A visão do produto é uma descrição sucinta, metafórica e desafiadora, que emerge em uma equipe de projeto e que serve como alinhamento frente ao produto obtido no final do desenvolvimento. Há tempos é tida como fator crítico de sucesso em áreas como desenvolvimento de produto, planejamento estratégico e gerenciamento ágil de projetos. Os teóricos dessas áreas propõem definições para visão do produto e métodos para concebê-la. As definições se mostram parciais de cada área e possuem limitações como, por exemplo, alto nível de abstração o que dificulta a operacionalização do conceito. Já os métodos propostos não são capazes de sistematizar o envolvimento do cliente no processo. A pesquisa utilizou uma revisão bibliográfica sistemática na busca de métodos para visão do produto e uma exploratória para as definições de visão. As revisões embasaram a criação de um modelo conceitual de visão de produto com o intuito de definir melhor o conceito e a proposta de método desta tese. Como a definição proposta congrega as características da visão, ela serve também como medida para a avaliação da visão gerada pelo método proposto. Avaliou-se o método com a aplicação em três estudos de caso, cujos dados foram analisados qualitativamente, pelo Índice de Concordância, e pelo Coeficiente de Correlação Intraclasse. Os resultados indicaram que o método proposto foi considerado de fácil aplicação e bem documentado. Os usuários também se mostraram inclinados para reutilizar e recomendar o método e, além disso, concordaram que ele foi útil na sistematização do envolvimento do cliente. Os resultados do Coeficiente de Concordância Intraclasse mostraram que o método conseguiu operacionalizar praticamente todas as propriedades da visão, exceto as propriedades clara, concisa e flexível. Estudos detalhados sobre a influência de uma propriedade na outra e seu real impacto na visão propriamente dita devem ser conduzidos. A contribuição do trabalho não se concentra somente na proposição do método, mas também no modelo conceitual que define melhor o conceito e serve como medida para avaliar visões geradas por métodos com o mesmo intuito do proposto neste trabalho. / The product vision is a concise, metaphorical and challenging description that emerges in a project team and serves as alignment with the product obtained at the end of development. It is seen as a critical succees factor in areas like new poduct development, strategic planning and agile project management. Theorists from these areas propose definitions and methods to conceive it. However partial definitions are shown in each area and have limitations, eg, high level of abstraction which makes difficult to operationalize the concept. Otherwise, the proposed methods are not able to systematize the customer engagement process. Moreover the proposed methods are unable to systematize the customer involvement in the process. This research used a systematic and exploratory literature review to search product vision´s definitions and methods. The reviews based the creation of a conceptual model of product vision in order to better define the concept and the proposed method of this thesis. The proposed definition encompasses the vision characteristics and therefore it also serves as a measure for evaluation of visions generated by the proposed method. It was evaluated by applying the method in three-case studies, that the data were analyzed qualitatively, by Within-Group Interrater Agreement and by Intraclass Correlation Coefficient. The results indicated that the proposed method was considered easy to use and well documented. The users were also inclined to reuse and recommend the method and, moreover, they agreed that it was useful to systematize the customer involvement. The results of the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient showed that the method was able to generate almost all properties of vision, except the properties \"clear\", \"concise\" and \"flexible\". More detailed studies about the influence of a property in another and their real impact on the view itself should be conducted. The contribution of this work focuses not only on the proposition of the method, but also the conceptual model that best defines the concept and serves as a measure to evaluate visions generated by methods like the one proposed in this thesis.

Given today’s industry dynamics, new service development is becoming increasingly important to the competitiveness, growth, and survival of organizations. Unfortunately, new service development has proven to be a complex and difficult task. Numerous reasons are stated in the literature such as the difficulty of understanding and anticipating latent customer needs and insufficient market research techniques. To facilitate proactive learning about the customer, recent findings stress customer involvement in the development process and observations of customers in real action. The overall objective of the dissertation is to contribute to an increased knowledge of customer involvement, i.e., the role of customers as contributors and co-creators in new service development. The thesis draws on theory from market and learning orientation in conjunction with a service-centered model, and provides an extensive review of literature on customer involvement in innovation. In five separate studies, this doctor’s thesis addresses the customer’s role in innovation activities in various industries (e.g., Staffing Services, Airline Services, and Mobile Telecommunication services). In this thesis it is argued that interaction is not only the focal point of services, but also the essence of customer involvement. A special emphasis is put on supporting techniques as these are the means by which customer information and knowledge are created. In addition, results are provided showing that customer involvement in innovation pays off. Companies that engage in collaborative innovation with customers can expect improved customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, and profit margin.

Submitted by Luciano Carvalho (luccar@gmail.com) on 2014-03-14T14:19:09Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese Luciano Castro de Carvalho.pdf: 1514970 bytes, checksum: 90788ec79c03971a7e24d2b17f5b2023 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by PAMELA BELTRAN TONSA (pamela.tonsa@fgv.br) on 2014-03-17T14:45:26Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese Luciano Castro de Carvalho.pdf: 1514970 bytes, checksum: 90788ec79c03971a7e24d2b17f5b2023 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-03-17T14:46:37Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese Luciano Castro de Carvalho.pdf: 1514970 bytes, checksum: 90788ec79c03971a7e24d2b17f5b2023 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-02-26 / This study aimed to verify the influence of the supply chain agents on the new product development’s performance when those agents are analyzed jointly. The motivation for this goal rose up from some studies that claimed for the consideration of the supply chain integration as a multi-dimensional construct, encompassing manufacturing, supplier and customer involvement into NPD; and due to the lack of information about the individual influences of those agents on new product development’s performance. Under these considerations, we built an analytical model based on Social Capital and Absorptive Capacity Theory, raising hypotheses from the literature review and connecting constructs as cooperation, supplier involvement into NPD, customer involvement into NPD, manufacturing involvement into NPD, anticipation of new technologies, continuous improvement, NPD’s operational performance, NPD’s marketing performance and NPD’s business performance. To test the hypotheses we also considered three moderating variables, as environmental turbulence (low, medium and high levels), industry (electronics, machinery and transport equipment) and location (American, European and Asian countries). To run the model, we used the data from High Performance Manufacturing (HPM)’s project that covers 339 companies from electronics, machinery and transport equipment industries placed in eleven countries. We tested the hypotheses through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) including multi-group moderation for the three moderating variables mentioned previously. The main results pointed out that the hypotheses regard to cooperation were confirmed in environments with medium level of turbulence while the hypotheses related to NPD performance was not rejected in electronics and machinery industry, in low levels of environmental turbulence and in Asian countries. Moreover, we found out that, under the same conditions, suppliers, customers and manufacturing influence differently on new product development performance. Thus, supplier involvement influences directly the operational performance and influences indirectly the marketing and business performance in low levels of environmental turbulence, in transport equipment industry and in American and European countries. Likewise, customer involvement influenced directly the operational performance and indirectly the marketing and business performance in medium and high levels of environmental turbulence, in the machinery industry and in Asian countries. Suppliers and customers don’t influence directly the marketing and business performance and don’t influence indirectly the operational performance. Surprisingly, manufacturing involvement didn’t influence any kind of new product development’s performance in all scenarios presented. / Este estudo buscou verificar a influencia dos agentes da cadeia de suprimentos no desempenho do desenvolvimento de novos produtos quando os agentes são analisados em conjunto. A motivação desta pesquisa veio de estudos que alertaram para a consideração da integração da cadeia de suprimentos como um constructo multidimensional, englobando o envolvimento da manufatura, fornecedores e clientes no desenvolvimento de novos produtos; e devido à falta de informação sobre as influencias individuais destes agentes no desenvolvimento de novos produtos. Sob essas considerações, buscou-se construir um modelo analítico baseado na Teoria do Capital Social e Capacidade Absortiva, construir hipóteses a partir da revisão da literatura e conectar constructos como cooperação, envolvimento do fornecedor no desenvolvimento de novos produtos (DNP), envolvimento do cliente no DNP, envolvimento da manufatura no DNP, antecipação de novas tecnologias, melhoria contínua, desempenho operacional do DNP, desempenho de mercado do NPD e desempenho de negócio do DNP. Para testar as hipóteses foram consideradas três variáveis moderadoras, tais como turbulência ambiental (baixa, média e alta), indústria (eletrônicos, maquinários e equipamentos de transporte) e localização (América, Europa e Ásia). Para testar o modelo foram usados dados do projeto High Performance Manufacturing que contém 339 empresas das indústrias de eletrônicos, maquinários e equipamentos de transporte, localizadas em onze países. As hipóteses foram testadas por meio da Análise Fatorial Confirmatória (AFC) incluindo a moderação muti-grupo para as três variáveis moderadoras mencionadas anteriormente. Os principais resultados apontaram que as hipóteses relacionadas com cooperação foram confirmadas em ambientes de média turbulência, enquanto as hipóteses relacionadas ao desempenho no DNP foram confirmadas em ambientes de baixa turbulência ambiental e em países asiáticos. Adicionalmente, sob as mesmas condições, fornecedores, clientes e manufatura influenciam diferentemente no desempenho de novos produtos. Assim, o envolvimento de fornecedores influencia diretamente no desempenho operacional e indiretamente no desempenho de mercado e de negócio em baixos níveis de turbulência ambiental, na indústria de equipamentos de transporte em países da Americanos e Europeus. De igual forma, o envolvimento do cliente influenciou diretamente no desempenho operacional e indiretamente no desempenho de mercado e do negócio em médio nível de turbulência ambiental, na indústria de maquinários e em países Asiáticos. Fornecedores e clientes não influenciam diretamente no desempenho de mercado e do negócio e não influenciam indiretamente no desempenho operacional. O envolvimento da manufatura não influenciou nenhum tipo de desempenho do desenvolvimento de novos produtos em todos os cenários testados.

Idag skiftar industrin sitt fokus från att producera fysiska produkter till att utveckla tjänster. En ökande konkurrens på marknaden gör att företag måste använda effektiva utvecklingsprocesser för att snabbt lansera tjänster av hög kvalitet. Tjänster definieras ofta utifrån deras immateriella karaktär vilket komplicerar mätning av kvalitet. För att bestämma kvalitet kan fysiska produkter kontrolleras mot en kravspecifikation genom att testas och mätas. Tjänster däremot utgår ifrån hur väl de uppfyller kundernas och användarnas behov. För att öka tjänsters kvalitet är det viktigt att förstå kunderna och användarna och i praktiken blir det allt vanligare att involvera dem i utvecklingen. Tjänster har nyligen fått stor uppmärksamhet i industrin och i forskningen och den allmänna beskrivningen av tjänster omfattar många olika ämnesområden. Detta innebär att det inte finns en entydig definition av vad en tjänst är och det saknas en vedertagen tjänsteutvecklingsprocess som möjliggör involvering av användarna. Vidare efterfrågar forskningen studier i hur kund- och användarinvolvering bör ingå i utvecklingen av tjänster, speciellt i ett tidigare skede, och hur det påverkar tjänsters resultat. Utifrån en litteraturstudie har denna studie föreslagit en process för att involvera centrala intressenter, till exempel kunder, användare och interna intressenter, i utvecklingen av tjänster. Processen implementerades sedan i ett praktikfall där examensarbetet samarbetspartner, ett mindre IT-företag, gett i uppdrag att utveckla ett koncept av en friskvårdstjänst. Praktikfallet omfattade endast de första delarna i utvecklingen där exempelvis teknisk utveckling och lansering inte ingick. Efter att processen implementerats levererades ett färdigt koncept till samarbetspartnern och en ny justerad process presenterades baserad på analyser från empirin. Denna studie styrker dagens forskning genom att påvisa att kund- och användarinvolvering i tjänsteutvecklingen kan bidra till en effektiv process, tjänster av hög kvalitet, en ökad kundlojalitet till företaget och en ökad marknadsacceptans. Däremot är det avgörande att involveringen sker på rätt sätt med rätt intressenter. Innan utvecklingen bör syftet med intressenternas involvering definieras omsorgsfullt så att involveringsmomenten kan anpassas därefter. Efter att syftet med intressenternas involvering bestämts kan processen från denna studie med fördel implementeras i all tjänsteutveckling. Sökord: tjänsteutveckling, tjänstedesign, kundinvolvering, användarinvolvering, process / Today the industry is shifting focus from producing goods to developing services. With increasing competition on the service market companies need to establish efficient development processes to quickly launch services of high quality. Services are often defined in terms of its intangible nature, which complicates the measurement of quality. Goods can be physically tested and measured to be checked against a requirement specification. On the other hand, quality in services is based on how well they meet customer and user needs. To gain quality the understanding of customers and users is crucial and in practice it is becoming increasingly common to involve customers and users in the service development. Services have recently gained attention within the industry and research. Furthermore, the general description of services includes a variety of subject areas. Because of this there is no established definition of what a service actually is and the research lack recognized processes for its development. In addition, the research request studies on how customer and user involvement should be part of the development of services, especially in the early stages, and how it affects the services’ results. Based on a literature study, this thesis has proposed a process for involving key stakeholders, including customers and users, in the development of services. The process was then implemented in a case where a small IT company commissioned to develop a concept of a wellness service. The case comprised only the first stages of the full development where, for example, technical design and launch was not included. After the process was implemented, a final concept was delivered to the business partner and a new adjusted process was presented based on the analysis of the empirical data. This study verifies today's research by demonstrating that customer and user involvement in service development can contribute to an efficient process, quality, increased customer loyalty to the company and a greater market acceptance. However, it is crucial that the right stakeholders are involved according to a purpose. Before the development, the purpose of the stakeholder involvement must be defined carefully so that activities can be designed accordingly. After this, the adjusted process presented in this study can advantageously be implemented in any service development. Keywords: Service development, Service design, Customer involvement, User involvement, Process

Today's business environment has become increasingly competitive, which is partly due to an expansion in globalization coupled with higher consumer demands. This places greater demands on flexibility and consciously of innovation. Traditional innovation measurement focuses on measuring output, which means that it can take years to evaluate and map the innovation process. The aim of the following project is to identify activities that enable companies to monitor and develop their innovative activities. The metrics are tools that help organizations control and develop innovations, to strengthen their innovation process. The study was initiated with a systematic literature review with the objective to highlight important aspects of innovation and innovation measurement. Empirical data was collected through the qualitative method, where 13 semi-structured interviews were conducted. Three of the interviews were with researchers that have knowledge in the field of innovation. The remaining interviews were conducted with employees at case company Dynapac. Based on the theoretical and empirical findings, a definition of innovation has been identified for the manufacturing sector. Within the case company, the challenge was to analyse the current metrics and develop future metrics. The researchers reveal the importance of implementing a measurement system that drives activities related to the development of innovative work and capabilities, to ensure continuity. Ten metrics have been identified for the innovation process. These have been categorized into input, process, and output to guide companies in the innovation process. The metrics were categorized by four types: capability, organization, market and financial. The objectives with the metrics are to capture the full range of the innovation process and the activities that are relevant to each metrics. The metrics are actively promoting keeping track or supporting reflection about innovation activities.

Titel: Att inte följa strömmen – en studie om differentiering bland musikstreamingtjänsterFörfattare: Riccardo Furrer, Matilda Johansson och My LarssonHandledare: Kaisa LundKurs: Kandidatuppsats 15hp i Företagsekonomi inriktning Marknadsföring, Music & Event Managementprogrammet, Linnéuniversitetet, Höstterminen 2013SyfteSyftet med denna uppsats är att analysera de sätt digitala prenumerationstjänster inom musiksektorn kan differentiera sig på marknaden. Vi vill även undersöka vad det är konsumenten anser vara viktigt i valet av en digital musiktjänst.Vi har också arbetat kring en forskningsfråga: Hur kan företag bakom digitala prenumerationstjänster inom musiksektorn positionera sig på den svenska marknaden? Metod Vi har valt att göra en kvalitativ studie som tillslut antog en abduktiv ansats. Kvalitativ metod passade oss bäst då vårt mål var att gå in på djupet i vårt ämne och inte gå på kvantitet i våra empiriska undersökningar. Den empiriska studien består av tre personliga intervjuer med personer som är aktivt involverade och kunniga inom den digitala musikbranschen. Dessutom består empirin även av två fokusgrupper med personer som använder sig av musikstreamingtjänster samt två konsumentintervjuer då uppslutningen till sista fokusgruppen blev mycket dålig. Slutsatser Vi har genom den analys vi gjort hittat band mellan verklighet och teori som sedan kopplats till den digitala musikmarknaden. Främst blev det tydligt att kundens behov är av största vikt för att tjänsten skall kunna uppfylla sitt syfte.För att detta skall kunna göras i så stor utsträckning som möjligt bör företaget rikta sig mot segment för att få så homogena behov som möjligt. Dessa segment bör urskiljas genom analys av kunder och sedan separerade av aspekter baserat på exempelvis livsstil, ålder eller konsumtionsbeteende. Vi har genom analys av kunders önskemål och tankar kring digitala musiktjänster kunna skapa en bild av hur en differentiering på den digitala musikmarknaden bör se ut. / The purpose of this study is to analyze in which ways digital music subscription services may differentiate themselves from one another on the Swedish digital music market. We also want to examine how the companies providing these services can position themselves on the Swedish market by looking at what consumers of these kinds of services look for in a digital music service. To find answers we have decided to try to answer one question: How can companies behind digital music subscription services position themselves on the Swedish music market? For this study we have used a qualitative approach where we have conducted three personal interviews with people who are involved daily, in one way or another, with digital music streaming services. We also had focus groups with music service users and a few interviews with consumers. We chose this approach to get a deeper look into what customers want out of a service that offers music.By analyzing the empirical and theoretical data we could find a bond between reality and theory, which could be connected to the digital music market. It became particularly clear that customer need is the biggest importance for the service to fulfill its purpose. For this to be in the most way possible, the company must aim towards similar customer needs by creating segments in the market. These segments should be constructed trough an analysis of the customersand then separated by aspects based on lifestyle, age or consumer behavior. We have been analyzing customer needs and assumptions of music services. The results helped us create a picture of an ideal differentiation strategy of the Swedish digital music market.

A usabilidade é um aspecto de grande importância na área de produtos eletromédicos, pois um mau uso de algum produto pode acarretar sérios problemas de saúde ao paciente ou até mesmo sua morte. De forma a mitigar tal problema, a NBR IEC 60601-1-6 (referente à usabilidade nos produtos eletromédicos) passou a ser obrigatória para certificação de produtos eletromédicos no Brasil a partir de dezembro de 2015. Entretanto, tal norma ainda deixa muitas dúvidas de aplicação a equipes de projeto. Para mitigar esse problema, alguns temas da literatura poderiam ser aplicados. Um deles é o de Processo de Desenvolvimento de Produtos (PDP). Os modelos de PDP e os métodos de gestão de requisitos poderiam melhorar os processos das empresas da área eletromédica, assim como a teoria de User-Centred Design (UCD) e métodos voltados ao usuário poderiam melhorar o envolvimento do usuário no desenvolvimento de produtos e consequentemente a sua usabilidade. Entretanto, pôde-se notar que as empresas de pequeno porte não seguem as orientações da teoria, algumas sequer as conhecem, e quando conhecem, possuem dificuldades em suas aplicações. O objetivo dessa pesquisa é desenvolver um framework para aplicação de métodos de UCD no PDP de empresas de produtos eletromédicos, com o foco na fase de desenvolvimento de conceito, contendo a integração de métodos de UCD e de gestão de requisitos com a teoria dos modelos de PDP e com os requisitos normativos. Para tal, é seguida nessa pesquisa uma metodologia que compreende três fases: (I) fundamentação teórica e empírica (realizada por revisão da literatura e estudos de caso exploratórios), (II) desenvolvimento do framework (por meio de modelagem), e (III) verificação (com utilização de focus group e entrevistas com especialistas). A avaliação do framework foi considerada positiva. A sequência e a inclusão de dos passos se mostrou válida e lógica; os métodos propostos e o material de apoio elaborado foram considerados pertinentes ao desenvolvimento de produtos; e a organização de todas as entregas, juntamente com sua conexão com os passos, ajuda muito na elaboração do arquivo de engenharia de usabilidade. O framework desenvolvido ajuda as equipes de projeto a envolver o usuário no desenvolvimento de produtos e na busca por produtos com maior usabilidade. Além dessas contribuições empíricas, essa pesquisa traz a contribuição teórica da conexão do PDP com detalhamento de métodos. / Usability is an aspect of great importance in the area of electromedical products, since a misuse of some product can cause serious health problems to the patient or even his death. In order to mitigate such a problem, NBR IEC 60601-1-6 (referring to usability in electromedical products) became mandatory for certification of electromedical products in Brazil since December 2015. However, this standard still leaves many application doubts to project teams. To mitigate this problem, some literature issues could be applied. One is the Product Development Process (PDP). PDP models and requirements management methods could improve the processes of companies in the electromedical area, as well as User-Centred Design (UCD) theory and user-oriented methods could improve user involvement in product development and consequently its usability. However, it may be noted that small companies do not follow the theory\'s guidelines, some do not even know them, and when they do, they have difficulties in their applications. Thus, the objective of this research is to develop a framework for the application of UCD methods in the PDP of electromedical products companies, focusing on the concept development phase, containing the integration of UCD methods and requirements management with the theory of PDP models and with the standard requirements. For this, a methodology is followed, which includes three phases: (I) theoretical and empirical foundation (done by literature review and exploratory case studies), (II) framework development (through modeling), and (III) verification (using focus group and interviews with specialists). The framework evaluation was considered positive. The sequence and inclusion of the steps proved to be valid and logical; the methods proposed and the developed supporting material were considered relevant to the development of products; and the organization of all deliveries, along with its connection to the steps, helps a lot in the development of the usability engineering file. The developed framework helps project teams to engage the user in product development and the search for products with greater usability. Besides these empirical contributions, this research brings the theoretical contribution of the connection of the PDP with details of methods.

Studien ämnade att undersöka på vilket sätt kunder och supportanvändare ser på kundsupport. Hur verksamheter och organisationer skall gå till väga för att digitalisera sin IT-support på ett sådant vis att kunderna upplever supporterbjudandet som något användbart och värdefullt. Vad som kan ses som problematiskt i denna undersökning är differensen på kunskap hos individer inom IT-användning. Vilka funktioner är det som kunder till ett supporterbjudande förväntar sig kunna ta del av och använda vid kontakt med en supportavdelning? De data som samlats in har diskuterats och analyserats för att kunna svara på problemformuleringen och få fram konkreta slutsatser som givit svar på frågeställningarna. På detta sätt belyses de problem och tveksamheter som finns hos användare när dessa kontaktar och har ett samröre med en supportavdelning. Det har visat sig att det är liknande faktorer som gör att användare känner sig nöjda med ett supporterbjudande. Kunskap är den faktor som tydligast belyser vad användare tycker är viktigt hos en kundsupport. Förutom bra kunskap hos de anställda på supportavdelningen är även korta svarstider en viktig faktor till att uppnå kundnöjdhet. De funktioner användare främst anser som viktiga hos en supportavdelning är telefon och själv-service. Telefon som den huvudsakliga kontaktfunktionen med en själv-servicefunktion som komplement till denna. Det är i de flesta fall kunderna som driver företagen framåt i utvecklingen. Ett företag utan kunder kommer med största sannolikhet inte överleva länge. Det är därför av vikt att företag lyssnar på vad kunder har att säga och anpassar sig efter detta. Allt för att uppnå kundnöjdhet och föra företaget framåt tillsammans med kunderna. / The study intended to investigate how customers and support users see customer support. How businesses and organizations should proceed in digitizing their IT support in such a way that customers experience the support offer as something useful and valuable. What can be seen as problematic in this study is the difference in knowledge of individuals in IT usage. What are the features that customers of a support offer expect to be able to share and use when contacting a support department? The data collected has been discussed and analyzed to answer the problem formulation and to get concrete conclusions that gave answers to the questions. This will highlight the problems and doubts that exist with users when they contact a support department. It has been found that there are similar factors that make users feel happy with a support offer. Knowledge is the factor that most clearly illustrates what users think is important in a customer support. In addition to the good knowledge of the employees in the support department, short response times are also an important factor in achieving customer satisfaction. The features users primarily consider important in a support department are telephone and self-service. Telephone as the main contact function with a self-service feature that complements this. In most cases, it is the customer who drives the companies forward in development. A company without customers will most likely not survive for a long time. It is therefore important for companies to listen to what customers have to say and adapt to this. All to achieve customer satisfaction and bring the company forward together with the customers.

Background                   The single most important thing for a start-up is to define how they will satisfy their customers’ needs, as it is the key to survival. This can be done by creating a value proposition that presents the benefits of the product and/or service being sold.  Customer involvement have been proven to contribute to both higher customer satisfaction and productivity. It can also make value propositions more accurate and make a start-up gain new customers. A successful value proposition often leads to a higher perceived value for customers, making them willing to pay a higher price.  Despite the benefits, start-ups rarely involve their customers in the creation of value propositions, and there is little research on how this affects the value propositions. Therefore, these research questions were formulated:      Research questions         RQ1: How does customer involvement influence customer value propositions?  RQ2: How can customer involvement be facilitated for start-ups in the creation of value propositions?      Method                           The study consisted of a literature review and a case study. In the literature review, success factors were investigated for value propositions and customer involvement along with answers to how customer involvement could be facilitated for start-ups. The case study was performed at a start-up company in the EdTech sector where a value proposition created solely by the case company (without customer involvement) was compared to a new value proposition with customer involvement, created in this study. Both were placed in the framework of the value proposition canvas. The value proposition with customer involvement was based on ten interviews with both customers and potential customers in the customer segment.       Findings                         The findings show that the value proposition with customer involvement was broader, more extensive and included more important customer needs. There is also a low risk of missing latent needs.  To facilitate customer involvement for start-ups, the findings suggest that the customer involvement must cost little time and money. Social media can be used as a platform for gaining generic information about customers while a few deep relationships with customers can generate deeper understandings about customer needs. Findings also suggest that a third party can generate objective information about key customers with low time and money costs. / Bakgrund                       Det viktigaste för ett nystartat företag är att definiera hur de ska tillgodose sina kunders behov eftersom det är nyckeln till överlevnad. Detta kan göras genom att skapa ett värdeerbjudande som presenterar fördelarna med den produkt och/eller tjänst som säljs.  Kundinvolvering har visat sig bidra till både högre kundnöjdhet och högre produktivitet. Det kan även göra värdeerbjudanden mer exakta samt genererar nya kunder till nystartade företag. Ett framgångsrikt värdeerbjudande leder ofta i sin tur till ett högre upplevt värde för kunderna vilket gör dem villiga att betala ett högre pris.   Trots fördelarna involverar sällan nystartade företag sina kunder vid skapandet av värdeerbjudanden, och det finns bristfällig forskning på hur detta påverkar värdeerbjudandena. Därför formulerades dessa forskningsfrågor:       Forskningsfrågor           FF1: Hur påverkar kundinvolvering värdeerbjudanden? FF2: Hur kan kundinvolvering underlättas för nystartade företag vid skapandet av värdeerbjudanden?      Metod                             I studien utfördes en litteraturstudie och en fallstudie. I litteraturstudien undersöktes framgångsfaktorer för värdeerbjudanden och kundinvolvering samt svar på hur kundinvolvering kan underlättas för nystartade företag.  Fallstudien utfördes på ett nystartat företag inom EdTech-sektorn där ett värdeerbjudande som skapats enbart av företaget (utan kundinvolvering) jämfördes med ett nytt värdeerbjudande som skapats under fallstudien, med kundinvolvering. Båda placerades i en värdeerbjudande-canvas. Det kundinvolverade värdeerbjudandet baserades på tio intervjuer med kunder och potentiella kunder i målgruppen.       Resultat                         Resultatet visar att det kundinvolverade värdeerbjudandet var bredare, mer omfattande och inkluderade fler viktiga kundbehov. Dessutom så är risken för att missa latenta behov låg. För att underlätta kundinvolvering i nystartade företag tyder resultaten på att kundinvolveringen inte får kosta mycket tid och pengar. Sociala medier kan användas som en plattform för att utvinna generisk och bred information om kunder medan några få djupa relationer med kunder kan generera djupare förståelser kring kundens behov. Resultaten tyder också på att en tredje part kan genera objektiv information om nyckelkunder på ett tids och kostnadseffektivt sätt.

Denna fallstudie har utförts på ett programvaruföretag där majoriteten av kunderna ännu inte har uppgraderat till den senaste versionen av programvaran. Studiens syfte var att identifiera de underliggande orsakerna till detta, identifiera eventuella processgap samt föreslå åtgärder för att bättre tillfredsställa kundernas behov. För att uppnå detta användes Sex Sigmas förbättringsmetodik DMAIC där respektive fas och verktyg tillämpades genom hela studien. Datan för studien samlades in genom intervjuer med ledningen, enkätundersökning till kunderna och interna kunddata från Programvaruföretaget. Resultaten av undersökningen visar att det finns samband mellan olika variabler som påverkar kundernas beslut att inte uppgradera. Slutsatsen är att den primära orsaken till att kunderna inte uppgraderar till den nya versionen av programvaran är att deras säkerhetskrav inte har uppfyllts. Dessutom finns det brister i kommunikationen mellan organisationen och kunderna, vilket kan leda till missförstånd och negativ påverkan. För att åtgärda situationen föreslås olika åtgärder. Att involvera kunderna redan i kravutformningen av programvaran för att säkerställa att deras behov och förväntningar beaktas är en av dessa åtgärder. Det rekommenderas också att mäta kundnöjdhet regelbundet och genomföra en mer omfattande undersökning för att utvärdera effektiviteten i kommunikationen med kunderna. Genom att implementera dessa åtgärder kan Programvaruföretaget öka chanserna att få kunderna att uppgradera till den senaste versionen / This case study has been conducted at a software organization where the majority of customers have not yet upgraded to the latest version of the software. The purpose of the study was to identify the underlying causes for this, identify possible process gaps and to propose measures to better satisfy the customers' needs. To achieve this, Six Sigma's DMAIC improvement methodology was used, with the respective phases and tools applied throughout the study. Data for the study was collected through interviews with management, a customer survey and internal customer data from the software company. The results of the study show that there are relationships between different variables that influence the reason why customers do not upgrade. The conclusion is that the primary reason why customers do not upgrade to the new version of the software is that their security requirements have not been met. In addition, there is a lack of communication between the organization and customers, which can lead to misunderstandings and negative impacts. To remedy the situation, various measures are proposed. Involving customers already in the software requirements definition to ensure that their needs and expectations are taken into account is one of these measures. It is also recommended to measure customer satisfaction regularly and conduct a more comprehensive survey to evaluate the effectiveness of communication with customers. By implementing these measures, the software company can increase the chances of getting customers to upgrade to the latest version.