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Företag tenderar att leverera meningsfulla kundupplevelser genom användning av kundresor. En kundresa föreställer ett händelseförlopp som innefattar kundens hela livscykel, från förköpsfas till efterköpsfas. Inom kundresor utgör företagsägda kontaktpunkter en central del, eftersom det är via dessa som företag och kunder utbyter information sinsemellan genom hela kundresan. Rätt information är A och O för att företag ska kunna kommunicera med de rätta kunderna, vid rätt tidpunkt och med relevant budskap, oavsett vilken kontaktpunkt som kunden än väljer. Rätt information förutsätter tillgång till relevanta och kvalitetsrika data samt kräver adekvata åtgärder för att möjliggöra ett entydigt och komplett informationsflöde. Detta är lättare sagt än gjort. Faktum är att det i dagsläget saknas tydliga riktlinjer för hur företag bör integrera kontaktpunkter för att säkerställa ett avbrottfritt informationsutbyte. Inom tidigare forskning saknas studier av faktiska fall. Därför har denna studie genomförts som en fallstudie med syfte att undersöka hur en enskild verksamhet inom biltillverkningsindustrin, integrerar egna kontaktpunkter. Studiens resultat tyder på att det finns negativa faktorer som försvårar informationsutbyte och samtidigt utgör ett hot mot positiva faktorer som innefattar verksamhetens kärnprocesser för att effektivisera informationsutbyte. För att upprätthålla ett effektivt informationsutbyte och för att skydda verksamheten mot negativa faktorer, bör positiva faktorer vara synkroniserade. Lösningen förutsätter en gemensam IT-arkitektur, som innefattar system och verktyg som är lämpade för kundinteraktion samt som kan sammankopplas med verksamhetens kärnprocesser. / Companies tend to deliver meaningful customer experiences by using customer journeys. A customer journey represents a sequence of events that include the customer's entire purchase cycle, from pre-purchase phase to post-purchase phase. In these journeys, company owned touchpoints constitute a key part, as it is through these touchpoints that companies and customers share information with one another throughout the entire customer journey. Accurate information is imperative for the companies to communicate with the right customer, at the right time and with a relevant message, regardless of which touchpoint the customer chooses. Accurate information requires access to relevant and high quality data, as well as adequate measures to enable unambiguous and complete flow of information. In fact, this is easier said than done. There are currently no clear guidelines on how companies should integrate touchpoints to ensure an uninterrupted information sharing. In previous research, there is a lack of studies conducted on factual cases. Therefore, this study has been conducted as a case study, which aim is to study an automobile company’s approach to integrate its touchpoints. The result of this study indicates that there are negative factors that hamper the information sharing, and at the same time pose a threat to positive factors that include core business processes to streamline information sharing. To maintain an effective information sharing, and to protect the business against negative factors, positive factors should be synchronized. This solution requires a corporate IT architecture, which includes suitable systems and tools for customer interaction, and which can be linked to the core processes of the business.

This essay examines influencers’ framing of mental illness and how the framing could possibly affect the growing problem of mental illness among Swedish youth. Previous research concerning mental illness among youth, social media and social contagion is presented as a basic understanding of the problem at hand. Approximately 16 000 Instagram posts from Sweden’s most influential Instagram accounts were reviewed for content about mental illness. Posts containing descriptions of mental illness were extracted and analyzed using thematical analysis. The main finding from the thematical analysis was that influencers tended to use The Hero’s Journey dramaturgy in the framing of mental illness. The main conclusion made from the study was that influencer framing of mental health issues, consciously or unconsciously, tended to augment mental illness in a number of ways. The influencers seemed to have developed specializations in different forms of mental illness. The specialized influencer took upon him/herself the role of a mentor to followers experiencing symptoms of the same type of mental illness, leading them on for their own Hero’s Journey. Hence, the mechanisms of The Hero’s Journey were shown to, in themselves, have a tendency to increase the contagious effects of mental illness.

In this thesis, depending on Benedict Anderson’s Studies of nationalism in his book The Imagined Communities, I will prove that in her historical fiction for children, Wondrous Journeys in Strange Lands, the Palestinian writer Sonia Nimr is reviving and reforming Arab national identity. Anderson identifies the nation as a group imagined by its members; the people who perceive and identify themselves as equal members in this group. For the people to imagine their nation, Anderson states three tools: the map as a representation of the geographical space, the census as a representation of population identity categories that live in a particular land, and the museum as the representation of historical and the legal continuity of certain ethnicities in a certain geographical space. The three tools are thoroughly abstracted and used in Nimr’s book as we follow the footsteps of Nimr’s heroine in her travels, we see her drawing Arab historical map, when Palestine was a canton in the great Arab State. The social fabric Nimr weaves by the characters in her book reflects the real and the reformed census of Arab ethnicities and their social classes with the highlighting of the essential role of Arabic women in society. The narrated society of Nimr’s work reforms nation’s census which accords with the extended pan Arab geography of Arab nation. The nation imagining requirements are completed by visiting the history and wandering in the historical Arabic cantons and cities which materialize Nimr’s trail to perpetuate those important places in her textual museum, which she builds in her addressed work to children to answer their question about who we are and how we are the most eligible ethnicities to live on this land. Nimr does not promote a certain political agenda nor casts a holy cover on the past; by contrast, she teaches Arab children past lessons to revive and reform their modern Arab national identity as a remedy for the catastrophic national present.

Fastighetsmäklarbranschen befinner sig i en utveckling mot ökadekrav och förväntningar från potentiella köpare, säljare ochsamhället i stort. Detta har skapat ett behov av kunskap kringframgångsfaktorer och visualisering med målet att förbättraframtidens förmedlingsprocess. Syftet med föreliggande studie harvarit att fylla en kunskapslucka för studiens begrepp win-win-windär fokus har varit på hur man balanserar så alla parter det vil lsäga säljare, köpare och mäklare går vinnande på bostadsaffären.Den metodologiska design byggdes på kvalitativ empiritriangulerad från de tre perspektiven med intervjusvar från 3säljare, 3 köpare och 7 fastighetsmäklare med tillägg från densvenska myndigheten för registrering, tillsyn och disciplinnämndför fastighetsmäklare, Fastighetsmäklarinspektionen (FMI). Varjepart fick ge sitt utlåtande för vad som skapar värde i processen. Ettvetenskapligt tänkande antogs utifrån fokus på kvalitetsteknik ochverksamhetsutveckling. Systematiska analyser av intervjuernapresenterades i en processkarta över fastighetsmäklarensverksamhet. Resultatet visade att den röda tråden genomförmedlingsprocessen är att sätta värdeskapande i centrum och attge det lilla extra. Slutsatsen blev att framgångsfaktorerna utgörsav; emotionell intelligens, flexibilitet, kundförståelse, långsiktigakundrelationer, trygghet och överträffa förväntningarna. Slutligenfinns ett behov av vidare forskning kring långsiktighet, attöverträffa även framtidens förväntningar på fastighetsmäklare, i enbransch som genomgår ständiga förändringar. / Real estate agency as a business field is under development formeeting increasing demands from potential buyers, sellers andsociety overall, creating a need for knowledge of success factorsand process visualisation to improve future agency opportunities.The purpose of the study has been to cover a knowledge gap of awin-win-win situation for long lasting customer relationships,where the agent can find winning aspects illuminating co-creationof value in use together with potential clients. The methodologicaldesign was built on qualitative data triangulation from threeperspectives with interview answers from 3 buyers, 3 sellers and 7real estate agents with additional answers from the addition of theSwedish estate agents inspectorate. A scientific approach wasadopted focusing on the quality management and businessdevelopment field. Systematic analyses of the interviews have beenpresented in a process map from the real estate agents’ business view. The main themes were summarized from new insights intosuccess factors. Results showed the importance of illuminatingvalue creation and to give a little extra. The conclusions turned outin value creation success themes consisting of emotionalintelligence, flexibility, customer knowledge. longterm customerrelationships, trust and exceeding expectations. Left for futureresearch from a quality management perspective is to keeppursuing this avenue to meet upcoming expectations on the realestate agent, in this business field undergoing constant change. / <p>2021-06-06</p>

Le management de l’expérience client est un terrain d’étude trop peu exploré en marketing (Lars Grønholdt et al., 2015; Lemon et Verhoef, 2017) et de nombreux professionnels décrivent les enjeux stratégiques, plus spécifiquement, de la conception de parcours client ainsi que la complexité managériale à les concevoir en situation de cross-canal.Notre but, dans une visée prescriptive et normative de la recherche, est d’améliorer, à travers la création d’un outil de gestion, les capacités marketing des managers de parcours client. Nous limitions notre travail doctoral au secteur de la distribution française en cross-canal. La thèse suit la méthodologie de Design Science (Romme, 2003) visant à concevoir un artefact, c’est-à-dire un outil de gestion dont les professionnels peuvent s’emparer pour réduire la complexité du management de l’expérience client. Trois études empiriques qualitatives sont conduites : deux séries d’entretiens individuels et une étude de cas pour tester l’outil conçu.L’artefact développé dans cette thèse comprend un ensemble de concepts, une méthode de travail ainsi que sa réalisation effective appelée instanciation, fondée sur les résultats des deux premiers terrains. Nous montrons que le choix théorique de considérer le parcours client comme une coproduction de ressources et de fonder la conception de parcours sur une structure modulaire permet d’améliorer les capacités marketing et d’en développer de nouvelles, contribuant ainsi au savoir managérial mais aussi académique car notre recherche explore, d’un point de vue théorique, les ressources engagées par le client et l’entreprise, ainsi que les capacités marketing nécessaires pour le manager et leurs dynamiques. / Customer experience management is less explored in marketing (Lars Grønholdt et al., 2015; Lemon and Verhoef, 2017) and many practitioners describe strategic issues, and specifically, the managerial complexity to design of customer journey in cross-channel location.Our goal in our prescriptive and normative research, is aiming to improve, through the creation of a management tool, managers’ marketing capabilities. We restrict our doctoral work to French cross-channel retail. The thesis follows the Design Science Methodology (Romme, 2003) aimed at designing an artifact, which is a management tool that professionals can take to reduce the complexity of customer experience management. Three qualitative empirical studies are conducted: two series of interviews and a case study to test the artifact.The artifact developed in this thesis includes a set of concepts, a method and its effective realization called instantiation, based on the results of the first two interviews. We show that the theoretical choice to consider the customer journey as a co-production of resources and the design of customer journey as a modular structure allows to improve actual marketing capabilities and develop new ones, thus contributing to managerial knowledge but also academic because our research explores, from a theoretical point of view, the resources committed by the customer and the company, as well as marketing capabilities for the manager and their dynamics.

Staging experiences and providing optimal customer experience has become the new battlefield within the marketing segment, since the introduction of experience economy. The modern customer has multiple devices, channels and touchpoints to interact with the organization and with rapidly changing digital technology, where the product or service information are available online 24/7, he/ she is in-charge of his/ her own experiences. This multitude of options pose great challenges for the organization to understand customer needs, expectations, and behavior, and predict and manage customer experience. Despite numerous studies and streams of literature, several authors, scholars, and practitioners have developed fragmented frameworks and models that partially addresses this multidimensional construct of customer experience. Furthermore, things get complicated when these fragmented constructs are used by the luxury travel industry to design, develop, and manage customer experience. Therefore, in order to address this broad concept and provide the organization with a holistic framework that can be leveraged for providing customer experience, we conducted a qualitative multi-case study, that included 14 semi-structured interviews from various actors within the supply- chain of the luxury travel industry. Using thematic analysis, the rich empirical data from the interviews were analyzed and transformed into sub-themes and themes. Keeping these themes as the foundation, we propose an integrated conceptual model that captures a firm integrating customer and co-creation perspectives to provide customer experience. This integrated model consists of five building blocks, Organizational Factors, Design, Delivery and Management of customer experience, Co-Creation, Customer Experience Insights / Metrics and Moderating Factors, that coupled together should influence customer experience. Using this conceptual model, we analyzed how different actors within the supply-chain provide customer experience. Subsequently, we also develop a customer journey map (from a customer perspective) consisting of customer needs, channels, and touchpoints to understand the critical touchpoint that act as the primary contributors for providing customer experience. And finally, we highlight the driving factors and barriers for providing customer experience within luxury travel industry.

Rapid digital transformation, accelerated by covid-19 and a younger, more digital workforce, has changed the B2B sales environment affecting customer behavior, business practices and technologies. To adapt to this change B2B companies need to create new endeavors that connect marketing and sales activities, and identify how these can be efficiently enhanced by technology and digital tools. There is a need to identify effective tactics in different phases of the marketing and sales process. Consequently, more academic research is needed to investigate critical issues that technology may have in the B2B buying process. This paper thereby aims to establish a framework for B2B companies on how to optimize the customer journey by supporting the sales process with digital inbound marketing. This is examined by looking at how B2B companies can optimize the sales process by targeting customers’ needs with relevant actions throughout the customer journey with the help of technology and digital means. The results of this exploratory single case study demonstrates that the customer journey is complex with several touchpoints, and to create optimized processes, the customer journey must be adapted to each specific customer segment. Further, the study also contributes to the literature by demonstrating the importance of the marketing and sales departments being integrated and working together to create efficient processes. The presented framework for a customer journey can be used by managers to visualize the sales process, and identify at what stages the process can be made more efficient by digital means.

The modern retail landscape is experiencing a continuous change due to digitalization. With the growing number of available channels, consumers' consequent behavior within the fashion retail environment are becoming ever more complex. Which thus poses a challenge for fashion retailers in trying to not only understand them, but how to serve them best. Along this evolution of retail due to digitalization, physical retail stores have closed down due to the increasing competition from e-commerce, although it remains the biggest distribution channel. The role of the physical store is thus experiencing elements of an existential crisis. In this, Generation Z remains an ambiguous consumer segment whose importance will only increase as the generation comes into its purchasing prime. But, Generation Z is not yet well understood as limited research exists on the subject. And as they’re the digital native generation, where retail omnichannel strategies are commonplace, seeking to understand their attitudes, preferences and perceptions of omnichannel retailing, but also the physical store, is thus essential moving into the future. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to distinguish and explore the value of the physical store in the eyes of Generation Z in an omnichannel strategy, within the context of fashion retailing. RQ: What is the role of physical fashion stores within omnichannel strategy, in regard to Generation Z? In order to answer the research question, the method of choice was a qualitative one. The consequent empirical findings were gathered from seven semi-structured interviews, six from Generation Z respondents and one from the CCO of Gina Tricot, yielding a managerial perspective. Thus, allowing for triangulation opportunities. Moreover, besides the empirical findings, we present a proposed framework which illustrates how and why Generation Z’s behavior, preferences and perceptions have ultimately altered the role of physical stores to be one of increasing complementarity within the context of an omnichannel strategy. In describing this evolution, multiple characteristics of Generation Z are distinguished. Finally, this thesis provides a deepened knowledge on how retailers may use their physical store within an omnichannel strategy to better serve Generation Z consumers in order to enhance customer experience and satisfaction. The empirical findings exhibit the physical store as an essential part for consumers within the context of other available channels online. Where multiple aspects otherwise not satisfied through online channels, serve an important purpose for Generation Z consumers. This thesis may thus offer value for retailers in how to balance various appreciated aspects of the physical store, whilst incorporating some of the desired elements of online, to increase the customer experience of physical stores.

It‘s all relative. What might seem slow to someone who deals with water every day, is rapid when measured against thousands of years of ice ages and hundreds of years of mining. First nature and then humans and technology have dramatically changed our landscape up until the year 1990 and beyond.