This thesis considers how the development of Product-Service Systems (PSS) relates to cultural changes in the organizations doing the development. On one hand, reducing cultural shift is desirable to absorb shocks and reduce obstacles that come from internal relations. And on the other hand, the cultural changes may be an opportunity and a breakthrough - or even necessary - to develop PSS. In exploring the possibility of managing culture, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used to prioritize three possible actions to support the best culture to help PSS development. A survey was also carried out through sending questionnaires to nineteen experts. The results suggest that when people prioritized the three actions, the most important was related to pursuing “economic benefits”, and adopted “strengthen executive support and performance management”. This study proposes a portfolio of practices which is targeted at deep into the prioritized action and figure out an action plan as well as some sub-activities around the four quadrants which formed by the integration of Fulfillment, Informal, Innovation, and Formal approach. And each action and planning could still be applied to PSS development as well as other changes, prepare organizational culture changes and create a more harmonious enterprise culture. / 46769611005

Due to the current, global challenges such as resource depletion and economic crisis, and international societal mega-trends such as multi-internationalisation, we are in transition from conventional methods of production to relatively novel methods that strives to be competitive, satisfy customer needs and have a lower environmental impact. Product-Service System (PSS) method is deemed to be a solid alternative towards this vision. To do that, we are in need of novel approaches to re-envision the current system. Therefore, Innovation methods are the backbone of PSS. Since PSS highly emphasizes the customers' needs and co-creation with them, user-innovation methods are required in order to boost PSS Innovation. Among user-innovation methods, Crowdsourcing seems to be valid option which would enable us to attract a large, undefined network of people to the innovation process. In this research, a success model for crowdsourcing practice is proposed and validated by literature and expert interviews. As a follow-up, based on the success model, a strategic guideline for innovation using open modes of collaboration is proposed. Moreover, we discuss the implication of PSS and sustainability and how these concepts can be empowered by crowdsourcing.

L’évolution permanente de l’environnement de l’entreprise pousse les décideurs à s’inscrire dans un processus d’innovation. Nous assistons à une mutation des pratiques de certaines entreprises en intégrant de plus en plus une offre d’un système « produits-services ». Notre objectif, à travers cette thèse, est d’apporter une aide à la décision qui reposera sur la capacité à anticiper la performance du système en fonction de différentes décisions de gestion et face à différents types d’aléas lors de la servicisation. Le premier besoin d’aide à la décision est la nécessité de construire une démarche de modélisation et de simulation avec un modèle conceptuel du système de production orienté PSS. Pour cela nous avons proposé une décomposition de notre système entreprise orientée PSS en deux sous-systèmes : (i) Le sous-système d’usage et (ii) le sous système productif. Les deux sous-systèmes sont connectés et interdépendant. Un deuxième besoin qui apparait pour notre problématique est la construction d’un modèle simulable et exploitable. Nous avons utilisé la simulation à évènements discret afin de profiter de l’aspect « évènementiel » de cette approche et ainsi coupler entre le système d’usage et le système productif d’une part, et d’autre part entre les activités de services et les activités de production. Une application de notre démarche de modélisation et simulation sur un cas d’étude (Entreprise ENVIE) a été effectué et une analyses et interprétation des résultats suivies d’un ensemble de propositions de gestion pour une meilleure transition vers une offre PSS ont été apportées. / The ever-continuing evolution of business practices leads the decision-makers to develop strategies based on Innovative approaches. One of them is the transition to a product-services system, called servitization. The main goal of this thesis is to provide a decision support in order to anticipate the performance of a company when different transition management scenarios are implemented. The first step toward this objective is the formalization of a conceptual model of product-service systems. They consist of two subsystems: (i) user-oriented subsystem and (ii) production-oriented subsystem. These subsystems are connected and interdependent. The model developped in the second step of the thesis takes into account this coupling, whose influence on the overall performance of the company is assessed thanks to a discret-event simulation approach. Finally a case study is performed for a french SME (ENVIE) whose line of business is the re-manufacturing of electrical equipment. The analysis results highlight the main areas of improvement for the company, allowing a better transition to a product-service system.

In recent years, sustainable thinking has been gradually recognized and accepted by more and more users, enterprises, and stakeholders. However, in daily life, there is often a gap between the value of users’ pursuit of sustainable lifestyles and their behavior habits. Also, the connection between different stakeholders is often ignored. The project started by the observation of unsustainable water usage habits of some tenants in the Växjö local housing company Växjöbostäder, and investigated the gaps in the water supply/toll system of Växjö municipality for some apartment tenants and the limitations of current solutions. Therefore, it is necessary to find a more effective solution. The author attempts to guide and change the user’s behavior through design interventions led by digital user experience design, connect the gap between the user and the system, and provide a more sustainable choice. At the same time, as a precedent, this project’s attempt to apply sustainable behavioral interventions to the field of digital user experience products at the system level can also provide some reference for similar projects or designs that may appear in the future. The aim of this project is trying to find solutions to bridge the existing gap between the water management system and the apartment users’ water consumption behavior. The project studies the relevant theories of behavior, analyzes the causes of motivations that lead to behavioral and habits changing, the methods of digital user experience design, and the theory of building sustainable systems. Action research has been used as a methodological guide to design processes, analysis, and reflection. The final design outcome “Drops” is an application based on mobile platforms that develop sustainable water-using habits. The application associates gamification motivation mechanisms, behavioral habit interventions, community social sharing, and the process of using the application with the user’s actual behavior, promotes the formation of user sustainable behavior and inspires users to a sustainable society thinking. From a hierarchical analysis of the system, “Drops” connects different stakeholders in the municipal water supply system, facilitating communications between tenants and communities to achieve positive interactions that promote sustainable behavior.  At the end of this article, the author analyzed the project outcome from the perspective of Växjöbostäder, one of the stakeholders and a possible product distributor, elaborated on the possible advantages of the design for the company’s ecological sustainability and the possibility of the company deploying this application in the market. Also, the author also analyzed and evaluated this project from the perspective of the product itself and different stakeholders, and explained the current limitations and the possibility of future development.

Die Kreislaufwirtschaft wird von den verschiedensten Seiten als wichtige Strategie für eine nachhaltige Zukunft gefordert und gefördert. Schon seit einiger Zeit setzt sich die Erkenntnis durch, dass eine Bewegung weg von Geschäftsmodellen, die auf Produktverkäufen basieren, hin zum Angebot von Produkt-Dienstleistungssystemen das Implementieren von Kreislaufwirtschaft unterstützen kann. Diese These wurde erneut in der Arbeit der Circular Economy Initiative Deutschland (CEID) diskutiert und in Berichten dieser Initiative dokumentiert. Die Autorin, die auch Mitglied der Circular Economy Initiative war, beleuchtet in diesem Text den Zusammenhang und beschreibt anhand von Ergebnissen aus früheren Forschungs- und Beratungstätigkeiten, wie Produkt-Dienstleistungssysteme (Product-Service Systems, PSS) die Circular Economy unterstützen können und wie diese PSS gestaltet werden können, damit das möglichst nachhaltig, also ökologisch, sozial und ökonomisch vorteilhaft, wirkt. Prozesse, Methoden und Tools für PSS Design und Evaluierung werden vorgestellt und durch Fallbeispiele illustriert.

Background – Circular economy (CE) is gaining more and more importance in research, based on the great desire to change the linear fashion economy to a circular. A Product Service System (PSS) can contribute to the achievement of CE, as PSSs, such as take-back or repair services, bring back the garments to the fashion retail company into the CE. Regarding, closed-loop goals have been created from which the third goal needs to be recently achieved by the fashion industry. Closed-Loop Goal 3 deals with the cascading flow of garments, which sends a garment into multiple usage loops. To accomplish the cascading garment flow, this method connects several PSSs to close the loop, and fewer garments end in landfill. To achieve that, the involvement of customers and business partners is essential as they are purchasing and repatriating garments and materials into the cascading loops. Purpose – The research purpose is to offer new knowledge regarding how fashion retailers can implement cascading loop systems in the textile Closed-Loop Supply Chain (CLSC) and narrow the research gap of cascading loop creations. The study aims to investigate how to involve customers and business partners in PSSs through the digitalisation of cascading garment flow. By doing so, the cascading garment flow intends to achieve improved sustainable performance by allowing used garments to enter a cascading garment flow system.  Methodology – This thesis is a single case study that has been conducted through an abductive approach. The research is built on different customer and business partner involvement theories and the triple bottom line theory. Semi-structured interviews have been conducted as primary data collection. Additionally, the data has been supplemented by secondary data in the form of company documents such as sustainability reports. Afterwards, the data has been analysed qualitatively by thematic analysis and by the SDG assessment tool.  Findings – The results have shown that a mixture of smart service tools, stakeholder and customer communication can achieve customers and business partners' involvement in creating a cascading garment flow. Additionally, the findings offer an insight into the potential contribution of the SDG goal achievement, which is showing that the digitalised PSSs involving customers and business partners in the cascading flow can potentially obtain sustainable performance.  Practical implications & Research limitations – The cascading garment flow as the Closed Loop Goal 3 in CE is still a relatively unexplored area. However, the implementation is essential for sustainable performance and development. Therefore, it is suggested that other issues within the cascading garment flow should be investigated. Additionally, this research was mainly districted by the smaller selection of literature of former research, which did not offer much support.

The subject matter of this dissertation, marketing mix for a new branch for the company Fabricland is to analyze the current condition of the company’s marketing mix and to put together recommendations for its improvement. The theoretical part focuses on defining theoretical knowledge of marketing. The second part is dedicated to analyzing the current condition of the company. The last part will provide proposals for optimization for the company’s marketing mix.

Les Systèmes Produit-Service (PSS) résultent d'une intégration de composants hétérogènes couvrant à la fois des aspects matériels et immatériels (mécanique, électrique,logiciel, processus, organisation, etc.). Le processus de développement d’un PSS est fortement collaboratif impliquant des acteurs métier très variés.Ce caractère interdisciplinaire nécessite des référentiels sémantiques standardisés pour gérer la multitude des points de vue métier et faciliter l’intégration de tous les composants hétérogènes dans un système unique. Ceci est encore plus complexe dans le cas des PSS personnalisables, majoritaires dans le milieu industriel. Malgré les nombreuses méthodologies dans littérature, la gestion des processus de développement du PSS reste encore limitée face à cette complexité. Dans ce contexte, l'Ingénierie des systèmes (IS) pourrait être une solution avantageuse au regard de ses qualités bien prouvé pour la modélisation et la gestion de systèmes complexes. Cette thèse vise à explorer le potentiel d'utilisation de l'Ingénierie des systèmes (IS) comme fondement conceptuel pour représenter d’une façon intégrée tous les différents points de vue métier associés au cycle de vie du PSS. Dans ce cadre, un méta-modèle de PSS est proposé et exemplifié dans des cas industriels. Un modèle ontologique est aussi présenté comme une application d’une partie des modèles pour structurer le référentiel commun de la plateforme ICP4Life. / Product-service systems (PSS) result from the integration of heterogeneous components covering both tangible and intangible aspects(mechanical, electrical, software, process, organization, etc.). The process of developing PSS is highly collaborative involving a wide variety of stakeholders. This interdisciplinary nature requires standardized semantic repositories to handle the multitude of business views and facilitate the integration of all heterogeneous components into a single system. This is even more complex in the case of customizable PSS in the industrial sector. Despite the many methodologies in literature, the management of the development processes of the PSS is still limited to face this complexity. In this context, Systems Engineering (SE) could bean advantageous solution in terms of its proven qualities for the modeling and management of complex systems. This thesis aims at exploring the potentials of Systems Engineering (SE) as a conceptual foundation to represent various different business perspectives associated with the life cycle of the PSS. In this context, a meta-model for PSS is proposed and verified in industrial cases. An ontological model is also presented as an application of a part of the model to structure the common repository of the ICP4Life platform.

The surges in the deterioration on all fronts of sustainability have led to the conceptualization of the Circular Economy (CE). The compliance of production and consumption tightly knitted with the linear model has created a much-needed debate as well as a barrier to the transition towards the CE. In order to drive the transition from linear to CE, various typologies of CE business models have been derived. The Product-Service System (PSS), a business model for creating a circular flow of materials, necessitates the transformation of consumers from being owners into mere users. The textile industry, where the use of virgin materials is deemed to be a primary component for its production and consumption, requires the ingestion of CE-based business models. However, such a transition requires a constant and conscious effort from various actors as well as consumers.   The study takes a holistic perspective targeting both the PSS provider as well as the consumers in providing an understanding of frictions that occur between a PSS Business model and the existing consumption practices. As different actors form a network to drive a PSS business model, this study, firstly aims to develop an understanding of the interactions that take place between two different actors who aim to develop a PSS business model within the domain of textiles. Secondly, as there tend to be consumers who oppose business models that change their existing habits and routines, one such as PSS, this study focuses on analyzing the existing practices related to the consumption of textiles. By contemplating between the consumption side and the PSS provider side, the thesis concludes with a model on how a PSS business model can be made to stabilize the differences with respect to consumption practices by taking into account the factors that influence the consumption of a product.

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to explore the challenges that emerge and the capabilities needed when operating within a service network to achieve servitization. In doing so, we provide a contingency framework that presents seven capabilities that mitigate five potential challenges that emerge when operating in a service network, enabling a smoother journey towards servitization. Method - To fulfill the purpose of the study, an explorative single case study research approach has been employed at a Swedish company that acts as an external service facilitator involved in a service network. Consisting of an incumbent OEM firm of consumer durables and construction equipment based in Sweden and its retailers. In total, 22 interviews were conducted in three waves with actors representing the whole network, providing a multi-actor perspective on the network’s operations. These interviews were then analyzed using a thematic analysis. Findings - The study has resulted in seven presented capabilities: Communication, Collaboration, Product and customer knowledge, Adaptability, Leadership, Digitalization, and Innovation. As well as five identified challenges: Implementing a new mindset, Resistance to change, Managing multiple actors, Adopting a new technology, and Identifying the right partners that emerge when operating in a service network. These were then matched in a contingency framework in order to determine the capabilities' proficiency in mitigating each challenge. Theoretical contributions - This study adds to prior literature by applying a multi-actor perspective, highlighting the servitization journey of service networks. We complement current findings by proposing that service network actors, indeed, play a crucial role in a manufacturer's servitization efforts. Furthermore, the study extends prior literature's findings that actors experience different challenges in their servitization efforts depending on their position within the service network. Lastly, we build on prior literature by highlighting important capabilities needed within a service network. Practical contributions - This study contributes to managers' understanding of operating in a service network, which could aid managers to become proactive rather than reactive in their daily operations. Our findings aid managers in being attentive to the five challenges that we have presented, as well as ensuring that the capabilities that can mitigate these are developed within the service network.  Limitations and future research - The study has been conducted as a single case study in the consumer durables industry in the initial stages of servitization. Therefore, future research could benefit from exploring a wider range of industries, collecting a wider set of data to both confirm the identified capabilities and challenges, as well as to finding new ones.