This thesis explores the “project” in the entrepreneurial context, specifically the project- based view of start-ups. Start-ups are defined as entrepreneurial new ventures which have unstable business models, an open and simple organisational structure and which utilize innovative strategies for their development. The concept of temporary organisation is placed within the entrepreneurial context to define possible scenarios for the project-based view. The study is guided by the following research questions: How does a project-based view unfold in the start-up context? What is the impact of embracing a project-based view for a start-up? There is a limited number of studies elaborating on the link between project management and entrepreneurship. This study aims at contributing to an evolving body of knowledge integrating project management and entrepreneurship by building new theory regarding the application of the project metaphor by start-ups. Based on the existing research linking project management and entrepreneurship through the concept of the temporary organisation, this study explains the process of embracing a project- based view of start-ups as well as its implications on start-ups. These findings will be supported by the development of a visual model and propositions for further research. The study is using grounded theory as a research methodology which is considered to be appropriate given the nascent state of the previous research as well as the underlying research questions. In total eleven unstructured and semi-structured interviews were conducted with start-ups which comply with the synthesized start-up characteristics. The data analysis benefited from using open, axial and finally, selective coding as suggested by the grounded theory approach. Answering the first research question, the study’s findings are reflected in a model which explains how the project-based view unfolds. Overall, the process of a project- based view takes two directions: the external and the internal project-based view. The external project-based view - meaning that the whole start-up is seen as a temporary organisation - starts once the start-up team members decide to commit themselves to the project when the entrepreneurial opportunity is constructed. The start-up is then seen as being temporary due to external pressure and a bounded time period. However, although being temporary, the start-up still aims to transit to a permanent state. The internal project-based view suggests that the start-up’s strategy making process is followed by the strategy realization which is performed either by a sequence or by a multi-project approach, or a combination of both. Regarding the second research question, a project- based view enhances the start-ups’ operational and dynamic capabilities.

本研究之主旨在探討一般新創公司在創業前期及創業後期所面臨的經營管理問題與對策，給有心創業者作為參考，以降低失敗的風險，進而能一舉成功，避免傷及創業之鬥志與勇氣，減少財務的損失。 首先藉由文獻的整理，蒐集專家及學者之菁華，找出與創業有關的學理，再將學理套於個案公司之經營管理，深入暸解創業成敗之關鍵因素，從實務中發掘學理之依據，進而整理出成功的創業模式，得以印證學理之正確性，讓有志於創業者加強對文獻之信心與認同。 本研究之個案雖屬高科技公司，但經過學理之印證後，可發現其經營管理之方法也離不開文獻之範疇，主要是採用Timmons及 Shane之創業模式來加以剖析，雖然研究者將Timmons之模式運用於創業前期，而將Shane之模式運用於創業後期，或許有些牽強，但目的是為了方便敘述，好讓讀者容易理解。 針對本研究之主要問題可區分為下列兩期，將籌備到創業後三年歸納為創業前期，第四到十五年則歸納為創業後期，雖然期間有點太長，但經營者自認為規模還小，仍應秉著創業期之衝勁追求更完美： 一、 新創公司創業前期的管理作法為何? 二、 新創公司創業後期的管理作法為何? 從本研究中可獲得以下之主要結論: 一、 新創公司在創業前期會善用其核心能耐以尋找商機，同時以外部資源取用補足內部資源及能力之不足，並加強創業團隊成員之專長互補與共識，提高創業成功的機會。 二、 新創公司在創業後期之技術管理上會著重利基性及差異性之思維，在行銷管理上會以客戶需求為導向，在組織管理上則會特別重視風險管理並適時網羅人才以增強組織的陣容，並以創新來提高報酬。 / The newly start-up company will face the different management difficulties during the starting period. The study distinguished the start-up period into Earlier Period of the Start-up and the Later Period of the Start-up. The selecting company of the thesis is classified as the high-tech industry. We use the Timmons Model to analyze the Earlier Period of the Start-up, and use the Model of Scott A. Shane to analyze the Later Period of the Start-up. The main research questions of the thesis are : 1. What’s the right management method in the Earlier Period of the Start-up Company? 2. What’s the right management method in the Later Period of the Start-up Company? The conclusions of the research are： 1. In the Earlier Period, the company must (1) make a good use of its core competency to catch the good chance, (2) use the external resources to strengthen the lack of the internal resources or capability, (3) strengthen and increases the complementarity of the abilities of the start-up entrepreneurial team. 2. In the Later Period, the company must (1) focus on the niche market and attach importance to the differentiation on the Technology Management issue, (2) take the customer demand-oriented method as the principal on the Marketing Management issue, (3) pay attention to the risk management, recruit the talented person or team on the Organizational Management issue.

<p>In the past years Väderstad Verken has been developing rapidly and expanding the sales of its machines in new markets, in particular in Eastern Europe. Due to the growing sales and some risks related to possible increases in the import duties on some agricultural equipment the company is considering the possibility of building a factory in the Eastern Europe to serve that market.</p><p>For this reason the company was interested in a pre-study on the important factors for the factory start-up in Eastern Europe, in particular, Russia and Ukraine. Thus the scope of the thesis included the research and identification of the factors important particularly for Väderstad Verken as well as identifying some general steps necessary for the factory start-up. In order to identify and analyse location factors critical for Väderstad Verken, literature on location analysis was analysed in order to identify a list of possible factors as well as tools which could be used to evaluate them.</p><p>Center of Gravity and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) have been selected to evaluate the performance of several regions on these factors to identify the suitable location of the factory. Expert Choice software was applied in order to simplify the comparison of various factors following the AHP steps.</p><p>A specification for the potential factory has been defined given the desired production capacity and requirements. Two factory layouts have been suggested taking into consideration the possibility of the factory expansion.</p><p>In some way this master thesis could be used as a guideline for the selection of suitable manufacturing location as well as factory start-up.</p>

<p>As a part of a large project at Norrmejerier, a biogas production plant has been constructed at Umeå Dairy. In this plant wastewater, residual milk and whey are decomposed and biogas is produced. The biogas is burned in a steam boiler. The biogas plant is designed as an anaerobic contact process, with sludge separation and recirculation by a clarifier. The fat in the substrate is treated in a separate reactor.</p><p>The purpose of this study is to evaluate the design and start-up of this biogas production plant. Further, the interaction with the contractor responsible for construction and start-up is evaluated.</p><p>The plant is generally well designed, the process conditions are suitable and the objectives are realistic. However, the seed sludge is unsuitable and the time plan is too optimistic.</p><p>At the end of the period of this study, the plant was running and all central components are performing as intended. Still, the objectives have not been reached. This is mainly attributed to the poor quality of the seed sludge.</p><p>The management of the plant and the interaction with the contractor has generally been good. Most problems that arose were of typical start-up nature. Others were due to insufficient planning or lack of communication. Further, several design flaws were identified during start-up.</p><p>Washout of sludge has been one of the most significant drawbacks during start-up. This inconvenience seems to be the result of improper seed sludge and a too hasty increase of the organic loading rate.</p> / <p>Norrmejerier har som en del av ett större projekt låtit uppföra en anläggning för biogasproduktion vid Umeå mejeri. I anläggningen, som är utformad som en anaerob kontaktprocess, behandlas avloppsvattnen och andra organiska restprodukter från mejeriet tillsammans med vassle från både Umeå och Burträsk mejeri. Fettet i substratet avskiljs och behandlas separat. Den biogas som produceras vid nedbrytningen av det organiska materialet bränns i en brännare och ånga produceras.</p><p>Syftet med den här studien är att utvärdera anläggningens design, valda processförhållanden och förfarandet under uppstarten av biogasanläggningen. Dessutom utvärderas interaktionen med den tyska entreprenör som är ansvarig för konstruktion och uppstart.</p><p>Anläggningens utformning och valda processbetingelser är passande och de uppsatta målen är rimliga. Däremot är valet av ymp olämpligt och tidsplanen för uppstarten är för optimistisk.</p><p>När denna studie avslutades var anläggningen i bruk och biogas producerades. Alla de mål för som formulerats hade dock inte uppnåtts. Ympens dåliga kvalitet är den mest bidragande orsaken till att uppstartsperioden har blivit förlängd.</p><p>Arbetet under uppstarten och samarbetet med entreprenören har generellt sett varit lyckat. Man har dock stött på många komplikationer, varav de flesta har varit av typisk uppstartsnatur. Andra har varit resultatet av bristande planering och kommunikation. En rad konstruktions- och designfel har också identifierats under uppstarten.</p><p>Slamflykt från reaktorerna har varit det mest betydande problemet hos den biologiska processen. Denna förlust av slam förmodas bero på olämpligt val av ymp och en alltför hastig ökning av den organiska belastningen i reaktorerna under uppstarten.</p>

The progress of internet application never stopped. As an evolutionary result, Web2.0, of which made asynchronous mutual communication on web page become capable was a significant milestone in internet application. Web2.0 emphasized on the function of interaction, such as experience share, idea exchange, as well as topic discussion, and set the trend of community interaction. Numerous websites were set up with function of Web2.0 in order to following the trend. Therefore, a proposal competition of Web2.0 was held by Innovative DigiTech-Enabled Applications & Services Institute to encourage those who would like to make a business of Web2.0 application to propose their business plan. In the competition, participants were able to attend relevant courses, acquire much more technical knowledge, and amount of business information was provided. This research mainly aimed at participants of the proposal competition, and took Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) as a theoretical framework, though some modification had been made for research needs. The questionnaires were sent out and gathered through internet to measure the connection between perceived usefulness, perceived ease used, the attitude of Web2.0 of participants and their will of starting a business. The purposes of this paper attempted to discover¡G(1) was it appropriate to take TAM for explaining the adoption behaviors of Web2.0; furthermore, (2) to apprehend if the attitude, one of the variables in TAM, have been proved to have influences on adoption behaviors of adopters, did the attitude also cause influences on motivation of starting a business of competition participants. Finally, the results of this research could be reference for government to take into consideration while developing further related programs.

In the past years Väderstad Verken has been developing rapidly and expanding the sales of its machines in new markets, in particular in Eastern Europe. Due to the growing sales and some risks related to possible increases in the import duties on some agricultural equipment the company is considering the possibility of building a factory in the Eastern Europe to serve that market. For this reason the company was interested in a pre-study on the important factors for the factory start-up in Eastern Europe, in particular, Russia and Ukraine. Thus the scope of the thesis included the research and identification of the factors important particularly for Väderstad Verken as well as identifying some general steps necessary for the factory start-up. In order to identify and analyse location factors critical for Väderstad Verken, literature on location analysis was analysed in order to identify a list of possible factors as well as tools which could be used to evaluate them. Center of Gravity and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) have been selected to evaluate the performance of several regions on these factors to identify the suitable location of the factory. Expert Choice software was applied in order to simplify the comparison of various factors following the AHP steps. A specification for the potential factory has been defined given the desired production capacity and requirements. Two factory layouts have been suggested taking into consideration the possibility of the factory expansion. In some way this master thesis could be used as a guideline for the selection of suitable manufacturing location as well as factory start-up.

As a part of a large project at Norrmejerier, a biogas production plant has been constructed at Umeå Dairy. In this plant wastewater, residual milk and whey are decomposed and biogas is produced. The biogas is burned in a steam boiler. The biogas plant is designed as an anaerobic contact process, with sludge separation and recirculation by a clarifier. The fat in the substrate is treated in a separate reactor. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the design and start-up of this biogas production plant. Further, the interaction with the contractor responsible for construction and start-up is evaluated. The plant is generally well designed, the process conditions are suitable and the objectives are realistic. However, the seed sludge is unsuitable and the time plan is too optimistic. At the end of the period of this study, the plant was running and all central components are performing as intended. Still, the objectives have not been reached. This is mainly attributed to the poor quality of the seed sludge. The management of the plant and the interaction with the contractor has generally been good. Most problems that arose were of typical start-up nature. Others were due to insufficient planning or lack of communication. Further, several design flaws were identified during start-up. Washout of sludge has been one of the most significant drawbacks during start-up. This inconvenience seems to be the result of improper seed sludge and a too hasty increase of the organic loading rate. / Norrmejerier har som en del av ett större projekt låtit uppföra en anläggning för biogasproduktion vid Umeå mejeri. I anläggningen, som är utformad som en anaerob kontaktprocess, behandlas avloppsvattnen och andra organiska restprodukter från mejeriet tillsammans med vassle från både Umeå och Burträsk mejeri. Fettet i substratet avskiljs och behandlas separat. Den biogas som produceras vid nedbrytningen av det organiska materialet bränns i en brännare och ånga produceras. Syftet med den här studien är att utvärdera anläggningens design, valda processförhållanden och förfarandet under uppstarten av biogasanläggningen. Dessutom utvärderas interaktionen med den tyska entreprenör som är ansvarig för konstruktion och uppstart. Anläggningens utformning och valda processbetingelser är passande och de uppsatta målen är rimliga. Däremot är valet av ymp olämpligt och tidsplanen för uppstarten är för optimistisk. När denna studie avslutades var anläggningen i bruk och biogas producerades. Alla de mål för som formulerats hade dock inte uppnåtts. Ympens dåliga kvalitet är den mest bidragande orsaken till att uppstartsperioden har blivit förlängd. Arbetet under uppstarten och samarbetet med entreprenören har generellt sett varit lyckat. Man har dock stött på många komplikationer, varav de flesta har varit av typisk uppstartsnatur. Andra har varit resultatet av bristande planering och kommunikation. En rad konstruktions- och designfel har också identifierats under uppstarten. Slamflykt från reaktorerna har varit det mest betydande problemet hos den biologiska processen. Denna förlust av slam förmodas bero på olämpligt val av ymp och en alltför hastig ökning av den organiska belastningen i reaktorerna under uppstarten.

In this study, the mixed lubrication of line contact is numerically calculated and analyzed. The surface asperities are in contact for mixed lubrication which differs from elastohydrodynamic lubrication. In this study, the Poiseuille term is neglected when the film thickness was smaller than the cut-off value about 0.5 nanometer, so that the surface asperities in contact or not contact can be solved in a system equation using the Newton-Raphson method. The mixed lubrication was studied in three parts, including the steady-state, the transient state and the start-up process. The effect of amplitude and wavelength on the film thickness and the pressure are investigated using the deterministic quantifiable method. The mixed lubrication zone in terms of rolling speed and load is established for the smooth surface under the steady-state conditions. For a single asperity on the surface, results show that the maximum pressure increases with increasing amplitude and decreasing wavelength. At high load situation, the film thickness is flattened around the asperity in the steady-state conditions, but it is increased due to the squeezing effect in transient state. For the start-up process, two surfaces are gradually separated due to the growth of film thickness, so that the contact area of two surfaces decreases linearly with time. However, the interval of contact time decreases with increasing roller speed and Young¡¦s modulus, but decreasing load.

Many people instinctively agree that entrepreneurial experience is a valuable property more useful in identifying new opportunities. In fact, many entrepreneurs who had started an enterprise thought that they identified a new opportunity but failed in new enterprise. This let us consider a question ¡§How entrepreneurial experience effects opportunity identification¡H¡¨ Past researches have discussed more about ¡§prior knowledge¡¨, but not deeply discussed about the content of entrepreneurial experience. It is hard to express the unique value of entrepreneurial experience and to explain the logic of the relation between entrepreneurial experience and opportunity identification. This research further describes and defines the content of entrepreneurial experience on the basis of ¡§prior knowledge¡¨ discussed by past researches, and explains the relation between entrepreneurial experience and opportunity identification. Analyzing literature, this research generalizes a conclusion that entrepreneurial experience includes ¡§start-up experience¡¨, ¡§management experience¡¨ and ¡§industry-specific experience¡¨. ¡§Start-up experience¡¨ is the most unique and is also the key point of this research. Through discussion with entrepreneur, the content of ¡§start-up experience¡¨ includes ¡§sustained opportunity identification¡¨, ¡§establishment of networks of stakeholders¡¨ and ¡§establishment of honor¡¨. The goals of these activities are reacting to the environmental impact of high uncertainty, variance and time pressure in start-up period. Finally, according to the result of case study, this research finds ¡§sustained opportunity identification¡¨ and ¡§establishment of networks of stakeholders¡¨ could be useful or harmful to opportunity identification in different conditions. ¡§Establishment of honor¡¨ is absolutely useful to opportunity identification. So it can be understood that entrepreneurial experience could give opportunity identification a positive or negative effect.

This research proposes a new signal operation strategy aimed at efficient utilization of green time by cutting down on the start up and response loss times. The idea is to have a "pre-signal" on each main approach a few hundred feet upstream of the intersection in addition to the main intersection signal, which is coordinated with the pre-signal. The offset between the main and pre-signal ensures that the majority of start up losses does not occur at the main signal. The benefits of the system under various traffic conditions were evaluated based on analysis of the queue discharge process and Corridor Simulation (CORSIM) study. The proposed measure should reduce the travel time and total control delay for the signalized network. To attain the objective the following two studies were undertaken: 1. Development of a queue discharge model to investigate the expected benefits of the system. 2. Simulation of the system: In the second part of the research, the proposed strategy was tested using CORSIM to evaluate its performance vis-à-vis the baseline case. The queue discharge model (QDM) was found to be linear in nature in contrast to prior expectations. The model was used to quantify the benefits obtained from the pre-signal system. The result of this analysis indicated that the proposed strategy would yield significant travel time savings and reductions in total control delay. In addition to the QDM analysis, CORSIM simulations were used to code various hypothetical scenarios to test the concept under various constraints and limitations. As per expectations, it was found that the system was beneficial for high demand levels and longer offsets. The upper limit on offsets was determined by visual observation of platoon dispersion and therefore the maximum offset distance was restricted to 450 feet. For scenarios where split phasing was used, the break even point in terms of demand level was found to be 2500 vph on a three lane approach, whereas that for a lag-lag type of phasing strategy was found to be 1800 vph, also on a three lane approach.