Today, many organizations are facing an increased necessity to employ cross-functional teams. Its growing popularity is rooted in its positive impacts on innovation. Additionally, these teams are an excellent way of managing complex organizational tasks without the need for a significant modification of the existing organizational structure. Despite the benefits of the cross-functional team, the diversity in the profession and the specialized knowledge possessed by the team members lead to different thought worlds and perceptions, causing communication barriers. This is problematic because communication is needed to share, transfer, and create knowledge, which are the prerequisites of both individual and organizational learning. There is various literature on knowledge management and learning; however, our understanding of how knowledge interchanges in cross-functional teams remain limited. Therefore, this thesis conducts semi-structured interviews at five successful companies to examine the policies and procedures established by management to facilitate the interchange of knowledge in the organization. Also, it investigates the activities used by coordinators to maximize learning and create a sense of belonging in the cross-functional team. The findings of this study revealed several activities that could increase both the knowledge interchange and the team’s learning. First, it is preferred to have decent knowledge accessibility, where the bar to contact anyone is low. Second, it seems that knowledge receptivity has to be increased, which can be done by giving knowledge a meaning, using pictures, analogies, metaphors, Etc. Third, a frame of reference could be needed, where people can get into each other’s shoes through, for example, job rotations and learn each other’s jobspecific terminologies. Fourth, competition is preferred to be eliminated, which can be achieved by establishing a common team goal, removing internal bonuses, and eliminating ranking systems. Finally, it seemed essential to have cohesion in the group, which can be accomplished by having, for instance, afterworks, group travel activities, and collective organizational culture

Siemens Energy is a global company which is active in energy technology and offers different types of gas turbines and steam turbines among other types of services. This study was conducted at Siemens Energy in Finspång. The importance of the purchasing function within a company and its profitability has increased and it is thereby important for a company to take advantage of it. Siemens Energy strives to have a transparent supply chain that forms a competitive advantage and provides value along every step in order to create value for the company and its customers. To be able to provide a product to the customer, a project group is assigned at Siemens Energy consisting of different types of roles and areas of responsibility. Multiple functions are involved to manage a project from beginning to end. Budget, lead time and different types of specifications are determined at the beginning of a project and follow through the rest of the project. For big and complex flows, good communication between different functions is essential for information regarding, for example, deviations to reach out to the concerned parties. Siemens Energy describes that an overview of how different functions work with the information flow in the purchasing process from construction to goods receiving is missing and requests a flowchart and suggestions for improvements. Therefore, the aim of this study is to create a flowchart over the information flow and to identify and present suggestions for improvements. A theoretical model, Business Process Management, was used to structure the work in this study. The first step in the model is to create a flowchart of the current state regarding the information flow in the different functions. Interviews with 18 people in different roles were conducted to understand the current state. The second step in the model is to identify areas of improvement so that measures can be performed. Activities in the flowchart were divided into value added activities, non-value added activities and non-value added but necessary activities according to the Lean philosophy. Activities which were considered non-value added activities could be categorized into different types of wastes according to the Lean philosophy in order to be addressed using time reduction theory. The third step in the model is to present a new map of the measured activities. Finally, the activities were analysed qualitatively to gain insight into whether the impact on time, cost and quality would be positive, negative, or unchanged. The results from the flowchart and the actions of the measured activities resulted in suggestions for improvements. Further, it was described which of the activities Siemens Energy should focus on improving to increase the quality of the information flow in the purchasing process and decrease cost and time spent. How the implementation should be conducted was not a part of this study which leaves room for further studies in the future that can be carried out at Siemens Energy.

Konkurrensen på marknaden blir allt tuffare och i takt med detta blir kundperspektivet en allt viktigare framgångsfaktor. Syftet med denna rapport är därför att undersöka och fördjupa förståelsen för hur företag inom vitvarubranschen använder sig av användarinvolvering i produktutvecklingsprocessens olika faser. Dessutom ska det skapas en förståelse för vad detta ger för effekter för företaget samt hur de använder och sprider kunskap från involveringen av konsumenter. Forskningsfrågorna besvarades genom en djupgående litteraturstudie för sedan att bygga upp en teoretisk referensram och därigenom få en uppfattning av rådande teorier och metoder som används vid kundinvolvering. Detta jämfördes sedan med en semistrukturerad intervjustudie där kundinvolvering inom vitvarubranschen undersökts. Respondenterna som deltog i intervjustudien var anställda hos Electrolux, ett internationellt företag som arbetar med vitvaruprodukter. Studien visar att det finns olika åsikter kring kundinvolvering vad gäller i vilka faser konsumenten ska involveras i processen och i vilken grad involveringen ska ske. Resultatet visade att de metoder som används för att integrera användare i produktutvecklingen huvudsakligen används i informationssyfte för att skapa en förståelse och kunskap om konsumentens användande av produkten, som sedan kan användas av produktutvecklarna. Att involvera konsumenter i arbetet ansågs främst ha positiva effekter, men att det fanns vissa svårigheter som var viktiga att ta hänsyn till för att nå ett önskat och användbart resultat. Dessutom visar studien att tvärfunktionella samarbeten bidrar till enklare kommunikation och informationshantering eftersom flera olika funktioner är med under hela produktutvecklingsprocessen. / The competition in the market is getting far more resilient, hence, the customer perspective becomes an increasingly important success factor. The purpose of this report is, therefore, to investigate and immerse the understanding of how companies in the home appliance industry implement customer involvement in the different phases of the product development process. In addition, an understanding of how customer involvement will affect the company and how they use and spread the knowledge from these implementations will be created. The research questions were answered through an in-depth literature study to create a theoretical framework and therefore gain an understanding of prevailing theories and methods used in customer involvement. This was subsequently compared with a semi-structured interview study in which customer involvement in the home appliances industry was investigated. The respondents who participated in the interview study worked at Electrolux, an international company in the home appliance industry. The study shows that there are different opinions about customer involvement regarding the phases in which the consumer should be involved in the process and to what extent the integration should take place. The results of this research indicate that the methods used to integrate users in the product development process are mainly for informational purposes, to create an understanding and knowledge of the consumer's use of the product. This knowledge could later on can be used by the product developers. Involving consumers in the process was considered to have positive effects, however there were some difficulties that were important to take into account in order to achieve a desired and useful result. The study also shows that cross-functional teams could contribute to easier communication and information management since many different functions are involved throughout the product development process.

在全球化的趨勢下，產品的生命週期縮短、競爭也越來越激烈，各企業面對新產品的開發、新技術的發展及商業化速度的要求比以前更高。為了有效的開發新產品，為企業創造高額之利潤，強化企業競爭力，企業必須能夠在最短的時間內整合組織資源（例如行銷、研發與製造等核心能力），成為最有效率的公司。尤其，面對快速變化的動態環境之下，企業應以全球性的市場需求及標準，執行全球化的新產品開發流程與組織架構。 　　本研究從行銷與創新研發的整合，來探討新產品開發時有哪些成功關鍵因素，例如應該建立何種的流程與機制，可以快速有效的開發新產品，成功達到商品化的目的;行銷人員如何針對市場的需要，客戶的需求作市場調查，以確認、掌握機會；何種的組織創新平台，可以讓研發團隊能快速開發新產品，可以有效整合行銷與研發團隊，發揮組織之最大綜效。本研究主要在探討以下四項新產品開發時的重要問題，期望能提供給企業界一些具體之建議與做法。 　　1. 企業應採取何種新產品開發策略，才能快速有效的發展出新產品，並成功的商品化上市？ 　　2. 如何建立卓越的新產品開發流程，迅速成功的開發新產品？ 　　3. 新產品開發團隊中，行銷與研發團隊人員應如何有效整合？領導者如何發揮領導與溝通的角色？ 　　4. 哪些績效評估之機制與參考指標，可促進新產品開發之績效？ 　　本研究整理過去相關的新產品開發文獻與從四個個案之研究與分析中，可以從策略面、流程面、團隊領導溝通面與工具面，就新產品開發與行銷與研發之整合，發展出以下幾項之研究結論： 　　策略面： 　　1. 企業在規劃新產品開發策略時，應該採取新產品線與產品改良等同步進行的開發策略。 　　2. 為了加速新產品的開發，公司應同時採取內部自行研發與外部研發中心建立策略聯盟的合作方式。 　　流程面： 　　1. 明確的新產品開發流程，工作職掌分明，流程標準化，並以正式文件描述之，可以加速新產品開發的速度且成功地完成商品化與上市。 　　2. 完善的前置作業，作好初步市場調查與技術評估，可以提前完成新產品的定義，如此可以有助於新產品開發的成功。 　　3. 行銷人員提早介入、接觸市場，深入了解顧客之需求，將客戶的需求充分反映給專案小組，如此有助於新產品的開發成功。 　　4. 行銷人員與研發團隊應該更接近市場，以便能快速因應客戶的需求，迅速作回應，也可以提昇新產品開發的績效。 　　團隊領導溝通面： 　　1. 在高度不確定性、產品生命週期短的高科技產業裡，行銷與研發團隊的有效整合，對於新產品開發扮演重要的成功關鍵因素。 　　2. 跨功能團隊組織的建立及良好運作模式，可以快速因應市場與客戶需求，進而提高新產品與服務的品質。 　　3. 透過完善的溝通協調機制，可以有效解決團隊成員間的衝突。定期的會議，面對面會談，視訊會議，電話討論等都是很好的溝通機制。 　　4. 充份信任，授權的組織文化能夠讓新產品開發團隊成員發揮其最大潛能，也能提昇新產品開發績效。 　　5. 專案領導人的有效領導，激勵團隊成員充份發揮其潛能，產品成功率可以提昇。 　　6. 領導者彈性因應市場之需求，做好資源的有效分配與運用，並作好橫向溝通與協調，可以適時有效的發揮組織的功用，持續開發出新產品。 　　7. 領導者在團隊中，應該扮演教練的角色，也扮演守門員(Gate Keeper)之角色，協助團隊成員專注在重要的專案計劃，率先成功開發新產品。 　　8. 提供激發創意的環境與團隊氣氛，有助於新產品開發成功。 　　工具面： 　　1. 良好的績效評估制度與獎勵措施有助於行銷與研發的整合。 　　2. 明確而客觀的績效評估指標，例如，市場佔有率、產品獲利率、業績成長率，可以激勵團隊士氣，也有助於新產品開發成功。 　　3. 以網路系統、電子郵件作為知識分享、雙向溝通的工具。 / Under the trend of globalization, product’s life cycle turns shorter with severe level of competition. Thereby, the development in new product and technology as well as product commercialization are more important than ever for enterprises today. Only the ones with the capability to efficiently integrate resources in dynamic market are able to harvest remarkable profits and strengthen market competitiveness. Especially under the dynamic changing environments, enterprises should utilize the global market needs and standard as its foundation to execute new product developments and organization structure. 　　This thesis is to study the key success factors of new product development under the integration between marketing and research & development (R&D) teams. For example, what is the most effective process for new product development and commercialization? How to acquire business opportunity from accurate analysis of market demand? What kind of organizational platform enables R&D team to develop new product in timely manner? The thesis will focus on the following four questions of new product development, and is aimed to provide practical advices for enterprises in general. 　　1. What is the most effective strategy for new product development and commercialization? 　　2. How to establish distinct workstation for new product development? 　　3. How to effectively integrate marketing and R&D teams? What role should the leader play? 　　4. What kind of evaluation and reference enhance the performance of new product development? 　　With relevant documents and four case studies, the thesis concludes the research in four aspects, namely Strategy, Process, Leadership & Communication and Techniques. 　　Strategy Aspect: 　　1. New product development and reformation of existing product line should be undertaken simultaneously. 　　2. To expedite new product development, enterprise is recommended to form the strategic alliance between its own team and other R&D force externally. 　　Process Aspect: 　　1. Clear job description and standardized process accelerate new product development and leads to successful product launch and commercialization. 　　2. Impeccable marketing research and analysis allows enterprise to define new product’s market position at the initial stage. 　　3. Early study and approach of market demand and customer requirements enables the project team to penetrate the market precisely. 　　4. Both marketing and R&D teams should be familiar with market situation, providing timely services to meet customer’s needs. 　　Leadership & Communication Aspect: 　　1. Effective integration between marketing and R&D teams plays an important role for industries with dynamic environment, short product life cycle such as high-tech industry. 　　2. The development of cross functional teams and nice operation model at product development stage can proactively response to customer’s requirements and is able to improve the product and service quality 　　3. Periodical meetings and communication can effectively break conflicts among the teams. 　　4. Adequate trust and authorization allows team members to educe their potential for better performance. 　　5. Efficient leadership to inspire team members for the maximum potential and results is the key to the success of the new product development. 　　6. With good resource managements and horizontal communication & coordination, a flexible project leader could optimize its organizational function to continuously develop new products according to market demand. 　　7. A good leader acts as Coach as well as Gate Keeper to support team members to focus on the priority of new product development efficiently. 　　8. Providing innovative and harmonious working environments could expedite the success of the new product development. 　　Technique Aspect: 　　1. Fair performance appraisal and incentive policy enhance the integration of marketing and R&D teams. 　　2. The clear defined performance indicators such as market share, number of new projects, profit rate, sales growth rate are important to motivate the team members to dedicate on the project. 　　3. The web site, intranet, e- mail, e- learning are good tools for knowledge management and experience sharing that helps to a better communication and integration between marketing and R&D teams.

Work process knowledge (WPK) is a concept for systems-level knowledge of the workplace and has been shown to be most important in organisations requiring multi-functional working. Most of the previous body of knowledge on WPK has focussed mainly on manufacturing industries; there has been less investigation of WPK in the service sector and none in the visitor attraction (VA) industry, an important employer in Scotland. The VA industry is extremely dynamic and many businesses are rapidly moving towards multi-functional team working, driven by an urgent need to develop quality, customer-focussed strategies to survive in an over-supplied and very competitive market. This study identifies the nature of WPK in Scottish VAs, what relationship WPK has to customer service, how WPK in this service sector differs from selected published studies in manufacturing and other service sector contexts and what factors affect the development of WPK in VAs. Following recruitment of a number of VAs using an online questionnaire and subsequent site visits, six sites were selected for case study, on the basis that they demonstrated most evidence of multi-functional working and staff with developed WPK. The research design was comparative case studies of the work processes and knowledge within these six VAs, based on a social constructivist framework, using the methods of key informant interviews and shadowing. Although these six sites represent a cross-spread of attractions in terms of types, location and size, they nonetheless show strong similarities in their basic business structure. The data show that WPK is an essential element of workers’ roles and a vital requirement in providing good customer service. Although VA managers do not use the term ‘work process knowledge’, they nonetheless recognise the importance of having staff with a wider view of their business and are actively encouraging its rapid development. Multi-functionality and job rotation are main ways of developing WPK but sites also use key workers with job roles that help develop high levels of WPK, who are then used as a staff resource. The main factor contributing to the development of WPK is communication, especially of systems-level information. Cultural information-sharing is an essential pre-condition for the development of WPK in this context. Other determining factors are flexibility, employee biographies, seasonality issues, how weddings and functions are handled on-site and the size and complexity of the site. WPK is the foundation on which good customer service is based and elements of it deliver customer service. It is the closely integrated nature of the employee-customer relationship that has such a profound effect on WPK development in this service sector industry and is essentially what differentiates it from previously published studies. The identification of the customer as a hitherto unrecognised key driver of WPK is the most important contribution to knowledge made by this work.

Under de senaste decennierna har hantering av leverantörsrelationer blivit en viktig konkurrensfaktor för företag världen över. Denna uppsats kommer delvis att presentera teorin bakom hantering av leverantörsrelationer och integrera den med värdesamskapande vilket är ytterligare en viktig aspekt för företag som önskar att implementera ett vinn-vinn-tänk med sina samarbetspartners. Studien har genomförts på inköpsavdelningen på Valmet i Karlstad med syfte att identifiera vad som är värdeskapande i ett leverantörsförhållande. Den empiriska datan har analyserats för att sedan omvandlas till aktiviteter som kan appliceras i ett tidigt skede av en produkt/projektcykel. Detta leder in på Design to Cost vilket utgör den tredje och sista grunden för litteraturstudien av detta arbete.   Denna studie inleddes med en litteraturstudie, med fokus på de tre huvudämnena; hantering av leverantörsrelationer, värdesamskapande och Design to Cost. Denna studie sammanställdes sedan i ett teoretiskt ramverk som följdes upp med en kvalitativ datainsamling. Semistrukturerade intervjuer användes under två olika delar av studien, först intervjuades anställda på Valmet i Karlstad och därefter företagets leverantörer. Under analysen jämfördes insamlad data med det teoretiska ramverket.   Resultaten visar att värdesamskapande i studiens kontext främst bygger på kommunikation och tillit. Det är också viktigt att veta i vilken fas involveringen av leverantörer bör uppnås. Eftersom det här är en studie som fokuserar på Design to Cost, rekommenderas det att involvera leverantörerna i ett tidigt skede. Som ett resultat ökar antalet möjligheter och samarbetet är mindre begränsat av tekniska designbeslut etc.   De identifierade aktiviteterna från analysen har prioriterats i en matris och en rekommendation har skapats delvis till Valmet, men också till liknande branscher. Eftersom resultatet bygger på empirisk data analyserad ur ett teoretiskt perspektiv, kan det därför motiveras att lösningarna är generella i en viss utsträckning och därmed tillämpbara i andra kontext. Aktiviteterna har delats in i 4 teman; kommunikation, samarbete, informationsdelning och kategorisering. Förslagen på aktiviteter berör bland annat utbildning, uppföljning och återkoppling, intern benchmarking, utvecklingsplaner, tvärfunktionella team, kvalitetssäkring, prognostisering, kostnadsnedbrytning samt kategorisering av leverantörer/kund och produkter. / In recent decades supply relationship management have become a competitive factor for companies worldwide. This master thesis will partly address the theory of supply relationship management and integrate it with value co-creation, which is an additional important aspect for companies wanting to implement a win-win thinking with their collaborative partners. The study have been conducted at the purchasing department at Valmet in Karlstad with the purpose of identifying value creation in a supplier relationship. The empirical data have been analyzed to represent activities that can be applied in an early stage of a product/project cycle. This leads to Design to Cost, which constitutes the third and last foundation for the literature study of this work.   This study started with a literature review, focusing on the three main subjects; supply relationship management, value co-creation and Design to Cost. This review was then concluded by a theoretical framework and followed up with a qualitative data collection. Semi-structured interviews were used in two different parts of the study, first with employees at Valmet in Karlstad and then with their suppliers. During the analysis the data was compared to the established theoretical framework.   The results show that value co-creating in the study's context is based foremost on communication and trust. It is also important to know at what phase the involvement should be accomplished. As this is a study focusing on Design to Cost it is recommended to involve the suppliers at an early stage. As a result more opportunities are given and the cooperation is less restrained by any technical design decisions etc.   The identified activities from the analysis have been prioritized and a recommendation have been created partly to Valmet, but also to similar industries. As the result is based on empirical data analyzed from a theoretical perspective, it can therefore be justified that the solutions are general to a certain extent and thus applicable in other contexts. The activities have been divided into 4 themes; communication, collaboration, information sharing and categorization. For instance, the proposals for activities concern education, follow-ups and feedback, internal benchmarking, development plans, cross-functional teams, quality assurance, forecasts, cost breakdown as well as categorization of supplier/customer and products.

Många företag står idag inför en affärssituation med stigande konkurrens,krympande marknader, och ökade kundkrav. Framför allt sitter många fast i ett föråldrat sätt attdriva sin verksamhet på, som är dåligt anpassat för den allt tuffare marknaden. Den rekommenderadelösningen stavas ofta ”inför kvalitetstänk och börja jobba med förbättringar”. Det kandock vara lättare sagt än gjort för företag utan tidigare erfarenheter från en sådan strategi, ochmed eventuella betydande brister i sin ordinarie organisationsstruktur. Demotikos AB i Stockholmär ett exempel på ett sådant företag.Avsikten med detta examensarbete är att ta fram ett förbättringsprogram särskilt anpassat förDemotikos AB genom att analysera olika kvalitetsfilosofier och koncept, samt att göra en utförlignulägesanalys av företaget. Målet är att presentera ett förbättringsprogram tillsammans meden implementationsplan som är väl anpassad till företagets utgångsläge och förutsättningar ochsom samtidigt stämmer väl överens med rådande forskningslitteratur. Företaget har dessutom enönskan om att den insamlade kvalitetsinformationen i rapporten ska kunna ligga till grund för enkvalitetsintroduktionsutbildning för företagets anställda.Företagets behovsbild samt problemområden kartlades vi en nutidsanalys. Därefter utgick manfrån kartläggningen och jämförde den med vilka effekter olika förbättringsprogram kunde åstadkomma.Efter ett program hittades gick man vidare till att utvärdera olika arbetsmetoder ochverktyg. Till sist undersöktes en lämplig implementationsplan. / Many companies are today facing a business situation with rising competition,shrinking markets, and increasing customer demands. Above all, many are stuck with an outdatedapproach on how to run their business, an approach that is poorly adapted to the ever moredemanding market. The recommended solution is often spelled "implement a quality mindsetand start working with improvements". However, this can be much easier said than done forcompanies without any experience of such a strategy, as well as any significant deficiencies in itsregular organizational structure. Demotikos AB in Stockholm is an example of such a company.This thesis is aiming to produce an improvement program for Demotikos AB by analyzing differentquality philosophies and concepts, as well as making a detailed situation analysis of thecompany. The goal is to present an improvement program together with an implementation planthat is well adapted to the company’s current condition and at the same time consistent withcurrent research literature. The company also wish to be able to use the collected quality data inthe report as a basis for a quality introduction for its employees.The company’s needs as well as problem areas were identified, through a present day analysis.The result were compared it with what effects various improvement programs could present.After an appropriate program was found the project went on to evaluate various methods andtools. Finally, a suitable implementation plan examined.

Samspelet mellan Försvarsmakten och FMV har förändrats. Före 2019 ansvarade FMV för de tekniska system de anskaffat på uppdrag av Försvarsmakten över hela dess livscykel. 2019 flyttades det tekniska designansvaret över till Försvarsmakten för system i användningfasen. Det innebar att Försvarsmakten och dess försvarsgrenar övertog ett ansvar för sina system de tidigare inte innehaft.  Syftet med denna uppsats är att utreda vad det inneburit för armén att få det tekniska designansvaret för sina system och hur arbetet för att omhänderta detta ansvar kan utföras.  Studien genomfördes som en kvalitativ intervjustudie med representanter från Försvarsmakten. Studien genomfördes med en induktiv ansats.  Vi analyserade empirin som vi fick från intervjuerna med en anpassad grundad teori som analysmetod. Resultatet av analysen har granskats och jämförts med forskning av implementering och tvärfunktionellt arbete. Våra slutsatser är att vi har studerat en pågående implementering med mycket kvarstående arbete samt att en tvärfunktionell ansats har visats sig vara ett bra sätt för armén att hantera sina nya uppgifter. / The interaction between the Swedish Armed Forces and The Swedish Defence Materiel Administration has changed. Before 2019, The Swedish Defence Materiel Administration was responsible for the technical systems they acquired on behalf of the Swedish Armed Forces throughout its life cycle. In 2019, the responsibility for the technical design was transferred to the Swedish Armed Forces for systems in the user phase. This meant that the Swedish Armed Forces and its branches assumed a responsibility for their systems they had not previously held.  The purpose of this study is to investigate what it has meant for the Swedish Army to have the responsibility for the technical design of their systems and how to manage this responsibility. The thesis was conducted as a qualitative interview study with representatives from the Swedish Armed Forces. The study was conducted with an inductive approach.  We analyzed the empirical data received from the interviews using a custom grounded theory as an analytical method. The results of the analysis have been reviewed and compared with research of implementation and cross-functional work. Our conclusions are that we have studied an ongoing implementation with a lot of remaining work, a cross-functional approach has been shown to be an appropriate way for the Army to handle its new tasks.

No description available.