<p>The thesis aims at understanding mechanisms behind knowledge generation and learning in a mature cluster by analysing firms in south-east Sweden engaged in the development and manufacturing of aluminium products. The point of departure is in concepts and assumptions related to spatially concen-trated systems of similar and related firms and industries, such as agglomera-tions, clusters or innovation systems.</p><p>Three sets of empirical analyses have been conducted: a mail survey, a series of in-depth interviews and a register-based analysis. The analyses focus on three themes: inter-firm relations, the embeddedness of the clustered firms in the region, and the role of labour and labour mobility in cluster development. </p><p>It is shown that also in a rather mature and low-tech cluster, firm competi-tiveness rests on continuous knowledge upgrading and innovation. In general terms, firms in this cluster do have business relations with other firms at all different spatial scales. While there are manifold buyer-supplier relations within the cluster, most firms have their most important linkages outside the region. The firms regard themselves as part of a cluster and various mecha-nisms contribute to this. There is a strong sense of trust and loyalty, and this applies in particular to those engaged either in some of the more organized supplier networks or the regional cluster initiative Aluminiumriket. Finally, the cluster does not seem to constitute a very fluid labour market for special-ised skills. Labour mobility between firms in this particular cluster seems to be fairly low.</p>

The thesis aims at understanding mechanisms behind knowledge generation and learning in a mature cluster by analysing firms in south-east Sweden engaged in the development and manufacturing of aluminium products. The point of departure is in concepts and assumptions related to spatially concen-trated systems of similar and related firms and industries, such as agglomera-tions, clusters or innovation systems. Three sets of empirical analyses have been conducted: a mail survey, a series of in-depth interviews and a register-based analysis. The analyses focus on three themes: inter-firm relations, the embeddedness of the clustered firms in the region, and the role of labour and labour mobility in cluster development. It is shown that also in a rather mature and low-tech cluster, firm competi-tiveness rests on continuous knowledge upgrading and innovation. In general terms, firms in this cluster do have business relations with other firms at all different spatial scales. While there are manifold buyer-supplier relations within the cluster, most firms have their most important linkages outside the region. The firms regard themselves as part of a cluster and various mecha-nisms contribute to this. There is a strong sense of trust and loyalty, and this applies in particular to those engaged either in some of the more organized supplier networks or the regional cluster initiative Aluminiumriket. Finally, the cluster does not seem to constitute a very fluid labour market for special-ised skills. Labour mobility between firms in this particular cluster seems to be fairly low.

Companies, nations, governments and multilateral organisations are each in their context recognising that 20th-century approaches to innovation and competitiveness are no longer relevant or effective – with whole industries and economies challenged by the fastmoving and disruptive forces of 21st-century technologies that enable unprecedented innovative capability. The rate and scale of change and disruption calls for innovation thinking more suited to a world highly connected and networked and rapidly redefined by global digital architecture and alternative forms of value exchange, value creation and capture enabled through networks, platforms, and innovation ecosystems. For a mature industry to navigate potential disruption on this scale and possibly direct disruptive innovation of its own, will require a dramatic departure from innovation and business as usual. Christensen (1997) posits that disruptive innovation is the only way for incumbents to maintain market leadership and secure future growth. So how should mature firms respond to disruption, and which strategies are effective to become disruptive too? I undertake a grounded theory study into how specifically, the insurance industry (life and health), navigates disruptive influence and plans to become disruptive too. My analysis of the literature and the research findings has led to the development of an Adapt, Regenerate, Transcend response strategy framework, the ART framework, which describes these three broad response strategies and a further set of sub-strategies, that answer the question of how firms respond to disruptive influence and become disruptive too. The ART framework is my contribution to the work on disruptive innovation response strategies. The framework shows how incumbents can apply one or more of these three broad strategies to suit their objectives. The adapt response strategy, a short-term, defensive or opportunistic strategy, aims to extend lifecycles and fend off disruptive challenges. The regenerate response strategy is an expansive, increasingly inclusive, and transformative hybrid strategy that seeks to extend lifecycles and pursue new growth opportunities that might transform the core business over time to become disruptive too. The transcend response strategy is an original and disruptive strategy where the lead firm partners to reframe and reinvent an industry through a collectively directed value proposition that creates an entirely new playing field. Using the ART framework, I also show how disruptive innovation is an inclusive innovation strategy and how the framework applies to and is of use in the context of inclusive and sustainable innovation. In doing so, a new meta-innovation concept of generative innovation emerges, which the framework begins to describe broadly and which I propose as an area of future research.

In the past decade, the energy markets within the European Union haveincreasingly been deregulated as a means to promote increased competition, andthereby efficiency, on these markets. As a result of this, several energy institutionshave been forced to become unbundled from their parent companies and toinstead form smaller separate entities. Contracts that previously were guaranteedare now subjected to public competition and in order to not risk decreasing in size,these companies must now find new ways to grow and generate new business. To study this, a case study was conducted at a Swedish energy servicescompany who recently has been unbundled from one of the largest Swedish gridowners. Specifically, the research focused on what companies in maturebusiness-to-business services contexts can do to increase their sales. The studywas conducted primarily through gathering qualitative interview data bothinternally and externally, but secondary data from surveys were also used. The findings indicate that the case company should focus on pursuing a combinedstrategy of market penetration and service/product penetration to increase sales.In addition, the company should continue to invest substantially into relationshipmarketing practices in order to build long-term potential for growth. Specifically,the findings indicate it should improve its communication and relationshipinvestment towards its customers. Furthermore, it should adopt appropriatestrategies to reduce the switching barriers of its prospective customers. The findings contribute to the understanding of how companies in similarsituations as the case company can act in order to drive growth. The studyprovides further empirical data in a field that has received relatively little academicattention. The author also suggests venues for future research in the concludingchapters.

[pt] Esta tese discorre sobre a relação entre design e indústrias maduras com ênfase em um agir projetual estratégico e orientado para contextos de mudança que incorporam obsolescência e inovação. A abordagem teórica está alinhada com as noções de acumulação criativa do conhecimento, rejuvenescimento e inovação endógena de indústrias no estágio de maturidade do ciclo de vida. Nesse sentido, defende-se que o design é capaz de gerar conhecimento novo para que essas indústrias possam se preparar para inovar sem desprezar o conhecimento existente endogenamente e questiona-se como isso é possível. Foi realizado levantamento bibliográfico sobre Design e Gestão, conciliando três matrizes de pensamento e cultura: de projeto, da gestão do processo de design e da gestão de empresa. Para a condução da pesquisa, também foram adotados os métodos Design Science Research, Material Driven Design e estudo de caso. No âmbito das indústrias maduras, a tese contribui ao caracterizar as atividades projetuais como design pendular; apontar desafios da Gestão do Design; consolidar e propor Capacidades Dinâmicas baseadas no conhecimento do Design, incluindo o transver como síntese; sugerir perspectivas para a relação entre design e a indústria-caso, especializada em materiais têxteis para piso residencial e, principalmente, propor uma abordagem de Design Estratégico com estrutura matricial que abrange bens de consumo, tecnologias e princípios culturais. Por fim, aborda-se neste texto o fato de reflexões sobre um design que enfatiza a sua intenção estratégica ao construir espaços de pesquisa, criação e crítica serem consideradas fundamentais para a transformação de ambientes industriais caracterizados por práticas consolidadas, possivelmente obsoletas. / [en] This study aims to analyze the relationship between design and Mature Industries, focusing on Strategic Design, oriented to changing contexts that incorporated obsolescence and innovation. The theoretical approach is aligned with the notions of creative accumulation of knowledge, dematurity and endogenous innovation for industries in the maturity stage of the Life Cycle. Considering these circumstances, the study discusses and questions how design is capable of generating novelties to prepare these industries for innovation without disregarding the existing endogenous knowledge. For such, bibliographic references in the areas of Design and Management, combining 3 lines of thinking and culture matrices were consulted, including design, design process management, and business management. Moreover, the Design Science Research and Material Driven Design methods, and a case study were also used during the research. Within the scope of Mature Industries, the thesis contributes by distinguishing design activities as pendulum design; by highlighting Design Management challenges; by strengthening and proposing Dynamic Capabilities based on design knowledge, which includes to see beyond as a synthesis; and, finally, by suggesting perspectives for the relationship between design and the industry case specialized in textiles for residential flooring and, mainly, by proposing a Strategic Design approach with a matrix structure that encompasses consumer goods, technologies and cultural principles. Reflections about Design that features its strategic intent in the development of spaces for research, creativity and criticism are considered essential to change industrial environments characterized by conventional practices, possibly obsolete.

Mature industries have played and still play a crucial role in national and world economies. To survive and retain competitiveness, they need to innovate, as innovation is the driver of economics growth and industrial transformation. However, existing research does not provide sufficient explanation of how innovation in mature industries can be enabled based on resources and internal development logic of those industries, i.e. endogenously. Some previous studies focused on incremental innovation patterns, which led to an underestimation of innovation potential of mature industries. Other studies acknowledged a high innovation potential of mature industries, but failed to explain how, through what mechanisms, industry-endogenous logic can bring about major innovations. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to systematically address, explain and conceptualize endogenous industry- innovation and its driving mechanisms in mature industries. To achieve this purpose, three main issues are addressed. First, the thesis investigates and conceptualizes the notion of industry endogenous innovation mechanisms based on the path dependency theory. Second, the thesis addresses strategic choices and actions by established companies that are rooted in the industry endogenous mechanisms and result in highly innovative outcomes. Third, the thesis systematically analyses different aspects of radicalness of innovations resulting from industry endogenous mechanisms. The thesis represents a qualitative, embedded case study with two main industry cases, i.e. the global lighting industry and the Swedish pulp and paper industry. The lighting industry and its sub-cases in the form of specific lighting technologies have been studied via the analysis of patents of leading lighting manufacturers, archival and secondary data sources as well as interviews with different types of actors in the industry. The pulp and paper industry and its sub-cases in the form of innovation initiatives have been studied with the help of interviews with leading manufacturers and research institutes, as well the analysis of annual reports and secondary data sources. The outcomes of the study are presented in the form of the thesis cover paper and five appended papers. The results show that innovations of any magnitude can be endogenously developed in mature industries. At the industry level, endogenous innovation is driven by innovation mechanisms that can be conceptualized as reactive sequences and self-reinforcing mechanisms. At the level of individual companies, the exploitation strategy corresponds to the logic of endogenous innovation mechanisms by enabling highly innovative outcomes and building on a wide range of resources available in the industry. The endogenous character of innovation mechanisms imposes certain limitations on the radicalness of the outcomes in the form of trade-offs in terms of how many and what particular aspects can be radically new at once. With these results, the thesis contributes to a more balanced overall understanding of innovation potential of mature industries and allows shifting the focus of discussion from whether mature industries can develop radical innovation to when and under what conditions they can succeed in this process. The results of the thesis also suggest several recommendations for managers in established companies with regard to how they can they can take advantage of industry endogenous innovation mechanisms. / Mogna branscher har traditionellt sett spelat och spelar fortfarande en viktig roll för såväl nationella ekonomier som för världsekonomin. För att överleva och behålla sin konkurrenskraft behöver mogna branscher fortsätta vara innovativa, eftersom innovation driver ekonomisk tillväxt. Även för enskilda, etablerade företag i sådana branscher är innovation centralt – de företag som inte lyckas med innovation riskerar att förlora i konkurrensen och bli ersatta av andra. Det finns emellertid än så länge inte någon bra förklaring till hur innovation i mogna branscher kan möjliggöras endogent, d v s baserat på befintliga resurser och branschens interna utvecklingslogik. Tidigare studier har antingen tenderat att underskatta innovationspotentialen i mogna branscher eller misslyckats med att visa hur – d v s genom vilka mekanismer – branschens egen logik kan möjliggöra radikala innovationer. Syftet med denna avhandling är att förklara och konceptualisera endogena innovation och dess drivmekanismer i mogna branscher. För att uppnå detta syfte undersöker avhandlingen endogena innovationsprocesser på såväl bransch- som företagsnivå samt analyserar i vilken utsträckning olika aspekter av radikala innovationer möjliggörs av endogena mekanismer. Avhandlingen är baserad på kvalitativa fallstudier av två branscher. Den första branschen är den globala belysningsindustrin, där olika belysningstekniker har studerats via analyser av patent, sekundära datakällor samt intervjuer med olika typer av aktörer i branschen. Den andra branschen är svensk pappersmassaindustri, där ett antal olika innovationsinitiativ har studerats framförallt med hjälp av intervjuer med ledande företag och forskningsinstitut. Avhandlingen består av en kappa och fem bifogade artiklar. Resultaten visar att alla typer av innovationer, inklusive radikala innovationer, kan utvecklas endogent i mogna branscher. På industrinivån drivs denna utveckling av innovationsmekanismer i form av reaktiva sekvenser och självförstärkande mekanismer. På företagsnivån kan processen drivas av en innovationsstrategi som bygger på exploatering av befintliga resurser. Trots att alla aspekter av radikala innovationer kan utvecklas endogent, medför endogena mekanismer emellertid vissa begränsningar i form av kritiska avvägningar när det gäller hur många och vilka aspekter som kan hållas radikala samtidigt. Med dessa resultat bidrar avhandlingen till en mer balanserad, övergripande förståelse för innovationspotentialen i mogna branscher och medger ett skifte av fokus i vetenskapliga diskussioner från frågan om mogna branscher kan utveckla radikala innovationer till när och under vilka villkor de kan lyckas med denna process. I avhandlingen ges även rekommendationer för ledare i etablerade företag med avseende på hur de kan dra nytta av branschens endogena innovationsmekanismer.