Over the past few years, the Swedish Armed Forces (SAF) in similarity with forces inmany other countries has been undergoing a major process of change. One of the majorreforms is the government‘s decision to replace the compulsory military service with aprofessional army. In order to manage this, SAF requires tools to evaluate the long-termconsequences of different decisions regarding its manpower, such as different recruitment,training and educations policies, mission rehearsal, mission planning, and etc.These tools should, for instance, include information about different type of resourcessuch as weapon systems and materials required for conducting training and missions, asthey directly affect planning of courses, training sessions, etc. These resources have a totallife cycle cost that besides the acquisition cost includes maintenance costs, cost forspare parts and cost of human resources which are required for training and deploymentof the resource.This thesis has been performed in collaboration with FOI (Swedish Defence ResearchAgency) in order to support development of a decision support simulation tool for assistingin the personnel planning process of the SAF. The main objective is to determinethe connection between LCC (Life cycle cost) of personnel and LCC of system Hence,the study facilitates flow of information between the Human Resource Department atSAF and the Defence Material Administration (FMV) in order to base their decisionmaking process on more accurate and complete information about resource costs relatedto different activities that are important to both organizations.In this paper, the inductive approach is the chosen approach as appropriate theories arestudied and used for making hypothesis in order to create a new model. Consequentlythe interpretive approach is deployed as it is associated with this reasoning style. Furthermore,the research purpose is exploratory as it is essential to identify the resourcescost factors and the relations between them.The research strategy is case study and the utilized technique for collecting primary datais interview. The secondary data is gathered by studying hard or digital copy of books,articles, journals, handbooks and dictionaries.Hence, through a set of interviews, information about different activities regarding theeducation and operation phases of the fighter pilots at the Swedish Air Force has beencollected. As a result a corresponding model consisting of resources employed in thoseiiactivities and their relation has been developed. The model is based on the Unified EnterpriseCompetence Modelling Language (UECML).The contributions of this thesis are (1) Identification of the cost factors of personnelrelatedactivities including courses, training sessions and missions, 2) Classification ofcost factor elements in a number of classes, and 3) Illustrating the connections betweenthe classes using UECML.

One of the dilemmas that information systems (IS) decision-makers encounter is the identification of the often hidden costs associated with IS adoption, particularly since most of them are reported to be external to the traditional IS budget. The review of the IS literature has identified that much effort to date has focused on the identification and measurement of direct costs, and that much less attention has been paid to indirect costs. One of the main problems reported in the literature associated with looking at indirect costs is that they are intangible and difficult to quantify, and there is evidence suggesting that these indirect costs are rarely completely budgeted for, and thus deserve a much closer consideration by decision-makers. This research investigates this view, arguing that one element of indirect costs, that is, indirect human costs (lRCs), is underestimated and little understood. The author argues that it is not possible to estimate or evaluate IHCs without first identifying all their components, yet there is an absence of models that show how such costs are allocated for IS adoption. This underpins the necessity of the present research. Proposed here is a framework of nine sequential phases for accommodating indirect human costs. In addition to this, 1) three conjectures, 2) cost taxonomy and 3) an interrelationship-mapping cost driver model of IRCs, are proposed based on the literature analysis and underpinning the conceptual phases of the framework. To test the conjectures and validate the models proposed, a case research strategy using case settings were carried out in the private sector. Empirical findings validates the models proposed and reveal that indirect human costs are perceived as costs associated with IS adoption, nevertheless not included in the evaluation process or investment proposals. However, during the empirical research, new cost factors and drivers emerged, which resulted in modifications being made to the previously proposed conceptual models. In doing so, it provides investment decision-makers with novel frames of reference and an extensive list of IRCs that can be used during both the IS budget proposals and the evaluation process of the IS investment.

Historically, transportation asset management has focused on roadways and bridges, but more recently, many agencies are looking to extend their programs to ancillary assets such as traffic signs and guardrails. This thesis investigates the state of practice of managing these assets in order to assess the data and system needs for successful program implementation, and further reviews the opportunities for making a business case for formal management procedures based on quantified benefits of managing ancillary assets. The asset classes, selected from a review of asset management literature, include culverts, earth retaining structures, guardrails, mitigation features, pavement markings, sidewalks and curbs, street lights, traffic signals, traffic signs and utilities and manholes, with data as an information asset. Findings from a literature review showed that a number of agencies have made substantial efforts to manage their ancillary transportation assets; however, methods and practices vary. Specific state and municipal agencies identified from the literature review were surveyed for further details on their practices. The survey results show significant knowledge gaps in data collection cost estimates, and cost savings from the implementation of a transportation asset management program for ancillary assets. Finally, this work evaluates the opportunities to quantify the benefits of ancillary transportation asset management, indicating several challenges due to a lack of the data needed. The results obtained highlight the current state of practice, revealing opportunities and challenges for improving the management of ancillary transportation assets.

Background: A growing reshoring trend has recently been discovered, when companies bring back their manufacturing to the domestic country. Reshoring has received more public attention recently and the interest in reshoring strategies is growing. The knowledge about the reshoring decision is however limited and there is not a great deal of research addressing this. The knowledge about how companies have performed their cost analysis is limited as well as the risk assessments behind the reshoring decision. Hence, there is a knowledge gap regarding what cost and risk factors that are critical to consider in a reshoring decision. Purpose: The purpose of this master's thesis is to identify critical cost and risk factors to consider in a reshoring decision within Swedish companies. Method: The research design includes a literature review to identify what cost and risk factors that already have been stated. A literature review was essential in order to demonstrate current knowledge in the field. The search included four databases involving several search terms. Since the purpose is to gain a deeper understanding about the phenomenon and to investigate in depth within a real-life context a multiple case study was viewed as a proper method to use. The multiple case study included four companies and was performed using semi structured interviews and investigations of cost analyses and risk assessments.   Findings: This thesis shows that there is a great deal of factors that are critical in a reshoring decision. However, Coordination, Inventory, Management, Quality and Transportation were the most common cost factors to consider when deciding for reshoring. The most frequent risk factors mentioned by the case companies were Control, Engineering and Innovation and Undesirable reaction. Implications: Different factors are critical depending on what type of company considering the reshoring decision. This is due to deviations in such as products, company strategy, customers and manufacturing techniques. Since each company and each product is unique it is overall important to identify which costs to include in the cost analysis in a reshoring decision for one specific company. The result of the thesis indicates that critical cost factors that are more difficult to measure and compare, so called soft factors, have a great effect on the reshoring decision. Further, companies seem to consider risks with remaining in the offshored country to a higher extent than the risks of reshoring. These risks that appear if not reshoring seem to be of an importance to consider since they generate costs. The findings of the thesis are believed to be evidential to the fact that there is a lack of research since critical factors found in the multiple case study are more than the existing literature indicates.