Enligt forskning är ständiga förbättringar ett väsentligt element i olika kvalitetsledningssystem, medan arbete med ständiga förbättringar i organisationer har undersökts vara ofta för begränsat i omfattning och svårt att hålla igång. Därmed var syftet med denna studie att bidra med kunskap om hur organisationer kan arbeta för att hålla ständiga förbättringar igång. Det empiriska materialet samlades in med kvalitativa, halvstrukturerade intervjuer av sju ledare som representerar till-verkande företag antingen i Sverige eller i Finland. Dessa företag har tagit i bruk Lean management och arbetar med ständiga förbättringar framgångsrikt. Resultatet visade att de studerade organisationerna har sina unika sätt att arbeta med och hålla igång ständiga förbättringar, även om det finns likheter. Enligt de studerade organisationerna gällde de mest viktiga faktorer som möjliggör att hålla igång ständiga förbättringar ledarskap, ledaregenskaper och strategisk planering; processer, arbetssätt och verktyg; samt arbetsmiljö och kultur. Kritiskt för att hålla igång ständiga förbättringar är att ledare prioriterar ständiga förbättringar och visar sig prioriteten på flera olika sätt, visade resultatet. Engagemang för ständiga förbättringar på lång sikt är nödvändigt och kan tränas upp. Medan viktigt för ständiga förbättringar är att alla arbetar med gemensamma praktiker, viktigt för att hålla igång ständiga förbättringar är att engagera medarbetare i att använda sina kompetenser till att utveckla dessa praktiker. Det finns olikheter i hur de studerade organisationerna ser att deras arbete med ständiga förbättringar skulle se ut om de hade de bästa möjligheterna att arbeta med ständiga förbättringar. Här hittades det också dock några liknande teman. I studien drogs slutsatsen att ständiga förbättringar har anpassats efter behoven och omständigheterna i organisationerna. Att utveckla praktiker själv är ett medel för att överföra principer som stödjer ständiga förbättringar i handling och att utveckla kulturen gentemot dessa värderingar och principer. För ett framgångsrikt arbete med att hålla igång ständiga förbättringar är det viktigt att utforma och utveckla strukturer och praktiker i anslutning till organisationens strategiska objektiv så att man beaktar organisationens kontext. / According to research, continuous improvement is an essential element of different quality management systems, while work with continuous improvement in organizations has been studied to be frequently too limited in scope and difficult to sustain. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to contribute with knowledge on how organizations can work to sustain continuous improvement.   The empirical data was collected through qualitative, semi-structured interviews of seven leaders representing manufacturing companies either in Sweden or in Finland. The companies have adopted Lean management and work with continuous improvement successfully.   The results showed that the studied organizations have their unique ways of working with and sustaining continuous improvement, even though there are similarities. According to the studied organizations, the most important factors that enable sustaining continuous improvement were related to leadership, leadership attributes, and strategic planning; processes, techniques, and tools; as well as working environment and culture. The results showed that critical for sustaining continuous improvement are leaders prioritizing continuous improvement and manifesting the priority through several ways. Commitment to continuous improvement in the long term is vital and can be trained. While everyone working along with shared practices is important for continuous improvement, involving employees to use their capabilities to develop these practices supports sustaining continuous improvement. The studied organizations have differences in how they see that their work with continuous improvement would look like if they had the best opportunities to work with continuous improvement, even though some similar themes were found. The study concluded that continuous improvement has been adapted to the needs and situations of the organizations. Self-developed practices are means of putting the principles supporting continuous improvement into practice and developing the culture towards the values and principles. For a successful work with sustaining continuous improvement, it is important to build and form structures and practices in alignment with the strategic objectives of the organization, taking into account the organizational context. / <p>2018-06-27</p>

Cette thèse traite d’un type d’innovation largement négligé jusqu’à aujourd’hui : l’innovation organisationnelle (IO), également connue sous le nom « d’innovation management » ou « innovation managériale ». L’objectif est d’expliquer le phénomène d’adoption de ce type d’innovation en identifiant non seulement ses antécédents internes et externes, mais aussi ses relations avec l’innovation technologique de procédés, avec laquelle elle partage un certain nombre de caractéristiques. Le modèle proposé est fondé sur la vision intégrative de l’innovation (the integrative view of innovation) qui présente un triple intérêt : (1) contrairement à la vision distinctive et linéaire de l’innovation, elle ne relègue pas l’IO au statut d’innovation de second rang ; (2) elle élargit le champ des antécédents au-delà des seuls efforts en R&D et envisage leurs effets d’interaction ; (3) elle enrichit l’explication du phénomène d’adoption d’une IO en faisant l’hypothèse que des innovations de différents types sont adoptées de manière complémentaire. Notre démarche repose sur quatre articles empiriques et une multi-méthodologie, qualitative basée sur six études de cas d’entreprises industrielles, et quantitative faisant appel à différentes méthodes économétriques. Le Lean Management représente la forme concrète d’IO à partir de laquelle les confrontations empiriques sont réalisées. Au final, cette thèse est à l’origine de trois contributions majeures. Tout d’abord, au-delà des antécédents traditionnels privilégiés dans les recherches, d’autres antécédents internes (les pratiques de mobilisation des ressources humaines et la capacité d’absorption des entreprises) et externes (les sources de connaissances) jouent un rôle crucial sur l’adoption d’une IO. Ensuite, la prise en compte des interactions entre ces antécédents s’avère essentielle pour une meilleure compréhension du processus d’adoption, certains étant complémentaires (ex : les pratiques de mobilisation entre elles ou la résistance au changement et le manque de soutien managérial) alors que d’autres sont substituables (ex : les sources externes de connaissance et la capacité d’absorption des firmes). Enfin, conformément à la vision intégrative, l’adoption de l’IO n’est pas indépendante de l’adoption d’une innovation technologique de procédés et est régie par des antécédents similaires. Toutefois, leur relation n’est pas d’ordre complémentaire au sens strict dans la mesure où il y aurait un effet d’ordre. Ces résultats débouchent sur des recommandations managériales utiles pour un meilleur pilotage de l’adoption d’une IO. / This research deals with a type of innovation largely neglected in the literature: organizational innovation, also called "innovation management" or "managerial innovation." The objective is to explain the adoption of this type of innovation by identifying not only its internal and external antecedents, but also its relationship to technological process innovation, with which it shares common characteristics. The model is based on the integrative view of innovation which presents three main advantages: (1) contrary to the linear view of innovation, it does not consider organizational innovation as a second-order innovation; (2) beyond R&D efforts alone, it allows for the integration of new antecedents and their interaction effects, and (3) it enriches the explanation of organizational innovation adoption assuming that innovation is adopted synchronously or complementarily. We used a multi-methodological approach, a qualitative study based on six case studies of industrial firms and a quantitative study using different econometric methods. Lean Management is the concrete form of organizational innovation we studied in the four empirical articles. The contributions of this research are threefold. Firstly, beyond the traditional internal and external antecedents, we show that human resource management practices, firms’ absorptive capacity and external knowledge sources play a crucial role in organizational innovation adoption. Secondly, this research demonstrates that it is essential to take into account the interactions between internal and external antecedents in order to better understand adoption processes, some of them being complementary or substitutes. Thirdly, the study shows that organizational innovation adoption is consistent with the integrative view of innovation since it is dependent of the adoption of technological process innovation, without being strictly complementary. These two types of process innovations, organizational and technological, are also found to be driven by similar antecedents. These results lead to managerial recommendations for a better management of organizational innovation adoption.

Industry 4.0 is the current trend of automation and increasing digitalization of wide range of processes. This trend brings about a revolution in manufacturing technologies, but also has its challenges that influence the labor market. The thesis introduces the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) and provides the most important information for its understanding. It also allows to understand the specific characteristics of business models in the digital society and it clarifies the theory of maturity models. These serve as a basis for assessing the company's level of maturity in relation to Industry 4.0. The next section contains a proposal for improvement of the business model in food manufacturing company. For this purpose, the production process and related processes are analysed and the current situation is evaluated according to the Industry 4.0 requirements. Based on this evaluation, the problematic areas are selected and their specific improvements are proposed. In addition, the work includes a proposal of specific steps that a company must take to be prepared and take advantage of the era of Industry 4.0.

Basierend auf den erfolgreichen Einsätzen von Lean Management in der Automobilbranche und darauffolgend in weiteren Wirtschaftszweigen übernahmen auch immer mehr große IT-Dienstleister diese Prinzipien und Konzepte. Kaum ausgeprägt ist jedoch bisher der Einsatz von Lean Management in Unternehmen, die primär IT-Dienstleistungen für externe klein- und mittelständische Kunden anbieten. Die dazu notwendigen Produkte müssen individuell auf die Kundenanforderungen zugeschnitten sein und sind deshalb sehr heterogen und kostenintensiv. Werden die Potentiale in den Bereichen Personaleinsatz, Durchlaufzeiten und Qualität mittels der Anwendung von LM-Prinzipien ausgeschöpft, sind große Effizienzsteigerungen realisierbar. Deshalb ist es wert, gerade auch für das klein- und mittelständische Dienstleistungssegment zu überlegen, wie die Lean-Management-Prinzipien trotz dieser komplexen Problemstellung umgesetzt werden können. Zu diesem Zweck wird in der Arbeit auf Basis der leanen Grundüberlegung Vermeidung von Verschwendung ein Modell entwickelt, das das schlanke Managementkonzept mit dem Best-Practise-Framework ITIL verknüpft. Die Umsetzung dieses Modells lässt Effizienzsteigerungen, Verbesserungen in der Prozessqualität sowie die Erhöhung der Kunden- und Mitarbeiterzufriedenheit erwarten. / Based on the successful Lean Management applications in the automotive industry and, subsequently, in other sectors of the economy, a growing number of large IT service providers has adopted these principles and concepts. However, the use of Lean Management is hardly distinctive among companies that offer primarily IT services for external small and medium-sized customers. The products necessary for this must be individually tailored to customer requirements and are, therefore, heterogeneous and costly. If potential is fully utilized by applying Lean Management principles in the areas of human resource placement, lead times and quality, major gains in efficiency can be achieved. It is, therefore, worth considering how Lean Management principles can be implemented, in spite of the complex problem statement, even for the small and medium-sized service segment. Towards that end, within this paper a model is developed on the basis of the \"lean\" rationale of Waste Avoidance, which links the Lean Management concept with the Best Practice Framework of ITIL. The implementation of this model makes way for gains in efficiency, improvements in process quality, as well as increased satisfaction among customers and employees.

Abstract Background: Companies are under pressure to do more with less and at the same time they are affected by market needs such as customer demand, being sustainable and innovative in order to survive in the competitive market. There is a need to work with continuous improvements of the company performance considering the social, economic and environmental aspect. Research has shown that there is a relationship between lean management and corporate sustainability. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to understand to what extent the concepts of lean and sustainability are implemented in a startup and how they relate to each other. Method: The study is based on a qualitative research method with focus on the theory, which gave this thesis a deductive character. We wanted to develop a deeper understanding of how and when a startup can apply a lean method and how it can be sustainable. We applied a case study research method and the qualitative data was collected by conducting a document analysis with coding. Conclusion: The results show that the concepts of lean and sustainability are intertwined and that they can and should be considered in a startup - aiming to build a business model, responding to stakeholder demand, and improving the corporate sustainability performance.

I en allt mer globaliserad värld rör det om en större konkurrensutsatt marknad, som resulterar till att byggentreprenörerna ställs inför högre krav för att vinna ett anbud. En problemställning som förekommer vid ett pågående projekt är att en arbetsdag för en yrkesarbetare består av 20-40% direkt arbete, även så kallad för värdeadderande arbete. Resterade tid går åt icke värdeskapande aktiviteter såsom väntan, materialhantering, omarbete och felkorrigeringar som leder till höga produktionskostnader.   Syftet med denna studie är att klargöra vad visuell styrning, även så kallad för Lean tavla innebär, vilka positiva effekter förbättringsarbetet kan medföra i byggindustrin samt hur den kan tillämpas i praktiken på ett effektivt arbetssätt.  Denna studie grundar sig på ett kvalitativ tillvägagångsätt med fördel att få en klarare bild av hur verksamheten arbetar i nuläget samt vilka förbättringsverktyg som kan vara mest relevanta vid utformandet av visuell styrning. Genom användning utav semistrukturerade intervjuer och observationer har forskarna valt att studera den målgrupp som stöter på dilemmat dagligen. Studien är baserad på den abduktiva arbetsmetoden, med fördel att bibehålla flexibiliteten samt kunna kombinera befintlig teori, empiri och metod på ett systematiskt sätt. Den datainsamling som studien grundar sig på är både primär och sekundär baserat, då material från olika typer av vetenskapliga skrifter, kurslitteraturer, böcker, rapporter, men även andra elektroniska källor används för att bygga upp en stadig referensram. Rapporten är avgränsad till att åstadkomma ett förbättringsförslag för implementering av visuell styrning till RO-Gruppen Byggservice. I sitt syfte till att effektivisera verksamhetens produktivitet och öka arbetsledningens engagemang.  Resultat av insamlad data från intervjuerna och observationerna tyder på att det finns hög potential för effektivisering av planeringsaktiviteterna, planering av yrkesarbetare men även andra relevanta nyckeltal såsom fritt forum och störningslogg, som motverkar störningar och avvikelser i de aktuella projekten. Utifrån intervjuerna som utgångsläge har forskarna konstaterat att det förekommer slöserier i det dagliga arbetet, som oftast är dold under produktionen. Därmed finns behov av ett planeringsverktyg som synliggör avvikelser och slöserier i real tid. / In an more globalized world where markets have gotten more competative within the cunstruction business, has resulted in contractors being faced with higher demands for winning a bid. The constant struggle posed by an ongoing project is that a working day for a professional worker consists of 20-40% direct work, also known as value-adding work. Remaining time involves non-value-creating activities such as waiting, material handling, reworking and error corrections that lead to high production costs.   The purpose of this study is to see what type of impact visual control, also known as the Lean board, can have in the work enviroment. What improvements can be applied in the construction business and what are the positive effects, how can they be applied in practice and in an efficient way.  This study is based on a qualitative approach, with the hopes of getting a clear picture of how the work enviroment is today and what tools are more relevant in the design of visual control. Through the use of semistructured interviews and observations, the researchers have chosen to study the target group who encounters most dilemmas on a daily basis. With the use of the abductive working method, the advantage of maintaining flexibility as well as combining existing theory, empiricity and method in a systematic way makes it very effective.   The data collection on which the study is based on are both primary and secondary, as materials from different types of scientific journals, course literature, books, reports, but also other electronic sources are used to build a steady reference frame. The report is delimited to provide an improvement proposal for the implementation of visual management to the RO Group Building Services. In order to streamline business productivity and increase the commitment of the management team. Results of collected data from the interviews and observations indicate that there is a high potential for streamlining planning activities. Some of those are planning of occupational workers and free forums and disturbance logs, which counteract disturbances and deviations in the current projects. Based on the interviews as a starting point, the researchers have found that there are wrecks in the daily work, which are usually hidden during production. Thereby the need for a planning tool that reveals real-time imbalances and wrecks is much needed within the company.

Actuellement, les pratiques de Lean Management représentent un avantage compétitif pour la majorité des entreprises qui cherchent à améliorer leur performance dans un marché mondial très agressif. Le processus de mise en œuvre du Lean est très complexe ; il s'agit de se transformer en une nouvelle philosophie et de gérer l'entreprise - un changement de comportement. Ce document passe en revue la documentation relative aux pratiques de Lean Management et à l'incapacité de certaines entreprises à maintenir les résultats dans le temps, en particulier sur le décalage entre les objectifs du Lean et leurs efforts de mise en œuvre pour éliminer le gaspillage par l'amélioration des processus. La littérature a relevé plusieurs problèmes de gestion concernant ce problème, mais les principales raisons en sont, d'une part, une rupture des interfaces entre les aspects socio-techniques et, d'autre part, un besoin d'engagement réel de la part de la direction générale. Par conséquent, l'objectif de cet étude est de synthétiser et d'analyser ces difficultés Lean sur la base d'une pensée systémique dynamique et de proposer en plus, comme alternative à une proposition classique (linéarité) pour résoudre ces problèmes Leans, deux hypothèses : la contribution de la productivité qui réduit ces écarts, de manière plus globale ; en plus, sur l'approche de l'amélioration continue, qui permet de mesurer les"changements comportementaux" et encourage également la participation ; elle pose également le problème des performances chez des employés autonomes qui ont été documentés dans la documentation Lean

Healthcare has recently begun a push towards more lean practices and management. Healthcare accounting, in an effort to reflect business practices, must change to accurately reflect reality. This research seeks to explore how healthcare providers improve their accounting systems to keep up with an ever-changing lean environment. By examining both healthcare and accounting literature, this comprehensive literature review seeks to answer the question, “How does healthcare accounting adapt to lean philosophies?”.

Examensarbetet är utfört på Lifco Dental, som är ett distributionsföretag i Enköping undervårterminen 2013 och omfattar 30 högskolepoäng. Lifco Dentals huvudsakliga verksamhet ärlagerhantering av tandläkarartiklar och det rör sig om cirka 40 000 artiklar i varierandestorlek.Examensarbetet avser i första hand styrning av lagerhållning och artikelplacering. Andraområden som har bearbetas är ergonomi och personalfrågor. Arbetet kretsar kring följandeforskningsfrågor;1. Enligt vilka principer kan man placera artiklar?2. Hur kan man utforma arbetssättet på lager både kostnadseffektivt och ergonomiskt?3. Hur kan materialflödet effektiviseras?från källor som artiklar, litteratur, internet och direktkontakt med personal har samlats in.Behandling av information har baserats på författarnas tidigare kunskaper och vägledning avhögskolans handledare.Valda vertyg och metod är; Read a Plant, värdeflödeskartläggning, spagettidiagram,Paretodiagram, 5-Varför, benchmarking och intervjuer av personal, säljbolag och tandläkare.Dessa verktyg har hjälpt att analysera nuläget i verksamheten och identifiera slöserier samtförbättringsområden. En del verktyg har varit mer relevant för att kunna besvaraforskningsfrågorna.Bäst artikelplacering torde uppnås med ABC-principen. Undersökning av tre identifieradeergonomiska riskmoment gjordes enligt arbetsmiljöverkets bedömningsmall, vilket påvisadeatt man genom att ha rätt resurser, hjälpmedel och klara direktiv kan undvika skador. Dettakan man åstadkomma bland annat genom visuellt ledningssystem och investering i nyaergonomiska verktyg. Resultatet från värdeflödeskartläggning och paretodiagram tyder påbristande fördelning av resurser och identifierar flaskhalsar i flödet. En kontrolleradfördelning av anpassade resurser reducerar ojämnheter och underlättar styrningen.Författarna har baserad på analysen rekommenderat principer för artikelplacering ochlagerflöde samt rekommendationer kring personalmotivering, engagemang och ergonomi. / This Master of Science thesis has been conducted at Lifco Dental, a logistics company inEnköping, Sweden, during the spring term of 2013, encompassing 30 credits. Lifco Dental’score operation is logistics and inventory management of dental products, a sum total ofapproximately 40,000 articles in various sizes.The thesis is primarily concerned with inventory management and article placement. Otherareas of interest have been ergonomics and human resource management. The main researchareas have been;1. According to which principles can articles be placed?2. How can the inventory be managed to be cost efficient and have good ergonomics?3. How can material flows be streamlined?Information from sources such as articles, literature, the internet and direct interaction withemployees has been gathered. This information has been processed based on the authors’prior experience as well as extensive guidance from the MDH supervisor.The authors´ chosen tools and methods have been Read a Plant; Value Stream Mapping;Spaghetti diagram; Pareto diagram; 5Why; benchmarking and interviews with employees,sales staff and dentists. These tools and methods have aided us in analyzing the current stateof operations and in identifying waste as well as areas of opportunity. Some tools have provenmore relevant than others in producing relevant research answers.Optimal article placement can be achieved with the ABC principle. Studies of threeergonomically problematic operations, utilizing templates provided by Arbetsmiljöverket,showed that correct resources and aids as well as clear directives reduces the risks of injuries.This can be achieved by deploying a visual management system and more ergonomical toolsand aids. Results from the Value Stream Mapping and Pareto diagram suggest deficiencies inthe allocation of resources and identifies bottlenecks in the material flow. Controlledallocation of resources reduces inbalances and enhances control.Based on the analysis the authors have recommended principles for article placement andinventory flow as well as recommendations regarding staff motivation, commitment andergonomics.

Title: A case study for LORAMAX on supply chain strategy &amp; production efficiency.  Limitations: Due to the sensitive nature of the information in this thesis, a non-disclosure agreement was signed, and some data cannot be disclosed.  Background: LORAMAX, the case company for this thesis produces differentiated products on the basis of quality. They are faced with the challenge of making a product that they recently launched, HERO, more competitive in the market. Even though they have chosen a differentiated strategy, the company understands that cost reduction could as well provide them a competitive advantage and is therefore crucial to the survival of the new product.  Research questions:                How can the production cost and lead time be reduced for HERO? How would the choice to either buy pre-assembled modules or manufacture them in-house influence the profit margin of HERO? Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to use relevant theories and practical tools in order to help the company identify potential opportunities and areas where to reduce assembly costs and lead-times.  Method: The empirical data used to draw conclusions was collected through a mixed research method (both qualitative and quantitative) carried out on site at LORAMAX with the help of the purchasing and production manager, through interviews, questionnaires and observations. This thesis is written from a positivistic perspective with a deductive approach.  Conclusions: Value Stream Mapping (VSM) and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) are effective tools for cost and lead time reduction and can be used to support a make-or-buy decision. In this thesis, we arrive at the conclusion that LORAMAX will improve its profit margins on HERO if it buys already assembled modules.