Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Business innovations'

The thesis covers the phenomenon of business model innovation. It provides with theoretical background of the concept based on the works of several scientists who stand at the beginnings of the discipline. The paper also introduces the principles of design thinking applied to business model innovation in order to get superior results and serve as a guideline for ideation processes and presenting enhancements to existing business models. The practical part is devoted to applying the described concepts on examples from real life, which can especially help small companies in their battle with incumbents. Three industries are analyzed to see the flaws with the current state of things. New business models that can disrupt corresponding industries are offered at the end of each case.

Joint Applied Project
This report investigates the scope and boundaries surrounding Open Innovation methodologies, Web 2.0 technologies and Crowdsourcing to determine their appropriateness for government use and how/when they can be used. Open Innovation methodology revolutionizes the inflow and outflow of organizational information and the administration of intellectual property. It brings together individuals with diverse talents across multiple disciplines to collaborate on projects. Web 2.0 technologies include Wikis, blogs, video-sharing and social-networking sites, used for more efficient communication and knowledge sharing. Crowdsourcing is an online collaborative decision-making effort that reaches thousands of people at one time, who deliver bits and pieces of information, which are compiled into an innovative product or service. This process captures talent from research institutes, universities, non-profit organizations, small businesses, consultants, inventors and others to produce solutions to tasks, pioneer new technologies, or capture, systematize, and examine large amounts of data. Commercial businesses are using these technologies and methodologies to successfully bring new products to market, improve their existing products and improve customer service. The government may benefit in a similar manner.

In the modern economy, the hotel and restaurant business is one of the important areas, since it is, first of all, income, job creation, and also an incentive for the development of all regions of the country. Today's trends in the development of the hospitality industry, innovations and comfort in the hotel and restaurant business, play a major role in the highly competitive struggle for each client.

Världen är i konstant förändring och drivs framåt genom utveckling av nya och uppdaterade produkter. Utan denna utveckling skulle samhällsutvecklingen troligtvis stanna av. För hur skulle ditt liv se ut utan järnvägen, elektriciteten eller telefonen? Alla dessa förändringar börjar med att en person har en idé som börjar gro och som börjar sin resa mot att nå marknaden. De idéer som mynnar ut i produkter, är av teknisk karaktär och har en höjd av originalitet klassas som uppfinningar, som när väl insteg nås på marknaden blir till innovationer. Alla idéer har dock inte samma förutsättningar att lyckas nå marknaden, utan vissa har stor möjlighet att bli innovationer och vissa har det inte. I de fallen där innehavaren av en idé har som mål att nå insteg med sin uppfinning är det viktigt att i ett så tidigt skede som möjligt kunna särskilja vilka uppfinningar som har potential att göra detta för att ha möjlighet att kunna fokusera sina resurser, så som kapital och tid, på de uppfinningar som har bäst förutsättningar att bli till innovationer. För att kunna få förståelse för huruvida en idé har en affärsmässig potential har vi i det här arbetet undersökt vilka parametrar som påverkar möjligheten att nå insteg. Dessutom har vi undersökt hur en innehavare av en idé kan använda sig utav dessa parametrar för att själv ha möjlighet att analysera och påverka chansen att lyckas. Arbetet har genomförts genom litteraturstudier och kvalitativa intervjuer med personer som har erfarenhet kring uppfinningar och hur dessa når sin tilltänka marknad. Litteraturstudien samt intervjuerna ledde fram till ett antal parametrar som är av intresse att ha kunskap kring. Genom att jämföra dessa med teorin kunde vi analysera fram huruvida de hade inverkan för potentialen att nå marknaden. Ytterligare analys genomfördes för att identifiera hur dessa kan användas för att utvärdera en idé. Parametrarna som identifierades som mest väsentliga för att en uppfinning skulle ha möjlighet att nå insteg är originalitet, marknadskännedom, kunskap och kompetens, drivkraft, öppenhet, timing samt ekonomiska resurser. Det har även visat sig att teori och uppfinnare står långt ifrån varandra när det kommer till hur det praktiskt går till att nå insteg. Uppfinnarna anser att den tekniska lösningen är mest väsentlig medan teorin anser att behovet för produkten hos den tilltänka kunden är det. Vår slutsats är att både den tekniska lösningen och behovet är nödvändigt för att nå insteg, vilket är viktigt att förstå. Uppfinnaren kan få kunskap kring detta genom att arbeta mer strukturerat, se på idén mer objektivt samt genom att göra noggrannare marknadsundersökningar. Vi har även funnit att det är viktigt att våga dela med sig av sin idé, i viss mån, och vara öppen för att kunna få hjälp med kunskap kring kompetens som man inte själv behärskar. Det finns mycket att vinna på att lyckas med att verifiera idéer i ett tidigt stadie för att kunna lägga tid och energi på de idéer som har störst potential att lyckas. Hur detta går till rent praktiskt presenteras sist i rapporten.
The world is in constant change, driven by the development of new and updated products. Without these products, the growth in society would in the worst-case scenario stop completely. Can you imagine how your life would be without the railway, electricity or phone? All these examples have at some point started with a person that has an idea. This person then begins to think about it and at some point, begin the journey to reach the market with it. The ideas that become a product and is of technical nature and at the same time has a height of originality, is classified as an invention. When a market adopts an invention, it becomes an innovation. All ideas have not the same possibility to succeed in the market, some have great potential meanwhile some inventions just fail. In those cases, when a person aim to reach the market with an idea, it’s important to identify if it is one of those that have the possibility, and this is better to have knowledge about at as a early stage as possible. This is important to do, so the inventor can focus their resources, such as capital and time, in the right direction. We have investigated the parameters that affect the ability to achieve entry into a market to get a better understanding of whether an idea has commercial potential or not. We have also in addition to the investigation examined how these parameters can be used to influence the chance of success. The work was done through literature studies and interviews with people who have experience of inventions and the innovation process. The literature review and interviews led to several parameters that are of interest. By comparing this with the theory, we could analyse whether these had effects or not, and if so how much. Further analysis was performed to identify how these can be used in practise. The parameters that were identified as most important was originality, market awareness, knowledge and skills, motivation, transparency, timing and financial resources. We have also proved that theory and reality are far apart when it comes to how innovators work and how researchers think is the best way. The inventors believe that the technical solution is the most significant parameter, while the theory considers the need for the product is the most important. Our conclusion is that both the technical solution and the need are necessary to achieve entry into the market. The inventor can obtain knowledge about all these parameters by working with more structure, look at the idea more objectively and make inquiries with potential customers. We have also found that it is important to share the idea with others, but only to a certain level due to demands for patent grants, to be able to get help to gain knowledge about the parameters that the individual does not possess. There is much to gain from the success of verifying ideas at an early stage, so time and energy can be allocated to the ideas with the greatest potential to succeed. How innovators can use the parameters in a practical way are presented at the end of the report.

It has been shown in this thesis why innovations are regarded as the lifeline of engineering industries. Continuous flow of novel ideas is the source of innovations but the encouragement, creation and nurturing of such ideas requires many distinct managerial attributes. Hence, management of innovations is complex but an important area of study which is not amenable to standard analyses due to its multidisciplinary nature and dependence on a large number of intangible variables. It has been shown that proper management of innovations would involve at least three distinct but closely linked activities, namely: (a) managing people, in particular the innovators, as well as inspiring others to become innovators; (b) managing the environment so that it is conducive to innovations; and (c) managing innovative processes in order to ensure that innovations are properly nurtured, well targeted and economically implemented within clearly defined time and budgetary constraints. The thesis has been divided into eight chapters; an outline of the chapters is given below. Chapter 1 is an introduction to the subject of managing innovations in engineering industries. It sets the scene for carrying out research in this field, identifies the problems to be tackled and makes a clear statement of the aims. Chapter 2 offers a critical review of the published works relevant to the field of research covered in this thesis. The purpose of this study was to understand the state of the art approach to: (a) creating and maintaining the innovative environment; (b) inspiring and leading engineers to come up with innovative solutions for engineering problems; (c) managing the innovative processes for better efficiency. Finally, in view of the comprehensive review of the relevant published literature, this chapter justifies the aims of this research. Chapter 3 describes research methodology i. e. the procedure for conducting this programme of research. The purpose of this study was to ensure that the research programme was conducted in accordance with the scientific method as closely as practicable. For sake of clarity, chapter 4 first draws distinction between inventions, innovations and engineering design and later identifies a large number of intangible factors that influence the three principal components, i. e. innovative environment, innovators and the innovation process. It is suggested that the innovativeness of engineering companies depends on these three principal components. Hence, innovativeness may be assessed by determining the influence of each on the principal components with the help of suitable computational techniques. Two computer applications have been developed to: (a) evaluate the innovativeness of engineering organisations; and (b) analyse the risks embedded in either accepting innovative ideas or implementing innovative projects. These applications are based on questionnaires and may serve as computer aided management (CAM) tools for dealing with the multidimensional problem of managing innovations speedily and efficiently. Chapter 5 analyses the influence of factors identified in chapter 4 and uses the two aforementioned applications to survey the innovativeness of four engineering organisations for their innovativeness and evaluate two projects for the risks surrounding them. These assessments were carried in the form of six case studies. Chapter 6 and Chapter 7 present the results of the six case studies and a focused discussion of the results and other observations made during the course of this research. Chapter 8 draws conclusion from this research and proposes further work that may be carried out in order to study yet unknown factors, refine the questionnaires conduct further tests in different industrial environments to build confidence in the use of CAM Applications as tools for rapid response management of innovations in engineering industries.

Abstract Today's turbulent business environment, which is characterised by uncertainty and inability to predict the future, is extremely challenging. Mobile and Internet Protocol (IP) convergence, which brings together technologies and services from the mobile and Internet domains, has been identified as a discontinuity in the mobile telecommunications business. Additionally, new disruptive technologies are introduced together with new, complex products. This research addresses the approach that, along with introducing disruptive technologies in the mobile and IP convergence era, a new operational mode is needed in the new product development (NPD) process. This study approaches the operational mode from five perspectives: business environment, competence development, process renewal, running technology pilots, and product reliability. The research on the business environment area proposes two frameworks: one for building and describing and another for evaluating business models. The study on competence development arrives at the conclusion to propose a project management competence development framework. The third research perspective suggests that, when the business environment is changing, and disruptive technologies and continuous innovations create new kinds of products, it is likely that processes need renewal. Running technology pilots to involve customers early enough in new product development is proposed in the fourth research area. Finally, the fifth research topic proposes that it is essential for companies to be able to estimate the reliability of their products during the product development phase. It is concluded that the new operational mode when introducing disruptive technologies requires reconsidering business models, special attention to competence development, process renewal, customer involvement in new product development, and requires a means to guarantee software reliability.

Abstract As services are increasingly becoming the main focus in the traditional information communication technology industry, companies are seeking leverage from new types of collaborations, such as business ecosystems that cross industry boundaries. The health and wellness business is one service domain in which advances in technology have created the need for services that integrate technology in novel ways. To advance new service businesses, national research programmes offer funding for organisations to collaborate for developing innovative services. Forming new networks and collaboration between organisations is essential in the new business environment. Emerging business ecosystems formed in the research programme context are expanding the concept of business ecosystems. When organisations work together for the first time, challenges arise from bringing together different expectations and working styles. Additional challenges arise through issues regarding suitable integrations or in the creation of completely new services. The need to understand the practical phenomenon of emerging business ecosystems and the service innovation in these ecosystems formed the starting point of this research. The research was conducted in two separate Finnish research programmes in which the researcher actively participated. This led to the adoption of an action research strategy, comprising several activities focusing on the actor dynamics and roles as well as resolving issues arising from the ecosystem formation. In addition, the service innovation-focused research activities were based on the capabilities and domain expertise of the ecosystem companies. This research produced an understanding of the formation of wellness business ecosystems, identified the main phases of the formation and some challenges. This research found out that successful emerging business ecosystems require strong leadership early in the formation to maintain the stability and vision of the ecosystem, and each organisation should find its role within the ecosystem. The creation of viable services also requires openness between organisations. This research provides practical knowledge of the organisational actions, managerial insights and solutions to issues that are identified when organisations come together to form new ecosystems in a research programme context
Tiivistelmä Eri ICT-alojen yritykset ovat tänä päivänä siirtyneet yhä enemmän määrittelemään toimintansa teknologian sijaan palveluratkaisujen tuottamisen sekä uudenlaisten yhteistyöratkaisujen kautta. Uusien teknologiaratkaisujen hyödyntäminen on tuonut digitalisaation myös hyvinvointialojen palveluihin. Sen myötä alalle on tullut uusia, teknologiaperustaisia ratkaisuja tuottavia pieniä toimijoita. Viime vuosina myös kansallinen tutkimushankerahoitus on tukenut uutta liiketoimintaa teknologiaperustaisten hyvinvointipalveluratkaisujen ympärille, ja edistänyt uusien yritysverkostojen, kuten liiketoimintaekosysteemien muodostumista. Kun organisaatiot ryhtyvät tekemään tiivistä yhteistyötä ensimmäistä kertaa yhdessä hankkeiden puitteissa, tuovat erilaiset odotukset ja työskentelytapojen yhteensovittaminen myös omat haasteensa yhteistyöhön. Uusien ekosysteemien muodostumista ja siihen liittyviä käytänteitä on tarvetta ymmärtää aiempaa syvällisemmin. Tämä tunnistettu tarve toimi tämän väitöstutkimuksen lähtökohtana. Tämä tutkimus toteutettiin kahdessa suomalaisessa tutkimusohjelmassa, joihin väitöstyön tekijä osallistui aktiivisena tutkijana. Tutkimus toteutettiin toimintatutkimuksena, ja siihen sisällytettiin useita tutkimustehtäviä. Tehtävien tavoitteena oli keskittyä toimijoiden keskinäiseen toimintaan ja rooleihin, ja pyrkiä ratkaisemaan ekosysteemiyhteistyöstä syntyviä haasteita. Lisäksi tutkimuksessa keskityttiin ekosysteemiyhteistyön pyrkimykseen synnyttää innovatiivista liiketoimintaa organisaatioiden yhteistyöllä. Väitöstyön tuloksena saatiin uutta ymmärrystä hyvinvointialan ekosysteemien muodostamisesta tutkimushankkeen yhteydessä ja tunnistettiin muodostumisen vaiheita sekä niihin liittyviä ongelmia. Tässä tutkimuksessa todettiin, että onnistunut yhteistyö uudessa liiketoimintaekosysteemissä vaatii vahvan johtavan yrityksen, joka tuo ekosysteemiin päämäärätietoisuutta ja vakautta. Tämän lisäksi muiden yritysten on löydettävä niille sopiva rooli ekosysteemissä. Uusien palveluiden kehittäminen ekosysteemissä vaatii avoimuutta yritysten yhteisessä toiminnassa. Väitöskirjatyö tuotti käytäntöön sovellettavaa tietoa organisaatioiden toiminnasta, ja johtamiseen kohdistuvista tarpeista. Lisäksi se tuotti ratkaisuja tunnistettuihin ongelmiin, joita organisaatioiden yhteistyö ekosysteemin muodostamisen alkuvaiheessa aiheutti tässä työssä tarkastelluissa tutkimushankkeissa

Nowadays, business technologies present equipment and services, which ensure the company’s work. Also, an integral part of the business is communication. The spread of the internet, cloud computing, networks and wireless communication in the 21st century gives more opportunities for advertising and conversations.

Pour préserver leur modèle économique, les entreprises ont longtemps protégé leurs processus d’innovation par des brevets. L’« open source hardware » est, au contraire, un processus collaboratif de développement de produits, où les plans de conception et « secrets » de fabrication sont accessibles à tous. La barrière entre concepteurs et consommateurs s’estompe, grâce aux outils de fabrication digitale, comme les imprimantes 3D ou les découpeuses lasers accessibles via des Fab Labs ou des Maker Spaces permettant aux citoyens de créer et de tester des produits beaucoup plus facilement. Partant d’un phénomène isolé, il existe maintenant 1200 Fab Labs dans 100 différents pays organisés en réseau, « the Fab City Network », dont le but est d’aider les villes à produire 50% des ressources qu’elles consomment d’ici quarante ans.Dans ce contexte, construire un drone pour dépolluer les océans, une ruche connectée, ou un filtre à eau en « Open Source Hardware » (OSH) vise à créer des solutions de manière plus rapide, efficace et à moindre coût. De plus, ces innovations sont gardées volontairement libres de droit. Elles constituent un « bien commun digital », une réserve de connaissances disponible sur Internet via des plateformes numériques. Selon Elinor Ostrom, qui a reçu le prix Nobel d’économie en 2009 « le défi de la génération actuelle est de garder les voies d’accès aux connaissances ouvertes ». Sans atteindre le succès des initiatives en Open Source dans le secteur des logiciels informatiques, ces initiatives n’ont cessé de se propager.Or, comment développer un modèle économique durable avec des innovations qui ont été co-construites et sont partageables par tous ? Nos questions de recherche sont les suivantes : 1) comment rentabiliser la création de valeur produite en OSH ? ; 2) comment étendre cette création de valeur à un ensemble de parties prenantes ? 3) dans le contexte de l’OSH quels sont les facteurs d’adhésions autour de ces modèles économiques ?L’OSH ne s'agit pas d'un phénomène propre à un seul secteur, entreprise ou territoire mais une transformation beaucoup plus globale. Pour chercher à comprendre les conditions nécessaires à la survie et à la montée en puissance de ce phénomène, nous avons mené une étude qualitative multiniveaux qui nous permettait d’étudier les niveaux communautaires, d’entreprise, et d’écosystème territorial, à la fois.La collection de données s’est faite en trois étapes successives. Dans un premier temps, des entretiens qualitatifs ont été menés auprès de vingt-trois initiatives issues de « l’Observatoire de l’Open Source Hardware ». Celles-ci devaient, bien entendu, correspondre à nos critères de recherche, à savoir le développement de produits mécatroniques ou textiles complexes et étiquetés ouverts par leur communauté. Puis, nous avons mené une étude de cas sur quatre acteurs du secteur automobile pour étudier leur réaction face à l’OSH issu de communautés d’innovation. L’étape finale consistait à mener une étude empirique sur les acteurs dans l’écosystème d’innovation d’OSH de la ville de Barcelone, choisie pour son rôle pivot dans le réseau des « Fab Cities ».Nos résultats montrent que ces initiatives sont fortement axées sur des valeurs démocratiques visant à mettre la technologie au service de l’humain. Cet ensemble inhabituel de valeurs constitue un puissant vecteur pour fédérer les acteurs, alors que le succès est mitigé au sein d’entreprises qui n'y adhèrent pas et appréhendent davantage les risques. Enfin, nous avons identifié une diversité de revenus possibles et configurables selon les besoins stratégiques d’une organisation : 1) le financement externe ; 2) la combinaison de produits et de services ; 3) les compétences stratégiques de l’organisation ; 4) le modèle plateforme ; et 5) et l’entreprise distribuée. Ensemble, ils permettent à une initiative en OSH de progressivement affiner son business model, accroître sa valeur, et augmenter sa portée
To preserve their business model, companies have long protected their innovation processes with patents. « Open source hardware » (OSH) is, on the contrary, a collaborative product development process, where design plans and manufacturing "secrets" are accessible to all. The lines between creators and consumers blur more and more, especially when, for example, digital fabrication tools such as 3D printers or laser cutters accessible via Fab Labs or Maker Spaces, enable citizens to create and test products much more easily. Starting from an isolated phenomenon, there are now 1200 Fab Labs in 100 different countries organized in a "Fab City Network", to help cities produce within forty years 50% of the resources they consume.In this context, building a drone to depollute oceans, connected beehives, or a water filter in « Open Source Hardware » (OSH) aims at creating solutions in a more rapid, efficient and inexpensive manner. Furthermore, these innovations are voluntarily kept free by law. They represent a knowledge base, a "digital common good", meaning a reserve of ideas and solutions available on the internet via numerical platforms. According to Elinor Ostrom, who received the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2009, "the challenge of the current generation is to keep the pathways to discovery open" (Hess & Ostrom, 2011). Without attaining the success of open source software initiatives, in practice, these OSH initiatives have continued to spread.But how can a sustainable economic model be developed when co-constructed innovations can be shared by all? Thus, our research questions are the following: 1) How to monetize value created through OSH? 2) How can the business model framework be extended to include value creation and sharing for all stakeholders? 3) In the context of OSH, how does a business model hold together?The OSH phenomenon is not specific to a single sector, company or territory, but is indicative of much more global transformation. To understand the conditions necessary for the survival and growth of OSH, we conducted a qualitative study on the “OSH ecosystem” that allowed us to study the community, firm and territorial ecosystems levels together.Data was collected in three successive phases. First, qualitative interviews were conducted with twenty-three initiatives from the "Open Source Hardware Observatory". These, of course, corresponded to our research criteria, that is the development of complex mechatronic or textile products labeled opened by their surrounding community. Then we conducted a case study on four actors in the automotive sector to study their reaction to OSH developed by innovation communities. The final phase consisted of running an empirical study of the actors in the OSH innovation ecosystem of the city of Barcelona, chosen for its pivotal role in the "Fab Cities" network.Our results show that these initiatives are strongly focused on democratic values aimed at putting technology at the service of humanity. While these values are a powerful vector for federating actors, success is stalled in companies that do not adhere to them. These will primarily focus on the associated risks. Finally, we identified a diversity of possible and configurable revenues to be shaped according to an organization's strategic needs: 1) external financing; 2) a combination of products and services; 3) strategic competence; 4) the model platform, and 5) the distributed enterprise. Together, they enable an OSH initiative to progressively refine its business model, grow in value, and increase its impact

The concept of circular economy has gained a lot of interest among both researchers and practitioners. Moving from the traditional linear “take, make, disposal” resource management approach towards circular economy principles that aim to keep resources in a loop of usage is considered to be a possible way for material-intensive industries to decouple economic growth from environmental constraints. This could enable increased value creation while maintaining a decreased environmental footprint. The transition towards circular economy has stimulated companies across industries to introduce varying types of circular business model innovations. By using the case of clothing resale in the fashion industry, this thesis aims to explore how companies innovate their business models in the context of circular economy. The study uses the Multi-Level Perspective framework to analyze the emerging business model innovations within the clothing resale markets, incumbent fashion retailers’ reactions towards them, and the role of innovating business models in possible future stages of the fashion industry’s transition towards circular economy. The findings show that the main types of business model innovations emerging in the highly growing clothing resale markets are born-circular fashion retailers, online resale platforms, B2B back-end services for clothing resale and clothing as a service. Most incumbent fashion retailers have been actively monitoring the development of the clothing resale market, but only a small part of them have introduced resale-related business models themselves. Some fashion retailers that have taken a more active approach towards clothing resale have followed a business model diversification strategy where the existing business model stays in place and a secondary resale business model is established parallel with the core business model. Although the clothing resale business model innovations can entail some short-term economic and brand benefits especially with specific product types and price segments, the largest benefits are likely to be related to preparing for future changes. Fashion retailers that are currently reacting early to the circular economy transition by diversifying their business model with novel resale business model innovations strengthen their future position if changes in regulatory frameworks, consumer mindsets and technologies further accelerate the importance of circular economy in the industry.
Begreppet cirkulär ekonomi har fått ett stort intresse bland både forskare och utövare. Genom att förflytta ifrån den traditionella linjära resurshanteringsstrategin: "ta, göra, bortskaffa", till principerna för cirkulär ekonomi. Principerna syftar till att istället hålla resurserna i en slinga av användning och anses vara ett möjligt sätt för materialintensiva industrier att koppla från den ekonomiska tillväxten från miljöbegränsningar, där en cirkulär ekonomi kan möjliggöra ökad värdeskapande samtidigt som ett minskat miljöavtryck bibehålls. Övergången till en cirkulär ekonomi har stimulerat företag över en mängd olika branscher att införa olika typer av cirkuläraffärsmodellsutveckling. Genom att studera det nya fenomenet av återförsäljning av kläder inom modebranschen, syftar examensarbetet att undersöka hur företag utvecklar sina affärsmodeller i samband med cirkulär ekonomi. Studien använder ett multi-perspektivramverk för att analysera de nya affärsmodellinnovationerna inom klädåterförsäljningsmarknaderna. Utöver det studeras även de nuvarande modeförsäljares reaktioner gentemot dessa samt rollen som innovativa affärsmodeller kan ha i framtida stadier av modebranschens övergång till cirkulär ekonomi. Resultaten visar att de viktigaste typerna av affärsmodellinnovationer på de signifikant växande marknaderna för återförsäljning av kläder är de `föddes-cirkulära´ modeförsäljarna, återförsäljningsplattformar på nätet, samt B2B-tjänster för återförsäljning av kläder och kläder som en tjänst. De flesta nuvarande modeförsäljare har aktivt övervakat utvecklingen av marknaden för klädåterförsäljning, men bara en liten del av dem har själva infört återförsäljningsrelaterade affärsmodeller. Vissa modeförsäljare som har tagit ett mer aktivt förhållningssätt till återförsäljning av kläder har följt en strategi för diversifiering av affärsmodeller där den befintliga affärsmodellen förblir på plats och en sekundär affärsmodell för återförsäljning upprättas parallellt med den huvudsakliga affärsmodellen. Trots att utveckling av affärsmodellens klädesåterförsäljning kan medföra ekonomiska fördelar och varumärken på kort sikt, särskilt med specifika produkttyper och prissegment. Förutses de största fördelarna troligen vara relaterat till förberedelser för framtida förändringar. Modeaktörer som reagerar tidigt på övergången till cirkulär ekonomi genom att diversifiera den befintliga affärsmodellen med nya innovationer eller kompletterar med en ny affärsmodell, stärker sin framtida position om förändringar i regelverk, konsumentens tankesätt och teknik ytterligare påskyndar vikten av cirkulär ekonomi i branschen.

”Service Design” har på senare tid fått innebörden att utveckla tjänster med hjälp av designmetodik. Syftet med denna uppsats har varit att kartlägga nuvarande synsätt inom området för att få inblick i hur ”Service Design” kan användas i innovations- och utvecklingsprocesser hos svenska tjänsteföretag. En övergripande genomgång av litteraturen kring området ”Service Design” har gjorts. Vi har gjort en undersökning av material kring framgångsrika konsultföretag riktade mot tjänsteföretag och kartlagt deras arbetsprocesser. För högre analyskvalitet så genomförde vi även en förstudie med företagen SL, Connex och Swebus. Baserat på vår litteraturstudie och studien av konsultföretagen har vi genererat ”best practise” som utgjort en referensram för analys av SJ, Swebus Express och SAS. Vi har intervjuat företagen med syftet att få en insikt i företagens arbetsprocesser. Resultatet av vår undersökning visar att förståelsen för designens input vid utformning av fysiska produkter är vida känd men att det inte är lika känt vad designmetodik kan tillföra utveckling av tjänster. I två av de undersökta företagen dominerar det affärsstrategiska tänkandet och enbart till viss del utnyttjas användandet av designverktyg, dock sker detta omedvetet. Designmetodiken är i de två fallen Swebus Express och SJ ingenting som medvetet används för att analysera kunden och dess omgivning eller fortsättningsvis används i tjänsteutvecklingsprocessen. SAS är det företag som vi intervjuat som har kommit längst vad det gäller användandet av ”Service Design” i bemärkelsen tjänstedesign. Vid studerandet av design ur ett företagsekonomiskt perspektiv kan vi konstatera att designmetodik i utvecklingsprocesser i de undersökta företagen till viss del är obefintlig. Vår teoridel och vår ”best practise” utgör en väsentlig del av vår uppsats och vi hoppas att vår kartläggning blir ett bidrag till teorierna kring ”Service Design”.

The objective of this exploratory thesis has been to study how leaders incorporate innovations into the business processes with the help of technical solutions and their competencies. The study takes into consideration the best practices of consulting companies, multinational manufacturing companies, and digitally creative consultant companies where leaders are able to bring innovation with the help of technical solutions. It deals with questions on what technical solutions help leaders to implement innovations, and also, what are the skills and competencies required by leaders to bring innovation with the help of digitalization. The findings of the research aim to develop a profound understanding on the concepts of leadership, innovation and also digitalization in the modern era. The thesis was carried out in light of semi- structured interviews, to understand the study areas, and proceed further with the data processing, empirical findings, analysis and conclusions. Owing to the rapid development in technologies, and the innovative ways of working, organisations lose their competitive advantages with the growing times if their leadership doesn’t evolve with the advancement that prevails. There has also been previous literature on how digitalization helps leadership to bring innovation and transformation within business organizations, however, there has been lack of studies and research gap to show that leadership has its extensive role to bring innovation within organizations with the help of digitalization and leadership competencies. Therefore, this master thesis worked to combine previous research on leadership, digitalization along with the modern insights based on empirical data. The research has used one qualitative method of semi-structured interview, revealing insightful findings on the data collected for our thesis. Moreover, this Master thesis will serve as a foundation for the future studies and research within the areas of leadership, innovation and digitalization.

The intention with this thesis is to examine the preparation for commercialisation of industrial innovations. Both in the industry and in the academic perspective there is a common need for support of the commercialisation process of innovations, especially concerning the preparation phase. A preparation model for commercialisation has consequently been designed. The propeller of commercialisation incorporates a perspective of parallel preparation concerning the three critical aspects technology characteristics, environment scanning and preparation of the venture. Generally the model can thus contribute with a structured way of evaluation and preparation and reduce the risks by limiting the budget needed in the early phase of commercialisation through the use of subsequent steps incorporating all three critical perspectives. To demonstrate the model and to provide a basis for evaluation, the Propeller of Commercialisation was applied on the specific commercialisation preparation of the SMB technology at Johnson Pacific Pte Ltd in Singapore.

Dans cette thèse, j'ai effectué trois études qui analysent la façon dont les entreprises peuvent profiter des services latente sous-jacente des ressources technologiques dans différents contextes. L'analyse identifie les principales caractéristiques des actifs technologiques qui fournissent des plateformes 1) en tant que la capacité à générer des activités innovantes utiles, 2) à développer des businesse nouvelles et 3) à soutenir la performance économique. Dans la première étude, nous examinons la relation entre les caractéristiques de base des connaissances techniques d'une entreprise et ses capacités à innover. J'explique comment distincts domaines de la connaissance technologique se comportent différemment et fournissent des contributions hétérogènes quand elles sont appliquées dans les contextes productifs. La recherche analyse comment les possibilités d'organiser des différents ensembles de connaissances au sein de la base de connaissances conditionnent l'exploitation de leurs services latente sous-jacente et affectent les capacités d'innovation. La deuxième étude prolonge cette idée et lie ces capacités à des comportements de diversification marchant de l'entreprise. Il examine comment les caractéristiques des ressources technologiques et les capacités d'exploiter efficacement leurs services productifs conduisent les choix stratégiques des entreprises dans les activités en aval. Enfin, la troisième étude aborde la question de savoir comment ces compétences contribuent à la performance économique de l'entreprise et atténuent les effets négatifs de la diversification des activités
The thesis comprises three essays which examine firm behavior in the exploitation of their technological resources. It explains how the firm can drive value of their technological knowledge assets as a platform to improve innovative and economic performance and to develop new businesses. In the first essay (chapter two), I examine the impact of their properties of technological knowledge base on firm's innovative performance in the semiconductor industry from 1968 to 2002. I characterize the organization of the knowledge base, based on the nature of relatedness between knowledge components, complmentarities and similarities. The results suggest that coherence, as the overall level of complementarity between components makes a positive contribution to innovative capabilities, while cohesion, which stands for the overall level of similarity of components, generally has the opposite impact. However, in unfamiliar situations, where the firm engages in activities, cohesion is found to be beneficial for innovations. The main contribution, therefore, is to emphasize that beshond the diversity of technological knowledge and the intensity R&D, the nature of relatedness between knowledge components in the context of application is a key determinant of innovative performance. In the second essay (chapter three), I analyse how firms can take advantage of their technological resources as a platform to diversify into new markets. While technological resources and competencies are widely accepted to be a basis for related business diversification, few works have identified or analysed their characteristics in order to explain why such resources often determine diversification decisions. Chapter 3 proposes that the potential productive services underlying technological resources can be characterized in two dimensions: the level of applicability of technologies in new contexts and their potential complementarities when combined. Using a sample of the world's largest manufacturing companies, the study demonstrates that both potential productive services explain the likelihood of market entry and provide platforms for business development. However, the exploitation of complementary technologies is subject to decreasing returns. There is a curvilinear relationship with the propensity to diversify and the value of diversification for complementary technogies which diminishes over time. Chapter 4 completes the idea by studying the importance of firms' capability to combine technological components in productive configuration i. E. Combinative capability, as a source of heterogeneity in diversified firms. It explores the moderating impact of combinative capability on the relationship between diversification and firms' economic performance in a sample of 111 world's largest manufactures in 1979-2003. Regression results show that firms can mitigate the negative impact of diversification on productivity by exploiting effective technological combinations and enforcing their combinative capabilities. However this effect of combinative capability is depreciable suggesting that when a firm continues to diversify into new business lines, the performance increase due to greater combinative capability does not last long

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the innovation process of companies, and to analyse how important success factors and obstacles are in their innovation process.

Method: The investigation strategy used for this essay was to interview companies that work with innovations. The essay has a qualitative approach. Both primary – in the form of interviews - and secondary data – literature found in books, scientific articles and internet - have been used to achieve our results.

Results: The result of this essay is: there is not just one inovation process that is applicable to all companies. On the other hand, there are some guidelines that could be followed in the process. Some success factors are more important than others and companies do not take given obstacles into consideration.

With the adoption of European Commission directives in 2003 related to open data,member States of EU were encouraged to provide citizens access to previously inaccessiblepublic sector data. This published public data could be used, reused and distributed free ofcharge. Following these directives, many municipalities within Sweden and Europe ingeneral created open data portals for publishing public sector data. With such datapublished, expectations of third party innovations were highly envisaged. This thesis adoptsa qualitative research approach to investigate the challenges and proposed solution ofusing open data for third party innovation. The thesis identifies various aspects ofgovernance, architecture and business model that public organizations should take intoconsideration in order to attract third party innovations on open data. Specifically, theresults of this thesis suggest that in order for open data to act as a platform for innovation,there is need for integration of open data policies. This involves developing commonstandards relating to governance, data format, and architecture. Harmonizing thesestandards across municipalities within Sweden and Europe, would provide the muchneededuser based which is necessary to enhance the two-sided nature of innovations onopen data platforms.

The goal of this dissertation is to not only explain the informing system discipline, but to explore cases from the perspective of the basic tenants of informing systems. The first essay explains what informing science is, the need for a transdiscipline, the channels of the Informing Science Institute informing system, and describes the clients of the ISI. The first essay ends with an analysis of the authors, institutions, and countries of origin for every ISI paper published between 1998 and 2009, as well as reporting interviews with the Editor-In-Chiefs of each ISI journal. The second essay investigates a case study of a last mile broadband initiative. This essay seeks to identify when it is necessary and appropriate for government to intervene in a municipality and provide broadband services. The final essay is an exploration and analysis of The Joint Interagency Field Experimentation event. This event serves as an example of an informing system specifically designed to facilitate structured and unstructured communications between various parties. This research was conducted to assess the nature of participant-impact resulting from attending JIFX, and to consider the consistency of the findings with the predictions of various theoretical frameworks used in informing science.

Problem En ensamföretagare måste ofta sitta på en mängd olika kunskaper, då det är vederbörande som i slutändan tar alla slutgiltiga beslut. Enligt Tomas Lindberg själv förekommer det en sviktande försäljning av produkten Wind-X Medium. Kan det då finnas kunskapsluckor hos Tomas Lindberg själv som har ett indirekt samband till dåliga försäljningssiffror? Vilken betydelse kan det ha för företagande och tillväxt om det finns skillnader mellan att vara en företagare eller entreprenör och uppfinnare eller innovatör?   Syfte Syftet med studien är att undersöka problematiken en ensamföretagare kan ha med att skapa större intresse och acceptans kring sina produkter.   Vision Med en vision att kunna komma med ett eller flera förslag på hur han kan gå vidare med sitt företag.   Metod Författarna har i denna studie använt sig av en kvalitativ metod, genom att intervjua ägaren till företaget. Författarna har genom att göra olika analyser fått fram information till studiens empiri. Genom att analysera och diskutera studiens teoretiska referensram har författarna kommit fram till olika förslag till hur ägaren skulle kunna göra för att gå vidare med sitt företag.   Slutsats Författarna har identifierat vissa kunskapsbrister hos ägaren Tomas Lindberg som kan påverka företaget på olika sätt. I studien har det framkommit att ägaren till företaget X-Innovations AB saknar kunskap om marknadsföring, vilket har gjort att försäljningen av företagets produkt inte går så bra som ägaren hade hoppats.
Problem In a single-person business the business man himself often must have a great deal of knowledge, because he/she is the one who must take all the final decisions. According to Tomas Lindberg there has been a failing sale of the product Wind-X Medium. Could it be that there is an indirect link between Tomas Lindbergs lack of knowledge and failing sales figures of Wind-X Medium? What can the consequence be for business enterprise and growth if there is a difference between being a businessman, entrepreneur or an innovator?   Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the problems a single-person business can have to create more interest and acceptance around his/her products.   Vision With a vision to be able to come up with one or more proposals on how Tomas Lindberg can move on with his business.   Method The authors in this study used a qualitative approach, by interviewing the owner of the company. The authors have by doing different tests, presented information to the study’s empirical work. The authors analyzed and discussed the study’s theoretical framework, and then come up with a various proposals on how the owner could do to move forward with his business.   Conclusions The authors have identified some knowledge gaps with Tomas Lindberg that may affect in different ways. The study has revealed that the owner of the company X-Innovations AB has some knowledge of marketing, which has allowed that the sale of its product are not going as well as the owner hoped.

Thesis (MTech (Business Information Systems))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2015.
The objective of the thesis is to determine the role Business Informatics plays in transforming an organisation using a selected organisation in Cape Town as a case study. Business informatics is an emerging discipline that combines various aspects of business management, information technology and informatics. Informatics is broadly defined as the science of processing information; thus, increasingly, it involves processing and analysing information digitally with the aid of computers. Therefore the aim of the research was to understand what components of business informatics are being leveraged to transform businesses, and the challenges thereof. This was done using a social theory – duality of technology from Orlikowski adapted from Giddens’ Structuration Theory (ST) as a theoretical framework, particularly, the dimensions of duality of structure. The theory was used as a lens to understand and interpret this social phenomenon - the role business informatics can play in business transformation. It is argued that business informatics concepts are able to assist in business transformation through effective use of information systems and business management concepts. In that regard, ERP system in a Cloud platform was recommended to illustrate these concepts. The concepts helped to device guidelines for determining the challenges of a business to use informatics to transform and become sustainable and competitive. Therefore, the research explained and recommended why business entities have begun to move from an application-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to cloud computing-based ERP (cloud-ERP) system. The study used the interpretive approach where qualitative philosophy was applied together with the underpinning theory and literature reviewed to design a semi-structured interview schedule as a data collection instrument. It was a case study of an Organisation where the units of analysis were the IT, Finance, HR and Sales and Marketing departments and object of analysis was 50 employees. The output is a general framework to guide businesses as to how to apply the concepts of business informatics to achieve improved business transformation.

The effective integration of technological innovation is vital to the success of small businesses and can catapult growth and profitability. Some business managers and supervisors, however, may not have a firm understanding of strategies for integrating technological innovations in businesses; this lack of knowledge may result in employee frustration and costly roadblocks to achieving business objectives. This case study was conducted to identify the strategies used by business managers and supervisors to integrate technological innovations in small businesses. Christensen's theory of disruptive innovation and Rogers' theory of diffusion of innovation served as the conceptual framework. Ten business managers and supervisors from Castries, St. Lucia, participated in semistructured interviews. Participants who were selected using purposive sampling worked in a small business in St. Lucia for atleast 5 years, were part of senior management, and used strategies for integrating technological innovations in a small business. Two of the themes that emerged from data analysis were integration challenges relating to technological innovation complexity, and technology cost regarding hardware, upgrades and software procurement. Findings from this study may contribute to positive social change by providing business managers and supervisors insight about strategies and innovative solutions they can use to develop better business practices, increase tax revenues, and employment opportunities, improve profitability, and boost the economy.

Thesis (MBA (Business Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Through the process of innovation, organisations create technological growth. Successful innovation creates customer value through new products and services, and it could give rise to new markets. Successful innovations contribute to better quality, higher productivity, lower costs and increased profits. One of the ultimate goals for implementing innovation is to achieve a competitive advantage that leads to outperforming competitors. Through the understanding of the innovation processes, organisations can bring predictability into their innovation efforts. This comes from understanding and managing the forces that influence the decisions made by managers. Because of globalisation and fierce competition Spescom DataVoice, a South African technology company, is finding it increasingly difficult to compete in an international market. It is against the background of Spescom DataVoice's need to increase its innovation productivity that this research was spawn. The ambitious goal of this study was to investigate what Spescom DataVoice can do to become sustainable, innovative and competitive in its market space. This research firstly captured the important themes and theories around the subject of innovation and how it relates to strategy. The literature study will try to look into all the important work, especially well-known research and its significance. Lastly, the research will apply the knowledge gained by discussing the research questions relating to Spescom DataVoice's particular situation. The research will discuss the innovation capabilities and perspectives that Spescom DataVoice should focus on; the environment that is needed for sustainable continuous innovation; and innovation strategies that Spescom DataVoice could employ to improve its innovation productivity. AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Organisasies skep tegnologiese groei deur die proses van innovasie. Suksesvolle innovasie skep waarde vir kliënte deur nuwe produkte en dienste, wat weer kan aanleiding gee tot nuwe markte. Suksesvolle innovasie dra by tot beter kwaliteit, hoër produktiwiteit, laer koste en die verhoging van winste. Een van die uiteindelike doelwitte met die implementering van innovasie is om 'n kompeterende voordeel te bewerkstellig wat kan lei tot die oortreffing van kompeteerders. Deur die proses van innovasie beter te verstaan, bring organisasies meer stelligheid in hul pogings om te innoveer. Dit word meegebring deur die verstaan en bestuur van die kragte wat bestuurders se besluite beinvloed. As gevolg van globalisering en fel kompetisie vind Spescom DataVoice, 'n Suid-Afrikaanse tegnologie-maatskappy, dit al hoe moeiliker om in 'n internasionale mark mee te ding. Dit is teen hierdie agtergrond van Spescom DataVoice se behoefte, om hul produktiwiteit ten opsigte van innovasie te verhoog, dat hierdie navorsingstuk die lig gesien het. Die ambisieuse doelwit van hierdie studie was om te ondersoek wat Spescom DataVoice kan doen om volhoubaar, innoverend en kompeterend in sy mark mee te ding. Eerstens bekyk hierdie studie na die belangrike temas en teorieë rondom die onderwerp van innovasie en hoe dit verband hou met strategie. Die literatuurstudie poog om na al die belangrike werke in die vakgebied te kyk, veral die navorsingsresultate en bydrae wat dit opgelewer het. Verder sal die kennis wat opgedoen is toegepas word deur navorsingsvrae te bespreek wat gerig is op Spescom DataVoice se spesifieke situasie. Die navorsingstudie sal dan bespreek op watter innovasie vermoëns en perspektiewe Spescom DataVoice behoort te fokus; die omgewing wat nodig is vir volhoubare kontinue innovasie; en watter innovasie strategieë Spescom DataVoice kan aanwend om sy innovasie produktiwiteit te verhoog.

The analysis of innovation research reveals that it is known more about the role and impact of innovations than about how they are developed and implemented. In the dissertation, various innovation factors are analysed taking into account context and systemic nature of innovation. While analysing theoretical aspects critical for identification of significant innovation factors, innovation definition, typology, and management peculiarities are considered, because they limit the set of innovation factors. Systemic analysis of factors, presented in economic and management literature, allows identifying a number of theoretical innovation factors, which also include economic factors. Problems related to factor measurement are described as well, because measurement issue is a part of factor significance evaluation task. Taking into account the conclusions of theoretical analysis and experience of empirical research on innovation factors, research algorithm and sequence, used for evaluation of innovation factors’ influence, are formulated. It is suggested to evaluate the influence of innovation factors by using logit method and analysing statistical significance of variables’ coefficients and factors’ marginal effects. Using the algorithm and related methods, empirical study of innovation factors’ influence in Lithuanian firms during the periods 1999-2001 and 2002-2004 is conducted. Factors, which have influence on innovation implementation in firms, and innovation factors having... [to full text]
Inovacijų tyrimų analizė atskleidžia, kad yra žinoma daugiau apie inovacijų vaidmenį ir poveikį nei apie tai, kaip jos kuriamos ir diegiamos. Disertacijoje analizuojama atskirų inovacijų veiksnių įtaka inovacinės veiklos rezultatams, atsižvelgiant į kontekstą ir sisteminį inovacijų pobūdį. Analizuojant teorinius aspektus, kritinius nustatant veiksnių reikšmingumą, nagrinėjamas inovacijos apibrėžimas, taip pat tipologija ir valdymo ypatumai, kurie riboja inovacijų veiksnių aibę. Ekonominėje ir vadybinėje literatūroje pateikiamų veiksnių sisteminė analizė leidžia identifikuoti teorinius inovacijų veiksnius, tarp kurių yra ir ekonominiai veiksniai. Taip pat išryškinama inovacijų ir jų veiksnių matavimo problema, kuri kyla vertinant veiksnių reikšmingumą. Atsižvelgiant į teorinės analizės išvadas bei inovacijų veiksnių ekonominių empirinių tyrimų patirtį, formuojamas inovacijų veiksnių įtakos vertinimo algoritmas ir nuoseklumas. Inovacijų veiksnių įtaką siūloma vertinti naudojant tikimybinį logit metodą bei analizuojant veiksnių kintamųjų koeficientų statistinį reikšmingumą bei ribinius poveikius. Remiantis sudarytu algoritmu bei metodais, atliekamas empirinis inovacijų veiksnių įtakos tyrimas Lietuvos įmonėse, apimantis 1999-2001 ir 2002-2004 m. laikotarpių duomenis. Analizuojami veiksniai, kurie turi įtakos tam, ar įmonėje bus diegiamos inovacijos, bei veiksniai, turintys įtakos atskirų tipų – produkto ir proceso – inovacijoms. Suvokiamo inovacijų įtakos laipsnio veiksnių... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]

This research investigates the attitudes and perceptions of the E-Markets as members of their value chain in the textile industry. The study began by formulating a basic understanding of the nature of buyer-to-buyer (B2B)s well as electronic marketplaces. Fundamentally, E-markets change the relationship dynamics between buyers and sellers from "one-to-one" to "many-to-many."

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which promoted quality of care, started the transformation of healthcare systems in the United States. The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore clinical practice innovation strategies used by hospital middle managers to improve quality of care and profitability. Pettigrew's theory was the conceptual framework for this study. Participants were 8 middle managers from 2 high-performing hospitals in the southwestern region of the United States. Data were collected from semistructured interviews, personal notes, and review of the hospital's publicly reported documents and literature. Member checking and methodological triangulation increased the credibility, validity, reliability, and trustworthiness of the study findings. Content and thematic data analysis provided the basis for coding the findings. Data analysis resulted in the emergence of 4 themes: organizational culture, leadership, systematic approach to management by objectives, and staff engagement. The findings showed the interactions among internal context, content, and process constructs of Pettigrew's theory as relevant to clinical practice innovation strategies for improving the quality of care and organizational profitability. The implications for positive social change include the potential for hospital middle managers to implement innovative strategies to improve patients' quality of care and save lives and the overall health and wellness of individuals in the communities they serve.

Understanding the attitudes and attributes of innovators is crucial given the gatekeeper roles these individuals or organizations play in enabling innovation diffusion to occur. But what do innovators look like, and are their characteristics the same regardless of the type of innovation being adopted?

This case study of sought to understand the experience of the Pulaski Academy football program during the 2003 season as it acted as an innovator in adopting several radical innovations. The study provides a detailed case narrative that relies upon 25 existing text, audio, and video artifacts as well as 12 semi-structured interviews with program participants that included coaches, players and administrators, which were part of the 2003 Pulaski Academy football program.

The findings of this study suggest that the innovations Pulaski adopted were radical in nature as defined by Henderson & Clark (1990) and did have an impact on the attributes required to be an innovator. Further, these attributes differed in several instances from what Rogers’ (2003) diffusion of innovations theory posits. The study showed that team’s improved performance was the result of the adoption of a single radiation innovation, the no punting philosophy, but rather a combination of the adoption of several of the innovations and the leadership style of the head coach. The results of the case study confirmed Rogers’ (2003) and Goss’ (1979) assertion that unintended consequences occur with adoption. This particular case demonstrated that one of the unintended consequences of becoming an innovator is that the innovator status opens up additional and early access to other innovations.

These findings point to several recommendations for researchers, including: seeking to understand what innovator characteristics are unique for other innovation types noted in Henderson and Clark’s typology, testing the findings of this case in other social contexts, and evaluating the role the other unintended consequences noted in the study had in contributing to the Pulaski’s success. For practitioners, the findings suggest possible leadership core competencies needed to facilitate innovation adoption and a caution to avoid the temptation to look for a silver bullet when attempting to help an organization be more innovative.

Innovation is vital to the survival and prosperity of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Such firms have the inherent liability of limited resources, which creates a barrier to their pursuit of innovative activities. To compete with larger incumbents and sustain competitive advantages, leaders, the principal decision-makers, play a key role in devising innovation strategies and have overall responsibility for firms' ultimate performance. This study draws on the resource-based view (RBV) and dynamic capabilities perspective (DC) to develop a model linking leadership (resource) to innovation (dynamic capability) and product innovation performance (sustainable competitive advantage). In addition, it suggests that reward philosophy and entrepreneurial culture can enhance or hinder the effect of transformational and transactional leadership on exploratory and exploitative innovation in the context of SMEs. Using a quantitative research method, 151 valid pairs of questionnaires (i.e. 302 respondents) were collected from the top management of small and medium-sized manufacturing firms in China. The empirical findings showed that transformational leadership behaviors could foster both exploratory and exploitative innovations. Transactional leaders, consistent with the literature, could facilitate exploitative activities, but not exploratory innovation. The data analysis also indicated that different types of innovation delivered different benefits to firms. In addition, reward philosophy and entrepreneurial culture had divergent moderating effects on the relationship between leadership style and innovative outcome.

Nowadays, companies are facing several competitive pressures, which push them to seek for new and better ways to conduct their internal processes.

One of this ways is throughout processes innovations that allow the company to establish and maintain competitive advantages; one example of this new trend is the emergence of eProcurement, an electronic system aimed to automate purchasing processes in organizations, which, if it is properly implemented, will derive in processes cost reduction and efficiency improvement on those same procedures.

This study is focused on identifying the propeller factors that make companies to engage in this kind of ventures; as well as studying which are the outcomes generated inside the organizations once the electronic system has been implemented.

Purpose

The purpose of this thesis is to identify the elements that trigger automation of procurement processes in organizations; as well as describing the implications derived from automation during and after such implementation. The study was conducted through interviews with managers and final user from two Mexican companies which are currently using Oracle as their eProcurement tool.

Conclusions

The study found that depending on how well organizations prepare themselves and their staff for the upcoming change, different results may be obtained in terms of benefits and acceptability from final users.

In order to avoid potential pitfalls, firms must bear in mind that, both operational and social awareness are key factors for a successful implementation.

If a company takes into consideration their internal operational needs and staff opinions to base their decision of engaging on eProcurement, it will be more likely to obtain benefits related to cost reduction, improved efficiency and final user satisfaction.

Thesis (S.M.M.O.T.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Management of Technology Program, 2004.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 85-89).
This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.
The quality of higher education has been a growing concern in the United States and United Kingdom. There have been no notable improvements in the education system until the last few years. Considerable transformation in the higher education arena has begun to take place in step with the shift of industries from manufacturing to knowledge-based. The competitive environment has altered and paved the way for new entrants to successfully emerge and offer more educational options to students. This research will discuss the factors that may influence the wave of higher education learning in the near future. Various technological research and initiatives led by the National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, NASA and other organizations highly contribute to the technological advancements in distance learning and other interactive learning modes. Faculty will play an important role in the progress of non-traditional learning approaches as they continue to experiment and work on the available technologies. Established institutions in higher education maintain many traditions and invest a lot of resources to continuously improve their current processes. New entrants cater the needs of a different type of market composed of working adults and students who seek to learn specific skills and improve their employability. They employ a different type of business model that might prove to be disruptive. The new institutions have begun to invade the market of established institutions that have difficulty switching to new technologies and teaching methods due to the rigidities experienced in their organizations.
by Veronica Go.
S.M.M.O.T.

A dilemma that has plagued the rental housing market (RHM) in Sweden is the lack of innovation and companies’ ability to disrupt the market. For start-ups with scarce resources, this becomes further problematic as they become limited in how they can approach disruption. In this study, the possibilities of reaching disruption, or further improving innovation within the Business Model (BM), is studied through the BM Canvas framework. Furthermore, action research was utilized, together with a case study, to create a realistic BM. A qualitative research approach was used with 17 interviews conducted amongst users of already existing platforms in the Rental Housing Swap Market (RHSM), namely the, landlords, politicians and academics within the field. This resulted in two subsequent themes being identified: building incentives for key partners to scale quicker and that a low resource approach requires a highly creative solution. These two themes indicate that if resources are available, innovating the BM through all the BM blocks creates better opportunities for an improved platform. Additionally, while both start-ups and incumbent firms can turn to BM innovation for disruption, the success rate is vastly different for the two. The stage of where a start-up is will determine the difficulty of BM innovation. However, if resources are unavailable, which is the case for some start-ups, it is seemingly better to turn to radical innovation through the use of key infrastructure partnerships – allowing new paradigms to emerge as a result. The results from this study implicate that there are possible gaps within BM innovation that should be studied further. More specifically, how the BM blocks should be prioritized and the differences between the prioritization among different industries.
Ett dilemma som har besvärat den svenska hyresmarknaden är bristen på innovation och förmågan för företag att inträda den redan etablerade marknaden, vilket blir en förhöjd svårighet för nystartade bolag vid ett tidigt skede där det finns väldigt sköra resurser. Denna studie undersöker möjligheterna för en lansering som kan störa marknaden med hjälp av innovation av affärsmodellen där ramverket BM Canvas har använts. Forskningen har bedrivits med hjälp av aktionsforskning och ett tillvägagångssätt av en kvalitativ studie där 17 intervjuer utförts med användare på existerande plattformar i bytesmarknaden, hyresvärdar, politiker och akademiker. Resultatet indikerade framställningen av två teman: att bygga incitament för partnerskap med nyckelaktörer för att skala upp snabbt samt att ett kreativt tillvägagångssätt är nödvändigt om det finns låga resurser i bolaget. Studien illustrerar att en ömsesidig anpassning av alla bropelare i affärsmodellen är nödvändiga för att uppnå bästa möjligheter för en förbättrad plattform. Trots att både nystartade bolag och etablerade företag kan vända sig till BM innovation för disruption så varierar deras framgång mellan de två olika typerna av företag. Om det däremot inte finns tillräckligt med resurser, vilket är en sannolik position för ett nystartat bolag, skapar man bättre möjligheter för radikala innovationer genom användningen av innovation inom infrastrukturen av affärsmodellen som skapar nya paradigm att uppstå som resultat. Resultaten av denna studie visar på att det finns potentiella förbättringsområden inom ämnet av BM innovation som bör studeras vidare i framtiden. Mer specifikt, om hur de olika BM blocken bör prioriteras och hur denna prioritering varierar mellan olika industrier.

The researcher has investigated what factors influence a startup in an international public-private-partnership (PPP). The researcher has designed an exploratory study with a case study on Greenely, which is a Stockholm-based startup that has developed an application to monitor the household’s electricity consumption. The theoretical framework covers topics such as the diffusion of innovations (in particular eco-innovations in the form of smart meters in Europe), business models, the Business Model Canvas, and public-private-partnerships. The researcher conducted semistructured interviews with employees of the municipality of Cesena, Italy and with employees of Greenely, which is interested in expanding its offerings to Italy via partnerships. This study has shown that the factors that should influence a  tartup in an international PPP are, mainly, five: Funding, Language and cultural identity, Timeline, Common vision and Bureaucracy. The factors “Funding” and “Common vision”, in particular, influence the PPP the most.

In the United States, more than 50% of managers offering services in the manufacturing industry report failed service initiatives. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies that manufacturing managers used to sustain their business for longer than 5 years. The population consisted of 3 manufacturing organization managers offering business services to support petroleum and coal companies who have sustained their business operations in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States for longer than 5 years. Data were collected from semistructured interviews and organization documents were analyzed through the perspective of the strategic service innovation theory conceptual framework. Yin's 5-step process for data analysis: compiling, disassembling, reassembling, interpreting, and concluding was used to identify multiple themes through data saturation. Multiple themes emerged from data analysis, including service innovation strategies such as strategic innovation and competitive advantage, customer-focus strategies including customer's needs and providing solutions, resource strategies consisting of internal resources and knowledge resources, and external network strategies including external market and relationships. Managers in the manufacturing industry can use the findings of this study to improve business practices by implementing strategies to offer services through service innovation processes, developing customer focus, considering resources, and leveraging external networks. The findings of this study may be used to affect positive social change to improve socioeconomic conditions by increasing employment opportunities for residents of communities with petroleum and coal manufacturing companies in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States.

The purpose of this thesis is to present and analyze the innovations in the home video game industry and their impact on the competitive strategies of the companies in the indus-try. The existing literature about business cycles and business dynamics is scarce from busi-ness administrative perspective. This thesis contributes to fill the gap in the academic literature. The choice of the home video game industry has been done, due to its fast growing economic nature and the rapid changes that can be noticed, especially for the last decade. A qualitative research method with secondary qualitative and quantitative data and primary qualitative data through interviews has been used for this thesis. The home video game industry is highly driven by technological product innovations. Incremental innovations do not affect in a significant way the dynamics within the industry. Radical innovations create a competitive advantage through differentiation and they increase market share for the company which followed this strategy. Disruptive innovations open new markets, change the business environment for every firm and generate a shift in consumer preferences. Hence, the company which implements a disruptive innovation gains extensive market share. Innovations are possible due to the strategic orientation a company aims to pursue. If a company pursues a high market orientation and a low inno-vation orientation it manufactures an upgraded product to keep customers satisfied. When the firm pursues a high market and innovation orientation, the final product includes cha-racteristics that the customers desire. While at the same time the product created offers services and features hard to be matched by the competition. Finally, if a firm pursues a high innovation orientation and a low market orientation strategy, it creates an easier and more convenient alternative on the existing products while being cheaper. At the same time this strategic orientation disregards the established customers' desires.The purpose of this thesis is to present and analyze the innovations in the home video game industry and their impact on the competitive strategies of the companies in the indus-try. The existing literature about business cycles and business dynamics is scarce from busi-ness administrative perspective. This thesis contributes to fill the gap in the academic litera-ture. The choice of the home video game industry has been done, due to its fast growing economic nature and the rapid changes that can be noticed, especially for the last decade. A qualitative research method with secondary qualitative and quantitative data and primary qualitative data through interviews has been used for this thesis.The home video game industry is highly driven by technological product innovations. Incremental innovations do not affect in a significant way the dynamics within the industry. Radical innovations create a competitive advantage through differentiation and they increase market share for the company which followed this strategy. Disruptive innovations open new markets, change the business environment for every firm and generate a shift in consumer preferences. Hence, the company which implements a disruptive innovation gains extensive market share. Innovations are possible due to the strategic orientation a company aims to pursue. If a company pursues a high market orientation and a low inno-vation orientation it manufactures an upgraded product to keep customers satisfied. When the firm pursues a high market and innovation orientation, the final product includes cha-racteristics that the customers desire. While at the same time the product created offers services and features hard to be matched by the competition. Finally, if a firm pursues a high innovation orientation and a low market orientation strategy, it creates an easier and more convenient alternative on the existing products while being cheaper. At the same time this strategic orientation disregards the established customers' desires.

According to innovation literature, between 50% and 90% of innovations fail. An explanation for failing innovations is offered by scholars in the field of innovation resistance, who argue that it is more relevant to pay attention to the reasons why consumers reject an innovation, rather than learning about their motivations to adopt a new product or service. At the same time, previous marketing literature has devoted little attention towards design, despite its strategic importance and its role as a driver of innovation and competitive advantage. The purpose of this study was to investigate how companies perceive innovation resistance towards service innovations and how it is reflected in the service design. The major takeaways in this study revealed that companies were aware of all the barriers, except for social risk and perceived security risk. Furthermore, companies made most service design adaptations based on the usage and value barrier both prior and post launch. Also, although the tradition and norm barrier and image barrier were considered critical for an innovation’s success, companies did not change the service design accordingly. Finally, it was revealed that companies followed a hybrid approach of innovation, where more of a design-driven innovation strategy was used to generate innovation ideas and a user-centered approach was applied by involving consumers in pilot studies and listening to the consumer voices post launch.

Using a network perspective, this dissertation investigates the diffusion of high-technology innovations to organizational users. The particular innovation of interest is satellite remotely sensed data, and the diffusion phenomena occur among geospatial professionals who work in local government agencies. I utilize multiple methods in the dissertation. Essay 1 looks at the impacts of structural bases of social influences on diffusion. In Essays 2 and 3, I focus the investigation on advocates, the adopters who share their adoption experiences with their professional peers. While Essay 2 investigates the structural consequences at an individual level, Essay 3 provides an overarching framework of diffusion consequences at individual, organizational and population levels. This project makes theoretical contributions to marketing, consumer behavior and management. For marketing, I investigate the origins of imitation effects of diffusion by examining the social networks of the adopters and potential adopters. For consumer behavior, I examine the underlying logic for aspiring professionals to focus their work on spreading knowledge of innovation, and I demonstrate that innovation diffusion is a means to compete for high-status positions in the professional field. For management, I look at the reciprocal relationships between innovation diffusion and career development of adopters, and show that personnel mobility is crucial for diffusion in the organizations and population. This dissertation demonstrates how news and interpretations of innovations are filtered through consumers' networks. Since users are connected with social networks, the adoption of innovation by one individual user has ramifications among those with whom he or she is connected. Similarly, adopting organizations are interconnected through their employees' participation in various interorganizational projects and professional associations. Therefore, the adoption in one organization encourages similar processes to occur in other connected organizations. By examining the nature of contacts among adopters and potential adopters, marketers can anticipate the market trajectory and hence market growth. The knowledge generated from this dissertation should sensitize public policy makers about the countervailing nature of diffusion consequences. Adopting organizations may or may not gain in technological sophistication after adoption because their advocating employees become desirable in the field and are likely to be sought out by other organizations.

Innovation allows for competitive advantage. Competitive advantage and innovation lead to economic growth. For innovation to occur, creativity is necessary. All individuals are creative, but continuous practice is necessary to be creative. The process from creativity to innovation and competitive advantage and economic growth involves three stages. The first stage involves educating primary and secondary school children to be creative across different domains. Current school systems focus on mathematical and linguistic skills. Examples of domains are linguistic, performance, mechanicalscientific and artistic. These creative domains can be taught through encouraging children to use their imagination and different methods. In primary and secondary education little-c creativity and mini-c creativity are developed. Little-c creativity involves developing problem solving skills. Mini-c creativity involves the ability to recognise personal creative events, not necessarily recognised by others. Tertiary education involves students gaining knowledge in a specific domain. While studying to gain knowledge and conduct research on a specific domain, practicing creativity is still important. Upon completion of tertiary education the second stage in creating economic growth through creativity and innovation commences. This second stage involves organisations hiring creative employees that have knowledge within a domain similar to the organisation‟s industry. Creative employees develop creative ideas. The creative ideas allow for innovative products to be developed. Innovative products satisfy customer needs and lead to competitive advantage. Managers should encourage employees to be innovative. Employees that are motivated and encouraged to take risks develop a talent within the domain that they are employed in. The ability to be creative and innovative leads to pro-creativity and big-c creativity. Pro-c creativity refers to a talent being developed over approximately ten years. Big-c creativity involves creating products that benefits society positively. Upon creating products that benefit society, competitive advantage is created that allows for the third stage of creating economic growth to commence. This third stage involves economic growth that stems from innovation and creative individuals. Countries currently focus on stage two where they aim to encourage innovation amongst organisations. There is a realisation that to be innovative,creativity is necessarily and that creativity must be taught by means of education. This research study will use a questionnaire by Kaufman (2009, 2012, 2013) to determine how creative students perceive they are and whether they are capable of recognising different levels of creativity. A similar study was conducted in Germany and Mexico. Professor Alexander Brem was asked for the questionnaire. The questionnaire was translated from German to English. The objective is to determine whether students perceive themselves to be creative, thus being innovative within their organisations and indirectly allowing for competitive advantage and economic growth. Kaufmans‟ questionnaire was distributed to Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University Masters in Business Administration students. Ethics clearance was granted and answering the questionnaire was optional.To draw conclusions an Exploratory Factor Analysis was done on creative domains and the levels of creativity students are able to recognise. The first Exploratory Factor Analysis revealed performance creativity as the first factor, mechanicalscientific creativity as the second factor, scholarly creativity as the third factor and artistic creativity as the fourth factor. The second Exploratory Factor Analysis grouped pro-c creativity, big-c creativity and little-c creativity as the first factor, not being able to recognise creativity as the second factor and mini-c creativity as the third factor. The individual results from each factor were discussed. Each factor was further analysed by comparing gender, age, year‟s work experience and type of students to the type and level of creativity. The results show three trends. Firstly, results indicated that respondents perceived themselves to be predominantly scholarly and mathematical-scientific creative. This result is synonymous with secondary research that states that educational institutions focus on enhancing linguistic and mathematical skills amongst students and that developing skills in other domains are seen as less important. Secondly, the ability of students to recognise different levels of creativity decreases from big-creativity to pro-c creativity; pro-c creativity to little-c creativity and little-c creativity to mini-c creativity. Students are therefore better able to recognise large inventions than smaller inventions. Thirdly, results indicated that creativity levels do not differ when gender, age, year‟s work experience and type of students are compared. In this research study the above statements will be discussed in detail.

Abstract   Purpose: The purpose of the study is to identify why the Tanzanian market for cement blocks have not adapted hollow blocks instead of solid ditto and, if possible, present recommendations for market activities.   Design/methodology/approach: Implemented by action research methodology, this minor field study financed by Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency targets issues regarding the relatively poor housing standard in Tanzania through a business development perspective. Furthermore, the study covers what obstacles for new, more sustainable and price-efficient products are to identify in the Tanzanian market.   Findings: An implementation of hollow blocks in the concrete block market surrounding Dar es Salaam would be beneficial from several aspects (e.g. economical, environmental, societal), but there are also factors that hinder such an implementation. The market’s consumers tend to not get the information about new techniques and innovations; hence to this lack of knowledge and awareness of alternatives, they stick to more traditional ways that they know more of. The consumers that do know of the new materials often disbeliefs the producers’ ability to make the quantity or quality demanded. Unawareness and distrust results in that few ask for new alternatives. The producers who put their main focus on supplying what the customers specifically asks for will therefore not start to produce the new alternatives, in this case hollow blocks. Thus, new innovations and the knowledge of the production of it do not spread easily. To implement new innovations some actor(s) to bare the risk is needed - pioneers that either commence producing the material themselves or, at least, encourage/provide incitements for producers and consumers to gain knowledge of them. The ones who have the possibility to carry risks in the concrete market surrounding Dar es Salaam are the large cement producers and the governmental institutions. They are also stakeholders who will benefit the most from taking the pioneer approach.   Originality/value: The study offers insights into the Tanzanian market for cement blocks for building construction by focusing on adaption of a block innovation that can reduce the Co2 emissions due to less raw material use per block.   Keywords: Sustainable Business Development, Innovation, Housing standard, Tanzania.   Type of study: Bachelor Thesis in Enterprising and Business Development, Linnaeus University, Sweden.
Minor Field Study

The evolution of technology has led to a need for business leaders to embrace disruptive technology for the purpose of capturing new markets and remaining competitive. Multiple challenges have been faced by business leaders in the processes of integrating and sustaining disruptive innovations, resulting in the failure to achieve expected efficiency and profitability. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies used by business leaders to integrate and sustain disruptive innovations. The conceptual frameworks were Roger's diffusion of innovation theory and Christensen's disruptive innovation theory. Semistructured interviews were administered to 10 business leaders and employees from institutions of higher learning in the Northeastern region of the United States. The participants were selected using a purposive nonrandom sampling technique. The selection criteria included organizational leaders, technology professionals, training and development professionals, and organizational end-users. Three themes and several subthemes were identified. The strategies for integrating and sustaining disruptive innovations include training, changeover mechanisms, and the use of critical resources. The procedural and structural factors in processes to integrate and sustain disruptive innovations include identifying critical success factors, ascertaining benchmarks, determining levels of support and effectiveness. Obstacles faced during the processes of integrating and sustaining disruptive innovations were categorized into human, technology, changeover, and external issues. Social change may be realized through the improved success rates of small business leaders implementing disruptive innovations by increasing meaningful employment and enhancing livelihoods.

Sales is an essential department for organizations, it connects the products and services with the customers. The literature highlights that sales has faced a number of changes in the past years, especially with the introduction of new technologies that aim to contribute in the sales process, making it more precise and efficient. However, the previous studies have not yet explored how the companies are innovating in their sales process to adopt the new technologies that have been developed. In this research, we are studying how these elements are connected in real life, bringing a perspective of how Swedish B2B companies are adopting technology to innovate in their sales process. As the theme of this research is relatively new to the literature, we adopted an inductive approach, conducting qualitative research. To collect the data we used semi-structured interviews, which allowed our interviewees to speak freely about the research topics. Our aim was to capture new insights and avoid preconceptions based on sales studies executed in another context, such as the USA market. To analyze the data we used thematic analysis, which is based on generating codes and connecting them according to their relationship. The analysis also connected concepts of the Theoretical Framework with the empirical data. Thereby, we identified the connection between sales process innovation and technology adoption in the context of the participants.  The results of our research showed that sales process innovation is, most of the time, not a priority for the companies. The participants were using technologies in different ways, according to the particularities of their sales process. The innovation in the sales process is very incremental in the adoption of CRM and Sales Automation Technologies. The companies have not had significant innovations in the way they sell to adopt new technologies. Thus, they are satisfied with the current structure of their sales process and the outcome of it. Our findings contribute to the literature by casting light over sales innovation and technology adoption in a context outside the USA. We also contribute academically by connecting the process innovation and technology adoption models and performing an empirical research on the subject. In the managerial contribution, we presented a variety of insights about the reasons that lead to technology adoption. With our constructionist approach, we also expect to have a contribution to the development of the sales departments in the participant by promoting the reflection and debate around sales process.