| 1. |
- Löfqvist, Lars, 1973-
(författare)
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Innovation and Design Processes in Small Established Companies
- 2009
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis examines innovation and design processes in small established companies. There is a great interest in this area yet paradoxically the area is under-researched, since most innovation research is done on large companies. The research questions are: How do small established companies carry out their innovation and design processes? and How does the context and novelty of the process and product affect the same processes?The thesis is built on three research papers that used the research method of multiple case studies of different small established companies. The innovation and design processes found were highly context dependent and were facilitated by committed resources, a creative climate, vision, low family involvement, delegated power and authority, and linkages to external actors such as customers and users. Both experimental cyclical and linear structured design processes were found. The choice of structure is explained by the relative product and process novelty experienced by those developing the product innovation. Linear design processes worked within a low relative novelty situation and cyclical design processes worked no matter the relative novelty. The innovation and design processes found were informal, with a low usage of formal systematic design methods, except in the case of design processes for software. The use of formal systematic methods in small companies seems not always to be efficient, because many of the problems the methods are designed to solve are not present. Customers and users were found to play a large and important role in the innovation and design processes found and gave continuous feedback during the design processes. Innovation processes were found to be intertwined, yielding synergy effects, but it was common that resources were taken from the innovation processes for acute problems that threatened the cash flow. In sum, small established companies have the natural prerequisites to take advantage of lead-user inventions and cyclical design processes. Scarce resources were found to be the main factor hindering innovation, but the examined companies practiced several approaches to increase their resources or use existing scarce resources more efficiently in their innovation and design processes. Examples of these approaches include adopting lead-user inventions and reducing formality in the innovation and design processes.
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| 2. |
- Löfqvist, Lars, 1973-
(författare)
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How small enterprises manage resource scarcity in their product innovation processes
- 2011
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the 6th European Conference on Innovation and Entrepreneurship. - Reading : Academic Conferences Limited. - 9781908272140 ; , s. 583-592
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Small enterprises have scarce resources, which is the main factor hindering their innovation of new products. Despite this resource scarcity, some small enterprises do innovate. The research question is: how do small enterprises manage resource scarcity in their product innovation processes? A multiple case study of three different small enterprises was used to answer the research question. The enterprises implement several approaches to use existing resources more efficiently or increase existing resources, such as reducing formality and including customers and users in the innovation processes, intertwining innovation processes, working concurrently on innovation and operational processes, adopting lead-user inventions, and only starting innovation processes when a current customer asks for or needs the potential new product. The efficiency of these approaches is found to be explained by common small enterprise characteristics. One conclusion from this study is that resource scarcity can be managed and small enterprises’ specific characteristics can facilitate innovation if these are recognized and used as strengths.
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| 3. |
- Löfqvist, Lars, 1973-
(författare)
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Managing Resource Scarcity in Small Enterprises’ Design Processes
- 2011
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Engineering Design (ICED 11): Impacting Society Through Engineering Design. - Glasgow : The Design Society. - 9781904670230 ; , s. 164-175
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Small enterprises have scarce resources, which is the main factor hindering their innovation and design of new products. Despite this resource scarcity, some small enterprises do innovate and design new products. The research question is: how do small enterprises manage resource scarcity in their design processes? A multiple case study of three different small enterprises was used to answer the research question. The enterprises implement several approaches to use existing resources more efficiently or increase existing resources, such as reducing formality and including customers and users in the design processes, intertwining design processes, working concurrently on design and operational processes, adopting lead-user inventions, and only starting design processes when a current customer asks for or needs the potential new product. The efficiency of these approaches is found to be explained by common small enterprise characteristics. One conclusion from this study is that resource scarcity can be managed and small enterprises’ specific characteristics can facilitate innovation and design if these are recognized and used as strengths.
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| 4. |
- Löfqvist, Lars, 1973-
(författare)
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Product innovation in small companies : managing resource scarcity through financial bootstrapping
- 2017
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Ingår i: International Journal of Innovation Management. - : World Scientific. - 1363-9196 .- 1757-5877. ; 21:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Researchers have proposed that scarce resources are the main factor hindering product innovation in small companies. However, despite scarce resources, small companies do innovate, so the research question is: How do small companies manage resource scarcity in product innovation? To answer the research question a multiple case study of three small established companies and their product innovation was used, including interviews and observations over a period of five months. The small companies were found to use many different bootstrapping methods in combination within their product innovation. The methods can be classified into three different functional categories: bootstrapping methods for increasing resources, for using existing resources more efficiently, and those for securing a fast payback on resources put into product innovation. Due to their resource scarcity, the studied companies also favoured an innovation strategy only involving new products done with known technology and targeting existing markets. This strategy seems to avoid unsuccessful innovation but at the same time exclude technologically radical innovation.
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| 5. |
- Löfqvist, Lars, 1973-, et al.
(författare)
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The creation of mutual benefit within innovation management research on small companies
- 2015
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Ingår i: 16th International CINet Conference.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Research and small company practice have a different logic. It is difficult to bring these two greatly differing activities together to create mutual benefit within a research project on innovation management. This is a problem especially if the researcher wishes to make a direct practical contribution to the companies involved in the research. This research aims to explore the difficulties in collaboration for mutual benefit, but also provides an example of a research approach which created mutual benefit for all involved. The conclusions build on an earlier PhD project on product innovation processes in small companies together with extensive reflections and discussions with the strategic manager at one of the involved companies. The study presents several major differences between research and small company practice and gives arguments for why more traditional research approaches in the innovation management field by themselves, such as survey and interview research, seem to be less suitable if mutual benefit is a goal. Finally, the study illustrates a research approach creating mutual benefit, knowledge creation, and knowledge transfer from academia to business practice and vice versa. This research approach includes concurrently giving the involved company valuable input and flexibility so as not to disturb the company’s cash flow.
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| 6. |
- Löfqvist, Lars, 1973-
(författare)
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The use of methodology for product and service development in SME:s : an exploratory study of 18 small companies
- 2007
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Ingår i: 8th International CINet Conference. ; , s. 1-9
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper examines the use of systematic methods in the product and service development process within small companies. The method used was semi structured interviews with persons involved in the product or service development process in the companies. The results show that almost all of the 18 companies examined in the study used no systematic methodology in their product or service development processes. The development processes were often ad hoc and inefficient and the companies were aware of this problem and suffered from it. They wanted to change their way of working but did not know how, yet expressed that a more systematic product or service development methodology could be a promising alternative to solve their problems. The small companies often had scarce resources for product or service development and had limited or no knowledge of systematic methods that could be used in their product and service development processes. Only one company in the study had a structured and effective product development methodology that suited the company’s characteristics. This case, however, shows that a structured and effective product or service development process is possible in a small company.
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| 7. |
- Moreira e Silva Bernardes, Maurício, et al.
(författare)
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Original Design in a Copying-Intensive Industry
- 2017
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Ingår i: International Journal of Computer Applications. - New York : FCS® (Foundation of Computer Science). - 0975-8887. ; 159:7, s. 29-38
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In some industries, copying is common and extensive. Most literature on the topic focuses on legal issues and interprets copying as a problem. To better understand the copying phenomenon, this study investigates the relationship between copying and design processes in five case companies in a copying-intensive industry. The findings reveal that unlike design processes, copying processes lack early conceptual activities. Furthermore, resources and contact with the end market are found to be prerequisites for professional and strategic design processes, whereas a lack of these better suits copying processes, especially in industries with low product variety and limited design problems.
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