This thesis is an attempt to search the relationship between development, innovativeness and networking. In recent regional development debates, regional networks of SMEs and regional knowledge potential have been emphasized as important components of development. In the context of the thesis, inter-regional networks of SMEs are analyzed as an alternative approach to the regionally bounded perspective. It is hypothesized that regional and inter-regional networks complement each other, and both of them play an important role in regional development and innovation processes. The thesis acquires the indicators for the increasing importance of external networks and innovation capacity in the globalisation era. Hence, the study explains the relative importance of spatial proximity in different types of networks, the positive and negative contributions of external networks to regional networks, and the contributions of regional, national and global networks to innovation activities of SMEs. The theoretical framework discussed in this thesis is based on the recent regional development models and contemporary networking and innovation studies. The main findings of this study contribute to this debate by modifying some of assumptions related to networking and innovation activities of SMEs. In the thesis, the method used for research is field survey, realized in three industrial regions. 131 SMEs have been involved in this survey in order to obtain a qualitative data about network and innovation behavior of SMEs in the sample regions.

The purpose of this research is to extend the understanding of consumers’ perceived brand innovativeness. Within a quantitative approach an online survey was conducted, using a quota-sample of 501 physically active Germans. The data was analyzed through simple linear regression, mediation and moderation analysis. Further, the effects for two brands were compared. The findings corroborate previous literature, suggesting a highly positive effect of consumers’ perceived brand innovativeness (CPBI) on brand attitude, purchase intention, consumer satisfaction and consumer excitement. Further, brand attitude mediates the impact of CPBI on purchase intention and consumer satisfaction. Consumer innovativeness and involvement have a negative significant effect on the majority of the relations. Most of the constructs are controlled by previous purchase experience. Managers should consider CPBI as a possible antecedent for consumer behavior, however, CPBI should be in line with the actual offer of the brand. Further, the involvement and innovativeness of the desired target group should be taken into account for the brand positioning. However, the survey was conducted using non-probability sampling, focusing on the sporting goods market in Germany, which might have caused some limitations. The study contributes to the CPBI literature in supporting the scale for CPBI and providing further knowledge into the effects CPBI has on consumer outcomes. Further, the research points out the differences in consumers’ evaluation of CPBI based on their level of innovativeness and involvement.

O objetivo deste trabalho é verificar a existência de uma ligação empírica entre a dimensão ambiental e a dimensão econômica da firma. A revisão da literatura apontou para lacunas nos modelos de relação existentes, com seus resultados não sendo considerados consistentes. Assim, este trabalho busca identificar a relação entre o Desempenho Ambiental – medido pelo Desempenho Ambiental Operacional, pelo Sistema de Gestão Ambiental e pela Regulamentação Ambiental – com a Inovatividade e do Desempenho Financeiro da firma. Uma pesquisa com o setor de terceira geração petroquímica, a industria de transformação de plásticos, foi realizada em Agosto de 2008. Testes estatísticos foram realizados para identificar padrões de resposta, testar as hipóteses do modelo proposto. Ao final, este modelo comprova empiricamente que por meio da dimensão ambientais e da inovatividade se pode explicar aproximadamente 34% da variância do desempenho financeiro das empresas em uma análise de regressão linear. Pontos relevantes foram encontrados na descrição ambiental do setor pesquisado, fornecendo informações aos gerentes para a tomada de decisões ambientais. / The main purpose of this study is to verify a connection between environment dimension and economic dimension in firms. The review of literature show gaps in existing models and their results did not be consistent. Therefore, this study look for a relationship among the Environment Performance – measured by Operational Environment Performance, by Environment Management Systems and by Environmental Regulations – and the Innovativeness and Financial Performance. A research in third generation petrochemical chain sector, the industry of plastics transformation, was done in August 2008. Statistical analysis was performed to identify patters and to verify hypothesis in proposed model. In the final, this model prove empirically 34% of financial performance variation by environment performance and innovativeness in a linear regression. Relevant knowledge was found in sector environment description, being important to managers taking decisions.

O objetivo deste trabalho é verificar a existência de uma ligação empírica entre a dimensão ambiental e a dimensão econômica da firma. A revisão da literatura apontou para lacunas nos modelos de relação existentes, com seus resultados não sendo considerados consistentes. Assim, este trabalho busca identificar a relação entre o Desempenho Ambiental – medido pelo Desempenho Ambiental Operacional, pelo Sistema de Gestão Ambiental e pela Regulamentação Ambiental – com a Inovatividade e do Desempenho Financeiro da firma. Uma pesquisa com o setor de terceira geração petroquímica, a industria de transformação de plásticos, foi realizada em Agosto de 2008. Testes estatísticos foram realizados para identificar padrões de resposta, testar as hipóteses do modelo proposto. Ao final, este modelo comprova empiricamente que por meio da dimensão ambientais e da inovatividade se pode explicar aproximadamente 34% da variância do desempenho financeiro das empresas em uma análise de regressão linear. Pontos relevantes foram encontrados na descrição ambiental do setor pesquisado, fornecendo informações aos gerentes para a tomada de decisões ambientais. / The main purpose of this study is to verify a connection between environment dimension and economic dimension in firms. The review of literature show gaps in existing models and their results did not be consistent. Therefore, this study look for a relationship among the Environment Performance – measured by Operational Environment Performance, by Environment Management Systems and by Environmental Regulations – and the Innovativeness and Financial Performance. A research in third generation petrochemical chain sector, the industry of plastics transformation, was done in August 2008. Statistical analysis was performed to identify patters and to verify hypothesis in proposed model. In the final, this model prove empirically 34% of financial performance variation by environment performance and innovativeness in a linear regression. Relevant knowledge was found in sector environment description, being important to managers taking decisions.

The video game industry in Sweden has experienced tremendous growth since 2009 with its revenue generation being compared to iron ore, an important revenue generator for the country. The ability of these firms to record recurrent increases in revenue is due to the innovativeness of the industry. External sources of knowledge affect firms’ innovative performance. However, the complexity of the knowledge acquired is influenced by the strength of ties between the firm and its counterparts. This study investigates how Swedish video game firms develop new products to stay competitive through their relationship with their strong ties counterparts, level of cooperation and firms’ absorptive capacity. We model strong ties relationship with latent constructs including closeness, commitment and trust. A nationally representative survey was conducted among selected video game firms across Sweden. Structural equation modelling was then utilized to assess the effect of strong ties on new product innovativeness. The results show that strong ties with external counterparts have a positive and statistically significant effect on new product innovation through the mediating channel of cooperation and absorptive capacity. Closeness, commitment and trust show a direct effect on cooperation, cooperation on absorptive capacity and absorptive capacity on new product innovativeness. The implications of these findings have been discussed.

Abstract Information and communications technology (ICT) companies face challenges in an unpredictable business environment, where demand-supply forecasting is not accurate enough. How to optimally manage product change process and demand-supply chain in this type of environment? Companies face pressures to simultaneously be efficient, responsive and innovative, i.e. to minimise costs, and shorten order delivery and product change periods. This thesis included three action research cycles within a real demand-supply chain of a significant international actor. Each action research cycle sought answers by going into one extreme of minimising costs, diminishing order delivery period, or shortening product change periods. In practice, these research cycles included the case company changing their business accordingly for each of these cases. Conducting required changes in the case company were economically significant trials. The results of this doctoral dissertation provide tips for global high tech companies. Large international companies typically have manufacturing sites in different parts of the world. According to the results, mental shift from local optimisation to a global one is required for efficient manufacturing operations. Companies have traditionally considered their strategy as a choice between minimising costs, quick delivery, and rapid product change. Also, companies have believed that one single strategy is adequate and applicable to all of their products. According to this thesis, different products may have a different strategy. This would allow companies to flexibly react to the needs of different customer groups, business environments, and different competitors. In addition, strategy can be changed relatively often, monthly, weekly, or even daily. Based on the results of this doctoral thesis, companies must harmonise their product portfolio globally, including all their sites. Once the same product version is at all sites, they can help each other from components supply viewpoint. Consequently, product changes can be taken through quicker. / Tiivistelmä Informaatio- ja kommunikaatioalan yritykset kohtaavat haasteita toimiessaan vaikeasti ennustettavassa liiketoimintaympäristössä, jossa tilaus-toimitusennusteet ovat epätarkkoja. Miten tällaisessa ympäristössä hallitaan optimaalisesti tuotemuutosprosessi ja tilaus-toimitusketju? Yrityksillä on paineita olla samanaikaisesti tehokkaita ja innovatiivisia: miten minimoida sekä kustannuksia että lyhentää toimitus- ja tuotemuutosaikoja. Tämä väitöskirja tehtiin toimintatutkimuksena merkittävän kansainvälisen yrityksen todellisessa tilaus-toimitusketjussa. Toimintatutkimus eteni vaiheittain kokeilemalla kolmea eri ääripäätä minimoimalla 1) kustannuksia, 2) toimitusaikoja ja 3) tuotemuutosaikoja. Käytännössä nämä ääripäät sisälsivät case-yrityksen liiketoiminnan muuttamista vastaavasti sisältäen taloudellisesti merkittäviä kokeiluja. Tämän väitöskirjan tulokset tarjoavat käytännön esimerkkejä globaaleille korkeanteknologian yrityksille. Suurilla kansainvälisillä yrityksillä on tyypillisesti valmistusyksiköitä eripuolilla maailmaa. Tämän tutkimuksen tulosten mukaan yritykset tarvitsevat asennemuutoksen paikallisesta optimoinnista globaaliin, jotta tuotanto toimisi tehokkaasti. Perinteisesti yritykset ovat ymmärtäneet strategian tarkoittavan valinnan tekemistä kustannusten minimoinnin, nopeiden toimitusaikojen tai nopeiden tuotemuutosten välillä. Yritykset ovat myös uskoneet, että yksi yrityskohtainen strategia kattaa kaikki yrityksen tuotteet. Tämän väitöskirjan tulosten mukaan yrityksen eri tuotteilla voi olla erilainen strategia. Tällainen ratkaisu mahdollistaa nopean reagoinnin muutoksiin asiakasryhmien tarpeissa, liiketoimintaympäristössä ja kilpailutilanteissa. Strategiaa voidaan myös muuttaa usein, kuukausittain, viikoittain tai jopa päivittäin. Tämän väitöskirjatutkimuksen tulosten mukaan, yritysten tulisi harmonisoida tuoteportfolionsa globaalisti kattaen kaikki tuotantolaitokset. Silloin kun yrityksen kaikissa valmistusyksiköissä valmistetaan samaa tuoteversiota, yksiköt voivat auttaa toisiaan komponenttien hankinnassa. Tuotemuutokset voidaan tällöin toteuttaa nopeammin.

Research on the adoption of innovation is largely limited to factors affecting immediate change with few studies focusing on enduring or lasting change. The purpose of the study was to examine the personality characteristics of cognitive playfulness, innovativeness, and essentialness beliefs in educators who were able to make an enduring change in pedagogy based on the use of technology in the curriculum within their assigned classroom settings. The study utilized teachers from 33 school districts and one private school in Texas who were first-year participants in the Intel® Teach to the Future program. The research design focused on how cognitive playfulness, innovativeness, and essentialness beliefs relate to a sustained high level of information technology use in the classroom. The research questions were: 1) Are individuals who are highly playful more likely to continue to demonstrate an ability to integrate technology use in the classroom at a high level than those who are less playful? 2) Are individuals who are highly innovative more likely to continue to demonstrate an ability to integrate technology use in the classroom at a high level than those who are less innovative? 3) Are individuals who believe information technology use is critical and indispensable to their teaching more likely to continue to demonstrate an ability to integrate technology use in the classroom at a high level than those who believe it is supplemental and not essential? The findings of the current study indicated that playfulness, innovativeness, and essentialness scores as defined by the scales used were significantly correlated to an individual's sustained ability to use technology at a high level. Playfulness was related to the educator's level of innovativeness, as well. Also, educators who believed the use of technology was critical and indispensable to their instruction were more likely to be able to demonstrate a sustained high level of technology integration. Further research is recommended to investigate numerous personality traits, such as playfulness, innovativeness, creativity, and risk-taking that might relate to technology adoption. Doing so may lead to modifications of professional development, assisting individuals in adapting better and faster to systemic change.

The general poor service delivery in municipalities raised the question of whether the incorporation of an intrapreneurship spirit might contribute in enhancing the effectiveness of service delivery in municipalities. The study aimed to examine whether intrapreneurship, if implemented within the O.R. Tambo District Municipality, can improve service delivery. The primary objective was to explore the intrapreneurship practices that can improve service delivery within the municipalities. A qualitative approach was used in the study. Twelve in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with middle and top managers of the district municipalities. Intrapreneurship was then established to be a positive culture that could be adopted by municipalities to foster innovation and enable efficient and effective service delivery. The results of the study showed that, while there is a general appreciation for intrapreneurship, there are many factors that are working against the success of intrapreneurship in the municipality. These factors need to be addressed if an innovation and intrapreneurial culture is to be fostered in municipalities. The findings were used to develop a framework illustrating the municipality’s internal environment and intrapreneurship. / Business Management / M. Com. (Business Management)

No description available.

<p>Да би се обезбедио жељени квалитет неопходно је константно радити на&nbsp; унапређењу и идентификацији фактора који га детерминишу.&nbsp; Веома је важно&nbsp; утврдити шта представља вредност за госте и спровести потребне мере како би се&nbsp; постигли жељени пословни резултати. Како би се дошло до правог&nbsp; одговора&nbsp; неопходно је имати сазнање о томе шта гост очекује, које су његове потребе, каква&nbsp; понуда је у складу са савременим прехрамбеним трендовима, који је пожељан ниво&nbsp; услуге и на који начин успоставити комуникацију са садашњим и потенцијалним&nbsp; гостима.</p><p>Основни циљ дисертације је био да се&nbsp; идентификују повезаности и узрочни односи&nbsp; између иновативног понашања ресторатера, опаженог квалитета и лојалности&nbsp; гостију.&nbsp;</p><p>Да би се дошло до постављеног циља утврђено је у којој мери су војвођански&nbsp; ресторани иновативни, измерен је&nbsp; квалитет производа, услуге, атмосфере&nbsp; и&nbsp; посебних елемената, а затим се испитала&nbsp; и лојалност гостију. Сагледан је и утицај&nbsp; образовне и квалификационе структуре запослених на степен иновативности и&nbsp; квалитет ресторатерских производа и услуга.</p><p>На основу кабинетског и теренског истраживања, уз примену утврђене научне&nbsp; методологије и коришћењем домаће и иностране литературе дошло се до закључака који су потврдили основну, полазну хипотезу да постоји позитивна корелација&nbsp;између иновативности ресторатера, опаженог квалитета и лојалности гостију. Резултати су потврдили да је зависност између квалификационе и образовне структуре запослених и степена иновативности ресторатера врло значајна, да је веома важно запошљавати квалификовану радну снагу јер се то позитивно одражава на иновационо понашање, али и на квалитет истраживаних елемената.</p> / <p>Da bi se obezbedio željeni kvalitet neophodno je konstantno raditi na&nbsp; unapređenju i identifikaciji faktora koji ga determinišu.&nbsp; Veoma je važno&nbsp; utvrditi šta predstavlja vrednost za goste i sprovesti potrebne mere kako bi se&nbsp; postigli željeni poslovni rezultati. Kako bi se došlo do pravog&nbsp; odgovora&nbsp; neophodno je imati saznanje o tome šta gost očekuje, koje su njegove potrebe, kakva&nbsp; ponuda je u skladu sa savremenim prehrambenim trendovima, koji je poželjan nivo&nbsp; usluge i na koji način uspostaviti komunikaciju sa sadašnjim i potencijalnim&nbsp; gostima.</p><p>Osnovni cilj disertacije je bio da se&nbsp; identifikuju povezanosti i uzročni odnosi&nbsp; između inovativnog ponašanja restoratera, opaženog kvaliteta i lojalnosti&nbsp; gostiju.&nbsp;</p><p>Da bi se došlo do postavljenog cilja utvrđeno je u kojoj meri su vojvođanski&nbsp; restorani inovativni, izmeren je&nbsp; kvalitet proizvoda, usluge, atmosfere&nbsp; i&nbsp; posebnih elemenata, a zatim se ispitala&nbsp; i lojalnost gostiju. Sagledan je i uticaj&nbsp; obrazovne i kvalifikacione strukture zaposlenih na stepen inovativnosti i&nbsp; kvalitet restoraterskih proizvoda i usluga.</p><p>Na osnovu kabinetskog i terenskog istraživanja, uz primenu utvrđene naučne&nbsp; metodologije i korišćenjem domaće i inostrane literature došlo se do zaključaka koji su potvrdili osnovnu, polaznu hipotezu da postoji pozitivna korelacija&nbsp;između inovativnosti restoratera, opaženog kvaliteta i lojalnosti gostiju. Rezultati su potvrdili da je zavisnost između kvalifikacione i obrazovne strukture zaposlenih i stepena inovativnosti restoratera vrlo značajna, da je veoma važno zapošljavati kvalifikovanu radnu snagu jer se to pozitivno odražava na inovaciono ponašanje, ali i na kvalitet istraživanih elemenata.</p> / <p>In order to ensure desired quality, it is necessary to constantly work on the i improvement and identification of the factors which determine it. It is very important to identify what represents a value for guests and implement necessary measures in order&nbsp; to achieve the desired business results. To find the right solution it is necessary to have insights into what a guest expects, what their needs are, what kind of offer is in accordance with modern food trends, what the desired level of service is and how to establish communication&nbsp; with current and potential guests.</p><p>The basic aim of the thesis was to identify relationships and causal relations between&nbsp;innovative behaviour of restaurateurs, observed quality and guest loyalty. The sample&nbsp;consisted of 600 guests from thirty restaurants&nbsp; selected in 19 towns in Vojvodina. The&nbsp;innovation level was defined on the basis of the designed instrument for &nbsp;measuring&nbsp;innovation in the field of products and services, marketing, processes, and socially responsible behavior. For the purpose of achieving the set goal, with the use of selected statistical methods, it was established to what extent restaurants in Vojvodina were innovative, the quality of products, services, atmosphere, and special elements was measured, and guest loyalty was examined. The&nbsp; influence of education and qualification structure of employees on the level of innovation and quality of restaurant products and services was also taken into account.</p><p>On the basis of theoretical and field research, with the use of the defined scientific methodology and local and foreign literature, the conclusions were drawn, which confirmed the basic initial hypothesis that there is a positive correlation between the innovativeness of restaurateurs, observed quality and guest loyalty. The results confirmed that the dependence of qualification and educational structure of employees and the innovation level of restaurateurs is very significant. It is very important to hire qualified work force, because this has positive effects on innovative behaviour as well as on the quality of the examined elements.</p>