Through practical experiences in social work we have found that siblings of children with neuropsychiatric disability are being left behind in family treatment. We have also identified  a knowledge gap through previous research in how siblings experience their role and relationships within the family. The purpose of this study is to establish an understanding of how neuropsychiatric disability affects the siblings in the family. The siblings referred to in this qualitative study, who we got in touch with through social media, have been interviewed through six semi-structured interviews. Furthermore, the answers have been analyzed through systems theory. The results show that the siblings have taken great responsibility for their sibling and taken a step back as the sibling with neuropsychiatric disability had extensive needs that required a lot of attention and care from their parents.

In todays increased globalized business world and with a firms’ ongoing need for higher quality and lower costs, outsourcing is a popular strategy for companies to use. This thesis intends to study outsourcing in the context of new product development (NPD). The aim of this research is to contribute to the field of operations management. This is achieved by improving the understanding of decision-making during outsourcing NPD by investigating what factors affect the outsourcing decision. This will be fulfilled by addressing the research question What affect the choice between make or buy in outsourcing New Product Development?  By conducting an exploratory single case study and performing semi-structured interviews, the factors that influence decision-making in outsourcing of NPD could be generated. The findings show that competence, time, service, costs, strategy, and ability to collaborate with supplier were important factors that influenced the decision. The factors were analyzed and compared with transaction cost economics and resource-based views, which are theoretical perspectives commonly used to understand the firm’s strategical decisions. The factors from the findings were also used to conduct a cost model and a decision model. This can help a firm’s decision-making and increase the understanding of how the decision in outsourcing of NPD is made.  The results lend support to the argument that outsourcing decisions are complex. With different factors creating different influences, and all of them need to be considered in order to achieve a comprehensive understanding of the decision. The findings also suggest that no theoretical perspective can alone completely explain the decision of outsourcing NPD, they need to be integrated with another demand-oriented perspective. A recommendation for further research should be to investigate how the cost model and decision model could be implemented in practical situations and in different contexts. / I dagens globala affärsvärld och företags konstanta strävande efter högre kvalité och lägre kostnader, så är utkontraktering en populär strategi att använda. Denna avhandling avser att studera utkontraktering i samband med ny produktutveckling (PU). Syftet med forskningen är att bidra till området för verksamhetsstyrning genom att förbättra förståelsen i beslutsfattande för utkontraktering av ny produktutveckling genom att undersöka vilka faktorer som påverkar beslutet av att utkontraktera. För att uppfylla detta ska forskningsfrågan Vad påverkar valet mellan att köpa eller göra i utkontraktering av ny produktutveckling? besvaras. Genom att genomföra en explorativ fallstudie och utföra semistrukturerade intervjuer så kan de påverkande faktorerna bakom utkontraktering av PU genereras. Resultatet visade att kompetens, tid, service, kostnad, strategi och förmågan att samarbeta med leverantör är viktiga faktorer att ta hänsyn till vid beslutet. Faktorerna analyserades och jämfördes med transaktionskostnad- och resursbaserad teori som är vanliga teoretiska teorier att applicera för att förstå ett företags strategiska beslut. De framtagna faktorerna användes också gör att konstruera en kostnad- och beslutsmodell som kan användas som stöd och hjälp för företags beslutsfattande och öka förståelsen för hur beslutet av att utkontraktera PU görs.  Resultatet ger stöd till tidigare forskning som menar på att beslutet av att utkontraktera är komplext vilket innebär att flera faktorer påverkar beslutet och alla faktorer behöver bli betraktade för att kunna få en heltäckande förståelse för beslutet. Resultatet visade också på att ingen av de teoretiska perspektiven kan ensamt förklara beslutet av att utkontraktera PU, utan de behöver bli integrerade med ett annat perspektiv för att fullt kunna förklara beslutet. En rekommendation till framtida forskning kan vara att undersöka praktisk tillämpning av kostnadsmodellen och beslutsmodellen och hur de kan användas i andra kontext.

Problematisk skolfrånvaro är ett aktuellt socialt problem som ökar i omfattning. Detta examensarbete syftar därför till att undersöka skolans, socialtjänstens samt barn- och ungdomspsykiatrins arbete med att främja skolnärvaro samt återintegrera grundskoleelever i undervisningen. Vidare syftar arbetet till att undersöka hur samverkan ser ut mellan dessa aktörer. Denna kvalitativa studie baseras på sju semistrukturerade intervjuer med yrkesverksamma inom skola, socialtjänst samt barn- och ungdomspsykiatrin. Datamaterialet har analyserats utifrån handlingsutrymme, samverkan, ekologisk systemteori samt tidigare forskning. Studiens resultat visar att skolnärvaro utgör en friskfaktor för barns välbefinnande och utveckling. Av resultatet framgår även att neuropsykiatriska funktionsnedsättningar är den främsta orsaken till problematisk skolfrånvaro, detta eftersom stödinsatserna är bristfälliga. Likväl påvisar samtliga intervjupersoner att arbetet med problematisk skolfrånvaro upplevs som en utmaning. Studien redogör även att en välfungerande samverkan är avgörande vid arbetet med problematisk skolfrånvaro. Våra resultat synliggör däremot att både den interna och externa samverkan gällande problematisk skolfrånvaro är bristfällig. Studien belyser således vikten av att finna fungerande arbetssätt för att främja skolnärvaro och kunna återintegrera elever i undervisningen. / Problematic school absenteeism is a current and increasing societal problem. The purpose of this master thesis is to create an understanding for the school, social services, and the children and youth psychiatry’s work to promote school attendance and reintegrate elementary school students into the education system. The thesis also aims to portray the cooperation between these actors. This qualitative study is based upon seven semi-structured interviews with professionals within the school, social services, and the children and youth psychiatry. Room of action, cooperation, ecological system theory as well as prior research has been used to analyze the data. What the study concludes is that school attendance contributes to children’s wellbeing, and development. Furthermore, the results showed that neuropsychiatric disabilities is the primary cause of problematic school absenteeism due to a lack of sufficient support. In addition, we learn that problematic school absenteeism is perceived by all interviewees as a challenge. The thesis also unveils that effective cooperation is essential when facing the issue. However, our results prove that both internal, and external cooperation is lacking in relation to problematic school absenteeism. Thus, the study displays the importance of finding functioning work methods to combat problematic school absenteeism and reintegrate students back into the education system.

Successful product development has been a fundamental part of many of today's companies and their continued prosperity depends on continuing to develop new products in the future. There are many models of product development. The two most common classes of development are market pull (MP) and technology push (TP). TP product development differs from MP in that the development begins with a specified technology rather than a specified customer. Because TP development is generally considered more difficult and challenging, most of the product development research has focused on MP development and many researchers and practitioners favor MP development over TP development. However, successful TP development has been shown to be a source of innovation that cannot be realized through MP development and is performed by many companies. The research in this thesis focuses on developing a comprehensive TP model to guide product developers on how to implement TP development successfully. This new TP model is developed by comparing recently published TP models to published best practices of TP development and known deficiencies of TP models. The comprehensive TP model makes improvements to the existing TP models through the addition of processes and tools that overcome deficiencies and incorporate best practices. The new comprehensive TP model includes elements of existing generic MP models, a "Technology Application Selection" (TAS) process and several new processes and tools associated with prototypes and network groups. Some of the new processes and tools are demonstrated through a case example. The comprehensive TP model provides product developers with the necessary step-by-step guide to TP product development. The model effectively deals with deficiencies of previous TP models, is sufficiently comprehensive and detailed to guide product developers, is complimentary and consistent to existing design processes and terms, is applicable to most TP product development projects, and is useful and repeatable in making product development decisions.

Purpose – The purpose of this master thesis was to enhance the knowledge of the relationship between digital tools and innovation speed. By doing so, adding to literature on innovation speed and digital tools.     Method – The method used in this study was a comparative case study with five case companies from a variety of industries in Sweden and Denmark. Data were collected and analysed in three waves, 1) explorative interviews used to set the scope of the study, 2) semi-structured interviews used to answer the research questions, 3) validatory interviews to validate the collected data and results.  Findings – The result culminated in the identification of seven effects derived from the use digital tools which had an impact on innovation speed (I.e., Automation, knowledge exchange, visualisation, experimentation and iteration, data management, competence, and trust).   Theoretical contribution – This master’s thesis main contribution to current literature is, by not viewing digital tools as a homogeneous group, enhancing the understanding of how digital tools affect the innovation process. Furthermore, applying the perspective of differences between types of digital tools, this thesis also contributes to understanding digital tools impact on innovation speed.  Practical implications – This thesis contributes to managers by suggesting different context to consider when implementing new digital tools for an accelerated innovation process. The study concludes that there are three main notions for managers to keep in mind when implementing tools in the innovation process. Firstly, to ensure that the complexity of the tool doesn’t exceed the internal capabilities. Secondly, to implement the tools in the phases which enables the most advantages. Thirdly, to have a process in place for managing data.  Limitations of the study – This study has focused on a small number of case companies, where the focus was on gathering in-depth data instead of quantifying findings. Future studies could therefore benefit from validating the findings with a larger sample pool. / Syfte – Syftet med detta examensarbete var att öka kunskapen om sambandet mellan digitala verktyg och innovationshastighet. Genom att göra det, bidra till både litteratur om innovationshastighet och digitala verktyg.  Metod – Metoden som användes i denna studie var en fallstudie med fem företag från en mängd olika branscher i Sverige och Danmark. Data samlades in och analyserades i tre vågor, 1) explorativa intervjuer som användes för att fastställa studiens omfattning, 2) semistrukturerade intervjuer som användes för att besvara forskningsfrågorna, 3) validerande intervjuer för att validera insamlad data och resultat.  Resultat – Resultatet kulminerade i identifieringen av sju effekter som härstammar från användningen av digitala verktyg som hade en inverkan på innovationshastigheten (dvs automation, kunskapsutbyte, visualisering, experimentering och iteration, datahantering, kompetens och tillit).  Teoretiskt bidrag – Den här masteruppsatsens huvudsakliga bidrag till aktuell litteratur är, genom att inte se digitala verktyg som en homogen grupp, en ökad förståelse för hur digitala verktyg påverkar innovationsprocessen. Genom att tillämpa perspektivet av skillnader mellan typer av digitala verktyg, bidrar denna avhandling också till att förstå digitala verktygs inverkan på innovationshastighet.  Praktiska implikationer – Den här avhandlingen bidrar till chefer genom att föreslå olika sammanhang att tänka på när de implementerar nya digitala verktyg för en accelererad innovationsprocess. Studien drar slutsatsen att det finns tre huvudsakliga områden för chefer att tänka på när de implementerar verktyg i innovationsprocessen. För det första för att säkerställa att verktygets komplexitet inte överstiger de interna funktionerna. För det andra att implementera verktygen i de faser som möjliggör flest fördelar. För det tredje att ha en process på plats för att hantera data.  Studiens begränsningar – Denna studie har fokuserat på ett litet antal fallföretag, där fokus låg på att samla in djupgående data istället för att kvantifiera resultat. Framtida studier kan därför dra nytta av att validera resultaten med ett större urval.

Background: ADHD and autism are two of the most common disabilities in the neuropsychiatric spectra. The symptoms of ADHD and autism are different based on gender and women belong to a risk group that have an increased risk of getting misdiagnosed. The consequences of a missed or delayed diagnosis causes suffering for both the individual and society. Aim: To explore women’s experiences of getting diagnosed with ADHD or autism as adults. Method: Literature study with a systematic approach. Based on the Tidal model, a qualitative content analysis with a deductive approach according to Elo and Kyngäs has been used. Results: The results are presented using three predetermined main categories, whilst the subcategories are based on an inductive approach. The results showed that the women’s experiences of receiving a diagnosis in adulthood mostly included positive feelings such as feeling of belonging, acceptance and increased self-esteem. However negative feelings such as doubt about the identity, stigmatization and mistrust towards the healthcare system emerged.  Conclusion: A diagnosis in adulthood causes mixed feelings and a need for support from the healthcare system. Lack of support leads to worsening of the mental health.

Manufacturing firms are realising the customer value and competitive edge that can be captured through digitalisation. Manufacturing firms are therefore striving to integrate digital technologies on the existing product range to create an ecosystem of connected products to create, monitor and manage the aftermarket product services. The integration introduces multiple conflicting innovation regimes into the organisation namely product innovation and digital innovation regime. This changes the way traditional manufacturing companies work with dynamics business models and dynamic market conditions requiring a new approach to maintaining customer relationships, rethinking the organizational structure and product developmental processes. The current study focuses on the product development challenges to which the manufacturing companies are exposed while developing connected products. Physical development processes are characterised by physical materiality, long lead times, upfront planning, early binding following a linear development framework while digital innovation is characterised by digital materiality, shorter lead time, multiple launches, late bindings which follows an iterative agile model of development. The contrasting characteristics create challenges for executing physical-digital product development projects. A Swedish manufacturing company is considered as a case study company and 19 process challenges are identified and reported in the current study through interviews with 26 stakeholders from diverse functions along with secondary data observations from project interaction meetings. These challenges are prioritised and group into five overarching challenges which are lack of integrated development process, coordination issues, integration issues, knowledge gap and resources issues. Three external companies are interviewed to compare challenges in the physical-digital product development process and identify process and practices adopted by the companies to mitigate those challenges. Based on the insights from the literature study, interviews from the case company and external companies, six recommendations were proposed. The recommendations include defining clear roles and responsibilities, creating a TRL chart for connectivity, strengthen front-loading activities, developing connectivity integrated NPD process, creating a flexible framework for functions to coordinate and develop connectivity integrated testing process. / Allt fler tillverkningsföretag inser det ökade kundvärdet och konkurrenskraften som digitalisering kan medföra. Tillverkningsföretag strävar därför efter att integrera digital teknik i det befintliga produktsortimentet för att skapa ett ekosystem av digitalt uppkopplade produkter för att utforma, övervaka och hantera produkter och tjänster på marknaden. Integrationen kan skapa konflikter mellan företagets innovationsregimer i organisationen, såsom produktinnovation och digital innovationsregim. För att kunna upprätthålla kundrelationer samt omstrukturera organisationen och produktutvecklings-processerna krävs en ny strategi, eftersom integrationen förändrar hur traditionella tillverkningsföretag arbetar med dynamiska affärsmodeller och dynamiska marknadsförhållanden. Denna studie fokuserar på de utmaningar i produktutveckling somn tillverkningsföretag möter i utvecklandet av uppkopplade produkter. Utvecklingsprocesser för fysiska produkter kännetecknas av långa ledtider, planering i förväg samt tidiga beslut utifrån ett linjärt utvecklingsramverk, medans digital innovation kännetecknas av kortare ledtider, flera lanseringar, och senare beslut som följer en iterativ, agil utvecklingsmodell. Skillnaderna i utvecklingen av digitala och fysiska produkter skapar utmaningar för att genomföra fysisktdigitala produkttvecklingsprojekt. En fallstudie utfördes på ett svenskt tillverkningsföretag där 19, olika processutmaningar identifieras och rapporteras i denna studie. Studien baseras på intervjuer med 26 intressenter från olika avdelningar, samt sekundära dataobservationer från projekmöten. Utmaningarna prioriteras och grupperas i fem övergripande problemområden; utmaningar avseende samordning, integration, kunskap, respektive resurser, samt avsaknad av en integrerad utvecklingsprocess. Tre externa företag intervjuas för att jämföra utmaningar i den fysiskt-digitala produktutvecklingsprocessen samt för att identifiera processer och metoder som företagen har använt för att hantera dessa utmaningar. Baserat på litteraturstudien, intervjuer från företaget och de externa företagen föreslås sex rekommendationer. Dessa inkluderar att definiera tydliga roller och ansvarsområden, skapa ett TRL-diagram för anslutningar, stärka front-loading-aktiviteter, utveckla en integrerad produktuvtvecklings process för uppkopplade produkter samt skapa ett flexibelt ramverk för funktioner för att samordna och utveckla en integrerad testprocess för uppkopplade produkter.

在全球化經濟趨勢下，企業不只可以更廣泛的應用全世界的資源，相對的也必須迎接來自全世界的挑戰。統一企業是台灣傳統企業的代表，在台灣扎根、茁壯並成長，至今已超過40年歷史，其發展也由最初的創業草創期，歷經茁壯期、集團化與國際化時期，發展到今日的全球化時期。在成長的歷程中，面對外部經濟結構以及市場環境的變遷，不只在技術構面上逐漸由技術導向轉變為市場導向，其內部組織架構的整合，也因應著外部環境同步的在調整。 本研究首先將由企業的階段性發展，分析在不同時期下研發單位與事業單位組織架構的演進。再進一步以新產品開發流程及品類管理，探討在食品業這一個快速消費品產業中，面對外部環境變動，消費者需求千奇百怪、日新月異的市場條件下，新產品開發自第三階段－集團化時期，至現今第五階段－全球化時期的階段性轉變。最後以同步工程的概念，討論在新產品開發流程中，最重要的兩個階段－事業單位主導的企劃流程，以及研發單位負責的開發流程之間的互動方式和頻率。 透過本研究討論分析後，可以清楚台灣食品產業隨著外部經濟發展與市場環境變化下的階段性發展歷程，透析在新產品開發流程上的演進、轉變與調整，同時了解研發單位和事業單位之間的互動溝通方式。提供成長中的快速消費品產業中企業，或是同樣面臨市場飽和與消費者需求變化迅速之產業，一個如何因應外部快速變遷的管理方式，以及如何學習並加以改善的新產品開發流程與組織內互動機制。 / Under global economic conditions, corporations could make use of the resources all around the world, but they also have to face the challenges from competitors worldwide. Uni-President is the largest food industry corporation of Taiwan, and it has developed over 40 years, from foundation period, growing period, bloc period, international period to global network period. In the developing process, the technology dimension changes from the technology-oriented approach to the market-oriented approach because of the transformation of external economic structure and marketing environment. of the R&D unit and business unit in different period. And then discuss the periodic transformation from bloc period to global network period with NPD（new product development）process and category management. At the end, discuss the interaction way of planning which the business unit is responsible for and development which the R&D unit is responsible for, the most important stages of NPD process, with concurrent engineering concept. The periodic development of Taiwanese food industry with the external transformations can be clearly understood through this research analysis. The reader could not only realize the evolution, shift and adjustment of NPD process but also the communication way of R&D department and business department, providing a management mode for developing fast moving consumer goods industry that faces pressures from marketing and customer.

This thesis examines product innovation processes in small established enterprises. The research questions are: (1) what motivates small established enterprises to innovate, (2) how do small established enterprises perform product innovation, and (3) how do small established enterprises manage resource scarcity in their product innovation processes? To answer the research questions, a multiple case study approach was chosen with three small established enterprises as cases and different product innovation processes as embedded units of study. The data collection method used was observation during a period of five months, complemented by interviews and secondary data. Product innovation in small established enterprises seems to be motivated by solving existing customers’ problems and the need for a sustained steady cash flow. A steady cash flow is also found to be a prerequisite during the product innovation processes. Product innovation seems to occur when there is a risk of decreased cash flow and/or when existing customers can be satisfied with new products that increase their loyalty so as to secure future sales, cash flow, and the enterprise’s survival in the long run. Promising innovation ideas alone do not result in product innovation. An innovation idea must also have supportive existing customers for product innovation to occur. Product innovation processes in the studied small established enterprises are found highly context dependent, intertwined in operational processes and made possible by a small organic organization and closeness to existing customers. The product innovation processes are further found to follow a flexible and informal overall scheme optimized for decreasing market and technology uncertainty and risk, dealing with resource scarcity, and facilitating fast and easy commercialization to avoid or moderate dips in cash flow. The design processes within the innovation processes can be linearly structured or cyclical and experimental, depending on the experienced novelty. To manage resource scarcity during the product innovation processes, the studied small enterprises used many different bootstrapping methods in combination. These methods can be divided into three categories according to their overall functions: for using existing resources more efficiently, for increasing resources and to secure a fast payback on resources invested in NPD. The studied small enterprises were due to their resource scarcity further found to favor an innovation strategy, only involving new products done with known technology and targeting existing markets. This way to innovate, which creates new products in a resource-efficient way that are accepted by the enterprises’ existing markets, seems to prevent unsuccessful product innovation, while at the same time excluding technologically radical innovation and innovation targeting new markets.

The thesis work aimed at developing a framework for portfolio management and business case development that can be used as decision support for a company for new product development. The assignment was to study relevant literature resulting in an aggregated view on this topic and the parameters that impact successful product development. The literature involves project initiation, different levels of product innovation development and information about important research criteria to include when forming new product projects ideas. This information helps to support how to objectively evaluate and compare product projects. The literature also involves different relevant tools to use for providing information and manage product portfolio management along with their benefits. Out of this aggregated view, a template and suggested decision model specific for the company has been established. The resulting template has for purpose to be used for preparation of providing a solid information base when a new product project idea is to be presented. The decision base has the purpose to help the members and managers in the product council to form a decision on what product idea to proceed with, which hopefully will result into launch and success. The framework aims to assess individual product development initiatives as well as managing the product portfolio aspect. Except the study of a considerable amount of literature, qualitative research has been made as well. The qualitative research has been performed in the form of semi-structured interviews together with people within the company that has been used as case study in this report. The interviews contributes with information about the current state of the company’s product offering process together with attention paid for what is missing and what improvements that is sought. In such way, the qualitative research contribute to the result of the framework in the sense that it is attributed towards the company in the case study and thus slightly towards technological network industries, although the framework is made for a generic use. As by this thesis, the framework focus on one company, but it has for purpose to be adaptable and inspiring for any company with respect for the individual company’s restrictions.