The aim of this research is to develop an understanding of factors that enable innovation teams to conduct agile innovation work in an industrial context. The background and reason for this research are not only that innovation is necessary for companies that want to stay in business, but also that these companies need to increase the speed of their innovation work to stay competitive. Research has demonstrated that cross-functional (X-functional) innovation teams are fast and agile, and are therefore assumed to be suitable for these activities. Still, there is much knowledge to be gained. Prior research has identified factors that are seen as important from an organizational, team, and individual perspective to enable teams to work with potentially innovative outcomes. However, in cases where teams have been created with the purpose of conducting innovation work, i.e. innovation teams, problems related to e.g. performance and learning have occurred, and the innovation work has stopped shortly after conducted research projects due to the high level of complexity. The research question (RQ) that this thesis explores is the following: “Which innovation enablers are important for innovation teams when conducting agile innovation work in an industrial context?” Based on the RQ, two sub-questions are formulated and operationalized to answer the RQ. Qualitative data have been collected from five innovation teams in two phases. Two innovation teams in two small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) were studied in the first phase to clarify the situation for innovation teams before innovation work is begun. In the second phase, which built on the first one, three innovation teams in a large industrial company were studied as they conducted three separate innovation projects. This research revealed five main findings: first, knowledge about important innovation enablers (Enablers) revealed from a literature study; second, the Innovation Team Model (ITM), demonstrating innovation teams before innovation work is begun in relation to the individuals and organization in a holistic way; third, the innovation team creation process (CIT-process), a stepwise process in how to create an innovation team; fourth, the innovation facilitator, who supports and facilitates the innovation team throughout the CIT-process and the innovation projects; and fifth, the Extended Innovation Process (EIP), an extension of the traditional innovation process by a pre-phase, i.e. a Preparation-phase, to gather and prepare the innovation teams for forthcoming work. The findings regarding the importance of the CIT-process, the EIP, and the innovation facilitator were unexpected. The findings formed the Innovation Team Framework (ITF), which represents all of the findings in relation to each other. The EIP is used as the basis for which the other innovation enablers are provided to the innovation teams through an innovation facilitator’s competence throughout the innovation project. The ITF is multidimensional: it could serve as a tool to describe both the simplicity and the complexity when creating an innovation team and forthcoming work and activities. All separate findings within this research contribute to prior research in individual ways, however, the ITF is the main scientific contribution of this study to Innovation management. Practitioners can use the ITF as a complement to already established methodologies for product development or similar; however one should be aware of the limited nature of the data set that served as the basis for analysis and development of the ITF. Further studies regarding the ITF and its detailed models and processes are suggested.

Innovation is one of the most important factors behind today´s global economic growth and prosperity. In the current economic climate, increasing global competition and rapidly changing environment, an organisations ability to innovate is regarded as a key factor for success. It is widely accepted that creating new processes, products and procedures are vital for productivity and growth in all sectors. The literature on innovation measurements areas and utilities is voluminous and diverse. Assessing and measuring the complex conditions that influence a firm’s innovation capability is a challenging task, due to the inconsistency, inaccessibility, and complexity of measures. An integrative and holistic innovation capability assessment framework should include all aspects of innovation. This study attempt to address this gap, the lack of a holistic innovation capability assessment framework (HICAF) in project-based firms, by (a) reviewing the literature on innovation, innovation assessment, and measurement areas (b) through a qualitative case study exploring the factors promoting innovation in project-based firms (c) integrating the findings into a holistic assessment framework (d) generating items, in form of a statement, to address the underlying construct of each identified factor (e) applying the proposed framework within an organisation and statistically validating the instrument to achieve item homogeneity. Internal consistency reliability estimates have been utilized to produce a final framework consisting of 57 statistically validated items and eight theoretically grounded categories with 19 corresponding factors promoting innovation, also called enablers, in technology-orientated project-based organisations. In addition to the identified literature findings, the case study resulted in two new enablers, time management, and quality, which are not necessarily specific for project-based organisations, rather specific for the observed organisation. The performed case study is insufficient for determining whether there are any specific enablers for project-based organisations. The advantages of HICAF lies in its simplicity due to practical applicability in a large scale and facilitates managers to diagnose the organisation and recognize true symptoms to then apply appropriate treatment and remedies. A frequent application of HICAF can also help to study the effect of specific treatment and remedies in relation to innovation capability.

Innovation is considered by many to be a driver of organisational performance and growth. A key factor to consider for competitive edge is the utilization of the companies’ innovative capabilities. The bureaucracy often involved with large companies could limit the utilization of the inherent innovative ability and new business development. The commissioner for this study, a large Swedish multinational technology company, has in a previous study raised the importance of innovators to be properly recognised and rewarded. Moreover, they have identified a need to better identify, track and train their innovators in order to utilise their full potential. With this in mind, the research question, "How can the company’s innovative capabilities be further utilised?" was formulated. The research question was further complemented with sub-questions narrowing the field of study and allowed for a more systematic approach. Three methods were used in this study, interviews, a questionnaire and a workshop. The interviews were conducted in order to capture the company specific context and factors influencing the company’s innovators to verify and complement the literature study. Secondly, the questionnaire was done to add an additional perspective on the topic including quantitative data verifying the extent of the found factors and exploring their importance throughout the organisation. Finally, the aim of the workshop was to let innovators in the company form specific actions targeting the most pressing issues discovered from the questionnaire. The findings suggest recommendations regarding what obstacles that are most important to address, how to motivate innovation efforts, identify innovators and how to enhance the utilisation of the company’s innovative capabilities. The proposed actions from the workshop, concluding the preceding data collections were to implement a strategy facilitating innovation execution, create an incubation team supporting innovators in realising innovations, and to foster an experimental culture. Keywords: Intrapreneurship, Innovation Enabler, Innovation Barrier, Innovator Motivation, Innovative Capability / Innovation anses av många vara en drivkraft som ofta medför konkurrensfördelar och starkt bidrar till organisationers positiva resultat och tillväxt. En nyckelfaktor är att nyttja företagets innovativa förmåga. Dock kan byråkratin och trögheten ofta förknippad med stora företag begränsa nyttjandet av innovationsförmågan och utvecklingen av nya marknader. Uppdragsgivaren, ett stort svenskt multinationellt teknikföretag, har lyft vikten i att företagets innovatörer stöttas, erkänns och belönas på ett korrekt sätt. De har även ett behov av att bättre identifiera, spåra och utbilda innovatörer för att nyttja deras fulla potential. Utifrån detta formulerades forskningsfrågan, "Hur kan företaget öka nyttjandet av sin innovativa förmåga?", som kompletterats med underfrågor för en mer systematisk och djupgående lösning. I studien användes tre metoder, intervjuer, en enkät och en workshop. Intervjuerna genomfördes för att fånga kontexten och samla in vilka specifika faktorer som påverkar innovatörer på det studerade företaget, som en verifiering och komplement till litteraturstudien. Enkäten undersökte generaliserbarheten i de tidigare funna faktorerna samt verifiera deras existens och betydelse i hela företaget, genom det kvantitativa resultatet. Workshopen syftade slutligen till att låta ett antal av företagets innovatörer forma åtgärdsplaner, specifikt anpassade för företaget utifrån de tydligast framträdande hindren för innovation funna från enkäten. Studien har resulterat i rekommendationer gällande vilka hinder för innovation som är viktigast att adressera, hur man motiverar och identifierar innovatörer samt hur företaget kan öka nyttjandet av sin innovativa förmåga. Workshopen, vilken binder samman resultatet från de tidigare datainsamlingarna, resulterade i tre åtgärdsplaner. Första åtgärden var att införa en strategi för realisering av innovationer. Andra åtgärden rekommenderade skapandet av en grupp som hanterar inkubationen av innovationer och hjälper idégivare att driva dessa mot realisering. Slutligen föreslogs att implementerandet av en experimentell kultur skulle gynna innovationsklimatet. Nyckelord: Intraprenörskap, Innovationsförutsättning, Innovationshinder, Innovatörsmotivation, Innovationsförmåga