Many companies in Sweden and Norway are already testing circular solutions such as take-back systems, repair and reuse, but few succeed in scaling them up. A new project at the Service Research Center (CTF) at Karlstad University will help companies move from pilot initiatives to viable business models.

– What is missing today is not technology, but workable business arrangements around it. When several actors need to share data, responsibilities and revenues, uncertainty arises, which prevents initiatives from being taken forward, says Mikael Johnson, senior lecturer and project leader at CTF and Karlstad Business School.

How does theory become real competence? During a teaching assignment in China, the classroom was transformed into an engaging and participatory learning environment. Through prototyping and active collaboration, students developed both knowledge and confidence.

– At Karlstad Business School we put the same approach at the centre of learning. As a student, you actively shape your own learning process, says John Sören Pettersson, professor in information systems.

During a teaching period in China, the connection between theory and practice became particularly clear in web development courses. By using prototypes and a participant-centered approach, the classroom became an active learning environment.

Students studying on the Master programme in information systems at Karlstad Business School may now receive two-degree certificates, whilst only studying one degree programme, announces Dr Ala Sarah Alaqra, associate professor in information systems at Karlstad Business School.

Through the new double degree programme, being launched August 2026, students complete their first year of studies at Karlstad University and then spend their second year at our partner university, the University of Vaasa, Finland. 

A global subject, a global classroom and a global team of academics with global teaching materials together create the perfect conditions for education with an international reach. At Karlstad Business School, the course Human resource management in a global context has just been completed.

In a world where borders are blurred by digitalisation, migration and the global economy, the need for education with global content has never been greater – for both students and employers.

– A global perspective in teaching is not just about including examples from different parts of the world – it is about developing the ability to understand, collaborate and act in complex, multicultural contexts, says Robert MacKenzie, Professor of working life science at Karlstad Business School and joint course leader.

Robert MacKenzie, you have been awarded a BUIRA Fellowship “in recognition of your tremendous contribution both to BUIRA and to industrial relations scholarship.” – what does this mean?

– A BUIRA Fellowship is an honorary distinction awarded by the British Universities Industrial Relations Association (BUIRA). It recognises scholars who have made an outstanding and sustained contribution to the field of industrial relations research. The Fellowship will be formally awarded at BUIRA’s annual conference, which this year takes place at the University of Essex in June.

Do you feel abandoned when you’re expected to handle everything on your own in a store? You’re not alone. Amie Gustafsson, a newly minted PhD in Business Administration at Karlstad Business School and researcher at CTF, has studied the state we find ourselves in when technology fails and we are left with a rigid digital source code as our only companion.
– Self-service strips away the human relationship, and without human touchpoints that can repair trust after a machine failure, customer loyalty to the brand becomes very short-lived.

How do unmanned stores and self-service affect customers’ sense of service and trust?