Since China embraced the “Open Door” policy in 1978, innovation has been an increasingly important factor for the Chinese economy. China is now the third largest country in the world league table of patent applications. China has also received large amounts of foreign direct investment, much of it from major Western innovative companies. In the earlier years of the Open Door policy, much of the involvement of Western companies was through joint ventures. International joint ventures are still important, and it is believed have substantially enhanced China's innovative capability. It is the contention of this research that there is a direct correlation between the arrivals of Sino-Western JVs and China's increased innovation capabilities. This is an important area of study as China moves towards becoming a developed economy. The gap in research at present is in applying innovation theory to China and to JVs. The thesis explores the contribution of Sino-Western JVs to the development of China's innovative capabilities. A model of the innovation process is developed, and eight important factors that are considered to enhance a company's innovative capacity, are derived from the model. The factors, expressed as propositions, are: 1: Becoming part of a wide innovative network in its industry 2: Taking part in an open innovation system in its industry 3: Relating closely to universities, and particularly their research laboratories 4: Relating closely to research institutions 5: Developing a social atmosphere conducive to innovation 6: Developing a strong strategic planning system with innovation as a focus 7: Having innovation as a primary objective of both partners at the outset of the joint venture 8: Focusing on developing intellectual property To investigate whether these propositions were accepted by Sino-Western joint ventures, 40 semi-structured interviews were conducted in ten international (Sino-western) joint ventures in China. In general the interviews provided support for the propositions. However, some reservations were expressed. Executives were reluctant to engage in open (collaborative) innovation, preferring to seek patents for developed intellectual property. They also perceived the main objective of the Western partners to be commercial success rather than innovation, although the Chinese partners were very much innovation-orientated. The research contributes to our understanding of the contribution of Sino-western JVs to the innovative capability of Chinese companies, and provides support for most of the propositions identified in the literature. Respondents remarked that most of the propositions would apply also to self-standing companies in China, and suggested that joint ventures could stimulate innovation in indigenous Chinese companies. In addition to providing a historical overview of the development of innovation in China, developing an innovation process model and testing it in the Chinese context, the thesis makes important policy and practical recommendations to Chinese organizations.

This study uses the case study method to investigate how IT facilitates business model innovation. The Gloria Material Technology Corporation (GMTC) is chosen for this study. We consider the business model and information technology (IT) factors and analyze how GMTC use IT to facilitate business model innovation. Regarding the business model factor, we describe the GMTC¡¦s value propositions, value network, and key resources for co-production; further we identify the needed abilities for each stakeholder among the value network to make the co-production business model possible. For the IT factor, we present what ITs are developed and deployed among the value network in order to make the business model work. Finally, we report GMTC¡¦s performance after its innovation.

The thesis focuses on risk analysis in implementation of IT innovations in selected international company. The main objective is to analyze the specific project dealing with the implementation of IS innovation. Chosen methods for analysis are TOC Thinking Process diagrams, used for the preparation of causal trees, which serve as the basis for the project risks identification in combination with SWOT method and Why/Why diagram. Together with ongoing consultations with interested parties, the list of project risks is complied, which is the main contribution of this thesis. The list of risks is specific for the organization and it is possible to reuse it with changes for other projects. In conclusion are mentioned recommendations for each risk, which were evaluated as the most serious within the project.

This thesis is focused on French innovation system and its outputs. The aim is to analyze innovation performance of France, as well as its innovation policy and to find out the meaning of the innovation system for French economy and its competitiveness. The thesis also includes a case study of a shareholder and presents his perspective. The first chapter explains basic definitions and innovation related terms and reviews innovation associated theories. The second chapter examines the French innovation system evolution and its performance based on statistical data. Moreover, the French innovation business conditions and an innovation policy will be discussed. Following the analysis of the French innovation system, the last chapter evaluates whether the target of reinforcing innovation capacity is met. At the same time, the third section presents a player of the system, Raise company, and its position within this innovation system.

The diploma thesis focuses on the process of engagement in company IZONEX Group s.r.o. The company operates in construction industry. The thesis is divided into three parts. The first part mentions the theoretical backround, the second part is focused on the company’s current condition analysis. The third part of the thesis is dedicated to proposals that improve the engagement process.

This thesis focuses on the information system of JTA - Holding Inc. Theoretical part presents various methods and processes of information systems analysis and acquaints us with the topic of selecting a suitable system. Based on analysis of current information system, this thesis reveals all the weaknesses and opportunities of the current system. In addition, it will provide an input for executive board od the company for selecting new information system.

This diploma thesis deals with an entrepreneurial plan focused on innovation in company. Based on theoretical pieces of knowledge and discovered facts, it contains a proposal of solution, it´s conceivable positioning on the market and economical evaluation.

This thesis focuses on the analysis of current information system of the selected points to its possible shortcomings and errors. Information obtained from the analyzes will lead to appropriate solutions to problems. The aim of the current system is customized to meet the needs of its users, so that the information system should be flexible, intuitive and clear

Achieving sustainability requires major changes in several areas in which society makes use of technology to meet human needs and while doing so influences the environment, such as agriculture, mobility, power production and water management. The awareness of a need for radical changes is accompanied by an increasing recognition of the interconnectedness of technological, socio-cultural and environmental elements and processes. This has led to an increasing amount of research on system innovations. System innovations refer to changes to a "structurally different" system involving radical changes in the technological and socio-cultural domains and are often contrasted to incremental (technological) change. System innovations involve many actors and many factors, and developments at multiple levels interact. Control over such processes is distributed, they are laden with uncertainty and they exhibit sometimes surprising and unexpected behaviour due to non-linear dynamics and emergent properties involved. Our current understanding of system innovations is limited and the need for an enhanced understanding has clearly been recognized. Computer simulation models seem a promising tool to that end as they already proved to be useful to enhance the understanding of complex systems in many fields like complex chemistry, ecosystems and physics. However, system innovations are mostly processes in social systems. In the social sciences, the application of formal simulation models has a far shorter history and the availability of formalized (and widely accepted) theories and generalizations is low compared to the natural sciences. It is thus not clear-cut which role computer simulation models can play with respect to system innovations. This thesis fathoms the potential of computer simulation models for enhancing our understanding of system innovations and takes some first steps towards fruitful application of models. A theoretical and methodological discussion outlines how models can in principle contribute to an understanding of social macro-processes through facilitating a causal reconstruction of processes that account for the respective observed phenomenon. The view adopted regarding the representation of the social world thereby is that of reciprocity of agency and structure. Compared to the sociological literature the perspective is extended beyond comprising actors and institutions but encompasses also other entities, especially technological artefacts. The thesis then relates the current state of empirical and conceptual work in the field of transition research (the terms "transition" and "system innovation" are used interchangeably) to insights from modelling of complex systems. The intrinsic characteristics of system innovations and the knowledge base available to study them are explicated and implicated challenges and opportunities for model application are discussed. This is complemented by a review of the few existing models of system innovations. The thesis further develops a specification of the regime concept. A regime refers to a dominant structure which originates incremental change but resists system innovations. The concept of "regime" is at the heart of the multi-level perspective, the most widely used framework of transition research, but it is yet only loosely defined. The absence of shared definitions, concept specifications and operationalizations of key concepts of transition research is a major obstacle for defining (and especially for comparing) models. In this thesis, five defining characteristics of regimes are developed and a method to structure and graphically represent knowledge about a regime is introduced. Furthermore, theoretical and conceptual work has been complemented by hands-on experience to make methodological and theoretical deliberations tangible. An agent-based model has been developed which addresses the transition from rainfed to irrigated agriculture in the Upper Guadiana, Spain. The purpose of the model is to bridge a gap in the explanation for the observed process. Case specific literature provides information on driving forces (technological development, changes in regulations) and consequences (amount of irrigation). The model focuses on the farmers which "translate" driving forces into practices of irrigation and water use. It studies the effect of weights farmers attach to a list of priorities. The main findings are that interactions of factors have to be considered and that it is important to acknowledge heterogeneity of farm types to understand empirically observed land-use changes. Based on the outlined work, different possibilities to model system innovations have been abstracted and discussed with respect to their advantages and limitations: a) functional subsystems, b) interacting structures (niches, regimes and landscape) as suggested by the multi-level perspective and c) micro-level entities (actors, technological artefacts, institutions, etc.). None of these representations is superior to the other ones per se but each features certain advantages and drawbacks. The model purpose is a necessary guideline to choose an appropriate representation and to distinguish those parts and aspects of a system which need to be captured from negligible ones. The main findings of this thesis can be summarized as follows: System innovations feature several characteristics which put model-based approaches to this topic on the most challenging edge of the broader endeavour of understanding and modelling social systems. Those are the significance of emergent decay and re-creation of structure during system innovations; the vast scope of system innovations involving several types of subsystems (consumption, production, governance, and nature); the intertwinement of system innovations with their governance – a field which is hardly accessible to modelling; the complexity of the topic; and the unpredictability of innovations. Still, it is concluded that models can be useful as thinking tools. In any case, given the complexity of the topic and the underdeveloped knowledge base, adhering to transparency is essential. In a field as vast and complex as system innovations this requires either very strong simplifications or restricting a model's scope to some parts or aspects of an overall process. This thesis proposes to make use of existing building blocks of understanding of an intermediate level of complexity – e.g. timing and kind of multi-level interactions - to define abstractions and model scope. The challenge to identify, specify, understand and relate conceptual building blocks, to identify the contexts and situations in which each of them becomes relevant and to explicate their role in the overall system innovation could be an agenda for transition modelling for the coming years. Modelling system innovations will remain a huge challenge in the near future. However, this thesis fathoms that models can be valuable tools contributing to the enhancement of the knowledge base of the field; little by little adding to answers of the "big questions". The specific role(s) models of system innovations can play in this endeavour needs to be further explored and discussed.

The contemporary global automotive industry has persisted, relatively unchanged, since its inception over a century ago. However, it appears that major changes may be underfoot with increasing environmental, social, and economic pressures to improve the industry's long-term sustainability. An alternative model, known as Micro-Factory Retailing (MFR), guided by the emerging field of Industrial Ecology (IE) has been proposed as a possible solution to the industry’s sustainability crisis. This thesis will explore the prospects of MFR in Canada and propose the use of 3D printed electric vehicles as a means to facilitate sustainable system innovation. To demonstrate the feasibility of this proposed technological pathway, three entrepreneurial firms attempting to disrupt the way in which cars are made, sold, and used will be studied. Although the timeline of such a major transition is currently unknown, Canada should act proactively to transition its role in the global automotive sector and lead the way towards a more sustainable automotive ecosystem through MFR. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)