In recent years, the concept of sustainability has increased of importance and customers today are more aware of the implications of not being sustainable. As of the increased awareness, customers are demanding more sustainable practices from retailers, which leads to them communicating this further down the supply chain. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis has been to examine and understand how retailers together with their suppliers in the furniture and interior retail industry co-create a more sustainable supply chain through the Corporate Social Responsibility framework, and to identify what kind of facilitators and barriers that appear in co-creation of CSR between buyers and suppliers. The empirical findings were obtained using a qualitative multiple case study of seven furniture and interior retailers originated from Sweden through semi-structured interviews. The findings were then analyzed and discussed with the presented literature to identify how they were similar or different. The conclusion of this thesis shows that buyers somewhat are engaged in co-creation with their suppliers, although there is no unified answer for how, as the level of involvement, why involved and in which function they are involved are highly different among the cases. A common theme throughout the findings indicated that the more responsible the company is, the more developed they are in their buyer-supplier relationships. Although, the co-creation level of a relationship was found to be ambiguous due to its unexplored nature of the B2B market. Furthermore, the thesis identified both some general and more specific facilitators and barriers that could be used as a guide for future co-creating activities for the implemewntation of CSR in the retail supply chain.

No description available.

Procurement of sawlogs to purchasing sawmills represents a basic strategic business process. The properties of inbound sawlogs are decisive for the output of sawn products and the cost of raw material contributes substantially to the cost of the final product. Increasing customer orientation and new demands from powerful customers in the building and retail sectors entail new or accentuated demands on management of procurement. Managing raw material procurement and communicating needs to suppliers and logging machine operators are vital issues for sawmills in order to be competitive. The purpose of the thesis is to explore how purchasing sawmills manage procurement of sawlogs. The results are based on 46 in-depth interviews with people involved in the procurement process at seven softwood sawmills in Denmark, Finland and Sweden. The thesis identifies various types of supply uncertainties as well as process improvement and buffer activities that reduce uncertainties. However, the major obstacle in the procurement process is the power/dependence balance in the relationships with suppliers. Beyond doubt, it restricts the manageability of procurement and particularly bucking. The results suggest that there are a number of ways to improve management of procurement, which are currently not fully employed. The thesis provides four key strategic dimensions of the procurement process and suggests a general conceptual model of wood procurement to purchasing sawmills. Further research within the subject can usefully explore the link between procurement management and procurement strategy as well as the relation to other functions' strategies and the corporate strategy. The importance of the identified strategic dimensions of the procurement process needs to be quantified in order to provide normative suggestions.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T13:51:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 MarliFFST_TESE.pdf: 2405705 bytes, checksum: d5382e776543ce8d8c7f7d5ffc17c027 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-04-13 / This research is part of the field of organizational studies, focusing on organizational purchase behavior and, specifically, trust interorganizational at the purchases. This topic is current and relevant by addressing the development of good relations between buyer-supplier that increases the exchange of information, increases the length of relationship, reduces the hierarchical controls and improves performance. Furthermore, although there is a vast literature on trust, the scientific work that deal specifically at the trust interorganizational still need further research to synthesize and validate the variables that generate this phenomenon. In this sense, this investigation is to explain the antecedents of trust interorganizational by the relationship between the variable operational performance, organizational characteristics, shared values and interpersonal relationships on purchases by manufacturing industries, in order to develop a robust literature, most consensual, that includes the current sociological and economic, considering the effect of interpersonal relationships in this phenomenon. This proposal is configured in a new vision of the antecedents of interorganizational trust, described as significant quantitative from models Morgan and Hunt (1994), Doney and Cannon (1997), Zhao and Cavusgil (2006) and Nyaga, Whipple, Lynch (2011), as well as qualitative analysis of Tacconi et al. (2011). With regard to methodological aspects, the study assumes the form of a descriptive, survey type, and causal trace theoretical and empirical. As for his nature, the investigation, explicative character, has developed a quantitative approach with the use of exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modeling SEM, with the use of IBM software SPSS Amos 18.0, using the method of maximum verisimilitude, and supported by technical bootstraping. The unit of analysis was the buyer-supplier relationship, in which the object under investigation was the supplier organization in view of the purchasing company. 237 valid questionnaires were collected among key informants, using a simple random sampling developed in manufacturing industries (SIC 10-33), located in the city of Natal and in the region of Natal. The first results of descriptive analysis demonstrate the phenomenon of interorganizational trust, in which purchasing firms believe, feel secure about the supplier. This demonstration showed high levels of intensity, predominantly among the vendors that supply the company with materials that are used directly in the production process. The exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, performed on each variable alone, generated a set of observable and unobservable variables more consistent, giving rise to a model, that needed to be further specified. This again specify model consists of trajectories was positive, with a good fit, with a composite reliability and variance extracted satisfactory, and demonstrates convergent and discriminant validity, in which the factor loadings are significant and strong explanatory power. Given the findings that reinforce the model again specify data, suggesting a high probability that this model may be more suited for the study population, the results support the explanation that interorganizational trust depends on purchases directly from interpersonal relationships, sharing value and operating performance and indirectly of personal relationships, social networks, organizational characteristics, physical and relational aspect of performance. It is concluded that this trust can be explained by a set of interactions between these three determinants, where the focus is on interpersonal relationships, with the largest path coefficient for the factor under study / Esta pesquisa se insere no campo dos estudos organizacionais, focalizando o comportamento de compra organizacional e, de forma espec?fica, a confian?a interorganizacional nas compras. Esse tema ? atual e relevante por abordar o desenvolvimento de boas rela??es entre comprador-fornecedor que amplia a troca de informa??es, aumenta o tempo de relacionamento, reduz os controles hier?rquicos e melhora o desempenho. Al?m disso, embora exista uma vasta literatura sobre confian?a, os trabalhos cient?ficos que tratam especificamente da confian?a interorganizacional ainda carecem de mais pesquisas que sintetizem e validem as vari?veis geradoras desse fen?meno. Nesse sentido, essa investiga??o consiste em explicar os antecedentes da confian?a interorganizacional pela rela??o entre as vari?veis desempenho operacional, caracter?sticas organizacionais, compartilhamento de valores e relacionamento interpessoal nas compras realizadas pelas ind?strias de transforma??o, a fim de desenvolver uma literatura robusta, mais consensual, que contemple as correntes sociol?gicas e econ?micas, considerando o efeito das rela??es interpessoais nesse fen?meno. Essa proposta se configura em uma nova vis?o dos antecedentes da confian?a interorganizacional, descritos como significativos com base nos modelos quantitativos de Morgan e Hunt (1994), Doney e Cannon (1997), Zhao e Cavusgil (2006) e Nyaga, Whipple, Lynch (2011), bem como da an?lise qualitativa de Tacconi et al. (2011). No que se refere aos aspectos metodol?gicos, o estudo assume a forma de uma pesquisa descritiva, do tipo survey, e causal de cunho te?rico emp?rico. Quanto ? sua natureza, a investiga??o, de car?ter explicativo, se desenvolveu em uma abordagem quantitativa, com o uso da an?lise fatorial explorat?ria e da modelagem de equa??es estruturais SEM, com o recurso do software IBM SPSS Amos 18.0, utilizando o m?todo da m?xima verossimilhan?a e apoiada pela t?cnica de bootstraping. A unidade de an?lise foi a rela??o comprador-fornecedor, em que o objeto investigado era a organiza??o fornecedora na vis?o da empresa compradora. Foram coletados 237 question?rios v?lidos, entre os informantes-chaves, utilizando uma amostragem aleat?ria simples desenvolvida nas ind?strias de transforma??o (CNAE 10 a 33), localizadas na cidade do Natal e na regi?o da Grande Natal. Os primeiros resultados das an?lises descritivas demonstram o fen?meno da confian?a interorganizacional na qual as empresas compradoras acreditam, se sentem seguras em rela??o ? empresa fornecedora. Essa manifesta??o apresentou altos n?veis de intensidade, com predomin?ncia entre os fornecedores que suprem a empresa com os materiais que s?o utilizados diretamente no processo produtivo. As an?lises fatoriais explorat?rias e confirmat?rias, realizadas em cada vari?vel isoladamente, geraram um conjunto de vari?veis observ?veis e n?o observ?veis mais consistentes, que juntas formaram um modelo que precisou de reespecifica??o. Esse modelo reespecificado foi constitu?do por trajet?rias positivas, com bom ajustamento, com confiabilidade composta e vari?ncia extra?da satisfat?rias, assim como demonstra validade convergente e discriminante, nas quais as cargas fatoriais s?o significativas e com forte poder explicativo. Diante das constata??es que refor?am o modelo reespecificado aos dados, sugerindo uma elevada probabilidade de que esse modelo seja o mais ajustado para a popula??o em estudo, os resultados suportam a explica??o de que a confian?a interorganizacional nas compras depende diretamente do relacionamento interpessoal, do compartilhamento de valores e do desempenho operacional e indiretamente das rela??es pessoais, redes sociais, caracter?sticas organizacionais, aspecto f?sico e relacional do desempenho. Conclui-se que essa confian?a pode ser explicada por um conjunto de intera??es entre esses tr?s determinantes, nos quais o ponto central recai sobre o relacionamento interpessoal, que apresentou o maior coeficiente de trajet?ria para o fator em estudo

Inköp av material i byggbranschen genomförs traditionellt med lägsta pris som främsta kriterium. Vidare sker inköpen ofta lokalt i respektive byggprojekt, vilket oftast leder till kortsiktiga relationer med leverantörer. Dock visar forskning på att kortsiktiga relationer inte alltid är mest gynnsamma. Det anses istället vara mer fördelaktigt att låta sig inspireras av andra industrier och upprätta långsiktiga relationer och leverantörssamarbeten som sträcker sig över flera byggprojekt. År 2014 förvärvade ett av Sveriges största byggföretag en fabrik som tillverkar prefabricerade produkter i fiber- och gråbetong. Uppköpet var en så kallad vertikal integration och en del i ett koncept för att industrialisera bostadsbyggandet. Förvärvet innebar inte bara ett upprättande av en långsiktig relation utan således även en integration av en leverantör i företagets värdekedja.  Syftet med det här examensarbetet är att bättre förstå hur en sådan intern långsiktig leverantörsrelation fungerar i byggbranschen. Syftet med studien är även att utveckla kunskap och komma med förbättringsförslag kring hur en långsiktig intern affärsrelation kan utvecklas.  Studien anses som kvalitativ och grundar sig på en litteraturstudie, semi-strukturerade intervjuer, interna dokument, platsbesök och observationer. En abduktiv forskningsansats har använts då teori och empiri varvats längs studiens gång. Undersökningen kan även ses som explorativ då slutmålet från början inte var känt.     Studien påvisar och konfirmerar att en intern långsiktig relation är komplex men fördelaktig då det bland annat möjliggör en ökad kontroll och utveckling av både den levererade produkten och relationen. Vidare visar studien att den levererade produktens komplexitet har stor betydelse. Undersökningen åskådliggör även att en kombination av ett externt och internt förhållningssätt till en relation kan vara mest fördelaktigt trots att leverantören definitionsmässigt är intern. Likväl som i externa långsiktiga relationer är även begrepp såsom tillit, engagemang, förväntningar och beroende centrala i interna relationer, men bör utifrån förutsättningarna ses på ett annat sätt. Byggbranschens projektorientering och traditionsenlighet visar sig också påverka en implementering av långsiktiga interna relationer. Vidare förekommer andra mötesforum och socialiseringsprocesser tillskillnad mot externa kortsiktiga relationer. Då den undersökta relationen är en del i ett större koncept visar det sig även möjliggöra förekomsten av fler än två parter, vilket får en påverkan på beslutsfattandet i relationen.     För att utveckla relationen anses tidigare nämnda begrepp som tillit, förväntningar, engagemang, kommunikation, beslutsfattande och beroende vara något som man tankemässigt bör ha med sig. Vidare bör beställare och leverantör tillsammans anpassa sig till varandras processer och arbetsstrukturer. Gemensamma långsiktiga mål bör även formuleras.  För att utveckla en långsiktig intern relation bör även institutionaliseringens fördelar utnyttjas. Detta innebär att kontaktmönster, kommunikationsverktyg och kontaktvägar bör vänjas in och utvecklas över tid. För att engagera och motivera individerna till att vara delaktiga i relationen rekommenderas även nya typer av mötesforum som komplement till de redan existerande. / Purchasing of material in the construction industry is traditionally carried out with lowest price as main criteria. In addition, purchasing often occurs separately in each project, which usually ends up with short-term relationships with suppliers. However, research shows that that short-term relationships are not always the most advantageous. It is considered as more advantageous to obtain inspiration from diverse industries and establish long-term relationships with suppliers that lasts over numerous projects.  In 2014 one of Sweden’s largest construction companies acquired a manufacturer that produces prefabricated concrete elements. The acquisition was a vertical integration and a part of an industrialized house building concept. Hence, the acquisition did not only establish a long-term relationship, it also integrated a supplier in the company’s supply chain.  The purpose with this thesis is to clarify and understand how an intra-organizational long-term supplier relationship is managed in the construction industry. The purpose is also to contribute with knowledge in how to develop such a relationship.  The study is considered as qualitative and is based on literature studies, semi-structured interviews, internal documents, site visits, and personal impressions from meetings. An abductive research approach has been conducted since empirics and theory have been alternated during the study. The survey can also be identified as an explorative study since there was not a clear objective when the study was initiated.  The study reveals and confirms that an internal long-term relationship is complex but advantageous. The long-term focus enables an increased control and development of the product as well as the relationship. The study also illustrated that a combination of an external and internal approach to the relationship is most advantageous, even though the relationship is defined as intra-organizational. In inter-organizational relationships, concepts such as trust, commitment, expectations, and dependence seems to be important in intra-organizational relationships as well, but should be viewed in a different way. The strong project orientation and traditionalism in the construction industry is also considered to affect an internal long-term relationship. Furthermore, in contrast to inter-organizational short-term relationships, other kinds of meeting forums and socialization processes exists. Since the studied relationship is part of a larger concept, more than two parties seem to be involved in the relationship. This, among other things, affect the decision-making process in the relationship.  To develop the relationship, stated concepts such as trust, expectation, commitment, communication, decision-making and dependence should be kept in mind. Furthermore, buyer and supplier should try to adapt to each other’s processes and work structures. To develop a long-term internal relationship, the benefits of institutionalization should also be used, enabling buyer and suppliers to develop and familiarize roles, communication tools and contact routes. To engage and motivate individuals to participate in the relationship, new types of meeting forums are also recommended to complement the ones that already exist.

The concept of open innovation has received increased attention among practitioners as well as in academia in recent years. It provides a conceptual platform for understanding how external sources of knowledge drive internal growth. In addition, it also addresses the internal configurations needed for managing a more externally oriented innovation process. However, many firms still experience major managerial challenges in trying to adopt the principles of open innovation. The perhaps most important challenge in realizing the potential benefits of open innovation lies in modifying existing innovation activities and processes to incorporate the principles of open innovation, rather than creating something completely new. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to study the problems and opportunities arising when firms attempt to integrate open innovation activities within their development processes. Empirically, the results are based on three exploratory case studies within the process industries. In total, this thesis is based on 73 interviews from 2 process firms and 9 equipment suppliers to the process industries. Data was gathered in several different countries, and collectively these firms represent perspectives from Sweden, Norway, Finland, Switzerland, Germany, The Netherlands and The United Kingdom.Three papers are appended with the thesis. Paper I studies the overall challenges of integrating open innovation activities within an existing product development process. The key contribution is the enactment of a practitioner-oriented work model, named the open Stage-Gate model, which exploits the advantages of "openness" while simultaneously capturing the benefits deriving from the systematic and structured approach implied by the Stage-Gate process. Paper II studies a concrete application of open innovation by focusing on the development and installation of new or upgraded process equipment in process plants where collaborative efforts by a process firm and various suppliers of process equipment often are required. The analysis focuses on problems and opportunities in different stages of the equipments lifecycle and finds that the content and the intensity of the collaboration should be tailored to the different stages of the equipment's lifecycle. As such, the conclusions highlight the fact that being totally open in development activities is not always the most suitable option. Instead, different degrees of "openness" may be suitable at different stages. Paper III studies collaboration in the later operational stages of a process equipments lifecycle, from an equipment supplier perspective. The results presented in this paper underscore the importance of collaboration in the operational stages as these stages are critical to facilitate technology transfer and production performance.

No description available.

No description available.

Planering, styrning och uppföljning är viktiga processer inom materialplanering och inom dess flöde från leverantör till slutkund. Planeringsprocessens aktiviteter kan även ha en avgörande effekt på tillgängligheten av företagets produkter. I detta examensarbete granskas hur planeringen kan optimeras för olika produkter, med målet att ta fram rutiner kring hanteringen av produktplanering för att bidra till en bättre effektivitet ur ett helhetsperspektiv.Det finns ett behov av ett tydligt ramverk för att optimera förutsättningarna för planering av komplexa kundorder. Planeringsprocessen är i behov av kringliggande aktiviteter för ett optimalt utfall och baseras på logistiska och ekonomiska verktyg och metoder. Vid effektiv tillämpning kan ledtiderna reduceras och bakåtplaneringen förenklas, då rätt produkter lagerhålls och orderläggning sker vid rätt tidpunkt, med optimerad beställningskvantitet för att minimera de kostnader som kan uppstå. Därutöver krävs ett helhetstänk, där hela försörjningskedjan är involverad. Relationerna i nätverket är en viktig aspekt för en optimerad planering för säkerställande av en god leveransprecision.Det ramverk som tagits fram inkluderar ett grundtänk med logiskt tänkande, effektiva kommunikationsvägar och rätt sak på rätt plats vid rätt tillfälle. Men det bör poängteras att varje organisation är unik och bör anpassa tillvägagångssätt efter sin egen verksamhet, men ändå tillämpa det tankesätt som ramverket medför. / Planning, control and monitoring are key processes in material planning and its flow from supplier to end customer. The activities within the planning process can also have a crucial effect on the availability of the company’s products. This thesis examines how planning can be optimized for different products, and aims to develop procedures for the handling of product planning in order to contribute to a better efficiency from a holistic perspective.There’s a need for a clear framework to optimize the conditions for the planning of complex customer orders. The planning process is in need of ancillary activities for optimal outcomes and is based on logistical and financial tools and methods. If these are applied effectively, the lead times can be reduced and the backward scheduling can be simplified, since the right products are stocked and orders are being placed at the right time, with the optimum order quantity for minimizing the costs that may arise. Additionally, a holistic approach is required, where the whole supply chain is involved. The relationships within the network are an important aspect for an optimized planning, to ensure a high delivery precision.The framework that have been produced, includes a basic idea of logical thinking, effective communication channels and the right thing at the right place at the right time. But it should be emphasized that each organization is unique and should adapt this approach to its own business, but still apply the mindset that the framework entails.

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No. of bitstreams: 1 Texto Tese Fábio Tescari Versão Final ABNT.pdf: 1056652 bytes, checksum: ff130f54e4a3d43007ba62d73e7d08ec (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-05-20 / Relationships among firms have been studied as a factor that pushes the limits for the value that is created by the firms individually, through the joint construction of benefits that could not occur if the relationship is not established. The total value created in a dyadic relationship, which is captured by the parties, is the relationship value. The benefits transcend the financial characteristics of the transaction. They can be converted into other aspects of the relationship, such as technical learning, service delivery, innovation and reputation. The shared and exchanged resources become sources of value creation. These resources stem from two different perspectives. First, from the resources that belong previously to each party, which I defined as intrinsic value. Second, from the resources that are jointly developed by the parties during the relationship, defined as relational value. In this context, this study aims to investigate the different characteristics of the parties that are sources of value creation in relationships, and to examine the factors influencing its capture by the parties. The study involved three steps. The first, a theoretical essay, aimed to explore the value dimensions in the relationship, regarding their definition and their sources. The following two steps focused on empirically testing the effect of these components of relationship value on value creation and capture. A cross-sectional survey and a multiple case study were performed. The theoretical perspectives that permeates the study is the Resource Based View, since it assumes that the firm resources generate economic value that transcends the limits of the firm and is captured by its customers and suppliers. The ontological approach is the critical realism, which allows a better understanding of empirically observed events. The results contribute to a better theoretical understanding of relationship, since the constructs of intrinsic value and relational value integrate different sources of benefits that may derive from relationships. The relationship between these constructs and their individual influence on value capture also bring a theoretical contribution to the study of buyer-supplier relationships. The main managerial contributions concern the fact that it is possible to capture value even if the relationship is not collaborative. Moreover, the results shed light on the need for firms to explore deeply how to extract more benefits from the other party and from the relationship itself, especially considering non-financial sources. / O relacionamento entre firmas vem sendo estudado como um fator que amplia os limites do valor criado pelas firmas individualmente, por meio da construção conjunta de benefícios que não poderia ocorrer caso o relacionamento não se estabelecesse. O valor total criado no nível da díade, que é capturado pelas partes, é o valor do relacionamento. Os benefícios obtidos transcendem as características financeiras da transação, podendo converter-se em outros aspectos da relação entre as firmas, tais como capacitação técnica, oferta de serviços, capacidade de inovação e reputação. Os recursos compartilhados e trocados entre as partes são fontes de criação de valor no relacionamento, mas originam-se de duas perspectivas diferentes. Eles podem pertencer previamente a uma delas, compondo um valor que é intrínseco, ou desenvolverem-se ao longo do relacionamento em si, resultando numa parcela de valor relacional. Neste contexto, este estudo propõe-se a investigar as diferentes características das partes que são fonte de criação de valor em um relacionamento, bem como analisar os aspectos que influenciam sua captura pelas partes. O estudo envolveu três etapas. A primeira, de cunho teórico, visou a explorar as dimensões do valor do relacionamento, no que se refere à sua definição e suas fontes. As duas etapas seguintes objetivaram testar empiricamente o efeito das fontes do valor do relacionamento na criação e captura de valor, por meio de uma survey transversal e um estudo de casos múltiplos. A perspectiva teórica que permeia o estudo é a Visão Baseada em Recursos, uma vez que ela pressupõe que os recursos das firmas produzem valor econômico que transcende os limites delas e é capturado por seus clientes e fornecedores. A abordagem ontológica é a do realismo crítico, a qual permite um melhor entendimento dos acontecimentos empiricamente observados. Os resultados contribuem para um melhor entendimento teórico sobre valor do relacionamento, uma vez que os construtos de valor intrínseco e valor relacional integram diferentes fontes de benefícios que podem advir de relacionamentos. A relação entre esses construtos e sua influência individual na captura de valor também trazem uma contribuição teórica ao estudo de relacionamentos comprador-fornecedor. As principais contribuições gerenciais dizem respeito ao fato de que é possível capturar valor mesmo que o relacionamento não seja colaborativo. Adicionalmente, os resultados enfatizam que as empresas deveriam explorar mais como fazer para extrair mais benefícios da outra parte e do relacionamento em si, em especial de fontes não-financeiras.