| 1. |
- Aldin, Niklas, 1974-
(författare)
-
The strategic interplay between logistics and market development : and the influence of electronic commerce
- 2002
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The overall purpose of this study is to describe and analyze how logistics and market development interplay. In order to do this the research topics are to analyze what the requirements on logistics are from a changing marketing strategy, as expansion or changed customer focus, and how logistics may support continued market development. This is particularly interesting when the business environment is changing. Within the research topics Internet-based electronic commerce is given attention, firstly as a marketing channel sensitive to business changes and secondly as an integrated part of marketing and logistics development. In all parts of the study, the choice of processes, structures and organizations of logistics have been in focus, here labelled logistics.The study consists of three parts and a cover. The cover synthesizes and summarizes the parts - one case study and two journal papers. The case study is a study over time of a medium-sized Swedish distributor selling tools and machinery to Nordic industrial sectors and the Baltic States. The distributor has gone through a change in marketing strategy and implemented an electronic commerce portal, which makes it interesting to study. In the journal papers the research topics are further elaborated and analyzed. The first journal paper focuses on the requirements, and the second paper on the contributions created, even though they overlap. In both parts electronic commerce has been considered an important element. In-depth interviews have been performed in the main case study object but also in two other distributors concerning electronic commerce possibilities. The case study describes the development of the case considering changes in marketing, logistics and electronic commerce strategy. It shows how the case company goes through a strategic change that involves expansion, the use of electronic commerce and changed logistics processes, structures and organizations. In journal paper one the market channel possibilities are analyzed for the case and how these require changes in logistics. It is concluded that with an increased environmental insecurity the need of strategic flexibility increases in new marketing channels and as a consequence the need for a centralized logistics organization. In journal paper two is the electronic commerce support for market and logistics development analyzed for three different distributors. It is concluded that electronic commerce efforts need to start at an activity level, but constantly widen the scope. A stepwise approach is outlined that combines market repositioning and logistics refinement. Support for how electronic commerce contributes to market and logistics development is found.This study supports previous research that claims that organizational integration between logistics and marketing is important. In a changing business environment organizational issues become the main focus in logistics. The need for centralized responsibility to tackle new and changing market requirements is outlined as essential in combination with a greater amount of internal collaboration through informal communication. In this study, the organization of logistics has been argued to have a decisive impact on the ability to find the best strategies that integrate logistics and marketing. Therefore organizational issues precede process and structural change. Electronic commerce and structural change become parts of a strategy to adapt to a continuously changing business.Electronic commerce, logistics process, organizational and structural development contribute to marketing development in different ways by combining cost, service and flexibility in logistics. The stepwise approach signals that to come further with electronic commerce, different lines of action in logistics are needed, such as process streamlining to create better co-ordination and customer service or structural change to further expand the market. Accordingly, different logistics strategies are adaptable to different marketing strategies. However, a centralized logistics organization is argued to be a pre-requisite to become strategic flexible for new marketing strategies and being able to create the necessary interplay between marketing and logistics.
|
|
| 2. |
- Antoni, Marc, 1971-
(författare)
-
Inter-project learning : a quality perspective
- 2000
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The development of most sectors in Western economies goes towards a more flexible, project-oriented way of doing business. However, the vast majority of projects exceed their planned budget in terms of time, financial resources and other resources. In companies, which organize work in the form of projects, reinventions of the wheel can also often be observed. One reason for problems of project management is learning deficiencies. Most projects have repetitive components, which make an institutionalization of them useful. However, any formalization should be seen in a balanced relation to the renewal potential of projects.The research presented in this thesis aims to gain insight into enabling factors of Inter-Project Learning. This aim is pursued via theoretical literature studies and the study of organizations. The thesis consists of a frame and four papers covering different aspects of Inter-Project Learning. The areas discussed in the frame and the papers are Project Management, Profound Knowledge. Organizational Learning and Process Management.In the literature it was found that Inter-Project Learning is usually not planned for, which is supported by empirical evidence. Inter-Project Learning activities partly gave the impression of being seen as pleasant side effects. A central challenge for Inter-Project Learning is the understanding and perception of time in projects, since members of a temporary organization have partly other goals than members of the permanent parental organization. Deming's concept of Profound Knowledge was found to be one useful way of achieving a better understanding of the problems surrounding Inter-Project Learning.Experience from projects can be preserved in a process organization supporting Inter-Project Learning. However, it was found that the relation between both project and process organization, as well as between project manager and process owner, in practice is often unclear, which can lead to problems.Furthermore. a distinction of forms supporting Inter-Project Learning in codification and personalization forms was found to be convenient. These should not be understood as mutually exclusive approaches, but rather as a choice of emphasis. Empirical data suggest that the choice of emphasis is not a static one, but can shift over time.Apart of the findings have been combined in a tentative model for InterProject Learning, which shall function as a basis for further discussion. improvement and research.
|
|
| 3. |
- Antoni, Marc
(författare)
-
Learning between projects : - in product development contexts -
- 2002
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- A project is often formed with the intention to bring forth a deliverable within a certain time frame. This goal-focus however may lead to suboptimizations on the organizational level. At the same time projects more often than not underperform in a number of aspects, with an especially huge gap in the learning aspect.Thus the research questions addressed in this work concern what is done in organizations to foster organizational learning in project-based contexts, how different actions arc implemented and how the relation between the project and the functional organization affects organizational learning. Deming' s profound knowledge structure has been used to structure the theoretical aspects.It was found that learning in a project context is not a typical activity and needs to be organized for. The reinvention of the wheel still remains a major, unsolved problem for organizations that develop their products via projects. That is partly due to the fact that a project is a natural forum for learning new things. but not a natural forum for learning from past experience. A central finding of this work is that a systems perspective is necessary in project management contexts. Categories related to learning that have been identified are a category relating to documented knowledge, a category relating to learning in personal interaction and a category regarding organizational aspects.Regarding documented knowledge it was found that among practitioners there seems to be an unjustified belief in the ability of documents to solve learning problems of projects. Personal interaction was found to be an effective way for learning, but the risk of information overload by meetings is considerable. Bounded rationality seems to play an important role. As conflicting value systems meet. The forward-orientation, action-focus of projects meets with the long-time perspective of organizational learning.Important elements when researching learning between projects are amongst others feedback, learning incentives. modularization, location of project team members. organizational size, inter-project competition, full-time project managers and the formulation of a learning mandate for the project.
|
|
| 4. |
- Askenäs, Linda, 1972-
(författare)
-
Affärssystemet : en studie om teknikens aktiva och passiva roll i en organisation
- 2000
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Denna studie handlar om användning av affärssystem och hur det påverkar organiseringen i ett företag. Studien är retrospektiv och omfattar en tidsperiod på ett decennium och den är gjord på ett ABB bolag. Fokus har varit på divisionens interna verksamhet och de på förändringar som skett under tiden. Studien aktualiserar vikten av att se användningen av ett affärssystem som en del av organiseringsprocessen. I organiseringsprocessen möts individer, struktur och teknik i ett dualistiskt samspel. Utfallet bestäms utifrån vilken av individen, strukturen eller tekniken som just då har drivkraften. I empirin har det framkommit fem olika mönster för hur detta möte sker, där tekniken erhåller olika grad av aktiv eller passiv påverkan. Dessa mönster har studerats och tolkats utifrån metaforiska begrepp, där tekniken har setts som en aktör i organiseringsprocessen. Beroende på hur individer förhåller sig till och hanterar affärssystemet tilldelas det olika roller i organisationen. Den mest aktiva rollen är manipulatör rollen, där affärssystemet påverkar individerna mot deras egna intressen. Byråkratrollen påverkar organisationen genom att den upprätthåller strukturen såsom individerna har beslutat. Konsultrollen har inte en lika aktiv påverkan på individerna, utan möjliggör snarare olika arbetssätt för individerna. En mer passiv roll tilldelas affärssystemet i rollen som administratör, där affärssystemet enbart administrerar informationen åt individerna. Den mest passiva påverkan från affärssystemet är då det inte används alls, i permittentrollen. Att framgångsrikt använda sig av ett affärssystem innebär att individerna aktivt och medvetet tilldelar tekniken en roll. För att kunna göra det behövs en förståelse för hur individerna upplever användningen och hur användningen av tekniken överensstämmer med strukturen.
|
|
| 5. |
- Askenäs, Linda, 1972-
(författare)
-
The roles of IT : studies of organising when implementing and using enterprise systems
- 2004
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This study concerns implementation and use of enterprise systems (ERP systems) in complex organisations. The purpose of this thesis is to problematise and understand the social organising of information technology in organisations, by studying the implementation and use of enterprise system. This is done by using a multi-theoretical perspective and studying cases of complex organisations with a qualitative and interpretive research method.The study manages to give a more profound understanding of the roles of the technology. It is found that the enterprise systems act as Bureaucrat, Manipulator, Administrative assistant, Consultant or is dismissed, in the sense that intended users chose to avoid using them. These roles of information technology are formed in a rather complex organising process. A Structuration Theory Analytical Model and Procedure (STAMP) is developed, that serves to illuminate the dynamic relationships of individuals' or groups' interpretations, power and norms and how that affects the implementation and use of enterprise systems. The roles were also found to be different for individuals in similar work conditions. This was due to how they learned their job, what understanding of the job they developed, and what competences they developed. The different kinds of competences found, requested different support from the technology and it also made the individuals take a different approach towards how to use the technology. The study also explores why emotions appear and what they affect, and identifies patterns of emotions and emotional transitions that appear during implementation and use of an enterprise system.The social aspect of using technology is in focus in this thesis. And thus, the technology is not just a tool to make excellent use of; it becomes something more - an actor with different roles. The main contribution is the development of a language and an approach to how to understand the use and implementation of enterprise systems.
|
|
| 6. |
- Bengtsson, Jens, 1973-
(författare)
-
Essays on valuation of manufacturing flexibility : an option-pricing theory approach
- 2000
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Flexibility in manufacturing operations is becoming increasingly more important to industrial firms due to e.g. increasing product demand volatility, internationalisation of markets and competition, and shorter product life cycles. Flexibility is hard to evaluate in the traditional way by discounting expected cash flow, but an accessible approach is to consider flexibility as real options and use option-pricing theory. The general purpose of this thesis is to analyse and increase the understanding of product-mix flexibility by using option pricing. Employing option pricing enables a number of flexibility related issues to be analysed. From a manufacturing point of view aspects such as the impact of capacity levels, degree of flexibility in the manufacturing process, and characteristics of product demand are analysed. From a financial point of view aspects such as the impact of correlation between product demand and the market portfolio, and the impact of mean-reverting processes are analysed. The manufacturing contexts are characterised by set-up costs, capacity constraints, and in the presence of several products.
|
|
| 7. |
- Berglund, Magnus, 1968-
(författare)
-
Strategic Positioning of the Emerging Third-Party Logistics Providers
- 2000
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The dissertation deals with the so-called Third-Party logistics Provider (TPLP) with the purpose of explaining strategic positions of the emerging TPLPs. The development of Third-Party Logistics (TPL) can be said to have occurred during the last 15 - 20 years and have created a new kind of service, i.e. the management and execution of logistics process. These services have created a new market and consequently a new type of service provideris emerging. These service providers predominantly originate from traditional offerings in the logistics area, e.g.transportation and warehousing activities. However, previous works on TPL have neglected the provider's situation especially by not explicitly recognizing the shifts from single activity services to comprehensive and coordinated multiple activity offerings and from a functional support orientation to a process approach.Strategic positioning is an established perspective on strategy, but the use varies considerably. In this dissertation strategic positioning is connected to how TPLPs create value for their clients which links positioning to skills or capabilities. Furthermore, the position is regarded as a result of the fit between activities, resources and strategic positioning. This theoretical frame of reference, based on strategic positioning and value creation for service organizations, is new in the literature on TPL. The general methodological approach of the study is alternation between empirical findings and theoretical analyses in a stepwise pattern. Since the organizations studied had not been theoretically analyzed before, empirical observations were instrumental in describing the novel phenomena. The empirical foundation of the dissertation is two studies executed during 1996-7 and 1998-9. The first study contains 21 Australian, European, and North-American TPLPs. The second study is based on 53 European TPL buyers. Both studies used a combination of questionnaires and interviews for collecting data of both quantitative and qualitative character. The empirical analysis is best described as a qualitative approach supported by statistical techniques whenever possible.The dissertation presents a comprehensive empirical description of the current status and anticipated change of both the TPLPs and their customers. The main contribution of this dissertation is however: tools for describing TPLPs, a model of the value system that connects providers and buyers of TPL, and a position model for TPLPs. The conclusions of this dissertation include that the TPL industry shows signs of strategic differentiation along the two strategic dimensions operational vs. conceptual focus and range of activities. Of these two the operational vs. conceptual focus is strong enough to promote as a position model, with the main positions standard services and solutions. A hypothesis is proposed that states that the strategic position of the TPLPs depends on which set of value creation modes they use, which results in differences in the required capabilities, skills and resources. In short the standard service providers should focus on operations whereas the solution ones needs exceptional conceptual skills in analyzing logistics requirements and developing solutions. The results should however be considered as hypotheses due to the research design used and thus need further empirical testing which is suggested as important future research.
|
|
| 8. |
- Blomvall, Jörgen, 1974-
(författare)
-
Optimization of Financial Decisions using a new Stochastic Programming Method
- 2001
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The topics of this dissertation are the development of a new Stochastic Programming method and the application of Stochastic Programming in finance. Stochastic Programming is an area within Operations Research that has grown considerably over the last ten years. With new Stochastic Programming methods and more computer resources, Stochastic Programming has become a tool that at least for the moment foremost is used in the financial area. The first contribution in the dissertation is an extensive test of how well one could manage an option portfolio with optimization. When the investment strategy is back tested over a ten year period, the achieved return is much higher than the index even when the increased risk is considered. The second contribution is a new method to solve Stochastic Programming problems. The approach builds on a primal interior point approach. It shows that the resulting subproblems can be efficiently solved with Dynamic Programming. With a parallel implementation of the algorithm we manage to solve very large scale optimization problems with up to 5.8 million scenarios, 102 million variables and 290 million constraints in 80 minutes.
|
|
| 9. |
- Bröte, Staffan, 1971-
(författare)
-
Towards market driven manufacturing systems design
- 2002
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Few companies can compete on price/cost alone. With increasing customer expectations alternative ways of adding value is desirable. One way to diverge from competitors is to select a market or market segment in which to compete. Criteria for focusing on a specific market segment are the attractiveness of certain markets, and companies' ability to meet the demand of different market segments. Strategy can be seen as problem solving within a competitive environment. The use of strategy is a way of seeking to increase market share. Designing a manufacturing system supporting a certain strategy contributes to a company's competitiveness. The objective of this dissertation is to develop an approach for linking manufacturing system design to customer demand, through manufacturing strategy.Axiomatic design is in this thesis chosen as a tool to structure the linkages between strategy and manufacturing system design. The starting point is to analyze an existing framework that is based on the principles of axiomatic design. This framework, the Production System Design and Deployment framework, is analyzed from both a design perspective and a manufacturing strategy perspective. As a second step, a design perspective is applied to manufacturing strategy. The possibility to apply a design perspective to strategy creation/planning is analyzed. Further, axiomatic design is used to link manufacturing strategy to the manufacturing system design.An axiomatic design approach to the design of manufacturing strategy is presented. The approach consists of three domains. The first domain represents the market demands. The second domain represents the manufacturing strategies designed to meet the market demands in the first domain. In the third domain variables of the manufacturing system design is represented.When designing a manufacturing strategy based on axiomatic design, the manufacturing strategy becomes linked to customer demands. Further, the presented approach link manufacturing system design to the designed manufacturing strategies, thereby supporting linkages between system design and market demands.The use of axiomatic design in the approach has several advantages. It highlights the relationships and linkages between different goals, strategies and process variables. Another advantage is the way in which the design principles guide the designer in achieving an acceptable solution.
|
|
| 10. |
- Elg, Mattias, 1968-
(författare)
-
Performance measures and managerial work : a modified behavior setting approach to the study of usage of performance measures in managerial meetings
- 2001
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The application of different technologies in managerial work has received widespread attention among both academics and practitioners. Performance measures constitute one such technology related to planning, coordination, control and improvement of organizational activities. What kind of significance do performance measures have in their usage in managerial work? This study focuses on the various social, material, temporal and spatial resources of usage of performance measures; the activities taking place within meetings where performance measures are being used, and the significance of performance measures in the coordination of units within a hierarchical organization.The usage of performance measures is conceptualized by a modified version of behavior setting theory, which was originally developed by the psychologist Roger Barker and his research group. A behavior setting can be seen as a small-scale social system whose components include people and physical objects. This social system is guided by its setting program; the goal and the sequentially ordered activities. To fulfil the requirements of the focus in the present study, a setting program must partly consist of activities devoted to the usage of performance measures.The empirical study encompasses observations from managerial meetings (selected by a formal procedure) within various hierarchical levels of a manufacturer of complex industrial products. Some of the themes highlighted in this study are: I) the social, material and temporal environment of managerial work influencing the usage of performance measures; 2) that the usage of performance measures is mainly a reflective activity emerging from the organizational history; 3) that linkages between hierarchical levels, such as leadership and population overlapping as well as performance measure overlapping, both limit and enable coordination; and 4) that performance measures within the studied context constitute an important role in creating knowledge about organizational activity.
|
|
| 11. |
- Enberg (f.d Frohm), Cecilia, 1976-
(författare)
-
Collective competence in an interdisciplinary project context
- 2002
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- An increasing number of articles in management journals has recognised knowledge as being the organisation's prime resource, and particular interest has been given to the ways in which knowledge is managed by organisations in order to stay competitive. Management of knowledge incorporates aspects related to the question of how to co-ordinate knowledge held by highly specialised individuals and projects are often considered to be a solution to this problem of coordinating different knowledge bases. Therefore, this study, exploring the processes involved in the establishment and maintenance of collective competence, is undertaken in the context of an interdisciplinary development project. Learning processes in highly constrained projects are also explored.The findings suggest that collective competence is reached from the basis of two different logics, an interacting logic and an interrelating logic, each associated with a number of different processes. These processes make possible the creation of a representation of the context that forms the basis of each individual's contribution to project work.
|
|
| 12. |
- Engevall, Stefan, 1966-
(författare)
-
Cost allocation in some routing problems : a game theoretic approach
- 2002
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In many situations a set of decision makers have the opportunity to cooperate. In this way they may reduce the total cost for satisfying their objectives. However, the reduction of cost is often not enough to motivate cooperation. The problem of how to divide the total cost (or gain) among the decision makers must also be solved.This thesis include the modeling of cost allocation problems related to some routing problems. The cost allocation problems are formulated as cooperative games and we compute cost allocations based on concepts from cooperative game theory, such as the core and the nucleolus. 'We illustrate the problems using real-life data from Norsk Hydro. We consider how to divide the cost of an optimal traveling salesman tour among the customers that were served on a tour, and how to divide the cost of au optimal solution to a vehicle routing problem with a heterogeneous fleet among the customers served. These problems are formulated as a traveling salesman game and a vehicle routing game, respectively. For these games, we present procedures based on constraint generation to decide if the core is empty or not, and to compute the nucleolus.One subproblem in the constraint generation procedures is a generalized multiple tour problem. In this problem each customer has a demand that either can be satisfied or not. If it is satisfied, revenue is collected and there are also travel costs to pay. A tabu search heuristic is used to identify which customers to serve and 011 which routes, with the objective to maximize the collected revenue minus the cost of traveling. We present numerical results based on a set of test instances.We also consider the node weighted Steiner tree problem. In this problem there are costs associated with connecting the nodes of a network to a tree. In addition, there is a potential revenue to collect at each node, if it is connected. The problem is to decide which nodes to connect, and how, so as to maximize the revenue collected minus the connecting costs. For this problem, we suggest a Lagrangean-based heuristic to produce strong lower bounds and to obtain feasible solutions. We present numerical results based on a set of test instances.
|
|
| 13. |
- Grundström, Christina, 1965-
(författare)
-
Gaining influence in standard-setting processes : a discussion of underlying mechanisms in 3G mobile telephony technology development
- 2003
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The environment in which companies operate is such that standards become increasingly important due to the built-in rigidities resulting from previous technology investments and network externalities. The research question is: How can a market-leading company gain influence on the formation of standards perceived as vital for the company-s continued business? The purpose of the dissertation is to explore, describe, and characterise how such influence may be gained; it thus aims to reveal some of the mechanisms underlying a technology standard-setting process. Market-leading here is interpreted as the company wanting to lead the development of the market by influencing the standards that will prevail in it, thereby aiming to secure market leadership (in measurable terms).The dominant design concept, including technical, commercial, and procedural dimensions, serves as the basis for the theoretical discussion. From the review of literature it is concluded that the dominant design concept marginally addresses the emergence of a dominant design. Therefore the present study takes on a company "inside-out" perspective to examine how underlying mechanisms may be revealed.The empirical data address the third generation (3G) mobile telephony core and access networks or the 3G infrastructure, which can be treated as the core technologies for the new 3G system. The data stem mainly from interviews with individuals involved in the process at Ericsson, the mobile telephony systems developer. One outcome of the research is a case that describes the story of 3G infrastructure standard setting from Ericsson's view.On the basis of empirical data and theoretical framework, four foci are developed and used for analysis of the data. The foci developed are people and their relations, organizations and their relations, technology perception, and influencing others.The point of departure is that the technology dimension is of utmost importance in this type of standard-setting process where a system of core technologies is chosen. After exploring and describing the process from the inside-out perspective, however, the overall finding from the research is that human behaviour plays the central role as individuals constitute the process by advocating and negotiating technology, form the organizations, embody the relations (including various types of network), and influence others in the market. Since people are at the core of standard-setting processes, a truly managerial issue is how to use the right people for the right tasks with proper timing during the process.The findings from the 3G study are also related to the findings made in earlier research in a broader contextual analysis.Critical to managing the standard-setting process is an understanding of where to fit a given standard into the technical hierarchy and the standards hierarchy. The maturity of the industry also needs to be analysed and addressed. It is concluded that each standard-setting process is a mix of de jure and de facto standard-setting mechanisms with "in-between arenas" and that there are a number of sub-processes.A model characterising the roles of people with various functions over time and in a standard-setting process constitutes the main outcome of the research. This model constitutes three different functions (technical, tactical, strategic) and three process stages (research, formal standardisation, informal standardisation) thereby characterising nine different roles.
|
|
| 14. |
- Grundström, Christina, 1965-
(författare)
-
The many faces of standards and phases of standardisation in product development : findings from two exploratory case studies involving software
- 2000
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Product development, in-house or in collaboration with other parties, is considered one of the key issues to consider for any company interested in developing its business. Software of some kind is increasingly central to new products. At the same time standards and standardisation processes are affecting more and more aspects of society, increasingly so due to the globalisation of the world economy. This thesis takes an exploratory approach to what interactive roles the phenomena standards and standardisation take in product development processes involving software and viewed this from multiple organisational levels. By analysing two cases, the conclusion that standards have several different faces and standardisation has different phases is drawn. It is also concluded that standards and standardisation are complex and dynamic, but manageable. Regardless of the organisational level studied, standards and standardisation involve the management of people interacting. For future research it is suggested that standardisation processes are researched from the perspective of the arenas where they are shaped. Future research should also include a better understanding of when it is advisable for a company to take an active approach to standardisation.
|
|
| 15. |
- Johansson, Glenn, 1967-
(författare)
-
Environmental performance requirements in product development : an exploratory study of two development projects
- 2001
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In recent years, Ecodesign has attracted increased attention from researchers. In this thesis, the term Ecodesign refers to the actions taken and activities carried out originating from the incorporation of environmental performance requirements in a product development project. Earlier Ecodesign research has primarily focused on the development of various tools for supporting practitioners. Only a few studies have focused on how the incorporation of environmental performance requirements affects development projects and the changes that a development organisation undergoes to become more environmentally conscious. The objective of this thesis is therefore to explore characteristics of product development projects originating from the incorporation of environmental performance requirements.The empirical material has been collected from two in-depth case studies of product development projects in which new and complex business-to-business products were developed. The first case study addressed a project in which a telecommunications product was developed. The study occupied approximately 1 ½ years and was performed as a real-time, longitudinal study. The second case study was performed as an ex-post study and addressed a product development project in which a new power generating gas turbine was developed.The analysis, which takes as its starting point a number of essential product development elements derived from the literature, revealed a number of differences between the projects. These differences seem largely tobe due to different levels of Ecodesign experience in the development organisations carrying out each project. When relating the development organisations' level of Ecodesign experience to a three-phase model of theEcodesign integration process presented in earlier research, it was found that one of the organisations fitted into the model, whereas the other did not. On the basis of this finding, a fourth Ecodesign integration phase was detected and denoted the Innovative Ecodesign phase. Complementing the existing model with this new phase, the so-called Extended Ecodesign Integration model was developed. The model shows that the focus in development projects carried out within development organisations in the first three phases of Ecodesign seems to be set on the environment and integration of Ecodesign in the development process. Development organisations that have reached the Innovative Ecodesign phase tend to direct efforts in the projects mainlytowards the application of new technology and technical problem solving in order to fulfil the environmentalperformance requirements.
|
|
| 16. |
- Johansson, Pontus, 1974-
(författare)
-
Manufacturing strategy perspectives on industrial services
- 2003
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The service sector is in most western countries dominating the gross domestic product, often with a share of over 70 %. This is also reflected in manufacturing companies, whose products have gone from being pure goods to contain more and more service characteristics. Examples of this are found through constructs such as the extended product and product packages. Industrial services, the supply of after-sales services related to industrial goods, is one type of product that many manufacturing companies offer. The effect such products have on the manufacturing part of a company is investigated here, in the light of existing theories for building a manufacturing strategy. Strategic concepts such as product profiling, product-process matrix, and competitive priorities are transferred to an industrial service setting. The results show that the manufacturing strategy framework needs to be adapted to the service content of the supplied products.
|
|
| 17. |
- Kindström, Daniel, 1974-
(författare)
-
Rearranging a business model towards market orientation : strategic and operational dimensions and the impact of E-commerce
- 2003
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The overall purpose of this thesis is to explore and describe the rearrangements of a company (changes), from a business model perspective, as it attempts to strategically reorient itself towards market orientation. E-commerce, and more specifically, the impact of e-commerce in this process will be explored. The empirical base of this thesis is a case study of Tetra Pak Business Support AB (TP BuS).This reorientation is a multi-year project that has implications on many aspects and areas within the company. Using the business model as an analytical tool help understanding of both how companies change in general and what happens as they move towards market orientation.Inherent in my view of the business model are two dimensions, a strategic and an operational. These two are represented by the concepts of strategic positions and operative platforms. I am arguing that it is beneficial to consider both these dimensions in a more iterative (and dynamic) manner when discussing and analysing a company. This can be compared to eg the RBV and the positioning perspective that can be perceived as somewhat one-dimensional in the operational and strategic dimension respectively.What we can see, from a business model point of view, is that this reorientation has quantum characteristics, ie concurrent changes in many different areas. Hence it seems as if a reorientation towards market orientation ought to be approached in a holistic manner. There are a few things, or changes, that stand out. First, the offering concept is perhaps the most interesting aspect as it virtually drives (or pulls) many of the other changes and is the foundation for the rearrangement of the business model. In addition to the offering, the notion of bundling (how to arrange products and services) becomes an important factor to consider. The offering and bundling concept work in unison and they must be developed jointly, in an interaction, if the full potential of the concepts are to be leveraged.Secondly the introduction of the e-marketplace opens up new ways to use the offering and to approach customers (new market channel). The e-marketplace seems to present new ways to gather and analyse information, and also to contact customers, hence having substantial influence during the process towards market orientation. It appears as if these two issues are the most interesting and pioneering, and have had great impact on the move towards market orientation.Furthermore it is worth to notice the iterative manner in that initial changes often spawned new needs for change in other areas in order to realign the business model and to achieve fit. There seems as if a company going through such a comprehensive change, as TP BuS, must pay sufficient attention to the realignment issue and be aware of the fact that, in order to take full advantage of one change, other changes need to be implemented in other areas as well.As we look at the reorientation that TP BuS has gone, and still is going, though we can see that they, in fact, have improved both in reference to typical production orientation characteristics as well as market orientation ones. Hinted in some literature, it might not be a question of being either or but rather both or, at least, improving with regards to both these dimensions.Finally, the business model framework is extended to include three more aspects, drivers, enablers and outcomes. The drivers are supposed to tie the business model to the objectives or business idea. Enablers can be said to be the methods or actions that are implemented and used to rearrange the business model. Finally the outcomes eg make it possible to compare business models with each other (of the old and the new) by recognizing characteristics or traits of a business model.
|
|
| 18. |
- Kollberg, Beata, 1976-
(författare)
-
Exploring the Use of Balanced Scorecards in a Swedish Health Care Organization
- 2003
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Due to an extensive decentralization in the County Council of Östergötland during the 1980s, the demands on follow-up reports have increased on the production units. In order to support the units in following up their organizations, the board of the County Council decided to implement Total Quality Management in the beginning of the 1990s. As a part of the program, the QUL concept was introduced to provide the County Council with a comprehensive description of the production units’ activities. In 2001 the County Council decided to implement the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) as a new way of following up the units’ results. The BSC implementation has led to that all production units write their follow-up reports according to the perspectives suggested in the BSC framework. The head of the production units are responsible for the dissemination and implementation of the BSC in their own units.The present research is conducted on commission from the Federation of Swedish County Councils. The purpose of the thesis is to increase the understanding of the use of the BSC in an organization in the Swedish health care and medical services. Two research questions derive from the purpose: (1) How is the BSC designed, implemented and used in the organization? (2) What factors enable or constrain the use of the BSC in the organization?Findings from the case study show that the BSC is used in the annual planning, in reporting measures to superiors and in following up the activities in the health care organization. The BSC is also used in discussions between employees, to disseminate information within and outside the organization, to create orderliness and understanding of the annual activities, and in developmental activities. The findings indicate that the BSC has been adapted to the current conditions of the organization with regard to the existing terminology and organizational structures. The BSC is not primarily used as a strategic management system, but rather as an information system that aims to communicate measurable information within and outside the organization.Several categories of factors that enable or constrain the use of the BSC in a health care organization are identified. The autonomy of the department and units enables people to develop their own scorecards without considerable influence from superiors. The emphasis on employees’ participation is also identified as an important aspect in making people accept the new concept. The way the introduction of the BSC was dealt with and the department’s prior experiences with the Swedish Quality Award have influenced the acceptance and use of the BSC. In addition, the case shows that change agents play a major role in how the BSC is used in the organization today. Several adaptations have been made to current conditions, that both enable and constrain the use of the BSC in the health care organization.
|
|
| 19. |
- Lakemond, Nicolette, 1973-
(författare)
-
Managing across organisations : intra- and interorganisational aspects of supplier involvement in product development projects
- 2001
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Supplier involvement in product development is widely regarded as an essential strategy, benefiting product development tinle, costs, and product quality. However, this strategy also increases the dependencies between the buyer and the involved supplier and has therefore implications for coordinating supplier involvement. The aim of this thesis is to examine intra- and interorganisational aspects of supplier involvement in product development projects and, based on a contingency perspective, to develop a conceptual framework for understanding coordination of supplier involvement in and throughout product development projects.The need for coordination of dependencies is reinforced by the existence of diverging expectations. This concerns different perspectives on i.e. project management, technical solutions, and product functionalities. Organisational coordination structures facilitate coordination of dependencies and diverging expectations. A contingency approach suggests that a range of coordination structures is necessary for addressing different situations of dependence and diverging perspectives.The issues of intraorganisational coordination, interorganisational coordination, and coordination throughout the development project are investigated based on a multiple case study consisting of a study of six product development projects at the packaging company Tetra Brik, and seven mini-cases at Swedish and Dutch companies operating in different industries. The case companies develop relatively complex products, that are produced in rather low to medium volumes. Furthermore, systems integration is an important aspect in product development.An important aspect of intraorganisational coordination concerns the interface between the purchasing and the engineering department. Several purchasing involvement configurations are identified. These include purchasing coordinators and the degree of involvement of purchasing specialists in the development project.Three main approaches are identified for the interorganisational coordination of supplier involvement in product development projects. An iutegrative approach, project integration coordination, has the highest potential to address a high need for coordination. Disconnected sub-project coordination disconnects the supplier task from the overall project and is therefore able to coordinate a lower degree of dependence. Ad hoc coordination is an informal coordination structure for incidental coordination of supplier involvement in the development project.The investigation of supplier involvement throughout the project focuses attention on two issues. First, an integrated approach can precede and facilitate a disconnected approach to coordination in the project. Second, project integrated coordination is sometinles accompanied by some elements of disconnected sub-project coordination.Intra- and interorganisational coordination have some cost implications. These costs tmderlie the necessity for a contingency approach to coordination. As the task characteristics, degree of supplier involvement, and moment of supplier involvement are important in determining the degree of dependence in the project, supplier coordination must be determined from situation to situation, based on the need for coordination.
|
|
| 20. |
- Lindskog, Magnus, 1973-
(författare)
-
Changing to third party logistics
- 2003
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Third party logistics (TPL), the procurement of an integrated set of logistics services in a long-term relationship between a shipper (goods owner) and a service provider, is today a viable option for how companies carry out their logistics activities. Very little has been written on implementation or change issues in a TPL setting; these issues are identified as important, but not elaborated. There is however reason to believe that implementation of TPL arrangements, or rather establishment thereof, involves a complex change process involving substantial change for a wide range of actors in both the shipper’s and the provider’s organisation.When comparing literature that deals with the TPL establishment process with a stream of research that is concerned with logistics change, it comes to light that there is a discrepancy between the theoretical and methodological foundations of the former works, and what is written in these pieces regarding the process. It is concluded that recommendations for how to manage the establishment process are given without being founded in a theory of process, or research designs capable of studying process. The theoretical underpinnings of TPL literature are founded in a view of change as a matter of conducting rational analysis and conceiving the strategically wisest decisions for the logistics system as a whole. Implementation is viewed as an unproblematic exercise of issuing directives to affected actors, asserting that all actors are rational, therefore rationally conceived decisions will be accepted and implemented accordingly.Therefore the overarching purpose of this research is:To explore the change process of third party logistics establishmentTo fulfil this purpose the two streams of research mentioned above are combined. A meta-model of process consisting of the three interrelated dimensions content, context, and process forms the starting point for the study of process, but this is not sufficient for a study of change; a theory of change which is capable of capturing the mechanisms of the change process as it unfolds is also needed. Therefore the theory of change of the second stream of research mentioned above is adopted.The theory of change encompasses three models of change, which are archetypical representations of the mechanisms underlying change processes according to different assumptions of what change is and how change comes about. These models are denoted the linear, the processual, and the circular. One important aspect of this theory of change is that the approach to change should be aligned with the extent oflearning requirements on the actors who are affected by or involved in the change. An actors perspective is therefore called for, and adopted in this thesis.This thesis is the first step of a wider research effort concerned with studying the process of establishing TPL. Therefore, of the three dimensions of change, the contentdimension is excluded from study in this thesis. Governed by the meta-model of process, two research objectives are formulated:To explore the context within which the TPL establishment process unfolds and describe the contextual dependence of this process&To describe the change process of TPL establishment in terms of the linear, processual, and circular models of changeThe empirical investigation applied is a single-case retrospective study, in which the case is the establishment process between a Swedish company and an international TPL service provider. A total of fifteen actors have been interviewed; ten on the shipper side of the dyad, five on the provider side. Although the TPL establishment process is an interorganisational process, this thesis focuses on the intraorganisational process of the shipper, why the empirical material from the other side of the dyad is not used in this thesis, The interorganisational aspect, as well as the intraorganisational side within the provider’s organisation are nevertheless important, and will be included in future research.The interviews were carried out in an unstructured manner, in which the interviewees were asked to retell the story from their own perspectives. Actors from varying positions, who were involved in the process, are included in the study; in the total sample all groups who were most affected or involved are represented. The interviews rendered ten stories of the studied process.These stories were then analysed by means of a pattern-matching logic, in order to seek out the important contextual dependencies of the process, and to explore the mechanisms of the change process, as it evolved in context.After having conducted this first step of the ongoing research effort, four main conclusions can be drawn:- The TPL establishment process is context dependent.- Not only rational mechanisms are at play in the process.- It is important to acknowledge actors, not only systems.- It is important to acknowledge the process, not only the decision.
|
|
| 21. |
- Magnusson, Thomas, 1970-
(författare)
-
Eco-design and product innovation : managing incremental and radical change for environmental compliance
- 2000
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis is about firms determined to gain competitive advantages from environmental demands, about the efforts of engineers employed with the challenge of fulfilling environmental performance targets and about the management and organisation of product development. It is about incremental change, built on established technological knowledge, as well as about radical technological change. In the title, the nation of "environmental compliance" has a dual meaning. It implies that industrial organisations have to comply with ecological constraints, but also that they have to comply more generally with contextual factors such as competition, technology, customer preferences and market characteristics. However to avoid confusion, "environment" will henceforth be used to describe the ecological aspects, which is the traditional meaning of this term in environmental management and eco-design literature.
|
|
| 22. |
- Magnusson, Thomas, 1970-
(författare)
-
Managerial challenges in environmental innovation : case studies in the electrical equipment and automotive sectors
- 2003
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This dissertation is a compilation of five papers that analyse and discuss the managerial challenge of environmental innovation. Environmental innovation seeks to integrate environmental features into products and thus bring new products with better environmental performance to the market. The dissertation reports on three case studies within the electrical equipment and automotive sectors. The first case refers to development of an innovative new gasoline-electric hybrid power train; the second case refers to the development of a new industrial gas turbine, comprising advanced new burner technology; and the third case describes the introduction of new technology for small-scale distributed electricity generation. On the basis of concepts and theoretical models derived from literature on innovation management, the dissertation offers two alternative ways to conceptualise environmental innovation. Firstly, environmental innovation is conceptualised as product development. This is useful to analyse the inner dynamics of R&D organisations and it hightlights the need to adapt organisations and managerial practices to the specific requirements of the development task. Secondly, environmental innovation is conceptualised as the introduction of new technology. Here, two alternative perspectives are discussed. The incumbents' perspective illustrates that environmental innovation may be perceived as a potential threat for existing manufacturers within the established industry and it is used to discuss their strategic responses. The entrants' perspective shows how the definition of early markets and applications is complicated for suppliers who are engaged in environmental innovation. The dissertation argues that environmental innovation is characterised by extensive complexity both in terms of technological complexity and complexity in shaping of demands on technological progress. It concludes that is is important for managers to create an ability to deal with complexity. Based on empirical findings, three possible approaches are outlined: simplification, interaction and experimentation.
|
|
| 23. |
- Nehler, Henrik, 1974-
(författare)
-
Activity-based costing : en kvantitativ studie kring spridning, användning, utformning och implementering i svensk verkstadsindustri
- 2001
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Activity-Based Costing - En kvantitativ studie kring spridning, användning, utformning och implementering i svensk verkstadsindustri är en licentiatavhandling som syftar till att beskriva och förklara spridningen av ABC i svensk verkstadsindustri samt förklara varför företag använder ABC. Vidare syftar avhandlingen till att beskriva hur företagen har utformat sina ABC-system samt beskriva och förklara implementeringen av ABC-system. Till sist syftar avhandlingen till att relatera resultaten till andra kvantitativa undersökningar i andra länder. Studiens resultat visar att spridningen av ABC har varit relativt blygsam i svensk verkstadsindustri. De faktorer som förklarar användningen av ABC var storlek, kalkylens strategiska betydelse samt om kalkylen används för budgetstyrning. Ett intressant resultat var att de klassiska Relevance Lost- och ABC variablerna (produktdiversifiering) ej var statistisks signifikanta. Avhandlingen beskriver hur företagen har utformate sina ABC-system, exempelvis antalet huvudaktiviteter, kostnadsdrivare samt uppdateringsfrekvens. Det är uppgiftsrelaterade faktorer (tillräckligt med resurser och utbildning) som förklarar en "lyckad" implementering av ABC i svensk verkstadsindustri. Resultaten i denna studie (kring spridning, användning, utformning samt implementering) avviker till stor del från resultaten i ett flertal angosaxiska studier. En förklaring till dessa avvikelser är att det råder en skillnad mellan tysksvensk och anglosaxisk kalkyltradition.
|
|
| 24. |
- Norelius, Hans, 1958-
(författare)
-
Merge in Transit : A non-stock distribution structure
- 2002
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The overall purpose of this study is to contribute to a better understanding of the emerging distribution structure Merge in Transit. In order to do this the purpose of this thesis is to describe and define Merge in Transit and to identify and explain differences in performance between Merge in Transit and a traditional structure with central and local warehousing.The study consits of two parts, a pre-study where main characteristics of Merge in Transit were studied, and a in-depth study where differences between Merge in Transit and structure with central and local warehousing were studied. In the comparison between the distribution structures the focus was on activities, resources and the performance in the form of costs and throughput times. In order to explain the differences in performance the effects and the reasons for the effects found in the cases were compared with reasons for performance improvements found in the literature, foremost process literature and literature about scale economies.Based on the result from the study Merge in Transit could be described as a distribution structure where deliveries from different sources are co-ordinated and brought together at merge points and where goods and order flows are monitored and controlled in a central order unit. This means that Merge in Transit is characterised by:Centralised monitoring and control of order and goods flowPoint of sales data, that is sent to producer and central warehousesNon- or centralised inventory between producers and customersMerge point for merging goodsA transport net for deliveries to customers premises', i.e. the physical take over of goods isat the customer's premisesAccording to the findings I propose the following definition of Merge in Transit:Merge in Transit is the centralised co-ordination of customer orders where goods are delivered from several dispatch units consolidated into single customer deliveries at merge points, free of inventoryThe main effects on costs from Merge in Transit compared to a structure with central and local warehousing are the reduction of inventory, warehousing and administration and an increase or decrease of transport costs. The main effects on service are complete deliveries to customers premises and an increase of customer order lead time for products previously stored locally. Other effects from Merge in Transit are increased range, increased complexity and reduced storage time.Explanation of the reasons for differences in performance depends on the perspective used in the analysis. From a processual perspective the explanation of the effects are elimination and postponement of activities. From a functional perspective the effects are centralisation of resources, i.e. use of scale economies.
|
|
| 25. |
- Norlén, Andreas, 1973-
(författare)
-
Oskälighet och 36 § avtalslagen
- 2004
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Section 36 of the Swedish Contracts Act stipulates that a term of a contract can be modified or set aside, if it is "unreasonable". The thesis discusses the meaning of the prerequisite "unreasonable" and how the meaning can and should be defined, using the means of legal science. Normative ethics is thereby introduced as a supplementary source of norms, and scientific works regarding contract law in other European countries are regarded, as well as the Principles of European Contract Law.One chapter deals primarily with legal theory, in particular how a position regarding a legal matter can be justified. The role of normative ethics, especially virtue ethics, in legal science is discussed in that context and "the virtues of the contractual relationship" are identified (for example justness, honesty, carefulness). The following chapter focuses on the relationship between those virtues and some principles of contract law (for example the principle of trust, the principle of loyalty), and it is being maintained that the value basis for the virtues on the one hand and the principles on the other hand is largely the same. It is also being maintained that there are strong arguments in favour of letting the virtues and principles affect the definition of the prerequisite "unreasonable" in section 36.In the last major chapter, four cases are used as starting points of a discussion regarding various situations, in which "unreasonable" has to be defined. The impact on the definition of "unreasonable" of the previously introduced virtues and principles is discussed, as well as the significance of various circumstances. The duty of disclosure, the significance of balance between the rights and duties of the parties under the contract and the importance of events occurring after the conclusion of the contract are some of the issues, which are treated.
|
|
| 26. |
- Parment, Anders, 1972-
(författare)
-
The retailer's role in car distribution : a study of competitiveness, market communication, and knowledge in a changing context
- 2000
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This licentiate thesis, entitled The Retailer's Role in Car Distribution, deals with three areas important to the understanding of retail strategies and the retailer's role in the distribution of cars. First of all, different views on competitiveness are analyzed. Second, market communication and brand issues, which have gained increased interest in the last years, are investigated. Third, the processing of market knowledge is examined - retailers are bearers of market knowledge, which might be used for developing products and customer services. Retail strategies for metro, city, and rural areas are proposed, influenced by the emergence of new distribution arrangements. The emerging multitude of distribution arrangements makes it important for the retailers to be aware of and develop their competitive advantages. The choice of brand separation or dual franchising strategies is discussed - the former ensures brand-specific experiences whereas the latter means lower costs. The analysis is concluded with three scenarios, each describing a possible future development of car distribution.
|
|
| 27. |
- Persson, Jan A., 1972-
(författare)
-
Production scheduling and shipment planning at oil refineries : optimization based methods
- 2002
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In the oil refinery industry, companies need to have a high utilization of production, storage, and transportation resources to be competitive. This can only be achieved by proper planning The purpose of this thesis is to contribute to the development of optimization models and solution methods that support the scheduling and planning at refinery companies. We identify various decision problems and focus on the scheduling of operation modes at a single refinery and on the shipment planning of products from several refineries to storage depots.The problem of scheduling operation modes is a type of lot-sizing problem, in which the decisions concern which mode of operation to use in each time period. The objective is to minimize the costs of changing modes, of keeping inventories, and of production, while still satisfying demands for products. We formulate a mixed-integer linear programming model for this problem. Several types of valid inequalities are derived and it is shown how these can be used to improve the performance of a branch-and-bound solution procedure. Further, for the scheduling of operation modes, a tabu search heuristic is developed which uses variable neighborhood, dynamic penalty, and different types of tabu lists.The shipment planning problem concerns the simultaneous planning of how to route a fleet of ships and the planning of which products to transport in these ships. The problem is formulated using an optimization model including an aggregated representation of the scheduling of operation modes at the refineries. Hence, we integrate the shipment planning and the production scheduling at the refineries. We suggest a solution method based on column generation, valid inequalities, and constraint branching.The solution methods are tested on data provided by the Nynas company. Solutions are obtained within reasonable CPU-times and they have shown to be of good quality. We illustrate how the models and their extensions can be used to support both operational and strategic decision making at the company.
|
|
| 28. |
- Poksiʹnska, Bożena
(författare)
-
Behind the ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 certificates : an investigation of quality and environmental management practices in Swedish organisations
- 2003
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The past decade witnessed a remarkable growth in the number of organisations worldwide seeking to implement the ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 series. More than 160 countries have adopted ISO 9000 and the number of certificates grew by around 70,000 per annum in the last five years. Also ISO 14001 is one of the most accepted environmental management systems worldwide. The growth is even more remarkable, because research hasn't provided any consistent evidence of the benefits achieved from the standards. There is a general confusion and uncertainty regarding the effectiveness of the standards and their long-term contribution to the organisations.This research project is an attempt to look behind the certificates and explore the practice of implementing and operating the quality- and environmental management systems (QMS and EMS) in Swedish organisations. The thesis aims to contribute to the improvement of the practices of operating QMS and EMS. From the scientific point of view, this research should help to explain the partially contradictory results on the systems' effects found in literature.The study consists of three stages. First, a questionnaire survey was aimed at exploring the motivation, implementation factors and benefits of ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 in Swedish organisations. Second, an analysis of the requirements aimed to build an understanding of the management practices implied in the standard Third, the aim of the case studies was to investigate the practice of operating a QMS/EMS within an organisational context.The study showed that the standards are very often viewed as a tool for improving company image, and not as a means of adding value to the organisational processes. The requirements are very general and organisations decide themselves what kind of practice complies with them Organisations do not need to change their practice, but they can claim that their processes already comply with the standards. Furthermore, auditors, which are only focused on finding nonconformities in the documented system, may become an obstacle to the improvement work Finally, an important conclusion drawn from this study is that questionnaire surveys might not be an appropriate method to study the effects of ISO 9001 or ISO 14001 systems.This project is financially supported by the Centre for Studies of Humans, Technology and Organization (CMTO) and International Graduate School of Management and Industrial Engineering (IMIE).
|
|
| 29. |
- Rapp, Cecilia, 1967-
(författare)
-
Exploring the sustainability of improvement activities : the long-term development of a suggestion scheme
- 2002
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The practice of working with improvement activities is widespread in organisations today. Improvement activities are part of the new ISO 9000 standard, and could be in the form of Six Sigma programs, suggestion schemes, or process orientation, for example. However, such activities are not unproblematic: many programmes have a tendency to decline, even after successful implementation in the organisation. The loss of investments and management credibility could be severe after an end of the activities.The purpose of the thesis is to create an understanding of factors contributing to the long-term sustainability of improvement activities within an organisation. A case study has been performed at a company, Cloetta Produktion AB, which has had an active suggestion scheme since the implementation in 1993.Factors that were identified as influencing sustainability were; (1) People participating need to have a personal interest or gain in the activities. (2) The improvement activity needs to be easy to work with for employees in the organisation. The tasks of running the improvement activities should not be too overwhelming for one person: -Their normal day-to-day work has to go on in the organisation. (3) The activities need to be adaptable to new circumstances that evolve in the organisation. Managers and employees could lose their interest, or leave their employment. Others will have to take over and the activities will have to be adjusted to their interests or ability. (4) Commitment of champions and managers are vital for the survival of such schemes. However, champions might change over the years. It is important to be sensitive to employees having a sincere interest in the activities, they could be the new champion. (5) Having suggestions rejected now and then did not discourage employees to submit suggestions. Furthermore, high rewards did not lead to higher frequency of activity: -Employees receiving high level rewards was not more active than after receiving a medium level reward.
|
|
| 30. |
- Rehme, Jakob, 1967-
(författare)
-
Sales coordination in multinational corporations : development and management of key account programmes
- 2001
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The purpose of the dissertation is to describe and analyse the orgamsmg of sales and marketing in large scale and complex organisations and particularly how key account management programmes are developed, organised and managed.This means that the focus is on the development context in which the sales organisation operates, how key account management (KAM) programmes are organised, the coordination they contribute to, and how the KAM programmes are designed to manage the dyadic seller-buyer relationships.In particular this purpose includes two major parts:Describing and analysing how KAM programmes evolve in large industrial organisationsDescribing and analysing how KAM programmes are initiated and developed in seller-buyer relationshipsThe method employed has been a multiple-case study based on five individual buyer-seller relationships in two different KAM programmes within ABB. The empirical material has been analysed primarily by the use of organisational and marketing theories.Driving forces for the developments of KAM's are marketing strategies, i.e. the focus on systems selling, international selling and the focus on customer share; purchasing strategies, i.e. the coordination of corporate purchas.ing nationally and internationally, and functional buying; and finally organisational contingencies, i.e. that high degree of divisionalisation underscores the importance of coordination.Overall organisational structures and management focus strongly affects the formation of KAM programmes and the content of the sales coordination. Marketing strategy in the form of segment marketing is used to structure KAM programmes. Buyer action to coordinate purchasing results in the considerable importance of sales coordination and thus KAM programmes, whereas solely seller-initiated programmes have more organisational adaptations.There are large discrepancies between individual KAM's particularly based on customer contingencies and preferences. Generally speaking, the main efforts are aimed at commercial, social, logistical and technical activities. KAM's result in improved working relationships that become more formal, greater coordination and subsequently a more integrated sales organisation.
|
|
| 31. |
- Selldin, Erik, 1975-
(författare)
-
Enterprise and supply chain planning : a survey of Swedish manufacturing firms
- 2002
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Enterprise and supply chain planning (ERP and SCP) have evolved due to the earlier benefits of manufacturing planning systems. By integrating the entire enterprise, or a part of a supply chain, the benefits sought are hopefully even greater in terms of reduced costs and increased profits in comparison with systems only managing a part of the operations. Swedish manufacturing companies are no exceptions and this research aims at investigating enterprise and supply chain planning within those firms. A descriptive study of the current situation concerning implementation and the experiences of such planning systems in both enterprise and supply chain environments is presented. Further, two explorative studies in the field of supply chain integration and supply chain design are presented. These studies examine the impact on company performance by different planning and supply chain strategies.
|
|
| 32. |
- Sundström, Per, 1966-
(författare)
-
Effectiveness in innovation : a study of software development projects
- 2002
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Companies must simultaneously focus on cost and time efficient product development as well as enabling radical and incremental innovation for long-term survival. The companies in the study from high-tech industries face the demands on innovation within their software development projects.Software development projects are often characterised by a rational approach with focus on short-term results, careful planning and a step-by step process. Critical questions include what kind of innovation and behaviour this environment fosters on both organisational and individual level.The overall goal of this thesis is to discuss consequences on the capabilities for innovation when more work is performed in projects.The chosen empirical indicators of innovation, customer interaction and organising for innovation, provide a picture of projects primarily supporting incremental not radical innovation. Additionally, interaction with an external customer seems to bring clarity to priorities at the same time as an individual focus provides clarity for responsibilities.
|
|
| 33. |
- Säfsten, Kristina, 1964-
(författare)
-
Evaluation of assembly systems : an exploratory study of evaluation situations
- 2002
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Evaluation is considered as one of several activities necessary to master in the competitive environment that manufacturing companies experience today. The specific situation addressed in this dissertation is evaluation during development of assembly systems. The role of evaluation varies and an enhanced understanding of different evaluation situations is required. Evaluation has not yet become an explicit part of the activities aimed at suitable assembly systems. Despite the large numbers of evaluations carried out in other areas, experiences thereof have not yet been applied in the evaluation of assembly systems. The objective of the research was to explore different evaluation situations in order to elucidate the circumstances under which evaluation can be supportive, and how evaluation can be facilitated, during development of assembly systems. The empirical material was collected during studies of 11 manufacturing companies in Sweden. The research design involved an interview study and three case studies. During the empirical studies, different evaluation situations were explored and circumstances affecting evaluation were sought.The analysis, which takes its starting point in assembly system development from a decision process perspective, revealed circumstances associated with the different decision processes affecting evaluation. Moreover, three identified system design approaches were found useful for understanding the different evaluation situations. The identified circumstances affecting evaluation were found to be related to the assembly system as such, i.e. the evaluation object, or to the development process, i.e. the activities carried out where the evaluations were escribed. As a result of the empirical studies and the theoretical considerations, a framework evolved during the research. The Assembly System Evaluation Framework is a heuristic tool, aimed at facilitating understanding of the circumstances under which evaluation is carried out during the development of assembly systems. The framework involves three evaluation situations: evaluation of existing assembly systems, evaluation of different alternatives, and finally evaluation of an implemented system. Supported by the framework, the characteristics of the evaluation situations are elucidated. Different obstacles and enablers affecting the evaluation situations are discussed, and the possibility of facilitating evaluation through the application of different evaluation models and explicit considerations to evaluation is pointed out.
|
|
| 34. |
- Söderlund, Jonas, 1971-
(författare)
-
Time-limited and complex interaction : studies of industrial projects
- 2000
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This doctoral dissertation reports on four case studies of industrial project organizations: The studies cover product development and construction projects at ABB, Ericsson and Volvo. Generally, the studies aim at exploring the time-limited and complex character of project interaction. Particularly, they focus on three aspects of time-limited interaction, i.e. deadlines as control mechanisms, the effects of temporary relationships and the problems due to differences in time orientation among project actors.Deadlines are analyzed in their capacity to promote global reflection and rethinking especially in projects of a concurrent nature. Temporary relationships are analyzed in contexts of clients and contractors in project-based industries and between individuals and organizations in professional project-intensive industries. Time-limited and complex interaction in project organizations is also investigated by analyzing differences in time orientation among project actors. By utilizing the concept of pacing, it is submitted that time orientation problems are frequently at the core of project management and perhaps particularly difficult in inter-firm settings.This dissertation consists of eight papers and an extended summary where different aspects of the time-limited dimension are analyzed. One of the papers also suggests a categorization of the schools of thought currently prevailing in project management research.
|
|
| 35. |
- Tomicic, Marie, 1969-
(författare)
-
Reaching agreement in a management team : a study of social influence
- 2001
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis deals with the question of how agreements are reached without consensus in management teams. It is argued that agreements should be viewed as a social influence phenomenon and that attention should be directed to the process of reaching agreements. The issues of who is involved in the process and who is kept out; who is allowed to exert influence and who is not, are central to an understanding of how agreements are reached, The thesis is based on a study of a management team at a production unit in a multinational company. The overall character of the team's agreement-reaching processes is described in terms of an 'organisational conformity' mode of influence, and agreements are characterised as social agreement or compromise agreement. This mode of influence mediates differences of opinion into agreement mainly by reducing both the number of active participants and the expression of differences of opinion. Implicit 'rules of the game', mirroring general ideas of organising, guide social interaction and communication during the reaching of agreements. These rules are of particular importance for understanding the way that the 'organisational conformity' mode of influence mediates differences of opinion. Hierarchy, distribution of responsibility, and encouragement of action are three organising ideas in this mode of social influence. Rules of the game are partly an outcome of the way that the organising logic is translated. The business contexts and members of the team affect how the general ideas are translated into rules of the game.
|
|
| 36. |
- Windahl, Charlotta, 1973-
(författare)
-
Towards integrated solutions : Alfa Laval and the wastewater industry
- 2004
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Manufacturing companies in the capital goods industry face opportunities and challenges to their traditionally used business model for selling products, spare parts and services. They are encountering increasing pressure to provide their customers with broader, more tailored solutions. With these integrated solutions, as they are referred to in this thesis, companies are combining services with products to address their customers' business needs, and focus on the delivery of performance.The objective of this thesis is to address this fairly new concept of integrated solutions using Alfa Laval as a study case in a wastewater industry setting. The business and organisational implications of the move towards integrated solutions have been explored and the move characterised in the context of innovation literature. The thesis comprises five supporting chapters and four empirical papers. The first of these four papers explores and identifies incentives and new competence requirements for providing integrated solutions. The second paper highlights the influence that external elements such as changes in market structure have on providing integrated solutions. The third paper explores internal processes at Alfa Laval supporting a move towards integrated solutions. The fourth and final paper describes the development and launch of a self-optimising control system for the dewatering process, which is licensed out to customers, hence challenging Alfa Laval's traditional way of doing business.The thesis links Alfa Laval's move towards integrated solutions with its capabilities in the areas of system integration, operational services, partnering and organisational competence, and its approach to customers. It also shows that Alfa Laval's move towards integrated solutions encompasses products, services, performance and organisational innovations.
|
|
| 37. |
- Öberg, Christina, 1970-
(författare)
-
On customers in mergers and acquisitions
- 2004
-
Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis focuses on how customers are perceived in mergers and acquisitions. Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) are frequent, yet complex, phenomena in business life. One dimension making M&As complex is that they can affect (the merging companies' relationships to) other companies. With an M&A being a potential source of, for example, customer losses, one must ask how, and indeed whether, customers are taken into account in the M&A process, and what are the merging parties' notions concerning customers in relation to an M&A.This thesis takes a triangulation approach to the subject, including a literature and press release review and two case studies. The following is concluded: Customers are seldom focused on in the M&A literature, though they are commonly referred to indirectly, in an unproblematised way. By not considering customers as part of an M&A, the literature is neglecting an important aspect - one that has been emphatically recognised in business experience. In actual M&A practice, customers figure prominently in the underlying motives of M&As, and also when determining the degree of integration. Notions concerning customers are malleable, shifting during the course of tl1e M&A process, and also differ between the official view articulated in press releases, and in intra-company discussions regarding reasons for merging or acquiring. The official discourse commonly refers to customers indirectly and as targets, whereas they are treated as actors in intra-company discussions. Once M&A intentions are realised, the focus shifts from creating value to keeping value, and at this stage, customer considerations constrain the degree of integration. While there is no clear-cutline between the integration itself and a possible post-M&A phase, when evaluating an M&A the evaluation tools correspond to how customers are defined in official M&A motives.
|
|
| 38. |
- Tell, Fredrik, 1968-
(författare)
-
Organizational Capabilities : A Study of Electrical Power Transmission Equipment Manufacturers, 1878-1990
- 2000
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Organizational capabilities of large industrial firms constitute a pillar in Alfred Chandler's theory of the emergence of managerial capitalism. Science based firms represent one important sector within such an economic context. This dissertation describes the evolution of the large electrical manufacturers and their involvement in the power transmission equipment business between 1878-1990. In electrical power transmission technology, there was an initial "battle of the currents" regarding the choice of alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC) technology. This battle was won by AC. However, after World War II, an alternative technology was developed in high voltage DC (HVDC). Concurrent with this technological evolution, the electrical manufacturing industry was characterized by increasing concentration. In electrical manufacturing the largest firms diversified and grew into corporate giants. However, by the end of the 1980s, several of the initial giants had exited the power transmission equipment business, while some of the smaller, more focused, firms had amalgamated into new transnational giants. Departing in aknowledge-based theory of the firm, it is suggested that organizational capabilities can be analyzed in terms of management-based, technology-based, and market-based activities. Using this framework, these activities are discussed as knowledge-based and related to properties associated with organizational learning and path-dependency.
|
|
