Introduction: Service companies and its offerings on the market are becoming increasingly standardized, which makes it difficult for service providers to distinguish themselves from the amount. In many cases this leads to a price squeeze. Many service companies do not understand the importance of building a relationship with their customer, and how to maintain long-term partnerships to increase customer value. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to investigate what aspects service-producing companies should take into account in order to achieve a high customer value and thus become more attractive in the market. Methods: In order to respond to the purpose of the study, a case study was conducted, where the approach consisted of both qualitative and quantitative data collection to test the existing theoretical reference frames and to generalize the study. The quantitative data collection consisted of a survey sent to the company's customer base, which consisted of different industries and sizes of companies, where the answers were then weighted in a model. The survey was also sent to the case company to find possible differences between their own opinion and the customers. The qualitative consisted of three deep interviews with leading actors in different industries to gain a deeper understanding. Results: The quantitative survey showed that quality is the most valued aspect with a supplier, followed by the price. The remaining questions showed that the customers and the case company shared a relatively even view of previous collaborations. The qualitative survey showed that all three respondents appreciated the same aspects of a service company; competence, customer focus and availability. They also agreed that the reputation of the relationship and service providers is valued very high. The relationship has been shown to be linked to several aspects such as flexibility, risk minimization and the quality of the work process. Customers have a greater tendency to choose service companies that are committed to trying to integrate long-term cooperation, which makes the customers feel priority and choose to place greater responsibility on the service company. Conclusion: Companies should not focus on trying to find added value to their customers, the focus should be on creating and developing a deep and committed relationship with their customers. The advantages of this are illustrated by further development of the model presented in the theoretical reference framework, in which important aspects to be considered are described. / Introduktion: Tjänsteföretag och dess erbjudanden på marknaden håller på att standardiseras alltmer vilket leder till att det blir svårt för tjänsteföretag att särskilja sig från mängden. Detta leder i många fall till en prispressning. Många tjänsteföretag förstår inte vikten av relationsbyggandet och hur de ska upprätthålla långsiktiga samarbeten för att även öka kundvärdet. Syftet: Syftet med studien är att undersöka vilka aspekter tjänsteproducerande företag ska beakta för att uppnå ett högt kundvärde och därmed bli mer attraktiva på marknaden. Metod: För att kunna svara på studiens syfte utgicks det ifrån en fallstudie, där angreppssättet bestod av både kvalitativ och kvantitativ datainsamling för att testa den befintliga teoretiska referensramen och kunna generalisera arbetet. Kvantitativa datainsamlingen bestod av en enkätundersökning som skickades ut till fallföretagets kundbas som bestod av olika branscher och storlekar på företag, där svaren sedan viktades i en modell. Enkäten skickades även ut till fallföretaget för att hitta eventuella differenser mellan deras egen uppfattning och kundernas. Den kvalitativa bestod av tre djupintervjuer med ledande aktörer inom olika branscher för att få en djupare förståelse. Resultat: Den kvantitativa undersökningen visade att kvalitet är det som värderas mest hos en leverantör, följt av priset. De resterande frågorna visade att kunderna och fallföretaget delade en relativt jämn uppfattning om tidigare samarbeten. Den kvalitativa undersökningen visade att alla tre respondenter värderade samma aspekter hos ett tjänsteföretag; kompetens, kundfokusering och tillgänglighet. De var även eniga om att relationen och tjänsteleverantörers rykte värderas väldigt högt. Relationen har visat sig vara kopplad till flera aspekter såsom flexibilitet, riskminimering och kvaliteten av arbetsprocessen. Kunder har en större tendens att välja tjänsteföretag som lagt vikt vid att försöka integrera ett långsiktigt samarbete, vilket gör att kunderna känner sig prioriterade och väljer att lägga större ansvar på tjänsteföretaget. Slutsats: Företag ska inte lägga sitt fokus på att försöka finna mervärden till sina kunder, utan fokusen ska ligga på att skapa och utveckla en djup och engagerad relation med sin kund. Fördelarna med detta illustreras med hjälp av en vidareutveckling av den modell som tas fram i den teoretiska referensramen, där viktiga aspekter som bör beaktas beskrivs.

Orientador: Regina Célia Baptista Belluzzo / Resumo: As organizações estão inseridas em um contexto extremamente competitivo com grandes transformações de ordem produtivas, tecnológicas, sociais e econômicas, que emergiram das revoluções industriais. Dessa maneira, a criação de valor, depende impreterivelmente de se ter disponíveis ferramentas informacionais e profissionais capacitados e competentes em informação dentro do contexto organizacional. Nessa perspectiva, as organizações prestadoras de serviços, necessitam adquirir e desenvolver essa competência e oferecer serviços que proporcionem diferenciais competitivos para tomadas de decisão e agregação de valor. Parte-se do pressuposto que os gestores Competentes em Informação constroem conhecimento individual e o compartilham ao coletivo organizacional, uma vez que dominam o acesso, a busca, o uso e a disseminação da informação, apoiados na competência em informação que se constitui uma ferramenta estratégica para que os gestores possam tomar decisões assertivas e possam agregar valor aos serviços prestados aos clientes. Assim, a seguinte questão central é indicada: os gestores que atuam em organizações de serviço possuem competência em Informação para acessar, buscar, analisar e usar a informação, a fim de construir conhecimento e aplicá-lo na agregação de valor para atender as demandas dos clientes? O objetivo geral fundamenta-se em analisar a inter-relação entre a Competência em Informação e a construção de conhecimento para gerar agregação de valor ao processo decisório c... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Organizations are in a competitive context based on productive, technological, social and economical transformations emerged by the industrial revolution. Value creation depends on the availability of information tools and skilled professionals which are information literates. Therefore, service provider organizations need to acquire and develop this literacy to offer services based on information literate professionals. These professionals influence competitive advantage, decision-making and added value. Information literate professionals construct individual knowledge and share it collectively, since they are skilled to access, evaluate, use and disseminate information. Information literacy is a strategic tool, so managers can make effective decisions and add value in the services provided to the customers. The following research question is proposed: Do managers who work for service organizations have skills to access, seek, analyze and use information to construct knowledge and add value to meet customer demands? The main purpose is to analyze the connection between information literacy and knowledge construction to add value to the decision process as a competitive advantage to service organizations. The focus is to analyze this literacy and knowledge in 10 businesses, which are part of the selected sample of a case study in Sao Paulo State. Information literacy and knowledge construction can influence competitive advantage to service provider organizations. A literature... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

Background: The literature on lean service and practical implementation of lean service is very thin, as the use of lean as a tool in service-oriented companies is not as well established as in the industrial and manufacturing sectors. This has created an interest in us to investigate how lean service and lean tools can be adapted to be used in the construction industry. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify non-value adding activities and problem areas to provide suggestions regarding leantools that can help to improve the carpentryproject process from beginning to end. Methodology: To answer the question of which non-value adding activities arise in carpentry-projects and which activities and areas in the carpentry processes that could be improved through leantools, have been studied as a case study in a medium-sized construction company. A total of four interviews were conducted, in an early stage a pilot interview with the group manager was conducted to form an idea of the current situation in the case company. Thereafter three semi-structured interviews were conducted with the company's board member, group manager and an employed carpenter. The Lean tools 5S and Muda sets the theme of the interviews and addresses issues related to waste, nonvalue adding activities and work routines. The material gathered from the interviews is set against the theoretical frame of reference and forms the basis for the analysis and discussion of this study. Results: The interviews revealed that mistakes, rework, unnecessary movements and waiting times are common. Usually in the form of incorrect drawings, poor conditions in workplaces or inadequate planning before carrying out the work in the delimited area of wall-projects. The case company recognizes that a development should take place in certain areas, but that inefficiency is not only due to them, but also to external circumstances. Contributions: Modifications to the original eight waste categories have been made to more accurately represent wastes that arise in service-oriented professions. Problems that arise in connection with non-value-creating activities are largely due to a lack of communication, unengaged employees, and inadequate planning. The results of this study validate previous research in the area of lean service and contributes with a unique perspective, as the construction industry is difficult to define as it can neither be defined as manufacturing, production oriented nor service oriented. / Bakgrund: Litteraturen kring lean service och praktisk implementation av lean service är väldigt tunn, då användningen av lean som ett verktyg inom serviceinriktade företag inte är lika väl etablerat som inom industri- och tillverkningssektorn. Detta har skapat ett intresse hos oss till att undersöka hur lean service och leanverktyg kan anpassas till att användas inom byggbranschen. Syfte: Syftet med detta arbete är att identifiera icke-värdeskapande aktiviteter och problemområden för att kunna ge förslag på leanverktyg som kan användas för att förbättra processen från att ett finsnickeriprojekt påbörjas till att det slutförs. Metod: För att svara på frågan om vilka icke-värdeskapande aktiviteter som uppstår inom finsnickeriprojekt samt vilka aktiviteter och områden i finsnickeri processen som skulle kunna förbättras med leanverktyg har undersökning skett som en fallstudie i ett medelstort snickeriföretag. I detta arbete så har totalt fyra intervjuer genomförts, i tidigt skede så genomfördes en pilotintervju med gruppchefen för att bilda en uppfattning om nuläget i fallföretaget. Därefter genomfördes tre semistrukturerade intervjuer med företagets styrelseledamot, gruppchef och en anställd snickare. Leanverktygen 5S och Muda utgjorde temat för intervjuns riktning och behandlar frågor gällande slöseri, ickevärdeskapande aktiviteter och arbetsrutiner. Underlaget från intervjuerna ställs mot den teoretiska referensramen och utgör grunden för analysen och diskussionen. Resultat: Intervjuerna visade att misstag, omarbete, onödiga rörelser och väntetider är vanligt förekommande. Vanligtvis i form av felaktiga ritningar, dåliga förutsättningar i arbetsplatsen eller brist på god planering inför arbetet inom det avgränsade området väggprojekt. Fallföretaget inser att en utveckling bör ske inom vissa områden, men att ineffektivitet inte endast beror på dem, utan även av externa förhållanden. Bidrag: Modifikationer av de ursprungliga åtta slöserikategorierna genomförts för att mer precist representera slöserier som uppstår inom serviceinriktade yrkesområden. Problemområden som uppstår i samband med icke-värdeskapande aktiviteter beror till stor del på bristande kommunikation, oengagerade medarbetare och otillräcklig planering. Resultatet från arbetet styrker tidigare forskning inom området för lean service och bidrar med ett unikt perspektiv då byggbranschen är svårdefinierad då det varken kan definieras som fullt tillverkande, produktionsorienterat eller serviceinriktat

Studien genomförs i form av en fallstudie, på företaget KraftPowercon. I dagens industrier är det viktigt att alltid sträva efter att effektivisera, en kortare genomloppstid leder till ökad konkurrenskraft och flexibilitet i snabba ändringar i efterfrågan och kundkrav. Syftet är att undersöka sambandet mellan icke- värdeskapande aktiviteter och den totala genomloppstiden hos en produkt. Målet är sedan att skapa ett underlag som skall användas vid framtida effektiviseringsåtgärder på fallföretaget. Resultaten visas i form av en värdeflödesanalys och ett sambandsdiagram där två fabrikslayouter har tagits fram utifrån detta diagram. / This is a case study, at KraftPowercon. It is important to always become more efficiency, to survive the competition in the industry and to profit.Shorter throughput time will result in a greater competitiveness and higher flexibility regarding quick changes in demands. The purpose with the study is to examine the relation between non-value-adding activities and the throughput time for a specific product. The objective is to generate a material that will be used as ground in future changes, regarding the effectivity at the company. The results are presented in a value-map and a relation diagram, where two alternative plant layouts have been generated.

While varies of supply chains are working on moving products towardsthe end consumers, there is also an increasing amount of productsbeing sent back. This has meant an increasing importance of the returnmanagement process. As many businesses have realized that the returnprocess has little connection with their core value, the idea ofoutsourcing return management crossed the mind of many companies.Third-party logistics (3PL) provider have also sensed the opportunityand begun to explore the possibility of providing such services forcompanies in need.

The master´s thesis deals with the issue of setting transfer prices for management services between associated enterprises. The thesis contains a theoretical definition of basic concepts and analysis of legislation. The content of the analytical part of the thesis is the analysis of the current state and analysis of case law. The theoretical background is applied in the practical part to a model example which is determined by setting transfer price for management services between internal associated enterprises.

當前我國各級政府財政因窘、公共建設財源短缺，地方期盼興建捷運建設，惟捷運建設成本高昂，國家發展委員會參考美國租稅增額財源機制（Tax Increment Financing, TIF）制度核定「跨域加值公共建設財務規劃方案」，該方案廣泛用於配置捷運建設經費，主要係結合創新財源及「自償率」機制促使地方政府善盡財政努力，改善早期建設外部效益未能內部化的缺點，由中央及地方依自償率共同分擔捷運建設經費。本研究發現中央為減少財政負擔設置自償率門檻作為補助依據，恐造成地方為求計畫核定，將配合中央或自行美化財務參數，導致未來財政上的道德危機，觀之美國爭議個案，發現以未來的租稅增額挹注公共建設時隱含道德危機及財政排擠，相關問題管制措施不足，我國援用美國相關制度時應特別注意其制度上的缺點，然目前國內制度及相關研究尚未就捷運建設營運期之自償性經費提出對應的管考措施。 依財政分權理論，捷運建設自償性經費可按財政總量管制的理念進行管考。本研究分析美國管考機制爭議案例後續處理方式，再歸納愛荷華州管考機制相關作法，發現該州管考措施多元，不僅明訂資訊公開項目，亦限制制度運用範圍，可作為我國管考道德危機及財政排擠問題之參考。然而，美國制度與我國「跨域加值公共建設財務規劃方案」未完全相同，為設計適合我國之管考機制，本研究邀請曾經參與該方案之中央及地方相關人員，以及國內大眾捷運系統學者參與焦點團體座談會及個別訪談，針對現況課題進行深入的探討。經分析訪談意見，發現捷運建設財務規劃現況問題包含中央面臨地方違背財務承諾道德危機，地方則可能出現財政排擠問題，故管考機制應發揮財務預警、資訊透明功能。 本研究建構一套管考機制，以計畫、執行、檢查、改進（Plan-Do-Check-Act）的實施程序進行下列管考措施：（1）審議期間由中央依捷運建設貢獻審議各計畫租稅增額投入建設經費比例，並制定財務監督及輔導原則、資訊公開原則，供地方據以制定相關配合辦法。（2）建設期間中央給予補助前，監督地方檢討非自償性經費執行情形。（3）營運期間由地方主管機關每年向地方公共債務管理委員會提報自償性財源收益績效，中央每5年檢核地方綜合成效。（4）配套措施包含由中央擴充、開放資訊系統供地方及民眾運用，落實財政透明及公共課責，輔助推動管考機制。同時運用彈性獎勵策略，促使地方政府提升財務績效，促使地方自我改善地價評議制度，以充分反映公共建設貢獻，達成外部效益內部化。 / Currently, government is facing financial difficulty on all levels and is short of public funds for public works. Local governments are looking forward to the construction of MRT facilities. However, the costs of these are very high. Referencing the tax increment financing (TIF) system in the U.S., the National Development Council approved the “Project for Cross-Field Value-Adding in Public Works Financial Planning,” which is widely used for the allocation of the MRT construction funds. By combining innovative financial resources and a “self-liquidation ratio” mechanism, local governments are encouraged to make financial efforts to overcome the failure to internalize the external benefits of early construction. Central and local governments share the MRT construction funds based on the self-liquidation ratio. In the present study, we summarized the literature related to self-liquidating public works and found that during the process of reviewing MRT construction plans, in order to reduce the financial burden and increase the self-liquidation ratio of local governments. However, to seek approval for their plans, local governments beautify their financial indicators, resulting in a moral hazard in finance. By analyzing disputes in the U.S., we found that this system implies moral crises and financial exclusion. Control measures on related issues are inadequate. When borrowing related systems from the U.S., the Taiwanese government should pay special attention to their shortcomings. Neither the current domestic system nor related research has proposed appropriate measures to supervise and evaluate self-liquidation funds during MRT construction and operation. According to the theory of fiscal decentralization, self-liquidating funds for MRT construction can be supervised and evaluated as per the framework of growth control quotas. After analyzing subsequent settlements of disputes on supervision and evaluation mechanisms in the U.S. and summarizing practices related to these mechanisms in the state of Iowa, we found that the state has diverse supervision and evaluation measures, which not only clearly stipulate the disclosure of project information, but also set limitations for the scope of applying the system. This can be used as a reference for the Taiwanese government to handle the moral hazard and financial exclusion of the supervision and evaluation system. However, the systems in the U.S. and the “Project for Cross-Field Value-Adding in Public Works Financial Planning” in Taiwan are not entirely the same. To design an appropriate supervision and evaluation system for Taiwan, those who had participated in the development of the plan from central and local governments as well as scholars of the domestic mass transit system were invited for focus group and individual interview. In-depth discussion on current issues was carried out. After analyzing their opinions from the interview, we found that the current situation of financial planning for MRT construction is as follows: the central government is facing the moral hazard that local governments may violate financial commitments and local governments may experience financial exclusion. Thus, the supervision and evaluation system should perform the functions of financial forecasting and information transparency. In this study, we constructed a supervision and evaluation mechanism to implement the following measures through the plan-do-check-act procedure: (1) During the reviewing phase, the central government considers the ratio of tax increment invested into the construction funds for each proposed plan according to the contribution of MRT construction while developing financial supervision and counseling principles and information disclosure principles to serve as a basis for local governments to formulate supporting measures. (2) During the construction phase, prior to granting subsidies, the central government should supervise the review of the implementation of the non-self-liquidating funds by the local governments. (3) During the operation phase, each local authority should report annually to the local Public Debt Administration Committee its earnings from self-liquidating resources and the central government should inspect the overall performances of the local governments every five years. (4) The supporting measures include the central government expanding and opening information systems for local governments and the people, implementing fiscal transparency and public accountability, and prompting the promotion of supervision and evaluation mechanism. Simultaneously, the central government may use flexible incentive strategies to encourage local governments to improve their financial performance and land appraisal systems to reflect fully the contributions of public works and to internalize the external benefits.

Många företag står idag inför en affärssituation med stigande konkurrens,krympande marknader, och ökade kundkrav. Framför allt sitter många fast i ett föråldrat sätt attdriva sin verksamhet på, som är dåligt anpassat för den allt tuffare marknaden. Den rekommenderadelösningen stavas ofta ”inför kvalitetstänk och börja jobba med förbättringar”. Det kandock vara lättare sagt än gjort för företag utan tidigare erfarenheter från en sådan strategi, ochmed eventuella betydande brister i sin ordinarie organisationsstruktur. Demotikos AB i Stockholmär ett exempel på ett sådant företag.Avsikten med detta examensarbete är att ta fram ett förbättringsprogram särskilt anpassat förDemotikos AB genom att analysera olika kvalitetsfilosofier och koncept, samt att göra en utförlignulägesanalys av företaget. Målet är att presentera ett förbättringsprogram tillsammans meden implementationsplan som är väl anpassad till företagets utgångsläge och förutsättningar ochsom samtidigt stämmer väl överens med rådande forskningslitteratur. Företaget har dessutom enönskan om att den insamlade kvalitetsinformationen i rapporten ska kunna ligga till grund för enkvalitetsintroduktionsutbildning för företagets anställda.Företagets behovsbild samt problemområden kartlades vi en nutidsanalys. Därefter utgick manfrån kartläggningen och jämförde den med vilka effekter olika förbättringsprogram kunde åstadkomma.Efter ett program hittades gick man vidare till att utvärdera olika arbetsmetoder ochverktyg. Till sist undersöktes en lämplig implementationsplan. / Many companies are today facing a business situation with rising competition,shrinking markets, and increasing customer demands. Above all, many are stuck with an outdatedapproach on how to run their business, an approach that is poorly adapted to the ever moredemanding market. The recommended solution is often spelled "implement a quality mindsetand start working with improvements". However, this can be much easier said than done forcompanies without any experience of such a strategy, as well as any significant deficiencies in itsregular organizational structure. Demotikos AB in Stockholm is an example of such a company.This thesis is aiming to produce an improvement program for Demotikos AB by analyzing differentquality philosophies and concepts, as well as making a detailed situation analysis of thecompany. The goal is to present an improvement program together with an implementation planthat is well adapted to the company’s current condition and at the same time consistent withcurrent research literature. The company also wish to be able to use the collected quality data inthe report as a basis for a quality introduction for its employees.The company’s needs as well as problem areas were identified, through a present day analysis.The result were compared it with what effects various improvement programs could present.After an appropriate program was found the project went on to evaluate various methods andtools. Finally, a suitable implementation plan examined.

As pricing is vital for an organization’s marketing strategy, it is a significant area to consider for companies offering new products where Artificial Intelligence as a service (AIaaS) is provided. The purpose of this study was to investigate possible pricing models for an AIaaS product. The study was delimited to the edtech industry. The main research question to be investigated was “What pricing model should an AI-company have for its B2B personalization product to correspond to the value delivered by it?”. Sub-research questions consisted of how perceived value can be related to price, what factors the organization should consider for the pricing model and the implications of implementation. The exploratory research was carried out through a literature review, a survey where Van Westendorp’s Price Sensitivity Meter was applied, as well as in-depth interviews to gather qualitative data. The quantitative results showed that the price sensitivity depends on the number of monthly active users a platform has, where there is a negative relationship between the number of monthly active users and the price willing to pay per learner. The qualitative results showed that the perceived value depends, amongst other factors, on which segment the buyer belongs to. The primary results were discussed with the findings from the literature review, which mainly consisted of pricing model for Software as a Service (SaaS) products, that resulted in a designed pricing model for AIaaS providers. The conclusion of the study is that pricing an entirely new product is complicated as the buyer does not know the value of the product. Also, there does not exist one single value which can be quantified and translated into price; the price must be adjusted according to the segment’s perceived value. The pricing model presented accounts for adjustable variables needed to be considered by an AIaaS provider before determining a price. Key-words: AI, AIaaS, edtech, education technology, personalization, price, pricing, pricing strategies, pricing models, pricing tools, pricing AIaaS, software pricing, pricing for new / Då prissättning är viktigt för en organisations marknadsstrategi, är det ett betydelsefullt område att ta hänsyn till för organisationer som erbjuder nya produkter baserade på Artificiell Intelligens as a Service (AIaaS). Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka möjliga prismodeller för AIaaS produkter. Studien var begränsad till edtech industrin. Den huvudsakliga forskningsfrågan var “Vilken prismodell borde ett AI-bolag ha för att dess B2B personifieringsprodukt ska motsvara det levererade värdet ?”. Delforskningsfrågor bestod av hur uppfattat värde kan relateras till pris, vilka faktorer en organisation bör ta hänsyn till för en prismodell samt implikationerna av att implementera den. Den utforskande studien genomfördes genom en litteraturstudie, en webbenkät där Van Westendorps priskänslighetsmätare applicerades, såväl som fördjupningsintervjuer för att samla kvalitativ data. De kvantitativa resultaten visade att priskänsligheten beror av antalet månatliga aktiva användare som plattformen har, vilket visar på ett negativt samband mellan antalet månatliga aktiva användare och priset en är villig att betala per elev. De kvalitativa resultaten visade att det uppfattade värdet beror av vilket segment köparen tillhör. De primära resultaten diskuterades mot resultaten från litteraturstudien, vilka främst bestod av prismodeller för SaaS produkter, och slutade i en framtagen prismodell för AIaaS leverantörer. Slutsatsen av studien är att prissättning av en ny produkt är komplicerat eftersom köparen inte vet värdet av produkten. Det finns heller inte ett enskilt värde som kan kvantifieras och översättas till ett pris; priset måste anpassas enligt segmentets uppfattade värde. Prismodellen som presenteras tar hänsyn till justerbara variabler som en AIaaS leverantör måste utvärdera innan ett pris bestäms.