The topics of value propositions and service innovation have been highly interesting topics within service-dominant logic. Something that has not been studied in previous research, and the purpose of this thesis, is to investigate; how current value propositions restrict service innovation by restricting digital resource utilization. These restrictions on service innovation could sometimes result in casualties, for example caused by adverse drug reactions, which is one reason why this research question is important. The method used in this thesis is a case study analysis on a pharmaceutical company, which was produced by conducting qualitative interviews and creating a thematic analysis. The analysis is based on empirical material and the literature on value propositions and service innovation. Service innovation is restricted when different practices that constitute the value proposition are restricted in their use of digital resources. The specific restrictions are regulations, inadequate understanding of digital resources' benefits, complexity of implementing digital resources, measuring difficulties, and comfort and protection of current practices. / Ämnena värdeerbjudande och tjänsteinnovation har varit av högt intresse inom tjänstelogiken. Något som inte har studerats i tidigare forskning, och syftet med denna studie, är att undersöka; hur nuvarande värdeerbjudande hindrar tjänsteinnovation genom att hindra utnyttjandet av digitala resurser. Dessa hinder av tjänsteinnovation kan i vissa fall leda till dödsfall vilket är en anledning till att forskningsfrågan är viktig. Metoden i denna uppsats är en fallstudie av ett läkemedelsföretag, som genomfördes genom kvalitativa intervjuer och en tematisk analys. Analysen i uppsatsen är baserad på litteratur om ämnet värdeerbjudande och ämnet tjänsteinnovation. Uppsatsen visar att tjänsteinnovation hindras när företagets värdeerbjudande hindras från att inkorporera digitala resurser. De specifika hindren studien visar är; reglering, bristande förståelse för fördelarna med digitala resurser, komplexitet vid implementering, mätproblem, och bekvämlighet och beskyddande.

Arbetet med det interna arbetsgivarvarumärket har kommit att bli en viktig del för både privat och offentlig verksamhet för att lyckas med att behålla kompetent personal. Idag syns skillnader mellan privat och offentlig verksamhet i arbetet med det interna arbetsgivarvarumärket eftersomförutsättningarna ser olika ut i de olika verksamheterna. Syftet med denna studie var därför att undersöka vilka utmaningar och möjligheter som fanns för arbetet med det interna arbetsgivarvarumärket i en kommunal verksamhet. Följande tre frågeställningar undersöktes; Hur upplever befintlig personal att organisationen arbetar med det interna arbetsgivarvarumärket? Vilka aktiviteter ingår i arbetet med det interna arbetsgivarvarumärket? Hur kan arbetet med det interna arbetsgivarvarumärket förbättras i en kommunal verksamhet? För att kunna besvara studiens frågeställningar intervjuades sex enhetschefer, en verksamhetsutvecklare samt en personalspecialist påÖrnsköldsviks kommun. Alla intervjuer var semistrukturerade och genomfördes via telefon. För att analysera datamaterialet användes tematisk analys. Studiens resultat visar hur en kommunal verksamhet arbetar med sitt interna arbetsgivarvarumärke där både utmaningar och möjligheterpresenteras. Utmaningar som identifierades var kommunens ekonomiska utmaningar, personalbrist, tung arbetsbörda samt bristande intern kommunikation. Förbättringar och rekommendationer baseras på kommunens utmaningar och de möjligheter som finns utifrån dessa. Rekommendationernainnehåller bland annat satsningar på medarbetares arbetstillfredsställelse, aktiviteter som stärker arbetsgruppen samt förbättringar av den interna kommunikationen. Avslutningsvis kan denna studie bidra till ökad kunskap inom området internt arbetsgivarvarumärke inom kommunal verksamhet.

As sustainability becomes a more prominent part of people’s lives, firms that embrace sustainability can create more value for customers. Value has traditionally been seen as being determined by the provider. However, recent theorisations have conceptualised value as being created by the customer with interactions as a key component. The primary way for customers to interact with firms is through indirect interaction – such as when reading labels on product packaging or taking part in advertising. In extant literature, there is a lack of research on how customers’ value creation is affected by interactions with firms – and more specifically – by indirect interaction. The purpose of this study has been to explore how customers’ value creation is affected by providers’ communication of sustainability efforts through indirect interaction. To gain this insight, 12 interviews with customers have been conducted and analysed in four dimensions – general, sustainability, communication and the value creation process. The study found that sustainability efforts were mainly communicated through indirect interactions. Sustainability efforts affected all respondents’ lives and consumption process. Customers valued communication of sustainability efforts that they perceived as being honest, could understand and was presented to them at an appropriate time.

A well-crafted, locally adapted customer value proposition (CVP) can aid businesses in attaining loyal customers. The main purpose of this research is to determine the key value components that should be considered for the development of a CVP, for free-floating car sharing services in the Nordic region. This is done by establishing the relationship between deductively identified value components, perceived value, satisfaction, trust, and loyalty.  A research framework is proposed, where the relationships between the different constructs are hypothesised. Quantitative data is collected from existing car sharing users in the Nordic countries, through a self-administered online questionnaire, distributed through a non-probability sampling method. The empirical data is analysed through multiple regression analysis using the software SPSS, and the extension “PROCESS”, as well as additional analysis techniques to ensure data quality. The research findings indicate that perceived convenience, need fit, and a low service price positively impact both perceived value, as well as satisfaction. Satisfaction shows a stronger, positive effect on loyalty than that of perceived value, yet, loyalty is better explained when both constructs are accounted for. Additionally, trust shows to carry a mediating effect between both satisfaction and loyalty, as well as between perceived value and loyalty. Therefore, firms operating within this context should emphasise the customer needs to provide a service which is perceived as affordable and convenient. Finally, efforts should be taken to reduce uncertainty, and promote trust between the service providers, and their users.

This research studies the factors underlying the process of identifying and prioritizing customer jobs while designing value propositions. More specifically, this study fulfils the objective of conceptualizing how organizations identify and prioritize the most important customer jobs by adopting a multiple case study method.The paper inductively addresses the research question ‘‘how do firms/organizations identify and prioritize the most important customer jobs?’’ and adopts a qualitative research design with a multiple case study strategy. The project case studies analysed comprised seven different companies in various industries. All the case companies of this study fulfil the criteria of working on customer behaviours or similar fields to understand their customers. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews and examined using a thematic analysis. The results indicate that case study organizations have no common understanding of the theory for identifying and prioritizing the most important customer jobs. In other words, the case study organizations of this study use different methods to understand their customers. The practical implication of this research is to analyse how organizations are trying to identify and prioritize the most important customer jobs and how they avoid the risk of going for ‘‘not so important jobs’’.The theoretical contribution of the study is to recommend to all organizations supportive theories for identifying and prioritizing the most important customer jobs with some of the factors within this study.

Covid-19 pandemin har medfört en ökad rotation på arbetsmarknaden, bland annat eftersom arbetsgivare inte anpassat sig till arbetstagares förändrade preferenser vad gäller balans, flexibilitet och välmående i arbete och privatliv. Detta kan anses särskilt problematiskt för kunskapsintensiva företag, där anställda utgör den huvudsakliga värdeskapande resursen. Därmed syftar denna studie till att undersöka hur managementkonsultbolag utformat sitt värdeerbjudande för att behålla anställda under pandemin. Det teoretiska ramverket utgörs av Herzbergs (1993) tvåfaktorteori samt Deci och Ryans (2001) självbestämmandeteori som förklarar vad som skapar motivation och arbetstrivsel på arbetsplatser. För att besvara studiens frågeställning har en kvalitativ ansats valts, där tre managementkonsultbolag som behöll en normal personalomsättning under pandemin undersökts. Det huvudsakliga dataunderlaget utgörs av semistrukturerade intervjuer, vilka har kompletterats med sekundärdata från respektive företag. Analysen visade att de studerade företagen utformat sina värdeerbjudanden på liknande sätt, och slutsatsen är att de har lagt stor tyngd i att främja medarbetarnas känsla av tillhörighet samt hälsa och välmående genom sina sammantagna värdeerbjudanden.

In the current context of the energy transition, it has been argued by researchers and authors that the demand for raw materials for the necessary green technologies can’t be met without the input of primary raw materials. These materials can only be supplied through the mining cycle: exploration, mining, and processing. The mining cycle, however, can pose risks to the environment, which could be in contradiction with the motivation behind the implementation of green technologies. It is then society’s duty to strive for a constant reduction of the environmental impact of the mining cycle, or else, we would be in a paradoxical situation where, by mining materials to power the energy transition, if not done with care, we could be also risking the environment.  While this megatrend of the energy transition occurs, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) also known as drones, have reached a significant level of development which together with the miniaturization of geoscientific sensors, has opened the door to interesting fast, agile, and non-invasive ways of obtaining geological information. This has bridged gaps between the traditional scales of airborne and ground surveying and holds the potential of contributing to a less environmentally harmful mining cycle.  This thesis work intends to be a useful reference for anyone interested in working with UAVs in geosciences, especially for the exploration and management of raw materials from an entrepreneurial point of view. Here, a brief review of the current state of the art through the recent scientific literature on applications of drones in the mining cycle, including but not limited to geophysics and hyperspectral imaging is presented. Using this state of the art as a point of departure, semi-structured interviews with different stakeholders in the mining cycle were conducted to answer the research questions. The concept of value, ubiquitously present in the business research literature, was used to analyze the benefits that the use of UAVs can bring to the raw materials industry and the efforts to reduce its environmental footprint. The opportunities for entrepreneurs to be the conduit to deploy such benefits in society were also analyzed.  The work ends with a summary of the qualitative research findings, highlighting how drones constitute an optimization tool that can be used in all the stages of the mining cycle. Additionally, it highlights that UAV gravity and electromagnetic methods, together with better data processing software for hyperspectral imaging, are currently some of the most sought out and/or needed solutions by users.

Denna uppsats behandlar definition och attraktion av så kallade “talanger”. Det identifierade problemet är organisationers utmaningar med att attrahera individer med önskvärd kompetens på en konkurrensutsatt marknad. Vidare utvecklas problemet när det samtidigt uppstår en global kris i form av en Covid-19 pandemi. Denna studie ämnar således att undersöka hur organisationen IKEA har attraherat talanger under Covid-19 pandemin utifrån deras synsätt på dessa. Forskningsmetoden var av kvalitativ ansats och uppsatsens empiri tar sin grund i semistrukturerade intervjuer. Analysen baseras på uppsatsens teoretiska ramverk kring talent management, employer branding och employee value proposition. Detta för att nå en slutsats kring hur IKEA har attraherat talanger under Covid-19 pandemin. Studiens slutsats är att IKEA definierar talanger genom ett objektorienterat synsätt. Samt att dessa har attraherats under pandemin genom fortsatt rekrytering, ett inifrån- och ut tänk, internrekrytering och genom att ha byggt ett starkt employee value proposition från grunden. Slutligen visar genomförd studie att IKEA inte upplevt större utmaningar med att attrahera talanger under Covid-19 pandemin än vad fallet annars varit.

The transition of businesses to the digital marketplace has presented many opportunities and challenges for e-commerce and ICT services providers. This research was carried out during the ongoing diffusion of a technological innovation, at Telia Company's Content Delivery Network (CDN) unit, in a bid to understand the technology adoption process. The researchers' approachwas to get insights from different stakeholders in the Swedish e-commerce industry and to compare the qualitative research findings with theoretical secondary data and definitions. Six interviews were performed, constituting the empirical data. After the analysis and discussion of the results and frameworks, the researchers propose a merged theoretical framework thatcould be used for designing compelling value propositions, and as such improve the conveying of the value of an offering. The thesis concludes with recommendations to further validate the proposed framework through further research.

The transition of businesses to the digital marketplace has presented many opportunities andchallenges for e-commerce and ICT services providers. This research was carried out during theongoing diffusion of a technological innovation, at Telia Company's Content Delivery Network(CDN) unit, in a bid to understand the technology adoption process. The researchers' approachwas to get insights from different stakeholders in the Swedish e-commerce industry and tocompare the qualitative research findings with theoretical secondary data and definitions. Sixinterviews were performed, constituting the empirical data. After the analysis and discussion ofthe results and frameworks, the researchers propose a merged theoretical framework thatcould be used for designing compelling value propositions, and as such improve the conveyingof the value of an offering. The thesis concludes with recommendations to further validate theproposed framework through further research.