À mesure que les entreprises grandissent, elles deviennent moins flexibles. Leurs processus réglés permettent le développement de produits de haute qualité basés sur les produits existants. En contrepartie, ces processus limitent l'introduction de nouveauté et limitent donc le potentiel d'innovations radicales. Par définition, une innovation radicale introduit une évolution majeure dans un système existant ou remet en cause les codes qui y sont établis. Mais, la culture des processus réglés au cœur des entreprises matures limite cette possibilité. Pourtant, dans un contexte d'innovation radicale, les entreprises doivent avoir la possibilité de rechercher, expérimenter et sélectionner de nouvelles idées parallèlement aux processus standards, et de les mettre en œuvre dans des conditions très différentes. Notre étude de cas se déroule dans le cadre d'une entreprise mature dont l’activité est régie par des processus réglés. Centenaire, notre entreprise pilote veut relever deux grands défis pour assurer sa prospérité : répondre aux enjeux économiques et aux enjeux sociaux. Les enjeux économiques de la société consistent à développer des innovations radicales afin d’assurer sa pérennité et son développement. Les enjeux sociaux consistent à utiliser des méthodes de travail modernes pour satisfaire les salariés, en attirer de nouveaux et permettre la valorisation de la totalité de leurs compétences. Notre étude de la littérature nous a conduit à proposer un nouveau modèle : le modèle UX-FFE (User eXperience Fuzzy Front Ends). Mis en œuvre dans notre entreprise pilote, il propose une réponse à cet objectif central. En effet, il associe les approches User eXperience (UX) et Fuzzy Front-End (FFE) pour prendre en compte, d’une part, l’aspect social en s’intéressant à l’expérience que vivent les salariés qui innovent et, d’autre part, l’aspect économique en s’assurant que ce modèle permet de créer et valider des concepts d'innovation radicale. / As companies grow, they become less flexible. Regulated processes allow the development of high quality products on existing products. In return, these processes limit the introduction of novelty and limit the potential for radical innovations. In definition, a radical innovation introduces a major increase in a existing system or calls into question the codes that are established. But, the culture of processes set at the heart of the mature companies limits this possibility. Yet, in the context of radical innovation, companies must have the opportunity to research, experiment new ideas in parallel of the standard processes, and implement them under very different conditions. Our case study concerns a mature company whose business is governed by regulated processes. Centennial, our pilot company want to treat two great challenges to safe future: economic and social. The economic stakes of our pilot company are to develop radical innovations to ensure its sustainability and development. Social issues involve using modern work methods to satisfy employees, to attract new employees and to make the most of their skills. Our study of literature enables us to create a new model: the UX-FFE model (Front User Fuzzy Front Ends). Implemented in our pilot company, it proposes a response to this central objective. Indeed, it combines the User Experience (UX) and Fuzzy Front-End (FFE) approaches to take into account the social aspect by caring about the experience salaries experiments when they innovate and others by ensuring that this model allows for the creation and validation of radical innovation concepts.

Despite the fact that innovation is rapidly emerging as an important topic in tourism policy there is still a gap between work on tourism policy and that on innovation outcomes which tend to be disconnected. In particular, this study bridges that gap by bringing together knowledge on tourism, innovation and policy. It connects a range of concepts from these fields and brings them into tourism studies using them to explore a number of significant innovation practices and processes. The aim of this research was to gain insight into the innovation outcomes of the tourism policy process and governmental strategies to encourage innovation by observing the implementation process and innovation outcomes of selected tourism innovation programmes in Spain. The study approaches this aim from different angles. It examines from a longitudinal perspective the outcomes of tourism policy changes in order to identify innovation. It also observes the expectations and limitations of governmental stimuli for tourism innovation. Additionally, it examines the relationship between innovation policy and tourism policy, particularly where they intersect. Finally, more specific and operative aspects of programme implementation and innovation outcomes are addressed through the exploration of two tourism innovation programmes targeting different agents and forms of attaining innovation: one is a clusters programme targeting cooperative innovation and the other a young entrepreneurs programme with innovation being at the heart of enterprise startups. The entrepreneurs’ case study additionally addresses a major gap in understanding the process of innovation. The study adopts a multi-methods approach combining different methodologies according to the research aims: contents analysis, supervision and policies evaluation and a participatory methodology for the selected case studies. It employs different qualitative research methods to actively engage policy programmes’ participants and, where possible, policy administrators in order to construct an in-depth portrayal of innovation outcomes and policy programmes’ effectiveness. Through this multi-methods approach, the study makes a number of contributions. First, it provides evidence of how innovation outcomes of tourism policy are difficult to attain and therefore infrequent being highly influenced by factors such as crisis or periods of significant change. The analysis also confirms the rarity of policy innovation and the predominance of incremental adaptation and policy succession. Second, the study provides a longitudinal view of the governmental stimulus to tourism innovation through a mix of policy instruments. Innovation has gradually gained importance since its first introduction in the 90s as a goal in the tourism policy albeit with an evident technological bias. Third, subtle and not always evident interactions have been found between tourism policy and innovation policy, even though tourism is still not considered as a national priority for the innovation policy. Fourth, the innovative clusters case study provides evidence of the difficulties in translating policy ideals like innovation into action and the questionable effectiveness of these types of systemic instruments to promote tourism innovation. Finally, by exploring the entrepreneurs’ innovation journey, the study had a privileged look inside the “black box” which constitutes the innovation process in tourism, its characteristics and the multiple factors which positively influence the success of the journey. In summary, through all the different case studies selected, the research has contributed to understanding the phenomenon of innovation from the point of view of those initiating and managing the innovation process. It has provided evidence of the implementation of this abstract concept by multiple-scale agents and thus being introduced in different specific contexts: government policy, clusters and entrepreneurs. It has also shown evidence of how the innovation process works in practice in all these different settings, its limitations and the difficulties involved in conducting the process successfully to make innovation happen. All the different obstacles found confirm that innovation is a complex process and indicate why it is rare to find it in practice.

The aim of the thesis is to assess the effectiveness of innovation and evaluate its economic impact on the company. Theoretical part contains topics regarding innovations and also potential ways of assessing effectiveness and impact of innovation. Practical part presents fundamental information about the company and its current economic situation. Once all basic information is presented, innovation is described in detail followed up by evaluation of its effectiveness and impact on the company.

<p>Offentliga sektorn i Sverige skulle, enligt en rapport från Europeiska centralbankssystemet (ECBS) 2003, kunna hålla samma kvalitet med bara hälften av resurserna. Det behövs därför nya sätt som kan öka värdet och minska kostnaderna i offentliga verksamheter i Sverige. Innovativa processerföreslås vara en möjlighet till att hitta nya arbetssätt för en effektivare offentlig sektor. I studien undersöks innovationsprocessen i ett offentligt bolag i syfte att ge förslag på arbetssätt som kan effektivisera bolagets innovationsprocesser. Följande frågeställningar vägledde studien: Vad kännetecknar effektiva innovationsprocesser? Hur kan effektiva innovationsprocesser tillföra värde för ett offentligt bolag? Hur kan Bolaget AB arbeta för effektivare innovationsprocesser i sin verksamhet?</p><p>Syftet med studien är att ta fram förslag på arbetssätt för effektivare innovationsprocesser i Bolaget AB: s verksamhet.</p><p>I studien används en kvalitativ metod i form av semistrukturerade intervjuer med totalt fyra personer. Det vill säga två medarbetare, en chef och en VD i ett offentligt bolag i Sverige. Intervjuerna syftade till att ge en nulägesbeskrivning av bolagets innovationsprocesser. Utifrån studiens teoretiska referensram analyserades empirin och förslag på arbetssätt för en effektivare innovationsprocess gavs.Effektiva innovationsprocesser ser olika ut i olika organisationer. Det finns ingen allmängiltig process som är mer effektiv än andra utan den skall anpassas till den organisation där den verkar. En effektiv innovationsprocess i det offentliga bolaget som undersöks här kan innebära möjlighet att skapa ettkonkurrenskraftigt näringsliv som ger fler arbetstillfällen för stadens invånare och ökar tillväxten i regionen. Det offentliga bolag som undersökts i studien har brister i den idégenererande verksamheten och i den kontinuerliga utvärderingen. Det är främst kulturella hinder som i dagsläget påverkar innovationsprocessen negativt. Bolaget behöver även rutiner för bland annatomvärldsbevakning och informationshantering.</p> / <p>The public sector in Sweden should, according to a rapport from the European central bank system (ECBS) in 2003, be able to keep the same quality with only half the economic resources. New ways that could raise value and reducing expenses in the Swedish public sector are therefore much needed. Innovative processes are suggested to be important for the public sector to find new andmore efficient methods of work. In this research the innovation process in a public corporation is reviewed with an intention to give suggestions of work methods that could improve the corporation’s efficiency. The following questions have guided the research: What characterize efficient innovation processes? How can efficient innovations processes help value to a publiccorporation? How can the public corporation work for more efficient innovation processes in their business?The purpose of this research is to develop suggestions for work methods that will help to improve the efficiency of the public corporation´s innovation processes.In this research a qualitative method is used in form of semi structured interviews with four employees in a public corporation in Sweden, two co‐workers, one executive and one CEO. The interviews were aimed to give a description of the present innovation processes in the corporation. The empiric data was analyzed from a theoretic point of view and set out to give suggestions for work methods that will help to improve the efficiency of the corporation´s innovation processes.Efficient innovation processes can vary from one organization to another. There is not one process that is more efficient than other processes and the innovation process have to be suited for the specific organization. A more efficient innovation process in the public corporation in this study can mean possibilities for a competitive business environment which gives job opportunities and an economic growth in the region. The public corporation in this study has flaws in their idea generating activities and in their continuous evaluation. It is primarily cultural obstacles that affect the innovation processes negative. The public corporation also needs routines for external and internalenvironment monitoring and for managing information.</p>

Offentliga sektorn i Sverige skulle, enligt en rapport från Europeiska centralbankssystemet (ECBS) 2003, kunna hålla samma kvalitet med bara hälften av resurserna. Det behövs därför nya sätt som kan öka värdet och minska kostnaderna i offentliga verksamheter i Sverige. Innovativa processerföreslås vara en möjlighet till att hitta nya arbetssätt för en effektivare offentlig sektor. I studien undersöks innovationsprocessen i ett offentligt bolag i syfte att ge förslag på arbetssätt som kan effektivisera bolagets innovationsprocesser. Följande frågeställningar vägledde studien: Vad kännetecknar effektiva innovationsprocesser? Hur kan effektiva innovationsprocesser tillföra värde för ett offentligt bolag? Hur kan Bolaget AB arbeta för effektivare innovationsprocesser i sin verksamhet? Syftet med studien är att ta fram förslag på arbetssätt för effektivare innovationsprocesser i Bolaget AB: s verksamhet. I studien används en kvalitativ metod i form av semistrukturerade intervjuer med totalt fyra personer. Det vill säga två medarbetare, en chef och en VD i ett offentligt bolag i Sverige. Intervjuerna syftade till att ge en nulägesbeskrivning av bolagets innovationsprocesser. Utifrån studiens teoretiska referensram analyserades empirin och förslag på arbetssätt för en effektivare innovationsprocess gavs.Effektiva innovationsprocesser ser olika ut i olika organisationer. Det finns ingen allmängiltig process som är mer effektiv än andra utan den skall anpassas till den organisation där den verkar. En effektiv innovationsprocess i det offentliga bolaget som undersöks här kan innebära möjlighet att skapa ettkonkurrenskraftigt näringsliv som ger fler arbetstillfällen för stadens invånare och ökar tillväxten i regionen. Det offentliga bolag som undersökts i studien har brister i den idégenererande verksamheten och i den kontinuerliga utvärderingen. Det är främst kulturella hinder som i dagsläget påverkar innovationsprocessen negativt. Bolaget behöver även rutiner för bland annatomvärldsbevakning och informationshantering. / The public sector in Sweden should, according to a rapport from the European central bank system (ECBS) in 2003, be able to keep the same quality with only half the economic resources. New ways that could raise value and reducing expenses in the Swedish public sector are therefore much needed. Innovative processes are suggested to be important for the public sector to find new andmore efficient methods of work. In this research the innovation process in a public corporation is reviewed with an intention to give suggestions of work methods that could improve the corporation’s efficiency. The following questions have guided the research: What characterize efficient innovation processes? How can efficient innovations processes help value to a publiccorporation? How can the public corporation work for more efficient innovation processes in their business?The purpose of this research is to develop suggestions for work methods that will help to improve the efficiency of the public corporation´s innovation processes.In this research a qualitative method is used in form of semi structured interviews with four employees in a public corporation in Sweden, two co‐workers, one executive and one CEO. The interviews were aimed to give a description of the present innovation processes in the corporation. The empiric data was analyzed from a theoretic point of view and set out to give suggestions for work methods that will help to improve the efficiency of the corporation´s innovation processes.Efficient innovation processes can vary from one organization to another. There is not one process that is more efficient than other processes and the innovation process have to be suited for the specific organization. A more efficient innovation process in the public corporation in this study can mean possibilities for a competitive business environment which gives job opportunities and an economic growth in the region. The public corporation in this study has flaws in their idea generating activities and in their continuous evaluation. It is primarily cultural obstacles that affect the innovation processes negative. The public corporation also needs routines for external and internalenvironment monitoring and for managing information.

Cette thèse est consacrée à l’étude de l’accompagnement entrepreneurial dans une perspective d’innovation. Elle met en œuvre une recherche empirique au travers de l’association de deux démarches qualitatives et quantitatives, ce qui permet d’explorer la contribution de l’accompagnement dans une perspective d’innovation.Une analyse théorique des principaux concepts dans le domaine de l’innovation et de l’accompagnement entrepreneurial permet de mettre en lumière un cadre conceptuel adapté à l’étude de l’accompagnement en PME dans le but d’innover.Cette recherche se propose d’étudier les pratiques d’accompagnement susceptibles d’avoir un impact sur le succès entrepreneurial des dirigeants pendant la phase de création d’un projet innovant. Pour ce faire, nous avons adopté une démarche qui associe deux approches complémentaires. Une étude qualitative a visé l’exploration des formes et des pratiques d’accompagnement mobilisées dans un processus d’identification et d’exploitation des opportunités entrepreneuriales, ainsi que les perceptions personnelles des dirigeants quant à leur succès. L’étude quantitative a été réalisée auprès de deux cents dirigeants installés dans la région Lorraine, intégrant le dispositif ARDAN (Actions Régionales pour le Développement d'Activités Nouvelles). Nos principaux résultats montrent que le capital humain conditionne le succès des projets innovants, mais ne l’explique pas complétement. Notre recherche a ainsi pu démontrer que le capital social constitue une pratique d’accompagnement pour améliorer les chances de développement des projets innovants. / This thesis is devoted to the study of entrepreneurial support in a perspective of innovation. It implements an empirical research through the combination of both qualitative and quantitative approaches, allowing to explore the contribution of the entrepreneurial support from a perspective of innovation.A theoretical analysis of main concepts in the field of innovation and entrepreneurial support, allows to highlight a conceptual framework adapted to study the SMS’s entrepreneurial support in order to innovate.This research aims to study the entrepreneurial support practices which may have an impact on the success of the leader for the creation of an innovative project phase. To do this, we have adopted a process that combines two complementary approaches. A qualitative study, which aimed to explore the forms and practices of support mobilized in a process of identification and exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities, as well as the personal perceptions of successful leaders. The quantitative study was conducted among two hundred leaders installed in the Lorraine region, including the Regional Actions device for the New Development Activities (ARDAN). Among our key findings, human capital determines the success of innovative projects, but does not fully explain. Our research has also demonstrated that social capital is a practical support to improve the chances of developing innovative projects.

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / O objetivo deste trabalho à analisar os resultados do Projeto Mandalla do Governo do Estado do CearÃ, sob a Ãtica da inovaÃÃo social (IS), no contexto do semiÃrido do nordeste brasileiro. Foram utilizados os quadro analÃticos de Neumeier (2012) e de Butkevi&#269;ien&#279; (2009) do processo de inovaÃÃo social que trata das fases de difusÃo dessas novas formas de agir e dos fatores condicionantes de uma implantaÃÃo bem sucedida, respectivamente. Atualmente, o conceito de inovaÃÃo social à muito empregado no meio acadÃmico, contudo ainda à difuso. Na literatura acadÃmica encontram-se inÃmeras aplicaÃÃes do termo. Uma revisÃo sistemÃtica de literatura permitiu delimitar essas abordagens em seis eixos: polÃtico, cultural, territorial, empreendedorismo social e inovaÃÃo organizacional. Nesse estudo considera-se o eixo territorial como base, o qual considera a IS conforme Moulaert et al. (2005) como a criaÃÃo ou modificaÃÃo de um produto, serviÃo ou programa que modifique o status quo da sociedade civil com melhoria de qualidade de vida dos participantes, como perspectiva do eixo territorial. Para atingir o objetivo proposto, sustenta-se em uma concepÃÃo filosÃfica pragmÃtica utilizando-se de uma metodologia de mÃtodos mistos com uma estratÃgia incorporada concomitante com predominÃncia qualitativa. As entradas quantitativas foram obtidas a partir da aplicaÃÃo de um questionÃrio respondido por 63 agricultores familiares de um universo de 164 projetos Mandalla relacionados na Secretaria de Desenvolvimento AgrÃrio em 2012. As qualitativas foram coletadas atravÃs de um roteiro semiestruturado aplicado 8 agricultores participantes do projeto, a 1 agente de assistÃncia tÃcnica e o coordenador. O Projeto Mandalla caracteriza-se como IS ao gerar melhoria de qualidade de vida para a comunidade e apresentar as caracterÃsticas de novidade, intangibilidade, incerteza e onipresenÃa. O projeto evidenciou as fases de problematizaÃÃo, expressÃo de interesse, delineamento e coordenaÃÃo implicando no sucesso da difusÃo da inovaÃÃo social. Os condicionantes de sucesso de Butkevi&#269;ien&#279; (2009) de aceitaÃÃo cultural, sustentabilidade econÃmica, viabilidade tecnolÃgica, compartilhamento de conhecimento, empreendedorismo individual, capital social, iniciativas bottom-up tambÃm estiveram presentes nessa inovaÃÃo permitindo a proposiÃÃo de um modelo de anÃlise. Em suma, o Projeto Mandalla à uma IS de sucesso e os adotantes percebem a mudanÃa social depois da implantaÃÃo quando consideram ganhos em seguranÃa alimentar, sustentabilidade, e sentimento de prazer no trabalho, alÃm de melhoria na situaÃÃo econÃmica. / The purpose of this work is to analyze the results of the Project Mandalla by the State Government of Cearà from the perspective of social innovation (SI) in the context of semi-arid Northeast Brazil. We used the analytical framework Neumeier (2012) and Butknievice (2010) of the process of social innovation that addresses the stages of diffusion of these new ways of acting and the conditioning factors of a successful implementation, respectively. Currently, the concept of social innovation is often employed in the academic world, but it is still pervasive. In the academic literature there are numerous applications of the term. A systematic review of the literature allowed to delimit these approaches in six areas: political, cultural, territorial, social entrepreneurship and organizational innovation. This study considers the territorial axis as a basis, which considers the SI as Moulaert et al. (2005) as the creation or modification of a product, service or program that changes the status quo of civil society to improve the quality of life of participants as the vision of territorial axis. To reach that goal, it is held in a pragmatic philosophical concept using a mixed methods approach with a corporate strategy concomitant predominantly qualitative. The quantitative inputs were obtained from a questionnaire answered by 63 farmers from a universe of 164 projects Mandalla listed at the Secretary of Agrarian Development in 2012. Qualitative variables were collected through a semi-structured questionnaire applied 8 farmers participating in the project, the first service agent and coordinator. The Project Mandalla is characterized as SI to generate better quality of life for the community and present the characteristics of novelty, intangibility, uncertainty and ubiquity. The project showed the phases of questioning, expression of interest, design and coordination involving the successful diffusion of social innovation. The determinants of success of Butkneivcie (2010) of cultural acceptance, economic, technological feasibility, knowledge sharing, individual entrepreneurship, capital, bottom-up initiatives were also present in this innovation allowing the proposition of a model analysis. In short, the Mandala Project is a successful SI and the adopters perceive social change after deployment when considering gains in food security, sustainability, and feeling pleasure in work, besides improving their economic situation.

Submitted by Fabio Sobreira Campos da Costa (fabio.sobreira@ufpe.br) on 2016-09-01T15:53:02Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) MGP - Dissertação FERNANDA LAURA M J L DOS SANTOS CD ata original.pdf: 1169828 bytes, checksum: b963ca867af022a3861e5587a0540dea (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-09-01T15:53:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) MGP - Dissertação FERNANDA LAURA M J L DOS SANTOS CD ata original.pdf: 1169828 bytes, checksum: b963ca867af022a3861e5587a0540dea (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-01-29 / Após os trabalhos de Schumpeter, o fenômeno da inovação ganhou bastante destaque, uma vez que passou a ser percebido como essencial para o desenvolvimento econômico e social no sistema capitalista. A necessidade de compreender os aspectos da inovação é fortalecida à medida em que as atividades baseadas em conhecimento integram parte significativa da economia global. Sendo assim, o tema é explorado com frequência dentro e fora da academia, a partir de diferentes perspectivas. A presente discussão tem o intuito de abordar a percepção de gestores de Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação (CT&I) de uma universidade federal sobre o processo de inovação e a política de CT&I estabelecidos na instituição, uma vez que foi detectada a necessidade de compreender o ponto de vista desses atores formuladores de política. Para tanto, a abordagem teórica adotada tomou como base os conceitos do processo de inovação e seus modelos, com maior ênfase no sistema de inovação, bem como a manifestação das políticas públicas que atuam sobre esse campo, suas características, e como elas se subdividem e se relacionam. A metodologia aplicada teve uma pesquisa qualitativa, por meio do método de análise de conteúdo e com a técnica de análise categorial. A pesquisa de campo teve como locus a Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE) e investigou, por meio de entrevistas semi-estruturadas, gestores de alto nível na área de CT&I. Para a análise desta pesquisa, os dados foram estruturados em quatro eixos temáticos, os quais trataram sobre o entendimento sobre CT&I; os atores na produção do conhecimento; a lógica e o foco da política institucional e os instrumentos de avaliação e análise. Esses eixos guiaram a busca pelo atendimento aos objetivos da pesquisa, na qual foi possível observar uma considerável proximidade da percepção dos gestores entrevistados com os princípios da perspectiva sistêmica no tocante ao processo de inovação, enquanto, na abordagem da política de CT&I, houve a identificação de apenas alguns aspectos dessa teoria, evidenciando áreas que sofrem com algum tipo de deficiência institucional. / After Schumpeter’s works, the phenomenon of innovation has gained much attention as it came to be perceived as essential for economic and social development in the capitalist system. The need to understand the aspects of innovation is strengthened to the extent that the activities based on knowledge integrate significant part of the global economy. Thus, currently, the subject is explored often in and out of academia, from different perspectives. This discussion aims to address the perception of Science, Technology and Innovation (ST&I) managers of a federal university on the innovation process and ST&I policy established in the institution, since the need to comprehend the point of view of these policy-makers actors was detected. Therefore, the adopted theoretical approach was based on the concepts of the innovation process and its models, with greater emphasis on innovation systems and the manifestation of public policies that act on this field, its characteristics, and how they are divided and related. The methodology applied obtained a qualitative research, through the method of content analysis and the technique of categorical analysis. The field research had as locus the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE) and investigated, through semi-structured interviews, senior managers in the STI area. For this research’s analysis, data were structured into four themes, which treated on the understanding of STI; actors in the production of knowledge; the logic and focus of institutional policy and instruments of evaluation and analysis. These themes guided the search for meeting the research objectives, in which it was observed a considerable proximity to the perception of the managers interviewed with the principles of the systemic perspective with regard to the innovation process, while on the approach of the ST&I policy, there was an identification of only some aspects of this theory, evidencing areas that suffer from some kind of institutional deficiency.

Despite much discussion in the literature of uncertainties in relation to the innovation process, there is little knowledge of how they emerge in this process. This thesis accordingly aims to understand how uncertainty emerges in the innovation process and how firms address that uncertainty to create novelty from the process. Uncertainty is embedded in the innovation process (Jalonen, 2012), which implies that it is not only a factor affecting the innovation process but also an outcome of the process itself. To fulfil the purpose of this study, it is important to understand how the innovation process unfolds over time. It is well established that innovation is a process of recombining resources (Schumpeter, 1934) through the performing and linking of certain activities in sequence (Richardson, 1972; Dubois, 1994; Bankvall, 2011) by various actors (i.e., firms and organizations) in a network context (Håkansson and Olsen, 2012; Lampela, 2012; Love and Roper, 2001; Pittaway et al., 2004; Powell et al., 1996). To fulfil the purpose of this study, the following research question has been asked: How and why do actors undertake and link resource recombination activities in a network context, thereby managing uncertainties in the innovation process? The thesis investigates the innovation process in two companies. One of the companies had completed its innovation journey and the other had almost done so. The discussion gives a detailed account of: the activities these companies performed alone and jointly with their partners in a network context; the resources they exchanged with each other and recombined to bring new solutions to the market; the uncertainties created in the process of recombining the resources; and the activities they undertook in response to address these uncertainties. The innovation process in the case companies is analysed in light of a conceptual model developed here based on Dubois’ (1994) “end product related activity structure model”, Håkansson’s (1987) “ARA model/network model”, and Goldratt’s (1997) “critical chain concept”. This study identifies the conditions under which uncertainties emerged in the innovation process in the studied companies. One of the significant conditions was resource unavailability, which was caused by actors’ reluctance to share resources, prohibition by government policy, and the resources’ own conflicting conditions and internal resistance (Håkansson and Snehota, 1995; Håkansson and Waluszewski, 2002; Waluszewski, 2004). Resource unavailability caused inertial and repetitive activities and delayed the process of producing an outcome, having such an impact on the activities under the condition of path dependency (Arthur, 1994; David, 2000). Another observed condition was the actors’ lack of knowledge of resource combination (Jalonen, 2011). A type of uncertainty that seriously affects the outcome of the innovation process is the activity void, a situation in which no activity is taking place. Activity voids are created from resource unavailability either by an actor’s reluctance to share resources or by the outcome of combining conflicting resource properties. The outcome of the innovation process is therefore affected by the key actor’s attempt to reduce the activity void by making compromises at the three levels, interplay among which construct the process, i.e., actors, resources, and activities. To manage uncertainties, managers make many compromises when they perform and link various activities. Although the underlying motivation for making compromises is rational, it is boundedly rational (Simon, 1957) because by making compromises, managers forego expectations of having all the properties or of being able to plan, undertake, and link activities as intended. This study also reveals that sometimes actors prefer not to make compromises despite knowing that this might cost a great deal. Accordingly, the findings suggest that compromises made within a working relationship allow actors to produce novelty without deviating from the desired path by ensuring access to resources and partners’ abilities. On the contrary, compromises not made in the relationship can threaten actors’ ability to produce the desired novelty, as the exchange of partners’ resources and abilities is hindered in a poor relationship. Compromises made in resource configuration and activities threaten actors’ ability to produce the desired novelty by limiting their choices, while compromises not made in resource configuration and activities allow actors to produce the desired novelty without deviation.

The thesis is focused on innovation of the state enterprise "Czech Post" from the perspective of employees. The basic concepts as innovation, types of innovation, innovation process, measurement, evaluation and funding innovation are defined in the theoretical part. The practical part starts with a brief characteristic of the "Czech Post" and its services. Further it discusses the different types of innovation with a view of managing employees and the importance of innovation for the company.