<p>This thesis treats how accountancy companies works to maintain customer relations. This is getting more important in the accounting business because there are several inner and outer factors available that may affect customer relations in this business area. The main question with the thesis is: How works accountancy companies with keeping customers?</p><p>The purpose with the research was to investigate and identify which inner and outer factors that may be important from a company perspective to keep customers. Another purpose was to investigate if there existed any differences between the companies in how they are handling different factors like for example a law change and how it could affect customer relations. The method that has been used is the qualitative method in form of personal interviews with 5 accountants who works with customers on accountancy companies in Umeå. The five interviewed companies are KPMG, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte, Ernst & Young and Grant Thornton. The research method belongs to the hermeneutic knowledge where understanding is very important.</p><p>In the conclusion of the study there is evidence that there exist some inner and outer factors that may affect customer relations in an accountancy company. In this thesis the inner and outer affecting factors is: service quality, the company´s brand, to participate in the customers business, that the accountant is proactive, that there exist trust between the accountant and the customer, to create extra value for the customer, that it exists a good communication between the accountant and the customer. The outer factors as a law change also had some effects on the companies but also competitors and price. Factors that was specific important for customer retention was: Commitment, communication, to do a good job, to exceed expectations, that the auditor is available and active and to create more value for the customers.</p> / magisteruppsats

The focus of this study is the effective prioritization of customer requirements in collaborative product development. The CR priorities are often retrieved by questioning and interviewing targeted customers. But the targeted customer might not always be easily questioned, because they might not always be obvious or clearly known. If customers might be known, they might not be able to distinct the priorities for CR's, because everything is important to them. Moreover concerns of the developer's organization and the society might not get the necessary attention and it might be asked too much from the customer to trade off all customer requirements (CR's) by their own. Because the resources for an extensive customer interviewing might lack anyway the stakeholders might prioritize the CR's on their own. Efforts have already been undertaken to support cross-functional stakeholder groups in finding priorities of CR's. Most of the investigated methods lacked the ability to distinct the importance of CR's by a relative amount or were not able to integrate the interdependency of stakeholders in other ways than a tiresome negotiation processes. With the proposed Urn-Scheme approach the stakeholders register their own individual priorities based on their perceptions of what the relative priorities of the CR's might be. Furthermore the method supports the stakeholders in considering the opinions of all other stakeholders. The extent of taking others and own opinion into account is based on quantified social interdependencies, i.e. in this study measured trust and trustworthiness into the capability of every voter to understand costumers' perceived desired product quality. The summed up trustworthiness in prioritizing CR's of every stakeholder is used in a further step to finally transform the individual priorities to relative priorities of CR's from the whole group. With the amplification of votes from the stakeholders, who are trusted to prioritize better than others, an improvement of the decision making process will be achieved. A careful developed, easily to understand mathematical framework builds the fundament for manifold analysis of the obtained voting results, e.g. consensus analysis, priority significance check. Moreover the framework makes the proposed method transparent and the obtained results well documented for later reference. / Graduation date: 2005

Background: The fierce competetivness that characterize todays market force the companies to differentiate their offerings to a greater extent. The customers do no longer choose their supplier on the attributes of the products alone. Their purchase decisions also depend on the relationship the customers have with their supplier. With new customer channels like the Internet and advanced computer systems companies can increase the value for their customers through a better understanding of the customers needs and preferences. In this way companies can create longterm relationships with their customers. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to increase the understanding of the elements that are important for a successfull implementation of CRM. Realization: To achieve the purpose of this thesis a case studie was conducted at TAC Svenska AB where the future implementation of CRM was examined. The emirical data was assembled through interviews with employees at the company. The questions delt with earlier organizational changes within the company and the employees attitudes regarding the implementation of CRM. Results: To successfully implement CRM it is essential that companies consider several elements that are important when companies undergo organizational change. Some of the elements that we found to be of great importance were the commitment of the managers, communication and information, to establish short term goals and to create involvement among employees regarding the implementation.

This thesis treats how accountancy companies works to maintain customer relations. This is getting more important in the accounting business because there are several inner and outer factors available that may affect customer relations in this business area. The main question with the thesis is: How works accountancy companies with keeping customers? The purpose with the research was to investigate and identify which inner and outer factors that may be important from a company perspective to keep customers. Another purpose was to investigate if there existed any differences between the companies in how they are handling different factors like for example a law change and how it could affect customer relations. The method that has been used is the qualitative method in form of personal interviews with 5 accountants who works with customers on accountancy companies in Umeå. The five interviewed companies are KPMG, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte, Ernst &amp; Young and Grant Thornton. The research method belongs to the hermeneutic knowledge where understanding is very important. In the conclusion of the study there is evidence that there exist some inner and outer factors that may affect customer relations in an accountancy company. In this thesis the inner and outer affecting factors is: service quality, the company´s brand, to participate in the customers business, that the accountant is proactive, that there exist trust between the accountant and the customer, to create extra value for the customer, that it exists a good communication between the accountant and the customer. The outer factors as a law change also had some effects on the companies but also competitors and price. Factors that was specific important for customer retention was: Commitment, communication, to do a good job, to exceed expectations, that the auditor is available and active and to create more value for the customers. / magisteruppsats

Titel: Intern Marknadsföring och Kundrelationer – hur förhåller sig dessa till varandra? Sökord: Intern marknadsföring, kundrelationer, relationsmarknadsföring Problem: Hur förhåller sig ett företags interna marknadsföring till dess kundrelationer? samt: Hur förhåller sig företagets kundrelationer till dess interna marknadsföring? Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats är att förstå och förklara hur företaget Leine &amp; Linde AB:s interna marknadsföring samt deras kundrelationer förhåller sig till varandra. Metod: Uppsatsen bygger på teori kring intern marknadsföring och kundrelationer samt en kvalitativ fallstudie med undersökning på ett svenskt företag, Leine &amp; Linde AB. Slutsats: Slutsatserna från studien visar att den interna marknadsföringen och kundrelationerna förhåller sig till varandra genom påverkan mellan olika faktorer för de olika ämnesområdena. Förhållandet kan även ses börja från kundrelationerna, då fallföretaget Leine &amp; Linde inte gjorde något utan ett kundbehov. / Title: Internal Marketing and Customer Relations - How do they relate to each other? Words for search: Internal marketing, customer relations, relationship marketing Problem: How does a company’s internal marketing relate to their customer relations? and: How does the company’s customer relations relate to their internal marketing? Purpose: The purpose with this thesis is to understand and explain how the internal marketing and the customer relations in the company Leine &amp; Linde AB relate to each other. Method: This thesis is built on theories about internal marketing and customer relations together with a qualitative casestudy with an examination with interviews at a Swedish company, Leine &amp; Linde AB. Findings: The findings from this thesis shows that the internal marketing and the customer relations relate to each other through how the different factors in the subjects effect each other. The relation between internal marketing and customer relations begins from the customer relations, seen to that the case company Leine &amp; Linde did not do anything without a need from the customers.

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? 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. 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. Suggestion for future research: Study of the change that the acquisition of Mandator will mean for Fujitsu Services AB 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

Co-design is a process that allows designers to develop products with greater insight to user needs through the participation of users in the design process. During this process what users say, make, and do is investigated using common research methods in combination with newer generative and exploratory approaches created for this purpose. Co-design encompasses many design practices. Despite the prevalence of the co-design process, a lack of studies into the education of designers on co-design have been implemented, leaving a gap of information that needs to be filled in order for co-design to become integrated into design education and practice. The purpose of this project is to understand the current state of co-design education in the U.S. and to assimilate popular teaching techniques, by surveying teaching methods of co-design within Industrial Design programs at U.S. Universities with reputations as leaders in the field. This project also aims to design a learning aid for Industrial Design students derived from the findings of interviews, materials review, and literature. A snowball sampling was performed with schools leaders in co-design. Schools were contacted and given a survey, interviewed with selected participants and assessed on their materials and practices on co-design. Various qualitative data analysis was performed with the surveys, interviews and materials. The conclusion includes a composite of common methods for teaching co-design, which are assembled into a learning aid artifact. The artifact incorporates findings into a practical outcome. The significance of this project is to further research into teaching methods of co-design as well as providing a common framework for design educators to follow in higher level learning institutions.

No description available.

Sammanfattning -  ”Mind the Gap”- En studie om samarbetet mellan byrå och kund. Seminarium: 31 maj 2012 Institution: Mälardalens högskola, Akademin för hållbar samhälls-och teknikutveckling Kurs: Kandidatuppsats i företagsekonomi med inriktning mot marknadsföring, 15 ECTS Författare: Alexandra Bergkvist, Jenny Bernhardsson, My Lundberg 21 April 1988   11 December 1987   23 September 1988 Handledare: Dan Linder Examinator: Cecilia Lindh Nyckelord: Arbetsprocess, kundrelation, gapet, dödvikt, spill, reklambyrå Problem: Studien behandlar relationen mellan reklambyråer och deras kunder, vilka problem som kan uppstå i samarbetsprocessen samt hur det är möjligt att undvika problem och därigenom ge förslag på eventuella förändringar i samarbetet. Problemformuleringen bygger på att identifiera gapet i arbetsprocessen Syfte: Identifiera var gapet i arbetsprocessen mellan kunder och byråer består av. Frågeställning: Vad består gapet i arbetsprocessen mellan kunder och byråer av? När uppstår gap? På vilka sätt kan de berörda parterna minska gapet? Metod: I uppsatsen tillämpas en kvalitativ metod för att förstå vad gapet i arbetsprocessen består av. Studiens empiriska del utgörs av fyra personintervjuer, tre reklambyråer och en byråvalsrådgivare. Intervjufrågorna är av en halvstrukturerad intervjuform, vilket innebär att samma frågor, med frihet till följdfrågor kommer ställas. Slutsats: Bland de intervjuade byråerna och byråvalsrådgivaren rådde det en samstämmighet av vad gapet består av, med undantag av ett fåtal skilda meningar. Det framkom att gapet främst består av skild syn på förväntningarna i samarbetet. / Abstract - ”Mind the Gap”- A study on the cooperation between advertising agencies and their clients. Seminar date: May 31th 2012 Institution: University of Mälardalen, School of Sustainable Development of Society and Technology Course: Bachelor thesis in business administration focusing on marketing, 15 ECTS Authors: Alexandra Bergkvist, Jenny Bernhardsson, My Lundberg 21 th April 1988   11th December 1987   23rd September 1988 Tutor:  Dan Linder Examinator: Cecilia Lindh Keywords: Work process, Customer Relations, Gap, Deadweight, Overflow, Advertising agency Problem: The problem formulation is based on identifying the gap in the work process between advertising agencies and their clients. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify what the gap in the work process between clients and advertising agencies consists of. Research question: What does the gap in the work process between clients and advertising agencies consists of? When does gaps occur? In what way can the two parts bridge the gap? Method: The paper applies a qualitative method for understanding what the gap in the work process consists of. The empirical part of the study consists of four personal interviews, with three advertising agencies and one agency-choice counsellor. The interview questions are of a semi-structured interview form, which means that the same questions will be asked but with freedom to ask follow-up questions. Conclusion: Among the interviewed agencies and the agency-choice counsellor, there was a consensus of what the gap consists of, with the exception of a few different opinions. The appearance showed that the gap mainly consisted of different expectations and visions.

Background: Change factors have appeared in advertising and customer understanding has grown among companies, which have led to important competitive advantages. Advertising agencies are not the only ones benefiting from this expertise anymore, but companies are starting to thus take clients from advertising agencies. They are also taking intermediaries, such as production, over more and more jobs from advertising agencies. This has led to an even tougher competition in the market and that advertising agencies are losing their jobs. The increased competition in the market, has also led many companies choosing to change its advertising agency, to think in new and changing strategies in the enterprise. All these factors have resulted in a drastic increase in competition in the advertising industry, which has resulted in many advertising agencies have gone bankrupted. Problem question: What external forms of cooperation are important for a small to medium sized advertising agency to have a long-term survival? Purpose: To analyze and evaluate conditions in the future for small to medium sized advertising agencies, by examining the existing relationship between advertising agencies and its current customers. Method: The survey will be conducted using a deductive approach and be conducted in two parts. The first part is through qualitative interviews of three advertising agencies, and the second is interviews of these three respective advertising and promotion business. Data from both of these sources of information will be used in the survey as the primary data, then they should be opposed to each other, analyzed and evaluated and also compared with the theoretical framework. Conclusion: After the change in advertising agencies industry, we can interpret from our study that the companies which are working on a relational perspective will be rewarded in the future. It is also important for advertising agencies to be instead of than previously being creative. Hereby, we believe that small to medium sized advertising agencies must maintain and build relationships with existing customers and be even more adaptable to cope with competition. / Bakgrund: Förändringsfaktorer har dykt upp i reklambranschen och kundförståelsen har ökat bland företag, vilket har lett till viktiga konkurrensfördelar i branschen. Reklambyråer är inte de enda som erhåller denna expertkompetens längre, utan andra företag börjar därmed ta kunder från reklambyråer. Likaså tar underleverantörer, såsom produktionsbolag, över allt mer jobb från reklambyråer. Detta har lett till en ännu hårdare konkurrens på marknaden och att reklambyråer håller på att mista sina jobb. Den ökade konkurrensen på marknaden, har även lett till att många företag väljer att byta sin reklambyrå, för att tänka nytt och byta strategier i företaget. Samtliga av dessa faktorer har resulterat i en drastiskt ökad konkurrens i reklambranschen, vilket har lett till att många reklambyråer har gått i konkurs. 2009-06-16 08:  Problemfråga: Vilka externa samarbetsformer är viktiga för att en liten till medelstor reklambyrå ska få en långsiktig överlevnad? Syfte: Att analysera och utvärdera förutsättningar i framtiden för små till medelstora reklambyråer, genom att granska den befintliga relationen mellan reklambyråer och dess nuvarande kunder. Metod: Undersökningen kommer att genomföras med hjälp av en deduktiv ansats och utföras i två delar. Den första delen med hjälp av kvalitativa intervjuer av tre reklambyråer och den andra delen med intervjuer av dessa tre reklambyråers respektive företagskunder. Data från båda dessa informationskällor kommer att användas i undersökningen som primärdata, då de ska ställas emot varandra, analyseras och utvärderas samt även jämförs med den teoretiska referensramen. Slutsats: Efter förändringen i reklambyråernas bransch kan vi från vår undersökning tolka att de företag som arbetar efter ett relationsperspektiv kommer att lyckas bättre i framtiden. Det är även viktigare för reklambyråer att vara anpassningsbara, än som tidigare att vara kreativa. Härmed anser vi att små till medelstora reklambyråer bör satsa på att bibehålla och bygga relationen med sina nuvarande kunder samt att bli ännu mer anpassningsbara för att klara av konkurrensen.