Much research show that strategies of personalization aiming to meet customers' needs and behaviors are an important aspect to influence the competitiveness within an industry. However there is a gap of studies on how airlines use customer involvement for creating personalized strategies in the field of e-commerce while enhancing the competitive advantage. This study is aims to describe how airlines can create personalized e-commerce strategies by considering the customer involvement in order to enhance their competitiveness. In conjunction with this first assumption the study aims to demonstrate how airlines could increase their customer loyalty by implementing the concept of customer relationship management (CRM) within their e-commerce strategies. A theoretical framework has been developed derived from a review of the existing literature in order to describe how airlines can use personalization as a strategy in e-commerce to develop a competitive advantage.  A qualitative multiple-case study has been chosen for this study. Three companies have been studied within the European airline industry and have been led by a deductive approach which will aim to investigate the theoretical framework.The analysis of empirical findings revealed some relevant conclusions, which can bring value to the research area, and also to the practice. The main findings show that airlines are involving customers into their e-commerce strategies in various forms and different levels regarding a specific project. One of the major result of this thesis is that airlines seem to focus on point of contacts with customers external to the e-commerce platform.

This study was conducted to explore the external sources of knowledge that are present around the eco-innovation firms. Our study has focused on eco-innovations with the aim  to find sustainable solutions, leading the reduction in greenhouse gases, on the extraction of renewable energy sources, since studies have indicated a link between the industrialization and the impact on the climate.  The purpose formulated for this study was to explore the external sources of knowledge that are present around the eco-innovation firms. By conducting this exploratory study we will contribute to existing research by adding empirical evidence to identifying what the external sources of knowledge are and further explore what kind of knowledge eco-innovation firms gain from these external sources. The participating companies in the study was chosen since they represent Swedish firms in the development of eco-innovations with the goal to minimize the environmental impact.  We conducted the thesis with a qualitative approach and the empirical data was gathered from four different companies in the field of wave and tidal power. The four interviews were executed through telephone interviews with both the researches acting as interviewers. The respondents were either the CEO of the company or a board member, since these persons were most likely to possess the relevant information for this study.  In our study we have found the external sources of knowledge to be of significant importance to the eco-innovation firms. Based on our theoretical framework, we have identified the external assets as suppliers, customers, competitors, governmental actors and research institutions. These external sources have different importance depending on the character of the knowledge that is gained. The external sources showed to contribute with important knowledge in areas of R&D capabilities, technology development, market orientation and regulation. By assessing the external sources of knowledge firms will unlock great potential knowledge that would otherwise be very costly. A conclusion was that as eco-innovation firms acquire knowledge by their external assets in parallel there are signals, unconsciously communicated going out to the external environment. Since our study has shown that academic experience among the founders seemed to have been helping the firms in their contact with governmental actors in order to attract subsidies and in the approval process for test sites, this indicates that what seems to be communicated from within the eco-innovation firms to their external environment is certain legitimacy, credibility and reputation that strengthen the relationship with governmental actors. This study was performed as a multiple case study on four different eco-innovation firms working with development of technology to extract energy from renewable energy sources in terms of wave and tidal power. Our choice to only interview one person on each firm, due to a limited time frame and resources, might make it hard to generalize the findings since there is a possibility of biased data. Other limitations that make it hard to draw to much from the results are the fact of focusing on a limited area on eco-innovation in only one country, since regulations play an important role this might differ between different countries.

This article investigates the evolution of a customer involvement concept and how Web 3.0 technology can contribute to it. We intend to answer the questions how do manufacturing companies involve customers into innovation processes, how they can benefit from Web 3.0 technology and we also rather general look upon adoption process of new tools. Information was obtained through executing intervention experiments in three manufacturing companies in the bathroom industry operating at the web 3.0 platform. The main part of the experiment includes ‘educational session’ by which we intend to create awareness about new Web 3.0 technology and observe changing perception of managers towards its possible use. We found out, first, that manufacturing companies mainly get ideas for new products from information deriving from their retailers, market surveys and fairs participation. Second, that Web 3.0 technology might be a complementary and alternative solution to traditional marketing research tools. Further, we drew conclusions and implications for both manufacturing companies and Web 3.0 technology providers. It was concluded that besides advantages of Web 3.0 technology over other customer involvement tools, Web 3.0 provides constant interaction between company and customers which is a valuable source for innovative ideas, thus, creating innovation in general. However, currently the process of new technology adoption is rather slow which is determined by a number of barriers discussed in the research.

Tidigare forskning har visat att kundinvolvering kan ske på olika nivåer, där dehögsta nivåerna bidragit till bland annat ökad kundnöjdhet, konkurrenskraftigafördelar och förbättrat införande av nya tjänster hos organisationerna. Syftet medstudien har varit att bidra med kunskapsutveckling kring Radikal Kundinvolveringinom tjänstesektorn. Begreppet var nytt för forskningsområdet och få tidigarestudier visade effekterna av djupgående kundinvolvering. Den teoretiskareferensramen inleddes med kundfokus inom Offensiv kvalitetsutveckling,kundengagemang och kundinvolvering för att slutligen mynna ut i begreppetRadikal Kundinvolvering. Den kunskapsteoretiska utgångspunkten i studien harvarit hermeneutisk med abduktiv ansats. Kvalitativa djupintervjuer har använts sommetod för datainsamling. Till intervjuerna valdes fyra organisationer sombedömdes ha arbetat med Radikal Kundinvolvering och frågor rörandeerfarenheter, effekter och framtidsutsikter ställdes utifrån en semistruktureradintervjumall. Intervjumaterialet analyserades med utgångspunkt frånforskningsfrågorna. Förutom att stärka resultaten från tidigare forskning, visadeförfattarnas slutsats på att organisationerna kombinerade olika metoder förkundinvolvering och att effekterna av Radikal Kundinvolvering blev stärktorganisationskultur, ökad kommunikation och delaktighet. Arbetet ledde också tillatt kundgrupper vars åsikter vanligtvis inte fångades genom traditionella metoderblev hörda. / Previous research shows that customer involvement can occur on different levels,where the highest ones have had effects like increased customer satisfaction,competitive advantages and improved introduction of new services for theorganisations. The purpose of the study was to develop a deeper knowledge ofRadical Customer Involvement within service development. The term was new tothe field of research the and few studies had mentioned the effects of deepercustomer involvement. The theoretical framework leads the reader from customerorientation within Total Quality Management, customer engagement and customerinvolvement to Radical Customer Involvement. The research method washermeneutic with an abductive approach. Qualitative in-depth interviews wereused to collect data. Four organisations that were considered working with RadicalCustomer Involvement were chosen for the study and questions involvingexperiences, effects and the future of the field were asked with the help of a semi-structured interview guide. The analysis was based on the questions of the study.Besides strengthening previous research, the authors conclusion showed that theorganisations combined different methods of customer involvement and thatRadical Customer involvement had positive effects on the organisations culture,communication and participation. It also helped raise the voice of customers thattraditional methods were unable to reach. / <p>2019-06-27</p>

During the 21st century banks have been going through big changes due to both digitization and increase in competition from niche banks. Furthermore, there has been a decrease in customer satisfaction during the last decade. The purpose of this study is therefore to clarify how the banks act in their work to stay competitive by cater their customers’ needs through customer involvement. The objective of this study has been to conduct in-depth interviews with two of the four big banks of Sweden. In-depth interviews were chosen to, in the best way possible, examine the underlying factors, and how they act when involving customers.The results obtained from the in-depth interviews was then analysed starting from the framework of theory found about the subject to create a perception whether the banks’ work corresponds with the contemporary research about the subject of customer involvement and customer focus. The result from the analysis then gave the authors the insights that the banks where, in a much greater extent than was thought, where working with both customer involvement and questions about digitization. This through a clear customer focus and strategic planning of how to assimilate information about their customers. The conclusion of the study is that the banks’ work is in line with what the researchers are advocating in their research about how to cater to customers’ needs through customer involvement. The banks have thereby created a foundation from which they can develop services the in the best way possible cancreate satisfied customers. / Under 2000-talet har bankerna genomgått stora förändringar med utmaningar från såväl digitalisering och ökad konkurrens från mindre nischbanker. Ytterligare har bankernas kundnöjdhet minskat under det senaste decenniet. Den här studien syftar därför till att klargöra hur bankerna arbetar för att vidhålla sin konkurrenskraftighet genom att tillgodose kundens behov med kundinvolvering. Det genom att genomföra djupintervjuer med två av de fyra storbankerna. Djupintervjuer valdes för att på ett så bra sätt som möjligt undersöka de bakomliggande faktorerna samt hur arbetet med deras kundinvolvering faktiskt ser ut. Resultatet som erhölls från djupintervjuerna har sedan analyserats med utgångspunkt från de teoretiska referensramar som sammansatts. Det för att skapa en uppfattning om huruvida bankernas arbete överensstämmer med den moderna forskningen kring kundinvolvering och kundfokus. Resultatet från analysen gav författarna insikten om att bankerna, i en långt vidare utsträckning än vad som uppfattats, arbetar med såväl kundinvolvering som frågor om digitalisering. Det genom tydlig kundfokus och strategiska planer för att tillgodogöra sig av kundens information. Studiens slutsats är att bankerna arbetar i det led forskarna förespråkar i sin forskning kring hur kundens behov till bästa sätt tillgodoses genom kundinvolvering. Bankerna har därmed skapat sig en grund till att utveckla tjänster som på bästa sätt skapar nöjda kunder.

<p>Background: Knowledge of customer needs is a key factor in companies’ struggle to develop successful products. Several studies illustrate that the main reason for failure in product development is lack of customer understanding. Lately considerable changes have occurred. Large-scale mass production is continuously being replaced by customer orientation, especially in the high technological market. </p><p>Purpose: The purpose of this master thesis is to analyze customer involvement in high technological product development projects. </p><p>Research method: The study was conducted by realizing seven qualitative interviews at three different companies related to telecommunication. </p><p>Result: Customers are involved in product development projects in different ways and to different extends. The involvement is carried out in two main ways; either by planned meetings, demanded direct involvement, or by market and sales departments, not demanded involvement. The characteristics of the customer involvement is primarily dependent on the sort of new product being developed, the character of the development process as well as the design of the project model in terms of duration and control.</p>

Background: Knowledge of customer needs is a key factor in companies’ struggle to develop successful products. Several studies illustrate that the main reason for failure in product development is lack of customer understanding. Lately considerable changes have occurred. Large-scale mass production is continuously being replaced by customer orientation, especially in the high technological market. Purpose: The purpose of this master thesis is to analyze customer involvement in high technological product development projects. Research method: The study was conducted by realizing seven qualitative interviews at three different companies related to telecommunication. Result: Customers are involved in product development projects in different ways and to different extends. The involvement is carried out in two main ways; either by planned meetings, demanded direct involvement, or by market and sales departments, not demanded involvement. The characteristics of the customer involvement is primarily dependent on the sort of new product being developed, the character of the development process as well as the design of the project model in terms of duration and control.

Authors: Sjöberg, Amelie 880410 Wallgren, Christopher 890131   Background: Due to the current competitive climate, it is of major importance for firms to distinguish and differentiate their products compared to the competitors. To achieve that, the firms need to offer a product that the customers want. Firms can integrate with external sources and receive valuable information regarding references and needs. Customer relationship management (CRM) have become a tool firm commonly use in order to receive this information. CRM is a much discussed topic among researchers, and the researchers argue that it is of major importance to identify CRM activities that generates profitability and successful performance to the firm   Purpose: The purpose of the study is to investigate the impact of customer relationship management (CRM) on product innovation in Scandinavian firms.   Method: The survey generated 61 responses from service and manufacturing firms operating on the Scandinavian market (Sweden, Norway and Denmark). The surveys were accessible through Keysruvey.com in April 2013 and generated a response rate of 14% Conclusion: The major conclusion of this research is that all Hypotheses were supported, which indicates that customer involvement, information sharing and long-term partnership has a positive impact on product innovation.

Topic: Co-creation of experience Research gap: The number of papers focusing on customer involvement and customer experience has increased significantly in recent years. However, there is a lack of studies on how companies can use customer involvement for creating a better customer experience jointly with customers, which Prahalad &amp; Ramaswamy (2000, 2003, 2004) refer to as the co-creation of experience. Purpose: By this paper we want to develop an understanding of how e-commerce companies can use customer involvement to create a superior online shopping experience. Theoretical basis of our paper: Customer involvement (e.g. von Hippel); experience co-creation (Prahalad &amp; Ramaswamy) Methodology: We conducted in-depth interviews with nine Swedish, Norwegian and Chinese e-commerce companies from different industries to collect data on how they use customer involvement and/or co-creation. The interviews were semi-structured interviews which consisted mostly of open-ended questions. In order to be able to identify patterns and learn about the nature of how companies involve customers, a qualitative multi-case study design was used. Findings: The main findings are that some e-commerce companies have already realized the importance of the customer experience and also already involve their customers in various forms for co-creating experience. However, none of the companies completely fulfils the criteria of experience co-creation as defined in the theoretical articles by Prahalad &amp; Ramaswamy (2000, 2003, 2004). Practical implications: E-commerce companies have many options to provide a better online shopping experience by involving customers as co-creators. Research limitations: Due to the sample size and the fact that a convenience sample was chosen, the results cannot be generalized. Originality/value: This study can provide insights into opportunities for the co-creation of experience in the case of e-commerce companies. Keywords: Customer involvement, Experience co-creation, Experience, E-commerce, Innovation community

Thesis Title: Applying customer involvement in B2B Sales – Case study on a medical device company Date: 10th of June, 2012 Subject, Course: Business Administration, 15 hec. Enterprising and Business Development, 2EB00E. Author: Anna Degrell, 25-01-1989 6647 Advisor: Magnus Forslund Examiner: Richard Nakamura Keywords: Customer Involvement, B2B, Sales, Organize, Apply, Value, Case Study, Medical Device Company Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to increase the understanding of how customer involvement can be applied in business to business (B2B) sales. Method: the method of choice for this thesis will be within a qualitative approach and contains a case study, with semi structured interviews based on Operationalization of theoretical concepts, and analyzed by grounded theory. Result: Customer Involvement can be presented in several ways within B2B sales; the case study on the medical device company in this thesis has applied the involvement in so-called Sight-visits and as a concept called doctor-to-doctor.