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- B. Forsberg, Petter, 1984-
(författare)
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Collaboration in practice : A multiple case study on collaboration between small enterprises and university researchers
- 2018
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- University-industry collaborations (UICs) have been hailed as key for Sweden's innovativeness and economic growth. Similarly, building research and innovation policies for the promotion of collaboration between universities and industry have become a cornerstone for many other European countries.In academic literature there has been an emphasis on efficiency, facilitation, effects and values obtained in UICs. They have been widely studied, both in terms of the reasons why they are formed, their structure and the effects they create, but not much in terms of how they work on a daily basis. There is less attention in the literature to analyse or problematise how UIC work is carried out when a connection has already been formed or is repeatedly enacted. Additionally, there is also a lack of studies looking at small firms UICs. Through identifying a lack of perspective in the UIC literature this thesis builds on the recent developments in practice theory in addressing some of the gaps found. It thus analyses these collaborations from a perspective not present in the literature in pursuit of how UICs are carried out.Through four embedded case studies between small enterprises and university researchers the thesis questions some of the assumptions made in the UIC literature and policy documents. First of all, through the practice theory lens, the thesis shows how the creation of a node/linchpin, a boundary object or a broker, between university and industry is instrumental in enabling collaboration work to take place. Secondly, being able to work together successfully does not equal outcomes sought after by policy organisations. Nevertheless, a general conclusion is that there were valuable outcomes for both the companies and the researchers, confirming previous research on UICs. But, these benefits were often difficult to put into clear numbers or metrics and appeared only after a very long time.The thesis argues that policy (and associated organisations) should promote the connection between a research site/practices and a company site/practices rather than pushing for a joint practice. In such a way UICs can be valuable for both researchers and companies.
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| 3. |
- Baraldi, Enrico, et al.
(författare)
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A proactive approach to the utilization of academic research : The case of Uppsala University's AIMday
- 2016
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Ingår i: Science and Public Policy. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0302-3427 .- 1471-5430. ; 43:5, s. 613-621
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- While most research on university-industry interactions focuses on established collaborations, this paper focuses on those interactions that occur before the emergence of a concrete relationship. Uppsala University, Sweden, applies this 'proactive' approach, based on creating universityindustry cooperation platforms before, or irrespectively of, the creation of commercializable knowledge. This study aims to analyze the structure, processes and effects of proactive approaches to utilize academic research commercially. It focuses on a conference, Academy Industry Meeting day (AIMday) and addresses three main questions: first, how does this mechanism work? Second, why do different actors, such as researchers, small and large companies, participate? Third, what values and concrete effects do they obtain from it? Our case study reflects the perspectives of industry, academia and the administrative units organizing the event. We find that some reasons to participate and values are important to all participants, but that there are also considerable differences.
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| 5. |
- Eggers, Kai M., 1962-, et al.
(författare)
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Morbidity and cause-specific mortality in first-time myocardial infarction with nonobstructive coronary arteries
- 2019
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Ingår i: Journal of Internal Medicine. - : Blackwell Publishing. - 0954-6820 .- 1365-2796. ; 285:4, s. 419-428
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Myocardial infarction (MI) with nonobstructive coronary arteries (MINOCA) is receiving increasing interest as a prognostically adverse entity distinct from myocardial infarction with significant coronary artery disease (MI-CAD). However, data are still limited regarding long-term cardiovascular morbidity and cause-specific mortality in MINOCA.METHODS: This is a registry-based cohort study using data from patients admitted to Swedish coronary care units. We investigated various nonfatal outcomes (recurrent MI, hospitalization for heart failure or stroke) and fatal outcomes (cardiovascular, respiratory or cancer-related mortality) in 4069 patients without apparent acute cardiovascular disease, used as non-MI controls, 7266 patients with first-time MINOCA and 69 267 patients with first-time MI-CAD.RESULTS: Almost all event rates (median follow-up 3.8 years) increased in a stepwise fashion across the three cohorts [rates of major adverse events (MAE; composite of all-cause mortality, recurrent MI, hospitalization for heart failure or stroke): n = 268 (6.6%), n = 1563 (21.5%), n = 17 777 (25.7%), respectively]. Compared to non-MI controls, MINOCA patients had an adjusted hazard ratio (HR) of 2.12 (95% confidence interval 1.84-2.43) regarding MAE. MINOCA patients had a substantial risk of cardiovascular mortality and the highest numerical risks of respiratory and cancer-related mortality. Male sex, previous heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease had a stronger prognostic impact in MINOCA than in MI-CAD. Female MINOCA patients with atrial fibrillation were at particular risk.CONCLUSIONS: Patients with first-time MINOCA have a considerable risk of adverse events. This stresses the need for a comprehensive search of the cause of MINOCA, thorough treatment of underlying disease triggers and close follow-up.
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| 6. |
- Fornstedt, Helena, et al.
(författare)
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Stalling Innovation Adoption through the Emergence of Neoconservative Market Structures : Observations from the Energy Sector
- 2015
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objectives and theoretical and practical relevance: The expectations on industrial actors in the energy transmission sector to lead and facilitate the transition to renewable energy solutions are building up. When significant financial institutions (such as coalitions of pension funds) are taking serious action to drop investments in coal, oil and gas, to instead invest in sustainable technologies, energy transmission is identified as one of the most central areas, insofar as it sets the limits for how renewable energy sources may interact, and it stakes out the direction for what kind of renewable energy technologies are worth investing in. What remains a question, however, is where the innovative spirit needed to facilitate a transition to renewable energy solutions find its power. Components and subsystems for energy transmission are characterized by extremely high demands on reliability and long product life cycles. Consequently, investing in new technology within this realm is seen as a risky endeavor. And energy transmission has therefore been known to be a market marked by a conservative reflex – a reflex that has worked against radical technological developments within this realm.Historically, this conservative reflex has been dealt with through strategic national development programs, through which daring and demanding customers have been integrated in the value-creating processes, for instance. As Fridlund (1999) has shown, this has driven development as well as diffusion/adoption of new products and technologies within this realm. However, the past decades have seen significant shifts in how energy markets are organized – how utility-customers interact with suppliers, and procure and otherwise relate to new technology. The aim of this paper is to explore structural changes within the energy transmission market that appear to be stalling innovation. More specifically, it looks into how changing business models amongst utilities and reorganized value chains in the procurement, construction, deployment, and maintenance of energy transmission infrastructure seem to have fed the conservative reflex integral to this market, and increased the reluctance to adopt new technology. With the analysis centering on how management ideologies and legal-political frameworks have spurred such changes, the paper highlights a set of conservative forces that are seldom mentioned in the debate around the transition to renewables, and that have been overseen in research on non-adoption of innovation – but which call for a re-consideration of dominating innovation and marketing strategies.Brief literature mapping and key references: To discuss adoption of energy transmission components and subsystems, the paper draws on research indebted to Rogers’s (1995) work on how diffusion processes are impacted by the ways in which markets are constituted and customers relate to novel offerings (eg, Frambach & Schillewaert 2002, MacVaugh and Schiavone 2010). MacVaugh’s and Schiavone’s (2010) attempt to synthesize existent research on non-adoption of innovation is of particular concern here, with the present analysis dealing with aspects that largely fall outside the ‘integrative model of factors limiting innovation adoption’ they seek to establish, thus extending the understanding of non- adoption encountered there.Method: The study builds on approximately 20 semi-structured interviews circling around the development, diffusion and adoption of new technology, around customer behavior and organization, and how these different aspects have changed over past decades. Directed towards product/system suppliers, intermediaries, customers/users and allied partners in the energy sector, the conservative theme and its associated dynamics emerged through the interpretative work following the interviews.Research question and theoretical development: In contrast to MacVaugh and Schiavone’s (2010) integrative model – which outlines, in a rather static way, how factors pertaining to the technology, the social structures and the conditions for learning in the market (may) stand in relation to (non-)adoption on an individual, organizational level and industry/market level – the present study seeks an understanding of a dynamics governed by managerial- ideological and legal-political forces that is restructuring and reconstituting this market: giving rise to new actors, increasing the complexity of intra- and inter-organizational relationships, and fragmenting the interests of the actors involved in the market networks, ultimately making them more reluctant to adopt new technologies.Findings: With the value chain of this industry spanning across public/private divides, and customers being characterized by increasing degrees of corporatization and privatization, energy markets have been subject to managerial-ideological and legal-political forces that have fragmented and extended the value chains in similar ways, by 1) preventing customers from being an integrative part of development processes, by 2) pushing customers to specialize and seek out business models that increase the dependence on various sub- contractors with limited innovation gain, and by 3) instituting new intermediaries in the procurement process (eg, centralized innovation purchasing units or Engineering Procurement Construction Companies).Conclusion and contribution to the field: Consequently, the potential benefits of an innovation becomes diluted upon several actors with no joint responsibility. Limiting the innovators’ capacity to convince the market to adopt new technology, and stealing lead customers of progressive purchasing power, this severely inhibits development as well as diffusion of innovation. With respect to theoretical contributions, the study introduces fragmented/ dispersed value chains or value networks into the (non-)adoption discourse, and puts the focus on the dynamics driving such fragmentation and dispersion.Managerial implications: These findings indicate that suppliers need refined innovation inception strategies that take new purchasing entities with narrow agendas into account, and customers may well have reason to re-assess or formulate specific innovation appropriation strategies. Organizations that have outsourced purchasing, construction and or operating services need to carefully secure systemic innovation need that sub-partners lack knowledge or incitements to attain.
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| 8. |
- Fors, Per, 1988-
(författare)
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Problematizing Sustainable ICT
- 2019
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- How should we understand the relationship between information and communication technology (ICT) and sustainability? Generally, it is assumed that while ICT products contribute to many environmental and social problems as they are produced and disposed of, the potential of using ICT to achieve a more sustainable society is immense. However, despite the fact that such a discourse is favored not only in the industrial but also in the political and academic spheres, we have yet to see this presumed sustainability-related potential of ICT fully exploited.This thesis argues that conventional assumptions and understandings related to three abstractions in sustainable ICT research and practice – namely the technological, the social, and the sustainable – contribute to an overly optimistic discourse of sustainable ICT, which favors certain research approaches and practical applications. Adhering to such a discourse risks reinforcing, rather than breaking loose from, an unsustainable status quo. Through problematization, this thesis aims to unveil and challenge such underlying assumptions and understandings, based on insights from the social sciences and philosophy. New assumptions and understandings of sustainable ICT research and practice are suggested, and contribute with a perspective that among other things emphasize the ontological inseparability of the technological and the social, implying an anti-essentialist position embracing the value-ladenness and value and meaning mediatory aspects of such phenomena. The normative contributions include theoretical and methodological approaches to sustainable ICT design and sustainable ICT entrepreneurship – identified as two central practices for sustainable ICT to promote sustainability – that aim to mobilize politically charged discourses of our being together with each other, technologies and nature in order to facilitate collaborative action towards sustainable futures. This thesis should be seen as a critical contribution to fields interested in sustainable ICT, such as ICT for Sustainability (ICT4S) and Sustainable Human-Computer Interaction (SHCI).
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| 9. |
- Fowler, Nina, et al.
(författare)
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The Projectification of University Research : A study of resistance and accommodation of projectmanagement tools & techniques
- 2015
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Ingår i: International Journal of Managing Projects in Business/Emerald. - : Emerald Group Publishing Limited. - 1753-8378 .- 1753-8386. ; 8:1, s. 9-32
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to discuss and critically examine how formal project management (PM) tools and techniques affect the organization of university research.Design/methodology/approach - The paper is empirically grounded and explores how university researchers respond to an increasing emphasis on formalized PM methods to manage research work conducted within the university. The empirical material consists of 20 interviews with research staff working with engineering, natural and medical sciences at Uppsala University, Sweden. Describing how PM techniques are increasingly imposed upon the researchers, the paper analyses different modes of relating to the formalized toolsets, and discusses their accommodation and resistance within academia.Findings - One key finding is how the PM formalization is resisted by partial accommodation and containment. This can be described in terms of an enactment of a front-and a backstage of the research organization. At the front-stage, formal PM technology and terminology is used by specially appointed research managers as means of presenting to funding agencies and other external parties. At the backstage, researchers carry out work in more traditional forms.Practical implications - The findings indicate a challenge for research to comply with increased PM formalization and secure on-going open-ended research. Second, the paper points toward a risk of young researchers being nudged out into "front-stage" administration with little chance of returning to "backstage" research.Originality/value - This paper builds upon a growing area of the critical analysis of PM practice, offering insights into the tension between the values and norms of university research and an on-going formalization of PM in some organizational contexts.
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| 10. |
- Fowler, Nina, 1986-
(författare)
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Walking the Plank of the Entrepreneurial University : The little spin-out that could?
- 2017
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Creating spinout companies (USOs) from university research is one focus of innovation policy. The phenomenon features in two main fields of enquiry: academic entrepreneurship studies, and literature on academic capitalism and the entrepreneurial university. Studies have explored the academic entrepreneur, the development stages of these nascent ventures, and the tools universities can provide to encourage and assist in the spinout process. This literature is however limited in that it is overwhelmingly concerned with resources, and little is known about how the USO relates to the parent research institution over time.The purpose of this study is therefore to explore social forces in research linked to a USO, and the main research question is: how can a social lens help us to understand some of the forces at play in research commercialisation, specifically through the early development of a USO from a parent research organisation?The case study is based on interviews and observations of university researchers, USO actors, and representatives from state agencies and a multinational corporation involved in a technology demonstration project. The sociologist Robert Park’s concepts of social groups, the individual within the collective, and social forces are used to explore the experiences of actors involved in academic research and industrial development throughout the changing relationship of a research group and USO.Five social forces were identified around the border between academia and industry, based on some of the concepts that seem to inform the actors’ understandings of the case at hand.An exploration of these forces helps to develop an understanding of how actors experience and negotiate various forces, and positions the results of the study in relation to the dominant models in academic entrepreneurship and academic life. Park’s concepts of specialised roles moves the discussion forward by considering how social forces might be handled within research and research commercialisation, and how such forces might in turn motivate the movement of individuals within and out of a particular social group. This discussion leads into the metaphor of the theatre, connected to project management literature, and research commercialisation as a performance by actors to safeguard the collective’s interests.
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