| 1. |
- Alänge, Sverker, 1951, et al.
(författare)
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Building Teams and Organizational Learning in China: A case illustrating how Action research can be used in a cross-cultural context to support new ways of working between universities and industry
- 2012
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Ingår i: The 10th GLOBELICS International Conference, 9-11 November, 2012 in Hangzhou, China. ; , s. 4985-5007
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- In 2010, the Chinese Geely Holding Group bought Swedish Volvo Cars. During the build-up phase of a first new factory in Chengdu, Swedish and Chinese managers were employed to work in parallel and on equal terms. However, these cross-cultural teams did not appear to work as effectively and harmoniously as was expected. Due to Volvo’s history of working with the Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, Volvo decided to design a project together with Chalmers with 3 key-objectives: 1.To understand what was supporting and hindering their cross cultural teams. 2. To support the teams to learn from the results and to experiment with new ways of working and learning. 3. To develop a research team that included both Swedish and Chinese professors and students. As a result, a cross cultural team was created between Chalmers and the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC). An action research approach was designed, including feedback workshops to support leaders to become aware of and to experiment with new ways of working and learning together. Action research was found useful for the Swedish/Chinese company to improve its leadership groups and to enhance its relations with universities in a new cross cultural setting.
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| 2. |
- Alänge, Sverker, 1951, et al.
(författare)
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Innovation Systems in Latin America: Examples from Honduras, Nicaragua and Bolivia
- 2005
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The main purpose of the study was to identify and analyze the current status of local innovation and cluster activities in three Latin American countries, Bolivia, Honduras and Nicaragua. This included the goals to identify key stakeholders active in innovation and to analyze the relationships between the various stakeholder and cluster groups. More specifically we were also interested in analyzing the university’s role in innovation activities. Finally, our aim was to identify supports and hinders to innovation activities and the emergence of innovation clusters. The cluster model (based on Sölvell et al. 2003) that was used for analysis was a good starting point – but not sufficient. We needed to adjust and adapt it during our research process and had to add 4 key stakeholders which were missing: Unions; Aid community; Development banks; and Indigenous communities. Using our interview data from Bolivia, Honduras and Nicaragua for the analysis, it was found that there were many similarities across the three countries. There is limited sharing of research results and lack of diffusion of competence, learning and know-how. There is a lack of research culture (incentives, funding) and research and science is not on the national agenda or connected to industry. Limited resources, risk avoidance and low esteem in locally grown inhibit local innovation and entrepreneurship. Intellectual property rights (IPR) are poorly developed and lack links to business development.Public universities have most of the state research money as well as money from donors but have very limited contact with industry and there is a lack of trust. Some great examples of research being conducted were identified where financing for research and advanced degrees had been provided by international donor organisations. However, the researchers act as islands so research is not visible even internally at the universities. There is a lack of research culture where teachers have no time for research, and promotion/prestige does not value research. The research that exists is not linked to the market and there is no commercialization of research. Private universities are a recent phenomenon, during the last 10 years, primarily focused on education and typically with excellent contacts with industry, but with a few exceptions, without any research tradition. A few examples of well-functioning and market driven research institutes were identified. Industry is in general not making innovation and do not budget for innovation and R & D activities, although we found good examples of innovative activities in all three countries - primarily in organisation innovation and product innovation. Government policies and institutions for Innovation, Science and Technology are either non-existent or weak. Some innovative approaches were identified, e.g. in bidding system to link suppliers and producers in agro business (Bolivia), financing innovation in SMEs and support to cluster development (Nicaragua) and financing of micro businesses (Bolivia, Nicaragua). In the financial sector, traditional banks do not support SMEs and do not give loans for innovation. Instead, international donor agencies are important actors when it comes to financing, but they have their own agendas, which do not necessarily coincide with National goals. Various types of organizations, including NGOs, perform the role of linking organizations and the services provided can include financing which make them a stronger player. Laws and regulations are sometimes creating disincentives for local entrepreneurs, for example tax incentives for foreign investment, Tax free zones create islands of industry, without interaction with the local business or society. The Intellectual Property systems are weak with limited capacity to evaluate intellectual assets, mainly foreigners (90%) apply for patents and universities offer no courses or information to students or teachers on IP and IP processes. The above study provided input for an action learning project with the main goal of introducing and developing a process that will increase awareness, cooperation and debate on the role and opportunity that ‘innovation clusters’ may have in the development of innovations. A sub-goal was to increase the connectivity between the key stakeholders active in innovation activities both locally in within the wider region. As part of this action learning project various stakeholders were invited to meet and discuss the preliminary findings in a workshop at the end of our visit to each of the Latin American countries. Finally, a group of stakeholders from each country were invited to participate in the 7th Global Innovation Cluster Conference in Ottawa, Canada.
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| 3. |
- Alänge, Sverker, 1951, et al.
(författare)
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“Intellectual Properties: Alternative Strategies to Value Creation in Life Sciences
- 2006
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Ingår i: Globelics Conference, October 4-7, Trivandrum.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Intellectual properties (IP) has not been an important issue when discussing development in poorer countries in the South. One reason is that the patent system, which is one essential component of IP, was developed based on needs of the industrialized countries to stimulate and protect their innovators. Consequently, the share of patents granted to developing countries during the past 15 years has been almost negligible. However, both among academics and policy makers there is a growing awareness that IP could become important for development in the South. First, the legal infrastructure and its practice, such as ownership rights and intellectual properties can be of great importance, including using properties as capital for financing investment in innovation. Second, there is also a growing interest in IP because of the market potential of innovations based on the bio-diversity assets. Part of this potential could be developed based on what indigenous people already are aware of, which poses specific questions on rights and ownership. In some countries in the South there has been a non-patenting tradition as a response to the difficulty to protect local knowledge. Scholars looking at the issue from an academic standpoint suggest publishing as a general strategy of protection of ideas from the South. Also within the framework of WIPO, there have been discussions on the role of IP in the South, including creating special conditions for the South, e.g. to promote free sharing of IP among developing countries (PIPRA) while at the same time protecting this IP from the competition from the North. Another issue is if it is ethical to protect foreign innovators rights in a developing country, as it blocks imitation, which could be a viable road towards development for countries in the South. Especially, the strong conflictive dimensions of bio-innovation systems for the South have been emphasized, e.g. the very weak attention by the international biomedical research a genda to ‘illness of poverty’, the difficulties to enforce norms that protect the environment and the bio-diversity, and the discussions about IP rights concerning use of biological knowledge.In the industrialized world there is a new trend, which closely combines intellectual property with entrepreneurship – particularly within knowledge-based industries such as internet-/software-based and life sciences. Knowledge-based innovation, through start-up of new firms or renewal of existing firms, is also an important strategy for development in some countries in the South. However, in many countries the structures for intellectual properties are very weak, and the understanding both within industry and university is limited. In addition, the law enforcement is practically non-existent which even more limits the interest of the industry and university to use intellectual properties for value creation. The paper analyzes the status of intellectual property in two Latin American countries and discusses alternative strategies for promoting and protecting knowledge on national as well as on university and company levels, with specific reference to the situation for life sciences.The discussion primarily refers to the situation in Latin America, and more specifically to two of the poorest countries in the region in terms of economic development, Bolivia and Nicaragua. These two countries are however simultaneously immensely rich when it comes to bio-diversity. The analysis is based on 110 interviews with representatives for different stakeholders, such as industry, government, university, financial sector, NGOs, patent offices. With this analysis as a base, the paper presents alternative strategies for promoting and protecting knowledge in order to make it available and utilized on markets (to make business from or trade) and by society. The necessity of developing different and complementary strategies to satisfy needs from different stakeholder perspectives is emphasized, e.g. for indigenous populations, local and international business, universities and society. The paper concludes that there is not one answer to the question on how to create value from indigenous knowledge, and there is not one strategy that fits all possible applications. Instead, there is a need of developing competence in analyzing and selecting among different strategic alternatives, including the use of IPRs. This competence development includes intellectual assets management and intellectual property management, which today both are weak in countries in the South. However, for value creation based on biodiversity and bioscience, there is also a need of developing capabilities in the area of intellectual capital management, which can be seen as a very big step, but a necessary step in order to take part in value creation in an interconnected world, where economic development to an increasing extent is dependent on knowledge based industry.
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| 4. |
- Alänge, Sverker, 1951, et al.
(författare)
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Swedish Entrepreneurship in a Cross-Cultural Perspective
- 1988
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Ingår i: Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research 1988. - 0910897093 ; , s. 1-15
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Swedish entrepreneurs' motives to start their own business have been studied in terms of cultural values, available resources and infrastructure, as well as in relation to individual, company/industry and regional characteristics. A total of 159 Swedish entrepreneurs in five different regions have responded to an extensive questionnaire (response rate 52%). The regions were selected to obtain variation in terms of growing/declining and rural/urban areas. Of the randomly selected entrepreneurs 14.5% were female.Key findings identified that Swedish entrepreneurs were motivated by a need for independence and having total control over their endeavors. Family tradition and role models appeared to have less importance. Also apparent, were the distinct motivational differences between Sweden and other countries. The differences between the five Swedish regions however, were not significant. This study is part of an international cross-cultural study aimed at comparing the conditions and motivations for entrepreneurship in 15 countries.
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| 5. |
- Alänge, Sverker, 1951, et al.
(författare)
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The Quality of a Regional Innovation System -– the case of Querétaro, Mexico
- 2004
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the 7th International QMOD Conference ‘Management Challenge of the New Millenium’ in Monterrey, Mexico, August 4-6, 2004. - 9707730153 ; , s. 21-37
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The purpose of this study is to identify innovation patterns and to explore barriers/facilitators to innovation in a regional innovation system. One major problem identified was a lack of connectivity between the stakeholders. Hence, this regional innovation system on one hand produces quality products but on the other hand it is fragile and built on weak links and misperceptions. These weak links stands as a threat for its future ability to develop product and process innovations.
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| 6. |
- Alänge, Sverker, 1951, et al.
(författare)
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What Motivates People to Start Their Own Businesses: A Nordic Perspective
- 1988
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Ingår i: ISBC 1988 conference in Helsinki. ; , s. 1-7
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The paper presents the Nordic perspective on what motivates entrepreneurs to start their own business. The results presented are based on an eleven country study where data from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden is compared to international data from Australia, China, Great Britain, Italy, Portugal, Puerto Rico and the USA. This is one study generated from Sari Scheinberg's PhD research entitled Entrepreneurs in a Cross-Cultural Perspective.
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| 7. |
- Frischer, Josef, 1948, et al.
(författare)
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The Learning Alliance: Relational Aspects to the Development of Competence
- 2000
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Ingår i: Work Values and Organizational Behavior Toward the New Millennium: Proceedings, from the 7th Bi-Annual ISSWOV conference in Jerusalem, June 25-28, 2000. ; , s. 165-172
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The purpose of this paper is to present a model, which can serve as a framework for developing and analyzing relationships conducive to learning between supervisors and doctoral students. It specifically sets out to explore the extent to which standardization of the relationship can support the competence development process. A central concept in the model is the Learning Alliance and the focus is on the development of a mutual platform for the supervisor and doctoral student to work on. The learning alliance can be manifested in a contract that includes mutual agreement on goals, on tasks, and on process to reach the goals. In order to realize the full potential of a learning alliance, especially when it comes to developing more tacit elements of competence, it has shown to be essential to develop a relationship built on mutual trust. In order to make sure that strong learning relationships are being developed between doctoral students and their supervisors, academic institutions can develop routines. These routines could provide guidance into what to consider and how to proceed when aiming at establishing a learning alliance. By introducing a more standardized way of entering into a good working relationship, these routines can provide a means of limiting variations between different supervisor/doctoral student pairs. The organizational culture and the presence of role models can as well influence the establishment of a learning alliance. However, the organizational culture provides guidance in a less explicit way than do standardized routines.It has been found that the absence of Learning Alliances has been the main contributor to the poor outcomes in the doctoral process. However, the Learning Alliance does not happen spontaneously or naturally. In fact, the Learning Alliance requires substantial time and effort, in order to be created and maintained. And, most supervisors are not naturally skilled in creating the conditions and contracts needed.In response to these shortcomings, it is important to first develop a common understanding, among supervisors and doctoral students, of what a "good learning relationship" could look like. A new model illustrating the essential components of a Learning Alliance has now been offered as a tool. Another response to the missing skills, is the suggestion of specific methods and processes to establish Learning Alliances. Such methods include the introduction of routines and standard procedures. One clear example of this is the routine of regularly scrutinizing the Learning Alliance itself. Another method is to influence the working climate in the organization.
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| 8. |
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| 9. |
- Scheinberg, Sari, et al.
(författare)
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Action Science – How researcher gender affects the research design and work approach
- 2007
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Ingår i: 10th International QMOD Conference at Campus Helsingborg, Lund University, June 18-20, 2007, Lund.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- During a 3 year period (2004 to 2006), an extensive action research project was conducted in Latin America and Africa, intent on exploring the local innovation systems. Over 500 persons were interviewed, representing the various stakeholders in the local innovation systems in Bolivia, Nicaragua, Honduras, Tanzania and South Africa. The goal of the research was to find the key players who are actively working with innovation, and to explore their experience in the innovation process, including the psycho-social perspective. Specifically, we sought to learn about their roles and responsibilities in the innovation, the types and quality of the relationships they had, how they managed their work, and what they believed supported and hindered their work. For example, researchers were interviewed about their research projects; industry leaders and managers were interviewed to learn about their research, development and improvement work; government officials (national, regional and local) were interviewed to learn about their current policies, laws and programs for supporting and protecting innovation, science and technology; community leaders were interviewed to learn about the local issues, needs and goals for improvement; indigenous leaders were interviewed to learn about their needs and activities of development; bankers and donor agencies were interviewed to learn about their current strategies and programs to invest in or to support innovation activities; and journalists were interviewed to learn about their editorial positions and their understanding of innovation. Because the goal of this research was to understand the innovation process from the ’experience’ of these various stakeholders, a special research design and philosophy was created and followed which was based upon a qualitative methodology (semi-structured interviews and observations) with a phenomenological orientation. In complying with this tradition and in order to assure that we analysed the interviews with the least amount of interpretation, we invited the interviewees to participate in a series of workshops, where we fed back our initial results, got feedback, and created the possibilities to dig deeper into the meaning of their responses and to observe and make interventions into the relationships (between the various stakeholders) in the room. The purpose of this paper is to explore and critique the design, philosophy and methodology used in this research project, both from a theoretical and practical perspective. We are interested in exploring and reflecting on how the gender and culture (values) of the researchers affect the research process and choices made as well as the consequences of using this approach – on both the researchers and stakeholders they are working with.The research approach chosen, the design and the choices made during the course of the research have been analyzed based on research methodology literature, including from a philosophical approach (Buber 1958), feministic approach (Flecher, 2001, Alvesson and Billing, 1997), value approach (Perls 1951, Nevis 1987).The methodology used was developed out from the humanistic and psychological fields and it was found that a large set of the values and choices made in the design were coincidentally similar (if not identical) to the ’feminist approach’ to conducting research.
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| 10. |
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