<p>The aim of this thesis is to explore possible differences between public and private companies’ way to manage projects. In order to analyze the managerial aspects, we have studied the project of a new payment system implemented at the public-transport organization Upplands Lokaltrafik (UL). The project enables mobile payment by text message (SMS). Most theory concerning the management of projects is developed for private companies. It is therefore of great interest to explore whether that theory is applicable to the SMS-project conducted by a public company. Within the theory of project management, we have chosen to focus on the concept of process orientation in order to describe the project and the parties involved. To specify the different stages of the work process we have used Deming’s cycle. The cycle describes the iterative workflow of a project by the four stages; Plan (Planning the project), Do (Implementing the project), Study(Study the effects of the implementation) and Act (Act upon the results of the feedback). The model’s four stages are represented by equally large shares in the optimal cycle, however, the most common situation for private companies is that the Do part is larger than the other parts and the Study and Act parts are seldom employed. The decision-making process in public companies is more complex due to their organizational structure, which in UL’s case implies that the project process is different to that of private companies. With this in mind, the process of evaluation is more difficult to conduct. The finding of this study is that the public and private companies have somewhat different management techniques, which we have observed in particular while studying the SMS-project. Nevertheless, the SMS-project is run with some similar characteristics to a private company, which we have seen has affected the outcome of the project negatively in the sense that they have failed to use the process orientation fully. UL would therefore benefit from using process-orientation techniques such as evaluation and feedback in a greater extent in upcoming projects.</p><p> </p>

The aim of this thesis is to explore possible differences between public and private companies’ way to manage projects. In order to analyze the managerial aspects, we have studied the project of a new payment system implemented at the public-transport organization Upplands Lokaltrafik (UL). The project enables mobile payment by text message (SMS). Most theory concerning the management of projects is developed for private companies. It is therefore of great interest to explore whether that theory is applicable to the SMS-project conducted by a public company. Within the theory of project management, we have chosen to focus on the concept of process orientation in order to describe the project and the parties involved. To specify the different stages of the work process we have used Deming’s cycle. The cycle describes the iterative workflow of a project by the four stages; Plan (Planning the project), Do (Implementing the project), Study(Study the effects of the implementation) and Act (Act upon the results of the feedback). The model’s four stages are represented by equally large shares in the optimal cycle, however, the most common situation for private companies is that the Do part is larger than the other parts and the Study and Act parts are seldom employed. The decision-making process in public companies is more complex due to their organizational structure, which in UL’s case implies that the project process is different to that of private companies. With this in mind, the process of evaluation is more difficult to conduct. The finding of this study is that the public and private companies have somewhat different management techniques, which we have observed in particular while studying the SMS-project. Nevertheless, the SMS-project is run with some similar characteristics to a private company, which we have seen has affected the outcome of the project negatively in the sense that they have failed to use the process orientation fully. UL would therefore benefit from using process-orientation techniques such as evaluation and feedback in a greater extent in upcoming projects.

Comparative study for the inception of curb-side collection: A bachelor thesis commissioned by Vakin AB.   Linda Fahlander   Abstract   The purpose of this study was to investigate other municipalities' methods of inception of the curb-side collection with a four-compartment system. The Swedish government has sent a referral to see more of the curb-side collection of packaging and newspapers. The curb-side collection with a four-compartment system has proven to be the system with the greatest environmental benefits. This was a comparative study between 36 municipalities. The municipalities answered questions by the way of email regarding their attendance of the four-compartment system, financial instruments, communication to / from customers, the customers’ ability to recycle material in each municipality and problems that arose during the inception. The result from the comparative study showed that 33% of the variation was due to the quantity of recycling stations. Most municipalities had customers who had a generally positive attitude towards the curb-side collection. What the customers were most disturbed by was that the vessels are too big and that there is no room for them on their property. We are affected by the society around us and especially by our own municipality as well as the people we trust when it comes to our choices about waste management. The conclusion was that the basis for a higher attendance of the four-compartment system for VAKIN consist of several factors. According to this study, the waste tax and the quantity of recycling stations are decisive factors.   Key words: Four-compartment system, Curb-side collection, Municipal recycling, Waste tax

The aim of this study is to investigate which communication strategies and channels the mu- nicipal company Falu Energi &amp; Vatten should use in order to become more efficient in com- municating with citizens between 18 to 29 years old. The company is owned by the munici- pality of Falun and manages community services in electricity, district heating, fresh water, sewerage, metropolitan area network and waste disposal. The following theories have been used in the study: convergence culture, digital natives, information overload, communication strategies and uses &amp; gratifications theory. The methods used in the study are 4 focus group interviews and one informant interview. The members of the focus groups where within the age range 18-29 years and lived in the city of Falun. Each focus group included four partici- pants and the groups were divided based on four different forms of housing; student homes, rental apartments, owned apartments and own villas. The informant interview was conducted with the director of communication at Falu Energi &amp; Vatten. The empirical material was col- lected during the 24th, 25th, 26th and 27th of November 2014. The results of the study shows that media habits among young adults have changed which has led to a non-correspondence in relation to how Falu Energi &amp; Vatten communicates. Due to this Falu Energi &amp; Vatten needs to make changes in their communication strategy, add new channels to their media mix and in some cases reduce the use of others. Falu Energi &amp; Vatten must actively work to both dis- seminate information and make information available in order to reach this age group. The result also shows that the significantly increased media output has led to a desire for personal- ized communication, which means that Falu Energi &amp; Vatten should review the possibility to offer more targeted information. Last but not least, a clear result is that the company should use Facebook for communication with young adults as the majority of the participants wish to communicate with the company through this particular channel. Facebook can be used both to disseminate information but also to facilitate information retrieval and dialogue.