<p>This thesis aims to investigate perceptions of sustainability in relation to business</p><p>strategy within the Swedish chemical industry. To this end, a survey was</p><p>distributed with the assistance of industry organization Plast- och Kemiföretagen</p><p>to companies that are part of the Responsible Care® program.</p><p>A second purpose of the study is to explore critical factors when implementing an</p><p>integration of sustainability with business strategy. To do this as well as dig deeper</p><p>into a couple of questions raised in the survey, a qualitative study was carried out</p><p>at Akzo Nobel business unit Pulp and Paper Chemicals (operating under the brand</p><p>name of Eka Chemicals). Semi-structured interviews were performed with seven</p><p>company representatives from different organizational levels, to explore critical</p><p>factors identified in a literary study.</p><p>From the survey, it could be concluded that the studied companies considered</p><p>sustainability as an important issue today and with growing importance for the</p><p>future. It was also observed that sustainability is currently not an issue at the core</p><p>of business strategy, as 35% of respondent companies did not think that top</p><p>management handled issues related to sustainability. Enhanced reputation and</p><p>cost reduction/resource efficiency were seen as the primary creators of business</p><p>value when addressing sustainability. Additional top motivating forces to consider</p><p>sustainability were legislative demands and company core values.</p><p>From the literary study a model of critical factors when implementing changes in</p><p>strategy was developed. Four different aspects identified were explored in the</p><p>semi-structured interviews at Eka Chemicals: change leadership, shared vision,</p><p>sense of urgency and aligning goals. In that specific setting, the critical factors of</p><p>having a shared vision and aligning individual, organizational unit and corporate</p><p>goals were found to exist to a high degree, while the critical factor of change</p><p>leadership was only partially existent, and a sense of urgency not existent.</p>

<p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p>

<p>In order to stay competitive, it is necessary for companies to continuously increase the effectiveness and efficiency of their production processes. High availability has, thus, increased in importance. Therefore, maintenance has gained in importance as a support function for ensuring, e.g., quality products and on-time deliveries. Maintenance, though, is a costly support function. It has been reported that as much as 70% of the total production cost can be spent on maintenance. Further, as much as one-third of the cost of maintenance is incurred unnecessarily due to bad planning, overtime cost, limited or misused preventive maintenance, and so on. In so, condition based maintenance is introduced as one solution for a more effective maintenance.</p><p>In condition based maintenance, critical item characteristics are monitored in order to gain early indications of an incipient failure. Research, though, has shown that condition based maintenance has not been implemented on a wide basis. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to investigate how a condition based maintenance approach can be implemented in an industrial setting, and to develop a method that can assist companies in their implementation efforts. Further, the research has been divided in three research questions. They focus on: constituents of a condition based maintenance approach, decision-making prior implementation of condition based maintenance, and finally, the implementation of condition based maintenance in a company.</p><p>By using a systems approach and a case study process, how condition based maintenance can be implemented as a routine has been investigated. The result is an implementation method in which four suggested phases are presented. The method starts with a feasibility test. It then continues with an analysis phase, an implementation phase, and an assessment phase. The conclusions can be summarized as follows: implementing condition based maintenance consists of many general enabling factors, including management support, education and training, good communication, and motivation etc.</p>

<p>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.</p> / <p>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.</p>

<p>Bakgrund: Det förekommer ett allt starkare tryck på svenska kommuner att effektivisera sin verksamhet. Flera kommuner simulerar en marknadsliknande situation genom den sk kallade beställar-utförar modellen. Ett problem är att rapportera och följa upp verksamheternas helhet, då resultatet i budgetkopplade verksamheter inte definieras av lönsamhet. Balanserat Styrkort är en styrmodell som underlättar en verksamhets uppföljning av kvantitativa och kvalitativa aspekter. Modellen kräver dock att den förankras hos ledning och personal för att få avsedd effekt. En förutsättning för att den ska kunna framgångsrikt implementeras är att personalen uppvisar en förändrinjgsvilja beträffande konceptet. </p><p>Syfte: Vårt syfte med uppsatsen är att kartlägga kommunalanställdas förändringsbenägenhet beträffande implikationerna av balanserat styrkort. Utifrån detta avser vi dra slutsatser om problemen och möjligheterna, med avseende på de anställdas uppfattningar, med att implementera balanserat styrkort i kommunal verksmahet. </p><p>Genomförande: Studien har genomförts dels i form av litteraturstudie och dels en emirisk studie av två kommunala enheter. Litteraturen består av böcker och forskningsartiklar som behandlar balanserat styrkort, budgetkopplad verksamhet och förändringsteori. Den här litteraturen har använts för att öka vår egen kunskap och för att bygga upp uppsatsens referensram. Den empiriska studien omfattar intervjuer med fem respektive sex representanter ur den operativa personalen vid en beställarenhet och en utförarenhet inom Linköpings kommun. </p><p>Resultat: Vi finner att personalen vid såväl beställarenheten som vid utförarenheten i allmänhet uppvisar hög förändringsbenägenhet beträffande balanserat styrkort. De ställer sig övervägande positiva till implikationerna av styrkortet och till konceptet i sin helhet. Viss skepticism om respektive verksamhets förmåga att genomföra en implementering förekommer dock och detta kan eventuellt skapa motstånd.</p>

<p>Indirect Management Consulting (IMC) is a new concept within organizational change management consulting. The basic principle is to make the client more active in the change effort compared to conventional management consulting where the consultant actively drives the change. With IMC, the client is provided with a tailored set of skills and methods that makes him able to lead a change project and to make sure that the new organization is sustained. The IMC-model is a combination of management consulting and e-learning, where the consultant has an indirect role in supporting the client.</p><p>This study has shown that the IMC-model increases the chance for successful change implementation by increasing knowledge and involvement of the managers in the client organization. A common problem with conventional consulting is that the new organization fails to persist some time after the change project has ended and when the consultants have left the organization. This is overcome by the IMC-model since it transfers necessary knowledge and tools to the client’s managers who then can drive the change as well as ensure sustainability long after the project itself is completed.</p><p>The IMC-model is more cost-efficient than conventional consulting since less involvement is required by the consultant and since the customization of the e-learning systems can be made efficient by modularization. The lower costs make it possible to compete with a lower overall price and the combination of high quality of the organizational change with low prices makes the IMC-model an attractive complement to conventional management consulting.</p> / <p>This study is a part of an evaluation of the potential of a new business concept within the field of management consulting. The study is written to give insight of the functionality of the concept as well as the market barriers that a new company can expect to encounter if it decides to start up a business based on the concept.</p><p>Indirect Management Consulting (IMC) is a new and unproven concept within change management consultancy and can in a simplified manner be described as a mix between e-learning and traditional management consultancy. The basic principle is that the client is given instructions and tools to be able to lead the change project by following a model similar to an e-learning program. The contents of the program are custom-built by a management consultant according to the needs of the change project. The consultant monitors the progress of the organizational change and adapts the model and gives feedback to the client as the project progresses. By following the IMC model, the client does the majority of the work while he does not require initial knowledge of change management since he is continuously provided with the information, tools and templates needed to analyze the organizational performance and implement the change successfully.</p><p>The functionality of the IMC concept was evaluated in two ways: First by comparing the contents of the IMC-model with existing change management theories in order to find out if the model covers the most critical aspects of the theories. Secondly, the market for the IMC model was analyzed mainly by using Porter’s five-force theory.</p><p>This study has shown that IMC can be an efficient method for implementing organizational change. Its efficiency comes from a number of sources, mainly related to the fact that the organization’s own managers have, compared to conventional management consulting, a high degree of involvement in the analysis of the organization and the implementation of the change. This in turn leads to better communication of the change plan and makes it easier to motivate employees to accept to the organizational change and make them feel a ‘sense of urgency’ for participating to successfully implement the project. The model was also found to make it easy for the manager to formulate a change strategy and to implement the change in a structured manner.</p><p>For the consulting company, IMC means that costs (and consequently prices) can be kept much lower than for conventional consultant services. One main reason is that the model does not have to be built from scratch for each client. The contents of the model are relatively easily adjusted to suit most types of organizational changes. A second reason for the lower cost is that time the consultant spends at the client’s offices is minimized or eliminated. This gives an advantage compared to conventional management consulting.</p><p>While the management consulting industry have relatively low entry barriers, that is however not equivalent that it is easy for a company to enter the market based on the IMC-model. A high quality of the services is crucial and, if that cannot be proven, the advantage of having a low price is diminished. It is therefore important for a new starter in this industry to have a portfolio of successfully implemented projects. For the IMC concept, this is problematic since the model is new and unproven. It can therefore be difficult to find the first clients and alternative entry strategies such as partnering or simply advocating a “non-profit” strategy for the first clients might be necessary.</p>

<p>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.</p><p> </p><p>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.</p><p> </p><p>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.</p><p> </p><p>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.</p><p> </p> / <p>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.</p><p> </p><p>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.</p><p> </p><p>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.</p>

<p>Aim: The aim of the study is to analyze what product mix Fujitsu Services AB should focus on in the future. That is if they should focus on service and consulting, or hardware products, or a mix of them both? The following sub-questions have been used to answer the research question.What is the optimal mix between consulting and services, and hardware and where does Fujitsu create the most value? Where is the potential for the future? Where can Fujitsu Services AB generate the most growth? How superior is the current foundation, that the company is building its strategies on and what do they need to add? What are their capabilities and how can they best be explored?</p><p>Method: This study is a qualitative study with focus on Fujitsu Services AB where data has been collected through interviews with the leadership and management of the company with focus on how the company should carry on its business practices in the future.</p><p>Result and conclusions: The result from the study is that Fujitsu Services AB should keep a mix between the services, consulting and hardware. I have also come to the conclusion that they can improve in other areas such as its internal communication.</p><p>Suggestion for future research: Study of the change that the acquisition of Mandator will mean for Fujitsu Services AB</p><p>Contribution of the thesis: Give an inside look at a high-technology company that is going through changes and is trying to establish its brand and grow in a local and international market</p>

<p>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.</p>

Sedan 2001 har skivindustrin förlorat en tredjedel av sin totala försäljning och framtiden för musikkonsumering är näst intill dagligen debatterad i media. På ena sidan finner man förespråkare för fri nedladdning och fildelning över Internet, medan den andra sidan består av artister och skivbolag som förklarar att man inte kan klara sig utan intäkter för musiken som produceras. Ett försenat lagförslag, ämnat att träda i kraft i juli 2005, som skulle förbjuda nedladdning av otillåtet material på Internet behandlas just nu av riksdagen. Framtiden är oviss, men det råder inga tvivel om att musikindustrin just nu undergår stora förändringar. Syftet och avsikten med den här uppsatsen är att undersöka hur stora skivbolag i Sverige hanterar de omvärldsförändringar som skett till följd av nedladdning över Internet. Vårt fokus ligger på strategiska val, aktiviteter och organisatoriska förändingar som implementeras av ledningsgrupperna på respektive företag. Vi har använt oss av tidigare studier och teorier inom strategi och change management som en plattform för att analysera företagens aktiviteter och inställning till nedladdningsfeno-menet sedan problemet identifierades. På deras respektive huvudkontor i Stockholm intervjuade vi representanter från de tre största skivbolagen i Sverige; EMI, Universal Music och Sony BMG. Datan som samlades in baserades på de frågor vi formulerat med hänvisningar till olika delar av managementteorin som behandlar diskontinuerlig förändring. En slutsats som vi dragit är att skivbolagen reagerat för sent för att till fullo ta tillvara på möjligheterna som musikdistribution over Internet trots allt besitter. Anledningarna är många, men deras relativt statiska strukturer och det faktum att man varit fast i gamla mönster är en stor del av förklaringen. Trots att man från skivbolagens sida reagerade ganska sent på förändringen så har man nu hunnit i kapp utvecklingen avsevärt och efter att ha tagit många strategiska steg på rätt väg är man nu till en större utsträckning förberedd att möta framtida behov. Den här uppsatsen innehåller mer detaljer och specifika element av deras strategiska respons, bland annat personalbyten, tydligare omvärldsanalyser och strategiförändringar. / Since 2001 the recording industry has lost a third of its total sales and the future of music consumption is almost daily debated in media. On one side there are voices proclaiming free downloading and music sharing over the Internet and on the other side there are artists and record companies explaining that they need the revenues to survive. A currently delayed law proposal to illegalise unauthorized downloading, planned to be implemented from July 2005, is being considered by the Parliament. The future outcome is uncertain, but the music industry is currently and unquestionably experiencing big change. The purpose and intention with this thesis is to examine how major record companies in Sweden are managing the environmental change, imposed by downloading over the Internet, focusing on strategic choices, actions and organizational change implemented by subsidiary level top management. We have used previous research and theories within the area of strategy and change management as a platform for analyzing what approach these companies have to this phenomenon and also what measures have been implemented since the problem was first recognized. In Stockholm we met with representatives from the three largest record companies in Sweden; EMI Sweden, Universal Music and Sony BMG. Our data was collected from these interviews, which were based on our questions referring to different parts of the management process when experiencing big change. One conclusion we have drawn is that the reaction from the recording industry has been too slow in order to fully capitalize on the possibilities in music distribution over the Internet. The reasons for this are many, but their relatively static structure and the fact that they have been caught up in old patterns are certainly part of the explanation. However, even though the record companies were somewhat slow from the beginning, they have now caught up substantially and since many of the measures suggested by previous research have been implemented, they are now to a larger extent equipped to meet the future needs. This thesis contains more specific elements on what responses to downloading the record companies are currently working with, such as restaffing procedures, rethinking the operational environment and reshaping strategies.