Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Ericsson'

Ericsson’s factory in Kumla, Modules Kumla, became a hub for radio modules and micro base stations, which enables mobile communication through radio base stations, in 2004. Because of this the factory focuses more on the logistics operations. This has led to a need to be able to plan the capacity for the materials handling system. This master thesis has therefore been performed at Modules Kumla to develop a capacity calculation model for the material handling flow during the autumn of 2005.

The work has contained a mapping of the material handling flow regarding to which activities was performed and how much time they consumed. By using data from the enterprise information system and simple linear regression a capacity calculation model was developed to calculate the amount of staff needed given a specific production and delivery rate.

Problembakgrund: Sarbanes Oxley Act är en amerikansk lagstiftning som tillkom år 2002 som en reaktion på de många företagsskandalerna under slutet av 1900-talet. Lagens syfte var att förebygga liknande skandaler samt att återställa förtroendet för företagen genom ökade krav på deras interna kontroll.

Syfte: Uppsatsens syfte är att granska och beskriva vilka förändringar som implementeringen av Sarbanes Oxley Act, förkortad SOX, har medfört för Ericsson med fokusering på företagets interna kontroll, samt att undersöka vad SOX kan ge för positiva och negativa konsekvenser.

Metod: Den forskningsstrategi vi har använt oss av är fallstudie. Vi har genomfört en kvalitativ studie med semistrukturerade djupintervjuer med anställda på Ericsson som är involverade i implementeringen av SOX. Vi har även intervjuat en konsult som har erfarenhet av att implementera SOX på företag.

Teori: I teoriavsnittet har vi redogjort för bolagsstyrning, agentteorin, intern kontroll samt själva regelverket Sarbanes Oxley Act.

Slutsatser: Vi har i vår studie beskrivit hur Ericsson har genomfört införandet av regelverket för att uppnå de krav på intern kontroll som SOX ställer. Vi har kommit fram till att effekterna på Ericssons interna kontroll har varit omfattande. I vår undersökning av positiva och negativa konsekvenser överväger de positiva. Detta trots att kostnaderna för att införa SOX är höga.

This study intends to elucidate which view customers has about Sony Ericsson as a trademark compared with it’s biggest competitors and how the company can expand and create added value around its products. The aim with this essay is to study and to analyze Sony Ericsson’s creation of value and to increase understanding about strategy development. We have chosen to do this study on the basis of customer perspectives.

We have used existing theories that treat matters: added value, marketingmix and trademark image. In consideration of these we have tried to form our own theoretical model from existing theories. We have afterwards tested this model on empirics, that is based on a customer survey in Russia, which concerns customers’ view about biggest trademarks on the mobile market and above all Sony Ericsson.

In our survey we have come to the conclusion that customers consider Sony Ericsson as a company that gives a satisfying added value. Nokia has succeeded better to create an added value on it’s products and is considered by customers to be the most sought-after. Our survey shows that design can have the crucial role for creation of value.

In order to better satisfy the customers' needs and wishes on markets the companies must adapt their products and create added value through good product strategies, correct marketing measures and satisfying service. This increases the strength of trademark's image and gives better basis for creation of added value.

3Gsim is a load generator for traffic simulation in a WCDMA (WidebandCode Division Multiple Access) network. It is developed at Ericsson AB inLinköping. Tests are run daily and the results are evaluated by testers. Whenerrors or abnormalities are found, the testers write trouble reports and thedescribed problems are handed over to designers whose task is to fix them.In order to save time, Ericsson wished to improve the efficiency.This study has focused on a specific part of the process of the developmentof 3Gsim, namely the process of evaluating test results. The goal has beento investigate if and how the process of evaluating 3Gsim test results can bemade more efficient.The daily work of the testers has been studied at close hand by the author.The testers answered a questionnaire with questions about their work andtheir opinions about the tools being used. The answers were evaluated andfocus was laid on the main problems.It was found that a lot of time is wasted on searching for trouble reports.A big part of the test result evaluation process consists of going throughsummary logs with error print-outs. Unfortunately no mapping betweenerror print-outs and trouble reports is performed. When going through thesummary logs the testers have to determine which errors have already beenreported and which ones that haven’t. Another major problem is the factthat most tests fail. On the webpage where the test results are displayed,this is indicated by a coloured field showing red. This is believed to have anegative effect on the work attitude.A lot of time can be saved by mapping error print-outs to trouble reportsand automatically comparing new error print-outs with old ones. The mappingwill also help preventing the creation of duplicated trouble reports. Thissolution will have the greatest impact on the improvement of the efficiency.Another way to enhance the efficiency is to develop a more advanced colourcoding scheme than the one used today. This coding scheme will help thetesters making the right priorities when processing the test results. Furthermore,these two solutions will have a positive effect on the work attitude. Aprototype implementing the first solution has been created. This prototypegives Ericsson AB the possibility to test the solution idea in practice.

Background: The past decades two trends has been detected in the society. First of all, the new economy has brought along globalisation as a striking trend, and secondly we have been hit by some kind o f"projectification". The two trends seem to work against each other on several levels and global companies have a hard time coping with both at the same time.

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to describe how an international development project is organised and show what impacts a MNC structure has on its projects concerning management and communication. Method: In order to reach an understanding, a qualitative case study was performed, and several interviews with people within a Ericsson project was made. In addition, Ericsson internal material and project documentation was used.

Findings: We found that the global structure very much has an impact on the project studied and that it did not have the characteristics that, literature of today describes, is common for projects. Since the project consist of several independent subsidiary we would not like to call it a project organised in a matrix, but rather described as an "intra-corporational consortium". Because of this structure, there are implications for management and communication as well. The management, we believe, is more done by "good will", and there is a strong resistance for communicating since there is a belief that information will handle all problems.

Date                                   

2009-09-07

Program                           

MIMA – Master of International Marketing

Course Name                   

EFO705 Master Thesis

Title                                   

From Core Values to Customer Satisfaction: Ericsson in Kazakhstan

Authors                             

Dalila Aitpayeva (Västerås), Dejan Mandic (Göteborg)

Supervisor                        

Joakim Netz 

Problem                           

How can a company deploy its core values into customer relations to increase customers’ satisfaction?

Purpose                             

The purpose of this study is to explore how company’s core values can interact with customer’ expectations and as embedded in the customer relation make impact on the customer satisfaction.

Method                             

Inductive research was used for data collection and analysis because the study is explorative in nature and therefore based on interviews and document analysis. Interviews were conducted with Ericsson’s managers and their customers in Kazakhstan. 

Findings                            

Findings resulted from this study indicate that strong direct relationship exist among core values of service providers and expectations of their customers.       

Conclusion                        

Ericsson’s core values: professionalism, respect, and perseverance are constantly integrated in Ericsson daily business operations. Commitment to its customers, willingness to share knowledge and continuous offering of new technologies are best examples of that integration. Ericsson’s unique and professional service offerings meet and in many cases exceed high customer expectations and ultimately satisfy its customers in Kazakhstan.

Sweden is one of five nations in the world manufacturing fighter aircrafts. Highly advanced technology is needed in order to develop a fighter aircraft. When developing advanced technology, new applications, other than those initially intended occur, spin-off. Some of Sweden’s largest companies are spin-offs from the fighter aircraft industry. Saab Automobile is an example of this. Spin-off as a concept appears in different contexts, from television series to audit terms but foremost in connection with splitting of companies. In the initial phase of our study we came across numerous definitions and concepts as explanation of spin-off and we therefore choose to adopt our own definition.

Our study defines civil spin-offs from military aircraft projects. The Swedish aircraft industry consists of three large companies, Saab, Volvo Aero and Ericsson Microwave and we have for our case studies chosen spin-off processes within those companies. We interviewed persons well familiar with the above mentioned process in the respective companies, individually. The answers from the interviews, which we have analysed based on theory and literature, have enabled us to identify, describe and analyse factors promoting as well as counteracting spin-offs arising from military aircraft projects.

From our study we have drawn the conclusion that all companies want to achieve spin-offs. One important way of creating opportunities for spin-offs is organising in cross functional groups, one of many internally acting factors that we have tried in our study. A factor that strongly counteracts the development of a spin-off is a strict focus on the core business of the company. This comes as a result of demand for saving measures, which has also led to much less time or no time at all for reflecting on new ideas.

The historic role of the Swedish Government as a long term and demanding customer of military aircraft systems has over the last years shown less significance. The Government now has to play the role of co-operative link between the industry and the university in what is called a Triple Helix. The role of the Government is thus to support new enterprising as spin-off through technique parks, incubators and VINNOVA.

Another significant factor supporting the development of spin-offs is co-operation in networks and clusters. In the spring of 2005 SwedCat was founded, a cluster between Saab, Volvo Aero and Ericsson microwave with the aim to take advantage of spin-offs from the respective companies and to support each other in developing them. We are of the opinion that this collaboration sets an excellent example for the industry, irrespective of line of business.

Problem discussion: According to Coyle, Bardi, & Langley Jr., 2003, companies have always struggled in dealing properly with its outbound- to- customer logistics side, given the importance of such. In this case specifically, the investigation of the functions and processes employed by the Order Management department within Ericsson’s Chinese operations was the starting point for understanding what are the relevant problems existing; the reasons, probable impacts, possible opportunities for improvement as well as suggestions in doing so. Based on such premises, the authors have gone through these “challenges” to try to understand how in the case of Ericsson the company have or is dealing with such issues.

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to provide a general overview of the department’s existing processes, functions, detected problems and finally suggestions for improvements toward such problems.

Research Method: The Case Study approach was chosen by the authors given the characteristics of this study in pursuing the objectives stated, emphasized by the fact that the authors observed the current situation within an Ericsson’s department and the company’s perceptions. Coupled with this, the qualitative methods combined with a small portion of quantitative perspective have been used in order to provide the necessary research structure, followed by questionnaires and an interview as secondary data.

Conclusion: The conducted research was able to detect that within the department the two most relevant problems considering the employees’ and manager’s perspective is related consequently to the ERP system currently employed and inexperience by the department’s personnel in conducting their tasks. Further the authors point out suggestions for improving such issues.

Adjustment to a new culture is a slow and step-wise process, which can be facilitated by cross-cultural training. First, a comprehensive review of current theories about cross-cultural adjustment and different training techniques is presented. Then, the study looks at the preparation and training of expatriates at Ericsson in relation to these theories. In-depth interviews with two Area Managers at Ericsson have been carried out in order to establish how the company’s training program is structured. We found that Ericsson follows a sequential model with both pre-departure and post-arrival training, mainly didactic in nature. The pre-departure training is very culturegeneral, whereas the post-arrival training is more specific for the host culture. The post-arrival training is, however, not offered in all host countries. Language training is also offered, and expatriates are encouraged to visit the host country prior to the departure. Many components in Ericsson’s training program are supported by theory,but several other techniques described in the theory are not in use. A suggestion is made to further formalize the post-arrival training and make the overall training more culture-specific.

Today, tele-conference technology has been widely used in various areas, especially in the business domain; a number of software applications have been developed based on this technology. However, most of these applications are designed for enterprise use. As a pioneer in the mobile communication field, Ericsson AB decided to develop a mobile application prototype, named Ericsson Geo Chat system (EGCS), which can be used on any java-supported mobile phones and the main purpose of this product is for entertainment. The entire project was divided into two individual development phases. As a sub-project, this report only developed and implemented the first phase. During this phase, EGCS implemented the chat functionality by sending text messages. The map was added to the chatting system with more visual feedbacks. EGCS also allowed creating visual chat rooms as a red square that can be located and displayed on the map. By using the navigation tool, only one chatting room can be selected. The actual location of the user was traced by the Global Position System (GPS). As soon as the user enter the room, they can start the text message chatting. In this report, the theoretical frameworks, the train of thought of the system design, the overview of the development process, and the testing of prototype are described.

Research on the diversity in the context of internationalization process is rare. Our purpose of this thesis is to conduct a good understanding on diversity of internationalization process in telecommunication industry. Based on Uppsala Internationalization Model (U-Model) of Johanson and Vahlne (1977), we applied a qualitative research method, primary and secondary data collection to perform an empirical study. Afterward we discuss about how organizational diversity, marketing strategy diversity and diversity of core values on Ericsson show up in the process of internationalization. In the conclusion, we put forward our comments on the research problems. Then we also issued a direction on further research.

A product often consists for the most part of purchased materials and to reduce the total cost of production, therefore, companies often focus on reducing their purchase prices. Pushing supplier prices in this way is a popular way to improve the company's short-term profits.

Ericsson negotiates annually with its suppliers to reduce their purchase prices, which is considered to reduce purchasing costs and thus the production costs. This is achieved by the sourcing function in a process known as the VPA process. The VPA process requires information from the local supply functions, which, however, has no documented approach for these activities. The purpose of this study is, therefore, to create a support processes to sourcing VPA process. We have also from a theoretical approach critically reviewed the existing process.

What we found is that Ericsson's approach could be sub optimized, focusing on achieving internal goals within the function creates obstacles for other functions. Often, if not always, each function focuses on its own goals and do not have a holistic view on organizational performance. This means that the organization as a whole may suffer when instead of optimizing process output, local optimization leads to total sub optimization.

To prevent sub optimization, functions needs to create an understanding of the other functions goals, communication between the functions are therefore of critical nature. However, this is not enough, to reduce the focus on goals within functions and instead focus on process goals requires that senior management will create this opportunity.

En produkt består ofta till större delen av inköpt material och för att minska den totala tillverkningskostnaden fokuserar företagen därför ofta på att minska sina inköpspriser. Att pressa leverantörernas priser på detta vis är ett populärt sätt att förbättra företagets kortsiktiga vinster.

Ericsson förhandlar årligen med sina leverantörer för att minska sina inköpspriser, vilket alltså anses ska minska inköpskostnader och därmed även tillverkningskostnaderna. Detta sker genom funktionen sourcing i en process som kallas för VPA-processen. VPA-processen kräver information från de lokala supplyfunktionerna, vilka dock inte har något dokumenterat arbetssätt för dessa aktiviteter. Syftet med denna studie är därför att skapa en stödprocess till sourcings VPA-process. Vi har även utifrån ett teoretiskt synsätt kritiskt granskat den befintliga processen.

Vad vi kommit fram till är att Ericssons arbetssätt kan vara suboptimerat med fokusering på interna funktionsmål som skapar hinder för andra funktioners mål. Ofta, om inte alltid, fokuserar varje funktion på sitt eget mål och ser inte till helheten. Detta medför att helheten kan få lida då istället för att processutfallet blir optimerat leder lokal optimering till total suboptimering.

För att förhindra suboptimering måste förståelse för de andra funktionerna skapas, kommunikation mellan funktionerna är av kritisk natur. Dock är detta inte nog, för att minska fokuseringen på funktionsmål och istället fokusera på processmål kräver att företagsledningen skapar denna möjlighet.

Introduction: During the last years power have been passed from the producer to the consumer. Then, for any given firm, consumers play an increasingly important role. Firms sell not only within limits set by the price of competing products, but within limits set by buyers’ tastes as well. Both products and services have become more sophisticated and each individual customers value perception is important to recognize. In short, to stay competitive firms must put their main focus on the customer’s needs. When it comes to services producer and user must cooperate. Joint value creation process becomes a central part of the relationship between producer and user. The service production process in consulting-related services occurs during a relatively long period of time with various interchanges before the service ultimately is produced.

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to understand how customers, in a business-to-business situation, perceive the value of a complex service over time. Focus will also be directed towards understanding how the producer can improve the knowledge of how the customers’ preferences change over time.

Method: A qualitative case study was conducted, in which the customers of the case firm were interviewed.

Conclusions: The major difficulty with the notion of value is that it is evaluated in the eyes of the beholder. That is, what it ultimately comes down to are subjective feelings and opinions of individuals. Nevertheless, this study shows that value perceived becomes more complex with time. That is, experiences from both the relationship and the joint value creation affect how customers perceive value. With time, customers are able to see more benefits, but at the same time more sacrifices. These tend to be relation-oriented.

Syftet med uppsatsen har varit att undersöka hur konsumenterna uppfattar varumärkesutvidgningen. Studien har haft fokus på ett fallföretag, Sony Ericsson samt de varumärken (Walkman och Cyber-shot från Sony) som de använder på deras produkter. Vi har samlat in data med konsumenters uppfattningar om co-branding och deras brukande av produkter ur den kategori där de co-brandade varumärkena finns. Vidare har vi sökt efter förklaringar till huruvida det finns någon koppling mellan användandet av Mp3-spelare och digitalkamera i förhållande till betydelsen av varumärkena. Undersökningen har varit helt webbaserad och samlat in över 200 svar varvid 197 har använts i sammanställningen av enkätsvaren.

Vi har använt oss av rådande teorier inom varumärken, varumärkeshantering, varumärkesvärdering och varumärkesfusioner. De teorier som ligger till grund för uppsatsen är Brand Management, Brand Equity, och Co-branding. Detta har tillåtit oss att gå från generella beskrivningar om varumärken fram till hantering och värdering av varumärken för att slutligen nå kärnan av uppsatsens tema det vill säga co-branding.

Resultatet av undersökningen blev att det råder hög kännedom om Mp3-varumärket Walkman med en kännedom på nio av tio tillfrågade, medan drygt fyra av tio kände till digitalkamera- varumärket Cyber-shot. Av de tillfrågade som dessutom använder sig av någon av de respektive produkterna är kännedomen om förknippat varumärke ännu högre. Betydelsen av varumärkena har trots olika kännedom varit ungefär lika stora och legat under det godkända värdet på tre i den femgradiga skalan. Män har prioriterat och värderat Mp3-spelarfunktionen och Walkman högre än motsvarigheten till digitalkamera, medan kvinnornas prioritet har varit hos kamerafunktionen och Cyber-shot varumärket.

Vi har kunnat dra slutsatserna att två starka varumärken som kombineras inte bidrar med lika stor synergi som ett lågvärdesvarumärke får när det kombineras med ett högvärdesvarumärke. Då varumärkena Walkman och Cyber-shot visat sig vara starka som enskilda varumärken samtidigt som Sony Ericsson är ett företag med högt anseende innebär varumärkesutvidgningen för Sony Ericssons mobiltelefoner inga ökade fördelar för Sony Ericsson.

Hos dem som använder Mp3-spelare och digitalkameror har vi kommit fram till att det finns en högre kännedom om varumärkena samt att varumärkena är av större vikt när de co-brandats. Detta tycks bero på att ökad kännedom ger mer kunskap om alternativen på marknaden och skapar därför medvetenhet och preferenser hos konsumenterna.

Slutligen har vi i denna undersökning upptäckt ett samband där de konsumenter som prioriterat funktionerna högt även har haft en hög prioritering av förknippat varumärke.

Fallstudien baseras på ett samarbete med Ericsson Operating Expenses Financial Control och syftar till att belysa förväntningar, förväntningsgap och bakomliggande osäkerheter i samband med ett förändrat arbetssätt. OPEX Financial Control är en supportverksamhet som tillhandahåller tjänster vad gäller uppföljning av omkostnader till ett antal affärsenheter och övriga verksamheter inom Ericsson. I ett under hösten 2005 pågående pilotprojekt prövas ett nytt arbetssätt som innebär att linjecheferna tar ett ökat finansiellt ansvar för sin egen omkostnadsuppföljning. Detta medför att ett nytt verktyg och nya rutiner prövas. Studien utgår ifrån intervjuer med fem controllers, varav fyra representerar enheten OPEX Financial Control, samt fem linjechefer. Utifrån intervjusvaren har mönster tolkats och en teoretisk referensram har legat till grund för inspiration och idéer samt kopplingar i analysen och slutsatsen. Studien visade att verksamhetsutveckling är möjlig genom kartläggning av förväntningar, förväntningsgap och osäkerheter. Förväntningar är svåra att fånga upp eftersom de bygger på subjektiva värderingar och ofta är diffust formulerade. I vissa fall är det förväntningar och skillnader i förväntningar, förväntningsgap, mellan parterna som skapar oro och osäkerhet. Osäkerhet måste uppfattas genom lyhördhet, en svår uppgift men som samtidigt är väsentlig för att kunna motivera, inspirera och legitimera den verksamhet som önskas förändras. Studien visar att detta kan göras genom att hänsyn tas till betydelsen av att informera vid förändringar. Vi har observerat vem som bör informera, att kommunikationen bör vara konsekvent och tydlig och hur den kan utnyttjas för att förankra förändringarna. Vid förändringar är det även viktigt att ta hänsyn till eventuellt förändrade maktpositioner hos parterna och om ett system skall implementeras bör det samverka med kontexten, bland annat genom att stödja ansvarsrollerna.

Diss. av båda författarna Stockholm : Handelshögskolan, 1988