China has continued the economic reform and open door policy over 30 years with many great achievements, such as the second largest GDP, the largest import and export economy with the largest infrastructural investment in the world. On the other hand, the conflicts and risks the firms especially for small and medium sized manufacturing enterprises (SMEs) have faced are extremely serious and more acute due to the economy growth and increasing social wealth, especially in Yangtze River Delta, in the general context of ever increasing cost such as labour, land and higher customers’ expectations such as the quality of product. These serious problems are challenges for the competitiveness of SMEs in Yangtze River Delta. This research aims to investigate and improve the competitiveness of SMEs by the main variables such as enterprise’s resources, product’s competitive issues and innovation activities related barriers. To achieve the aim, the research employed a mixed method of quantitative and qualitative approaches to build the competitiveness’s belief network model by Bayesian Belief Networks and analyze the factors of the most important variables by the SPSS software. Secondly, 36 entrepreneurs of small and medium sized manufacturing enterprises in Yangtze River Delta have been carefully selected to participate in the questionnaire survey and face to face interviews. All participants are entrepreneurs who have run enterprise for at least three years. Five kinds of resources, competitive issues and innovation have been identified as the variables of competitiveness. The findings of research are mainly related to the three aspects which are general view of variables; barriers to innovation activity and importance of variables for improving the competitiveness; and the factor analysis of quality management practices. Firstly, the general condition of financial resource is the worst in resource sector of SMEs; Dependability is the best performance in competitive issues of SMEs; Lack of finance is generally identified the biggest barrier to innovation of SMEs. Secondly, the Physical resource in resource sector and Quality in competitive issues sector are the most important variables for improving the competitiveness of SMEs after BBN assessment; Lack of technical experts is the most serious barrier when the SMEs are really focusing on the innovation according to the BBN assessments. Thirdly, the factor analyses have identified the key independent factors explaining the quality management practices in these SMEs. Finally, these findings can help the SMEs build variables’ impact tables based on the outputs from the conditional assessment of BBNs to make more efficient and effective decisions when they try to improve the enterprise competitiveness, with detailed recommendations. At the same time, the importance and factors of good quality management practices have also been argued to help the entrepreneurs improve the quality performance and their enterprise competitiveness.

As technology continues to develop and form tools capable of helping people andorganisations become more efficient, there is a need for organisations to stay up-to-dateon the various tools and trends to stay relevant on the market and not fall behind. Artificialintelligence (AI) is one of those tools that is emerging on the market and challengingorganisations to implement the technology to stay relevant. However, not allorganisations know how to properly implement AI in their organisation, resulting in alarge array of barriers that hold organisations back from technological implementation.After studying the research papers out there, a research gap was discovered on how toovercome the barriers from an organisational perspective. Throughout the thesis, it wasdetermined that one common misconception is that AI is a solution that will solve anorganisation's many flaws, whereas in fact AI is a tool used to make work more efficientfor the organisation. As a result, it was determined that competence is the most importantaspect in overcoming the barriers to AI implementation.

As innovation plays a predominant role in gaining competitive advantage, profit driving companies within the private sector have found ways to use innovation to succeed on the market. Although the public sector works according to a different set of logic, the demand for innovation within the public sector has been found to be growing due to increasing user needs, as well as increasing expectations on the effectiveness, availability and the quality of the public services. The district administrations, that are partly responsible for delivering such services in the City of Stockholm, face currently also various challenges such as a demographical development. A central strategy for innovation currently exists, but as such is equally important as systematical processes in order to build a long-term lasting capacity for innovation, it was unclear to this point if systematical processes are used at the district administrations to actualize innovation. Therefore, this research investigated how innovation was actualized at the district administrations in the City of Stockholm in order to identify if systematical processes were used, as well as to find which factors potentially hinder innovation from being actualized with systematics. Only the implications of the top-management were examined and the research was conducted as a case study of qualitative sort where interviews with top-executives, projects leaders and managers were conducted in the process. This research found that the district administrations neither address nor facilitate innovation in a systematic manner, as systematical processes were found to be absent for such purposes. Innovation is rather actualized in an unstructured manner, as no systematics was found to be used in relation to any of the stages in the innovation process. Among the factors that were found to affect the use of systematic processes was the absence of a climate that facilitates innovation, the lack of know-how knowledge for managing innovation, as well as communication deficiencies. Internal strategies were found to be absent and continuous learning was found to not be facilitated adequately, as well as knowledge in general was found to not be sufficiently enhanced. Heavy workloads and emergency driven operations cause difficulties to actualizing innovation with systematics. Finally, as much of the daily work at district administrations is budget-driven and as innovation is not referred to as explicit objectives, innovation is overshadowed by the tasks that are related to the daily operations at the district administrations. / Då innovation har visat sig ha en dominerad roll i stärkandet av konkurranskraften hos företag har vinstdrivande organisationer inom den privata sektorn hittat sätt att utnyttja innovation till sin fördel på marknaden. Även om den offentliga sektorn arbetar utifrån annorlunda förutsättningar så har efterfrågan på innovation ökat med åren då användarna både efterfrågar och förväntar sig en högre grad av effektivitet, tillgänglighet och kvalitet av tjänsterna som erbjuds. Stadsdelsförvaltningarna som är delvis ansvariga för att leverera olika tjänster inom Stockholms stad står inför olika typer av utmaningar, så som en kommande demografisk ökning. En central strategi för innovation existerar inom staden, men då forskning påpekar vikten av kombinationen av både strategi och systematiska processer för att erhålla en långsiktig innovationskapacitet, var det fram tills nu oklart om processer används på stadsdelsförvaltningarna för att förverkliga innovation. Av denna anledning blev syftet för denna undersökning att klargöra hur stadsdelsförvaltningarna förverkligar innovation för att identifiera om systematiska processer används, men även att kartlägga vilka faktorer som hindrar sådana från att användas. Undersökningen avgränsades till att enbart undersöka implikationerna som ledningen har i frågan och utfördes som en kvalitativ fallstudie där högsta ledning, projektledare och andra chefer intervjuades i processen. Undersökningen fann att stadsdelsförvaltningarna varken adresserar eller faciliterar innovation på ett systematiskt sätt då systematiska processer för ett sådana syften var frånvarande. Innovation visade sig förverkligas på ett ostrukturerat vis, då ingen sorts systematik identifierades i relation till de olika stegen i innovationsprocessen som användes i undersökningen. Bland faktorerna som identifieras som hämmande för användandet av systematiska processer var bland annat avsaknaden av både ett klimat som främjar innovation samt praktisk kunskap inom ämnet, men även bristande kommunikation i frågan. Det visades sig även saknas interna strategier för innovation och ett kontinuerligt organisatoriskt lärande. Tunga arbetsbördor och en viss grad av akutstyrning visade sig även skapa svårigheter för stadsdelsförvaltningarna att arbeta med innovation. Då budget används som det främsta styrverktyget, men där bland annat innovation inte är inkluderat som explicita mål som man kontinuerligt mäter och följer upp, gör att innovation även hamnar i skymundan av det dagliga operativa arbetet.

[pt] O objetivo da dissertação é analisar a influência de fatores de gestão da inovação, particularmente cooperação interorganizacional e uso de informação de diferentes fontes, sobre a percepção dos problemas e obstáculos enfrentados pelas pequenas e médias empresas (PMEs) inovadoras da indústria de transformação no Brasil, ao longo de suas atividades inovativas. Realizou-se esta análise segundo três níveis de intensidade tecnológica dos setores em que as PMEs atuam e duas faixas de pessoal alocado (pequenas e médias empresas). A pesquisa pode ser considerada descritiva e aplicada. A metodologia adotada compreendeu pesquisa bibliográfica sobre inovação; classificações tecnológicas, destacando-se a classificação de intensidade tecnológica proposta pela Organização para a Cooperação e Desenvolvimento Econômico (OCDE); análise comparada dos estudos empíricos internacionais e nacionais sobre problemas e obstáculos enfrentados por PMEs; pesquisa documental referente à Classificação CNAE e à Pesquisa Nacional de Inovação (Pintec), ambas as publicações do Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE); análise de conteúdo para classificar as atividades econômicas das PMEs respondentes da Pintec 2014, segundo três níveis de intensidade tecnológica dos setores em que atuam e duas faixas de pessoal alocado; solicitação dos microdados ao IBGE; desenvolvimento de modelos de regressão logística para seis agrupamentos de PMEs, classificadas por intensidade tecnológica setorial e por faixa de pessoal ocupado; interpretação e discussão dos resultados. A partir dos resultados do estudo empírico, conclui-se que as PMEs podem ampliar de forma significativa seu entendimento sobre a criticidade dos problemas e obstáculos à inovação à medida que se envolvem em atividades de PDeI, especialmente em modelos de inovação aberta. / [en] The dissertation aims to analyze the influence of innovation management factors, particularly inter-organizational cooperation and the use of information from different sources, on the perception of the problems and obstacles to innovation faced by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) of the manufacturing industry in Brazil. This analysis was performed according to three levels of technological intensity of SMEs and firm size (small and medium enterprises). The research can be considered descriptive and applied. The methodology adopted comprised bibliographic research on innovation; technological classifications, highlighting the classification proposed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for technological intensity of manufacturing sectors; comparative analysis of empirical studies on problems and obstacles faced by SMEs; documentary analysis focusing on the National Classification of Economic Activities (CNAE, acronym in Portuguese) and the National Innovation Survey (Pintec), both publications of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE); content analysis to classify the economic activities of the respondent SMEs of Pintec 2014, according to three levels of technological intensity of the sectors in which they operate and two ranges of allocated personnel; request of microdata to IBGE; development of logistic regression models for six groups of SMEs; interpretation and discussion of the results innovation. From the results of the empirical study, the main conclusion is that SMEs can significantly broaden their understanding of the criticality of problems and obstacles to innovation as they engage in RandD activities, especially in open innovation models.

Our modern “traditional” agricultural system is not sustainable. This system is highly dependent on limited resources such as land, oil and water. It also has numerous negative impacts, including the depletion of resources leading to higher prices, pollutions leading to health risks, global warming, deforestation and biodiversity loss. These dependencies and consequences are combined with a growing and ever more affluent global population which requires greater amount of resources to support its growth and which increases the negative impacts on the environment. All indicates that our system is reaching its limits and that there is a need for new solutions. This research introduces the general context (problem and existing research) and explores an alternative, namely: Intensive Vertical Urban Agriculture (I.V.U.A.). This method seems to offer two particularly interesting promises beneficial for Sustainable Urban Development: the reduction of transportation, and the integration of food production in the urban nutrient and energy cycles. However, to achieve these potential benefits the technology (in a broad sense) has to meet several challenges and there is a need for further experimentation. This study explores challenges of I.V.U.A. and key factors enabling or hindering experimentation in this field. This investigation identified key barriers to further development of I.V.U.A. through the use of a case study. The Plantagon International ABis a unique project which will be built in 2013, in Linkoping, Sweden. It will be the first vertical greenhouse of a considerable scale in the world with a research and commercial aim. Barriers to I.V.U.A. were identified as: - Lack of awareness about the problems with our modern food supply, and hence missed opportunities for S.U.D. - Attitudes that are working against I.V.U.A. and competition for recognition with other forms of agriculture as alternative to the problem of food production - Lack of technical abilities, knowledge and skills in I.V.U.A. - Funding/supporting infrastructures (physical or informational) - Blockages that are the result of administrations and policies which are largely based around “traditional” agriculture. Finally, a set of recommendations was drawn from the interviews of the case study and the literature review, to help planners and decision-makers lift these barriers and enable experimenting. These four implications to consider and explore are: - Gaining understanding of the complexity of S.U.D.problems and the need for a wide range of solutions which include I.V.U.A.; - Including a greater amount of stakeholders, and considering contexts - Improving access to land but also to resources and infrastructures - Building support to enable I.V.U.A. to thrive on its own

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