The aim of this thesis was to locate examples of the active involvement of major food retailers in innovation in food manufacturing, and to explain their reasons for this activity. Two characteristics of the food industry had an important bearing on the research: (1) slow growth in the demand for food and (2) the interaction between increasingly concentrated food manufacturing and retailing industries. The thesis seeks to improve existing theories of innovation, which do not embrace the possibility that retailers may make contributions to innovation in industries from which they obtain their supplies. Two principal investigation techniques were deployed. The first comprised in-depth interviews with major food retailers, which provided data on their purchasing policy for own label products, and on their technological activities. The second assessed the results of these policies by identifying the responsibility for major innovations in chickenmeat processing: a technological history was compiled from data drawn from several sources including industry experts and a literature search. Further studies indicate that the findings from the chickenmeat study are not a special case. The thesis contributes to theories of innovation by showing that food retailers with substantial in-house technological capability have played important roles in influencing technological change in food manufacturing. The need for restraint on the purchasing power of large retailers is an important policy issue. This thesis makes a contribution to the debate. Retailers' procurement policies which have been successful in stimulating innovation may also have wider relevance to other sectors of industry.

This study aims to explore the agility development from strategic perspectives in the Malaysian and Singaporean semiconductor industries. Firstly, it assesses the needs of agility in the region semiconductor industry. Secondly, it explores informal practices that are associated with agility could bring alternative competitive success; and finally, it argues that the systematic development of agility through formulation, implementation and evaluation could bring competitive advantage to Malaysian and Singaporean semiconductor industries. Using mixed-method research method, this study provided a grounded and exploratory approach, where 101 questionnaires and 4 case companies were used as empirical data which collected in Malaysia and Singapore between Jan 2004 to March 2004. SPSS was used to analyse descriptive and inferential quantitative data from survey questionnaires, while cross-case analysis was carried out to analyse qualitative data in four case companies. Using data integration, this study revealed ten major findings. It concludes that agility is a multi-dimensional approach that encompasses a wide variety of best practices and agility should be built on the foundation of world class manufacturing methods, coupled with an organisation that is technologically and managerially established for rapid and unpredictable change. This study also concludes that informal practices associated with agility need to be embodied in an organisation that attempts to develop agility. Finally, the development of agility does not happen overnight, as it requires a change agent or company-wide transformation to take place in order to develop agility properly. This study identifies the major needs for developing agility strategy in the Malaysian and Singaporean semiconductor industries. A conceptual and systematic framework for developing agility was proposed through strategic formulation, implementation and evaluation that provided valuable evidence to create new strands of agility theory development in other industry within the region, especially those newly industrialised counties. These contributions enable academic researchers to expand the topic into longitude empirical studies and discuss the topic insightfully.

The aim of the thesis was an analysis of factors influencing the competitiveness of selected industry in foreign markets. For this purpose, the aircraft manufacturing industry was chosen. Firstly I analysed current trends in the aircraft manufacturing, external factors influencing the industry and competitive forces of industry. Based on the lessons learned factors having the greatest influence on the international competitiveness of the aircraft manufacturing industry were identified. These factors were afterwards individually analyzed and the conclusion of this analysis was identifying of opportunities for increasing the competitiveness of the Czech aircraft manufacturing industry on foreign markets in various areas.

Background: Changing market conditions and increasing competition drive companies to increase their collaboration along the supply chain. Technological innovations enable businesses to increase their integration tremendously. The fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) enables the integration of information technology with industrial technology. The adoption of Industry 4.0 includes many complex technologies that come with challenges for many organizations. Previous research suggests that conventional manufacturing might have to be adjusted to Industry 4.0. Purpose: This thesis identifies and analyzes potential challenges of Industry 4.0 adoption for electronics manufacturers and machine manufacturers and analyzes how processes in manufacturing need to be adjusted to successfully implement Industry 4.0. The purpose of this thesis is to contribute to successful Industry 4.0 adoption in the manufacturing process and therefore to contribute to technological advancement. Method: This thesis conducts a multiple case study and gathers qualitative data by conducting semi-structured interviews. Findings & conclusion: Challenges identified for most companies are standardization, management support, skills and costs. Most companies face data and compatibility challenges. Some companies face the challenge of complexity, information security, scalability and network externalities. Companies with higher levels of maturity are less likely to face environmental challenges.Lean Management was identified as a prerequisite for Industry 4.0 adoption. The adoption of Industry 4.0 is likely to lead to a paperless factory. Furthermore, changes concerning the infrastructure are a main finding. Moreover, it was found that Industry 4.0 does not require major changes from conventional manufacturing processes.

The increasing pace of technological change is creating significant disruptions in the marketplace. In these markets, successfully managing innovation has become a key competitive advantage. Global trends of low-cost manufacturing and environmental sustainability have mademanufacturing innovations increasingly important. Many alternative manufacturing solutions are developed in not-for-profit institutions such as universities and research centers. This has created a gap between the owners of new technologies and the potential beneficiary of the technology. Correctly asserting if an invention or technology has commercial potential is a challengingprospect.What methods can be used to evaluate the commercial potential of a new technology? Whatimportant considerations and delimitations must be made to provide a reliable value estimation?How should the commercial potential be communicated to stakeholders, financiers andcustomers? If there is commercial potential, how do you successfully commercialize thetechnology? These themes are explored in this study. The question of how to estimate the value of a ninvention is investigated in the first section. Using a case-study approach and looking at a new manufacturing technology in the solar cell market an attempt to estimate the value is made. The results show that the innovation value can be estimated using a quantitative approach where benefits and costs are estimated using publicly available data. This approach was found to work well for technologies that are sustaining the current manufacturing paradigm but struggled to provide an accurate estimation for newer technologies. The process was found to require a diverse set of skills and to preferably be made by a co-founder team with technical and industry knowledge. The second section focuses on how an invention can be successfully commercialized. By interviewing firms who had developed and sold manufacturing innovations and were growing quickly. They were found to have started their companies together with their customers and having had a close working relationship with them throughout the process. Furthermore, they were found to have founding teams who were close friends prior to starting the company. The firms also stressed approved patents and timing of financing as key factors to their success. As technology transfer between universities and large industrial firms become increasingly important the questions of how researchers and inventors can commercialize their technologies will attract much attention. This study provides clear guidelines on how to approach the processof finding and commercializing new technologies from the perspective of the inventor.