Search results

This paper aims to explore and develop knowledge about implementing and applying a quality management system (QMS) in the public sector.

A study was conducted including 16 qualitative in-depth interviews with 18 respondents, all working with QMSs in the Swedish public sector.

The study identified five main themes that are problematic in relation to the implementation of the statutory QMS in the public sector. The identified themes show that there exists a gap between theory and practice regarding how the statutory QMS needs to be implemented and applied.

Based on the analysis of the findings, the authors propose a model of core values and supporting elements for QMS in the public sector to bridge the gap between theory and practice.

The study identified problems when implementing statutory QMSs in the public sector and presents a model of improvement. Further research is needed regarding statutory QMS in the public sector.

The purpose of this paper is to identify, present and analyze the strengths and weaknesses mentioned by leaders when describing how their organization works with creating customer value in commercial experiences. Furthermore, the overall research purpose is to explore the creation of customer value in commercial experiences.

An interview study with eight managers focused on how their organization creates customer value when offering commercial experiences. Results were analyzed with regard to creating customer value, customer involvement and development of new experiences.

A literature study confirms an increasing interest in commercial experiences both financially and because of customer demand. The conducted interview study found several areas of improvement where the greatest potential was in the building of a strong organizational culture based on values to ensure co-creation of customer value between the organization and the customer. Also found to be important were working with customer involvement when co-producing the experience, discovering customer expectations and measuring the results of the delivered customer value.

When it comes to commercial experiences, one of the keys to creating customer value is the element of surprise and delivering the unexpected. This advocates studying the theory of attractive quality, discovering the unspoken needs of the customer.

The wood construction industry has been described as slow in adapting efficiency-increasing activities in its operations and supply chain. The industry is still facing challenges related to digitalization, such as fragmentation, poor traceability and lack of real-time information. This study evaluates the status of digitalization in construction supply chains by thematically analyzing the existing literature and mapping research trends.

A review of the key literature from 2016 to 2021 was performed. The results highlight various technologies and their applications within supply chains and identify research gaps, especially between theoretical frameworks and actual implementation using a scientometric-thematic analysis.

This paper provides a conceptual framework to further aid researchers in exploring the current trends in Supply Chain 4.0 and its applications in the wood construction industry compared to other more advanced industries. Suggested directions for future research in the wood construction Supply Chain 4.0 are outlined.

The existing literature still lacks a comprehensive review of the potential of a digitalized supply chain, especially in the construction industry. This framework is pivotal to continue explaining and observing the best ways to accelerate and implement Supply Chain 4.0 practices for digitalized supply chain management (SCM) while focusing specifically on the wood construction industry. The literature review results will help develop a comprehensive framework for future research direction to create a clearer vision of the current state of digitalization in supply chains and focus on the wood construction supply chain, thus, fully achieving the benefits of Supply Chain 4.0 in the wood construction industry.

This paper explores if and how Artificial Intelligence can contribute to marketing strategy formulation.

Qualitative research based on exploratory in-depth interviews with industry experts currently working with artificial intelligence tools.

Key themes include: (1) Importance of AI in strategic marketing decision management; (2) Presence of AI in strategic decision management; (3) Role of AI in strategic decision management; (4) Importance of business culture for the use of AI; (5) Impact of AI on the business’ organizational model. A key consideration is a “creative-possibility perspective,” highlighting the future potential to use AI not only for rational but also for creative thinking purposes.

This work is focused only on strategy creation as a deliberate process. For this, AI can be used as an effective response to the external contingencies of high volumes of data and uncertain environmental conditions, as well as being an effective response to the external contingencies of limited managerial cognition. A key future consideration is a “creative-possibility perspective.”

A practical extension of the Gartner Analytics Ascendancy Model (Maoz, 2013).

This paper aims to contribute knowledge relating to the role of AI in marketing strategy formulation and explores the potential avenues for future use of AI in the strategic marketing process. This is explored through the lens of contingency theory, and additionally, findings are expressed using the Gartner analytics ascendancy model.

The purpose of this research is to identify and clarify the important variables in knowledge management capabilities that affect product/service innovation in entrepreneurial companies in Jordan.

A five-point Likert scale questionnaire was designed for measuring knowledge-based (infrastructural and dynamic) capabilities and product/service innovation in entrepreneurial companies in Jordan that specialized in information and communication technology. A questionnaire was distributed to 297 individuals in 40 companies, and only 202 questionnaires were completely filled and returned by the entrepreneurs at King Hussein Business Park and Al Hassan Business Park. Structural equation modeling was applied to statistically test the research hypotheses.

The research findings showed that knowledge-based infrastructural capabilities are a prerequisite for knowledge-based dynamic capabilities. On the other hand, knowledge combination capabilities have a statistically significant mediating effect between knowledge based infrastructural capabilities and product/service innovation.

This research contributes to the literature by studying and investigating the key variables in knowledge management that affect product/service innovation and by providing a comprehensive understanding of the knowledge management capabilities and innovation in entrepreneurial companies. This research provides academicians with a framework for better understanding of the different factors of knowledge management capabilities and how they affect product/service innovation.

A new type of business offering is currently gaining much attention, a type which in some aspects appears to be distinct from goods and services. These offerings are usually denoted as commercial experiences and are claimed to provide higher customer value than other types of offerings as they, for example, engage customers in an inherently memorable way. The understanding of what constitutes commercial experiences is however still scant. The purpose of this paper is to take a closer look at the commercial experience concept from a customer perspective. The paper aims specifically at elaborating and defining commercial experiences as well as distinguishing them from goods and services.

The paper is based on literature studies.

The authors identify memorable as the fundamental distinctive characteristic for commercial experiences. Memorable events are then shown to be strongly emotional events. Finally the two‐factor structure of affect is used to show that the factor “strong engagement” is a critical driver of commercial experiences. As a result of the elaboration the authors also propose a new definition of commercial experiences and distinguish commercial experiences from goods and services in three ways.

The paper increases the currently scant understanding of commercial experiences.

Collegiality is the modus operandi of universities. Collegiality is central to academic freedom and scientific quality. In this way, collegiality also contributes to the good functioning of universities’ contribution to society and democracy. In this concluding paper of the special issue on collegiality, we summarize the main findings and takeaways from our collective studies. We summarize the main challenges and contestations to collegiality and to universities, but also document lines of resistance, activation, and maintenance. We depict varieties of collegiality and conclude by emphasizing that future research needs to be based on an appreciation of this variation. We argue that it is essential to incorporate such a variation-sensitive perspective into discussions on academic freedom and scientific quality and highlight themes surfaced by the different studies that remain under-explored in extant literature: institutional trust, field-level studies of collegiality, and collegiality and communication. Finally, we offer some remarks on methodological and theoretical implications of this research and conclude by summarizing our research agenda in a list of themes.

The purpose of this paper is to reflect upon demands of and possibilities for establishing a space for conducting and supporting high-quality research in schools. In the article the authors reflect upon experiences in establishing a research environment for teachers called Stockholm Teaching & Learning Studies (STLS). The article focusses some of the tensions that have been emerging in attempting to build an infrastructure for teacher-driven research and discusses the transformative potential of those tensions.

The article draws on the authors’ experiences in establishing STLS as a research environment for teachers by drawing on a framework of cultural-historical activity theory. The article applies the notions of contradictions and tensions as driving forces for development of activity.

The specific tensions that have been negotiated in the establishment of STLS are tensions between developing public knowledge vs local knowledge, tensions in knowledge cultures between oral and text-based ways of sharing knowledge, tensions in research interests and tensions in ownership. These tensions relate to knowledge production as embedded in institutional life and constrained by institutional boundaries in contemporary society.

Today, there is a growing amount of collaborative research that connects elementary and secondary teachers in research projects with university-based researchers. However, this does not guarantee projects that will address everyday problems of teachers or that teachers will be acknowledged as researchers in the end.