Leadership style affects the workforce and is one of many vital elements in business operations. Prior research suggests that leadership style can affect production outcomes and employee turnover ratios, yet scant evidence suggests the effect of leadership style on business thinking. This qualitative grounded theory study investigated the extent to which a leadership style known as LMX theory drives business thinking. The information gained from this study, including the effect on business thinking, may enhance how companies coach their leaders to interact with subordinates and improve production outcomes. Participants came from either private and public-sector companies or agencies. The sample consisted of 26 participants who were asked about their supervisor's leadership style and its effect on their business thinking. Business thinking for this study was thinking derived from business processes, meetings, and interactions between subordinates and managers. Constant comparison allowed for the development of codes about employee attitude and leadership. What emerged was a grounded theory, suggesting that leadership style can challenge business thinking, specifically, that leadership style may trigger subordinates to change their business thinking when exposed to adverse direction. Divergent responses showed that collaborative leaders had subordinates who were progressive and interactive due to nonjudgmental focus. Positive social change can occur from this study through its use by public and private sector supervisors. Supervisors can incorporate the use of leadership style to develop improved business thinking among employee populations.

Creating and communicating the business value of design is a complex task. This case study set out to bridge the fields of business and design by investigating how design consultants can communicate the value of design to their clients. More specifically, the study investigates (1) how desirability can be linked to viability by using Strategy Maps and Conditional Statements, (2) how to quantify design output by calculating Return on Investment of Retention and (3) how to verbally and visually communicate design through relevant terminology and communication techniques. To do this, a Business Thinking approach was applied. A first research phase consisting of 12 interviews were conducted, focusing on understanding the work environment of design consultants at the digital consultancy firm Futurice and how they collaborate with their current project clients. The results were used as a blueprint for the second research phase, consisting of one-on-one co-creation workshop sessions between design consultants and their current clients. The sessions were evaluated in Business Thinking experiments and interviews. Physical co-creation canvases were implemented and used in the workshops. The experiments demonstrate that tools and methods inherited from Business Design and Business Thinking can be integrated without disrupting the existing DesignOps at Futurice. Further, the results indicate that the Business Thinking approach can be applied both to the design process of individual design consultants and into DesignOps management, which encourages application beyond the case of Futurice. To what extent is profoundly dependent on the design maturity of the individual designer and the organization. This is assessed and discussed based on the Design Ladder. / Att skapa och kommunicera affärsvärdet av design är en komplex uppgift. Denna fallstudie syftar till att sammanlänka områdena affärsutveckling och design genom att undersöka hur designkonsulter kan kommunicera affärsvärdet av design till sina kunder. Mer specifikt undersöker studien (1) hur önskvärdhet kan kopplas till genomförbarhet genom att använda Strategy Maps och Conditional Statements, (2) hur man kan kvantifiera design-output genom att beräkna Return on Investment of Retention och (3) hur man verbalt och visuellt kan kommunicera design genom relevant terminologi och kommunikationstekniker. För att genomföra detta tillämpades ett tillvägagångssätt baserat på Business Thinking. En första forskningsfas bestående av 12 intervjuer genomfördes med fokus på att förstå arbetsmiljön för designkonsulter på det digitala konsultföretaget Futurice och hur de samarbetar med sina nuvarande kunder. Resultaten användes som ett underlag för den andra forskningsfasen, bestående av one-on-one workshop-sessioner mellan designkonsulter och deras nuvarande kunder. Sessionerna utvärderades i experiment och intervjuer baserade på metodik från Business Thinking. Fysiska a co-creation kanvaser implementerades och användes i samtliga workshops. De utförda experimenten visar att verktyg och metoder baserade på Business Design och Business Thinking kan integreras utan att störa befintliga design operationer (DesignOps) på Futurice. Resultaten indikerar även att Business Thinking-strategier kan tillämpas både vid designprocessen för individuella designkonsulter och vid DesignOps inom en organisation, vilket även uppmuntrar till tillämpning utanför Futurice. I vilken utsträckning detta kan göras beror på mognadsgraden för design, både för individuella designers och för organisationer. Detta bedöms och diskuteras baserat på metoden Design Ladder.