Effektiv och anpassad målstyrning i ett digitalt tjänsteföretag : Att anpassa mål utifrån heterogena grupper i ett SaaS-bolag

This thesis examines how target management works in a service company, more precisely a Software as a Service (SaaS) company. The thesis also examines how target management is handled in an organization with heterogeneous groups in the form of departments made up of very different occupational groups. A comprehensive theoretical framework based on previous academic literature is used to examine and evaluate how target management works in the examined service company. Since the amount of academic literature on target management in service companies is limited, this thesis contributes with a valuable application of existing knowledge on a field that is relatively unstudied. Through semi-structured interviews, views and experiences are collected from a representative selection of employees. This constitutes the thesis’ empirical material. Through the application of existing academic knowledge on this empirical material, the thesis examines how the company’s target management is perceived and handled in practice, as well as what actions can be taken to improve the management system. It is found that the lack of feedback and exchange of opinions and perspectives in the organization leads to conflicts between departments, and that the engagement for the target management varies from high to low. It also seems that the current target management does not to a necessary extent account for the company’s external environment, such as customers and competitors, in its steering. The conclusion is that the company needs to establish a culture of feedback and exchange of perspectives in order to secure its long-term success through target management.