Dynamic Distributed Dependable Real-time Industrial communication Protocol family (D3RIP), has been proposed in the literature considering the periodic or event-based traffic characteristics of the industrial communication networks. D3RIP framework consists of two protocol families: Interface Layer (IL) protocol family, which is responsible for providing the accurate time-division multiple access (TDMA) on top of a shared-medium broadcast channel, and Coordination Layer (CL), which is defined to fulfill the external requirements of IL. In this thesis, the hardware adaptations of the two protocols, Real-time Access Interface Layer (RAIL) and Time-slotted Interface Layer (TSIL), of the IL protocol family, are implemented. Their performance on both personal computers (PC) and development kits (DK) are observed.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / The aim of this thesis is to understand what drives the evolution of industrial networks and how such understanding can be used to stimulate sustainable development. A complex adaptive systems perspective has been adopted to analyse the complex interaction between organisational behaviour and industrial network evolution. This analysis has formed the basis for the development of a modelling approach that allows for quantitative exploration of how different organisational perceptions about current and future uncertainty affect their behaviour and therefore the network evolution. This analysis results in a set of potential evolutionary pathways for an industrial network and their associated performance in terms of sustainable development. Subsequently, this modelling approach has been used to explore the consequences of interventions in the network evolution and to identify robust interventions for stimulating sustainable development of industrial networks. The analysis, modelling approach and development of interventions has been developed in the context of a bioenergy network in the region of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. Industrial networks are an important aspect of today’s life and provide many goods and services to households and individuals all over the world. They consist of a large number of autonomous organisations, where some organisations contribute by transforming or transacting natural resources, such as oil, agricultural products or water, while other organisations contribute to networks by providing information or setting regulation or subsidies (local or national governments) or by influencing decision making processes of other organisations in networks (advocacy groups). Throughout the process from natural resource to product or service, industrial networks have important economic, environmental and social impacts on the socio-economic and biophysical systems in which they operate. The sum of complex interactions between organisations affects the rate in which natural resources are used, environmental impacts associated with transformation and transaction of resources and social impacts on local communities, regions or countries as a whole. The aim of this thesis is to understand how industrial networks evolve and how they can be stimulated towards sustainable development. The first question that has been addressed in this thesis is how to understand the complex interaction between organisational behaviour and industrial network evolution. Organisational behaviour is affected by many functional and implicit characteristics within the environment in which the organisation operates, while simultaneously the environment is a function of non-linear relationships between individual organisational actions and their consequences for both the function and structure of the network. This thesis has identified four different characteristics of industrial networks that affect organisational behaviour: 1) Functional characteristics 2) Implicit behavioural characteristics 3) Implicit relational characteristics 4) Implicit network characteristics. Functional characteristics are those characteristics that are formally recognised by all organisations within an industrial network and which affect their position within the network. Examples of functional characteristics are the price and quantity of resources available, the location and distance of organisations within a network, infrastructure availability or regulation. Implicit characteristics, on the other hand, are those characteristics that impact the decision making process of organisations, but which are not formally part of the network. From an organisational perspective, implicit characteristics are the rules, heuristics, norms and values that an organisation uses to determine its objectives, position and potential actions. Implicit relational characteristics, most importantly trust and loyalty, affect an organisations choice between potential partners and implicit network characteristics are those social norms and values that emerge through social embeddedness. Collectively, these functional and implicit characteristics and their interactions determine the outcome of organisational decisions and therefore the direction of the industrial network evolution. The complex interaction between these large numbers of characteristics requires quantitative models to explore how different network characteristics and different interactions result in different network evolutions. This thesis has developed an agent-based simulation model to explore industrial network evolutions. To represent the multi-scale complexity of industrial networks, the model consists of four scales. Each scale represents different processes that connect the functional and implicit characteristics of an industrial network to each other. The two basic scales represent the strategic actions of the organisations on the one hand and the industrial network function and structure on the other. The third scale represents the processes that take place within the mental models of organisations describing how they make sense of their environment and inform their strategic decision making process. The fourth scale represents the social embeddedness of organisations and how social processes create and destroy social institutions. The model has been developed such that it allows for exploring how changes in different network characteristics or processes affect the evolution of the network as a whole. The second question that has been addressed in this thesis is how to evaluate sustainable development of different evolutionary pathways of industrial networks. First of all, a systems approach has been adopted to explore the consequences of an industrial network to the larger socio-economic and biophysical system in which the network operates. Subsequently, a set of structural indicators has been proposed to evaluate the dynamic performance of industrial networks. These four structural indicators reflect the efficiency, effectiveness, resilience and adaptiveness of industrial networks. Efficiency and effectiveness relate to the operational features by which industrial networks provides a particular contribution to society. Resilience and adaptiveness relate to the system’s capacity to maintain or adapt its contribution to society while under stress of temporary shocks or permanent shifts, respectively. Finally, different multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) tools have been applied to provide a holistic evaluation of sustainable development of industrial networks. The third important question that is addressed in this thesis is how to systematically explore the potential evolutionary pathways of an industrial network, which has led to the development of agent-based scenario analysis. Agent-based scenario analysis systematically explores how industrial network evolutions might evolve depending on the perceptions of organisations towards the inherent uncertainty associated with strategic decision making in networks. The agent-based scenario analysis consists of two steps. Firstly, analysts develop a set of coherent context scenarios, which represents their view on the context in which an industrial network will operate within the future. For a bioenergy network, for example, this step results in a set of scenarios that each represent a coherent future of the socio-economic system in which the network might evolve. The second step is the development of a set of ‘agent scenarios’. Each agent-based scenario is based on a different ‘mental model’ employed by organisations within the network about how to deal with the inherent ambiguity of the future. The organisational perspective towards uncertainty is of major importance for the evolution of industrial networks, because it determines the innovative behaviour of organisations, the structure of the network and the direction in which the network evolves. One the one hand, organisations can ignore future ambiguity and base their actions on the environment that they can observe in their present state. On the other extreme, organisations can adopt a view that the future is inherently uncertain and in which they view social norms and values more important than functional characteristics to make sense of their environment. The mental models are differentiated according to two dimensions: 1) different mental representation of the world and 2) different cognitive processes that can be employed to inform strategic actions. Along these dimensions, different processes can be employed to make sense of the environment and to inform decision making. The thesis has shown that by systematically exploring the different perceptions possible, an adequate understanding of the different evolutionary pathways can be gained to inform the evaluation and development of interventions to stimulate sustainable development. The final part of this thesis has applied the analysis and methodology developed throughout this thesis to a bioenergy network in the province of Kwazulu-Natal in South Africa. The bioenergy network consists of a set of existing sugar mills with large quantities of bagasse, a biomass waste product, available. Bagasse is currently burned inefficiently to produce steam for the sugar mills, but can potentially be used for the production of green electricity, biodiesel, bioethanol or gelfuel. All of these products have important consequences for the region in terms of associated reductions in CO2 emissions, electrification of and/or energy provision for rural households and local economic development of the region. This thesis has modelled strategic decisions of the sugar mills, the existing electricity generator, potential independent energy producers, local and national governments and how their actions and interactions can lead to different evolutionary pathways of the bioenergy network. The agent-based scenario analysis has been used to explore how different perceptions of organisations can lead to different network evolutions. Finally, the model has been used to explore the consequences of two categories of interventions on stimulating sustainable development. The conclusions are that both categories of interventions, financial interventions by national government and the introduction of multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) tools to aid strategic decision making, can have both positive and negative effects on the network evolutions, depending on what ‘mental models’ are employed by organisations. Furthermore, there is no single intervention that outperforms the others in terms of stimulating both functional and structural features of sustainable development. The final conclusion is that instead of focusing on individual or collective targets, emphasis should be placed on the development of interventions that focus on evolutionary aspects of industrial networks rather than functional performance criteria. This thesis has also highlighted interesting research questions for future investigation. The methodology developed in this thesis is applied to a single case study, but there are still many questions concerning how different industrial networks might benefit from different organisational perceptions towards uncertainty. Furthermore, the role between the mental models and sustainable development requires further investigation, especially in the light of globalisation and the interconnectiveness of industrial networks in different countries and continents. Finally, this methodology has provided a platform for investigating how new technologies might be developed that anticipate needs of future generations. This thesis has provided a first and important step in developing a methodology that addresses the complex issues associated with sustainable development, benefiting both academics and practitioners that aim to stimulate sustainable development.

Este trabalho tem como objetivo apresentar as características e conceitos da aplicação de centros de controle de motores inteligente, demonstrando as vantagens da utilização de rede industrial no controle da produção, especificamente o protocolo DeviceNet, e reunir em um documento as informações sobre a utilização e aplicações de diferentes configurações de acionamento e comando de motores instalados em um CCM. Para isso, foram realizados estudos e simulações de acionamentos elétricos protegidos por relés de sobrecarga em diferentes configurações de ligações e tecnologias utilizadas em instalações elétricas industriais, alterando os equipamentos, montagens e sinais recebidos para comando e proteção das cargas, bem como, observando os dados referentes aos custos de engenharia, instalação e materiais. Para as quatro opções analisadas foram estimados os tempos de projeto, instalação e valores estimados dos produtos e serviços necessários, fornecendo uma tabela comparativa entre as opções estudadas, além de concluir que o uso de CCM inteligente conectado ao aplicativo de supervisão IntelliCENTER se apresentou como a melhor solução, pois agrega as melhores características técnicas dos painéis elétricos, bem como a disponibilidade de monitoramento e controle da produção, com a utilização da rede DeviceNet. Além dos valores envolvidos na aquisição e startup, também foram observados os possíveis ganhos operacionais do sistema inteligente, pois permite via sistema supervisório os diagnósticos instantâneos, alarmes e desligamentos que localizam os defeitos nos acionamentos controlados. / This work aims to present the intelligent motor control center characteristics and concepts by showing the advantages of the industrial network application in the manufacturing control, more specific the DeviceNet protocol and gather in one document the information about the application and how to use different configurations of drivers and motor control installed in a MCC. In order to gather this information several studies and simulation were made by changing the equipment, assembling and signals in electric drivers protected by overload relays with different technologies and kind of connections used in industrial installations and comparing the engineering, assembling, and material costs. For the four analyzed options of drivers, the project development time, installation, product costs and necessary services were estimated showing a comparative table between options. This study will prove that the intelligent MCC connected to the IntelliCENTER software is the best solution because uses the best technical solution and also have the ability to monitor and control manufacturing, using DeviceNet network. Besides the acquisition and start up values it was also observed the operational benefits of the intelligent system, showing alarms, instantaneous diagnostics, and problems in the components of the controlled starter, by means supervisory system.

Sweden has set a goal to become the first fossil-free country and by 2045, they aim to achieve net zero emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Construction equipment accounts for approximately 3.3 million tons of CO2 equivalents in Sweden. Volvo Construction Equipment is a world-leading manufacturer of articulated haulers and wheel loaders, excavation equipment, road development machines and compact construction equipment. The majority of their machine products are fueled by diesel, but to be in line with the Paris Agreement 2030 and being emissions-free, they are looking to develop sustainable and emissions-free machines. The purpose of this thesis is to understand the implications of the transition to fossil-free fuels for construction equipment manufacturers, and all actors in the value chain, by investigating the challenges and opportunities of adopting existing and potential sustainable machinery solutions in the construction equipment industry. Managing change in a relationship can be challenging; however, there are strategies that can help businesses cope with this process. Focusing on comprehending the network logic that underlies the relationship between the parties involved is an effective strategy. To accomplish this, it is necessary to consider how these connections fit into a broader context beyond the parties’ immediate activity links, resource ties, and actor bonds. To aid the analysis, an analytical framework is introduced. The analytical framework can serve as both a conceptual framework for analysing the effects of changes within a relationship and as a practical tool for managers to make decisions and solve problems related to managing relationships in a business context. The method used in this thesis was a case study. The study exploited experienced staff competencies: their insights and experience are the foundation for a qualitative approach where the data collection consists of interviews. The study concludes that there are several challenges and obstacles ahead for the construction equipment industry to transition to zero-emission machines, including changes in competence, business models, productivity, demand, and availability. To facilitate this transition, the construction equipment manufacturer has several actions, including understanding network dynamics, changing business models, closer relationships with clients, and new partnerships to offer an end-to-end solution.

Unit testing is a fundamental practice in software development and the goal is to create a test suite that tests the robustness of the software. It is challenging to create a test suite that covers every possible input to a system which can lead to security flaws not being detected. Fuzz testing is a technique that creates randomly generated, or fuzzy, input with the goal to uncover these areas of the input space potentially missed by the unit test suite.  EtherNet/IP is an industrial communications protocol built on top of the TCP/IP suite. HMS Anybus develops hardware to use in secure networks in industrial settings utilizing the EtherNet/IP protocol.  This report outlines the development of a Scapy-based fuzz testing tool capable of testing the implementation of the protocol on HMS devices. Additionally we propose a strategy for how the tool can be deployed in future testing. The resulting fuzz testing tool is capable of creating packets containing selected commands’ encapsulation headers and layering them with command specific data fields. These packets can be filled with static or fuzzy input depending on user configuration. The tool is implemented with the intention of providing HMS the capability for conducting fuzz testing. The report mentions multiple improvements that can be made using A.I. assisted generation of test cases and how the tool can be scaled in the future. This thesis project is a proof of concept that using Scapy to create a fuzz testing tool tailored to the EtherNet/IP protocol is possible.

The detection of false data-injection attacks in industrial networks is a growing challenge in the industry because it requires knowledge of application and protocol specific behaviors. Profinet is a common communication standard currently used in the industry, which has the potential to encounter this type of attack. This motivates an examination on whether a solution based on machine learning with a focus on anomaly detection can be implemented and used to detect abnormal data in Profinet packets. Previous work has investigated this topic; however, a solution is not available in the market yet. Any solution that aims to be adopted by the industry requires the detection of abnormal data at the application level and to run the analytics on a resource-constrained device. This thesis presents an implementation, which aims to detect abnormal data in Profinet packets represented as online data streams generated in real-time. The implemented unsupervised learning approach is validated on data from a simulated industrial use-case scenario. The results indicate that the method manages to detect all abnormal behaviors in an industrial network.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:55:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DavidRVP.pdf: 788434 bytes, checksum: 3db1ba91e4c50e4b70d788e4a7a31de2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-05-19 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cient?fico e Tecnol?gico / This work presents a set of intelligent algorithms with the purpose of correcting calibration errors in sensors and reducting the periodicity of their calibrations. Such algorithms were designed using Artificial Neural Networks due to its great capacity of learning, adaptation and function approximation. Two approaches willbe shown, the firstone uses Multilayer Perceptron Networks to approximate the many shapes of the calibration curve of a sensor which discalibrates in different time points. This approach requires the knowledge of the sensor s functioning time, but this information is not always available. To overcome this need, another approach using Recurrent Neural Networks was proposed. The Recurrent Neural Networks have a great capacity of learning the dynamics of a system to which it was trained, so they can learn the dynamics of a sensor s discalibration. Knowingthe sensor s functioning time or its discalibration dynamics, it is possible to determine how much a sensor is discalibrated and correct its measured value, providing then, a more exact measurement. The algorithms proposed in this work can be implemented in a Foundation Fieldbus industrial network environment, which has a good capacity of device programming through its function blocks, making it possible to have them applied to the measurement process / Neste trabalho ? apresentado um conjunto de algoritmos inteligentes que t?m como objetivo a corre??o de erros de calibra??o em sensores e a diminui??o da periodicidade de suas calibra??es. Tais algoritmos foram desenvolvidos utilizando Redes Neurais Artificiais devido a sua grande capacidade de aprendizado, adapta??o e aproxima??o de fun??es. Ser?o mostradas duas abordagens, a primeira utiliza redes Perceptron de M?ltiplas Camadas para aproximar as diversas formas da curva de calibra??o do sensor que se descalibra em diferentes instantes do tempo. Tal abordagem exige o conhecimento do tempo de funcionamento do sensor, informa??o que nem sempre est? dispon?vel. Para superar essa necessidade, uma outra abordagem utilizando Redes Neurais Recorrentes foiproposta. As Redes Recorrentes possuem uma grande capacidade de aprender a din?mica do sistema para o qual ela foi treinada e, assim, podem aprender a din?mica de descalibra??o do sensor. Conhecendo o tempo de funcionamento do sensor ou a sua din?mica de descalibra??o, ? poss?vel determinar o quanto um sensor est? descalibrado e corrigir o valor medido, proporcionando uma medi??o mais exata. Os algoritmos aqui propostos podem ser implementados em ambientes de redes industriais Foundation Fieldbus, que possuem uma boa capacidade de programa??o de dispositivos atrav?s dos blocos funcionais, possibilitando aplica??es nos processos de medi??o

Η διπλωματική εργασία συνίσταται στην ανάπτυξη ασύρματου δικτύου αισθητήρων και Προγραμματιζόμενων Λογικών Ελεγκτών (PLCs) στο χώρο του Εργαστηρίου Γενικής Ηλεκτροτεχνίας για την παρακολούθηση σε πραγματικό χρόνο ορισμένων φυσικών μεγεθών. Η διάταξη χωρίζεται σε δύο τμήματα. Το πρώτο αφορά το ασύρματο δίκτυο αισθητήρων (WSN) και περιλαμβάνει τους αισθητήρες, τους πομπούς αποστολής δεδομένων από τους αισθητήρες και το δέκτη λήψης δεδομένων από όλους τους πομπούς. Το δεύτερο αφορά το ασύρματο δίκτυο των PLCs και περιλαμβάνει τα PLCs, τους επικοινωνιακούς επεξεργαστές και τις μονάδες ασύρματης επικοινωνίας, για την επιτυχή ανταλλαγή δεδομένων μεταξύ τους. Επίσης, χρησιμοποιείται το λογισμικό WinCC – Flexible για τη δημιουργία εποπτικού σταθμού παρακολούθησης των τιμών των μεγεθών (σύστημα SCADA). Βασικός σκοπός της εργασίας είναι η ενοποίηση των δύο δικτύων ώστε να είναι δυνατή η μεταφορά δεδομένων μεταξύ των διάφορων συσκευών, σύμφωνα με τις απαιτήσεις μια πιθανής απλής βιομηχανικής διεργασίας. Οι αισθητήρες είναι διασκορπισμένοι στο χώρο του εργαστηρίου και παίρνουν μετρήσεις για ένα φυσικό μέγεθος ο καθένας. Τα μεγέθη προς μέτρηση είναι: εξωτερική θερμοκρασία, εσωτερική θερμοκρασία, υγρασία, πίεση δικτύου πεπιεσμένου αέρα, ύψος, ρεύμα και βάρος. Κάθε αισθητήρας είναι ηλεκτρικά συνδεδεμένος με ένα πομπό, ο οποίος αναλαμβάνει τη μετάδοση των μετρήσεών του σε ένα δέκτη. Ο πομπός μεταδίδει δεδομένα μέσω της μονάδας επικοινωνίας XBEE, η οποία εσωκλείεται μαζί με το ολοκληρωμένο κύκλωμα λειτουργίας της σε περίβλημα κατάλληλο για την προστασία της σε απαιτητικές βιομηχανικές συνθήκες. Κάθε ζευγάρι αισθητήρα και πομπού μετάδοσης συνιστά ένα περιφερειακό κόμβο του WSN. Όλα τα δεδομένα λαμβάνονται από τον κεντρικό κόμβο – δέκτη του WSN. Από τον κεντρικό κόμβο είναι δυνατή η απεικόνιση των μετρήσεων σε κατάλληλο περιβάλλον του λογισμικού TC-Central, που συνοδεύει τις συσκευές του WSN, καθώς και η ανατροφοδότηση τους στο ασύρματο δίκτυο των PLCs. Το λογισμικό TC-Central χρησιμοποιείται επιπλέον για τη ρύθμιση βασικών παραμέτρων του WSN, όπως είναι η διεύθυνση των πομπών στο δίκτυο και ο ρυθμός μετάδοσης δεδομένων. Για την ανατροφοδότηση των μετρήσεων στο δίκτυο των PLCs χρησιμοποιούνται οι 4 αναλογικές έξοδοι του κεντρικού κόμβου του WSN. Τα 3 PLCs της διάταξης διασυνδέονται τόσο ενσύρματα, μέσω δικτύου PROFIBUS-DP, όσο και ασύρματα μέσω τοπολογίας Σημείο-προς-Σημείο. Στην παρούσα εφαρμογή χρησιμοποιείται μόνο η ασύρματη σύνδεση μεταξύ των PLCs, όπου αυτά ακολουθούν μέθοδο πρόσβασης στο δίκτυο κυρίου – εξαρτημένου, με έναν κύριο και δύο εξαρτημένους σταθμούς. Κάθε PLC περιλαμβάνει επικοινωνιακό επεξεργαστή CP 342-5 για την ενσύρματη σύνδεση, καθώς και επικοινωνιακό επεξεργαστή CP 340 και μονάδα ασύρματης επικοινωνίας ARM-IOS RS232/485 για την ασύρματη σύνδεση. Ο επικοινωνιακός επεξεργαστής αποτελεί το συνδετικό κρίκο μεταξύ της μνήμης του PLC και της μονάδας επικοινωνίας. Σε περίπτωση μετάδοσης δεδομένων, αυτά μεταφέρονται από τη μνήμη στον επεξεργαστή και στη συνέχεια στη μονάδα επικοινωνίας, ενώ σε περίπτωση λήψης ακολουθείται η αντίστροφη πορεία. Από τις αναλογικές εξόδους του δέκτη, τα μεγέθη μεταφέρονται μέσω καλωδιακής σύνδεσης, στην κάρτα αναλογικών εισόδων ενός εκ των εξαρτημένων PLC. Από εκεί μεταδίδονται στον άλλο εξαρτημένο, μέσω του κύριου σταθμού, ο οποίος συνδέεται με το σύστημα SCADA. Στο χώρο του εργαστηρίου έχει αναρτηθεί οθόνη, για την απεικόνιση των τιμών των μεγεθών σε όσους βρίσκονται εντός. / The thesis consists in developing a wireless sensors and programmable logical controllers (PLCs) network in Systems and Measurements Laboratory in order to monitor on-line some physical values. The experimental set-up is divided in two parts. The first part is related to the wireless sensors network (WSN) and consists of the sensors, the transceivers and the receiver, which collects data among all sensor nodes. The second part is related to the PLCs' wireless network and consists of the PLCs, the communication processors and the wireless networking modules. In addition, software WinCC-Flexible is used in order to implement a monitoring station of measured values (SCADA system). The thesis' basic goal is to unify the networks, so that data transfer among used devices is achieved, according to the standards of a possible industrial application. Sensors are dispersed in the laboratory and measure a physical value per each. The measured values are: outdoor and indoor temperature, relative humidity, pneumatics' network pressure, height, current and weight. Each sensor is electrically connected to a transceiver, which transmits measured data to the receiver. The transceiver transmits data through the radio frequency module XBEE, which is enclosed into a special cover, suitable for protection in demanding industrial conditions. Each sensor-transceiver pair constitutes a WSN's sensor node. All data is received by the WSN's central node-receiver. On-line monitoring of all measured values is possible through the receiver, by use of TC-Central software, which is also used in order to set WSN's parameters, such as sensor nodes' addresses and data sample rate. Moreover, the receiver contains four analog outputs, which can be used to redirect four received signal in external devices. These analog outputs unify the two wireless networks, by retransmitting four selected measured values to the PLCs' network. The PLCs' network consists of 3 PLCs, networked both wired (PROFIBUS-DP) and wireless (Point-to-Point topology). In the current application only the wireless connection between the PLCs is used, following master / slave media access method, including 1 master station and 2 slave stations. Each PLC includes a communication processor CP 342-5 for wired connection, as well as a communication processor CP 340 and a RF module ARM-IOS RS232/485 for wireless connection. The communication processor connects the PLC's memory and RF module. A PLCs' network slave station is connected to the SCADA system. In the laboratory, a screen has been posted, so that measured values can be visible by everyone inside.

<p>Industrial systems resist change, more often, because heavy production facilities and industrial constructions are expensive and have long economic lives, but also because people tend to defend ingrained conceptions of how things are and how activities ought to be performed. Starting out from the question: “How does technological change come about in an international, industrial system?” the thesis investigates the interplay between technological, social, and economic factors. Empirically the work is located to the steel and metals industries and covers business exchange within and between several economic entities performing international business operations.</p><p>It is shown that technological change is driven by strategic intention, but that it also occurs as a result of chance or “necessity”, or follows on everyday enterprise operations. In an attempt to realize strategic intentions actors involve in games of negotiation while referring to different power bases. Backed by organizational role (hierarchic level/managerial position), personal “luminosity” (charisma/leadership), or control over critical resources (that other actors are interested in) various arguments are put to the test on “the arena for negotiations and change”. While involving in negotiations actors may relate to existing business and/or social relations for support or they may take advantage of full-blown coalitions.</p><p>Constrained by the games of negotiation, which unfold in an institutional environment, the process of technological change adopts evidently evolutionary characteristics, and it follows implicitly that the single actor has at its disposal only limited possibilities to determine the process outcome. Technological change as an evolutionary process consists of three underlying sub-processes, viz. innovation, interaction, and institutionalization, it is argued.</p>

Industrial systems resist change, more often, because heavy production facilities and industrial constructions are expensive and have long economic lives, but also because people tend to defend ingrained conceptions of how things are and how activities ought to be performed. Starting out from the question: “How does technological change come about in an international, industrial system?” the thesis investigates the interplay between technological, social, and economic factors. Empirically the work is located to the steel and metals industries and covers business exchange within and between several economic entities performing international business operations. It is shown that technological change is driven by strategic intention, but that it also occurs as a result of chance or “necessity”, or follows on everyday enterprise operations. In an attempt to realize strategic intentions actors involve in games of negotiation while referring to different power bases. Backed by organizational role (hierarchic level/managerial position), personal “luminosity” (charisma/leadership), or control over critical resources (that other actors are interested in) various arguments are put to the test on “the arena for negotiations and change”. While involving in negotiations actors may relate to existing business and/or social relations for support or they may take advantage of full-blown coalitions. Constrained by the games of negotiation, which unfold in an institutional environment, the process of technological change adopts evidently evolutionary characteristics, and it follows implicitly that the single actor has at its disposal only limited possibilities to determine the process outcome. Technological change as an evolutionary process consists of three underlying sub-processes, viz. innovation, interaction, and institutionalization, it is argued.