This thesis examines history of the subject of mechatronics and innovation. The main reason tostudy mechatronics from a historical point of view is that it has never been done to a greater extent before. An overview is justified because various definitions have been used over the decades, but nowadays the subject has become more established. Focus in this thesis is mainly on development of the subject of mechatronics at Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. Innovation is the other aspect of this thesis.

This master thesis has been written in collaboration with Science Park Jönköping and is based on a problem related to corporate innovation. Science Park Jönköping believes that there is an untapped potential in existing industry in the form of ideas that are never commercialized. These theories are also supported in the research in which other authors have perceived that the ideas and inventions which do not belong to the core business risk ending up in drawers. If more of these ideas could be spin-offs or other forms of enterprise instead of staying in the drawers it would lead to growth, both for companies and for the society in large.The purpose of the thesis work is to, based on the case Science Park Jönköping, analyze how science parks and incubators can support the commercialization of ideas that derive from industry, who otherwise had been left lying. The work began with a mapping of the Science Park Jönköping operations and the skills they possess, and then other initiatives that aim to commercialize more ideas from companies were examined.

This study is a thesis project for the program Civilingenjör och Lärare at KTH. The study was conducted in spring 2014 in collaboration with Komplementskolan AB which has developed the educational material Studi.se, the focal point of this study.The overall aim of the study is to increase the knowledge of the participant teachers? conception and use of the educational material Studi.se. The second purpose is to increase knowledge about the forms of use some of these teachers apply or claim to apply when using Studi.se. Theoretical framework used is constructivism and the notions of Piaget: adaptation, assimilation and accommodation.

Dagens föränderliga affärsklimat ställer höga krav på oirganisationer som vill jobba med innovation (Slavicek, 2011 & Drucker, 1995). Innovation handlar om processen för att samla in, utveckla, förenkla samt kommersialisera en idé (Mclean, 2005). Kreativitet och innovation kommer endast att ske sporadiskt om det inte finns en stödjande organisationskultur och tydliga processer för det (Malaviya & Subhash, 2005). Ett idéhanteringssystem hjälper organisationen att använda mänskliga resurser mer effektivt genom att se till att individer från hela organisationen kan bidra till innovationsarbetet (Lamont, 2004). Volvo CE är ett globalt ledande företag inom tillverkningsindustrin och verksamt inom maskiner till byggindustrin. På grund av den hårdnande globala konkurrensen har företaget under de senare åren jobbat mer fokuserat med innovationsarbete.

In this paper I argue that the development of innovation ideas within the financial system of scientific research might have a counterpart within the financial system of the social sciences and the arts. The ideas of innovation share a common way to evaluate science in terms of how well it can contribute to economic growth. In the past two decades a similar development can be observed within Riksbankens Jubileumsfond (RJ), one of the largest external financiers of the social sciences and the arts in Sweden. The idea of evaluating research used by the innovation ideas has grown popular within RJ, only it seems they evaluate research in terms of how well it fits into an international research community rather than how much it can contribute to economic growth as is the case within the innovation ideas. By examining the different ways of financing research that RJ has used during the last 2 decades, this paper aims to introduce a new perspective in which it is possible to understand the development within this type research funding as a part of a bigger system of development..

This thesis is a case study with a qualitative approach. The company examined is The Astonishing Tribe (TAT) making user interfaces for mobile phones. The company has had a growth of 1453% from 2002 until 2006. We have examined what are the key factors for keeping innovation while growing. The most significant factor not supporting innovation within the case company is the will to take calculated risks.

Uppsatsen kartlägger hur en företagsledning arbetar med innovation och identifierar möjligheter i kommunikationen med medarbetarna. Författarna analyserar också hur ledningen kan bidra till, samt dess betydelse, vid utvecklingen av innovativa organisationer. Uppsatsen är indelad efter en undersökningsmodell som är utvecklad av författarna själva bestående av 5 delområden: Kommunikation kring innovation, Förhållningssätt till innovation, Mekanismer som styr innovation, Förhållningssätt till misstag och Förhållningssätt till belöningar. Med utgångspunkt i de 5 delområdena undersöks 4 snabbväxande svenska företag genom semi-strukturerade intervjuer med VD på företaget. Två av företagen är av medelstor karaktär och två lite mindre.

Within process or manufacturing industries, the production of goods and services or the products themselves may have negative side effects such as pollution. An important task for environmental policy is to control and limit these pollutions, for example via regulatory measures. Although, the efficiency of such measures vary greatly between different industries and an increasingly important task for environmental policy is then to encourage companies to engage in environmentally motivated innovation. Governments can utilize other measures than regulation to indirectly decrease pollution. This thesis aims to analyze such activities and how it affects the innovativeness of wastewater treatment, refrigeration and automobile manufacturing industries.

I dagens snabbt föränderliga affärssamhälle är innovation en nödvändig förutsättning för framgång och kanske till och med för överlevnad. Det är på grund av detta som innovation har tagit sig till toppen av agendan i organisationer runt om i världen. Organisationskultur är avgörande för innovation och företag behöver förstå denna koppling bättre för att kunna dra nytta av det. Innovation uppkommer genom bra idéer som kopplas till en kultur och ett bra arbetsklimat. Innovation har blivit viktigt i organisationer och en kultur som stödjer innovation kan vara nödvändig.

This master thesis has been written in collaboration with Science Park Jönköping and is based on a problem related to corporate innovation. Science Park Jönköping believes that there is an untapped potential in existing industry in the form of ideas that are never commercialized. These theories are also supported in the research in which other authors have perceived that the ideas and inventions which do not belong to the core business risk ending up in drawers. If more of these ideas could be spin-offs or other forms of enterprise instead of staying in the drawers it would lead to growth, both for companies and for the society in large.The purpose of the thesis work is to, based on the case Science Park Jönköping, analyze how science parks and incubators can support the commercialization of ideas that derive from industry, who otherwise had been left lying. The work began with a mapping of the Science Park Jönköping operations and the skills they possess, and then other initiatives that aim to commercialize more ideas from companies were examined.

BackgroundIncubators are important facilities for economic growth in society. The main purpose of incubators is to accelerate knowledge intensive firms onto their market by both providing resources and an entrepreneurial environment.Problem Companies within incubators are encouraged to share knowledge and experience with each other with the goal to stimulate development and invention of new technology. This exchange involves interaction on an inter-personal and inter-organizational level. Incubators need to create an open and transparent environment in order to enable this exchange on both levels.Purpose The purpose of this study is to enhance the understanding of how knowledge and experience exchange occurs within the context of incubator systems. By understanding how incubators can capture knowledge and learn from the incubator process, this study can contribute by insights of how the incubator process can be further improved.Method This bachelor thesis is written from an abductive approach and is based on a qualitative case study of Ideon Innovation in Lund.

The advancements in digital technology and its availability contribute to the transfer of companycentricproduct development and value creation to networks or communities. It also changes the basisfor creation of customer relationships as described in previous research on Customer relationshipmanagement (CRM). The purpose of this case study was to gain an understanding of how companieslike our case study object Memoto who developed a physical product which gets added-value fromdigital product-related services looks upon product-centered communities as a way of buildingcustomer relationships. How Memoto looks upon incentives for participation in product-centeredcommunities was also examined.Our research indicated that firms in the start-up phase (which Memoto was when this study wasconducted) initially want to have more control over the process of innovation and hence have directcontact with end-customers. The reason for this is because they see a need to define the basis forfurther innovation work.

The communication of self-service within the ICA-sphere, 1945-1960, points tothe central role of communication in technological change. The study coversthe communication from ICAAB, ICA-Förbundet, AB Köpmannatjänst, threepurchasing centres (Hakon, Essve and Eol) and their respective councils oftrustees. The councils communicated their reservations early on, while theother actors spread knowledge (both economic and practical) of the innovation tothe retailers, and some also to the consumers. The communication of thepurchasing centres and Köpmannatjänst gave greater opportunity for learning,due to higher levels of interaction..

Background: The importance of creativity and innovation is frequently stressed in modern literature on management. The significance of innovation gives entrepreneurs the reason to prior to the commencement of a relationship with a venture capitalist, obtain necessary insights regarding the influences such a relationship may have, in terms of innovation. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to scrutinise the influence of venture capital firms on their portfolio companies regarding their ability to be innovative. Delimitations: The intent is to study the impact of a venture capitalist from the viewpoint of its portfolio companies. In other words, what the portfolio companies have perceived as changes is our main area of concern, rather than what the venture capitalist has perceived as change.

This study is intended to give an impartial view of a young and complex program in Sweden titled Product Innovation Engineering program. The purpose of this program is to increase innovation capability in Sweden that will result in new companies, patents and economic growth. The results from this study might give some direction to future innovation initiatives, but should primarily serve as a tool for the PIEp participants. The study will focus on investigating the creation of the program as well as the development of its strategy. From weaknesses and strengths within the strategy of the program the study should also attempt to show its future potential.