Thesis (Ph.D.)--Texas Woman's University, 2007. / (UMI)AAI3295477. Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-12, Section: A, page: 5141. Adviser: Deborah D. Young.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2005. / Title from first page of PDF file (viewed March 6, 2006). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 127-129).

<p>Balansering av tillgång och efterfrågan har alltid varit ett aktuellt ämne och för att klara av denna balansering krävs information om kommande efterfrågan. Denna information måste ligga så långt fram i tiden som det tar för att med säkerhet få hem exempelvis material. För att lyckas med detta använder sig företag i olika utsträckning av uppskattad framtida efterfrågan, så kallade prognoser. Prognoser kan definieras som systematiska metoder för att förutsäga framtida händelser.</p><p>Problemet är att oavsett hur prognoser görs stämmer det prognostiserade värdet nästan aldrig överens med det verkliga utfallet. Många företag vet att deras prognoser inte är exakta utan att veta vad de ska göra åt saken. Många gånger ignorerar de bara problemet och hoppas att det ska lösa sig självt. För att kunna förbättra sina prognoser bör därför dokumentation och uppföljning ske av det arbete som görs. Med hjälp av uppföljning kan prognosfel beräknas, ett prognosfel är avvikelsen mellan det prognostiserade värdet och det verkliga utfallet. I de fall då prognosfelen är små kan företag genom dokumentation identifiera vad som urskilde dessa perioder från de med högre prognosfel.</p><p>Författarna har i denna uppsats försökt beskriva hur företag kan uppnå en förbättrad prognosprocess med en lägre prognosavvikelse. Uppsatsen syftar också till att väcka intresset för samarbete över företagsgränser. Collaborative forecasting är en av metoderna som författarna har använt sig av för att överkomma problemen med traditionell prognostisering och som samtidigt är i linje med supply chain management. Denna metod samlar ihop och sammanställer information från både interna och externa källor för att sedan sammanställa en prognos som stöds av hela organisationen.</p><p>Uppsatsen är en fallstudie hos vitvaruföretaget Asko Cylinda AB. För att få ytterligare idéer om hur prognosprocessen kan se ut i praktiken har författarna också tittat på prognosprocessen hos Volvo Penta AB. Båda företagens prognosprocesser har sedan analyserats och jämförts med hjälp av teori från litteratur och artiklar. Genom denna analys har författarna kommit fram till förslag på arbetssätt som Asko Cylinda AB och företag med liknande företagsmiljö kan använda sig av för att förbättra sin prognosprocess.</p><p>Analyskapitlet är uppbyggt enligt tre scenarier, en nulägesbeskrivning, ett förslag på en enkel prognosprocess och ett förslag på en mer avancerad prognosprocess. I analysen har olika mätetal används för att åskådliggöra hur prognosavvikelsen varierar då till exempel olika prognosberäkningsmetoder används.</p><p>Utifrån scenarierna som analyserats har författarna kommit fram till att det finns många fördelar med Asko Cylinda AB:s nuvarande arbetssätt och att flera av dessa stöds av teorin. En fördel med en enklare prognosprocess är att den allokerar betydligt mindre resurser än vad som görs i dagsläget. Detta är enligt författarna inte tillräckligt skäl att använda sig av den enkla varianten då framtiden går mot mer samarbete över företagsgränserna för att gemensamt öka konkurrenskraften. Arbetssättet som analyseras i scenario 3 ses av författarna som det bästa alternativet. Detta scenario har hämtat mycket inspiration från teorierna om collaborative forecasting, vilket bidrar till en process som arbetar mer enligt supply chain management. Även delar från både den nuvarande prognosprocessen och Volvo Penta AB:s prognosprocess har använts för att för att uppnå detta arbetssättsförslag som baserats på både teori och praktik och utformats för att vara slagkraftigt i framtiden.</p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2006. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-11, Section: A, page: 4257. Adviser: Anju Seth. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 187-192) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

<p> Construction companies are able to show an increased bottom line by developing strategies to retain employees. However, the cost to develop and implement strategies that can decrease employee turnover is a substantial investment. As costs continue to rise in most business functions, strategies to facilitate cost savings must be identified and implemented to become or remain profitable. The Herzberg Two-Factor Theory served as the conceptual framework was chosen for this study and provided a baseline for developing retention strategies within the construction industry. The purpose of this single quantitative exploratory case study was to identify the retention factors that provided the greatest impact to retain construction employees. There was a sample of 68 individuals selected for this study, consisting of laborers within the U.S. construction industry. An online survey was used to collect the data, and the findings are intended to add to the current body of knowledge by identifying the impact that job satisfaction factors in the construction industry. A correlational analysis as well as a multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to reveal the relationships between job satisfaction and employee turnover intention. The findings of this study results revealed a moderate negative relationship between job satisfaction, both intrinsic and extrinsic and employee turnover intention. Additionally, the study found that by implementing developed retention strategies using factors of job satisfaction, organizational leadership can understand the drivers for employee retention, and increase overall job satisfaction, profitability, and productivity. The study limitations, implication, recommendations for practice and future research are also discussed in detail. Lastly, the study shows that the nature of the association between job satisfaction and employee turnover intention is significant to industrial psychological practices.</p><p>

Although leadership is deemed to matter, scholars seldom pay attention to the phenomenon itself, as it is happening. Hence definitions abound, but there is a lack of vocabulary for expressing what leadership is about without ending up talking of individual leaders and/or descriptions of abstract “goodness”. Such an idealised and individualistic construct of leadership has consequences, both in theory and practice, in terms of providing a reductionist account, segregating and putting people in hierarchies, reinforcing the dominance of masculinities, and constraining how leadership is to be performed. Therefore, in order to contribute to our still limited knowledge of leadership beyond ideals and individualised conceptions, the purpose of this thesis is to add to our understanding of leadership as a social phenomenon going on at work and to contribute to developing a vocabulary for it. Reading the empirical material more and more closely, produced through an ethnography-inspired approach at two Swedish organisations and consisting of transcripts of interactions and interviews, the initial research question, “how is leadership shared in practice?” is subsequently modified and different strands of theories are applied: shared leadership, postheroic leadership and a radical processual view of leadership. In this way, different understandings of leadership are analysed. As a result, the theoretical concepts of organisational becoming, relational leadership and work practices are combined in an alternative approach. Two leadership practices are thus identified: constructing positions and positioning, and constructing issues. Such an analysis also leads to an alternative way of understanding leadership: leadership as clearing for action. Clearing is both a space, a bounded space, and an action. Therefore it expresses a relational perspective in which there are no stable entities, by suggesting a more dynamic view, at the same time as it also conveys the idea that we are talking about a constrained space. I thus define clearing for action as an emergent bounded aggregate of actions and talks that become possible, making others impossible or less probable. Actors and their worlds are constructed in certain ways that expand or contract the space of possible action. The result is a specific reading of leadership to add to the field of leadership studies. In this reading, leadership is an ordinary, repeated, social achievement at work in which possibilities for action and talk are constructed in constrained terms. / <p>QC 20110510</p>

<p>During the 1990s two contrasting paths to the organization of work have emerged in the Swedish engineering industry: the structure-conservative and structure-innovative. This thesis deals with the latter, and focuses primarily on necessary changes in management control systems that support structureinnovative forms of team-organized work. Three types of management control systems are studied in this thesis: performance management and measurement systems, systems for continuous improvements and wage systems.</p><p>The empirical base of this thesis consists of data from an exploratory survey study as well as a multiple case study.</p><p>On a general level, the survey study indicates a lack of congruence between structure and systems. Many companies seem to have started to move along the structure-innovative path but have not changed the management control systems accordingly. However, there are good reasons for doing so. The companies that have chosen the structure-innovative path perform better in terms of productivity, quality and cost reduction. These are also the companies that have changed their management control systems to the greatest extent.</p><p>The case study provides examples of how management control systems may be changed to fit structure-innovative forms of team-organized work. The main focus has been on the use of Balanced Scorecard. How a strategic continuous improvement capability was developed and sustained in the studied companies is illustrated. The findings extend previous research on new production concepts, which, this thesis argues, are not to be regarded as an issue of technology and vertical division of labour only, but also of supportive management control systems.</p> / QC 20100525

<p>Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka hur Scania hanterar försörjningen av elektroniska styrenheter under sina produkters livslängd och hur de hanterar relationen med de leverantörer som de köper styrenheter av. Som teoretisk grund har en etablerad relationsmodell och försörjningsmetoder inhämtade från flygindustrin använts. För att besvara frågorna har tre intervjuer genomförts. Två gjordes med anställda på Scania och den tredje med Bosch, en underleverantör till Scania. Det vi kommit fram till är att:</p><p> Det finns inte ett enda sätt att hantera tillgången av komponenter. Att använda ett antal metoder möjliggör att lösa tillgången på det sätt som lämpar sig bäst för just den aktuella komponenten.</p><p> Relationen med leverantören är enligt vår teori att betrakta som ”normal”. Det är dock något överraskande att relationen inte är djupare inom ett så pass komplicerat område.</p><p> Det finns fortfarande utvecklingsmöjligheter inom området.</p><p>Den här uppsatsen ligger under ämnet industriell marknadsföring.</p>

<p>This report is the result of a case study at Peltor AB during the spring semester of 2007. The task Peltor gave us was to improve the delivery accuracy and to lower the high finical value of delayed orders (backorder), and to divide the products into logical groups. The logical group will be a useful tool to remain a high level of service. If the level of service increases the company will be more competitive.</p><p>The electronic department at Peltor has problems with delayed orders. According to Peltor, the problem is based on delivery lead time which is presumed.</p><p>To increase the delivery accuracy, a lead time analysis is made to find the accumulated delivery lead times for each product. This is a way for Peltor to give the customer a more correct delivery lead time when the order is placed.</p><p>The analysis shows that many of the delivery lead times which the company use today, are often miscalculated. The difference can be either longer or shorter than the presumed lead time. One example of a longer lead time is when the accumulated lead time is 91 days and the presumed lead time is 30 days. The difference will be 61 days, and this is the major reason why Peltor thinks products end up in the “backorder”. Our result shows that there are more factors than the delivery lead time which affects whether an order will be delivered on time or not.</p>

<p>The Swedish defence has, during the last couple of years, been under major restructuring that has influenced defence procurements as well. Cost-efficiency has become increasingly important in defence procurement due to higher demand from shrinking defence budgets. The purpose of this study has been to compare the view on cost-efficiency between Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) and the Swedish Ministry of Defence and to discuss the potential differences. In order to compare the views, the study has looked at what is considered as cost-efficiency in Swedish defence procurement and how it could be achieved. The study has also considered the importance of Swedish defence industry in achieving cost-efficient procurements. For collecting data to make the comparison, focus group interviews were used as data collecting method. The use of focus groups has the advantage of allowing discussion and interaction between the participants. The study includes three focus group interviews, two were made at FMV and the third one was made at the Ministry of Defence.</p><p>When comparing the view on cost-efficiency in Swedish defence procurement between the three groups, there are no clear definition of what cost-efficiency is. However, a definition is suggested that combines the view of the three groups into the following definition; cost-efficient procurements should be good enough in order to satisfy the demand of the Armed Forces throughout the systems entire lifecy-cle. The study also concludes that the objective of becoming more cost-efficient is shared between the Defence Materiel Administration and the Ministry of Defence. However, there are differences on how this objective is to be achieved. The Ministry of Defence wants to use economical measures to make the organization around defence procurement more efficient and thus more cost-efficient procurement. The Defence Materiel Administration on the other hand would like to increase the per-sonnel since that would make it possible to utilize the market in a better way through competitive procurement.</p><p>The role of the Swedish defence industry is considered by all three groups as important for international cooperation and is said to contribute to cost-efficiency in procurements since the defence materiel market is characterised by barter transactions. With the intention of involving the industry in more parts of the system lifecycle through Public Private Partnerships, the importance of the defence industry will in-crease in order to make cost-efficient procurements.</p>