<p>Most forestry machines being produced today include a PC that monitors and controls the harvester head, and an information system that stores data on every action the driver or the machine performs. ICT thus provides an opportunity to improve efficiency and competitiveness and possibly also opens up for new ways of working for actors in the forestry industry. The purpose of this study is to investigate how ICT can enable the transformation from selling products to selling services in the forestry industry. We investigate this through performing a Case Study including a number of actors from the Forestry industry in northern Sweden. First, we investigate the barriers for establishing an Open Innovation system in forestry. Then we describe the main steps to be taken and how the use of ICT can enable the establishment of such a system. The case study shows that the forestry industry is committed to working according to a traditional value chain and is committed to a closed innovation paradigm. We argue that the ICT component in Timbercut’s forestry machines constitutes a latent potential that cancaptured through changing the business model and setting up a joint venture with Rewire.</p>

In this research, I report and analyze the experiences of people working with small-scale enterprises in the Colombian textile artisanal sector for understanding how artisanal products are delivered to national and international markets. The data was collected by interviewing design managers and managers currently working with several of these small-scale enterprises. This paper was done considering four important features: firstly, the enormous potential that the Colombian textile industry once held back in the 1960’s; secondly, Colombia’s rich and multiple artisanal creations as expression of culture and idiosyncrasy that show the country’s ample geography and culture; thirdly, the characteristics of the Colombian economy and industry which is mainly composed of micro and small enterprises; and lastly , the lack of research on small-scale value networks. In this research the idea of linear value chains is superseded by the notion of value networks, in which relationships, activities and actors are interconnected to co-create value. In this setting, culture, people and sustainability are the key factors to reach differentiation. By learning from these experiences and analyzing practices in small-scale enterprises I can suggest that, new approaches that benefit and reinforce the characteristics of the small and medium scale enterprises must be built as an opportunity for improving the lives of people in developing countries. Additionally, relationships and the order of the production and marketing flows within the value networks depend on the manager approach. / Program: Textilt management med inriktning styrning av textila värdekedjor

O conceito de logística vem, ao longo do tempo, agregando novos elementos e tornando-se mais complexo. Nos anos 50 restringia-se à distribuição física. Atualmente engloba a totalidade dos fluxos de material, produtos e informação entre diferentes empresas da cadeia de suprimentos. Neste contexto, organizações dos mais variados segmentos vêm terceirizando suas operações logísticas para empresas especializadas denominadas operadores logísticos. As tecnologias de informação (TI) têm um importante papel no desenvolvimento das atividades logísticas e no desempenho dos operadores: suas aplicações permitem a otimização do sistema logístico e o gerenciamento de forma integrada de seus diversos componentes. O objetivo da pesquisa é investigar como a TI vem sendo utilizada pelos operadores nos processos logísticos e como vem contribuindo para o estabelecimento de redes de valor. A metodologia utilizada foi o estudo de casos múltiplos. Foram investigados cinco operadores logísticos com atuação no mercado brasileiro, com diferentes posicionamentos estratégicos, operando em diferentes setores e de modo a cobrir de forma integral o processo logístico. Os resultados da pesquisa indicaram a necessidade do desenvolvimento de aplicativos customizados, capazes de atender as particularidades de cada operador e de gerar vantagens competitivas, e apontaram a importância do papel da TI para o estabelecimento das redes de valor. / The logistics concept has been changing, adding new elements and becoming more complex. In the fifties it was restricted to physical distribution only. Nowadays, it embraces the total flow of materials, products and information between the different companies of a supply chain. In this new scenario, organizations in all industries have outsourced their logistics operations to specialized companies called logistics operators. Information technologies (IT) have an important role in the development of logistics activities and in the logistics operator\'s performance: IT applications allow an optimal tuning of the logistics system and an integrated management of its several components. The purpose of this research is to investigate how the logistics operators are applying IT in the logistics process and how IT is contributing to the establishment of value networks. The methodology utilized was the multiple cases study. Five logistic operators that feature different strategic positions and operate with different industries in the Brazilian market were investigated. The sample was chosen so as to provide the information needed for an analysis of all stages of the logistic process. The results of the research indicate that customized applications, suited to the particularities of each operator, play an important role in the creation of competitive advantages, and suggest the centrality of IT in the creation of value networks.

AbstractTitle: Incumbent firms and Response to Disruptive Innovation through Value Network Management - Lessons from Eastman Kodak‟s failure in the digital eraAuthors: Helen Gebremeskel Tesfaye &amp; Thi Hong Nhung NguyenSupervisor: Marie BengtssonBackgroundThe question of why incumbent or established firms get into difficulties when they are faced with disruptive innovations has been extensively researched and discussed by many authors. Many explanations given for such failure seem to take “inside-out” approach by focusing on problems of organizational inertia, complacency, lack of insight and incompetence. On the other hand, Christensen‟s (1997; 2003) explanation takes an “outside-in” approach by focusing on the role of established firms‟ value network, particularly mainstream customers, as a determining factor to what incumbent firms can and cannot do.Purpose(i) Examine comprehensively the impacts of the value network on the incumbent firms when they are challenged by the arrival of disruptive innovations; (ii) Developing a model for the incumbent firms to recognize and manage effectively changes occurring in the value network in the face of disruptive innovations; and (iii) Gain a new insight into Kodak‟s failure in the reign of digital technology from the value network management perspective.DefinitionsDisruptive Innovation: Disruptive innovations in this study are considered as new products based on new technologies and which provide different attributes or product characteristics than what the company‟s mainstream or established customer segments historically value, while at the same time bringing new performance attributes to the market.iiValue Network: Value network is the context or environment within which a firm identifies and responds to customers‟ needs, solves problems, procures input, reacts to competitors and strives for profit.ResultsA Value Network Management model is developed for the incumbent firms to recognize and manage effectively changes occurring in the value network caused by the arrival of disruptive innovations. More specifically, the model aims at helping firms to overcome insight and action inertia and to choose the right partners among various new actors entering the value network. This model is iterative in essence and incorporates steps of searching/scanning, value network analysis and partner selection on the basis of appropriate role selection in the value network.

O conceito de logística vem, ao longo do tempo, agregando novos elementos e tornando-se mais complexo. Nos anos 50 restringia-se à distribuição física. Atualmente engloba a totalidade dos fluxos de material, produtos e informação entre diferentes empresas da cadeia de suprimentos. Neste contexto, organizações dos mais variados segmentos vêm terceirizando suas operações logísticas para empresas especializadas denominadas operadores logísticos. As tecnologias de informação (TI) têm um importante papel no desenvolvimento das atividades logísticas e no desempenho dos operadores: suas aplicações permitem a otimização do sistema logístico e o gerenciamento de forma integrada de seus diversos componentes. O objetivo da pesquisa é investigar como a TI vem sendo utilizada pelos operadores nos processos logísticos e como vem contribuindo para o estabelecimento de redes de valor. A metodologia utilizada foi o estudo de casos múltiplos. Foram investigados cinco operadores logísticos com atuação no mercado brasileiro, com diferentes posicionamentos estratégicos, operando em diferentes setores e de modo a cobrir de forma integral o processo logístico. Os resultados da pesquisa indicaram a necessidade do desenvolvimento de aplicativos customizados, capazes de atender as particularidades de cada operador e de gerar vantagens competitivas, e apontaram a importância do papel da TI para o estabelecimento das redes de valor. / The logistics concept has been changing, adding new elements and becoming more complex. In the fifties it was restricted to physical distribution only. Nowadays, it embraces the total flow of materials, products and information between the different companies of a supply chain. In this new scenario, organizations in all industries have outsourced their logistics operations to specialized companies called logistics operators. Information technologies (IT) have an important role in the development of logistics activities and in the logistics operator\'s performance: IT applications allow an optimal tuning of the logistics system and an integrated management of its several components. The purpose of this research is to investigate how the logistics operators are applying IT in the logistics process and how IT is contributing to the establishment of value networks. The methodology utilized was the multiple cases study. Five logistic operators that feature different strategic positions and operate with different industries in the Brazilian market were investigated. The sample was chosen so as to provide the information needed for an analysis of all stages of the logistic process. The results of the research indicate that customized applications, suited to the particularities of each operator, play an important role in the creation of competitive advantages, and suggest the centrality of IT in the creation of value networks.

Most forestry machines being produced today include a PC that monitors and controls the harvester head, and an information system that stores data on every action the driver or the machine performs. ICT thus provides an opportunity to improve efficiency and competitiveness and possibly also opens up for new ways of working for actors in the forestry industry. The purpose of this study is to investigate how ICT can enable the transformation from selling products to selling services in the forestry industry. We investigate this through performing a Case Study including a number of actors from the Forestry industry in northern Sweden. First, we investigate the barriers for establishing an Open Innovation system in forestry. Then we describe the main steps to be taken and how the use of ICT can enable the establishment of such a system. The case study shows that the forestry industry is committed to working according to a traditional value chain and is committed to a closed innovation paradigm. We argue that the ICT component in Timbercut’s forestry machines constitutes a latent potential that cancaptured through changing the business model and setting up a joint venture with Rewire.

This research investigates the European Mobile Telecommunications industry, looking at the biggest strategic challenges Mobile Operators are going to face in the next years. Mobile Services platforms represent the most important paradigm in the industry. Companies as Apple, Google and Facebook have successfully married new consumer devices and Internet platforms with a variety of online services and content undermining Operators ́ central role in the value network. This scenario highlights the importance to investigate how Operators can adopt successful strategies to keep on playing a meaningful role in the Mobile Services domain.These strategies are identifies and mapped adopting a value network model for the Mobile Services domain. This model is the main contribution of this research, tracking new ways of cooperating among them. Operators ́ strategies revolve around two main drivers: defeating networks congestion (investing in network upgrade, optimization &amp; spectrum auctions, charging Service Providers for HQ delivery services and elaborating data price plans for mobile customers) and finding new revenue opportunities (working with Service Providers to offer Location-based services, offering charging services to interested parties and working on Mobile Services platforms).As first step, the investigation offers an overview over the industry, looking at static (actors, technologies, services, devices, end-users and value network configuration) as well as dynamic (trends as Open Mobile, MVNOs, Fixed-Mobile Convergence and Substitution and 4G adoption) aspects. Then the research continues analyzing Mobile Services platforms, proposing an interesting approach to classify scientific articles about this topic. Italy is analyzed as case study and subsequently the model is developed. To conclude the study deals with some reflections about the delicate topic of shaping strategies after a massive usage of end-users data to provide innovative and sophisticated mobile services.

The purpose of business-IT alignment is to optimise the relation between business and IT in order to maximise the business value of IT. Successful business-IT alignment can be enabled by business processes and e-processes functioning as adaptive mediators between business and IT systems. Business processes are the ways actors work in enterprises and collaborate in value networks, while e-processes support a flexible flow of information between IT systems and business processes. The overall goal of this thesis is to propose methods for business process and e-process design and evaluation for achieving alignment between enterprise goals and IT systems. The methods are based on model-driven approaches, using enterprise and software models. More precisely, the proposed methods can be used for designing models of business processes supporting the fulfilment of enterprise goals in the setting of a value network; for designing models of generic and reusable business processes that support the fulfilment of enterprise goals; for designing models of e-processes that support a flexible alignment of IT systems with business processes; and for evaluating the extent to which business processes are aligned with enterprise goals and IT systems. The result of the thesis can be used to support business and system designers with practical knowledge on how to align business and IT systems in order to create efficient, high-quality, flexible and innovative organisations. The research presented in this thesis has been carried out following the design science paradigm. This paradigm is characterised by the creation of new and innovative artefacts for solving general problems, and the evaluation of their benefits and drawbacks.

Modern cities must overcome complex challenges to achieve socio-economic development and to improve the quality of life as the urban population is rapidly increasing. The concept of smart citie s is a response to these challenges. Thus, emerging technologies that are key enablers for the development of a smart city are said to be IoT and 5G. To deploy such technologies , however, may be expensive and requires the involvement of multiple actors. Hence, lack of cooperation and coordination for planning, financing, deploying and managing the city’s operational networks makes it even more difficult to overcome such challenges. Further, waste management companies and parking services operators in a city have expensive operation costs and services inefficiency due to little utilization of IoT-based solutions. This paper identifies and analyzes smart city ecosyst e ms, value networks, actors, actor’s roles, and business models in order to illustrate business relationships and provide business opportunities in the development of smart and sustainable cities through cooperation and collaboration among involved actors . Target actors that this study focuse s are on Mobile Network Operators, Parking Services Operators, and Waste Management Companies, and uses smart parking and smart waste collection as use-cases. Results show several cooperative business scenarios that can lead to successful business relationships and opportunities. / Moderna städer måste komma över komplexa utmaningar för att åstadkomma social ekonomisk utveckling och förbättra livskvalitén då stadsbefolkningen ständigt ökar. Konceptet smarta städe r är svaret på dessa utmaningar. Således, teknologier som sägs vara nyckelfaktorer i denna utveckling sägs vara IoT och 5G. För att distribuera dessa tekniker, kan bli dyrt och påverkar många aktörer. Därav, brist i samarbete och koordinering av planering, finansiering, distribuering och kontrollen utav sta dens operativa nätverk gör det ännu svårare att komma över dessa utmaningar. Ytligare, avfallshanterings företag och parkeringsbolag i staden har dyra driftkostnader och ineffektiv service på grund av bristande användning av IoT-baserade lösningar. Denna rapport identifiera och analyserar smarta städers ekosystem, värdet av nätverket, aktörer och dess roller samt affärsmodeller för att illustrera affärsrelationer och erbjuda affärsmöjligheter i utveckling av smarta och hållbara städer genom samarbete mellan berörda aktörer. Studien fokuserar på mobila nätverks operatörer, parkingsbolag, avfallshanteringsbolag och använder smart parkering och smart avfallshantering som användningsområden. Resultatet visar olika affärs samarbetsmöjligheter som kan leda till lönsamma affärsrelationer och möjligheter.

Abstract Payment industry is witnessing a fast transition from cash dominant era, to card payments and recently mobile payments. Sweden as one of the pioneer countries moving towards cashless society, has experienced quite fast transition thanks to it’s widespread internet access coverage and robust card payment infrastructure. During last few years there has been many mobile payment solutions launched to this market. As a result, some challenges and dynamics have emerged within the Swedish payment ecosystem. Different actors employed different strategies to secure and maintain their position within the ecosystem. This study aims to investigate the current status of power control within the ecosystem by using an extracted part of ARA framework to clarify how different established actors are reacting to this transition. What is more, conducted literature review for this study revealed that, there are few studies for the future of the payment industry and how the ecosystem should be responded to the current trend of moving toward mobile payments. As a result, by use of Configuration value for networks, this study managed to fine a gap which is, absence of a “Value Network” role within the ecosystem. The study suggests that concepts of value chain and value shops are no longer answering the demands of the market and thus, recommend the incumbents of the industry to create and fulfill the Value Network role, so that it could be used as a defense strategy against potential future industry disruption.