This qualitative action research explores integration of Strategic Sustainable Development (SSD) at Inova business incubator (Karlstad, Sweden). Researchers and incubator agreed that planning with sustainability in mind at a very early stage of company development may have important impacts on future business success and societal welfare. The objective was to answer how SSD could be integrated into the processes at Inova and how Inova staff’s and entrepreneurs’ understanding of sustainability demonstrably evolve after exposure to SSD. Apart from general research methods, SSD methods and tools were used with three entrepreneurs and business incubator staff. The Five Level Framework for Planning and Decision-making in complex systems and the Templates for Sustainable Product Development approach were central to the study. Inova staff and entrepreneurs began to develop; an understanding of business’ dependence on and relationship to broader societal and ecological systems; and an ability to use backcasting from the basic socio-ecological principles of sustainability in business planning. In turn they experienced an increased capacity to identify sustainability related business risks and opportunities. A new incubation process integrating SSD was created. Although the outcome is specific to Inova, it is general enough for other assistance organizations to gain insight from. In conclusion, SSD should be integrated as early as possible in the business planning of start up companies. Organizations with a mission of assisting entrepreneurs have an important role to play In further research it is recommended that visionary sustainability leaders are identified and tracked from start up.

In recent years, accelerators have gained increasingly attention due to their numerical growth, geographic dispersion, and growing numbers of participants they have worked with. Uber, Airbnb, Dropbox or Reddit – they have not only been participants of accelerators, but they can also be identified as ‘Born Globals’ according to the definition used throughout this thesis. Considering this fact and the lack of research in theory on the interrelation of both phenomena, accelerators and Born Global, it is interesting to dig deeper into the impact accelerators have on their respective participants’ global development. For this purpose, the authors conducted a multiple-case study to find answers to the question of what elements of accelerators promote participants to become Born Globals. This multiple-case study included semi-structured interviews with managers of four different cases of accelerators and three respective former participants as well as complementarily used secondary data in terms of company documents. Drawing from empirical evidence, it was found that the major elements of the examined accelerators fostering the participants’ development towards Born Globals can be summarized into five major categories: ’Application Process’, ’Interpersonal Connections’, ’Product & Coaching Methodologies’, ’Education’, and ‘Startup Community & Entrepreneurial Ecosystem’.

[pt] Essa pesquisa visa analisar o processo de internacionalização de empresas incubadas de base tecnológica e o papel do período de incubação nesse processo. O referencial teórico foi baseado nas teorias comportamentais da internacionalização de empresas e em entrevistas com especialistas da área. Foram analisadas quatro empresas, da Incubadora Tecnológica da PUC-Rio, utilizando o método do estudo de caso. A partir da análise dessas entrevistas foi possível observar que, em relação ao processo de internacionalização, duas teorias comportamentais predominam: a Teoria das Redes e a Teoria das Born Globals. Com relação a influência do período de incubação no processo da internacionalização, percebeu-se que, especificamente para o processo de internacionalização dessas empresas, o fato de ter sido incubada foi pouco relevante. Entretanto, para o processo de formação da empresa como um todo, o período de incubação foi identificado como importante, sendo o ambiente de network da incubadora e a associação à credibilidade da universidade os fatores mais relevantes para as empresas. Assim, essa pesquisa buscou contribuir para ampliar a discussão sobre a internacionalização das empresas incubadas de base tecnológica, que exercem um importante papel na economia do país. / [en] This research intends to analyze the internationalization of incubated technology-based companies and the influence of the incubation period in this process. The theoretical model was based on behavioral theories of the companies internationalization and interviews with specialists in entrepreneurship and internationalization. Were analyzed four companies of the Technology Incubator at PUC-Rio, using the method of case study. From the analysis of these interviews was possible to observe that, for the internationalization process, there is two predominant behavioral theories: the Theory of Networks and Theory of Born Globals. Regarding the influence of Incubation period in the process of internationalization, it was noticed that, specifically for the internationalization process of the companies, the fact of having been incubated was unremarkable. However, for the formation process of the company, incubation period has been identified as important, being the network environment of the incubator and the association s with the University, the factors most relevant to businesses. So, this research wished to contribute to the discussion about the internationalization of companies incubated basic-technology, which is an important role in the economy.

The main objective of the project is to create a gateway to the university campus which promotes public access onto campus, forming a clearly identifiable transition zone and threshold which delineates the transition from public to private space. By opening up the campus in such a controlled fashion, it forms the first phase in achieving integration of the university with the city. The project functions as a link between students and the public by means of a facility based on the business incubation model and will address some of the immediate needs of the current users of the campus. The building encourages the free exchange of ideas among students, faculty, industry professionals, academics and the public. The scale, form and articulation of the structure is clearly identifiable as a landmark indicating a gateway to campus. / Dissertation (MArch(Prof))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Architecture / unrestricted

The aim of this thesis is to analyse and compare the contributions of business or startup accelerators. The contributions are compared from the point of view of the managers of accelerators, startups and investors. Business accelerators help new firms accelerate their growth. The aid can be provided in a material form through financial capital and services or in an educational form through workshops and mentoring. The first chapter deals with the definition of the accelerator, its history and differences with incubators. The second chapter engages in the causes of the phenomenon of startups and accelerators, the model of lean startup, the impacts of accelerators on the economy and the current situation of accelerators in the world. The third chapters analyses the oldest and the most famous accelerator in the world Y Combinator. The last part evaluates the contributions of accelerators based on the inquiry among experts.

The current economic environment is characterized by dynamism, requiring companies a continuous effort to create differentiation. Technological innovation and competitiveness in this scenario constitute crucial elements in strategic planning and management of these companies, with business sustainability to views. However, the process of innovation goes beyond the creation of new products and services, involves the development of new business models, different technical relationship with stakeholders and new management methods. Among the mechanisms that facilitate the innovation process in the business context, there are the incubators. Moreover, in the scenario described above, protect innovations is crucial to maintaining competitiveness. Based on the foregoing, the aim of this research was to map the intellectual property assets of companies winning the National Award for Innovative Entrepreneurship (1997 to 2015 editions), linked to incubators oriented generation and intensive technologies. This theme was proposed by the fact that, in a scenario where knowledge, efficiency and speed in the innovation process become recognized as the decisive elements for competitiveness, to present an overview of the protection of intellectual property assets of key companies country, linked to incubators, is essential, as will serve as a stimulus and basis for other companies with a similar profile, as well as incubators, developing promotional actions for innovation. The type of survey is classified as to the nature, as applied and, as the goal, as descriptive and qualitative and quantitative, regarding the approach. The research method used was a multi case study, emphasizing aspects common to all elements in the study and at the same time, trying to unique aspects in all the cases studied, focusing on the protection of intellectual property assets of companies winning the award mentioned above. For this study was used as data collection source document research, with emphasis on analysis of technological information with the INPI. The results show that the thirty (30) winning companies of the National Innovative Entrepreneurship Award are distributed in twelve (12) incubators and concentrated in seven (7) states in the South (40%), Southeast (43%) and Northeast (17 %). This group of companies is responsible for filing ninety-two (92) patents, the registration process of four hundred forty-seven (447) marks the thirty registration application-nine (39) computer programs and eight (8 ) industrial designs in INPI. It was concluded that - despite the innovative profile of the companies surveyed and the fact that they started their activities in an innovation environment - is moderate use of protective mechanisms of intangible assets from these companies, focusing on registration applications marks. Companies that used the mechanisms of protection of intellectual property assets work in the automation field and in the chemical and food industries. / O atual ambiente econômico caracteriza-se pela dinamicidade, exigindo das empresas um esforço contínuo para criar diferenciação. A inovação tecnológica e a competitividade, neste cenário, constituem-se elementos cruciais no planejamento estratégico e no gerenciamento dessas empresas, com vistas à sustentabilidade dos negócios. Contudo, o processo de inovação vai além da criação de novos produtos e serviços, envolve o desenvolvimento de novos modelos de negócios, técnicas diferenciadas de relacionamento com stakeholders e novos métodos gerenciais. Dentre os mecanismos que facilitam o processo de inovação no âmbito empresarial, destacam-se as incubadoras de empresas. Além disso, no cenário descrito acima, proteger as inovações é fundamental para a manutenção da competitividade. Ante o exposto, o objetivo da presente pesquisa foi realizar um mapeamento dos bens de propriedade intelectual das empresas vencedoras do Prêmio Nacional de Empreendedorismo Inovador (edições de 1997 a 2015), vinculadas às incubadoras orientadas para a geração e uso intenso de tecnologias. Este tema foi proposto pelo fato de que, em um cenário onde o conhecimento, a eficiência e a rapidez no processo de inovação passam a ser reconhecidamente os elementos decisivos para a competitividade, apresentar um panorama da proteção dos bens de propriedade intelectual das principais empresas do país, vinculadas às incubadoras, é fundamental, pois servirá de estímulo e parâmetro para outras empresas com perfil semelhante, bem como para as incubadoras, no desenvolvimento de ações de fomento à inovação. O tipo de pesquisa realizada classifica-se, quanto à natureza, como aplicada e, quanto ao objetivo, como descritiva, bem como qualitativa e quantitativa, no que diz respeito à abordagem. O método de pesquisa utilizado foi o estudo multicaso, enfatizando aspectos comuns a todos os elementos em estudo e, ao mesmo tempo, tratando de aspectos únicos em todos os casos estudados, tendo como foco a proteção dos bens de propriedade intelectual das empresas vencedoras do prêmio mencionado acima. Para este estudo foi utilizado como fonte de coleta de dados a pesquisa documental, com ênfase na análise de informações tecnológicas junto ao INPI. Os resultados apontam que as trinta (30) empresas vencedoras do Prêmio Nacional de Empreendedorismo Inovador estão distribuídas em doze (12) incubadoras e concentradas em sete (7) estados das regiões Sul (40%), Sudeste (43%) e Nordeste (17%). O conjunto dessas empresas é responsável pelo depósito de noventa e duas (92) patentes, pelo processo de registro de quatrocentos e quarenta e sete (447) marcas, pelo pedido de registro de trinta e nove (39) programas de computador e oito (8) desenhos industriais no INPI. Concluiu-se que – apesar do perfil inovador das empresas pesquisadas e o fato de terem iniciado suas atividades em um ambiente propício à inovação – é moderada a utilização dos mecanismos de proteção dos ativos intangíveis por parte dessas empresas, concentrando-se em pedidos de registro de marcas. As empresas que mais utilizaram os mecanismos de proteção dos bens de propriedade intelectual atuam na área de automação e nas indústrias química e alimentícia.

Detta arbete undersökte den kommunikationsprocess som sker mellan en inkubator och startupföretag, samt dess effektivitet. Syftet med denna studie var att studera och undersöka faktorer som skapar en välfungerande kommunikation, för- och nackdelar med både fysisk samt digital kommunikation mellan en inkubator och startup, i detta fall Innovatum Startup, och dess startup kunder. Tidigare forskning som studerats visade inte tillräckligt med studier om vilket kommunikationssätt som är mest effektivt mellan en inkubator och startupföretag, därför valde vi en fallstudie för att kunna studera kommunikationen på ett djupare nivå. Detta arbete grundar sig i primärdata från semistrukturerade intervjuer hos Innovatum Startup och de startupföretag som vänt sig till dem för coaching. Denna data har kompletterats och jämförts med vetenskapligt granskade artiklar samt litteratur kopplade till det berörda ämnet. Avsnittet med teori har fokuserat på de mest väsentliga faktorerna som tillhör det valda ämnet. Här presenteras tidigare forskning om Kommunikationsmodeller, kommunikationens olika nivåer och strukturer, inkubator, startupföretag och dess kommunikationskanaler, digital kommunikation, face-to-face kommunikation samt business to business relationer med fokus på kommunikation. Teoriavsnittet har klargjort de olika sorters kommunikationsmedel som företag typiskt använder sig av, dess fördelar, nackdelar och tillvägagångssätt. Empiri insamlades genom att intervjua Innovatum Startup's affärscoacher samt företag som deltagit i deras inkubatorprocess. Resultaten tyder på att Innovatum Startup har en bra grund i användandet av olika kommunikationstyper, och bör fortsätta med att utvärdera samt utveckla de digitala kommunikationsverktygen som används, då detta kommunikationssätt med största sannolikhet kommer att dominera även i framtiden. Slutligen så är det viktigt att poängtera att den fysiska kommunikationen är väldigt viktig och bör inte bortses från, då den bildar hållbara relationer och förtroende mellan parterna. / This work investigated the communication process that is between a Incubator and Startup companies, as well as its effectiveness. The purpose of this study was to study and investigate factors that create a in well-functioning communication, the pros and cons of both physical and digital communication between an incubator and startup, in this case Innovatum Startup, and its startup customers. The previous research that has been studied did not show enough studies about which way of communicating are most common between an incubator and a startup company. That is the reason why we chose this subject to study, to gather a deeper understanding. This work is based on primary data from semi-structured interviews that was conducted from Innovatum Startup and the startup companies that turned to them for coaching. This data has been supplemented and compared with scientifically reviewed articles as well as literature related to the subject concerned. The section with theory has focused on the most important factors that belong to the chosen topic. This includes previous research on communication models, the different levels and structures of communication, the incubator, startup companies and their communication channels, digital communication, face-to-face communication as well as business to business relations with a focus on communication are presented. The theory section has clarified the different types of communication tools that companies typically use, its advantages, disadvantages and approaches. Empiri was gathered by interviewing Innovatum Startup's business coaches and companies that participated in their incubator process. The results indicate that Innovatum Startup has a good foundation in the use of different types of communication and should continue to evaluate and develop the digital communication tools used, as this method of communication will most likely continue to dominate in the future. Finally, it is important to point out that physical communication is very important and should not be disregarded as it forms lasting relationships and trust between the parties.

The topic of this master’s thesis is design of infant incubator. The thesis concerns own design of infant incubator that meet the basic technical, ergonomical and social requirements and also brings a new look and shape as solution to the main topic. The infant incubator is designed in regard to modern materials and technologies.

Numerous scholars have reported that inconsistent incubator humidity in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) requires attention. Evidence synthesis was needed to assist the identification of optimal incubator humidity levels and duration to decrease transepidermal water loss (TEWL) and the potential for infection. The purpose of this doctoral project was to appraise and synthesize the evidence of preterm outcomes related to incubator humidity. The practice-focused question addressed what patient outcomes were impacted by incubator humidity level and duration in premature infants < 32 0/7 weeks cared for in the NICU. The foundation of this project was the Joanna Briggs Institute method for systematic reviews. Mefford’s theory of health promotion for the preterm infant was used to address the wholeness of the preterm infant’s body system. Evidence was classified using the Johns Hopkins evidence-based practice levels and quality of evidence. The search was conducted in 8 databases, and citation searching was used to identify 340 articles, 12 of which met the inclusion criteria. The evidence demonstrates that the practice of incubator humidity is warranted; however, it does not come without risks. Microbial growth was increased in high levels of incubator humidity. Unnecessary TEWL was prevented by lowering high levels of incubator humidity after the 1st week, improving skin barrier formation. Incubator humidity of 60%–70% in the 1st week was effective in preventing TEWL in infants born ≥ 26 weeks; however, future research is needed for infants < 26 weeks. When optimal levels and duration of incubator humidity are achieved, positive social change will occur from the improved outcomes of the smallest neonatal patients.

The Scandinavian country of Sweden is a huge facilitator of startups through its’ large network of incubators where Born Global residents are becoming a more frequent sight. The Born Global firm is a novel type of company that contradicts the traditional means of internationalization. In order to realize startup potential, the obtainment of resources of varying amounts and scope is essential. But for a Born Global startup, achievement of its internationalization prospects requires making use of a unique set of resources that facilitate and enables the fulfillment of such global capabilities. The purpose of this paper is to identify the resources that are crucial for a Born Global in an internationalization context and whether or not Swedish incubators can provide these crucial resources to Born Globals. The analysis is based on the findings from semi-structured interviews with members from 3 Incubators and 4 Born Global companies in the incubation process within their respective incubators. Using a comparative study, alignments and gaps have been identified between what incubators have provided and what Born Globals consider crucial for internationalization. The conclusion of this study leads to an addition to the theory of the Incubator Best Practice Model, elaborated by Bergek and Norrman where the facilitation of the unique resources required by Born Global companies is emphasized. Additionally, the authors provide suggestions on managerial implementations for Born Global managers. These suggestions concern thorough assessments of their individual resource needs, and policy recommendations to incubators about the facilitation of the specific resources required for a Born Global and its effort to internationalize.