This study looks at Open Innovation in Research and Development projects and explores the nature of collaboration and leadership characteristics. Thereby perspectives of both industrial and academic partners are considered, focusing primarily on the project level of the collaboration. It is based on the understanding that leadership plays a crucial role in bringing the partners successfully together, based on the prior understanding that academia and industry are potentially different in the nature, objectives and working dynamics of research and development.   This thesis begins with examining the existing literature on the concept of Open Innovation, including benefits and drawbacks of such projects. This leads to uncovering the managerial challenges that such projects encounter which can be mitigated by effective leadership. For this reason, relevant theories on leadership are explored, especially focusing on leadership in R&D contexts, as these kind of projects have special requirements from leaders that differ from traditional projects.  This research is qualitative in nature and takes an abductive approach to theory. 18 semi-structured interviews were conducted, consulting with heads of R&D departments from industrial companies, professors in charge of research labs at universities and representatives from intermediary organisations. The study is exploratory and cross-sectional in nature, as open innovation collaborations in Sweden, the UK and the Netherlands were in the centre of attention. The process of analysis implied the use of a template analysis, which provided the researchers with enough flexibility to code, categorize, and interpret necessary findings. The results show that the nature of Open Innovation collaborations differs from case to case, from mere contractual relationships to collaborative partnerships with a high level of interaction on a daily basis. The key motive for both partners is finance-based, as the universities gain access to funding and the company can save on research expenses. Additionally, companies benefit from access to academic expertise and from potential governmental funding.  Further, there is not a single leader in an industry-university collaboration, rather each entity has a leader of their own and collaborative working is fostered by them. It is deduced that no single leadership theory fits best in the operational level of R&D open innovation functioning, rather it is a mixture of a few popular theories which were predominant in collaborative relationships. The characteristics of leaders in open innovation were deduced and autonomy, communication and joint problem-solving have a prominent role in furthering the R&D collaborative relationship. As a result, a connection between leadership and Open Innovation collaborations was explored.

Sustainability has become an increasingly important aspect for companies to consider. Not only is it necessary to comply with laws and regulations that encourage corporate sustainability, but it has also become a way for companies to gain competitiveness. Historically, companies have primarily adopted so called closed innovation models focused on internal resources and capabilities, in order to generate competitive advantages. However, in a world characterized by rapidly changing demands and high product complexity, the internal capabilities of companies are challenged, which have led firms to explore other collaborative models of innovation. This trend is referred to as open innovation and it implies that companies open up their innovation process in order to utilize external knowledge and share their unutilized ideas. This thesis seeks to explore the sustainability-related implications of open innovation by understanding opportunities and challenges related to adopting an open approach for innovation projects that aim to enhance sustainability. Furthermore, it adopts a contingency perspective through which it seeks to examine factors affecting the sustainability-related performance of open innovation projects. The study is based on empirical data obtained through six semi-structured interviews in a Swedish state-owned enterprise within the air transport industry. The research finds that an open approach for sustainability-oriented innovation projects leads to increased creativity, increased access to knowledge and reduced duration, but that they are challenged by a high degree of complexity. Furthermore, the findings suggest that the sustainability performance of open innovation projects is moderated by three factors: the management of the project, the dedication of the individuals involved and the absorptive capacity of the team. The study argues that in order to enhance sustainability performance of innovation projects, these factors must be adjusted according to the openness of the project. By exploring the context dependencies of open innovation for sustainability purposes, the study contributes to develop a broader comprehension of the contextual characteristics of open innovation as well as its relevance for sustainability.

Digitalization affects all industries, there among the manufacturing industry where the majortransformation can be mentioned as the fourth industrial revolution. Manufacturing companieswho are experts within their traditional area often perform minor incremental improvements,however, companies embracing digitalization consequently also perform more radical innovations.Incremental and radical innovation require different management, hence, does also digitalinnovation. The project was carried out at two manufacturing companies, the Pulp Comp and theTool Comp, who both had expressed initiatives within digital innovation. Thereby, this thesis aimsto create an understanding of how to support digital innovation projects at manufacturingcompanies using managerial controls and formal development processes. By identifying possibleinfluencing factors, such as success factors, obstacles and challenges, the thesis will providemanagers with knowledge in how they can support digital innovation projects. To achieve that, 27semi-structured interviews were conducted with project members and people with a generalknowledge within the two companies’ projects. A total of five projects were investigated. Aliterature study was also performed to create a theoretical framework, that together with the codeddata from the interviews were used to make an analysis to answer the two research questions.Additionally, a discussion is presented that concerns for instance, how employees at differentpositions use different managerial controls and how crucial it can be to balance the use ofmanagerial controls. Finally, a conclusion with general managerial implications is presentedregarding how managerial controls, attention and formal development processes can supportdigital innovation projects at manufacturing companies. Two main results from this study are thatit has shown to be necessary to combine different controls to get successful result and the formaldevelopment processes might need a more dynamic, iterative and parallel approach. / Digitaliseringen påverkar alla industrier, däribland tillverkningsindustrin där den storatransformationen kan omnämnas som den fjärde industriella revolutionen. Tillverkningsföretagsom är experter inom deras traditionella områden utför ofta inkrementella förbättringar, menföretag som anammar digitaliseringen utför även mer radikala innovationer. Inkrementell ochradikal innovation behöver olika typer av ledning, därmed även digital innovation Projektet harutförts på två tillverkningsföretag, Pulp Comp (Massaföretaget) och Tool Comp(Verktygsföretaget), som båda har uttryckt initiativ inom digital innovation. Därmed syftarrapporten till att skapa en förståelse för hur digitala innovationsprojekt på tillverkningsföretag kanstöttas genom användandet av ledningskontroller och formella utvecklingsprocesser. Genom attidentifiera möjliga påverkande faktorer, så som framgångsfaktorer, hinder och utmaningar, förseruppsatsen ledare med kunskap om hur de kan stötta digitala innovationsprojekt. För att uppnå dettahar 27 semistrukturerade intervjuer utförts tillsammans med projektmedlemmar och personer meden generell kunskap om de två företagen och deras projekt. Totalt fem projekt har undersökts. Enlitteraturstudie har utförts för att skapa ett teoretiskt ramverk, som tillsammans med kodade datafrån intervjuerna användes för att utföra en analys för att svara på de två forskningsfrågorna.Dessutom presenteras en diskussion som berör bland annat hur anställda på olika positioneranvänder olika ledningskontroller och hur avgörande det kan vara att balansera användandet avledningskontroller. Sammanfattningsvis presenteras en slutsats med generellaledningsimplikationer angående hur ledningskontroller, uppmärksamhet och formellautvecklingsprocesser kan stötta digitala innovationsprojekt på tillverkningsföretag. Tvåhuvudsakliga resultat från denna studie är att det har visat sig vara nödvändigt att kombinera olikaledningskontroller för att erhålla ett framgångsrikt resultat, samt att formella utvecklingsprocesserkan behöva ett mer iterativt, dynamiskt och parallellt tillvägagångssätt.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:09:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DayseMOS_TESE.pdf: 4185831 bytes, checksum: 7ffe8ba649c7a5670d11523f5cc43976 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-01-31 / Organizations are seeking new ideas, tools and methods aiming to improve management process and performance. On the other hand, system performance measurement needs to portray organizational changes and provide managers with a set of true and more appropriate information for the decision-making process. This work aims to propose a performance measurement system in the academic field regarding Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) in the oil and gas industry. The research performed a bibliographic review in a descriptive exploratory manner. A field research was conducted with an expert focus group in order to gather new indicators. As for the validation of these indicators, a survey with experienced professional was also realized. The research surveyed four segments in and outside of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte-Brazil such as oil and gas project coordinators, staff at Academic Planning Offices, FUNPEC employees as well as coordinators from Petrobr?s. The performance measuring system created from this study features three interrelated performance indicators pointed out as: process indicators, outcome indicators and global indicators. The proposal includes performance indicators that seek to establish more appropriate strategies for effective institution management. It might help policy making of university-industry interaction policies / Cada vez mais as organiza??es est?o ? procura de novas id?ias, novas ferramentas e novos m?todos que as ap?iem no aprimoramento do seu processo de gest?o e assim, melhorar seu desempenho. Por conseguinte, os sistemas de medi??o de desempenho precisam retratar as mudan?as nas organiza??es proporcionando aos seus gestores um conjunto de informa??es verdadeiras e mais adequadas ? tomada de decis?o. O objetivo deste trabalho ? propor um sistema de medi??o de desempenho para os projetos de PD&I no setor de petr?leo e g?s natural para universidades. A pesquisa foi realizada utilizando-se dos seguintes procedimentos: uma revis?o bibliogr?fica com um car?ter explorat?rio-descritivo, acompanhada da pesquisa de campo, a realiza??o de focus group com especialistas para o levantamento de novos indicadores e um survey com profissionais experientes envolvidos na execu??o de projetos dessa natureza, com a finalidade de valida??o dos indicadores. Foram pesquisados quatro segmentos por meio de coordenadores de projetos de petr?leo e g?s natural da UFRN, funcion?rios da Pr?-Reitoria de Planejamento, funcion?rios da FUNPEC e coordenadores da Petrobras. O sistema de medi??o de desempenho gerado a partir deste estudo apresenta em sua estrutura tr?s grupos de indicadores de desempenho inter-relacionados: indicadores de processo, indicadores de resultado e indicadores globais. A proposta inclui indicadores de desempenho que procuram estabelecer uma estrat?gia mais adequada para uma gest?o eficaz das institui??es e pode contribuir para auxiliar as pol?ticas de intera??o universidade-empresa

Being innovative and environmentally sustainable can help companies to achieve success. Depending on the size of the company it can be achieved in different ways. When conducting innovation projects, the level of formal steering support might differ, especially if sustainability wants to be achieved. This thesis aims to answer the question how the need of ensuring the firm’s vision of being environmentally sustainable and use it as a marketing advantage affect the need of formal steering support in innovation projects in medium sized enterprises. Until today research have not addressed this question in a sufficient manner whereas focus has been on “SME’s” (Small and Medium sized Enterprises), small or large companies. Large companies need rather formal processes while smaller companies can be more informal and flexible. This thesis takes the perspective of the medium sized company and investigates their specific needs. A variety of innovation projects have been studied at a medium sized company and insights from it has been combined with literature on innovation processes to find the right balance of formality. The conclusion being drawn is that formality is needed especially in the beginning and in the end of an innovation project for a medium sized company if sustainability wants to be achieved and used as a marketing advantage. / Att vara innovativ och miljömässigt hållbar kan hjälpa ett företag att nå framgång. Beroende på företagets storlek kan denna framgång uppnås på olika sätt. När innovationsprojekt genomförs kan nivån av formell projektstyrning variera, speciellt om man vill uppnå en viss nivå av miljömässig hållbarhet. Denna uppsats ämnar svara på frågan huruvida behovet av att säkerhetsställa ett företags hållbarhetsvision och använda resultatet som en marknadsfördel påverkar behovet av formell projektstyrning i medelstora företag. Fram tills idag har forskning inte tagit upp denna fråga på ett tillräckligt sätt. Fokus har varit på ”SME’s” (små och medelstora företag), små eller stora företag. Stora företag behöver ha rätt formella processer för innovationsarbete medan små företag kan vara informella och flexibla. I denna uppsats är fokus på medelstora företag och deras specifika behov gällande formalitet. För att göra detta har vi studerat en rad olika innovationsprojekt på ett medelstort företag och kombinerat detta med litteratur rörande innovationsprocesser för att hitta rätt balans av formalitet. Slutsatsen som dras är att formalitet är nödvändig, särskilt i början och i slutet av ett innovationsprojekt för medelstora företag som vill uppnå en viss nivå av miljömässig hållbarhet och använda det som en marknadsfördel.