The restaurant industry is the second largest employee workforce in the United States. However, less than 35% of independently owned restaurants succeed beyond the first three years of operation. Some restaurant managers do not use innovation strategies to succeed beyond three years. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore innovation strategies that some independent nonfranchise restaurant owners in Omaha, Nebraska used to succeed beyond 3 years. The conceptual framework utilized in this study was dynamic capabilities. Dynamic capabilities create avenues of innovation to restaurant owners who do not have quick access to resources, such as an innovation team or a (R&D) department. The restaurant owners have to collaborate with their employees, suppliers, and consumers to be members of their innovation team to determine the innovation strategies needed to sustain competitive advantage as they apply to dynamic capabilities. Formal semistructured interviews were conducted with 4 independently owned nonfranchise restaurant owners. Triangulation linked the transcribed interviews with secondary and tertiary data to gather enough information to saturate the key themes discovered in the research described by the dynamic capabilities framework. Secondary data included atmospherics, service innovations, menus, social media, and websites. Tertiary data comprised newspaper and magazine articles. The 3 themes were marketing innovations, restaurant innovations, and innovation measurement. The implications for positive social change include the potential to boost the local community's economy by encouraging more independent nonfranchise restaurant owners to enter the market that may increase the employees' wellbeing, strengthen their family economics, and benefit the independently owned nonfranchise restaurant market in Omaha, Nebraska.

Global goals to reduce the greenhouse gases and CO2 emission has challenged many industries to innovate new technologies or shift to different products. Electrification of transportation has been considered a major improvement in this respect, which affects the entire transportation value chain including the manufacturing of heavy-duty vehicles. The importance and degree of changes that shifting toward electrification imposes on the truck manufactures value chain is subject to the study with a focus on the production stage of the value chain. The research also creates some insights to understand the sources of competitive advantage in the production of BEV.    Based on the authors’ knowledge and investigations, the contribution of this study in the research field is that the concept of the value chain together with Delphi method is implemented for the first time in the BEV industry to identify the impact of technology transformation on the production activities and competitive advantage. Furthermore, it contributes to highlight the unclarities in the BEV value chain activities that need more researches in order to create a more clear technology transformation path for the heavy-duty vehicle industry. The research findings imply that electrification has a big impact on the production value chain activities. The number of employees will be reduced that in turn creates a source of cost advantage for the company by reducing the cost per vehicle production. The assembly time is also shorter that makes it easier to respond to the market dynamic faster and reduces the cost of products storage. However, the risk for production stops is considered higher in BEV compare to ICE vehicles. Another finding is that the outsourcing of the components has a negative effect on the competitive advantage of the company and production efficiency. There is no difference between the impact of production activities on the company value chain in both BEV and ICE manufacturing. There is also a consensus on the more opportunities in BEV manufacturing to increase the production efficiency and lowering the cost.

Dissertation work is engaged in methodical definition of the principal contributions of Supply chain management (next SCM) and focuses on proposals of approaches to increase of company effectiveness and profitability and also the whole company performance by using this method, tries to present various possibilities of measurement of this performance and to create a certain methodology for its increasing using SCM. The thesis is conceived having regard to fulfillment of the principal and partial goals of the dissertation thesis. The first part of this work is mainly dedicated to reasons of topicality and meaning of the concept SCM. The next part is focused on the present state of solved questions where describes actual opinions of experts and individual directions of using SCM in companies. This part also describes main definitions and the philosophy of SCM and is also engaged in IT support of this method. The next part is concerned with the partial goals, whose solutions create the main purpose and content of this dissertation thesis. These goals can be summarized in four fundamental spheres: .. The analysis of the present level of using the SCM model in Czech companies, .. Setting of relevant criteria for companies performance measurement in the sphere of purchase within the whole supply chain, .. Implementation of SCM into the company strategic management, .. Creation of the methodology for increasing company performance by using SCM. Partial verifications of the methodical processes in management practice of engineering manufacture companies frame a separate part. Contributions of the academic dissertation for theory and its contribution for corporation development and managerial practice are emphasized last.

In recent years, CSR has taken on great importance in the life of companies, which are much more aware of the existing social, economic and environmental problems. So, when Ecommerce has taken an important place in the life of different industries, these companies (especially in the world of textiles) have had to adapt and understand how to exist and use CSR to stand out and enter the market. The purpose of this thesis is to explore how companies that make online sales of clothing in France can create one or more competitive advantages by using CSR, and analyze the habits and behaviors of French consumers, understand in depth the standards to which French companies face to create a competitive advantage. The empirical results were obtained thanks to a quantitative study, and a questionnaire of ten questions that could meet the objective mentioned above. The results obtained were then collected and analyzed by the authors in order to find similarities or differences with the secondary data collected previously. The conclusion of this thesis shows that CSR can become a real competitive advantage, and give real opportunities to online fashion companies in France provided that their implementation is done in good conditions. Customers being more and more attentive to ecological, societal and ethical issues, companies are almost obliged to implement sustainable and ethical practices in their practices, from production to distribution in order to develop. In summary, the thesis identified consumer resentment towards these CSRs, and the benefits that French online fashion companies can derive from their implementation in the near future.

Date: (05/01/2022) Level: Bachelor thesis in Business Administration, 15 cr Institution: School of Business, Society and Engineering, Mälardalen University Authors: Fernando Aliaga Narva, Chiara Schneider, Lisa Weller  Title: The Effects of Environmental Policies on Companies’ Competitive Advantage through Green Supplier Selection Tutor: Noushan Memar Keywords: environmental policies, green supplier selection, competitive advantage, eco-labels, green labels, environmental awareness Research Question: How do environmental policies influence companies’ competitive advantage through green supplier selection? Purpose: This research aims to explore and gain an understanding of the connection between environmental policies and competitive advantage. Thus, the purpose of this study is to contribute to companies and their suppliers’ future operations and potentially reveal how they can gain a competitive advantage. Method: Qualitative research method through an exploratory multiple case study. Conclusion: Non-regulatory environmental policies have a direct effect on the supplier selection of an organization. Organizations benefit from the competitive advantage through differentiation gained through the non-regulatory environmental policies effect on green supplier selection. This stimulates the utilization of additional non-regulatory environmental policies.

The problem of the present study was to determine training professionals' perceptions of their awareness of and involvement in the integration of training in the firm's business strategies and the impact of training on the firm's competitiveness. The analysis of data obtained from the online survey of 111 participants who were training professionals employed in small, medium, and large firms across three different industries - service, retailing, and manufacturing - revealed that more than 50% of the participants indicated that they either had some understanding of or understood in depth the integration of training in their firms' business strategies. And more than 50% of the participants reported moderate, high, or very high involvement in the integration of training in their firms' business strategies. Moreover, the majority of the participants rated the impact of training on measures of their firms' competitiveness moderate, high, or very high. In addition, the participants were most frequently based on their communication with colleagues and management team regarding their perceptual judgment of the impact of training on all measures of their firms' competitiveness. There was a statistically significant relationship between the participants' firm sizes and the extent to which training contributed to three of the measures of their firms' innovation. Finally, the results indicated a statistically significant positive relationship, r(98) = .576, p < .01, between training professionals' perceived involvement in the integration of training in their firms' business strategies and the impact of training on their firms' competitiveness.

The purpose of this research is to provide a better understanding of the relationship between human resource management (HRM) practices and innovation. This research responds to calls in the literature on HRM and innovation to consider a wider number of HRM practices that have previously been neglected and are likely to produce a positive impact on innovation awareness and commitment (Shipton et al., 2006; Zhao et al., 2012). Therefore, the research is concerned with a wide number of HRM practices and their impact on innovation awareness and commitment. The underpinning rationale is that while previous studies have revealed that HRM practices can be significant for innovation, these studies are not inclusive, and the research is still scant and in its early stages as there has been a lack of consideration of a comprehensive range of HRM practices (Shipton et al., 2006). In simple terms, previous studies have looked at the relationship between HRM practices and innovation based on a limited number of practices and at the macro or inter-organisational level. Therefore, the fundamental contribution of this thesis is the shift in perspective. While previous research has looked at a limited number of HRM practices that largely appear to be borrowed from high-performance work systems (HPWs), this thesis considers a wider range of practices that can impact on innovation at the intra-organisational level – more specifically, to study employees’ perceptions of HRM practices that may promote innovation awareness and commitment. Innovation awareness and commitment refers to the extent to which the organisation is engaged in innovation. Degree of innovativeness and the open innovation approach are studied in this research, to determine whether HRM practices can impact on radical or incremental open innovation. Additionally, departmental differences are considered in this thesis: that is whether employees in different departments have different perceptions of the extent to which HRM practices promote innovation’. To this end, the data set was obtained from two research phases. A quantitative survey was distributed to 280 employees in a Jordanian telecommunications company. Findings from the first phase of the research indicated a number of new HRM practices that were not recognised by previous studies. This research found a positive impact of HRM practices in promoting innovation, as perceived by employees. HPWs, HRM hygiene factors, motivation and communication were perceived by employees to promote innovation in their organisation. The results show that the relationship between HRM practices and innovation is perceived by employees to promote the origins of innovation, specifically open innovation and radical innovation. No support was found for expectations and sharing information to promote innovation. Phase two of the research consisted of semi-structured interviews conducted with senior managers and employees in the same company that participated in phase one. In phase two of the research, the interviews provided better insights and explanations of the results and findings from the survey questionnaire. The results from phase two confirmed the findings from the statistical analysis, and a distinctive finding was the differences between managers’ and employees’ perceptions of HRM practices. Employees identified or perceived practices that are related to their performance and that enable them to develop their levels of motivation and commitment. Managers identified practices that work in the favour of the organisation, with less focus on employee needs. This was clear when comparing which practices and indications were mentioned by managers and employees. It is worth mentioning here that, given the relatively close conceptualisation in the literature that innovation is a form of organisational performance, this thesis does not intend to rebrand ‘performance’ as ‘innovation’ per se. This is especially in this research as it seeks to understand the relationship between HRM practices and innovation by looking at employees’ perceptions of HRM practices that may promote innovation and cause their company to be perceived as an innovative workplace. This research is probably the first attempt to study the role of a comprehensive list of HRM practices in influencing innovation by considering employees’ perceptions of HRM practices that may promote innovation. Moreover, the intra-organisational level was considered, along with departments, degree of innovativeness (radical-incremental innovation) and types of innovation approach (open vs closed).

When City of Stockholm wanted to build apartments on land used and controlled by Ports of Stockholm a project was initiated with the purpose of accommodating this request. The project meant that one of the piers at the Värta Port was expanded and the ITS system was implemented at said pier. Since the project was initiated from, what was considered, necessity an extensive evaluation of the economic and strategic consequences was not preformed. This thesis discusses and evaluates the strategical aspects of the ITS implementation at the Värta Port. The strategical benefits of the ITS system is that it enhances the competitive advantage, the location, of Ports of Stockholm through giving them more control over the port since the infrastructure was previously owned by their customer, Tallink Silja. Furthermore, the system creates a safer work environment at the port through better controlled container and truck management and preplanned emergency scenarios.  The system also removes wastes in the logistical process in the port through the added control of entries and exits and a fully digital sorting and storing system. This can provide operational cost reductions to Tallink Silja who is responsible for the operation of the port. Additionally, the system provides added value for the end customer as the reliability of the shipments increase. If these benefits are enough to justify the ITS system cannot be determined in this thesis as it is only the management at Ports of Stockholm that possesses the implicit knowledge required, but there exist substantial strategical benefits to the ITS system. / När Stockholms Stad ville bygga lägenheter på mark som användes och ägdes av Stockholms Hamnar initierades ett projekt med avsikt att förfylla denna begäran. Projektet betydde en utbyggnad av ena kajen I Värtahamnen och ITS systemets implementation vid sagd kaj. Då projektet var initierat, av, vad som ansågs vara, nödvändighet utfördes ej en ordentlig bedömning av de strategiska och ekonomiska konsekvenserna. Denna uppsats diskuterar och bedömer de strategiska aspekterna av ITS systemet.  De strategiska fördelarna av ITS systemet är att det bidrar till Stockholms Hamnars Konkurrensfördel, dess placering, genom att ge dem mer kontroll över hamnen eftersom infrastrukturen tidigare ägdes av deras kund, Tallink Silja. Utöver detta skapar systemet en säkrare arbetsmiljö i hamnen då systemet har bättre kontroll över containrarna och lastbilarna i hamnen samt har inprogrammerade utrymnings scenarier. ITS systemet minskar även på ”waste” i det logistiska processerna i hamnen genom adderad kontroll över in och utfarterna till hamnen samt ett digitalt sorterings och förvarningssystem. Detta erbjuder reduktioner i operativa kostnader för Tallink Silja, vilka är ansvariga för driften av kajen. Utöver detta erbjuder systemet ökat värde för slutkunden då verksamhetens reliabilitet ökar. Om dessa fördelar är tillräckliga för att justifiera ITS projectet kan inte beslutas i denna rapport då det endast är ledningen hos Stockholms Hamnar som sitter på kunskaper tillräckliga för att ta detta beslut. Men det finns bra strategiska fördelar med ITS systemet.

The public concern for sustainability issues is ever increasing whilst the trust in corporations is decreasing. CEOs now see sustainability concern and compliance as an important component in retaining their competitive advantage and regaining the trust of their surrounding community. For these reasons it is important to find new manners of uniting societal improvement with business, requiring new forms of competencies. This study has investigated what sustainability education is actually central to the industrial engineering profile, as well as what of this is then covered in the programs. The study involved two phases. The first involved interviewing experts as to what was central for these engineers to learn, resulting in a content list. The second phase involved mapping the instances of this content in the five largest industrial engineering programs (covering circa 74% of these students) as well as the associated challenges to broaching this content. The first phase was primarily qualitative whilst the second phase was largely quantitative, though each data point consisted of a qualitative interview. Five key insights can be drawn from the study regardless of normative stand-point. 1) The sustainability topics that were deemed relevant cover a vast area of disciplines and aspects. 2) There is a skewedness in the content covered, favouring the environmental aspects. 3) There is a lack of integrative instances where the knowledge from different sources and perspectives is synthesized. 4) The key challenges revolve around concept definition and communication. 5) The normativity, interconnectedness and pedagogics contribute with uncertainty and complexity in the assessment of sustainability education. The study is finalized with a synthesis of the various insights to arrive at the conclusion that having sustainable business practice as the aim of the programs, establishing common content goals and employing active learning approach would circumvent many of the perceived challenges as well as align the programs with the need of the industry. This study contributes with deeper understanding of the sustainability education required and provided to industrial engineering students in Sweden. As such the study has practical applications for the programs studied. The theoretical implications of this study lie in the empirical data achieved regarding the topics of relevance to these engineers, showing high levels of agreement with current literature, as well as the perceived challenges to broaching this content in the current curricula. Furthermore it provides empirical data as to the sustainability education received at different programs. / Allmänhetens intresse över hållbarhetsfrågor ökar samtidigt som tilliten för företag minskar. Företagsledare ser numera hållbarhet som en viktig komponent i att bibehålla deras konkurrenskraft och att återfå allmänhetens tillit. Det är således viktigt att finna nya sätt att förena samhällsnytta med företagande, vilket kräver nya sorters kompetens inom hållbarhetsområdet. Denna studie har undersökt vilka hållbarhetsämnen som är centrala för industriell ekonomistudenten, givet deras profil i näringslivet, samt vad av detta som berörs i programmen. Studien var indelad i två faser. Den första ämnade till att skapa en lista av de, för dessa ingenjörer, centrala ämnen genom intervjuer med experter inom området. Den andra fasen kartlagde de ämnen som berördes inom de fem största industriell ekonomiprogrammen (täckandes cirka 74% av studenterna) samt vilka utmaningar som associerades till detta arbete. Den första fasen var till stora delar kvalitativ. Den efterföljande fasen var en kvantitativ kartläggning där varje datapunkt representerade en kvalitativ intervju. Ur studien uppkom fem nyckelinsikter, som står sig oavsett normativ ståndpunkt. Dessa inkluderade: 1) De hållbarhetsämnen som ansågs relevanta för denna målgrupp spänner en vid area av discipliner och aspekter. 2) Fördelningen på ämnen som täcks inom programmen påvisar en preferens mot den miljömässiga aspekten. 3) Det finns en brist på integrerande instanser i utbildningarna, där kunskap från olika aspekter och källor sammankopplas. 4) Nyckelutmaningarna centreras runt definiering och kommunikation. 5) Normativitet, sammankoppling och pedagogik bidrar alla till osäkerhet och komplexitet i bedömning av hållbarhetsutbildningar. Studien avslutas med en syntes av de olika insikterna för att komma till slutsatsen att hållbart företagande som övergripande syfte för utbildningarna, en gemensam målbild för innehållet samt komplettering med ”active learning” metodiker skulle övervinna många av de uppfattade utmaningarna samtidigt som det skulle uppfylla näringslivets kompetensbehov för framtida konkurrenskraft. Denna studie bidrar till förståelsen över vilken hållbarhetsutbildning som bedrivs och vilken som anses behövd av industriell ekonomistudenter i Sverige. Studien har därmed praktiska implikationer för de program som studerades. Teoretiska bidrag inkluderas av den empiriska data som framtagits gällande relevanta hållbarhetsämnen vilka uppvisar hög konvergens med litteraturen inom ämnen, samt de upplevda utmaningar kring att inkludera detta ämne i befintliga program. Vidare bidrar studien med empirisk data kring det som faktiskt berörs idag på de olika industriell ekonomiprogrammen.

Актуальность темы выпускной квалификационной работы определяется тем, что самый эффективный способ получения конкурентного преимущества, бесспорно, является улучшение взаимодействия с источником прибыли компании - с ее клиентами. Основным фактором успеха работы предприятия является необходимость принятия правильного и своевременного управленческого решения. Внедрение процесса лидогенерации позволит компании улучшить качество, надежность и производительность процессов и продуктов, установить долгосрочные отношения с клиентами. Результаты работы – практическим результатом работы стало внедрение процесса лидогенерации клиентов в ПАО «Сбербанк», позволяющая специалистам сделать уникальное предложение клиентам, увеличить их количество, собственные продажи и банка в целом. / The relevance of the topic of the final qualifying work is determined by the fact that the most effective way to gain a competitive advantage, undoubtedly, is to improve interaction with the source of the company's profit - with its customers. The main factor in the success of the enterprise is the need to make a correct and timely management decision. The implementation of the lead generation process will allow the company to improve the quality, reliability and productivity of processes and products, and establish long-term relationships with customers. Results of the work - the practical result of the work was the implementation of the process of lead generation of clients at Sberbank, which allows specialists to make a unique offer to clients, increase their number, their own sales and the bank as a whole.