Strategic alliances and trust processes - a study of strategic collaborations between high-technology companies.

The purpose of this thesis is to develop an increased understanding of strategic alliance processes. A specific aim has been to explore the trust processes involved, and to better understand the dynamics of the strategic alliance processes. The study includes socio-cultural elements and captures both the manager´s and the employee´s perspectives in everyday life. The theoretical discussions were based upon strategic alliance literature as well as sociological theories. The empirical part of the study consists of in-depth case studies of two strategic alliances: a joint venture and a strategic partnership between high-technology companies. Interviews were conducted with people from the organizations which actually formed the alliances as well as with people that belonged to the parent companies. The study revealed the importance of high-lighting the social context which in this study of R&D alliances included a risk for a high degree of opportunism and fierce competition and was characterized by rapid technological development. This, together with the temporary character of the alliances, contributed to the contradictory situations in the alliance processes. The study also indicated the importance of considering the disparate conceptions the mangers and the employees had about important elements in the process. These elements were conceptualized and discussed in terms of the time dimension, and the frames and interactions of the everyday life of the actors. Unlike most present research which often focuses on trust at the partner level in a stable context, this study discusses trust in a complex and contradictory setting. The study showed the emergent and fluctuating character of trust and the need for continous confirmation of trust in the everyday life of the employees. The collaborations seemed to grow more unstable, uncertain and contradictory especially at the transitions between the different phases in the alliance process which also had an impact on the trust between the actors

Patient pathways into healthcare – the need for matching? Naples Forum on Service Proceeding 2015-06-09--12

Background: Due to a lack of coordination of care flow events and uncertain capacity coordination, long patient waiting times for patients arise, entailing a medical risk and contributing towards capacity being utilized less effectively. Healthcare services are often said to be crucial to coordinate in order to create equally good availability for care-seekers. Could healthcare matching become the solution of this problem?Purpose: One aim is to discuss the need for healthcare matching as the solution of the problem. Another is to discuss the main barriers to matching.Methodology: Inspired by the concepts of matching and value co- creation and drawing on a detailed analysis of patient statements from studies in the Swedish healthcare, and experiences from the coordination of patients of Region Skåne in Sweden as well as research into the effects of the reform on a certain care guarantee the need for and barriers against healthcare matching is discussed.Findings: There is a need for healthcare matching because many patients are waiting for care and because capacity should be used effectively. Healthcare matching is a service offered to the care-seeker and referrers increasing the prerequisites for equal availability to all care-seekers.Implications: To achieve healthcare matching, several political and economic aspects must be put on the agenda for discussion.2Key words: barriers, capacity, co-ordination, healthcare, matching, value co-creatio

Role-play as a pedagogical method to prepare students for practice: the students´voice

In this article we discuss how and why role-play supports students in gaining insights into complex leadership situations. We give voice to the students by illustrating their experiences in a role-playing activity involving a human resource management issue designed, performed, and evaluated as part of a management program. The results show that the role-playing supports the students by stimulating them to understand the issue from various perspectives, hence performing an overall change of perspectives. The role-playing exercise also enabled the students to create a collective understanding of the situation. The active social interactions and conversations of role-playing contributed to establishing a sense of community among the students. We argue that role-play could be a viable and forceful pedagogical method whereby teachers give their students the opportunity to prepare for practice. However, to implement role-play as an alternative method of learning requires that the method is a part of the institutional learning space.</p