The focus of this master’s thesis is on family-run small and medium enterprises and their adoption to information systems. The motivation for this research is to understand the family businesses’ challenges related to technology adoption, so that the level of hesitancy many family SMEs are having with the process can be understood and minimised. In addition, by understanding family businesses’ challenges related to information systems adoption, we can understand if they are different entities from non-family SMEs, and whether or not they require specialised guidance and support. To achieve the objectives of the master’s thesis, a qualitative multiple case study approach was undertaken involving three family SMEs who were interviewed using a semi-structured interview guide which was inspired by the four key contexts of the Decision-Maker-Technology-Organisation-Environment model. Upon the completion of a thematic analysis of the data, a total of seven themes emerged which can be used to help describe and answer how family SMEs perceive information systems adoption and the challenges. From the findings it was discovered that family SMEs usually hire relatives when they have a vacancy instead of hiring an individual who is more qualified and experienced in the job role, as it is easier and convenient to make use of the trusting relations between family members. In the majority of cases, this means that the family SMEs usually have a limited level of skills including IT knowledge and to overcome this issue they seek help from sources outside of their organisation. The results of this master’s thesis research show that Family SMEs usually have a positive outlook when it comes to carrying out the information systems adoption process,but despite this, hesitancy to initiate the information systems adoption process arose from the lack of awareness of the technology and its possibilities as well as the high cost of funding and setting up the information system.

In the wake of a digitally transforming environment, public sector organizations are realizingthe necessity to adopt new ways of managing their operations. The changing expectations anddemands of citizens and stakeholders are triggering such organizations to develop their deliveryof services, as well as digitally transforming their internal processes. As the public sector valuesservice delivery and cost-effectiveness, cloud services have become an attractive option to transition to, due to their flexible and economical characteristics. This qualitative study examines two Swedish municipalities in their transition to cloud services, studying the reasons behind said transition, and how those affect their adoption. The Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework was utilized to evaluate the factors affecting the two organizations’ transitions and adoptions of cloud services, showcasing a connection between the framework’s elements and the analyzed results. The findings show pressure coming from both external and internal sources, restrictions involving governmental regulations and lack ofavailability, as well as how they manage these challenges, by finding new ways to innovate and preparing their organizations for future transitions.

Introduction: To predict the future, how a coming day, week, or month will look has become even more crucial than ever for a firm, due to recent pandemic crises, and wars. Being able to predict the future will enable firms to reduce costs and increase time efficiency. Processes such as forecasting have been at the forefront to aid managers in these matters by improving decision-making and planning. Greater forecasting capabilities have been achieved by adopting technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI). As it has shown to aid practitioners in predicting the future with high accuracy. Thus, leading to improved decision making and planning. Problem discussion: AI is still in its infancy, and technology adoption is a staged-based process. More research is needed to identify the potential barriers a firm faces when looking to adopt AI into their forecasting process. As well as how these barriers are mitigated, and what barriers are relevant depending on the stage of adoption. Purpose and Research question: The purpose of this study is to investigate the barriers of AI pre-adoption in forecasting and how these barriers are mitigated. To answer the following research question: How does a manufacturing firm mitigate AI pre-adoption barriers in the forecasting process? Method: First, a scoping review is conducted to identify barriers in AI adoption with the support of the TOE framework, (Technological, Organizational, and Environmental). Later, the thesis follows a qualitative approach, conducting a single case study. The primary source of empirical data was collected from five in-depth semi-structured interviews. The data is collected from an international manufacturing firm located in Sweden that is looking to adopt AI-ML into its forecasting process. The findings collected from the firm are later discussed with an expert in the field of AI and forecasting to further bring validity and input to the findings. Findings: Organizational readiness, Top management, Poor data, Inappropriate technology infrastructure, and Partnership were identified as key barriers in the AI-ML pre-adoption for the forecasting process. The barrier could be mitigated by building a strong business case, creating managerial awareness and understanding, interactive data platform, comprehensive dataset, and incentives. Conclusion: The study provides theoretical contributions as well as managerial implications. By shedding light on the barriers in the pre-adoption phase and providing insight as to how to mitigate the barriers. Future research is recommended to study the same phenomena at another firm.

Purpose - Blockchain technology holds immense potential in increasing transparency in supply chains. However, little is known about the implementation challenges and ways to address them. The purpose of this report is to get a deeper understanding of the challenges that might occur when implementing blockchain technology in a supply chain and the suitable actions for each one of them from the mining industry's perspective. Method - This study was conducted by using an abductive research approach with a qualitative data collection through interviews. The respondents were divided into three categories: exploratory, pilot and main interview, the pilot and main interviews were divided into two types, potential actors in the supply chain ecosystem and experts on the topic. In total 17 interviews were conducted which was then analyzed through a thematic analysis. Findings - The findings of the collected theory in combination with the information gathered through the interviews resulted in a framework based on the TOE-model. The framework explicates four key challenges in implementing BC, (1) Technological, (2) Organizational, (3) Ecosystem and (4) Environmental. The challenges within these categories are then categorized based on the level a company can control/ have an impact on these challenges, the categories are hard control, soft control, and no control. Finally, these challenges are connected to different mitigators which aim to solve these challenges. Theoretical and Practical implications - The presented study contributes to current literature by extending previous research of challenges and applying the T-O-E model to the challenges occurring in the mining industry. Moreover, this study breaches a gap by connecting challenges to mitigators and recommended actions. Furthermore, the study contributes to practical implication by enabling practitioners to get a bird’s eye view of the challenges and the recommended action during the blockchain implementation process. Limitations and future research - This study is limited by its qualitative method since it cannot determine the significance and magnitude of each challenge, calling for future research to quantitatively study this area.

The purpose of this study was to examine the differences in technique between sprinters and baseball players while running at maximal speeds. 20 male NCAA Division I athletes participated; ten members of the track and field team specializing in the 100 m or 200 m sprint or the 100 m hurdles and ten members of the baseball team. Each subject performed a maximal effort 80 m sprint while their sprint times were recorded every 10 m starting at the 20 m mark. Each subject was filmed at they ran through a set10 m marking that included where they reached their top speed allowing the camera to capture at least one complete stride. By using the Peak Motus System, each subject's minimum knee flexion, minimum hip angle, knee extension at toe off, contact time, stride length, center of mass at touchdown and shank angle were measured. ANOVA with repeated measures found that sprinters and baseball players display significant differences in their sprinting technique in all variables except shank angle with the sprinters displaying a shorter 10 m split time. It was concluded that proper sprint training during baseball practice could prove to be beneficial to baseball players, however, further research would need to be conducted to support this claim.

In today's digital era, Digital Transformation (DT) is crucial in empowering businesses to maintain competitiveness. However, many firms find it difficult to successfully implement DT projects, and many have had unsatisfactory results. As a result, Information technology (IT) organizations offer advisory services to assist other businesses in their DT efforts. There haven't been many empirical studies looking at digital transformation projects within IT organizations, despite the fact that IT companies are quite knowledgeable about the success elements required for the digital transformation projects of their clients to succeed. This study will answer the question, what are the success factors in digital transformation in an IT Company in Sweden. The research strategy was a case study that was applied at a Swedish IT Company. Semi-structured interviews with seven staff members who were involved in DT projects that had been successfully completed at the company were used to get the primary data. The participants in the study were chosen using a non-probability sampling method, and the results were analyzed using thematic analysis. The framework for technology-organization-environment (TOE) was used to categorize the success factors for DT that were identified in the literature. The study's conclusions identified seven potential DT success factors. The findings were categorized using TOE framework. Two of the potential DT success factors discovered are related to the technological context, five are related to the organizational context, and two are related to the environmental context. The identified potential success factors in DT are also categorized into ten different sub-themes, of which seven subthemes are similar to those identified during the literature review in chapter two, while three of the subthemes are newly identified. The newly identified sub-themes are presence of skilled IT professionals, flexible goals towards digital transformation, and Access to Information and communication technologies (ICT) infrastructure. The outcomes of this study have the potential to provide valuable insights for IT companies in Sweden that are currently involved in or planning digital transformation initiatives. The identified success factors can assist these companies in their digital transformation journey by offering guidance and direction.

The rapid changes in the global economy have imposed high pressure on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and their operations. Many SMEs have realized how important it is to integrate all units in the business by introducing Enterprise Resource Planning systems (ERP systems).    The adoption decision phase in ERP systems is an early phase and is often confused with implementation, which is a major cause of failure. This confusion can especially hit hard on small and medium-sized companies that may lack sufficient resources. The adoption decision phase can be particularly crucial in such case. The purpose of this study is to investigate which driving forces that influence the adoption decision phase of ERP systems within SMEs. The Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) theoretical framework was used to create a theoretical foundation for finding drivers from previous research.   Semi-structured interviews were then conducted with six ERP consultants. Respondents' responses were analyzed thematically, and 12 themes were identified as driving forces. These could then be compared with previous research. The driving forces identified were management and decision makers, benefits and efficiency, functionality, regulations and security, competition and the future, industry type and complexity, education and competence, finance and resources, supplier and solutions, integration with existing systems, maintenance and support, and challenges and uncertainty. The driving forces that were identified but could not be linked to previous research were functionality, and challenges and uncertainty.   Keywords: Adoption decision, driving forces, Enterprise Resource Planning systems (ERP system), small and medium-sized enterprises (SME), Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE).

This study has the purpose to investigate the existing state of adoption of blockchain technology in higher education, exploring the obstacles, and potential associated with its implementation to provide an updated and concise overview of the challenges and assess the feasibility of adopting blockchain in higher education.This research includes a literature review to examine the current status of blockchain in higher education. Additionally, a qualitative approach involving semi-structured interviews is utilized to gain an in-depth understanding of blockchain adoption, the potential challenges of its adopting, and its prospects within higher education by investigating the perspective of the interviewed academic community.Furthermore, the TOE framework is used to categorize adoption challenges into technical, organizational, and environmental dimensions. Challenges identified include technical complexity, resistance to change, financial constraints, perception of immaturity, lack of awareness, limited interoperability, insufficient skills, inadequate organizational support, regulatory compliance, cultural factors, and ecosystem readiness.Besides, the TAM is utilized to highlight the potential of blockchain based on respondents’views. It also explores how challenges from the TOE framework impact users’ perceptions of blockchain’s ease of use and usefulness in higher education. The overall findings indicate that adopting blockchain in higher education presents challenges such as resistance to change, cost concerns, lack of awareness, cryptocurrency bias, technical complexity, regulatory compliance, and ecosystem readiness.As a consequence, considering the identified level of readiness of universities to embrace new technologies, it is evident that blockchain is still in its early stages of recognition in higher education. However, its potential benefits are suggested such as reducing bureaucracy, enhancing communication and collaboration, improving payment systems, and ensuring secure document storage. It will require time for the full potential of blockchain to be acknowledged and accepted within the field of higher education

Following the invention of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its rapid dissemination across the globe, organisations have been experiencing a significant shift in processes, performance, and business models. As a result of the hype created by the release of ChatGPT, both the business and academic world has approached AI with a new and enormous interest. However, studies about different aspects in relation to perceptions and attitudes towards AI adoption in the private sector, and particularly, case studies are limited.  Aim: This Bachelor’s thesis aims to analyse the perceptions of management, IT management, and frontline employees about the implementation and impact of AI in large companies, focusing on Scania as a representative of a large automotive multinational corporation. Through the study, we attempt to explore the perceptions about a range of aspects about AI, such as its impact on change in organisation, impact on job and skills, trust in AI, AI opportunities and risk. We also aim to understand the effect of the advent of ChatGPT on perceptions about AI and its integration in organisation.  Methodology: This thesis is a qualitative case study that employed semi-structured interviews for collection of empirical data. The sample was generated through convenience sampling and included representatives of the company of following groups: IT-managers, managers, and non-managerial employees. This ensured a broad representation of views concerning AI implementation and impact in Scania. Conclusion and Contribution: Our findings reveal that AI implementation and impact perceptions range depending on job roles, primarily when it comes to the perceptions towards AI usefulness, risks and opportunities, and its impact on jobs. Additionally, we argue that the launch of ChatGPT has enhanced AI’s awareness and acceptance as a new technology. The thesis can be utilised as a basis for future studies on perceptions and factors affecting AI implementation and impact of representatives of different job positions and levels, as well as a guidance for managers on employees' awareness, expectations, and opinions on AI.

Denna studie undersöker vad BI-konsulter ser som de kritiska faktorer som påverkar implementeringen av Business Intelligence (BI) i små och medelstora företag (SME) i Sverige. Trots de betydande fördelarna med BI, såsom förbättrad operativ effektivitet och datadrivet beslutsfattande, möter SME:s ofta utmaningar vid implementeringen. Studien syftar till att identifiera och analysera dessa faktorer med hjälp av Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) ramverket. För att uppnå syftet genomfördes semistrukturerade intervjuer med BI-konsulter som har omfattande erfarenhet av att arbeta med SME:s. Resultaten visade att förståelse och kompetens relaterat till BI är kritiska för en lyckad implementering vilket korrelerar med faktorer som ledningsstöd, komplexitet, resursallokering och kompatibilitet. Denna uppsats bidrar till en djupare förståelse för de faktorer som påverkar BI-implementering i svenska SME:s och ger insikter som kan hjälpa företag att framgångsrikt utnyttja BI-teknikerför att förbättra sin operativa effektivitet och konkurrenskraft.