The process of information technology adoption and use is critical to deriving benefits of information technology. Thus, one of the most challenging issues in information systems research is to understand how people have experienced the adoption process that may lead to insights to why they accept or reject the information technology (Davis, Bagozzi, & Warshaw, 1989). There are many factors affecting the adoption process of information technology innovations within an organization. To ensure successful adoption of information technology innovations, organizations develop a planned approach to change and employ change management strategies such as communication, training, and functional users support groups to serve as leverage for the adoption. The purpose of this study informed by phenomenological perspectives was to better understand the lived experiences of university staff in the Student Information System (SIS) adoption process. By following Moustakas’ (1994) four primary steps in phenomenological research and his systematic approach, the inductive data analysis process assists in revealing the essence of Big University (Big U) (pseudonym) staff’s lived experiences of the change management strategies put in place for the SIS adopting process via long, in-depth interview sessions. The 24 participants were grouped by criteria profiles with the textural descriptions clustered by the ten emergent themes. Structural descriptions for each participant were developed based on the textural descriptions. The validated textural and structural descriptions were then used to develop the composite textural-structural descriptions. The composite textural-structural description for each criteria profile integrated the experiences of all the individual participants within the criteria profile. The validated composite textural-structural descriptions were then used to develop the synthesis textural-structural descriptions to reveal the universal experiences of all the participants. Thus, this study provided a detailed account of the Big U staff’s experiences which revealed how the change management strategies informed their decision in adopting and using the SIS. The universal experiences indicated that the success of the Big U SIS adoption and use after the initial SIS implementation was greatly enhanced by these planned change efforts. Thus, Big U upper administration declared the success of the SIS implementation when the project was completed on time and under budget. However, while the universal experiences reflected the success of the initial SIS adoption and use due to the planned changed efforts, a very different picture emerged for the SIS post-implementation for unit functions on-going support.

Visualization is a lean tool and in order to strive to become a lean company applying the lean philosophy in all these parts of the organization is necessary. A company that does not understand the philosophy and culture behind lean production, even though applying lean tools, is not a lean business and has a long way to production excellence.   Implementing and becoming a visual organization means change which includes the organizational culture, collective attitude and beliefs. The difference between success and failure is about the ability to provide knowledge, information and to create prerequisites for participation and engagement at all levels in the organization with a clear and direct leadership.   In many companies communication is lacking sufficient and official channels, and the inadequacy in the information systems are usually due to functional thinking and strict boarders at all levels in an organization. New ways of communication are the result of process orientation, demanding new prerequisites for information systems which companies needs to develop and thus become more visual. Knowledge and information needs to become more accessible and objective in order for decision to be taken based on facts not be the result of interpretations of reality. Visualization enables people to see and develop an objective and common reality. It further contributes to the organizations ability for improvement and aligns the employees to fulfill the overall business objectives and strategies.   The Company in this case that wants to be anonymous will further be called Company X. Company X objective is to develop a visual communication system to increase the information sharing and flow throughout the organization. However, this is not an easy task and many companies lack sufficient prerequisites to carry out a successful implementation. The research result at Company X has in this study shown weaknesses in core areas as in clear and direct leadership, vision and strategy development and communication as well as a low level of knowledge transformation at all levels in the organization in order to create engagement for the change process which an implemetion of this kind is. / Visualisering är ett lean verktyg och i sträva att bli ett lean företag måste lean filosofin tillämpas i alla delar av organisationen, vilket är en nödvändighet. Ett företag som inte förstår filosofin och kulturen bakom lean produktion, trots att man tillämpar lean verktyg, är inte ett lean företag och har en lång väg från optimering av produktion. Förutsättningarna att bli en visuell organisation innebär förändringar som omfattar organisations kultur, kollektiva attityder och föreställningar. Skillnaden mellan framgång och misslyckande handlar om förmågan att ge kunskap, information och att skapa förutsättningar för delaktighet och engagemang på alla nivåer i organisationen, detta genom ett tydligt och direkt ledarskap.   Kommunikation på många företag saknar ofta tillräckliga och officiella kanaler och bristen på information beror många gånger på funktionstänkande och strikta gränser, på alla nivåer i organisationen. Nya sätt att kommunicera är resultatet av processorientering vilket krävs för att företag ska kunna skapa förutsättningar för informationssystem och bli mer visuella. Kunskap och information måste bli mer tillgängligt och objektivt för att beslut som är baserade på fakta och inte på tolkningar av verkligheten ska kunna fattas. Visualiseringen möjliggör för människor att se och utveckla en objektiv och gemensam verklighet. Detta bidrar till organisationers möjlighet till förbättringar och möjlighet för de anställda att uppfylla de övergripande affärsmålen och strategierna för organisationen.   Det studerade företaget som valt att vara anonymt kommer hädanefter kallas för Företag X. Företag X målsättning är att utveckla ett visuellt kommunikationssystem i syfte att öka utbytet av information och dess flöden . Men detta är inte en lätt uppgift och många företag har inte tillräckliga förutsättningar för att kunna genomföra en framgångsrik implementering. Resultaten från studien på företaget X visar på svagheter inom kärnområden som ett klart och tydligt ledarskap, utvecklandet och kommunikationen av vision och strategier samt en låg nivå rörande kunskapsspridandet på alla nivåer i organisationen för att skapa engagemang för förändrings process som en implementering av detta slag innebär.

Strategisk affärsutveckling har länge varit ett fenomen åtskilliga företag velat bemästra. Då ett kontinuerligt förändrande marknadslandskap präglar dagens affärsutveckling är det svårt att bedriva effektiv strategisk affärsutveckling. Denna studie syftar till att beskriva och öka förståelsen kring hur ett modernt IT-företag med hjälp av ett balanserat styrkort som strategiskt verktyg skall kunna förbättra den förändringsbaserade affärsutvecklingen utifrån de anställdas perspektiv. Fyra års akademisk erfarenhet inom ekonomi samt ett brinnande intresse för strategisk affärsutveckling ligger till grund för denna studie. Studier har visat att generellt sett närmare 80 procent av anställda inom olika företag upplever oklarheter kring begreppet förändring och hur det påverkar organisationens strategiska utveckling. Således har vi valt att i det teoretiska avsnittet fokusera på strategisk affärsutveckling, vidare har vi belyst konceptet Change Management samt hur förändring påverkar den strategiska utvecklingsprocessen. Dessa koncept kopplas sedan ihop med det strategiska management-verktyget: balanserat styrkort. Vi, författarna har använt oss av en abduktiv ansats där vi fokuserat på teorier för att analysera verkligheten för att sedan återkoppla till teori. På så vis har vi skapat en modell som skall förbättra förhållandet mellan dessa faktorer. Studien som är av kvalitativ natur har gjorts på ett företag verksamt på den svenska IT-marknaden. Respondenterna har varit företagets anställda, vilka har god insyn och erfarenhet inom branschen. Resultatet har visat att det krävs att de anställda integreras i besluts- och utvecklingsprocesserna av den anledning då det skapar ökad motivation och delaktighetskänsla ur respektive anställds perspektiv. Vidare har studien visat att kommunikationen gällande visionen och företagets långsiktiga planering är avgörande i det syfte ledningen vill förmedla vart de anställda bör sträva och hur de ska förhålla sig till företagets strategiska riktlinje. Vidare har studien även visat att relations- och tillhörighetskänsla är något som är viktigt då det ökar de anställdas individuella identifiering gentemot företaget och bidrar till ökad effektivitet och motivation. I studien har vi jämfört den teoretiska referensramen som sedan med hjälp av den empiriska undersökningen mynnar ut i en analytisk diskussion där vi redogör för de argument vi för i analysen samt huruvida dessa kan besvara studiens syfte och problemformulering. / Strategic business development is a phenomenon that every manager wants to master. Because of continuous market-changes, it has become difficult to control and adjust strategic changes. This thesis is aimed to describe and increase the knowledge of how modern heterogeneous organizations with several business departments in the IT-industry can based on the balanced scorecard introduced by Kaplan and Norton (1999), improve their businesses, concerning changes in business development from the employee's perspective. The authors of this study have four years of academic experience in business administration and management, which has been a starting point for realizing this thesis. Studies has shown that generally close to 80 per cent of the employee's in various organizations are finding difficulties to understand the concept of change  and how it affects their respective organization. Based on these assumptions we have categorized our theoretical framework on three major subjects: strategic business development, Change Management, and to finally conclude and develop a balanced scorecard to control the process of change. This study is based on an abductive research approach where the authors through various of well-known theories has preformed empirical gathering, which eventually had lead to a better understanding of how these major management concepts can interact to develop a better starting point for our research organization. The study has been realized through a qualitative approach in an organization established in the Swedish IT-industry. The respondents in this research have been employees with good expertise and insight of the organization. The research has included the individuals' personal perspectives regarding the effectiveness of business strategy and how this could be created and realized to increase the motivation in the company. The study has further showed that the importance of communicating a strong vision is crucial for creating motivation and belongingness amongst the employees in the company. Another important element in the process has been the need of social identity amongst the workers, which according to the study has developed barriers between the divisions.  We have further in this study compared the empirical gatherings with theory to later analyze and determine a more suitable approach regarding these concepts. Finally, we have compared our studies to answer our purpose and research question which is the aim of this study. To conclude, we have discussed how this study could be transferable to other organizations and criticized our qualitative approach.

Changing artifacts is intrinsic to the development and maintenance of software projects. The changes made to one artifact, however, do not come about in isolation. Software models are often vastly entangled. As such, a minuscule modification in one ripples in- consistency through several others. The primary goal of the this thesis is to investigate techniques and processes for the synchronization of artifacts in model driven development environments in which projects comprise manifold interdependent models, each being a live document that is continuously altered and evolved. The co-evolution of these artifacts demands an efficient mechanism to keep them consistent in such dynamic environments. To achieve this consistency, we intend to explore methods and algorithms for impact anal- ysis and the propagation of modifications across heterogenous interdependent models. In particular, we consider large scale models that are generated from other models by complex artifact generators. After creation, both the generated artifacts, and also the ones they are generated from, are subject to evolutionary changes throughout which their mutual consistency should be maintained. In such situations, the model transformation is the pri- mary benchmark of consistency rules between source and target models. But the rules are often implanted inside the implementation of artifact generators and hence unavailable. Trivially, the artifacts can be synchronized by regeneration. More often than not however, regeneration of such artifacts from scratch tends to be unwieldy due to their massive size. This thesis is a summary of research on effective change management methodologies in the context of model driven development. In particular, it presents two methods of in- crementally synchronizing software models related by existing model transformations, so that the synchronization time is proportional to the magnitude of change and not to the size of models. The first approach treats model transformations as black-boxes and adds to it incremental synchronization by a technique called conceptualization. The black-box is distinguished from other undertakings in that it does not require the extraction, re- engineering and re-implementation of consistency rules embedded inside transformations. The second approach is a white-box approach that uses static analysis to automatically transform the source code of the transformation into an incremental one. In particular it uses partial evaluation to derive a specialized, incremental transformation from the exist- ing one. These two approaches are complementary and together support a comprehensive range of model transformations.

Background: In June 2010, Swedish parliament decided that Swedish academia should compete with quality and introduce tuition fees for foreign students. This means that higher education will remain free of charge for citizens of EU/EEA and that third-country students will have to pay a tuition fee for studying in Sweden. Problem discussion: Managing the introduction of tuition fees is a matter of priorities among the various Swedish universities. Depending on the size and budget of the university, the concentration of the change has varied. Linnaeus University is at the moment concentrating on recruiting national students and building their brand within the Swedish boarders, ignoring the consequences that the lack of international students will lead to. We question how the university should be able to maintain an international experience for the student, teachers and researchers unless they choose to invest in international relations and internal marketing to sell their brand. Research question: What could Swedish academia do to communicate their quality of education and their brand on an international market in order to attract international students? Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to describe and analyze how Linnaeus University, and other institutions in similar situations, can promote their brand on an international market in order to successfully maintain and communicate the core values of their brand. We also wish to inspire similar organizations to be active and work with the situation rather than approaching change with a wait and see strategy. Methodology: We have chosen to make a qualitative research with The Actors perspective. We quickly discovered that this is the ultimate method for us since we are not trying to find any absolute truth, but rather gain knowledge and understanding of how different institutions handle the same situation. To create this understanding, our primary data has been collected through discussions with representatives from various universities and governmental organizations within Sweden. Findings: Our findings are based on several factors in relation to the emerging situation out of the introduction of tuition fees. We identified two major issues regarding inactive leadership and absent decisions. We believe that this is based on the paradigm shift in global Academia, from the classical institution to an organization within a competitive market - with students as their customers. We also found a lack of experience within Swedish Academia when it comes to communication internationally in an effective and efficient manner. Both issues show the urgent necessity for Academia to learn how to communicate their brand internationally in order to successfully attract international students. Keywords: Communication, Change management, Branding, International marketing, Introduction of Tuition Fees, Swedish Academia

Background: Today also smaller companies (SME) are implementing enterprise resource planning systems. One difference is that the SME have smaller resources regarding people and finance which can cause some problems if they are not aware of this. The company we have studied have undergone an organizational change and simultaneously implemented an ERP. Two parts of the implementation of the ERP worked just as intended and the third and last part experienced some major difficulties. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to examine the situation in which a small company undertake two major changes almost simultaneously, one of which is the implementation of an ERP. This matter when an SME is implementing an ERP is not well researched since it is only in the more recent years that this type of organization feel the need for it and therefore have ventured into this. The aim of this thesis is to add to the theoretical field of small organizations introducing enterprise information systems. Method: This is a qualitative study conducted in the form of a case study. The main data sources have been semi structured interviews, combined with observations and a document study. The data have been analyzed inductively. Conclusion: The implementation of this ERP has gone bad in one area due to several cooperating mistakes. SME’s have some circumstances that does not apply to the larger organizations. In a SME every person carries greater importance in the success or failure of the implementation. Preparation is equally important in an SME as in larger organizations. Suggestions for further research: The field of ERP in SME's have not been very thoroughly studied since it is a comparatively new field. Further research in this matter would be of some value.

This study aims to understand, describe, and analyze the factors that lead employees resist organizational change efforts. More specifically, by locating various types of roots and symptoms of resistance, we have developed a framework which managers or individuals, who plan to initiate a change program, can use to manage resistance and to benefit, if exist, from the constructive value of resistant behaviors of employees. Findings are drawn from the reinterpretation of two case studies which were conducted on the area. While the first one involves introduction of activity-based costing system in a Portuguese telecommunications company, second one analyzes implementation of a new management program, called BATON, in a university funded research organization. By relying on these case studies, existing models and concepts related to resistance were tested, reinterpreted and an alternative framework to manage resistance is developed. As a result of the study, it is found that despite the amount of theoretical concepts and tools, there is still an important deficiency in terms of resistance management, and managers usually tend to employ pre-set methods to overcome resistance in change management. Findings of the thesis provide those who plan to start and implement change programs with a comprehensive framework to locate, understand and analyze resistance and to take appropriate managerial actions in organizational change efforts.

Människan är en social varelse som har behov av andra människor men eftersom vi är olika uppstår det ibland konflikter. Måste konflikter vara negativa? Kan det komma något bra ur en konflikt? Studien vill lyfta fram konflikter som något som kan ge motivation och kreativitet till att skapa förändringar. Studien vill se om det finns något samband mellan konflikter och innovationer. Studien vänder sig till medarbetare, företagsledare, och studenter. Studien omfattar teorier, en mindre enkätundersökning samt åtta stycken intervjuer som handlar om konflikter, förändring och innovationer. Det gäller att bli medveten om känslor som vi får i en konfliktsituation. Om vi förstår våra känslor och om vi förstår varför vi reagerar som vi gör i en konflikt har vi större chans att göra något kreativt av känslorna och konflikterna kan till och med leda fram till nya innovationer och förändringar. / Human being is a social being which is dependent to other people, but the fact that we are different may sometimes cause conflicts. Do conflicts need to be negative? Can a conflict situation make new innovations? The intention of this study is to focus on conflicts that will generate motivation for creative changes. The study is looking for connections between changes, conflicts and innovations. The study addresses co-workers, business managers and students. It contains theories, a minor survey and interviews. It is important to be aware of the different feelings between people in a conflict. Understanding our feelings and understanding how we react as we do in a conflict situation, give us a greater opportunity to create , for instance, new innovations and changes.

Many authors (refer: Swayne and Tucker, 1973; Kahneman and Lovallo, 1994; Baron, 1998; Stewart et al., 1998; Simon et al., 1999; Simon and Houghton, 2003; Baum and Lock, 2004; Mathews, 2008) have examined the traits and skills of the entrepreneur. Others have been more interested in their behaviors (refer: Bhave, 1994; Byers et al., 1997; Sarasvathy, 2001; Shook et al., 2003; Baron, 2007; Davidsson, 2008), trying to describe the entrepreneurial processes on the initial stages of venture development. However, studies that try to define how an entrepreneur reacts when facing changes have not been found in the literature. The focus of this research is thus, to explore the attitude of the entrepreneur towards changes throughout the development of the start-up project. The theoretical background is divided into three main parts: the entrepreneurial attitude, the attitude towards change, and the relation between perceptions of organizational climate and attitudes. The first section reviews the literature about the traits and behaviors that define an entrepreneur. The second section concentrates on research papers concerning the attitude towards change for middle managers in well-established firms. Finally, the third section, through a review of the relevant literature, emphasizes the importance of the impact of the working environment perception on people’s attitude towards work. The approach of this qualitative study is inductive at first, but also incorporates a deductive approach during the data analysis using a grounded theory method. The data were gathered through seven semi-structured interviews with entrepreneurs from Cyprus, India, Mexico, United Kingdom, and Sweden. The outcome of the present study is a model emphasizing the main results of the research. It presents three main reasons (interest/work experience in the business area, definition of the gap in the market, and desire to create) that lead to the decision to initiate the project. The market and future perception, as they have an impact on the actual start of the process, are presented and discussed as well. Concerning the attitude towards changes occurring during the process, four different reactions have been found to be relevant (adaptation, search for assistance, determination/commitment, and passion/persistence). Furthermore, the help provided by the learning experience, the social networking, and the future planning to overcome changes were also identified. Finally, the perception by the entrepreneur of the change and the overall process are explained.

The purpose of this study is to see how an organization can prepare themselves to overcome the barriers when implementing a quality management system. When introducing a new management system regardless of its intentions, there are several obstacles, or rather barriers, which an organization will face and ultimately have to deal with in order to assure a successful implementation of a QMS. Not knowing beforehand what problems may arise from adopting a new management system may halter the process of introducing the new management system and add costs, resources, and time to the introduction phase. Although there are general barriers and problems with implementing a quality management system, there are also specific barriers for each and every organization. It is of significant importance that organizations become aware of those areas of which they need to pay the most attention to when implementing a QMS. There will be forces for and against the change process of a QMS and the latter needs to be anticipated and dealt with for a successful implementation of a QMS. By using a case organization and the managers within, we were able to assess the pre-conditions at the organization and identify which barriers that were specific for them. As managers are the ones implementing the new system as well as controlling, maintaining and continuously improving it, it was necessary for us to acquire their opinions and ideas. A qualitative research approach was taken and semi-structured interviews were held at the case organization EDB Card Services AS in Mo i Rana, Norway, which included 6 managers ranging from administrative level to operations level. We found that the biggest barrier for the case organization was the fact that departments were not as inter-dependent, but rather independent from each other which is not compatible with a quality management system. It was evident that the departments could learn from each other and that spreading knowledge and proper documentation had to be improved. At the case organization one of their specific barriers were the sharing and handling of documents, this barrier could be eliminated by educating staff and managers of how to make proper documents with a clear purpose, and distribute documents to the right person at the right time. The managers were motivated and willing to spend time assuring that the quality requirements of the QMS is maintained however stressed the fact that more resources would be needed in order to achieve this. Our findings lead us to believe that general guidelines for how to implement a QMS are insufficient to successfully handle the inherent problems and barriers when changing from“what is”, to “what could be”. The specific barriers which arise when organization take a look at themselves and identify these are probably more likely to affect the implementation process more than those that are general. We came to the conclusion that EDB Card Services AS needs to deal with the barriers that we identified as forces against a QMS, namely: departmental barriers, documentation of processes and procedures, leadership, resources, and information sharing and documentation. To effectively prepare the organization for the implementation of a QMS these barriers needs to be dealt with. Furthermore, we recommend that the organization educate and train those responsible for the introduction of a QMS and that an independent steering group/committee is established.