The thesis shed light into the connectivity between the Organization and Employees in terms of their acceptance and contribution towards Digital Transformation initiatives through the different elements of Data Democratisation. The study identifies Six key elements of Data Democratisation and how these elements are incorporated to successfully steer Digital Transformation in the organization. The six elements are Data Governance, Data Accessibility, Data Literacy, Data Culture, Data Security and Technology. A combination of Surveys and Literature Review are used to build a foundation for the research. The Democratised tools, Google Forms, Google Analytics and Power-BI are the data analysis methodologies to populate the study results. The results contribute to the organisations, seeking to optimize their Digital Transformation initiatives through Data-Driven methods over traditional Information Technology.   Keywords: Data Democratisation, Digital Transformation, Data Democratization, Elements of Data Democratisation.

This publication-based dissertation examines human-related success factors for the implementation and application of data analytics tools and methods within the decision-making process of organizations. Generated insights on human-related factors are outlined and described in six chapters. First, a general introduction to the subject is provided and the research is positioned within a broader overall context. Additionally, the first section comprises a summary of the research papers included, along with publication information. Chapter 2 presents a systematic literature review summarizing the capabilities of Big Data analytics (BDA) with regard to firm performance. Five key capability clusters have been identified to categorize all relevant human-related capabilities across existing research to date. Chapter 3 presents an empirical research paper examining the relevant managerial aspects that must be considered when shifting from intuitive to analytics-based decision-making. Introducing a six-factor framework, the chapter outlines the findings of an indepth single case study of a German manufacturing organization that has already implemented analytical methods and tools within its decision processes. Chapter 4 contains the second empirical paper, which outlines the crucial role that executives play within the process of a firm’s digital transformation toward the application of analytics. Based on conducted interviews, four managerial archetypes are identified, with detailed descriptions of their characteristics, capabilities, and contribution to transformation. Chapter 5 introduces a teaching case study that sheds light on best practices relevant to the application of analytics. This case study describes the most critical factors for success in the use of an AI tool using an example from Wilo, a leading German manufacturer of pumps and pump systems. Finally, Chapter 6 summarizes the findings of this publication-based dissertation, outlines its contributions to academia and practice, and presents its limitations and potential avenues for future research.

Современная экономика государств базируется на постоянных улучшениях: модернизуются существующие и разрабатываются новые модели, инновационные продукты и управляющие системы. Страны, чье руководство осуществляет финансовые вливания в инновации в социальную сферу, в повышение квалификации рабочей силы и развитие технологий, в качестве результата имеет ускорение экономического роста и повышение конкурентоспособности государства в целом. Современная экономическая реальность, связанная с введением антироссийских экономических санкций, придает особую актуальность вопросам развития в государстве конкурентоспособной экономики, импортозамещения и модернизации отечественного промышленного производства. Цель диссертационного исследования заключается в разработке предложений по повышению эффективности процессов цифровой трансформации промышленного предприятия. Научная новизна диссертационного исследования состоит в разработке алгоритма проведения цифровой трансформации промышленного предприятия с учетом его стратегических ориентиров, который позволяет повысить всестороннюю эффективность его деятельности, а также оценить степень влияния цифровизации на улучшение финансовых показателей компании в период санкций и импортозамещения. Практическая значимость диссертационного исследования заключается в возможности использования разработанного алгоритма и плана мероприятий по цифровизации на конкретном предприятии, а также в деятельности муниципальных и региональных органов управления в рамках частно-государственного партнерства. / The modern economy of states is based on constant improvements: existing models are being modernized and new models, innovative products and control systems are being developed. Countries whose leadership makes financial investments in innovation in the social sphere, in improving the skills of the workforce and developing technology, result in accelerated economic growth and increased competitiveness of the state as a whole. Modern economic reality associated with the introduction of anti-Russian economic sanctions gives particular relevance to the development of a competitive economy in the state, import substitution and modernization of domestic industrial production. The purpose of the dissertation research is to develop proposals for increasing the efficiency of digital transformation processes of an industrial enterprise. The scientific novelty of the dissertation research lies in the development of an algorithm for carrying out the digital transformation of an industrial enterprise, considering its strategic guidelines, which makes it possible to increase the comprehensive efficiency of its activities, as well as to assess the degree of influence of digitalization on improving the financial performance of the company during the period of sanctions and import substitution. The practical significance of the dissertation research lies in the possibility of using the developed algorithm and action plan for digitalization at a specific enterprise, as well as in the activities of municipal and regional governments within the framework of public-private partnerships.

This paper examines how the adoption of a series of digital technologies in tourism companies affects economic, social, and environmental sustainability. This research conducted a quantitative survey on tourism companies in Korea to empirically explore the connection between digital transformation and its impact on sustainability. The survey questionnaire was generated under the six hypotheses, which categorized research questions in detail. As a result of the survey data analysis, the following three implications were derived. First, it was confirmed that the economic sustainability of a company increases as the size of digital transformation grows. This result connotes substantial meaning because the existence of economies of scale helps economic sustainability, but on the other hand, it can undermine social sustainability. Second, a marginalization of environmental sustainability issues in digital transformation was observed. Survey results statistically confirmed that the impact of digital transformation on environmental sustainability is smaller than on economic and social sustainability. Finally, digital transformation has the characteristics of a service. There are provider companies that create digital transformation services, and at the same time, there are beneficiary companies that receive and utilize digital services. The fact that the impact of the innovation voucher service expected by the provider company was accepted as a smaller impact on the beneficiary company means that digital transformation services should also be designed to be more customer-centric.  Economic, social, and environmental sustainability do not exist alone. Improving economic sustainability triggered by digital transformation has side effects that deepen social inequality, and business activities focused on economic and social sustainability make the mistake of minimizing environmental sustainability in corporate management decisions. Digital transformation is a service that creates value in the process of utilization. Our society should balance the value generated by digital transformation with economic, social, and environmental sustainability.

Background: The manufacturing industry is diverting away from the one-size-fits-all mass manufacture towards more customized processes. With increasingly individualized consumer preferences and an intense competitive environment, food manufacturers are required to meet specific consumer demands with similar efficiency to those produced massively. Such market requirements are feasible with the technological advancements envisioned by Industry 4.0. The consequences of such are increased flexibility and mass customization in manufacturing which forces the food manufacturer towards its realization. The integration process, however, involves a comprehensive transformation that affects every aspect of the organization. This consequently imposes significant challenges upon the food manufacturing company. Purpose: The study aims to investigate the transformation process ensued by the food manufacturer for Industry 4.0. Consequently, a conceptual framework is developed detailing the application of Industry 4.0 in the food manufacturing industry. Method: An inductive qualitative approach, in combination with a multiple-case study, is pursued to address the formulated questions of research. Based on such, semi-structured interviews were conducted with individuals representing three multinational food manufacturers. Further, a thematic analytical technique was adopted as means to identify similarities and patterns within the obtained data. The collected data was analyzed using thematic analysis through which the researchers came up with the conceptual framework. Conclusion: The results of the research reveal internal and external factors such as labor policies and IT infrastructure to influence the transformation process for Industry 4.0. In due to this, the implementation of the phenomenon occurs phase-wise, globally coordinated and regionally concentrated. This enables the organization to overcome the obstacles faced and, subsequently, ensure the successful deployment of Industry 4.0.

The emergence of moving learning activities online, due to Covid-19 pandemic preventive measures and fast growing technology, forced many educational institutions to design and prepare their distance learning systems on time, without adopting the best practices for an effective and holistic digital transformation. This fact highlights the need of reconsidering the models in online learning and redesigning the learning processes to meet students e-learning needs and receive a more qualitative educational experience. This study intends to show which are the perspectives of students on the next generation learning platform, post-covid, and how this can contribute to a more effective learning in HE. To serve this purpose, an internet-based survey was designed. The questionnaire was distributed via the DSV iLearn platform of the program to all participants-users of the platform, and the method of data analysis chosen was Quantitative analysis. The results of this study showed an overall satisfaction with the platform capabilities and a satisfactory level of students’ skills in the use of ICT technologies and a digital learning platform. Some important conclusions about dependencies of students’ characteristics that affect their engagement with an elearning platform also arose, while areas of improvement were identified regarding the feeling of safety using a digital platform, alternative assessment techniques, new platform technological features and interaction with peers and instructors. Under this study limitations and the potential of a future and more extensive research, the aim of these results is their incorporation in the design, implementation and optimization processes of the next generation learning platform, contributing to the Higher Education e-learning systems performance and responsiveness flexibility, taking also into consideration qualitative factors related to students’ characteristics and needs.

With the proliferation of digital services and technologies, industries, including thebanking sector, are looking for innovative ways to improve customer experience. The criticalaspect of improving customer experience is increased customer satisfaction, which helps toattract new customers and to retain existing ones. Chatbots have emerged as a promisingsolution, offering a convenient and personalized way for customers to interact with banks andother financial institutions. This thesis analyses the impact of chatbots on customer satisfactionthrough a comparative study of customer satisfaction between Sweden and India. By providinginsights into the similarities and differences in customer perceptions between the two countries,this thesis aims to contribute to the existing literature on the effectiveness of chatbots. This studytakes a socio-technical perspective to explore how customers perceive satisfaction when usingchatbots in their financial services. The findings shed light on the impact of chatbots on customersatisfaction in different markets and contribute to the understanding of the adoption of chatbots inroutine banking assistance, especially in a cross-cultural context. In designing effective strategiesfor using chatbot technology to improve customer experience in the digital age, the findings arevaluable for banking institutions and policymakers.

[pt] Vários setores têm buscado inovações a partir da transformação digital (TD). No entanto, há uma grande diversidade de definições da TD, o que dificulta seu entendimento e aplicação prática. Paralelamente à TD, as tecnologias digitais têm apresentado uma nova perspectiva para estratégias e processos de negócios, produtos e serviços. A TD inclui o relacionamento com fornecedores e clientes e envolve diferentes setores e indústrias, gerando oportunidades para novas estratégias de negócios. O escopo da pesquisa inclui o setor de telecomunicações, um dos segmentos de base para a TD, responsável pelas transmissões de dados, serviços móveis e banda larga. Apesar de sua importância, faltam pesquisas que abordem esse setor e as transformações digitais de seus processos de negócios. A dissertação compreende duas etapas para entender conceitualmente a TD e observar os facilitadores, barreiras e resultados desse fenômeno nos processos de negócios. A primeira é uma revisão sistemática da literatura que resultou na estruturação de um framework analítico da TD. Ela fundamenta a segunda etapa sob forma de um estudo de caso em uma empresa nacional de telecomunicações, contrastando os achados da literatura com um caso real. A pesquisa contribui com um framework unificado para análise e implementação da TD, evidenciando que os processos de mudança ocorrem na organização, em sua cadeia de suprimentos, atingindo toda a indústria neste setor e à sociedade em geral em particular, devido à interação empresa e serviço ao cliente, trazendo um melhor entendimento dos processos de TD relacionados à experiência do cliente no setor de telecomunicações, servindo de guia para pesquisas futuras e gerenciamento de iniciativas. / [en] Several sectors have sought innovations from digital transformation (DT). However, a great diversity of DT definitions makes its understanding and practical application difficult. Parallel to DT, digital technologies have presented a new perspective for business strategies and processes, products and services. TD includes relationships with suppliers and customers. It involves different sectors and industries, generating opportunities for new business strategies. The scope of the research includes the telecommunications sector, one of the key segments for digital transformation. It is the sector responsible for data transmissions, mobile services and broadband. Despite its importance there is a lack of research on the sector and the digital transformations of its business processes. The dissertation comprises two steps to conceptually understand DT and observe the facilitators, barriers and results of this phenomenon in business processes. The first is a systematic review of the literature that resulted in structuring an analytic digital transformation framework. It supports the second stage as a case study in a national telecommunications company, contrasting the literature findings with a real case. The research contributes with a framework for analysis and implementation of TD, evidencing that the processes of change occur in the organization, in its supply chain, reaching the entire industry in this sector and society in general, in particular due to the interaction company and customer service, bringing a better understanding of the TD processes related to the customer experience in the telecommunications sector, serving as a guide for future research and management of initiatives.

This publication-based dissertation analyzes the importance of artificial intelligence (AI) and technological entrepreneurship on firm level over six chapters. The essence of this dissertation consists of four independent research papers developed for publication in academic journals whose peer review process is double-blinded. The first chapter offers a general introduction to the subject matter and provides a summary of the four research papers in this dissertation. The second chapter is a systematic literature review that focuses on the importance of AI in strategic management. The third chapter is a research paper that examines the significance of technology-driven entrepreneurship activities and provides crucial lessons from small and medium-sized enterprises operating in the manufacturing industry. The fourth chapter is a research paper that empirically examines how top management can encourage and facilitate AI-enabled business model innovation. The fifth chapter comprises a teaching case study and provides and understanding of how to implement an AI-based analytical tool in a firm. The sixth chapter outlines the main findings and contributions of this dissertation.

With the development towards Industry 5.0, manufacturing companies are developing towards smart production. In smart production, data is used as a resource to interconnect different elements in the production system to learn and adapt to changing production conditions. Common objectives include human-centricity, resource-efficiency, and sustainable production. To enable these desired benefits of smart production, there is a need to use digital technologies to create and manage the entire flow of data. To enable smart production, it is essential to deploy digital technologies in a way so that collected raw data is converted into useful data that can be applied by equipment or humans to generate value or reduce waste in production. This requires consideration to the data flow within the production system, i.e., the entire process of converting raw data into useful data which includes data management aspects such as the collection, analysis, and visualization of data. To enable a good data flow, there is a need to combine several digital technologies. However, many manufacturing companies are facing challenges when selecting suitable digital technologies for their specific production system. Common challenges are related to the overwhelming number of advanced digital technologies available on the market, and the complexity of production system and digital technologies. This makes it a complex task to understand what digital technologies to select and the recourses and actions needed to integrate them in the production system. Against this background, the purpose of this licentiate thesis is to examine the selection and integration of digital technologies to enable smart production within manufacturing companies. More specifically, this licentiate thesis examines the challenges and critical factors of selecting and integrating digital technologies for smart production. This was accomplished by performing a qualitative-based multiple case study involving manufacturing companies within different industries and of different sizes. The findings show that identified challenges and critical factors are related to the different phases of the data value chain: data sources and collection, data communication, data processing and storage, and data visualisation and usage. General challenges and critical factors that were related to all phases of the data value chain were also identified. Moreover, the challenges and critical factors were related to people, process, and technology aspects. This shows that there is a need for holistic perspective on the entire data value chain and different production system elements when digital technologies are selected and integrated. Furthermore, there is a need to define a structured process for the selection and integration of digital technologies, where both management and operational level are involved. / Med utvecklingen mot Industri 5.0 utvecklas tillverkningsföretag mot smart produktion. I smart produktion används data som en resurs för att koppla samman olika element i produktionssystemet i syfte att lära sig om och anpassa sig efter förändrade produktionsförhållanden. Vanliga mål för smart produktion inkluderar resurseffektivitet, och en hållbar produktion anpassad utifrån människan. För att åstadkomma dessa önskade fördelar, behöver tillverkningsföretag använda digitala teknologier för att skapa och hantera hela dataflödet. För att möjliggöra smart produktion är det viktigt att implementera digitala teknologier på ett sätt så att insamlad rådata omvandlas till användbar data som kan tillämpas av maskiner eller människor för att skapa värde eller minska slöseri i produktionen. Detta kräver hänsyn till dataflödet inom produktionssystemet, det vill säga hela processen att omvandla rådata till användbar data som inkluderar datahanteringsaspekter som exempelvis insamling, analys och visualisering av data. För att möjliggöra ett bra dataflöde krävs det att flera digitala teknologier kombineras. Många tillverkningsföretag står dock inför flera utmaningar när de ska välja lämpliga digitala teknologier för sitt specifika produktionssystem. Vanliga utmaningar är relaterade till det överväldigande antalet avancerade digitala teknologier som finns på marknaden, samt komplexiteten hos produktionssystem och digitala teknologier. Detta gör det till en komplex uppgift att förstå vilka digitala tekniker som ska väljas och vilka resurser och åtgärder som behövs för att integrera dem i produktionssystemet. Mot denna bakgrund är syftet med denna licentiatuppsats att undersöka hur tillverkningsföretag ska välja och integrera digitala teknologier för att uppnå smart produktion. Mer specifikt så undersöker denna licentiatuppsats vilka utmaningar och kritiska faktorer som finns för att välja och integrera digitala teknologier för att uppnå smart produktion. Detta uppnåddes genom en kvalitativ multipel fallstudie med tillverkningsföretag inom olika branscher och av olika storlekar. Resultaten visar att identifierade utmaningar och kritiska faktorer är relaterade till de olika faserna av datavärdekedjan: datakällor och insamling, datakommunikation, databearbetning och lagring samt datavisualisering och användning. Generella utmaningar och kritiska faktorer som var relaterade till alla faser av datavärdekedjan identifierades också. Dessutom var utmaningarna och kritiska faktorerna relaterade till människa, process och tekniska aspekter. Detta visar att det finns ett behov av helhetsperspektiv på hela datavärdekedjan och olika element i produktionssystemet när digitala teknologier väljs och integreras. Dessutom finns det ett behov av att definiera en strukturerad process för val och integration av digital teknik, där både ledning och operativ nivå är involverade.