Digital implants have become a new frontier for body hackers, technology enthusiasts and disruptive innovation developers, who seek to service this technology for themselves and to new users. This thesis has explored conditions for future user adoption of human body augmentation with digital implants. The conditions explored were mainly self-beneficial health optimization through technology, self-quantification or convenience scenarios. Applying Diffusion Of Innovation theory, Value-based Acceptance Model and research through design methods were used. The process consisted of quantitative and qualitative data gathering and analysis, using interviews, surveys and iterative prototyping with evaluation. The results show mixed user attitude towards implant usage, mainly depending on users' need for added benefits, whether the user is a technology enthusiast actively using technology for self-beneficial gain or a casual everyday consumer of technology. Certain conditions could affect adoption of implants into mainstream usage, mainly data privacy, regulation, convenience, self-quantification or health management. In order for implants to succeed as a mainstream technology, there needs to be proper secure infrastructure, easy installation and coordinated services that offer individual benefits of health or convenience, with a high consumer confidence in supported services, installation / removal and devices. Several companies are working on offering such a service, in order to evaluate such a proposition, iterative prototypes were created to evaluate a health management scenario as a streamlined consumer service, using a service design blueprint and a related interactive smartphone application prototype.

The future is here. New digital, disruptive innovations are changing and affecting industries across society. And the emerging Quantum Computing (QC) industry is not an exception. Billions of dollars have been invested by actors such as governments, large enterprises like IBM and AWS, and by smaller to medium firms towards achieving a fully working QC-technology. Therefore, firms who are looking to adopt it must address the barriers that come with it. This thesis therefore explores what barriers, with the objective on key ones, that exist when firms are adopting QC-technology as a service into their business strategy. The geographical scope of this study is the European and North American industries. The applied method is qualitative and based on the methodology of grounded theory where six semi-structured interviews are carried out with key experts in the field . Furthermore, the analytical PESTLE-framework was used to systemically code and categorize the barriers found from the interviews to analyze the political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental factors connected to the research question. By using key experts from different parts of the industry and this framework, it resulted in a holistic view of the industry’s barriers. The findings of this study are that the QC-industry is still in its early era with 34 barriers of adoption identified and eight of them deemed to be the key ones because of their significance and frequency of mentions. The eight key barriers are QC-technology is costly, impatient investors, funding issues, lack of consistent revenue streams, lack of awareness from top management, insufficient ecosystem, lack of skilled labor and immature technology. The most important minor barriers of the other 26 include lack of standardization and benchmarks, lack of collaboration between certain geographical parties, misinformation from vendors and not using external advisors. Nonetheless, the QC-technology is on the up-rise and is projected to affect industries across the world. Firms in these industries must therefore learn to adopt to the dynamic changes that come with what the QC industry brings. Therefore again, it is the intention of this thesis to explore the key barriers and mitigation strategies to overcome them. / Framtiden är här. Nya digitala, disruptiva innovationer håller just nu på att förändra och påverka industrier över hela samhället. Den växande kvantdatorindustrin är inte ett undantagsfall. Flertalet miljarder dollar med målet att uppnå en fullt funktionell kvantdator har investerats av aktörer som stater, stora företag som IBM och AWS samt små till medelstora företag. Därför bör företag som kommer att påverkas av effekterna adressera barriärerna som finns. Den här uppsatsen undersöker därför vilka barriärer, med fokus på de essentiella, som existerar för företag när de ska adaptera kvantdatorteknologi som en service i deras affärsstrategi. Den geografiska omfattningen berör den nordamerikanska samt den europeiska marknaden. Metodiken som användes var ”Grounded theory”- metodologin där sex semi-strukturerade intervjuer utfördes med nyckelexperter i industrin. Fortsättningsvis så användes PESTLE-ramverket för att systematiskt koda samt kategorisera de identifierade barriärerna utifrån politiska-, ekonomiska-, sociala- , teknologiska-, legala- samt miljöaspekterna. Genom att ha erhållit data från nyckelexperter från olika delar av industrin samt använt ramverket så gav det en holistisk bild av industrins barriärer. Resultatet av studien är att kvantdatorindustrin är i ett tidigt skede med 34 barriärer identifierade och åtta av dem som anses vara de mest essentiella på grund av deras signifikans samt frekvens av omnämnanden. De åtta nyckelbarriärerna inkluderar att kvantdatorteknologin är dyr att investera i, otåliga finansiella investerare, finansieringsproblem, brist på konsistenta intäktsflöden, brist på medvetenhet av ledningen, bristfällande ekosystem, brist på kompetent personal och icke-mogen teknologi. De viktigaste mindre barriärerna utav de 26 inkluderar brist på standardisering samt riktmärken, brist på samarbete mellan vissa geografiska områden, felaktig information från industrin till köparna, samt att inte ta hjälp av externa rådgivare. Vidare, så är kvantdatorteknologin samt industrin i helhet i en uppgång och förväntat att förändra industrier över hela världen. Företagen i dessa industrier bör därför lära sig redan idag att adaptera sig till de dynamiska förändringarna som kvantdator industrin medför. Därför är syftet för det här examensarbetet att utforska nyckelbarriärerna och strategierna som i syfte för att överkomma dem.

As the gig economy is growing at a rapid pace and digitalization has spread throughout the management consulting industry, a notable disruption of this traditional industry has occurred. Digitalization in the management consulting industry has affected both how the management consultant does his/her job as well as how the connection between consultant and client and the relationship between colleagues constitutes. Digitalization also facilitates remote working, which has after the Covid-19 pandemic become a high priority. This in turn has enabled the growth of the gig economy and the increasing number of gig worker. Digital gig platforms acting as a meetingplace have increased in both numbers and popularity as well as digital service platforms providing digital tools with the help of SaaS or AI to deliver a more complex solution to the customer. The disruption of the management consulting industry has only begun and therefor it is a need to analyze the way this industry works today and discuss how the industry has adapted to digitalization. Therefor the purpose of this master thesis is to increase the knowledge of how the progress of digital business models affect the management consulting industry by answering the two research questions: “How has the management consulting industry within the area of organizational development been disrupted by the increasing amount of independent workers using gig platforms?” and “How has digitized Service platforms in the area of organizational development changed the traditional management consulting business model?”. This master thesis is conducted through a literature review and semi structured interviews. What can be concluded is that the management consulting industry has been disrupted by the digital platforms in a way that has put pressure on the larger traditional management consulting companies, more digital platforms are created and an increasing number of gig workers have resulted in collaborations between freelancers and traditional management consulting companies. It is also seen that traditional management consulting companies are adopting other business model alternatives that includes solutions based on AI or cloud solutions. / I och med att gigekonomin växer i en snabb takt och digitaliseringen har spridit sig genom hela managementkonsultindustrin har en tydlig påverkan skett på denna traditionella industri. Digitaliseringen i managementkonsultindustrin har påverkat både hur managementkonsulter utför sitt jobb och kopplingen mellan konsulten och klienten samt vad relationen mellan kollegor har för funktion. Digitalisering gynnar även distansarbete, som efter Covid-19 pandemin har fått en allt högre prioritet på arbetsplatser. Detta har i sin tur medfört en växande gigekonomi med ett ökat antal gigarbetare. Digitala gigplattformar som fungerar som mötesplatser har ökat både i antal och popularitet, likaså digitala serviceplattformar som tillhandahåller digitala verktyg som till exempel SaaS- och AI-lösningar för att kunna tillhandahålla en mer komplex lösning till kunden. Den påverkan som gigekonomi har haft på  managementkonsultindustrin är i början av utvecklingen, vilket skapar ett behov av att industrin och hur denna fungerar idag analyseras, samt diskutera hur industrin har anpassat sig till digitaliseringen. Därför är syftet med detta examensarbete att öka kunskapen kring hur utvecklingen av digitala affärsmodeller påverkat managementkonsultindustrin genom att svara på de två forskningsfrågorna: ”Hur har managementkonsultindustrin inom området organisationsutveckling blivit förändrad av det ökade antalet gigarbetare som använder sig av digitala plattformar” och ”Hur har digitala serviceplattformar inom området organisationsutveckling ändrat de traditionella managementkonsulternas affärsmodeller”. Detta examensarbete utfördes med hjälp av en litteraturstudie samt genom semistrukturerade intervjuer. Slutsatsen som kan dras från detta examensarbete är att managementkonsultindustrin har blivit påverkad av digitala plattformar och därmed har satt press på de större traditionella managementkonsultföretagen, fler digitala plattformar skapas och ett ökat antal av gigarbetare har resulterat i en ökning av samarbeten mellan frilansare och traditionella konsultföretag. Resultatet visar vidare att fler traditionella managementkonsultföretag anpassar sig till andra affärsmodellsalternativ som innefattar lösningar baserade på AI eller molntjänster.

2007年6月，華碩電腦發表Eee PC精簡式筆記型電腦，此創新產品俟後由臺灣資訊工業策進會市場情報中心（MIC）統稱為精簡型小筆電，簡稱小筆電，英文名稱則採用美商英代爾對於這款產品的統稱：Netbook。 Eee PC所設定的目標市場著眼於消費性市場，將產品定位於已開發國家使用者的第二臺電腦以及開發中國家使用者的第一臺電腦。產品上市後掀起銷售高潮，由於小筆電的加入，筆記型電腦在2008年第三季出貨量首度超越桌上型電腦，比先前2007年預估提早兩年，Eee PC因而被譽為臺灣電腦廠商價值創新的一大步。 本研究主要的探討問題有四：核心技術能耐發展策略對於產品創新的影響為何？ 品牌與ODM廠商在創新產品開發上的合作與分工為何？ 品牌廠商因應競爭者之破壞性創新的作法為何？ 核心技術能耐為基礎的產品創新在市場上所需具備的成功條件為何？ 在研究設計上以策略與組織、技術、市場三構面做為主要分析架構。策略與組織構面由領導者企圖心、核心競爭優勢、企業文化、組織架構、企業網絡定位等變項構成；技術構面上由產品研發經驗、內部知識傳遞、外部資源網絡、產品開發管理等變項構成；市場構面由品牌效益、顧客需求、產品行銷、產業合作網絡等變項組成用以探討對於破壞性創新產品構思及開發階段的影響。研究方法上採用「個案研究法」，以領導廠商華碩與宏碁為研究對象。在資料上透過企業訪談與次級資料蒐集的方式來了解個案公司在創新產品的發展過程，並結合核心競爭力、產業價值鏈、破壞性創新、新產品開發程序、吸收能耐與知識傳遞、技術面競爭策略等學理加以分析，本研究所獲得的研究發現如下： 一．建立核心競爭能耐的方向及重點決定了企業在產業價值鏈的位置與所從事的價值活動。 二．企業基於核心技術能耐發展策略而對產品創新方向做出技術領導者與技術追隨者的不同策略選擇。技術領導者著重產品的破壞性創新設計，技術追隨者著重於產品成熟技術的市場性。 三．品牌廠商與ODM的研發製造合作關係上，考量中心點在於顧客對企業的認知價值。品牌廠商並以平均分配（Allocation）與相互制衡（Leverage）為策略，取得各家資源之長為己用。 四．設計代工廠從OEM經營模式進入ODM經營模式，在逐步接手研發價值活動後，ODM設計製造廠開始投入自主研發，成為個人電腦產品技術提供者。但在缺乏通路品牌下，所創造的產品創新價值只能透過品牌廠技術採用將創新價值傳達至消費者。 五．企業發展破壞性創新產品時，原價值網絡上具產業主導地位的供應商透過關鍵技術的掌握，並經由品牌行銷掌握終端使用者，形成不易突破的慣性，對於廠商產品創新產生鉗制作用。 六．企業發展破壞性創新產品若無法取得市場客戶對產品的價值認同，則雖有技術成就，但難以成為產品的競爭優勢。 七．企業在發展破壞性創新產品過程中，若缺乏行銷業務部門參與，將可能造成產品上市後的市場資訊掌握失準。 八．破壞性創新產品所設定於原價值網絡的目標市場，往往因為高科技產業的不確定性因素，在實際執行時意外產生新應用，產品因而進入新價值網絡的新市場。 九．破壞性創新產品進入新市場時不確定因素多，廠商因需求不易掌握而經常發生嘗試錯誤的探索行為，但市場晚入者觀察先驅者經驗，往往能立即掌握正確資訊而迅速反應市場需求。 十．企業發展破壞性創新產品，若未造成有效技術差距，技術領導者與市場先驅者將不易維持首動者優勢。技術追隨者與市場晚入者藉由學習領導者經驗將有機會快速超越。 本研究最後並提出一些實務上建議，以做為產業界發展核心技術能耐策略與發展破壞性創新產品的參考。 / In June, 2007, Asus Computer announced her Eee PC in Computex Taipei, Taiwan International Computer Exhibition. The simplified notebook then named “Netbook” due to its lightweight design and focused internet application. Eee PC was aimed on consumer market of developed countries, targeted as “Secondary Computer” for existing computer users, as well as first computer to the user of the developing world, the name “Eee” derives from "the three Es", an abbreviation of its advertising slogan for the device: "Easy to learn, Easy to work, Easy to play". By third quarter of 2008, notebook shipped quantity including netbook, had exceeded desktop computer, two years advance from prior market research report’s estimation made before netbook product rollout in 2007. Eee PC was praised as stride-out of value innovation of Taiwan computer industry. Problem discoveries and definitions in this research are: first of all, what is the influence of core technology development strategy toward product innovation? Second, how brand owner works with ODM suppliers on innovative product development? Third, how brand owner reacts to disruptive innovation? Last, what are market successful factors of an innovative product which based on core technology competence? Analysis framework of this research consists of three aspects: strategy and organization, technology, marketing. As an exploratory study, research design is qualitative research and case study over certain firms: Asus and Acer, with 90% market shares of netbook in year 2008. For data gathering, primary data came from interviews to firms’ management team members, specifically R&D and PM Directors, secondary data studies came from varies sources: research reports, annual reports, and so on. To explore the influence of core technology competence toward product innovation in idea generation and product development stage, study of related theories in advance is necessary: core competence, value chain, disruptive innovation, new product development procedure, absorptive capability, knowledge transmission, and competitive strategy of technology. Discoveries of this research are: 1.Direction and focus of establishing core competence decides the firm’s position in value chain and the value activities firm engaged. 2.Core technology competence development strategy directs firm’s choice of technology leader or follower, leader focuses on innovative product design, follower focuses on mature technology’s market taking. 3.Customers perceive value is the key consideration that brand owners work with ODM suppliers. “Allocation and Leverage” are strategy that brand owners manage multiple ODM suppliers. 4.From OEM to ODM business model, ODM firms start to develop own independent research projects, this trend leads ODM to be technology supplier in foreseeable future. But, research results can only go through brand owners to consumer market. 5.Key technology suppliers of existing value network will obstruct disruptive innovation products through market’s inertia. 6.Technology based innovative products can’t have competitive advantage in the market without customer’s perceive value. 7.Sales marketing team’s participation is important for disruptive innovation during product development stage. 8.Unexpected new value network will emerge due to uncertainty of high-tech industry, new application out of target market leads to new value network which is different from existing one. 9.Pioneer frequently tries and error for disruptive innovation product due to uncertainty of market, late entrant learned from pioneer’s experience, and react to market demand efficiently. 10.Innovative product without technology gap, firm can’t maintain first mover advantage too long, technology follower have chance to transcend in short period. Conclusions of this research are summarized from above discoveries, and suggestions to industry firms made by this research can be reference to firms’ development strategy of core technology competence as well as product development of disruptive innovation.

近年來，創造力教育受到越來越多守門人的關注，包括企業界領袖、學者專家、政策制定者和教育工作者。另外在學術界和教育界，也有 越來越多的人接受「創造力是可以教」的觀念。因此，追求文化和社會適當的教育創新模式來實施創造力教育是非常重要的。 接觸藝術、學習藝術是培養創造力的重要途徑， 但在正式教育體制很難提供機會平等的平台時，相關的教育守門人就必須創造機會解決此一問題。Christensen、Horn與Johnson （2008、2011）也認為傳統的教育創新只是進行永續性的創新，所以他們進而提出破壞性創新的教育模式，以彌補傳統創新教育模式之不足。 本研究的目的是在探討兩個台灣表演藝術教育破壞性創新的個案：紙風車319鄉村兒童藝術工程和台北景文高中之優人神鼓表演藝術班。本研究的研究方法包括文獻分析，深度訪談和觀察。研究結果發現紙風車319鄉村兒童藝術工程的破壞性教育模式提供更多的機會讓偏遠的兒童可以接觸藝術，對他們產生正面的影響。優人神鼓表演藝術班的教育創新模式讓具有藝術興趣和才能的學生開啟創新的學習管道，一方面發展他們的藝術才情，另一方面也可以在正式教育中表現良好。 / In recent years, creativity in education has received increased attention from gatekeepers - the business leaders, scholars, policy-makers, and educators – around the world. There is also growing acceptance in the academic and educational worlds that “creativity can be taught.” Thus it is now crucial to pursue culturally and socially appropriate models for implementing creativity education. Encountering and studying the arts is an important approach to developing creativity. However, when traditional formal education systems are unable to provide an equal platform for encountering the arts, relevant gatekeepers must come up with new solutions. Christensen, Johnson, & Horn (2008; 2011) write that traditionally, educational innovation has relied on sustaining innovation, which they hold is insufficient for new educational demands today. They propose instead a model of disruptive innovation for education, which has greater potential impact on the education system, to help close the gap between educational ideals and practice. Leadbeater and Wong (2010) further categorize innovations in either formal or informal educational settings. This study examines two cases of disruptive innovation in performing arts education from Taiwan: Paper Windmill Theatre’s First Mile, Kid’s Smile 319 Townships Art Project program and the U-Theatre Performing Arts Class at Taipei Jingwen High School. The research methods employed include document analysis, in-depth interviews, and observations. The research findings conclude that the 319 Project's disruptive innovation model for informal education provided children in remote locations with opportunities to encounter the arts, making a positive impact on their lives. The disruptive innovation model for formal education used by the U-Theatre Performing Arts Class gave students with interests and potential in performing arts a channel for their abilities, both helping them develop their artistic interests and talents and enter university.

Submitted by Rachel Lopes Telésforo (rachel@tclaw.adv.br) on 2017-03-15T19:58:36Z No. of bitstreams: 1 RLT - DISSERTACAO MESTRADO - 2017.docx: 1963235 bytes, checksum: 3dcbac03c54376081f5116490cd805fa (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Publicação Direito Rio (publicacao.direitorio@fgv.br) on 2017-03-16T13:47:59Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 RLT - DISSERTACAO MESTRADO - 2017.docx: 1963235 bytes, checksum: 3dcbac03c54376081f5116490cd805fa (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-03-22T19:56:32Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 RLT - DISSERTACAO MESTRADO - 2017.docx: 1963235 bytes, checksum: 3dcbac03c54376081f5116490cd805fa (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016 / Technologic innovation is inevitable. Regulation, optional. All over the world, economic trends emerge every moment. Regarding the individual transport system of passengers, focus of this work, sharing economy brought paradigmatic disruptions, as occurred with the arrival of Uber device that offers similar services to taxis and promises to reduce ― or even eliminate ― existing market failures for years. Taxi Market is known for taxis upregulation, and until then, little competition and low consumer satisfaction index. Uber´s presence brought greater expectations of quality, but in the opposite direction of the success with users, the regulator follow the following cycle of intervention all over the world: (i) Immediate app’s prohibition; (ii) Uber’s indirect prohibition, according regulation in accordance with the traditional system/ 'a la taxi' (planning permissions and other mechanisms) and (iii) studies to introduction of a specific regulation, that put together technologic benefices and real attendance to public interest. To look more closely to the cycles, this paper analyzed the regulator’s posture in 23 megacities all over the world, according definition of United Nations – UN, that exemplified agent´s conduct in the cities with more than seven million habitants. Faced with said interventions, this paper has concluded that there is a strong regulatory capture in the transport of passenger’s market ― and there was made a theoretical approach of the Public Choice Theory ― since the first and second cycles evidence benefices of small groups of interest in the sector, rather than the mass. Besides that, since technology can reduce problems involving situations of monopolies, asymmetric information and negative externalities, there is no reason to justify the necessity of maintenance of the regulation, already considered excessive in said market. Also, it is worth mentioning that the regulatory actions were directly countered not only by the popular opinion, but mainly by force of judicial decisions all over the world, that by means of preliminary injunctions prevented abrasive reactions of those agents, and that indicates that judiciary sector is not captured. The third cycle of regulatory intervention indicates a way of interconnection between collaborative economies and urban solutions with the objective of the collective benefice. Studies all over the world points the necessity of regulatory alternatives that can conciliate the public interest with the comprehension of the technologic progress. However, to achieve the third cycle of regulation, it is necessary that the regulator abandon the character merely supervisory and assumes a behavior more analytical and proactive, with the objective of finding regulatory alternatives able to bring gains in infrastructure and urbanization. / A inovação tecnológica é inevitável. A regulação, opcional. Ao redor do mundo, tendências econômicas surgem a cada instante. No que tange ao sistema de transporte individual de passageiros, foco do presente trabalho, a economia de compartilhamento trouxe rompimentos paradigmáticos, como o que ocorreu com a chegada do dispositivo Uber, que oferece serviços semelhantes ao de táxis e reduz ― chegando em alguns casos, a eliminar ― falhas de mercado existentes há anos. O mercado de táxis é conhecido pela alta regulação, tendo até então, pouca concorrência e baixo índice de satisfação do consumidor. A presença do Uber trouxe maior expectativa de qualidade, mas em contramão ao sucesso junto aos usuários, o regulador segue o seguinte ciclo de intervenção reguladora, ao redor do mundo: (i) proibição imediata do aplicativo; (ii) proibição indireta do Uber, por meio de regulação feita de acordo com o sistema tradicional/ 'a la táxi' (concessão de alvarás, dentre outros mecanismos) e (iii) estudos para implementação de uma regulação específica, que une os benefícios tecnológicos ao real atendimento do interesse público. Para analisar mais profundamente esses ciclos, estudou-se a postura do regulador em 23 megacidades ao redor do mundo, conforme padrão definido pelas Organização das Nações Unidas – ONU, o que exemplificou a conduta dos agentes em cidades com mais de sete milhões de habitantes. Diante de tais intervenções, chegou-se à conclusão de que existe forte captura regulatória no sistema de transporte de passageiros ― tendo sido feita uma abordagem da Teoria da Escolha Pública ― já que os dois primeiros ciclos apontam benefícios de pequenos grupos de interesse no setor, em detrimento do coletivo. Além disso, se a tecnologia é capaz de reduzir falhas envolvendo situações de monopólios situacionais, assimetrias de informação e externalidades negativas, não haveria outro motivo que justificasse a necessidade na manutenção da regulação, já tida como excedente no mercado em apreço. Válido mencionar que as ações regulatórias foram prontamente combatidas não apenas pela opinião popular, mas principalmente por meio de decisões judiciais ao redor do mundo, que por meio de liminares impediram reações mais abrasivas de tais agentes, e o que aponta que tal setor não se encontra capturado. O terceiro ciclo de intervenção regulatória indica um caminho de interconexão entre as economias de colaboração com medidas urbanas que busquem beneficiar o coletivo. Estudos ao redor do mundo evidenciam a necessidade de alternativas regulatórias que possam conciliar o interesse público com a compreensão da natureza do progresso tecnológico. No entanto, para que se chegue a tal ciclo interventivo, é necessário que o regulador abandone o caráter meramente fiscalizatório e assuma comportamento mais analítico e proativo, no sentido de aplicar alternativas regulatórias que impliquem em medidas que representem ganhos em infraestrutura e urbanização.

Traditional technologies are revelations of knowledge, skill, and wisdom of ancestors that have been used to facilitate and enhance the performance of socio-economic activities, overcome environmental challenges, and magnify symbolic presentations of cultural and spiritual engagements. Traditional technologies are still practiced in many communities despite the strides made in the advancement of modern technologies. The socio-economic significance of traditional technologies in the context of Ethiopia is even more profound. There are hardly social, economic, and spiritual activities that are not, directly or indirectly, influenced by the application of traditional technologies. The irony is, however, they are not appreciated and conserved in spite that they have been proving a sustained significance across generations while, to the contrary, modern technologies are even staggering to outlive the stage of product introduction. Although still proving to be useful, traditional technologies have been marginalized as if they are symbols of backwardness belonging to the past as irrelevant to the modern day settings. It was, therefore, the urge to look into this dilemma that became the basis for the initiation to conduct a research on the captioned topic. The study has endeavored to address how traditional technologies, specifically that of Ethiopia, are able to sustain contrary to extant theoretical predictions of technologies, and investigate why they have been deterred from getting the conservation and transformation they deserve in spite of the socio-economic significant role they have continued to play as capitulated in the statement of the problem. In addressing the statement of the problem, the paradigm of the world outlook within which the research was situated is found to be related to the Critical Theory paradigm. As a result, a qualitative research methodology based on a case study design was framed and a longitudinal field study on the sampled cases was conducted. The data generated from the study were ix filtered, coded, organized, categorized, and ultimately analyzed and interpreted using apparent analytic models until saturated and triangulated findings were established. Accordingly, the core constructs that has been defining the fate of traditional technologies were induced and their impact in deterring or promoting the conservation and transformation of traditional technologies were synthesized. Based on the outcomes of data analysis and interpretation, appropriate methods of reshaping the societal attitude and orientation in terms of conserving and transforming traditional practices are proposed as induced recommendations ultimately requiring a timely intervention. / Business Management / D. Litt. et Phil. (Business Leadership)

This thesis investigates what it means to view disruptive innovation as a political problem. I take my point of departure in the tendency for controversial disruptions in heavily regulated sectors, such as electronic cigarettes or hydraulic fracturing, to open regulatory spaces by challenging established expectations about how they ought to be governed. In the wake of such disruption, policy actors with a stake in the matter engage in sensemaking and discursive contests to control the meaning of the innovations in order to close the regulatory spaces by aligning them with one set of laws instead of another. I study these contests in two recent legislative initiatives of the European Union to address the disruptive potential of e-cigarettes and fracking: the 2014 revision of the Tobacco Products Directive and the 2014 Commission recommendations on unconventional fossil fuels. The research draws on 51 interviews carried out with key policy actors during and after the policy debates. I bolster this with an analysis of policy documents, press releases and scientific studies, as well as a content and network analysis of position statements in newspaper articles. I find that the strategic use of rhetoric and framing plays an important part in creating, maintaining, and entrenching opposed coalitions in both policy debates. In both case studies, the policy solution is accompanied by deteriorating levels of trust among participants, leading coalitions to engage in strategies of venue-shopping to circumvent their opponents. This underscores the significant challenges there are for policymakers to address disruptions while maintaining legitimacy. The original contribution of the thesis lies in its novel conceptualization of disruptive innovation as a political problem, its application of micro-sociological approaches to the politics of expertise and European public policy, and its practical and theoretical suggestions for how to better study periods of disruption and govern through them. / Doctorat en Sciences politiques et sociales / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Additive manufacturing (AM) has enabled the possibility for the hospitals to become their own implant producers developing implants that are tailored to patient’s anatomy. Despite the enormous potential of custom-made implants there are challenges that complicate the implementation of them into clinical practice. The aim of this research is to (1) identify the main driving forces and barriers for the delivery of custom-made implants; (2) explore staff stakeholder views and practices related to the implementation of AM in surgery for the development of custom-made implants; (3) formulate recommendations on how to cope with the implementation challenges. The research method was an explorative qualitative study consisted of a literature review on the challenges of custom-made implants in clinical applications coupled with the collection and inductive analysis of empirical data. The empirical study was based on ten semi-structured interviews conducted among both domestic and international hospital managers medical doctors and research engineers. The consolidated framework for implementation research (CFIR) was utilized for data collection. Using the five domains of CFIR, the following results were obtained: (1) Characteristics of individuals: Most research participants indicated a positive attitude towards the innovation expressing self-efficacy to its use; (2) Intervention characteristics: Custom-made implants were perceived to have a relative advantage in surgical practice due to their high degree of observability and geometrical adaptability providing increased surgical quality, perfect patient fit and better understanding of pathologies. However, high implementation costs, low degree of trialability and high degree of complexity in the development process were regarded as drawbacks of the innovation; (3) Outer setting: the regulatory uncertainty and lack of reimbursement limit the accessibility of custom-made implants to low income populations; (4) Inner setting: scarcity of resources, staff resistance to change, insufficient management support, communication difficulties, limited access to educational materials and training opportunities as well as lack of time and innovative capacity were regarded by the majority of participants as implementation barriers; (5) Process: central for the success of implementation is the need for a coherent implementation plan and evaluation process as well as the engagement of key stakeholders such as hospital managers, payers, regulatory and implementation advisors. This dissertation proffers a deeper understanding of the implementation issues related to custom-made implants and offers preliminary recommendations on how to cope with implementation impediments through the use of Rogers diffusion of innovation coupled with concepts from the field of organizational change and innovation management including Clayton’s disruptive innovation.

As information systems leaders tap into the global market of cloud computing-based services, they struggle to maintain consistent application performance due to lack of a process framework for managing quality of service (QoS) in the cloud. Guided by the disruptive innovation theory, the purpose of this case study was to identify a process framework for meeting the QoS requirements of private cloud service users. Private cloud implementation was explored by selecting an organization in California through purposeful sampling. Information was gathered by interviewing 23 information technology (IT) professionals, a mix of frontline engineers, managers, and leaders involved in the implementation of private cloud. Another source of data was documents such as standard operating procedures, policies, and guidelines related to private cloud implementation. Interview transcripts and documents were coded and sequentially analyzed. Three prominent themes emerged from the analysis of data: (a) end user expectations, (b) application architecture, and (c) trending analysis. The findings of this study may help IT leaders in effectively managing QoS in cloud infrastructure and deliver reliable application performance that may help in increasing customer population and profitability of organizations. This study may contribute to positive social change as information systems managers and workers can learn and apply the process framework for delivering stable and reliable cloud-hosted computer applications.