A Product-Service System (PSS) is an integrated combination of products and services. Industrial systems falling under the Pay-for-Performance (PfP) business model are a type of PSS where an organization sells services to its customers. Offering a PfP system requires analysis of huge amount of data and based on the information gained, an organization can charge its customer on the performance. In this thesis, we identified several services that can be provided to PfP systems and identified several reasons for having a cloud platform together with edge computing for successful deployment of PfP systems. The main contribution of this thesis has been on identifying different architectural solution for PfP systems. We carried out this task by performing a cost analysis of a remote monitoring solution provided by Microsoft Azure for a single Stressometer system. Due to high cost and limited provisioning of Azure services in different Azure regions, we mentioned few alternative ways of designing the solution for PfP system that best suit needs of organizations that have systems distributed globally such that all industrial systems can be provided as PfP systems.

This dissertation develops a process improvement method for service operations based on the Theory of Constraints (TOC), a management philosophy that has been shown to be effective in manufacturing for decreasing WIP and improving throughput. While TOC has enjoyed much attention and success in the manufacturing arena, its application to services in general has been limited. The contribution to industry and knowledge is a method for improving global performance measures based on TOC principles. The method proposed in this dissertation will be tested using discrete event simulation based on the scenario of the service factory of airline turnaround operations. To evaluate the method, a simulation model of aircraft turn operations of a U.S. based carrier was made and validated using actual data from airline operations. The model was then adjusted to reflect an application of the Theory of Constraints for determining how to deploy the scarce resource of ramp workers. The results indicate that, given slight modifications to TOC terminology and the development of a method for constraint identification, the Theory of Constraints can be applied with success to services. Bottlenecks in services must be defined as those processes for which the process rates and amount of work remaining are such that completing the process will not be possible without an increase in the process rate. The bottleneck ratio is used to determine to what degree a process is a constraint. Simulation results also suggest that redefining performance measures to reflect a global business perspective of reducing costs related to specific flights versus the operational local optimum approach of turning all aircraft quickly results in significant savings to the company. Savings to the annual operating costs of the airline were simulated to equal 30% of possible current expenses for misconnecting passengers with a modest increase in utilization of the workers through a more efficient heuristic of deploying them to the highest priority tasks. This dissertation contributes to the literature on service operations by describing a dynamic, adaptive dispatch approach to manage service factory operations similar to airline turnaround operations using the management philosophy of the Theory of Constraints.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 148-152).

Klädkonsumenter spelar en aktiv roll i konsumtionsutvecklingen och besitter en kraft att förändra klädkonsumtionen. Över tid har olika motreaktioner till dagens klädkonsumtion etablerats och Product-Service Systems (PSS) erbjuder alternativa konsumtionsmöjligheter. Under PSS faller kollaborativ klädkonsumtion och klädbibliotek, som syftar på byte av ägarskap eller delat ägarskap av modeprodukter. I studien presenteras Consumer Culture Theory (CCT) som riktar sig mot dynamiken i kulturella och sociala synpunkter. CCT används som teori för att identifiera kopplingar till PSS-perspektiv och huruvida klädbibliotek kan utvecklas till en bredare konsumtionskultur. Syftet med studien är att undersöka inställningen hos yngre kvinnliga klädkonsumenter till att använda klädbibliotek, genom att titta på kulturella påverkande faktorer. Genom kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer visar resultat på att interna och externa kulturella faktorer bidrar till ökad medvetenhet inom hållbarhet. Allt fler klädkonsumenter förespråkar hållbara konsumtionsalternativ, vilket innebär att klädbibliotek kan få en ökad spridning. / Clothing consumers play an active role in the consumption development and have the power to change clothing consumption. Over time, various counter reactions towards today's clothing consumption have been established and Product Service Systems (PSS) offer alternative consumption opportunities. PSS includes collaborative fashion consumption and clothing libraries, which refer to an exchange of ownership or shared ownership of fashion products. The study presents Consumer Culture Theory (CCT) that aims towards the dynamics of cultura land social perspectives. CCT is used as a theory to identify connections to the PSS perspectiveand whether clothing libraries can evolve into a wider consumer culture. The purpose of this study is to investigate the attitude of younger female clothing consumers to use clothing libraries, by looking at cultural influencing factors. Through qualitative semistructured interviews, the results show that internal and external cultural factors contribute to an increased awareness of sustainability. More and more clothing consumers advocate sustainable consumption options, which means that clothing libraries can increase its spread.

Inledning: Den tillverkande industrin har länge ansetts ha en stor tillväxtpotential i en ökad tjänstefiering och att det finns en stor outnyttjad potential i tjänster för sålda produkter som kan realiseras genom intäkter för tidigare upplevda gratistjänster genom en process som kallas Free-to-Fee. Syfte: Studiens syfte är att undersöka tillverkande företags interna förståelse av de processer som leder till behovet att genomföra en Free-to-Fee-transition, det vill säga hur man idag hanterar tjänster relativt produkter i sina erbjudanden till marknaden och varför man i vissa fall inkluderar tjänster “gratis” i samband med en produktförsäljning.  Metod: Vi har valt att göra en studie med semistrukturerade intervjuer av medarbetare på större tillverkande företag med erfarenhet av att arbeta med tjänsteaffären. Medarbetarna återfinns på stora tillverkande företag inom olika branscher. Slutsats: Vi har funnit att intresset för tjänstefiering och Free-to-Fee övergångar är mycket begränsade, även om det finns en förståelse för värdet av en mer tjänstedominant affärslogik. Industrin är starkt påverkad av traditioner och institutioner där tjänster betraktas som adderat värde i en produktdominant affärslogik. / Introduction: The manufacturing industry has been perceived to have a substantial growth potential in an increased servitization. There is a great untapped potential for service for already sold products that can be realized through a transition from free services to paid service, in a process called Free-to-Fee. Purpose: The purpose with the study is to investigate manufacturing companies internal understanding of the processes that leads to the need to conduct a Free-to-Fee transition, how they today manage service related to products in their offerings to the market and why services are included for free, in some cases with a product sales.  Method: We have chosen to conduct a study of semi structured interviews with professionals working in manufacturing companies, with experience from the service business. The professionals are found at major manufacturing companies representing different branches.  Conclusion: We found that the interest for servitization and Free-to-Fee transitions is very limited, even if there is an understanding of the value of a more Service-Dominant Logic. The industry is strongly affected by traditions and service is perceived as an added value in a Product-Dominant Logic.

This thesis explores effective and contextually appropriate means through which manufacturing SMEs can create competitive advantage through design and sustainable Product Service Systems (PSS). The exploration focuses on how design capabilities can be developed and used in non-design led contexts to drive an effective adoption of sustainable product service systems, creating competitive heterogeneity. A comprehensive review of literature gave understanding of perspectives to competitiveness issues, how organisations have been supported towards PSS, sustainability and design adoption and related challenges. From this review surfaced the need to be cautious of contextual considerations leading to a Delphi study. The purpose of the Delphi study was to identify factors relevant for SMEs in Botswana to embrace sustainable PSS as a competitive business strategy. Priorities from the Delphi study informed a study aimed at exploring competitiveness experiences of SMEs and their perceptions of sustainability and product service systems. Following the position of experts on industries highly prioritised in Botswana s economic diversification agenda, this was done with a specific industry; the leather industry. Possible opportunities of how design can address challenges identified and how PSS and sustainability can open new business opportunities for SMEs were also drawn from the findings. A systems success framework was developed using the main findings. The framework was tested through workshops with 3 SMEs who were also participants in the previous study. Through interactions with designers, the workshops exposed SMEs to design and PSS. Findings from the workshops indicate that through design capabilities SMEs can recognise opportunities and translate them in a service context to differentiated offerings suitable for their various markets. A designerly approach also offered a simplified but holistic process for SMEs to engage in systems thinking.

In today’s fast-paced industry where fight for market share is fierce and reaching the market ahead of competition imperative, product development is a target for lead-time reductions. In this context, in product development in stage-gate processes, decisions need to be made even though knowledge and information are scarce and flawed. The challenge is how to support the decisions that are made in light of uncertainty and ambiguity. The thesis moves from analysing the role of the stage-gate process within the aerospace industry. The stage-gate process was more than a decision making mechanism, and instead a mechanism that facilitated communication, discussion and knowledge sharing between team members, as well as supported knowledge creation and shaping of the boundaries between people’s different perceptions of the knowledge base. However, the communicative and negotiative function of the stage-gate was highly dependent on the ability of the participating individuals to reflect on the status and quality of the available knowledge assets used throughout the process. To make this reflective activity an explicit part of the stage-gate practice, this thesis proposes the application of a knowledge maturity concept at the gates to raise the decision makers’ awareness of the status of the knowledge assets handled at the decision point. The knowledge maturity concept considers three basic dimensions: input, method/tool and experience/expertise in assessing the knowledge base maturity. The scale is intended to act as a boundary object, facilitating the knowledge creation process by highlighting the current status of the knowledge base and making stakeholders aware of the nature of the project’s uncertainties and ambiguities. In the knowledge maturity concept, its purpose is to support design teams at the gates in taking appropriate action, mitigating risk and focusing their efforts on improving the knowledge assets where it is needed most, regarding the situation at hand and, finally, to make more confident decisions.The thesis was developed within the EU FP6 VIVACE (Value Improvement through a Virtual Aeronautical Collaborative Enterprise) and EU FP7 CRESCENDO (Collaborative and Robust Engineering using Simulation Capability Enabling Next Design Optimisation) projects, and within the Faste Laboratory, a VINNOVA Excellence Centre involving partners from the Swedish manufacturing industry.

With the arising digital disruption and global market pressures, several manufacturing companies have recognized the strategic integration of services as a way to competitive advantage and corporate profitability, they therefore have the desire to differentiate themselves by creating new service-oriented strategies, namely Product-Service Systems (PSS). While transforming towards a PSS provider there are a number of barriers that the organization has to overcome. After an extensive literature review the authors identified 34 such barriers. Tukker (2015) argues that the number of successful adoptions of PSS among manufacturing firms is surprisingly low, despite an increased literature awareness and focus on the barriers. The identified barriers are most often seen through the manufacturers’ perspective and little is mentioned about the customers’ perspective on barriers. The gap that was identified in the literature was the lack of customers’ perspective upon these barriers. This thesis aims to investigate the perceived barriers from both the customers’- and the provider’s perspective, and to examine which barriers the provider should emphasize to have the highest potential to successfully transform into a PSS provider. We used Bosch Rexroth as a focal firm and conducted in total 29 interviews with them and their customers and a workshop with 11 participants from the provider. The data from the provider and the customers were separately analysed until the last step, where it generated a barrier spheres. The spheres were used as a foundation for the emerging framework. The framework’s step wise approach is a guideline for manufacturing firms in their efforts to overcome the barriers in order to successfully adopt PSS. This thesis is a first contribution towards shredding light upon the customers’ perspective of barriers towards PSS. Our research shows that one perspective of these barriers is insufficient, since PSS involves both the provider and the customers it should thereby include both perspectives. The managerial implications of this thesis is partly the framework but also the importance for a provider to work closely to their customers and build strong relationships in order to overcome to barriers towards PSS together.

Humanity confronts an existential threat without historic precedent. Environmental pressures have reached such intensity and pace of change that the earth system may be irreversibly tipped into a new and unpredictable state. The emerging global reality is, in turn, redefining overall conditions for business success. Addressing these challenges both demands and brings great opportunities for innovation. An important and sometimes neglected aspect of innovation is the design or redesign of business models, which has been identified as a greater source of lasting competitive advantage than new products and services per se. The business model has also been suggested as a new unit of analysis when discussing sustainability. However, this is still a relatively underexplored area. The aim of this work was therefore to develop an approach to business model design that supports strategic sustainable development, i.e., supports organizations to contribute to society’s transition towards sustainability in a way that strengthens the organization.       To be able to design a business model that supports strategic sustainable development, it is necessary to know what sustainability is and how to develop sustainability-promoting, economically viable strategies. Therefore, the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development, which includes, e.g., an operational definition of sustainability and strategic guidelines for how to approach it, was used as an overarching framework. Specific research methods and techniques included, e.g., literature reviews, questionnaires, interviews, work with focus groups, participatory action research with partner organizations, creative problem solving techniques, modeling, and simulation.   The literature reviews revealed potential sustainability benefits of developing business models in conjunction with product-service systems (PSS). However, a knowledge gap exists regarding how to effectively connect these fields. Arguably, PSS strategies can best contribute to sustainability when business models support their implementation and when both the business models and the PSS strategies are guided by an understanding of strategic sustainable development. Therefore, an integrated approach to Business Model Design for Strategic Sustainable Development was co-developed and tested in PSS innovation work with partners, e.g., companies within the energy and lighting sectors. The tests indicated that the new approach helped to clarify strengths and weaknesses of current business models from a strategic sustainability perspective; to transform an organization’s vision and strategy into a sustainability-framed vision and a sustainability-promoting strategy; and to communicate the new vision and strategy to the value network as a basis for engaging important stakeholders in the change. For example, the approach supported one of the partner companies in its transformation towards providing sustainable PSS solutions in the form of light as a service. Examples of business benefits of the new approach include improved scalability and risk avoidance, which provide a foundation for better investment strategies. Benefits also include improved differentiability and a broadened view on, and a more solid foundation for, collaboration with stakeholders that are increasingly important to sustainable business success.

<p>Finansijski kontroling je značajna potporna funkcija menadžmenta u upravljanju poslovnim procesima i poslovnim rezultatom u uslužnim sistemima. Većina društava ima uspostavljenu funkciju i procese kontrolinga, ali na različitom nivou. Svrha ovoga rada je, na osnovu iskustava iz prakse i rezultata istraživanja, dati odgovarajuće model za unapređenje funkcije finansijskog kontrolinga u društvima za osiguranje kako bi se bolje upravljalo poslovnim rezultatom.</p> / <p>Financial controlling is a very important management support function in business<br />process management as well as in business results management in the service<br />systems. Most of companies have implemented function and controlling processes, but<br />with a different level. The purpose of this paper is, on the basis of practical experience<br />and the results of empirical research, to make appropriate model to improve the<br />functions and processes of controlling in insurance companies, in order to have better<br />business result management.</p>