<p>Abstract</p><p>Title: External communication channels of Prime Care How they where thought to be, how they work and how costumers apprehend them.</p><p>Number of pages: 50 (64 Including enclosures)</p><p>Author: Sophie Dicksen</p><p>Tutor: Peder Hård af Segerstad</p><p>Course: Media- and Communication Studies D</p><p>Period: Spring 2007</p><p>University: Division of Media and Communication, Department of Information Science, Uppsala University</p><p>Purpose/Aim: The focus of this paper lies on the external communication channels of Prime Care and the aim is to study the following aspects: How do the channels work? How are they apprehended by customers of the company? What are Prime Cares own thoughts behind the channels? How does Prime Cares self-image correspond to the way that customers apprehend the company?</p><p>Material/Method: Twenty interviews has been done with different customers of Prime Care in order to see how the company and its communication flow is apprehended. A consultant manager of Prime Care has also been asked about purposes behind the companies external communication channels in order to enable a comparison between Prime Cares image and profile. Prime Cares website, one of their mail sendouts, their salescalls, salesvisits and their exhibition participation have been studied on the basis of relevant litterature. Maletzkes model of mass communication was used as a general view of communication flow.</p><p>Main results: All communication channels included in this study have different ways of function even though they all have the same main purpose, videlicet to promote the company, to inform about its activities and to recruit new customers and consultants. All costumers have a positive impression in general of channels they have used even if some smaller changes are asked for concerning avaliable contact times. Prime Cares thoughts behind the channels are presented through their consulant manager and she believes for example that the companys website is the most effective medium when it comes to capturing the target groups interests. Even though Prime Cares assumptions about their self-image is not always similar to the customers ways of seeing them, both parties for example tend to agree that the companys avaliability is highly valuated.</p><p>Keywords: Prime Care, website, interviews, mail sendouts, salesvisits, salescalls, exhibition, Maletzkes model of mass communication flow.</p>

Abstract Title: External communication channels of Prime Care How they where thought to be, how they work and how costumers apprehend them. Number of pages: 50 (64 Including enclosures) Author: Sophie Dicksen Tutor: Peder Hård af Segerstad Course: Media- and Communication Studies D Period: Spring 2007 University: Division of Media and Communication, Department of Information Science, Uppsala University Purpose/Aim: The focus of this paper lies on the external communication channels of Prime Care and the aim is to study the following aspects: How do the channels work? How are they apprehended by customers of the company? What are Prime Cares own thoughts behind the channels? How does Prime Cares self-image correspond to the way that customers apprehend the company? Material/Method: Twenty interviews has been done with different customers of Prime Care in order to see how the company and its communication flow is apprehended. A consultant manager of Prime Care has also been asked about purposes behind the companies external communication channels in order to enable a comparison between Prime Cares image and profile. Prime Cares website, one of their mail sendouts, their salescalls, salesvisits and their exhibition participation have been studied on the basis of relevant litterature. Maletzkes model of mass communication was used as a general view of communication flow. Main results: All communication channels included in this study have different ways of function even though they all have the same main purpose, videlicet to promote the company, to inform about its activities and to recruit new customers and consultants. All costumers have a positive impression in general of channels they have used even if some smaller changes are asked for concerning avaliable contact times. Prime Cares thoughts behind the channels are presented through their consulant manager and she believes for example that the companys website is the most effective medium when it comes to capturing the target groups interests. Even though Prime Cares assumptions about their self-image is not always similar to the customers ways of seeing them, both parties for example tend to agree that the companys avaliability is highly valuated. Keywords: Prime Care, website, interviews, mail sendouts, salesvisits, salescalls, exhibition, Maletzkes model of mass communication flow.

Nowadays a company’s focus has shifted from a product-centric view to a more customer-centric view. Customers play a major role for doing business with companies. That leads to the purpose of this research, which is to identify critical factors of CRM implementation and to gain a deeper understanding of how companies deal with those critical factors. This was done with the help of a qualitative method, where six case companies were taken under the research. These six case companies are operating in different industries (1) laundry system industry, (2) printing industry and (3) heavy industry. In addition, the aim of this thesis was to find out how CRM implementation is influenced by critical factors in terms of CRM process and CRM system, interaction of sales force, information / communication flow and organizational structure / culture. The main points which influence the critical factors of CRM implementation were (1) customer-focused, (2) create trust, (3) sharing information and knowledge and (4) decision-making. To overcome these points at first companies need to be customer-focused their sales force need to be able to create trust with customers. Also it is important that companies have a well-implemented information / communication flow to optimise the decision-making process. Within the research more points for how an international organization can manage these critical factors are described. The collected data was analysed with the help of the theoretical framework. The conclusion could be drawn that, a well implemented CRM would help companies to build a better customer relationship and to be able to know as much about customers as possible.

Syfte: Studien ämnar att studera hur Internet of Things skulle kunna integreras för att minska potentiella brister i informationsflödet hos tillverkande företag. För att möjliggöra detta formulerades två forskningsfrågor:  <li data-aria-level="1" data-aria-posinset="1" data-listid="12" data-font="Georgia,Serif" data-leveltext="%1.">Hur är informationsflödet utformat hos ett tillverkande företag med högt anpassade kundprocesser?  <li data-aria-level="1" data-aria-posinset="1" data-listid="12" data-font="Georgia,Serif" data-leveltext="%1.">Vilka möjligheter ger Internet of Things för att minska potentiella brister i informationsflödet?  Metod: En förundersökning gjordes för att ge författarna en bild av studiens problemområde. Vidare genomfördes en litteraturstudie och en fallstudie. Litteraturstudien skapade studiens teoretiska ramverk och innehåller områden som Internet of Things, information, kommunikation, informationsflöde och informationssystem. Fallstudien genomfördes på ett stort tillverkande företag och bestod av dokumentstudier, observationer och en fokusgrupp. En sammankoppling av studiens teoretiska ramverk och empiri genererade studiens resultat.  Resultat: Företagets informationsflöde visade sig vara komplext och innehålla mycket manuell hantering av information. Något som visade sig ge konsekvenser för informationens pålitlighet, relevans och tidsperspektiv. Det finns därför förbättringsmöjligheter genom att integrera Internet of Things, då en digitalisering av informationsflödet skulle kunna leda till standardiserade processer samt en större och säkrare mängd delad information.  Implikationer: Teoretiskt bidrar studien genom att utvärdera hur Internet of Things kan bidra till nya sätt att arbeta med informationsflöden hos tillverkande företag. Studien visar detta genom att analysera viktiga aspekter inom ett nuvarande informationsflöde och Internet of things. Praktiskt bidrar studien med att identifiera potentiella förbättringsmöjligheter i ett företags informationsflöde genom en integration av Internet of Things.  Begränsningar: Studien är designad som en enfallsstudie vilket begränsar generaliserbarheten. Andra företag kan komma att behöva undersöka sina specifika förutsättningar för att dra nytta av studien. Generaliserbarheten ökar till viss del då Internet of Things är ett brett ämne och kan appliceras på ett stort antal områden. För att öka studiens tillförlitlighet har metodkapitlet noggrant utformats och beskrivits. / Purpose: This study aims to explore how Internet of Things could be integrated in manufacturing companies to reduce the potential inadequacy in an information flow. To achieve this, two research questions were formed:  <li data-aria-level="1" data-aria-posinset="1" data-listid="13" data-font="Georgia,Serif" data-leveltext="%1.">How is the information flow designed in a manufacturing company that produces customer-specific products?  <li data-aria-level="1" data-aria-posinset="1" data-listid="13" data-font="Georgia,Serif" data-leveltext="%1.">What possibilities does Internet of Things give information flow to reduce potential inadequac <p data-aria-level="1" data-aria-posinset="2" data-listid="13" data-font="Times New Roman" data-leveltext="%1.">Method: A pilot study was conducted to help the authors create a picture of the study's problem area. Later a literature study and a case study were conducted. The literature study was conducted to create the theoretical framework and included areas such as Internet of Things, information, communication, information flow and information systems. The case study conducted at a large manufacturing company and was consisted document studies, observations and a focus group. The results of the study are generated through a pairing of the theoretical framework and empirical study.  <p data-aria-level="1" data-aria-posinset="2" data-listid="13" data-font="Times New Roman" data-leveltext="%1.">Findings: The company's information flow was complex and contained a lot of manual management of information and communication. This turned out to create consequences for the information’s reliability, relevance, and timing. It has therefore been found that there are improvement opportunities through an integration of IOT in the information flow. A digitalization of an information flow can lead to creation of standard process and a larger and safer amount of shared information.  <p data-aria-level="1" data-aria-posinset="2" data-listid="13" data-font="Times New Roman" data-leveltext="%1.">Implications: The study contributes theoretically by evaluating how IOT can contribute to innovative ways of working with information flows at manufacturing companies; this by analysing key aspects of a current information flow and IOT. Practically, the study contributes to identifying potential improvements by integrate IOT in a corporate information flow.  Limitations: The study is of a one-case-design which limits generalisability. Therefore, other companies may need to examine their specific requirements before taking advantage of the study. The generalization increases slightly due to the broadness of the term IOT and that it can be applied in a wide range of areas. The method chapter has been carefully designed and described to increase the study's reliability.