| 1. |
- Jafari, Hamid
(författare)
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Postponement and Logistics Flexibility in Retailing
- 2014
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This dissertation addresses several general logistics problems in retailing regarding meeting a variety of customer demand and availability, efficiency and effectiveness in carrying inventory, and increased logistics flexibility. It builds upon the well-established supply chain principle of postponement, and argues for the benefits associated with it in tackling certain logistics challenges. Classically, most of the scholarly contributions in logistics and supply chain management in relation to postponement and logistics flexibility deal with manufacturing firms. This thesis contributes to the current literature by studying the concepts in a retail context. It shows the contemporary application of postponement, and the potential benefits associated with it. It could serve as a hint for retail decision-makers on prioritizing certain logistics decisions regarding their desired performance.The thesis aims to explore the application of postponement and logistics flexibility in retailing, and to investigate the resulting firm performance. It consists of a cover and a compilation of six articles, which serve to address three research questions. The thesis has a mixed methods design and consists of two empirical strands. The first two articles report two individually carried out systematic literature reviews on postponement and logistics flexibility, which serve as building blocks for the empirical strands. The first Strand, which consists of two empirical articles, includes qualitative case studies dealing with exploring how postponement is applied in retailing, seeking connections to logistics flexibility. Qualitative data is collected via a myriad of sources and tools. In Paper 3, data is collected on Media Markt, Jysk, and Lidl via interviews, and site visits, as well as from secondary sources on other supply chain actors, including service providers and product suppliers. Paper 4, explores a manifestation of postponement – customization – in upscale bicycle retailing in the nexus of retailers and consumers. It is built on qualitative data collected via interviews and netnography. The second Strand consists of two quantitative articles based on a cross-sectional survey of retailers in Sweden. Paper 5, which is of exploratory nature, deals with simplifying the complexities associated with logistics practices of retailers, and intends to provide a taxonomy of logistics configurations resulting from postponement and logistics flexibility. It also studies the performance differences of the identified groups of retailers. Finally, Paper 6 uses Structural Equation Modelling to explain the impact of postponement on logistics flexibility and well as that of the latter on firm performance. Also, the logistics flexibility-performance relationship is examined in the presence of uncertainty contingencies and logistics integration. Papers 5 and 6 use both strategic and financial measures of performance from subjective self-reported, as well as objective secondary sources.The results of the thesis show that postponement is gaining increased attention among scholars and practitioners. There is an expanding tendency towards involving other supply chain actors, including logistics service providers and especially consumers, in postponement activities. The case studies point to the different approaches to logistics flexibility and varied performance of retailers. The taxonomy study based on the configuration approach in Paper 5 is an attempt to tackle the complexity in understanding the logistics practices of retailers. Three groups of retailers were identified regarding their logistics configurations based on postponement and logistics flexibility, labeled as Rigid, Speculative, and Responsive. These groups were compared in relation to their financial and strategic performance, and it was shown that if speculation and logistics flexibility are high, then financial performance would be generally higher. If postponement and logistics flexibility are high, then strategic performance would be higher. Also, the thesis provides empirical support for the role of postponement in increased logistics flexibility in retailing. Also, higher logistics flexibility was proven to be associated with higher strategic firm performance. The impact of logistics flexibility on firm performance was shown to be moderated by uncertainty as well as by logistics integrations. As a result, performance is higher when both logistics flexibility and uncertainty are higher or lower. However, logistics integration proved to have contrasting positive and negative moderating roles when considering strategic and financial performance respectively, which could be traced back to the potentially high monetary engagement connected to logistics integration.
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| 2. |
- Carlsson, Inga-Lill, 1955-
(författare)
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Towards System Supply : Development of Small and Medium-Sized Contract Manufacturers
- 2017
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- One way for a small subcontractor to meet increasing global competition is to develop a system supplying ability, implying a transition in the supply chain toward a larger overall responsibility. As large corporations outsource parts of their manufacturing and services, many small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) suppliers are expected to deepen their capabilities and take on the role of system suppliers. The overall purpose of this thesis is to advance the understanding of how SME contract manufacturers can develop such capabilities, identifying demands and abilities in various steps of this process. The research approach is based on the resource-based view.This longitudinal case study of an SME supplier striving to become a system supplier covers the period from 2006 to 2014. The researcher’s role as business developer and member of the management made it possible to follow the company's development continuously and closely, providing access to relevant internal data complemented with internal and external semi structured interviews and focus discussions. The longitudinal aspect is evident in the overall description of the development of the focal supplier. More specific issues are covered in the separate studies, described in the appended articles.SME suppliers need basic capabilities of qualitative production performance as stepping-stones to develop more system supplier capabilities for added customer value. Development of stable production processes through lean implementation was by the focal supplier seen as a way to reach stable basic performance and to enable continuous development. The study further shows that knowledge integration with customers is an effective means to build system capability and indicates a stepwise and sequential process of developing specific supplier capabilities.The longitudinal case study deepens the knowledge of development of SME system suppliers and specifically point out three prerequisites that need to be in place for the supplier transition: (1) a capability of the supplier to manage internal processes of standardisation and continuous improvements for stable performance without disruptions, (2) a capability to collaborate in development projects with a limited number of customers, and (3) customer commitment to a long-term relationship. A customer demanding improvements is constantly driving its suppliers to better performance and proven supplier capabilities in turn promotes long-term customer commitment. The most essential component in supplier development is a competent and strategically oriented management, capable of identifying the specific system supplier offerings appropriate for the particular company in order to create customer value.This study contributes to better understanding of the conditions of medium-sized contract manufacturing SMEs, from a supplier perspective, and contributes to SCM research in illustrating how shifting responsibilities and subsequent activities in the supply chain may pave new competitive paths for SMEs. One issue here is the importance of knowledge integration for the development of supply chains. This has not often been discussed within SCM and thus provides a contribution to this theory.
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| 3. |
- Kohn, Christofer, 1977-
(författare)
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Towards CO2 efficient centralised distribution
- 2008
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This dissertation treats a topic that has received increasing attention as of late, namely that of the environment and in particular increasing levels of CO2 emissions caused by transport. The aim of the dissertation is to explain how a shipper, through various measures, can reduce transport-related CO2 emissions when centralising a distribution system and how this affects the provision of cost efficient customer service. Earlier research has stated that this type of structural change is considered unfavourable from an environmental viewpoint as it increases the amount of transport work generated by the system and thereby transport-related CO2 emissions. The argument that is made in this dissertation, however, is that transport work is only one aspect to consider when evaluating how transport-related CO2 emissions are affected by this type of structural change. The reason for this being that a change in structure and management of the same can enable a shipper to make other changes within the distribution system that can prove beneficial from an environmental perspective as they decrease the amount of CO2 emissions per tonne kilometre.Theoretically, the dissertation has its foundation in two different areas in logistics research. The first area concerns logistics and the environment, where the frame of reference examines measures discussed in previous research with reference to how a shipper can reduce CO2 emissions related to transport. The second area treated in the frame of reference concerns how costs and service are affected by the structural change of centralising a distribution system and how this relates to the measures discussed in the first part of the framework.From a methodological viewpoint, the dissertation is based on case studies. These are presented in four appended manuscripts (a licentiate thesis and three papers), where the results of these studies are used as empirical input for the synthesising analysis that is led in the dissertation.A key deliverable from the research presented in this dissertation is a classification of measures that increase transport-related CO2 emissions and measures that decrease transport-related CO2 emissions when a distribution system is centralised. By presenting this classification, the dissertation extends previous research on the environmental impact of various logistics strategies, where centralised distribution is an example of such a strategy. With regards to this classification, it is concluded that a shipper that seeks to centralise its distribution system in a more CO2 efficient manner will aim to identify a structural configuration that minimises the increase in transport work. This is imperative as there is a close link between transport work and CO2 emissions. Hence, a CO2 efficient centralised distribution system will include more central warehouses than that advocated by earlier research on centralised distribution. This in turn implies that a shipper may not reach the full potential in economies of scale as advocated in earlier research. However, such a configuration will simultaneously lead to less transport work, whereby a shipper will be able to offset the increase in transport work by employing measures that decrease the amount of transport-related CO2 emissions per amount of transport work. The results also indicate that in addition to reducing transport-related CO2 emissions, some of these measures come with a cost incentive. By employing such measures, a shipper can come to compensate for the potential loss in economies of scale caused by employing a structural configuration that seeks to minimise the increase in transport work rather than to maximise economies of scale. By this means, the dissertation contributes to research on centralised distribution by considering how a reduction in transport-related CO2 emissions is interrelated with the provision of cost efficient customer service.
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| 4. |
- Wiger, Malin, 1980-
(författare)
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Logistics management operationalised in a healthcare context : Understanding care chain effectiveness through logistics management theories and systems theory
- 2018
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Healthcare improvements is constantly relevant and an important topic. Healthcare is frequently being called upon to be more cost-efficient and still fulfil demands regarding waiting times, quality and availability. Experience from structural changes in other contexts gives reason to be positive about the potential for logistics improvements in the healthcare sector as well. From a logistics perspective patients pass different care functions, units, organisations and health facilities. It is assumed that logistics management knowledge applied in healthcare can lead to lower costs, shorter waiting times, better patient service, shorter treatment times and increased capacity. This dissertation therefore presents an exploration of how logistics management theories can be operationalised in a healthcare context to understand care chain effectiveness.Theoretically, the operationalisation is done by systems theory creating compatibility between logistics management theories and the healthcare context. As a first step, features for a logistics system forms features for achieving care chain effectiveness. High care chain effectiveness is thus a desired condition and the care delivery system is the tool to achieve it. As the final step in the operationalisation the features for care chain effectiveness are in turn used to analyse today’s practices. Empirically, the research is based on qualitative data from a single case study with multiple units of analysis. It includes four care units at one of Sweden’s university hospitals, where the data is gathered through interviews, insight into management systems and document analysis. One of the main results is the 21 areas identified for analysing today’s practices by means of features for care chain effectiveness. Another main result is the four important concepts revealed through the operationalisation:Lead time - the episode of care from order to delivery as the amount of time for patient cases between first contact with healthcare and the last.Patient order fulfilment - fulfilment of patients’ needs, broken down into several smaller steps performed over time within different care units in one or several organisations, consisting of five sub-processes - order handling, diagnosis, treatment, follow-up, and discharge.True demand – patients’ needs that is to be met and thus sets what care to deliver, i.e. the production plan and the subordinate resource plan.System boundaries - defines which care units to include when focusing on the care delivery system’s performance as a whole and should be more important than the performance and productivity of each individual care unit.A number of direct suggestions for care chain improvement can also be found in the concluding remarks, for example that objectives linked to economic influx or penalty narrow the system and that lead time data on an aggregated level is needed to cover episodes of care. The theoretical contribution of the dissertation is to the field of logistics management through the methodological development of using these theories in a new context. The managerial contribution is to healthcare managers through providing opportunities to improve care chains primarily by means of a greater understanding of care delivery systems.
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| 5. |
- Carlsson, Inga-Lill, 1955-
(författare)
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Meeting increased logistical demands : Developing as a small- and medium-sized system supplier
- 2009
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Many subcontractors choose to implement a strategy of “system supply” in order to meetincreasing global competition. They are then confronted with increased demands to take agreater overall responsibility in this role. It is important to investigate the implications of theseresponsibilities before investing in developing the organization, especially for a small- ormedium-sized subcontractor with limited resources. The customer’s view of different demandsdoes not necessarily correspond to how the supplier sees and chooses to interpret and meetthose demands. A supplier with several customers has to create reasonably uniform routines tomeet different demands, in order to cut costs. The customers chosen to serve as well asattitudes and priorities may influence the way different customer demands are met. Thepurpose of this study is to describe what the widened role of system supply might mean to asmall- or medium-sized subcontractor in terms of demands, capabilities and resources.After going through previous theory about different supplier roles and their characteristics asmall exploratory survey comparing demands between a component supplier and a systemsupplier was carried out. “System supplier” is, in this thesis, defined as a supplier with anoverall responsibility for the functionality of a product or a system of assembled components,produced in several process steps, and the resulting liability for purchase of material andservices. The focus is on small- or medium-sized suppliers that provide production services andare developing towards system supplying capabilities. The survey, based on existing customeragreements and demands on a relatively small supplier that is developing towards a systemsupplying role, gives insight to how customers and suppliers look at these demands. The resultsclearly point out some improvement areas. These are divided into a few “system demands”(such as systematic purchase and logistics work, product development and projectmanagement, and increased responsibilities) and more “generic demands” (for example qualityand delivery-precision).A small- or medium-sized subcontractor must acquire some logistics capabilities in order tocope with the system supplying role. In a multiple case study, a comparison of three companiesof different sizes with varying degrees of system supplying services is presented. With theresource-based view as a linchpin the interviews point out the importance of the management’sstrategic alignment to supply chain management and logistics, with special focus on centralsourcing and sourcing from low-cost regions. Other capabilities such as IT and communicationsystems, cost reduction capability, volume flexibility and breadth of product lines are alsoidentified. The interviews also served the purpose of identifying important resources groupedinto three different categories: organizational, competence-base, and tools. The differencesbetween the companies and in what way these different resources influence the formation ofdifferent logistics capabilities to support system supply are discussed.The conclusions drawn from comparing the three companies point out five system capabilities.One is the importance of a clear and distinct organization where the management understandsits role and responsibilities, managing its part of a larger system and its inherent processes.Supply chain management is another important system capability, where logistics skills andenhanced understanding and use of IT and other tools are identified as areas to improve for thesmaller companies. The importance of managing internal and external relations with extrafocus on customer relations is stressed. This also generally requires more overall managementof communications, making the best possible use of existing information and communicationstechnology. Finally, a basic and order-qualifying capability of managing the “genericdemands” is emphasized.
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| 6. |
- Gillström, Henrik, 1989-, et al.
(författare)
-
Ett nödvändigt drivmedel i transformationen mot ellastbilar? : En jämförelse av resursdelning mellan två tekniker
- 2024
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Ingår i: Transportforum.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Aktörssamverkan är central för omställning mot en grönare transportsystem, exempelvis vid omställning till eldrift. En organisation i isolering har inte allt det som krävs för en omställning till eldrift, och resurser måste istället delas mellan centrala aktörer såsom fordonstillverkare, infrastrukturhållare och logistikföretag. En aktör har tekniken medan en annan kanske har kunskapen. Beroendet kan vara av olika karaktär och dess omfattning påverkas av exempelvis hur kritisk eller vanlig resursen är. Men på vilket sätt är dessa beroenden centralt vid valet av lösning? Laddning av batterier med sladd är det koncept som vi satsar främst på inom Europa, medan byte av batterier (battery swapping) är den teknik med störst genomslag i exempelvis Kina. Vi har jämfört vilken roll resursdelning har för dessa tekniker.Studien har jämfört resultat från två forskningsprojekt finansierade av Vinnova och Energimyndigheten. Båda projekten har haft arbetspaket som berör samverkan, samtidigt som de fokuserar olika former av tekniska lösningar. Empirin kommer från en strukturerad intervjustudie med 19 svenska logistikaktörer som testat sladdladdning, djupare intervjuer och workshops med olika aktörer från akademi och näringsliv. Empiriska data har analyserats utifrån Resource dependency theory.
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| 7. |
- Abrahamsson, Henrik
(författare)
-
Network overload avoidance by traffic engineering and content caching
- 2012
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The Internet traffic volume continues to grow at a great rate, now driven by video and TV distribution. For network operators it is important to avoid congestion in the network, and to meet service level agreements with their customers. This thesis presents work on two methods operators can use to reduce links loads in their networks: traffic engineering and content caching.This thesis studies access patterns for TV and video and the potential for caching. The investigation is done both using simulation and by analysis of logs from a large TV-on-Demand system over four months.The results show that there is a small set of programs that account for a large fraction of the requests and that a comparatively small local cache can be used to significantly reduce the peak link loads during prime time. The investigation also demonstrates how the popularity of programs changes over time and shows that the access pattern in a TV-on-Demand system very much depends on the content type.For traffic engineering the objective is to avoid congestion in the network and to make better use of available resources by adapting the routing to the current traffic situation. The main challenge for traffic engineering in IP networks is to cope with the dynamics of Internet traffic demands.This thesis proposes L-balanced routings that route the traffic on the shortest paths possible but make sure that no link is utilised to more than a given level L. L-balanced routing gives efficient routing of traffic and controlled spare capacity to handle unpredictable changes in traffic. We present an L-balanced routing algorithm and a heuristic search method for finding L-balanced weight settings for the legacy routing protocols OSPF and IS-IS. We show that the search and the resulting weight settings work well in real network scenarios.
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| 8. |
- Abrahamsson, Mats, Professor, 1960-
(författare)
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Logistik för ökad svensk konkurrenskraft : Forsknings- och innovationsagenda för framtidens logistik
- 2013
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Framtidens logistik står inför mycket stora utmaningar som har direkt bäring på svenska företags och organisationers förmåga till tillväxt, hållbarhet och konkurrenskraft. Det står utom all tvivel att logistikens betydelse kommer att öka ännu mer i framtiden. Vinnare på de globala, rörliga marknaderna kommer ett vara de flödeseffektiva företagen, som har förmåga att hantera förändringarna på marknaden med en effektiv logistik som grund. För att lyckas behövs ett Logistiklyft för Sverige, med ett medvetet fokus på att utveckla de dynamiska förmågorna i företag och organisationer. Detta gäller i de allra flesta branscher och typ av företag.Den här innovations- och forskningsagendan utgår från den svenska traditionen och internationellt sett unika kunskapen och förmågan att med en systemsyn som grund designa, utveckla och styra komplexa system där flera olika kompetenser samverkar. Logistikens systemkunskap handlar om att lära sig att utforma och styra omfattande och allt mer komplexa försörjningskedjor (supply chains) från råvara till slutkund i syfte att öka svenska företags internationella konkurrenskraft och förmåga att växa på ett miljömässigt och ekonomiskt hållbart sätt. Agendan adresserar behovet av kompetens och kunskap för mer innovativ logistikutveckling som följer:Utveckling av kunskap om nya och mer innovativa logistiksystem och modeller för industri & handel Tjänsteutveckling för transport/logistik och IT-företag som stöd för mer innovativa logistiksystem, men också att ta till vara och stimulera den omfattande tjänsteutveckling som finns i förnyelsen av svenskt näringsliv, t ex mot högre grad av e-handel. Tillämpning av befintliga logistikkunskaper för områden och sektorer i behov av ett logistiklyft och ökad flödeseffektivitet, t.ex. logistik för små- och medelstora företag (SME) med fokus på HUR (genomförandeprocesser) istället för VAD (utformning av koncept och modeller). Utveckling av kunskaper om hur logistiksystem kan bidra till en hållbar utveckling, såväl miljömässigt som socialt.Utveckling av kunskap om och tillämpning av logistiklösningar med primär samhällsnytta, t ex sjukvårdslogistik och citylogistik samt effektiv och hållbar försörjning av livsmedel, energi etc.Den här forsknigs- och innovationsagendan är utvecklad i samarbete mellan Linköpings Universitet, Lunds Tekniska Högskola, Chalmers Tekniska Högskola och en lång rad företag där Axis, SKF, Volvo och Nobel Biocare har funnits med i projektets styrgrupp. Agendan finns endast som PDF. Kontakta Mats Abrahamsson, Linköpings Universitet. mats.abrahamsson@liu.se
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| 9. |
- Fredriksson, Anna, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
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Slutrapport Fossilfri Bygglogistik
- 2022
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Byggtransporter står för en betydande andel av CO2-utsläppen i byggprojekt (ca 10%) och en bättre logistik leder till lägre utsläpp, mindre trängseleffekter och lägre kostnader. Projektet Fossilfri Bygglogistik, finansierat av Trafikverket genom Triple F, har 2019-2021 studerat potentialen i att minska utsläppen från byggtransporter med förbättrad logistik baserat på ett systemsynsätt. Projektet har varit ett samarbete mellan Linköpings universitet, VTI, Logistikia, Energifabriken, Renall, Almroths, SanktKors, Stångåstaden, Hyresbostäder, Peab, NCC, RagnSells, PreZero, Lambertsson och Byggföretagen.Projektet har utgått från tre frågeställningar:• Vad är potentialerna med samordnad bygglogistik och vad krävs för att hämta hem dessa?• Vilka metoder/lösningar är användbara för att nå målet om fossilfrihet?• Vad är rollfördelningen mellan aktörer. som är delaktiga i ett bygglogistiksystem, och behöver den förändras för att uppnå fossilfrihetProjektet har tre huvudsakliga resultat:1) Utvärdering av piloter såsom nyttan av bygglogistiklösningar i olika projekt och för olika aktörer, mätetal för byggtransporter och möjliga data för att följa upp, samt effekterna av en HVO-tank på site.2) Potentialerna i att arbeta med en fossilfri bygglogistik utifrån ett systemperspektiv där inte bara enskilda byggen studeras utan även större bygglogistiksystem samt hur man kan beräkna CO2 emissionerna från bygglogistiken för den samlade byggvolymen i en stad.3) En beskrivning av hur aktörerna i bygglogistiksystemet och hur de påverkar olika åtgärder för att minska utsläppen genom sina respektive roller har också identifierats.En av de viktigaste slutsatserna är att det idag saknas rätt förutsättningarna för att implementera en fossilfri bygglogistik i stor skala. Det saknas gemensamma målbilder för logistiken.
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| 10. |
- Gillström, Henrik, 1989-, et al.
(författare)
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Critical factors in logistics service providers business model for electrified freight
- 2023
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Purpose: A transition to electric freight will challenge current systems and business models, especially for logistics service providers (LSP). Therefore, the purpose is to increase the understanding of critical factors in business models for LSPs when adopting to electrified freight.Design/methodology/approach: A structured interview study has been carried out, targeting LSPs about their experience and expectation on electrification. The responses were analysed through a business model lens.Findings: Twelve factors deemed as critical were identified, covering the different components of a business model. From the analysis of critical factors, four hypotheses were developed. The hypotheses concern areas that can guide designs of future business models. Research implications: This study identifies challenges highlighted by LSPs as relevant and combine these in critical factors to be considered when designing business model for electrified freight.Practical implications: For many companies, business models are vital to their existence, thus the results can shed light on factors of high relevance for companies in a transport-related context.Social implications: Large-scale adoption of electric trucks has the potential to reduce the climate impact, but it is of essence to develop sound business plans, which this study contributes to.Original/value: This paper takes a business model approach, and builds on in-depth primary data from LSP’s experiences with regional electrified freight – a novel area in need of development.
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| 11. |
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| 12. |
- Isaksson, Karin, 1984-
(författare)
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Logistics Service Providers Going Green : A Framework for Developing Green Service Offerings
- 2014
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Environmental impact has increasingly become a “buzzword” and an important topic. This topic has been integrated into the agenda of many companies worldwide, and this dissertation focuses on the transportation and logistics industry. Environmental concerns have gained increased attention among many logistic service providers (LSPs) due to the environmental impact from their operations, and they have been identified of having a significant role in reducing the environmental burden in the supply chain. An environmental approach of the LSPs' business has also been identified as a way to achieve competitive advantage and provide market opportunities where the development and marketing of new products and services associated with green issues are suggested as important aspects for future growth. However, considering the scarcity of research regarding this topic, a study that reveals potential aspects in the development of green service offerings can bridge the knowledge gap and provide opportunities for further research within this field. The purpose of this dissertation is therefore to develop and explain a framework for LSPs’ development of green service offerings. The purpose is addressed by first investigating LSPs' service development from a general perspective in order to, in a second stage, reach a better understanding of the implications when integrating green aspects in LSPs' service development efforts.Theoretically, this dissertation departed from service marketing literature or more specifically new service development (NSD) research. This resulted in a conceptual framework including key dimensions and aspects regarding a company’s NSD efforts and activities. From this foundation, the theoretical framework was developed further based on research regarding LSPs' service development and innovation management. Finally the framework was extended with green logistics literature as well as research regarding LSPs' green development and influences on their service offerings.Empirically, this research is mainly based on qualitative data from an in-depth case study on a large LSP active on the Swedish market. In addition, empirical data from a multiple case study and a questionnaire survey conducted for the Licentiate thesis were used in order to enrich the analysis regarding the LSPs' development of green service offerings. The analysis followed a stepwise approach where literature and empirical data were analysed.One of the main results in this dissertation is the framework for LSPs' new service development, consisting of five dimensions: NSD culture, NSD strategy, NSD process focus, IT use and expertise and NSD knowledge and skills. The NSD framework presents a holistic view of the LSPs’ NSD efforts by revealing different dimensions, their roles and relations to each other as well as the pre-requisites to take into consideration in the development of new services. Thus, the different NSD dimensions should not solely be viewed as isolated dimensions; instead, there is a need for LSPs to have a holistic view and understanding of the NSD activities’ reciprocity.Another main result concerns the adaption of the NSD framework to green service development. The results reveal some pre-requisites relevant for LSPs to consider in their efforts to develop green service offerings and are summarised in the following main dimensions:Creating green awareness in the NSD culture – encourage participation regarding green initiatives within the organisation, defining a “common picture” in order to facilitate collaboration efforts and knowledge exchange concerning green expertise. The support from top management was also identified of having an influencing impact. Defining the strategic approach of green service offerings – integrate a green concern in the overall business strategy and to define the strategic role and incentives for developing green service offerings. The results also suggest LSPs to adapt green NSD efforts to different business contexts and market possibilities to match existing resources and skills with customers’ green requirements, and to perform a segmentation of customers’ environmental work and ambitions to increase the understanding of customers’ green attitudes and requirements.Create processes and routines to facilitate spreading of green knowledge – highlights the relevance of a process focus for spreading green knowledge both from an external and internal perspective. It involves e.g. adoption of certifications, procedures for environmental calculations and documentation as well as routines to spread and integrate green knowledge among employees as well as identification of customers’ green requirements.Improve green internal knowledge and build green collaborations – provide training and education to increase the level of green awareness and knowledge among employees as well as customers and strive for collaboration efforts both internally and externally to utilise each other’s knowledge and resources towards the development of green service offerings.Increase transparency of green information both internally and externally – improve green information transparency to build both internal and external trust and increase possibilities to effectively use other actors’ knowledge and resources to develop environmental improvements in the supply chain. Integration of IT expertise and synchronisations of IT systems to facilitate and support environmental work and development of green service offerings.
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| 13. |
- Maack, Christina
(författare)
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Logistics Service Providers’ Environmental Management
- 2012
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis aims to give a holistic description of logistics service providers’ environmental management, which has been lacking in literature. The aim is also to analyse how the logistics service providers’ environmental management provides value to their business, and to discuss its role in their business. This research contributes to the literature on green logistics, which regard the environmental sustainability related to logistics systems but largely lacks the logistics service providers’ perspective. The results support logistics service providers, who meet increasing demands on environmental sustainability, by providing a basis for discussion of how to work towards increased environmental sustainability in their business. It can contribute to discussions, evaluations and understanding of the role of environmental management as value-creating and strategic for the company.In order to explore what logistics service providers’ environmental management actually is, case studies of three different types of logistics service providers are carried out, and the environmental management of these companies are described in separate appended reports.This research is of an explorative nature and the research design has been developed in parallel with conducting the research. The researcher’s personal background thinking behind the research questions and purpose is also presented in addition to describing the research process, as it has impacted the research process. The analysis is inspired by the resource-based view. A literature framework on corporate environmental management and the resource-based view has been formed to provide a background for performing the case studies and to help structure the descriptions and analyses.The logistics service providers’ environmental management is related to compliance, internal efficiency and competitiveness. The analysis results show that environmental management to a great extent seems to be only of implicit interest for competitiveness at present and more to concern future competitiveness. A large part of meeting customers’ environmental demands today involves logistics service providers proving to their customers that they have an environmental effort, more or less regardless of what it actually includes.In order to further explore the value of environmental management, to show it more explicitly, the logistics service providers’ ability to cope with change regarding increased environmental demands is analysed. In this analysis, elements of dynamic capabilities in the companies’ environmental management are identified and presented.This research has generated several ideas for future research, first and foremost relating to organizational development of environmental management among logistics service providers and the development of more environmentally sustainable logistics services.
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| 14. |
- Malmgren, Mike
(författare)
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Managing Risks in Business Critical Outsourcing : A Perspective from the Outsourcer and the Supplier
- 2010
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Companies are increasingly outsourcing business critical activities to suppliers of outsourcing services. As the complexity and business criticality of the outsourced activities increases, the risk of poor performance increases. This thesis studies large scale outsourcing in the telecom industry where a recent trend is to transfer the development, operation and maintenance of the telecom infrastructure to telecom equipment suppliers. The significance of this type of outsourcing is that the outsourced activity is the revenue generating part of the telecom operators business.Part 1 discusses the purpose and research questions followed by the theoretical underpinning in the research. The research strategy is to study the outsourcing relationship in three distinct stages of its development and the theoretical underpinning applies transaction costs analysis in the Scoping & Search stage and Das &Teng’s (2001) framework of trust and control for managing risks in the Negotiation and Transition stages. This design is in response to calls for a more detailed understanding of how organizations manage risks, it therefore takes the perspective of both the outsourcer and the supplier in the research.Part 2 is a multiple case study of telecom operators in Holland, Sweden and Australia where the supplier in all three cases is Ericsson Global Services organization. The study is further supplemented by mini-cases of large scale IS/IT infrastructure outsourcing.Part 3 has three main parts. Firstly, a cross case analysis of the cases in Part 2; secondly, a discussion of the findings linked to the research questions resulting in a set of propositions. The third and final part covers additional insights and learnings from studying business critical outsourcing and suggestions for further research.The main contributions in the research can be summarised as:Physical asset specificity follows transaction costs logic, however human asset specificity is largely ignored by both outsourcer and supplierBusiness critical outsourcing by its nature faces a limited market for capable suppliers. This results in single-source negotiations followed by a cooperative stance and open book negotiations.Das & Teng’s (2001) framework for management of risks has been found to have specific directions, some bi-directional and others uni-directional. Furthermore, different dimensions in the framework operate at different managerial levels. Goodwill trust-building operate at the corporate executive level, competence trust-building, output and behavioural control at the level of the negotiation team, and the research indicates that the social control dimension is not applied in business critical outsourcing negotiations.A further finding is that goodwill trust-building precedes all other dimensions of trust and control, and is a pre-requisite for establishing a cooperative stance in the negotiations.
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| 15. |
- Nygren, Magnus
(författare)
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Safety management on multi-employer worksites : Responsibilities and power relations in the mining industry
- 2018
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The focus of this thesis is on the division of legal responsibilities for occupational safety management on multi-employer worksites in the mining industry. The empirical basis is a study conducted between 2013 and 2016 consisting of interviews and observations focusing on primarily managers, supervisors, coordinators and safety specialists from a Swedish mining company and a number of its contractors. Besides this, interviews were also conducted with an inspector from the Swedish Work Environment Authority (SWEA) and workshops were arranged involving industry representatives. Additionally, a document analysis was performed focusing on work organization, safety and regulatory matters. The theoretical framework focuses mainly and broadly on the consequences of inter-organizational complexity and power relations between organizations and between social actors.The results show that three key aspects characterize the division of legal responsibilities for safety management: 1) the main responsibility for managing safety is employer-specific and cannot be shared (e.g. between two separate companies) and entails specific formal tasks that must be performed, 2) everyone involved on multi-employer worksites has an extended duty to communicate and cooperate across companies in safety-related matters, and 3) the responsibility for coordinating work and broader safety measures is connected to one specific employer, usually the main client company itself by virtue of the work being conducted within its facilities. Although seemingly straight-forward in the legal demands being placed on specific actors, the matter of the division of responsibilities and what they should entail in practice had been a specific focus area for the mining company, as well as for the mining industry trade association and SWEA from an even broader perspective. The mining company had also taken a number of initiatives with the ambition to clarify these issues on their own multi-employer worksites in accordance with the legal requirements. As for the relations between the mining company and the contractors, these were characterized by an asymmetry of power with a difference between being affiliated to the company or a contractor in terms of the status and rights each affiliation entailed. This ultimately had an impact on contractor managers’ and supervisors’ ability or willingness to communicate with the client on safety-related issues.The conclusions of the thesis are divided into two main themes. The first theme, undermined conditions for employer responsibility, highlights that the main employer responsibility for managing safety may become eroded on multi-employer worksites, something that can be viewed from three distinct but interrelated perspectives: 1) the core-periphery structure characterizing multi-employer worksites, 2) how the different legal responsibilities relate to each other and the power asymmetry between organizations, and 3) the relations between the social actors involved in formal safety management in practice. The second theme, client company initiatives and blurring boundaries, underlines that the ambition of the mining company to clarify responsibilities meant that other issues related to power relations became downplayed or unaddressed. The dominant position that the company and, by extension, its managers, coordinators, etc., typically had also led to them occasionally intervening in the internal processes of the contractors, highlighting the importance of considering the consequences of blurred organizational boundaries due to longstanding outsourcing arrangements.An overall conclusion can be drawn that the dynamic, unfolding relations between the client and its contractors complicate the division of and adherence to legal responsibilities for safety management. This is a particular challenge facing policy and regulatory development going forward, not only in relation to the mining industry but on multi-employer worksites in general where workplace safety is especially important to consider.
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| 16. |
- Olsson, Olle
(författare)
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Managing Variable Patient Flows at Hospitals
- 2014
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Healthcare is a large industry faced with major challenges, such as decreasing inpatient bed numbers and increases in the share of elderly people, which require improved efficiency and effectiveness. The organisation of hospitals normally comprises highly specialised clinical departments, through which patient flows are managed. Since patient flows often involve several clinical departments, this requires much coordination both in space and time. With every individual patient having different diseases, severity levels and responses to therapy, the variability in patient flows has an impact on the inflow, internal flow and outflow at clinical departments and hospitals. Historically, healthcare resources have not been adapted to these variations. The purpose of this licentiate thesis is therefore to explore how variable patient flows are managed in hospitals. This comprises how variable patient flows affect hospitals as well as how variable patient flows are handled. It also includes the organisational configuration, and the influence it has on the actions used to handle variable patient flows in hospitals.Both the hierarchical levels, roles and teams that make decisions and manage the flow of patients as well as the actions used to handle variable patient flows at hospitals are included in the research. Hence, an approach where the hospital is regarded as a system is used, an approach often described as a system perspective. Three research methods have been used in this licentiate thesis. The first research method used was simulation modelling, to study how changes in an acute patient flow affected an emergency department and inpatient ward at a small hospital. A case study at a university hospital was performed to study both the actions used to handle variable patient flows as well as the influence of the organisational configuration. Several literature reviews, both structured and unstructured, has also been made to compare and evaluate the results from the empirical data.There are several effects of variable patient flows. The case study indicates that increased patient flow variability leads to increases in bed utilization variability and thereby problems with bed shortages. Mismatches between patient inflow and outflow, in terms of number of patients, also lead to bed shortages. Literature reviews also show that bed shortages in inpatient wards are a major cause of overcrowding in emergency departments. The results from the simulation model point toward emergency departments being more adapted to variable patient inflow than inpatient wards. To handle these issues there is a need for flexibility when providing healthcare services, something suggested in the literature.50 actions used at the university hospital to handle variable acute patient flows were identified in the research. A majority of these are used to handle the effects of the variation, not the variation itself. Nor is it effects of individual variations, such as patient inflow, that are handled but the combined effect of the variations in several variables. For example, much time and effort are spent handling bed shortages. One third of the actions are used at a hospital level, with the aim to have positive effects for the hospital as a whole. Two thirds are used and developed at a departmental level, with the aim to improve the situation at the clinical department by using the action. By having most of the actions used at individual clinical departments, without considering the impact on whole hospital, there is an obvious risk of sub-optimization.One explanation for many actions being used at a departmental level could be that there is lack of strategic direction and decision-making ability at top management level due to the use of unanimous decision-making in the hospital management group. This hinders the control and coordination of the actions used at different clinical departments, rendering them more similar to separate organisations. Departmental collaboration is also impeded as well as organisational learning at the hospital, both bottom-up and sideways in the hierarchies, encumbering the development and sharing of successful actions for handling variable patient flows.
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| 17. |
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| 18. |
- Sandberg, Erik, 1978-, et al.
(författare)
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Flödesorientering av globalt inköpsarbete
- 2016
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Under senare år har globalt inköp fått en allt större strategisk betydelse för svenska handelsföretag. Tidigare forskning har visat att globalt inköpsarbete kan vara en avgörande konkurrensfördel, samtidigt som det innebär stora utmaningar. För at t framgångsrikt utnyttja globalt inköp som en konkurrensfördel behöver svenska handelsföretag bli mer flödesorienterade. Försörjningskedjans resurser som helhet, och inte bara företagets egna, behöver utnyttjas för att kunna skapa konkurrenskraft. Med bakgrund i det faktum att leveransförmågan och därmed kundservicen aldrig blir bättre än vad varuförsörjningen tillåter, spelar organiseringen av det globala inköpet en avgörande roll.Syftet med projektet är att öka förståelsen för hur svenska handelsföretag ska organisera sitt globala inköpsarbete för en högre grad av flödesorientering.Inom ramen för forskningsprojektet har forskningsfrågor adresserats om:parametrar för valet av inköpsregion och specifik leverantör,det fysiska flödet av produkter, samtorganisationsformer för globalt inköp.Teoretiskt har projektet tagit utgångspunkt i litteratur om globalt inköp, flödesorientering och så kallad paradoxteori. Projektets empiriska bas är två fallstudier (Hultafors Group AB:s division för arbetskläder, Snickers, och Indiska Magasinet AB), samt en enkätstudie bland inköpschefer på svenska handelsföretag. Totalt har sju konferenspapper, ett journalpapper och två populärvetenskapliga artiklar författats inom ramen för projektet. Dessa är projektets huvudsakliga leverabler som alla på olika sätt bidrar till att besvara projektets syfte och forskningsfrågor. Den här rapporten är en populärvetenskaplig sammanfattning av forskningsprojektet.Resultaten visar att kostnader, service, ledtider, såväl som miljö- och CSR-relaterade parametrar spelar en viktig roll vid valet av region och specifik leverantör. Framförallt är det totalkostnaden (pris och någon form av ”hemtagningskostnad”) och ledtider som är de mest avgörande parametrarna. Miljö- och CSR-relaterade aspekter anses ha mindre betydelse. Paradoxperspektivet visar på behovet av att balansera prestationsmått gentemot varandra. Vid utvärderingar av en ny leverantör eller en ny leverantörsregion är det viktigt att ta hänsyn till ett brett spektrum av olika kriterier. För det fysiska flödet finns möjligheter till att konsolidera flödet till noder i Asien och/eller Europa. Studien visar att olika alternativ finns, och att det också finns alternativ till transportslaget båt, som idag dominerar på grund av förhållandevis låga transportkostnader. Dessa alternativ kan bli mycket intressanta i de fall där ledtiderna behöver kortas. För utformningen av en global inköpsorganisation visar våra resultat att tre av de mest tydliga parametrarna som är viktiga att förstå och analysera är:graden av vertikal integration, det vill säga i vilken utsträckning som handelsföretaget bör äga aktörer uppströms i försörjningskedjan,graden av ansvarstagande för försörjningskedjans prestation, det vill säga hela försörjningskedjans prestationer gentemot slutkunderna, samtgraden av ömsesidigt, långsiktigt samarbete, det vill säga där företaget tillsammans med andra aktörer i försörjningskedjan utvecklar försörjningskedjans prestationer.För praktiker bidrar resultaten från detta projekt med nya insikter och perspektiv på hur företag bör tänka kring sin organisation av det globala inköpet. De ska fungera som en katalysator och inspiration för svenska handelsföretag som vill utveckla sin konkurrenskraft med hjälp av sitt globala inköp. Forskningsmässigt är globalt inköp i handelsföretag ett område som också fortsättningsvis är i behov av ny kunskap och utveckling. Den roll och betydelse som inköpsorganisationen har för konkurrenskraften förändras hela tiden och lär fortsätta göra det. Den snabba utvecklingen gör också att forskningen behöver hänga med: globalt inköp som forskningsobjekt behöver ständigt belysas med hjälp av nya teoretiska perspektiv och gamla sanningar behöver kontinuerligt utmanas och ifrågasättas. Ju mer global konkurrens inom handeln, desto viktigare blir frågan om hur det globala inköpet ska utformas.
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| 19. |
- Sandberg, Erik, 1978-, et al.
(författare)
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Logistikdriven Affärsutveckling
- 2019. - 1
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Bok (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- För att kunna möta nya utmaningar och tillvarata alla de möjligheter som ges av den allt intensivare digitaliseringen behöver näringslivet och samhället i stort förnyas. I ett sådant utvecklingsarbete blir logistikdriven affärsutveckling en viktig ledstjärna. Ökad flödesorientering bidrar till bättre lönsamhet och tillväxt, men också till att lösa större samhällsutmaningar i form av miljöpåverkan och social hållbarhet.I den här boken sätts logistiken in i ett strategiskt sammanhang där konkurrenskraft är i fokus, snarare än de traditionella logistiska måttstockarna kostnad, service och ledtid. Med det som grund diskuteras logistikutmaningar för fyra olika sektorer: detaljhandeln, industrin, transportbranschen och den offentliga sektorn. Författarna diskuterar även den högsta ledningens och styrelsens viktiga roller i logistikdriven affärsutveckling.Boken vänder sig såväl till studenter vid tekniska högskolor och handelshögskolor som till styrelser, företagsledningar och logistikansvariga i näringslivet och i offentlig sektor.
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| 20. |
- Sandberg, Erik, 1978-
(författare)
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The Role of Top Management in Supply Chain Management Practices
- 2007
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Supply chain management (SCM) has been discussed by researchers as well as business practitioners for more than two decades now, but still surprisingly little of this philosophy can be seen in today’s business practices. One important enabler for taking the SCM philosophy from theory into practice that is often mentioned, but not investigated in-depth, is top management support. The role top management plays in a company’s SCM practices could be an important piece of research that is not yet in place in the big SCM puzzle. The purpose of this dissertation is therefore to describe and explain the role of top management in a company’s supply chain management practices. The purpose is approached with the aid of two studies, where the second is partly built upon the findings from the first. The first study is an explorative, broad survey study aimed at investigating how companies’ SCM practices, here limited to include a focal company’s logistics collaboration with suppliers and customers, are performed. In the second study, which is an explanative, multiple case study, the role of top management is investigated more in detail.The empirical foundation for the survey study is a questionnaire that was constructed based on SCM literature. The questionnaire was sent in November 2004 to 482 logistics managers at Swedish manufacturing companies and a response rate of 177 usable questionnaires (37.8%) was achieved. Apart from purely descriptive statistics such as mean values, standard deviation and frequencies, other tests were used such as factor analysis, cluster analysis, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and cross tabulations with χ-square tests. The results are summarised into five major findings, concluding that (1) existing collaborations are mainly performed at an operational level in the companies, (2) there are differences in the focal company’s attitude and behaviour depending on if the collaboration partner is situated downstream or upstream in the supply chain, (3) increased intensity in the collaboration results in more positive effects, (4) top management involvement is an important driver for increased intensity of the collaboration, and (5) top management involvement in a dyadic collaboration is an important driver for increased collaboration with supply chain members on the other side of the focal company.The empirical basis for the multiple case study is three companies considered to be best practice within SCM. In total 15 focused, open-ended interviews with members of the top management teams were conducted during winter 2006-2007. All interviews were typed and transcribed, and objective case descriptions with citations were thereafter written. The analysis includes separate analysis of each case as well as cross case analysis. The SCM framework that was used in the first study was complemented with a framework on business strategy theory in the second study. More specifically, the analysis incorporates the positioning perspective, the resource based view, and Mintzberg’s view on the strategy formation process.The theoretical contribution of this dissertation is mainly given to the SCM field. In short, the results include a more thorough explanation of top management’s role in a company’s SCM practices. Six archetypes of this role are presented; the supply chain thinker, the frame setter, the process designer, the relationship manager, the controller, and the organiser for the future. Other implications for SCM literature being discussed in the conclusions are that (1) a systems approach should be considered separate from collaborative thinking, (2) the interdependencies in the investigated supply chains are mainly serial, (3) a systems approach is not the same as having a pure process orientation, (4) the responsibility for logistics issues is shared among members of the top management team, and (5) top management is not directly involved in the company’s distinctive logistics capabilities.
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| 21. |
- Segerstedt, Eugenia
(författare)
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Small town, big move : Constructions of place in transiting mining communities
- 2020
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The dissertation accounts for construction of place in mining communities as they undergo a major urban transformation. In the 2010s, urban centres in the northern Sweden mining communities of Gällivare and Kiruna entered a new execution phase of a large-scale transformation precipitated by ground subsidence caused by mining activities, a transformation that continues. The ambition to make the transition socially sustainable and contribute to more attractive communities resulted in research projects focused on these aspects.The aim of this dissertation is to describe and analyse how place is constructed in established mining communities in transition through the following research questions: How is place constructed in dialogues on social sustainability and attractiveness? How do people of different age groups, professions and gender construct place in established mining communities in transition? What are the possibilities and limitations of different research methods in relation to including residents’ perspectives in the transformation process? The overall theoretical standpoint of this dissertation is that place is socially constructed: place is made by people discussing and describing it, by discourses that are produced, reproduced and challenged in social groups beyond individual standpoints. Residents’ thoughts and ideas about place are an important part of what the communities are, were and will become, along with their reflexive relationship with their place of residence and thoughts on their own and other peoples’ future in the respective communities (See Lefebvre, 1991, Halegua, 2020). By reflexive relationship with place I am referring to actions where residents consider risk, think about their future, define what makes their life more meaningful and reflect upon changes in their environment; local community is one of the levels of these thoughts, attitudes and feelings.Five studies were conducted to investigate construction of place in the transiting mining communities of Kiruna and Gällivare using mixed methods: participatory action research in Living Labs, statistical logistics regression analysis, GIS 3D visualisation. This included an analytical review of research on established mining communities, a 3D visualisation of social issues in Gällivare, an analysis of Living Labs with residents of Gällivare and Kiruna as well as a group of commuters to Gällivare, a comparative study of three co-creative processes in Kiruna and a statistical analysis of construction of place in Kiruna over time.The results show that residents, while participating in dialogues on social sustainability and attractiveness, construct the transient communities through contradictory storylines. Bearing themes in construction of place were aggregated through the storylines that residents constructed and reproduced, expressed different attitudes towards and referenced. The established storylines with a long history, such as model community, a town constructed as a new establishment planned to be modern and inclusive; nature and the town, the theme of beautiful natural surroundings valued by residents and visitors, including the mountains, forest, rivers and lakes; big city elsewhere, a big city used in the construction of Kiruna and Gällivare to show what those places are not, as a counterpoint; the secure small town, the storyline of knowing “everyone”, spontaneously meeting, helping each other, were all used to re-establish the sense of stability and reframe the new environment by connecting it to the construction of the communities’ past. The storyline, the conditionally inclusive town, was used to question the character of and conditions for inclusion in the local interconnected context. The storylines of hope of a more inclusive and sustainable future and broken promises of a faster transformation, resulting in bigger changes, were used to process the change to imagined futures of place.There were certain patterns in how people of different age groups, professions and gender construct place in transiting communities. The main difference in the way men and women constructed Gällivare, according to 3D visualisation analysis, was that women were less content than men with the built environment, following similar geographical patterns. Construction of Kiruna as a place to live (or leave) over time has shown that while blue-collar workers were less prone than white-collar workers to consider leaving in 2011, there were no significant differences between social classes in 2016 in that regard. Generational patterns were similar - the younger the respondent, the more prone he or she is to consider leaving - but the gap between the youngest respondents and all other respondents has grown. The effect of social bonds that inhibit the will to move went from insignificant to visible for men and from significant to stronger for women. The hope of a transformed Kiruna, so ubiquitous in 2011, was much less pronounced in 2016.Different research methods had different potential in terms of the potential to understand construction of place and were thus included in the planning process: the statistical method gave representative patterns of factors behind whether residents consider leaving and how the patterns changed over time, but this method was limited in its ability to generate an understanding of the contextual meaning of those patterns, Living Labs provided the opportunity to see how place is constructed in dialogues but was limited in its ability to generate an understanding of preferences and individual standpoints, 3D visualisation provided spatial patterns beyond statistics and means for discussion and communication of those patterns with a broad variety of actors but had limited potential for their interpretation.
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| 22. |
- Sandberg, Erik, 1978-, et al.
(författare)
-
- 2022
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Ingår i: Global Business and Organizational Excellence. - : Peter Lang Publishing Group. - 1947-2587 .- 1932-2062. ; 41:2, s. 6-20
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A logistics learning capability based on an experimental “test-and-learn” approach holds the key to unlock logistics operations as a major competitive weapon in the current landscape of retailing. The purpose of this study is to empirically explore the characteristics of such a logistics learning capability, and to describe the corresponding logistics development practices. The research is based on an action research approach conducted at the Swedish fashion retailer H&M. During a period of 18 months, data has been collected through observations, informal discussions and interviews, and findings have been refined in two major cycles. The case of H&M offers insights into real existing learning and development practices at a retail company that operates in a highly competitive and complex retail landscape, characterized in particular by its process towards improved omni-channel practices. The findings elaborate the four logistics learning components of culture, structure, relationships, and speed. Furthermore, five of H&M's logistics development practices are described and defined as experimental logistics development. In contrast to traditional development processes in which analysis is followed by lengthy linear implementation and evaluation phases, these practices are characterized by an experimental, “test-and-learn” approach with short feedback loops and iterative development processes.
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