Companies often build an innovation strategy that is mostly reliant on internal knowledge and resources. This can lead to failure to meet customer needs (von Hippel 1986). By interacting with customers, companies can obtain crucial information and have the opportunity to involve customers in innovation and product development processes (Füller and Matzler 2007; Hadjikhani and Bengtson 2004; Laursen 2011; von Hippel 2009).

Born Global firms are becoming increasingly more important in terms of internationalization, innovation, ability to grow and providing employment. Most of the previous research about BornGlobals is done in North America, Europe or Australia, all these being developed industrialized countries but not developing countries or emerging markets. However, the emerging markets in general, and the Chinese in particular, have become very important for the world economy. Our aim is to investigate the differences between Western literature and literature from emerging markets, regarding internationalization process of Born Global firms. We also aim to discuss the various success factors, which underlie Born Globals’ internationalization process, particularly focusing on Born Globals firms in the China. Our methodology in this research has been literature review and interviews with Chinese CEOs of Born Global firms. However, this paper is only based on the litterateur part of our research. Our analysis shows that most of the Chinese Born Globals publications about the internationalization success factors are based on the Western literature and use them as the theoretical platform in the design of their own research strategy and research questions design. The consequence of this observation is important as it indicates that Chinese researchers are reproducing research under different contextual and situational conditions that might lead to unclear conclusions or maybe even wrong conclusions. Furthermore, compared to most Western Born Global companies, which treat innovation as core competence, the innovation culture becomes one of the biggest weaknesses of Chinese manufacturing Born Globals’ internationalization. China has special economic environment. Chinese manufacturing Born Globals not only need to follow the market but also the government policies, since the government greatly influences the industries and the whole economy. To foreign investors who want to exploit Chinese market, they also should take Chinese economic background and government policies into consideration. One important aspect of Chinese born Globals, neglected in previous research on Born Globals, that has been identified in our research, is the critical success factor of Chinese manufacturing Born Globals—the political and economic background and the role of the Chinese Government in the transformation process of Chinese business life, and the Guanxi network.

This paper aims to explore how social capital facilitates the process of social innovation in community-based enterprises. We draw insights from two case studies of APROPESCA and CORSEDA in the El Cauca region of Colombia that engage local rural communities in trout fishing and silk production respectively. We draw upon qualitative responses collected through multiple methods including semi-structured interviews with organisational and external informants, workshops engaging local communities and participant observations.

Findings of our study illustrate that where social capital of local communities and institutions involved were not developed, government interventions failed to ensure the sustainability of the CBE.  In contrast, when strong social capital was developed and maintained through active participation of community members the CBE’s viability and economic success were ensured. Our findings have implications for development initiatives aiming to empower local communities and bring about sustainable development.

The ground-based air defence of Sweden face some dire challenges in the near future. These have been caused by multiple converging reasons, the foremost of these being a change in the strategic situation in and around the Baltic Sea. This change has led to a publicly increased demand for army organic, ground based air defence capabilities. This in turn means that the government has ordered new systems to be introduced, both missile systems for intercepting airborne threats, new command and control systems and lastly, new communication systems. Parallel to the described shift in technology, recruitment through conscription has been rein­stalled. The last part of this complex situation is comprised of maintaining all of the legacy systems for use by the national defence forces.

Taking such a large technological step raises demands of recruiting a large amount of techno­logically interested young people. The aim of this study is to broaden the understanding of Sweden’s ability to succeed with this endeavour. We have interviewed conscripts during their basic training to become mechanics and maintenance personnel at the Lv 6 regiment in Halm­stad. All our subjects have attended upper school and studied technology intended for pre­paring them for higher education. They are attractive to the general employment market and must be won in the battle for talent.

This study has been designed using qualitative methods mainly comprised of individual inter­views. The results from these interviews have been analysed using an inspired by grounded theory approach. Our results have then been analysed a second time on an organisational level and compared to findings in the area of Employer branding.

Our main findings are that marketing and informational campaigns, carried out by the Swe­dish armed forces aren’t aimed towards this category of young people. They have no prior experience of the armed forces and the messages sent out are not registered by our subjects. Our study indicates that the parents and closest family project a large amount of influence on these young people. Sadly, this category of influencers also lacks knowledge and information about the armed forces. The studied category of young people chooses their employers through how well their interests match with the perceived job offering. All of this taken in mind raises a question of the ability to succeed with recruitment goals for this category of youths.

Envision Energy is an emerging energy solution provider from China which entered the wind power market in 2007. Envision became the 3th biggest turbine manufacturer in China and the 9th largest in the world in 2015. Thus, the purpose of our research is to explore the underlying factors to Envision’s successful business model for internationalization. This qualitative research is based on interviews with key personnel at Envision. Our analysis has identified four major elements of their business model for internationalization that are crucial in the success of Envision. Those four are grouped on two major clusters:Upfront elements representing the face of the Envision to market and customers:

1. Market positioning by the clear positioning of Envision on the market areas left open by the lack of understanding of the market logic by competitors.

2. Customer orientation by clear focus on identified customer needs and desire for quality products also here left aside by competitors.

Backend elements representing the value creation and value deliverance elements:

3. Human resources as the key element through interaction with customers, creating bond and relations with customers and delivering promised values to customers and delivering.

4. Supply chain by the capacity of Envision to utilize the entire supply chain to create and deliver high quality products synchronized with Envision’s offerings to customers and customer’s expectations.

Our research shows that Envision represents a new kind of high-tech Chinese company which works systematically to develop new business models that can enable high growth and high level of internationalization that goes beyond the capacity of technology, products as tradition goes.

Envision Energy is an emerging energy solution provider from China which entered the wind power market in 2007. Envision became the 3th biggest turbine manufacturer in China and the 9th largest in the world in 2015. Thus, the purpose of our research is to explore the underlying factors to Envision’s successful business model for internationalization. This qualitative research is based on interviews with key personnel at Envision. Our analysis has identified four major elements of their business model for internationalization that are crucial in the success of Envision. Those four are grouped on two major clusters:Upfront elements representing the face of the Envision to market and customers:

1. Market positioning by the clear positioning of Envision on the market areas left open by the lack of understanding of the market logic by competitors.

2. Customer orientation by clear focus on identified customer needs and desire for quality products also here left aside by competitors.Backend elements representing the value creation and value deliverance elements:

3. Human resources as the key element through interaction with customers, creating bond and relations with customers and delivering promised values to customers and delivering.

4. Supply chain by the capacity of Envision to utilize the entire supply chain to create and deliver high quality products synchronized with Envision’sofferings to customers and customer’s expectations.

Our research shows that Envision represents a new kind of high-tech Chinese company which works systematically to develop new business models that can enable high growth and high level of internationalization that goes beyond the capacity of technology, products as tradition goes.

Wind energy industry has been growing fast during last years, and the demand for operation and maintenance (O&M) services has been increasing rapidly. As wind turbine manufacturing companies have been focusing more on selling rather than after sales services, this created problems in O&M, which started to influence the overall profitability of wind energy projects. In the current conditions, business model innovation in O&M services is needed. While initial step in business model innovation is identifying what is valuable for customer (customer value), it is not clear what is of customer value in B2B context, how to identify it and what is valuable for industrial customers in O&M overall and in wind energy industry in particular. Therefore, the purpose of our research was to explore customer value as an input in the process of business model innovation in B2B context.

In order to reach the goal of our research, inductively based approach was used for multiple case study of O&M services customers in wind energy industry in Sweden. Semi structured interviews were conducted with a representative from each company. The parts of their business models connected to wind turbine O&M were mapped, as well as customer value was outlined. The connection between customer value and business model components was analyzed within each case and then the results were compared across the cases.

The main findings of our study are as follows. Business model in B2B context serves as the frame of reference for customer value formation. Characteristics of business model components, in particular key activities and key resources, as well as the intentions for further business model development become more specific underlying criteria of value proposition assessment. In wind energy industry in Sweden there is a core customer value to get the highest possible energy production, shared by all studied cases. Differences in customer value among O&M customers were identified in their perceptions of customer value of O&M service (contracts, SCADA system, reports, and education) and relationship with service providers. Such business model related criteria as competence, characteristics of fleet, involvement in O&M activities, and intention for development of O&M involvement explain why customer value differs among the studied customers of O&M services in wind energy industry in Sweden.

Customer business model should be used by managers in both wind energy industry and other contexts for understanding customer value in a holistic way. Further customer segmentation should be done based on customer business model related criteria, and in the context of wind energy industry the criteria identified in this study can be used. What is more, O&M service providers should allow more flexibility in contracts and give additional attention to customer relational mechanisms in their business models as the source of customer value.

The booming Chinese construction market has created both economic growth and environmental problems. Some 65 000 buildings in Europe have been constructed in accordance with the voluntary construction standard called Passive House that aims for energy efficiency. In China, however, by 2015, only twenty such projects were planned and only two Passive House projects were completed. In this paper we identify and describe the barriers to the diffusion and adoption of Passive House construction in China. We review the relevant literature (Chinese and Western) and conduct two case studies of Passive House construction in China. Two broad groups of barriers the bounded rationality of construction developers/managers and the high transaction costs of green innovation are found to be most responsible for the slow diffusion and adoption of the Passive House concept in China. Unless these barriers are overcome, prospects for the advance of green technology in the Chinese construction market are unfavourable. © 2017 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

Gamesa, a Spanish company, is an original equipment manufacturer of wind energy turbines. Established in 1976, the company now faces greater global competition and an increased need to put greater focus on operations and maintenance solutions. Thus, Gamesa has to engage in business model innovation process. The case depicts how Gamesa joins a research project that uses a learning network approach in the initiation phase of business model innovation that leads to insights applicable to Gamesa's important Swedish customer – the utility company, Varberg Energi. The focus of the case is the early phase of business model innovation rather than the outcome (i.e. the new business model). Specifically, the case describes a workshop within the learning network where participants have the opportunity to better understand ...

As the mantra "innovate your business model or die" increases in popularity among practitioners and academics, so does the need for novel and feasible business models. In this article, we describe an ideation experience workshop, conducted in an undergraduate business course, in which students, guided by their lecturers and two industry representatives, developed business models in the early phases of a company's new blood alcohol level testing device. The students based their business models on the nine building blocks of a Business Model Canvas tool. The workshop confirmed that the three learning objectives were achieved as students acquired knowledge, created problem solutions, and presented results. The success of the workshop is attributable to the opportunity it gives students to work with an actual company, to experiment with business model innovation, and to learn from evaluators' feedback. © 2015 Decision Sciences Institute.

Established firms find it difficult to innovate their business models. However, research suggests different approaches to overcome this. One of those is learning network. Research has also shown that learning networks can be used as an arena to coproduce knowledge between academia and industry. In this article, the authors provide an understanding of how learning networks can be used to improve the quality of knowledge coproduction on business model innovation and suggest a framework that can be used to facilitate knowledge coproduction related to business model innovation in the context of maintenance services for wind energy industry. The article suggests that learning networks are an appropriate approach not only to address practical problems but also to develop theoretical understanding of how organizational inertia related to business model innovation could be overcome and what are the benefits for the involved participants.

As companies and other organizations increasingly recognize society’s demand for greater social and environmental sustainability, university and college business schools have responded with new pedagogic approaches. Business schools have begun to offer courses in business models and business model innovation that focus not only on profit-normative goals but also on social and environmental goals. This paper describes an Experiential Workshop for university undergraduates in which the Service-Learning pedagogic approach is taken and Flourishing Business Canvas is applied as a tool for collaborative visual business modelling. In the Workshop, the students work with business model innovation for a biogas production cooperative of farmer-members in southern Sweden. The students take the role of problem-owners and problem-solvers as they co-create new business models ideas for the cooperative. The paper presents the students’ achievement of three Learning Objectives as they engage in meaningful, “real-world” simulations with a high degree of autonomy that allows them to combine their theoretical knowledge with practice. Implications for educators who wish to test the Experiential Workshop in their classrooms are proposed. The paper concludes with the suggestion that Education for Flourishing is a useful expansion of Education for Sustainable Development. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

GodEl is a Swedish electricity retailer owned by a non-profit foundation that provides 100 percent renewable and environmentally certified electricity to its customers. Established in 2005 GodEl, has no private profit motive and it donates its revenues to non-governmental organizations. This case shows the role of social enterprises and business model innovation over time, driven by sustainability issues. The case further illustrates practices that lead to changes in the dominant business model of an industry while providing background on the Scandinavian electricity retail market.

Fundación Inteligentemente Feliz (Foundation Intelligently Happy) was established in 2017 with the aim of providing assistance to post-war victims in Colombia. The Foundation created a health services program titled 21 Days of Change (21 dias de cambio) that offers psychological assistance to victims and provides them with an app or a notebook with a printed guide. Currently, the Foundation’s main customers are Columbian government offices that support mental health services for around 3,000 women living in rural areas of Colombia. The case focuses on the process of establishing the company and its business model. More specifically, it illustrates how the founders are using the lean start-up approach and its methods to better understand the needs of user groups and align to the Foundation’s mission and goals. The case also illustrates how the activities of this social enterprise are aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

This article seeks to answer the question of how value proposition is created using a human- centred approach in the context of deservitization, in general, and service dilution, in particular. The article aims to describe the journey of a company which undertook service dilution and used human- centred design to create a new product- oriented value proposition. The study adopted a research through design approach in conjunction with a single case study of an engineering and manufacturing services provider that recently initiated a service dilution process. Within the framework of university- business collaboration, a design project was developed. The main insights of the study pertain to the role of human- centred design as a way of learning and surpassing the pure exploitation of existing capabilities during the service dilution process. Learning by design is also seen as a potential alternative learning process that fuels exploration during the service dilution process.

As competition for their products increases, manufacturers have taken a greater interest in servitization. However, they face a difficult challenge when they try to develop service-oriented business models and design service value propositions that require a change in mind-set and new approaches. Thus, the purpose of this exploratory paper is to develop, apply, and evaluate an approach for service value proposition design that manufacturers can use in their transition from a primarily product-oriented business model to a more service-oriented business model. A qualitative research approach - the research through design approach - is taken in a case study of a Spanish machine tool manufacturer engaged in servitization. The findings of this research derive from a service design project at two of the manufacturer’s divisions. The empirical data consist of 45 artifacts (prototypes, visualizations, and models) from six workshops and six semi-structured interviews with key company managers. The paper analyzes various service design visualization tools in manufacturing, examines the design of service value propositions, and suggests avenues for additional research on the use of a systematic methodology for service value proposition design.

As government officials, policymakers, and the general public increasingly express their concern about global warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions, scientists search for alternative sources of vehicle fuel and electric power. One sustainable energy source that shows considerable promise is biogas produced from organic waste. For various reasons, biogas plants in Sweden struggle with profitability. This is especially true for agricultural biogas plants. Suggestions on how to deal with this problem include the use of business model innovation (BMI) to develop agricultural networks and to implement new strategies for arranging, producing, and marketing farm-produced biogas. This qualitative study, influenced by grounded theory, identifies and examines the success factors in an agricultural network in which biogas is produced at four farms in Sweden with distribution by pipeline to a refinery for purification and conversion to vehicle fuel. Fourteen interviews were conducted with various individuals in this network: farmers, a local politician, municipal employees, and external consultants. Of the six success factors identified in the network for farm-produced biogas, the long-term perspective on profitability was found most important. The six factors were used to create a conceptual business model framework for such networks that adds new value propositions while retaining the original value propositions. We propose that long-term government subsidies and other incentives can make farm-produced biogas profitable, not only in social and environmental terms but also in economic terms. Our main conclusion is that BMI can be used to create public-private networks that invest in farm-based biogas production. Such investments can stimulate rural development and provide new business possibilities for SMEs in the agricultural sector. This study also shows that BMI that takes a long-term perspective can result in high-value environmental and social benefits as well as financial profitability.

In recent years in Sweden, interest has grown concerning the possibilities of biogas production from organic waste. This interest reflects a general concern over environmental sustainability in society. However, given the lack of financial backing and the competition of other energy producers, few Swedish biogas plants have been profitable. This is particularly the situation with farm-based biogas producers. One response to this problem in the farm-based biogas industry is to engage in business model innovation that can lead to new ways of organizing business structures and activities. This qualitative study, which takes an action research approach, explores the early phases (initiation and ideation) of the business model innovation process for sustainability at a biogas-producing farm cooperative in southern Sweden. The main activities and the actors who are central to the execution of these activities are identified in six sub-phases. The paper describes two Flourishing Business Canvas workshops in which the participants were the researchers, members of the farm cooperative, external consultants, and university students. This study contributes theoretically to the literature with its detailed examination of the early phases of the business model innovation process for sustainability. It also contributes to practice with its conceptual model that demonstrates how biogas producers and farm managers can innovate and transform their current business models towards sustainability in order to improve competitiveness and long-term profitability. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

China has become one of the world’s leading countries in renewable energy, particularly in wind power. Goldwind Science and Technology has become not only the largest wind turbine manufacturer in China, but also one of the largest in the world. Goldwind has installed more than 31,000 wind turbines and in total more than 50 GW of wind power energy worldwide.The aims of this dissertation are to explore, in order to understand, how the business model approach has been developed over time to support the establishment and success of Goldwind, the role of the Chinese government, and how the business model can be designed, redesigned, reorganised and managed, providing Goldwind with opportunities to offer new service and maintenance solutions that fit customers’ strategic expectations and needs as well as stake holders’ expectations in a life-cycle perspective.I have chosen an action research approach, influenced by grounded theory and participatory approach, to develop a new “Open and Seamless Complementary Collaborative Business Model” focusing on service and maintenance for Goldwind. This model emphasises that service and maintenance operations should be seamlessly shared between Goldwind, its customers and third-party service providers in a way that considers customers’ strategic desires, capabilities and the best way to complement the capabilities of customers in the life cycle of wind turbine operations, from designing wind farms to repowering and recycling old systems.My research case is the organisational field that is centered by Goldwind, including political, institutional and regulatory actors. By an extensive analysis of the dynamics of business model innovation of Goldwind in the institutional system that Goldwind is embedded in from its inception to today, I have reached following conclusions:Chinese political, institutional and business actors co-created and co-shaped China’s wind power industry and the largest wind turbine manufacturer through mutual understanding and actions based on continual dialogue that is still going on.There is a specific “Symbiotic Business Model” in China in general and in the Chinese wind power context.- Symbiotic relationships exist in two dimensions: horizontal and vertical. The horizontal symbiotic relationship refers to the seamless complementary collaboration along the industry value chain. The vertical symbiotic relationship refers to political, institutional and business actors co-create, co-develop and co-achieve social, political and economic targets.- The symbiotic relationship is achieved via ongoing dialogue between political and business actors by using regulatory tools with the support of institutional actors.- Specific informal social network-based trust-building mechanism plays a complementary role that supports the smooth functioning of the symbiotic business model for the co-development of the Chinese wind power industry.- There are plural logics in the symbiotic business model, and multiple logics are absorbed in the symbiotic business model through the senior managers’ cognitive model and carried out in the strategic choices of the enterprise in the business model design and implementation.My observation is that by 2019, almost 85% of the new business model is being implemented in Goldwind’s practice.

This paper is a grounded theory on obtaining congruence in decision making. It is a study on how people receive contradictory information, and how they go through the process of deciding which option(s) to select. Sometimes leaders (e.g. officers, managers, etc.) try to engage people in challenging undertakings and present them with goals to follow. Which goals are followed and which are not depends on how they process that information, and what influences their decisions. By better understanding their decision making process, leaders could better learn how to influence people's decisions. Leaders are also sometimes unaware that people often struggle with contradictory choices. The process of obtaining congruence in decision making consists of four stages: struggling, congruencing, deciding, and justifying. The process shows how people resolve cognitive struggles related to contradictive issues. The process is also a complementing theory to other theories on decision making related to psychology, management, and innovation.

This paper is a grounded theory study of how leaders (e.g., entrepreneurs, managers, etc.) engage people in challenging undertakings (e.g., innovation) that require everyone’s commitment to such a degree that they would have to go beyond what could be reasonably expected in order to succeed. Company leaders sometimes wonder why their employees no longer show the same responsibility towards their work, and why they are more concerned with internal politics than solving customer problems. It is because company leaders no longer apply collective inclusioning to the same extent as they did in the past. Collective inclusioning can be applied in four ways by convincing, afinitizing, goal congruencing, and engaging. It can lead to fostering strong units of people for taking on challenging undertakings. Collective inclusioning is a complementing theory to other strategic management and leading theories. It offers a new perspective on how to implement a bottom-up approach to innovation.

Purpose: Axis, HMS and Sectra are three Swedish companies whose managers argue that you should never be radical on two fronts: creating new products for new markets at the same time. This paper aims to show however that while Axis’ managers claim not to be radical on two fronts, they still perform horizontal diversification, but they do so by disguising it as product development. Just like certain animals disguise themselves for protection, Axis’ managers disguise diversification as a defense mechanism, to protect themselves. In so doing, they have learned to manage the dynamics of innovation, by shifting between periods of focus and diversification. Design/methodology/approach: This study was based on an inductive research approach influenced by grounded theory. In total, 32 interviews were performed with top and middle-line managers from three Swedish companies: Axis, Sectra and HMS. A total of 91 A4 transcript pages, 66 A4 e-mail pages, 52 annual reports (from 1999 to 2017) and 256 company presentations and newspaper articles (from 1988 to 2015) were collected and analyzed. Open and selective coding yielded 105 sub-categories, which were grouped into four main categories and presented as detailed descriptions. The results were based on the interpretation of those descriptions and related to disguise as a defense mechanism in psychology. Findings: Innovation is a difficult process often met with hostility. Axis’ managers however have found a way to go beyond their existing business domain, while still protecting themselves from internal and external opposing forces that would go against such a risky strategy. To do so, they first expand their existing business domain. Then they perform horizontal diversification and disguise it as product development, as a defense mechanism to protect their desire to create innovation from managers who would oppose their risky strategy. In so doing, they convince other stakeholders that innovation through diversification is the best strategy for their company. Research limitations/implications: This study was only performed at three Swedish technological companies. For future research, other Swedish companies could be included, and not only technological companies either, to explore whether diversification is considered a strategy that needs to be disguised in other businesses as well, and how managers from those businesses deal with internal and external forces. Practical implications: Managers from Axis, Sectra and HMS are fully aware that innovation as well as diversification is difficult. Ideas that seem interesting and full of potential for some people may seem too risky and dangerous for others. To protect diversification as a strategy for innovation, Axis’ managers have found a way to disguise diversification, and make it seem less dangerous. In so doing, they are able to diversify and create innovation. A strategy for disguising diversification therefore has practical managerial implications of how managers can deal with internal and external forces that would go against such a strategy. Originality/value: This study connects defense mechanisms in psychology with innovations strategy and innovation management and solves a practical dilemma that managers often struggle with: how to create innovation despite barriers that exists and oppose such a strategy. Managers will most likely always face different barriers to innovation, and perhaps solving them is not possible. This study shows how Axis’ managers have found a way to go around this problem, when solving it is not possible. This strategy thus shows originality and value for both theory and practice related to innovations strategy and innovation management. © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited.

For this dissertation I aimed to explore HMS Networks AB and how HMS managed to transform their potential ideas into innovations. My purpose was also to develop knowledge and understanding of the dynamics between exploration of new ideas and exploitation of old solutions, which can support HMS in developing future innovations. My research orientation thus led me to perform a longitudinal study to learn about HMS' past, present, and future, from the perspective of key actors, their performed activities, and how they were affected by different events in their process of creating innovation. My approach enabled me to learn how HMS managed to create their two Anybus® innovations in the past and what they did to become a market leader in the industrial communication industry. I also used a metaphorical perspective to understand how HMS created their two innovations in the past and what HMS could do to create more innovations in the future. I used an inductive and qualitative research approach substantially influenced by grounded theory to collect empirical data that were periodically and chronologically sorted and categorized for the study of key actors and how their activities and different events changed over time. I conceptualized the collected empirical data to discover latent social and psychological processes and behavioral aspects of people in their process of creating innovation. And through my analysis I constructed two main concepts - "embedded innovation" and the "dynamics of innovation" - to capture how companies co-exist in symbiosis and create a higher value together compared to what they can do on their own, to how companies survive long-term.

Embedded innovation mainly captures how companies, as organisms, struggle for survival within their (often turbulent) environment, and how they embed themselves with other organisms within their environment. Embedded innovation also focuses on capturing the needs of the different organisms within the environment, such as customer needs, employee needs, supplier and partner needs, as well as the need of the focal organization itself. Embedded innovation therefore considers the process of creating "innovation ecosystems" and performing "business model innovation" as instrumental techniques for embedding the different organisms in the environment with each other, which also makes the concept of "embeddedness" a central aspect for embedded innovation. The dynamics of innovation captures the difficulty of innovation over time and that the ever-changing environment expects its organisms (its companies and their employees) to balance the different dualities of organizational life, especially the two phases of diversification (the process of exploration) and focus (the process of exploitation). Consequently, learning how to balance between these two processes is of key importance for the organism's survival and for innovation.

The study of HMS was also complemented with a study of two other companies, namely Axis Communication AB and Sectra AB, in order to gain more knowledge on the dynamics of innovation from their perspective. A strategy for diversifying close to the knitting was also proposed, since the dynamics of innovation relies on this strategy, which offers a new perspective for managers on how to balance between exploration and exploitation. This dissertation therefore intertwines embedded innovation with the dynamics of innovation, by focusing on balancing between exploring new possibilities and exploiting old certainties for the creation of innovation.

What customers want is one thing, but what they actually need and what they desire is something else. In this paper we define existing customer needs as something that customers know and are aware of, can express, and new customer needs as something that customers do not yet know and are not yet fully aware of. Just like in a Johari window. Companies usually go for the former because the latter is more difficult. Particularly when the customer desire is more psychological in character. Business models are valuable innovation tools because they can turn even an old and less novel technology into a successful innovation, but as stated by Chesbrough, at the heart, a business model performs two important functions: value creation and value capture. However, how can you create value when customers don’t know what they actually need? When they cannot express what they actually desire? Maybe a deeper interaction is required, interpreting the customer’s needs, reading between the lines, inferring what is going on underneath the surface, and collaborative prototyping. This study was based on an exploratory, inductive research approach influenced by grounded theory, studying three Swedish technological companies: Axis, HMS and Sectra. Using grounded theory coding techniques, a typology of seller and buyer needs was created based on four categories: unconstrained needs, undoubtful needs, unconventional needs, and uncertain needs. The results show that depending on which category the company resides, the typology can help managers decide when it is appropriate to listen closely to customers, and when it is not. When they want to fulfill existing customer needs and when they want to fulfill new customer needs. However, discovering new customer needs requires close interaction with customers. Especially when you want to discover not just what customers know that they want, but also what they do not yet know that they actually need. Intimacy is needed when you really want to come close to customers and really want to explore and understand their deep desires.

HMS Industrial Networks AB has been recognized as one of the most innovative companies in the industrial communication industry worldwide. The creation of their Anybus innovation during the 1990s contributed considerably to the company’s success. From inception, HMS’ employees were innovating for the purpose of creating new business (the creation phase). After the Anybus innovation, they began the process of internationalization (the commercialization phase), which in turn led them to concentrate on cost reduction, product quality, delivery precision, operational efficiency, and increasing growth (the growth phase). As a result of this transformation, performing new radical innovations have become more complicated.

The purpose of our research was to explore the dynamics of innovation at HMS from the aspect of key actors, activities, and events, over the three phases, in order to understand what led to the creation of their Anybus innovation, and why it has become increasingly challenging for HMS to create new radical innovations for the future.

Our research methodology was based on a longitudinal, retrospective study from the inception of HMS in 1988 to 2014, a single case study inspired by the grounded theory approach. We conducted 47 interviews and collected 1 024 historical documents for our research.

Our analysis has revealed that HMS’ success in creating the Anybus, and developing a successful business around the innovation, was based on three main capabilities – cultivating customer relations on different managerial and organizational levels, inspiring business relations, and balancing complementary human assets for the purpose of business creation.

The success of HMS has turned the management’s attention away from past activities of key actors, of their behavior, and how they influenced and stimulated the creation of radical innovations. Nowadays, they are rhetorically focusing on creativity and innovation. All the while, their real actions put emphasis on growth, cost reduction, product quality, delivery precision, operational efficiency, and moneymaking. In the process of becoming an international company, HMS gradually refocused. In so doing they became profitable and successful, but they also forgot what made them innovative in the first place. Fortunately, HMS’ management has come to realize that this is the case and they are now in search of recapturing innovation once again.

Our analysis indicates that HMS’ management is facing several barriers to innovation related path dependency and other lock-in phenomena. HMS’ management has been captured, trapped in their mindset and actions, by the success of the past. But now their future has to be secured, and they have come to realize that moneymaking is not everything. In recent years, HMS’ management have begun to search for innovation once more, in order to recapture their past capabilities for creating radical innovations. In order to unlock their managerial perceptions of customer needs and their counterinnovation driven activities and events, to utilize the full potential of their employees and capture the innovation opportunity for the future.

HMS is a Swedish company and a global market leader in the industrial communication industry. Initially, HMS was managed with a vision of a connected industry. Gradually, that vision was complemented with strategies on how to reach that vision. In line with the company’s growth and acquisitions, these strategies started to substitute their vision and they began to be supplemented with much more detailed plans. As the company’s offer expanded, these detailed plans began to take over as the company’s primary instrument of guidance. In other words, HMS went through three phases: From a “Market Establishment” phase (with a vision as their primary guideline), to a “Market Development” phase (with strategies as their primary guideline), and finally to a “Market Maturity” phase (with detailed plans their primary guideline). In so doing, their vision became less challenging/ motivating for HMS’ employees. An action research approach was used, influenced by grounded theory. The results showed that people have different mindsets throughout these phases, and going back is challenging because while HMS’ employees need a vision, visions come without detailed plans and will not work unless they are supplemented by inspirational communication and passionate innovation champions who can push forward without any detailed plans. © 2019, Verlag Barbara Budrich. All rights reserved.

The innovation space created by designers within healthcare is meant to empower users (e.g., nurses, patients and therapists). Due to the variety of users and systems involved, this is a complex task. Often products fall short or do not bring the empowerment they promise, eroding “our sense of independence” (McDonagh & Thomas, 2010, p. 182). In this context, the concepts of frugal innovation and sustainability as-flourishing have been implemented. Specifically, we asked 10 design teams to redesign idiosyncratic hacks generated by local healthcare professionals with the goal of upscaling into marketable products-systems for flourishing, without losing the goodness of fit. Even though the process produced very interesting business ideas, that still would fit with the idea of frugal innovation (in terms of cost reduction and locality, for example), some tensions have been highlighted and discussed in the paper.

This study investigated labour-market orientations of students at a Swedish University with a dual/diverse focus on vocational/academic objectives. The aim was to investigate whether and how levels of students' labour-market orientation vary with social background, change during the study period, and are related to approaches to studying and achievements. The design was a multiple panel time-series study. Labour-market orientation was studied on the basis of locally designed questionnaires. Approaches to studying were analysed deductively in accordance with dimensions previously found by Study Process Questionnaires and inductively using a principal component analysis. Results suggest that labour-market orientations co-varied to a higher degree with the study programme than with social background. Contrary to what was hypothesized, being labour-market oriented was only moderately related to surface-oriented approaches to studying. It is suggested that future research should pay more attention to disciplinary traditions and local teacher and programme cultures in understanding developmental paths in labour-market orientation. © 2015 Society for Research into Higher Education

Organizations, such as social enterprises, engage in business model innovation when they wish to create, deliver, and capture value for their various stakeholders in ways that effect positive environmental and social change. Despite the increasing research attention paid to social enterprises, the literature on business model innovation in this context is still scarce. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore business model innovation driven by sustainability issues at a social enterprise operating in the Scandinavian electricity retail market. A single case study research approach is taken, and data are collected from sixteen individual interviews and two focus groups with executives, managers, and directors. The study contributes to business model innovation as an organizational change process as well as an outcome of this process. The findings show that business model innovation over time at social enterprises reflects a shift in focus from novelty, via lock-in of customers, to efficiency in internal management routines. Additionally, the study concludes that social enterprises with innovative business models driven by sustainability issues can introduce novel practices that lead to changes in the dominant business model of their industry. The study also suggests how social entrepreneurs might innovate their business models as they focus on environmental and social sustainability. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Purpose:

Teaching sustainable development at the higher education level requires that existing curricula are supplemented with multi-disciplinary (and sometimes multi-national) collaboration and integrated thinking. The purpose of this paper is to increase the understanding of a particular framework for business model innovation for sustainability-as-flourishing that is used as a boundary object in the context of interdisciplinary, peer-assessed distance learning. This study is positioned in the broader picture of enlarging curricular content so as to reflect the systemic and interconnected nature of socio-technical and economic developments. The motivation behind this study is the authors’ wish to achieve a deeper understanding of how students engage with the complex concept of sustainable business modelling, while using the flourishing business canvas (FBC).

Design/methodology/approach: 

An experiment was conducted on the use of the FBC as a boundary object among 52 engineering students at two universities. Data were provided by the following: iterations of the FBC; oral and written peer feedback; and an online survey.

Findings: 

Based on an evaluation of the experiment, this study shows that the FBC supports the use of multi-disciplinary, multi-national peer and distance learning in sustainability education.

Research limitations/implications: 

This study used one test condition of multi-disciplinary, multi-national collaboration for peer and distance learning at one point in time. Additional tests, using the tools and approaches of this study, are needed.

Originality/value: 

Various tools and methods for use in education have been developed that support a new view of sustainability –sustainability-as-flourishing. Extant research focusses primarily on the development of tools and methods in this area. Not enough attention has been paid to the analysis of their implementation and use in higher education. This paper seeks to fill that research gap. © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

Since the end of 1990s the growth of new energy and renewable energy production has been strong and increasing. Wind power energy has become one important source of energy almost all over the world. Europe, USA and Asia has become the leading markets in the development of wind energy. The total volume of global wind energy production has increased from 13,600 MW in 1999 to 318,137 MW in 2013. Since 2006 the wind energy industry is showing very rapid growth as well as dynamics among major industry actors. Some companies has left the industry due to heavy competion, some has used the growth as an opportunity to expand and the inceasing demand and the growth in the wind energy sector has opened opportunities for new actors to enter the industry. China has very fast become the largest country in the world in terms of installed wind energy capacity (28,7% share of total installed capacity and 45,4 % share of installed capacity in 2013). China is followed by Germany, UK and India. USA is now on the 6th place regarding the share of new installed capacity in 2013 with 3,1%. Sweden is on the 9th global place, shared with Romania, with 2.0 % installed capacity in 2013.The study focuses on the industry dynamics among major wind turbine producers during the period of 2006 and 2013. The study explores how the seven top wind energy companies, with the greatest market share of wind turbine manufacturing, used business model innovation to create competitive advantage, how they act to sustain competitive, and how they act business wise globaly in the wind energy industry. Our analysis identifies three major industry clusters based on their mix of business model components. We have labeled those three as “Born in Wind – Stay In Wind”, “Born In Wind – Expand In Others” and “Born In Others – Expand In Wind” due to the patterns of actors from their origin, growth and expansion strategies to diffusion in different markets. The majority of manufacturers have their origin outside wind energy industry, and they create success through new combinations of resources and new value creation for customers. Only one global actors is born in the wind energy and is still remaning in the wind energy industry. All actors have over the years reshaped their business model components, value propositions and value creation to customers in order to sustain competitive on the market. There are new comers in the wind turbine industry that in short of time has achieved high growth and high market shares. Our analysis shows that the business model innovation can be seen as one important perspective to understand the dynamics of wind power industry. Based on our analysis and findings we suggest that companies in the future even more should focus on the design and innovation of their business models, and that those should have the focus on the value creation for customers from a customer perspective and make differentiation from their competitors in the global wind power industry. Copyright © 2015 by Halmstad University & Shanghai Dianji University.

Objective:

We assess the applicability and relevance of KFs for the transfer of technology to rural enterprises through university – industry – government (UIG) collaboration in developing economies.

Prior work:

We build on prior literature pertaining key factors (KFs) for the technology transfer by Sanchez Preciado, Claes & Theodorakopoulos, 2013 and Theodorakopoulos, Sanchez Preciado & Bennet, 2012.  Specifically we evaluate the importance of technology transfer factors such as i) the level of absorptive capacity developed, ii) the amount of profit returns from the transferred technologies, iii) the degree to which the organization has overcome cultural and geographic factors, iv) the market value of the technologies, v) the existence of a technology broker and vi) the sophistication of the knowledge infrastructure in the collaborative triad of industry, university and government

Approach:

Using a qualitative research approach, we use the theoretical lenses of institutional theory and situated learning theory to assess these KFs in the context of two small-scale rural enterprises respectively involved in pisciculture (fish farming) and coffee production in the Cauca region of Colombia. These two enterprises have been in business for more than 15 years, have well-established internal and external networks and constitute exemplar cases of social and economic growth and organisational innovation.

Results:

Our study validates the KFs identified by Sanchez Preciado et al (2013) and demonstrates how these factors are influenced by the social capital (Coleman, 2001) generated in the process of transferring technology between the actors.

Implications:

We extend the work of authors like Tortoriello and Krackhardt (2010), who argue that spanning organizational boundaries (bridging ties) has a positive impact on the generation of innovations.

Value:

The contribution of our paper is twofold. First we make a contribution to the literature on situated learning by applying this theory in a research context that goes beyond a single functional area to a generic organizational level consisting of individuals with different functional or cultural backgrounds. Second, our paper contributes to the literature on the transfer of technology through UIG collaboration in that it focuses on low-tech and organisational technologies rather than the high-tech solutions generally discussed in that body of literature. Also, it investigates KFs for technology transfer to small rural enterprises in developing countries rather than to more advanced organizations in more developed countries mostly discussed elsewhere.

Servitization requires development of new value proposition as a system of product-service system aimed at solving customer specific needs and problems (Baines et al., 2009). Business model innovation (BMI) is a way to servitize, and it represents a complex, collective, cyclical social process emphasizing active experimentation with changing business model components (Hoveskog et al., forthcoming). To enable such experimentation, in early phases of BMI for servitization one needs to (i) identify customer value of target customers (Teece, 2010) and (ii) design corresponding value propositions (Frankenberger et al., 2013). However, both research on BMI in general (Keränen & Jalkala, 2013) and with focus on servitization (Baines et al., 2009) have not paid sufficient attention to applicability and availability of different practical tools, which are relevant for early phases of BMI process. In this regard, the emerging approach of service design has been proposed as a potential methodology offering a tool kit with practical tools to support manufacturers’ BMI for servitization (Sangiorgi et al., 2012; Iriarte et al., 2014). Service design offers a practical toolkit that has its roots in a new thinking about value (Vargo & Lusch, 2004; 2008), which allows capturing reliable data about customer needs (Moritz, 2005), creating, visualizing and sharing complex product-service systems (Morelli, 2006; Segelström, 2013), and prototyping future situations of services (Blomkvist, 2014). However, the potential contributions of service design tools for manufacturing servitization in general and business model innovation in particular aren’t sufficiently investigated. Thus, the purpose of this conceptual paper is to explore the applicability of service design tools in early phases of BMI for servitization. This will allow us to propose a targeted service design-based tool kit for early phases of BMI providing guidance to managers in “how” to practically approach designing product-service value proposition during servitization transformation.

In business model innovation (BMI) for servitization, it is essential for manufacturer to identify a set of specific (non)monetary and (in)tangible value attributes (Prior, 2013), that specify the valuable features of product, service, parts of delivery process and even business relationship. Such understanding of customer value serves as the basis for further design of the new product-service system and how it can be created and delivered (Frankenberger et al., 2013). However, developing understanding about customer value becomes one of the main challenges for manufacturers trying to servitize (Martinez et al., 2010; Mathieu, 2001) due to several reasons. Firstly, manufacturers and their customers perceive what is valuable differently (Lindgreen et al., 2012). Secondly, intangible nature of servitized value propositions makes it difficult for manufacturers to change their traditionally product-focused transactional models into the ones providing long-term relationship-based product-service offerings (Vladimirova et al., 2011). Finally, there is lack of tools and procedure guidance on how manufacturers can approach customer value identification in B2B context in practice, especially its intangible part (Keränen & Jalkala, 2013) that goes beyond straightforward financial value.

Service design has already been suggested as a potential enabler to support manufactures in “how” to practically approach servitization transformation (e.g., Sangiorgi et al., 2012; Thurston & Cawood, 2011) due to its human-centred, creative, iterative approach to the creation of new services (Blomkvist, Holmlid, & Segelström 2010). In this paper we study how service design tools can facilitate understanding customer value in BMI for servitization. We use several empirical cases with manufacturers that are in the initial phase of BMI for servitization (Simonchik et al., 2015; Val et al., 2013). In these cases, we study how the use of selected service design visualization tools (Maps, Narratives, Images & Flows) through co-creation workshops helps manufacturers to (i) identify tangible and intangible value attributes (e.g. product quality, service flexibility etc. and (ii) use them further in designing new product-service systems.

Preliminary case analysis shows that service design tools help participants think beyond their products, providing a broader perspective of the complete value proposition throughout the whole customer experience including products, services, processes of delivery and relationships. The understanding of how the customer will potentially interact with the future value proposition lays the groundwork for the design of new product-service systems. The cases also show that service design visualization tools provide the ability to experiment with how to create and deliver specific tangible and intangible value attributes in a quick and easy way through mapping and prototyping. With this paper we hope to contribute to manufacturer’s efforts in increasing their service orientation in BMI for servitization. Results of this study have implications for managers at manufacturer’s side putting effort to overcome among others such challenges of servitization as changing the product-centred perspective of own employees (Löfberg, 2014).

References

Blomkvist, J., Holmlid, S., & Segelström, F. (2010). This Is Service Design Research: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. In This Is Service Design Thinking, Stickdorn M., & Schneider, J. eds. Amsterdam: BIS Publishers, 308-315.

Frankenberger, K., Weiblen, T., Csik, M., & Gassmann, O. (2013). The 4I-framework of business model innovation: an analysis of the process phases and challenges. International Journal of Product Development, 18(3), 249-273. http://dx.doi.org/10.1504/IJPD.2013.055012

Keränen, J., & Jalkala, A. (2013). Towards a framework of customer value assessment in B2B markets: An exploratory study. Industrial Marketing Management, 42(8), 1307-1317. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2013.06.010

Lindgreen, A., Hingley, M.K., Grant, D.B., & Morgan, R.E. (2012). Value in business and industrial marketing: Past, present, and future. Industrial Marketing Management, 41(1), 207-214. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2011.11.025

Löfberg, N. (2014). Service Orientation in Manufacturing Firms - Understanding Challenges with Service Business Logic. Doctoral Dissertation. Karlstad University Studies. Sweden.

Martinez, V., Bastl, M., Kingston, J., & Evans, S. (2010). Challenges in transforming manufacturing organisations into product-service providers. Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, 2(4), 449-469.

Mathieu, V. (2001). Service strategies within the manufacturing sector: benefits, costs, and partnership. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 12(5), 451–475. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/EUM0000000006093

Prior, D.D. (2013). Supplier representative activities and customer perceived value in complex industrial solutions. Industrial Marketing Management, 42(8), 1192-1201. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2013.03.015

Sangiorgi, D., Fogg, H., Johnson, S., Maguire, G., Caron A., & Vijakumar, L. (2012). Think Services. Supporting manufacturing companies in their move toward services. In Service Design and Innovation Conference, ServDes2012, (pp. 253-263). Helsinki, Finland.

Simonchik, A., Iriarte, I., Hoveskog, M., Halila F., & Justel, D. (2015). Service Design Tools for Business model innovation in B2B. In British Academy of Management Conference 2015 BAM 2015. Portsmouth, UK.

Thurston, P., & Cawood, G. (2011). The Product Advantage from Service Design. Design Management Review, 22(4), 70-75. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1948-7169.2011.00159.x

Val, E., Iriarte, I., Perez de Arenaza A., Alzaga, X., & Arrieta, X. (2013). Human Centered Design in Danobat Group Railways. In 17th International Congress on Project Management and Engineering, (pp. 1502-1510), Logroño, Spain.

Vladimirova, D., Evans, S., Martinez, V., & Kingston, J. (2011). Elements of Change in the Transformation towards Product Service Systems. In J. Hesselbach & C. Herrmann (eds.), Functional Thinking for Value Creation: Proceedings of the 3rd CIRP International Conference on Industrial Product Service Systems, (pp. 21-26). Technische Universität Braunschweig, Germany. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-19689-8_6

Business model innovation (BMI) represents a complex, collective, cyclical social process emphasizing active experimentation with changing business model components. To enable such experimentation, in early phases of BMI one needs to: (i) identify customer value of target customers, and (ii) design corresponding value propositions. However, research on BMI has not paid sufficient attention to developing specific tools and toolkits relevant for early phases of BMI process in B2B context. The emerging approach of service design offers a range of practical tools, which have the potential to capture reliable data about customer needs, creating, visualizing and sharing complex product-service systems, and prototyping future services accordingly. However, the potential contributions of service design tools for BMI in general and in B2B in particular aren’t sufficiently investigated. Thus, we aim to the purpose of this short paper is to illustrate the practical application of selected service design tools in early phases of BMI in B2B.

The importance of business model innovation (BMI) is widely recognized. BMI is especially important in the agri-food industry that faces enormous challenges as the demand for food increases worldwide. Much of the BMI research focuses on the technology and biomedical industries. Far less attention has been paid to the agri-food industry. This article is a systematic literature review of the BMI research in the agri-food industry. The article’s aim is to identify and categorize various barriers to BMI as described in the literature (in English) published in peer-reviewed journals between 1990 and 2014. The findings show a fairly even distribution among external and internal BMI barriers. Because the main barrier is the mind-set that is resistant to change, it is recommended the researchers and practitioners should focus more on the cognitive barriers to BMI in the agri-food industry.