Business Angels (BAs) are wealthy individuals whose investments in entrepreneurial ventures enable them to increase the likelihood of both attracting subsequent Venture Capital (VC) and achieving long-term venture success. Unfortunately more than 95% of entrepreneurs seeking funds from BAs are unable to do so, raising questions about whether this high failure rate might be reduced. Scholars suggest the answer lies in gaining a better understanding of the investment decision process itself and identifying why opportunities are rejected at each stage of the decision process. However, the private nature of the interaction between BA and fund-seeking entrepreneur constrains our ability to observe the multistage nature of the interaction and how rejection reasons change at each stage. As a consequence, much research relies on BA’s biased post-decision recollections, which limits our ability to understand the decision process and identify opportunities for improvement. In this research we overcome these constraints by observing interactions from the reality TV show Dragons’ Den, where fund-seeking entrepreneurs pitch their early stage businesses to five BAs. During the interaction, each BA must either make an offer to invest or provide a reason for rejection. We develop hypotheses about why this complex decision evolves over several stages, and why rejection reasons change at each stage, which we then test by coding observations and decision outcomes. We draw on research in behavioral economics and decision making to propose that BAs use heuristics to reduce their decision making effort at each stage and initially examine the criteria that are easiest to retrieve. They then assesses each opportunity based on the most easily retrieved criteria and reject those they believe unlikely to achieve their aspiration level for required return, or because the risk of failure exceeds the BA’s own risk aspiration level. We propose that during subsequent stages of the interaction, each BA audits the entrepreneur’s behaviors to assess performance and relationship risk, rejecting those where the risk level exceeds their aspiration level. We use trained observers to code the information exchanges and behavioral cues provided by the entrepreneur to find support for our hypotheses. We observe that, during the venture assessment stage, BAs do reject opportunities that fail to reach aspiration levels for investment return or investment risk, however, contrary to normative assumptions we find BAs do not trade off investment risk for investment return. For opportunities not rejected, we observe BAs assess how the entrepreneur’s behaviors and decisions inform their assessment of managerial risk and increase the likelihood of venture failure. We note BAs are more likely to reject entrepreneurs whose behaviors indicate low level of capabilities, experiences or traits, while excess traits can also increase this likelihood. For opportunities not rejected at this stage, we observe BAs audit the entrepreneur’s trust behaviors to inform their assessment of the relationship risk. We find BAs more likely to reject entrepreneurs who damage or violate trust in comparison to those who build trust. We also observe that BAs invest in entrepreneurs who damage trust, but only if they can introduce appropriate behavioral controls. Our observations help explain the multistage nature of the decision process and why opportunities are rejected at each stage. We suggest that better prepared entrepreneurs who display appropriate behaviors are less likely to be rejected. Increased understanding of the decision process enables BAs to improve their decision-making, while knowledgeable policy makers will be better able to cost-effectively deploy appropriate resources to enhance funding activities. Our observations should encourage academics to further explore entrepreneurial behaviors, perhaps adapting our research method and coding schema in future research.

Airline planning is a complex and difficult process. The biggest airlines in the world plan for and operate fleets of over 700 aircraft using tens of thousands of crew members. As such, small percentages in savings translate to millions of dollars. In this thesis, we study the pairing and duty generation problem in the context of airline crew scheduling, and propose approaches to improve the computational speed and the solution quality. We propose several enumeration algorithms to generate all possible duty periods of a given schedule to improve on the time required to generate duty periods; and present a set of column generation models to improve on the solution quality. When tested on a real test case study, the proposed approaches are found to improve the computational times from 142 seconds down to less than one second, and the cost savings of 13.7%.

This exploratory case study used observations and interviews to investigate how the structure of an organization impacts its ability to adopt agile software development methodologies. It also aimed to identify the agile practices that are perceived as helpful or unhelpful by the individuals practicing them. It examined an organization’s attempt to adopt agile methodologies for the first time in a new software product development project. Twelve employees from different teams working on this project participated in the study. . The participants were asked about their perception of the agile process. They were also asked to identify the various teams with which they regularly interact and to provide examples of the helpful and unhelpful patterns of behavior they exhibit. The findings suggest that the structure of the organization was a major limiting factor that affected its ability to adopt agile methodologies. Agile practices rely on the level of flexibility that an organization can demonstrate. However, the organization attempted to adopt agile practices without redefining the project members’ roles, work processes, or departmental affiliations. Participants perceived many aspects of the agile methods negatively, and various symptoms of a misfit between the existing organizational structure and the requirements of agile methods were observed, including poor communication and multiple conflicts between the different project teams, which caused the project to go over time and over budget. Furthermore, it was observed that the teams struggled to follow the agile practices and found various ways to alter and work around them to fit the existing structure, rather than adhering to them and welcoming the new practices. Several potential areas for future research are identified, including: using longitudinal case studies to examine organizations and the relationships between their members before and after adopting agile methodologies, in order to identify and attribute any observed behavioral patterns to the appropriate cause; examining organizations in which the structure was altered to accommodate agile methodologies; and examining how organizations define the roles of highly specialized employees who possess very specific abilities and must be shared across different development projects.

La innovació oberta ofereix un nou recurs de cerca i obtenció d'innovació a empreses i ciutats fent que transcendeixin els seus límits i globalitzin el prove"iment d'innovació. Els intermediaris d'innovació oberta faciliten i donen suport als acords de col-laboració en materia d'innovació oberta. Aquests mediadors funcionen igualment com a mercats per a la innovació i com a font de solucions innovadores. La proliferació d'intermediaris online d'innovació oberta (com ara lnnocentive, Yet2.com, Atizo o NineSigma) que connecten empreses i individus per tal de facilitar la innovació oberta esta essent objecte d'una atenció creixent en els estudis publicats. Com a camp d'investigació, la innovació oberta és un ambit encara jove i els treballs publicats sobre el tema mostren la irrupció amb exit de diverses empreses per facilitar el comen;: amb la propietat intel-lectual (p. ex., idees, tecnologies i patents) a través de les plataformes. S'ha dedicat malta atenció al paper d'aquests intermediaris a les plataformes online amb estudis de cas específics. Tanmateix, cal un nivell de coneixement i de comprensió més profund de com funcionen els intermediaris d'innovació oberta en les plataformes online i en els ecosistemes d'innovació públics i, especialment, de les raons perles quals les persones hi participen. Aquesta tesi pretén desenvolupar i estendre la teoria existent sobre la innovació oberta posant l'accent en els intermediaris d'innovació oberta i els seus mecanismes subjacents,motius de suport i, en darrer terme, la seva presencia i el seu rol en !'ecosistema públic d'innovació. A partir de dades de conclusions empíriques i diversos estudis de cas, aquesta dissertació suggereix que els intermediaris d'innovació exerceixen un paper imprescindible en els processos d'innovació tant en el sector públic com en el sector privat. Les conclusions també motiven els gestors i els responsables polítics, en aportar idees per ajudar a accentuar el caracter innovador i competitiu de llurs organitzacions i ciutats. / La innovación abierta ofrece un nuevo medio de búsqueda y obtención de innovación a empresas y ciudades haciendo que trasciendan sus límites y globalicen el abastecimiento de innovación. Los intermediarios de innovación abierta apoyan y facilitan los acuerdos de colaboración en materia de innovación abierta. Estos intermediarios son tanto mercados para la innovación como una fuente de soluciones innovadoras. La proliferación de intermediarios online de innovación abierta (p. ej. lnnocentive, Yet2.com, Atizo o NineSigma) que conectan a empresas e individuos para facilitar la innovación abierta está siendo objeto de una atención cada vez mayor en los estudios publicados. Como campo de investigación, la innovación abierta es un ámbito aún joven y los trabajos publicados sobre el tema muestran la irrupción con éxito de diversas empresas para facilitar el comercio con la propiedad intelectual (p. ej. ideas, tecnologías y patentes) a través de plataformas. Se ha dedicado mucha atención al papel de estos intermediarios en las plataformas online con estudios de caso específicos. Sin embargo, se precisa un nivel de conocimiento y de comprensión más profundo de cómo funcionan los intermediarios de innovación abierta en las plataformas online y en los ecosistemas de innovación públicos y, especialmente, de las razones por las que las personas participan. Esta tesis pretende desarrollar y extender la teoría existente sobre la innovación abierta poniendo el acento en los intermediarios de innovación abierta y sus mecanismos subyacentes, motivos de apoyo y, en última instancia, su presencia y su rol en el ecosistema público de innovación. A partir de datos de conclusiones empíricas y varios estudios de caso, esta disertación sugiere que los intermediarios de innovación desempeñan un papel imprescindible en los procesos de innovación tanto en el sector público como en el sector privado. Las conclusiones también motivan a los gestores y a los responsables políticos, al aportar ideas para ayudar a acentuar el carácter innovador y competitivo de sus organizaciones y ciudades. / To achieve a high level of innovativeness, open innovation offers a novel means of sourcing innovation for companies and cities through opening their boundaries and globalizing the sourcing of innovation. Open innovation intermediary is one of the tools that support and facilitate the collaborative arrangements of open innovation. Open innovation intermediaries are both markets for innovation and a source of innovative solutions. The proliferation of on­ line open innovation intermediaries -i.e. Innocentive, Yet2.com, Atizo, NineSigma- that link multiple companies and individuals to facilitate open innovation is increasingly gaining the attention of the literature. Open innovation as a field of research is young, and the previous literature in this area has shown that a variety of companies have successfully emerged to facilitate intellectual property (e.g. idea, technology, patent) trade through platforms. Much attention has been devoted to the role of these intermediaries in online platforms with single case studies. However, more knowledge is needed about open innovation intermediaries and understanding how these intermediaries function in online platforms and public innovation ecosystems, and, especially why people participate. This thesis aims to develop and extend existing theory on open innovation with an emphasis on the open innovation intermediaries and their underlying mechanisms, supportive motives, and ultimately their existence and role in public innovation ecosystem. Drawing upon data from the empirical findings and several case studies, this dissertation suggest that innovation intermediaries play an imperative role in the innovation processes of both public and prívate sectors. The findings also motívate managers and policy makers with insights to enhance the innovativeness and competitiveness of their organizations and cities.

In this thesis, we propose an optimization model to assist the Region of Waterloo Emergency Medical Services (EMS) to meet the new provincial land ambulance response time standard. The new land standard requires multiple response time thresholds which are based on the acuity of the patient determined at the time the 911 call is made. The performance of an EMS system is affected by many factors, including the number of ambulances deployed, their locations, and the dispatching strategy that is employed. The number of ambulances available over the course of the day varies when ambulance crews start and end their shifts, and when ambulance crews are called out or return from a call. In order to maintain coverage, it is therefore desirable to locate ambulances in stations as a function of how many are available, and the geography and frequency of potential calls. This may result in relocation of ambulances whenever there is a change in the number of available vehicles. This research provides a compliance table indicating how many ambulances to locate at each station when the number of available ambulances is given. We explore two main objectives: 1) maximizing the expected coverage for all patients, and 2) maximizing the coverage for the most acutely ill patients. Constraints include the number of available ambulances, the response time requirements, and service level constraints for each acuity level. In this study, we conducted an empirical analysis of ambulance response times, travel times to a hospital, and time spend at the hospital. We used two years of EMS data from July 2006 to June 2008 for the Region of Waterloo (ROWEMS). Based on this study, we show that using the binomial distribution to represent the number of busy ambulances suggested by Gendreau et al. (2006) is only valid for low utilization rates. The problem of allocating available ambulances among candidate stations is formulated as a Mixed Integer Non-linear Problem (MINLP) model that includes the priority of calls and multiple daytime periods. Computational results using the ROWEMS data will be presented. A detailed comparison shows that the predictions obtained from our model are often as good as the Approximate Hypercube (AH) model, but with a simpler and quicker procedure. The model proposed in this thesis can also be used as a planning tool to find promising candidate locations for new ambulance stations.

Business Angels (BAs) are wealthy individuals whose investments in entrepreneurial ventures enable them to increase the likelihood of both attracting subsequent Venture Capital (VC) and achieving long-term venture success. Unfortunately more than 95% of entrepreneurs seeking funds from BAs are unable to do so, raising questions about whether this high failure rate might be reduced. Scholars suggest the answer lies in gaining a better understanding of the investment decision process itself and identifying why opportunities are rejected at each stage of the decision process. However, the private nature of the interaction between BA and fund-seeking entrepreneur constrains our ability to observe the multistage nature of the interaction and how rejection reasons change at each stage. As a consequence, much research relies on BA’s biased post-decision recollections, which limits our ability to understand the decision process and identify opportunities for improvement. In this research we overcome these constraints by observing interactions from the reality TV show Dragons’ Den, where fund-seeking entrepreneurs pitch their early stage businesses to five BAs. During the interaction, each BA must either make an offer to invest or provide a reason for rejection. We develop hypotheses about why this complex decision evolves over several stages, and why rejection reasons change at each stage, which we then test by coding observations and decision outcomes. We draw on research in behavioral economics and decision making to propose that BAs use heuristics to reduce their decision making effort at each stage and initially examine the criteria that are easiest to retrieve. They then assesses each opportunity based on the most easily retrieved criteria and reject those they believe unlikely to achieve their aspiration level for required return, or because the risk of failure exceeds the BA’s own risk aspiration level. We propose that during subsequent stages of the interaction, each BA audits the entrepreneur’s behaviors to assess performance and relationship risk, rejecting those where the risk level exceeds their aspiration level. We use trained observers to code the information exchanges and behavioral cues provided by the entrepreneur to find support for our hypotheses. We observe that, during the venture assessment stage, BAs do reject opportunities that fail to reach aspiration levels for investment return or investment risk, however, contrary to normative assumptions we find BAs do not trade off investment risk for investment return. For opportunities not rejected, we observe BAs assess how the entrepreneur’s behaviors and decisions inform their assessment of managerial risk and increase the likelihood of venture failure. We note BAs are more likely to reject entrepreneurs whose behaviors indicate low level of capabilities, experiences or traits, while excess traits can also increase this likelihood. For opportunities not rejected at this stage, we observe BAs audit the entrepreneur’s trust behaviors to inform their assessment of the relationship risk. We find BAs more likely to reject entrepreneurs who damage or violate trust in comparison to those who build trust. We also observe that BAs invest in entrepreneurs who damage trust, but only if they can introduce appropriate behavioral controls. Our observations help explain the multistage nature of the decision process and why opportunities are rejected at each stage. We suggest that better prepared entrepreneurs who display appropriate behaviors are less likely to be rejected. Increased understanding of the decision process enables BAs to improve their decision-making, while knowledgeable policy makers will be better able to cost-effectively deploy appropriate resources to enhance funding activities. Our observations should encourage academics to further explore entrepreneurial behaviors, perhaps adapting our research method and coding schema in future research.

Airline planning is a complex and difficult process. The biggest airlines in the world plan for and operate fleets of over 700 aircraft using tens of thousands of crew members. As such, small percentages in savings translate to millions of dollars. In this thesis, we study the pairing and duty generation problem in the context of airline crew scheduling, and propose approaches to improve the computational speed and the solution quality. We propose several enumeration algorithms to generate all possible duty periods of a given schedule to improve on the time required to generate duty periods; and present a set of column generation models to improve on the solution quality. When tested on a real test case study, the proposed approaches are found to improve the computational times from 142 seconds down to less than one second, and the cost savings of 13.7%.

This exploratory case study used observations and interviews to investigate how the structure of an organization impacts its ability to adopt agile software development methodologies. It also aimed to identify the agile practices that are perceived as helpful or unhelpful by the individuals practicing them. It examined an organization’s attempt to adopt agile methodologies for the first time in a new software product development project. Twelve employees from different teams working on this project participated in the study. . The participants were asked about their perception of the agile process. They were also asked to identify the various teams with which they regularly interact and to provide examples of the helpful and unhelpful patterns of behavior they exhibit. The findings suggest that the structure of the organization was a major limiting factor that affected its ability to adopt agile methodologies. Agile practices rely on the level of flexibility that an organization can demonstrate. However, the organization attempted to adopt agile practices without redefining the project members’ roles, work processes, or departmental affiliations. Participants perceived many aspects of the agile methods negatively, and various symptoms of a misfit between the existing organizational structure and the requirements of agile methods were observed, including poor communication and multiple conflicts between the different project teams, which caused the project to go over time and over budget. Furthermore, it was observed that the teams struggled to follow the agile practices and found various ways to alter and work around them to fit the existing structure, rather than adhering to them and welcoming the new practices. Several potential areas for future research are identified, including: using longitudinal case studies to examine organizations and the relationships between their members before and after adopting agile methodologies, in order to identify and attribute any observed behavioral patterns to the appropriate cause; examining organizations in which the structure was altered to accommodate agile methodologies; and examining how organizations define the roles of highly specialized employees who possess very specific abilities and must be shared across different development projects.

This study attempts to answer the question; does evolutionary theory provide a ‘good’ explanatory framework for examining the phenomenon of technological innovation? In doing so, the study critically examines mainstream marketing’s in-place explanatory frameworks, offers an explanation of ‘evolution’ based on new insights from a broad range of (sub)disciplines, and makes the practical proposition that this explanation is a ‘good’ analogous representation of the technological innovation process. As an alternative to the ‘scientific empiricist’ approach that dominates much of marketing’s research into technological innovation, the study develops a research methodology that is based within a postmodern philosophy, adopts an epistemology of transcendental realism, bases the research design on abduction and textual explanation, and brings together a research method based on the criteria of interesting, plausibility and acceptability. Familiarisation with mainstream marketing’s explanatory frameworks for research into technological innovation identified Diffusion theory, New Product Development theory and Network theory as dominant. It is concluded that these frameworks are based on problematic theoretical foundations, a situation considered as largely due to a pre-occupation with assumptions that are atomistic, reductionistic, deterministic, gradualistic and mechanistic in nature. It is argued, that in concert with the ‘socialised’ dominance of mathematical form over conceptual substance, mainstream marketing’s research into technological innovation is locked into a narrow range of ‘preordained axiomatics’. The explanation of ‘evolution’ offered within the study is based on a why, what, how, when and where format. The resultant explanation represents a significant departure from the (neo)Darwinian biological perspective that tends to dominate evolutionary explanations of socio-economic behaviour, in that the focus is on the principles (and associated conceptualizations) of ‘variation’, ‘selection’ and ‘preservation’ within the broader context of open and dissipative systems. The offered explanation presents a number of theoretical ideas, and in particular, that evolution can only occur in a ‘multidimensional space of possibilities’, denotes a process of ‘adaptive emergence’, and is essentially concerned with ‘on-going resilience through adaptability’. The practical proposition is made that the offered explanation of ‘evolution’ can be used in an ‘as if’ manner, that is, the principles of ‘variation’, ‘selection’, and ‘preservation’ (and the meanings ascribed to them through conceptualization) are analogically transferable to the technological innovation research area. The proposition is supported through reference to theoretical and empirical research, highlighting the similarity with respect to the generative mechanisms, structures and contingent conditions underpinning both ‘evolution’ and ‘technological innovation’.

This study attempts to answer the question; does evolutionary theory provide a ‘good’ explanatory framework for examining the phenomenon of technological innovation? In doing so, the study critically examines mainstream marketing’s in-place explanatory frameworks, offers an explanation of ‘evolution’ based on new insights from a broad range of (sub)disciplines, and makes the practical proposition that this explanation is a ‘good’ analogous representation of the technological innovation process. As an alternative to the ‘scientific empiricist’ approach that dominates much of marketing’s research into technological innovation, the study develops a research methodology that is based within a postmodern philosophy, adopts an epistemology of transcendental realism, bases the research design on abduction and textual explanation, and brings together a research method based on the criteria of interesting, plausibility and acceptability. Familiarisation with mainstream marketing’s explanatory frameworks for research into technological innovation identified Diffusion theory, New Product Development theory and Network theory as dominant. It is concluded that these frameworks are based on problematic theoretical foundations, a situation considered as largely due to a pre-occupation with assumptions that are atomistic, reductionistic, deterministic, gradualistic and mechanistic in nature. It is argued, that in concert with the ‘socialised’ dominance of mathematical form over conceptual substance, mainstream marketing’s research into technological innovation is locked into a narrow range of ‘preordained axiomatics’. The explanation of ‘evolution’ offered within the study is based on a why, what, how, when and where format. The resultant explanation represents a significant departure from the (neo)Darwinian biological perspective that tends to dominate evolutionary explanations of socio-economic behaviour, in that the focus is on the principles (and associated conceptualizations) of ‘variation’, ‘selection’ and ‘preservation’ within the broader context of open and dissipative systems. The offered explanation presents a number of theoretical ideas, and in particular, that evolution can only occur in a ‘multidimensional space of possibilities’, denotes a process of ‘adaptive emergence’, and is essentially concerned with ‘on-going resilience through adaptability’. The practical proposition is made that the offered explanation of ‘evolution’ can be used in an ‘as if’ manner, that is, the principles of ‘variation’, ‘selection’, and ‘preservation’ (and the meanings ascribed to them through conceptualization) are analogically transferable to the technological innovation research area. The proposition is supported through reference to theoretical and empirical research, highlighting the similarity with respect to the generative mechanisms, structures and contingent conditions underpinning both ‘evolution’ and ‘technological innovation’.