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- Badasjane, Viktorija
(author)
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Coordinating Digital Transformation in International Manufacturing Networks
- 2023
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Licentiate thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Manufacturing companies have adapted to globalisation and collected their globally dispersed factories into factory networks, known as international manufacturing networks (IMNs). This requires coordination to access the associated competitive advantages, synchronise the factories, and exploit the capabilities inherent in those individual factories. However, when IMNs introduce digital transformation into the factories, the coordination is often hindered by uncertainty and complexity, as digital transformation requires an extensive adjustment that affects everything from the organisational structure to ways of working. Different parts of the network that are dependent on one another, for example, may be difficult to track and foresee the consequences of digital transformation. Hence, due to the respective challenges, complexities, and uncertainties, the coordination of digital transformation in IMN is paramount to examine. This licentiate thesis begins with exploring coordination mechanisms to increase the understanding of existing research and shape it into a comprehensive overview. Moreover, through case studies, this thesis explores the challenges in and enablers for coordinating digital transformation in IMNs. Altogether, the challenges and enablers are analysed within the dimensions and categories of coordination mechanisms, i.e., they are collected into an overview and described within the case study context. The most significant findings of this thesis are related to the organisational structure, which enables the coordination of digital transformation. However, plenty of challenges remain, foremost connected to the formalisation of the organisational structure, e.g., balancing the rules and guidelines for digital transformation but providing space for people performing the activities to explore and investigate digital technologies. This thesis further contributes to the existing body of research by untangling the complexity of coordination itself and, specifically, the coordination of digital transformation in IMNs, explicitly adding to the operations management field and the management of global operations. Practical contributions are also made, i.e., this thesis promotes practitioners’ increased understanding by providing specific examples and descriptions of the findings within their context. Based on the findings, this thesis offers multiple paths for future research, keeping in mind that coordination is not static but evolving, depending on the context in which it is performed.
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| 2. |
- Flankegård, Filip
(author)
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Supplier Involvement in Product Development: A Supplier Perspective
- 2022
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Licentiate thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- This thesis explores the supplier perspective of supplier involvement in product development. Supplier involvement in product development is crucial for many companies to increase resource flexibility, access competence, reduce costs and time to market, among others. The existing literature focuses primarily on the customer perspective of supplier involvement, e.g., challenges and critical factors customers should consider. A few studies have focused on the supplier perspective. This research gap is addressed in this thesis by studying the conditions influencing the suppliers’ involvement in customers’ product development.This thesis explores two research questions: “What are the challenges suppliers experience when being involved in customers’ product development?”, and “What mitigating mechanisms and critical factors influence suppliers’ involvement in customers’ product development?”. The identified challenges originated [FF1] both from the customer and the supplier, indicating that both types of challenges must be focused on. The study also identified interdependencies between the challenges, implying that one challenge may lead to the occurrence of other challenges. The study suggests mitigating mechanisms to deal with the identified challenges. The identified critical factors influenced both the efficiency and effectiveness of supplier involvement in product development, e.g., lead-time, development cost, product quality, and cost. The study indicates that adopting a dual perspective and considering the challenges and critical factors for both the customer and the supplier, can support the involved supplier. The results build on findings from a case study including four SMEs.
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| 3. |
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Människan i skogen, skogen i människan : Miun Research Exhibition
- 2021
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Artistic workabstract
- Med utställningen Människan i skogen, skogen i människan vill projektet belysa ett antal aktuella och viktiga frågor för vår region och samtid, samlade under ett tema: skog och hållbar utveckling. I utställningen får besökaren möta kunskap och perspektiv från fem forskare och forskargrupper vid Mittuniversitetet. Forskarna är verksamma inom biologi, ekoteknik, historia, litteraturvetenskap respektive turismvetenskap. Forskningens olika perspektiv länkas i utställningen samman genom sina förhållningssätt till tid, såsom avgörande för förståelse, kunskap och handling. De olika forskningsinriktningarna visar också fram spänningar mellan olika synsätt på skog och kan tillsammans ge flera svar och berättelser om skogens värden. En arbetsgrupp vid Universitetsbiblioteket står för gestaltning och produktion av utställningen.
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| 6. |
- Ullenhag, Anna, et al.
(author)
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An international comparison of patterns of participation in leisure activities for children with and without disabilities in Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands
- 2012
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In: Developmental Neurorehabilitation. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1751-8423 .- 1751-8431. ; 15:5, s. 369-385
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Purpose: To investigate whether there are differences in participation in leisure activities between children with and without disabilities in Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands and how much personal and environmental factors explain leisure performance.Methods: In a cross-sectional analytic design, the Children's Assessment of Participation and Enjoyment, CAPE, was performed with 278 children with disabilities and 599 children without disabilities aged 6–17 years. A one-way between-groups ANOVA explored the differences in participation between the countries. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis assessed if age, gender, educational level, living area and country of residence explained the variance in participation.Results: Scandinavian children with disabilities participated in more activities with higher frequency compared to Dutch children. The strongest predictor was country of residence. For children without disabilities, differences existed in informal activities, the strongest predictor was gender.Conclusion: Differences in school- and support systems between the countries seem to influence patterns of participation, affecting children with disabilities most.
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| 7. |
- Adair, Brooke, et al.
(author)
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Measures used to quantify participation in childhood disability and their alignment with the family of participation-related constructs : a systematic review
- 2018
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In: Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology. - : WILEY. - 0012-1622 .- 1469-8749. ; 60:11, s. 1101-1116
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- AimWe aimed to identify measures used to assess the participation of disabled children and to map the measures' content to the family of participation-related constructs (fPRC) to inform future research and practice. MethodSix databases were searched to identify measures used to assess participation in health, psychology, and education research. Included studies involved children aged 0 to 18 years with a permanent impairment or developmental disability and reported use of a quantitative measure of participation. A second search sought relevant literature about each identified measure (including published manuals) to allow a comprehensive understanding of the measure. Measurement constructs of frequently reported measures were then mapped to the fPRC. ResultsFrom an initial yield of 32 767 articles, 578 reported one or more of 118 participation measures. Of these, 51 measures were reported in more than one article (our criterion) and were therefore eligible for mapping to the fPRC. Twenty-one measures quantified aspects of participation attendance, 10 quantified aspects of involvement as discrete scales, and four quantified attendance and involvement in a manner that could not be separated. InterpretationImproved understanding of participation and its related constructs is developing rapidly; thoughtful selection of measures in research is critical to further our knowledge base.
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| 8. |
- Adair, Brooke, et al.
(author)
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The effect of interventions aimed at improving participation outcomes for children with disabilities : a systematic review
- 2015
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In: Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology. - : Wiley. - 0012-1622 .- 1469-8749. ; 57:12, s. 1093-1104
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- AimEnhancement of participation has been described as the ultimate outcome for health and educational interventions. The goal of this systematic review was to identify and critically appraise studies that aimed to improve the participation outcomes of children with disabilities.MethodNine databases that index literature from the fields of health, psychology, and education were searched to retrieve information on research conducted with children with disabilities aged between 5 years and 18 years. Articles were included if the author(s) reported that participation was an intended outcome of the intervention. The articles included were limited to those reporting high-level primary research, as defined by Australia's National Health and Medical Research Council evidence hierarchy guidelines. No restrictions were placed on the type of intervention being investigated.ResultsSeven randomized controlled or pseudo-randomized studies were included. Only three of these studies identified participation as a primary outcome. Both individualized and group-based approaches to enhancing participation outcomes appeared to be effective. Studies of interventions with a primary focus on body function or activity level outcomes did not demonstrate an effect on participation outcomes.IntepretationFew intervention studies have focused on participation as a primary outcome measure. Approaches using individually tailored education and mentoring programmes were found to enhance participation outcomes, while exercise programmes, where participation was a secondary outcome, generally demonstrated little effect.
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| 9. |
- Afshar, Sara Zargari, et al.
(author)
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Investigating Alternatives for System Architectures to Enhance Discrete Manufacturing
- 2019
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In: International Journal of Distributed Sensor Networks. - Sweden : SAGE Publications. - 1550-1329 .- 1550-1477. ; 15:8
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This article investigates the possibility of advancing discrete manufacturing using system architectures that are developed for Collaborative Process Automation Systems. Collaborative Process Automation System is a technology that has the potential to achieve production excellence for process industry. However, not much attention has been paid on using the architectures based on Collaborative Process Automation Systems for discrete manufacturing domains. In this article, we propose a base architecture consisting of three layers, and we discuss various alternatives to make the communications among the layers. We consider legacy components in the proposal, in contrast to most of the related works. In order to show the practicality of the proposed alternatives, we present an example that has been implemented in an ongoing project at ABB Robotics in Sweden.
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| 10. |
- Ahlskog, Mats, 1970-, et al.
(author)
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Approaching digital transformation in the manufacturing industry challenges and differing views
- 2023
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In: International Journal of Manufacturing Research. - 1750-0591 .- 1750-0605. ; :4, s. 415-433
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In order to support manufacturing companies in their digital transformation, challenges and views of the term 'digital transformation' need to be identified since digital transformation is considered a source of competitive advantages. Therefore, this paper aims to explore the challenges and differing views of digital transformation in the manufacturing industry. A case study was conducted in collaboration with four Swedish manufacturing companies. The results were then mapped into categories of three dimensions (people, process and technology), indicating that digital transformation can have different meanings within a company. We conclude that the term 'digitalisation' is more frequently used in the manufacturing industry than 'digital transformation' and identified challenges relate to lack of best practice for digital transformation, degree of standardisation and therefore affects the workload and limits the possibilities of transferring technical solutions between factories. Our findings are relevant to operations managers and other interested in digital transformation.
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