Course/Level: Master thesis, Strategic Marketing Management Authors: Daniel Andersson, Pontus Hjertqvist Thesis advisor: Jukka Hohenthal Title: Customer Involvement in New Service Development: Organizational Implications and Challenges Background: The nature of services is becoming technology-based, which implies that customers are becoming increasingly autonomous from the service firm. Understanding how to involve customers in the development process of such services as well as to recognize the challenges brought by customer involvement in this context should be seen as key issues for developing successful new services. Research questions: RQ1: How are customers involved in the development process of technology-based services? RQ2: How do challenges brought by customer involvement impede new service development? Purpose: The purpose of this thesis was to explore how an organization within the banking industry in Sweden involves its customers in the new service development process Methodology: A qualitative single embedded case study strategy, combining inductive and deductive reasoning. The empirical investigation was conducted using a triangulation of secondary data and primary data collected from semi-structured interviews. Conclusion: Customers are involved in three out of four of the fundamental phases in the development process. The findings acknowledged that a lack of formal routines and process of managing customer involvement impeded the organization to successfully involve customers in their new service development programs. As such, the findings suggests that organizations need to employ a new organizational design optimized for customer involvement in their NSD-programs, where current structures, processes, and mindsets need to be adjusted accordingly. Keywords: New service development, customer involvement, technology-based services, organizational challenges.

The project is based on cross-sector partnerships to address societal problems (CSSP’s). CSSP’s are increasingly needed to address sustainability around the world. Previous studies on partnerships literature mostly investigated the organizational motives and key success factors. Regarding organizational motives, many studies investigated the motives of the organization to join partnerships in the context of dyadic partnerships such as non-profit and business partnerships. There is a need to investigate further the motives of the organization to join the social partnerships project with more than two sectors participated in the project. Meanwhile, the complexity of partnerships is increasing when more than three-sectors partnerships involved in the project. Some scholars also argued that cross-sector partnerships have a higher failure rate of partnerships rather than within sector partnerships.Therefore, this study aims to explore organizational motives to join and participate in cross-sector social partnerships project on a local level, and organizational challenges during implementation of it. A case study of Tillväxt Malmö project was chosen in this study as the project consists of more than three-sectors partnerships, which are a non-profit organization as the focal organization, and their partners are private sector (companies and investors), university and local governments.This study found there are four themes of organizational motives, which are society, resources, legitimacy, and competency that emerges from empirical finding. Most of the motives that are mentioned by organizations who joined and participate in the Tillväxt Malmô project is to address societal issues, to promote positive change, to bring benefits and help the growth of local business in Malmö city, and to support the development of social incubator in Malmö. This study also discovered four types of challenges which are (1) the different and changing of organizational mission and objectives, (2) the different of language, logic and perspective, (3) the difficulty to make organizational to work together and see each other as equal, and (4) the lack of transparency. Furthermore, the study also found that organizational motive has an important role that determines the sustainability of partnerships, whereas the different organizational motive between the partners to participate in CSSPs project could present as a barrier that strains the relationships between the partners.The paper illustrates the organizational motives and challenges in cross-sector social partnerships project which includes more than three-sectors in the domain to support the local economic development. Theoretically, this contributes to providing comprehensive literature about the motives and challenges in cross-sector social partnerships. In practical, it also gives an insight for project leaders or managers to address the relevant issues that face during implementation of cross-sector social partnerships project.

In this study, we have analyzed Warner Bros. Games communication regarding their recently published video game, Hogwarts Legacy, in relation to the controversial backlash the author of the fictional universe, J.K. Rowling, has received. We have arrived at two research questions to study the subject: What discourse can we identify that has been formed through the excerpts we’ve found from Warner Bros. Games external communication, about and in Hogwarts Legacy regarding the controversies that have circulated the game? and How does this discourse illustrate Warner Bros. Games’ external communicative management of the situation, and how can we interpret this from a critical perspective?  Our study is based mainly on Faircloughs (1989) three-dimensional model within the Critical Discourse Analysis tradition, with help from Beck (1997) and his theories on the modern society with his term sub-politics. We have used these frameworks to analyze a total of seven artifacts from Warner Bros. Games and their related organizations. Our collected material has been limited, but our results we’ve gathered from it show that the communication of Warner Bros. Games and their related organizations within the same brand has been ambiguous and tentative. This leads to a series of problems, both ethically, for those affected by the situation, and operationally, for Warner Bros. Games as an organization.  Our study contributes to the field of organizational communication by showing an example of how affected modern organizations are by their surroundings, including parts that do not directly relate to their operations. It also demonstrates the influential position individual celebrities carry over certain brands and organizations, which can result in critical issues. More research is required on the subject, to help us understand the phenomena and give us tools to work with them. Hopefully, our study is an example of such research.

Mental illness continues to increase, and it is a societal problem that involves many young people. Young people often spend large parts of their upbringing in school and thus this is a place where mental illness becomes particularly evident. School counselors are psychosocial experts who, according to SFS 2010:800, must work to promote health and prevent mental illness. On the other hand, there are organizational challenges in the school counselors' work that prevent them from working as much preventively as they really needed. The aim of the study is therefore to increase understanding of how the school counselors experience their preventive work against mental illness. The study has been based on a qualitative method and is primarily based on the eight interviews held through a semi-structured interview method. The interviewees in the study are school counselors and are all active in Sweden, both women and men. The school counselors express that mental illness is mainly very individual, but that there are also patterns in many cases of how the mental illness expresses itself. There is a connection in the answers of the interviewees to the fact that there are a lot of organizational challenges in the conditions for working preventively against mental illness. The challenges are mainly about lack of time, uneven distribution of resources, unclear guidelines, and a lack of cooperation with other professionals both internally and externally.

Militära organisationer påverkas ständigt av samhällets förändring och dess trender. En allt snabbare social och teknisk utveckling kan vara utmanande för en hierarkisk och byråkratisk institution vilket är grundläggande karaktärsdrag för militära organisationer. Den svenska Försvarsmakten har efter decennier av nedskärningar nu gått in i en omfattande tillväxtfas vilket också innebär stora förändringar för organisationens personal. Denna fallstudie har syftat till att uppnå en djupare förståelse för hur sjöofficerare, som första linjens chefer utövar sitt ledarskap för att hantera underställd personal och organisationens krav kopplat till Försvarsmaktens nuvarande tillväxtfas och normativa förändringar i samhället. Studien, som undersökt hur nästa generations officerare hanterar förändringar, söker tillföra ytterligare kunskap till de senaste årens forskning, om ledarskap och organisatoriska karaktärsdrag, som hittills riktat sig mot officerare på strategisk och operativ nivå. Under april 2021 genomfördes semi-strukturerade intervjuer med totalt 9 sjöofficerare som utbildat sig genom det nya utbildningssystemet och som efter 7–12 års yrkeserfarenhet tjänstgör som chefer inom ett sjöstridsförband. Det insamlande underlaget har genomgått en kvalitativ innehållsanalys som presenterats i två olika teman. Studien resultat visar att det är en utmaning på flera nivåer att få en anorektisk organisation att övergå i tillväxt. Första linjens chefer inom sjöstridsförband påverkas och upplever flera obalanser som kan ses som ett resultat av både social och teknisk acceleration i samhället. Detta hanteras genom fokus på ställda uppgifter och ett engagerat samt modernt ledarskap fokuserat på att skapa en samhörighet. Ledarskapet ses som det främsta verktyget för att bibehålla och rekrytera personal. Det råder en obalans mellan organisationens planering och individens synsätt på karriärsutveckling. Detta kan påverka både organisationens och individens möjlighet till utveckling. Tjänstgörande i Försvarsmakten ställer högre krav på arbetsgivaren än vad tidigare generationer har gjort avseende stimulerande arbetsuppgifter, transparens i beslut och att bli sedd av organisationen vid karriärplanering. Här upplever första linjens chefer begränsade möjligheter att påverka från sin nivå. Skiljelinjen mellan arbete och fritid är viktigare idag än tidigare, samtidigt är personalen beredd att göra uppoffringar. Lojalitet och engagemang finns men är inte villkorslös. Första linjens chefer försöker skapa balans för underställd personal genom ett ge och ta förhållande. / Military organizations are constantly affected by changes in society and social trends. Increasing social and technological development can be challenging for a hierarchical and bureaucratic institution, which are fundamental characteristics of military organizations. After decades of cuts, the Swedish Armed Forces has now entered an extensive rearmament phase, which also means major changes for all personnel within the organization. This case study has aimed to achieve a deeper understanding of how naval officers, as managers on tactical level, exercise their leadership to manage subordinate personnel and the organization's requirements linked to the Armed Forces' current rearmament phase and normative changes in society. The study, which examined how next-generation officers handle change, seeks to add additional knowledge to recent years' research on leadership and organizational characteristics, which has so far focused on officers at the strategic and operational levels. During April 2021, semi-structured interviews were conducted with a total of 9 naval officers, who has all been educated through the new officer education system at the Swedish Defence University. After 7–12 years of professional experience, they serve as commanders within a naval warfare flotilla. A qualitative content analysis has resulted in the collected data being presented in two different themes. The study results show that there is a challenge on several levels to get an anorexic organization to grow. Managers on tactical level are affected and experience several imbalances that can be seen because of both social and technical acceleration in society. This is handled through a focus on given tasks. Managers show a committed and modern leadership focused on creating solidarity and coherence. Leadership is seen as the main tool for retaining and recruiting staff. There is an imbalance between organizational planning and the individual view of career development. This challenge both the organization and the individual possibility to develop experience. Personnel taking service in the Armed Forces places higher demands on the organization than previous generations have done regarding stimulating activities, transparency in decisions and being seen by the organization in career planning. Here, managers experience limited opportunities to influence from their level. Work life balance is more important today than before, at the same time the staff is prepared to make sacrifices. Loyalty and commitment exist but are not unconditional. Managers on tactical level aim to create balance for subordinate staff through a give and take relationship.

In the first decade of the 21st century, the number of functioning business organizations in Nigeria decreased by 45%. The high rate of business failures in Nigeria has left many questions about what is needed for creating business success. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the influence of internal and external dynamics on leaders in Nigerian microfinance organizations. Twenty leaders from microfinance institutions participated in face-to-face semistructured interviews. The data analysis process involved the use of Moustakas's modified van Kaam method, which resulted in the emergence of 12 themes. The themes that emerged included: (a) staff turnover, (b) financial fraud, (c) knowledge gap, (d) lack of real-time technology, (e) ethical behavior of leaders, (f) organizational bureaucracy, (g) foreign exchange fluctuation, (h) poor state of Nigerian economy, (i) competition from unethical practices of other organizations, (j) constant changes of government policies and poor regulatory controls, and (k) noncompliance with the Microfinance Policy and Framework by stakeholders. There was a common perception among the participants that there was a need for government intervention in providing improved infrastructure and adequate regulatory controls. The findings provide indications from participants' responses that business success is dependent upon business leaders' effectiveness in their roles and ethical practices as perceived by the followers. The study is significant in that its findings may assist businesses and government to focus on the effectiveness of leaders, increase labor relations, and increase the overall success of business which in turn improve the economy of Nigeria.

The inter-firm cooperation between partner companies is a central element of most business models in an open innovation perspective. A closed innovation approach cannot be effective anymore, and most of the companies have been trying to embrace open innovation concepts by developing various types of interorganizational ties with a diverse range of partner companies. Building a solid cooperative model with partner companies is becoming vital success factor in an increasingly competitive global market. Companies are required to build teams with other partner companies in order to develop or internalize new technologies, and commercialize new products, and to remain technologically competitive. In this context, this research focuses to develop a structured framework of organizational challenges and challenge management model in collaborative innovation projects in inter-organizational relationship. In order to achieve these goals, the key organizational challenges in cooperate with partner companies and root causes of them are defined and analysed. Furthermore, challenged management programs are analysed based on the framework developed in this research. The result of this study support for readers to gain a comprehensive understanding on organizational challenges in open innovation. Furthermore, it also provides managerial implications in terms of challenge management in a collaborative innovation project. / Samverkan mellan partnerföretag är ett centralt element i de flesta affärsmodeller sett från ett öppet innovationsperspektiv. En sluten innovationsprocess är inte längre effektiv och de flesta företag, framförallt företag i högteknologisk industri, har anammat en öppen innovationsprocess genom att utveckla olika typer av samarbeten med ett brett urval av partnerföretag. Att bygga en solid samarbetsmodell med partnerföretag är en vital framgångsfaktor i en alltmer konkurrensutsatt global marknad. Företag bör bygga team med andra partnerföretag för att utveckla eller internalisera nya teknologier samt kommersialisera nya produkter för att förbli tekniskt konkurrenskraftiga. Denna studie ämnar utveckla en strukturerad modell för hantering av organisatoriska utmaningar i innovationsprojekt mellan företag. Genom en fallstudie på Samsung Electronics, definieras och analyseras de viktigaste utmaningarna i samarbetsprojekt samt dess bakomliggande orsaker. Vidare analyseras etablerade teorier för hantering av utmaningar inom öppen innovation baserat på modellen som utvecklats i studien.

The adoption of eHealth is very slow despite evidences showing its benefits. This research examines the individual, clinical, technical and organizational challenges for eHealth adoption from healthcare provider‟s perspectives. A cross-sectional study design with a quantitative paradigm was used. The study was conducted on 312 doctors and nurses randomly selected from ten hospitals in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Most respondents viewed eHealth positively with no significant differences in terms of profession or gender. Computer skill, workload, patient interaction, management support, cost and infrastructure were the main concerns. Privacy and security were not the main concerns. Knowledge of eHealth applications and utilization was low, even for evidence-based medicine and online databases. Specialists and males were better aware of eHealth applications. The study showed that eHealth acceptance was good. Increasing eHealth literacy was recommended as a cost effective means for improving access to updated information to improve the quality of healthcare. / Health Studies / M.A. Public Health (Medical Informatics)

Försvarsmaktens organisation har ett behov av ständig förändring för att kunna hantera de yttre och inre påverkansfaktorer som följer av det säkerhetspolitiska läget, samhällsutvecklingen och den teknologiska utvecklingen. Vi har genom en hermeneutisk kvalitativ studie undersökt hur organisationen förändrats genom implementeringen av ett flerbefälssystem. Vi har försökt att identifiera de drivkrafter som har legat bakom förändringarna och förstå de beslut som har fattats. Våra primärkällor har utgjorts av människor i organisationen; befattningshavare med olika roller, på olika nivåer och med olika bakgrund. Våra sekundärkällor har framförallt bestått av officiella dokument och skrivelser som organisationen nyttjat under implementeringen.Vi har analyserat inhämtad data mot flera olika organisationsteorier och kommit fram till att den långa sekventiella implementeringen haft olika fokus i olika sekvenser. Utmaningen för Försvarsmakten har varit att skapa balans mellan organisationens strukturella och individens mänskliga behov samt att kommunicera argument och incitament för organisations-förändringen. Maktpersoner i organisationen har löpande påverkat processen och systemdesignen har självmuterat från initial konfiguration till den beskrivning som finns idag.Försvarsmaktens strukturella slutinförande av Trebefälssystemet har orsakat suboptimering av implementeringen i dess sista sekvens, och motverkat möjligheterna för främst specialist-officersskrået att utvecklas mot en egen profession; skrået är fortsatt styvmoderligt behandlat av organisationen, och det finns en risk för en utveckling mot segregation och oönskade kulturer. Ytterst har detta haft en negativ effekt på den operativa förmågan.Överbefälhavarens beslut om slutligt införande var ett nödvändigt beslut för att forma den struktur som borde ha intagits för många år sedan, dock hade organisationens behov bättre kunnat omhändertas om även individens behov hade tillgodosetts.Försvarsmakten har nu ett enda system där samtligt befäl är inordnade, men arbetet är inte slutfört. Det finns fortfarande en del problemområden att ta tag i, men samtidigt också gyllene chanser att fortsätta utvecklingen av systemet för att nå än större effekt än det har idag. / The Swedish Armed Forces has a need for constant change in order to be able to handle the external and internal influencing factors that result from the changing security policy situation, societal development and technological development. Through a hermeneutic qualitative study, we have investigated how the organization has changed through the implementation of a multi-command system. We have tried to identify the driving forces behind the changes and understand the decisions made. Our primary sources have been people in the organization; personnel with different roles, at different levels and with different backgrounds. Our secondary sources have mainly consisted of official documents that the organization used during the implementation.We have analysed the collected data against several different organizational theories and concluded that the long sequential implementation had different focuses in different sequences. The challenge for the Armed Forces has been to create a balance between the organizations structural and the individual's human needs, and to communicate reasons and incentives for organizational change. People with power in the organization have continuously influenced the process, and the system design has self-mutated from the initial configuration to the description that exists today.The Armed Forces' structural finalization of the multi-command system has caused sub-optimization of the implementation in its final sequence, and thwarted the opportunities for mainly the specialist officer corps to develop towards a profession of its own; the category is still treated step motherly by the organization, and there is a risk of a development towards segregation and unwanted cultures. Ultimately, this has had a negative effect on The Armed Forces operational capability.The Chief of Defence decision on final implementation was necessary to shape the structure that should have been in place many years ago. However, the needs of the organization would have been better served if also the needs of the individual had been met.The Armed Forces today have a single system including all commanders on all levels, but the work is not complete. There are still some problem areas to tackle, but there are also excellent opportunities to continue the development of the system to reach an even greater effect than it has today.

The adoption of eHealth is very slow despite evidences showing its benefits. This research examines the individual, clinical, technical and organizational challenges for eHealth adoption from healthcare provider‟s perspectives. A cross-sectional study design with a quantitative paradigm was used. The study was conducted on 312 doctors and nurses randomly selected from ten hospitals in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Most respondents viewed eHealth positively with no significant differences in terms of profession or gender. Computer skill, workload, patient interaction, management support, cost and infrastructure were the main concerns. Privacy and security were not the main concerns. Knowledge of eHealth applications and utilization was low, even for evidence-based medicine and online databases. Specialists and males were better aware of eHealth applications. The study showed that eHealth acceptance was good. Increasing eHealth literacy was recommended as a cost effective means for improving access to updated information to improve the quality of healthcare. / Health Studies / M.A. (Public Health (Medical Informatics))