In order to grow and survive, a firm must create value with consumers in ways that both fit in with consumer demands and stand out from competitors. Focusing on and understanding consumer and firm assessments of value and creation of value has become a central scope in the contemporary strategic management and marketing literature for understanding and explaining firm survival and success. Consequently, the overall aim of this thesis is to provide a conceptually and empirically grounded understanding of consumers’ and managers’ value assessments and behavior in value creation. This thesis draws on a consumer experience perspective and theories on social construction, organizational identity, self-congruence, and the theory of attractive quality, and combines multiple qualitative and quantitative studies. The findings in this thesis shed light on the interplay between consumers, firms, and contextual structures in value creation. Contextual structural, cultural, and political forces are shown to affect and be affected by the shared and individual cognitions of value creation that firms and consumers use in their assessment and creation value. The results of the study enhance the understanding of how firms can adopt various strategic schemas or organizing logics to optimize different types of use value creation when choosing between opposing and contradictive demands in their value creation. Furthermore, the thesis provides a deeper understanding of the hierarchical nature of consumer judgments of value that can be used to enhance the effectiveness of firm prioritizations and as a foundation for future value-creating strategies.

Purpose – The purpose of this thesis is to explore the capability of Swedish regional public transport authorities (RPTAs) to organize public transport so that it stimulates the intended value creation process needed to increase users’ positive experience. Design/methodology/approach – This thesis utilizes an interpretative research approach. Two empirical studies, resulting in two papers have been used in this thesis. Study I consists of a quantitative Kano questionnaire with 930 respondents. Study II comprises a qualitative study with 11 semi-structured interviews. Both studies have been equally necessary to the results of this thesis. Findings – Public transport is one of the few public services with a mandate to attract users, and therefore, this thesis suggests that Swedish public transport organizations must understand how various services in multiple dimensions affect users’ preferences for public transport. With this understanding, public transport organizations can effectively and efficiently allocate resources and increase the appeal of future public transport. Such a focus demands a deep organizational knowledge and understanding of customer needs and detailed awareness of how the achievement of various requirements affects customers. This thesis shows that organizational structures are based on political comprises rather then the needs to solve coordination challenges and facilitate customers’ value creation. It is further argued that the organizational structures and personal or impersonal information processing mechanisms in Swedish public transport influence the search for information and subsequent organizational learning influencing the RPTAs’ capabilities to include and understand public transport users’ needs. This thesis offers insight into how public organizations, such as Swedish public transport authorities, can make decisions in structural design to learn from customer perceptions and adapt organizational policy accordingly.  In addition, I argue that RPTAs must employ both exploitative and exploratory learning to improve their capabilities and increase their efficiency and effectiveness. This thesis also provides a model to describe these relationships. Originality/value – Unlike previous studies, this thesis shows how organizational structures are decided based on political compromises rather than the need for coordination. This thesis offers insight into how public organizations, such as Swedish public transport authorities, can make decisions in structural design to learn from customer perceptions and adapt organizational policy accordingly. / Public transport is one of the few public services with a mandate to attract users, and therefore, this thesis suggests that Swedish public transport organizations must understand how various services in multiple dimensions affect users’ preferences for public transport. With this understanding, public transport organizations can effectively and efficiently allocate resources and increase the appeal of future public transport. Such an approach requires not only a deep organizational knowledge of customer needs, but also a detailed knowledge of how the achievement of the various demands affects users and their value creation. This thesis further shows that organizational structures are based on political comprises rather then the needs to solve coordination challenges and facilitate customers’ value creation. It is here argued that the organizational structures and personal or impersonal information processing mechanisms in Swedish public transport influence the search for information and subsequent organizational learning influencing the RPTAs’ capabilities to include and understand public transport users’ needs. This thesis offers insight into how public organizations, such as Swedish public transport authorities, can make decisions in structural design to learn from customer perceptions and adapt organizational policy accordingly.

The overall objective of this thesis work is to seek current and potential attractive quality of the career service of Library and Learning Resource in University college of Borås (HB), and try to make students know and experience the career service on their own initiative.First objective is the evaluation and assessment of the current quality work of career service. The main quality evaluation emphasizes on the career service awareness and its communication channels.After reviewing the current situation of the career service in the context of LLR in HB, identifying possible existing problems, and developing a Kano questionnaire to examine some question areas, the authors will offer some recommendations and suggestions for improvement. For this purpose, recommendation concerning communication channels and a specific PDSA approach will be developed with some detailed descriptions of items involved in this approach which will be reviewed.In order to reach to the objectives of this thesis work, the authors will use primary data in the form of interviews, and secondary data from literatures, scientific articles, and books and WebPages. In addition, the authors will use experiment methodology within this research and provide a PDSA solution which can facilitate LLR of HB to improve the quality of its career service.

Detta examensarbete syftar till att utreda om en utvärderingsmetod som används med stor framgång inom arbetsmiljöundersökningar och utformning av arbetsplatser också kan vara till nytta vid utvärdering av produkter under utveckling. För att söka svar på frågorna ”Kan utvärderingar av produkter och prototyper med Insitumetoden bidra till effektivare produktutvecklingsprocess?” och ”Är det möjligt med Insitumetoden att få fram information/feedback som inte skulle komma fram med traditionella metoder?” har en pilotundersökning genomförts. Undersökningen har gjorts tillsammans med POC Sweden AB som är marknadsledande inom hjälmar och skyddsutrustning för brädsport och cykling. Resultatet av pilotundersökningen presenterades för POCs produktutvecklingsteam som därefter har gett sin syn på värdet av undersökningen. Först och främst kan man konstatera att vilken kundundersökning som helst är oändligt mycket bättre än ingen alls. Om inte annat för att bekräfta den bild man redan har. Svaret på den första forskningsfrågan blir jakande: Insitu-metoden kan bidra till en effektivare produktutvecklingsprocess eftersom metoden kräver extremt liten arbetsinsats av undersökningsledaren förutsatt att man har tillgång till en grupp respondenter. För att med säkerhet kunna besvara den andra forskningsfrågan rekommenderar författaren att kompletterande utvärderingar görs. / The object of this thesis is to investigate whether a specific evaluation method used in other fields such as working environment studies as well as when planning office space also could be used to help product developers and to evaluate products in development. Trying to answer questions ”Is it possible that the In-situ method makes product development process more efficient?” and ”Is it possible to gain information with the In-situ method that wouldn’t reveal itself with traditional methods?” a pilot study has been undertaken in cooperation with POC Sweden AB. POC is known to be leading the market of personal safety products for snow and wheel sports. The product development team of POC has helped by giving their opinions on the result of pilot study. First of all: Any customer evaluation is better than none at all. If only to confirm the picture you already have. The answer to the first research question is positive: The In-situ method might help making the product development process more efficient since it adds very little workload to the study management given that you have access to a group of respondents. In order to securely answer the second question the author recommends further investigations.

Syftet med denna studie är att tillämpa Kanomodellen och kundnöjdhet på området livskvalitet och på så vis också bidra med ökad kunskap om livskvalitet som område. Genom att identifiera faktorer som handlar om livstillfredsställelse hos tre (3) organisationer inom arbetarrörelsen. Detta är en kvalitativ dokumentstudie med ett induktivt angreppsätt och innehållsanalys som analysmetod. Resultatet är åtta (8) identifierade kategorier och åtta (8) underkategorier som klassificeras utifrån basbehov, uttalade behov och outtalade behov i Kanomodellen. Detta görs med hjälp av teorier avseende livskvalitet, främst objektiv och subjektiv livskvalitet. Studien visar vidare på att det finns stora likheter mellan forskningen om livskvalitet och kundnöjdhet samt likartade utmaningar i att mäta en subjektiv upplevelse och de bör kunna ta lärdomar av varandra. / The purpose of this study is to apply the Kano model of attractive quality and customer satisfaction in quality of life and thus also contribute to increase knowledge of quality of life as an area. By identifying factors about quality of life in three (3) organizations in the labor movement. This is a qualitative document study with an inductive approach and content analysis as analytical method. The result is eight (8) categories and eight (8) subcategories that are classified based on attractive, one-dimensional and must-be needs. This is done using theories of quality of life, primarily objective quality of life and subjective well-being. The study further shows that there are similarities between research on quality of life and customer satisfaction as well as similar challenges in measuring a subjective experience and they should be able to learn from each other / <p>2020-06-26</p>

Within the quality community, quality management is often pictured as and referred to as rapidly evolving and continuously learning by interaction with the surrounding world. In general, an ability to evolve and transform is also seen as most desirable and the only choice for long term survival. In line with this picture, quality scholars, consultants, and practitioners strongly accentuate the necessity and great benefits from continuous improvement as well as systematic collection and usage of facts about what customers really value, to guide such improvement. This is reflected in the exhortations “improve continuously”, “focus on the customer” and “base decisions on facts”, found with minor variations in most modern quality literature. Strong exhortations mainly directed outwards, towards the many leaders and organizations out there. Towards leaders and organizations that still have not grasped the necessity and great winnings from continuous improvement, that are still not fully applying modern quality initiatives like Total Quality Management (TQM).   However, while seemingly being busy exhorting others, doubts have been increasingly raised concerning whether TQM, as currently applied, actually lives up to these exhortations. Does TQM itself continuously improve and evolve? Is the current application of TQM really taking into account facts in the surrounding world about what customers value?   When viewing TQM as a system, as now is commonly done, the problem implied is a lack of system goal fulfillment, questioning if the current TQM system’s structure and processes are really purposeful. More specifically the critics highlight the inadequacy of the current reactive one-sided defect avoidance focus, stressing that defects do not matter much if you are making a product no one wants to buy. What can be referred to as “an obsession with error avoidance” is in fact shown to stifle both innovation and value creation.   As for what the TQM system currently is missing, the shortcoming is often referred to as a lack of focus on Attractive Quality. That is, a lack of focus on a different kind of quality elements, often described as being unrelated to the dissatisfaction expressed, but strongly contributing to the customer’s positive emotions, such as delight. The inclusion and realization of Attractive Quality has been widely emphasized as important and urgent for more than 20 years. However, a more systematic inclusion and realization within the TQM system has remained no more than merely “a vision”. A situation seemingly supporting the argument that TQM really has failed in terms of continuously evolving and improving. An inability to learn and adapt that in the long term will jeopardize the survival of the entire TQM system.   This thesis then aims to move “from a vision to reality” both in terms of exploring the realization of Aattractive Qquality within TQM, and in a wider sense towards realizing the desired state of TQM as truly evolving and alive. In doing so the thesis addresses the three questions of what, why and how the vision of a more systematic creation of Aattractive Qquality creation actually should and could be realized within the system of TQM. Among the results presented in this thesis are a new two-dimensional perspective on Attractive Quality and a re-understanding of the TQM system. The thesis also introduces a new methodology called Attraction Detection Study (ADS) as part of the concluding suggestions about how Attractive Quality could be more systematically created within the system of TQM. / Inom kvalitetsrörelsen beskrivs, och hänvisas ofta till, kvalitetsledning som ett område i snabb utveckling och ständigt lärande i interaktion med den omgivande världen. Generellt ses också en förmåga till utveckling och förändring som mycket eftersträvansvärdt och detn enda alternativetvalmöjligheten för långsiktig överlevnad. I linje med denna uppfattning betonar kvalitetsforskare, -konsulter och -praktiker nödvändigheten och vinsten med ständig förbättring och systematisk insamling och användning av fakta om vad kunder värderar för att vägleda denna förbättring. Detta återspeglas i uppmaningarna ”arbeta med ständiga förbättringar”, ”sätt kunderna i centrum” och ”basera beslut på fakta” som återfinns med mindre variationer i en stor del av den moderna kvalitetslitteraturen. Starka uppmaningar som i huvudsak är riktade utåt, mot de många ledare och organisationer som finns där ute. Mot ledare och organisationer och ledare som ännu inte har förstått nödvändigheten och den stora vinsten av ständiga förbättringar, som ännu inte fullt ut applicerar moderna kvalitetsinitiativ såsom offensiv kvalitetsledning (TQM).   Medan man förefallit upptagen med att uppmana andra, har dock alltmer tvivel väckts huruvida TQM i dagens applicerade form lever upp till dessa centrala uppmaningar. Utvecklas och förbättras TQM ständigt? Tar den nuvarande TQM strukturen verkligen hänsyn till fakta i omvärlden om vad kunder faktiskt värderar?   När man ser på TQM som ett system, som nu ofta görs, är det antydda problemet en brist i uppfyllelse av systemmål som ifrågasätter om TQM systemets nuvarande struktur och processer verkligen är ändamålsenliga. Mer specifikt lyfter kritikerna otillräckligheten i den nuvarande reaktiva och ensidiga fokuseringen på att minska defekter och betonar att defekter inte spelar någon roll om du tillverkar en produkt som ingen vill köpa. Vad som kan hänvisas till som ”en besatthet av att undvika fel” visar sig missleda både innovation och värdeskapande.   När det sedan gäller vad det nuvarande TQM systemet saknar, hänvisas ofta till en brist på fokus på Attraktiv kvalitet. Detta innebär en brist på fokus rörande en typ av kvalitetselement som ofta beskrivs som orelaterade till uttalat missnöje men starkt bidragander till kundens starka positiva känslor såsom förtjusning. En inkludering och ett förverkligande av denna Attraktiva kvalitet har nu vida betonats som angelägen under mer än 20 års tid. En mer systematisk inkludering inom TQM systemet har dock stannat vid bara ”en vision”. En situation som ger visst stöd åt påståendet att TQM har misslyckats med att leva upp till strävan mot ständig förbättring och utveckling. En oförmåga att lära och anpassa sig som i ett längre perspektiv äventyrar överlevnaden hos hela TQM systemet.   Denna avhandling syftar således till att gå ”från vision till verklighet” både i termer av att bidra till förverkligandet av Attraktiv kvalitet och i en vidare betydelse till förverkligandet av idealet av TQM som i sanning levande och i ständig utveckling. För att uppnå detta lyfter denna avhandling de tre frågorna vad, varför och hur visionen om ett mer systematiskt skapandet av Attraktiv kvalitet skall och kan förverkligas inom TQM systemet.   Bland resultaten som presenteras i denna avhandling ingår ett nytt tvådimensionellt perspektiv på Attraktiv kvalitet och en ny förståelse och konceptualisering av TQM systemet. Avhandlingen introducerar även ett nytt arbetssätt kallat ”Attraction Detection Study” (ADS) som en del av förslagen till hur Attraktiv kvalitet mer systematiskt kan realiseras inom TQM systemet.

In a fast-changing retail environment, including hard competition and demanding consumers, the customer experience of the purchasing service is crucial to gain a competitive advantage. Since consumers are to some extent moving from offline to online, and from desktop shopping to purchasing clothing in a mobile application, there is a need for investigating consumers expectations of their experience of a mobile application. The existing and performance of attributes and functions determines the satisfaction of the user experience, which is why it is reasonable to investigate expectations concerning attributes. The finding and classification of quality attributes in mobile applications in the fashion industry was the main goal of this thesis. Attributes were found using a qualitative study including 16 interviews, where respondents field tested already existing applications. The reasonability to further investigate these attributes was confirmed by a literature research. After finding 35 relevant attributes, these were investigated and analysed using the Theory of Attractive Quality and a 5-level Kano questionnaire. The analysis was conducted using the Theory of Attractive Quality, classifying attributes according to the Kano chart of evaluation. Further, each attribute was analysed using tools such as better/worse diagrams and self-stated importance values. The classification results from the questionnaire were that “Choose product size” was categorised as Must-Be, “Loading speed” as One-Dimensional, eight quality attributes were combinations of classifications, and 25 were classified as Indifferent. A number of 510 respondents answered the questionnaire. The classification of attributes implies that customers are rather indifferent to attributes during their shopping experience. However, further analysis concludes that even though many attributes are classified as Indifferent, many attributes need to be considered, according to the better/worse values and diagrams, which are useful regarding resource allocation. According to the classification and better/worse diagrams, one can distinguish a difference between genders: male respondents proved to be more indifferent to their shopping experience than females. Analysis of the data also shows a difference between age groups. The two youngest age groups including respondents born in 1990-1994 and 1995-2000, had higher better and worse values, implying that younger people expect more from their shopping user experience. Conclusively, this report resulted in an overview of consumers’ expectations regarding their experience when shopping in a fashion mobile application. The Theory of Attractive Quality is a useful method when measuring perceived and expected quality; however, each investigative occasion demands different method setup, adjusting for specific attribute types, as well as business. Some improvements can be made regarding the Theory of Attractive Quality, increasing the chances of a better result.

To an ever greater extent, customers desire experiences that are highly emotional, personally designed and memorable. Today’s customer has an increasing need to be entertained and often searches for pleasurable offerings of hedonic value. Many academics also argue that commercial experiences deliver a higher customer value than goods and services. More research regarding the character of the commercial experience is needed to understand the needs of the customer and what creates value to the customer. However the existing tools and methods for measuring customer value and customer satisfaction seldom contain the elements pointed out as important to customers in a commercial experience. Is it enough to focus on values, methods and tools developed within for instance Total Quality Management (TQM) or is there a need for further development to include the offering of a commercial experience?  The overall purpose of this thesis has been to explore the field of commercial experiences and establish new knowledge on how customer value is created when delivering commercial experiences. Within the overall purpose the research also intended to contribute to the area of quality development. In order to fulfill the overall purpose three research questions were asked and three case studies and one validation study were conducted. In the first case study, focus was on exploring the commercial experience sector and searching for best practices as regards how to create value to the customer. One organization was studied and empirical data was collected by site visit, direct observation, participant observation, open seminars, follow-up interview questions and documentation. In the second case study the aim was on how organizations were working to create customer value in commercial experiences. Empirical data was collected at eight organizations where top managers were interviewed. In the third study the aim was to develop a method or tool to measure customer value in a commercial experience. A validation study and a case study were conducted. In the validation study a questionnaire was developed as a measuring tool for commercial experiences and later tested on customers in the third and last case study.  The findings in the three case studies presented in this thesis contribute to expanding earlier research concerning commercial experiences and how customer value is created when delivering them. From the findings of research the commercial experience is defined as “a memorable event that the customer is willing to pay for” and identified as a unique business offering providing hedonic customer value. Further the findings describe the commercial experience by three vital factors: strong engagement, highly emotional and being memorable. To additionally describe the characterizing elements of the commercial experience, the research identified these factors as important to customers: having fun, novelty, surprise, learning, a challenge, co-creation, the unexpected, storytelling, being in control, the venue for the experience (or the room of the experience), personal contact with staff and emotions creating strong engagement. Using the theory of attractive quality by Kano is suggested as one way to recognize elements of high customer value and to identify and deliver the unexpected, novelty and surprise the customers.  Further findings of the research revealed that existing tools and methods developed for measuring customer value and satisfaction do not sufficiently consider or measure the effect of customer emotions or the characterizing elements of the commercial experience. As a consequence, a questionnaire was developed and tested to identify and measure elements of value to customers in a commercial experience. From the results, a new instrument for measuring variables of value in a commercial experience is proposed. One of the conclusions is that a specific tool for measuring customer value in commercial experiences is both required and needed. It was also concluded that there is a shortage of well-known and applied methods for measuring customer value in commercial experiences and that further research of this area is needed.  The research presented in this thesis also proves that successful organizations delivering commercial experiences have a strong organizational culture built on core values. The conclusion was that working according to the core values of TQM is also a successful approach for these organizations, even though this does not seem to be enough. The characterizing element “co-creating” the experience between the customer and the provider was identified as a vital factor of business success. Giving the customer the power to affect the outcome within certain limitations and an opportunity to enhance the customer value meant that the experience becomes more personal and delivers a higher customer value than other offerings. Further identified ways of working to enhance customer value in the offering were: to recruit and select co-workers not only on competence and skills but also based on the core values; to stimulate creative thinking among co-workers and to further enhance the offering with storytelling and theming. These ways of working were categorized as specific and more unique or necessary in the experience industry and can therefore be vital in the competition between different organizations to deliver superior customer value. / I en allt större utsträckning letar kunder efter att konsumera upplevelser som berör på ett emotionellt plan, är personligt utformade och minnesvärda. Dagens kunder har ett växande behov av att underhållas och letar allt oftare efter erbjudanden enbart för nöjes skull. Flera forskare är överens om att kommersiella upplevelser handlar om att leverera ett högre kundvärde än för varor och tjänster. Det behövs mer forskning kring vad en kommersiell upplevelse innehåller för viktiga egenskaper som skapar värde för kunden samt att öka förståelsen kring kundens behov. De befintliga metoder och verktyg för att mäta kundvärde och kundnöjdhet innehåller få av de egenskaper som utpekas som vitala för en kommersiell upplevelse. Räcker det att arbeta med de värderingar, metoder och verktyg som utvecklats inom till exempel offensiv kvalitetsutveckling (TQM) eller behövs det ytterligare utveckling för att även inkludera den kommersiella upplevelsen?  Det övergripande syftet med den här avhandlingen har varit att utforska området av kommersiella upplevelser och öka kunskapen kring hur kundvärde skapas när en kommersiell upplevelse levereras. Inom ramen för det övergripande syftet fanns även ett fokus att forskningen skulle bidra till ämnesområdet kvalitetsutveckling. För att uppfylla det övergripande syftet har tre forskningsfrågor ställts och tre fallstudier och en valideringsstudie genomförts. I den första fallstudien var syftet att utforska området av kommersiella upplevelser, inhämta kunskap och leta efter goda exempel för att skapa förståelse för hur kundvärde skapas inom kommersiella upplevelser. En utvald organisation studerades och besöktes. Empirisk data insamlades genom flera olika datakällor såsom direkt observation, deltagande observation, insamling av dokument, öppna seminarier och uppföljande intervjufrågor. I den andra fallstudien var syftet att studera hur organisationer arbetar med att skapa kundvärde i en kommersiell upplevelse. Den empiriska datainsamlingen insamlades via intervjuer med högsta ledningen i åtta olika organisationer. I den tredje och sista studien var syftet att utveckla ett sätt att mäta kundvärdet i en kommersiell upplevelse. Studien delades in i två delar, en valideringsstudie för att utveckla ett sätt att mäta och en fallstudie där mätverktyget testades bland kunder i en kommersiell upplevelse. Resultatet av de tre fallstudierna som presenteras i avhandlingen bidrar till en vidareutveckling av tidigare forskning om kommersiella upplevelser och hur kundvärde skapas när en kommersiell upplevelse levereras. Som ett resultat av forskningen definieras en kommersiell upplevelse som “en minnesvärd händelse som kunden är beredd att betala för” och identifieras som ett unikt erbjudande som innehåller ett hedoniskt kundvärde. Vidare visar forskningsresultaten på att den kommersiella upplevelsen utgörs av tre viktiga faktorer för kunden såsom att vara djupt engagerande, starkt känslomässigt berörande och minnesvärd. För att ytterligare beskriva upplevelsens karaktärsdrag har ett flertal egenskaper identifierats som ett resultat av fallstudie tre. En användning av Kanos teorier om attraktiv kvalitet föreslås som ett sätt att fortsätta arbetet med att identifiera egenskaper som dels kan skapa ett högre kundvärde men också för att kunna överraska, leverera något nytt och ge kunden det oväntade som ofta efterfrågas. Forskningsresultaten påvisar en brist bland befintliga mätverktyg och metoder för kundvärde och kundnöjdhet att mäta effekten av ett känslomässigt värde och de övriga egenskaper som utpekas viktiga för kommersiella upplevelser. Som en följd av det utvecklas en enkät för att identifiera och mäta viktiga egenskaper av värde för kunden i en kommersiell upplevelse. Från resultaten föreslås ett nytt mätinstrument för att mäta värdefulla egenskaper i en kommersiell upplevelse. En av slutsatserna är att mätverktyg specifikt utvecklade för att mäta kundvärdet i kommersiella upplevelser behövs. Erkända och tillämpade metoder för att mäta kundvärdet i en kommersiell upplevelse identifieras som en brist och mer forskning behövs inom området. Forskningen i avhandlingen visar att framgångsrika organisationer som levererar kommersiella upplevelser har en stark organisationskultur som bygger på värderingar. En av slutsatserna var att arbeta enligt kärnvärderingarna inom offensiv kvalitetsutveckling är en framgångsrik metod, även för organisationer som erbjuder kommersiella upplevelser. Men det verkar inte vara tillräckligt. En annan viktig framgångsfaktor som identifieras är att samskapa (co-create) upplevelsen mellan kund och leverantör. Det ger kunden möjligheten att påverka resultatet av upplevelsen inom vissa begränsningar och därmed en chans att förstärka kundvärdet, bli mer personlig och leverera ett högre kundvärde än andra erbjudanden. Vidare identifierade arbetssätt för att öka kundvärdet i erbjudandet var: rekrytera och välj medarbetare baserat på kompetens, färdigheter och värderingar; stimulera kreativt tänkande bland medarbetare; samt förstärk erbjudandet genom användningen av storytelling och tematisering. Dessa arbetssätt kategoriseras som specifika och mer unika eller nödvändiga inom upplevelseindustrin och kan vara avgörande i konkurrensen mellan olika organisationer för att leverera ett högre kundvärde.

Sustainability issues have become increasingly high-profile and important in recent decades. In addition, quality issues have come to play a central role in corporate marketing, strategy and management. The word quality can be defined differently in different contexts. This paper focuses on the concept of quality, based on the Total Quality Management perspective, which in Swedish has come to be known as Offensiv kvalitetsutveckling. Offensiv kvalitetsutveckling has been described as a theoretical framework in which an organization continually strives to meet and preferably exceed customer needs and expectations at the lowest cost through continuous improvement, and in which all members of the organization are committed and focused on the organisation's processes. The purpose of this study was twofold. First, to clarify the applicability of the theoretical model Offensiv kvalitetsutveckling as a theoretical explanatory model. Second, to explore how Max Hamburgerrestauranger AB performs according to the values in Offensiv kvalitetsutveckling. A multiple case study was conducted in order to explore these topics. The results showed that Max Hamburgerrestauranger AB is working in a dedicated and value-driven manner, aligned with the values ​​that form the basis for Offensiv kvalitetsutveckling. The results also showed that the model for Offensiv kvalitetsutveckling could serve well as a theoretical explanatory model, but that the model would benefit from being developed, enriched or integrated with other models. This is true, particularly if the aim is to study organisations that emphasize social responsibility. / Hållbarhetsfrågorna har blivit allt mer uppmärksammade och viktiga under de senaste decennierna och kvalitetsfrågorna har även kommit att få en central roll i företagens marknadsföring, strategi och ledning. Ordet kvalitet kan definieras på olika sätt. Uppsatsen fokuserar på kvalitetsbegreppet utifrån Total Quality Management perspektivet, som på svenska har kommit att benämnas Offensiv kvalitetsutveckling. Den Offensiva kvalitetsutvecklingen, som teoretisk referensram, innebär i korthet att en organisation ständigt strävar efter att uppfylla och helst överträffa kundernas behov och förväntningar till lägsta kostnad genom ett kontinuerligt förbättringsarbete där alla är engagerade och som har fokus på organisationens processer. Syftet med denna uppsats är att redogöra för tillämpligheten av Offensiv kvalitetsutveckling som teoretisk förklaringsmodell och att undersöka hur Max Hamburgerrestauranger AB arbetar enligt värderingarna i Offensiv kvalitetsutveckling. En flerfallsstudie genomfördes i syfte att finna svar. Resultatet visade att Max Hamburgerrestauranger AB arbetar på ett dedikerat och värderingsstyrt sätt, väl i linje med de värderingar som utgör grunden för Offensiv kvalitetsutveckling. Uppsatsen visade även på att Offensiv kvalitetsutveckling fungerar som teoretisk förklaringsmodell men att den kan utvecklas eller kompletteras med andra modeller om syftet är att studera verksamheter som betonar sitt sociala ansvar.

Tidigare forskning visar att medarbetarengagemang är viktigt för att nå framgång i kvalitets- och förbättringsarbete. Vikten av ett högre syfte lyfts som en stark drivkraft för att uppnå förändring och resultat. Dessutom skapar tillfredsställelse av behov på högre nivå positiva känslor vilket bidrar till medarbetarengagemang och självbestämmande på arbetsplatsen. Syftet med studien är att bidra med ökad kunskap kring medarbetares engagemang i kvalitetsarbete, genom att undersöka vilken roll ett högre syfte och attraktiv kvalitet spelar. En kvalitativ fallstudie genomfördes vid en kommunal verksamhet som mottagit en kvalitetsutmärkelse för sitt systematiska kvalitetsarbete. En omfattande litteraturstudie genomfördes och därefter skedde datainsamling genom intervjumetoden Appreciative Inquiry samt studie av organisationens dokument och riktlinjer avseende deras kvalitetsarbete. Resultatet visar att det i den studerade organisationen finns ett högre syfte som handlar om värdeskapande åt verksamhetens klienter. Det högre syftet anses vara en av de viktiga egenskaper som gör förbättringsarbetet attraktivt och främjar engagemang och delaktighet hos medarbetare i den studerade verksamheten. Dessutom präglar det ledarskapet och bidrar till en öppen och tillåtande kultur. Studien visar även att fenomenet attraktiv kvalitet spelar en bidragande roll i arbetet med ständiga förbättringar då det förstärker medarbetarengagemang och främjar aktivt deltagande. Följande områden identifieras som skapare av positiva känslor och leder till att förbättringsarbetet blir intressant och extra roligt; ett högre syfte, ett engagerat ledarskap samt en öppen och tillåtande kultur. Analysen visar att fenomenen har både likheter och olikheter samt till viss mån även överlappar varandra. Relationen mellan ett högre syfte och attraktiv kvalitet är ny kunskap och bedöms ge ny inriktning till framtida studier. Dessutom är studiens resultat ett viktigt bidrag till verksamheter som önskar stärka sitt medarbetarengagemang i kvalitetsarbete. / According to previous research, employee commitment is assigned a great importance in achieving successful quality management. The importance of a higher purpose is highlighted as a strong driving force to achieve change and result. Furthermore, satisfaction of needs at a higher level creates positive emotions which contributes to enhancing employee engagement and empowerment in the workplace. The purpose of the study is to contribute with increased knowledge about employees' commitment in quality work by examining the role a higher purpose and attractive quality play to promote and strengthen employees' motivation and commitment. A qualitative case study approach has been executed on a municipal operation that received a quality award for its systematic quality work. An extensive literature study was carried out and then the data collection took place through the Appreciative Inquiry interview method as well as a study of the organization's documents, guidelines and code of conduct for quality management.    The thesis findings reveal that there is a higher purpose in the studied organization that deals with value creation for the organization's customers. The higher purpose is considered to be one of the important factors that makes quality work attractive and promotes commitment and participation among employees. In addition, it is reflected in the leadership and contributes to an open and permissive culture. The study also shows that the phenomenon of attractive quality plays a contributing role in the work of continuous improvement as it strengthens employee commitment and promotes active participation. The following areas have been identified as creators of positive feelings that increase the interest in quality work among employees; a higher purpose, committed leadership and an open and permissive culture. Analysis shows that the phenomena have both similarities and differences and to some extent they also overlap. The relationship between a higher purpose and attractive quality is new knowledge which gives a new orientation to future studies. In addition, the results of the study are an important contribution to organizations that wish to strengthen their employee commitment in quality work.