What makes more and more people want to keep track of themselves, their habits, number of steps, weight, health, using apps, bracelets and other fitness trackers? Why do we want to measure ourselves, and also give businesses the opportunity to take part of our private data? These are some of the questions Ph D Student Vasileios Charitsis is seeking the answer to.
More and more technologies, apps and gadgets are showing up on the market.
Josina Vink is a service designer and researcher exploring what it takes to shift from creating incremental change to realizing transformative innovation in health services.
Our choices as consumers are governed by various factors. At the restaurant one of them is the appearance of the person serving us - if the person has a look that is perceived as healthy, we choose the healthy options from the menu. These are the findings from a study made by researchers Poja Shams and Anders Gustafsson.
The health trend is growing and we are becoming increasingly aware of what kind of food we should consume to maintain good health.
The scientific article “Harnessing the creative potential among users” about customer involvement, written by researchers at CTF, Service Research Center at Karlstad University, has been appointed an “Innovation Classic” by the highly ranked scientific journal, Journal of Product Innovation Management.
178 ideas on how health care can be better. This is the result so far from the research project “User oriented innovation in Primary Care” conducted by CTF, Service Research Center at Karlstad University in collaboration with the County Council of Värmland, Sweden. On May 7th, a closing seminar was held where project’s innovation group work was presented for patients and staff at the County Council and Vinnova.
Martin Fransson, Ph. D of Business Administration at CTF, Service Research Center at Karlstad University, has been commissioned by the European Institute of Public Administration to evaluate submitted projects competing for the 2015 EPSA Prize, the European prize is awarded to development projects in the public sector.
There are a total of 264 projects from 36 European countries that are competing and this year’s theme is “The Public Sector as Partner for a Better Society”.
This year researchers at CTF and Swerea IVF will be working on a model and approach for the development and delivery of customized industrial services. The collaboration will be carried out along with three local companies from the region who have been selected in cooperation with ALMI företagspartner i Värmland.
Professor in Consumer Psychology and Innovation at CTF, you have participated in Swedish radio concerning a growing trend in social media. Can you tell us about that?
- I talked about why people are becoming more helpful, for example by donating money through social media.
The Journal of Service Research has announced a Call for Papers for a Special Issue on Service Design and Innovation. This is an excellent opportunity for the service design and innovation community.
Submission deadline: January 15, 2016.
Expected publication date: August 2017.
The Editor is Mary Jo Bitner, Arizona State University, USA, and Guest Co-Editors are: Lia Patricio, University of Porto, Portugal, Raymond P.
Ph. D student, Business Administration at CTF. You are currently in New Zealand, what are you doing there?
- I will spend the spring semester here at University of Otago to work on my thesis, make new contacts and develop my international network. In addition, I will take the opportunity to experience a beautiful country with amazing nature and incredibly nice people.
Seven out of twenty, or 35 percent. That is the number of research projects at Karlstad University that have been approved and receive funding from the Horizon 2020 EU framework program. The average in EU is 11 percent. One of the projects funded by Horizon 2020 will be led by researchers Bo Edvardsson and Bård Tronvoll at CTF.
The Horizon 2020 EU framework program was launched in January 2014.
Service Design for Innovation (SDIN), a Marie Curie European Training Network, is now seeking 9 outstanding Early Stage Researchers (ESR) to join its 3 years research training program, involving a PhD enrolment and a full-time contract.
These Marie Curie positions are attractive and highly prestigious opportunities for Early Stage Researchers in the field of Service Design and Innovation.
SDIN offers the resources, infrastructure and expertise of 8 highly reputed European academic and non-academ
Professor Anders Gustafsson has been awarded the “Highly Commended Paper Award” for the article “Small details that make big differences: A radical approach to consumption experience as a firm’s differentiating strategy” by the publisher Emerald.
A new research and innovation project is focusing on manufacturing companies to strengthen their competitiveness and increase their profitability by moving from goods to service production.
We welcome Oksana Tokar, Ph D Student at the Department IT Management & Consulting, Universität Hamburg, in Germany, who will be visiting us for the next two weeks.
- During my stay at CTF I will be working on my paper about crossing service systems boundaries with my co-writers Tilo Böhmann, Universität Hamburg, Bo Edvardsson and Bard Tronvoll, CTF. I will also meet with researchers at CTF that are working on the same topic.
Technical services based on IT solutions are becoming increasingly common in many manufacturing industries, but many questions still remain concerning for example, how it affects relationships, and how to create a profitable business models. The introduction of new technology can also be a challenge that must be addressed, especially if the company operates globally.
On March 9 we will start our open networked learning course Making Sense of Service Logic. The aim of the course is to introduce central concepts of service research, by applying them to different business and organizational contexts.
Researchers at CTF are currently testing Oculus Rift in CTF Consumer Lab. Oculus Rift is a technique used in the gaming world to maximize the game experience. Through special glasses the user can see different scenarios and the experience becomes more real, like being in the middle of a 3D movie.
- Within our consumer research we are conducting studies both in our lab and on-site in stores.
Ph. D student in Business Administration, how are your doctoral studies coming along?
- It is going well, thank you! My main focus is primarily on employee involvement in service innovation, but
from April last year I have also participated in the project “User-Oriented Innovation in primary care through innovation teams”. The aim of the project is to improve patients’ well-being as well as raise the level of innovation and reduce costs in primary care.
The Håkan Frisinger Foundation for Transportation Research awarded its 2014 scholarship to Professor Margareta Friman at Karlstad University.
Margareta Friman will receive the scholarship of SEK 250,000 for
combining behavioral science with transportation research, and thus
has increased understanding of the factors that influence the decisions and choices of transport people make.
The scholarship will be awarded by the Håkan Frisinger Foundation
at a seminar held o
