Abstract

The increased importance of product development can be seen in both recent research on Dynamic Capabilities as well as research on the use of Target Costing (TC). The Dynamic Capabilities literature is primarily developed in the USA and Europe, while the TC practice is rooted in Japanese practices and has been transferred to the west. This study examines the relationship between the Dynamic Capabilities of the product development team and the implementation of Target Costing (TC) in publicly traded companies in Sweden. Using established concepts from both the Dynamic Capabilities and Target Costing literatures we find partial support for the relationship. We suggest that there may be a bias in the development of Dynamic Capability research that does not comprehend organization practices such as those seen in Japan, Sweden and in Lean Production organizations more generally. Reasons for this are discussed and proposals for further research are proposed.

An unprecedented number of large ice hockey arenas were built in Sweden between 2000-2014. This study explores the motives and rationale behind these capital investments in Swedish ice hockey arenas. Based on a multiple data gathering methods, this research conclude that capital investments in sport arenas are primarily driven by the need for rationalization and improvement of events, increasing societal image building through sport and an increasing focus on social enrichment in the competition for attracting citizens and companies to municipalities. Close collaborations between local politicians, club executives and entrepreneurs have provided creative financial solutions for the new arenas. The ice hockey arena projects have been legitimized from a societal perspective through either overly optimistic or manipulated sophisticated capital investment methods, which provided the necessary support for the political decision rationale that has been dominating these projects. A consequence of the arena projects, is an increased commercialization and professionalization of Swedish hockey.

The importance of new product development is observed in recent research on Dynamic Capabilities and in research focused on Target Costing (TC). Using established concepts from both the Dynamic Capabilities and Target Costing literatures we examine possible path-dependent conflicts in introducing TC into an organization using a traditional western product design approach.

This study describes how Target Costing (TC) was attempted as an addition into a traditional Stage-Gate (SG; Cooper, 1990) product development process. Implementing TC as a separate tool in a Stage-Gate model raises the possibility that the sequential and rigorously “gated” design process will conflict with the iterative and multifunctional nature of TC.

We find that there is conflict between the Stage-Gate method and TC that is consistent with criticisms of SG raised by Sethi and Iqbal (2008). This includes limitations to learning due to truncation of sub-projects without the iterations in TC. As well, we support Sethi and Iqbal’s finding that the extremely rigorous gate-evaluations reduce flexibility in the development system.  We connect their observations with the concept of dynamic capabilities to make our analysis more granular and point more precisely to the aspects of TC that are in conflict with SG-type design processes.

The purpose of this research is to gain understanding of how companies in the Swedish forest industry proceed in capital investment assessments regarding tangible investments. The research was conducted through a determination of which financial methods are used and which non-financial considerations (strategic, environmental, and social) are taken into account while assessing tangible investments. In order to enable a research of investment assessment in the Swedish forest industry, 10 companies have been studied with the use of qualitative (based on the interviews) method. The majority of the investment appraisal methods used in the Swedish forest companies have been observed in previous research, both domestically and internationally. The fact that the payback method is the most widely used method in the Swedish forest industry is in direct contrast to the application in the American forest industry, where discounted cash flows methods are most common. Net present value, internal rate of return, and sensitivity analysis are also used but not in all examined companies and not for all investments. Another distinctive finding is that the forest companies are happy to combine different calculation methods to increase the probability of succeeding in mapping a true picture of future investment financial consequences. The results of the study show that the investment assessment in the forest industry has several industry-specific features, which is expressed in the form of strategy, environmental, safety promotion becoming extra important for the forest companies, which stands out in relation to previous research.

This study examines environmental performance measurement and reporting in Swedish municipalities. The environmental reporting in municipalities has become increasingly important as the human impact on the environment has increased and public organizations are expected to take responsibility for reducing their environmental impact. The implementation of New Public Management (NPM) ideas in municipalities has led to an increase in the use of different performance measurements. This study confirms that municipalities with a high NPM-maturity show an increased use of environmental performance indicators. Different measures are used for the environmental indicators which affect the comparability of municipalities environmental reporting. The key factor that explains municipalities use of environmental performance indicators is the level of performance measurements in the organization in general. 

Denna studie handlar om kapitalförsörjning för såväl sociala som kommersiella företag inom ramen för ett socialt regionalt innovationssystem. Projektets målsättningar består i att identifiera, analysera och i handling omsätta kunskaper kring hur entreprenörskapets möjligheter kan användas för att initiera och utveckla nya eller existerande verksamheter. En väsentlig utgångspunkt för denna studie är att entreprenörskap i dess olika former, kräver tillgång på kapital och då i klartext såväl finansiellt-, socialt- som kunskapskapital.

För att skapa ett långsiktigt hållbart lokalt och regionalt samhälle behövs inte bara robusta kommersiella företag. Sådana samhällen byggs också av sociala företag (SF), vilka består av verksamheter som inte primärt drivs för att maximera vinsten, utan snarare använder överskottet till att göra sociala insatser. Under de senaste årtiondena har antalet sociala företag vuxit världen över och dessa företag kännetecknas bl a av hög andel ideella resurser, en kooperativ struktur, och att eventuella överskott stannar kvar i verksamheten.

There is an increasing gap between the contemporary academic and political concern for social enterprising and available theoretical and empirical research in the field. In this study we want to contribute to a much needed bridge by, first, outlining a conceptual framework for (social) entrepreneuring based on practice-theory. Second, we generate an in-depth inquiry into the everyday operations of two Swedish social businesses, interconnected in an emerging franchise structure, identifying basic structural and processual features of social entrepreneuring. The proposed structures include the dualities individual/collective as the actor, personal/institutional rules of action and self-identity/social identity. The six identified practices concern social bricolaging, amplified immediacy, dynamic involvement, ambiguous legitimacy, self-enforced heterogeneity and urgency for financial viability.

This thesis deals primarily with the relationship between investments in working environment and the outcome and apprehended effects of these investment activities in small firms. A main concern in this aspect is what effects investments in working environment might have on efficiency in the companies. Another area of focus in this thesis is whether and to what extent external subsidies affect attitudes and investment behaviour, as well as stimulate change and development activities in small firm? The thesis is based on a study of planning and appre­hended effects of investments in working environment whithin the context of the Swedish Workinglife Fund. The Swedish Workinglife Fund was established in 1989 to stimulate investments in areas such as organizational development, competency formation, rehabilitation and physical equipment and machinery in order to improve the working environment in companies and different public organisations. In order to investigate the questions of this study two emprical studies has been conducted. The results from these studies indicate that investments with an ambition to improve the working environment in many cases created opportunities for increased economic efficiency and that projects with a comprehensive approach tends to have the greatest potential. The study also indicates marginal use of formal investment appraisal methods (including pay-back) in the decision process. Finally the results indicate that subsidies tend to fasten (push) the starting point and making each project more comprehensive in terms of size and complexity. 

Föreliggande studie är en del av det mycket omfattande utrednings- och utvärderingsarbete som behandlar Arbetslivsfondens (ALF) verksamhet ur olika perspektiv och infallsvinklar och som också initierats av fonden.

 Att kontinuerligt utvärdera och samla erfarenheter om arbetsmiljöfrågor samt relaterade områden, för att på så sätt bygga upp en kunskap för nutida och framtida användning i praktiken och som underlag för vidare forskning, var i själva verket en väsentlig del av Arbetslivsfondens uppgifter.

 Detta arbete som syftar till att studera ALF:s effekter i småföretag är en del av det mycket omfattande forsknings- och utredningsarbete som bedrivits vid Centrum för Småföretagsutveckling (CS), vid Ekonomihögskolan i Växjö, sedan tillkomsten 1981.

This thesis deals with investment issues in connection to growth and expansion related decision processes in small and medium-sized manufacturing companies. It focuses primarily on the empirical knowledge about the structure of the companies’ investments, the processes involved, and the investment behavior in this type of company. The Swedish sub-contracting companies and the manufacturing industry in general are facing new structural changes. There is also a clear trend towards fewer, but larger and more skilled, suppliers. These changes implies for instance that small and medium-sized manufacturing companies are facing dramatically increased demands with considerable and growing needs for investments. 

The development of an empirically grounded framework for investments in small and medium-sized manufacturing companies is an important part of this study’s conceptual contribution. The analysis points out the general importance of projects named super investments. This means large investments with great financial and strategic impact and which significantly affect the companies risk exposure. These projects has also proved to be of significant influential importance on the companies overall investment planning process. 

The results also shows that changes in the internal and external environments tend to influence the companies’ investments, with respect to both the initiation of new investment projects, the progression of these projects, and the management of and principles for decision-making in the form of analysis and investment logic. In short, the present study contributes with knowledge about the investment process by providing an overall picture of how decisions about investments are made in small and medium-sized manufacturing companies.  The study indicates that it is important to consider both conceptual and more practically oriented conditions related to the work of developing and finding suitable investment routines.

Capital investments in the public sector counts for large amount of spending every year and municipalities have a responsibility to allocate resources both cost effective and efficiently in order to achieve societal benefit for the citizens. Well-prepared assessment data and a structured and stable project routine should therefore be expected to form an important basis for investment project assessment. Based on previous studies however, uniform investment assessment decision logic has not been clearly identified and thoroughly explained. Previous research on municipality organizations shows even the existence of parallel, sometimes contradicting decision logics. Capital investments in municipal organizations can therefore be concluded as a still relatively undiscovered, but important knowledge area within the investment field, both from a theoretical and practical viewpoint.

This study can thus be seen as an in depth case study trying to further line out and explain investment practice documented in the previous research and focus on how investment decisions are conducted and related to how the propulsion process of new investments are organized in Swedish municipal organizations. The overall purpose with the study is to increase the understanding and explanations on how Swedish municipalities use assessment data for initiation, integration and decision making of large projects, in the light of the different decision logics that seem to be prevalent in the investments practice of municipal organizations.

The purpose of this paper is to explore capital investment practices in Swedish local governments, outline some critical issues of the resource allocation process and also to reveal the behind rationales used for and influencing decision making of large tangible investment projects. Through a survey to all 290 Swedish local governments, in combination with interviews in two municipalities, the resource allocation process is mapped and analyzed.

Our results confirm and support the existing literature in the area of capital investment practice in local governments, in terms of the large spread of financial- and non-financial criteria used in the process of evaluating new projects. Additionally, we find support for the fact that local governments which have adopted New Public Management to a larger extent also tend to use more sophisticated capital investment routines and methods. 

The main contribution with this study is added granularity about capital investment practices in local governments in general and more in depth insights about the tension in use of diverse and conflicting decision rationales. These rationales that exists in the municipalities during the resource allocation process are financial-, operational-, and political. Altogether, the capital investment practice in Swedish local governments reveals a complex and even messy picture.

In conclusion this research also provides additional insight to some potential inclination effects and consequences of today´s capital investment practice in local governments and agencies.

We examine capital investment practice for large infrastructure projects undertaken by local governments. Our study contributes to the existing literature by addressing the field theoretically from both decision- and process-based investment approaches and by using multiple research methods, both qualitative and quantitative, in search of empirical evidence of investment practice in Sweden. Our results confirm the large spread of financial and non-financial criteria used to evaluate new projects. Local governments that have adopted New Public Management largely use more sophisticated capital investment routines and methods. We contribute with added granularity to capital investment practices in local governments, characterized by diverse and sometimes conflicting decision rationales in terms of financial, operational, and political considerations. The investment practice reveals a complex, competitive, and "messy" picture with potential effects and consequences.

Föreliggande studie är en del i det utredningsarbete som EU Programkontor Mål 4 gjort kring Kronobergs län och framtidsförutsättningarna för fortsatt utveckling och expansion.

 Att på ett systematiskt sätt analysera en region och dess förutsättningar skapar en bra grund för beslut som på olika sätt påverkar framtiden. Vi har i detta arbete genomfört en omfattande såväl teoretisk som empirisk studie kring tillväxtförutsättningarna i Kronobergs län.

 Studien syftar explicit till att ”att identifiera relevanta faktorer som på kort och medellång sikt påverkar företagens konkurrenskraft” så att behov av framtida insatser för utbildning och kompetens­utveckling bättre kan preciseras och planeras.

Lean production (LP) has been the dominant production rhetoric for the last couple of decades but there is limited and ambiguous knowledge concerning the impacts of how LP practices influences the working environment conditions. Drawing from prior research (i.e. Håkansson, et al., 2017; Saurin and Ferreira, 2009; Conti, et al. 2006) we add granularity through in-depth empirical studies to the field and provide evidence for both positive and negative impact of the use of LP on the perceived working environment conditions among employees in the manufacturing sector. Through in-depth interviews with managers and production workers, and a survey to non-managers in three manufacturing companies in the southern part of Sweden.  

The results confirm existing literature in that we find workers in mature LP-organizations consider their working conditions to be generally good but challenging and that workers feel empowered and motivated when working in a LP context. The study add to prior knowledge in that LP also have less positive effects on the working environment conditions which is seen primarily through high level of stress and weak communication patterns.

We conclude that improvement work, when properly done, gradually strengthen the working conditions, and the need for worker empowerment in the improvement work process is crucial. Furthermore, when LP is perceived to be top-down from the managers, the overall perception is rather negative from a worker perspective and several of the advertised benefits from LP are never experienced among members of the organization.

Our study contributes to further connecting the Operations Management and Human Resource Management concerning the practice of LP and the impact it has on the perceived working environment conditions.

This paper presents a tentative analysis of high-employee-involvement (HEI) production methods based on the main characteristics of practice theory, a type of social theory sketched by Bourdieu (1977), Giddens (1979), late Foucault and others. Our model for HEI methods is based on the Toyota Production System (TPS) or Lean Production (LP) due to the amount of knowledge available about these two systems, and their impact on world-wide production methods. This paper examines specific daily practices found in companies working with Lean/TPS and presents a categorization of the concepts included in the localization of practice.

This chapter examines how traditional understandings of organizational cultural factors map into our understanding of the Toyota Production System.

Since the 1980s the business literature has used a number of concepts to understand organizational culture. The bulk of these concepts can be seen to fit into a general rubic comprising three elements: values/assumptions; behavioural norms; rites and rituals. We use this system of categories to review the Toyota Production System Archetype (TPS Archetype) with a general aim of assessing the degree to which the TPS Archetype participates in the broad spectrum of cultural elements comprehended by the 3-element rubric.

Studies by Ahrens (1996); Bhiami (2003) and Dahlgaard & Dahlgaard-Park (2006) shows that when new tools and management control systems are introduced, they need to be adopted to the existing corporate culture and management practice in order to become successful, and this is a general understanding that is widely shared. Our examination addresses the extent to which the TPS Archetype impounds both awareness of the relation between tools and culture as well as the cultural scope of the TPS Archetype tools.

This paper unpacks the integrative practices (Schatzky, 1996) of Lean Production (LP)/Toyota Production System (TPS) operations and reveals that practices which normally function as dispersed practices function, instead, as part of the LP/TPS integrative practices. We present a set of these practices. We also show that the normally dispersed practices are recast as components of integrated practices (Schatzky, 1996) across contexts, revealing aspects of the LP/TPS situation that may be amenable to cross-level investigation. This insight supports the importance of the practice theory lens in study of organizations as well as suggesting practical avenues for development of LP/TPS operations.

In this paper we examine whether three concepts unique to the TPS Archetype (Alpenberg and Scarbrough 2009) are observed in an advanced and experienced Lean Production organization (Scania AB). The concepts are: waste reduction, improvement, and people and teamwork. All three concepts appear to bind reflection and action very firmly, and are seen in many sources of the TPS Archetype. Our analysis of empirical data from Scania AB confirms that two of those items exhibit the “binding” indicated in the TPS Archetype, while one does not. The item that was not supported is the item that is the most strongly developed in the TPS Archetype: Waste reduction.

In general the two items that were supported (improvement, and people and teamwork) appear to be middle-level structures that firmly fuse Norms with Rites/Rituals (c.f. Schein 1984).

We examine the relationship between strategic change and management control in Canadian and Swedish health care organizations. Prior research leads us to believe that strategic changes i.e. Lean Healthcare or different Costing Methods, create significant frictions between financial and operational management. This study examines a set of strategic changes to learn how these issues impact the organization and employees involved. The Canadian (Ontario) and Swedish context allows us to examine the variety of responses to the interaction of Lean Healthcare as a strategy and traditional MASs.

Our results reveal differences between the Swedish and Ontario hospitals that call into question assumptions underlaying our concept of MCS.  We show that Ontario hospitals MCSs and operations are loosely coupled, while in contrast, Swedish hospitals have MCSs that are firmly connected to daily operations. We speculate that the difference in the employment status of physicians is an important factor in the results. Ontario physicians are independent contractors paid by the province (a single payer system), but who make treatment decisions that must be implemented by the hospital. Swedish physicians, on the other hand, are employees of the hospital. Thus, Ontario hospitals have significant portions of their operating decisions made by people who are not employees, and who have financial incentives to make decisions contrary to both the financial needs of the hospital and the health of the patient.

This result extends prior research by revealing how different elements of control impact the organization and we contribute to explaining contradictory results in the literature.

The increased importance of product development can be seen in both recent research on Dynamic Capabilities as well as research on the use of Target Costing (TC). The Dynamic Capabilities literature is primarily developed in the USA and Europe, while the TC practice is rooted in Japanese practices and has been transferred to the west. This study examines the relationship between the Dynamic Capabilities of the product development team and the implementation of Target Costing (TC) in publicly traded companies in Sweden. Using established concepts from both the Dynamic Capabilities and Target Costing literatures we find partial support for the relationship. We suggest that there may be a bias in the development of Dynamic Capability research that does not comprehend organization practices such as those seen in Japan, Sweden and in Lean Production organizations more generally. Reasons for this are discussed and proposals for further research are proposed.

This study examines the daily work practices at an organization that successfully incorporates lean production practices into the organizational culture, and reveals a pattern of practices used by managers in their daily work. This pattern of communication practices is consistent across the organization's manufacturing sites. Subsequent examination of archival qualitative data confirms the existence of the identified pattern of practices. An essential part of lean production is that participants are all involved in improvement activities. The collaborative nature of these activities highlights the importance of communication practices as a lubricant between managers and workers. The communication practices identified in this study appear consistently in strong lean production environments, while the opposite practices appear in weak lean production and traditional US-style environments.

Responding to the call for papers, we study the daily work practices of managers at a very strong Lean Production organization and reveal a pattern of practices used by managers in daily work. This pattern of management communication practices is consistent across the organization’s manufacturing sites. We then examine archival qualitative data from seven different sources in a deductive theory-testing mode, and confirm the existence of the identified practices in other organizations.

An essential part of many forms of LP is that participants are all involved in improvement activities. The collaborative nature of these activities raises the importance of management communication practice as the sole lubricant between managers and workers which enables these activities.  

We find that the identified communications practices were consistently found in embedded LP environments and the opposite practices were found in weak LP and in US-style environments.

We examine the Management Control System (MCS) as a focus of action in two companies moving to a comprehensive Lean Production (LP) operations philosophy. Neither organization had previously self-identified as Lean.

These two organizations experience difficulty in understanding and changing their MCS in response to LP, even though both have some prior experience with lean tools. We describe issues faced by managers in re-imagining financial control in LP. In both organizations there is a very strong move to physical controls and diminution of time spent on financial controls, however this move is quite troublesome for the financial staff, who—although they support the change—feel that they lack a conceptual basis for the revising their financial tools. Physical KPIs are viewed as a core part of the MCS by operations and financial managers, which support the Simmonds (1981) Strategic Management Accounting concept.   

In this paper we examine how two different strategic changes influence the Management Control Systems in six Ontario based hospitals. These changes are: 1. new funding regimes based on Ontario Case Costing and, 2. Lean Healthcare initiatives in Ontario Hospitals.

The Ontario Case Costing (OCC) approach is based on the traditional MAS assumption that more accurate costs will lead to lower costs through better management decisions of some sort. In contrast, Lean Healthcare is premised on the assumption that the primary path to better performance is realized by individual employees, who serve as the leading actors in a daily process of waste removal and efficiency improvement.

Based on the MA literature and on information about both the OCC and Lean Healthcare initiatives, we expect there to be significant frictions inside the financial management staff as well as between the Lean initiative and the financial management staff related to the OCC mandate. This study examines this set of interactions to learn how these issues impact the employees involved. In particular, the Ontario context allows us to examine the variety of responses to the interaction of Lean healthcare strategy and a traditional MAS such as OCC.

We find that the MASs of hospitals in our sample are too loosely coupled to develop the frictions indicated by traditional MAS theory and propose modifications in application of the theory to accommodate this observation.

In this paper we examine how two different strategic changes influence the Management Control Systems in six Ontario based hospitals. These changes are: 1. new funding regimes based on Ontario Case Costing and, 2. Lean Healthcare initiatives in Ontario Hospitals.

The Ontario Case Costing (OCC) approach is based on the traditional MAS assumption that more accurate costs will lead to lower costs through better management decisions of some sort. In contrast, Lean Healthcare is premised on the assumption that the primary path to better performance is realized by individual employees, who serve as the leading actors in a daily process of waste removal and efficiency improvement.

Based on the MA literature and on information about both the OCC and Lean Healthcare initiatives, we expect there to be significant frictions inside the financial management staff as well as between the Lean initiative and the financial management staff related to the OCC mandate. This study examines this set of interactions to learn how these issues impact the employees involved. In particular, the Ontario context allows us to examine the variety of responses to the interaction of Lean healthcare strategy and a traditional MAS such as OCC.

We find that the MASs of hospitals in our sample are too loosely coupled to develop the frictions indicated by traditional MAS theory and propose modifications in application of the theory to accommodate this observation.

There have been numerous studies on lean production and other technical aspects of lean. This paper does not deal with the technical aspects. In this paper we develop a model for understanding the functioning of modern lean production and management methods. Our focus is on the behaviors and actions needed by employees [managers and non-managers] to obtain the benefits of lean methods. Our model for lean methods is based on the Toyota Production System [TPS] due to the amount of knowledge available about it and its impact on production methods world-wide. Using our understanding of TPS we develop a prescriptive model of employee behavior and actions needed to support the use of TPS, and the organizational cultural aspects needed to support or encourage the employee interactions identified. A case study is used to develop the model.

In this case study we examine two organizations and compare them in terms of how the implementation of LP has been provocative to the control system. Changes in the MCS have been shown to follow from changes in operations. We use a case comparison method to examine the Management Control System (MCS) in two organizations that have started a decisive move into a comprehensive Lean Production (LP) operating practice. Both organizations were very strong performers in competitive industries prior to this change. Neither organization had previously self-identified as Lean. However their actual operating and MCS practices contained a mixture of traditional and LP practices.

This paper reports on the nature of dispersed and integrative practices (Schatzki, 1996) in collaborative work. Working in collaboration is becoming more common across organizations and a research topic across domains. We use the situation of changes in the use of collaboration to investigate the dispersed-integrative concept using in-depth interviews and observations in organizations employing the same high collaboration work method (Lean Production, LP).

We show that it was the introduction of collaborative work that was followed by the binding of the dispersed practice with the integrative practice to form a new integrative practice containing the social component.  This result has implications for research and for practice. In general, it supports the importance of the practice theory lens in study of organizations as a generator of novel insight. It also moves practice theory forward by developing theory about changes in dispersed and integrative practices and their relation to each other.

This paper reports on the nature of dispersed and integrative practices (Schatzki, 1996) in collaborative work. Working in collaboration is becoming more common across organizations and a research topic across domains. We use the situation of changes in the use of collaboration to investigate the dispersed-integrative concept using in-depth interviews and observations in organizations employing the same high collaboration work method (Lean Production, LP).

We show that it was the introduction of collaborative work that was followed by the binding of the dispersed practice with the integrative practice to form a new integrative practice containing the social component.  This result has implications for research and for practice. In general, it supports the importance of the practice theory lens in study of organizations as a generator of novel insight. It also moves practice theory forward by developing theory about changes in dispersed and integrative practices and their relation to each other.

We examine the relationship between trust and control in four organizations implementing Lean Production in Sweden. Research on trust has conflicting views on the trust-control relationship, which are not resolved. Prior empirical studies show either that the relationship between trust and control is substitutive, or that it is complementary (Kalkman and Waard, 2016). Our results show that trust can be either a substitute or a complement depending on the source and incidence of control, which we identify as moderators of the trust-control relationship.

We find in two of our sites that control consists of workers and managers jointly developing and monitoring the work process itself. In these two companies, the source of control is jointly the workers and managers, and the control incidence is the work task. We observed a significant reduction in use of document-based asset control systems to control people and an increased use of personal communication to control work tasks instead. In this situation, Trust is a complement to Control because it mobilizes workers to contribute to the control process.

In the other two companies, even though pursuing LP, the managers developed the control indicators in traditional ways and thus the control source was the manager, and the control incidence was the workers or the machines. The control systems in these two companies retained use of a comprehensive document-based asset control system with numerous KPIs, mainly financial. In this situation, Control substitutes for Trust because the KPIs are selected by management because they reflect management goals and to not require workers to understand management goals, but just to accomplish the KPI.

Additionally we find that the concept of trust itself, becomes a matter for reflection by both managers and workers, in both sets of groups, as they navigate new production methods.

This result extends prior research by revealing that there are missing variables (control source and control incidence) which moderate the relationship between trust and control, and contribute to the contradictory results in the literature.

We examine the relationship between trust and control in four organizations implementing new production methods. Research on the trust-control relationship provides conflicting results. Some empirical studies show that the relationship between trust and control is substitutive, while some show that it is complementary (Kalkman and Waard, 2016).

We identify three moderators of the trust-control relationship that lead to either a substitutive or a complementary result. The variables are: control source, control incidence and control information type. Additionally we find that the concept of trust becomes a matter for reflection by both managers and workers as they navigate new production methods.

This result extends prior research by revealing connections that moderate the relationship between trust and control, and contribute to explaining the contradictory results in the literature.

This study examines how Target Costing (TC) was attempted as an addition to a traditional stage-gate product development process in a large, traditional enterprise that we call CEHaul.  CEHaul is a profitable enterprise, and one of the dominant participants in its industry. CEHaul has attempted a number of cost reduction methods over the last ten years as adjuncts to their overall product development approach. They experienced moderate project-specific results, however the methods have failed to make deeper inroads in the organization and there is widespread dissatisfaction among organization members with the organizations’ ability to develop the routines needed to consistently manage cost.

Implementing TC as a separate tool in a stage-gate model raises the possibility that the sequential and rigorously “gated” design process will conflict with the iterative nature of TC. In typical descriptions of TC, it is the dominant product development method when used, not a part of the toolset of a larger method. This study examines how Target Costing (TC) has been attempted in the context of the traditional stage-gate product development process in a large, traditional enterprise that we call CEHaul. Target Costing is still a relatively unexplored financial control method, especially in how it integrates with existing methods.

We find that there is conflict with the stage-gate method and TC that is consistent with criticisms of stage-gate raised by Sethi and Iqbal (2008). This includes reduction in learning through truncation of sub-projects without the iterations in TC. As well we find evidence to support Sethi and Iqbal’s finding that the extremely rigorous gate-evaluations reduce flexibility in the development system. Additionally, some core organization-supplier relationships that are mandatory for TC appear to be precluded by the CEHaul version of stage-gate.

This study describes how Target Costing (TC), which is strongly associated with the Value methodology, was attempted as an addition into a traditional Stage-Gate (SG; Cooper, 1990) product development process. We find conflict between the Stage-Gate method and TC that is consistent with criticisms of SG raised by Sethi and Iqbal (2008). This includes limitations to learning due to truncation of sub-projects without the iterations in TC. We identify the aspects of TC that are in conflict with SG-type design processes, in particular, the lack of effective use of Value Engineering and Quality Function Deployment.

This study explores how Swedish manufacturing companies integrate sustainability into their product development process. We study the driving forces behind the decision to develop sustainability strategies and the factors that influence the integration of sustainability into product development. The primary conclusion is that the concept of sustainability has entered the Swedish business culture and become a normative part of the decision ecology to an extent greater than what is mandated by legal requirements. All the actors that we investigate in this study (owners, top managers, employees, suppliers, customers) appear to be pushing for enhanced sustainability. Nonetheless, the main, and most powerful, impetus is very clearly from top management or owners rather than the other actors. This is consistent with an evolving notion that sustainability in the environmental sense is now felt to be related to financial sustainability. Thus, the elite sectors of business (top managers and owners) appear to be imbuing their planning with additional aspects, such as sustainability, as the societal awareness of the connections between forms of sustainability develop. Additionally, we reveal differences based on organization size in terms of how they attempt to implement sustainable new product designs. Smaller companies tend to use more intuitive approaches while larger companies use more "standardized" and globally known "methods," in part because they may be more tightly connected with the global business knowledge ecosystems which tend to evolve and propagate "methods" or "tools."

The need for performance measurement systems that support sustainable strategy implementation is growing in both the private and the public sector worldwide. More and more organizations take on the responsibility to report their social and environmental outcome of their activities. This study aim to contribute to literature as it provides empirical research on how one organization has developed a performance measurement system to support their sustainable strategy.

The research is exploratory and aim to create hypotheses for further research on the one hand, and to provide some insights into the nature of processes taking place in public sector organizations on the other. The choice of Växjö Municipality as the case organization was deliberate and the primary reason was that the organization has been using an environmental performance measurement system for a long time.

The performance measurement system that is used by Växjö Municipality is well connected to the overall vision and provides measurements/supplementary indicators for three strategic perspectives (Living Life, Our Nature and Fossil Fuel Free) and is using both internal and external indicators.

In this paper we study the motives behind sustainability strategy implementation and how the performance measurement system (PMS) is modified during different development stages in a municipal organization. We use a case study approach and focus on one of the greenest municipalities in Europe, Växjö municipality in Sweden. With empirical results supporting the existence of several phases during the implementation process, our research offers two important contributions. First, it provides additional insight in the set of motives for the use of PMS during different development phases. Main stakeholders, politicians and managers of municipal departments and municipality owned companies, have revealed several “layers” of motives, which have shaped the development of the PMS. Second, the research also show that the PMS has a noticeable symbolic importance in promoting and communicating the green strategy to citizens and businesses in the region.

Wiele jednostek samorządu podejmuje działania na rzecz polepszenia jakości życia lokalnych społeczności. Czynią to również przedsiębiorstwa, zwłaszcza zanieczyszczające środowisko. Duże przedsiębiorstwa i grupy kapitałowe zobowiązane są do włączania tej tematyki do sprawozdań z działalności. Sądzimy, że poniższy artykuł, opisujący doświadczenia w tej dziedzinie jednego ze szwedzkich miast, może być im pomocny.

We examine how public municipal managers and CEOs for municipally owned companies use environmental indicators from a performance measurement system in a local government. Prior research has found that environmental indicators in municipal organization are used for collection of performance information but they don’t focus in detail on how the indicators actually are used by the managers in the local government or by municipal companies.This study concludes that department managers in the local government mainly use information from Environmental Program for internal purposes. The use of the environmental program has another meaning for the profit-driven municipal companies in which they use the information for external purposes in communicating with stakeholders. Additionally, we find that factors such as freedom of action, reliability of information, trust in the designer of the program, attitudes, social pressure and the usefulness of the information influence the actual use in both the municipal departments and municipal companies.

We examine how public municipal managers and CEOs for municipally owned companies use environmental indicators from a performance measurement system in a local government. Prior research has found that environmental indicators in municipal organization are used for collection of performance information but they don’t focus in detail on how the indicators actually are used by the managers in the local government or by municipal companies. This study concludes that department managers in the local government mainly use information from Environmental Program for internal purposes. The use of the environmental program has another meaning for the profit-driven municipal companies in which they use the information for external purposes in communicating with stakeholders. Additionally, we find that factors such as freedom of action, reliability of information, trust in the designer of the program, attitudes, social pressure and the usefulness of the information influence the actual use in both the municipal departments and municipal companies.

Purpose: the purpose of this study, based on the Swedish city Växjö, which is called “the greenest city in Europe”, is to examine how and why municipal managers and CEOs for municipally owned companies use environmental performance indicators.   

Design/methodology/approach: a case study approach as a research design was used. Eighteen semi-structured interviews were conducted among managers for municipal departments, municipal company CEOs, politicians and employees at the environmental office.

Findings: this study conclude that the environmental indicators, which are a part of the Environmental Program at the municipality, are used by department managers mainly for resource allocation, control and for teaching of the employees. The CEOs for the municipal companies are using the environmental indicators for communicating with external stakeholders and are seeing the indicators primarily as a marketing tool. Department manager´s internal use of environmental information could be explained by their inward orientation towards the municipality itself and not to the external stakeholders. The main motivation for the department managers to use the environmental information is to gain access to resources for projects within their departments. The company managers for the municipal companies express their motivation for using the environmental indicators when they do business with external stakeholders and they realize that this can help to create a competitive advantage. In summary, the explanation to why the Environmental Program is used in the municipality can be found in a strong demand from the local politicians to push the “green agenda”.  

Research implications/limitations: as in any case study, generalizations from the research should be made with care, but since this is only one municipality further research is needed to find additional evidences.  

Originality/value: the research adds to the literature by examining different patterns of using environmental performance indicators in an unique setting – in Växjö Municipality which is called “the greenest city in Europe”, which is one of the “pioneers” in environmental work and is extensively using performance indicators.

This study explores the environmental orientation in Swedish local governments. Environmental concerns over potential risk factors have become more important and popular among public organizations and environmental improvement efforts are made to create a sustainable ecosystem for the actors doing business, living and working in the area. Prior research indicates that public organizations have started to become more environmentally oriented in order to take on more responsibilities for reducing their own environmental impact as well as influencing the citizens and local businesses in the direction of a more sustainable way of living and working.

Through a survey to Swedish local government we conclude that they are taking on a key role in developing a sustainable ecosystem through becoming more environmentally oriented. This includes developing a framework for setting environmental goals, identifying suitable environmental indicators and reporting to a wide range of stakeholders. A factor that is explaining the increasing environmental orientation in the public sector is the implementation of digitalized performance measurement systems. We find that the environmental performance measurements are used to motivate different internal and external stakeholders in the efforts to create a multi-actor ecosystem.