logistics in the Strategy of the Firm
- 2005
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The purpose of this thesis is to describe and analyse the role of logistics in the strategy of the firm. Leading to this purpose are empirical observations of firms that manage to grow under sustained profitability, by the means of logistics.The clothing retailers H&M and Inditex manage to pursue strategies of growth under sustained profitability. Both H&M and Inditex acknowledge that logistics is used in achieving these strategic goals. The competitive environments are similar for the two retailers. However, the strategy content, i.e. the what of strategy, differs greatly between H&M and its Spanish competitor. H&M focuses on economies of scale in their operations to allow for low logistics costs and a cost-efficient geographical expansion. Inditex focuses on flexibility and speed, being able to quickly respond to changes in demand, which calls for a more agile logistics platform.From this background, two cases are studied as regards the role of logistics in the strategy. The case companies Ahlsell and Bergman & Beving, two wholesalers of industrial goods, display growth under sustained profitability and have an outspoken focus on logistics in their strategies. The cases are described in terms of the content and the context of logistics in the strategy of the firm. The content is the what of strategy whereas the context is the where of strategy. The context is further divided into inner and outer context, where inner context is the firm and outer context is its environment.The theoretical basis of this research is found in logistics and in strategy: Logistics research on the relation between logistics and strategy from a logistics perspective, and strategy theory ranging from the resource-based view of the firm, or the inside-out perspective, to positioning theory, or the outside-in perspective. A pattern-matching methodology is used to establish an appropriate description of the logistics content and context in the strategy of the firm. In the content-dimension, the opposing views of the resource-based view and positioning theory are tested on the cases. In the context-dimension, the cases and their environment are described with a stance taken in the contingency approach to the organisation of logistics.The research shows that the role of logistics in the strategy of the firms in the scope of this study is most appropriately described using a resource-based view of the firm. Further, the two firms under study serve as examples of two different ways to use logistics in the strategy:- Bergman & Beving manages to integrate a decentralised group of product companies in one logistics platform.- Ahlsell achieves synergies in acquisitions by moving logistics and administration of the acquired firms into their centralised logistics platform.The cases also serve as examples of that the logistics solutions need not be optimal in terms of the lowest cost and the highest service level to be used successfully in the strategy of the firm to reach growth under sustained profitability. The firms in the scope of this research act in similar outer contexts but interpret these contexts in different ways depending on their manner to use logistics in the strategy. The research shows that similar outer contexts can be approached successfully with strategies with different logistics content.The logistics organisations in the firms in the scope of this thesis display robustness towards changes in the outer context of the firm, i.e. the logistics organisations can encounter considerable changes in the environment without altering their position in the firm. It is concluded that in order to make the role of logistics in the strategy more comprehensible, a bridge between the abstract strategy theory and the role of logistics needs to be established. A possibility to attain this can be found in the application of a business model framework to the relation between logistics and strategy, which is suggested as an area for further research.
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| 32. |
- Kindström, Daniel, 1974-
(författare)
-
Rearranging a business model towards market orientation : strategic and operational dimensions and the impact of E-commerce
- 2003
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The overall purpose of this thesis is to explore and describe the rearrangements of a company (changes), from a business model perspective, as it attempts to strategically reorient itself towards market orientation. E-commerce, and more specifically, the impact of e-commerce in this process will be explored. The empirical base of this thesis is a case study of Tetra Pak Business Support AB (TP BuS).This reorientation is a multi-year project that has implications on many aspects and areas within the company. Using the business model as an analytical tool help understanding of both how companies change in general and what happens as they move towards market orientation.Inherent in my view of the business model are two dimensions, a strategic and an operational. These two are represented by the concepts of strategic positions and operative platforms. I am arguing that it is beneficial to consider both these dimensions in a more iterative (and dynamic) manner when discussing and analysing a company. This can be compared to eg the RBV and the positioning perspective that can be perceived as somewhat one-dimensional in the operational and strategic dimension respectively.What we can see, from a business model point of view, is that this reorientation has quantum characteristics, ie concurrent changes in many different areas. Hence it seems as if a reorientation towards market orientation ought to be approached in a holistic manner. There are a few things, or changes, that stand out. First, the offering concept is perhaps the most interesting aspect as it virtually drives (or pulls) many of the other changes and is the foundation for the rearrangement of the business model. In addition to the offering, the notion of bundling (how to arrange products and services) becomes an important factor to consider. The offering and bundling concept work in unison and they must be developed jointly, in an interaction, if the full potential of the concepts are to be leveraged.Secondly the introduction of the e-marketplace opens up new ways to use the offering and to approach customers (new market channel). The e-marketplace seems to present new ways to gather and analyse information, and also to contact customers, hence having substantial influence during the process towards market orientation. It appears as if these two issues are the most interesting and pioneering, and have had great impact on the move towards market orientation.Furthermore it is worth to notice the iterative manner in that initial changes often spawned new needs for change in other areas in order to realign the business model and to achieve fit. There seems as if a company going through such a comprehensive change, as TP BuS, must pay sufficient attention to the realignment issue and be aware of the fact that, in order to take full advantage of one change, other changes need to be implemented in other areas as well.As we look at the reorientation that TP BuS has gone, and still is going, though we can see that they, in fact, have improved both in reference to typical production orientation characteristics as well as market orientation ones. Hinted in some literature, it might not be a question of being either or but rather both or, at least, improving with regards to both these dimensions.Finally, the business model framework is extended to include three more aspects, drivers, enablers and outcomes. The drivers are supposed to tie the business model to the objectives or business idea. Enablers can be said to be the methods or actions that are implemented and used to rearrange the business model. Finally the outcomes eg make it possible to compare business models with each other (of the old and the new) by recognizing characteristics or traits of a business model.
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| 33. |
- Kindström, Daniel, 1974-
(författare)
-
The integration of e-business into mature and established companies : a business model approach
- 2005
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The purpose ofthis dissertation is to explore and analyse the implications of the integration of e-business into mature and established companies and how e-business can contribute to business development. Changes in general and e-business in particular have the potential to penetrate different areas of a company and thus we ought to analyse how e-business is integrated into the entire company (both strategically and operationally) if we aim to understand how this happens. By using a holistic business model framework it is argued that we get a more complete picture and understanding of the integrating e-business.The study is based on three case studies of mature and established, so-called bricks-and-mortar, companies that use e-business in various ways and to various extents.Traditionally e-bus iness has primarily been used for cost reduction purposes especially regarding transaction costs. These relatively simple solutions, "low-hanging fruits", have all but been exhausted and thus companies turn their attention to more complex and value-adding solutions and ideas. As e-business becomes more complex it also becomes more integrated into the companies and the day-to-day activities. This also demands more interaction and integration with business processes as well as external actors such as customers. E-business has the potential to intluence companies in all dimensions of the business model framework forwarded here; in the Operative platforms, in the Offering. and regarding the Market positions. Furthermore. it is argued that much of companies' contemporary business development has a clear e-business ingredient.
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| 34. |
- Kohn, Christofer, 1977-
(författare)
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Centralisation of Distribution Systems and its Environmental Effects
- 2005
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Many believe that the current application of modern logistics solutions in general and centralisation of distribution systems in particular is damaging from an environmental perspective. The reason for this claim is that when a distribution system is centralised, products need to be shipped over greater distances. This causes an increase in transport work, which in turn is believed to cause an increase in emissions. Further, the decision to centralise distribution can be characterised as a structural decision and earlier research has helped illustrate how such decisions have greater impact on the overall performance of a distribution system than decisions taken at subsequent levels (tactical and operative). The reason for this is that structural decisions help create new opportunities to make other logistical decisions that are beneficial for the performance of a distribution system, as measured in terms of costs and service.It is also acknowledged that there is a lack of research illustrating the actual environmental effects of centralisation. This area is the theme of this thesis and the overall purpose is to describe and analyse how centralisation of a distribution system can affect the environment. This purpose has been divided into two research questions, where the first one reads:- How does physical centralisation of a distribution system influence the environment?This question aims at investigating what effect centralisation has on the amount of emissions that are caused by transport in a distribution system. One of the main advantages with a centralised distribution system is that emergency deliveries are expected to decrease. This type of transport is often performed by airfreight, which is a mode of transport that is regarded to cause the largest amount of environmental stress among the four most commonly used transport modes. The argument that is made is that even though centralisation causes an increase in transport work, this must not necessarily mean that emissions increase.As indicated above, earlier studies on structural changes in distribution systems have shown that this type of decision creates new opportunities to make other decisions that are beneficial for the performance of a distribution system, albeit in terms of costs and service. The aim of the second research question is consequently to study this issue, but from an environmental perspective. This question therefore reads:- How do structural decisions in logistics create new opportunities to improve on the environmental performance of a distribution system?The results of the study show that it is not sufficient to only consider transport work and emergency deliveries when the environmental effect of a centralisation is to be evaluated. It has also been concluded that centralisation creates an opportunity to make improvements within the distribution system that can prove beneficial from an environmental perspective. In summary, three characteristics besides transport work and emergency deliveries were identified as being of importance when considering the environmental effects of a centralisation. These included centralised flow, modal change, and bargaining power.This model (see full pdf) does not aim to include all characteristics that can be relevant in an environmental evaluation of a centralisation, but rather those that have been found significant in this study. However, the model helps illustrate that there are many aspects that need to be considered in such an evaluation and that depending on the characteristics of the distribution system at hand the results can vary quite extensively.
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| 35. |
- Kollberg, Beata, 1976-
(författare)
-
Exploring the Use of Balanced Scorecards in a Swedish Health Care Organization
- 2003
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Due to an extensive decentralization in the County Council of Östergötland during the 1980s, the demands on follow-up reports have increased on the production units. In order to support the units in following up their organizations, the board of the County Council decided to implement Total Quality Management in the beginning of the 1990s. As a part of the program, the QUL concept was introduced to provide the County Council with a comprehensive description of the production units’ activities. In 2001 the County Council decided to implement the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) as a new way of following up the units’ results. The BSC implementation has led to that all production units write their follow-up reports according to the perspectives suggested in the BSC framework. The head of the production units are responsible for the dissemination and implementation of the BSC in their own units.The present research is conducted on commission from the Federation of Swedish County Councils. The purpose of the thesis is to increase the understanding of the use of the BSC in an organization in the Swedish health care and medical services. Two research questions derive from the purpose: (1) How is the BSC designed, implemented and used in the organization? (2) What factors enable or constrain the use of the BSC in the organization?Findings from the case study show that the BSC is used in the annual planning, in reporting measures to superiors and in following up the activities in the health care organization. The BSC is also used in discussions between employees, to disseminate information within and outside the organization, to create orderliness and understanding of the annual activities, and in developmental activities. The findings indicate that the BSC has been adapted to the current conditions of the organization with regard to the existing terminology and organizational structures. The BSC is not primarily used as a strategic management system, but rather as an information system that aims to communicate measurable information within and outside the organization.Several categories of factors that enable or constrain the use of the BSC in a health care organization are identified. The autonomy of the department and units enables people to develop their own scorecards without considerable influence from superiors. The emphasis on employees’ participation is also identified as an important aspect in making people accept the new concept. The way the introduction of the BSC was dealt with and the department’s prior experiences with the Swedish Quality Award have influenced the acceptance and use of the BSC. In addition, the case shows that change agents play a major role in how the BSC is used in the organization today. Several adaptations have been made to current conditions, that both enable and constrain the use of the BSC in the health care organization.
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| 36. |
- Kollberg, Beata, 1976-
(författare)
-
Performance Measurement Systems in Swedish Health Care Services
- 2007
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In the quality management literature, measurements are attributed great importance in improving products and processes. Systems for performance measurement assessing financial and non-financial measurements were developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The research on performance measurement systems has mainly been focused on the design of different performance measurement systems. Many authors are occupied with the study of the constructs of measures and developing prescriptive models of performance measurement systems. There is a need in the research to shift focus from studying the construct of measurements to how they are used in real face-to-face situations in specific contexts.The purpose of this thesis is to analyse the development, i.e. the design, implementation and use, of performance measurement systems in Swedish health care services. The study aims to increase the understanding of the role of performance measurement system in Swedish health care and thereby support health care improvements in general. Three research questions have been derived from the purpose. (1) How and why are performance measurement systems being developed in Swedish health care services? (2) What problems can be identified in the development? (3) What enabling factors can be identified in the development? A qualitative research strategy was selected for the research. The research is based on a multiple case study design conducted within two research projects. Information has been gathered through interviews, documents and observations.The idea of performance measurement systems develops through several tracks when implemented in health care and the development follows a purposeful process of activities. The development was initiated when major changes occurred in the organisation or its environment. Performance measurement systems are primarily used to support a dialogue between management and employees regarding organisational improvement. Problems experienced are related to struggles to reach national consensus for measures, involving management, and the clarification of various end-users’ needs. Enabling factors are the frequent interaction with people developing the system, management’s involvement, the use of multi-skilled teams, and visual displays.The research contributes to several insights to the research area of performance measurement system and health care practitioners. The research shows that the development process is far from straight forward and is formed by the influence of factors in the organisational context, which cannot always be predicted. By seeing the development as an innovation process, the focus is broadened from being technological towards the organisation as whole, which contribute to the existing research on performance measurement systems.
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| 37. |
- Kowalkowski, Christian, 1978-
(författare)
-
Enhancing the Industrial Service Offering : New Requirements on Content and Processes
- 2006
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The overall purpose of this thesis is to describe and analyse how capital goods manufacturers can enhance their industrial service offering.The theoretical basis of this research is found in services marketing, recognising co-creation of value, that the service process is an open production system and that the customer determines value as the manufacturer can only offer value propositions.The empirical basis is a multiple case study of service management at BT Industries, Electrolux Laundry Systems, ITT Flygt, and Saab. The four companies operate within different industries, have different service offerings and they are facing different internal and external conditions, which affect their service organisation and offering.It is becoming increasingly important for capital goods manufacturers to offer services and there are further growth and profit opportunities on the market for industrial services. It is suggested that there is major improvement potential and financial gains possible to achieve if more resources are allocated to services. Moreover, utilisation of new technological means leads to increased dematerialisation and enable manufacturers to enhance existing service offerings as well as enable new ones.Depending on whether the services have a traditional product-orientated focus or a customer-centric process-orientated focus, and depending on the scope of the offering, there are different critical factors to consider. Process-orientated services require knowledge about not only how to service the installed base but also how to improve the customer’s industrial production process.Generally, bundled services require a modular structure with standardised, formalised processes and integration between local and central organisation. Extensive bundled offerings require that both customer and provider have relational intent and a long-term relationship is regarded as a condition for successful customer involvement in service development. Long-term relationships also enable the company to act proactive and develop offerings with a customer-centric approach, instead of having a product-centric approach and internally-focused innovation.To conclude, operational service processes and interfaces, internal and with the customer, are critical to manage both from a cost-efficiency and revenue-effectiveness perspective. Furthermore, it is argued that customer relationships and development of the service offering must be managed strategically.
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| 38. |
- Kowalkowski, Christian, 1978-
(författare)
-
Managing the Industrial Service Function
- 2008
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- During the past decade, growing attention has been given to industrial service offerings in the marketing literature as well as in many manufacturing firms. This phenomenon is often described as a goods-services transition, in which companies increasingly turn to the provision of industrial services in order to achieve competitive advantage, such a closer customer relationships and higher profit margins. Industrial services span a wide range of offerings, from basic after-sales services to process-orientated solutions consisting of both services and capital goods. With industrial service offerings receiving increased attention as their importance is understood, the ability to manage the service business in a manufacturing context becomes ever more vital.The overall purpose of this doctoral thesis is to describe and analyse how capital equipment manufacturing firms strategically manage their industrial service offerings in order to achieve long-term competitive advantage. This includes analysing how to organise the firm for the development and production of service, and, depending on the type of industrial service offering, what the requirements on the service processes are. Furthermore the role of information and communication technologies as enablers for new offerings and processes is analysed. The thesis consists of a compilation of five papers, two case descriptions and an extended summary. The research builds on a multiple case study of the service organisations of market-leading manufacturing firms. The main cases are based on in-depth studies at ITT Water & Wastewater and Toyota Material Handling Group.The results suggest that, as the division between goods and services becomes ever more blurred, there is an increasing need for cooperation between the service and the product organisations. Applying a service logic means that the traditional division between goods sales and after-sales services becomes outdated. Instead, the customer relationship becomes the centre of the offering regardless of its combination of services and goods. Further, the infusion of service in manufacturing firms means that more service processes and interfaces have to be managed simultaneously.Theoretically, this research contributes mainly to the fields of industrial marketing and service as a business logic. One contribution is the proposed typologies for industrial service offerings which make it possible to better understand the dynamics of service processes. Another important contribution of this research is the service function concept. Industrial services must not be equated with the activities of the industrial service organisation only. Although the service organisation most likely is the key entity, it is only one subset of the service function; sales product development, manufacturing, senior management, and other organisational entities, as well as external service providers and customers, are to be seen as part-time service functions that influence the offering. Compared to previously, competitive advantage through industrial service offerings is to a greater extent based on factors outside the service organisation, i.e. in other parts of the service function.
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| 39. |
- Kroslid, Dag
(författare)
-
In Search of Quality Management : Rethinking and Reinterpreting
- 1999
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Quality Management has, in addition to its establishment as a management discipline of organisational and industrial importance, instituted itself as a topic of national concern with nationwide surges and contractions in the dissemination of practices. Empirical data are examined in this thesis in relation to the current status and historical development of such trends among twelve leading industrial nations. In the interpretation and analysis of the country data, a model based on a new theoretical framework is introduced. The framework is abstracted from an extensive literature review concerning the historical development of ideas in Quality Management. It postulates that the development of the field has been in accordance with two distinct schools of thought, the Deterministic School of Thought and the Continuous Improvement School of Thought. The ability of the proposed dual-path framework to overcome main criticism against Quality Management is also elaborated. The comparative analysis shows that China, Japan, South Korea, Sweden and the United States, in terms of current national approach, predominantly position themselves within the Continuous Improvement School of Thought. Similarly, Australia, Brazil, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Norway, and Saudi Arabia relate more to the Deterministic School of Thought. In addition to this classification, the comparison of the historical development patterns also reveal nuances so far unaccounted for in empirical studies. On a more general level it is then discussed how the proposed framework accommodates a synthesising of other studies on current status and historical development. Empirical data on the attitudes and beliefs of bluecollar workers in the twelve countries are also presented. In this analysis it is revealed that the two schools of thought in certain areas provide a basis for interpreting bluecollar workers' expressions of attitudes and beliefs in Quality Management. In the final part, it is described how the whole research process extends beyond the identification of the dual-path framework in terms of empirical evidence, knowledge and perspectives on Quality Management. A number of future research issues are also discussed, both in relation to the proposed and alternative frameworks.
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| 40. |
- Kroslid, Dag, 1972-
(författare)
-
Quality management : National or global driving factors
- 1998
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Around the world Quality Management is commonly regarded by industrialists and academics as a management concept that encompasses the potential in any organisation of developing into a company-wide philosophy with a profound focus on stakeholder values and improvement processes. However, there are mounting evidence that Quality Management has developed into an important strategic issue also on a national level, and that some leading industrial nations have enjoyed significant gains in the post War era by means of nation-wide progresses in Quality Management. In this thesis organisation is therefore substituted with nation state as the unit of analysis, with the ultimate objective to gain insight into how quality management movements in the industrialised world develop and prosper. Based on empirical data from the Cross-cultural Quality Management Research Project, a bird' s?eye view of Quality Management is taken in twelve leading industrialised nations. Comprehensive descriptions of Quality in Australia, Brazil, Germany, Japan and Sweden are given in order to identify what national driving factors that currently have an influence on national quality management movements, whereas China, Great Britain, Italy, Norway, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and the United States are assessed on a more overriding level with an objective to determine the factors' scope and characteristics. The existence and influence of national driving factors in Quality Management was firstly discovered in the mid 1980s by one of the field's pioneers, Dr. Joseph M. Juran, and a core task in this thesis is to re-examine the identified factors current applicability. The outcome is a proposed set of national driving factors, embracing economy, national quality societies, people, certification bodies, industrial structure, organisation and its quality function, and government. Although, these national driving factors are found to be common to all countries, they are genuinely national in the sense that the national context by and large determines the factors' character and influence. To gain insight into how national quality management movements in the industrialised world develop and prosper, it is therefore recommended that focus be direct towards the national context with its national driving factors. The factors are powerful explanatory variables that so far have largely remained an untapped fountain of knowledge within the field of Quality Management.
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| 41. |
- Lakemond, Nicolette, 1973-
(författare)
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Managing across organisations : intra- and interorganisational aspects of supplier involvement in product development projects
- 2001
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Supplier involvement in product development is widely regarded as an essential strategy, benefiting product development tinle, costs, and product quality. However, this strategy also increases the dependencies between the buyer and the involved supplier and has therefore implications for coordinating supplier involvement. The aim of this thesis is to examine intra- and interorganisational aspects of supplier involvement in product development projects and, based on a contingency perspective, to develop a conceptual framework for understanding coordination of supplier involvement in and throughout product development projects.The need for coordination of dependencies is reinforced by the existence of diverging expectations. This concerns different perspectives on i.e. project management, technical solutions, and product functionalities. Organisational coordination structures facilitate coordination of dependencies and diverging expectations. A contingency approach suggests that a range of coordination structures is necessary for addressing different situations of dependence and diverging perspectives.The issues of intraorganisational coordination, interorganisational coordination, and coordination throughout the development project are investigated based on a multiple case study consisting of a study of six product development projects at the packaging company Tetra Brik, and seven mini-cases at Swedish and Dutch companies operating in different industries. The case companies develop relatively complex products, that are produced in rather low to medium volumes. Furthermore, systems integration is an important aspect in product development.An important aspect of intraorganisational coordination concerns the interface between the purchasing and the engineering department. Several purchasing involvement configurations are identified. These include purchasing coordinators and the degree of involvement of purchasing specialists in the development project.Three main approaches are identified for the interorganisational coordination of supplier involvement in product development projects. An iutegrative approach, project integration coordination, has the highest potential to address a high need for coordination. Disconnected sub-project coordination disconnects the supplier task from the overall project and is therefore able to coordinate a lower degree of dependence. Ad hoc coordination is an informal coordination structure for incidental coordination of supplier involvement in the development project.The investigation of supplier involvement throughout the project focuses attention on two issues. First, an integrated approach can precede and facilitate a disconnected approach to coordination in the project. Second, project integrated coordination is sometinles accompanied by some elements of disconnected sub-project coordination.Intra- and interorganisational coordination have some cost implications. These costs tmderlie the necessity for a contingency approach to coordination. As the task characteristics, degree of supplier involvement, and moment of supplier involvement are important in determining the degree of dependence in the project, supplier coordination must be determined from situation to situation, based on the need for coordination.
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| 42. |
- Lindskog, Magnus, 1973-
(författare)
-
Changing to third party logistics
- 2003
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Third party logistics (TPL), the procurement of an integrated set of logistics services in a long-term relationship between a shipper (goods owner) and a service provider, is today a viable option for how companies carry out their logistics activities. Very little has been written on implementation or change issues in a TPL setting; these issues are identified as important, but not elaborated. There is however reason to believe that implementation of TPL arrangements, or rather establishment thereof, involves a complex change process involving substantial change for a wide range of actors in both the shipper’s and the provider’s organisation.When comparing literature that deals with the TPL establishment process with a stream of research that is concerned with logistics change, it comes to light that there is a discrepancy between the theoretical and methodological foundations of the former works, and what is written in these pieces regarding the process. It is concluded that recommendations for how to manage the establishment process are given without being founded in a theory of process, or research designs capable of studying process. The theoretical underpinnings of TPL literature are founded in a view of change as a matter of conducting rational analysis and conceiving the strategically wisest decisions for the logistics system as a whole. Implementation is viewed as an unproblematic exercise of issuing directives to affected actors, asserting that all actors are rational, therefore rationally conceived decisions will be accepted and implemented accordingly.Therefore the overarching purpose of this research is:To explore the change process of third party logistics establishmentTo fulfil this purpose the two streams of research mentioned above are combined. A meta-model of process consisting of the three interrelated dimensions content, context, and process forms the starting point for the study of process, but this is not sufficient for a study of change; a theory of change which is capable of capturing the mechanisms of the change process as it unfolds is also needed. Therefore the theory of change of the second stream of research mentioned above is adopted.The theory of change encompasses three models of change, which are archetypical representations of the mechanisms underlying change processes according to different assumptions of what change is and how change comes about. These models are denoted the linear, the processual, and the circular. One important aspect of this theory of change is that the approach to change should be aligned with the extent oflearning requirements on the actors who are affected by or involved in the change. An actors perspective is therefore called for, and adopted in this thesis.This thesis is the first step of a wider research effort concerned with studying the process of establishing TPL. Therefore, of the three dimensions of change, the contentdimension is excluded from study in this thesis. Governed by the meta-model of process, two research objectives are formulated:To explore the context within which the TPL establishment process unfolds and describe the contextual dependence of this process&To describe the change process of TPL establishment in terms of the linear, processual, and circular models of changeThe empirical investigation applied is a single-case retrospective study, in which the case is the establishment process between a Swedish company and an international TPL service provider. A total of fifteen actors have been interviewed; ten on the shipper side of the dyad, five on the provider side. Although the TPL establishment process is an interorganisational process, this thesis focuses on the intraorganisational process of the shipper, why the empirical material from the other side of the dyad is not used in this thesis, The interorganisational aspect, as well as the intraorganisational side within the provider’s organisation are nevertheless important, and will be included in future research.The interviews were carried out in an unstructured manner, in which the interviewees were asked to retell the story from their own perspectives. Actors from varying positions, who were involved in the process, are included in the study; in the total sample all groups who were most affected or involved are represented. The interviews rendered ten stories of the studied process.These stories were then analysed by means of a pattern-matching logic, in order to seek out the important contextual dependencies of the process, and to explore the mechanisms of the change process, as it evolved in context.After having conducted this first step of the ongoing research effort, four main conclusions can be drawn:- The TPL establishment process is context dependent.- Not only rational mechanisms are at play in the process.- It is important to acknowledge actors, not only systems.- It is important to acknowledge the process, not only the decision.
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| 43. |
- Lindström, Jörgen
(författare)
-
Chefers användning av kommunikationsteknik
- 1996
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Under senare år har affärsmiljön för de flesta företag förändrats i snabb takt samtidigt som informations- och kommunikationstekniken genomgått en snabb utveckling. Den förändrade affärsmiljön kan tänkas förändra arbetssituationen för exempelvis chefer. Eftersom tidigare studier visat att ett mycket väsentligt inslag i chefers arbete är kommunikation skulle den nya tekniken kunna användas för att möta denna förändring i arbetssituation. Syftet med den här studien är mot denna bakgrund att skapa en förståelse för chefers inställning till och användning av kommunikationsteknik.Studien har huvudsakligen genomförts genom intervjuer med chefer i två företag. Totalt har sexton chefer och sju medarbetare till dessa chefer intervjuats. De i studien intervjuade cheferna upplever en arbetssituation som är mycket tidspressad, med fragmenterade arbetsdagar, ett högt kommunikationstryck och ont om tid till ostört arbete. Vidare uttrycker respondenterna av en mängd olika skäl en stark preferens för kommunikation ansikte mot ansikte. Denna preferens är delvis en följd av att arbetsuppgifterna ibland är så komplexa att de kräver ett personligt möte för att kunna hanteras effektivt. En annan mycket viktig aspekt är de symboliska faktorerna, att chefen genom att närvara personligen signalerar att en viss fråga, en viss enhet, en viss kund etc. är viktig för organisationen.Vad gäller användandet av kommunikationsteknik så förefaller det av studien att döma som om modern teknik i ganska liten utsträckning används för att minska resande och lätta på arbetsbördan för den studerade kategorin människor. Detta tycks bero på att man av sociala, symboliska och andra skäl vill och behöver träffas personligen. Dessa krav och önskemål på kontakter ansikte mot ansikte tycks vara så starka att inte ens mycket sofistikerad teknik kan ersätta den typen av kontakter. Det tycks i stället närmast vara så att teknikutvecklingen ökat mängden kommunikation genom att kommunikation via exempelvis mobiltelefon eller elektronisk post till viss del adderats till den tidigare kommunikationen.
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| 44. |
- Lindström, Jörgen, 1967-
(författare)
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Does distance matter? : On geographical dispersion in organisations
- 1999
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In the discussion on organisations and organisational form, several concepts have appeared to denote what is said to be new organisational forms. These concepts many times imply a geographical dispersion of organisations. The changes to organisational structure-and notably geographical dispersion-are often seen as enabled by developments in information and communication technology (ICT), developments providing us with tools that make it possible to communicate and handle information over geographical distances "better" and more "efficiently" than ever before. Thus, it is implied that distance is dead or at least losing in importance for organisations.In this thesis, however, it is contended that distance is still an important concept and the aim of the thesis is to gain an understanding of the possible importance of geographical distance for the design and management of organisations. More specifically, it focuses on how different communication modes-basically face-to-face as compared to technology-mediated communication-affect the process of organising. This is discussed both on a general level and with a special focus on the role and work of managers.It is concluded that distance is still a very important fact in organisational life. Basically, this is because social interaction through technology differs in fundamental ways from social interaction face-to-face. Even if many tasks can be handled through technology-mediated communication if considered in isolation, the picture changes when all tasks are considered simultaneously and over time. Then the necessity of having shared frames and a common set of significant symbols and the difficulties involved in creating, recreating, and maintaining these via technology imposes a lower limit on the amount of face-to-face interaction necessary.
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| 45. |
- Magnusson, Thomas, 1970-
(författare)
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Eco-design and product innovation : managing incremental and radical change for environmental compliance
- 2000
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis is about firms determined to gain competitive advantages from environmental demands, about the efforts of engineers employed with the challenge of fulfilling environmental performance targets and about the management and organisation of product development. It is about incremental change, built on established technological knowledge, as well as about radical technological change. In the title, the nation of "environmental compliance" has a dual meaning. It implies that industrial organisations have to comply with ecological constraints, but also that they have to comply more generally with contextual factors such as competition, technology, customer preferences and market characteristics. However to avoid confusion, "environment" will henceforth be used to describe the ecological aspects, which is the traditional meaning of this term in environmental management and eco-design literature.
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| 46. |
- Magnusson, Thomas, 1970-
(författare)
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Managerial challenges in environmental innovation : case studies in the electrical equipment and automotive sectors
- 2003
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This dissertation is a compilation of five papers that analyse and discuss the managerial challenge of environmental innovation. Environmental innovation seeks to integrate environmental features into products and thus bring new products with better environmental performance to the market. The dissertation reports on three case studies within the electrical equipment and automotive sectors. The first case refers to development of an innovative new gasoline-electric hybrid power train; the second case refers to the development of a new industrial gas turbine, comprising advanced new burner technology; and the third case describes the introduction of new technology for small-scale distributed electricity generation. On the basis of concepts and theoretical models derived from literature on innovation management, the dissertation offers two alternative ways to conceptualise environmental innovation. Firstly, environmental innovation is conceptualised as product development. This is useful to analyse the inner dynamics of R&D organisations and it hightlights the need to adapt organisations and managerial practices to the specific requirements of the development task. Secondly, environmental innovation is conceptualised as the introduction of new technology. Here, two alternative perspectives are discussed. The incumbents' perspective illustrates that environmental innovation may be perceived as a potential threat for existing manufacturers within the established industry and it is used to discuss their strategic responses. The entrants' perspective shows how the definition of early markets and applications is complicated for suppliers who are engaged in environmental innovation. The dissertation argues that environmental innovation is characterised by extensive complexity both in terms of technological complexity and complexity in shaping of demands on technological progress. It concludes that is is important for managers to create an ability to deal with complexity. Based on empirical findings, three possible approaches are outlined: simplification, interaction and experimentation.
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| 47. |
- Nehler, Henrik, 1974-
(författare)
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Activity-based costing : en kvantitativ studie kring spridning, användning, utformning och implementering i svensk verkstadsindustri
- 2001
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Activity-Based Costing - En kvantitativ studie kring spridning, användning, utformning och implementering i svensk verkstadsindustri är en licentiatavhandling som syftar till att beskriva och förklara spridningen av ABC i svensk verkstadsindustri samt förklara varför företag använder ABC. Vidare syftar avhandlingen till att beskriva hur företagen har utformat sina ABC-system samt beskriva och förklara implementeringen av ABC-system. Till sist syftar avhandlingen till att relatera resultaten till andra kvantitativa undersökningar i andra länder. Studiens resultat visar att spridningen av ABC har varit relativt blygsam i svensk verkstadsindustri. De faktorer som förklarar användningen av ABC var storlek, kalkylens strategiska betydelse samt om kalkylen används för budgetstyrning. Ett intressant resultat var att de klassiska Relevance Lost- och ABC variablerna (produktdiversifiering) ej var statistisks signifikanta. Avhandlingen beskriver hur företagen har utformate sina ABC-system, exempelvis antalet huvudaktiviteter, kostnadsdrivare samt uppdateringsfrekvens. Det är uppgiftsrelaterade faktorer (tillräckligt med resurser och utbildning) som förklarar en "lyckad" implementering av ABC i svensk verkstadsindustri. Resultaten i denna studie (kring spridning, användning, utformning samt implementering) avviker till stor del från resultaten i ett flertal angosaxiska studier. En förklaring till dessa avvikelser är att det råder en skillnad mellan tysksvensk och anglosaxisk kalkyltradition.
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| 48. |
- Norelius, Hans, 1958-
(författare)
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Merge in Transit : A non-stock distribution structure
- 2002
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The overall purpose of this study is to contribute to a better understanding of the emerging distribution structure Merge in Transit. In order to do this the purpose of this thesis is to describe and define Merge in Transit and to identify and explain differences in performance between Merge in Transit and a traditional structure with central and local warehousing.The study consits of two parts, a pre-study where main characteristics of Merge in Transit were studied, and a in-depth study where differences between Merge in Transit and structure with central and local warehousing were studied. In the comparison between the distribution structures the focus was on activities, resources and the performance in the form of costs and throughput times. In order to explain the differences in performance the effects and the reasons for the effects found in the cases were compared with reasons for performance improvements found in the literature, foremost process literature and literature about scale economies.Based on the result from the study Merge in Transit could be described as a distribution structure where deliveries from different sources are co-ordinated and brought together at merge points and where goods and order flows are monitored and controlled in a central order unit. This means that Merge in Transit is characterised by:Centralised monitoring and control of order and goods flowPoint of sales data, that is sent to producer and central warehousesNon- or centralised inventory between producers and customersMerge point for merging goodsA transport net for deliveries to customers premises', i.e. the physical take over of goods isat the customer's premisesAccording to the findings I propose the following definition of Merge in Transit:Merge in Transit is the centralised co-ordination of customer orders where goods are delivered from several dispatch units consolidated into single customer deliveries at merge points, free of inventoryThe main effects on costs from Merge in Transit compared to a structure with central and local warehousing are the reduction of inventory, warehousing and administration and an increase or decrease of transport costs. The main effects on service are complete deliveries to customers premises and an increase of customer order lead time for products previously stored locally. Other effects from Merge in Transit are increased range, increased complexity and reduced storage time.Explanation of the reasons for differences in performance depends on the perspective used in the analysis. From a processual perspective the explanation of the effects are elimination and postponement of activities. From a functional perspective the effects are centralisation of resources, i.e. use of scale economies.
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| 49. |
- Norlén, Andreas, 1973-
(författare)
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Oskälighet och 36 § avtalslagen
- 2004
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Section 36 of the Swedish Contracts Act stipulates that a term of a contract can be modified or set aside, if it is "unreasonable". The thesis discusses the meaning of the prerequisite "unreasonable" and how the meaning can and should be defined, using the means of legal science. Normative ethics is thereby introduced as a supplementary source of norms, and scientific works regarding contract law in other European countries are regarded, as well as the Principles of European Contract Law.One chapter deals primarily with legal theory, in particular how a position regarding a legal matter can be justified. The role of normative ethics, especially virtue ethics, in legal science is discussed in that context and "the virtues of the contractual relationship" are identified (for example justness, honesty, carefulness). The following chapter focuses on the relationship between those virtues and some principles of contract law (for example the principle of trust, the principle of loyalty), and it is being maintained that the value basis for the virtues on the one hand and the principles on the other hand is largely the same. It is also being maintained that there are strong arguments in favour of letting the virtues and principles affect the definition of the prerequisite "unreasonable" in section 36.In the last major chapter, four cases are used as starting points of a discussion regarding various situations, in which "unreasonable" has to be defined. The impact on the definition of "unreasonable" of the previously introduced virtues and principles is discussed, as well as the significance of various circumstances. The duty of disclosure, the significance of balance between the rights and duties of the parties under the contract and the importance of events occurring after the conclusion of the contract are some of the issues, which are treated.
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| 50. |
- Norrman, Charlotte, 1968-
(författare)
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Entrepreneurship Policy : Public Support for Technology-Based Ventures
- 2008
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The subject of this thesis is entrepreneurship policy and the focus is on public support programmes directed to early stages technology-based ventures. It advocates that a broad view should be taken with regard to the type of policies for entrepreneurship that aim at supporting the facilitation of the supported ventures’ ability to link to their surrounding innovation system, in which they can secure their access to crucial external resources. Taking the departure in the perspective that early stages technology-based ventures are vulnerable, this thesis shows that publicly financed entrepreneurship supporting programmes can be motivated because small and newly started ventures have got limited resources, and because the risks, with which they are associated, generally make them unattractive in the eyes of private actors.Among the practical implications of this thesis, the following findings are emphasised: Public support, directed to the very earliest stages of venture development benefits from broadness, for the latter stages, specialisation and a higher degree of selectiveness could be an advantage. Moreover, it is important that the support provided take into account the whole process of business development, i.e. both the issues concerned with product/service and the issues connected to the market. A long-term commitment, cooperation between different actors and information about what support is available, are other aspects that are important for policymakers to consider in their design of public policies to support entrepreneurship. Finally, the importance of evaluative awareness must be emphasised from the very start.
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