This is a thesis about managing multiplicity. It analyses how people working in municipalities are managing, controlling, and caring for the complex and contradictory world they live in. Building on more than 100 interviews and observations, the thesis examines the multiple realities of those who work in public sector organisations. By studying (1) the work of managers on different organisational levels, controllers, professionals responsible for the care of others and, to a lesser extent, politicians; (2) the management control systems that are used in the work, and (3) the ongoing debates and legislations directed towards the management of care practices, the thesis makes an effort to analyse how the realities of these individuals; those active in controlling and caring, are constructed. The thesis makes several contributions to the literatures on management control and public management. Where earlier studies are either based on a functionalist conception of management control and public management (in which performance measures and control systems are tools in the hands of managers, that enable them to control other practices), or focused on understanding how control contributes to the construction of reality (making reality ontologically coherent, and therefore controllable), the present thesis argues that management can be approached and analysed as a practice devoted to managing ontological multiplicity, rather than as an activity devoted to control other practices or making reality controllable. By using the concept of ontological politics, the thesis shows that control often fails to make reality controllable, which makes the practice of management reliant on alternative ways to manage. The alternative to control that is analysed in the thesis is care, and the thesis argues that care could be seen as a way to manage, rather than as something that should be controlled: care is complementary to control when it comes to management. The thesis explicates how management by care is done in relation to management by control, and how they may become resources for each other in managing the complex and contradictory public sector. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 2: Accepted. Paper 3: Manuscript. Paper 4: Manuscript.</p>

The continued growth of service industries and the development of the experience economy has highlighted the need for employees to have extensive social and interpersonal skills. The need for employee interpersonal skills is further emphasised by the extensive interaction between employees and customers, during the provision of customer service, in full service hotels. Despite the heterogeneous nature of the customer service environment, management expect that a consistent level of service will be maintained, while customers desire a unique experience that meets or exceeds their individual expectations. To ensure that both the needs of the organisation and customers are consistently met, management control of employee actions and behaviours is required.The aim of this study was to identify how hotel organisations and managers control employee interpersonal interactions with customers. The research also sought to identify the interpersonal and emotional capabilities employers require from employees to meet the needs of customers and present the desired corporate image. A qualitative, case study, research methodology was applied to understand the expectations of managers, the issues concerning managing employee interactions with customers, perceptions of employee capabilities, and beliefs about current management control strategies in a hotel environment. The research was conducted at four hotel properties belonging to one international hotel group. The data gathering methods included semi-structured interviews, documentation review and field notes.The research concluded that effective alignment of employee and management goal congruence first requires the alignment of managers' goals to the organisation. To ensure management's expectations, customers' expectations and employee actions and behaviours are aligned, management must also have a sound understanding of the organisation's brand and desired image. Cultural and social control mechanisms were found to be important, as they provided a consistent method of aligning employees' behaviour with the goals and expectations of management. The development of social cohesion and norms, through serial and investiture socialisation mechanisms, also helped to create self-managing teams that reinforced the goals of management. The study suggests that, due to the increasing diversity of the stakeholders' views and goals, some of the traditional management perspectives of hospitality may need to change to meet the needs of contemporary employees.

<p>Date : June, 2008.</p><p>Level : Master Thesis EF0705, 10 points (15credits)</p><p>Authors : Amalokwu Obiajulum John (820821)</p><p>Lawrence Njilefack Ngoasong (770901)</p><p>Title : Budgetary and Management control Process in a Manufacturing</p><p>Organization.</p><p>Supervisor: Roland Almqvist.</p><p>Problem : What is the budgeting practice in the Nigerian Manufacturing companies?</p><p>Purpose : The aim of this study is to investigate the management control practice</p><p>(budget being the tool for management control) in Guinness Nigeria Plc and</p><p>to suggest what seems to us the most appropriate practice based on findings</p><p>from literatures and empirics</p><p>Method : The study was described based on a qualitative approach. Furthermore, we</p><p>described why we chose the company, sources of literature, techniques</p><p>employed in data collection (primary data), research purpose,</p><p>data analysis as well as critiques to the method use.</p><p>Conclusion : The Integration of strategic Management and Budgeting enhances</p><p>competitiveness which when attained is translated as high performance.</p><p>Keywords : Management Control, Budgeting, strategy, High performance and</p><p>Competitive advantage.</p>

<p>This Master thesis investigates how values can drive value when creating sustainable business.Concepts like Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Sustainable Development (SD) has in the last years become more and more accepted and therefore practiced in the business world. Due to alarms of the climate change, decreased biological diversity and alarming reports of child labour in the export industry, today’s society claims for more sustainable actions among global enterprises. Evidently, some organisations have a more proactive sustainable approach and therefore managed to use sustainable actions to grow and strengthen their market positions e.g. IKEA and Starbucks. Service research related to the above research area at CTF (Service Research Center) at Karlstad University pointed out that corporate values such as social responsibility and environmental responsibility (among others) can be used to create customer value, brand equity and help strategic decision-making for future growth. This thesis investigates in the specific context of Löfbergs Lila what can be learned if the above mentioned strategy is used in a medium-sized company with strong values. Which processes are required to create sustainable business and how far has Löfbergs Lila come according to selected concepts and theoretical framework in business research?</p><p>The purpose of the thesis is to investigate, in an explorative way, how values can drive value for sustainable business, both empirically through the Löfbergs in the coffee context as well as theoretically. The whole thesis can be seen as a mix of a descriptive case study and an interpretative case study where understanding of the thesis will be created in the interaction between the theoretical and empirical parts. The study has been developed using a combination of inductive and abductive methods whereby the interaction between the conceptual/theoretical framework and Löfbergs Lila, in the coffee context, have constructed a new meaning.</p><p>The explorative study of Löfbergs Lila (or AB Anders Löfberg) presents an understanding of how values have affected the strategy and operation of this organization and is still doing so to this very day. Every company can work with sustainability, but strong corporate values incorporated into the business model are an advantage. There is a fundamental basis for more “sustainable growth” when these values drive “true” environmental and social progress, including accountability. This thesis claims that true core values are deep-rooted in the company and drive value for Löfbergs’ customers in the name of sustainable business.</p><p>The theoretically- and conceptually-driven findings, built on five (re)-constructed thick descriptions from Löfbergs Lila in the coffee context, end up in five general concepts for valuesbased sustainable business</p><p>1. Service Logic</p><p>2. Values-based service</p><p>3. Values-based service quality for sustainable business</p><p>4. Managing Value chain responsibility</p><p>5. Creating the service experience</p>

No description available.

Date : June, 2008. Level : Master Thesis EF0705, 10 points (15credits) Authors : Amalokwu Obiajulum John (820821) Lawrence Njilefack Ngoasong (770901) Title : Budgetary and Management control Process in a Manufacturing Organization. Supervisor: Roland Almqvist. Problem : What is the budgeting practice in the Nigerian Manufacturing companies? Purpose : The aim of this study is to investigate the management control practice (budget being the tool for management control) in Guinness Nigeria Plc and to suggest what seems to us the most appropriate practice based on findings from literatures and empirics Method : The study was described based on a qualitative approach. Furthermore, we described why we chose the company, sources of literature, techniques employed in data collection (primary data), research purpose, data analysis as well as critiques to the method use. Conclusion : The Integration of strategic Management and Budgeting enhances competitiveness which when attained is translated as high performance. Keywords : Management Control, Budgeting, strategy, High performance and Competitive advantage.

This Master thesis investigates how values can drive value when creating sustainable business.Concepts like Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Sustainable Development (SD) has in the last years become more and more accepted and therefore practiced in the business world. Due to alarms of the climate change, decreased biological diversity and alarming reports of child labour in the export industry, today’s society claims for more sustainable actions among global enterprises. Evidently, some organisations have a more proactive sustainable approach and therefore managed to use sustainable actions to grow and strengthen their market positions e.g. IKEA and Starbucks. Service research related to the above research area at CTF (Service Research Center) at Karlstad University pointed out that corporate values such as social responsibility and environmental responsibility (among others) can be used to create customer value, brand equity and help strategic decision-making for future growth. This thesis investigates in the specific context of Löfbergs Lila what can be learned if the above mentioned strategy is used in a medium-sized company with strong values. Which processes are required to create sustainable business and how far has Löfbergs Lila come according to selected concepts and theoretical framework in business research? The purpose of the thesis is to investigate, in an explorative way, how values can drive value for sustainable business, both empirically through the Löfbergs in the coffee context as well as theoretically. The whole thesis can be seen as a mix of a descriptive case study and an interpretative case study where understanding of the thesis will be created in the interaction between the theoretical and empirical parts. The study has been developed using a combination of inductive and abductive methods whereby the interaction between the conceptual/theoretical framework and Löfbergs Lila, in the coffee context, have constructed a new meaning. The explorative study of Löfbergs Lila (or AB Anders Löfberg) presents an understanding of how values have affected the strategy and operation of this organization and is still doing so to this very day. Every company can work with sustainability, but strong corporate values incorporated into the business model are an advantage. There is a fundamental basis for more “sustainable growth” when these values drive “true” environmental and social progress, including accountability. This thesis claims that true core values are deep-rooted in the company and drive value for Löfbergs’ customers in the name of sustainable business. The theoretically- and conceptually-driven findings, built on five (re)-constructed thick descriptions from Löfbergs Lila in the coffee context, end up in five general concepts for valuesbased sustainable business 1. Service Logic 2. Values-based service 3. Values-based service quality for sustainable business 4. Managing Value chain responsibility 5. Creating the service experience

In today’s world information and knowledge is the most valuable asset and an increasing number of people are working with selling their specialized knowledge. In this knowledge economy professional services are increasing in importance and consultants play an increasingly important role. This master thesis investigates the interplay between management control and the strategizing process in IT-Consultancy firms. With the purpose of gaining an understanding on how management control systems are being sed in IT consultancy firms and to identify the role it plays within the strategic dimension a case study approach was utilized. The method is based on a qualitative approach with semi-structured interviews as the mean for data collection. A total sample of 7 respondents from two IT-consultancy firms and one Management Consultant participated. The interviewees possess different positions within the two organizations ranging from top management down through the organizational levels in order to achieve a triangulation of the studied phenomenon. A framework consisting of different perspective on strategic management accounting, performance measurement in professional services, Levers of control and IT-Consultancy was built and used in order to analyze the collected data. The data shows that the strategizing process is for the main part conducted in the front line of the organization where the consultantsinteract with the customer on a daily basis. The conclusion drawn is that the interaction between strategizing process and management control systems is that the management control is designed in a way that not only allows for a clear strategizing activity to take form in the lower levels of the organization, but to constantly assure that this is what is done throughout the organization.

No description available.

The new era of knowledge economic arrived. Knowledge has become the most important strategic asset of the firms. Utilize effective knowledge management to enhance the knowledge in the organization is a key issue for firms to compete in the 21st century. How to share the knowledge among the business units in conglomerate is also the main factor of enterprise¡¦s synergy. To establish a measuring tool for performance of knowledge transfer promotes the competence of the conglomerate richly. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between the conglomerate¡¦s diversification strategies , control management system and performance of knowledge transfer. The index of the measuring tool also be established for performance of knowledge transfer in this study. The empirical results are as follows : 1. There is obviously influence between knowledge transfer performance and types of diversification strategy. 2. There is not influence between control management system and types of diversification strategy.