Submitted by Maicon Juliano Schmidt (maicons) on 2015-05-25T13:46:35Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Mauro Vinicius Silva Rocha.pdf: 469448 bytes, checksum: 92a0600b9a0d76f6b2ef37af189fdc88 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-25T13:46:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Mauro Vinicius Silva Rocha.pdf: 469448 bytes, checksum: 92a0600b9a0d76f6b2ef37af189fdc88 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-12-15 / Nenhuma / O presente estudo investiga alternativas para o aprimoramento do sistema produto-serviço. Um estudo de casos múltiplos abrangendo oito indústrias de grande porte, nacionais e multinacionais, dos setores químico e automotivo foi realizado. Nessas organizações foram analisados os problemas internos que influenciam o desempenho da prestação de serviços associada a produtos. Para cada problema identificado foram analisadas as alternativas de solução implantadas, ou passíveis de serem adotadas. Os resultados apontam para um conjunto de processos internos, os quais focalizam apenas a atenção às demandas advindas dos produtos. A consideração desses resultados desvelou um conjunto de elementos que precisam ser considerados para o aprimoramento do sistema produto-serviço. / The present study investigates alternatives for the improvement of product-service system. A multiple case study involving eight national and multinational companies, from chemical and automotive industries, was conducted. In these organizations the internal problems that affect the performance of the provision of services associated with the product were analyzed. For each problem identified alternatives implemented, or likely to be adopted solution were analyzed. The results point to a set of internal processes, which focus attention only to the demands from products. Consideration of these results unveiled a set of elements that need to be considered for the improvement of product-service system.

Cada vez mais as empresas oferecem soluções completas a seus clientes, com parcelas de produto e serviço. Essa mudança na composição do portfólio das organizações vem ocorrendo por uma série de motivos, sejam relacionados às questões estratégicas, motivados por demandas do cliente, ou ainda, por tendências que visam menores impactos ambientais. Esta tese teve como objetivo identificar se a estruturação das empresas em relação à integração produto-serviço influencia os fatores motivadores para o PSS. A abordagem metodológica foi dividida em pesquisa qualitativa e quantitativa, a primeira para compreender a perspectiva do cliente e a segunda para avaliar os fatores motivadores para a adoção de um sistema produto-serviço (PSS) por prestadores. A pesquisa qualitativa foi realizada por meio de um estudo de caso nos laboratórios de um dos principais hospitais da América Latina. Os dados coletados apresentaram informações importantes sobre questões ambientais e coprodução. Para a pesquisa quantitativa, foi proposto um instrumento de pesquisa, com base em dados extraídos da literatura, para avaliar o construto Fatores Motivadores (FM) e a estruturação das empresas em relação à integração produto-serviço, operacionalizada por meio dos construtos Orientação de Uso do Produto (OUP) e Lógicas de Transição (LT). O instrumento foi submetido à validação de conteúdo e a pesquisa conduzida com média e alta gerência, de 81 empresas de setores distintos. Os dados foram processados e validados por análise fatorial exploratória e técnica de Modelagem de Equações Estruturais com estimação pelo método Partial Least Squares (PLS), utilizando o software SMARTPLS 2.0. O construto Fatores Motivadores desdobrou-se em cinco variáveis latentes de primeira ordem: ambiental, cocriação, coprodução, portfólio e vantagem competitiva. As análises do modelo estrutural mostraram que há relacionamento significativo entre os Fatores Motivadores e as Lógicas de Transição, alterando-se à medida que se transida da lógica Produto-Dominante para a lógica Serviço-Dominante. Dentre as proposições da LT as que se destacaram foram Papel do Cliente, Envolvimento com o Cliente e Determinação e Significado do Valor. / Increasingly companies offer complete solutions to its customers which include products and services. This change in the organizations portfolio has been occurring due to a number of reasons, be it related to strategic issues, or driven by customer demands, or even to low environmental impact trends. This thesis aimed at identifying if companies structure in relation to their product-service integration influences the drivers for product-service systems (PSS) offer. The methodological approach was divided into qualitative and quantitative research, the first to understand the customer\'s perspective and the second to assess the drivers for the adoption of a product-service system (PSS) by providers. The qualitative research was conducted through a case study in the laboratories of one of the major Latin America hospitals. The data collected showed important information about environmental issues and co-production. For the quantitative research, a research instrument was proposed, based on data extracted from literature, to evaluate the Motivation Factors\' (FM) and the companies structuring in relation to product-service integration, operationalized through the constructs \'Product Use Orientation\' (OUP) and \'Transition Logics\' (LT). The instrument was submitted to content validation, and the research was conducted with middle and senior managers of 81 companies from different industries. The data were processed and validated by exploratory factor analysis technique and Structural Equation Modeling with the estimation method Partial Least Squares (PLS) using the software SmartPLS 2.0. The construct FM unfolded in five first-order latent variables: environmental, co-creation, co-production, portfolio and competitive advantage. The structural model analysis showed significant relationship between Motivation Factors and Transition Logics, which changes while it moves from Goods-Dominant Logic to Service-Dominant Logic. Among LT propositions most relevant are: Customers Role, Engagement with the Customer and Value Determination and Meaning.

This thesis project extends current research on how Product-Service/Systems (PSS) increase the competitiveness of what businesses provide to society. In particular, when the significant stakeholders who create value, structured as a network, are also involved in the co-development of the value proposition. Applying the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD), this study looks at how the early stages of a strategic planning process for sustainability could improve this co-development of PSS. The field research helped to understand the particularities of co-developing PSS and how the planning process could be adapted using the FSSD. As a result, theoretical dimensions, and general guidelines to put these into practice, are recommended in a model. The theoretical dimensions were field tested and refined. It was discovered that when creating the aspirational goals of the network, including other perspectives, in addition to companies and the customer’s, could expand the perception of value available to be provided. To do so is proposed a systematic understanding of the situation, and its socio-ecological context, where the activities of the value-based network of stakeholders are performed.

Industrialization and globalization of companies has promoted fast, easy and profitable business solutions. A linear business model (LBM) is seen as the most common way to do business. However, recent studies have enlightened how LBMs are detrimental to the health and biological cycles of the earth and its inhabitants. To prevent this, circular business models (CBM) are being introduced as a feasible while still profitable solution. CBMs are defined by Oghaze & Mostaghel, (2018), as the “…rationale of how an organisation creates, delivers, and captures value with slowing, closing, or narrowing flows of the resource loops”, as they base their business on products and services designed to close or slowing the resource loops, decreasing the overall need of virgin resources.  However, to make these major changes in the current way of designing products and services has to be made, taking into consideration the change in design objectives from a linear to a circular model. Today, there are many circular design methods (DM) developed by academia to aid designers in designing sustainable products and services, however, the uptake of such DMs in the industry is quite low. Such a low level of uptake is often due to a poor fit between the DM and the context it is adopted in, which does not aid its seamless integration in existing processes.  Therefore, this research aims to identify DM characteristics that will aid industries to be adopted or adapted by companies transitioning towards CBMs. To do so, three research questions were developed: i) What are the most critical internal and external drivers in a company that enable the successful adoption of a circular design method?  ii) What are the contextual barriers that companies encounter when adopting or adapting circular design methods? iii) How can the design method adopted or adapted be evaluated to improve their implementation in a company? To answer these research questions, a survey was initially carried out, and subsequent interviews were conducted amongst participants of five different companies from various sectors and expertise. The survey and interviews were grounded in previous research concerning types of CBM and different types of barriers and drivers influencing the adoption of circular DMs.  The result from the survey indicates that the ability to make trade-offs when confronted with sustainability aspects, management commitment to a CBM, good communication and sharing of environmental knowledge, both through different departments and with external actors like suppliers, as well as allocating resources such as time, personnel, funds, and having clear business incentives are needed to promote the use of circular DMs. From the interviews, it was also found that barriers to the effective use of DMs are lack of environmental knowledge throughout the supply chain and wrong identification of actors in the supply chain as well as limited communication with external actors. Furthermore, the research revealed several characteristics of the DMs such as simplicity, flexibility and informativity need to be adapted to leverage and overcome the identified contextual drivers and barriers respectively, for their successful deployment within the companies.

Background: Functional sales has in recent years become increasingly debated among companies, as a result of increased interest in developing more sustainable strategies. Meanwhile, companies lack knowledge of what changes functional sales causes, particularly about what incentives, barriers and financial implications that affect the development and implementation of the business model. Since companies are not fully aware of what aspects to take into consideration before implementing functional sales, many companies hesitate on taking the step towards a more sustainable future. Research aim: The research aim of this study is to investigate underlying incentives and barriers that affect the development and implementation of functional sales within retail industry, but also what financial implications it causes. Moreover, this study aims to investigate how the conditions for an implementation of functional sales can be improved, by managing the incentives and barriers identified. Method: This study has been conducted with pragmatism as a scientific starting point. Moreover, an abductive approach has been used. The research design for this study is qualitative design, where a simple case study was selected through a targeted sampling of ”a typical case”. The respondents were selected through a snowball and a targeted sampling. The method used for conducting the analysis was a thematic analysis. Findings: The incentives identified in this study were environmental sustainability, meeting customer needs, closer connection to the customer and profitability. The barriers identified were increased requirements for product design, increased costs for warehousing, service and transportation, changes in cash flows, existing accounting principles and lack of profitability. In order to strengthen versus bridge these incentives and barriers, companies should take the following aspects into consideration: a well-adapted design, environmentally friendly and efficient transportation, ensure high inventory turnover rate, an adequate pricing, a well- formulated guarantee agreement and ensure financing. / Bakgrund: Funktionsförsäljning har på senare år blivit allt mer omdebatterat bland företag, till följd av att ökat intresse av att utveckla mer hållbara strategier. Samtidigt saknas forskning om vilka processer som förändras vid funktionsförsäljning, samt vilka incitament, hinder och finansiella implikationer som påverkar utveckling och implementeringen av affärsmodellen. I och med att företag inte är fullt medvetna om vilka aspekter de behöver ta i beaktning inför en implementering, tvekar företag att ta steget mot en mer hållbar framtid. Syfte: Denna studie syftar till att undersöka vilka bakomliggande incitament och hinder som påverkar utvecklingen och implementeringen av en cirkulär affärsmodell baserad på funktionsförsäljning inom detaljhandeln, samt vilka finansiella implikationer de ger upphov till. Vidare syftar studien till att undersöka hur förutsättningarna för en implementering av funktionsförsäljning kan förbättras, genom hantering av dessa incitament och hinder. Metod: Studien har genomförts med pragmatism som vetenskaplig utgångspunkt. Vidare har ett abduktivt angreppssätt använts. Studiens forskningsdesign är kvalitativ, där ett fallföretag valts ut genom ett målstyrt urval av ”ett typiskt fall”. Respondenterna valdes ut genom både ett snöbollsurval och ett målstyrt urval. Den analysmetod som studien har använts sig av är en så kallad tematisk analys. Slutsats: De incitament som identifierats i denna studie är miljömässig hållbarhet, möta kundens behov, komma närmare kund samt lönsamhet. De hinder som identifierats är ökade krav på produktdesign, ökade kostnader vid lagerhållning, service och transport, förändrade kassaflöden, befintliga redovisningsprinciper samt utebliven lönsamhet. För att förstärka respektive överbrygga dessa bör företag ta följande aspekter i beaktning: en anpassad design, miljövänliga och effektiva transporter, säkerställa hög lageromsättningshastighet, rätt prissättning, ett välformulerat garantiavtal samt säkerställa finansiering.

Circular economy (CE) is widely seen as a potential solution to negative impacts caused by thelinear economy; however, companies must integrate CE principles into the business modeldeeper to achieve sustainable development. The Product-Service System (PSS) businessmodel is a potential solution to the superficial implementation of CE due to shifting the focusto delivering functionality rather than ownership. However, several researchers point out thatPSS systems, whilst promoted as sustainability alternatives, rarely have enough quantitativedata supporting these outcomes and where the research field widely highlight the need tofurther develop assessment methods for PSS, with the use phase being a specifically criticalarea to monitor due to companies increased responsibility. This master’s thesis, therefore,aims to evaluate how companies monitor and assess their use-oriented PSS during the usephase to safeguard the intended increase in sustainability performance. To achieve theseobjectives, a qualitative, multiple case study was employed, where four companies wereinterviewed following a semi-structured approach, creating in-depth knowledge in each case. The case studies reveal that the different companies' primary methods to safeguard theirsustainability ambitions were through data collection, which, however, lacked the structuralsupport of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). The different case studies could be seen tomainly collect performance data for proactive maintenance and consumer behaviour data toadjust their services and, by that, reduce environmental impact. However, only Volvo CarMobility did try to reduce the risk of unforeseen rebound effects by investigating customers'changed mobility behaviour. All of the companies did during the interviews refer to KPIs thatthey used to ensure that their sustainability goals were met; however, only one of the casestudies had an indicator that could meet the requirements of KPIs, whereas others lackedspecified targets, were vaguely defined or were irregularly collected. Additionally, the casestudies confirmed different strategic reasons for implementing their PSS other thansustainability and whether all sustainability goals could be connected to economic incentives.These different drivers confirm the PSS attraction and suitability for companies; however, italso emphasises the importance of implementing a system perspective to mitigate risks ofburden shifting and loss of the potential to contribute to sustainable development. Future research could further evaluate the importance of information and communicationtechnologies (ICT) when collecting data on PSS consumers, how AI-supported technologycould facilitate the recognition of consumer behaviour, and how this data collection shouldbe efficiently managed in the organisation. Additionally, another interesting avenue for futureinvestigation would be the overall consumer behaviour of society and its impact on businessmodels such as PSS. In conclusion, this master's thesis confirms and extends previous assertions on theimportance and complexity of use-oriented PSS and adds to the emerging literature on the subject through the information from the case studies. The findings also point to the holisticinsights and performance assessments required to optimise the potential and ensure thesustainability of the services. / Cirkulär ekonomi (CE) betraktas allmänt som en potentiell lösning på den negativa påverkansom den linjära ekonomin orsakar. För att uppnå en hållbar utveckling är det nödvändigt förföretag att djupare integrera CE-principer i affärsmodellen. Affärsmodellen förprodukttjänstsystem (product service system - PSS) anses vara en potentiell lösning när CEytligt implementerats i företag, detta genom att fokusera på att leverera funktionalitetsnarare än äganderätt. Dock pekar flera forskare på att PSS-system, trots att de främjas somhållbarhetsalternativ, sällan har tillräckligt med kvantitativ data som stödjer dessa resultat.Inom PSS forskningsfältet betonas behovet av att vidareutveckla bedömningsmetoder(Nakada et al., 2020), där användningsfasen anses vara ett specifikt kritiskt område attkontrollera på grund av företagens ökade ansvar. Denna masteravhandling syftar därför tillatt utvärdera hur företag kontrollerar och bedömer sina användningsorienterade PSS underanvändningsfasen för att säkerställa den avsedda ökningen i hållbarhetsprestanda. För attuppnå dessa mål användes en kvalitativ, flerfallstudie där fyra företag intervjuades med ettsemistrukturerat förhållningssätt, vilket skapade mer djupgående kunskap om vardera fall. Fallstudierna visar att de olika företagens huvudsakliga metod för att säkerställa sinahållbarhetsambitioner var genom datainsamling, men detta saknade dock det strukturellastödet av nyckeltal (Key Performance Indicators - KPI:er). De olika fallstudierna kunde sessamla prestandadata främst för proaktivt underhåll och konsumentbeteendedata för attjustera sina tjänster och därigenom minska miljöpåverkan. Endast Volvo Car Mobility försökteminska risken för oförutsedda rekyleffekter genom att undersöka kunders ändraderörelsebeteende. Samtliga företag hänvisade under intervjuerna till KPI:er som de användeför att säkerställa att deras hållbarhetsmål uppnåddes, men endast företaget som hyrde utbilbarnstolar hade en indikator som kunde uppfylla KPI-kraven, medan de andra fallensaknade specificerade objektiv, var vagt definierade eller insamlades oregelbundet.Dessutom bekräftade fallstudierna olika strategiska skäl för att implementera sina PSS utöverhållbarhet, och alla hållbarhetsmål kunde kopplas till ekonomiska incitament. Dessa olikadrivkrafter bekräftar PSS attraktion och lämplighet för företag, men betonar också vikten avatt implementera ett systemperspektiv för att minska riskerna för tunnelseende ochförskjutning av belastningen (s.k. burden shifting) och förlora potentialen att bidra till enhållbar utveckling. Framtida forskning kan rikta sig mot att ytterligare utvärdera betydelsen av informations- ochkommunikationsteknologier (Information and Communication Technology - ICT) vid insamlingav data om PSS-konsumenter, hur AI-stödd teknik kan underlätta igenkänning avkonsumentbeteende och särskilt hur denna datainsamling bör hanteras effektivt iorganisationen. Dessutom skulle en annan intressant väg för framtida undersökningar kunnavara samhällets övergripande konsumentbeteende och dess påverkan på affärsmodeller somPSS.   Sammanfattningsvis bekräftar denna masteravhandling tidigare påståenden omanvändningsorienterade PSS betydelse och komplexitet och bidrar till den växandelitteraturen om ämnet genom information från fallstudierna. Resultaten pekar också på deholistiska insikter och prestandabedömningar som krävs för att optimera potentialen ochsäkerställa tjänsternas hållbarhet.

Designing for Social Impact is an approach of social sustainability that presents an alternative way to improve living conditions in low income communities, of low income countries, by providing solutions that will enable them to meet their basic needs. Some current methods and tools used by social designers are focused on specific social aspects and often fail to engage communities to participate actively in the design processes. A non-linear Design Research Method was used to engage experts from the Design for Social Impact sector, Product Service System “PSS”, and social designers. A case study based in Gambia was used to study if “PSS” could encourage social designers to co-design with these communities as a way to promote positive solutions. Thus, strategic actions were collected from the research findings as a way to promote co-designing with involved stakeholders in low income communities. / ING/School of Engineering +46 455 38 50 00