The aim of this case study was to investigate the role of leadership and interpersonal relations among staff during implementation of lean at a University Hospital in Sweden. The 15 respondents were leaders and staff members from different wards and clinics, who had started working according to lean principles. One of the methods used was explorative, low structured interviews. Other methods used for gathering information about the case was attending lectures about lean healthcare at the hospital, part-taking in the lean game and reading articles about lean and the implementation in both daily press and on the intranet of the hospital. The results showed that an open and accessible leader that coaches his/her staff and supports their work, helps the staff to develop a lean identity.

This report is the result of a master thesis at Linköping University - Institute of Technology and Uppsala University at the request of the chassi workshop at Scania CV AB in Södertälje. Since the beginning of the 90's, Scania CV AB has had a close cooperation with Toyota from which, among other things, the Scania Production System (SPS) has evolved. SPS explains Scanias' values, principles and priorities. The Technician department (MST) at Scania Chassi in Södertälje believes that SPS can streamline the technicians work and help them become a more homogeneous group. The purpose of this master thesis is to initiate an implementation of SPS within MST through two pilot projects involving both the product and process technicians. The SPS principle Normal Situation - Standardised working method was required to be implemented within one work task each for the two groups of technicians with special attention on the three subprinciples Standardisation, Takt and Balanced flow. The master thesis fulfilled its purpose as the two pilot projects initiated the implementation of SPS within MST and the three sub-principles Standardisation, Takt and Balanced flow were implemented within the two chosen work tasks.

This thesis has been made on behalf of Forsmarks Kraftgrupp AB and is the final part of the education of Bachelor of Engineering in ? Innovation, production and logistics atMälardalens Högskola.Forsmark nuclear power plant is located in Östhammars municipality at the coast of Uppland. The three nuclear reactors in Forsmark together produces approximately one-sixth of Sweden?s electricity consumption each year.The background of this study is that a large number of requests come to the purchasing department with incomplete information. Usually it is in the description of what is to be acquired as the information is incomplete, but also in knowing when Quality Control-functions (QC) is supposed to be used.The aim of this work is to describe and analyse the material acquisition process.

Syftet med detta examensarbete är att undersöka möjligheterna för utökad kundnytta och kvalitetssäkra implementeringsprocessen av elektroniskt informationsutbyte (EDI). Detta uppnås med kvalitetsutveckling som grund, vilket omfattar processorientering.Rapporten inleds med en beskrivning av arbetets syfte och vilka problem som står till grund. Vidare introduceras företaget som uppdragsgivare och relevant teori tas upp, detta för att bilda en referensram inför de metoder som använts för att förbättra processen. Slutligen så presenteras resultaten och en diskussion hålls kring detta, med vidare rekommendationer för fortsatt utveckling.EDI processen har visualiserats dels med hjälp av akademiska litteraturer och dels från empiriskt material. Visualiseringen av processen har bildat en översikt av dess brister och problemområden (bland annat tidsfördelningen utmed processen och grunden till låg kvalitetsstandard), vilket har gett möjligheter till effektiva lösningsförslag för vidareutveckling.

Sustainability issues have become increasingly high-profile and important in recent decades. In addition, quality issues have come to play a central role in corporate marketing, strategy and management. The word quality can be defined differently in different contexts. This paper focuses on the concept of quality, based on the Total Quality Management perspective, which in Swedish has come to be known as Offensiv kvalitetsutveckling. Offensiv kvalitetsutveckling has been described as a theoretical framework in which an organization continually strives to meet and preferably exceed customer needs and expectations at the lowest cost through Continuous improvement, and in which all members of the organization are committed and focused on the organisation's processes. The purpose of this study was twofold. First, to clarify the applicability of the theoretical model Offensiv kvalitetsutveckling as a theoretical explanatory model. Second, to explore how Max Hamburgerrestauranger AB performs according to the values in Offensiv kvalitetsutveckling. A multiple case study was conducted in order to explore these topics. The results showed that Max Hamburgerrestauranger AB is working in a dedicated and value-driven manner, aligned with the values ??that form the basis for Offensiv kvalitetsutveckling. The results also showed that the model for Offensiv kvalitetsutveckling could serve well as a theoretical explanatory model, but that the model would benefit from being developed, enriched or integrated with other models.

There is a need for correct and adequate pain assessment in horses. Methadone is used in pain management in horses but the full pharmacokinetic picture of methadone is not yet known. The aim of this pilot study was to develop a behaviour protocol and suggest a reliable recording method for use in a larger research project with an aim to potentially correlate behaviours to concentration of methadone in blood. In this study two coldblooded trotters were given methadone intravenously with doses of 0.1 mg/kg for horse 1 and 0.2 mg/kg for horse 2. The horses were videotaped pre and post methadone administration.

This thesis has been conducted at Volvo Bussar ABunder a period of ten weeks. Within the organizationVolvo, the work is conducted with leaders and teamson every level; from production to top management.They have three tasks, besides executing their dailywork, they are expected to actively work on improvingtheir individual work as well as themselves as persons.The two latter are future value adding activities for theorganization. When doing so, however, it has beennoticed that they often lose the grasp of their dailywork. The question that consequently arises is whythis happens. Is it because of lack of time or it isbecause the co-workers do not have the competenceand simply do not know how they are to execute thethree tasks? Or, is it because the motivation to executethe three tasks is not enough? With this in regard, thestatement of issues for this bachelor thesis were thefollowing: how can the conditions for leaders and theteam be improved, in order for them to execute thesethree tasks.To find out why the execution of these threeassigments did not always succeed, the decision wastaken to conduct a survey and interview study in reallife and at the plants.

This thesis has been conducted at Volvo Bussar ABunder a period of ten weeks. Within the organizationVolvo, the work is conducted with leaders and teamson every level; from production to top management.They have three tasks, besides executing their dailywork, they are expected to actively work on improvingtheir individual work as well as themselves as persons.The two latter are future value adding activities for theorganization. When doing so, however, it has beennoticed that they often lose the grasp of their dailywork. The question that consequently arises is whythis happens. Is it because of lack of time or it isbecause the co-workers do not have the competenceand simply do not know how they are to execute thethree tasks? Or, is it because the motivation to executethe three tasks is not enough? With this in regard, thestatement of issues for this bachelor thesis were thefollowing: how can the conditions for leaders and theteam be improved, in order for them to execute thesethree tasks.To find out why the execution of these threeassigments did not always succeed, the decision wastaken to conduct a survey and interview study in reallife and at the plants.

Executive summary This master thesis was originally based on a specific assignment given to the authors from ABB Full Service, a unit specializing in providing maintenance outsourcing: ?How can ABB Full Service expand its offering of providing fundamental maintenance by seamlessly incorporating the business concept with competencies and solutions from other ABB divisions?? The academic issue was developed throughout the thesis, resulting in the following formulation: ?From an organizational perspective; how can service providers bring continuous added value to intra-organizational outsourcing partnerships?? Many of the key findings of this thesis are reflected in the issue. The term intra-organizational outsourcing is a proposed addition to the terminology in the academic discourse on outsourcing. The definition of the term is: ? Where an organization outsources a business process interlinked with the physical operations, requiring the service provider to take over a preexisting unit and its employees.This is an accurate description of the form of outsourcing that ABB Full Service is engaged in.

Syftet med föreliggande studie var att utvärdera participation i ett förändringsarbete inom hälso- och sjukvården, i ett projekt för kvalitetsutveckling och processorientering inom vårdkedjan i Höglandsområdet, Jönköpings läns landsting.Den övergripande målsättningen med projektet var att utveckla ett processorienterat och därigenom mer helhetsorienterat vårdsystem, för att uppnå bättre kvalitet för äldre vårdtagare, som ofta har behov av behandling vid olika enheter i vårdkedjan.Syftet med studien var också att utvärdera hur participation förhåller sig till ständigt förbättringsarbete och lärande i riktning mot en processorientering av vårdkedjan och ökat fokus på patienten.Vårdinstanserna i vårdkedjan inom samtliga sex kommuner och primärvårdsområden i Höglandsregionen, såväl som en medicinklinik och en rehabiliteringsklinik vid två olika sjukhus, har medverkat i studien. 55 personer, som representerade de olika yrkeskategorierna inom vårdkedjan, har deltgit i utvärderingen. Studien utfördes med hjälp av fokusgrupper och materialet analyserades ur ett fenomenografiskt perspektiv.Resultaten visar att participation på alla nivåer i organisationen är en förutsättning för ett uthålligt kvalitetsutvecklingsarbete och en processorientering av vårdkedjan. Omfattningen av participationen avspeglas i omfattningen av ständigt förbättringsarbete och lärande.Kritiska faktorer var ledningens förmåga att kommunicera med och informera de anställda, ledningens engagemang i fråga om att driva ett strukturerat och långsiktigt förändringsarbete, ett tydligt processägarskap inom vårdkedjan och adekvata resurser. Resultaten genererade åtskilliga intressanta frågor för fortsatt forskning och utveckling..

The level of increased central government that we have experienced during the last decades in school, for the purpose of increasing equality and to adapt the Swedish school to a certain international standard, clearly shows that increased control scarcely leads to improvement.The aim of this paper is to examine whether teachers believe that national tests contribute to equivalent assessment and increased goal attainment. Furthermore the teachers? attitude towards and work with national tests is described. The paper is written from a school improvement perspective, where good examples from current research on what creates increased quality in school meaning increased goal attainment and equivalent assessment are related to research on school effectiveness and increased testing in schools. The study builds upon a quantitative survey among teachers in upper primary - and secondary school in a medium-sized municipality in Sweden.The result shows that the teachers have a somewhat more positive than negative attitude towards national tests, as a whole.

The aim of the study was to illustrate how music therapy can be used in the care of patients with schizophrenia and other psychotic illness.The method used was a literature review. Scientific articles were searched in PubMed, Cinahl, PsycINFO och Scopus databases with an outcome of ten articles, with in total 330 participants, that underwent quality and outcomes analysis.The results showed that music therapy could provide potential improvement in the patients' social functions and that it could also improve negative, some positive and general schizophrenia and psychotic symptoms in some patients. The form of music therapy used was often creative music activities with music therapist, with or without structure, or individually customized. The length of treatment varied widely. It was not possible to draw conclusions about which type of music therapy was best.

Episodic gaming is a relatively new phenomenon, that hasn?t been as extensively explored as other areas in game research. In this paper we research how episodic narratives and gameplay engage players compared to regular continuous storytelling. By exploring this we get a better understanding of how to design games that captivate players to the point of them wanting to play the next episode.  A user study is conducted where ten players play two episodes each of an episodic game. We apply observations and interviews to capture a large amount of empirical data.

If Swedish companies are to compete with companies in low-cost countries they have to achieve a more efficient production. The purpose of Total Productivity Maintenance (TPM) is to increase the company's profitability by increasing the productivity. TPM is a method that involves all employees and aims to prevent failures in order to increase the availability of existing equipment.The aim of this paper is to evaluate the implementation process of TPM and give recommendations for the further implementation process. The conclusion and the analysis are based on a case study done at a production department at ABB Cewe-Controls facilities in Nyköping. The case study consists mainly of qualitative data from participation observations, surveys and interviews.Commitment of the management is a key factor in the implementation process of TPM.

Title: Bottleneck management through materials administration Course:  4FE05EAuthors:  Mikael Karlsson and Johannes Mueller  Examiner: Helena ForslundKey words:  Bottleneck management, material management, process description, timber, proceduresPurpose:   The objective of this study is divided into three parts, all three parts of the purpose aim for the same goal. Namely, to improve the material management so that this enables the bottleneck in the planing mill to keep a continuous  flow, and thereby minimizing the risk for production stops at LB-Hus.  Part.  1:  Identify  and  analyze the material management  connected to  the planing mill  in order to identify problem areas.Part.2:  Identify  improvement potential  in the material management connected to the planing mill.  Part.3: Suggest improvements in the material management connected to the planing mill. Theoretical framework: Process mapping, inventory accounting, balance safety, inventory availability / service levels, safety stock and reorder point, forecasting and routine descriptions.Empirical foundation:  Interviews carried out at LB-House,  illustrated with the help of process maps and a description of each process.  Conclusions:  To work with  the  suggestions  given  and  to  follow  clear procedures  in  all  processes would  result in  a more  efficient  inventory management,  it would also present  a  solution  to  the problem regarding the planing mill being a bottle neck.Suggestions for further research: Review and map the information flow from demand to production start.