The purpose of this study is to explore and elaborate how firms are managing aesthetic with color and design choice as open innovation practice and explore its applicability in various sectors.  Two research questions are addressed: How is aesthetics with color and design choices managed by firms using open innovation practices? Can aesthetics with color and design choices be managed as open innovation practices for all kinds of technical designed products?   The study is based on a case study combined with survey method which constitutes a combination of quantitative and qualitative research for conducting productive research. In order to analyze and explain the case study as open innovation practice for designed technical products, the 4P model of innovation, open innovation model, product design process, digital prototyping and virtual customer environment are used. The survey was used for analyzing the question on generalization for all other designed technical products.   The study shows that some mobile firms are using “theme creator”, software for themes that is used for inside aesthetics of designed technical products with customer collaboration and participation. Sony Ericsson is one firm that is establishing activities for outlook aesthetics and inside aesthetics with color and design choice for its designed technical product (mobile). These activities are interpreted as open innovation practices conducted in virtual customer environment by Sony Ericsson. The survey result shows the customer’s willingness for participation and customer’s demand for the change in color and design of designed technical products by their own choice. When combining the case study and survey results it is concluded that color and design choice is required to improve aesthetics for designed technical products.

No description available.

Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka vilken hänsyn “fast fashion”- och “functional fashion”-företag tar till det ekologiska perspektivet inom CSR gällande val av material och design under produktutvecklingsprocessen. Studien syftar även till att undersöka hur målsättningarna i CSR-arbetet skiljer sig åt mellan de olika fallföretagen. Metod: Studiens upplägg grundas i en kvalitativ forskningsmetod med en deduktiv ansats. Det empiriska materialet har samlats in genom intervjuer hos företag med personer som besitter kunskap inom CSR, design, material och produktutveckling. Den teoretiska referensramen består av vetenskaplig artiklar och böcker. Slutsats: Slutsatsen i denna studie visar på att CSR är ett komplext begrepp med många definitioner som behöver omdefinieras för att företag tydligt ska förstå dess innebörd. Viljan att arbeta med CSR behöver även komma uppifrån högsta ledningen för att få störst genomslag och en lyckad integrering i samtliga delar av företaget. Designers inverkan på om plagget blir ekologiskt eller inte är av stor grad då de medverkar i produktutvecklingens början. Ett flertal designstrategier kan utläsas för att en produkt ska bli mer ekologisk. Materialval är dessutom kritiskt för att utveckla ekologiska produkter där en framväxt av nya alternativa textilmaterial och mindre skadliga beläggningar har uppkommit. Slutligen anses återvinning vara en framtida lösning för att reducera det textila avfallet, men där teknik och kunskap eftersöks för att kunna genomföras. / Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine what consideration is taken by fast fashion and functional fashion companies into the ecological perspective within CSR regarding the choice of the design and material during the product development process. The study also aims at examining how the CSR activities differ between the various companies. Method: The design of this study is based on a qualitative research method with a deductive approach. The empirical data was collected by interviewing respondents who hold knowledge within CSR, design, materials and product development. The theoretical framework consists of peer reviewed articles and books. Conclusion: The conclusion of this study shows that CSR is a complex term with multiple definitions that needs to be redefined so that companies can get a clear understanding of its meaning. The desire to work with CSR needs to come from top management to ensure a great impact and a successful integration across all departments within the company. The designers have a great impact on whether the garment becomes organic or not because of their involvement in the beginning of the product development process. A number of design strategies are presented on how to make a product more organic. The choice of material is also critical in developing organic products where new alternative materials and less harmful coatings have emerged. Finally, recycling is considered to be a future solution in reducing textile waste, however extended knowledge and technology are sought to succeed. / Företagsekonomi III - Detaljhandel och service management: examensarbete (kandidat)

Inspired by the digital revolution to the financial industry, the discussion around central bank digital currency also attract attention from academics and central banks. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) is also researching on China’s CBDC: digital currency electronic payment (DCEP) and announced that DCEP would be issued as soon as possible.  However, the PBOC does not systematically disclose the information of DCEP. The characteristics and mechanism design are still obscured and need to be explored deeply. This thesis analysed the classification and mechanism design choices of DCEP from the perspective of two different demands: general demand and central bank demand. Based on pragmatism philosophy, we use a mixed-methods approach that is a combination of qualitative and quantitative research. Through the interview and surveys, we identified the demands from the PBOC and the general public in China and the characteristics of DCEP from official claims. Then generate the design choices via the money flower and the pyramid of CBDC models and compare the result with the demand. The analysis shows that the DCEP belongs to type B general-purpose CB digital tokens, and it would adopt a complex multi-layer hybrid architecture design, with the support from both DLT and conventional way. In conclusion, the current mechanism design choices can meet the demands from each side to a certain extent and reached a delicate balance under the trade-off between privacy and security issues. This thesis provides an insightful view on the classification and design choices of DCEP, fulfils the lack of systematic research relating to the demand and design choices of DCEP, and reveals the public’s insufficient knowledge in DCEP.