Purpose - The purpose of this thesis is to investigate what barriers there are when it comes to developing PSS in the process industry for their non-assembled products, both from a provider and customer perspective. Additionally, the purpose is further to investigate how companies can manage these barriers. Method - This master thesis is an exploratory multiple case study with an abductive approach. In total, 25 qualitative interviews were made, with respondents from seven different companies, both companies within the process industry and companies who act as customers to the process industry. The interviews were made during two phases, the first phase was exploratory interviews and the second phase was semi-structured interviews, the collected data were later analyzed with a thematic analysis. Findings - The main findings from this study is divided in five overarching categories, three originating from the interviews provider perspective, and two from the customer perspective, within all overarching categories, barriers and possible ways to manage these are identified. The three provider categories are: Characteristics of the process industry, Market and customer awareness and Extensive transformation required. Additionally, the customers categories are Customers perspectives of servitization and Fundamental management activities. The barriers from these categories has been grouped in a framework after the two constraints time and difficulty. Theoretical implications - This study contribute to the current literature about PSS, which has a clear gap when it comes to PSS for non-assembled products. This study contributes in two ways: Firstly, the findings from this study suggest that some part of the literature about PSS for assembled products could be transferred to products that are non-assembled, above this, the findings also highlighting unique barriers with PSS for non-assembled products. Secondly, this study contribute with clarity about how different barriers should be managed, something that partly lacks in today's PSS literature. Practical implications - With this study, companies within the process industry are provided with support when it comes to investigating new business opportunities, if it is worth for the companies within the process industry to start working with PSS, or if it is not. This study has three important contributions for managers. Firstly, due to the unique characteristics of the process industry, it is suggested that managers broaden the perspective and look wider than just the core-process to find servitization-possibilities. Secondly, managers are provided with useful information regarding PSS which could make them more comfortable when deciding to work with servitization, or not. Thirdly, as the findings shows that the process industry has constrained resources, a framework is presented aiming to aid managers prioritize which barriers to manage. Research limitations - Due to the limited time for this master thesis, only companies within Sweden has been contacted, at each company, a maximum of two persons were contacted.

Climate change is connected to several negative effects on local environments around the globe such as, longer, and more intense droughts, less freshwater supplies, ocean warming, sea level rise, polar ice melting, more intense storms, and rainfall (NASA, 2021).  These problems are mainly due to the increasing amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as well as other greenhouse gases (GHG) which cause a similar or stronger climate change effect (WWF, 2021). Practically all climate researchers agree that climate change is caused by human activities (WWF, 2021), as such human activities will have to change to reduce their climate impact. One possible approach to achieve sustainable products is the concept of a circular economy (CE). The proponents of a circular economy describe it as an economic or industrial system which is restorative by its design (EMF, 2010). Currently there is a substantial body of knowledge on how LCA can be used to guide product design in a sustainable direction.  However, as of yet there are limited academic research focused on how environmental assessment can impact the design of Vertical Access Equipment (VAE) and of similar products. This thesis aims to support the VAE sector’s transition towards a CE. The objective of this study was to understand and provide improvement suggestions for the environmental performance and energy use of VAE. This Involved a case study where a LCA was conducted to establish a baseline of four VAE products, a construction hoist, a service lift, an industrial elevator, and a BMU. The results of the initial LCA varied greatly depending on the different products and their use case. Guided by the LCA results, semi-structured workshops were held to find feasible improvement suggestions whose impacts were investigated using LCA once more. Feasible and substantial improvements focusing on the products high impact areas were found for all products. For the construction hoist improvements regarding eliminating waste in the lifting work was most impactful, whilst the service lift required optimizing of maintenance and use of sensors to reduce the maintenance time. For the industrial elevator and the BMU, measures which focused on reducing virgin material extraction showed most promise, such as lifespan extension, remanufacturing, and use of recycled materials. / Mistra REES

Während der (empirische) Bedeutungszuwachs von Dienstleistungen weitgehend unstrittig ist (Fließ 2009; Klodt et al. 1997), gibt es bei der theoretischen Fundierung, was genau eine Dienstleistung ist, Probleme. Eine dieser Schwierigkeiten besteht darin, Dienstleistung(en) überhaupt zu definieren (vgl. u.a. Richter 2012; Paal 2005; Klodt et al. 1997; Corsten 1985) , insbesondere bei der Definition durch eine sektorenbezogene Negativbestimmung von Dienstleistung . Allgemein gesprochen herrscht eine diffuse Definitionslage von Dienstleistungen. Es gibt sowohl prozess- als auch ergebnisorientierte Definitionen (Richter 2012) – welche sich z.T. gegenüberstehen. Weiterhin gibt es einen Dimensionierungsansatz, welcher die Dienstleistung in drei Dimensionen (Potential-, Prozess-, Ergebnisdimension) unterteilt (Böttcher 2009; Bullinger et al. 2006) und auf diese Weise ergebnisorientierte wie auch prozessorientierte Definitionen zusammenbringt. Jedoch geht auch diese Form der Definition von Dienstleistungseigenschaften aus, welche nicht unumstritten sind (Lovelock und Gummesson 2004)(Vargo und Lusch 2004). Verschiedene Schulen aus dem Service Engineering, dem Service Design, dem Service Management (Grönroos 2007, 1990)(Fitzsimmons und Fitzsimmons 2006) und des Marketings (SD-Logic) (Vargo und Lusch 2004) stoßen bei der Definition immer wieder aufeinander. Ziel der Arbeit ist die Schaffung einer digitalen Grundlage um die Digitalisierung von Service Systemen, sowie deren Engineering und Management, zu fördern. So liegt der Fokus auf der Verbesserung der Informationsverteilung innerhalb des Lebenszyklus von Service Systemen und in komplexen Wertschöpfungsnetzwerken. Gleichzeitig ist es Ziel der Arbeit, diese Erweiterung offen zu gestalten, sodass Informationsflüsse in andere Systeme ermöglicht werden. Es werden auf diese Weise die technischen Grundlagen geschaffen, um von den klassischen produktorientierten digitalen Unterstützungswerkzeugen zu hybriden Unterstützungswerkzeugen zu gelangen. Ergebnis der Arbeit ist ein Vorgehensmodell sowie eine Ontologie für das Lebenszyklusengineering und -management von Service Systemen basierend auf einem Vergleich und Konsolidierung von 26 Vorgehensmodellen bzw. -ansätzen und vier thematisch nahen Ontologien sowie auf vier realen Anwendungsfällen (u.a. Ersatzteilmanagement für Industrieanlagen) welche detailliert analysiert wurden. Für das Vorgehensmodell wurden 44 einzelne Phasenmodule (Methoden) erarbeitet und auf ihre Eignung in besonderen Kontexten (z.B. industrielle Dienstleistungen), der Einsatzphasen sowie der identifizierten Werkzeuge ausgearbeitet. Um die Beschreibung einer Ontologie zu fundieren, wurde der Wissensraum für das Lebenszyklusengineering und -management für Service Systeme mittels der Description Logic modelliert. Anschließend hieß es, diese Beschreibung in ein OWL und damit in die technische Anwendbarkeit zu überführen. Diese Ontologie wurde hierbei mittels Protegé modelliert und implementiert. Insgesamt wurden mehr als 50 Klassen extrahiert und formal beschreiben.

Um in der heutigen, von permanenter Veränderung geprägten, Umwelt erfolgreich zu sein, ist es zweifelsfrei notwendig, die eigenen Kompetenzen stetig weiterzuentwickeln und auf dem neusten Wissensstand zu sein. Berufsbegleitende Weiterbildung ist somit ein elementarer Bestandteil des Paradigmas des Lebenslangen Lernens. Mitarbeiter im IT-Management und -Consulting (ITMC) stehen allerdings häufig vor der Herausforderung, passende Angebote zu auszuwählen und das Gelernte erfolgreich umzusetzen. Diese Arbeit adressiert dieses Problem, indem ein Service-System für Weiterbildung im ITMC entwickelt und anwendet wird. Die entwickelten Artefakte bestehen dabei aus Vorgehens- und Prozessmodellen, einem Ordnungsrahmen sowie einer prototypisch implementierten Plattform sowie deren Evaluation. Zusammen bilden sie das Service-System, welches die Frage beantwortet, wie wir heute und in Zukunft mit unserem Wissen umgehen.

To decouple ever-increasing production and the related environmental impacts, collaborative use of products and product-service-systems including rental services can help to intensify the use of products during their designed lifetimes. While these approaches present potential to decrease environmental impacts compared to traditional linear product sales, they need to be assessed with a holistic scope to avoid counterintuitive trade-offs. This study evaluates the potential environment impacts of Husqvarna’s tool rental service with a hypothetical case example from Stockholm, Sweden. The objectives are to analyse the potential environmental impacts of the rental service, to identify hotspots for improvement and to compare the potential impacts of the rental system to a sales alternative. The annual service of one electric chainsaw is analysed using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology with different user scenarios. The potential impacts are analysed for global warming potential, fossil and mineral resource scarcity, marine ecotoxicity and human carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic toxicity. The analysis for the rental system shows that user transport back-and-forth to the rental service is a key contributor to all the environmental impacts analysed, if done by private cars. The comparative results to sales business model indicate that while the rental service can help to reduce the potential impacts in mineral resource scarcity and toxicities due to the lower number of products needed, the user transport may outweigh the potential improvements in global warming potential and fossil resource scarcity, depending on the distances and modes of transport. Different scenarios illustrate that the results are however sensitive to the assumptions made. Based on the results, it can be recommended to optimally place the service close to the users and to take efforts to reduce user transports around the service, to reach the environmental potential of the service. The sensitivity analyses also indicate the importance for accounting detailed data for LCAs for product-service-systems and covering the service holistically in system boundaries. Further studies on user behaviour are suggested to reach more robust analyses on consumer services, to cover also potential rebound effects. / Gemensam konsumtion av produkter kan minska dess miljöpåverkan, sett över produktens livstid, genom intensifiering av produktanvändning och minskad nyproduktion. Även om detta koncept har potential att minska miljöpåverkan, jämfört med traditionell linjär produktförsäljning, måste det granskas på ett systematiskt sätt. Denna studie utvärderar den potentiella miljöpåverkan av ett verktygshyrningssystem av Husqvarna med ett hypotetiskt exempel från Stockholm, Sverige. Målen är att analysera den potentiella miljöpåverkan av hyrestjänsten, identifiera förbättringspunkter och jämföra de potentiella effekterna av hyressystemet med ett försäljningsalternativ. Miljöpåverkan av en motorsåg under ett år är analyserad genom livscykelanalysmetod med olika scenarier. Analysen för hyressystemet visar att den högsta miljöpåverkan kommer från transporten av användare fram och tillbaka till hyresdepån, om transporten är gjord med personbilar. Resultaten indikerar att hyrestjänsten kan bidra till att minska potentiella effekter av mineralresursbrist och toxicitet, jämfört med försäljningsmodellen, på grund av det lägre antal producerade produkter. Hyrestjänsten kan dock riskera att öka växthuseffekten och påverkan på fossilresursbrist, beroende på transportens längd och transportsätt. Olika scenarier illustrerar att resultaten är känsliga för andantagen. Resultaten visar att det kan rekommenderas att placera tjänsten optimalt nära användarna och att försöka minska användartransporten runt tjänsten för att nå tjänstens optimala miljöpotential. Känslighetsanalyserna indikerar också att detaljerade data och omfattande systemgränser är viktiga med LCA studier om produktrelaterade tjänster. Ytterligare studier om användarbeteende föreslås för att nå mer robusta analyser av konsumenttjänster, för att utvärdera även potentiella rekyl-effekter.

To radically increase the value delivered to the customers in the construction industry a concerted effort is needed to develop solutions beyond incremental adjustments. Simply providing add-on services to existing products does not effectively create solutions with enough gains in core customer values. Designing and developing a product service system (PSS) through the adjustment or reconfiguration of existing elements is a challenge on its own, and adding the design of new elements serves to confound the process even further. By realigning all components of a PSS from inception to a function provides an opportunity to escape current product limitations and explore new solutions with potentially higher value. Designing a new PSS solution from scratch comes with added ambiguity in an expanded solution space. The aim of this thesis is to investigate early conceptual phases of PSS innovation within the domain of construction equipment manufacturing. The research included the development and testing of a prototyping method to foster customer co-creation and transdisciplinary design which are considered primary impact factors increasing the value of final PSS solutions. The work was performed in collaboration with a construction equipment manufacturer, conducting a demonstrator project on an electric and autonomous production site. The thesis first depicts how the prototyping method can be implemented to enable stakeholder insights that were previously not accessible through current practices. This leads to the testing of the method in a broader perspective to represent tangible and intangible elements in a way that facilitates concept design decisions in multi-disciplinary settings. The thesis concludes by exploring the limitations on current practices in relation to the adoption and potential use of the method.

The aim of this study is to explore the effects of probation officers and their work. The following questions have been asked to come to a conclusion: How do probation officers view their work and the purpose of it? What are the effects of probation officers work? The approach of the study is of a qualitative nature and has been conducted by interviewing three officers of the correctional service system, three probation officers and two ex-criminals that have been on probation. The selection is based on a snowball type selection. To analyse the results of the study we have applied previous research and phenomenological theory to examine the experience of correctional service officers, probation officers and ex criminals. The results of our empirical study show that motivation is a key factor for successful results of probation officers work. The effects probation officers and their work have on preventing crime are uncertain, but the study shows that the experiences of the work of probation officers are positive and that the work is meaningful to the clients. The supportive and prosocial aspects of probation officers work has been identified as a priority. Our study also shows that the work of probation officers has to change in order to successfully prevent crime and a number of improvements are suggested, such as giving the probation officers specific assignments and giving the probation officers a better education before they are given assignment.

The purpose of this study was to explore the required criteria for sharing an electric machine and explore how PSS as a BM could be adapted to share an electric machine. This resulted in the following research questions: 1. From the customers’ perspective, what are the criteria for changing the ownership of an electric machine?  2. How could PSS as a business model be adapted to share an electric machine?  This study was of a qualitative nature based on an abductive approach. This enabled interaction between the theoretical framework and empirical findings. The theory was mainly based on scientific articles and the study was limited to investigating one organisation, which is described as a case study. Empirical data collection was conducted through five semi- structured interviews with customers from Industry A and three unstructured interviews with employees from the case organisation.   In the first research question, the most discussed and mentioned criteria from the customers during the semi-structured interviews were the economic gain, service quality, and accessibility. In the second research question, scenario 3, out of the five presented scenarios, is the one that could mostly be adapted to share an electric machine.

Disasters impact different communities differently due to pre-existing vulnerabilities and inequalities, which diversify amounts and types of public service needs. Understanding the varying needs of communities that rely on government services helps decision-makers allocate limited resources properly during crises to maintain effective, efficient, and equitable service provision across the region. This dissertation includes three independent studies which commonly investigate how service operations can be successfully managed to maintain the operational performance goals of public organizations during slow-onset disasters. The first study focuses on the volatility in the service needs of citizens from a public system during a long-term disaster. The study proposes a time series approach for predicting demand volatility patterns to manage service productivity. This chapter explores the longitudinal impacts of long-term disasters for better service performance management since the timely and accurate prediction of deviations from the expected service demand is vital for utilizing limited resources. The study further discusses the differential impacts of such disasters across locations of socio-economically diverse populations to emphasize the need to consider the diverse needs of people for efficient and effective service provision. The second study builds upon the discussions in the first study and discusses static and dynamic risk factors of slow-onset disasters to reveal how these factors diversify the service needs of communities and impact the corresponding service response performance of public systems during the disaster. The study performs time series analyses to test the impact of capacity adjustments and dynamic disaster risk features on service performance, considering service response time as the performance indicator. The third study focuses on efficient and equitable capacity management and prioritization strategies of an information technology-based public system that experiences significant changes in service demand during disasters. The study presents a mathematical model quantifying the relative service efficiencies associated with service requests from an input-output-based standpoint to uncover the inefficiencies in response performance to different service categories. The paper discusses the opportunities for managing service efficiency and equity within and between service departments by rearranging available capacities and prioritization strategies during emergencies. / Doctor of Philosophy / Disasters impact different communities differently due to pre-existing vulnerabilities and inequalities, which diversify amounts and types of public service needs. Understanding the varying needs of communities that rely on government services helps decision-makers allocate limited resources properly during crises to maintain effective, efficient, and equitable service provision across the region. The three independent studies of the dissertation commonly investigate how service operations can be successfully managed to maintain the operational performance goals of public organizations during slow-onset disasters (e.g., climate change, drought, pandemic). The first study focuses on the variability in the service needs of citizens from a public system during a long-term disaster. The study explores the longitudinal impacts of disasters for better service performance management since the timely and accurate prediction of demand variability is important for resource management. The study further discusses the different impacts of such disasters across locations of socio-economically diverse populations to emphasize the need to consider the diverse needs of people for efficient and effective service provision. The second study discusses disaster risk factors of slow-onset disasters to reveal how these factors affect the service needs of communities and impact the corresponding service response performance of public systems. The study tests the impact of capacity adjustments and disaster risk factors on service performance. The third study focuses on efficient and equitable capacity management and prioritization strategies of a public system that experiences significant changes in service demand during disasters. The study quantifies the relative service efficiencies associated with service requests to uncover the inefficiencies in response performance to different service categories. The paper discusses the opportunities for managing service efficiency and equity within and between service departments.

Pre-sale activities of buying and post-sale activities of use are separated by time and judged in two time-place forms. Exchange value being one kind of judgment of desirability, separate from use value. However, traditionally marketing has not fully captured the co-creation of value in use, or therefore, how it affects the perceived value of the offering at purchase. The separation of purchase and use has been shown to create buyer uncertainty at the point of purchase about the future value created in use. Consider the decision to buy a service support contract for capital equipment in which the act and experience of use could continue for up to ten years after the decision to buy. At purchase, buyers may not be certain about the future state of use, i.e. whether or not equipment will fail, or indeed how the service will perform in the event of failure. While uncertainty about the state of use will continue across time, it has been argued uncertainty about how the service will perform may be resolved through repeat use or interaction. Through an exploratory case and a web-based survey of 95 organisational buyers of Product Service Systems (PSS) in capital equipment markets, this thesis finds customer-provider co-capability, which facilitates service performance in use, mediates the customer’s perceived risk of re-purchasing. As a result, this thesis makes a contribution to B2B marketing in identifying how value of the offering at purchase is affected by future customer-provider co-capability in use.