Detta examensarbete handlar om utvecklingen av kylare med inriktning på nyutveckling. Det relevanta behovet av patent för kylare, att undersöka vad kunden behöver vid sida av hur integration ska ske samt kombinationen av market pull och technology push är de fyra huvudområden som behandlas i studien. Bortsett från inkrementella förbättringar, har mycket lite utveckling gjorts inom kylare på senare tid, vilket återspeglas i några nämnvärda förändringar. Dessutom har lite tidigare arbete utförts på utvecklingen av kylare, vilket förklarar varför en utforskande metod har använts. Kvalitativa data har samlats in från åtta olika kunder med målet att fastställa behoven och de huvudsakliga tendenserna på marknaden, en studie användes som ett exempel för att stödja de olika resonemangen. En grundlig litteraturstudie och analys av marknaden har genomförts för att bättre förstå syftet för utveckling av kylare. Patent har visat sig vara relevanta för kylare, eftersom patenterade inkrementella innovationer ger produktdifferentiering i en starkt konkurrensutsatt marknad. Däremot kan kostnaderna bli ett problem för genomförandet. Faktumet att kunderna vill kylare med ett lägre pris och en förbättrad kylkapacitet är den viktigaste slutsatsen av de utförda intervjuerna. Komplexiteten i strukturen som förbinder företaget och dess kunder, och det faktum att marknaden inte är helt medveten om sina behov resulterar i en obetydlig marknadshänsyn inom utvecklingsprocessen. Bristen på marknadsintegration tillsammans med insikten att avsaknaden av grundlig nyutveckling kan försämra utvecklingen av kylare vilket har lett till en ny ram av utveckling. Baserat på integrationen av marknadens pull and technology push, är målet att utveckla mer nyutveklade kylare. / Air-oil coolers are hydraulic products whose purpose is to cool down the temperature of oil in a hydraulic system. This thesis project deals with their development with an emphasis on innovation. Apart from incremental improvements, very little innovation has been developed for coolers in recent times, which is reflected in few notable changes. Additionally, very little previous work has been conducted on the development of coolers, which explains why an explorative method was implemented. Qualitative data was collected from eight different customers with the purpose of determining the needs and the main tendencies, and a case study was used as an example to support the various reasonings. A thorough literature review and the market analysis have been carried out to better understand the context in which coolers are developed. The relevance of patents for coolers, the uncovering of the customer needs along with their integration as well as the combination of market pull and technology push concepts have been addressed. Thus, patents are proven to be relevant for coolers, because the patented innovations provide product differentiation in the highly competitive environment. However, their low added value can be an impediment to their exploitation. The fact that customers want coolers with a lower price and an improved cooling capacity is the major finding of the performed interviews. The complexity of the structure connecting the company and its customers, and the fact that the market is not completely aware of its needs, result in market considerations insubstantially integrated in the development process. Finally, the deficiency of market integration, in addition to the lack of radical innovation led to a suggested framework. Based on the integration of market pull and technology push approaches, it pursues the objective of fostering innovation in the development of coolers.

Technology push product development presents a number of challenges over the more typical market pull product development. Despite these challenges, enough advantages exist to motivate firms to develop technology push products at greater risk. Modularity is a tool that can address some of these challenges. Currently most research and application of modularity have focused on market pull product development efforts. The research in this thesis explores the value of modularity in technology push product development through the development of methods and the analysis of 68 example products including 35 technology push products. A method has been developed for quantifying the degree to which a product is market pull and technology push by applying scores derived from customer feedback. In the development of the scoring method, the meaning of the terms market pull and technology push have been explored and clarified allowing for beneficial application. The scoring method was applied to 68 example products and then statistically evaluated to determine the effect that the market pull and technology push scores have on the probability of product success. With the market pull and technology push scores as a basis for the probability of success, the effect of modularity in technology push products can be determined. The concept of technology modularity was introduced in comparison to product modularity. Each of the 35 technology push products was evaluated to determine the level of both product and technology modularity present. These levels are used to statistically evaluate the affect of modularity on the probability of product success. This research presents methods for determining if technology modularity can significantly improve the probability of product success with examples indicating its value and application. Technology modularity, and its application, is validated as an important concept for technology push product developers. Three example products are provided to illustrate the application of this research to improve product development decisions. The methods, results, and conclusions of this research provide product developers with a powerful tool to aid them in the successful development and commercialization of technology push products.

Abstract: Title: An It consulting company and its relationship with customers Level: C-examination Bachelor’s degree in innovation, design and technology. IDT, 15hp. VT 17th Authors: Jonatan Clemens & Staffan Hjalmarsson Handler: Anette Strömberg Objective: The aim of the study was to investigate how a major company meets the users and their needs as well as where and how the interaction with the user is done. Suggestions for areas of change are proposed in connection with the completion of the study. Research questions: -How does a consulting firm work with customers/users? -Are their work methods similar to what is described as successful in research on customer involvement? -Can work processes be improved? Method: The authors have used the qualitative method that has been developed as oral semi-structured interviews. The study is based much on hermeneutic form which means that one summarizes his own interpretations to get a deeper understanding. Conclusion: A conjunction and analysis of theoretical areas dealt with and empirical information led to the conclusion that there are indications that the company largely do not work according to established research the paper deals with. Assignment purpose: The essay should mainly have contributed to a deeper understanding on the subject of customer relations and should contribute beneficial information for a consulting firm regarding their client work. / Sammanfattning: Titel: Ett IT-konsultföretag och dess relation till kunder Nivå: C-uppsats: Examensarbete för kandidatexamen i innovationsteknik 15.0 hp. VT 17. Författarna: Jonatan Clemens & Staffan Hjalmarsson Handledare: Anette Strömberg Datum: 2016-11-07 - 2017-01-12 Syfte: Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur ett större företag möter användare och deras behov samt var och hur interaktion med dessa användare sker. Förslag på förändringsområden föreslås i samband med fullföljd studie. Forskningsfrågor: -Hur arbetar ett konsultföretag med kunder/användare? -Liknar deras arbetssätt vad som beskrivs som framgångsrikt i forskning om kundinvolvering? -Kan arbetsprocesserna förbättras? Metod: Författarna har använt sig av en kvalitativ metod som tagits fram i form av muntliga semistrukturerade intervjuer. Studien Bygger mycket på hermeneutisk form som innebär att man sammanfattar sina egna tolkningar för att få en djupare förståelse. Resultat: En sammanvägning och analys av genomgångna teoretiska områden och empiri gav slutsatsen att det finns indikationer på att företaget till stor del inte arbetar efter etablerad forskning uppsatsen behandlar. Uppsatsens bidrag: Uppsatsen har framförallt bidragit till en djupare förståelse kring ämnet kundrelationer samt ska bidra med fördelaktig information för konsultföretaget gällande deras arbete.

The current linear “take-make-use-dispose” approach relies on an ever-increasing demand of new products as a driver of economic growth. In this approach, companies usually make profit by frequent product replacements, even though these products are typically still fully functional. This is unsustainable as it strains natural resources and contributes significantly to environmental degradation. To counter this, the concept of a CE promotes extending product lifecycles through strategies such as reuse, repair, remanufacture, or recycling. One effective strategy is upgrading certain product modules to incorporate the latest technological developments, thereby extending the lifetime of a product, improving functionality, and thus creating additional value for the customer. However, companies face the challenge of planning products and the associated technologies across multiple product generations. A lever for this is technology foresight, aiming to identify emerging technological developments at an early stage so companies can exploit their potential. This approach helps to pinpoint the technological areas of a product with high innovation cycles that are ideal for upgrades to meet new customer requirements and extend the product's lifetime. This thesis focuses on developing an approach for technology foresight to enable an upgrade circular economy. The research includes a review of existing literature about technology foresight and upgrade circular economy, identifying key gaps and opportunities for innovation. The proposed approach combines market-pull and technology-push, as both are drivers for the development of new technologies. The market-pull perspective aims to identify key factors driving technological developments through market-oriented influences such as changing market trends or customer requirements. These requirements are translated into technical functions using the QFD method. The technology-push perspective, on the other hand, aims to identify key factors driving technological developments through technology-oriented influences such as new scientific discoveries. The proposed approach distinguishes between inside-out and outside-in technology identification. The identified technologies are then analyzed based on their development dynamics using publication or patent analysis. The theoretical approach developed in this thesis serves as a starting point for further research activities to implement the idea of an upgrade circular economy. / Den nuvarande linjära "take-make-use-dispose"-strategin bygger på en ständigt ökande efterfrågan på nya produkter som drivkraft för ekonomisk tillväxt. Enligt detta synsätt tjänar företagen pengar på att ofta byta ut produkter, trots att dessa produkter vanligtvis fortfarande är fullt funktionsdugliga. Detta är ohållbart eftersom det tär på naturresurserna och bidrar till en betydande miljöförstöring. För att motverka detta främjar CE-konceptet en förlängning av produkternas livscykler genom strategier som återanvändning, reparation, återtillverkning eller återvinning. En effektiv strategi är att uppgradera vissa produktmoduler för att införliva den senaste tekniska utvecklingen och därigenom förlänga produktens livslängd, förbättra funktionaliteten och därmed skapa mervärde för kunden. Företagen står dock inför utmaningen att planera produkter och tillhörande teknik över flera produktgenerationer. En hävstång för detta är teknisk framsynthet, som syftar till att identifiera nya tekniska utvecklingar på ett tidigt stadium så att företagen kan utnyttja deras potential. Detta tillvägagångssätt hjälper till att identifiera de tekniska områden i en produkt med höga innovationscykler som är idealiska för uppgraderingar för att uppfylla nya kundkrav och förlänga produktens livslängd. Denna avhandling fokuserar på att utveckla ett tillvägagångssätt för teknikprognoser för att möjliggöra en uppgraderad cirkulär ekonomi. Forskningen omfattar en genomgång av befintlig litteratur om teknikprognoser och uppgradering av cirkulär ekonomi, och identifierar viktiga luckor och möjligheter till innovation. Det föreslagna tillvägagångssättet kombinerar market-pull och technology-push, eftersom båda är drivkrafter för utvecklingen av ny teknik. Market-pull-perspektivet syftar till att identifiera nyckelfaktorer som driver den tekniska utvecklingen genom marknadsorienterade influenser, t.ex. förändrade marknadstrender eller kundkrav. Dessa krav översätts till tekniska funktioner med hjälp av QFD-metoden. Technology-push-perspektivet, å andra sidan, syftar till att identifiera nyckelfaktorer som driver den tekniska utvecklingen genom teknikorienterade influenser, t.ex. nya vetenskapliga upptäckter. Det föreslagna tillvägagångssättet skiljer mellan inside-out och outside-in teknikidentifiering. De identifierade teknologierna analyseras sedan utifrån deras utvecklingsdynamik med hjälp av publikations- eller patentanalys. Den teoretiska ansats som utvecklats i denna avhandling fungerar som en utgångspunkt för ytterligare forskningsaktiviteter för att genomföra idén om en uppgraderad cirkulär ekonomi.

Innovation and ‘creative destruction’ should thrive in the competitive, high risk and high cost environment of the North Sea. Paradoxically, uptake of new technology is slow. The focus of this research was to understand how new technology is developed and how end users make decisions about innovation. Innovation process in the literature can sometimes come across like a ‘black box’ without much explanation of what happens inside the box. This study seeks to explicate what transpires inside the ‘black box’ to improve our understanding of the innovation process. The linear models of technology-push and market-pull are too simplistic to account for the complexity of relationships and engagements that affect innovation at small and medium enterprises’ (SMEs) level. Subsequent models of innovation are suited to how large corporations manage innovation but neglect patterns of social interactions at the micro level where SMEs operate. These innovation models are incomplete because they relegate the importance of context and how it shapes understanding, action and outcome. This study, rooted in a social constructionist paradigm, takes a process-relational stance on entrepreneurship and innovation, recognising the dynamic relationships between social actors and context. Taking Heidegger’s explication of how we relate to the world, this thesis submits that innovation occurs when actors move into the ‘occurrent’ mode. The happenings and doings in the innovation process are treated as the results of perpetual social constructions. This study is based on extended interviews with eleven individuals in relevant roles and with direct experiences of the technical innovation construction in the oil and gas industry. The purposeful sample of research encompasses a variety of roles including technology entrepreneurs, end users of technology and venture capitalists. This study makes a number of contributions. Firstly, the research improves our understanding of how different social constructions are welded together to develop shared understanding. Secondly, a conceptual framework is presented that bridges a number of theoretical concepts, which allows us to see that innovation cannot be properly understood using simplistic models that ignores the social constructions human actors instantiate. Thirdly, the research claims that problem framing is foundational to innovation construction, where social actors collaborate to develop shared understanding, and mentally represent in the present a future that is not totally knowable. Fourthly, an alternative model of innovation construction is presented that is relational and accounts for the social constructions of process participants. Finally, a number of research implications for academics and insights for practitioners engaged in the technical innovation construction are offered.

Changing trends in customer preference, competitors’ offerings, new technologies and development techniques may disrupt a firm from its current leading market position and may favor other firms that prioritize innovation. Once a market opportunity is identified (i.e., find an answer to the ‘what to do’ question), firms need to engage in a series of activities and information processing to determine an appropriate way to monetize that opportunity – that is, firms need to find an answer to the ‘how to do’ question. Alternately, a firm may first identify a technological opportunity (i.e. find an answer to the ‘how to do’) and then find a market opportunity (i.e. find an answer to the ‘what to do’ question) to make use of the technological opportunity. Two scales that measure the capabilities of firms to address the following two questions – ‘what to do’ and ‘how to do’ - were reported; these were labelled as market-scanning capability (MktScan) and technology-scanning capability (TechScan); and these two scales were also tested in a broader research model. In turbulent environments, marketing and R&D become more challenging, since they face an uncertain future. Firms need to learn systemic scanning and decoding of apparently random changes in their business environment and imagine a pattern that makes sense. One cannot plan for uncertainty. A better strategy is to be prepared for it. One way to prepare is to develop the capabilities that would help the firm to become more adaptive. Drucker (1992) also argued that instead of planning for the long term that is uncertain, firms needed to become adaptive to tackle uncertainty. The ability of a firm to adapt to the changes depends on its ability to sense the nature of the changes in its business environment and respond to those. Sense-and-respond framework (Haeckel 1999; Haeckel 2000; Day and Schoemaker 2006) was proposed to emphasize the identification of weak signals (Ansoff 1975) to tackle increased uncertainty in business environment. In current days, effectiveness of firm’s activities often depends on the richness of its sources of information and its capability to process the collected information to identify the patterns of change happening in its business environments. Information processing may happen in two dimensions: in market dimension and in technology dimension. Firms’ capabilities for information collecting and processing in these two dimensions were measured using two firm-level constructs. These are market-scanning capability and technology-scanning capability. Resource-based theory helped to understand how firms use their tangible and intangible resources to compete in the market. Specific problem-solving aspects of the processes, activities, and cultural norms enable firms to make decisions about engaging the available resources and capabilities in ways that maximize customer value, by realizing the identified opportunities into product and service offerings. This research identified the characteristic strength of this problem-solving approach of firms – collecting information both internally and externally about possible market opportunities and technological options, organization-wide processing of that information, and taking actions to respond using insights gained – as two latent constructs called ‘market-scanning capability’ and ‘technology-scanning capability’. The concepts of ‘market-scanning capability’ and ‘technology-scanning capability’ were first defined and then, scales were developed to enable researchers and managers to measure these firm-level constructs. Next, the predictive roles of these capabilities on firm performance were examined. Empirical analysis for scale development and validation of the research model were performed with data collected through a web-based survey of Canadian manufacturing firms. Firm performance was captured in two stages – first, by product innovation performance, and second, by overall firm performance. Product innovation performance was used as an intermediate performance measure to examine the direct influence on it of market-scanning capability and technology-scanning capability, and then, to relate product innovation performance to final business outcome measured using ‘overall firm performance’ scale. The study validated the notion of resource-based theory by supporting the belief that higher levels of market-scanning capability and technology-scanning capability would lead to improved product innovation performance. The role of environmental turbulence was also examined for its possible moderating effect. Two measures of environmental turbulence, namely, technology and market turbulence were used to test the moderation effect. The technology turbulence construct was found to have a moderating effect on the relationship between technology-scanning capability and product innovation performance, indicating that firms needed to focus more attention on the changes in the technology landscape when turbulence in the technological field was perceived to be higher, in order to keep the same level of product innovation performance. Insight gained from the study contributed to a knowledge-base that might be useful to both practitioners and researchers. The combination of TechScan and MktScan scales could be used as a benchmark tool by managers to assess firms’ readiness to take advantage of the opportunities that existed. On the theoretical side, the study contributed to the understanding by showing that both market-scanning capability and technology-scanning capability had direct and indirect influences on firm performance. Also, it was found that the indirect influence of a certain scanning capability became important when firms were pre-disposed to emphasize the other scanning capability.

Changing trends in customer preference, competitors’ offerings, new technologies and development techniques may disrupt a firm from its current leading market position and may favor other firms that prioritize innovation. Once a market opportunity is identified (i.e., find an answer to the ‘what to do’ question), firms need to engage in a series of activities and information processing to determine an appropriate way to monetize that opportunity – that is, firms need to find an answer to the ‘how to do’ question. Alternately, a firm may first identify a technological opportunity (i.e. find an answer to the ‘how to do’) and then find a market opportunity (i.e. find an answer to the ‘what to do’ question) to make use of the technological opportunity. Two scales that measure the capabilities of firms to address the following two questions – ‘what to do’ and ‘how to do’ - were reported; these were labelled as market-scanning capability (MktScan) and technology-scanning capability (TechScan); and these two scales were also tested in a broader research model. In turbulent environments, marketing and R&D become more challenging, since they face an uncertain future. Firms need to learn systemic scanning and decoding of apparently random changes in their business environment and imagine a pattern that makes sense. One cannot plan for uncertainty. A better strategy is to be prepared for it. One way to prepare is to develop the capabilities that would help the firm to become more adaptive. Drucker (1992) also argued that instead of planning for the long term that is uncertain, firms needed to become adaptive to tackle uncertainty. The ability of a firm to adapt to the changes depends on its ability to sense the nature of the changes in its business environment and respond to those. Sense-and-respond framework (Haeckel 1999; Haeckel 2000; Day and Schoemaker 2006) was proposed to emphasize the identification of weak signals (Ansoff 1975) to tackle increased uncertainty in business environment. In current days, effectiveness of firm’s activities often depends on the richness of its sources of information and its capability to process the collected information to identify the patterns of change happening in its business environments. Information processing may happen in two dimensions: in market dimension and in technology dimension. Firms’ capabilities for information collecting and processing in these two dimensions were measured using two firm-level constructs. These are market-scanning capability and technology-scanning capability. Resource-based theory helped to understand how firms use their tangible and intangible resources to compete in the market. Specific problem-solving aspects of the processes, activities, and cultural norms enable firms to make decisions about engaging the available resources and capabilities in ways that maximize customer value, by realizing the identified opportunities into product and service offerings. This research identified the characteristic strength of this problem-solving approach of firms – collecting information both internally and externally about possible market opportunities and technological options, organization-wide processing of that information, and taking actions to respond using insights gained – as two latent constructs called ‘market-scanning capability’ and ‘technology-scanning capability’. The concepts of ‘market-scanning capability’ and ‘technology-scanning capability’ were first defined and then, scales were developed to enable researchers and managers to measure these firm-level constructs. Next, the predictive roles of these capabilities on firm performance were examined. Empirical analysis for scale development and validation of the research model were performed with data collected through a web-based survey of Canadian manufacturing firms. Firm performance was captured in two stages – first, by product innovation performance, and second, by overall firm performance. Product innovation performance was used as an intermediate performance measure to examine the direct influence on it of market-scanning capability and technology-scanning capability, and then, to relate product innovation performance to final business outcome measured using ‘overall firm performance’ scale. The study validated the notion of resource-based theory by supporting the belief that higher levels of market-scanning capability and technology-scanning capability would lead to improved product innovation performance. The role of environmental turbulence was also examined for its possible moderating effect. Two measures of environmental turbulence, namely, technology and market turbulence were used to test the moderation effect. The technology turbulence construct was found to have a moderating effect on the relationship between technology-scanning capability and product innovation performance, indicating that firms needed to focus more attention on the changes in the technology landscape when turbulence in the technological field was perceived to be higher, in order to keep the same level of product innovation performance. Insight gained from the study contributed to a knowledge-base that might be useful to both practitioners and researchers. The combination of TechScan and MktScan scales could be used as a benchmark tool by managers to assess firms’ readiness to take advantage of the opportunities that existed. On the theoretical side, the study contributed to the understanding by showing that both market-scanning capability and technology-scanning capability had direct and indirect influences on firm performance. Also, it was found that the indirect influence of a certain scanning capability became important when firms were pre-disposed to emphasize the other scanning capability.