This project investigates the role of the built environment in securing our practical and social needs. This is done based on research in the context of Cairo, Egypt. Banati foundation is an organisation established in 2010 which works on the rehabilitation and social reintegration of children in street situations in Cairo. This project takes Banati Foundation as its case study, offering architectural solutions to its process of social and psychological rehabilitation.This project required thorough research methodologies including primary fieldwork such as interviews and site visits, making it a project of co-creation. In building up the programme, the architect’s role was transformed to the additional role of a mediator, gathering information, exposing opportunities and assembling ideas.Banati foundation have existing tangible and intangible infrastructures with different levels of care to offer children a smooth transition into a rehabilitated safe, secure and comfortable life. My project aims to complete the cycle by investigating what being part of the Banati family means, and how Banati’s principles and objectives can extend beyond their institutional care, namely: how can young women moving out of Banati’s home transition smoothly out of their care, while maintaining Banatis role as a forever family?With a careful consideration of the social dimension of architecture, this project hopes to facilitate the final stage of care offered to the young women leaving the foundation upon reaching adulthood. The masterplan tackles questions of how to carve an easier path out of Banati’s care and into society for Banati’s graduates through socially aware architecture.

This study is rooted in the Service Dominant Logic (SDL) theory and explores the phenomenon of value co-destruction, the context being chatbot-mediated customer service, with a focusing on chatbots affiliation with value-co-destruction and on the impacts outsideof the dyadic relationship between the service provider and receiver, described as the broader consumer ecosystem. It is evident that the relationship between businesses and consumers is being revolutionized through the implementation of chatbots, claiming benefits such as improved operational efficiency, and non-time specific service. However, Plé (2017) argues that SDL research is overly focused on value co-creation and not enough on value codestruction, as well as being too narrowly focused on specific factors, therefore more studies are needed in exploring the effects on the broader ecosystem involved. Therefore, this study aims to explore the value co-destruction and its effects on the broader consumer ecosystem. The research was conducted using a qualitative method, through an interpretivist research philosophy to collect data in the form of the subjective and personal experiences of customers. It also utilized an abductive approach to allow for the generation of new insights through combining established knowledge, empirical evidence, and theory to formulate a proposition and interpretation beyond what is initially apparent. Through semi-structured interviews, 9 participants with prior experiences of customer service orientated interactions with chatbots across various industries were conducted. To analyze the data, a thematic analysis was employed where the findings indicate that in chatbot interactions which result in value co-destruction the effects affect a broader number of stakeholders in the consumer ecosystem such as family and friends.

The initial idea for this research is based on the gap that I found in my company performance and specifically in the process of value offering and the relationship with customers. The company has recently faced the challenges of a loss of market share and competitive advantage. The aim of this study is to provide a validated value offering constructs for the company. That is, knowing the customers’ needs, value and preferences better; identifying what kind of value the customers are looking for and improving the value offerings of the company in order to raise customers´ satisfaction. Understanding the priority of value offering elements from customers’ perspective, the nature of customer satisfaction and the relationship between the elements of value offering and customers´ satisfaction are the main objectives. The relevant literature and research related to value offering including its elements, value, perceived value and customer satisfaction are reviewed comprehensively. The methodology used is a case study. Both quantitative and qualitative methods are used for collecting and analysing the data. In qualitative phase, 16 customers were selected for in-depth interviews and for quantitative phase 268 customers who all are dentists responded a survey made up of 24 scales. The result showed that the highest significant element is Price value and also it was revealed in which important parts related to value offering and customer satisfaction the company is performing poorly.

Swedish micro-businesses are encouraged by the government to internationalise and participate in entrepreneurial ecosystems. Yet research on how they should be supported while doing so is thin. Current research on entrepreneurial ecosystems shows that value co-creation breads sustainability, and increased attention is given to intermediary organisations. While scholars stress aligned expectations as key to value co-creation, intermediaries today are basing their actions on what they think businesses need and expect. This study challenges that logic. This study focused on the entrepreneurial ecosystem of New York, specifically looking at Swedish technology startups, intermediaries and investors. Trough semi-structured interviews the study sought to understand how congruent startups’ and intermediaries’ perceptions of challenges during business establishment in NYC are, and also, how they could be aligned. The study employed the framework of Gioia et al. (2012) when distilling challenges from the interviews. The results show congruence in some identified challenges, with a key difference in their temporal approaches. The intermediaries primarily focused on instrumental challenges and initial barriers-to-entry, while the startups (and investors) in higher regard focused on open-ended challenges related to relationships and legitimacy. This was considered proof of intermediaries employing an outdated theoretical perspective on their role as an instrumental broker. The study thus concluded by suggesting an alternative perspective, emphasizing dynamic and situation-based support. / Svenska mikro-företag uppmanas av regeringen att internationalisera tidigt och delta i entreprenöriella ekosystem. Mängden forskning på hur de bäst bör stödjas i detta är dock blygsam. Samtida studier på entrepreöriella ekosystem visar hur kollektivt värdeskapande (eng: value co-creation) föder långsiktig hållbarhet, och uppmärksamhet riktas allt mer åt intermediära organisationer. Även om forskare menar att kongruenta förväntningar är en nyckel till kollektivt värdeskapande baserar intermediärer idag ofta sina handlingar och stöd på vad de tror att företag behöver och förväntar sig. Denna studie utmanar den logiken. Studien fokuserade på New Yorks entreprenöriella ekosystem och undersökte svenska högteknologiska startupbolag, intermediärer och investerare. Genom semi-strukturerade intervjuer sökte studien lära hur kongruenta startups och intermediärer är i sina uppfattningar av utmaningar vid företagsetablering i New York, samt hur dessa kan göras mer samstämmiga för att föda långsiktigt hållbara stödfunktioner Studien nyttjade ett ramverk av Gioia et al. (2012) i destillationen av utmaningar från intervjuerna. Resultaten visar kongruens i vissa identifierade utmaningar, med en tongivande skillnad i dess tidsmässiga förhållningssätt. Intermedärerna fokuserade primärt på instrumentella utmaningar och initiala inträdesbarriärer, medan startups (och investerare) i högre utsträckning fokuserade på mindre tidsbegränsade utmaningar som t.ex. relationer och legitimitet. Detta ansågs vara bevis på hur intermediärer brukar ett daterat teoretiskt perspektiv på sin egen roll som instrumentella mäklare. Studien sammanfattade därför slutligen att ett nytt, mer dynamiskt och situationsbaserat perspektiv på intermediärer och stöd bör välkomnas.

In this thesis I explore how design makes and unmakes citizenship through a collaborative independent project together with design student Théo Löfgren. I start out by looking at how the Swedish administrative levels of governance unmake citizenship by designing the Swedish citizens into customers. This has consequences since costumers have no obligations towards the collective, thus affecting sustainability on all levels (social, cultural, economical and ecological). Through my collaborative independent project I wanted to use design to critique that citizens are being designed into customers, as well as to create a design that promotes a citizenship of rights and obligations by co-creation. The result is a prototype of an interactive space called the Citizen Lab in which we (me and Théo Löfgren) use provotypes to create a discussion about the ‘customer citizen’ and the approach of participatory design to engage citizens in co-creation. The Citizen Lab was staged at the city library of Malmö (‘Malmö Stadsbibliotek’). In collaboration with the library and The Enforcement Authority (‘Kronofogden’) participants of the lab got to speculate about the future connected to problems and possibilities suggested by the collaborators. In the end the Citizen Lab proved to be a space in which participants could engage in co-creation as well as a place for us to try out our design and methods which were iterated on during the staging.

Digitalisering har gjort att många företag behövt anpassa sin verksamhet mot utvecklingen på marknaden. Plattformar, i form av digitala mellanhänder, har i sin tur tagit ett större spelrum genom att erbjuda företag fördelar som bredare kundbas och ökad synlighet för att bli del av deras nätverk. I samband med Covid-19 var restaurangbranschen en av de yrkesgrupper som blev hårdast drabbade, vilket resulterade i att många restauranger valde att ansluta sig till digitala mellanhänder som Foodora, Wolt och Uber Eats för att hålla sina verksamheter vid liv. Som en uppföljning av den ökande användningen undersökte studien hur digitala mellanhänder kan påverka anslutna restauranger i processen för värdeskapande och kundengagemang. Detta då interaktioner med kunder minskar i samband med användningen. Studien genomfördes i form av en fallstudie, där intervjuer utfördes på anställda från en ansluten restaurang samt en anställd från en digital mellanhand för att jämföra upplevelserna. Resultaten visade på att kundengagemang och värdeskapande inom restaurangbranschen kan förekomma vid användning av digitala mellanhänder, men att det främst sker genom återköp och inte via social interaktioner. Restaurangerna kan med andra ord, allt annat lika, bibehålla sin försäljning genom digitala köp. Dock förlorar de värdet som sociala interaktioner kan ge i form av feedback eller rekommendationer till nya kunder.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to advance the knowledge on value co-creation in new product development (NPD) in the context of slow fashion, with specific emphasis on investigating the interest of slow fashion consumers to engage in the NPD process and brands' perspective regarding this. Via exploring the value co-creation phenomena in the slow fashion industry context, this study also intends to apply and discuss the suitability of currently available value co-creation theories for the slow fashion context. Methodology: This research employed an explanatory design with an deductive approach. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods were applied using a self-administered online questionnaire for slow fashion consumers and semi structured interviews with two slow fashion companies. The questionnaire and interview questions were designed according to the subjects that emerged from a theoretical background constructed for the study. Findings: The consumers of slow fashion indicated a large interest for participation in value co-creation (VCC) activities in new product development (NPD), however on a low level of customer empowerment, mainly just giving suggestions and voting on design ideas by the brand. This wasn’t much affected by the customer typology or perceived relationship to the brand, however, the internalised extrinsic motivation lifted the contribution interest slightly. The two interviewed companies indicated to be interested to empower the customers to the same extent as the customers were mainly willing to. The companies saw the possibility to cater better for the customer needs as the main benefit, however, simultaneously they were concerned of the customers’ awareness regarding the garment quality factors or the lead times of the industry. Practical implications: The paper presents the current interest of the slow fashion consumers to participate in in VCC in NPD revealing their customer typology and perceived relationship to a brand as well as their motivations and barriers, which can be utilised by slow fashion brands when considering implementation of VCC in NPD. Originality/Value: The study represents an unexplored area of VCC in NPD research expanding knowledge by investigating the interest of slow fashion consumers to engage in the NPD process and the brands' perspective regarding this.

Existing literature about digitalization and business transformation in the manufacturing industry has mainly focused on understanding the supplier´s internal transformation of processes, the development of key capabilities, the relationship between suppliers and customers to co-create value and the transformation from product providers to service providers. The digitalization in essence is a new topic within this industry, then there is scant regard for how digitalization has transformed the perception of value from customers’ perspective in the energy industry. The understanding of value perception from customers perspective is relevant due to the growth and development of servitization as well as challenges regarding slow adoption of digital solutions in this industry.

The demand for increased efficiency and patient-centered care has been influencing the development of healthcare in Sweden, and information technology has an important role in that process. Developing and implementing systems for public healthcare have proven to be a great challenge. One way to address this challenge is open innovation and co-creation. While there are a lot of studies focusing on innovation processes, there is little research regarding how technology is presented in the results. We have studied a co-creational workshop that focused on putting new perspectives on the use of information technology in healthcare. The workshop resulted in eight concepts which have been analyzed in terms of how technology is expressed. The results were categorized into implicit and explicit use of technology and this categorization indicates that the implicit use of technology is of the bricolage kind. By being both implicit and bricolage-like, the concepts hold qualities that make them more likely to be integrated into existing workplaces.

京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(経済学) / 甲第24867号 / 経博第674号 / 新制||経||304(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院経済学研究科経済学専攻 / (主査)教授 原 良憲, 教授 山田 仁一郎, 准教授 WANG Tao / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Economics / Kyoto University / DGAM