Purpose

To increase the understanding of how entrepreneurship education impacts entrepreneurial careers, the purpose of the paper is to investigate the role that a venture creation program (VCP) might have in mitigating or surpassing a lack of other antecedents of entrepreneurial careers. In particular, the authors focus on entrepreneurial pedigree and prior entrepreneurial experience.

Design/methodology/approach

Data from graduates of VCPs at three universities in Northern Europe were collected through an online survey. Questions addressed graduate background prior to education, yearly occupational employment subsequent to graduation and graduates' own perceptions of entrepreneurial activity in employment positions. The survey was sent to 1,326 graduates and received 692 responses (52.2% response rate).

Findings

The type of VCP, either independent (Ind-VCP) or corporate venture creation (Corp-VCP), influenced the mitigation of prior entrepreneurial experience. Prior entrepreneurial experience, together with Ind-VCP, made a career as self-employed more likely. However, this was not the case for Corp-VCP in subsequently choosing intrapreneurial careers. Entrepreneurial pedigree had no significant effect on career choice other than for hybrid careers.

Research limitations/implications

Entrepreneurial experience gained from VCPs seems to influence graduates toward future entrepreneurial careers. Evidence supports the conclusion that many VCP graduates who lack prior entrepreneurial experience or entrepreneurial pedigree can develop sufficient entrepreneurial competencies through the program.

Originality/value

This study offers novel evidence that entrepreneurship education can compensate for a lack of prior entrepreneurial experience and exposure for students preparing for entrepreneurial careers.

Forskningen om sista milens leveranskedja inom e-handel pekar på behovet av att anpassa sig till den komplexa processen med olika leveransstrukturer och leveransalternativ. Utmaningar som kostnader, hållbarhet och konsumentförväntningar kräver samarbete mellan e-handelsföretag och transportföretag för att säkerställa en positiv konsumentupplevelse och effektiv leverans. Hemleverans, paketskåp och postombud möter olika behov hos konsumenterna, medan tydlig information, flexibilitet, snabbhet och bekväma leveransalternativ är viktiga enligt konsumenternas perspektiv. Utmaningar inkluderar misslyckade leveranser, ökade kostnader och behovet av att möta konsumenternas förväntningar för att undvika förlorade intäkter och konsumentnöjdhet.

Syftet med vår studie är att undersöka hur transportföretag genom samarbete med e-handelsföretag tillgodoser och påverkar konsumenternas val av leveransalternativ i en sista milen leveranskedja. Dessutom syftar studien till att undersöka konsumenternas reflektioner om leveransalternativen. Studien genomfördes genom en kvalitativ metod där vi utförde semistrukturerade intervjuer med åtta personer. Två personer på ledande positioner inom transportföretaget och sex personer som är konsumenter för e-handelsföretaget. Vårt empiriska kapitel utgår från respondenternas material och datainsamling från webbplatser.  

Studiens resultat visar att sista milens leveranser inom e-handel inför många utmaningar och krav, särskilt med ökande efterfrågan på effektiva leveranser. Närmare relationer med slutkonsumenter är nödvändigt för att möta dessa krav. Genom att erbjuda olika leveransalternativ, som hemleveranser och paketskåp, kan företag som H&M och PostNord öka konsumentnöjdheten. Tydlig kommunikation och samarbete mellan e-handelsföretag och transportföretag är avgörande för att säkerställa en positiv konsumentupplevelse. Slutligen är konsumenternas reflektioner viktiga för att kunna erbjuda rätt leveransalternativ. De uppskattar flexibilitet, möjlighet att jämföra priser, och tydlig information. Konsumenter värdesätter snabbhet, flexibilitet, kostnad och bekvämlighet högt när de väljer leveransalternativ. 

This chapter shows that the manner an organisation approaches strategic planning matters. A case study reflecting on Joseph's analytic work that was rooted in stewardship, service and divine endowments, and not 'fire and fury games'. It develops theoretical findings drawn from biblical strategy and blended with contemporary strategic human resource management. This virtuousness- common good approach to formulation of strategies through knowledge management is examined, particularly in regard to how managers can find a way for their organizations to best fit into the environment. It advances literature d related to spirituality at work (SAW) and spiritual leadership theory (SLT) to show that we are accompanied to work with our emotions and spirits. It concludes that ethics is not only related to application and discernment of principles of right and wrong that have virtual understanding of social cause and effect but also includes matters related to practical wisdom (phronesis). 

Entrepreneurship is a stressful role for any person. Every enterpriser gets a pailful of stress, but how they handle it differ. To be in charge of leading people, making decisions, and determining the fate of your venture with your actions is not easy. The purpose of this paper is to fill this void by examining the depth and range of psychological stressors and strains that entrepreneurs encounter in their new venture creation. To further, clarify the confusion and inconsistencies in being self-employed. A three-stage research programme was devised. 24 South African-based entrepreneurs were interviewed and a total of 192 questionnaires administered to conference attendees. The study suggests that entrepreneurship is richly satisfying on one hand, but severely stressful on the other. Income usually doesn't buy happiness. Hence, by raising awareness, small business owners can come to terms with stress, thereby enhancing their careers, and lengthening their lives. The chapter concludes perhaps that stress is the psychological price of entrepreneurship.

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine how women entrepreneurs are building embeddedness into male-gendered fields and how they are creating embedding in such fields in practice.

Design/methodology/approach

The qualitative methodology and three indicative case stories within gastronomic industry are illustrated and analysed.

Findings

The contribution of this study lies in the examination of the multifaceted embedding building process from dis-embedded, marginalised and suppressed position by women entrepreneurs. This was achieved with the help of building embedding through two strategies: sameness, that is, becoming one of the boys and then becoming a challenger, thereby enhancing their professional position.

Research limitations/implications

The study is subject to limitations; a small sample is not suited for the generalizability of results. The most important implication of this study is the identification of the process of building embeddedness as the most critical resource for women’s entrepreneurship that should be supported by the scholarly and business community.

Originality/value

The theoretical framework developed for this study laid the foundation for developing literature on the embeddedness of women’s entrepreneurship and how the process of creating embedding becomes instrumental in business ownership.

Small and large sport clubs, in big cities or in the countryside, need to respond to external pressures created by social, financial and environmental factors. These pressures may come from the commercial environment, communities, national governing bodies, or political stakeholders. This chapter introduces the reader to the current pressures faced by Nordic sport clubs and the entrepreneurs’ role in the clubs’ development through the lens of entrepreneurship, and especially social entrepreneurship. This chapter addresses the role of the entrepreneur in relation to the triple bottom line of corporate social responsibility (CSR)—economy, environment, and society—in the context of Finnish and Swedish team sport clubs by using two football clubs as examples.

Successful leaders are the precursors of success and the source of brilliant ideas in any business. This chapter shows that “good intentions” ahead of profits and indeed ahead of the “social realities are crucial and the manner an organization approaches corporate integrity and wisdom matters. A case study reflecting on Biblical Joseph’s analytic work that was rooted in stewardship, service, and divine endowments was utilized. It develops theoretical findings drawn from ancient wisdom and spiritual values and blended with contemporary strategic human resource management. Implications for research on leaderfollower personality congruence are considered for present and future managers who hope to practice from an integrative strategic perspective. © 2021 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Quality is like a fire that ignites peoples’ desire, energy, commitment, and performance. Consequently, an abductive renewed analysis of Deming’s philosophy is offered here to build “the road map to being “better than the best.” In the broadest sense, we now know that quality should be incorporated to every level of a firm, and become part of the essence and everything the organization does. From typing or answering the phone calls to assembling products and serving the end customer, quality is fundamental to organizational success. However, one big omission left out by virtually all quality management researchers and literature was how to manage quality with leadership and bringing quality awareness to employees or communicate the quality policy to customers or consumers and the society. We provided an answer to this literature gap (under-explored missing piece). In framing the world, quality/leadership was contrasted with the social psychology’s post- Gordon Allport’s notion of stereotypes, prejudice, xenophobia, and outgroup discrimination, (ultra-complex human phenomena that are apparent today), fueled by antiimmigrant rhetoric, hate, negative biases, GF’s I can’t breathe police brutality, and raw resentment. Overall, the chapter offers managerial, philosophical, and practical interpretations of a possible alliance of leadership and total quality management (TQM + L= QL 2.0).

The ecology of content goals with skill development, needs, and benefits focuses was explored in a corporate training and coaching program. Without a thorough understanding of the rationale for developing a training or job coaching program and identifying the need for, and the cost and benefits for the firm, training and coaching efforts may amount to a hopeless waste of time. Organizations must evaluate the efficiency of their training and coaching programs to ensure that the benefits will be generated. This program was part of a larger organizational change strategy aimed at improving the relationship, technology, and change process in the workplace. Organizations that learn fastest are the best because they adapt well to changing environments and perform the best with time and overtime. Implications for future research from the perspectives of experiential learning and on leader-follower personality congruence and transformational leadership behavior are considered. 

Successful leaders are the precursors of change and the source of brilliant ideas in any country’s future or global venture. By combining gestalt-related ideas and guidelines, this chapter shows that “good intentions” ahead of personal benefits and indeed ahead of the social realities are crucial. The manner a gestalt group leader puts his/her own time in the perspective of history, character and integrity, wise appointments, and ability to work with allieds and rivals, matters. A case study reflecting on Biblical Joseph’s gestalt analytic work that was rooted in stewardship, service, and divine endowments was utilized. Joseph led from the front with presidential qualities translated to effective business leadership. He had more of a track record to go by and can be rated at the top in comparison with (and perhaps above) Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, and Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King, Jr., Barrack Obama, and so on. Joseph’s management, maintenance, and governance of his group had many similarities to the principles and practices of gestalt group process. The chapter concludes that by exhibiting these exemplary behaviors, Joseph was a role model, an advocate and an ally for building team spirit and work group inclusion. Thus, reaffirming that Joseph possesses everything we can look for in great and strong leaders. The parallels of this advice for leaders are great. Finally, we discuss the possible implications of our model and direction for future research.

This paper discusses the practical impact of a non-materialistic culture on sustainable farm management. Two elements are discussed: first, how deeply rooted religion is in this culture; second, the feasibility of using both human knowledge and experience, so-called tradition and divine guidance in management. Finally, the implications of the fusion of these two elements are drawn. The outcome is the capability of man to integrate ethical values into decisions and actions. This integration, when applied by skilled farmers, leads to a management of natural resources in an altruistic fashion and not merely to economic ends. Moreover, it makes agriculture meaningful and sustainable.

The purpose of the study is to contribute to an increased understanding of the application of Lean service management in the production and monitoring phase of the construction process within real estate companies. The research questions investigate how Lean service management can improve customer satisfaction and efficiency, what obstacles can arise during implementation, and how Lean can develop in the future. Real estate companies must offer high-quality services while streamlining their operations to increase profitability as the industry has become increasingly service-focused.

This study uses a qualitative, deductive method with a comparative research design to analyze how Lean service management is applied in real estate companies. Collected data consists of a literature review and semi-structured interviews with three respondents from different companies.

The results show that Lean service management can streamline the production and monitoring phase of the construction process by identifying and eliminating waste of resources. The study emphasizes the importance of measuring improvements and using digital tools to create a holistic project approach. Implementing Lean requires management commitment, Lean training, and the involvement of the entire organization. With proper application, Lean service management can create win-win situations where the company, its employees, and the customer benefit.

Future development of Lean service management in the production and monitoring phase of the construction process may include increased digitization and the use of AI models to streamline more processes. The study also concludes that a more efficient construction process is necessary to meet future environmental requirements and create sustainable solutions.

The circular economy has emerged as a tool for addressing the current linear economic system, producing massive amounts waste and exacerbating climate change. During the recent crises and instabilities, the potential of the circular economy has been further highlighted.However, the concept remains undefined, and little is known of its implementation inpractice. This thesis explores the circular economy and its implementation among six Swedish commercial real estate actors, through interviews and an investigation of their official documents, with the aim of discovering signs of the circular economy, how those signs have emerged and the knowledge and capabilities necessary to capitalize on them. The External Enablers Framework by Davidsson et al. (2020) is used to find the external enablers thatfacilitate a shift towards more circular business practices. The thesis discovers multiple signs of circularity in the empirical material, in targets, strategies and activities. It also identifies several external enablers potentially impacting the implementation of circular activities in existing real estate ventures, such as collaboration networks, climate change awareness andthe recent crises and instabilities. The real estate actors themselves also potentially influence the industry around them towards circularity, in an ecosystem of enablement.

Omnichannel is a term that aims to clarify the customer perspective by integrating processes so the customer can interact through all available channels seamlessly. Common channels used are such as physical stores, websites or apps, where the integration of multichannel systems strives for a friction-free and a seamless shopping experience. 

The purpose of this study was to examine and discuss how IKEA:s e-commerce has developed from an omnichannel perspective by describing the logistical processes for physical distribution. This was carried out using a qualitative method containing interviews, a webinar and secondary data to compose the empirical findings and was carried out as a case study. 

The result displays that IKEA:s approach to omnichannel and logistical processes is in a procedure of change and adaptation to the growing e-commerce. The transformation is done to maintain flexibility and accessibility towards their consumers. The study notice that IKEA have had to deal with the increase of e-commerce by using rapid actions to be able to manage the logistical challenges, which sometimes cause long-term solutions to be de-prioritized to secure customer orders. Finally, the results show that IKEA:s delivery system is a flexible and customer centric part of their logistical processes. 

Keywords: Omnichannel, E-commerce, Distribution-system, Order-system, Delivery-system 

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to improve our understanding of the nature of social responsibility in actual practices and, specifically, the influence of individuals on these processes.

Design/methodology/approach

An abductive approach is applied (Alvesson and Sköldberg 1994), i.e. theory is developed by moving between theory and four empirical cases. The stories highlight the importance of the individual and closeness to local stakeholders and the presence of overlapping rationales.

Findings

The individuals’ simultaneous roles – as owners, managers and community members – influence how they are held or see themselves as accountable and how they account for the firms’ engagement in the community. The activities are conducted in the name of the firm but originate from private as well as business-oriented concerns. Our conclusions encourage an extension of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) construct to approach it as an entangled phenomenon resulting from the firm and the individual embeddedness in internal and external cultures.

Originality/value

This study brings the individual managers and owner-managers into focus and how their interplay with the surrounding context can create additional dimensions of accountability, which impact on the decisions taken in regard to CSR. A micro-perspective is applied. Corporate community responsibility, particularly in smaller and rural communities, contributes to recognize and understand how individuals influence and are influenced by CSR.

Internships provide opportunities for an understanding of the real estate brokerage industry and the skills required to be active in the profession in question. The Swedish Estate Agents Inspectorate(FMI)has set a requirement that a 10-week internship must be completed before the student can be active as a real estate agent in Sweden. However, this requirement is unspecified in comparison with the internship that, for example, nurses have, which leaves room for real estate agencies to shape the internship. At the same time, there are a number of newly registered real estate agents who choose to change careers according to statistics. This study has been designed to try to understand how real estate agencies transform the FMI’s general advice into practice, and how trainees have experienced the internship. A qualitative survey was conducted through interviews with 7 different respondents. 

The study showed that the internship period looks different depending on where the student does the internship despite the FMI’s general advice for the design of the internship, which in turn affects the trainee. In addition, there is a lack of knowledge after the internship period for all interns, at the same time as the quality development regarding the internship structure in the real estate agencies, is lacking

This master thesis highlights employees’ perceptions and experiences of working remotely in the presence of the Covid-19 pandemic. The aim of the thesis is to understand how remote work during pandemic times impacts employees’ perception of their overall working life. In addition to that, it highlights employees’ experience of their social interaction, impression exchange, feedback sharing, trust-building, and performance at work. It strives to illuminate employees’ impression of their work-life balance and the specific company’s organizational culture when working remotely in pandemic times. The research problem is built upon possible reductions of informal interaction between employees when working remotely, which further on can cause separation of teams and a decreased employee identification with the organization. The research problem also has its foundation in the possible blurring of boundaries between two components, personal- and professional life, when working from home. The thesis was formed by a qualitative research approach where the empirical data was collected through semi-structured interviews with employees at a specific company. The analysis illuminates insightful findings with support from previous research, theories, and concepts. The empirical results show that employees have a variety of opinions about their work situation. Some argued for positive work-life balance, workflow, and collaboration, whereas other interviewees pointed out that informal interaction, trust-building, and feedback-sharing suffer when working remotely. Empirical data claim that remote work influences employees’ identification and sense of belonging within organizations, especially for new employees. Additionally, work-life balance became more balanced for some but challenging for others. Another finding shows that the perception and experience about the overall work life and organizational culture might not only be impacted by Covid-19 but also by the fast-growing company size.

The Swedish government introduced a state rent rebate support for vulnerable industries in the first quarter of 2020, as a quick solution to dampen market turmoil. The support has been criticized by both tenants and property owners. It has been a controversial issue with various opinions on how the distribution of state subsidies should be constructed to best fit the current situation.The study is based on examining the state subsidized rent rebate that was distributed to the most affected industries. The purpose of the study is to clarify how the state-subsidized rent rebate during the corona pandemic has been used in practice.To answer the study's questions and to achieve the purpose of the study, a qualitative research method has been used. The purpose of the qualitative research interview is to understand the topic explored from the interviewee's own perspective and experience.The results show that the main reasons to why a rent discount was given to tenants, was to act as a helping hand to those most effected by the pandemic, but also to avoid vacancies. The rent discount resulted in a clear financial advantage for both the property owners and the tenants, where the majority of the tenants have been able to continue their business. The property owners have avoided high renovation costs to adapt premises for new tenants.Criticism has been leveled at the very structure of the rent rebate support, as the administrative part was complicated. The propery owners have partly been acting as an intermediary and solely shoulder the responsibility in terms of allocating the rent rebate.

Neoliberalism may be a widely used term in both scientific and popular writings, but there remains much confusion over what its exact contents are – Brenner, Peck, and Theodore (2010a) have called it a ‘rascal’ concept but confirm elsewhere (Brenner, Peck, & Theodore, 2010b) that it remains a ‘keyword for the understanding of regulatory reforms of our time’. Smith (2008) has declared neoliberalism ‘dead but dominant’, and some call for a shift in focus from analysis and critique to the exploration of possible postneoliberalisms (see for example Brand and Sekler (2009) in the theme issue on postneoliberalism in Development Dialogue).

This paper examines the requirements that are needed for companies to invest in new development. We go into different rental compensation systems that are used in existing rental apartments and how the state has tried to stimulate the production of rental apartments with the help of presumptive rents and investment support. The subject of no rent regulations or market rents has been a hot topic of debate that even caused the government to resign in 2021. Therefore, the paper continues to investigate whether the strict rent setting system that exists in Sweden prevents the new production of rental properties and whether a free rent setting could have changed this.

A qualitative method has been used to fulfil the purpose of the paper. The paper is based on scientific articles, literature and interviews with people from various real estate companies. The result of the study is that this is a sensitive issue where opinions vary between private and municipal companies. It can be stated that new developments have decreased and prices for new construction have risen sharply as a result of inflation and the increased interest rate. In order to increase the incentive for new construction of rental apartments, a clearer structure and action plan from the municipalities is required, as well as more granting of building permits, but in the long term, a new reform of the rent compensation system is required.

This chapter discusses the mutual interests of social enterprises (SEs)/social entrepreneurs and neo-liberal policy-makers/stakeholders. It offers a brief historical discussion of the evolution of SEs in Western Europe from the nineteenth century to the 1970s. The chapter focuses on how these institutions changed from 1980 to the present. It also focuses on the role political institutions at all levels played in reshaping the sector. The chapter discusses the connections between SEs and market forces, and how these connections produced dramatic changes. It addresses how our cross-temporal analysis can help understand contemporary SEs and welfare regimes. The chapter describes the historical evolution of solidarity in the context of the sweeping changes that have been made to various welfare regimes. It provides a fair assessment of the evolution and growth of the welfare sector across Europe, as well as how these predecessors have affected current SEs.

Organizations carry an important role in transforming sustainable systems, not least their leaders as they can influence the well-being of employees. Implementing Mindfulness Practices (MPs) within organizations could therefore have a positive influence on several levels throughout the organization for making sustainable change.  As meetings are the playing field for decision-making in organizations, mindfulness is a way to engage people in meetings, to help participants rise to the opportunity of making sustainable decisions. Building on the existing research on organizations and mindfulness, this study aims to provide a descriptive account of the perceptions and experiences of individuals within a team when a short MP is incorporated at the beginning of meetings, resulting in a Mindfulness Meeting (MM). The research took a multi-method qualitative approach by conducting semi-structured interviews and participant observations on two teams from different organizations. Two interviews were conducted, on both leaders and followers, one focusing on general meeting perceptions, and a second focusing on the perceptions of the MMs. The findings of the research indicate that a MP, when conducted in the right format, helps cultivate and strengthen the cognitive processes critical for work environments. In particular the factors perceived as positive for achieving meeting goals were a sense of being present, aware, having clarity of thought, and regulating interactions with others. However, this study is just a starting place for the future of MM within organizations and the work they must do to transition towards sustainable systems.

The ongoing integration of Internet of Things (IoT) within Fifth-generation (5G) mobile ecosystem promises to provide smart and intelligent services meant to foster vertical industry digitalization. 5G-IoT private networks have become a popular choice of adoption by industry verticals in accelerating digital transformation across various sectors, thereby culminating in Industry 4.0. Research and development on 5G-IoT private networks has mainly focused on the technical aspect with less attention on the business side. This paper discusses viable business model options for 5G-IoT private networks for applications in diverse industry sectors and the attainment of economic value in terms of revenue maximization, cost minimization and sustainability.

Investments in transport infrastructure are expensive and require planning, even then it does notalways work as intended. This study aims to see the relationship between an investment intransport infrastructure in the Öresund region and regional attractiveness as well as economicgrowth. The Öresundsmetro is still a vision which is planned and discussed in Malmö City andCopenhagen City. Since the 19th century companies in the western world have changed theirproduction which has increased the demand for good transport infrastructure. Previous studieshave shown that investments in transport infrastructure can increase the economic growth andattractiveness through localization- and urbanization economies. Previous studies have alsoshown that companies have a similar mindset as they have had historically when choosinglocalization, but as companies and society change, the demand and choice of localization haschanged. When the western world could not compete with the production efficiency which wasdeveloped in Asia, the western world’s companies developed from an industry toknowledge-intensive companies. Before the industrial revolution, raw materials andtransportation costs were the company's highest cost, when replacing the industrial productionwith skilled labor the salaries became companies highest cost. Companies want to be locatedwhere they have the lowest costs. Here, the Öresund region has a chance to attract companies byincreasing its attractiveness through, among other things, a good infrastructure that enablescompanies to have access to a higher educated workforce, the creative class. We have used aqualitative method where the empirical data consists of articles in newspapers, a motion in theSwedish Parliament, a survey of Demoskop and an interview with the Project Manager for theÖresundmetro. This empiric data has been analyzed based on previous research and theoreticalmodels. The results shows that the Öresundmetro can lead to increased attractiveness andeconomic growth, for the region in Öresund, by attracting companies and labor to the region,with the conditions that existing infrastructure works as it should where the Öresundsmetrocomplements rather than replaces.

Studiens syfte har varit att studera svenska fastighetsföretags fokus på service och vilka medelsamt metoder som används för att mäta, uppnå och förbättra sin servicekvalite.Metoden har varit av kvalitativ ansats. Semistrukturerade intervjuer av sex fastighetsföretag ochen kompletterande innehållsanalys över fastighetsföretagens årsredovisningar har genomförts.Intervjuerna genomfördes på tre fastighetsförvaltare, en affärschef, affärsansvarig ochregionchef.Studiens slutsats är att såväl bostadsföretagen som de fastighetsföretag som hyr ut kontor- ochlogistiklokaler arbetar mer med servicekvalite idag jämfört med tidigare. Dock anser vi att dekommersiella fastighetsföretagen arbetar mer proaktivt och har ett större fokus på aktivakunddialoger, jämfört med bostadsföretagen som mer arbetar med social hållbarhet ochtrygghetsskapande frågor. Vi har fått viss indikation på att outsourcing av fastighetstekniker kanleda till försämrad transparens och brister i återkopplingen, vidare verkar fysiska besök framfördigitala möten hos de kommersiella aktörernas vara av vikt för ett gott relationsskapande.Ytterligare kan de kommersiella aktörernas NKI-undersökningar var bristfälliga då ofta enplatschef eller kontaktperson besvarar enkäterna, framför de som vistats mer frekvent i lokalen.Studiens bidrag är att undersöka svenska fastighetsbranschen och hur sex privatafastighetsföretag ser på service. Studien är lämplig för andra studenter inom service managementoch för andra fastighetsföretag för att synliggöra hur deras kollegor i branschen arbetar medservicekvalite och vilka förbättringsåtgärder det finns.

Drawing on Freire, this article elaborates on how pictures and artefacts benefit processes of ‘prise de conscience’ and ‘conscientization’ among those with powerful voices. Wor(l)d-making was unfolded in the Swedish think-and-do tank, ‘the Smithy’, emphasizing the intrinsically political nature of promoting ‘societal entrepreneurship’ (SE). New words for SE were formulated and a more inclusive world was discerned where all had a role, not just as ‘helpers’, but as equal members of SE practices. Pictures and artefacts enabled hitherto silenced stories to be told and created a common understanding of how SE contrasted with traditional entrepreneurship. When new words were added to entrepreneurship, it was possible to reflect on the actions taken within the Smithy in a deeper sense, not only focusing on actions for the entrepreneurs ‘out there’, but also initiating self-reflection on the roles all had in the Smithy, or in other settings, to promote SE. 

This thesis focuses on navigating the diverse interests of stakeholders while emphasizing the goal of achieving inclusivity in mobility hub planning. It also enhances the broader objective of contributing to sustainable urban futures through effective stakeholder engagement and collaborative decision-making processes. This research focuses on a case study approach, selecting a neighbourhood mobility hub to be built in Malmö as the case. Diverse interests and priorities of stakeholders involved in the neighbourhood mobility hub development are examined and strategies are identified for fostering inclusive decision-making processes and addressing the needs of all stakeholders. This study examines the roles and interests of key stakeholders in mobility hub planning, classifying them into primary and secondary categories based on their direct or indirect impact on decision-making. Primary stakeholders, including mobility hub provider, municipality, cooperative housing association, architectural firm, and service providers, were identified as having significant influence on the project. Effective stakeholder engagement, characterized by active communication, trust-building, and collaboration, was found to be essential for achieving broader goals of sustainability, equity, and liveability in urban areas. Addressing stakeholder concerns through early collaboration was crucial to preventing conflicts and delays. The findings suggest that stakeholder engagement enhances project success by fostering better decisionmaking, resolving disagreements, and building trust. Even though the project is still in the construction phase, the collaborative approach and the alignment of stakeholder interests suggest a promising path towards meeting sustainability objectives. 

Implementing and conducting sustainability management in businesses today presents an urgent but also complex challenge for large German companies. To react to the fast-changing regulations and demands on the market and to reduce the complexity of sustainability, organizations have introduced sustainability departments as well as sustainability experts and managers. However, the question remains as to what the motives of companies have to conduct sustainability management, and what roles sustainability managers and experts have in the process of sustainable development. The main research question therefore examines how large German companies can achieve sustainable organizational change. In 15 semi-structured interviews with sustainability experts and managers, the motives of companies for conducting sustainability management were analyzed, thereby further exploring the role and influence of sustainability managers and experts in the change process. The results demonstrate that companies pursue a variety of motives which combine economic, legal, ethical, social, environmental, as well as philanthropic and discretionary factors. In addition, the research outlines that sustainability managers and experts embody different roles in order to support the process of integrating sustainability into the organization. Moreover, through their personal involvement and enthusiasm they can partly influence sustainable organizational change. The key results also highlight the complexity of sustainability within large companies. Based on these key results of this study practical implications could be derived in the form of ten correlating factors for achieving sustainable organizational change.

This master thesis is inspired by St. Pierre’s post qualitative inquiry and the philosophy of immanence, which support the creation of concepts through immersion in theory, philosophy, and practice. This serves as a guide of thought for the inquirer´s journey of exploration and creativity. This research departures in Latour´s concept of the Terrestrial, enriched by Haraway´s addition to the concept; and in Haraway´s theory of string figures, which is the foundation for exploring how to enact the change that is needed to survive in a world of climate destruction and business as usual. Haraway says that not all humans observe the Terrestrial from above (as Latour suggests) and invites us to go out there and find the people that never took off. For this purpose, I went to Costa Rica and had non-structured conversations with six Costa Rican leaders, who have been working for and with social and environmental causes for years. This inquiry aims to get a deeper understanding of how these stories, combined with the concept of the Terrestrial and SF theory, may help us create new concepts and develop a philosophy of Terrestrial Leadership. From a magic island to banana women, these stories tell us about how these leaders have gone through constant metamorphic processes of inner development, the discovery of their response-ability, the enactment of collaborations, and the politics of staying with the trouble in a chaotic world; in the Chthulucene. Finally, with the help of storytelling, I attempt to offer a first ontological and epistemological perspective on the concept of Terrestrial leadership and how we might benefit from it.

Smallholder farmer-based rural social movements have been heralded as a promising source of political power with the potential to effectively promote sustainable trajectories of agricultural development in Sub-Saharan Africa and beyond. However, the very early stages of rural social movement building remain understudied, including under what conditions such nascent efforts are likely to lead to effective political influence and foundations for broader collective action. Drawing on insights from organizational studies and resource mobilization theories, we provide an analytical narrative of the emergence and development of a smallholder farmerbased policy advocacy organization, the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG). Through analysis of organizational documents and an extensive open-ended focus group interview with PFAG's founders, long-term members, and current staff, we discuss how PFAG managed to overcome the "liability of newness" faced by new organizations, and how its resulting organizational structure influences its modes of resource mobilization and thus type and coverage of its advocacy and service delivery activities. Considering this developmental narrative, we elaborate several challenges that PFAG faces in pursuit of its ambitions to expand its influence in Ghanaian agricultural policy and practice. Our findings indicate the need for PFAG to address emerging contradictions in project activities and uneven geographical coverage, manage tensions between advocacy and service delivery objectives and to work towards establishing an umbrella agenda capable of providing for the diverse and evolving needs of their membership base.

Sammanfattning

Arbetet syftar till att belysa (1) ämnesspråkliga svårigheter vid undervisning i företagsekonomi på gymnasieskolan samt (2) vilka multimodala arbetssätt som används och hur dessa i så fall främjar förståelsen för budgetbegreppen. Undersökningen utgör en kvalitativ studie där semistrukturerade intervjuer har genomförts med fyra lärare i företagsekonomi på fyra olika skolor.

Arbetet har utgått ifrån de två frågeställningarna samt baserats på de didaktiska frågorna vem, vad, hur och varför, som återfinns i den didaktiska triangeln. Vi har undersökt vilka kopplingar till Deweys kontinuitetsprincip och Vygotskijs sociokulturella perspektiv som kan identifieras samt använts Cummins fyrfältsmodell för analys i syfte att kunna besvara studien frågeställningar. 

De viktigaste slutsatserna som vi dragit av studien är följande:

• Förförståelse från eleverna när det gäller begrepp och modeller kring budget är begränsad till vardagsfrågor och eleverna saknar helt kunskap kring det företagsekonomiska ämnesspråket när de påbörjar sin gymnasieutbildning.
• Eleverna har idag sämre ordförråd när det gäller det svenska språket, vilket bidrar till försvårande omständigheter för ekonomilärarna, och det blir mer utmanande för lärarna att skapa en fördjupad kunskap för företagsekonomiska begrepp hos eleverna.
• Lärarna använder sig genomgående av multimodala arbetssätt för att nå eleverna genom olika sinnen och vikten av varierade lektioner framhålles.
• Genom användandet av olika multimodala verktyg baserat på elevens utvecklingsstadier enligt Cummins fyrfältsmodell, främjas inlärningen.

It is a known fact that small real estate companies’ access to external financing and consequently growth is more limited than what it is to larger firms. The capital is limited today and new regulations appear all the time which additionally raises the barriers for entry to the real estate sector. Even though the same rules apply to all, there are some factors that smaller firms can pay attention to in order to have a better chance in this competitive market.

The purpose of this study is thus to examine which factors could be definitive for small real estate companies' ability to gain access to capital, focusing on bank financing.

The purpose has been achieved by applying a qualitative method based on six semi structured interviews, which also constitutes the empirical chapter. Five respondents are small real estate firms where of three are established, and two relatively new. A sixth respondent is a local bank in order to include that perspective as well.

Bank loans are still the most common source of financing in real estate and this market is all about relations and trust. Risk is another relevant factor since there is a lot of capital in the real estate business and this risk can be minimized in a number of ways. To have a track record in the real estate industry strengthens your chances of getting a bank loan significantly and proof of repayment is according to the bank the most important. The market's condition is also an important aspect, it can create better, or worse conditions for obtaining financing depending on activities in the close environment. The findings consist of five main aspects: bank relations, risk, experience, repayment ability and the market, where a small real estate firm’s success ultimately depends on how well they can find a balance between the factors.

Studien undersöker hur ledare på digitala bolag lärt sig och utvecklat självledarskap. Digitala bolag är bolag vars primära motiv är att tillhandahålla digitala tjänster och produkter. Studien ämnar ge en inblick i hur ledare som befinner sig på bolag som är i ständig förändring, leder sig själva i sitt arbetsliv och privatliv. Forskningsfrågan för studien är Hur ledare för digitala bolag leder sig själva, och hur har de utvecklat sina sätt att leda sig själva. Syfte: Studien undersöker fenomenet självledarskap bland ledare inom digitala bolag i syfte att bidra till insikter om hur ledare leder sig själva och hur de har utvecklat den kompetensen. Målet är att bidra till mer kunskap inom fenomenet självledarskap. Samt, genom att förstå hur självledarskapet utvecklas, bidra till mer insikter kring tillvägagångssätten ledare på digitala bolag använder för att utveckla självledarskap. 

Metod: Studien ämnar att undersöka ett fenomen och därför har en fenomenologisk och kvalitativ studie valts. Det empiriska materialet har samlats in genom tio semistrukturerade intervjuer med individer som är eller varit ledare. De semistrukturerade intervjuerna gjorde att ledarnas upplevelser, förnimmelser och livsvärlden kunde fångas. Den insamlade empirin analyserades och presenteras tillsammans med ett urval av teorierer. Avslutningsvis ges en slutsats kring forskningsfrågan. 

Resultat: Ledare inom digitala bolag har självledarskapskompetens i olika hög grad. Bland intervjupersonerna hade hälften utvecklat självledarskap och samtliga av dem hade lärt sig kompetens själva på olika sätt. De hade också applicerat olika strategier och metoder för att lära sig, anpassat de metoderna och strategierna över tid, samt anpassat de till sig själva. De ledare som hade självledarskapsfärdigheter hade skapat strategier för att reglera sina egna beteende och reglera sina känslor. De hade en hög medvetenhet om sina egna behov samt för hur de tar hand om sig själva. Studien har bidragit till att skapa mer insikt kring hur ledare lär sig och utvecklar självledarskap. 

Purpose

Warehouses are of crucial importance to manage increased e-commerce. This study will explore and analyse the warehouse as a relational business model.   

Design/methodology/approach

The complex reality of warehouse business development is researched by a qualitative approach analysed in terms of service logic business models. Theoretically, service innovation literature is used to develop understanding of value creation related to e-commerce warehousing.  

Findings

Facility location and warehouse management relies of theoretical premises that business is foreseeable. The business model innovation in which real estate actors and logistics actors co-create flexible warehouse solutions is in development. A substantial contribution to logistics and supply chain efficiency and effectiveness is from real estate actors. Logistics actors need logistics facilities to create value for their customers and their competences are related to their network, relations and solution making. Real estate actors’ competences are in developing logistics facilities, which is a way of servitizating service providers. The relationship between real estate actors and logistics providers thereby become of strategic importance for both.  

Research limitations/implications

The warehouse as a relational business model opens up for future research by exploring use of and need of new sets of competences.

Practical implications

Logistics service providers’ may further develop and broaden their core competences. 

Original/value

Business model considerations are of value to e-commerce logistics actors.

Contemporary (third-party logistics providers) TPLs are in danger of being stuck in the middle, unable to perform customer adaptation as well as before and unable to achieve sufficient economies of scale. This conceptual paper aims to explore challenges facing the strategic development of TPLs within a context of increased digitalization, e-commerce and servitization. There are two apparent strategic paths. Under circumstances of strong price pressure, there is demand for standardized TPL services offering simplicity, minimalism and functionality based on digitalization, e-commerce and servitization. Alternatively, with market developments responsive to supply chain complexity, digitalization, e-commerce and servitization enable development towards innovation and change. We conclude that these developments do not invalidate existing frameworks for TPL strategies but contribute alternative strategies. We formulate three propositions for each strategic path. To avoid being stuck in the middle, TPLs are encouraged to either develop efficient services through servitized logistics chains and digital solutions or develop advanced solutions to integrate the consumer into the logistics network system through competencies to control increased levels of complexity.

Service innovation is the nexus between the growing e-commerce in urban areas and the ongoing Corona pandemic and seasonal peaks like Christmas. The growing market of urban e-commerce logistics needs solution-driven freight and urban logistics, which is an assumption of this study. Consumer-oriented urban logistics services enable consumers in their everyday and enable a well-functioning urban logistics market are a co-operation between consumers and urban service providers. A service-logic perspective may offer service innovation and value co-creation for the urban logistics challenge that includes last mile logistics.

This conceptual paper aims to develop strategic logistics service provision literature and service innovation literature to facilitate collaborative development between consumers and service providers. Central aspects are consumer's everyday routines and available solutions in terms of urban deliveries and returns, available interaction points between consumers and service providers in daily practices, and knowledge and resources of urban service provider (related to e-commerce logistics) for innovative offerings. 

The everyday consumption practice and its logistics are key in co-created service innovations. In-depth understanding of consumption practices and production practices is the basis to align resources for a differentiated urban logistics solution. Such a process develops both urban service consumption practices and production practices. Urban service providers like logistics firms, commercial real estaters, and e-retailers have complementary types of competencies to facilitate urban service innovation. 

The study will generate implications to the urban e-commerce logistics research area and benefit both academia and business. 

Road freight competition is playing out in deregulated markets. The EU single market is a market with abundant responses in terms of haulier strategic actions. This chapter situates the crucial role of road haulier strategies in the logistics service supply chain and industrial supply chain to achieve sustainability. Competitive and sustainable transport depends on effective transport services, vehicles and transport infrastructure, and conditions that foster the development of transport and logistics services. By examining how four case firms develop competences and make use of available resources we develop insights into road haulier competition and its implications. The chapter contributes to understanding how road hauliers are part of logistics service chains as well as industrial supply chains and how the many links and relationships increase the magnitude and implications of hauliers’ performances.

This study explores the impact of organizational leadership and structure on sustainabledevelopment in financial organizations. It utilizes a deductive qualitative researchapproach with semi-structured interviews as the data collection method, collaboratingwith six large and prominent financial organizations in Sweden.The findings suggest that leadership and structure significantly impact sustainabledevelopment in financial organizations. The study found that leadership plays a crucialrole in promoting sustainability, while the organizational structure affects theimplementation and success of sustainable practices. The results also indicate that usingsustainable frameworks and integrating sustainability into the organizational culture isessential for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.The study contributes new knowledge to organizational study on sustainable developmentin financial organizations. It also provides valuable insights for organizations,sustainability professionals, policymakers, scholars, and students interested insustainability, organizational structure, and leadership, as it could contribute to thetheoretical understanding of sustainable practices and provide a base for future researchin the field.

Research on minimalism on the individual level shows the concept to be linked to ecological sustainability by applying methods such as reduction of consumption and valuing of product quality over quantity. In the fashion industry, concepts like ‘capsule wardrobe’ propose a reduced but high-quality, timeless wardrobe. It challenges the complex and fast-paced fashion industry with its numerous collections, overproduction and overconsumption. The application of minimalism on the business level in the fashion industry has not been researched yet. Therefore, we aimed to explore how minimalism is perceived and applied on the organisational level in the fashion industry and its contribution to ecological sustainability. Based on a developed theoretical framework and data gathered through eleven semi-structured interviews, a practical framework for minimalism as a business strategy is presented. It represents a value-based approach to business by incorporating customers, the organisation and the supply chain. Furthermore, organisational minimalism is not only efficiency-increasing and waste-reducing but also a way to do as little harm as possible, to consume critically while still operating in the existing system. The practical framework can be used to guide companies to implement minimalism as a driver for sustainability in business-making. With this outcome, we contribute to making the fashion industry more sustainable and reaching the Sustainable Development Goals 8, 9, and 12.

Collaborating with public or private sector organizations in project-based courses equips design students with key skills to future-proof their careers, but this gives only one side of the story as the key feature of these partnerships is that they are mutualistic collaborations. However, the benefits to organizations of collaborating are not fully explored. This paper presents a case study of partnerships with four different public organizations in a service design course over a five-year period. It argues that collaborating in project-based courses serves as risk-free experimentation and paves the way for organizational learning. The paper first reviews the existing research on collaboration in design education and organizational learning. Then, three types of learning that emerged from the data are analyzed. Next, the steps to successful collaboration are discussed, noting the ups and downs of managing the project partnerships. Finally, the challenges of teaching a collaborative project-based design course are discussed.

The impact of the current food system on the climate crisis challenges its actors to takeactions towards sustainability. The increasing pressure in transforming the food system requires changes at the organisational level, which sparks research interest in understanding what factors influence the integration and strengthening of sustainability in food-producing companies. This study aims to explore the organisational change process of sustainability implementation and the influence of organisational and external factors. This thesis should contribute to the field of research by analysing food-producing companies on their sustainability transition to conclude what factors drive the sustainability integration and strengthening in their organisations. Reflections on organisational change management and corporate sustainability lay the theoretical foundation for this thesis. The research follows a qualitative methodology that explores change drivers for sustainability change by conducting semi-structured interviews with six sustainability professionals. A thematic analysis of the data highlights the different approaches to sustainability of the organisations. The findings are summarised in a sustainability change framework presenting influencing factors on organisations’ sustainability transition and key drivers for sustainability change. The key findings indicate that a sustainability-oriented culture, passionate leadership, long-term commitment to sustainability, sustainability training and education, collaborative communication, sustainability measurements, the inclusion of sustainability in daily work, and a sustainable and professional brand are the key drivers to sustainability integration and strengthening.

Technology-based business improvements characterize the so-called digital transformation (DT). For non-profit organizations (NPOs), with their unique value creation structure and specific preconditions in terms of staff and resources, keeping up with the DT is challenging. Still, opportunities for the DT are unknown. Thus far, there are no comprehensive guidelines for DT strategy development in NPOs. Both digital value creation and digitally supported communication with customers can lead to competitive advantages. Therefore, NPO decision-makers must understand the opportunities and the challenges of DT. In our research approach, we aim to answer the research question: What are the fields of action for the digital transformation in NPOs? Following a grounded theory approach, we have developed a theoretical framework including fields of action and guidance for the strategic advancement of DT in NPOs. The results show that NPOs need to be aware of their digital communications channels with volunteer staff, customers and donors. A clear DT vision and new roles help NPOs meet this challenge.

The role of social entrepreneurship and its implications for a sustainable development of the Western Cape area in South Africa.

The growing interest in sustainability amounts pressure on organisations to operate in more environmentally friendly ways, sparking the need for radical sustainable change. The purpose of this study is to discover what factors and conditions facilitate and hinder organisational learning for sustainability transitions (ST), a topic that has caught recent academic attention and thus needs further interdisciplinary research. The conceptual framework derives inspiration from the Four Factors of Learning for ST whilst the Competing Values Framework and the Three Loops of Learning are used as additional lens to better understand the conditions of learning for ST. The thesis will take a qualitative approach through conducting a content analysis of three company documents and seven semi-structured interviews with employees from a public service agency in Scandinavia currently implementing a transition lab. A descriptive analysis of the coded data highlights the levels of understanding and acceptance towards sustainability transitions from the case organisation and the conditions that facilitate and hinder organisational learning. The results show that the most prominent of the Four Factors of Learning for ST in the early phase of a sustainability transition is interpersonal, followed by material, institutional and intrapersonal. Within these factors, the discussion further highlights the most prevalent sub-codes and themes that reoccur in the data. Moreover, five key findings under the themes of flexibility versus control, resource availability through digitalisation, communication, collaboration and facing complexity using institutional logics were identified as the primary facilitating and hindering factors that promote learning for STs. Finally, recommendations are presented to inform both theory, and practice, as further analysing learning for ST is of high relevance to better understand and design these learning journeys and a more sustainable (organisational) future.

LdB FC, a women football club in Malmö, stands out as a good example of the increasing commercialisation and its impact on the conditions for a swedish women football club.

Competitive tendering has been the preferred approach for public procurement in publictransport, whose purpose is to reach a better customer experience and more cost effectivetraffic solutions through increased competition between different operators. The contracts inpublic procurement mainly contain two different types: net-cost contract and gross-costcontracts. The contracts also contain incentives, which should motivate the operator tomaintain a high quality of their operation.The purpose of the study was to investigate and achieve an understanding of what theoperator’s strategy includes and what it means for Go-Ahead Nordic as an operator in publicprocurement.

The study also processes Swedish and Norwegian public procurements, fromthe bidder’s perspective.The results of the study shows that Go-Ahead Nordics´s contracts differ depending on whattype of contract is being used in different public procurements. In the various differentcontracts, Go-Ahead Nordic faces advantages and risks that the operator must take intoaccount in their operation. Incentives play a part in a number of Go-Ahead Nordics’scompetitive tenders, where the operator appreciates a few specific incentives in the contracts.Incentives in Go-Ahead Nordics contracts have contributed to a greater risk for the operatorafter the Covid-19 pandemic. A great difference between public procurement in Norway andSweden exists in that the state carries out the procurements in Norway. However in Swedenthe procurements are managed by the regional public transport authorities.