This work is concerned with the financing of Chinese social entrepreneurship. China is experiencing an all-time high in terms of pollution, as well as increasing social unrest. The introduction of a market economy in the country has led to a rapid economic growth, but has left many issues unsolved. The mass lay-offs that followed therationalization of State-Owned Enterprises in the 1990s created a large unemployment,and the industrialization process has only very recently been accompanied by measures toprotect the environment. To tackle those issues, more and more are appealing to theefficiency of the very same market economy to produce sustainable and scalable solutions.To better understand the financing landscape that presents itself to entrepreneurs in needof capital, a literature and interview-based study has been conducted to summarize it interms of sources, stage, efficiency and average size. Unfortunately, few sources of capital have been found to be available to them, and none of them can be described as easily accessible. It is therefore recommended that the different actors involved in the marketwork together to lower these barriers.

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Along with an increased environmental awareness, companies are encouraged to go through big, internal transformations and look outside of their core businesses. For them to remain competitive, they need to show an urge for external innovation and collaboration with startups. Front end innovation (FEI) plays a crucial role in the success of ideas, yet the process for it is scattered and unorganised. The purpose of this thesis is to provide structure to external FEI and ensure success to further stages such as commercialization. The thesis was conducted at a large, sustainable materials company, by performing a literature study and qualitative interviews. The results were divided in two parts: (1). Identification of tools and success factors within FEI and (2). Construction of a relevant business model at this phase based on previous findings. The discussion of the results has been derived by performing deep analysis of the data and benchmarking it to previous findings. The thesis resulted in concrete suggestions and improvements of FEI management processes. A business model framework applicable for FEI processes is suggested based on recommendations and findings. Concluding, I argue that the result can be considered as a bridge between large scale companies and external startups, as well as between FEI and commercialization, however, it needs to be validated on other environments than the subject company. / Företag utför stora, interna omvandlingar och tittar utanför sina kärnverksamheter på grund av en ökad miljömedvetenhet. För att de ska förbli konkurrenskraftiga måste de utöka sina processer för extern innovation och samarbete med startups. Front end innovation (FEI) spelar en avgörande roll för framgångsrik innovation, men denna process är utspridd och osystematisk. Syftet med projektet är att införa struktur av externa innovationsprocesser och säkerställa framgång för framtida steg såsom kommersialisering.  Projektet genomfördes vid ett stort företag som fokuserar på hållbara material, genom att utföra en litteraturstrudie och kvalitativa intervjuer. Resultatet delas upp i två delar: (1).  Identifiering av verktyg och framgångsfaktorer inom FEI och (2). Konstruktion av en relevant affärsmodell i denna fas baserad på tidigare litteratur. Diskussionen av resultatet består av en djup analys av samlade data och jämförelse av detta med tidigare resultat.  Projektet resulterade i konkreta förslag och förbättringar av innovations processer. En affärsmodells ram föreslås som är tillämpad för FEI baserad på rekommendationer och litteratur. Avslutningsvis hävdar jag att resultatet kan betraktas som en bro mellan storskaliga företag och externa startups, liksom mellan FEI och kommersialisering men den måste valideras genom testing i andra miljöer och företag.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the obstacles to implement WCOM at beginning in new mills and exploit PDSA loop to cooperate continuous improvements of WCOM. In qualitative way such as semi-structured interviews to revel the existing recognized challenges based on the reflection of middle managers perspective. Noori and Radford’s world class management model, Kotter’s 8 stages process model and Martensen & Dahlgaard’s PDSA model have been applied as three dominating theories. According to interview results, it emphasizes that raising commitment, involvement, consistency and adaptability would accelerate the implementation of BKOM in new mills. However, since the results are limited in the scope of study and cannot be generalize to other industry but worth to investigate and validate in the further study.

The innovative capacity of firms fundamentally relies on the organization of strategic human capital. Highly skilled and talented employees drive knowledge creation through their expertise and creativity. As such, the organization and redeployment of knowledge workers across global subsidiaries and teams is a pivotal capability underpinning firms’ competitive edge. However, firms must operate within and adhere to the macro regulatory environments in the countries where they are located. With increasingly global interconnectedness, there is also a rise in nations’ announcing changes to their immigration policies to support national interests. These changes to immigration policies may affect firms' ability to organize human resources in a way that is most conducive for their knowledge creation and innovation objectives. Firms may then respond strategically to meet their innovation objectives while protecting their knowledge from leaking to competitors in foreign or local geographies. This dissertation examines how changes to immigration policies prompt strategic responses from firms in terms of meeting their innovation objectives by reorganizing their human capital and further proposes a three-dimensional framework for an immigration policy that supports economic growth and innovation in the destination country. The first chapter lays the groundwork for the dissertation and review conceptual foundations of each of the following essays. The second chapter examines the strategic response by multinational enterprises (MNEs) when their ability to deploy knowledge workers across national boundaries is affected by restrictive immigration policies. The third chapter examines individual- and firm-level responses to an increase in employees’ bargaining power. Findings reveal that the regulation afforded greater bargaining power to ethnic inventors, leading to greater interfirm mobility, positional changes in the intrafirm collaboration network, and a change in innovation performance. Finally, the fourth essay then argues that in addition to formal human capital, foreign knowledge workers contribute unique social capital which benefits their MNE employers in terms of innovation outcomes and puts forth a comprehensive three-dimensional immigration policy framework integrating migrants’ skillsets with their bridging potential across nations, contingent on inter-state relations. By accounting for security trade-offs and variations in bilateral collaborative intent, this multidimensional perspective allows calibrated screening of talent from allied versus adversarial origins. Synthesized together, the three studies highlight how regulations pertaining to high-skilled immigration significantly disrupt organizations’ access to strategic foreign talent, necessitating trade-offs to reconfigure innovation capabilities. This dissertation contributes to strategic management and international business literature by underlining the global organization of human capital as pivotal to understanding MNE responses to external constraints on foreign talent deployment. Further, it informs immigration policy debates through a multifaceted evaluation of skillsets, bridging ties and bilateral relations that influence productive integration of foreign talent. / Business Administration/Strategic Management

Purpose - Given the existing obstacles to succeed with the front end of innovation, and the possibility to learn from the operations of hidden champions with their relative high rate of success in the market, this study aims to investigate how Nordic small and medium-sized hidden champions manage their front end of innovation. Method - The study is a multiple case study that uses an exploratory approach. A total of 19 interviews were conducted in two waves and across eleven organizations from the Nordic region. The collected data was analyzed through a thematic analysis. Findings - The thematic analysis resulted in two themes: Innovation Management and Stakeholder Management, that each centralize on different aspects managed. Central to the findings was the involvement of customers and external organizations into the front end of the innovation process. The findings built the foundation to a framework on enabling factors for the front end of innovation and thereby how other organizations should improve their front end of innovation. Moreover, a process framework is also presented which conceptualizes how organizations should operate their front end of innovation efforts. Theoretical contribution - This study adds to the literature by providing insights on how hidden champions manage their front end of innovation, confirming findings from other regions and adding to existing literature on the importance of involving customers in the front end of innovation process. Moreover, the study conceptualizes the factors that enable hidden champions to succeed in their front end of innovation. Managerial contribution - This study provides an overview of how managers can structure their front end of innovation process to increase the chances of successful innovation management. Limitations and future research - This study focuses on small and medium-sized hidden champions, thus the generalizability of this study may not apply to larger organizations. Therefore future research is proposed for large hidden champions to examine if the findings in this study are applicable for them. This study also examines hidden champions in a B2B context, therefore future research should be conducted regarding hidden champions in B2C to examine the applicability of our findings in that field.

Den tidiga fasen av företags innovationsprocess har fått stor uppmärksamhet i modern akademisk forskning. Det diskuteras hur man strukturerar denna fas kallad “fuzzy front end” kopplat till innovation och även ett koncept som allmänt kallas “öppen innovation” har introducerats - involvering av tredje parts individer i utvecklingsprocessen. Detta examensarbete fokuserar huvudsakligen på öppen innovation genom olika event för att främja innovationsarbete såsom: workshops, hackathons, idea jams och andra typer av sammanhang som inkluderar både externa deltagare och experter samt anställda och partners inom organisationer. Genom att designa, vara värd för, övervaka samt utvärdera ett hackathon för innovation som heter LiveHacks, samlar detta examensarbete relevant information för att förstå motiven för företag såväl som individer att delta i ett sådant sammanhang. Slutligen bedöms i detta examensarbete hur man kan organisera framgångsrika öppen innovations-eventsåsom hackathons. Dessutom har en generaliserad mall som tredje part skall kunna ta efter utvecklats. / The front end of a corporate’s innovation process has caught much attention in contemporary academic research. Efforts discuss how to structure the “fuzzy frontend of innovation” and introduce a concept widely known as “open source” – the involvement of third party individuals to the development process. This Masters thesis specifically focuses on open innovation through the medium of event-based innovation facilitation; e.g through workshops, hackathons, idea jams and other events that include both external users and experts as well as employees or partners within organizations. By designing, hosting, monitoring and evaluating an innovation event called “LiveHacks”, this thesis collects relevant data to understand both, the motives of corporations as well as of individuals to participate in open innovation events. Finally, this thesis assesses how to host successful open innovation events and develops a generalized template for third party adoption.

An aging population is becoming an increasingly growing global phenomenon, and 2050 is said to be a historical breaking point where 65+ will outnumber those between 0-5 years old. However, previous research has failed to provide sufficient explanations for consumer behavior for this particular segment, and a large incidence have been found to share the belief that technology fails to be adapted to meet their needs properly. An overlooked aspect of knowledge management was found and a research gap was thus identified addressing the role of cognition when assessing and interpreting customer needs. The purpose has been to develop a deeper understanding of certain aspects of how companies within this industry acquire and assimilate knowledge, and how product developers perceive the role of cognition in these processes. In order to shed light on these dimensions of knowledge management, a research question has been formulated as follows: "How does psychological distance affect knowledge acquisition, absorptive capacity and relationship quality?" A quantitative study was carried out involving 45 companies operating in a variety of industries ranging from robotics, hygiene and special nutrition, to eldercare and mobility products. Altogether, 51 responses were collected and analyzed using simple- and multiple regression, and were subsequently discussed based on a developed theoretical framework. The results found in this study have been used to identify combinations of cognitive dimensions and relationship quality for the purpose of developing a better understanding of its respective impact on knowledge acquisition and absorptive capacity. The findings culminated in a model through which to explain for these combinations of psychological distance, level of construal and relationship quality and their effect on the ability to acquire and disseminate new knowledge from elderly.High-level information was found easier to acquire among the respondent companies, and low-level contrarily easier to absorb. Greater psychological distance in combination with low relationship quality had a positive impact of high-level construal individuals to acquire knowledge from external sources. In contrast to these findings, perceived proximity in the psychological distances and high relationship quality were jointly found to assist in knowledge dissemination processes for low-level construal individuals.

Il est largement établi que l’innovation industrielle doit tenir compte des imaginaires, qui peuvent provoquer des effets d’engouements ou de rejets. Aussi les concepteurs s’efforcent-ils aujourd’hui d’en tenir compte dans les processus de conception. Une première logique consiste à considérer qu’il existe un imaginaire stable, exogène, qui peut être modélisé ex-ante et qui vient conformer les produits et services à concevoir. Peut-on envisager une seconde logique qui ne ferait pas l’hypothèse de stabilité et éviterait ainsi d’imposer aux concepteurs, comme aux usagers, une forme de fixation et d’enfermement ? La thèse porte sur l’étude de cette seconde logique qui endogénéise les imaginaires pour prendre en compte leur faculté de renouvellement. Elle aborde trois questions : Comment rendre compte de la dynamique de transformation des imaginaires en relation avec l’objet technique innovant ? Quelle ingénierie de stimulation des imaginaires pour nourrir les processus d’innovation ? Et enfin, quels dispositifs de gestion et pilotage managérial pour supporter collectivement une stimulation des imaginaires dans un contexte industriel ?Le travail s’appuie à la fois sur un effort de modélisation et sur un ensemble d’études et d’expériences empiriques conduites dans le domaine de l’automobile. Il aboutit à trois principaux résultats. Premièrement, à partir d’un objet technique concret, le Twizy de Renault, la thèse propose des critères originaux pour caractériser la transformation des imaginaires, grâce à : l’hétérogénéité, le nombre, les tensions et la non-polarisation des imaginaires. Deuxièmement, la thèse propose un modèle théorique de l’expansion des imaginaires par un processus de conception, doté d’une structure de connaissances Lacanienne, redéfinies par l’approche de conception – celles du « réel », du « symbolique » et de « l’imaginaire ». Le modèle permet d’analyser des situations empiriques et de formuler des hypothèses d’actions managériales. Troisièmement, les expérimentations menées sur quatre dispositifs collaboratifs, enrichissent les hypothèses amenées par le modèle théorique. Les travaux montrent ainsi que la générativité des imaginaires proviennent moins de l’injection d’un imaginaire exogène que d’un effort de conception de l’individu mobilisant les substrats réels et symboliques. Il devient donc possible de faire évoluer les imaginaires par des dispositifs de stimulation et de pilotage spécifiques pour obtenir des processus d’innovation à forte générativité. / It is widely established that industrial innovation has to take into account imaginaries which could cause enthusiasme or rejection effects. That is why, nowadays designers consider them in their design processes. The traditionnal approach considers as stable as exogenous imaginaries, which could be shaped ex-ante and conformed new products and services to be designed. Could it be possible to plan a new approach, that would overpass the stability hypothesis, avoiding a kind of fixation and narrow-mindedness for designers or users ?The thesis focuses on this second approach, which endogenizes imaginaries by considering their renewal properties. It tackles three matters: how the transformation of imaginaries could account for the innovative technical object ? What an engineering system to stimulate imaginaries and feed innovation processes ? Lastly, what managerial actions to collectively support a stimulation of imaginaries, in an industrial context ?Thanks to the recent progress in design theory and empirical experiences led in the automotive industry, we could expand a modelisation effort. This work finds out three main results. Firstly, the thesis characterises the imaginaries dynamic transformation from a concrete and original technical object, by new criterias: heterogeneousness, number, tensions and non-polarity of imaginaries. Secondly, the thesis suggests a theoretical modelisation of the imaginaries expansion throughout a design process made of a knowledge structure with three logics hanging on together, based on the Lacanian approach and redefined by the design way: “real”, “symbolic” and “imaginary”. The thesis shows how to analyse empirical dynamics and set out managerial hypothesis in order to expand imaginaries. Thirdly, the experimentations led on four collective organisations of imaginaries, chosen for their complementarity, confirm, enrich and precise the hypothesis suggested by the theoretical model. It shows that the generativity of imaginaries is directly connected with their diversity and dynamism. Their transformation comes less from the injection of exogenous imaginaries than from a design effort combining with real, symbolic, and available substrates. Thanks to that, it is possible now to create an evolution on imaginaries through a stimulation organisation and a specific management to obtain strong generativity innovation processes.

The purpose of this study was to find a method for exploring the potential of increasing the efficiency of a manual manufacturing process while simultaneously maintaining the flexibility and the ability to adjust to changes in demand. The study has been conducted in cooperation with Scania CV AB Engine Assembly in Södertälje, Sweden. This explorative study has been conducted using a framework mixing traditional Quality and Process Management literature, with theories of Innovation Management and ways of designing a production process. The framework was designed by focusing on perspectives to help explain and optimize the dynamics of a manual assembly process characterized by high variation. Increasing the efficiency has included the elimination of waste and disturbances while creating opportunities for continuous improvement. Improving the ability to adjust to changes in demand and volume has included reorganization of the information flow. Activities aimed at increasing the efficiency and improving flexibility requires a base of information which is sufficient and enables fact-based decision-making. An analysis of the current state was conducted using triangulation of data collection methods. Interviews, observations, focus groups, surveys, and numeric data was analyzed. Tools of Quality Management, Lean Management, and the Productivity Potential Assessment method were used to develop a framework for evaluating a manual production process and aim to collect, process, compile, weigh, prioritize, and visualize the processes and the identified challenges. Identification of improvement activities and the design of a future state was conducted through extensive interviews and focus groups and by interpreting relevant literature. Mapping of the current state generated five primary challenges which are complicating the daily work in different ways. The challenge estimated to have the highest overall impact on the studied process is Time Data Management. This challenge refers to the lack of valid and correct data on which to accurately plan and control the process.