Innovation in Micro, Small and Medium Sized Enterprises: New Product Development, Business Model Innovation and Effectuation

Digitalization increases the need for innovation of the business models to a new high, also in micro, small and medium sized businesses (SMEs). Every third SME is engaged in Business Model Innovation (BMI) activities, but few of them in a systematic manner. Earlier empirical and theoretical research suggest that BMI is, and should be, an iterative process of adjustments in pursuit for better performance and success with New Product Development (NPD). NPD and BMI research streams use causal constructs with focus on external technology driven or market driven internal resource optimization. Studies on effectuation and bricolage, in turn, indicate that entrepreneurs’ passion, curiosity, and originality can compensate limited resources for innovation in SMEs. Building on these approaches, we propose a framework to analyze innovation in SMEs with case studies. The empirical data was collected in in Horizon2020 funded Envision project, where we use multiple case study approach. For this study, we select failed, surviving, and successful BMI cases to recommend effective BMI for SMEs and line out directions for future research

On Implementing Usability Evaluation Activities within Agile Environment: A Plan Based-Process

In fast-paced software development cycles, poor governance may cause a loss of focus on the overarching objectives and implementation of usability work. We propose a conceptual framework that would assist software development teams in understanding and implementing usability evaluations in the described agile environments. The framework provides a common language that conveys the “big picture” of software development, details the roles needed for usability, and facilitates the analysis, discussion and communication of responsibilities and decision structures. The framework is supported by a visual mapping guideline that eases discussion and simplifies the process of incorporating usability work in companies

Experience goals in designing professional tools : evoking meaningful experiences at work

For most adults, work is an important part of life. Experiences at work are shaped considerably by the workplace context wherein professional tools often play a crucial role. Given this significance, this doctoral research is concerned with human flourishing at work as mediated by professional tools and work-related service touchpoints. This dissertation concentrates on prioritising meaningful experiences as high-level design goals in the early phase of the design process, which enables a creative approach to professional tool innovation. In the last three decades, the societal change from the materialistic to the experiential has boosted business-to-consumer design practices with a focus on experiential quality. Compelling consumer experiences in daily life have raised the bar of people’s expectations for desirable experiences at work. In contrast, current work tool design in the business-to-business setting is mainly driven by product performance criteria, system productivity, and cost efficiency. The value of meaningful experiences at work as a catalyst for employee flourishing seems largely neglected in work tool design. This dissertation therefore proposes to shift the orientation of work tool design from product-centred problem solving towards experience-focused possibility seeking. This research follows Hassenzahl’s proposition of experience design, to think intended experiences before concrete design outcome. To maintain the designers’ focus on experiential objectives throughout the design process, this dissertation introduces a key conceptual instrument of inquiry into design practice, namely, the experience goal (Xgoal). This dissertation defines Xgoals as high-level design objectives that concretise the intended momentary emotion or lasting meaning that a person feels about a product or service to be designed. The main challenges of Xgoal setting and realisation correspond to a design abduction process in which designers constantly experiment with tentative Xgoals until a preferable match between the two emerges. Thus, this research investigates Xgoal setting and utilisation for work tool design in the specific context of the Finnish metals and engineering industry where traditional problem-solving engineering design dominates. Theoretically, this research utilises the multidisciplinary lenses of positive psychology, organisational management, and possibility-driven design thinking to study Xgoals in creative design practice. Methodologically, this dissertation extracts data from 20 master student projects that collaborated with heavy industry companies. These projects were deliberately designed for meaningful experiences at work in relation to professional tool innovation. The analysis of these project reports emphasises design reasoning for Xgoal setting and utilisation in design activities. Finally, Xgoals as designerly instruments were evaluated in expert interviews. The findings of this research first indicate that Xgoals with in-depth meaning can lead a possibility-driven design process because Xgoals define the in-depth reason for design opportunities rather than a means to a solution. Xgoals can facilitate the considered design space expansion from the main product towards a product-service system and from styling towards human-product interaction, face-to-face communication, and organisational strategy. Second, the findings suggest that the mechanisms of meaningful work can complement a Positive Design Framework, and further propose Xgoals in terms of design for virtue, personal significance and pleasure intertwined with the meaningfulness of work. Third, this research uncovers design strategies for experiences of pride at work along social and temporal dimensions. Finally, this dissertation suggests the generative, reflective, and communicative functions of Xgoals in design practice. This research contributes a theory-inspired and design case-based approach to tool design for evoking meaningful experiences at work. Future studies on this could concentrate on applying the proposed framework and design strategies to other domains, and further develop context-dependent Xgoal setting and utilisation methods for possibility-driven design

Applying agile to portfolio management

Portfolio management is a practice of managing organization’s projects in a structured manner. The goal is to produce maximum value by selecting executed projects, realizing the maximum amount of business value. Portfolio management is also one of the most important tools to execute company strategy by focusing on development efforts and as such an important tool for management. Agile project management and development practices have become very common in the last decade, so portfolio management should also be compatible with modern agile development methods when applied. In this thesis, a literature review is made to understand the current research of portfolio management, agile development methods, and combining those two subjects. A goal is to understand how portfolio management process should be defined to be compatible with projects using agile development methods, and if agile methods can be applied in the process as well. A new customized portfolio management framework is designed and implemented based on the literature review for Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Company’s investment organization to be used to manage in house development projects. Thesis will follow up if the framework is able to improve organization’s portfolio management practices. The designed framework was considered as an improvement and was designed to support use of agile development methods

Identifying innovation opportunities emerging from technology and business trends

PhD thesis in TechnologyBusinesses are continuously looking for opportunities to innovate. There is a gap in the literature regarding innovation models and approaches that are systematic, practical and easy to apply. This thesis addresses this issue through investigation of the potential for identifying innovation opportunities emerging from technology and business trends and of how to evaluate ideas. Technology trends depict the evolving direction of technology; can they be used to innovate products? Inspired by ideation literature, a novel model is presented which combines technology trends with product breakdown to generate product innovation ideas. The empirical evidence suggests that the model can generate quality ideas. Further investigation of technology trends indicated that the largest trend of the near future will be autonomation, which suggests that many products and services will be delivered in a totally autonomous way. Operations that can be standardized have a high likelihood of being autonomated in the near future. This is because sensor advancement has made it possible to install low-cost sensors on machines; these act as senses for the machine, and then the sensor data can be processed in digital algorithms to carry out fine-tuned decision-making for the machine. This enables a paradigm shift in how machines and applications are operated. The megatrend of electrification has dominated the past century, during which the leading inspiration for innovators was how to electrify industry, households, automobiles, etc. The inspiration for future innovation could likewise be how to autonomate the same. Anecdotal evidence supports this claim. A model and case study are presented in this regard. In a similar way to technology trends, business trends are also agents of change, revealing how businesses are evolving. The largest trend observed is servitization. Companies are gradually shifting away from the traditional model of selling just products towards selling the functionality of the products as services. The shelf life of many products has been significantly reduced, and there is stiff competition in the market. Services, on the other hand, are more sustainable. Servitization is here defined as reducing tangibility in the product. A utility-driven approach is developed, in which the products are broken down into the utility features that encourage the customer to purchase the product and barriers that prohibit the customer from purchasing the product. The model presented in the study presents options to gradually enhance utility and reduce both barriers and the overall tangibility of the product. That can assist users in transforming their products into services. Another way to servitize is to add services to a product in the form of product-service-system. Financing/ownership value added services are explored, and the changes they bring to the business model are studied. These services do not require changes to the product or technological development and can add service benefits to the product. A systematic framework is presented, in which the options can be individually evaluated, and suitable value-added service options can be selected. Another important business trend observed is outsourcing. Start-ups and high growth companies have limited resources, and they do not have the flexibility to carry out all business activities internally. Companies tend to outsource business activities, to survive with limited resources. However, sometimes outsourcing the core activities of the business can invite competition. In this thesis, a decision tree for evaluating business activities for outsourcing purposes is presented. The decision tree assists users in evaluating those activities that can be outsourced with minimal side effects for the business. Traditionally, ideas are screened based on subjective judgement after a brainstorming session. In this thesis, a systematic high-level idea screening tool is presented, which is useful for screening ideas in a short period of time. Six key parameters, which are producibility, problem size, market size, novelty, profit margin and business alignment, are pillars of the idea screening tool, compiled by assorting the idea screening literature. The tool is useful for screening the ideas generated in the aforementioned models. Together, the appended papers contribute to filling the gap in the innovation literature regarding practical guidelines to innovate businesses

Transferring Collective Knowledge: Collective and Fragmented Teaching and Learning in the Chinese Auto Industry

Collective knowledge, consisting of tacit group-embedded knowledge, is a key element of organizational capabilities. This study undertakes a multiple-case study of the transfer of collective knowledge, guided by a set of tentative constructs and propositions derived from organizational learning theory. By focusing on the group-embeddedness dimension of collective knowledge, we direct our attention to the source and recipient communities. We identify two sets of strategic choices concerning the transfer of collective knowledge: collective vs. fragmented teaching, and collective vs. fragmented learning. The empirical context of this study is international R&D capability transfer in the Chinese auto industry. From the case evidence, we find the expected benefits of collective teaching and collective learning, and also discover additional benefits of these two strategies, including the creation of a bridge network communication infrastructure. The study disclosed other conditions underlying the choice of strategies of transferring collective knowledge, including transfer effort and the level of group-embeddedness of the knowledge to be taught or re-embedded. The paper provides a group-level perspective in understanding organizational capabilities, as well as a set of refined constructs and propositions concerning strategic choices of transferring collective knowledge. The study also provides a rich description of the best practices and lessons learned in transferring organizational capabilities.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39804/3/wp420.pd

30th Bled eConference: Digital Transformation – From Connecting Things to Transforming Our Lives

Digitalization increases the need for innovation of the business models to a new high, also in micro, small and medium sized businesses (SMEs). Every third SME is engaged in Business Model Innovation (BMI) activities, but few of them in a systematic manner. Earlier empirical and theoretical research suggest that BMI is, and should be, an iterative process of adjustments in pursuit for better performance and success with New Product Development (NPD). NPD and BMI research streams use causal constructs with focus on external technology driven or market driven internal resource optimization. Studies on effectuation and bricolage, in turn, indicate that entrepreneurs’ passion, curiosity, and originality can compensate limited resources for innovation in SMEs. Building on these approaches, we propose a framework to analyze innovation in SMEs with case studies. The empirical data was collected in in Horizon2020 funded Envision project, where we use multiple case study approach. For this study, we select failed, surviving, and successful BMI cases to recommend effective BMI for SMEs and line out directions for future research. Keywords: • Business Model Innovation • New Product Development • Effectuation • Bricolage • SME • Market strategy • Performance</p

Transferring Collective Knowledge: Collective and Fragmented Teaching and Learning in the Chinese Auto Industry

Collective knowledge, consisting of tacit group-embedded knowledge, is a key element of organizational capabilities. This study undertakes a multiple-case study of the transfer of collective knowledge, guided by a set of tentative constructs and propositions derived from organizational learning theory. By focusing on the group-embeddedness dimension of collective knowledge, we direct our attention to the source and recipient communities. We identify two sets of strategic choices concerning the transfer of collective knowledge: collective vs. fragmented teaching, and collective vs. fragmented learning. The empirical context of this study is international R&D capability transfer in the Chinese auto industry. From the case evidence, we find the expected benefits of collective teaching and collective learning, and also discover additional benefits of these two strategies, including the creation of a bridge network communication infrastructure. The study disclosed other conditions underlying the choice of strategies of transferring collective knowledge, including transfer effort and the level of group-embeddedness of the knowledge to be taught or re-embedded. The paper provides a group-level perspective in understanding organizational capabilities, as well as a set of refined constructs and propositions concerning strategic choices of transferring collective knowledge. The study also provides a rich description of the best practices and lessons learned in transferring organizational capabilities.knowledge transfer, collective knowledge, organizational capabilities, R&D capabilities, organizational learning, network, China

A Case Study on Enterprise Content Management using Agile Methodology

Every organization has the need to create, classify, manage and archive information so that it is accessible when they need it. The amount of data or information needed for an organization to build their business and for them to be more positive in today’s business world is increasing exponentially, which also includes unstructured data or unstructured content. It is not appropriate only to “manage” content, but whether the correct version of the data or document or record can be accessed. Enterprise Content Management is an efficient collection and planning of information that is to be used by a very particular type of audience for pure business objectives. It is neither a single type of technology nor a process, it is a combination of strategies, methods and tools used to preserve, store and deliver information supporting key enterprise processes through its entire lifecycle. This research is classified into a case study research because it takes a particular focus on a certain area, i.e., the ECM implementation in XYZ organization where I completed my summer internship this year. Besides research, this study also helped me understand the in-depth implementation of ECM in an enterprise which directly depicts the working environment and methodologies in XYZ

A Framework for Integrating Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance into the Systems Development Process

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act introduces a new set of requirements into software development. Corporations need to assess their internal control effectiveness for business processes to show compliance with the act. This paper proposes a conceptual framework for integrating Sarbanes-Oxley compliance needs into software development by mapping the activities of an established framework for internal controls to the various workflows of the systems development process. Theoretical and practical contributions are discussed and future research directions are explored