This thesis seeks to investigate how Swedish first class hotels by use of IT can improve customer service and thereby increase the share of loyal guests. The authors have conducted a qualitative study predominantly consisting of an interview-based case study at one of Stockholm?s largest independent hotels. To get a broader and more generalized picture of the hotel industry four smaller studies at other hotels in Stockholm were also conducted. The findings suggest that the use of IT can improve the communication between the hotel and its guests and make possible a continuing relationship between visits that strengthens guest commitment.

Value stream mapping is a tool that is frequently used by many different companies. It is a great tool used to achieve the work that follows the theories of lean production. The tool is used, however, only frequent on the factory floor and the method is also designed based on this type of use.An interest of applying the method on administrative parts of the company has occurred lately. Administrative parts of the company refers to the part that does all the planning such as purchasing, receiving orders, customer contact, contact with factory floor and other work that is made around the actual manufacturing. But the knowledge about applying value stream mapping on the planning part of the company is lacking because the method is relatively new.In this work, a comparison is made between the introduction of value stream analysis on production and planning.

The purpose of this study is to analyze and evaluate the suitability of the three instruments SERVQUAL, SERVPERF and Zone of tolerance to measure service quality, from the respondents' perspective. This study has been carried out by a quantitative method in which respondents answered three questionnaires, which was based on the three instruments. The SERVQUAL instrument is a revised version based on criticism by Carman (1990). It is based on the five dimensions; reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy and tangibility, with 22 items in which each dimension is associated with a number of items. SERVPERF is the instrument most similar to SERVQUAL and is also composed of the same five dimensions.

Införande av en HR Shared Service-organisation syftar till att omfördela HR-funktionens personalarbete och separera det administrativa personalarbetet från det strategiska. Med hjälp av ny teknologi kan HR administration flyttas över till HR/IT-system och HR-arbetet kan i större utsträckning ske via självservice som hanteras av ledare och medarbetare i organisationen. Den senaste tidens forskning kring HR Shared Service och det nya sättet att leverara HR-service visar att gamla sampels- och handlingsmönster fortfarande lever kvar mellan ledare och HR-medarbetare. Uppsatsens syfte är att undersöka hur HR Shared Service har införts på ett Telekom företag och vilka konsekvenser det fått för ledarna på företaget.Den empiriska undersökningen har genomförts med en kvalitativ metod i form av 11 intervjuer med ledare och projektdeltagare för införandet av HR Shared Service-organisationen. Tre deltagande observationer genomfördes med avseende på hur ledare söker information på HR-portalerna.

With new energy directives in place, the Swedish Social Service (SSS) stands beforethe challenge how to reduce the energy demand in its locales. It is a complex matter,as the locales are rented from various property owners and it becomes a question ofhow to reduce the operational electricity and influence the property owners to workmore with energy efficiency. This thesis takes a balanced research approach in threeparts. Firstly a qualitative part in form of interviews with personnel at the SSS and itsproperty owners, secondly a quantitative part of descriptive nature in form of energystatistics and thirdly a literature review of Energy Management (EM) Supply ChainManagement(SCM), Green Supply Chain Management(GSCM) and EnviromentalPerformance Indicators (EPI). This in order to be able to give normativerecommendations of how the SSS should act to reduce its energy consumption in itslocales and provide new insights on how EM, SCM, GSCM and EPI can be applied ineffect.

Value stream mapping is a tool that is frequently used by many different companies. It is a great tool used to achieve the work that follows the theories of lean production. The tool is used, however, only frequent on the factory floor and the method is also designed based on this type of use.An interest of applying the method on administrative parts of the company has occurred lately. Administrative parts of the company refers to the part that does all the planning such as purchasing, receiving orders, customer contact, contact with factory floor and other work that is made around the actual manufacturing. But the knowledge about applying value stream mapping on the planning part of the company is lacking because the method is relatively new.In this work, a comparison is made between the introduction of value stream analysis on production and planning.

This study examines how the local rescue services relate to the brand of the rescue service and the concept of brand management. To understand the attitudes against the brand and brand management, empirical data, theoretical modelling of brand and current laws have been discussed together in a try to get an overview how the rescue services practically works with the brand. The study results are based on a questionnaire survey and qualitative semi-structured interviews. The survey was sent to employees working with the communication of the rescue service. The interviews were held with two employees working with the communication of the rescue service and two fire chiefs.

The aim of this master thesis is to examine the attitudes among library staff regarding a music downloading service called Musikwebb, which is available in many Swedish public libraries. It focuses on the impact of Musikwebb on the process of music selection, the relationship between Musikwebb and the digital development in public libraries and what service Musikwebb offers its users. The gathering of material was executed through focus group interviews with library staff in four libraries. This empirical material we divided in three categories: Music selection, The Library and its digital services, and Library services. We use the results of Sanna Talja?s discourse analysis regarding the relationship between Music, Culture and the Library to analyze our material.

In a time when milk producing farm businesses face decline in profitability it is of great importance to examine how the situation can be improved. This thesis is a study off efficiency in milk producing farm businesses represented by Swedish, Dutch and German farms. The aim of this study is to investigate whether any differences exist between companies in these countries. Moreover, the study includes a mapping of a number of factors that determine how efficient milk production can be managed. This mapping is based on a literature review on prior efficiency studies followed by qualitative interviews with milk production advisors as well as a questionnaire sent out to dairy farmers in Sweden.

This master´s thesis is a comparative study of the importance of eight factors suggested in the literature to be related to the perceived utility of the service Book a librarian (Swe. Boka en bibliotekarie). Disciplinary differences were also analysed. 73 encounters between students and librarians in 11 Swedish academic libraries were studied using a survey. Six factors were significantly related (at the .05 level) to the utility of the service.

Denna studie behandlar relationen mellan kabinpersonalens motivation och den kundupplevda servicen ombord. Det övergripande målet med denna studie är att se om motivationen hos kabinpersonalen inverkar på den kundupplevda servicen och om servicen påverkar val av flygbolag. Vid en eventuell relation mellan motivation och kundupplevd service avser studien även att beskriva de beroende variabler som styr detta samband. Ett svenskt charterflygbolag blev utvalt och all kabinpersonal och 20 av passagerarna blev utvalda att delta i undersökningen på 40 olika flygningar under en treveckorsperiod. Resultatet visade på att det inte fanns någon signifikant korrelation mellan kundupplevd service och kabinpersonalens motivationsnivå.

The aim of this study was to look at introduction for staff in a social service office and the social workers experience off the first period at a new workplace. Qualitative interviews have been used as a method of investigating how social workers look at introduction in the workplace and how social workers have experience the first period at the workplace. The empirical material have been analysed by using the theory of Human Service Organizations, street-lever bureaucracy theory and theory concerning work environment. This papers first chapter presents the methodological preferences, the second chapter the theoretical perspective and the results of the study are presented in the third chapter followed by a discussion and ending comments in chapter four. My study showed that introduction is necessary in a complex organisation and could be a way to improve the social workers situation in social service organisations..

AB Sandvik Cormorant?s production unit in Gimo has identified a need to examinethe handling of products between operations with the purpose of generatingproposals of improvement for the product handling.The aim of this project is to study the existing manufacturing process and givesuggestions for improvement. The proposals should reduce the manual handling ofproducts, decrease the risk of damaging the products during the manufacturing andform a basis for increased traceability. Based on a mapping of the manufacturingprocess and the problem description, a specification of requirements has beencomposed.The mapping of the manufacturing process suggests that a change of the currentsystem is required. The company is recommended to decide how the producthandling between operations should be performed as guidelines for the productionteam.

This thesis is about how the front-staff in two service companies experience empowerment. Competition for business in today's society is becoming increasingly fierce, which means that they must find a way to differentiate themselves from competitors. Service has become a way to compete. Front-staff competence and ability to offer a good service is a crucial factor when the company's success is being measured.Empowerment in business is used as a tool to create motivation and satisfaction of individuals at work. Companies using empowerment can create the freedom and opportunities for employees to act at their own intelligence and discretion.

The purpose of this study is to increase the understanding for how home care services interpret and handle situations with and around caretakers alcohol use. Interviews have been conducted with two managers and six basic staff in two different home care service-groups. The interviews were individual with the managers and in group form with the staff. The interviews have been analyzed using Hasenfeld?s theory on Human Service Organizations and moral practice together with Beronius? interpretation of disciplinary exercise of power.