Title: The customer?s contribution to the innovation-process ? a study of using customers to discover latent needs. Level: Final assignment for Bachelor Degree in Business Administration Author: Robert Klein Supervisor: Agneta Sundström Date: 2014-06 Aim: The purpose of this study is to gain enhanced understanding of what knowledge costumers contribute with in an innovation-process lead by a producer of goods, and how that knowledge is used to fulfill latent needs. The area of research has formerly described which results customer-involvement lead to, but have been scarce in describing how results are produced. Method: From a qualitative onset, a case-study collecting data through observations and interviews capturing customer knowledge contributions, and producer use of fetched knowledge has been conducted. Data has been analyzed using a grounded theory approach. Results have been processed in several steps in which material has been categorized and enriched continuously. Result & Conclusions: Customer-knowledge is broken down into market-knowledge, everyday-knowledge, and specialist-knowledge, which all are significant to a producer of goods.

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.

AbstractThe purpose for writing this essay is to study the culture of kindness in the Church of Sweden, as the church constitutes as an idealistic organization (non-profit or voluntary organization).The focal point is on how such a culture affects the employees, and if any new componentsthat can amplify the concept can be distinguished.To do this a case study-design has been employed. The primary sources are qualitativeinterviews with six employees in a congregation in the Church of Sweden, and participantobservations on two different occasions at the same congregation.Theories of organizational sociology has been applied to the material, more specific Edgar HSchein?s definition of organizational culture and the concept of a culture of kindness (derivingfrom a report by the Swedish Work Environment Authority) as a specific part of the church?sorganizational culture.The conclusions we can make from our study is that a culture of kindness affect employees inboth a positive and a negative way. There are many expectations that come with working inthe Church of Sweden, and these do have an effect on the work performed. There is alsoevidence pointing to the fact that leadership can counteract the fear of conflicts that otherwiseis associated with the culture of kindness.

In scientific investigations on how organizations can learn from their mistakes the perspective is usually that of the social engineer; the object is to prevent human errors through modeling the system in a certain way. The aim of this paper is to explore the learning process from a different standpoint than those usually applied in organizational learning and error theory. By studying the learning process in Swedish health care I seek to discover how theoretical presumptions affect the outcome in terms of what we actually learn. The theoretical framework draws on two major discussions in contemporary political science; the question of structure and agency and the question of whether to focus on formal or informal structures when explaining organizational behavior.The investigation shows that Swedish health care tend to understand human errors as a result of formal organizational structure. Such a view leads to insufficient explanations to why errors occur but is useful in producing preventative measures.

Denna studie behandlar det upplevda innovativa arbetsklimatet hos en projektgrupp vid Eskilstuna Energi och Miljö (EEM). För att studera detta har undersökningsledarna använt sig av kvantitativ och kvalitativ undersökningsmetod. Det i form av en enkätundersökning med fem deltagande personer ur projektgruppen och intervjuer med samma fem personer. Det övergripande syftet är att undersöka hur arbetsklimatet upplevts i en projektgrupp vid EEM. Fokus inom studien ligger på in-novation och gruppklimat.

SyfteSyftet med uppatsen är att studera de idéer som ligger bakomInnovationsmaskinen, en modell som Innovation Stockholmanvänder sig av i rådgivningen för att förverkliga nya idéer. Vidarekommer jag att undersöka hur denna modell implementeras hos deinnovationsrådgivare som arbetar för Innovation Stockholm, ochvilka förutsättningar Innovationsmaskinen har att spridas.Teoretiskt perspektiv Grunden för uppsatsen lades genom att studera de kreativabegreppen som möjliga att systematisera. Därefter undersökte jagmed ett organisationsteoretiskt synsätt hur ett koncept uppnår statussom ett recept, och därefter hur ett sådant recept har möjlighet attspridas och översättas.MetodUppsatsen har en deduktiv ansats där kvalitativa metoder ansettslämpliga för att fylla uppsatsens syfte. Primärdata utgörs avintervjuer och är huvuddelen i empirin.SlutsatserInnovationsmaskinen innehåller många av de ?framgångskriterier?som finns för att uppnå status som ett framgångsrikt recept.Men det finns även luckor i konceptet som skapar konsekvenser förresten av ?maskinen?.

The background to this report is the author?s ambition to understand individuals? work situation, how it?s formed in interaction between the individual and factors in the work-setting. Such an ambition is well in line with the concept of Human-Technology-Organization (HTO), a cross-scientific approach that puts a system-oriented perspective on how human, technolog-ical and organizational factors interact within work systems.The aim of this report was to explore managers? work-situation and generate an understanding of it from an HTO-perspective by using an organizational model as a framework for an interview guide and to analyze the work situation from an HTO-perspective following the ques-tions at issue:1. How does the managers experience their work situation?2.

The background to this report is the author?s ambition to understand individuals? work situation, how it?s formed in interaction between the individual and factors in the work-setting. Such an ambition is well in line with the concept of Human-Technology-Organization (HTO), a cross-scientific approach that puts a system-oriented perspective on how human, technolog-ical and organizational factors interact within work systems.The aim of this report was to explore managers? work-situation and generate an understanding of it from an HTO-perspective by using an organizational model as a framework for an interview guide and to analyze the work situation from an HTO-perspective following the ques-tions at issue:1. How does the managers experience their work situation?2.

The background to this report is the author?s ambition to understand individuals? work situation, how it?s formed in interaction between the individual and factors in the work-setting. Such an ambition is well in line with the concept of Human-Technology-Organization (HTO), a cross-scientific approach that puts a system-oriented perspective on how human, technolog-ical and organizational factors interact within work systems.The aim of this report was to explore managers? work-situation and generate an understanding of it from an HTO-perspective by using an organizational model as a framework for an interview guide and to analyze the work situation from an HTO-perspective following the ques-tions at issue:1. How does the managers experience their work situation?2.

The spread of digital photography has created major changes in the previously stable Swedish photofinishing market. We investigate how companies act to survive in the face of technological change, through our research question: What strategies have actors in the photofinishing business chosen during the changeover from analog to digital photofinishing? Using a deductive method, we have conducted semi-structured interviews with 11 actors in the photofinishing business. Innovation management studies innovation from a number of perspectives, describing effects of innovations on the competitive ability of established actors, and on the value of their resources. The companies were not prepared for the speed of the change.

The background to this report is the author?s ambition to understand individuals? work situation, how it?s formed in interaction between the individual and factors in the work-setting. Such an ambition is well in line with the concept of Human-Technology-Organization (HTO), a cross-scientific approach that puts a system-oriented perspective on how human, technolog-ical and organizational factors interact within work systems.The aim of this report was to explore managers? work-situation and generate an understanding of it from an HTO-perspective by using an organizational model as a framework for an interview guide and to analyze the work situation from an HTO-perspective following the ques-tions at issue:1. How does the managers experience their work situation?2.

This is a study about a company in Norrköping, called Stadium AB, and its first steps into the global market. We have studied how the conditions of the company have changed during their expansion. This study is not written from the viewpoint of business economics, it is rather a study from a cultural and social studies perspective. The study deals with subjects such as the globalization of society, organizational theories and leadership. The empiric material consists of Stadium?s staff magazine Tracks, the company?s swedish homepage on the Internet and an interview with Sussi Calås-Jonsson, Chief of the Department of Information at Stadium AB.

The aim of this study is to compare attitudes to change among innovation and economics students and teachers at one of the universities in Sweden.Data about students? and teachers? attitudes to change was gathered using a survey.Keeping in mind that knowledge can lower ones resistance this study is based on a hypothesis that individuals from the innovations program have a lower resistance to change. The study is also based on earlier research in regards to comparisons between students and teachers.The results of the study show that teachers have less resistance to change than students. Individuals in the innovation program are however less resistant to change than individuals in the economics program.One can discuss whether or not results of the study show that the hypothesis is correct.The difference between individuals in the economics- and the innovation program are statistically significant and has moderate effects in reality. The differences between teachers and students are statistically significant but only have a small effect.It is however a starting-point for future studies that will possibly explore the subject more profoundly..

The purpose of this dissertation is to create an understanding of how a personal idea in the mind of an entrepreneur becomes an outspoken vision in one biotech company. More specifically, for what purpose the vision is used at different stages, how it is communicated, its content and what impact previous visions have on future vision work and in order to reach a deeper understanding of how vision develops over time and how it is used we have employed a qualitative approach based on a case study. The theoretical framework starts with the concept of vision and related concepts. Furthermore, the entrepreneur?s and manager?s usage of vision is examined.

Centrum för Teknik i Medicin och Hälsa (CTMH) har, i samarbete med Stanford University, utvecklat programmet Clinical Innovation Fellowships (CIF) för att identifiera förändringsbehov inom vården. Syftet med den här uppsatsen är att undersöka huruvida arbetssättet med Clinical Innovation Fellowships har åstadkommit förändringar för patienter, medarbetare och ekonomi på värdklinikerna.Undersökningen har visat att arbetssättet med CIF framförallt har åstadkommit förändringar för medarbetare. Även förändringar för patienter har genomförts, dock har den ekonomiska aspekten av programmet varit svårare att mäta och se några konkreta förändringar inom.Det har gått att tyda en generell trend som visar att de undersökta värdklinikerna valt att börja med de förändringar som är av mer praktisk natur och enklare att genomföra lokalt på kliniken. Värdklinikerna har haft svårare att genomföra större, organisatoriska förändringar, vilka styrs mer centralt på sjukhusen. Undersökningen på de utvalda värdklinikerna visade att något som skulle gynna CTMHs arbetssätt med CIF skulle vara att etablera en uppföljning på klinikerna.