Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Administrativ innovation'

Utifrån dagens litteratur kring projektbaserade organisationer (PBO) kan tre problem identifieras: 1) motsägande resultat gällande om organisationsformen PBO främjar innovation, 2) överdrivet fokus på teknisk innovation i dessa sammanhang samt 3) bristfällig systematik i dessa typer av studier. Av denna anledning har vi genomfört en kvantitativ studie för att bidra med mer systematik i debatten kring PBO och innovation. Vi valde också att studera en annan typ av innovation i PBO-sammanhang, nämligen managementinnovation (MI). Studien syftar till att identifiera om det föreligger ett samband mellan MI och organisationsfaktorerna centralisering, samarbete och kommunikation, överkapacitet samt formalisering. Utöver detta skall studien identifiera om det föreligger något samband mellan den formella organisationsstrukturen PBO och MI, samt om sambanden mellan organisationsfaktorerna och MI är starkare eller svagare i en PBO-kontext. Studien genomfördes i Sverige med hjälp av en enkätundersökning. Urvalet uppgick till 500 företag vilka blev identifierade genom ett slumpmässigt stratifierat urval. Svarsfrekvensen uppgick till 192 företag vars svar sedan analyserades i statistikprogrammet SPSS genom regressionsanalyser. Slutsatsen av studien blev att vi på en femprocentig signifikansnivå bekräftade en av femton hypoteser, nämligen H8c. Hypotesen beskriver att sambandet mellan personalöverkapacitet och MI är starkare i en PBO än i andra organisationstyper. Utöver detta kunde vi bekräfta hypotes 9b på en tioprocentig signifikansnivå. Denna hypotes behandlade formalisering 2 och innebar att sambandet mellan formalisering 2 och MI är starkare i andra organisationstyper än i en PBO. Med detta sagt positionerar sig denna studie bland författarna som hävdar att det inte föreligger något samband mellan PBO och innovation.
We were able to identify three problems from today’s literature about project-based organizations: 1) conflicting results about whether PBOs further innovation or not, 2) excessive focus on technical innovation in this context, and 3) insufficient systematics in these kinds of studies. For that reason, we have carried through a quantitative study to contribute with more systematics in the debate about PBO and innovation. We also chose to study a different kind of innovation in the PBO context, namely Management Innovation (MI) This study aims to identify if there exist a correlation between MI and the organizational factors centralization, teamwork and communication, slack of resources and formalization. Beyond this the study aims to identify if there exist a correlation between the formal organizational structure PBO and MI, and if the connection between the organizational factors and MI is stronger or weaker in a PBO context.  A survey was carried out in Sweden. 500 companies were asked to participate and they were all selected through a random stratified sampling. The response rate was 192 and the information from the questionnaires was then analysed in the statistical software SPSS through regression analysis. With a significance level of five percent this study confirms one out of fifteen hypotheses. The confirmed hypothesis was H8c which states that the connection between personnel slack and MI is stronger in a PBO than other kinds of organizational structures. We also confirmed hypothesis 9b on a significance level of ten percent. H9b states that the connection between formalization 2 and MI is weaker in PBO than other kinds of organizations. Consequently, this study position itself alongside authors and studies that claim that it doesn’t exist a correlation between PBO and innovation.

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.

Dans le contexte du traitement du kératocône, une formulation contenant de la riboflavine, un principe actif hydrosoluble, deux tensio-actifs (le poloxamère 407 et la monooléine) et de l'eau a été préparée par un processus d'homogénéisation. Un plan factoriel fractionnaire a été utilisé pour estimer les effets principaux et les interactions de cinq paramètres sur deux réponses pertinentes, à savoir la taille des particules et l'efficacité d'encapsulation. Les cinq paramètres étudiés étaient la température des deux phases, la durée de l'émulsification, la présence du chauffage pendant l'homogénéisation, le nombre de cycles et la pression. Il a ainsi été montré que les paramètres les plus influents sont la présence du chauffage pendant l'homogénéisation et la pression qui ont conduit à l'obtention de nanoparticules d'une taille moyenne de 145 nm et une efficacité d'encapsulation moyenne de 46%. La détermination des paramètres optimaux du procédé de fabrication a conduit à l'optimisation de la formulation par le biais de plans d'expériences. L'influence combinée de trois composants a été étudiée dans une partie du diagramme de phase. Ainsi, douze formules décrivant l'espace de conception ont été préparées. Les résultats obtenus par diffraction des rayons X aux petits angles et par cryo-microscopie électronique en transmission ont mis en évidence la présence de nano-objets de structure éponge et/ou hexagonale inverse. Le pourcentage de chacun des composants a été déterminé pour obtenir à la fois une grande efficacité d'encapsulation et une petite taille de particules. Deux formulations très proches dans le diagramme de phase ternaire, ont répondu à ces exigences
In the context of the keratoconus treatment, a formulation containing riboflavin a water-soluble drug, two surfactants (poloxamer 407 and mono acyl glycerol) and water was optimized and prepared by emulsification and a homogenization process. A fractional factorial design was applied to estimate the main effects and interaction effects of five parameters on two relevant responses, namely particle size and encapsulation efficiency. The five parameters studied were the temperature of the two phases, the duration of emulsification, the presence of heating during homogenization, the number of passes and pressure. It has been shown that the most influent parameters are the presence of heating during the homogenization and the pressure that led to the production of nanoparticles with an average size of 145 nm and an average encapsulation efficiency of 46 %. The determination of the optimal parameters of the process led to an optimization of the formulation by using experimental design. The combined influence of three factor variables (or components) of the formulation that are water, monoolein and poloxamer 407 were, studied. In this way, twelve formulas describing the design space were prepared. Results obtained using SAXS and cryo-TEM evidenced the presence of nano-objects with either sponge or hexagonal inverted structure. In the zone of interest, the percentage of each component was determined to obtain both high encapsulation efficiency and small size of particles. Two formulations are very close in the ternary phase diagram, and have responded to these requirements

Background: Historically, innovation has been an important factor in sustaining competitive in a constantly changing and dynamic market. Innovation comes about in different ways each time, but commonly so, innovation springs from different kinds of network. Control towards the promotion of networking should possibly be an approach where network and cooperations, indirectly, could foster innovation. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to contribute to new knowledge on how management control in innovative businesses can promote networking, within and outside of an organization and how networking can foster innovation. Method: The study is a multiple case study, based mainly on semi-structured interviews conducted with three different innovative companies. The study analyses how management control can promote networking from four Objects of Control’s point of view and how networking can contribute to innovation. Conclusion: This study concludes that management control that allows for some freedom of actions within certain boundaries, in combination with ambitious goals, in an open and transparent culture, could contribute to networking and collaborations within and outside of an organization. The control system should be built to make it possible for leaders to initiate projects in order to create room for different entities to meet and communicate. Employees should further on be involved in decision making processes to gain commitment in wanting to reach set goals and to initiate a networking culture, where solutions can arise and be communicated.
Bakgrund och problem: Historiskt har det varit viktigt att vara innovativ f.r att lyckas vara konkurrenskraftig p. en st.ndigt f.r.nderlig marknad. Innovation har en tendens att uppkomma p. olika s.tt fr.n g.ng till g.ng, men gemensamt .r att innovation ofta frodas ur olika former av n.tverk. Styrning mot att fr.mja n.tverkande torde s.ledes vara ett tillv.gag.ngss.tt att indirekt skapa innovation genom olika n.tverk och samarbeten. Syfte: Syftet .r att bidra med ny kunskap om hur styrning i innovativa organisationer kan fr.mja n.tverkande, i och utanf.r organisationens gr.nser, samt hur n.tverkande kan m.jligg.ra f.r kreativt t.nkande som leder till innovation. Metod: F.rfattarna har genomf.rt en kvalitativ flerfallstudie som till stor del bygger p. semistrukturerade intervjuer i tre innovativa f.retag. Studien analyserar hur styrning kan fr.mja n.tverkande utifr.n fyra olika styrkategorier och hur n.tverkande kan bidra till innovation. Slutsats: Studien har visat att en styrning som till.ter en viss handlingsfrihet inom best.mda ramar i kombination med ambiti.sa m.l under eget ansvar och en kultur som f.respr.kar .ppenhet och transparens, kan m.jligg.ra f.r n.tverkande och samarbeten inom och utanf.r en organisation. Styrningen b.r vara utformad s. att ledare har m.jlighet att initiera projekt f.r att skapa rum d.r olika akt.rer kan m.tas och n.tverka. Medarbetare b.r vidare involveras i beslutsprocesser f.r skapa engagemang till att vilja n. m.l och f.r att initiera en n.tverkande kultur, d.r l.sningar kan kommuniceras fram.

Två grundpelare för att ett nystartat företagande ska nå tillväxt är behovet av finansiella resurser och kunder. Båda delarna kan vara avgörande om ett företag överlever de utmanande första åren. En bredare kundbas kan leda till flera marknadsföringsfördelar vilket är ett noga studerat ämne. Från ett företags synvinkel kan fler kundrelationer betyda lojala kunder som också är nödvändiga informationskällor. Ur en kunds perspektiv kan en nära relation skapa en tydligare trygghet och bidra till mer givande produkter. En betydande kundbas kan nås via flertalet marknadsföringsstrategier men för nya företag kan dessa vara svåra att applicera eftersom de ofta har bristande kunskap och kapital. Crowdfunding har blivit en allt vanligare finansieringsmetod som kan hjälpa ett företag med att skaffa kapital genom mindre belopp som samlas in från många aktörer. Samtidigt som företaget finansieras så innebär metoden att företag säljer sitt erbjudande och sprider sitt budskap till många människor. Crowdfunding har därför möjlighet att bidra till den andra grundpelaren genom fler kunder till ett företag. Tidigare forskning inom ämnet crowdfunding visar på de finansiella fördelarna med metoden samt vilka faktorer som är viktiga för en lyckad kampanj. Tidigare studier tangerar bara ämnet alternativa marknadsföringsfördelar som en kund potentiellt kan bidra med genom sitt engagemang. Syftet med studien är att identifiera marknadsföringsfördelar med finansieringsmetoden för nya företag samt ge praktiska rekommendationer till företag som överväger att använda crowdfunding som finansieringsmetod. För att undersöka hur kunder genom crowdfunding kan bidra till marknadsföringen i ett företag så har vi analyserat avslutade crowdfundingprojekt på hemsidan Kickstarter. Vi har haft åtta djupintervjuer med respondenter från företagen som drivit kampanjerna. Vår teoretiska referensram, som handlar om crowdfunding, kundrelationer, kundengagemang och tillväxt har sedan kopplats till respondenternas intervjuer för att svara på vår frågeställning. Hur kan kunder via crowdfunding bidra till marknadsföringen i nya företag? Resultatet av vår studie visar att kunder kan bidra till marknadsföringen i ett nytt företag via crowdfunding på flera sätt. De främsta bidragen är att backarna är mer aktiva, har högre engagemang och ger spridning som leder till en ökad hastighet av uppstartsfasen i ett nytt företag.

The purpose of this dissertation was to explore the application of open innovation theory concepts and practices employed in private industry to the federal public sector, specifically the Department of Defense (DoD) Defense Acquisition Management System (DAMS). This study considered using open innovation to improve the DoD’s ability to move innovative products and services through the DAMS faster, at a lower cost, while continuing to meet performance requirements for the DoD’s end-users. The theoretical lens was focused around the core concept of open innovation: collaboration with external parties, principally customers, and the acquisition, integration, and application of knowledge from external parties to improve innovation performance. The study also considered improved performance from the perspective of what the DoD, as the primary customer in the ecosystem, could do to raise the capacity of its supporting industrial base. Furthermore, the study considered the importance, use, and alignment of several secondary enablers that are needed to improve the probability of successfully implementing open innovation, including leadership and governance, culture, intellectual property and legal issues, funding, and technology. The study examined four propositions identified in the literature review and used realist synthesis in combination with the context, intervention, mechanism, and outcomes model to determine their validity. In the synthesis, the study identified four major findings that served to validate each of the propositions, essentially supporting the overall proposition that, as the primary customer in the ecosystem, the DoD’s effective use of collaboration with industry throughout the process and its provision of the right type of information earlier in the process resulted in better innovation performance for everyone in the ecosystem.

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.

Innovation in postsecondary education has become an important element of the landscape in order for institutions to remain competitive and, for some, as a means to survive (Selingo, 2013, p. 58). Small colleges and universities have experienced a more significant impact than most higher education institutions in attempting to remain competitive and promote innovation as they continue to deal with the aftermath of the 2001 and 2008 recessions and keep pace with the challenges of enrollment and finance. If small colleges are faced with the inability to create new and innovative delivery and business models, there is a danger that many of these small colleges will cease to exist (Crow, 2010; Rivard, 2013).

The primary purpose of this study was to explore how two small colleges adopted innovative strategies that maintained or improved their fiscal strength during a time when most small colleges were experiencing financial decline. How these innovative cultures have been supported at these small colleges, and their relation to the strategies employed, is also explored in this study. The overarching research question for this study was, “To what extent can small colleges develop a culture that supports innovation and positively influences the financial stability of the institutions?

The findings of this study include innovative strategies used at each institution to impact fiscal strength, and elements that have been established to support a culture of innovation in addition to the way in which innovation has improved the student experience. Ultimately, the examples of innovative strategies implemented at these institutions, such as responding to student and market demands, having an innovative mission and vision and ensuring innovative individuals are leading the institution, could turn into sustainable solutions for other small colleges that may be struggling with student enrollment and revenue decline. The elements of innovative cultures that were discovered in this study could be used as a “best practices” list for other small colleges in their quest to develop and sustain an innovative culture.

Cette thèse se donne pour objet d’analyser les rapports entre la conception et l’introduction des nouveaux outils informatiques qui essayent de faire la gestion intégrée de l'information dans une organisation et les transformations simultanées de la structure et des pratiques organisationnelles.Le propos du travail est de comprendre comment les interactions entre la dynamique interne des organisations et les évolutions technologiques contribuent à l’évolution des organisations, à partir de l’hypothèse de que bien qu’essentiels pour faire évoluer l’organisation, les nouveaux outils informatiques sont, eux aussi, lors de leur conception, des produits des rapports sociaux des acteurs qui participent à la vie de l’organisation. Le moment de conception des outils informatiques introduits dans une organisation est, ainsi, l’occasion de la confrontation de visions de l’organisation qui peuvent être sinon opposées au moins diverses, et où des rapports biunivoques s’établissent entre l’élaboration et l’adoption des nouveaux outils techniques et la construction de nouveaux modèles d’organisation des services. L’analyse conjointe des projets de changement technique et organisationnel menés à partir de la fin des années 1990 dans l’administration fiscale française permet de rompre le divorce entre la centralité pratique des changements dans le champ de l’administration liés aux TIC et aux systèmes d’information et la marginalité ou même la complète absence de ces sujets dans la littérature qui analyse les changements du secteur public. Dans ces projets, la nouvelle façon par laquelle l’administration fiscale se propose d’orienter ses rapports avec les contribuables est à l’origine des nouveaux flux d’informations, de la nouvelle logique qui va orienter la gestion de l’information et de la révision des processus internes de l’organisation
Pas de résumé en anglais

Magistro darbe atskleista inovacijų samprata ir esmė, aptartos inovacijų tipologijos, išanalizuotas inovacijų diegimo poreikis ir reikšmė, atlikta teorinė inovacijų diegimo proceso ir jo aplinkos analizė, konceptualizuoti inovacijų diegimą lemiantys veiksniai. Parengus tyrimo metodiką, atliktas statistinis Lietuvos įmonių inovacinės veiklos įvertinimas bei išanalizuoti anketinio inovacijų diegimo ir jį lemiančių veiksnių tyrimo rezultatai. Tyrimo hipotezė buvo iš dalies patvirtinta: inovacijų diegimą Lietuvos įmonėse labiausiai skatina verslo inkubatoriai ir konkurentai. Daugiausia tyrime dalyvavusių Lietuvos įmonių vadovų bei atstovų kaip svarbiausius inovacijų diegimą lemiančius veiksnius įvertino vadovavimą, kultūrinius veiksnius bei komunikaciją.
Master’s final paper reveals the concept and essence of innovations, discusses innovation typologies, analyzes demand and significance of implementation of innovations, accomplishes theoretical analysis of innovations implementation process and its environment. After the methodology of survey is prepared, statistical analysis of Lithuanian companies innovative activity is accomplished and the results of implementation of innovations and determining factors survey are analyzed. Survey hypothesis was partially confirmed: implementation of innovations in Lithuanian companies is mostly stimulated by business incubators and competitors. The majority of managers or representatives of Lithuanian companies that took part in a questionnaire survey predicated that most significant factors determining implementation of innovations are management, cultural factors and communication.

The general business problem is that competitive advantage suffers because of the lack of employee engagement and employee innovative work behavior. Inability of business to determine methods or opportunities to affect levels of work engagement and innovative work behavior of employees limits the ability of the business to gain competitive advantage. The purpose of this quantitative correlational study is to examine the relationship between levels of resilience and levels of work engagement, and levels of resilience and levels of innovative work behavior. The body of literature in these three areas fails to identify a relationship between resilience and work engagement or between resilience and innovative work behavior. This proposal examined the concepts of resiliency, work engagement, and innovative work behavior to determine if a relationship exists between the three constructs building on Fredrickson’s 1998 broaden and build theory. Data was collected using an online survey tool. Participants were employed by large, for-profit U.S. based companies. The researcher employed River Sampling to collect data. Results were analyzed for completeness and incomplete surveys were not used in the data analysis. Raw data was translated into two categories of resilience (low and high), and three categories each for work engagement and innovative work behavior (low, medium, and high). The findings show a significant, positive relationship between levels of resilience and levels of work engagement, and between levels of resilience and levels of innovative work behavior. This study provides meaningful contributions to the body of literature in the areas of resilience, work engagement, and innovative work behavior by establishing a significant relationship between resilience and work engagement and between resilience and innovative work behavior. Practitioners can use the results of this study to develop new methods for improving levels of work engagement and levels of innovative work behavior by developing efforts to improve resilience.

This thesis draws on two key areas of the innovation literature, the strategic management of technology (SMOT) and innovation networks. The aim is to integrate these two areas of the management of innovation literature to develop a framework which I describe as the Strategic Innovation Network (SIN). The key proposition that the revised framework (SIN) aims to address is based on the work of Chandler (1962). Chandler's (1962) conclusion that 'structure follows strategy' is examined in relation to the interaction between corporate/technology strategy and network structure. The SIN is intended to address weaknesses in both the SMOT and network literature. The research data is based on five detailed longitudinal case studies. The organisations are defined as mid-corporate firms operating in traditional manufacturing sectors. Each organisation was chosen on the basis that it was aiming to develop its innovative capacity through product or process innovation projects. The research was carried out over an 18 month period with interviews being held regularly to develop the longitudinal aspect of the study analysis. The data for each individual case study is examined using the SIN framework. The longitudinal approach addresses the objective to provide a dynamic model of the innovation processes by mapping the changes in network structure during the course of individual projects. The network structural changes are examined in relation to each organisation's strategy and five key dynamic network stages are identified in relation to the innovation process. These network stages show the influence strategy has on the structures adopted by the five case studies.

Background: 20% of the world's population is responsible for about 80% of the life-cycle impacts of consumption and the per-capita footprint of developed countries is at least double than that of developing countries. This is why there is an urgent need for companies in industrialized countries to find more sustainable production methods and encourage sustainable consumption. Global sustainability trends drive innovation, which is why it is important to study how companies use, and can use, innovation to be more sustainable. Despite the will to work sustainably innovative, many SMEs today face resource constraints that hinder them from doing so - a problem that in part can be mitigated by open innovation. In Sweden today, however, open innovation is not widely used, especially not amongst SMEs. Purpose: This study aims at mapping how Swedish SMEs currently work with open innovation in order to promote innovative sustainability initiatives, and how they could do it. Methodology: This is a qualitative multiple case study in which seven cases have been studied and compared. The study is based on the hermeneutic philosophical standpoint, with an abductive approach. The empirical data consists of seven semi-structured interviews with representatives from seven different Swedish SMEs, from different industrial sectors. Conclusion: This study concludes that Swedish SMEs mainly work with inbound open innovation in the form of sourcing information from customers and/or suppliers. It is also found that outbound open innovation is used to a lesser extent among the studied SMEs. The study proposes that more cross-sectoral collaboration can be beneficial. Furthermore, it is established that clearer methods for, and more knowledge about, open innovation could increase the use of it, and thus the benefits of it.

Despite the voluminous studies written about organisational innovation over the last 30-40 years our understanding of this phenomenon continues to be inconsistent and inconclusive (Wolfe, 1994). An assessment of the theoretical and methodological issues influencing the explanatory utility of many studies has led scholars (e.g. Slappendel, 1996) to re-evaluate the assumptions used to ground studies. Building on these criticisms the current study contributes to the development of an interactive perspective of organisational innovation. This work contributes empirically and theoretically to an improved understanding of the innovation process and the interaction between the realm of action and the mediating effects of pre-existing contingencies i.e. social control, economic exchange and the communicability of knowledge (Scarbrough, 1996). Building on recent advances in institutional theory (see Barley, 1986; 1990; Barley and Tolbert, 1997) and critical theory (Morrow, 1994, Sayer, 1992) the study aims to demonstrate, via longitudinal intensive research, the process through which ideas are translated into reality. This is significant because, despite a growing recognition of the implicit link between the strategic conduct of actors and the institutional realm in organisational analysis, there are few examples that theorise and empirically test these connections. By assessing an under researched example of technology transfer; the government's Teaching Company Scheme (TCS) this project provides a critique of the innovation process that contributes to theory and our appreciation of change in the UK government's premier technology transfer scheme (QR, 1996). Critical moments during the translation of ideas illustrate how elements that are linked to social control, economic exchange and communicability mediate the innovation process. Using analytical categories i.e. contradiction, slippage and dysfunctionality these are assessed in relation to the actions (coping strategies) of programme members over a two-year period. Drawing on Giddens' (1995) notion of the duality of structure this study explores the nature of the relationship between the task environment and institutional environment demonstrating how and why knowledge is both an enabler and barrier to organisational innovation.

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.

This thesis is concerned with the process of managing an educational innovation - computer-aided administration (CAA) for schools. From literature reviews in the areas of management of change and computer assisted school administration, together with findings from an observer case study in the United Kingdom, a model was generated for the CAA innovation process as a contribution to theory. The model was then put into practice as the framework for the CAA innovation process in a secondary school in Hong Kong. The innovation was successfully assimilated by the school in a period of about three years with the researcher acting as the change facilitator, and the model of the innovation process was subsequently refined. This refined "SIX-A" model it is hoped will be a contribution to practical change management. Before making conclusions, findings about the process of innovation as well as findings specific to CAA from the case school are compared and contrasted to data collected from three other schools' CAA innovations in Hong Kong.

Background:           City Logistics is experiencing many innovative activities in the recent years. These activities are initiated and enhanced by numerous public and private actors, who jointly form innovative networks.   Purpose:                  The purpose of this thesis is to identify the actors, who jointly form the city logistics network, and determine their contribution towards innovation in these networks.   Method:                  The research is based on an interview study. We conducted interviews with representatives of a variety of city logistics actors. These interviews and additional secondary data were analyzed using content analysis. To illustrate the structure of innovative city logistics networks, we used a combination of systems and network theory.   Conclusion:             The results show that actors from six groups are strongly involved in city logistics innovation. These are policymakers, logistics companies, shippers & receivers, technology providers, research institutions and independent platforms. Actors in innovative city logistics networks show a sufficient level of commitment, but they have different focuses in their innovative activities. The most extensive contributions are made by policymakers and logistics companies. Still, policymakers struggle in their function as coordinators of city logistics.

Proponents of Open Innovation argue in support of its novel additions, critics however question its novelty and argue that the roots of Open Innovation predate Chesbrough. We investigate what is novel about Open Innovation by comparing predating theories and concept swith the main themes we found using a literature review. Our results indicate that the novelty of Open Innovation lies in its holistic approach. These findings were synthesized into a star model that could help both scholars and managers in their work with Open Innovation.

The thesis poses the following research question: how is innovation in the Arab world countries brought to fruition without the enabling institutions that the innovation and NSI literatures consider to be essential? The thesis takes a broad view of innovation that goes beyond the science-based high-technology innovations to consider innovations that employ low- and medium-technology (LMT) that constitute the majority of innovative activity referred to as 'hidden innovation'. Besides LMT innovations in manufacturing, hidden innovation comprises organizational, social, and service innovations.The research is conducted as an exploratory qualitative study that is retrospective and longitudinal. It deals with five innovation mini-cases within an embedded case. These mini-cases are researched in the three Arab countries of Jordan, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates. The embedded case is Aramex, a Jordanian-founded service sector organization that has grown into a major global logistics and transportation solutions provider. One of the innovation mini-cases is organizational, another is social, and three are services. Each of these mini-cases is identified as a unit of analysis. The research initially uses a semi-structured interview guide and research questions that are premised on NSI's foundational constructs of 1) formal institutions; 2) knowledge; and, 3) learning, as well as on NICS's area of emphasis of 4) social capital.Early observations in the field reveal the low relevance of these NSI 'theorized' foundational constructs in the Arab world context. These observations prompt the use of an unstructured interview format to collect the data and, later, an iterative data analysis and literature research process. Arab world NSI 'observed' foundational constructs ultimately emerge and an Arab world NSI grounded theory and model are inductively built. The 'observed' constructs are the following: 1) institutions; 2) culture of empowerment; 3) dynamic capabilities building; and, 4) social capital. Results indicate that institutions considered in the developed-country literature to be 'essential' for innovation are often either weak or missing from the Arab world contexts while strong 'hostile' institutions seem to be prevalent. In response to this adverse set of conditions in the Arab world, organizations dynamically build micro-level capabilities to mitigate the challenges resulting from these weak, missing or hostile macro-level institutions. Consistent with NSI's pattern of macro-micro interplay, these capabilities seem to play the following four roles vis-à-vis institutions: 1) substitute missing institutions; 2) support weak institutions; 3) overcome hostile institutions; and, in some cases, 4) create new institutions altogether. Several external and internal mechanisms are employed to build capabilities dynamically. The two that emerge as most important in this research are social capital and empowerment. The process of dynamic capabilities building is mobilized by an overarching organizational culture of empowerment. The Arab world grounded NSI theory with its model, foundational constructs and the macro-micro interplay offers two main contributions to NSI's fourth literature gap. First, this articulation of innovation in the Arab world countries builds knowledge within the scant literatures on innovation in developing countries including those of the Arab world. Second, building a grounded theory of an Arab world NSI framework provides an initial understanding of the macro and micro elements of NSI in the developing countries of the Arab world, builds knowledge within the NSI literature and extends it beyond its developed and BRIC country contexts. The thesis also addresses indirectly the other three NSI literature gaps and identifies overlaps with NICS's areas of emphasis. Hence, it has the potential to contribute to NSI's literature on developed countries as well as the dynamic capabilities building literature.
La thèse pose la question suivante : comment l'innovation dans les pays du monde arabe est-elle menée à bien en l'absence des institutions habilitantes jugées essentielles dans la littérature sur l'innovation et les SNI? La thèse prend une vue large de l'innovation qui va au-delà des innovations de haute technologie fondées sur la science qui caractérisent le plus souvent les sources documentaires sur l'innovation, pour envisager les innovations qui emploient une technologie faible à moyenne (LMT) constituant la majeure partie de l'activité innovante désignée sous le vocable d'« innovation cachée ». Outre les innovations de LMT dans la fabrication, l'innovation cachée comprend des innovations organisationnelles, sociales et dans les services. La recherche est menée sous forme d'une étude qualitative exploratoire qui est rétrospective et longitudinale. Elle aborde cinq mini-cas d'innovations au sein d'un cas intégré. Ces mini-cas font l'objet de recherches dans trois pays arabes, la Jordanie, le Liban et les Émirats arabes unis. Le cas intégré concerne Aramex, un organisme de services fondé en Jordanie qui est devenu un grand fournisseur international de services logistiques et de solutions de transports. L'un des mini-cas concernant l'innovation est d'ordre organisationnel, un autre est d'ordre social, et trois sont associés aux services. Chacun de ces mini-cas est identifié comme une unité d'analyse. La recherche utilise en premier un guide d'entretien semi-structuré et des questions de recherche qui sont fondées sur des concepts fondamentaux du SNI. Les premières observations dans le domaine montrent la faible pertinence de ces concepts fondamentaux théorisés du SNI dans le monde arabe. Ces observations justifient le recours à un format d'entrevue non structuré pour recueillir les données et, ultérieurement, à un processus itératif d'analyse de données doublé d'un processus de recherche documentaire. Des concepts fondamentaux « observés » de SNI dans le monde arabe finissent par émerger, et une théorie et un modèle fondés sur le SNI du monde arabe sont construits de façon inductive. Les concepts « observés » sont les suivants : 1) les institutions, 2) la culture de la responsabilisation; 3) la construction de capacités dynamiques; 4) le capital social.Les résultats indiquent que les institutions considérées, dans les sources documentaires des pays développés, comme « essentielles » pour l'innovation sont souvent faibles ou absentes dans le monde arabe, alors que des institutions « hostiles » fortes semblent avoir le dessus. En réponse à cet ensemble de conditions défavorables dans le monde arabe, les organisations construisent, de façon dynamique, des capacités au micro-niveau afin d'atténuer les difficultés posées par ces institutions faibles, absentes ou hostiles au macro-niveau. La théorie du SNI dans le monde arabe, avec ses modèles, ses concepts fondamentaux et l'interaction macro-micro offre deux principales contributions au quatrième écart du SNI trouvé dans les sources documentaires. Tout d'abord, cette articulation de l'innovation dans les pays du monde arabe renforce les connaissances au sein des rares sources documentaires sur l'innovation dans les pays en développement, y compris ceux du monde arabe. Deuxièmement, la construction d'une théorie solide d'un cadre de SNI dans le monde arable donne une compréhension initiale des éléments macro et micro-éléments du SNI dans les pays en développement du monde arabe, développe les connaissances au sein de la littérature sur le SNI et s'étend au-delà des contextes des pays développés et BRIC. La thèse aborde aussi, indirectement, les trois autres lacunes de la littérature sur le SNI et identifie des chevauchements avec les champs d'intérêt du SNI. Par conséquent, elle offre la possibilité de contribuer à la littérature sur le SNI dans les pays développés, ainsi qu'aux sources documentaires sur la construction dynamique des capacités.

Organizations increasingly empower their employees to conduct local experimentation and generate innovation ideas. The aim of this dissertation is to understand the role of management control mechanisms in motivating and managing employee-driven innovation. Specifically, I provide empirical evidence – both quantitative and qualitative – on the specific channels and mechanisms through which employee-driven innovation is facilitated within real-world settings. In the first chapter of my dissertation, I conduct a field study in a gaming company to examine how innovation ideas are generated and selected. I provide details on the various channels through which employee-driven innovation occurs, as well as the management control mechanisms used to manage employee-driven innovation. The rich descriptive evidence enabled me to uncover important themes in the management control mechanisms that balance innovation and execution. The second chapter is based on my job market paper (“Boss, Cut Me Some Slack: Control and Innovation in a Multitasking Environment”) which examines the problem of motivating innovation in the presence of existing execution tasks. Using employee- and project-level data from a software company, I examine the relationship between reduced time pressure on execution tasks and employee-level innovation by exploiting variations in the extent to which predetermined time constraints on execution tasks were loosely enforced by managers in decentralized teams. I find that reduced time pressure on execution tasks is significantly associated with a greater probability of self-initiated innovation. Consistent with theories on employee selection and relational contract, the above effect is more pronounced (1) for employees without significantly negative outcomes on past execution tasks, (2) for employees with a greater preexisting propensity to innovate, or (3) when the supervisor has a history of working with innovating employees. Conditional on submitting innovation prototypes, reduced time pressure on execution tasks is also significantly associated with higher-quality innovation. Despite the formal permission to innovate, many employees in established organizations seem unable to fully and effectively use the granted discretion to experiment. In the third chapter of my dissertation, I turn my attention to whether certain informal control mechanisms (such as social norms) affect the extent of local experimentation. Using detailed loan- and employee-level data from a financial institution that removed its rule-based formal control system, I analyze changes in decision-making patterns and find that employees who are exposed to two different initial control environments (i.e. before and after removing the rule-based control system) have both increased local experimentation over time after being given the right to make their own decisions. But employees from the initial control environment with zero-experimentation rely much more on managers’ or peers’ degree of experimentation to guide their own experimentation.

The concept of open innovation has been highly popularized both in academia and industry for the last decade. Various types of firms have been studied from high tech to service. Yet, there has been limited academic review of open innovation as a collective business ecosystem. In particular, little research exists on how a business ecosystem is generated, how it adopts concepts associated with open innovation in its business practice, and what sustains an ecosystem over time.

My dissertation demonstrates how one business entity – Chez Panisse – started its business journey and how it practiced what is popularly called open innovation within its community for over 42 years. In order to do so, I closely observed and participated in understanding the California Cuisine ecosystem to collect data. I employed a single-case study method by incorporating in-depth interviews, participatory observation, as well as a thorough collection of publically available data. The research findings indicate that (1) knowledge spillover was a conduit to expand and grow the Chez Panisse ecosystem, (2) co-creation of products and services with ecosystem participants contributed to collective ecosystem innovation, and (3) social innovation and learning were key factors in strengthening the bond among stakeholders and enabled the ecosystem's expansion to the nation, and global level.

I introduce the concept of an Open Innovation Ecosystem as a business ecosystem that co-creates innovations with its stakeholders and captures co-created values collectively within the ecosystem. The Chez Panisse case illustrates how what is popularly referred to as open innovation can be practiced at the level of a business ecosystem and become an important factor in its growth and expansion. The research outcomes suggest that business practitioners should consider employing the approaches identified in this thesis if they are interested in designing, creating and growing or maintaining a business ecosystem. These results additionally indicate that participants of the Chez Panisse open innovation ecosystem stayed engaged because of the educational and social innovation aspects; therefore businesses may want to consider the role that education and social innovation can play in sustaining a healthy business ecosystem.

Background and problem: The innovation process is crucial for high-tech company’s survival. Because of its importance for these types of companies, have the innovation process been studied. The studies means to create a framework of how high-tech companies should work with the innovation process. Purpose: The purpose of this essay is to do a survey of the innovation process in high-tech firms and activities linked to the process. Additionally the purpose is to describe how the activities around the innovation process should be controlled to highlight innovation and development. This to create a theoretical framework for a functional and efficient innovation process. Research method: The research methods used is a qualitative multiple case study. The empirical basis has been collected through semi-structured interviews. We have also taken into account quality measures and had a critical approach for the selection of information. Conclusion: Determine how high-tech companies should work after their conditions to establish a functional and efficient innovation process. The established framework shows how the innovation process different phases is linked with the company’s goals and strategy, organizational structure, internal- and external activities.
Bakgrund och Problem: Innovationsprocessen är avgörande för high-tech verksamheters överlevnad. Eftersom innovationsprocessen har så stor betydelse för dessa typer av företag har dessa processer studerats. Detta för att skapa ett ramverk kring hur high-tech verksamheter ska arbeta med innovationsprocessen. Syfte: Uppsatsens syfte är att genomföra en kartläggning av high-tech företags innovationsprocesser samt aktiviteter kopplade till dessa processer. Vidare är syftet att beskriva hur aktiviteter kring innovationsprocessen ska styras och kontrolleras för att framhäva utveckling och innovation. Detta för att skapa ett teoretiskt ramverk för en fungerande och effektiv innovationsprocess. Metod: Forskningsmetoden som använts är en kvalitativ flerfallsstudie. Empiriskt underlag har samlats in genom semi-strukturerade intervjuer. Vi har även tagit hänsyn till kvalitetsmått och haft ett kritiskt förhållningssätt till urvalet av informationskällor. Slutsats: Fastställer hur high-tech verksamheter ska arbeta efter deras förutsättning för att etablera en fungerande och effektiv innovationsprocess. Ramverket visar hur innovationsprocessens olika faser är kopplad med företagets mål och strategi, organisationsstruktur, interna- och externa aktiviteter.

Empirical research has established that the service sector is the engine of growth in global economies. Despite the contributions of the service sector to global economies, research in service innovation has been neglected. There are still empirical research gaps especially on the predictors of strategic service delivery innovation (SSDI). The problem statement addressed in this study was that no research used the resource advantage theory to investigate the nature of the relationship between SSI and SSDI with OS as a possible moderator variable. Using resource advantage theory as the foundation, the purpose of this correlational study was to determine whether organizational size moderates the relationship between SSI and SSDI. Survey data were collected from a random sample of IT managers in the United States (n = 250), and data were analyzed using SPSS to specifically test the three hypotheses of the study. The key findings indicated that SSI was positively related to SSDI F (3, 246) = 428.153, p < 0.001 OS was positively related to SSI (t = 10.4, p < 0.001), and OS moderated the relationship between SSI and SSDI F (1, 245) = 0.005, p = 0.006. Using the conceptual framework of the R-A theory was statistically significant to investigate the relationships between the three key variables. Positive social change should be achieved when IT managers realize that strategic service innovation is positively related to strategic service innovation delivery, and is moderated by organizational size, then this information should factor into IT managers' strategic planning to positively impact social change by minimizing cost of production in service delivery to consumers. The outcome of this study was two-fold: academic significance of delivery innovation (SSDI) and managerial significance.

Bakgrund: Den tilltagande oron för vår planets välmående har medfört ett ökat samhällsfokus på hållbar utveckling. Det är av vikt att företag engagerar sig i hållbar utveckling delvis eftersom de orsakar många hållbarhetsrelaterade problem, och delvis eftersom de har de resurser som krävs för att lösa problemen. För att påverka hållbar utveckling behöver företag driva fram hållbara innovationer för att förändra deras produkter, processer och affärsmodeller. Forskningsfältet gällande hållbara innovationer är dock i en initial uppbyggnadsfas, och därmed behövs fler studier. Framförallt är forskningsområdet i behov av fler kvalitativa studier som belyser hur hållbara innovationer utvecklas på företagsnivå. Syfte: Syftet med uppsatsen är att öka förståelsen för hur hållbarhet införlivas i företags innovationsprocesser. Metod: En kvalitativ studie med åtta respondenter fördelade över sju semistrukturerade intervjuer. Slutsatser: Studien visar på tre faktorer som behövs för att skapa en organisationskultur där lärande uppmuntras. De tre faktorerna är hållbarhetsramverk, tillit till anställdas förmåga samt frihet i att utforma arbetsprocesser. Tillsammans leder faktorerna till att skapa en lärande kultur som driver införlivande av hållbarhet i innovationsprocessen. Studien visar också att tvärfunktionella grupper behöver skapas i de initiala faserna av innovationsprocessen. De tvärfunktionella grupperna bör tillåtas inneha ett explorativt idésökande som arbetssätt. Det explorativa sökandet efter innovationer kan ske internt inom företagen eller genom externa samarbeten.
Background: The increasing concern for our planet’s well-being has induced an increased focus on sustainable development. It is of importance for companies to engage in sustainable development, partly since they are the reason for many sustainability-related issues, and partly because they have the resources required to solve the issues. In order to affect sustainable development, companies need to develop sustainable innovations to change their products, processes and business models. However, the research field concerning sustainable innovations is still in its infancy stage and therefore requires more research. In particular, the research field is in need of more qualitative research which refers to how sustainable innovations are developed on a company level. Purpose: The aim of this study is to increase the understanding of how sustainability can be incorporated into the innovation process. Method: A qualitative study with eight respondents distributed across seven semi-structured interviews. Findings: The study points out three factors that are essential when creating an organizational culture which encourage learning. The three factors are sustainable framework, trust in the employees’ abilities and lastly freedom for employees to form their work processes. Together the factors create a learning culture that drives the incorporation of sustainability into the innovation process. The study also pinpoints the need of creating cross-functional groups in the initial phases of the innovation process. The cross-functional teams should be encouraged to use an exploratory search method. An exploratory search for innovation can be conducted within the corporation or through external collaborations.

Title: Factors Influencing Innovation Capacity of Regional Innovation Hubs Authors: Sanvida Vishani Sawunda Hannadige & Dona Kithmini Chiranthini Weerasinghe Supervisor: Ehsanul Huda Chowdhury Examiner: Maria Fregidou-Malama Date: 28- Jan- 2021   Aim: This study aims to identify the factors influencing innovation capacity of innovation hubs and explore how innovation hubs influence regional innovation process.    Methodology: This is a qualitative study which follows the inductive approach and the strategy of multiple case study. Primary data were collected through semi-structured interviews with ten respondents in the network of an innovation hub.   Findings: The findings of this study suggest five main factors which positively influence the innovation capacity of an innovation hub. Those are infrastructure, knowledge sharing, culture, marketing strategies and supporting network of the hub. Further through the findings we identified that innovation hub creates a well-balanced socio-economic impact on the region it operates.   Contribution: This study provides a comprehensive knowledge to the existing theories by discovering five theoretical areas which influence innovation capacity. Also it assists the stakeholders of innovation hubs to overcome their deficiencies in order to build a strong innovation capacity. Further, this study encourages innovators, entrepreneurs and investors to work in collaboration with innovation hubs.   Suggestions for Future Research: Qualitative or quantitative methods can be used to explore the outcomes in different perspectives. The newly identified features under marketing strategies can be further studied for their importance in other domains such as ecosystem and stakeholders. The revised framework can be tested in future researches.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Kelley School of Business, 2008.
Title from home page (viewed on Jul 23, 2009). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-11, Section: A, page: 4420. Adviser: Neil Morgan.

Continuous innovation provides competitive advantage to organisations. Teams are considered as a vehicle for achieving innovative objectives, provided that they implement projects successfully. Several studies reported requirements on what constitute the most suitable team composition to ensure innovation success. The question remained unanswered as to what could be considered to increase the possibility and probability of innovation implementation team success. It was evident from the literature review that solutions could be provided should such challenges be viewed from a multi-disciplinary perspective. The emphasis and impact of team members' emotions were emphasised as an additional insight into optimising success for implementing innovation projects. The theoretical framework guiding this study was the Emotional Style Theory of Davidson and Begley (2012). This affective neuro scientific theory was approached from an industrial psychologist point of view. This research introduced the concept of emotive outlook depicting six constructs namely: mental acuity, self/reality orientation, emotional fitness/change agility, emotional management(self), social sensitivity and sensitivity to context. The study's main contribution was examining and comparing the emotive outlook profiles and patterns of successful and unsuccessful innovation project implementation teams, within the financial services industry. Data was collected from an International Case (providing data from a multi-national company's operations in nine African countries) and a National Case (providing data from three Namibian Institutions). The total sample size was 169 participants. In this mixed methods convergent parallel design study, the quantitative results of certain assessments and the qualitative findings utilising semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions were merged, at the interpretation stage. The purposes of complementarity, completeness, diversity and compensation were achieved when the results were merged. The major contributions of this study were the findings that successful innovation implementation teams were characterized by intra-psychological strengths and cognitive abilities. The research findings concluded a weak focus on interpersonal aspects and team dynamics. The strengths of teams were found to be a reflection of the individual team members' strengths (mental acuity, emotional self-management, self-awareness and emotional intelligence). This led to postulations regarding team dynamics for innovation implementation teams and the importance of separating these teams from, for example, the creative teams in the innovation process. The context which could contribute to the success of these teams was highlighted by the qualitative strand of this research. The knowledge contribution of this study was the prioritising of the emotive outlook constructs presented as a formula. From a scholarly point of view mixed methods research was presented as an exciting methodological choice addressing business challenges. Practice implications were presented on team as well as Innovation Sponsors/ Champions selection criteria and Generation Y. Importantly, interesting areas for possible future research considerations were opened by this study.

High tech companies face continual pressures to innovate, differentiate, and be first to market. Open innovation allows organizations to focus on their core competencies while developing strategic alliances that create win-win relationships and competitive advantages for all parties involved. However, open innovation introduces certain risks and challenges and a consistent framework for open innovation is lacking. This study developed a high-level framework for planning and executing open innovation within the high tech industry. A convenience sample of nine managers experienced in the high tech industry experience and open innovation were interviewed about their perspectives, experiences, and approaches related to open innovation. Results confirmed the lack of open innovation roadmaps or playbooks in use, due to the inherent uncertainty and complexity of open innovation. Diligent vetting of partnerships is critical for success in open innovation, as incompatible partner characteristics can undermine the success of such initiatives.

This dissertation is composed of three essays on innovation, strategy and competition. The first essay studies how entry of patent intermediaries known as "patent assertion entities" (PAEs) impacts behavior of other firms in the patent space. It uses deaths of individual patent owners to exogenously identify PAE patent acquisitions, and estimates its impact on follow-on citations. Finally, it shows that after being acquired by PAEs, patents lose a large portion of their follow-on citations. These effects are driven almost entirely by citing behavior of large entities and are robust to controlling for patent examiner-added citations. This effect disappears once the acquired patents expire, indicating that large entities may be acting strategically to reduce the likelihood of patent assertion. The second essay investigates patent disclosure processes at seven large Standard-Setting Organizations (SSOs) where participating entities have a choice between specific patent disclosures and broad generic disclosures. It finds that large, downstream firms who face large technology search costs prefer to use generic patent disclosures. In addition, it shows that higher quality patents are more likely to be disclosed in specific disclosures, because they are more likely to be monetized through licensing. The third essay estimates the causal impact of research expenditures on scientific output. Unexpected college football outcomes provide exogenous variation to university funds, and in turn, research expenditures in the subsequent year. Using this variation, this essay estimates the dollar elasticity of scholarly articles, new patent applications, and the citations that accrue to each.

Background: Small and Medium enterprises (SMEs) are the main contributors of innovation. However, there are challenges that organizations face even if they foster innovation. These constraints are often external or internal and dependent on organizations resources and capabilities. It is often based on financial limits, the market, technology, human resources, skilled labor and information being limited. Even though there is research available about these factors separately, there is limited understanding of their influences on innovation ventures. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to understand what hinders companies in their innovation processes and if there are influencing reasons that forces Small and Medium Enterprises to give up on their innovation ventures. Methodology: This study is qualitative and took an inductive exploratory approach where the data was collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews. Six SMEs were interviewed based on a convenience judgmental sample and analyzed through the use of content analysis.  Conclusion: This study concludes that, management, finance, marketing and shortcomings are the main influences that can hinder innovation processes but also lead SMEs to give up on innovation ventures as well.

Innovation leads to economic growth, however, financing innovation comes with major uncertainties and therefore there is a risk of underinvestment in innovation. One type of investor who is prepared to take on this uncertainty is the Venture Capitalist (VC). The question remaining is whether VCs spur further innovation or mainly exploit existing innovation. By counting the patent registrations in 133 Swedish VC financed firms and comparing these to 609 control firms, the difference in innovation level is assessed. The result indicate that VC financed firms, on average, become 23% more innovative after receiving financing from a VC. Thus, it is concluded that VCs spur innovation in the Swedish context.

Syfte: Syftet med studien är att öka förståelsen för hur inställningen till och främjandet av ett innovative work behavior skiljer sig åt mellan chefer beroende på antal verksamma år i en organisation. Metod: Studien tillämpar en kvalitativ metod med utgångspunkt i den hermeneutiska vetenskapstraditionen. Tio semistrukturerade intervjuer har genomförts med chefer i olika organisationer varav fem chefer har lång erfarenhet av sin organisation medan fem chefer har kort erfarenhet av sin organisation. Det empiriska materialet har sedan tematiskt tolkats och analyserats med hjälp av kodning och kategorisering. Slutsats: Studien visar att det finns skillnader mellan chefer med lång tid i en organisation och kort tid i en organisation. Chefer tenderar att bli mindre innovativa i takt med åren de spenderar i en och samma organisation och främjar i mindre utsträckning ett IWB, detta har i studien visat sig särskilt tydligt i stadiet för idégenerering samt stadiet för idérealisering. Studiens bidrag: Studien lämnar ett teoretiskt bidrag till forskningen i form av en modell som illustrerar organisationens väg till innovation genom främjande av ett IWB och vilka element som har betydelse och är viktiga för chefen att ta hänsyn till. Studien lämnar även ett praktiskt bidrag, främst riktat till chefer med lång tid i en organisation. Där lämnas förslag om att delegera ansvar för förändrings- och utvecklingsarbete, anlita extern konsultexpertis vad det gäller förändringsarbete samt förslag om att låta medarbetare genomföra personlighetstester för att identifiera vilka egenskaper som finns representerade i organisationen. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Till vidare forskning rekommenderas att studera organisationer under en längre period för att se vilket utfall genomförda förändringar får i organisationerna och om det skiljer sig åt beroende på om chefen i organisationen varit verksam längre eller kortare tid. Vidare lämnas förslag om att genomföra en liknande studie i en mer homogen kontext, med liknande organisationer vad det gäller styrning och storlek. Avslutningsvis föreslås även möjligheten att se till chefens personliga egenskaper och hur dessa påverkar inställningen till och främjande av ett IWB.

As the clothing industry is influenced by fierce competition and fast changing trends, firms must handle high stakeholder pressure such as for example, increased environmental and social awareness. According to the UN (2019), the clothing industry is the second biggest polluter to the environment, thus demonstrating the urgent need for CSR initiatives to make significant impact in this industry. In fact, many firms have been innovative, but the benefits from these innovations have yet to be seen.  The main purpose of this study is to understand how innovation and CSR can be combined to offer value for stakeholdersin the clothing industry and evaluate this through the relationship of the Porter hypothesis, stakeholder theory and value co-creation. This thesis adopts a mixed-method approach by responses from interviews and from a self-completing questionnaire. This is supported by the analysis of secondary data reports from firms in the clothing industry and governmental institutions. The results of this study conclude that firms experience two forms of stakeholder pressure which forces them to innovate, supporting the argument for the ‘strong’ form of the Porter hypothesis. Furthermore, it finds that value creation is inextricably linked to stakeholder theory.

This thesis examines the "state of the art" of product innovation in new technology In the UK. The roles in innovation attributed to small and large firms are examined. Growing attention is being focused upon the small firm sector as a seedbed for Innovation and government policy has been changing to encourage the entrepreneurial new technology based firm (NTBF). The novel perspective of this research results from working in such a firm. It provides a longitudinal study of the management of innovation in conjunction with the corporate strategy of the firm. Given that the researcher was a participant and observer in the firm studied, the research is akin to action research in methodology but is better described as grounded theory. Theoretical concepts are drawn from the prescriptive literature describing corporate strategy, and from the empirical literature which has evaluated new product success and failure. Models of the Innovation process are discussed and appropriate strategies and reasons for product innovation failure in NTBFs are described. The strategy, structure and new product development progress of the company are examined, using both the researcher's observations and company documents. This provides information on the methods and practices adopted for product innovation in a NTBF. The thesis analyses the performance of the firm In terms of product innovation. The models and strategies derived from the literature are then tested in the light of the experience of the company. Conclusions are drawn regarding strategies for innovation in NTBFs and about the innovation process in general. The importance of a NTBF adopting a synergistic strategy is shown. Links are established between the existence of synergy in the strategy and coupling in the management of innovation. Innovation is shown to be a laterally interdisciplinary exercise and therefore the "pipeline model" Is criticised. Finally a set of guidelines Is produced for the managers of NTBFs.

The purpose of this paper is to identify gaps in regulatory policies resulting from the emergence of Internet radio. To accomplish this purpose, the paper seeks to: 1) provide insights into agencies that may have direct involvement in potentially regulating Internet radio; 2) explore the concepts of jurisdiction in cyberspace; and 3) address the regulatory challenges that exist when traditional country borders no longer apply.

Disruptive Innovation theory explains how industry entrants can defeat established firms and quickly gain a significant share of their key markets, in spite of the fact that incumbents tend to be significantly more experienced and better resourced. The theory has been criticized for being underspecified: whilst the general mechanics of the phenomenon of disruptive innovation are clear, it has not been established which individual variables are essential to the process and which ones are merely ancillary. As a consequence, to date it has not been possible to build a predictive model on the basis of the theory managers can use to assess the disruptive potential of their own and their competitors' innovation projects. In this research project the predictive power of each of the main variables that are mentioned in the literature has been assessed on the basis of a qualitative analysis of five real world case studies. Only variables for which information can be collected using publicly available data before disruption happens have been retained. By clarifying the detail of disruptive innovation theory, this study has been able to address a key issue in the debate, namely, whether products that are more expensive and more complex than the market standard can ever be classified as 'disruptive innovations' or whether they should always be regarded as 'high-end anomalies'. In this study two distinct disruptive innovation strategies have been identified based on the current phase of the product life cycle, the current focus of mainstream demand and the market segments first targeted when coming to market. The first strategy entails growing an existing market by moving the focus of demand on to a secondary market driver as soon as customers begin to lose their willingness to pay a premium for upgrades in the performance areas they historically used to value. Early on in the product life cycle, disruptors can conquer the mainstream market 'from above' with products that are different and more reliable or more convenient but not simpler or cheaper. The second strategy creates a new separate market by offering a radically new type of additional functionality. Over time the new market replaces the old market. These products are likely to be expensive because of their small production run and difficult to use because they are the first models of their kind. High-end customers constitute a natural foothold market for these products as they are wealthy and highly skilled.

Purpose. The purpose of the mixed methods study was to identify and describe the extent to which individual or team workspace contributes to innovation in an organizational setting as perceived by knowledge workers in California. In addition, the purpose was to identify stimulators and barriers in the physical workspace on innovation. A literature review revealed the importance of creativity and innovation in organizations. Gaps in the literature between workspace and innovation were examined and perspectives on the combination of workspace design and innovation were assessed.

Methodology. This mixed-method research design combined two methods, surveys and interviews, in a sequential manner. First, the quantitative component (surveys) was administered via a 53- question online survey. The results of the quantitative survey guided the qualitative interviews by prioritizing data and themes. The population for the study included full-time knowledge workers in California.

Findings: Respondents identified core dimensions within the Situational Outlook Questionnaire that led to innovation and creativity in the workspace environment. To further expand respondents acknowledged individual and team workspace factors that led to more innovative outcomes. Within the individual workspace technology surfaced as a primary driver of innovation. When asked about team workspace respondents were more constructive indicating concern over noise and interruptions. Additionally, the study asked about stimulators and barriers to innovation within the workspace. Stimulators included placement of staff within close proximity to key team members, design that encourages trust, and inspiring décor that awakens creativity. Lastly, barriers to innovation in the workspace included status quo mentality, decreasing square footage from individual workspace, and concerns with open space design.

Recommendations for Action: The author offers several recommendations for action including: optimize the right level of playfulness to drive innovation; avoid workspace fads and focus on workspace intent; add pulse surveys about employee workspace to drive design strategies that compliment innovation objectives; consider new ways of assigning space by giving thought to the requirements for the worker instead of seniority within an organization; adopt policies to reduce noise and utilize space more purposefully; lastly, the researcher introduces a new model to use when planning workspace that drives innovation.

To achieve innovative performance in team-based working environments there are several factors which determine how well a team operate. It is crucial for business leaders to identify the clues of the innovation process in order to exploit the potential of creative solutions in IT-based product development. This study presents the project framework Scrum, which has gained popularity in recent years and has been adopted all over the world in delivering fast, and incremental IT-solutions. The framework consists of cross-functional teams, rules, artifacts and is based on routine events throughout the developmental process. Although the intended purpose of this framework is not for innovative performance, several researchers have found the framework being used in both managing innovative activities and to produce innovative results. Without specifying where in the process it occurs and how it facilitates innovative behaviour. By examining today's most used agile framework for developing, delivering and sustaining complex IT-products we aim to understand how organizations can utilize this framework in achieving innovative product development. The core methodology consists of interview studies with employees as well as executives in daily contact to the Scrum framework.  The literature study finds that the activities found in the Scrum framework bears resemblance to activities found regarding innovative product development. Mainly in the areas regarding learning and the width of cross-functional competency that resides in the development team.  Furthermore the study suggests that the Scrum framework allows the team a high degree of agency within the developmental process, which allows for creative development alongside the project goal. In regards to this dynamic the study finds that the innovativeness is then mainly dependent on the individuals consisting in the project group, and the work ethic, competence and willingness to be transparent in a group setting is what decides the capability to capture learning as a part of innovation. Further, we discovered that events such as Dailies and Retro to have a big impact in innovative aspects moving the project development process forward.

This dissertation investigates whether differences in organizational innovation amongst health care providers can explain the huge variation in costs and outcomes. I specifically consider two facets of organizational innovation: the deployment of information technology and the relationships between hospitals and physicians. In the first chapter, I investigate IT adoption in a service setting by considering the impact of electronic medical records (EMRs) on the length of stay and clinical outcomes of patients in US hospitals. To uncover the distinct impacts of EMRs on operational efficiency and care coordination, I present evidence of heterogeneous effects by patient complexity. I find that EMRs have the largest impact for relatively less complex patients. Admission to a hospital with an EMR is associated with a 2\% reduction in length of stay and a 9\% reduction in thirty-day mortality for such patients. In contrast, there is no statistically significant benefit for more complex patients. However, I present three additional results for complex cases. First, patients returning to the same hospital benefit relative to those who previously went to a different hospital, which could be due to easier access to past electronic records. Second, computerized order entry is associated with higher billed charges. Finally, hospitals that have a high share of publicly insured patients, and hence a bigger incentive to curb resource use, achieve a greater reduction in length of stay for complex patients after EMR adoption. In the second chapter, co-authored with Robert Huckman, I investigate the role of process specialists in guiding customers through such complex service transactions by considering the management of patients admitted to U.S hospitals. Traditionally, a patient's primary care physician has been in charge of his or her hospital admission. Over the past decade, however, there has been a steady rise in the use of hospitalists - physicians who spend all their professional time at the hospital - in managing inpatient care. Using data from the American Hospital Association and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) database, we find that hospitals with hospitalist programs achieve reductions in the risk-adjusted length of stay of inpatients over the time period 2003 to 2010. The effect is strongest for complex patients who have a higher number of comorbidities. Our findings support the view that process specialists such as hospitalists are particularly beneficial for complex transactions that entail a greater degree of coordination. In the final chapter, I document the positive relationship between consolidation in the health care industry and technology adoption. I propose several mechanisms that could explain the association between the adoption of electronic medical records and greater hospital-physician integration. I show that the positive correlation between technology adoption and hospital consolidation has been increasing over time. I show that hospitals located in concentrated markets are more likely to adopt electronic medical records and to use hospitalists. Moreover, for a limited set of hospitals, the quality of management is positively associated with the adoption of electronic medical records and the use of hospitalists.
Business Economics