News

  • 2025-02-03

    Hello there Olle Bäcklund, PhD student in Business Administration

    Olle, could you tell us about your background before joining Karlstad Business School and the Service Research Center (CTF)?

    – I have a Master of Science in Industrial Engineering and Management from Karlstad Business School, where I studied the master's program in Innovation and Service Development. During my time at Karlstad Business School, I also taught mathematics to first-year students, which was both fun and educational. I have also been an exchange student in Austria, which gave me perspectives on education and research in an international context.

  • 2025-02-03

    Hello there Henryk Stawicki, PhD student in Business Administration

    Henryk, could you briefly tell us about your background before joining Karlstad Business School and the Service Research Center (CTF)?

    – I have over 20 years of work experience from Lodz in Poland, New York, Stockholm, and London, with over ten years dedicated to service design. For eight years, I led Change Pilots, a Polish consulting firm described as a "Provider of Positive Change in Business" in the report Positive Impact Startups (Kozminski, 2021).

  • 2025-01-27

    System hosting – a way to manage complex challenges with many stakeholders

    Many important issues, such as climate change, social welfare issues and social and spatial planning, often fall through the cracks between different sectors and stakeholders. This can lead to a lack shared responsibility and important issues being left unresolved. What if there was a way to drive important issues forward and find solutions?

    Martin Fransson at Karlstads universitet Samhällsnytta AB and researcher at the Service Research Center is the author behind the report “Värdskap för ledning av ägarlösa tjänstesystem” (Hosting for the management of ownerless service systems), which addresses how to manage major issues that often fall between the responsibilities of different actors. The report is based on insights from the project “Systemdesign i samverkan” (System design in collaboration), financed by the Swedish Transport Administration.

  • 2025-01-21

    Research project to encourage companies and customers to work together to create a more sustainable value chain

    Traditionally, the concept of “customer” refers to someone who buys something – but in a modern context, it includes all actors who create value together for each other. In the Interreg project Interregional Circularity in Central Scandinavia, researchers at Karlstad University want to broaden the perspective by also exploring circularity as collaborative value creation.

    In service research, services are perceived as relationships rather than just a matter of transactions. By understanding and meeting customer needs, companies can create value in a more resource-efficient way. However, this requires more interactive relationships with customers who are looking for more than just products.

  • 2025-01-08

    Hello there Martiina Salokangas, PhD student in business administration at Karlstad Business School and The Service Research Center

    Martiina, tell us about your background

    – I graduated with a master’s degree in marketing from the Turku School of Economics in Finland at the end of last year. During my studies, I developed an interest in sustainability themes, which I then explored further in my master’s thesis which focused on sustainable consumption.

    What made you interested in applying for the PhD-position?

  • 2024-12-19

    Linda Bergkvist, new docent in information systems: “I want to help organisations and individuals navigate the digital world”

    Hello there Linda, and congratulations on your new title as docent! Can you tell us about your research?

    "Thank you! My research focuses on systematic and user-centred digitalisation with an emphasis on increasing knowledge about how organisations can harness the opportunities of digitalisation in a sustainable and value-creating way. Among other things, I investigate how digital technology can be used in interaction with organisations and individuals to create value-added services, products and processes.