DIGITAL CO-CREATION Digitalization within Service Design : Transformation from analog thinking towards digital doing

The German automotive industry has accelerated its digital transformation as OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) moving from car manufacturers towards becoming mobility providers, striving for new mobility solutions like offering Mobility as a Service (MaaS), Electric Vehicles (EVs) and Self-Driving-System (SDS). OEMs focus on expanding their core product-driven businesses to access service-orientated business models, the transformation from ownership towards shared mobility. Considering internal and external factors, this requires a new set of expertise, capabilities and an underlying approach to fulfill the demands in the complexity of human-centered development and front- and backstage alignment within the organization. At the same time, Service Design as a practice has risen in attraction by industry, being recognized and increasingly requested for its integration in the functions and divisions of the organization. The scale of Service Design in influence and impact has reached professional practice, making its way from a trendy buzzword to professional practice of turning complex problems collaboratively into tangible solutions. It is seen as a powerful opportunity for combining Business, Human-Centered Design and Engineering. Service Design establishes new ways of exploring business opportunities towards agile problem-solving but focuses on the ‘doing’ side towards further implementation. The contribution of this industrial-based doctoral thesis shall define how Service Design can be deployed and implemented in the field of organizational transformation and mobility development in the era of digital transformation (Digitalization). This research approach seeks to acquire new knowledge on how the Service Design practice can be applied and executed to be perceived as a practical approach to improve the enterprise’s processes and operating procedures and also provide a strategy to grow Service Design within the organization. This research has followed developing a pilot in a lean start-up approach of build, measure, learn with various business units and brands within the Volkswagen Group, this also implies that this research case study consisted of analyzing the Volkswagen Group needs for Service Design. The ‘10X-Service Design Lab’ (10X-SDL) has been designed as the framework of a combination of modular lab space, facilitation enhanced process, methodological driven tool box, operational model in alignment with a digital workflow and workspace striving for accelerated decision making. It is based on the hypothesis that the proposed framework enhances Service Design practice and, at the same time, it increases its attractiveness for business purposes. The 10X-SDL is designed to accelerate project development in a human-centered and holistic way by an open workspace platform lead by facilitators on which project developers, participants, and stakeholders can digitally co-create products, services, systems, and strategies. This research has been conducted as a case study within the Volkswagen Group from 2015 to 2019 in cooperation with the main partners of Service Innovation Corner (SINCO) of the University of Lapland and visual collaboration software company DEON

Digital transformation of industrial organisations : A sociotechnical study on the role of leadership, structure and culture in achieving performance outcomes

In order to leverage the transformational possibilities of digital technology, digital transformation (DT) has become a strategic priority for industrial organisations. DT uses a mix of modern digital technologies and organisational strategies to facilitate significant business improvements. Recent studies have mostly concentrated on the technical components of DT or literatures reviews, while few conceptual and empirical studies have examined how industrial organisations are digitally transformed. This dissertation builds on the sociotechnical system perspective to answer the following question: How do industrial organisations prepare for DT? To address this question, four empirical research articles have been formulated to advance the knowledge on DT. By adopting a qualitative multiple case study method, this dissertation identifies the most important enablers of DT that help to achieve the targeted performance outcomes of the case organisations. This dissertation attempts to advance both theoretical and managerial understandings of DT by adopting a sociotechnical perspective and exploring an integrative approach for the successful DT of industrial organisations. The results of the study indicate that the case organisations’ main focus is on leadership roles and related competencies, changing organisational structures and organisational culture, which are the main enablers of successful DT. Further, the results show that the identified enablers help the case organisations to achieve organisational agility, customer centricity and enhanced collaboration, which are the main targeted performance outcomes of DT. In addition, the results emphasise that industrial organisations must jointly optimise their social and technical systems for DT in order to achieve the best results. Overall, this research demonstrates that a successful DT depends on how well industrial organisations readjust and update their organisational structures and organisational cultures to match the DT requirements. The role of leaders is vital in this change, and they must lead by example by adjusting their traditional style of leadership to match the DT requirements.Digitaalisesta transformaatiosta (DT) on tullut teollisten organisaatioiden strateginen prioriteetti, jotta ne voisivat hyötyä digitaalisen teknologian tarjoamista muutosmahdollisuuksista. DT yhdistää modernia digitaalista teknologiaa ja organisationaalista strategiaa merkittävien liiketoimintahyötyjen saavuttamiseksi. Viimeaikaiset tutkimukset ovat pääasiassa keskittyneet DT:n teknisiin osa-alueisiin tai ovat olleet kirjallisuuskatsauksia. On tehty vain muutamia käsiteellisiä ja empiirisiä tutkimuksia siitä, kuinka teolliset organisaatiot ovat digitaalisesti muuttuneet. Tämä väitöskirja vastaa sosioteknisen järjestelmän näkökulmasta seuraaviin kysymyksiin: Kuinka teolliset organisaatiot valmistautuvat DT:oon? Tähän kysymykseen vastauksena tehtiin neljä empiiristä tutkimusartikkelia edistämään ymmärrystä DT:sta. Käyttämällä kvalitatiivista monitapaustutkimusta, tämä väitöskirja tunnistaa tärkeimmät DT:n mahdollistajat, jotka auttavat tapausorganisaatioita saavuttamaan tavoitellut suoritustavoitteet. Tämä väitöskirja pyrkii edistämään ymmärrystä DT:sta sekä teorian että johtamisen kannalta, ottaen huomioon sosioteknisen näkökulman ja tutkimalla integroivaa lähestymistapaa menestyvään digitaaliseen transformaatioon teollisissa organisaatioissa. Tutkimuksen tulokset viittaavat siihen, että tapaustutkittujen organisaatioiden pääfokus on johtamisen rooleissa ja kompetensseissa, muuttuvissa organisaatiorakenteissa ja -kulttuureissa, jotka ovat pääasialliset menestyksekkään DT:n mahdollistajat. Lisäksi tulokset osoittavat, että tunnistetut muutoksen mahdollistajat auttavat tapaustutkimuksen organisaatioita saavuttamaan ketteryyttä, asiakaskeskeisyyttä ja tehostunutta yhteistyötä, jotka ovat DT:n tärkeimmät suoritustavoitteet. Lisäksi tulokset korostavat, että teollisten organisaatioiden on optimoitava oma sosiaalinen ja tekninen järjestelmänsä DT:ta varten saavuttaakseen parhaat tulokset. Tämä tutkimus osoittaa, että menestyksekäs DT on riippuvainen siitä, kuinka hyvin teolliset organisaatiot mukautuvat ja päivittävät organisaatiorakennettaan ja -kulttuuriaan ottamaan huomioon DT:n vaatimukset. Johdon rooli tässä muutoksessa on elintärkeä. Johtajien on johdettava esimerkin avulla muuttamalla perinteistä johtamistaan DT:n vaatimuksiin sopivaksi.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

The Digital Transformation of Automotive Businesses: THREE ARTEFACTS TO SUPPORT DIGITAL SERVICE PROVISION AND INNOVATION

Digitalisation and increasing competitive pressure drive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to switch their focus towards the provision of digital services and open-up towards increased collaboration and customer integration. This shift implies a significant transformational change from product to product-service providers, where OEMs realign themselves within strategic, business and procedural dimensions. Thus, OEMs must manage digital transformation (DT) processes in order to stay competitive and remain adaptable to changing customer demands. However, OEMs aspiring to become participants or leaders in their domain, struggle to initiate activities as there is a lack of applicable instruments that can guide and support them during this process. Compared to the practical importance of DT, empirical studies are not comprehensive. This study proposes three artefacts, validated within case companies that intend to support automotive OEMs in digital service provisioning. Artefact one, a layered conceptual model for a digital automotive ecosystem, was developed by means of 26 expert interviews. It can serve as a useful instrument for decision makers to strategically plan and outline digital ecosystems. Artefact two is a conceptual reference framework for automotive service systems. The artefact was developed based on an extensive literature review, and the mapping of the business model canvas to the service system domain. The artefact intends to assist OEMs in the efficient conception of digital services under consideration of relevant stakeholders and the necessary infrastructures. Finally, artefact three proposes a methodology by which to transform software readiness assessment processes to fit into the agile software development approach with consideration of the existing operational infrastructure. Overall, the findings contribute to the empirical body of knowledge about the digital transformation of manufacturing industries. The results suggest value creation for digital automotive services occurs in networks among interdependent stakeholders in which customers play an integral role during the services’ life-cycle. The findings further indicate the artefacts as being useful instruments, however, success is dependent on the integration and collaboration of all contributing departments.:Table of Contents Bibliographic Description II Acknowledgment III Table of Contents IV List of Figures VI List of Tables VII List of Abbreviations VIII 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Motivation and Problem Statement 1 1.2 Objective and Research Questions 6 1.3 Research Methodology 7 1.4 Contributions 10 1.5 Outline 12 2 Background 13 2.1 From Interdependent Value Creation to Digital Ecosystems 13 2.1.1 Digitalisation Drives Collaboration 13 2.1.2 Pursuing an Ecosystem Strategy 13 2.1.3 Research Gaps and Strategy Formulation Obstacles 20 2.2 From Products to Product-Service Solutions 22 2.2.1 Digital Service Fulfilment Requires Co-Creational Networks 22 2.2.2 Enhancing Business Models with Digital Services 28 2.2.3 Research Gaps and Service Conception Obstacles 30 2.3 From Linear Development to Continuous Innovation 32 2.3.1 Digital Innovation Demands Digital Transformation 32 2.3.2 Assessing Digital Products 36 2.3.3 Research Gaps and Implementation Obstacles 38 3 Artefact 1: Digital Automotive Ecosystems 41 3.1 Meta Data 41 3.2 Summary 42 3.3 Designing a Layered Conceptual Model of a Digital Ecosystem 45 4 Artefact 2: Conceptual Reference Framework 79 4.1 Meta Data 79 4.2 Summary 80 4.3 On the Move Towards Customer-Centric Automotive Business Models 83 5 Artefact 3: Agile Software Readiness Assessment Procedures 121 5.1 Meta Data 121 5.2 Meta Data 122 5.3 Summary 123 5.4 Adding Agility to Software Readiness Assessment Procedures 126 5.5 Continuous Software Readiness Assessments for Agile Development 147 6 Conclusion and Future Work 158 6.1 Contributions 158 6.1.1 Strategic Dimension: Artefact 1 158 6.1.2 Business Dimension: Artefact 2 159 6.1.3 Process Dimension: Artefact 3 161 6.1.4 Synthesis of Contributions 163 6.2 Implications 167 6.2.1 Scientific Implications 167 6.2.2 Managerial Implications 168 6.2.3 Intelligent Parking Service Example (ParkSpotHelp) 171 6.3 Concluding Remarks 174 6.3.1 Threats to Validity 174 6.3.2 Outlook and Future Research Recommendations 174 Appendix VII Bibliography XX Wissenschaftlicher Werdegang XXXVII Selbständigkeitserklärung XXXVII

Innovation & the professional service firm: Insights into the Locus, Patterns, and Tensions of Innovation in a Fast-Growing Information Technology Consultancy in New Zealand

This research investigated the locus of innovation through a time-frame of ten years for a fast growing, privately-owned New Zealand information technology professional service consultancy firm. Emergent patterns related to the firm’s innovations were analysed along with the classic consultancy conundrum - the management of tension between future-focused innovations or present-day profits. An in-depth single case study approach was employed where the units of analysis were each innovation of the firm. Semi-structured interviews of 23 current employees involved in innovation activities across all levels of the organisation were conducted. This led to the discovery that less innovation occurred at the inception of the firm where the priority was to sustain the business in the short term. As the firm matured, the rate of innovations increased. The locus of innovation shifted from Top-down to Bottom-up as the firm grew. Further analysis showed that Top-down innovations had a higher likelihood of resource allocation and scaling at the firm. The consultancy conundrum is a constant tension that will continue to exist for the firm. The firm employs a number of “semi-structures” both formal and informal in nature to manage that tension. The findings of this research present a case for an inverse pattern of innovation for privately-owned professional service firms – where innovation occurs at the later stages of the firm’s growth life-cycle

Integrating indigenous knowledge of selected rural areas of the Northern Cape into development project management

ThesisThis study investigated the extent of the integration of indigenous knowledge of selected rural areas of the Northern Cape Province in South Africa into development project management. South Africa has, in the past endeavoured to develop communities through projects, especially in rural areas but most of them have not done well. In addition, research has shown that high unemployment and poverty levels still seem to prevail. One of the reasons for this is the lack of involvement of communities and their knowledge of the whole project management process; thus, this study was conducted. The objectives of this study were to determine the extent to which IKs of the Northern Cape are part of the development project management process; to conduct a literature review on the project management process and IK; to empirically identify key IKs of indigenous communities in the rural areas of the Northern Cape Province for inclusion in the management of development projects; to integrate identified IKs of indigenous communities in the rural parts of the Northern Cape Province into the management of development projects; and to develop guidelines for practically integrating IK into the management of development projects in rural areas. A qualitative method of investigation was followed where a purposive sample of seven (7) rural development projects was drawn from all five municipal districts of the Northern Cape. These projects were identified as the main rural development projects from the sample frame provided by the Departments of Rural Development and Agriculture, and Economic Development, as well as the National Development Agency. This sample was therefore representative of rural development projects in the Northern Cape. Individual and focus group interviews were conducted with the members of the projects, as well as representatives from the departments mentioned above. The data obtained were then captured and analysed using Atlas.ti. The findings revealed the minimal involvement of indigenous communities and the minimal use of indigenous knowledge in the management of development projects which, in some instances, resulted in project management challenges, such as financial mismanagement and indecisiveness. Even the sparse indigenous knowledge used, was on an ad hoc basis. Based on the the empirical research, a framework for integrating IK into development projects is proposed to ensure that indigenous communities are actively involved, from the project’s initiation phase to the closure of the project

Three Essays on Innovation and Regional Economic Development

The first essay develops a typology that identifies the multiple pathways, functions and operations where innovation can occur in a firm\u27s internal business cycle based upon the extant literature that includes both technological and non-technological activities. This is an important step toward developing a comprehensive strategy for a regional economy and provides a common platform for the discussion of innovation among academics and practitioners.The typology adds to the existing knowledge of how innovation works in organizations by describing the pathways, business functions and operations in a firm\u27s internal-business-process the business strategies used to advance innovation to the market and the market impact that innovation has in a regional economy.The typology is enhanced by the different threads of literature - innovation, technology, organization and marketing. The integrated approach allows academics and practitioners to understand how and where innovation occurs in firms and lays the foundation for robust metrics of the behavioral relationship between variables under study. The result is a set of assessment tools that permits diagnostics of the firm, industry, market and region. The second essay examines the relationship between innovation, emerging technologies, business firms\u27 investment structure, and specialized types of private equity used to finance emerging technologies. A conceptual framework is developed for financial investment and a set of hypotheses tested for investment between Ohio and U.S. firms. Ohio firms take a different investing approach than U.S. firms when investing in a firm\u27s stage of business development but are not significantly different when using specialized types of financing, investing in industry/technology niches, and investing in geographic markets.The third essay explores the role of innovation in business firms. The essay examines the reasons firms invest in innovation and then test the difference in the innovation behavior of firms. Descriptive analysis is per

Building a boundaryless manufacturing organisation through HITOP method

There is little empirical research to support the allegation that ‘leagile’ manufacturing organisations thrive in hostile environments, nor has it been demonstrated that organisation processes (referred to as enablers) actually support ‘leagile’ performance. This study tests the statistical significance of five selected HITOP (highly integrated technology, organisation and people) ‘leagile’ enablers. This was accomplished by using a mail survey instrument to measure the presence of ‘leagile enablers’ in a sample of companies taken from best factory award winners in UK, US and Japan. [Continues.

The Innovation Cascade: A Five-Level Framework for Building Enterprise Innovation Systems

This Major Research Paper (MRP) describes a framework for creating more innovative, lower-cost enterprise innovation systems (EISs). Through a literature review, I have identified and described ten driving forces behind the performance of EISs: innovation ecosystems, innovation strategy, enterprise architecture, innovation inputs, the innovation process, portfolio management, innovation working practices, innovation accounting, innovation culture, and innovation tools. Drawing from the literature, I have gathered and analyzed 250 innovation approaches, such as horizon scanning or value proposition design, to describe the five overarching areas involved in creating EISs: ecosystem, strategy, architecture, people, and infrastructure. Through eleven practitioner interviews and system mapping, I have shaped the five areas into a prototype framework, which I call the Innovation Cascade. The Innovation Cascade provides EIS builders with a process for creating or improving an EIS by framing missing areas or highlighting tensions between the five areas of an EIS. To test the Innovation Cascade, I conducted a case study with the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS). In the case study, I mapped OMERS’s EIS to the Innovation Cascade, designed an EIS research function for OMERS, and offered ten recommendations for improving OMERS’s EIS. Through the case study, I determined the Innovation Cascade is effective for building or enhancing EISs and propose next steps for further refining it. Finally, I have suggested three other models to augment the Innovation Cascade. First, five modes that EISs can exhibit: informal, linear, distributed, embedded and emergent. Second, patterns or predictable configurations each area can exhibit. Third, five steps that match each area of the Innovation Cascade with appropriate tools and actions. Together, the three models and the Innovation Cascade offer a framework for EIS builders to design, improve, maintain and understand EISs, as well as communicate EISs to stakeholders