<p>Over many years the housing industry has been criticised concerning its performance related to factors such as quality and cost. Together with the challenge of improving its capability in meeting individual customers’ needs, by means of effective production, this has resulted in a situation where companies look at other industries, such as manufacturing, in order to<i> industrialise</i> their products and processes. Swedish housing producers are today working towards finding more commonality in products and processes at the same time as the ability to deliver customized product and services is maintained or improved. In some cases this means an increase in central control of the design work carried out in project groups.</p><p>This thesis presents a study of the design process for housing at a Swedish property developer, JM AB. Interviews have been conducted with three main groups of actors (project leaders, architects and sellers) connected to ten housing developments. A survey has also been sent out to these individuals as well as to other important actors. The main objectives of these investigations were to find out major actors’ attitudes towards the increase in central control of the design work, in general terms as well as in relation to specific design objects (windows, floor plans, bathrooms and basic structure) for the housing projects.</p><p>The results show that the trend towards more industrialised processes by more structuring and standardising concerning design has had an effect on the design work carried out in project groups. There are positive as well as negative aspects, as well as similarities and differences in attitudes. These differences can be related to different roles as well as to geographical differences. Within this work a <i>triangle</i> has been developed for measuring and comparing different actors’ attitudes. The work further shows that adapting a more holistic view of the design process, by considering it as part of a firm’s product realisation process, could be a base for further developments</p>

Over many years the housing industry has been criticised concerning its performance related to factors such as quality and cost. Together with the challenge of improving its capability in meeting individual customers’ needs, by means of effective production, this has resulted in a situation where companies look at other industries, such as manufacturing, in order to industrialise their products and processes. Swedish housing producers are today working towards finding more commonality in products and processes at the same time as the ability to deliver customized product and services is maintained or improved. In some cases this means an increase in central control of the design work carried out in project groups. This thesis presents a study of the design process for housing at a Swedish property developer, JM AB. Interviews have been conducted with three main groups of actors (project leaders, architects and sellers) connected to ten housing developments. A survey has also been sent out to these individuals as well as to other important actors. The main objectives of these investigations were to find out major actors’ attitudes towards the increase in central control of the design work, in general terms as well as in relation to specific design objects (windows, floor plans, bathrooms and basic structure) for the housing projects. The results show that the trend towards more industrialised processes by more structuring and standardising concerning design has had an effect on the design work carried out in project groups. There are positive as well as negative aspects, as well as similarities and differences in attitudes. These differences can be related to different roles as well as to geographical differences. Within this work a triangle has been developed for measuring and comparing different actors’ attitudes. The work further shows that adapting a more holistic view of the design process, by considering it as part of a firm’s product realisation process, could be a base for further developments / QC 20101129

This is a focus group study to explore the marketing process for a start-up company about to develop and launch a sustainable razor. In this process, understanding what the customers value in a sustainable product for daily use, such as razors, and how to apply this in the marketing process is of great importance. Sustainable fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) are essential for this study, together with customer values and behavioral change. A literature study was conducted concerning strategic marketing, sustainability marketing, value development, social marketing &amp; behavioral change, and the consumer buying process &amp; purchase decision to analyze this area. A theoretical framework was then developed with three important steps for the marketing process: Identify customer values, Identify barriers and benefits for behavioral change, and Influence the customers. This theoretical framework was then applied when analyzing qualitative data gathered through interviews with different focus groups. The findings showed that the most critical customer values are convenience and comfort as well as information and transparency. Convenience was also found to be the most significant barrier to behavioral change while good offerings, transparency, and the desire to be more sustainable were identified as benefits. To influence the customers and change their behaviors for a sustainable FMCG product, the barriers should be overcome and the benefits promoted by using different strategic tools. This study found that the most successful tools are convenience followed by incentives and then prompts. As part of a potential marketing strategy, the most important identified customer values and strategic tools should be prioritized in the offering of the product and the value proposition more-for-more should be considered - when customers receive a sustainable, high-quality product, they are willing to compromise on price if the product has clear information about its sustainability. / Detta är en fokusgruppsstudie för att utforska marknadsföringsprocessen för ett nystartat företag på väg att utveckla och lansera en hållbar rakhyvel. I denna process är det av stor vikt att förstå vad kunderna värdesätter i en hållbar produkt för dagligt bruk, såsom rakhyvlar, och hur man tillämpar detta i marknadsföringsprocessen. Hållbara snabbrörliga konsumentvaror (FMCG) är grundläggande för denna studie, tillsammans med kundvärderingar och beteendeförändringar. En litteraturstudie genomfördes angående strategisk marknadsföring, hållbarhetsmarknadsföring, värdeutveckling, social marknadsföring &amp; beteendeförändring samt konsumentköpprocessen &amp; köpbeslut för att analysera detta område. Ett teoretiskt ramverk togs sedan fram med tre viktiga steg för marknadsföringsprocessen: Identifiera kundvärderingar, Identifiera hinder och fördelar för beteendeförändring samt Influera kunderna. Detta teoretiska ramverk tillämpades sedan vid analys av kvalitativ data som samlats in genom intervjuer av olika fokusgrupper. Resultaten visade att de mest kritiska kundvärderingarna är bekvämlighet och komfort samt information och transparens. Bekvämlighet visade sig också vara det viktigaste hindret för beteendeförändring medan bra erbjudanden, transparens och önskan att vara mer hållbar identifierades som fördelar. För att påverka kunderna och förändra deras beteenden för en hållbar “FMCG”-produkt bör barriärerna övervinnas och fördelarna främjas genom användning av olika strategiska verktyg. Denna studie fann att de mest framgångsrika verktygen är bekvämlighet följt av incitament och uppmaningar. Som en del av en potentiell marknadsföringsstrategi bör de viktigaste identifierade kundvärderingarna prioriteras i erbjudandet av produkten och värdepropositionen mer-för-mer bör övervägas - när kunderna erhåller en hållbar produkt av hög kvalitet är de villiga att kompromissa med priset om produkten har tydlig information om sin hållbarhet.

This paper will discuss the challenges that arise in the business-to-business marketing process in the area of highly technological and innovative solutions. The authors will depict the processes that are involved in the business-to-business marketing approach and portray the challenges that arise due to a number of factors, such as trust, customer value and early adoption, when it comes to selling new technology and innovative solutions, and innovations overall, that companies nowadays need, but not necessarily want. The Diffusion of Innovation theory as well as the concept of Relationship Management will be used to put this topic into theoretical frameworks. With the support of existing literature, the qualitative methodologies of this paper are chosen in order to gain knowledge of the preferred approaches of business-to-business marketing. In accordance to this, the authors aim to analyze the diffusion of innovation and how companies today can attain customers not only within the early adopters group, but also the early and later majority, thus increasing market value and share. This exact transition has been analyzed, however not in the exact field of industrial marketing with a focus on the financial industry, though innovation and digitalization is now more important than ever.  Firms need to establish personal and trustworthy relationships with potential and actual customers in order to generate more value and implement necessary innovative solutions. In a survey conducted within the scope of this thesis, respondents emphasize the perceived level of expertise suppliers need in order to initiate collaborations. The focus on innovation and increasing customer and market values through its implementation will be discussed in order to accelerate value generation for all parties involved in an ever-changing digital environment and to fill the research gap within innovation diffusion in industrial marketing.