The fast growth of science parks around the world has inspired many researchers to investigate the function and performance of science parks (SPs). Interestingly, mixed findings are reported on science park performance in the literature: some researchers found that SPs have benefits for the firms located on site; whereas other researchers doubt the benefits that SPs are claimed to have. This thesis aims to explain these mixed findings and proposes a relational approach to study the general view of interorganisational knowledge flows. The main research question to be answered is: How can the mixed findings of previous research studies regarding innovative performances of science park firms be explained? A sample of 52 new technology-based firms (NTBFs) situated in Gauteng was interviewed by means of structured questionnaires. Despite the fact that this research did not empirically confirm the theoretical explanation of the mixed findings found in science park literature, some issues raised in the recommendation section of this thesis could account for the mixed findings, namely differences in the scanning processes of new entrant firms, the nature of networking activities, services provided by SP management teams, academic-industry links and configurations of knowledge flows. The findings and recommendations of this study may help policy makers to further improve the design and functioning of science parks in emerging economies. / Thesis (PhD(Technology Management))--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Graduate School of Technology Management (GSTM) / unrestricted

This thesis is guided primarily by concepts associated with Pierre Bourdieu's habitus perspectives by comparing them with disruptive innovative products dynamically developing broader context related to market offerings and services, and their positive outcomes once the habitus is disrupted. Understanding how disruptive innovation can change the habitus traits among customers. At the same time, by discovering the habitus traits of managers in corporations have failed to pay close attention to the new tendencies either by ignoring the signs from customers' demands or missing significant opportunities in the market that could help them to improve the business approaches. Disruptive Innovation describes a process through which new products that underperform in comparison to existing products' key attributes intrude upon a market by introducing an alternative package of benefits centered around being cheaper, simple, smaller, and or/ more suitable for consumers demands. Thus, companies should be aware of these disruptive leanings as a form to stay competitive in the given industry.

The diploma thesis deals with the impact of innovation on regional development. The theoretical section explains the basic concepts of innovation and regional development, and describes the importance of innovation for regional development. The knowledge gained in the theoretical part is applied to the Central Region in the practical part of this thesis. Firstly, the individual actors in the Central innovation system are characterized and then their impact on the development of the region is outlined. Subsequently, the influence of the European Union support trough the Operational Programmes for the development of the region is evaluated. Due to the fact that innovation is the holder of sustainable economic growth and competitiveness of the region, the final chapter is dedicated to the innovative performance of the Central Region and to the comparison of the individual counties according to their level of competitiveness.

Les tannins sont des extraits chimiques présentant une alternative naturelle aux produits chimiques de type phénol ou résorcinol issus du pétrole. Ils sont déjà utilisés industriellement pour la synthèse d’adhésifs utilisés pour la fabrication de produits à base de bois tels que les panneaux de particules et les contreplaqués, mais généralement en utilisant toujours du formaldéhyde comme durcisseur pour améliorer leur pouvoir collant. Les premiers types de produits développés dans cette thèse sont des résines adhésives pour fabriquer des panneaux de particules, synthétisées à partir de tannins de Pin Radiata et d’autres aldéhydes moins nocifs obtenus en faisant réagir de l’huile de tournesol avec de l’ozone puis avec agent réducteur. L’étude s’est portée sur les conditions de l’ozonolyse, dont les paramètres étaient nombreux, et sur les analyses des huiles obtenues, puis sur la synthèse de résines à partir de solutions de tannins. Certaines de ces résines ont été utilisées pour fabriquer des panneaux de particules qui ont été testés en cohésion interne sèche. Puis le sujet s’est orienté vers le développement de mousses rigides à base de tannins et d’alcool furfurylique dans le cadre d’un projet industriel multi-matériaux. Plusieurs formulations ont été testées pour atteindre les objectifs d’un cahier des charges, dont la finalité était d’obtenir en premier lieu des panneaux de mousse homogènes de basse densité avec de bonnes propriétés mécaniques. L’innovation apportée a été de produire ces mousses dans une presse à panneaux. Enfin, une nouvelle façon de fabriquer des polymères polyuréthanes à base de tannins a été testée en utilisant des produits chimiques moins nocifs en remplacement des isocyanates habituellement utilisés dans l’industrie. La synthèse s’est fait d’abord par une étape de carbonatation des groupes hydroxyles des tannins, puis par une réaction avec l’hexamethylènediamine. Les analyses spectrométriques montres que les produits obtenus possèdent bel et bien des liaisons uréthanes. L’étude débouché sur l’exploration de l’utilisation de tannins réagis avec de l’ammoniac pour le remplacement de l’hexaméthylènediamine afin d’obtenir de nouveaux polyuréthanes « non isocynates » avec encore plus de produits biosourcés et plus respectueux de l’environnement / Tannins are chemical extracts which represent a natural alternative to chemicals as phenol or resorcinol which are from oil resources. They are already used industrially for the synthesis of adhesives used for the manufacture of wood-based products such as particleboards and plywood, but generally always used with formaldehyde as a hardener to improve their mechanical strengths. The first products developed in this thesis are adhesive resins for the manufacture of particleboards, synthesized from Radiata Pine tannins and less hazardous aldehydes obtained by reacting sunflower oil with ozone then with a reducing agent. The study has focus first on the conditions of the ozonolysis, whose parameters are numerous, and the analysis of the oils obtained, then on the synthesis of resins with solutions of tannins. Some of these resins have been used to manufacture particleboards that have been tested in dry internal bond strength. Then the subject has been oriented toward the development of rigid tannin/furanic-based foams as part of an industrial multi-material project. Several formulations have been tested to achieve the objectives of a specification, whose first purpose is to obtain foam panels homogeneous, low in density and with good mechanical properties. The innovation has been to make these foams in a particleboard press. Finally, a new route to manufacture tannin-based polyurethane polymers has been tested by using less hazardous chemicals in replacement of isocyanates, conventionally used in the industry. The synthesis is made by a first carbonatation step of tannins hydroxyl groups and then by a reaction with hexamethylenediamine. Spectrometric analyzes have shown that the products obtained do have urethane linkages. The study led to the exploration of the use of tannins reacted with ammonia to replace hexamethylenediamine to obtain new "non isocynates" polyurethanes with more bio-based and environment-friendly chemicals

This master thesis is focused on financial management of commercial innovative project in Plzensky Prazdroj, a.s. Introduction of the thesis is dedicated to the theoretical and methodological background of project management. The company, its general and financial management are presented in following parts. The authoress of the thesis presents project management and related processes using real business case and compares theoretical and methodological background with company's approach. Conclusion of the thesis focus on proposal of processes related to the implementation of new innovative products to standard portfolio in perspective of financial management and financial tools.

The main objective of my thesis is to evaluate an innovative organization STOMATOLOGICKÉ CENTRUM MUDr. IVO MAREK s.r.o. and its innovative process. Evaluation method uses the discounted cash flows of APV variant. The innovation process value is estimated as a difference between the estimation of the organization value and a hypothetical estimation of the organization without the innovative process. The result shows that the innovative process has a significant effect on the overall value of the organization.

<p>NR 20140805</p>

No contexto da gestão de projetos surgiram novas abordagens com o objetivo de acompanharem mudanças no ambiente de negócio com agilidade e gerando assim resultados inovadores no desenvolvimento de novas tecnologias, produtos e serviços. O Gerenciamento Ágil de Projetos (GAP) surgiu a partir da união de alguns princípios e valores, os quais têm como principal diferencial das demais abordagens em gestão de projetos o foco nos indivíduos. Considerando esse foco, é necessário evidenciar quais fatores podem estar associados ao sucesso de implementação do GAP para a obtenção da agilidade e de resultados inovadores. Dessa forma, o objetivo geral do presente estudo é identificar os fatores de sucesso do gerenciamento ágil de projetos e de que maneira podem contribuir, através das práticas do gerenciamento ágil, na obtenção da agilidade e resultados inovadores em projetos. Os objetivos específicos são: (i) identificar as práticas, fatores de sucesso, indicadores e ferramentas do gerenciamento ágil de projetos evidenciados na literatura; (ii) identificar a importância desses fatores de sucesso para determinar a agilidade e facilitar a inovação; (iii)identificar as práticas associadas aos fatores de sucesso evidenciados no presente estudo entre profissionais da área; (iv) caracterizar e estruturar uma estrutura de implementação do gerenciamento ágil de projetos com base nos fatores de sucesso identificados em uma empresa de serviços. Para responder a cada um dos objetivos apresentados, o presente trabalho foi estruturado na forma de três artigos, associados a cada um dos objetivos específicos apresentados. Assim, o trabalho foi composto por uma revisão sistemática de literatura (Artigo 1), uma pesquisa do tipo survey (Artigo 2) e um estudo de caso (Artigo 3). O primeiro artigo identificou os fatores de sucesso, assim como as práticas, indicadores e benefícios do GAP. No segundo artigo, selecionou-se seis fatores de sucesso relacionados ao foco nos indivíduos (autonomia, coordenação, colaboração, comunicação, flexibilidade e aprendizado contínuo) e após verificou-se a importância de cada um deles para a determinação da agilidade e facilitação para a geração de resultados inovadores. Já no terceiro artigo foi realizado um estudo de caso, composto por entrevistas em profundidade com profissionais com experiência em GAP para obter um diagnóstico da área de projetos de uma empresa de serviços. O resultado final foi a caracterização e estruturação de uma estrutura de implementação para a empresa em estudo. Os resultados da presente dissertação não podem ser generalizados, entretanto, procuram esclarecer alguns elementos associados ao sucesso do Gerenciamento Ágil de Projetos, servindo como um guia para próximos estudos. / In the context of project management, new approaches emerged aiming to monitor changes in the business environment with agility and generating innovative in developing new technologies, products and services results. The Agile Project Management (APM) arose from the union of some principles and values, which have in the focus on individuals the main difference from other approaches in project management. Given this focus, it is necessary to show which factors may be associated with successful implementation of GAP to obtain the agility and innovative results. Thus, the overall goal of this study is to identify the success factors of agile project management and how they can contribute, through the practices of agile management in achieving results in agility and innovative projects. The specific objectives are: (i) identify practices, success factors, indicators and agile management tools highlighted projects in the literature, (ii) identify the importance of these success factors to determine the speed and facilitate the generation of innovation results; (iii) identify practices associated with the success factors highlighted in this study between professionals; (iv) characterize a format and structure for implementation of agile project management based on the success factors identified in a service company. To answer each of the objectives presented, this paper was structured as three items associated with each of the specific objectives presented. Thus, the work was composed of a systematic literature review (Article 1), a research -type survey (Article 2) and a case study (Article 3) . The first article identified the success factors as well as the practices, indicators and benefits of GAP. In the second article, we selected six success factors related to the focus on individuals (autonomy, coordination, collaboration, communication, flexibility and continuous learning) and after it was found the importance of each in determining the agility and facilitation for generating innovative results. In the third article, a case study, consisting of interviews with professionals with experience in GAP for a diagnosis of the project area of a service business was conducted. The end result was the characterization and structure of a format implementation for the company under study. The results of this dissertation can’t be generalized, however, seek to clarify some elements associated with successful Agile Project Management, serving as a guide for future studies.

Submitted by Nadir Basilio (nadirsb@uninove.br) on 2016-06-16T19:59:50Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Adalberto Ramos Cassia.pdf: 1425509 bytes, checksum: 75a7012c255d8829b4750874e8d7b9c4 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-16T19:59:50Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Adalberto Ramos Cassia.pdf: 1425509 bytes, checksum: 75a7012c255d8829b4750874e8d7b9c4 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-03-04 / This study involves the analysis of the impact of dynamic capabilities on the innovative capability, considering the influence of technological turbulence on this impact and the effect of proactive market orientation on this influence. The literature that addresses this topic has focused on studies of direct relationships and simple moderation analysis, leaving gap of studies addressing the effects of double moderation, enabling new approaches on the relationship between the variables that affect the innovative ability of companies. The research, quantitative, considered a sample of 244 completed cases and used statistical techniques of multivariate analysis, including factor analysis and linear regression in 5 statistical models as support for the hypothesis tests. The results show the positive impact of dynamic capabilities on the innovative capability, the positive influence of technological turbulence on this impact and the negative effect of proactive market orientation on this influence. The main study of the contribution relates to the identification of a combined effect of technological turbulence and proactive market orientation on the impact of dynamic capabilities in innovative capability. This positive impact is amplified by the influence of technological turbulence and mitigated the negative effect of proactive market orientation on this influence. The technological turbulence influences the expansion of dynamic capabilities out, what contributes to the rise of innovativa capability. However, proactive market orientation acts on this influence, softening the force with which the technological turbulence drives the impact of dynamic capabilities on the innovative capability. This study may contribute to improving the management of innovation in companies operating in the manufacturing industry by providing subsidies to improve responsiveness in the face of technological changes occurring in the business environment. / O objetivo deste estudo envolve a análise do impacto das capacidades dinâmicas sobre a capacidade inovativa, considerando a influência da turbulência tecnológica sobre este impacto e o efeito da orientação proativa para o mercado sobre esta influência. A literatura que aborda este tema tem se concentrado nos estudos de relações diretas e na análise de moderação simples, restando lacuna de estudos que abordem os efeitos de moderação dupla, que permitam novas abordagens sobre as relações entre as variáveis que afetam a capacidade inovativa das empresas. A pesquisa realizada, de natureza quantitativa, considerou uma amostra com 244 casos completos e utilizou técnicas estatísticas de análise multivariada, incluindo análise fatorial e regressão linear, em 5 modelos estatísticos, como suporte para os testes das hipóteses. Os resultados encontrados evidenciam o impacto positivo das capacidades dinâmicas sobre a capacidade inovativa, a influência positiva da turbulência tecnológica sobre este impacto e o efeito negativo da orientação proativa para o mercado sobre esta influência. A principal contribuição do estudo refere-se à identificação de um efeito combinado entre a turbulência tecnológica e a orientação proativa para o mercado sobre o impacto das capacidades dinâmicas na capacidade inovativa. Este impacto positivo é amplificado pela influência da turbulência tecnológica e atenuado pelo efeito negativo da orientação proativa para o mercado sobre esta influência. A turbulência tecnológica influencia a expansão das capacidades dinâmicas, oque contribui para a elevação da capacidade inovativa. No entanto, a orientação proativa para o mercado atua sobre esta influência, amenizando a força com que a turbulência tecnológica impulsiona o impacto das capacidades dinâmicas sobre a capacidade inovativa. Este estudo pode contribuir para a melhoria da gestão da inovação nas empresas que atuam na indústria de transformação, fornecendo subsídios para o aprimoramento da capacidade de resposta em face das mudanças tecnológicas que ocorrem no ambiente de negócios.

Background: Nowadays, companies from the technological sector confront extreme competition and itis always a challenge for leadership teams to increase competitiveness. This study aims to investigateinnovation advancement within tech companies in an international context from the leadership andmanagement incentives point of view. Leadership plays a vital role in giving direction to the path anorganization should follow. It is of significant interest to examine how leadership can drive anorganization to innovative thinking. Different approaches and leadership styles can be adopted andpracticed by leaders to produce different outcomes on employees’ creative culture. Additionally,individual characteristics of the employees such as self-efficacy and creativity may allow the innovativebehaviours to strive and create a workplace culture that is inducing innovative output. Innovative workbehaviour is becoming more popular or even mandatory within several firms in the technological sectorin contrast to previous decades. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore how ethical leadership and participative leadershipstyle can affect innovative work behaviour and to examine if the creative process engagement and selfefficacylead to enhanced innovative work behaviour. Methodology: For this thesis a quantitative approach for data collection, as well as data analysis is used.This study is based on a SEM model which contains close-ended questions that were answered througha self-administrated questionnaire. The survey was answered by employees working at companies fromthe field of technology, covering different positions. A total of 177 respondents answered thequestionnaire, and the results were analysed both in quantitative and qualitative ways. IBM SPSSsoftware was used for the statistical analysis, and AMOS 26 for the Structural Equation Modeling tests. Results: The results of the statistical analysis performed unveiled that the aspects of ethical andparticipative leadership can positively affect creativity and innovation and that self-efficacy canpositively relate to creative process engagement.Conclusion: This study contributes in showing that two positive ways of management, ethical andparticipative can be introduced by leaders that are interested in increasing creativeness and innovationat work; it also shows that for the sample tested, ethical and participative leadership does not necessarilyhas a major effect on employee’s self-efficacy. Delimitations: The geographical locations, the time and sample size, the choice of participatingorganizations, and the framework designed for the evaluation of the theoretical problem are consideredas limitations for this study. This research is mainly limited to professionals working in the technologicalsector and the study is restricted in time since the participants had to answer in a certain time frame. Toconclude, the sample size of the survey even though is satisfactory for its intended use, could be higher. / <p>Presentation was conducted via video link and were chaired by Anders Wrenne.</p><p>Anders Wrenne e-mail: anders.wrenne@bth.se</p>