Social robots and artificial intelligence are radical innovations at the cutting edge of technology. Touted as the fourth industrial revolution, the future is looking bright for social robotics, and for the markets which can benefit from this technology. However, despite a wealth of research regarding technical functionality, there has been little research conducted into the future strategies required to ensure the successful diffusion of these innovations into society or effective methods of influencing rapid adoption rates in target markets.  The following research questions have been designed to identify potential solutions to existing and future problems facing the social robotics industry: What are the barriers to the early stages of the diffusion of innovation for social robotics start-ups? How can these innovative companies cross the chasm? In order to formulate the findings, primary research was conducted in the form of interviews within three categories: academics, practitioners and social robotics experts. Secondary research was undertaken to analyse and compare primary findings. The research is purely qualitative as quantitative data was purposefully disregarded due to limitations on time and scope.  In summary, social robotics start-ups face significant barriers to diffusion such as inherently expensive products and misaligned customer expectations. Attracting ‘pragmatists in pain’ is vital to be able to cross the chasm and a strong reference base is necessary for social robots to be adopted in the mainstream market. Start-ups need to meet the demands of the ‘expected product’ to attract the early majority (pragmatist) segment, providing a greater possibility of crossing the chasm and enabling rapid adoption. It is assumed that either a mass or niche strategy can be chosen, depending on the type of product in subject. An adaptation to the technology adoption life cycle has been made in the form of the ‘double-bell curve’ and the ‘V’ in the chasm has been identified within the process of successful diffusion. Methods of improving the rate of adoption have been applied in consideration of the ‘technology acceptance model’, with a heavy focus on increasing trialability and observability. There is a risk of potential ‘overadoption’ in the social robotics industry, however the changing shift in customer attitudes towards technology adoption lowers boundaries to diffusion.

This thesis analyses how a payment system affects the diffusion of renewable electricity in rural Uganda. A case study is used provided by a start-up company named Pamoja Cleantech. This company is about to sell electricity, which is generated by biomass-based gasification, to a low-income community. Several households are already connected to the established mini-grid while the majority is still not served. A chasm has been identified between the users in the rural village. The reason for this gap between adopters is the high connection fee and a lack of transparent communication. Therefore, diffusion theory has been used to analyse the impact of several payment-related solutions that could close this chasm. First of all, a set of critical factors have been identified concerning general electricity adoption in the case. Those are reliability, trust, transparent communication and satisfying the needs of the local people. Additionally, it has been shown that a payment system, tariffs, and investment costs must satisfy specific requirements in order to be effective, efficient, and positively affect the rate of adoption. These are requirements such as dealing with the cultural incompetence of people being able to save money and to overcome their understanding to have electricity as a status symbol. Therefore an existing technology with its infrastructure is proposed to use: mobile banking. Since this technology has already penetrated Uganda, its convenience to use and satisfaction is high. Additionally, it has advantages such as saving time, security, reliability, and not much space for fraud. This thesis is based on a theoretical framework that is empirically tested and will provide a description of this specific situation in Uganda. Also, it proposes several management recommendations for the company in order to convert adduced threats into opportunities and strengthen their current inclusive business model.

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<!--[if gte mso 10]> <mce:style><! /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} --> <!--[endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1026" /> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:shapelayout v:ext="edit"> <o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" /> </o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--> The 1990s is commonly referred as the Golden Age for High Technology and during this time the industry grew with a rapid speed. As a result, the consumers were presented with a various number of innovative products such as the Internet, computers and mobile phones. Within the High Tech frame, one of the fastest growing industries is the mobile phone handset industry. In 2006, 800,2 million mobile phones were sold worldwide and the market value was $104,3 billion. Forecasts about the mobile phone market predicts that the market will grow to 1,8 billion units in 2011 and have a value of $211,9 billion.   However, during this time, the researcher, Geoffrey Moore, identified a problem for the High Tech companies, i.e. the chasm. The chasm is a gap between the early market and the mainstream market that has arisen due to the characteristics of the high tech industry and the differences between these two groups. Due to the fact, that the early market only represents 10-15% of the total market it is vital for companies to cross the chasm and reach the mainstream market, in order to cover the high initial R&amp;D costs.   Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to conduct a qualitative study within the Swedish mobile phone industry to understand how the manufacturers’ products are crossing the chasm.   The research has been carried out as a case study, and two of the largest mobile phone manufacturers were used as cases, Sony Ericsson and LG Electronics. The data collection was of qualitative nature and four respondents were chosen to be interviewed.   In the Swedish mobile phone industry, the researchers have identified two types of products; class products and innovation product, which have been identified, defined and named by the researchers themselves. Class products are defined as “mobile phones with no significant innovation value for the consumers”, whereas innovation products are defined as “mobile phones with high innovation value”. The main difference is that class products will never attract the interest of the early market and therefore they are usually launched directly to the mainstream market, ignoring the chasm. Factors such as incremental changes, development of IT, changes in how to market new technologies and overlapping groups in the life cycle has narrowed down the chasm in the industry for innovation products. The most important strategy in order to reach the mainstream market is partnerships and alliances and it is impossible for a manufacturer to survive on their own.

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{font-family:Garamond; panose-1:2 2 4 4 3 3 1 1 8 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:0cm; margin-right:0cm; margin-bottom:9.0pt; margin-left:0cm; text-align:justify; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Garamond","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language:EN-US;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-size:10.0pt; mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family:"Tms Rmn"; mso-hansi-font-family:"Tms Rmn";} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:70.85pt 70.85pt 70.85pt 70.85pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> <!--[if gte mso 10]> <mce:style><! /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} --> <!--[endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1026" /> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:shapelayout v:ext="edit"> <o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" /> </o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></p><p>The 1990s is commonly referred as the Golden Age for High Technology and during this time the industry grew with a rapid speed. As a result, the consumers were presented with a various number of innovative products such as the Internet, computers and mobile phones. Within the High Tech frame, one of the fastest growing industries is the mobile phone handset industry. In 2006, 800,2 million mobile phones were sold worldwide and the market value was $104,3 billion. Forecasts about the mobile phone market predicts that the market will grow to 1,8 billion units in 2011 and have a value of $211,9 billion.</p><p> </p><p>However, during this time, the researcher, Geoffrey Moore, identified a problem for the High Tech companies, i.e. the chasm. The chasm is a gap between the early market and the mainstream market that has arisen due to the characteristics of the high tech industry and the differences between these two groups. Due to the fact, that the early market only represents 10-15% of the total market it is vital for companies to cross the chasm and reach the mainstream market, in order to cover the high initial R&D costs.</p><p> </p><p>Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to conduct a qualitative study within the Swedish mobile phone industry to understand how the manufacturers’ products are crossing the chasm.</p><p> </p><p>The research has been carried out as a case study, and two of the largest mobile phone manufacturers were used as cases, Sony Ericsson and LG Electronics. The data collection was of qualitative nature and four respondents were chosen to be interviewed.</p><p> </p><p>In the Swedish mobile phone industry, the researchers have identified two types of products; class products and innovation product, which have been identified, defined and named by the researchers themselves. Class products are defined as “mobile phones with no significant innovation value for the consumers”, whereas innovation products are defined as “mobile phones with high innovation value”. The main difference is that class products will never attract the interest of the early market and therefore they are usually launched directly to the mainstream market, ignoring the chasm. Factors such as incremental changes, development of IT, changes in how to market new technologies and overlapping groups in the life cycle has narrowed down the chasm in the industry for innovation products. The most important strategy in order to reach the mainstream market is partnerships and alliances and it is impossible for a manufacturer to survive on their own.</p><p> </p>

During the last two decades, innovations that contribute to sustainable development has received increasing attention in the markets and academia. The diffusion of sustainable innovations is a key element in society’s transformation toward a greener and more sustainable economy. Within industries that utilize industrial gases in their operations, there are thousands of fugitive emission sources that puts strain on the safety of the plant and the personnel. As most gases are combustible and hazardous to humans and the environment, these companies must have effective leak detection and repair (LDAR) programs. In recent years, a new gas detection technology called Optical Gas Imaging have emerged which can identify gas compounds safer and more efficient compared to older leak detection technologies. However, the rate of diffusion of the innovation has been slow and limited to oil and gas industries, even though many other industries such as steel, paper and pulp and chemical industries utilize gases as well. As such, this research has aimed to identify factors that influence the adoption of sustainable innovations within gas-utilizing industries. The qualitative data was gathered through semi structured interviews with gas-utilizing companies in Sweden and analyzed with interpretive methods. The results show that regulatory factors are a strong driver for the diffusion of sustainable innovations while characteristics of price, availability and type of innovationdecision works as barriers. The generated knowledge may contribute on how innovators of a sustainable innovations can overcome these barriers and improve the rate of adoption of sustainable innovations. / Under de senaste två decennierna har innovationer som bidrar till hållbar utveckling fått ökad uppmärksamhet på marknaden och inom forskningen. Diffusionen av hållbara innovationer är ett viktig del av samhällets omvandling mot ett mer hållbart samhälle. Inom branscher som använder industriella gaser i sin verksamhet finns det tusentals flyktiga utsläppskällor som belastar anläggningen och personalens säkerhet. Eftersom de flesta gaser är brännbara och farliga för människor och miljö, är det viktigt att dessa företag har effektiva läckedetekterings- och reparationsprogram (LDAR). Under de senaste åren har en ny gasdetekteringsteknologi, Optical Gas Imaging, kommit fram som kan identifiera gasföreningar säkrare och effektivare jämfört med äldre tekniker för läckedetektering. Däremot, har diffusionsgraden för innovationen varit långsam och begränsad till olje- och gasindustrin, även om många andra industrier så som stål, papper och massa, och kemiska industrier också använder gaser som energi. Därför har syftet med denna stuie varit att identifiera faktorer som påverkar diffusionen av hållbara innovationer inom industrier som använder gaser. Den kvalitativa datan samlades in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med företag i Sverige som använder gaser, där datan analyserades med tolkningsmetoder. Resultatet visar att lagar och regler är en stark drivkraft för diffusionen av hållbara innovationer medan innovationsegenskaper såsom ”pris” och nyckelfaktorerna ”tillgänglighet” och ”innovationsbeslut” agerar som hinder. Den genererade kunskapen från denna studie kan bidra till hur en hållbar innovationskapare kan åtgärda dessa hinder och förbättra dess diffusion i marknaden.