| 1. |
- Johansson, Maria, et al.
(författare)
-
Interaktioner mellan affärs-, energi- och innovationsstrategier i massa- och pappersindustrin - slutrapport
- 2020
-
Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Samhällets omställning till en biobaserad ekonomi innebär nya möjligheter för svensk massa- och pappersindustri. Detta projekt har studerat hur massa- och pappersföretag i Sverige formulerar sina affärsstrategier i relation till krav på produktdiversifiering och förbättrad energi- och resurseffektivitet. Projektet har särskilt fokuserat på interaktioner mellan företagens affärs-, energi- och innovationsstrategier med syfte att öka kunskapen om dels företagens strategier och dels hur de tillsammans påverkar företagens möjligheter att möta de krav som ställs på branschen och, i förlängningen, deras förmåga att uppnå en hållbar och konkurrenskraftig produktion. Projektet har genomförts genom en intervjustudie med utvalda massa- och pappersföretag, en enkät till bruken i Sverige, dokumentstudier samt studier av utvalda innovationsprojekt. Studien har identifierat tre typer av affärsstrategier i branschen: bred differentiering, fokuserad differentiering samt kostnadsledarskap. De flesta studerade företag har en av de två förstnämnda strategierna. Resultaten visar att innovationsstrategierna har en tydlig relation till affärsstrategierna i det att företag som har en differentieringsstrategi strävar efter teknologiskt ledarskap eller åtminstone att vara snabba efterföljare, medan lågkostnadsproducenten har en innovationsstrategi som går ut på att följa efter senare än de andra. De studerade företagens energistrategier är mångfacetterade och kan relatera till företagets affärsstrategier på flera sätt. Energistrategin innefattar såväl aktiviteter som syftar till minskade kostnader som aktiviteter som syftar till att öka företagets intäkter. Alla företag i studien arbetar strategiskt med energi och har satt upp mål för detta arbete. Studien visar att företagen arbetar strategiskt med att minska sina energirelaterade kostnader genom energieffektivisering, energibesparing, självförsörjning av energi och byte till förnybar energi. Hälften av de studerade företagen arbetar även strategiskt med att ta fram och sälja energiprodukter för att härigenom öka sina intäkter och studien indikerar ett ökat intresse för detta. Studien har identifierat både synergier och konflikter mellan företagens innovations- och energistrategier. Synergier uppstår när energieffektiviseringar resulterar i processinnovationer (och vice versa), produktinnovationer leder till förbättrade energiprestanda eller nya biobaserade produkter ersätter fossilbaserade produkter. Samtidigt finns det även konflikter, eller trade-off, mellan innovation- och energistrategier, till exempel i form av ökad energianvändning i samband med produktionen av nya produkter. I dessa fall, är innovationens potentiella lönsamhet, eller business case, avgörande: innovationer med hög lönsamhet satsas på trots högre energianvändning.
|
|
| 2. |
- Onufrey, Ksenia, 1985-, et al.
(författare)
-
Digital tools for self-study and examination
- 2019
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Digitalization and increased use of information and communication technology (ICT) are major change processes taking place in engineering education today. Self-study and examination are areas with high potential for beneficial use of digital ICT tools. Some advantages with such tools are that students' can continuously assess their own learning in relation to the course objectives while they also can provide an opportunity to meet the teachers' needs to control how the students absorb the course material. Moreover, automatic provision of quick or instant feedback through digital tools can stimulate students’ commitment and active learning and allow students greater flexibility in their learning process, with tests that can be conducted online regardless of time and space and can be repeated as needed. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how different types of ICT-based self-study and examination practices can be implemented in courses on topics such as project management, product development, and entrepreneurship, and build a knowledge base necessary for future systematic implementation of digital examinations. Our study is based on an educational development project at Linköping University, where we tested and evaluated different models and approaches for digital knowledge testing in a number of selected courses.We discuss both positive and potentially problematic aspects of the use of digital tools and conclude that successful implementation is dependent on well-planned integration of such tools into the overall course where different types of activities enhance each other. Thus, this study connects the areas of digital self- study and examination and provides examples of first steps on the way towards implementation of ICT-based examination practices.
|
|
| 3. |
- Onufrey, Ksenia, 1985, et al.
(författare)
-
Second wind for exploitation: Pursuing high degrees of product and process innovativeness in mature industries
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Technovation. - : Elsevier BV. - 0166-4972 .- 1879-2383. ; 89
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper investigates to what extent and how an exploitation-oriented innovation logic can enable innovations characterised by a high degree of newness. The paper is based on an embedded case study of 11 innovation initiatives by the Swedish pulp and paper companies and uses a multi-dimensional framework that takes into account both product and process innovation dimensions as well as multiple stages in the value chain. The results show that the studied initiatives are characterised by new to the companies or new to the industry products and processes in the primary or final steps in the value chain (or both). It is also shown that such high degrees of novelty can be the result of an exploitation innovation logic, where novelty is enabled and facilitated by unchanged or slightly modified products and processes in other parts of the value chain. It can therefore be concluded that exploitation strategies can contribute to more than incremental innovation outcomes and, consequently, that mature industries hold considerably higher innovation potential than the previous literature assumes.
|
|
| 4. |
- Onufrey, Ksenia, 1985, et al.
(författare)
-
Self-reinforcing Mechanisms in a Multi-technology Industry: Understanding Sustained Technological Variety in a Context of Path Dependency
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Industry and Innovation. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1366-2716 .- 1469-8390. ; 22:6, s. 523-551
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper studies self-reinforcing mechanisms in multi-technology industries, i.e. industries in which technological lock-in does not occur and several technologies continue to coexist. The purpose of this paper is to investigate what kind of self-reinforcing mechanisms can be present in such industries and explain how multiple paths can coexist and interact in a context of self-reinforcement and, ultimately, path dependency. Building on the empirical example of the lighting industry, the paper shows that all previously recognized types of self-reinforcing mechanisms can be present in a multi-technology industry. However, in addition to the path-internal positive feedbacks and cross-path negative externalities identified in single-path settings, multi-technology industries also experience positive cross-path externalities that create a symbiotic relationship between alternatives and allow for the reproduction of the same development pattern across technologies. Due to the existence of such non-negative technology interactions, multi-technology industries can be path dependent while still retaining technological variety.
|
|
| 5. |
- Onufrey, Ksenia, 1985, et al.
(författare)
-
Transformation in a mature industry: the role of business and innovation strategies
- 2019
-
Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This paper aims to investigate the relationship between business and innovation strategies in a time of industry transformation. The paper conceptualizes business and innovation strategies based on two main dimensions, the competitive position and the resource position. For the business strategy, the paper addresses Porter’s (1980, 1985) generic competitive strategies and the resource-based view (Barney, 2001b). For the innovation strategy, the paper addresses the dimensions of technology strategy (Zahra and Covin, 1993) and the degree and the type of ambidexterity. The empirical case study builds on 15 interviews with 8 producers in the Swedish pulp and paper industry, which currently faces transformation pressures. The interview results are also complemented with the results of the survey sent to all pulp and paper plants in Sweden. Regarding business strategies, the results reveal three strategic groups, with different characteristics in terms of both competitive position and resource position. For innovation strategies, the results show that the companies mainly differed with regard to competitive positioning, while with regard to resource position, they were more similar. In particular, a common for most companies type of ambidexterity strategy, market-driven exploitation, is revealed and explained. In terms of interrelation between the business and innovation strategies, the results complement previous research by showing a clear relationship between the two strategy types for competitive position dimension, and by providing a more detailed understanding of this relation within the resource dimension. The paper provides a complementary explanation of the observed slow transformation of the industry, highlighting the strains such a transformation puts on the involved companies in terms of the trade-offs involved in changing strategic direction while retaining core capabilities.
|
|
| 6. |
- Onufrey, Ksenia, 1985, et al.
(författare)
-
Transformation in a mature industry: The role of business and innovation strategies
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Technovation. - : Elsevier BV. - 0166-4972 .- 1879-2383. ; 105:July 2021
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper investigates how business and innovation strategies explain companies' responses to transformational pressures in a mature industry. The analytical framework combines two perspectives on business and innovation strategies: competitive position and resource position. Based on an embedded case study of eight companies in the Swedish pulp and paper industry, the paper contributes to previous innovation literature by connecting companies' innovation responses to their business and innovation strategies. Most notably, it reveals a new type of ambidextrous innovation strategy, i.e. “market-driven exploitation”, and shows that the responses by incumbent companies in the pulp and paper industry are the result of deliberate and justifiable strategic choices rather than path dependency and inertia. The study also confirms the value of integrating the two perspectives on strategy. On the one hand, the explanations provided by each perspective overlap with the other, so that they together provide a more nuanced understanding of the companies’ choices and activities. On the other hand, the perspectives complement each other, so that one perspective explains observations that cannot be explained by the other. The results of the paper inform both managers and policy makers about the trade-offs involved in changing a strategic direction while retaining core capabilities.
|
|
| 7. |
- Werner, Viktor, 1993-, et al.
(författare)
-
From protection to selective exposure : commercial demonstrations as steppingstones for upscaled technology diffusion
- 2021
-
Ingår i: International Journal of Automotive Technology and Management. - : InderScience Publishers. - 1470-9511 .- 1741-5012. ; 21:3, s. 250-272
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Examining how actively constructed processes of demand articulation can enable upscaled technology diffusion, this paper introduces a distinction between pre-commercial and commercial demonstrations. The paper argues that these two forms of demonstration play different roles in the adoption of innovative technologies. Whereas pre-commercial demonstrations are initiated to facilitate entry into niche markets, commercial demonstrations are devised to ease entry to mass markets. The paper presents a comparative case analysis of commercial demonstration projects featuring electrified heavy trucks in urban applications. The analysis focuses on the relation between the technologies and the selection environments they operate in, showing how stakeholders actively shape selection environments in commercial demonstrations. The analysis further shows how network relationships and lessons learned empower stakeholders to articulate forceful demands on institutional changes that promote an upscaled technology diffusion.
|
|
| 8. |
- Werner, Viktor, 1993-
(författare)
-
Ghosts of the Past or Facilitators of the Future? : Firm-System Interactions in the Transition to Electrified Goods Transportation
- 2023
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- If you visit Linköping, you have good chances to see electrified cars, or you may even take a ride on an electric city bus. However, you will have some difficulty spotting one of the very few electric trucks operating in the city. The transition to a road-based goods transportation system with electrified trucks is much slower than the transition to electrified passenger transport in Sweden. Part of the explanation for this are the profound system changes required to realize a competitive electrified goods transportation system, a system that involves different firms with significantly different resources and varying relationships to existing system structures. This thesis aims to contribute to transition studies by mapping out how firm-system interactions unfold during an ongoing sustainability transition. Therefore, attention is placed on how dynamic transition processes are affected by firms with stakes in the emerging socio-technical system for electrified goods transportation. The thesis also emphasizes the firms' limitations in shaping the environment in which the electrified trucks will operate. The data on which the thesis is based was collected within the context of two research projects, both funded by the Swedish Energy Agency and affiliated with the Swedish Electromobility Center. The data collection included observations at 42 industry events and 34 semi-structured interviews with different actors involved in the development of electrified goods transportation in Sweden. In addition, a literature review was conducted based on articles in the research community of transition studies, highlighting how established firms in the automotive sector handle major transitions of socio-technical systems. In general, the thesis contributes to the ongoing discussion in transition studies about the role of firms in transitions. In particular, there is a vivid discussion about two issues in this research community: how established firms can contribute to ongoing transition processes and how to understand the interactions between firms and systems during ongoing transitions. This thesis synthesizes the results of five articles to address these questions in three main ways. First, the thesis contributes to the discussion on incumbent firms with an "extreme" empirical case of system reconfiguration, characterized by the interactions between two socio-technical systems where incumbent firms play the role of users and producers in both systems. The thesis describes how different incumbent firms have different system functions and different resources and how these functions and resources are reshaped as the new system emerges. Second, the dissertation contributes with a conceptualization of two types of interactions between firms and systems, covering how the firm can influence the emerging system and how feedback from the emerging system travels back to the firm. The thesis nuances the academic discussions on firm-system interactions by considering the possibilities of established firms to strategically invest in a favorable dynamic of co-evolution between their own resources and the emerging socio-technical system. Third, the thesis develops analytical tools to investigate how incumbent firms can influence changes in their environment by contributing to the design of favorable future markets and to understand how incumbent firms influence problem-solution couplings during transitions.
|
|
| 9. |
- Werner, Viktor, 1993-, et al.
(författare)
-
If electric trucks are the solution, what are the problems? A study of agenda-setting in demonstration projects
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Energy Research & Social Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 2214-6296 .- 2214-6326. ; 91
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper explores individual and collective agenda-setting processes in demonstration projects. It contributes to transition studies by showing how multi-actor collaboration in demonstrations and the resulting alignment of agendas aid social embedding of new technologies. The research questions address, first, the extent to which individual actors can dominate shared agenda-setting, and second, how the experience of participating in demonstrations influences actors' individual agendas. An analytical model operationalizes agendas based on an adjusted multiple streams approach of problems, solutions, and institutional contexts. The model is applied in a comparative analysis of two electrified distribution truck demonstrations. All data presented were collected in 25 semi-structured interviews and an online workshop. The analysis shows how leading actors may dominate agenda-setting dynamics by imposing considerable influence on the selection of problems and specification of solutions. However, it also illustrates how other involved actors can influence the configuration of technological solutions during the demonstration project. The analysis results highlight how collaborative agenda-setting can lead to the creation of coherent packages between multiple streams, leading to changes in the individual agendas of the involved actors.
|
|
