With the transition from closed to open innovation in recent years, the next trend for companies has been to bring in new ideas from external stakeholders using innovation tools, known as Open Innovation Software (OIS). The most common type of OIS, called idea management systems, allows participants to submit, evaluate, and engage in discussions around ideas. However, implementing software to support innovation is not a sure success and potential problems may arise. The purpose of this thesis is to research problems within features in current idea management systems, and to provide guidelines that suggest ways that may eliminate or reduce the impact of the particular problems. Interviews were conducted with representatives from five different idea management systems. The respondents demonstrated their systems, which made it possible to gather features and to learn about problems that exist in these systems. Five problems within features were found; these were related to engagement, duplicates, idea evaluation, complexity, and bias. Numerous recommendations regarding how the impact of these problems may be reduced have been identified. The findings of this thesis show that Problems with engagement is best dealt with using features that delivers better feedback in order to give more motivation to the participants. As for managing duplicates, it is recommended to implement a feature that suggests similar ideas during the idea submission phase. It was found that allowing users to have an unlimited amount of votes should be avoided. To prevent bias, managers should be careful of having features that displays idea ratings before users have casted their vote, features that allow users to edit their casted vote unless an idea has been edited,  and  for instance features that show ideas in order of popularity.

Denna rapport söker att utforska ett nytt sätt att organisera front-end innovation. Därmed förbättra modeller av aktuell forskning som ger belägg för framgångsrika sociala nätstrukturer eller heterogenitetförhållanden, målet med denna studie är att hitta idealiska personlighetskonstellationer inom projektteam - för att göra dem kraftfulla och användbara. Det finns begränsad forskning som beskriver hur individers personlighetsdrag i team påverkar förmågan att innovera, dock vet man att personligheten är en absolut nödvändigt för att matcha ihop rätt personer för att skapa rätt resultat. Inledande research påvisade fyra idénytto- dimensioner som gör en idé värdefull; kundorientering, genomförbarhet, marknadsmöjligheter och strategisk passform. Den teoretiska referensramen tyder på att var och en av de fyra personlighetsarketyperna (rationals, guardians, idealists och artisans) är naturligt benägna för att producera idéer inom dessa dimensioner. Att känna till den dominerande typen av idéer som enskilda personer producerar möjliggör organisering för att  förbättra flödet av idéer. En noggrann metodik har genomfördes där ett initialt personlighetstest med 96 deltagare genomfördes, följt av en idégenereringssession i skräddarsydda personlighets-team med de nämnda deltagarna, det medförde att 179 idéer producerades. Samarbeten med externa yrkesmän underlättade kategorisering av idéerna enligt de fyra idé-nytto-dimensionerna. Vid korrelation- och regressionsanalys av datan påvisades att personligheter har en prediktiv effekt, som kan utnyttjas. Arketypen rationals, var benägna att producera genomförbara och kundorienterade idéer. Fortsättningsvis kan idealister och artisanier porträtteras som motsatser, eftersom deras idéer var mindre genomförbara men rik på möjligheter på marknaden. Ett företag kan därför vertikalt översätta en kortsiktig lågrisk innovationsstrategi genom att sysselsätta rationella arketyper lämpligt. Likaså idealister och artisanier spelar in för att passa en långsiktig framtidsorienterad innovationsstrategi. / This report embarks to explore a new way to organise front-end innovation. Enhancing the models of current research that conclude to beneficial social network structures or heterogeneity ratios, this study aim to find ideal personality constellations within project teams - to make them powerful and useful. There is limited research given to how an individual’s personality traits in the context of a team impacts the potential of that team to innovate, yet it is vital to match up the right individuals in order to create desirable outcomes. Initial exploration provided insights to the key dimensions that makes an idea valuable; customer orientation, feasibility, market opportunity and strategic fit. The theoretical framework suggests that each of four personality archetypes (rationals, guardians, idealist and artisans) is naturally prone to produce ideas within one or more of those specific dimensions. Knowing the predominant type of ideas, which teams produce will allow for a better organisational structure to improve the flow of ideas. A meticulous methodology was designed to supply the quantitative and qualitative data needed for such conclusions. A personality test with 96 participants, followed by an ideation session granted for a sample of 179 ideas to be produced. Collaborations with external industry professionals facilitated for the categorisation of ideas according to the four idea utility dimensions. The empirical data was analysed within correlations and regressions to show that personalities have, in fact, a predictive impact that can be exploited. The archetype of rationals, on the one hand, was prone to produce feasible and customer orientated ideas. Alternatively, the idealist and artisan archetypes portrayed to opposite as their ideas were less feasible but rich in market opportunities. A firm can therefore vertically translate a short-term, low risk innovation strategy into tasking rationals appropriately. Likewise, idealists and artisans come into play to suit a long-term and future oriented innovation strategy.

Disruptive changes driven by sustainability, new technology and servitization challenge companies’ current products and business models. This increases the interest in radical innovations, and consequently the interest to capture radical ideas. At the same time, globalization increases the importance for digital tools in order to connect and communicate between different geographical locations. An idea management system (IMS) allows large, global companies to conduct idea management in a structured way throughout the entire company. This study aims to investigate and identify factors important for the implementation of an IMS in companies that operates globally. This is done with a case study at a company in the automotive industry who is standing before an industrial transformation. In order to analyze the empirical findings two existing frameworks is combined into an empirical classification framework. The previous literature and the empirical analysis identified three important themes; process, culture and system. The discussion around the three themes allowed for a connection between the empirical findings and the previous literature, leading to conclusions regarding the implementation of an IMS. The study firstly concludes that finding ideas is no problem, it is more important to have the right processes in place for handling ideas. One of the key aspects is individual motivation and that the system is used for learning rather than performing. A risk identified was that goals within large companies may conflict with goals of radical innovation, which highlights the importance of flexible leadership and flexible systems within the company. The IMS should start with basic features and start at selected markets, allowing feedback from the IMS ambassadors to assist in the future development of the system. Categorizing ideas and using monthly campaigns for specific problem areas can facilitate the handling of a large number of ideas, preventing the IMS from becoming a “black hole” where ideas are submitted and then disappear. / Hållbarhet, ny teknologi och tjänstefiering är förändringar som utmanar dagens företags produktutbud och affärsmodeller. Intresset för radikala innovationer har i och med det ökat och som en konsekvens av det, även bidragit med ett ökat intresse av att fånga radikala idéer inom organisationen. Samtidigt har globaliseringen ökat betydelsen av digitala verktyg för anknytning och kommunikation mellan olika geografiska platser. Ett idéhanteringssystem (förkortning IMS) möjliggör strukturerad idéhantering genom hela företaget, för stora globala företag. Målet med studien var att undersöka och identifiera faktorer som anses viktiga för implementering av ett idéhanteringssystem i stora globala företag. Detta har gjorts genom en fallstudie på ett företag inom fordonsindustrin, som står inför en stor industriell förändring. För att analysera den insamlade empiriska datan har två existerande ramverk kombinerats till ett ramverk för empirisk klassificering. Tidigare litteratur och den empiriska analysen identifierade tre viktiga teman: process, kultur och system. Diskussionen kring dessa tre teman möjliggjorde för kopplingar mellan de empiriska fynden och tidigare litteratur, vilket gav slutsatser angående implementeringen av ett idéhanteringssystem. En av studiens första slutsatser var att mängden idéer inom en organisation inte är ett problem. Det är viktigare att ha processer på plats för att hantera idéerna. En av nyckelaspekterna var att individuell motivation och att systemet bör användas för lärande snarare än prestation. En risk med målsättning identifierades, det visade att mål hos stora företag kan strida mot mål för radikala innovationer, vilket lyfter vikten av ett flexibelt ledarskap och flexibla system inom företaget. I startfasen bör idéhanteringssystemet satsa på grundläggande funktioner och testas hos utvalda marknader, vilket möjliggör utveckling av systemet genom återkoppling från systemets ambassadörer. Månatliga kampanjer och kategorisering av idéer underlättar hanteringen av stora mängder idéer, vilket motverkar att idéhanteringssystemet blir ett ”svart hål” där idéer skickas in och försvinner.

The image of employees as an internal source of knowledge has grown as a result of the increasingly competitive business climate. An increased interest in employee ideas has led to more small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)engaging in idea management to promote innovation. Despite extensive research, many SMEs still struggle to structure and manage idea management in a successful way. Therefore, the purpose of the study is to identify which challenges cause this struggle and to propose recommendations on how these can be solved. With access to employees at all levels of a manufacturing SME, a total of 16 semi-structured interviews were conducted and analyzed to understand prevailing circumstances. The result shows the main challenges inidea management for manufacturing SMEs, which involve organizational factors, undeveloped processes, and the inability to communicate. The findings indicate and present three different recommendations to overcome the identified challenges to improve idea management and promote innovation. Itis recommended that manufacturing SMEs takes these challenges and recommendations in consideration to foster idea management. / Bilden av anställda som en intern kunskapskälla har växt till följd av det allt merkonkurrensfyllda affärsklimatet. Ett ökat intresse för anställdas idéer har medfört att fler små och medelstora företag (SMEs) engagerar sig i idéhantering för att främja innovation. Trots omfattande forskning har många SMEsfortfarande svårigheter med att strukturera upp och hantera idéhanteringen på ett framgångsrikt sätt. Därför är syftet med studien att identifiera vilka utmaningar som ligger bakom detta, och föreslå lösningar på hur dessa kan överkommas. Med tillgång till anställda på alla nivåer inom ett tillverkande SME,genomfördes och analyserades sammanlagt 16 semistrukturerade intervjuer för att förstå rådande omständigheter. Resultatet visar de främsta utmaningar med idéhantering för tillverkande SMEs, vilket involverar organisatoriska faktor, outvecklade processer och oförmågan att kommunicera. Slutsatsen indikerar och presenterar tre olika rekommendationer för att övervinna de identifierade utmaningarna för att förbättra idéhantering och främja innovation. Det rekommenderas att tillverkande SMEs överväger dessa utmaningar och rekommendationer för att främja idéhanteringen.

Background: The Supply Chain department at the division Sandvik Machining Solutions within Sandvik AB have found a need of introducing a process for managing innovation within the organization in order to gain competitive advantages and to stay on the leading edge in their field. Research Questions: 1. How can a generic model for managing innovation within the supply chain look like? 2. How can an innovation process be configured and managed in order to create and manage new ideas in the supply chain? Methodology: An exploratory case study approach to answer the research questions has been conducted in order to develop a model for innovation management within a supply chain of large manufacturing firm. The data collection methods have been interviews and from internal documentation. The interviews have been conducted with managers at Sandvik Machining Solutions within the SCM department, R&D department (innovation manager) and sales departments. The amount of correspondents has been no more than the amount 10 because of the empirical evidence it will result in otherwise and the time limit of this research. The fact that this is a case study, based on a single company, our findings will not be completely generalizable to other populations, but it can be generalizable to some extent if applied to similar companies and situations. To increase the validity of this research, the model could have been tested and evaluated. Findings and Results: The results showed that there is a need of becoming more innovative within the supply chain. Moreover, to get inputs through-out the organization we have also received significant information regarding e.g. the supply chain strategies, innovation and customer needs. These inputs have been analyzed in order to develop an innovation management process that will fit a supply chain department. The model also provides a structured approach to create and manage new ideas in within the Supply Chain.

Studien syftar till att förbättra kunskapen om förhållandet mellan idéhantering och idégenereringsvilja hos Volvo CE och presenterar rekommendationer för fortsatt förbättringsarbete. Detta behov har uppkommit då Volvo CE uppfattat att antalet genererade idéer sjunkit. Följande frågor formulerades i arbetets inledningsfas: Hur påverkas deltagarnas vilja att komma med idéer och förbättringsförslag av idéhanteringssystemet? Finns det brister i Volvos idéhanteringssystem och om så är fallet, hur avhjälps detta? Arbetets empiri samlades genom ett antal intervjuer av deltagare och processledare under hösten 2011 och metoden har varit kvalitativ med grundad teori som ansats. Resultatet av arbetet är ett antal faktorer som tillsammans kraftigt påverkar deltagarnas idégenereringsvilja på lång sikt. Bland dessa faktorer finns, för att nämna några, innovation och ledarskap, återkoppling, upplevd expertis och insyn. / This study aims to gather knowledge regarding the connection between idea management and the employees will to participate in idea generation at Volvo CE. This was necessary as Volvo CE perceived that the amount of generated ideas was sinking. Recommendations for further improvements are also presented. The following questions were formulated at the start of this study: How is the participants will to share ideas and suggestions of improvement affected by the idea management system? Are there flaws in Volvo’s idea management system and if so, how can they be resolved? The data was gathered through a series of interviews during the fall of 2011 and the method used was a qualitative method with elements from grounded theory. The results presented are in form of factors that when combined, affect the participants longtime will to generate new ideas. Among these factors are, to mention a few, innovation and leadership, feedback, perceived expertise and transparency.

The subject of thesis Process management and its use in optimization is drafting process change in real company and its subsequent implementation. The work focuses on the steps important to the change process, their explanation and subsequent use in practical part. Thesis is divided into two main parts. First part is a theoretical background of the process management and a development of this sector, explanation of key concepts closely related with process management to a description of a specific methods, which play a role in the process of company management.Next part is a practical part where most of the theoretical background was used. Practical work itself is a real-world example of the banking environment, where was actually implemented. Because of a limited possibility to publish the practical part, I do not mention a particular company and the data used for the preparation example are type data - these are not real data. However, the implementation of process changes was set this way and works now, and since it was the optimization, it is therefore expected that this change will bring its savings in the future. Since the implementation of the changes has already occurred, even this assumption was fulfilled and set change of process still generates its savings.

Purpose Idea Management as key activity in the front-end of innovation is crucial for not only targeting new products but also for new technologies. Nevertheless, the interrelations between Idea Management and Technology Development are still not fully understood. Due to the different abstraction levels of products and technologies, an in-depth investigation of evaluation criteria for Technology Development ideas is required. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to examine which evaluation criteria are pertinent for each phase of Idea Management, when applied for Technology Development. Design The research framework for Idea Management criteria in the context of Technology Development is built on data from 17 semi-structured interviews, two focus group interviews as well as participant observations. The participants of this study are experienced R&D experts from a large Swedish organization in the transport industry. Findings The results indicate that the evaluation of Technology Development ideas is more complex due to the high degree of uncertainty and unpredictability. In contrast to the common one-step evaluation process of New Product Development ideas, the findings suggest a three-step evaluation process for Technology Development ideas. Due to the lack of knowledge and maturity when an idea is generated, this three-step evaluation enables a continuous reduction of uncertainty. In addition to this, the result of this study contributes with the suggestion to attribute a focus dimension for each Idea Management phase, which in consequence is helping firms to direct their evaluation resources. The findings are presented in a generic evaluation framework that leads organizations through the assessment process. Theoretical contribution The present study contributes to the literature with an improved understanding of TD idea evaluations by suggesting a rather internally use-oriented perspective as well as advances prior research through knowledge about the right timing for the use of evaluation criteria. Practical implications Irrespectively of the origin or focus of an idea, evaluation criteria are helping to direct Technology Development initiatives. By having evaluation criteria, defined as pertinent for each phase of Idea Management, Technology Development ideas can be assessed appropriately regarding their contextual circumstances. Originality The study is among the first that differentiates Idea Management for Technology Development from the one targeting New Product Development. This study suggests a framework that considers the stages and criteria necessary in the context of TechnologyDevelopment.

Innovation is a necessity for organizations long term survival in today's rapidly changing society. Many organizations struggle with their innovation management and a prerequisite to succeed with innovation is considered to be, creating and maintaining an innovation. Large established organizations are by many seen as one of the greatest sources of innovation. They have several advantages when it comes to innovation; like a large set of resources and an extensive network. On the other hand many large organizations face difficulties with flexibility and bureaucracy and are being outperformed by small startup organizations. The purpose of the thesis was to investigate a large established Swedish high-technology organization’s innovation culture and give suggestions for how it could be improved in order to support the capability of generating ideas. The investigation was performed at Saab Naval Operations. To find improvements, the current culture and the desired culture that supports innovation were identified. Finally necessary changes were identified to be able to achieve the desired culture. Semi structured interviews were held to understand the prevailing problems today and the desired future state. Additionally a climate questionnaire was sent out to all coworkers at Naval Operations to reveal the current state from coworker’s perspectives. The analysis of the qualitative and quantitative results together provided an overall understanding of the existing culture. Workshops were held to determine the changes needed to reach the desired culture. Finally an action-plan with four improvement areas was identified. The empirical, qualitative and quantitative studies were distributed into the improvement areas. The factors identified are considered as a good starting to positively contribute to an innovative culture though the list is not considered as complete. The improvement areas were; Leadership for innovation, Idea Management, Understanding and Knowledge Transfer. These improvement areas were considered to be of great importance in order to positively contribute to the innovative culture where a variety of ideas emerges from everyone at Saab Naval Operations. / För organisationers långsiktiga överlevnad i dagens snabbt föränderliga samhälle är innovation en nödvändighet. Trots detta har många organisationer svårigheter med att hantera sitt innovationsarbete. En förutsättning för att lyckas med innovation anses vara att skapa och upprätthålla en innovationskultur. Många anser att stora etablerade organisationer är en av de största källorna till innovation. De har många fördelar, så som en stor andel resurser och ett omfattande nätverk. Å andra sidan får många stora organisationer svårigheter med flexibilitet och byråkrati och blir därför överträffade av små start-up organisationer. Syftet med denna uppsats var att undersöka ett stort etablerat svenskt högteknologiskt företags innovationskultur och föreslå förbättringsåtgärder för att främja förmågan att generera idéer. Undersökningen genomfördes på Saab Naval Operations i Järfälla. För att finna förbättrings-åtgärder utreddes först hur den existerande kulturen som stödjer innovation såg ut, därefter identifierades den önskade kulturen. Slutligen identifierades de förändringar som kunna möjliggöra den önskade kulturen. Semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes för att förstå problemen och det önskade framtida tillståndet. En klimatenkät skickades ut till medarbetarena på Saab Naval Operations för att identifiera deras uppfattning av klimatet. De kvalitativa och kvantitativa resultaten gav tillsammans en övergripande förståelse av den befintliga kulturen. Workshops hölls för att finna förslag till åtgärder som skulle hjälpa att nå den önskade kulturen. Slutligen togs en handlingsplan med fyra förbättringsområden fram.Resultatet utmynnade i fyra förbättringsområdena. De identifierade faktorerna anses vara en bra utgångspunkt för att förbättra innovationskulturen. Förbättringsområdena som identifierades är: Ledarskap för innovation, Idéhantering, Domänkunskap och Kunskapsöverföring. Dessa anses vara av stor betydelse för att positivt bidra till en innovationskultur där en mångfald av idéer uppstår, från alla på Saab Naval Operations.

Idag råder det en osäkerhet kring idéutveckling och brister i litteraturen rörande kunskap kring idéer i början av utvecklingsprojekt har identifierats. Tidigare forskning inom området fokuserar mestadels på idéer under fasen innan projektinitiering, det vill säga Fuzzy Front End. Detta examensarbete fokuserar därför på hanteringen av idéer i början av utvecklingsprojekt.Målet var att kartlägga det nuvarande sättet att arbeta med idéer, samt de idéutvecklingsmetoder som används i början av produkt- och kunskapsutvecklingsprojekt på Sandvik Coromant. Arbetet syftade till att bringa klarhet i och bygga kunskap kring tidig idéhantering då brister upptäckts, men även att förbättra hanteringen av idéer i början av projekt och på så sätt fostra innovation. Fem stycken större projekt som använt sig av faciliterade idégenereringsworkshops i början av projektet deltog i studien. Intervjuer samt en valideringsworkshop genomfördes med målet att undersöka utvecklingen av idéer tidigt i projekt. Skillnader mellan avfärdade idéer och vidarerutvecklad idéer i utvecklingsprojekt undersöktes, liksom tron på avfärdade idéer och deras utveckling.Resultaten visade att mognaden av avvisade idéer och vidareutvecklade idéer sker vid olika tidpunkter under projektets gång samt inom olika kärnelement. Vidare indikerade resultaten att idéer som syftar till att lösa delproblem under projektets gång inte mognar i samma utsträckning inom alla kärnelement, vilket teorin hävdar att en produktidé gör. Inga skillnader kunde identifieras gällande dokumentation samt spridning av idéer mellan avvisade idéer och idéer som gått vidare. Inte heller upptäcktes det några skillnader gällande tron på avvisade idéer eller idéer som gått vidare i början av projekten / Today, there is an uncertainty regarding idea development, and a lack of knowledge in the existing literature regarding early idea maturation in development projects has been found. While previous research within the area of innovation mainly investigating ideas within the Fuzzy Front End, this master thesis focus on the management of ideas in the early phases of development projects.This master thesis strives to map the current way of working with ideas and methods used to develop ideas in the beginning of product and knowledge development projects at Sandvik Coromant. The aim is to shed light upon the gap regarding early idea development, with the long-term objective to improve the management of ideas in the beginning of projects to foster innovation. Five larger projects, that have used facilitated idea generation workshops, were selected to be part of the study. Interviews and a validation workshop were conducted in order to examine the development of ideas early in the projects. The differences between rejected ideas and further developed ideas, the belief in, and the fate of rejected ideas in development projects were investigated.The findings showed that the maturation of rejected and further developed ideas occurs at different times of the projects, as well as in different core elements. Further, the result indicates that ideas aiming to solve sub-problem in development projects do not mature to the same extent in all core elements comparing to earlier research on maturation of product ideas. There were no differences found between rejected and further developed ideas regarding documentation and the spreading of ideas. Neither did the belief in an idea in the beginning of the projects differ between the rejected and the further developed ideas.