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- Eriksson, Maria, 1976-
(författare)
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Creating customer value in commercial experiences
- 2009
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- There is a type of business offering gaining much attention, both in the media and in financial figures, which provides the customer with something extra, something to be remembered. This offering is a commercial experience. It is claimed that commercial experiences are different from traditional industry and mass-production and even separated from goods and services. The possibility of creating something extraordinary in order to gain profit is of increasing interest in today’s business world. Consumers are seeking for experiences to reach a higher level of personal growth, an experience that create personal identity and lead to long-lasting memories. This is something an increasing amount of consumers are willing to pay money for - the commercial experience market. The purpose of this thesis is to contribute knowledge about and a deeper understanding of commercial experiences, both in general and especially with regard to how customer value is created. The focus of the research was also to strengthen and support organizations that offer commercial experiences. In order to fulfill the purpose, two case studies were conducted with different focal points. The first aimed to find best practice and explore excellent ways of working when providing commercial experiences. The second study aimed to identify the needs for improvement to strengthen organizations offering commercial experiences. According to my findings, there seems to be several distinctions between commercial experiences and goods and services. These include; the level of price, the time spent by the customer, the customer affect as strongly emotional and maybe most importantly, the finding that commercial experiences create a higher level of customer value than goods and services. All this proves that the commercial experience is to be considered an offering on its own, a refined customer offer of higher value. Since commercial experiences are said to engage customers in an inherently memorable way, reaching a higher level of customer value than goods and services, is seen as a critical factor. Understanding what the customer really wants, needs and what builds customer value when offering commercial experiences then become particularly important as drivers of success. When studying a particular organization for best practice, several similarities between providing commercial experiences and working according to the core values of TQM were found and established as a factor of business excellence. Further when it comes to providing commercial experiences storytelling, theming and a creative environment stood out as additional factors of business excellence. Moreover, selecting the right co-workers based on their values rather than merely their skills and academic qualifications was seen as an important factor of success. The co-worker is often the co-creator of the experience together with the customer and therefore has an important part to play in the organization. Creating a corporate culture with co-workers sharing the values is seen as essential in order to run a successful business. It appears that any type of organization can provide an experience for the customer, the key is adding on the extra value to reach the level of attractive quality. The commercial experience is described as deeply affecting both the feelings and senses of the customer, resulting in new memories; it is a memorable event the customer is willing to pay for. The commercial experience contains elements of engagement, personal relevance, novelty, surprise and learning and is not limited to certain types of businesses. The fact that this is an area of increasing business interest but as yet a poorly explored one indicates that there is a need to develop improved ways of working, tools and methods, tailor-made for providing commercial experiences. Improved tools for identifying customer expectations and measuring customer satisfaction are clearly needed, especially since this is a growing industry that cannot be ignored. Welcome to further explore the experience economy where new memories are so highly valued that people are prepared to pay for them!
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- Ingelsson, Pernilla, 1968-
(författare)
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How to create a commercial experience : Focus on Leadership, Values and Organizational Culture
- 2009
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- A new kind of commercial offer is on the rise, that of a commercial experience. It is said to be the next progression of value after a service and that it is distinct from a service in several ways, two important being a) the provider having to create something new or memorable to the customer, i.e. creating attractive quality, and b) the offer being a co-creation between the customer and the provider. Little has been written though about how creating a commercial experience can affect the way organizations should work. One of the areas that ought to be affected is the way organizations work to shape and coordinate co-workers and leaders behaviors by having a common set of values, or in other words a strong organizational culture. A number of studies show that the leaders in an organization have a strong influence on its culture while others show that working with Total Quality Management (TQM) can enhance the corporate values and lead to profitable organizations. The purpose of this thesis was to explore and contribute knowledge about how to create a commercial experience. The more specific purpose was to explore this area in relation to leadership, values, organizational culture and TQM. To fulfill these purposes two case studies were carried out with the intention of finding ways of working. The first focused on how a renowned organization that offers commercial experiences works and the second on organizations offering commercial experiences in the region of Jämtland. One conclusion drawn from the research is that methodologies and tools that aim directly to enhance the organization´s values and hence its culture might be of even more importance in organizations offering a commercial experience. It seems to be important to be aware that values need to be translated into behaviors to make them understandable in the organization. Storytelling is one tool that can be used as an enhancer of organizational culture, a tool that might be a fairly unrecognized for this purpose. It is also evident that the leadership practiced within the organization is crucial if a strong organizational culture is to be achieved. Further, strategies for selecting the right values appear to be important when trying to create a strong organizational culture - a strategy not so evident within TQM. This could be one area where TQM needs to be developed in order to support the creation of a commercial experience but also to implement TQM more effectively.
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- Sandvik Wiklund, Pia, et al.
(författare)
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Continuous improvement through company-collage collaboration
- 1997
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Ingår i: The 1997 learning edge conference. /von European Foundation for Quality Management.. - Brusseles : European Foundation for Quality Management.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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- Wiklund, Håkan, et al.
(författare)
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A collaboration concept for TQM implementation in small and medium sized enterprises
- 1999
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Ingår i: International Journal of Applied Quality Management. - 1096-4738 .- 1879-002X. ; 2:1, s. 101-115
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The article presents a concept to implement total quality management (TQM) in small and medium sized enterprises (SME) and is based on a yearlong collaboration between a college and local SME's. An annual course is developed and offered to both company participants and students who work together in project teams and in genuine projects at the companies. The course curriculum is presented and analyzed and the ability of the course to facilitate the companies' long-term quality strategies is discussed. The outcomes of the course, as reported by the companies, show that the collaboration has supported their long-term implementation of TQM.
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| 10. |
- Wiklund, Håkan, et al.
(författare)
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An active data acquisition system for real-time quality control
- 1997
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Ingår i: International Symposium on Manufacturing Technology - ISMT'97. - Millet, Alberta : ICSC Academic Press. - 3906454096 ; , s. 60-66
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Modern manufacturing processes characterized by short series, complex part geometry and high refinement values often demonstrate conditions when traditional quality control (QC) methods do not work properly. The paper presents a prototype system for real-time quality control based on statistical methods and computer intensive techniques. The developed methods and applications are integrated and post-process quality control is applied only to complement and for reference measurements. The proposed concept of real-time QC includes selection and pre-processing of sensor data, process model development, reliability improvement of process data, online verification of model adequacy and post-process evaluation of QC strategies. All these activities are supervised and fed with information from a developed active data acquisition system. For example, integration of correlated sensor information and use of pre-designed decision rules have been applied for online reliability evaluation of tool wear measurements and for immediate adjustment of improper data. The proposed concept contributes to bridging the gap between traditional post-process control and real-time quality control of machining processes. The presented experimental work has focused on process monitoring when strategies for implementing the above methods in quality control applications have been presented and successfully verified. The results obtained indicate the possibility of implementing the developed concept under practical work-shop conditions
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| 11. |
- Wiklund, Håkan, et al.
(författare)
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An Active Data Acquisition System for Real-Time Quality Control
- 1997
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Ingår i: WMC97 : World Manufacturing Congress : International Symposium on Manufacturing Technology : ISMT'97. - Millet, Alta : ICSC. - 3906454096 ; , s. 60-66
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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- Wiklund, Håkan, et al.
(författare)
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Innovation and TQM in Swedish higher education institutions - possibilities and pitfalls
- 2003
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Ingår i: TQM Magazine. - : Emerald. - 1754-2731 .- 0954-478X .- 1758-6887. ; 15:2, s. 99-107
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Emphasis on quality improvement has been one of the most characteristic features of higher education policy in Nordic and other European countries during the 1990s. In Sweden, the universities’ work with quality management has been evaluated for several years. In January 2001, the National Agency of Higher Education in Sweden introduced a new comprehensive system for quality assessment. The Swedish assessment system stresses that the assessment should have as a corner-stone the specific prerequisites for each university and subject, e.g. business administration and their development strategy. The comprehensive quality assessments of Swedish higher education institutions are discussed together with stimulating innovation and continuous improvement of higher education.
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| 26. |
- Wiklund, Håkan, et al.
(författare)
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Student focused design and iImprovement of university courses
- 1999
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Ingår i: Managing Service Quality. - : Emerald. - 0960-4529 .- 1758-8030. ; 9:6, s. 434-443
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Customer satisfaction has become a key factor in the strategic work of many universities towards the increasing competition regarding student recruitment. This paper presents a systematic approach to the course development process where focus is put on student atisfaction and learning. The approach consists of a combined usage of several methods, such as quality function deployment and conjoint analysis, that together transform student needs into quantified course attributes. In the paper, a two-semester graduate course has been developed where the combined usage of the applied methods has shown itself to be very powerful when designing services from student satisfaction and learning perspectives. The outcome of the study is a university course where pedagogical and learning aspects have been combined with contents and work approaches with substantial interest for the industry.
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| 29. |
- Wiklund, Håkan, et al.
(författare)
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Widening the Six Sigma concept : An approach to improve organisational learning
- 2002
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Ingår i: Total Quality Management. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0954-4127 .- 1360-0613. ; 13:2, s. 233-239
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Six Sigma has been established as an approach to improving organizational performance, and many manufacturing companies have reported on their successive work with Six Sigma programmes. Often, the focus of Six Sigma is put on only reducing defects and improving process capability. This paper discusses Six Sigma as a company-wide approach for organizational improvement incorporating organizational learning. Six Sigma programmes have been studied and the fundamental principles of organizational learning have been applied in order to improve the longterm implementation of the programmes. The paper also discusses factors associated with manufacturing work organization and leadership that are essential for improving organizational learning and for stimulating the competence development and motivation among personnel.
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| 31. |
- Agarwal, Prasoon
(författare)
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Regulation of Gene Expression in Multiple Myeloma Cells and Normal Fibroblasts : Integrative Bioinformatic and Experimental Approaches
- 2014
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The work presented in this thesis applies integrative genomic and experimental approaches to investigate mechanisms involved in regulation of gene expression in the context of disease and normal cell biology.In papers I and II, we have explored the role of epigenetic regulation of gene expression in multiple myeloma (MM). By using a bioinformatic approach we identified the Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) to be a common denominator for the underexpressed gene signature in MM. By using inhibitors of the PRC2 we showed an activation of the genes silenced by H3K27me3 and a reduction in the tumor load and increased overall survival in the in vivo 5TMM model. Using ChIP-sequencing we defined the distribution of H3K27me3 and H3K4me3 marks in MM patients cells. In an integrated bioinformatic approach, the H3K27me3-associated genes significantly correlated to under-expression in patients with less favorable survival. Thus, our data indicates the presence of a common under-expressed gene profile and provides a rationale for implementing new therapies focusing on epigenetic alterations in MM.In paper III we address the existence of a small cell population in MM presenting with differential tumorigenic properties in the 5T33MM murine model. We report that the predominant population of CD138+ cells had higher engraftment potential, higher clonogenic growth, whereas the CD138- MM cells presented with less mature phenotype and higher drug resistance. Our findings suggest that while designing treatment regimes for MM, both the cellpopulations must be targeted.In paper IV we have studied the general mechanism of differential gene expression regulation by CGGBP1 in response to growth signals in normal human fibroblasts. We found that CGGBP1 binding affects global gene expression by RNA Polymerase II. This is mediated by Alu RNAdependentinhibition of RNA Polymerase II. In presence of growth signals CGGBP1 is retained in the nuclei and exhibits enhanced Alu binding thus inhibiting RNA Polymerase III binding on Alus. Hence we suggest a mechanism by which CGGBP1 orchestrates Alu RNA-mediated regulation of RNA Polymerase II. This thesis provides new insights for using integrative bioinformatic approaches to decipher gene expression regulation mechanisms in MM and in normal cells.
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| 32. |
- Alenius Dahlqvist, Jenny, et al.
(författare)
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Heart rate variability in children with fontan circulation : lateral tunnel and extracardiac conduit
- 2012
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Ingår i: Pediatric Cardiology. - New York : Springer-Verlag New York. - 0172-0643 .- 1432-1971. ; 33:2, s. 307-315
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The technique in Fontan surgery has developed from the lateral tunnel (LT) toward the extracardiac conduit (EC) used to reduce long-term complications such as atrial arrhythmia and sinus node dysfunction. Heart rate variability (HRV) examines cardiac nervous activity controlling the sinus node. This study aimed to investigate HRV in a cohort of children with univentricular hearts, focusing on the relation between HRV and surgical procedure. For 112 children with Fontan circulation, HRV was analyzed using power spectral analysis. Spectral power was determined in three regions: very-low-frequency (VLF), low-frequency (LF), and high-frequency (HF) regions. Patients were compared with 66 healthy controls subject. Patients with LT were compared with patients who had EC. The children with Fontan circulation showed a significantly reduced HRV including total power (P < 0.0001), VLF (P < 0.0001), LF (P < 0.0001), and HF (P = 0.001) compared with the control subjects. The LT and EC patients did not differ significantly. Reduced HRV was found in both the LT and EC patients. In terms of HRV reduction, EC was not superior to LT.
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| 34. |
- Bartha, Erzsebet, et al.
(författare)
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Combining functional dependency and ASA III classification for risk stratification-predictors, risk factors, and outcomes following major surgery study (NCT02626546)
- 2017
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Ingår i: Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0001-5172 .- 1399-6576. ; 61:8, s. 1011-1011
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background: In elderly reclassification of ASA3 class by functional dependency improved prediction of postoperative mortality. We hypothesized that such a reclassification could improve the risk prediction of adverse outcomes also following high risk surgery.Method: We analyzed data collected by the PROFS study in four Swedish academic hospitals. The inclusion criteria were: adults, ASA≥3, major or xmajor/complex surgery (UK surgical severity coding). ASA 3 patients were reclassified into ASA 3a (functionally independent) and 3b (functionally dependent). The adverse outcomes were postoperative complications (yes/no) screened by Postoperative Morbidity Survey (days 3, 7, 10) and mortality (30-day). Complications graded ≥2 by Clavien-Dindo classification were considered. The predictive value of reclassification was analyzed by logistic regression models.Results: Between 2015 Nov2th and 2016 Feb19th 1089 patients were include; 13 were excluded (violation of inclusion criteria), 3 were lost to follow-up and 1073 were analyzed. ASA 3b (vs ASA 3a) patients had higher risk for mortality and for postoperative complications at days 7 and 10. ASA 4 (vs ASA 3) patients had higher risk of all adverse outcomes (Table 1). When age was added in the regression model ASA 3b patients still had higher risk for postoperative complications at day 10, but the significance disappeared when also urgency was added.Conclusion: The loss of significance by adding urgency in the model might be attributed to the dominance of urgent procedures in ASA3b and ASA4 groups. Reclassification of ASA 3 patients by dependency is recommended, as it may predict adverse outcomes and support clinical judgment.
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| 37. |
- Bäckström, Ingela, 1963-, et al.
(författare)
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Are healthy and successful organizations working accordingly to Quality Management?
- 2009
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Ingår i: International journal of workplace health management. - : Emerald. - 1753-8351 .- 1753-836X. ; 2:3, s. 245-257
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine if healthy and successful organizations are working accordingly to Quality Management. The purpose is also to describe in more detail how they are working. Methodology/Approach Three Swedish organizations that have shown excellence in leadership, internal partnership, working environment and profitability have been examined, to find out what methodologies they have used for their success. To discover whether these healthy and successful organizations are working accordingly to Quality Management, Deming’s 14-point list has been used as an analytical tool. Findings Identified methodologies used by the healthy and successful organizations are described. Viewed in the light of our analysis, a relationship between the three examined healthy and successful organizations and Quality Management is indicated. Practical implications Working with the methodologies described in the paper, the three organizations have improved co-worker health. Other organizations could probably adopt the identified and described methodologies to improve the health of their co-workers and effectiveness in the organization. Originality/value Concerning the performance evaluation and the continuous improvement component in Quality Management, substantial contributions could be made to the health area by applying the tools that the quality area have used over a considerable period to improve the quality outcomes. Quality and health aspects have common success factors, and a focus on high quality could be seen as positive for health outcomes.
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| 40. |
- Bäckström, Ingela, 1963-, et al.
(författare)
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Learning from chaos : a necessity for adapting quality management to the future?
- 2007
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The purpose of this paper is to describe the core leadership behavior in Change Oriented Leadership, the KaosPilots and Deming´s 14 points. Furthermore we aim to compare similarities and differences in these leadership behaviors, in order to propose new leadership behaviors within Quality Management to fit tomorrow´s more creativity based organizations. Methodology The research has been conducted through describing and comparing core leadership behaviors, in Change Oriented Leadership, KaosPilots and Deming´s 14-points. Findings Our comparison indicates that there are behaviors in the Change Oriented Leadership that are missing in Quality Management and probably would benefit organizations if they were adopted. The leadership that the KaosPilots addresses is different from the leadership in Quality Management in many ways but probably necessary to learn from to meet new demands from the customers and the co-workers. Originality/value Leadership within Quality Management developed with innovation and entrepreneurship from Change Oriented Leadership complimented with playfulness and chaos from the KaosPilots would most likely generate a more creative environment and thereby create more competitive organizations.
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| 41. |
- Bäckström, Ingela, 1963-, et al.
(författare)
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Learning from others to adapt Quality Management to the future
- 2011
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Ingår i: Total Quality Management and Business Excellence. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1478-3363 .- 1478-3371. ; 22:2, s. 187-196
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The purpose of this paper is to compare leadership behaviours from two different approaches with the leadership behaviours within Quality Management in order to find possible areas for developing leadership within Quality Management. A case study has been carried out at a Swedish award-winning organisation in order to study leadership behaviours. In-depth interviews have been carried out with the intention to explore how the manager has worked to become one of Sweden’s best workplaces. Leadership behaviours from three different approaches are summarised in ‘The Core Leadership Behaviours’. The analysis of the leadership methodologies and behaviours used by the leaders and the ‘Core Leadership Behaviours’ from the three different approaches has been summarized for each approach. The comparison indicates that there are interesting leadership behaviours in Change Oriented Leadership as well as in KaosPilots that are not established within Quality Management. The leadership behaviours could complement Quality Management to meet new and challenging demands from customers and co-workers
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| 42. |
- Bäckström, Ingela, et al.
(författare)
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Management methodologies for sustaniable health : a case study at three Swedish organisations
- 2005
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Quality Management for Organisational and Regional Development. ; , s. 703-712
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Good management and leadership are key-factors for sustainable development and long-term success in all types of organisations. Although, many organisations are still struggling with quality problems, sick absence and financial difficulties caused by poor top management. Many researchers have reported on relationships between good management and working environment, quality and efficiency. So the question is why god management is not practised to a larger extent? In this paper, management methodologies for sustainable health among employees, customer satisfaction and good bottom line results are explored by studying top leaders in three Swedish successful organisations. General questions dealt with in the paper are: How can managers commit employees to be part of the proactive work with sustainable health? And what methodologies can top managers use to get well-motivated employees, a good working environment, satisfied customers and good financial results? The studied organisations are two manufacturing companies and one hospital. The organisations have received national awards for their excellence in leadership, internal partnership, working environment and efficiency. They all demonstrate good examples of long-term work with sustainable health among employees which has decreased sick absence. Explorative qualitative methods have been used to identify management methodologies in the case organisations. The results confirm a relation between leadership and sustainable health. In all organisations sustainable leadership has been characterised by great humanity, a long-range perspective and a holistic view of management. These management methodologies with concrete examples have been described in the paper. The leadership has led to healthier organizations with more committed and satisfied employees, and the indicated relationships between sustainable leadership, improved health among employees, satisfied co-workers and bottom line results among the case organisations probably demonstrate a significant improvement potential for today's organizations.
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| 43. |
- Bäckström, Ingela, 1963-, et al.
(författare)
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Management methodologies for sustaniable health : A case study at three Swedish organisations
- 2005
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Quality Management for Organisational and Regional Development : QMOD 2005. - Luleå. ; , s. 703-712, s. 703-712
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Good management and leadership are key factors for sustainable development and long-term success in all types of organisations. Nevertheless, many organisations are still struggling with quality problems, sick ness absence and financial difficulties caused by poor top management. Many researchers have reported on relationships between good management and working environment, quality and efficiency. So the question is why good management is not practised to a greater extent. In this paper, management methodologies for sustainable health among employees and consequent customer satisfaction and good bottom line results are explored by studying top leaders in three Swedish successful organisations. General questions dealt with in the paper are: How can managers commit employees to be part of the proactive work with sustainable health? What methodologies can top managers use to get well-motivated employees, a good working environment, satisfied customers and good financial results? The studied organisations are two manufacturing companies and one hospital. The organisations have received national awards for their excellence in leadership, internal partnership, working environment and efficiency. They all demonstrate good examples of long-term work with sustainable health among employees which has decreased sick ness absence. Explorative qualitative methods have been used to identify management methodologies in the case organisations. The results confirm a relation between leadership and sustainable health. In all organisations sustainable leadership has been characterised by great humanity, a long-range perspective and a holistic view of management. These management methodologies with concrete examples are described in the paper.
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| 44. |
- Bäckström, Ingela, et al.
(författare)
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Measuring the Starting Points for a Lean Journey
- 2012
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Ingår i: 15 th QMOD conference. - Poznan : Agence Reklamova Comprint. - 9788389333469 ; , s. 146-156
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- AbstractPurpose –The purpose of this paper is to emphasize the importance of measuring the startingpoint of improvement work focusing on soft values and to present one way of measuring thestarting point of a Lean implementation. The purpose is also to describe the Leanimplementation planned within a municipal division and also to present their measuredstarting conditions.Methodology/approach –A literature study, with Lean implementation, measuring startingpoints for improvement work, soft values and the effects of the improvement work in focushas been carried out. Documents from the planned Lean implementation within a municipaldivision have been studied. To measure the conditions for the implementation a previouslyconducted measurement approach that measured health-related Quality Management was used.Findings –The paper contains an argument for the importance of measuring the effect of aLean implementation with a focus on soft values and measuring starting points. A descriptionof one planned Lean implementation within a municipal division and their starting conditionsare presented.Practical implications –To measure the conditions at the starting point of a Leanimplementation gives managers information to help them focus on important improvementareas. A description of a Lean implementation can help other organizations to plan theirimplementation.
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| 45. |
- Bäckström, Ingela, 1963-
(författare)
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On the Relationship between Sustainable Health and Quality Management : Leadership and organizational behaviours from Swedish organizations
- 2009
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Sickness absence not only causes significant costs for organizations but also leads to other negative consequences for individuals and societies. Previous research has shown that working with organizational values within Quality Management affects job satisfaction and results in increased profitability and customer satisfaction. There would, in addition, seem to be great gains if managers, by working with Quality Management, can manage to establish sustainable health among co-workers. The purpose of the research described in this thesis was to examine how Quality Management could be practised in order to support sustainable health among co-workers and what it is within Quality Management that influences sustainable co-worker health. Accordingly, the purpose was also to contribute to the understanding of the relation between sustainable health and Quality Management. To fulfil this purpose, three research questions were asked. The results are described in three parts related to the three research questions and are the product of six case studies carried out in seven different organizations. Interviews with managers and workshops with co-workers were carried out to investigate how Quality Management can be practised within organizations in order to promote sustainable co-worker health. These investigations took place in four organizations that had received awards. Three had been awarded for their excellence in leadership, work environment and co-workership, along with improved profitability; one for its successful implementation of quality programmes. The results are descriptions of methodologies, behaviours, values and organization structure used by the organizations to support sustainable health. These are exemplified with practical examples. The methodologies, behaviours, values, and organizational structure are considered possible for other organizations to adopt and all of them are already supported in the quality, management and leadership literature. Support from the health literature is also found for most of the behaviours, methodologies, values, and organizational structure. Surveys and focus groups interviews were carried out in five different organizations in order to find out what is of most importance when practising Quality Management in order to influence sustainable co-worker health. The results pointed to ‘Leadership Commitment’ as the most central of the values for achieving sustainable health among the co-workers. Furthermore, the values ‘Continuous Improvements’, ‘Participation of Everybody’ and ‘Customer Orientation’ were found to be related to sustainable health among the co-workers. The values ‘Leadership Commitment’ and the value ‘Participation of Everybody’ were then further elaborated to find aspects of importance for sustainable co-worker health. From the value ‘Leadership Commitment’ four aspects were extracted. These were labelled ‘Empathy’, ‘Presence and Communication’, ‘Integrity’, and ‘Continuity’. The results showed relations between the value ‘Leadership Commitment’ within Quality Management and sustainable health among the co-workers. Thus it is essential for leaders to work in accordance with that value to achieve results in the work towards sustainable co-worker health. The results indicate that this requires management and leadership that are characterized by the aspects above. The leaders have to: • Really understand the co-workers and their work situation. • Be present and available for co-workers and communicate with them. • Act as a role model, be fair and keep their promises. • Stay in their positions long enough to build up trust and confidence. The value ‘Participation of Everybody’ has also been shown to be related to sustainable health among the co-workers. This indicates that it is important to work in accordance with that value in the struggle to achieve sustainable health among the co-workers. The results imply that this value is characterized by the aspects ‘Development’, ‘Influence’ and ‘Being informed’. This could be done by: • Giving the co-workers opportunities to develop their skills and develop personally. • Letting the co-workers influence their work situation and taking suggestions and proposals from them seriously. • Having good communication within the whole organization. To manage this; the managers have to delegate more and empower the co-workers. These results were then further elaborated within another organization in order to develop a measurement approach that can clarify the extent to which the values, ‘Leadership Commitment’ and ‘Participation of Everybody’ permeate an organization. The developed measurement approach can be used to clarify the extent to which the organization is practising the health-promoting values within Quality Management and in what areas improvement is needed to increase co-worker health. The approach can also help the organization to detect those shortcomings within the management which are important for co-worker well-being. The developed measurement approach can be used to establish and enhance co-worker health by improving their well-being, satisfaction and motivation.
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| 46. |
- Bäckström, Ingela, 1963-
(författare)
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Quality Management for Sustainable Health : Methodologies, Values and Practices taken from Swedish Organizations
- 2006
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In many Western countries today, not least in Sweden, there are a lot of organizations that have great problems with sickness absence. The costs connected to the high rates of sickness absence have also risen to alarming levels. Healthy co-workers and healthy organizations are obvious goals for many leaders, but this is not always so easy to establish. Work practices and leadership that are beneficial to co-worker health are thus vital to identify. Studies have shown relationships between company-wide implementation of quality programs and improved co-worker satisfaction along with low co-worker turn over; in other words, co-worker health along with improved customer satisfaction and financial results. Despite the great problems concerning sickness absence, there are organizations that have been awarded prizes for excellence in leadership, internal partnership, working environment, and profitability. The overall purposes of the research described in this thesis are to examine and describe how management and leadership can establish sustainable health among the co-workers and examine how the leadership for sustainable health is related to Quality Management. The in-depth purpose is to examine which aspects within the values derived from the quality movement are those that primarily influence the co-workers’ perceived health. The results presented can be described in three parts and are results from four case studies carried out in five different organizations. Three of the organizations have received awards for establishing good working environment, good financial results, and low sick leaves among their co-workers; the fourth received an award for the successful implementation of quality programs. The first part consists of results from case studies in three different organizations and describes how organizations can work to achieve sustainable health among their co-workers, with practical examples. The results are methodologies, values and organizational structure, which it is considered possible for other organizations to adopt in their efforts to achieve good working conditions resulting in fewer sick leaves. The second part is an attempt to investigate if leadership for sustainable health is related to Quality Management. Methodologies, leadership values, organizational structure, and general values found in organizations which have achieved sustainable health are analyzed in the light of Deming’s 14 points, and a correlation is indicated. There is also correlation found between the TQM values and the co-workers’ perception of their health. The third part examines which of the aspects within the values grown from the quality movement are those that influence the co-workers perceived health. The results show significant correlation between the values and the co-workers’ perception of their health. Aspects found within the value “Top management commitment” were named; Empathy, Presence and Communication, Integrity, and Continuity. Within the value “Let everybody be committed” the aspects; Development, Influence and Being informed were found. These aspects are described in more detail and also in one model per value. The result implies that the TQM values; “Top management commitment”, “Improve continuously” “Let everybody be Committed” and “Focus on customers” are important for achieving healthy organizations and sustainable health among co-workers.
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| 47. |
- Bäckström, Mikael, et al.
(författare)
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A step towards integrated supervisory control of complex machining processes
- 1998
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Ingår i: Changing the ways we work : shaping the ICT-solutions for the next century : proceedings of the Conference on Integration in Manufacturing, Göteborg, Sweden, 6-8 October 1998. - Amsterdam : IOS press. - 9051994265 ; , s. 817-
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)
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| 48. |
- Bäckström, Mikael, et al.
(författare)
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An approach to integrated process monitoring and quality control of advanced machining
- 1999
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Ingår i: Life cycle approaches to production systems : management, control, and supervision; preprints; ASI '99; Advanced Summer Institute '99, ICIMS-NOE; September 22 - 24, 1999, Leuven, Belgium. - Leuven, Belgien. ; , s. 150-
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)
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| 49. |
- Bäckström, Mikael, 1963-, et al.
(författare)
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Critical Factors Influencing Loss of Time after Shooting - A Case Study Performed During the 2008 IBU Biathlon World Championships
- 2009
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Ingår i: The Impact of Technology on Sport III. - 9781921426391 ; , s. 33-37
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The final result during a biathlon race is a composition of skiing, shooting and in some cases penalty time or rounds. One of the most decisive parts of the competition is the shooting component. The shooting component itself can be subdivided into separate parts: Actions just before shooting, the shooting itself and actions after the shooting. In the case of a slow approach to the firing line partially caused by dismounting of ski poles, time loss is tactically accepted by some skiers – heart rate decreases and a mental focus can be obtained. A slow departure from the firing line and the subsequent loss of time is on the contrary absolutely not desirable. A part of the lost time after shooting is observed to be related to mounting the ski poles. Modern ski poles can be divided into three groups of strap systems: 1. Simple loop; 2. Strap with Velcro fastener; 3. Click-in (typically Leki). The paper presents a case study aimed at finding how the ski pole strapping system influences time loss after shooting. The study was performed during the IBU Biathlon World Championship 2008 in Östersund, Sweden. Time measurements were made over a defined distance allowing the athletes to approach cruising speed after the last shot in a series. The measurements for each athlete have been normalized relative his/her racing performance. The results clearly indicate time differences between strap systems. In some cases the differences could mean achieving podium place or not.
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| 50. |
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