Customer involvement in innovation activities is a common practice among companies in most industries. It has been widely researched by scholars to demonstrate its risks and advantages. Yet, the growing importance and recognition of the Internet are transforming the scope, boundaries, and dynamics of interactions among firms and customers. Progressing information and communication technologies (ICTs) (including the Internet) enable faster, cheaper, and more efficient collaboration. The demonstrated benefits of using various web-based methods for customer involvement in innovation activities have encouraged companies to adopt a new approach. Despite this, there is a lack of knowledge about associated challenges. In addition, prior research was unable to provide empirical evidence of the claimed benefits ensuing from web-enabled customer involvement. As a result, companies may experience unforeseen difficulties and may not be able to achieve what they expect from their implementation of web-based methods. This thesis aims to address this research gap by exploring web-enabled customer involvement from a firm’s perspective. The overall purpose of this dissertation is to increase the understanding of web-enabled customer involvement in innovation activities by exploring its use and its impact on firms’ innovation, as well as management competences needed for its efficient realization. The thesis draws on the concept of absorptive capacity and includes four empirical studies from various industries. The adoption levels of a wide range of web-based methods were identified and compared with the findings of the previous study, thereby uncovering interesting changes in their popularity, as well as differences in adoption among companies in various industries. The empirical findings of this thesis show that web-based methods increase a company’s probability to introduce service innovations. Three types of challenges related to different types of web-based methods were identified and verified. It was also possible to identify corresponding management practices to handle these challenges. The management practices form three firm competences, constituting a specific absorptive capacity. It was proved that all dimensions of this specific absorptive capacity are needed for successful and effective customer involvement. Insights of this thesis contribute to increasing the understanding of web-enabled customer involvement. Therefore, the thesis provides companies with empirically verified knowledge that is necessary to make decisions about the implementation and management of web-enabled customer involvement.

Driven by rapid technological developments, greater customer expectations, and increased product complexity,product development processes increasingly rely on the integration of dispersed specialist knowledge.Consequently, many industrial firms are changing the way they approach product development. Productdevelopment increasingly relies on knowledge integration across firm boundaries. Customers are one of the mostindispensable sources of knowledge, and their knowledge needs to be integrated during product development.However, little is known about the processes and mechanisms used to integrate customer knowledge in productdevelopment.Therefore, firms must devise processes and mechanisms that support knowledge integration withcustomers. This thesis aims to investigate knowledge integration with customers in collaborative productdevelopment. The work described in this thesis combines a case study with a survey approach. More specifically, five casestudies were conducted at three industrial manufacturing firms. Data were collected in 46 interviews, along withinformal discussions, workshops, and secondary material. The case studies revealed the role of knowledgeintegration, knowledge integration mechanisms, and the importance of contextual factors related to the customer’stechnical capability, and the locus of initiative for the product development project. A cross-sectional survey wasperformed in order to ascertain the role of knowledge integration and its effect on innovation performance and theeffect of firms and customers’ technical capability and locus of initiative on knowledge integration withcustomers. The survey study generated 216 responses from firms operating in the Swedish manufacturingindustry. This thesis consists of a compiled summary and five appended papers. The results in these provide the basis formodelling knowledge integration with customers. The findings confirm that integrating knowledge withcustomers in product development is associated with better innovation performance. Further, the results point tothe dynamic characteristics of knowledge integration in product development processes. More specifically, firmstend to apply different combinations of mechanisms in different phases, depending on the intended content of theknowledge contribution of the customer and the requirements of each phase in the development process. Inaddition, the degree of technical capability, internal integration capability, and locus of initiative are importantfactors influencing knowledge integration processes. This thesis sheds new light on collaborative productdevelopment with customers by demonstrating that knowledge, and particularly the integration of knowledgeacross firm boundaries, is a central property of product development. The study focuses on industrial andmanufacturing firms, complementing current perspectives on the role of customers in other sectors. In thisparticular sector, complexity and system-wide implications need to be resolved together with customers throughknowledge integration activities. An important implication of the thesis is that firms need to devise mechanismsfor knowledge integration with customers, and be prepared to redevise these as the firm progresses through theproduct development phases.

Context and background: Requirements engineering(RE) is a first and a very important phase in any software development which helps in building a suitable and customer satisfactory product. In the past few years, the use of Agile software development has become popular in the industry. Customer communication plays an important role in any software development life cycle. Customers state the requirements needed to develop a product in the Requirements Engineering phase. A project is likely to fail due to problems in customer communication during the RE phase. Objective: This thesis aims to study the Customer communication challenges in Agile requirements engineering, prioritize these challenges, and also find out the mitigation strategies to overcome these challenges. Research Method: A systematic mapping study is conducted to find out the customer communication challenges. Based on the data collected from the systematic mapping study, a survey is conducted to find out the mitigation strategies to overcome the customer communication challenges faced in the RE phase and also prioritize these challenges. Results: Based on the data collected from the systematic mapping study, a total of 18 customer communication challenges are identified. In the second step, a survey is conducted based on the identified challenges. The prioritization of these challenges is done by calculating the risk analysis of the challenges from the survey data. And finally, mitigation strategies are mentioned to overcome all the identified 18 challenges.

Bakgrund: Den agila projektmodellen har under de senaste två decennierna vuxit fram som en utmanare till den traditionella vattenfallsmodellen. En av de stora skillnaderna mellan projektmodellerna är att i det agila arbetssättet involveras kunden kontinuerligt. Frågan är vad som då händer med överlämningen av den sista versionen av produkten, när utvecklingen är färdig? Samtidigt har bankbranschen på senare år utmanats av nya aktörer vilka profilerar sig som just digitala och IT-inriktade, och både dessa moderna banker såväl som de traditionella storbankerna har anammat det agila arbetssättet för att kunna konkurrera om kundernas uppmärksamhet. Dessa banker arbetar inte agilt till lika hög grad, och frågan är om överlämningen påverkas av det? Syfte: Syftet med studien är att öka förståelsen för hur överlämningen av det slutliga projektresultatet i agila projekt ser ut på svenska banker. Vidare ska studien undersöka om den skiljer sig mellan banker med olika agil mognad samt vilka konsekvenser som kan uppkomma i samband med överlämningen. Genomförande: Studien är genomförd som en flerfallstudie där två fall - storbanker och nischbanker, undersöks. Vidare har en fenomenologisk ansats och ett kvalitativt angreppssätt använts. Empirin har samlats in genom ett målstyrt urval varpå semistrukturerade intervjuer har genomförts med tio projektledare. Slutsats: Studien resulterar i slutsatsen att en överlämning av en slutlig produkt i agila projekt inte genomförs på ett formellt sätt, till skillnad från vad teorin tidigare har antytt. I synnerhet lämnar aldrig ansvaret för produkten någonsin det team som har utvecklat den. Vidare visar studien att storbanker arbetar med en lägre grad av agil mognad än vad nischbanker gör, men att detta inte påverkar hur överlämningen ser ut. Slutligen bidrar studien till insikter om konsekvenser kring att överlämningen inte existerar på ett formellt sätt. Detta leder till en reflektion kring att organisationer behöver anpassa sin agila projektmetodik till sin egen kontext. Projektledare generellt bör dessutom fundera över hur organisationens arbetssätt påverkar organisationen i stort samt vara medveten om de konsekvenser som dyker upp vid förändringar i arbetssättet. / Background: During the last two decades, the agile project methodology has grown as a competitor to the more traditional waterfall methodology. One of the biggest differences is, with an agile methodology the customer is involved throughout the project. But what happens in the final handover, when the development is finished? At the same time, the Swedish banking industry has been challenged by new actors whom profile themselves as digital focused and IT centred. Both types of banks have developed an agile way of working to be able to compete about the customers. However, the two types of banks does not work agile with the same maturity, and we wonder if the handover is affected by that? Purpose: The purpose of the study is to increase the understanding of what the handover of the final product in agile projects at Swedish banks looks like. Further, the study will examine if the handover differ between banks with different agile maturity, and which consequences that may arise in connection to the handover. Completion: The study was conducted as a multiple-case study in which two cases - traditional banks and specialised banks were examined. Further, a phenomenological and a qualitative approach has been used. The empirical data has been conducted through a targeted selection, where semi-structured interviews have been held with ten project leaders. Conclusion: The study concludes that the handover of the final product in agile projects does not exist in the formal way previous research has suggested. Specifically, the responsibility of the product does never leave the team developing it. Further, the study show traditional banks work with a lower degree of agile maturity in comparison to specialised banks. However, this does not affect the characteristics of the handover. Finally, the study contributes to insights about the consequences of the handover not being as formal. This contributes to a discussion about the need for organisations to be able to adapt their agile methodology to their own context. In general, project leaders also should reflect upon how their way of working affect the organisation as a whole, as well as being aware of the consequences that appears when changing the organisation’s way of working.

Denna studie undersöker de svårigheter som företag möter vid implementering av artificiell intelligens (AI) och undersöker strategier för framgångsrik integrering av AI. Genom en kombination av semistrukturerade intervjuer och en omfattande litteraturstudie användes en induktiv metod för att analysera de utmaningar som företag stöter på före implementeringsprocessen. Resultaten avslöjar flera nyckelområden av bekymmer, inklusive teknisk spridning, samarbetsbaserad design, utbildning, arbetsmiljö, arbetsmarknadsdynamik och moraliska överväganden. Genom att ta itu med dessa utmaningar kan företag navigera effektivare genom AI-implementeringens komplexiteter. Denna studie ger insikter om de avgörande faktorer som påverkar framgångsrik integration av AI-system i organisatoriska sammanhang. Förståelsen av dessa utmaningar och användningen av lämpliga strategier är avgörande för företag som vill utnyttja potentialen hos AI. / This paper explores the difficulties faced by companies when implementing artificial intelligence (AI) and investigates strategies for successful AI integration. Through a combination of semi-structured interviews and a comprehensive literature review, an inductive approach was employed to analyze the challenges encountered by companies before the implementation process. The findings reveal several key areas of concern, including technical diffusion, customer collaboration, education, workers' health, labor market dynamics, and moral considerations. By addressing these challenges, companies can navigate the complexities of AI-implementation more effectively. This paper provides insights into the critical factors that influence the successful integration of AI systems in organizational settings. Understanding these challenges and employing appropriate strategies is crucial for companies seeking to harness the potential of AI while mitigating associated risks

A sustentabilidade ambiental vem ganhando cada vez mais espaço na área de Administração. Discussões recentes apoiam que uma boa gestão ambiental pode proporcionar fonte de vantagens competitivas significativas e duradouras. Assim, inúmeros estudiosos da área de gestão tem se dedicado ao tema e em meados da década de 1990 duas novas linhas de pesquisas surgiram: Green Human Resource Management (GHRM) e Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM). Pesquisas nestas áreas evidenciam que a gestão ambiental para ser efetiva precisa de práticas de Gestão de Recursos Humanos (treinamento, avaliação de desempenho, sistemas de recompensas, recrutamento e seleção), bem como de práticas que vão além dos \"muros da organização\", como compras verdes, eco-design, logística reversa e cooperação com os clientes. Apesar da importância que a literatura tem atribuído a esses dois construtos poucas pesquisas têm retratado, empiricamente, este relacionamento, principalmente, quando se visualiza a realidade brasileira e ainda mais quando se considerada a cadeia de suprimento das organizações. Assim, o objetivo desta pesquisa é verificar se há um relacionamento positivo entre práticas de treinamento ambiental e práticas externas de Green Supply Chain Management - compras verdes e cooperação com os clientes. Para tanto, realizou-se uma fundamentação conceitual sobre os temas mencionados e, com base nesta, construiu-se o questionário utilizado durante a fase empírica da pesquisa, um esurvey autoadministrado com 95 empresas possuidoras de certificação ISO 14001 localizadas no Brasil. Os resultados permitiram constatar que, de fato, o treinamento ambiental influencia positivamente práticas de compras verdes e cooperação com os clientes, com destaque para a primeira. Além disso, verificou-se que o porte das empresas não é tão significante ao controlar práticas de GSCM. Até o presente momento, acredita-se que esta seja a primeira pesquisa que apresenta um survey para testar o relacionamento entre treinamento ambiental e práticas externas de GSCM para empresas com certificação ISO 14001 no Brasil. / Environmental sustainability is achieving more attention in the Management field of knowledge. Recent discussions affirm that a better environmental management can be linked with a better competitive advantage. Thus, many scholars in the field of management have been devoted to the subject and in the mid-1990s two new lines of research have emerged: Green Human Resource Management (GHRM) showing that environmental management needs to be effective in terms of HRM practices (training, performance appraisal, reward systems, recruitment and selection); and Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) showing that green practices should go beyond the \"walls of the organization\", as green purchasing, eco-design, reverse logistics and cooperation with customers. Despite the relevance of these topics, so far, little research have empirically verified if GHRM is related to GSCM, especially considering Brazilian context. The objective of this research is to verify if there is a positive relationship between environmental training as part of GHRM and green purchasing and cooperation with customers as part of GSCM. To this end, we carried out a literature review on the topics mentioned and, based on this; we constructed a questionnaire used during the empirical phase of the research. An e-survey with selfadministered 95 companies possessing ISO 14001 located in Brazil. The results demonstrated that, in fact, environmental training positively influences green purchasing practices and cooperation with customers, especially the first. Furthermore, it was found that the size of the companies is not a so significant variable when controlling GSCM practices. To the date, it is believed that this is the first study that presents a survey testing the relationship between environmental training and external GSCM practices for companies with ISO 14001 in Brazil.

A sustentabilidade ambiental vem ganhando cada vez mais espaço na área de Administração. Discussões recentes apoiam que uma boa gestão ambiental pode proporcionar fonte de vantagens competitivas significativas e duradouras. Assim, inúmeros estudiosos da área de gestão tem se dedicado ao tema e em meados da década de 1990 duas novas linhas de pesquisas surgiram: Green Human Resource Management (GHRM) e Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM). Pesquisas nestas áreas evidenciam que a gestão ambiental para ser efetiva precisa de práticas de Gestão de Recursos Humanos (treinamento, avaliação de desempenho, sistemas de recompensas, recrutamento e seleção), bem como de práticas que vão além dos \"muros da organização\", como compras verdes, eco-design, logística reversa e cooperação com os clientes. Apesar da importância que a literatura tem atribuído a esses dois construtos poucas pesquisas têm retratado, empiricamente, este relacionamento, principalmente, quando se visualiza a realidade brasileira e ainda mais quando se considerada a cadeia de suprimento das organizações. Assim, o objetivo desta pesquisa é verificar se há um relacionamento positivo entre práticas de treinamento ambiental e práticas externas de Green Supply Chain Management - compras verdes e cooperação com os clientes. Para tanto, realizou-se uma fundamentação conceitual sobre os temas mencionados e, com base nesta, construiu-se o questionário utilizado durante a fase empírica da pesquisa, um esurvey autoadministrado com 95 empresas possuidoras de certificação ISO 14001 localizadas no Brasil. Os resultados permitiram constatar que, de fato, o treinamento ambiental influencia positivamente práticas de compras verdes e cooperação com os clientes, com destaque para a primeira. Além disso, verificou-se que o porte das empresas não é tão significante ao controlar práticas de GSCM. Até o presente momento, acredita-se que esta seja a primeira pesquisa que apresenta um survey para testar o relacionamento entre treinamento ambiental e práticas externas de GSCM para empresas com certificação ISO 14001 no Brasil. / Environmental sustainability is achieving more attention in the Management field of knowledge. Recent discussions affirm that a better environmental management can be linked with a better competitive advantage. Thus, many scholars in the field of management have been devoted to the subject and in the mid-1990s two new lines of research have emerged: Green Human Resource Management (GHRM) showing that environmental management needs to be effective in terms of HRM practices (training, performance appraisal, reward systems, recruitment and selection); and Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) showing that green practices should go beyond the \"walls of the organization\", as green purchasing, eco-design, reverse logistics and cooperation with customers. Despite the relevance of these topics, so far, little research have empirically verified if GHRM is related to GSCM, especially considering Brazilian context. The objective of this research is to verify if there is a positive relationship between environmental training as part of GHRM and green purchasing and cooperation with customers as part of GSCM. To this end, we carried out a literature review on the topics mentioned and, based on this; we constructed a questionnaire used during the empirical phase of the research. An e-survey with selfadministered 95 companies possessing ISO 14001 located in Brazil. The results demonstrated that, in fact, environmental training positively influences green purchasing practices and cooperation with customers, especially the first. Furthermore, it was found that the size of the companies is not a so significant variable when controlling GSCM practices. To the date, it is believed that this is the first study that presents a survey testing the relationship between environmental training and external GSCM practices for companies with ISO 14001 in Brazil.

The agile manifesto has certainly changed the way software is produced in the Information Communications Technology (ICT) industry. However, many persistent challenges cripple agile software development. One challenge is that the constant change in technology makes the requirements hard to implement. Another is that issues of the agile requirements engineering (ARE) process are abundant and pervasive throughout software projects. The aim of this study is to determine common issues in agile requirements engineering in the South African software industry and identify tools and frameworks to mitigate risks emanating from such problems. This includes finding out how much value software practitioners put in the agile principles. This study was essentially quantitative, based on a cross-sectional survey. Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect required data which was then subjected to exploratory data analysis using SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences), a tool for statistical analysis. The results show that software practitioners have a strong penchant for principles of the Agile Manifesto. Major issues in agile requirements engineering include lack of proper validation tools and techniques, scope problems, lack of proper documentation, issues of prioritisation, as well as unavailability of customer representative. A detailed baseline of issues in agile requirements engineering was created along with a set of recommended tools and techniques used in the software industry. As for the recommendation, it is suggested that companies invest more on validation tools and techniques and consider non-functional requirements integration during software development. / School of Computing / M. Sc. (Computing)