Research Interests:
Production strategy changes, being business as well as individual challenges, deal with, from a human resource perspective, individuals’ working conditions and driving forces, learning, competence development and competent acting. There... more
Production strategy changes, being business as well as individual challenges, deal with, from a human resource perspective, individuals’ working conditions and driving forces, learning, competence development and competent acting. There is an increasing attention in Swedish manufacturing industry to create appropriate conditions for competent individuals, gain active engagement and “Right from me”-thinking and –acting by all. Thus, design of production systems creates dual obligations and options, for companies as well as individuals requiring increased understanding of what measures would support modern industrial production to create an environment for people engagement and involvement in their work. A Commitment Model, focusing on people and flow processes, has been developed. The model highlights system characteristics described as four indicators for functional requirements and design parameters. All elements promote adult learning, a learning organization, driving forces and a...
Information is a vital resource in development activities of any business. These systems also play a very important role in the knowledge sharing of an organisation. In order to properly bridge over from the information system to the... more
Information is a vital resource in development activities of any business. These systems also play a very important role in the knowledge sharing of an organisation. In order to properly bridge over from the information system to the organisation system, the transformation process from data, via information, to knowledge becomes important to understand. A challenge is to create appropriate conditions in both the organization system and in the information system enhancing knowledge sharing among employees, and promote organizational learning. This paper will analyse an industrial example of weekly planning meetings for preventative maintenance, this will be illustrated in the OS-M-IS model i.e. were the information sharing exist in a current situation (whiteboards). A future situation of the same case will be tested and evaluated in a lab environment (with SMART boards and iObeya) as a first step.
The aim of this paper is to describe and reflect on an interactive research approach used to address the challenges on how to improve product introductions, the part of the product realization process associated with the transfer of a... more
The aim of this paper is to describe and reflect on an interactive research approach used to address the challenges on how to improve product introductions, the part of the product realization process associated with the transfer of a product from product development to serial production. In the interactive research approach, research results as well as improvement of practice are given equal importance. The collaboration between researchers and practitioners therefore addresses both the focus and the process of the change. The approach includes four main iterative steps: 1) mapping/diagnosis, 2) feedback of results, 3) participation in development activities, and 4) follow-up/evaluation. The paper reports findings from interactive research in one company within office product industry and one company group, consisting of three company units within the engine industry. Preliminary findings indicate that the participating companies afterwards work in a more structured way with produc...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The aim of the current study was to investigate the impact of servant leadership dimensions on leader-member exchange (LMX) among health-care professionals. Leadership support and the quality of the dyadic relationship between the leader... more
The aim of the current study was to investigate the impact of servant leadership dimensions on leader-member exchange (LMX) among health-care professionals. Leadership support and the quality of the dyadic relationship between the leader and the employee are essential regarding the work environment and turnover intentions in health care. A questionnaire-based cross-sectional study was undertaken at four hospital units in Sweden. The study sample included 240 employees. Significant bivariate correlations were found between all servant leadership dimensions and LMX. The strongest correlations were found between 'humility' and LMX (r = 0.69, P < 0.001), and 'empowerment' and LMX (r = 0.67, P < 0.001). The hierarchical regression analyses indicated that 'empowerment', 'humility' and 'stewardship' explained about 55% of the variance in LMX. In our study servant leadership dimensions were strongly related to LMX. The results identify specific ...
Research Interests:
This paper focuses on integration of operations management, specifically production system models with environmental management and related issues such as quality and safety. Based on knowledge concerning lean-based improvement programmes... more
This paper focuses on integration of operations management, specifically production system models with environmental management and related issues such as quality and safety. Based on knowledge concerning lean-based improvement programmes for company-specific production systems (XPS) and integration between formal management systems, such as ISO 9001 and 14001, industrial practices from integrating management systems with the XPS were studied. A literature-based comparison between formal management systems and XPS is made, indicating integration potentials. The empirical research is an analysis of five vehicle and automotive companies in which various efforts have been made to integrate their management systems with their XPS. The results show that although conscious steps have been taken since the introduction of ISO 14001 in integrating environmental management into everyday operations, there are still obstacles to overcome. To fully include sustainability aspects, the characteristics of the improvement systems have to be adapted and extended. One barrier to extended integration is the lack of integration strategy. There is further a lack of sustainability metrics and adaptation of improvement methods to push companies' operational performance. In addition, organisational issues still arise concerning the responsibility and ownership of environmental management in relation to operations. Based on these results it is concluded that processes for integration are recommended; however, each organisation needs to consider its operations, corporate culture and business opportunities of its environmental management. Still, incorporating environmental management systems into XPS is seen as an effective way of establishing company commonality in continuous improvement, resulting in holistic understanding and improved organisation performance.
Research Interests:
Mass customisation increases the number of product variants, shortens product cycles, and results in increasingly complex production systems. The complexity needs to be defined, and further operationalized to support management of... more
Mass customisation increases the number of product variants, shortens product cycles, and results in increasingly complex production systems. The complexity needs to be defined, and further operationalized to support management of production complexity.
Mass customization and more variants, components, and frequent changes increase production complexity. This paper presents research project aimed at developing a feasible definition of complexity, a method for measuring complexity, which... more
Mass customization and more variants, components, and frequent changes increase production complexity. This paper presents research project aimed at developing a feasible definition of complexity, a method for measuring complexity, which supports line rebalancing, man-hour planning, and complexity management, competence, and information support. The project is done in collaboration between Swerea IVF, Chalmers, Volvo Cars, Electrolux, Stoneridge, Electronics, and AB Volvo.
ABSTRACT This paper focuses on integration of operations management, specifically production system models with environmental management and related issues such as quality and safety. Based on knowledge concerning lean-based improvement... more
ABSTRACT This paper focuses on integration of operations management, specifically production system models with environmental management and related issues such as quality and safety. Based on knowledge concerning lean-based improvement programmes for company-specific production systems (XPS) and integration between formal management systems, such as ISO 9001 and 14001, industrial practices from integrating management systems with the XPS were studied. A literature-based comparison between formal management systems and XPS is made, indicating integration potentials. The empirical research is an analysis of five vehicle and automotive companies in which various efforts have been made to integrate their management systems with their XPS. The results show that although conscious steps have been taken since the introduction of ISO 14001 in integrating environmental management into everyday operations, there are still obstacles to overcome. To fully include sustainability aspects, the characteristics of the improvement systems have to be adapted and extended. One barrier to extended integration is the lack of integration strategy. There is further a lack of sustainability metrics and adaptation of improvement methods to push companies&#39; operational performance. In addition, organisational issues still arise concerning the responsibility and ownership of environmental management in relation to operations. Based on these results it is concluded that processes for integration are recommended; however, each organisation needs to consider its operations, corporate culture and business opportunities of its environmental management. Still, incorporating environmental management systems into XPS is seen as an effective way of establishing company commonality in continuous improvement, resulting in holistic understanding and improved organisation performance.
Research Interests:
Mass customization and more variants, components, and frequent changes increase production complexity. This paper presents research project aimed at developing a feasible definition of complexity, a method for measuring complexity, which... more
Mass customization and more variants, components, and frequent changes increase production complexity. This paper presents research project aimed at developing a feasible definition of complexity, a method for measuring complexity, which supports line rebalancing, man-hour planning, and complexity management, competence, and information support. The project is done in collaboration between Swerea IVF, Chalmers, Volvo Cars, Electrolux, Stoneridge, Electronics, and AB Volvo. Industrial studies were ...
Mass customisation increases the number of product variants, shortens product cycles, and results in increasingly complex production systems. The complexity needs to be defined, and further operationalized to support management of... more
Mass customisation increases the number of product variants, shortens product cycles, and results in increasingly complex production systems. The complexity needs to be defined, and further operationalized to support management of production complexity. This paper's contribution is the empirical findings of perceived production complexity at three manufacturing companies, from the perspective of different functions/roles within the production systems; production engineers, operative personnel, internal logistics, and in ...