Background: Recent trends in the world of business notably globalization and advanced technology have had significant effects on most companies irrespective of size and operations. A major consequence of these trends is increasing competition. This has consequently, increased the need for broader and more comprehensive strategies capable of ensuring the long-term survival of companies. One such strategy is strategic alliances. Strategic alliances provide companies with wider access and utilization of resources that they find difficult to acquire. Purpose: The purpose of the thesis is to achieving a better and deeper understanding of global alliances and how they are coordinated. In so doing the research includes the nature of global alliances in general and the Renault-Nissan alliance in particular. The main focus and case study is the Renault-Nissan alliance but, the researchers also examine the reasons for the failure of the alliance between Volvo-Renault to determine what lessons if any, did Renault learn from this alliance and how these lessons has helped the Renault-Nissan alliance. Findings: The research found that coordination at the operational level of the Alliance was achieved through coordination mechanisms. The coordination mechanisms were responsible for coordinating the resources and activities of both companies at the operational level. These mechanisms are the result of deliberate planning, implementation and monitoring to ensure that they function effectively as required. The research also found that the effectiveness of the mechanisms are greatly aided by factors such as trust, mutual respect, managerial commitment, and learning as well as structures such as the Coordination Bureaus, the Alliance Board and the Alliance Steering Committees. These were consequently labelled ‘facilitators’ of the coordination mechanisms. Finally, It was also found that the role of ‘facilitators’ permeates the entire coordination process. On the basis of these findings and the analysis made thereof, the researchers through analytical generalizations concluded that effective and efficient coordination of resources at the operational level leads to successful strategic alliances, which are achieved through planning, implementation, creation and monitoring of coordination mechanisms.

AbstractThere is a great diversity in marketing strategies that brands can use to develop their name, image and products. The selection of the appropriate strategy is the basis of the image a brand wants to present and how it will be perceived by the market it attempts to approach.However when a brand aims at different segments of a market it has to adapt its marketing strategy to suit better the new segment compared to the first one. Hence in this thesis our interest has brought us to compare Volvo‟s marketing strategy in Sweden and in France as we study in the first country and we come from the second one. We tried to identify the similarities, the differences, and understand how Volvo manages to evaluate and adapt to the needs and expectations of the different consumers in those two countriesOne of the first things we noticed when arriving in Umeå was the number of Volvo cars in the street in contrast to what we are used to seeing in Paris. We understood that the brand was famous and even natural for the Swedes leaving here, whereas it seemed that the French were not truly aware about the brand‟s products. Thus to comprehend this difference we decided to carry our researches on what defines the brand in the consumer‟s mind: marketing.The method we used to conduct this study was based on the objectivist ontological position and on the positivist epistemological assumption combined to a deductive approach – implying a quantitative study in our case. We used secondary data to create our theoretical framework and then we distributed 100 questionnaires in both countries – 50 each.The observation and the analysis of the results have been divided into two parts in order to elucidate the similarities and differences between the two countries studied. These separated parts then lead to a cross-case observation and analysis.Our conclusion mostly corroborates our assumptions as we observed that the majority of our Swedish respondents had a good idea of what represents Volvo, whereas it is still seen as an outdated car manufacturer for our French sample which does not spot enough advertisement about the new models of the brand and which is more demanding on design. This is why, among other recommendations, we suggest Volvo to advertise more on certain values like ecology which is not well recognized and to focus more on some channels of communication, depending on the location.AbstractThere is a great diversity in marketing strategies that brands can use to develop their name, image and products. The selection of the appropriate strategy is the basis of the image a brand wants to present and how it will be perceived by the market it attempts to approach.However when a brand aims at different segments of a market it has to adapt its marketing strategy to suit better the new segment compared to the first one. Hence in this thesis our interest has brought us to compare Volvo‟s marketing strategy in Sweden and in France as we study in the first country and we come from the second one. We tried to identify the similarities, the differences, and understand how Volvo manages to evaluate and adapt to the needs and expectations of the different consumers in those two countriesOne of the first things we noticed when arriving in Umeå was the number of Volvo cars in the street in contrast to what we are used to seeing in Paris. We understood that the brand was famous and even natural for the Swedes leaving here, whereas it seemed that the French were not truly aware about the brand‟s products. Thus to comprehend this difference we decided to carry our researches on what defines the brand in the consumer‟s mind: marketing.The method we used to conduct this study was based on the objectivist ontological position and on the positivist epistemological assumption combined to a deductive approach – implying a quantitative study in our case. We used secondary data to create our theoretical framework and then we distributed 100 questionnaires in both countries – 50 each.The observation and the analysis of the results have been divided into two parts in order to elucidate the similarities and differences between the two countries studied. These separated parts then lead to a cross-case observation and analysis.Our conclusion mostly corroborates our assumptions as we observed that the majority of our Swedish respondents had a good idea of what represents Volvo, whereas it is still seen as an outdated car manufacturer for our French sample which does not spot enough advertisement about the new models of the brand and which is more demanding on design. This is why, among other recommendations, we suggest Volvo to advertise more on certain values like ecology which is not well recognized and to focus more on some channels of communication, depending on the location.

This report represents the bachelor thesis examination by Julia Kastehelmi Rintamäki. The examination has been performed during spring semester 2013 at Volvo Construction Equipment in Eskilstuna. This report, Development of parking brake component, describes the product development process of the parking brake component for articulated hauler, wheel loader and grader. Volvo CE has problems with the parking brake switch that exist today on articulated hauler, wheel loader and grader. The purpose of this project is to develop one common solution for the parking brake component for articulated hauler, wheel loader and grader. The secondary purpose is to find final concept proposal for each machine. Employees at the Volvo CE were interviewed; they were contacted via e-mail, phone calls and via meetings to get the information about the machines and the information around the parking brake component. Volvo CE databases were also used for gathering information about standards and pictures. Lots of different ideas were sketched and concept proposals were created with the aid of material from marketing analysis, competitor analysis, target group analysis, requirement specification, function analysis, standards and ergonomics. Eight concept proposals were chosen to be evaluated with QFD, Pugh’s matrix and FMEA. Two concepts were most suitable and developed further to three dimensional models with the aid of Solid Works. The different aspects were taken into account when designing and dimensioning the final concepts. Two models were created with the aid of plasticine for figuring out the ergonomics and dimensions of the product. DFM, DFA, DFE, D4S were used for taking into account costs, assembly, dimensions and environmental impacts of this product. One of the concepts could replace the existing parking brake switch and suit in different cabins because of its size and design. This concept can be located on vertical or on horizontal plane. The other final concept solution functions better for the  articulated hauler on account of the double function with exhausting brake system activating before parking brake system. Suggestion for next steps for the project could be to make prototypes of the two concepts and test these components in real machines. Also interviewing users for further development of the final concepts and redesign if needed.

The huge market potential of some fast growing markets attract many international organizations’ attention, especially China, as a huge automobile market is one of the most typical examples. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore how Volvo Cars increase brand equity in Chinese automobile market. To answer this question, a literature review about brand equity and marketing strategy is done to create an analytical framework which is the foundation of the empirical observation and research analysis. Furthermore, the study constitutes a valuable source of information of Volvo’s operated marketing strategy, as well as providing practical situation on customer perception on a brand through interviewing Volvo's owners in different countries. The results of analysis and discussion indicated that there are distinctive customer perceptions in China and the appraised the Volvo brand equity is not completely matching the strategic goals. In this case, in order to increase brand equity in China, Volvo should craft and execute the corresponding marketing strategy on brand for the distinctive Chinese customer perceptions. As such, this paper complements previous research through presenting the current situation of Chinese automobile market and comprehending how Volvo as global car brand operating and performing in China from brand equity perspective. In that sense, this paper can contribute and add some useful information in this study field for other further studies.

Major part of the current work describes the development of the update methodology for onedimensional code (TML) currently used at Volvo Aero Corporation during turbine design process. The methodology is then applied and tried out in a general engine analysis (GESTPAN).

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This thesis work resulted in a template for how the thermal spray process can be controlled through robot programs. The robots today and their programs need to be replaced, therefore a new structure which can be matched with the new robot systems is needed. The work is limited to only concern structured programming on the new robots on Thermal Spray Centre (TC) with the programming language Rapid. The basic data for the program was retrieved from interviews with concerned personnel at TC, from studies on process parameters for thermal spray and from existing specifications at Volvo Aero Corporation (VAC). The thesis work briefly describes the process thermal spray and the four methods used at VAC. A literature survey on Jackson Structured Programming, Human Machine Interface and structured programming was made and used to compare, evaluate and suggest improvements for the thermal spray work cell. A functional suggestion for a menu system in a robot program for the thermal spray robot was presented. This will be in the robot permanently for uploading of detail programs from a network connected computer. An example of such a detail program was made but without robot movement and communication with the process computer. Testing of the programs has therefore only been made on a robot not suited for thermal spraying. The new detail program shows its parameters directly on the screen so they can be controlled against the operation papers. A programmer\2019s guide to the detail program has been made which is presented in the report.

The thesis consists of the design of an electric bike. Based on the analysis of the needs arising from urban transport in Sweden and its people.We wanted to develop a bicycle that could be manufactured in the coming years and be widely accepted by the Swedish population and later also in Europe.

The modern automobile is a complex electromechanical system controlled by control systems which consist of several interdependent electronic control units (ECUs). Analysis of the data generated by these modules is very important in order to observe the interesting patterns among data. At Volvo Cars Corporation today, diagnostic read-out data is retrieved from client machines installed at workshops in different countries around the world. The problem with this data is that it does not show a clear picture as what is causing what i.e. tracking the problem. Diagnostic engineers at Volvo Cars Corporation perform routine based statistical analysis of diagnostic read-out data manually, which is time consuming and tedious work. Moreover, this analysis is restricted to basic level mainly statistical analysis of diagnostic readout data. We present an approach based on statistical analysis and cluster analysis. Our approach focused on analysing the data from a pure statistical stand-point to isolate the problem in diagnostic read-out data, thereby helping to visualize and analyse the nature of the problem at hand. Different general statistical formulae were applied to get meaningful information from large amount of DRO data. Cluster analysis was carried out to get clusters consisting of similar trouble codes. Different methods and techniques were considered for the purpose of cluster analysis. Hierarchical and non-hierarchical clusters were extracted by applying appropriate algorithms. The results obtained from the thesis work show that the diagnostic read-out data consist of independent and interdependent fault codes. Groups were generated which consist of similar trouble codes. Furthermore, corresponding factors from freeze frame data which shows significant variation for these groups were also extracted. These faults, groups of faults and factors were later interpreted and validated by diagnostic engineers.

This masters thesis concerns a modeling project performed at Volvo Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden. The main purpose of the project has been to develop a physical model of the climate in construction vehicles that later on can be used in the development of an electronic climate controller. The focus of the work has been on one type of wheel loader and one type of excavator. The temperature inside the compartment has been set equal to the notion climate. With physical theories about air flow and heat transfer in respect, relations between the components in the climate unit and the compartment has been calculated. Parameters that has had unknown values has been estimated. The relations have then been implemented in the modeling tool Simulink. The validation of the model has been carried out by comparison between measured data and modeled values by calculation of Root Mean Square and correlation. Varying the estimated parameters and identifying the change in the output signal, i.e the temperature of the compartment, have performed a sensitivity analysis. The result of the validation has shown that the factor with the greatest influence on the temperature in the vehicle is the airflow through the climate unit and the outlets. Minor changes of airflow have resulted in major changes in temperature. The validation principally shows that the model gives a good estimation of the temperature in the compartment. The static values of the model differs from the values of the measured data but is regarded being as within an acceptable margin of error. The weakness of the model is mainly its predictions of the dynamics, which does not correlate satisfyingly with the data.