Rebar carpet is an innovation that favors the working environment of the rebar workers and saves time. Reinforcement workers today are a vulnerable group. Heavy lifts and backbreaking postures are a part of their everyday work. It is already established that work with rebar carpets is both time-saving, economically beneficial and from a working environment point of view better than traditional reinforcement work. Despite all benefits it is used in rather few projects today. The purpose of this study is to identify how the construction industry embraces new innovations related to in situ concrete with post-tensioned reinforcement. The goals are to find out how designers, contractors and manufacturers are working to adopt rebar carpets in the construction process and to shed light on, factors affecting the adoption. The study is based on semi-structured interviews with designers, contractors and a representative of a rebar manufacturing company. Designers and contractors have not, generally speaking, been actively working to adopt rebar carpet. The governing factors for the use of rebar carpets is the designers and contractors knowledge and previous experience of rebar carpet. The contractors who have previous experience of rebar carpet can imagine using rebar carpet again and contractors with no previous experience believe that they need more knowledge of rebar carpet before they dare to try. Design engineers who have designed for rebar carpet before has it in mind when they design other projects. Designers who have no previous experience of rebar carpet demand more knowledge about how they can facilitate the use of rebar carpet.

This study explores how high technology companies interact with their Lead User throughout the innovation process. Thereby, the study focuses on the interaction, after a company approached their Lead User. By using existing literature on the Lead User, the process of innovating as well as the interaction with users in product development, an analytical model was developed. This model served as the basis for the interview guide as well as to present and analyse the empirical data. Due to the fact that this study looks at the Lead User interaction from a different perspective, where little knowledge exists, a qualitative strategy was pursued. In this connection, three companies within the high technology context were studied and a cross-case analysis conducted. Based on our findings, seven conclusions could be drawn. Our conclusions are that: (1) high technology companies mainly interact with the Lead User through ordinary methods; (2) the content of interaction differs in each phase; (3) the outcome of interaction in each phase is mainly the same throughout the companies; (4) there is always one function responsible for the Lead User, which is the same throughout the innovation process; (5) the main incentive for the Lead User to cooperate is intrinsic motivation; (6) the studied companies do not interact with the Lead User when launching the product; and (7) the outcome of the Lead User interaction is seen as being products of a more incremental than radical character. After presenting the conclusions, the implications were displayed. Thereby, the main implications are that companies are recommended to interact with their Lead User throughout the innovation process, in order to align their products to the Lead User’s needs and therefore to reduce the risk and uncertainty of failing on the market. In this connection, it also important for companies to get into face-to-face discussions, to get feedback and understand the needs of the Lead User. Furthermore, companies need to consider that the Lead User is intrinsic motivated, which means by allowing the Lead User to be part of the innovation process and having an influence on the development, companies do not need to provide further financial rewards. Additionally, the Lead User cannot merely be found outside the boundaries of the firm but also within the company.

In recent years, start-ups and small to medium sized enterprises that operate globally from their inception have become commonplace. These companies often use shared leadership structures and aim to disrupt an existing market with a innovative product. This thesis intends to explore and understand the influence of shared leadership on disruptive innovation inside these international new ventures using a qualitative research approach, by gathering relevant theories of shared leadership, such as disruptive innovation and international new ventures and contrasting them in an abductive manner with the results of six interviews conducted with representatives of chosen start-ups. In these interviews the participants were questioned about shared leadership and disruptive innovation separately and try to integrate the results of shared leadership that relate to disruptive innovation in a positive or negative manner. Our findings suggest that creativity, efficiency, intrinsic motivation as well as cross-field knowledge have an incubative effect, while shared leadership itself, when managed poorly, can hamper disruptive innovation.

An increase in societal challenges is creating more pressure for the public service to meet the needs of its citizens and from the society in general. The greatest challenges that Piteå kommun face are the ageing population and the need of competence provision. This essay aims to examine how Piteå kommun utilizes social innovation. The empiric material has been collected through a series of semi-structured interviews conducted with key figures in Piteå kommun who are well versed in the use of social innovation. The theoretical framework, from which the analysis is based on, is based on Murray, Caulier-Grice och Mulgan’s (2010) theory of the social innovation process. The main results show that the informants share aconsistent view of what an innovation friendly climate should consist of, but how to get there is blurry and difficult to put in to words. The result also show that a politically governed organization faces a challenge when it comes to long-term efforts of social innovation since systematic change is dependent of a stable innovation process to get substantial effect. Among the informants, and in earlier research, social innovation is attributed a wide meaning which can either leads to boosted creativity and ideas or create uncertainty and a disinclination to make use of social innovation in different workplaces since the term seems unfamiliar. Suggestions for further research is examining and comparison of the utilization of social innovation in other municipalities. Another area that can be researched further is how the social innovation process is featured in the nonprofit sector and the private sector, which can lead to insights in how the sectors can collaborate between each other more easily. / De ökade samhällsutmaningarna ställer större krav på offentlig sektor att möta medborgarnas och samhällets behov. De största utmaningarna som Piteå kommun står inför är den åldrande befolkningen och behovet av kompetensförsörjning. Den här uppsatsen har som syfte att undersöka arbetet med social innovation i Piteå kommun. Det empiriska materialet har samlats in genom semi-strukturerade intervjuer med nyckelpersoner inom Piteå kommun som har insyn i innovationsarbetet. Den teoretiska utgångspunkten som utgör grund för analysenär Murray, Caulier-Grice och Mulgans (2010) teori om den sociala innovationsprocessen. De huvudsakliga resultaten visar att informanterna delar en överensstämmande bild över vad ett innovationsvänligt klimat bör innehålla, men att vägen dit är diffus och svårt att beskriva.Resultatet visar även att en politiskt styrd organisation har en utmaning då det gäller att satsa långsiktigt på social innovation, då systematiska förändringar är beroende av en stabil innovationsprocess för att få reell effekt. Bland informanterna och i tidigare forskning finns det en bred tolkning av termen social innovation, vilket antingen kan sporra kreativitet och idérikedom eller skapa osäkerhet och ovilja att jobba med social innovation i olika verksamheter då begreppet är främmande. Förslag till vidare forskning är undersökning och jämförelse av andra kommuners arbete med social innovation för att analysera hur den sociala innovationsprocessen ser ut i andra kommuners organisationer. Ett annat område som kan undersökas ytterligare är hur den sociala innovationsprocessen ser ut i idéburen sektor och privata sektorn, för att på så sätt lättare kunna se vilka samverkansmöjligheter som finns mellan sektorerna.

Achieving a sustainable development and fighting climate change will require a faster and vaster allocation of financial resources than what has yet been witnessed. Green FinTech innovations have been identified as one potential solution to this challenge. Stimulating and supporting the development of such innovations is thus important, but requires knowledge about what the innovation processes look like, which individual, internal organizational and external societal factors that influence them, and how these factors influence them. The aim of this study is thus to contribute to the conceptual and empirical understanding of the innovation process of green FinTech innovations by conducting a multiple-case study with the three green FinTech innovations bettervest, SDG-Investments and Der Finanzoptimist in the area of Frankfurt, Germany. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews. The findings show that the green FinTech innovation process begins with an initiation period which consists of a gestation period during which core innovation ideas and related outcome criteria occur, innovation team members gain new knowledge, new social relationships are made, and most aspects in the external context stay stable. The acquired knowledge and the stable aspects in the external context influence the occurrence of ideas and related outcome criteria. The gestation period ends with a shock and the end of the initiation period is defined by the making of plans and budgets. The development period is defined by several paths of activities. The initial outcome criteria develop and outcomes are continuously assessed. Positive outcomes occur and are influenced by innovation members’ capabilities, their new roles and new legal relationships. Negative outcomes defined as setbacks also occur and are influenced by established legal transactions. Innovation team members work part-time during the development period. Social and legal relationships with actors outside the innovation team expand, influenced by previously made social relationships and the innovation team members’ new roles. The expansion of social relationships is also influenced by positive outcomes. Activities aimed at implementing the innovation occur throughout the development period. Eventually, the innovation process finishes. The findings represent the first contribution to research on the topic of green FinTech innovation processes. Future research should examine additional digital business functions such as digital money or digital payments, the differences and similarities between general and green FinTech innovation processes, and use other research and data collection methods.

Research questions: I: What are the key steps to introduce, evaluate and implement health-associated technologies into different Swedish municipalities? II: Which are the main challenges and opportunities to introduce, evaluate and implement health-associated technologies into different Swedish municipalities? Purpose: The aim of the project has been to conduct a situation analysis on how different Swedish municipalities introduce, evaluate and implement existing health-associated technologies into their organization. To conduct this study, key steps and main challenges in these processes have been identified by interviewing different stakeholders involved from the public and private sector as well as end users. Methodology: This master thesis is an abductive case study. Primary data has been collected through interviews and internal documents from organizations. Secondary data collection was collected through research papers and literature review. Findings: The main findings of this study show that regarding the introduction procedure some municipalities are further in the process of developing formal procedures for organizations and end users to approach them with their products or needs. The evaluation as part of the procurement process has been considered a big obstacle for the three stakeholders groups interviewed since the criteria established doesn’t consider the different aspect of the technology as its value to the municipality and end user. Implementation procedures do not exist and were not under development from any of the three municipalities interviewed. Keywords: Innovation process, municipalities, healthcare, technology, public sector, private sector, end-users.

This thesis examines innovation and design processes in small established companies. There is a great interest in this area yet paradoxically the area is under-researched, since most innovation research is done on large companies. The research questions are: How do small established companies carry out their innovation and design processes? and How does the context and novelty of the process and product affect the same processes? The thesis is built on three research papers that used the research method of multiple case studies of different small established companies. The innovation and design processes found were highly context dependent and were facilitated by committed resources, a creative climate, vision, low family involvement, delegated power and authority, and linkages to external actors such as customers and users. Both experimental cyclical and linear structured design processes were found. The choice of structure is explained by the relative product and process novelty experienced by those developing the product innovation. Linear design processes worked within a low relative novelty situation and cyclical design processes worked no matter the relative novelty. The innovation and design processes found were informal, with a low usage of formal systematic design methods, except in the case of design processes for software. The use of formal systematic methods in small companies seems not always to be efficient, because many of the problems the methods are designed to solve are not present. Customers and users were found to play a large and important role in the innovation and design processes found and gave continuous feedback during the design processes. Innovation processes were found to be intertwined, yielding synergy effects, but it was common that resources were taken from the innovation processes for acute problems that threatened the cash flow. In sum, small established companies have the natural prerequisites to take advantage of lead-user inventions and cyclical design processes. Scarce resources were found to be the main factor hindering innovation, but the examined companies practiced several approaches to increase their resources or use existing scarce resources more efficiently in their innovation and design processes. Examples of these approaches include adopting lead-user inventions and reducing formality in the innovation and design processes.

Cette thèse porte sur le processus de mise en place et de développement d’une communauté de pratique en innovation. Le terrain de recherche a été réalisé auprès du Groupe SEB, une multinationale française, spécialisée dans le domaine du petit équipement domestique. L'étude empirique, menée dans une perspective longitudinale, est fondée sur 63 entretiens semi-directifs, des observations et des documents internes. L’analyse réalisée met en exergue l’existence de quatre phases caractérisant la mise en place et le développement d’une communauté de pratique. Elle montre aussi la compatibilité des deux types de communautés identifiés dans la littérature : les communautés intentionnellement créées et les communautés émergentes. Les résultats obtenus révèlent que la dynamique de développement varie suivant le type de communauté. Ils soulignent notamment le rôle de l’animation active et ciblée comme un facteur clé influençant la dynamique de communautés de pratique intentionnellement créées. Les éléments de réponse apportés dans le cadre de notre recherche peuvent contribuer à une meilleure gestion des communautés de pratique et servir de guide pour d’autres organisations souhaitant utiliser ces structures sociales dans le domaine de l’innovation. / This thesis focuses on the establishment and development process of communities of practice in the field of innovation. The field study has been conducted at the SEB Group, a French multinational company specializing in electrical appliances. The empirical study, developed from a longitudinal perspective, is based on 63 semi-structured interviews, observations and internal documents. The analysis indicates the existence of four phases that characterize the establishment and development of a community of practice. It also shows the compatibility of two types of communities identified in the literature: intentionally created and emerging communities. The obtained findings reveal that the dynamics of development varies according to the type of community. Furthermore, they highlight that active and effective coordination is a key factor influencing the dynamics of intentionally created communities of practice. The answers obtained in the context of our research can contribute to a better management of communities of practice and serve as a guide for other organizations that wish to deploy these social structures in the field of innovation.

The subject of this thesis is an innovation process using design thinking approach and resulting in a potentially successful new product, a board game. The first part reflects the theoretical approaches to innovation in general, the division innovation by various aspects and the models of the innovation process. Further is presented approach design thinking in more details, because this approach will be applied of the specific case of new product development in the practical part. The theoretical part is closed by methods financial evaluation of investments, which will help to evaluate a new product economically. The practical part begins with a description of the object of the innovation process and introduction of market of board games. This is followed by development a new product by design thinking approach, which is divided into phases inspiration, ideation and implementation. The result of the innovation process is a board game, that reacts and responds to the needs and wishes of potential customers, because of the empathy in the initial phase. Its economic viability was confirmed through the application of some methods of financial evaluation of investments.

Both the ecological and social system are systematically degrading, resulting in decreasing capacities to support human civilization. Product development and manufacturing companies play a key role in driving society’s transition towards a sustainable path. Besides moral arguments, the motivation for companies can be expressed as a matter of smart risk management, i.e. avoiding threats and exploiting opportunities. Such sustainability risks can be related to, for example, brand and reputation, legislative change, or attracting top-talented employees. But, more importantly, it is about understanding changes that are inevitable on markets to come. Based on Maxwell’s interactive qualitative research approach and following the structure of the Design Research Methodology, this thesis aims to contribute (i) to knowledge by increasing the conceptual understanding of what sustainability risks are; and (ii) to practice by researching decision-support for how sustainability risks can be managed in a product development company context. The first study reviewed existing literature and identified characteristics of sustainability risks, which make them particularly difficult to manage. A following exploratory and descriptive study investigated companies’ current risk management practices and preconditions for sustainability integration. It showed that the effects of uncertainty from the sustainability transition need to be identified, assessed, and managed in relation to how they can affect objectives anchored in both internal and external stakeholder value creation. In parallel, the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development was applied as a lens to understand the implications of the sustainability transition for company risk management. This resulted in a new definition, stating that sustainability risks are threats and opportunities that are due to an organization’s contribution or counteraction to society’s transition towards strategic sustainable development. A questionnaire study then investigated some case companies’ challenges and preconditions to build sustainability capabilities. Finally, a workshop method is proposed that aims to support design teams in early sustainable product development. Future research will leverage on the findings to develop and test decision support for how product development companies can manage sustainability risks on different organizational levels in practice to increase competitiveness, while taking leadership in the transition towards a sustainable society.