| 1. |
- Hellsmark, Hans, 1974, et al.
(författare)
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The Role of Pilot and Demonstration Plants in Technology Development and Innovation Policy
- 2016
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Ingår i: Research Policy. - : Elsevier BV. - 0048-7333 .- 1873-7625. ; 45:9, s. 1743-1761
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Pilot- and demonstration plants (PDPs) represent bridges between generating basic knowledge and technological breakthroughs on the one hand, and industrial applications and commercial adoption on the other. This paper reports on a longitudinal study of how two technological fields that received significant public funding evolved—biochemical conversion of biomass and thermal conversion of black liquor. In doing so, this study makes two contributions. First, it provides a framework for analyzing the roles of various types of PDPs in developing new technology. The framework highlights the learning processes taking place at and around these plants and how they contribute to reducing different types of risks. It also elaborates on the importance of actor networks and institutional preconditions, and how both network performance and institutions can be influenced through various strategies. Second, the article contributes with new insights into the challenges of innovation policy in a PDP context. A policy mix is often required because policy cannot be considered meaningfully at a single level of government and will therefore be influenced heavily by limited foresight and politics (both nationally and locally). Therefore, policy must address both the need for parallel and iterative public funding of R&D and different types of plants, as well as attempts to directly influence collaborative processes in actor networks.
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| 2. |
- Sjöö, Karolin, 1983, et al.
(författare)
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Demonstration projects in sustainable technology : The road to fulfillment of project goals
- 2019
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Ingår i: Journal of Cleaner Production. - : Elsevier. - 0959-6526 .- 1879-1786. ; 228, s. 331-340
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Publicly funded demonstration projects represent a critical intermediate step between basic R&D on the one hand, and large-scale commercialization of new sustainable technology on the other. However, these projects often suffer from various technical and nontechnical difficulties, frequently fail to meet objectives, and sometimes stall despite the best intentions of their facilitators. This paper reports on a multiple case study of 21 demonstration projects in the area of sustainable technology set in Sweden and offers two contributions. First, it maps the project-internal and external factors that allow or prohibit demonstration projects to reach their goals. Second, it suggests a process model outlining the key activities for setting up a new demonstration project. By doing so, the paper provides important implications for the process of developing and commercializing sustainable technologies. The escalating environmental crisis in particular underscores the need for new knowledge about how cleaner and more sustainable technologies can be applied.
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Arekrans, Johan, 1993-
(författare)
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Circling the Squares : Radical Innovation and Management Control Systems in the Circular Economy
- 2023
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- An economic system built upon the sale of tangible goods produced using finite resources is inherently unsustainable. The idea of a Circular Economy (CE) as a viable pathway to sustainability has gained considerable attention from academia, policymakers, and the business community. The CE builds on a new logic in the business environment in which industrial firms operate that requires substantial changes. We face a significant knowledge gap concerning how firms internally manage the implementation and adoption of CE. Filling in this knowledge gap is critical to understanding how to implement CE at large and established firms with a considerable history of a linear logic, which are known to favor incremental improvements to existing business opportunities over radical innovation.This thesis aims to delve into the managerial challenges that large, established industrial firms encounter when implementing CE principles, and how they address these challenges, particularly through managerial controls. Additionally, it aims to provide insights into how management can facilitate radical circular innovation and support the circular transformation of incumbent firms. To accomplish this aim, existing knowledge on barriers to CE has been synthesized through a systematic literature mapping and a systematic literature review. Next, interviews (n=68) at five large and established industrial firms provide empirical insights concerning the implementation and adoption of CE principles. In addition to the four appended papers, this comprehensive summary theorizes about the empirical findings using literature on radical innovation, sensemaking, and managerial controls. Building on the empirical papers, this analysis sheds light on two distinct patterns in how managers frame CE: incremental framing versus radical framing. It is argued that this has considerable consequences concerning with respect to ambitions, operationalization, and the means used to achieve a CE. In addition, the thesis theorizes about the relationship between the management control systems and the prevailing framings of CE. Based on an understanding of this relationship and the tensions and conflicts associated with the different framings, it is argued that managerial controls can act both as barriers to and enablers of CE adoption at incumbent firms. In addition to the practical and theoretical implications of this finding, the thesis pinpoints limitations and assumptions concerning managerial control systems in relation to CE and propose new avenues in light of this. Finally, the analysis is synthesized into an integrative framework that differentiates three different modes of organizational behaviors within the context of CE transitions: optimizing, transforming, and systems building. This framework integrates the theoretical foundations of the thesis, acknowledges the identified issues, and offers actionable implications for researchers and practitioners.
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| 5. |
- Hellsmark, Hans, 1974, et al.
(författare)
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Innovation System Strengths and Weaknesses in Progressing Sustainable Technology : The Case of Swedish Biorefinery Development
- 2016
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Ingår i: Journal of Cleaner Production. - : Elsevier BV. - 0959-6526 .- 1879-1786. ; 131, s. 702-715
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Based on the combination of economic challenges and uncertain policy conditions in the United States, European Union, and elsewhere, the development of advanced biorefineries has progressed slower than anticipated. This has delayed the transition to a more sustainable and less carbon-intensive economy. In this article, we adopt the technological innovation system (TIS) approach to analyze advanced biorefinery development in Sweden, a front-runner country in current development. The analysis highlights a number of system strengths (e.g., long-term research funding; significant research infrastructure; strong actor networks) that have contributed to developing the Swedish TIS, but also important system weaknesses (e.g., weak coordination among ministries; lack of industrial absorptive capacity; unclear roles) inhibiting it. The article highlights a combination of four policy measures that build on the system strengths to address the system weaknesses: (a) the implementation of a deployment policy for creating domestic niche markets; (b) improved policy timing and more structured coordination among different governmental agencies; (c) the provision of stronger incentives for mature industries to invest in R&D and improve their absorptive capacity; and (d) improved organization and financing of existing research infrastructure. In addition to the empirical contribution, the article contributes with novel insights into the TIS framework by highlighting the dynamics between system strengths and weaknesses, and suggests that system strengths should be better emphasized in future TIS studies
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| 6. |
- Mossberg, Johanna, et al.
(författare)
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Challenges of sustainable industrial transformation : Swedish biorefinery development and incumbents in the emerging biofuels industry
- 2021
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Ingår i: Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining. - : John Wiley and Sons Ltd. - 1932-104X .- 1932-1031. ; 15:5, s. 1264-1280
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper investigates the transformation challenges related to incumbent industries caused by technology development and industry convergence in the transition to a bioeconomy in the context of Swedish biorefinery development. It involves the emergence of new value chains and several incumbent industries such as the pulp and paper industry, the oil refinery sector, the chemical process industry, and the heat and power sector. In 2019, Sweden had Europe's largest share of biofuels in the transport sector, roughly 20% on an energy basis, and this share has increased by around 300% during the last decade. At the same time, domestic production has stalled, and even though Sweden has beneficial conditions for biofuel production, the share of biofuel that is imported or based on imported feedstock has recently ranged between 85% and 90%. We discuss three transformation challenges: (i) inertia and lack of absorptive capacity creating lock-in effects at the organizational level; (ii) weak and inefficient actor networks at the industry level; and (iii) contradictory policy instrument mixes and lack of coordination at the government level. The findings underscore the need for policy integration and alignment across various policy domains, and an increased focus on policy mixes that can stimulate the emergence of more disruptive innovations and value chains. There is also a need for industrial initiatives, such as improving absorptive capacity and strengthening actor networks, to help build the value chains needed to realize a sustainable bioeconomy.
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| 7. |
- Mossberg, Johanna, et al.
(författare)
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Managerial and organizational challenges encountered in the development of sustainable technology : Analysis of Swedish biorefinery pilot and demonstration plants
- 2020
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Ingår i: Journal of Cleaner Production. - : Elsevier Ltd. - 0959-6526 .- 1879-1786. ; 276
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Pilot and demonstration plants (PDPs) perform critical tasks in the development of new sustainable technology by bridging basic knowledge generation and large-scale commercialization. Significant private and public funding has therefore been allocated to PDPs addressing climate change, pollution abatement technology and/or increased resource efficiency. After technology verification, PDPs typically struggle with evolving objectives, and reports of stalled or delayed development are common. Key problems may center on technical difficulties, but challenges of a non-technical nature are equally important, not least for the development of clean technology. This paper draws on a longitudinal case study of four PDPs used for advanced biorefinery technology development in Sweden and delineates the key managerial and organizational challenges that arise in and around such plants. By taking the actor networks around PDPs as the main unit of analysis, this paper gives a detailed description of various challenges, such as the division of responsibility for the operation and ownership of the PDPs, unclear roles and objectives, and the lack of specific competences and resources in the actor networks. One important conclusion is that improved knowledge about such challenges should increase the resilience of actor networks in and around PDPs, and also help shorten the formative phase of developing sustainable technology. © 2020 The Authors
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| 8. |
- Söderholm, Patrik, 1968-, et al.
(författare)
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Technological development for sustainability : The role of network management in the innovation policy mix
- 2019
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Ingår i: Technological forecasting & social change. - : Elsevier. - 0040-1625 .- 1873-5509. ; 138, s. 309-323
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Despite the key role of actor networks in progressing new sustainable technologies, there is a shortage of conceptual knowledge on how policy can help strengthen collaborative practices in such networks. The objective of this paper is to analyze the roles of such policies – so-called network management – throughout the entire technological development processes. The analysis draws on the public management and sustainability transitions literatures, and discusses how various network characteristics could affect the development of sustainable technologies, including how different categories of network management strategies could be deployed to influence actor collaborations. The paper's main contribution is an analytical framework that addresses the changing roles of network management at the interface between various phases of the technological development process, illustrated with the empirical case of advanced biorefinery technology development in Sweden. Furthermore, the analysis also addresses some challenges that policy makers are likely to encounter when pursuing network management strategies, and identifies a number of negative consequences of ignoring such instruments in the innovation policy mix. The latter include inefficient actor role-taking, the emergence of small, ineffective and competing actor networks in similar technological fields, and a shortage of interpretative knowledge.
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| 9. |
- Florén, Henrik, 1972-, et al.
(författare)
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From Preliminary Ideas to Corroborated Product Definitions : Managing the Front End of New Product Development
- 2012
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Ingår i: California Management Review. - Berkeley, Calif. : University of California Press. - 0008-1256 .- 2162-8564. ; 54:4, s. 20-43
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Front-end activities largely influence the outcomes of new product development processes, because it is here that firms create new ideas, give them direction, and set them in motion. We show that the front end can be understood as comprising three core activities: idea/concept development, idea/concept alignment, and idea/concept legitimization, which allow firms to create corroborated product definitions. The paper provides important implications for managers interested in front-end management, and devote specific attention to the differences between incremental and radical front end development and to the front end in the light of increasingly open innovation processes.
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| 10. |
- Frishammar, Johan, et al.
(författare)
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A knowledge-based perspective on system weaknesses in technological innovation systems
- 2019
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Ingår i: Science and Public Policy. - Oxford : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1471-5430 .- 0302-3427. ; 46:1, s. 55-70
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The literature on technological innovation systems (TIS) provides policymakers and other actors with a scheme of analysis to identify system weaknesses. In doing so, TIS analysis centres on which system weaknesses policy interventions should target to promote further development of a particular system. However, prior TIS literature has not sufficiently elaborated on what may constitute the conceptual roots of a 'weakness'. We apply a knowledge-based perspective and propose that many-albeit not all-system weaknesses may root in four types of knowledge problems: uncertainty, complexity, equivocality, and ambiguity. Employing these as sensitizing concepts, we study system weaknesses by analysing data from a biorefinery TIS in Sweden. This analysis results in novel implications for the TIS literature and for achieving a better match between system weaknesses and the design of innovation policies.
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