| 1. |
- Palm, Klas, 1964-, et al.
(författare)
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From Reducing to Dynamically Managing Operational Deviations in the Service Sector : Towards Integrating Quality and Innovation Management in Practice by Ambidextrous Deviation Management (ADM)
- 2014
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Purpose Defining “quality” as being inversely proportional to variability, and “quality improvements” as being the reduction of variability in processes and products, might now be a thing of the past. Even so, the history of the quality movement, with its strong focus on the elimination of deviations, continues to influence the thought and practice of modern quality management. However, we believe it is time for a more profound approach in both thought and practice when it comes to deviations, and especially when it comes to operational deviations in the service sector. Deviation does not per se have to be a foe, in some cases it is, on the contrary, a constructive friend. In fact, current research on organizational ambidexterity shows that long-term survival requires the ability to simultaneously exploit and explore. The organizations of the future hence need the ability to both dynamically reduce and at the same time increase deviations: the challenge is to know when to repress and when to encourage deviation. Something which is referred to here as ambidextrous deviation management.The aim of this paper is to elaborate conceptually and practically on the subject of how exploitation (being the traditional focus on quality management) and exploration (being a traditional focus of innovation management) could be integrated into the management of deviations and operations within service organizations.Value of the Paper The paper presents insights concerning how the need for organizational ambidexterity could be met by various approaches for dynamically managing and encouraging operational deviations in the service sector.
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| 2. |
- Palm, Klas, et al.
(författare)
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Towards Improving InnovAbility : Elaborating on the Ability to Measure Innovation Quality in Service Organizations
- 2012
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Ingår i: Electronic Proceedings of the 15th QMOD Conference. - : Comprint. - 9788389333469
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- PurposeA frequent topic in quality management initiatives is measurement. The old saying “you get what you measure” is then used to reinforce interest in measurement. With this rhetoric, it isargued that proper measurement is a prerequisite for an organization’s ability to continuously improve. Simply put, without understanding “where you are”, and later “what you got“ as a result of your interventions, it is difficult to learn. In other words, you become unable to complete the improvement cycle, generally known as the PDCA-cycle (Plan, Do, Check, Act). This general logic of organizational learning is hard to argue against. It also illustrates the critical importance of finding “the right” organizational measurements that capture the quality of the desired result. So what measurements and evaluation tools should be used for improving one of the most essential activities of an organization, the activity known as innovation? That is a question asked in the service industry today, and the question of interest in this paper. More specifically, this paper aims to contribute knowledge about and new perspectives on the measurement of innovation quality in service organizations.Methodology/ApproachThe paper is based on a literature review of the phenomenon of innovation quality in combination with an empirical study of public officials’ and managers’ perception and definition of innovation quality. The methodological approach for the empirical study is qualitative and carried out in the form of a desk review and interviews with staff at the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida) head office and at Swedish embassiesabroad.FindingsThe planning of monitoring and evaluation of the innovation process has to be done early in the innovation process. By defining the concept of innovation and the development of three types of quality indicators, innovation can be evaluated. Concepts and indicators have to bedesigned in context. It is not possible to rely on ready-made definitions. By following a five-step model in the cyclic process of measuring innovation quality, the PDCA cycle will be accomplished and the conditions for InnovAbility will improve.Value of the PaperThe paper contributes to the understanding of how innovation quality can be measured, andthereby how the ability to innovate (InnovAbility) can be improved, in service organizations.
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| 3. |
- Palm, Klas, 1964-
(författare)
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Understanding Innovation as an Approach to Increasing Customer Value in the Context of the Public Sector
- 2014
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- We live in a society that is constantly developing. New challenges and new opportunities emerge all the time. Fortunately, human beings have a fantastic ability to adapt and find new solutions in new situations, i.e. to be innovative. Not just individuals but also organizations need to make room for innovative development. Organizations need to work on how to develop new products, services and processes. At the same time, each organization needs to work on improving the quality of existing activities. Previous research has shown that high value for the customer, i.e. that which often constitutes the goal of quality work, is achieved by the organization working in parallel on developing existing products, services and processes while at the same time driving innovative development forward. How organizations cope with the balance between these two perspectives has been researched and written about considerably when it comes to manufacturing companies. On the other hand, however, there is a lack of documented knowledge regarding how best to balance these two perspectives in the service sector in general and the public sector in particular. This thesis has been written with a view to contributing to existing knowledge about how innovation can be understood as a possible way of increasing customer value within the public sector. It seeks to create insight into how innovation is perceived as a phenomenon in order to increase value for the customer and into how innovation work relates to other aspects of current quality practices within the Swedish public sector. It has also been written with a view to contributing greater understanding to how some of the quality movement’s tools can increase innovation capacity in the public sector. To fulfil this aim, a literature study and case studies have been performed. The case studies have been performed in Sweden at Lantmäteriet (Swedish Land Survey) and The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, (Sida). One of the case studies also included the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Swedish Government. Three research reports have been written between 2012 and 2014, and these form the basis of the thesis. The research findings give examples of organizations whose quality work focuses closely on systematic measurement and control of the work process and much less on innovatively developing new ways of increase customer value. The findings also show that there are a number of obstacles which the public administrations studied face to combine quality work with a greater ability to work innovatively. Given that innovative development is an important strategy for increasing customer value, the study indicates that some of the existing quality work is an obstacle to achieving greater customer value in the public sector. At the same time, there are tools and values in the quality movement that can improve the organization’s ability to innovate. The quality movement’s core values and tools, such as systematic cyclical learning, can constitute important tools with which to create favourable conditions to improve innovative ability. This underlines the need for identifying where quality work strengthens and hinders innovation processes respectively. The research findings also stress the need to radically improve the work on innovative processes in the public sector in order to achieve the overarching goals of public administration more effectively.
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| 4. |
- Staron, Miroslaw, 1977, et al.
(författare)
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Release Readiness Indicator for Mature Agile and Lean Software Development Projects
- 2012
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Ingår i: Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing. ; 111:3, s. 93-107
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Large companies like Ericsson increasingly often adopt the principles of Agile and Lean software development and develop large software products in iterative manner – in order to quickly respond to customer needs. In this paper we present the main indicator which is sufficient for a mature software development organization in order to predict the time in weeks to release the product. In our research project we collaborated closely with a large Agile+Lean software development project at Ericsson in Sweden. This large and mature software development project and organization has found this main indicator – release readiness – to be so important that it was used as a key performance indicator and is used in controlling the development of the product and improving organizational performance. The indicator was developed and validated in an action research project at one of the units of Ericsson AB in Sweden in one of its largest projects.
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| 5. |
- Sundin, Ebba, 1961-, et al.
(författare)
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News literacy among pre-teenagers:CESEM, a Swedish pilot study
- 2010
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- A great part of today's research projects about children and media literacy are focused on new communication technologies but this project focus on how children make use of news stories in the traditional formats of newspapers and TV. The aim is to present a Swedish pilot study about processes in producing news. The pilot, CESEM, was set up during spring 2010 and five girls aged 9 and 12 years from to schools were given the task to select local news from one week's issues of the local newspaper and decide on six news stories to present as TV news. The process from selecting news stories to the presentation in their own news show has been analyzed in this pilot.
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| 6. |
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