This diploma‘s thesis named The optimization of company processes is engaged in the most impotant company process – the software creation starting with dealing with customers and ending with handover. The analysis of present process, the proposals of the solutions and the detailed description of chosen solution with economic evaluation are parts of this thesis. Along drafting the emphasis has been posed to fulfil the condition of acceptable costs and the condition of customer friendly solution.

Die immer schnellere Veränderung des Umfelds stellt auch die internationale Automobilindustrie vor große Herausforderungen. Vor den Experten der Branche wurden diese beispielsweise auf dem 12. Internationalen CAR-Symposium der Universität auch vom Vorstandsvorsitzenden der BMW Group Dr. Norbert Reithofer diskutiert (Car 2010). Aus dem Spannungsfeld zwischen profitablem Wachstum und Globalisierung erwachsen nicht nur größere Absatzzahlen sondern auch die Zunahme an Varianz aufgrund länderspezifischer Gesetzgebung und unterschiedlichen Kundenbedürfnissen in den Hauptmärkten Europa, Nordamerika und Asien. Ein »historisches« Beispiel für diese unterschiedlichen Kundenanforderungen war die Anforderung der amerikanischen Kunden an den »Cupholder«. Das Thema ist inzwischen gelöst. Komplexer ist der Widerspruch zwischen der Ausrichtung unserer Fahrzeuge auf das Fahrerlebnis des Fahrers in den klassischen Märkten und dem Trend zum Chauffeur in vielen neuen Märkten (v.a. China).

This thesis covers the development of a component specification for the steering system of vehicles engineered by CEVT. This includes the components steering column, intermediate shaft, steering gear and tie rods. Due to the reuse of requirements on the component specification from previous projects it now lacks connection to customer needs. A verification of the component specification is necessary to ensure that no redundant or unnecessary requirements are present. The verification was performed through a comparison between a newly established specification and the current one. Identified customer needs were gathered on complete vehicle level and classified according to customer satisfaction with respect to implementation according to the Kano model. The subjective customer needs were translated into objective, quantifiable metrics on complete vehicle level that was then decomposed onto component level. Customer needs and metrics were then correlated against each other and visualized through the House of Quality matrix. Numeric targets for the metrics were based on its impact on customer satisfaction. This resulted in 50 identified metrics connected to the steering column and 58 metrics connected to the steering gear. The comparison resulted in 22 deviations between the new and current specification where 8 metrics was identified for further investigation. Further development would include investigation of these 8 identified metrics and relate targets to competitors’ performance.

<p><p>Gradually, Swedish SMEs are expanding into emerging markets in order to seize superior opportunities of growth. Within these internationalization efforts, identifying and selecting the most promising foreign target markets is regarded to be a critical success factor. The external business environment, the attractiveness of the targeted market segment in terms of the competitive situation, and the match between the customers’ needs and a company’s resources and capabilities are major factors which determine the prospects of success of establishing business in an emerging market. By applying an abductive research approach, the authors conducted a holistic single-case study of a typical case for Swedish SMEs internationalizing into emerging markets. Through that, the authors were able to answer the research questions of the paper. A theoretical framework was synthesized, combining latest research on emerging country markets with classical models. The framework guided the authors through the entire research process. Several propelling, as well as hampering factors for the case company’s prospects of success in the targeted market segment were identified. Based on the analysis of the empirical findings, the authors found that there are clear opportunities for the case company to increase its business. This conclusion is due to a weak threat of competitors in a broader context, which were regarded to not being able to satisfy the customers’ needs of key importance sufficiently. Competitors in a narrower context were regarded to not have a significant competitive advantage compared with the case company.</p></p>

Over the last decades, wood has encountered increasing competition from other building materials. Hence, it is relevant to study the underlying factors of material substitution. The market for repair and remodelling (R&amp;R) is growing in importance. The end-consumer´s, or the household?s, assessments as to material selection are generally more crucial in R&amp;R than in construction of new houses, a circumstance highlighting the importance of the end-consumer. Consequently, this thesis deals with material substitution within an end-consumer context. Proper market segmentation and targeting presuppose an understanding of why households differ as to material preferences. Prioritising customer needs in quality improvement and/or product development requires information as to the importance of different customer requirements or needs as well as the performance of wood, relative substitutes, in providing for these needs. The thesis proposes a coherent approach for market segmentation and for prioritising customer needs: (i) how to provide a basis for market segmentation and targeting, i.e., to extract the distinguishing features of different material preferences; (ii) how to extract information enabling the prioritising of customer needs, i.e., importance and performance information. Identifying prominent discriminating factors of building application material preference, in order to subsequently explain why households differ within and between samples/cultures as to material preferences, and finally assessing customer requirements or needs as to the importance and the performance of wood relative substitutes in fulfilling them, presuppose an approach for data collection and analysis, which in turn requires a theoretical frame of reference. Hence, in the thesis a theoretical framework and different methods, for extracting decisive preferential predictors and assessing customer needs respectively, are suggested and evaluated. A pronounced design profile and distinct material alternatives make floorcovering a good illustrative example. The results indicate that material substitution with an end-consumer focus should be studied within a contextual framework. Hence, the usage context, the type of room refloored and whether the dwelling is owned or not, seems to define the types of materials actively considered. Further, households obviously differ in how they perceive the concept of floorcovering in a given usage context, depending on the general life situation and individual experience. Data collection, with the aim of identifying distinguishing factors of building application material preferences, must thus handle the collection of data related to usage context as well as the general life situation and individual experience. To obtain a deeper understanding of the underlying motives open-ended questions are called for. Performance benchmarking as to customer requirements or needs should be relative competitors in the same market segment, i.e., close substitutes. The assessment of customer needs should allow analysis on benefit levels, as alternatives in material substitution most readily can be compared in terms of the more abstract benefits/consequences they provide rather than concrete attributes. The apparent causal complexity, resulting from contextual influences, severely limits the usefulness and adequacy of traditional, additive, statistical analysis. Multivariate projection methods like partial least square discriminant analysis (PLS-DA); in coping with collinear variables, as well as the Boolean approach of qualitative comparative analysis (QCA); enabling data reduction in a theoretically guided manner, have potential for handling multiple conjunctural causation when analysing material preferences. Furthermore, both methods are able to handle binary variables resulting from open-ended questions, dependent as well as independent. PLS-DA can, however, more readily than Boolean algebra capture contextual influences. Analysis by means of PLS-DA thus seem to provide the information necessary for market segmentation and targeting, i.e., the causes of preferential differences both between and within cultures: evaluative criteria and variables related to the context. The output from the analysis of material preferences serve as input to the subsequent assessment of customer needs, as to the make-up of customer needs and as to which materials constitute close substitutes, i.e., share usage context. Customer satisfaction modelling (CSM) using partial least squares (PLS) seems well adapted for extracting the information necessary for prioritising customer needs: the impact on customer satisfaction of the fulfilment of different customer requirements or needs, and the performance of wood, relative substitutes, in providing for these needs. A valuable asset of CSM is the ability to allow analysis on customer benefit as well as attribute level. Usage context and data connected with the life situation provide instruments for market segmentation and targeting. For example: according to the present results, users of wooden flooring in the Netherlands are house owners to a greater extent and generally have a higher household income than users of laminated flooring. One of the apparently salient reasons for choosing wood, the natural material property, is part of the intrinsic nature, character, of the material. This quality of wood could provide an edge on the close substitute, laminated flooring. The results presented in the thesis further indicate that practical, functional, benefits exert the greatest impact on customer satisfaction, for wooden flooring as well as its closest substitutes laminate and carpet. This is noteworthy, as the salient evaluative criteria for choosing wooden flooring, unlike the other materials studied, were of a non-practical nature. This circumstance highlights the necessity of considering substitutes to identify latent needs. A low cost over the life cycle and hygiene are apparently the most important benefits to improve for wooden flooring manufacturers, as importance is high and performance relatively low.

Gradually, Swedish SMEs are expanding into emerging markets in order to seize superior opportunities of growth. Within these internationalization efforts, identifying and selecting the most promising foreign target markets is regarded to be a critical success factor. The external business environment, the attractiveness of the targeted market segment in terms of the competitive situation, and the match between the customers’ needs and a company’s resources and capabilities are major factors which determine the prospects of success of establishing business in an emerging market. By applying an abductive research approach, the authors conducted a holistic single-case study of a typical case for Swedish SMEs internationalizing into emerging markets. Through that, the authors were able to answer the research questions of the paper. A theoretical framework was synthesized, combining latest research on emerging country markets with classical models. The framework guided the authors through the entire research process. Several propelling, as well as hampering factors for the case company’s prospects of success in the targeted market segment were identified. Based on the analysis of the empirical findings, the authors found that there are clear opportunities for the case company to increase its business. This conclusion is due to a weak threat of competitors in a broader context, which were regarded to not being able to satisfy the customers’ needs of key importance sufficiently. Competitors in a narrower context were regarded to not have a significant competitive advantage compared with the case company.

“I changed my mind” is a case study aimed at investigating returns. Returns are often negative occurrences and can be seen as the last “block” in a supply chain. However, what this study shows is that a return is a great source for customer profiling and can lead to an increase in market shares if managed correctly. Many companies go about investigating satisfied customers and what aspects these customers are satisfied with. Instead this research focuses on finding out what dissatisfied customer feel and why they decided to return a specific product. Investigations are also made concerning the internal processes to manage product returns and if they can be improved at the case company (thereby lowering costs). This study shows how interrelated the supply chain is and illustrates how product returns can be lowered by changing the input in the supply chain. Reputation is a fragile thing and can be hurt from mismanagement related to returns and therefore I feel that it is important to study this phenomenon which is not often brought into light but nonetheless exits in almost every company (that offers returnable products). Enjoy your reading and see how your company can prevent your customers from changing their minds.

Context: Current unsustainable practices have resulted in the depletion of natural resources and a prevailing material scarcity. Urban Mining has emerged in this context and suggests the “mining” of cities or other sources in urban areas to retrieve valuable resources. It raises the topic of how urban mining as a market segment of the construction industry is like today and in the future.  Objective: The thesis sets out to study what firms in the urban mining market segment desires in terms of needs and priorities. Furthermore, what could be prioritized in the future (2030), what future scenarios could be expected and what implications these can have on organizations within the segment and on the construction industry.  Method: A foresight methodology was applied as a framework for the research design. Interview with representatives from 10 firms, including observations of their operations, resulted in a number of mutual needs shared across the urban mining segment. These were prioritized in relative importance based on a questionnaire of 67 respondents representing 44 different firms in Sweden. A combination of these studies and a review of technology trends further enabled the extrapolation of future scenarios.  Results: The findings shows that firms within the urban mining market segment prioritizes and emphasizes needs related concerns in optimization, cost control, safety, environmental and social care today. Needs related to safety, environmental and social care are indicated to remain top prioritized as a result of the future market circumstances. A holistic and lifecycle approach in urban mining practices was deemed of low priority today but was indicated to grow significantly in relative importance in the future.  Conclusion: Technology, urbanization and globalization indicates stricter and more competitive market circumstances in the future. Especially related to safety, lifecycle consideration, environmental, and social care. The research suggests that firms concerned and those operating within the urban mining segment may need to undergo transformational changes in their organization to meet what the market segment expects in the future. Moreover, the findings opens up the possibility for actors and stakeholders concerned with the construction industry to proactively go into a desired future by knowing how the future market could unfold. / Stanford University, ME310: Urban Mining

<p>“I changed my mind” is a case study aimed at investigating returns. Returns are often negative occurrences and can be seen as the last “block” in a supply chain. However, what this study shows is that a return is a great source for customer profiling and can lead to an increase in market shares if managed correctly. Many companies go about investigating satisfied customers and what aspects these customers are satisfied with. Instead this research focuses on finding out what dissatisfied customer feel and why they decided to return a specific product. Investigations are also made concerning the internal processes to manage product returns and if they can be improved at the case company (thereby lowering costs).</p><p>This study shows how interrelated the supply chain is and illustrates how product returns can be lowered by changing the input in the supply chain. Reputation is a fragile thing and can be hurt from mismanagement related to returns and therefore I feel that it is important to study this phenomenon which is not often brought into light but nonetheless exits in almost every company (that offers returnable products).</p><p>Enjoy your reading and see how your company can prevent your customers from changing their minds.</p>

Verksamheter som arbetar med ensamkommande flyktingbarn, både kommunala och privata, är av lagar och förordningar kravställda på att uppnå god kvalitet. Att uppfylla dessa krav är både avgörande och extremt viktiga för leverans av god kvalitet och tillfredsställelse av kundernas behov. Tidigare forskning på området kvalitet och kvalitetsdimensioner omfattar både offentlig och privat sektor, men tyvärr finns det ingen forskning kopplat till kvalitet i arbete med ensamkommande flyktingbarn. Därifrån utformades studiens syfte som har för avsikt att framta en sammanhållen bild av kvalitet och de viktigaste kvalitetsdimensioner som påverkar den totala kvalitén i arbete med ensamkommande flyktingbarn. Studiens genomförande baserades på en fallstudie med två analysenheter som arbetar med ensamkommande flyktingbarn. Studerade verksamheter bedrivs i form av HVB-hem för ensamkommande barn eller stödboende. I studien genomfördes även två semistrukturerade intervjuer med områdeschefer för att belysa ledningsperspektivet. Som kompletterande komponent genomfördes litteraturstudier och källanalyser av de normativa källorna. Resultat av studien tenderar att visa en bredd samt en heterogen tolkning, förklaring och definiering av begreppet kvalitet. En tydlig koppling finns till det humanistiska perspektivet inom psykologi genom Abraham Maslow`s behovsteori, samt Aron Antonovsky`s teori om känsla av samanhang, KASAM. Studiens resultat uppvisar också lagstiftningens påverkan på den förväntade och uppnådda kvalitén i arbetet med ensamkommande flyktingbarn. Resultat ger en tydlig bild på inverkan av mänsklig prestationsförmåga för kundernas uppfattning av servicekvalitén. Empati, lyhördhet och trygghet utmärks som några av de mest betydelsefulla kvalitetsdimensionerna för kundtillfredställelse. / Organizations that work with unaccompanied young refugees, both municipal and private, are required by the law and regulations to achieve good quality. To fulfill these requirements are both crucial and extremely important for the delivery of good quality and satisfaction of customer needs. Previous research in the field of quality and quality dimensions includes both the private and public sectors, but unfortunately there is no research related to quality in work with unaccompanied refugee minors. Therefore, the purpose of the study was designed as intended to develop a coherent image of quality and the main quality dimensions that affect the total quality of work with unaccompanied refugee minors. The studies implementation was based on a single case study with two analysis units working with unaccompanied refugee minors. Studied organizations are performed in the form of HVB-homes for unaccompanied young refugees or supported accommodation. The study also conducted two semi-structured interviews with area managers to highlight the management perspective. As a complementary component, literature studies and source analysis of the normative sources were conducted. The result of the study tends to show a broad and heterogeneous interpretation, explanation and definition of the concept of quality, with a clear link to the humanistic perspective in psychology through Abraham Maslow's theory of needs and Aron Antonovsky`s theory of the sense of coherence, KASAM. The results of the study also show the impact of legislation on the expected and achieved quality of work with unaccompanied refugee minors. The results provide a clear picture of the impact of human performance for customer’s perception of service quality. Empathy, responsiveness and security are distinguished as some of the most significant quality dimensions for customer satisfaction. / <p>2017-06-28</p>