Moral Principles Towards a Definition of the Obscene

QC 20140918</p

Journal Staff

Purpose - This article aims to investigate how R&amp;D employees use their social networks to acquire user information and how this information is used in the development of new products. Design/methodology/approach - A single case study was conducted within a business unit at a multinational medical technology company. Data were collected through a mixed method. Findings - The results show that many R&amp;D employees lack social networks through which they can acquire information about the users' needs. However, some R&amp;D employees establish cost-efficient relationships to people with a direct experience of using the company's products. These relationships are established over time and are often used in a rather informal way to acquire user information. Moreover, the results show how R&amp;D employees are purposefully complementing these relationships with more occasional interactions with people who hold direct and indirect use experiences. Research limitations/implications - As with most single-case studies, it will be important to replicate this investigation in other contexts to clarify the generalizability of the findings. Practical implications - The article shows how important it is that management provides R&amp;D employees with opportunities to establish, nurture and utilize relationships conducive to information about the users' needs. The article provides some advice on how this can be accomplished. Originality/value - This is one of the first articles that clearly explain how R&amp;D employees use their social networks to acquire user information for the development of new products.QC 20150112. Updated from accepted to published.</p

Reviewing excellence

Creativity and Innovation Management has grown substantially over the last couple of years, both quantitatively and qualitatively. From 2016 to 2021, the number of submissions has grown from 287 to 395. Most of the growth was realized in Asia: The number of submissions from that continent increased from 72 in 2016 to 193 in 2021. The rest of the world remained (close to) stable: 215 in 2016 and 203 in 2021. Equally important, the Thomson ISI Impact Factor increased from 1.423 in 2015 to 3.051 in 2021 and further to 3.644 in 2022. This is not where our ambitions end, though. We want to be the ever-better outlet for authors researching, and practitioners working in, the fields we cover. Editing a journal with the ambition to continuously increase its quality while dealing with a substantial growth requires teamwork—teamwork among the editors and the editorial office, teamwork between the editors and their reviewers and, as surprising as this may sound, teamwork between the authors and their reviewers in a top-quality reviewing process. The purpose of this piece is to present and discuss some reviewing standards. In particular, we aim to share with our reviewers what we think is an excellent reviewing process. Furthermore, we formulate our ideas about what it is that makes a review an excellent one. The title of this piece is deliberately ambiguous. It denotes that Creativity and Innovation Management strives for reviewing excellence—as in an excellent reviewing process. It also denotes that we reach for the stars and hope to one day receive and, hence, review only excellent submissions.</p

Alternative additives for replacing disphosphates E450 and triphosphates E451 in the Kronfågel product "Salad Chicken"

Det har förekommit en debatt i bland annat media de senaste åren om tillsatser och dess nytta eller risk inom livsmedelsindustrin. Det finns även undersökningar på att konsumenterna inte längre önskar tillsatser i livsmedlen. Därför har det på många företag inom livsmedelsbranschen påbörjats ett arbete för att se över de tillsatser som används och väga för och nackdelar mot varandra. Detta examensarbete är en del av ett sådant projekt som utförs på Lantmännen Food R&amp;D tillsammans med Lantmännen Kronfågel. Kronfågel använder ett stabiliseringsämne i en av sina produkter, Salladskyckling, och detta examensarbete undersöker om denna kan tas bort eller bytas ut mot ett naturligt alternativ. Stabiliseringsämnet som används är difosfat (E 450) och trifosfat (E451) och har som uppgift att binda vatten i köttet. Ett utbyte på 94 %, som är råvikt dividerat med vikten efter tillagning, uppnås genom tillsatsen av fosfat. Målet är att den alternativa tillsatsen ska vara naturlig, helst inte klassas som en tillsats och uppnå samma utbyte. Fosfaten sänker pH i köttet och därmed påverkar den isoelektriska punkten (IP). Den isoelektriska punkten är det pH är då nettoladdningen på proteinerna är noll och som innebär att strukturen är som mest ihopdragen. Det vill säga att de negativa och positiva laddningarna attraherar varandra och drar ihop strukturen. Genom fosfatets laddning kan molekylerna interagera med dessa aktiva grupper på proteinerna. Proteinerna är som minst lösliga vid IP. IP inträffar vid ett specifikt pH för varje köttsort och denna kan undvikas genom att förändra pH i köttet. Nettoladdningen förskjuts då åt exempelvis det negativa hållet och de negativa laddningarna repellerar då varandra. Detta resulterar i att proteinernas tertiära struktur öppnas och ger mer plats åt vattenmolekylerna. De huvudsakliga alternativa tillsatser som har undersökts i detta arbete är olika sorts fibrer i kombination med potatisstärkelse och majsstärkelse. Fibrer har en vattenabsorberande förmåga och kan binda upp till 15 gånger sin egen vikt. De har även en förmåga att stabilisera emulsioner med olja och vatten och kan även benämnas som fettbindare. Fibrer tillsammans med stärkelsen som gelatiniserar vid en viss temperatur kan binda vatten i kyckling. Detta åstadkommes genom att först blanda en lake med fibrer, stärkelse och vatten som tumlas in i kycklingdelarna. Efter tumlingen då vätskan gått in i köttet tillagas kycklingen. Detta simuleras i ett mindre försök med en degblandare i Järnas provkök. Vid 72º C erhålls ett utbyte på 98 % med potatisfibrer och potatisstärkelse i de mindre försöken. Däremot har temperaturen höjts till 89º C i stor skala och vid denna temperatur klarar troligtvis inte längre fibrerna att behålla vätskan. Detta på grund av att kycklingdelarna har blivit större och kan inte längre garanteras vara genomstekta. Fosfaterna är alltså mindre känsliga för höga temperaturer. Dock är 72º C optimalt för kycklingens kvalitet och för att få en saftig produkt och det var denna temperatur som alla tester i detta arbete utgick ifrån. Det finns dock fortsatta tester som kan utföras: Glutenhydrolysat, kycklingprotein, fiber och stärkelseblandningarna med citrat. Ytterligare stärkelsesorter som ris, vete, tapioka och majs bör även provas i mindre skala vid 90º C. Då fiberblandningen inte visades fungera i stor skala som troligtvis beror på temperaturökningen så kan det även undersökas om kycklingdelarna kan delas till mindre bitar innan stekning. Detta skulle innebära att temperaturen skulle kunna sänkas till 72º C och det skulle även innebära en större kontroll av kycklingbitarnas storlek.During the last years there have been discussions in, for example media, about food additives, and whether there is a risk of using it in opposition to the purpose it fulfills. There have been investigations about the consumers’ attitude against food additives. This has shown that the consumers are worried about the additives and no longer want them in their food. This is a driving force for the food industry to make a revaluation of the additives to establish how important their purposes are against the potential risk. This thesis is part of this kind of work for the Swedish company Lantmännen Food R&amp;D together with Lantmännen Kronfågel, focusing on one additive. Kronfågel is currently using the additive di- and triphosphate E450 and E451 in one of their products, Salad Chicken. The purposes of this additive are to enhance the yield by retaining water in the chicken; the current yield is 94 %. It has been showed that the juiciness of the chicken decreased by removing the hosphates in the product; resulting in a dry and tasteless product. The goal is to find a natural alternative that achieves the same yield and that is not classified as an additive. Phosphates lowering the pH of the chicken and avoids the isoelectric point (IP). The IP is the pH when the net charge of a protein is zero, which means that the amount positive and negative charges are equal. When this occurs the structure of the protein is the most contracted and has little space for the water to exist in. By the negative charge of the phosphates the molecules can interact with the actives sites on the proteins, and turn the positive charges into negative. This changes the net charge of the protein which opens up the structure of the protein and makes more space for the water. The main alternative additives that have been investigated in this project are different kinds of fibers together with starch from potato and corn. The fibers from vegetables have a water retention capacity and can absorb up to 15 times its own weight. The fibers also have an emulsifying capacity and can stabilize for instance water and fat emulsions and can therefore go by the term fat binder. The fibers together with the starch that gelatinize at a characteristic temperature have a water retention capacity in chicken. By mixing brine with fibers, starch, salt and water and tumble the brine into the chicken 20 % water is absorbed by the chicken. Afterwards the chicken is cooked and the yield is calculated by taking the weight of the chicken after being cooked divided by the weight of the raw chicken. At the inner temperature of 72º C the yield was 98 % from potato fibers and potato starch in the smaller trials. But the inner temperature was showed to been risen in the larger scale, 89º C, and the fiber and starch brine could not retain the water as good as the phosphates at this temperature. The reason for rising the temperature at the larger scale was because the chicken parts in the plant have been larger lately. To lower the risk of uncooked chicken the inner temperature has been risen by 10 degrees. On the other hand an inner temperature of 72º C is more convenient for the quality and juiciness of the chicken and all the trials in this project have been based on 72º C. There are more trials that can be made; Gluten hydrolysate, protein from chicken, citrate together with fibers and starch. Even more kinds of starch as rice, wheat, tapioca and corn should be tested at the high temperature as 90 º C. As the fiber and starch mixture seems to work at 72 º C and not at 90 º C another trial could occur where the chicken parts are splitted into smaller parts so that the inner temperature could be lowered to 72 º C.www.ima.kth.s

Analyzing and realizing collective ideation in firms

Analyzing and realizing collective ideation in firms Jennie Björk Department of Technology Management and Economics Chalmers University of Technology Abstract This thesis investigates collective aspects of ideation. An increasing body of literature has moved away from regarding ideation as solely the act of single individuals to acknowledge the importance of inter-individual relationships. This opens up new opportunities for companies but it also brings about a number of new challenges. For example, it raises the question of how collective ideation contributes to the creation of ideas for innovation and how it can be used in a purposeful way. While previous research has addressed collective ideation in groups, research on ideation networks, comprising individuals and their interactions contributing to the creation of ideas, has been far less researched. The aim of this thesis is to broaden the view of collective ideation by moving beyond the group level. It does so through investigating how individual and collective ideation activities take place within firms, by using a social network perspective. More specifically, the aim is to describe and analyze collective ideation activities in firms, and explore how these can be fruitfully used to nurture innovation efforts. Drawing upon data on all the ideas created within an organization over a number of years, the thesis uses social network analysis to map and analyze the internal networks contributing to idea generation. Several types of analyses have been used to increase our understanding of how various structural properties in an ideation network interrelate with ideation performance by individuals and groups. First, the research shows that individuals who collaborate with larger numbers of different individuals are associated with a higher probability of generating useful and novel ideas themselves. However, this pattern was only seen to a certain extent. Second, the results showed that network structure and ideation performance are interrelated for spontaneously formed groups but not for formal project groups. Formal and informal collective ideation activities are two different kinds that take place in parallel but the results show that they function under different conditions. Third, the thesis explores the lack of agreement in existing theory about the effect of so-called structural holes on organization performance, by focusing explicitly on structural holes in collective ideation. This research adds to an understanding of how the structural properties of interest potentially influence ideation performance, and offers a more nuanced discussion of the potential positive and negative effects of structural holes on ideation. Managing collective ideation addresses the well documented challenges of managing distributed knowledge systems. In order to investigate this further, data from four different case studies have been scrutinized. The results indicate that involvement, focus and formalization stand out as three major dimensions, with implications for how firms use and nurture collective ideation. This thesis argues for that companies can benefit from a deliberate approach to ideation that encompasses the creation of prerequisites for both emergent and planned ideation activities

Lär man sig något på HiG? : Tidigare ekonomstudenter berättar

Varje år tar 5000 studenter i Sverige examen i företagsekonomi och så många som 650 studenter läser idag civilekonomprogrammet vid Högskolan i Gävle (HiG). Vi är själva ekonomstudenter vid HiG och snart redo att ta steget ut i arbetslivet, vilket innebär blandade känslor av både förväntan och oro. Orsaken till denna osäkerhet är till stor del det faktum att vi inte vet vad som förväntas av oss den dag vi tar examen. Vad har vi egentligen lärt oss under vår utbildning och vad förväntar sig arbetsgivarna att vi kan? För att besvara denna fråga har vi intervjuat före detta studenter från HiG, varav en man och en kvinna från den privata sektorn samt en man och en kvinna från den offentliga sektorn. Vi intervjuade även en näringslivsutvecklare på Gävle kommun och olika arbetsgivare. Syftet med denna uppsats har varit att undersöka hur väl ekonomutbildningen vid HiG svarar mot arbetsgivarnas kompetenskrav. Genom intervjuerna uppkom förslag på förbättringar av ekonomutbildning, såsom att praktik och beteendevetenskap bör vara en del av utbildningen. Utifrån intervjuerna med arbetsgivarna fann vi, till vår förvåning, att de allra flesta rekryterare lägger störst fokus på de personliga egenskaperna. De före detta studenterna förstärkte detta budskap då de förde fram liknande åsikter, samtidigt som utbildningen utgör en viktig teoretisk grund så är det personligheten som avgör huruvida en person blir anställd. Detta medför att det borde vara mer eller mindre självklart att HiG utökade antalet personlighetsutvecklande moment i ekonomutbildningen. Med utgångspunkt i empirin sökte vi efter lämpliga teorier för att kunna styrka eller dementera de argument och åsikter som framkom under intervjuerna, där bland teorier som berör rekrytering och praktik. Vi fann att de flesta teorierna stämde bra överrens med resultatet från vår empiridel, som exempel kan nämnas att även teorin visade att de personliga egenskaperna har en viktig del vid rekrytering. Vid genomförande av förbättringar såsom praktik, fler personlighetsutvecklande moment i kurserna och beteendevetenskap, så anser vi att ekonomstudenter vid HiG skulle vara bättre föreberedda för arbetslivet, men att det även skulle ge en viktig konkurrensfördel gentemot andra ekonomstudenter i Sverige.Every year 5000 students in Sweden take their bachelor degree in business administration and as many as 650 students attend to the economic education at the University of Gävle. We ourselves study economics at the University of Gävle and are soon ready to take part in the labour market, for us this means mixed feelings of both anticipation and concern. The cause of this concern is partly the fact that we don’t know what is expected of us when we graduate. What have we really learned during our education and what does the employers expect of us? To answer this question we have interviewed former students from the University of Gävle, one man and one woman from the private sector as well as one man and one woman from the public sector. We also interviewed a developer of the labour market in Gävle and different employers. The purpose with the essay has been to examine how well the economic education at the University of Gävle answers to the qualification set by the employers. Suggestions to improve the economic education appeared during the interviews, such as practical training and behavioural science. From the interviews with employers we learned, to our surprise, that most recruiters pay most attention to the personality. The former students had similar opinions; while the education serves as an essential foundation, it is more or less the personality that the recruiter focuses on when he/she decide whether or not to hire the person. Due to this, it is obvious that the University of Gävle should increase elements of personal development in their economic education. We tried to find suitable theories to strengthen or contradict the arguments that appeared to us during the interviews. What we found was theories which included for example recruitment and practical training. Most of these theories matched our empirical results, for example both showed that the personality played an important part for recruiters. Improvement such as practical training, more elements of personal development in the courses and behavioural science would prepare students of economics at the University of Gävle better for the labour market. We also think that it would give an important competition advantage against other students of economics in Sweden

Boundary spanners of user information

QC 20140918</p