In today's society, organisations are exposed to stiff competition, and wants and expectations might change rapidly. In order to survive, all organisations must meet wants and expectations from a number of actors who can cause the organisation to fail. These actors are called stakeholders. At the same time as organisations are struggling to survive and prosper, it has become increasingly important for everybody to act in a way that does not endanger global sustainability. In the last few decades a number of management systems have been introduced in order to facilitate for the management of organisations the task of promoting both organisational and global sustainability. In the present study, quality management, environmental management systems and stakeholder theory have been investigated in order to contribute to the knowledge of how an organisation can be managed in order to achieve both organisational and global sustainability. In order to conduct the research, an archival analysis of nine manufacturing Swedish companies was made in order to find out if their environmental performance had improved during the last decade and if such improvements could be linked to the certification of an environmental management system. A case study was also made in order to explore how organisations may be managed in order to achieve both organisational and global sustainability. The results of the research show that the investigated companies have improved their environmental performance, but the connection to the certification of the EMS is not apparent. The results also include a stakeholder model that could be suitable in order to integrate stakeholder theory and quality management. Organisational sustainability is argued be achieved if the organisation manages to endlessly satisfy or exceed the demands of its stakeholders. Where stakeholders are considered to be actors that: (i) provide essential means of support required by an organisation; and (ii) could withdraw their support if their wants or expectations are not met, thus causing the organisation to fail, or inflicting unacceptable levels of damage. The aim of a third generation of quality management could then be for the organisation to satisfy, or preferably exceed, the wants and expectations of its customers subject to meeting the demands of its other stakeholders, in order to fulfil the aim of the organisation. To also promote global sustainability, the organisation should aim to satisfy, or preferably exceed, the wants and expectations of its stakeholders without compromising the ability of other parties to meet their needs, both present and future. It is to be hoped that the proposed stakeholder model can be used in both existing and future management concepts in order to help companies to promote both organisational and global sustainability. / I dagens samhälle agerar många organisationer i en miljö med stark konkurrens, där krav och förväntningar snabbt kan ändras. För att överleva måste alla organisationer tillfredsställa krav och förväntningar från ett antal aktörer som, om deras krav inte uppfylls, kan få företaget att misslyckas. Dessa aktörer kallas för "stakeholders" (förutsättningsskapare). Samtidigt som organisationer kämpar för att överleva har det blivit allt viktigare att alla agerar på ett sätt som inte motverkar global hållbarhet. Under de senaste årtiondena har en rad ledningssystem introducerats för att underlätta ledning av organisationer mot både organisatorisk och global hållbarhet. I den här uppsatsen har offensiv kvalitetsutveckling, standardiserade miljöledningssystem och stakeholderteori undersökts för att bidra till kunskapen om hur organisationer kan ledas för att uppnå både organisatorisk och global hållbarhet.För att genomföra forskningen har en arkivanalys med nio tillverkande svenska företag genomförts för att undersöka om deras miljöprestanda har förbättrats under det senaste årtiondet och om eventuella förbättringar kan kopplas till certifieringen av ett miljöledningssystem. Även en fallstudie har genomförts för att undersöka hur organisationer kan ledas för att uppnå både organisatorisk och global hållbarhet.Resultaten från forskningen visar att de undersökta företagen har förbättrat sin miljöprestanda, dock är kopplingen till certifieringen av miljöledningssystemet inte uppenbar. Resultaten innehåller även en stakeholder-modell, bland annat bestående av nedanstående formuleringar, vilken skulle kunna vara användbar för att integrera stakeholdersynsättet i offensiv kvalitetsutveckling. Organisatorisk hållbarhet uppnås om organisationen kontinuerligt kan uppfylla eller överträffa krav från sina stakeholders. Stakeholders är de aktörer som: (i) bidrar med nödvändiga förutsättningar och, (ii) om deras krav och förväntningar inte uppfylls, kan dra tillbaka dessa förutsättningar och därmed orsaka oacceptabel skada eller får organisationen att misslyckas. Målet för offensiv kvalitetsutveckling skulle därför kunna bli för organisationen att uppfylla, eller helst överträffa, krav och förväntningar från kunder samtidigt som organisationen även uppfyller krav från övriga stakeholders.För att inte motverka global hållbarhet borde alla organisationer agera för att uppfylla, eller helst överträffa, krav och förväntningar från stakeholders utan att minska möjligheten för andra aktörer att tillfredsställa sina behov, varken nuvarande eller kommande behov. Förhoppningen är att den framtagna stakeholdermodellen ska kunna användas både i befintliga och kommande managementkoncept för att leda företag mot både organisatorisk och global hållbarhet. / Godkänd; 2007; 20070122 (ysko)

Issues related to quality have received more attention in both society at large and higher education during the last decades. Concepts such as ‘Total Quality Management' and ‘continuous improvement' have become prevalent terms in the discussions around quality issues. The overall intention of this thesis is to study quality management in higher education, and more specifically, to see if and how perspectives with their origin outside higher education could provide means to improve the activities in that setting. The first element in the thesis is an attempt to formulate a general framework for quality management as it refers to higher education. Secondly, three specific investigations into quality issues in higher education are described. The first of these is a study of how self-assessments according to criteria in the Swedish Quality Award could be used in higher education. The second is a study of the use in higher education of quality systems and the ISO 9000 set of standards for such quality systems. The third is a discussion of similarities between developments in trade and industry on one hand and higher education on the other. As a very general conclusion, perspectives such as ‘Total Quality Management' are argued as being both relevant and meaningful in higher education. Interpreted comprehensively, this perspective and other related concepts seem not only valid, but also a means to find possible improvements. The areas which are discussed are both administrative or support activities and academic areas. As for results from the studies of self-assessments according to quality awards and of quality systems, both these instruments seem valid and useful in higher educational settings. The main intention with the actual kind of assessment which has been studied is that it could result in an understanding of possibilities for improvements. Even though the assessment method comprises some perspectives which are not common in higher education, it seems reasonable to assume that the intended result could be attained. The study of quality systems indicates that this kind of instrument can also provide a basis for improvements, although from another starting point. Implementations of such systems have in several cases resulted in a structure for quality management, whereby possibilities for improvements are more easily discerned. Both studies suggest, however, that use of instruments such as those considered is not unproblematic. Underlying motives and resource issues are some examples of possibly problematic aspects. The discussion of similarities between higher education and developments in trade and industry is finally an attempt to show that a TQM perspective is valid not only as means for improvement in areas such as administrative affairs, but also in core activities such as teaching and learning. However, even if the adoption of this perspective could result in improvements, there are obstacles to such an adoption. Change is seldom achieved in a straightforward manner in any kind of organisation. Besides any general obstacles, higher education also seems to bear a number of characteristics which may be particularly significant. Two such impediments which are discussed are the organisational structure and the use of grades. / <p>Godkänd; 1997; 20070408 (ysko)</p>

Bipolar transistors employing an MIS junction for the emitter exhibit the very desirable properties of high operating frequency and/or high common emitter gains. The topic of this thesis is to investigate the usefulness of the MIS bipolar transistor in real applications. The experimental results show two possible limitations of the devices. The principal limitation is the inability of these devices to withstand moderate temperature stressing. The second limitation is the relatively high emitter series resistance. The principal degradation mode of these devices under temperature stressing is suggested to be the reduction of the thin insulating oxide. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Electrical and Computer Engineering, Department of / Graduate

The risk analysis process involving information acquisition, modeling, analysis, and decision steps result in system design improvement. To allow an accurate and active system risk assessment in road transportation, this study identifies the contributing factors in reliability of road transportation systems and develops the systematic and stochastic methodologies and mathematical models. The developed models and methodologies aim to assess the reliability and risk of drivers interacting with the today’s typical vehicles equipped with Advanced Drivers Assistance System (ADAS) and Passive Safety Systems (PSS) with any degree of complexity and availability of such systems. The research further examines and addresses the specific needs of such vulnerable users and perhaps risk to others on roads including older drivers, younger drivers and pedestrians. The research presents the conditions monitoring concepts as in-vehicle tools for live assessment of risk state of drivers built on the methodologies and models developed in the studies. The necessity for availability of good data and specific databases for purpose of risk assessment in road transportation is then highlighted and stressed. The complete procedure for accident investigation and data collection is developed and presented in the research and a conceptual model for a typical human centered reliability databases in road transportation is also developed. The research is novel and innovative and expected to pave the way for improvement and development of new risk mitigating systems and better assessment and monitoring of the safety of users on roads and with the capability of information sharing resulting in saving many lives worldwide.

Prestressed girder bridges are a very common type of bridges constructed all over the world. The girder bridges are ideal as short to medium spans (15 m to 60 m) structures, due to their moderate self-weight, structural efficiency, ease of fabrication, fast construction, low initial cost, long life expectancy, low maintenance, simple deck removal, and replacement process. Thus, the vast applicability of prestressed girder bridges provides the motivation to develop optimization methodologies, techniques, and models to optimize the design of these widely-used types of bridges, in order to achieve cost-effective design solutions. Most real-world structural engineering problems involve several elements of uncertainty (e.g. uncertainty in loading conditions, in material characteristics, in analysis/simulation model accuracy, in geometric properties, in manufacturing precision, etc). Such uncertainties need to be taken into consideration in the design process in order to achieve uniform levels of safety and consistent reliability in the structural systems. Consideration of uncertainties and variation of design parameters is made through probabilistic calibration of the design codes and specifications. For all current bridge design codes (e.g. AASHTO LRFD, CHBDC, or European code) no calibration is yet made to the Serviceability Limit State or Fatigue Limit State. Eventually, to date only Strength I limit state has been formally calibrated with reliability basis. Optimum designs developed without consideration of uncertainty associated with the design parameters can lead to non-robust designs, ones for which even slight changes in design variables and uncertain parameters can result in substantial performance degradation and localized damages. The accumulated damage may result in serviceability limitations or even collapse, although the structural design meets all code requirements for ultimate flexural and shear capacity. In order to search for the best optimization solution between cost reduction and satisfactory safety levels, probabilistic approaches of design optimization were applied to control the structural uncertainties throughout the design process, which cannot be achieved by deterministic optimization. To perform probabilistic design optimization, the basic design parameters were treated as random variables. For each random variable, the statistical distribution type was properly defined and the statistical parameters were accurately derived. After characterizing the random variables, in the current research, all the limit state functions were formulated and a comprehensive reliability analysis has been conducted to evaluate the bridge’s safely level (reliability index) with respect to every design limit state. For that purpose, a computer-aided model has been developed using Visual Basic Application (VBA). The probabilities of failure and corresponding reliability indexes determined by using the newly developed model, with respect to limit state functions considered, were obtained by the First-Order Reliability Method (FORM) and/or by Monte Carlo Simulation MCS technique. For the overall structural system reliability, a comprehensive Failure Mode Analysis (FMA) has been conducted to determine the failure probability with respect to each possible mode of failure. The Improved Reliability Bounds (IRB) method was applied to obtain the upper and lower bounds of the system reliability. The proposed model also provides two methods of probabilistic design optimization. In the first method, a reliability-based design optimization of prestressed girder bridges has been formulated and developed, in which the calculated failure probabilities and corresponding reliability indexes have been treated as probabilistic constraints. The second method provides a quality-controlled optimization approach applied to the design of prestressed girder bridges where the Six Sigma quality concept has been utilized. For both methods, the proposed model conducts simulation-based optimization technique. The simulation engine performs Monte Carlo Simulation while the optimization engine performs metaheuristic scatter search with neural network accelerator. The feasibility of any bridge design is very sensitive to the bridge superstructure type. Failing to choose the most suitable bridge type will never help achieving cost-effective design alternatives. In addition to the span length, many other factors (e.g. client’s requirements, design requirements, project’s conditions, etc.) affect the selection of bridge type. The current research focusses on prestressed girder bridge type. However, in order to verify whether selecting the prestressed girder bridge type, in a specific project, is the right choice, a tool for selecting the optimum bridge type was needed. Hence, the current research provides a new model for selecting the most suitable bridge type, by integrating the experts’ decision analysis, decision tree analysis and sensitivity analysis. Experts’ opinions and decisions form essential tool in developing decision-making models. However the uncertainties associated with expert’s decisions need to be properly incorporated and statistically modelled. This was uniquely addressed in the current study.

Quality management is continuously evolving and the progression so far is frequently described in terms of four stages. According to these descriptions, Total Quality Management (TQM) constitutes the currently highest level, or fourth stage, of quality management. Despite the divergence of views on what constitutes TQM, it is commonly described as a number of diverse activities, here designated as quality practice, performed to display and embody a certain set of values. One of these values, acknowledged as central to TQM, is to focus on the customers. This value basically implies that a TQM organization should adapt its operations to what creates value for its customers. Hence, there is ideally a strong linkage between the application of quality practice and the creation of customer value. In a wider perspective, this linkage fundamentally determines the vital contribution of quality practice to competitiveness. However, this linkage has so far been given poor attention among quality researchers. Furthermore, differences of opinions exist regarding its strength. It has for instance been argued that quality practices commonly included in TQM lack a linkage to customer value, decrease the competitiveness of the organization in which they are implemented, and hinder the organization's ability to create customer value. The aim of this thesis is accordingly to examine the ideal linkage between quality practice and customer value in order to increase its strength. In accordance to the idea of continuous improvement, the aim is to improve the reflection of the value ‘focus on the customers' in quality practice. The research process described in this thesis has started by examining and developing the current theoretical foundation and models of TQM concerning customer value, in terms of the theory of attractive quality. Furthermore, an affective conceptualization of customer value has been used as a basis for an initial examination of the ideal linkage. Among the presented results it is indicated that quality practice, including the measures currently used to capture customer perceptions, is more or less restricted to negative motivations of external customers. Negative motivations basically stem from the customers strive to avoid and reduce negative emotional states. The linkage to positive motivations of the external customers is seemingly much weaker or even absent. The indicated focus can be seen as a reflection of early theories of motivation emphasizing negative motivations as the governing principle. Modern theories emphasize, however, both negative and positive motivations. The sole emphasis on negative motivations indicated in current quality practice would imply that external customers prefer to exist in a state of boring neutrality. A dual emphasis recognizes that while our customers want to minimize pain and disappointment, they want to maximize pleasure as well, to make life interesting and stimulating. An extension of quality practice, including the use of multiple output measures, is suggested to increasing the reflection of this duality of customer value in TQM. As a foundation for such an extension, a two-dimensional perspective on the mechanisms involved in the strong positive emotional state associated with attractive quality elements has been proposed. The proposed perspective points at two separate mechanisms in terms of the satisfaction of high-level needs and latent needs. / Godkänd; 2005; 20061218 (haneit)

Organisations around the world are today looking for new approaches to maintain or develop competitive advantages, reduce costs, free-up capital and improve quality and service. The traditional customer-supplier relation is characterised by the parties focusing on their own cost reduction, creating win-loose scenarios. Companies today are starting to develop their customer-supplier relations towards more relation-focused approaches. The systems approach is a basis for creating win-win relations between the system components. A win-win relation is looked upon in this thesis as the mutual efforts by customer and supplier in finding and reducing the effect of factors that are causing costs and losses for both customer and supplier. The thesis describes a suggested model for estimating win-win potential for supplier and customer in a maintenance contract regarding civil jet engines. The model is defined as consisting of core values, techniques, and tools for estimating win-win potential. The model is applied in supplier and customer scenario. Findings from applying the model indicate that the supplier's maintenance support performance was a parameter affecting loss factors for both supplier and customer. Investigation pointed out the maintenance supplier's organisation, the supplier's maintenance capacity, and the supplier's spare part inventory as the major causes for problems with maintenance support performance. / <p>Godkänd; 2001; 20070313 (ysko)</p>

The global marketplace is highly competitive and organisations who want to survive long-term, have to continuously improve, change and adapt in response to market demands. Improvements in a company's performance should focus on cost cutting, increasing productivity levels, quality and guaranteeing deliveries in order to satisfy customers. Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) is one method, which can be used to achieve these goals. TPM is an approach to equipment management that involves employees from both production and maintenance departments. Its purpose is to eliminate major production losses by introducing a program of continuous and systematic improvements to production equipment. TPM should be developed and expanded to embrace the whole organisation and all employees should be involved in the process as members of improvement teams. This thesis describes the development of TPM and the TPM implementation process. Research is focused on the implementation process of TPM. The author has had the opportunity of both monitoring and steering a company through part of its TPM implementation program and has conducted a longitudinal study. The implementation process takes several years and this thesis focuses on the initial three years of the process. This study demonstrates that driving forces, obstacles and difficulties often are dependent on the organisation, its managers and the individual employees. It also shows that the TPM implementation process has many similarities to the implementation of other improvement concepts. The analysis of these findings forms the basis for recommendations and guidance for organisations, who intend to implement TPM. / <p>Godkänd; 2000; 20070318 (ysko)</p>

Total Quality Management (TQM) is sometimes considered as a management system in continuous change and consisting of values, methodologies and tools, the aim of which is to increase external and internal customer satisfaction with a reduced amount of resources. Whether TQM improves the performance of companies has been discussed for several years. One way to work with TQM and its values, methodologies and tools is to apply for and work with a quality award. Today, there are international, national, regional, branch-wise and in-company quality awards. The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate whether and describe how working with quality awards affects the performance of companies. The thesis consists of an extended summary and three appended papers on this subject, each one with a different aim and methodology. Two of the papers study the benefits from in-company quality awards for the performance of units, and one paper studies the financial performance of quality award recipients compared with competitors and branch indices. The main conclusion of the thesis, which strengthens earlier published results, is that working with quality awards affects financial performance positively if companies successfully implement TQM, which is the case for quality award recipients. Moreover, the results of this thesis have not been able to show strong evidence proving that the performance of units which have worked with in-company quality awards, but have not yet successfully implemented TQM, are affected by this work. However, such units experience that working with in-company quality awards has positive effects on the customers as well as the employees. / Godkänd; 2002; 20070222 (ysko)

Quality of embedded systems is often demonstrated by performed tests and guaranteed by the quality of the tools used to perform them. Test automation is important in agile development and test frameworks can be considered mission-critical. Thus, it is important to ensure the quality of tools used for quality assurance.This thesis explores how industries with agile processes can learn from safety-related development with plan-driven processes for increased test framework quality. Safety standards often rely on plan-driven processes, focused on discipline in long term prospects with substantial documentation and extensive upfront plans and designs. Agile approaches instead focus on quick adaptation, where software is evolved, undergoes continuous improvements and is delivered incrementally. A case study was performed as an industry collaboration. A literature study extracted approaches from articles and safety standards. Analysis and processing resulted in candidate solutions, principles and practices iteratively refined for general applicability and the industrial context. Insights on implications and perceived industrial value resulted from a focus group, with qualitative and quantitative data collected through moderated group discussions and complementary activities. Finally, this thesis proposes guidelines intended to be generally applicable, with a suggested augmented agile process of sequential ”mini V-models” inherently controlled by Definition of Dones. A case-specific set of proposed guidelines extends the suggestion while embracing insights from the focus group. Also identified was the importance of perceiving the framework as a tool-chain and not a single tool, where interaction sequences and intermediate results can be identified and utilized for analysis and applicable measures. Future work could refine the proposed guidelines with an industrial dynamic validation, and also extend the literature study and expand the focus group for diverse contexts and industrial perspectives.