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Climate change is putting global pressure for energy consumption and production to move towards sustainable solutions based on clean energy resources. Energy market transition opens opportunities for new actors; it brings together several... more
Climate change is putting global pressure for energy consumption and production to move towards sustainable solutions based on clean energy resources. Energy market transition opens opportunities for new actors; it brings together several technology domains, in co-operation with a platform that energy sector provides, connecting e.g. renewable energy technologies, IoT, electric vehicles, smart homes and data centers. Our paper explores the dynamics of interactions between different regimes and niches that are emerging around the transforming energy sector based on expert stakeholder interviews held in three European countries.
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Relationships and collaborations between scientific research and industry play an essential role in sustaining innovation development in society. Therefore, different types of models have been developed to refer to a set of interaction... more
Relationships and collaborations between scientific research and industry play an essential role in sustaining innovation development in society. Therefore, different types of models have been developed to refer to a set of interaction channels, mechanism and forms of linkage between academia and industry. The studies highlight enhancing and diminishing factors of collaboration management, practices on knowledge interactions and collaborative relationships on various levels depending on considered industrial sectors. This review establishes the state of current knowledge in the field and classifies key metrics and indicators for evaluation of scientific research-industry collaboration linkages.
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Industry incumbents often encounter significant troubles in the face of disruptive innovations. These types of innovations erode the existing capabilities and resources of the firm, forcing them to seek out new capabilities outside their... more
Industry incumbents often encounter significant troubles in the face of disruptive innovations. These types of innovations erode the existing capabilities and resources of the firm, forcing them to seek out new capabilities outside their own organization in order to remain competitive and survive. Exploitation and exploration, organizational learning strategies utilized to develop incremental and radical innovations, respectively, are considered common drivers for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) among firms. M&A’s enable the firm to obtain new capabilities and competencies in order to respond to the threat of substitution of their current ones by disruptive innovations and new entrants employing them. According to the research, firms’ operative actions are more strongly linked to preparing for disruption than strategic ones in the motives for acquisitions.
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Climate change and increasing demand for energy are forcing the energy markets to change towards using renewable energy sources and more flexible energy systems. With the development of e.g. solar, wind, storage and Smart Grid... more
Climate change and increasing demand for energy are forcing the energy markets to change towards using renewable energy sources and more flexible energy systems. With the development of e.g. solar, wind, storage and Smart Grid technologies consumers are able to become producers of energy. These arising prosumers are seen as essential actors in the future flexible energy ecosystem. However, the Smart Grid diffusion is in the early market phase and a full-blown prosumer revolution is yet to take place. In this article we explore residential prosumers' motivations for participating in Smart Grid ecosystem as active actors based on theory and literature review. We focus especially on intrinsic and extrinsic motivations for prosumption and develop a set of initial propositions for prosumer motivational drivers.
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This issue includes a number of papers from the Innovation 4 Change program led by Silvia Petocchi, Chief Executive Officer, and Raghu Movva, Director, at the College des Ingenieurs, in collaboration with Politecnico di Torino during the... more
This issue includes a number of papers from the Innovation 4 Change program led by Silvia Petocchi, Chief Executive Officer, and Raghu Movva, Director, at the College des Ingenieurs, in collaboration with Politecnico di Torino during the spring of 2019. Tuuli Utriainen has also been involved in the program as a facilitator from CERN IdeaSquare.
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This editorial marks the end of fourth year in the history of the CERN IdeaSquare Journal of Experimental Innovation (CIJ). The collection of articles in this issue highlights the special circumstances of experimental projects during the... more
This editorial marks the end of fourth year in the history of the CERN IdeaSquare Journal of Experimental Innovation (CIJ). The collection of articles in this issue highlights the special circumstances of experimental projects during the global COVID-19-related restrictions.
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The creation of future sustainable and efficient energy systems requires a cross-disciplinary approach in engineering education. In order for energy-related engineering students to be prepared for real-world situations after their... more
The creation of future sustainable and efficient energy systems requires a cross-disciplinary approach in engineering education. In order for energy-related engineering students to be prepared for real-world situations after their studies, it is important that, while they are still studying, they obtain the basic skills for handling different concepts, theoretical frameworks and solution types created in the various disciplines involved. At the Tampere University of Technology (TUT), a cross-disciplinary team was formed from four different departments in three different faculties to create a platform for research and education purposes on the university campus. The purpose was to coordinate research and provide students with a wider picture and a concrete implementation of the different layers and aspects that need to be taken into account when creating innovative solutions for future digital energy systems. The creation of the platform started from a successful student ideation com...
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Hype Cycle is a popular graphic representation of the level of maturity, adoption and business application of a technology, originally introduced by Gartner Research¿s Jackie Fenn. Despite its popularity, the verification or relation to... more
Hype Cycle is a popular graphic representation of the level of maturity, adoption and business application of a technology, originally introduced by Gartner Research¿s Jackie Fenn. Despite its popularity, the verification or relation to theoretical frameworks is to a large extent missing in current research literature. This paper presents some possible theoretically based conceptualizations and definitions regarding the Hype Cycle.
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PurposeDuring past ten years China and India have emerged as the favorite destination for R&D investment. In this paper a comparative evaluation of the process of technology development in China and India is carried out. The objective is... more
PurposeDuring past ten years China and India have emerged as the favorite destination for R&D investment. In this paper a comparative evaluation of the process of technology development in China and India is carried out. The objective is to identify the rate of growth of technology and the patterns of development in different technology sectors.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis is based on the tangible, measurable and recorded output of the technology development process – namely grant of patents. The authors have used US patents as the surrogate measure for the technological output between 1992 to 2007. The authors obtained data on inventor's background, ownership pattern of the patents, as well as technology sectors and descriptive statistics are used to compare the trends between the two countries.FindingsThe paper finds that both China and India have achieved very high growth rates in patents granted with some resident research between 1992 and 2007. Both have a high p...
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This chapter explores how the use of a business model enables value creation in the open source software (OSS) environment. We argue that this value can be attained by analyzing the value creation logic and the elements of potential... more
This chapter explores how the use of a business model enables value creation in the open source software (OSS) environment. We argue that this value can be attained by analyzing the value creation logic and the elements of potential business models emerging in the OSS environment, since profitable business is all about creating value and capturing it properly. Open source (OS) offers one possibility for firms that are continuously finding new opportunities to organize their business activities and increase the amount of value they appropriate according to their capabilities. Furthermore, the concept of a business model is considered a tool for exploring new business ideas and capturing the essential elements of each alternative. We propose that a general business model is also applicable in the context of OSS, and we provide a list of questions that may help managers deal with OSS in their businesses.
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Hierarchical structures of concepts are vital for theory development. However, although resources are at the heart of competitive advantage and performance of an entrepreneurial firm, the hierarchical conceptualisations of resources are... more
Hierarchical structures of concepts are vital for theory development. However, although resources are at the heart of competitive advantage and performance of an entrepreneurial firm, the hierarchical conceptualisations of resources are scant in academic research. We used an existing resource categorisation framework and populated a list of resources explicitly mentioned in extant literature. The study was based on an extensive
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The purpose of this thesis was to find out how the shape accuracy and surface roughness of an RF disk affect the machining time of a disk and the cost of the accelerating structures. The disks in question are part of a future Compact... more
The purpose of this thesis was to find out how the shape accuracy and surface roughness of an RF disk affect the machining time of a disk and the cost of the accelerating structures. The disks in question are part of a future Compact Linear Collider (CLIC) project. This thesis was made because the price of a single disk is
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Recently in academic research it has been explicitly acknowledged that the evolution of industries is not a smooth process but it contains dramatic turning points, and especially the takeoff point in evolution has attracted growing... more
Recently in academic research it has been explicitly acknowledged that the evolution of industries is not a smooth process but it contains dramatic turning points, and especially the takeoff point in evolution has attracted growing attention. The earlier research has identified that the takeoff point in evolutionary trajectory of adoption of innovations is of special interest in managerial decision-making since
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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the criteria influencing the adoption of innovation in the empirical context of renewable residential energy solutions, particularly the wood pellet heating... more
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the criteria influencing the adoption of innovation in the empirical context of renewable residential energy solutions, particularly the wood pellet heating system.Design/methodology/approachThe study carried out an extensive literature review on Rogers’ characteristics of innovation theory and then complemented it with a content analysis on empirically perceived characteristics of wood pellet heating systems.FindingsThe literature review shows that most of the previous studies employ the characteristics of innovation but do not confirm the usability of the Rogers framework as a whole. In addition, our empirical results demonstrate that relative advantage is the predominant characteristic in the adoption of residential energy systems.Research limitations/implicationsThe limitations of the literature review and the biases of empirical findings are discussed. For instance, there are limitations that the study is based on single countr...
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Variance theories have dominated corporate political action (CPA) research because the pioneering works in the 1970s and 1980s. Process theories offer an entirely new perspective on CPA research, as they are able to explain processes... more
Variance theories have dominated corporate political action (CPA) research because the pioneering works in the 1970s and 1980s. Process theories offer an entirely new perspective on CPA research, as they are able to explain processes across a number of levels of analysis and link actions to contexts. We add to the existing CPA literature by offering a process model that can be useful especially in historical and evolutionary analysis. Our model depicts CPA as a complex system in which a firm’s actions are affected by various factors across organizational, industry, and institutional levels of analysis. As political actions also influence these factors, the process is in essence systemic and path dependent. Our model supplements existing research by offering the possibility to explain the long-term consequences of CPA vis-à-vis wider societal changes and by promoting longitudinal research strategies. In addition to the theoretical model, we provide a historical analysis of the evolut...
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This paper explores prosumer role in Smart Grid innovation ecosystem as part of the energy market transition from traditional energy system to future flexible energy ecosystem based on renewable energy sources. This transition is... more
This paper explores prosumer role in Smart Grid innovation ecosystem as part of the energy market transition from traditional energy system to future flexible energy ecosystem based on renewable energy sources. This transition is facilitated by international agendas and government actions to slow down climate change globally and technological advancements in multiple areas like consumer electronics (e.g. smart appliances) and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). These developments render industries to converge and traditional structures are changing. Despite the technology developments and top-down policy push, the Smart Grid innovation ecosystem diffusion has not reached mass-market adoption yet. We review theoretical basis for energy system transition based on which we suggest a series of exploratory propositions for prosumer role in initiating the Smart Grid innovation ecosystem.
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In this paper, we investigate the possibility of using social media technologies to select and forecast the viability of early-stage technological ideas at the fuzzy front-end (FFE) of the product development process. During the FFE,... more
In this paper, we investigate the possibility of using social media technologies to select and forecast the viability of early-stage technological ideas at the fuzzy front-end (FFE) of the product development process. During the FFE, market needs, wants, and preferences are seldom clear, especially when considering radical new technologies. For a company seeking clarity on the preferences in its selection of ideas at the FFE, communicating with markets is essential. Additionally, the importance of cross-functional communication at the FFE is emphasized in current literature. Technological and market uncertainties push and pull multiple stakeholders in the formation of heterogeneous views on the customers' needs, and social media technologies may be used in finding a shared vision amongst these divergent views. The main research question is whether the adoption of social media technologies will result in a shared, convergent vision, or is social media usage more likely to generate scattered visions during the initial phase of the new product development. The paper presents a propositional framework arguing social media technologies' contributions to FFE performance. We argue that the FFE phase is expected to receive a beneficial impact from social media adoption as the business potential can be analyzed from various sources already in the early stages.
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This paper discusses drivers of the use of social media tools by organizational members. Specifically, we contrast the expectations of senior managers of social media tool adoption with the benefits perceived by organizational members... more
This paper discusses drivers of the use of social media tools by organizational members. Specifically, we contrast the expectations of senior managers of social media tool adoption with the benefits perceived by organizational members after the implementation of these tools. We analyzed empirical findings from 252 respondents to a survey of three global companies before and after social media tool adoption. The respondents to the survey held various internal functions and were from several organizational layers. According to our results, the working practices, notably in terms of information sharing, among organizations become more similar due to the social media tool adoption. We present individual-level drivers of the use of social media tools based on expectations and perceived benefits, such as increased transparency inside the organization. Additionally, based on the empirical evidence, we present both managerial and theoretical implications. The identified drivers can be used by practitioners as guidance in social media tool implementation. From a theoretical perspective, the study contributes to discussions on absorptive capacity, new product development (NPD) performance, and company-level social media tool adoption.
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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to synthesize taxonomical criteria that can be used for assessing research constructs and assess current business model conceptualizations. The paper attempts to show how the criticism plaguing current... more
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to synthesize taxonomical criteria that can be used for assessing research constructs and assess current business model conceptualizations. The paper attempts to show how the criticism plaguing current business model conceptualizations could be removed with future conceptual development against these taxonomical criteria.Design/methodology/approachThe paper synthesizes taxonomical criteria and assesses current business model conceptualizations.FindingsThe results of the paper revealed that the current business model concepts comply poorly with the taxonomical criteria. The assessment of taxonomical compliance in this paper exposed major opportunities for enhancements in the existing conceptualizations of business model.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings of the paper outline novel avenues for future research in developing more coherent and rigorous business model conceptualizations.Practical implicationsThe practical implications of the ...
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Microgrids are a proposed solution for several issues arising in the current energy system. Advancements in different distributed energy resources and macro-level policy targets, such as grid resiliency and sustainability, support the... more
Microgrids are a proposed solution for several issues arising in the current energy system. Advancements in different distributed energy resources and macro-level policy targets, such as grid resiliency and sustainability, support the adoption of microgrids in suitable contexts. Since microgrids would change the structure and roles in the grid significantly, regulations, which were created for the existing structures, would have to be updated. Main challenges lie in unclear legal definition of microgrids and their liabilities and responsibilities. Technical as well as economic challenges are related to interconnection and island mode rules and tariff setting. DSO microgrid ownership minimizes these challenges and is therefore the model that is currently easiest to adopt. However, as a result of technology and business model advancements, more demanding third-party and hybrid ownership models are becoming popular, and are expected to play an important role in the future microgrid arena.
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Abstract--Maximizing the performance evolution of a technology system relies on optimizing investments in the appropriate sub-systems. This approach subsequently minimizes the impact of a sub-system that trails in technological... more
Abstract--Maximizing the performance evolution of a technology system relies on optimizing investments in the appropriate sub-systems. This approach subsequently minimizes the impact of a sub-system that trails in technological performance and hinders systemic ...
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Hype Cycle is a graphic representation of the level of maturity, adoption and business application of a technology, originally introduced by Gartner Researchpsilas Jackie Fenn. The Hype Cycle concept has gained wide popularity among... more
Hype Cycle is a graphic representation of the level of maturity, adoption and business application of a technology, originally introduced by Gartner Researchpsilas Jackie Fenn. The Hype Cycle concept has gained wide popularity among practicing managers but its empirical testing or relation to theoretical frameworks is to a large extent missing in current literature. This paper presents some alternative theoretical
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The paper reviews what kinds of business models exists in literature and what kinds of consequences has been re- ceived when utilizing the best-of-breed business model in prac- tice. The applicability of current business model concepts is... more
The paper reviews what kinds of business models exists in literature and what kinds of consequences has been re- ceived when utilizing the best-of-breed business model in prac- tice. The applicability of current business model concepts is illus- trated with a case study. The future research should strive to build business model conceptualizations that are capable in aid- ing selection between alternative configurations of resources and capabilities.
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Firms' collaboration with large research infrastructure through procurement activities during the construction phase of a large-scale scientific experiment, has been previously shown to enhance suppliers' performance. The present... more
Firms' collaboration with large research infrastructure through procurement activities during the construction phase of a large-scale scientific experiment, has been previously shown to enhance suppliers' performance. The present work assesses the industry collaboration with CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, for the international study on a future particle accelerator for high energy physics, the Compact Linear Collider (CLIC study). The paper sheds light on the collaboration during the development phase of the CLIC study, while the previous literature has considered collaboration benefits during intensive procurement event – a construction phase of an approved project. In the development phase companies can participate in research, development, and improvement, as well as playing a consulting role for emerging technologies application. Therefore, the aim of the manuscript is to investigate outcomes for suppliers as knowledge benefits from the early-stage collaboration with the CLIC study. The conceptual framework is built on the exclusive dataset using the survey data from 71 industrial partners of the CLIC study. The results confirm positive aspects of early-stage collaboration and shows the roles of main influencing factors by involving multiple regression model.
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Convergence is a popular term in business environment and especially frequently used in relation to technology integration in ICT industry. Recent advances in electronics, digitalization of media, de-regulation of markets and changes in... more
Convergence is a popular term in business environment and especially frequently used in relation to technology integration in ICT industry. Recent advances in electronics, digitalization of media, de-regulation of markets and changes in consumer preferences have led technologies and markets that previously followed distinct trajectories to overlap and merge. As a result, number of product features grows, technology base of
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The paper presents evidence based on a large international sample that in international technology adoption later launching nations have faster growth rates of technology adoption than earlier launching nations. Further, the later... more
The paper presents evidence based on a large international sample that in international technology adoption later launching nations have faster growth rates of technology adoption than earlier launching nations. Further, the later technological generation exhibits faster growth rate on average than the earlier one at the national level.
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In this paper we firstly develop a means to measure the technological performance disparity between evolving technological sub-systems of the PC (personal computer) system and subsequently employ this measure in the study of the GPU... more
In this paper we firstly develop a means to measure the technological performance disparity between evolving technological sub-systems of the PC (personal computer) system and subsequently employ this measure in the study of the GPU (graphics processing unit) and PC game sub-systems¿ evolutions. Secondly, the paper explores the connection between the observed temporal behavior of technological performance gap and the
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COVID19 pandemic has increased the use and importance of virtual collaborations and virtual co-creation as part of new product development has increased with this trend. Co-creation has been shown to improve companies innovation processes... more
COVID19 pandemic has increased the use and importance of virtual collaborations and virtual co-creation as part of new product development has increased with this trend. Co-creation has been shown to improve companies innovation processes and virtual co-creation has tremendous opportunities to increase value creation opportunities. However, we still have scant knowledge on the benefits and challenges of virtual co-creation in B2B environment and hence, this paper reports a case study on transforming traditional linear, internal NPD process into virtual co-creation process. We explicate the benefits and challenges arising in this process both to the focal firm and its stakeholders as well.
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When will the start-ups enter the play field of energy innovations in mass? The energy sector has traditionally been a challenging industry to new entrants, especially for smaller firms. Digitalization, decentralization and new renewable... more
When will the start-ups enter the play field of energy innovations in mass? The energy sector has traditionally been a challenging industry to new entrants, especially for smaller firms. Digitalization, decentralization and new renewable energy technologies are enabling also smaller actors to create energy-related innovations. This research focuses on understanding the level of business model readiness of start-ups when commercializing energy innovations. We interviewed start-up companies and provide an analysis of the state of their business models mapped with key challenges that these firms face. Our results show that while most start-ups have a promising value proposition they struggle with other value creation and value capture aspects. Especially building the sales channel that often requires co-operation with energy industry incumbents and finding the right revenue model causes problems to the startups. The challenges the start-ups face also depend on their focus; technology-based start-ups appear to have more obstacles than data-driven start-ups due to longer time needed to mature the products for commercial deployment.
This paper revolves around the idea of whether successful and unsuccessful technologies can be differentiated from one another by observing the visibility of technologies in the business environment. We demonstrate that activity,... more
This paper revolves around the idea of whether successful and unsuccessful technologies can be differentiated from one another by observing the visibility of technologies in the business environment. We demonstrate that activity, represented by the visibility of the technology in media, could serve as an indicator of success. We carried out a bibliometric study in terms of technology life cycle
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Understanding what marketing messages trigger sustainable consumer behavior is one of the key issues for companies to be able to design effective green marketing. The goal of this paper is to present a conceptual framework for a green... more
Understanding what marketing messages trigger sustainable consumer behavior is one of the key issues for companies to be able to design effective green marketing. The goal of this paper is to present a conceptual framework for a green marketing approach that includes product, industry, production processes, and supply chain specific considerations to be utilized in the design of green product marketing for the mass markets. Based on a literature review, we have created a conceptual framework with industry-specific aspects on the basis of unique features in seven industrial sectors that are of relevance to the personal needs of consumers from an environmental perspective, but are focusing on the product-specific aspects of the marketed products. The originality of this study lies in the proposition that green marketing should use the actual product features as a starting point and not focus only on green consumers. The greenness of a product should be an additional dimension that adds to the competitiveness of the product when compared to conventional products. Theoretically, we propose that a transdisciplinary approach that integrates sustainable supply chain management perspectives to green marketing would benefit companies designing green marketing approaches and consumers making green product choices.
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In the present paper, we discuss how the adoption of online collaboration tools (OCT) has influenced new product development (NPD). Our aim is specifically to consider how an organization's absorptive capacity is influenced by its... more
In the present paper, we discuss how the adoption of online collaboration tools (OCT) has influenced new product development (NPD). Our aim is specifically to consider how an organization's absorptive capacity is influenced by its adoption of social media tools. We conducted a survey in a case company investigating the state of absorptive capacity before and after the large-scale adoption of social media tools.
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Abstract--Technological imbalances that emerge from the evolution of technological systems act as focusing devices and firms subsequently engage in closing the imbalances with product development efforts resulting in technology based... more
Abstract--Technological imbalances that emerge from the evolution of technological systems act as focusing devices and firms subsequently engage in closing the imbalances with product development efforts resulting in technology based competition. In this paper we ...
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Abstract Energy market transition, which is enabled by new affordable energy technologies and digitalization, opens novel opportunities for developing innovative energy solutions. These new technologies facilitate energy consumers to... more
Abstract Energy market transition, which is enabled by new affordable energy technologies and digitalization, opens novel opportunities for developing innovative energy solutions. These new technologies facilitate energy consumers to become local energy prosumers i.e. consumers and producers of energy using renewable energy sources. Hence, a central question for innovating new solutions emerges: how energy consumers and prosumers would engage in co-creating value and novel solutions with industry players? This article explores the microfoundations of energy consumers' and prosumers’ interest to participate in co-creation activities with energy industry actors. Using survey data from five European countries and by applying variance-based structural equation modeling, we find that rewards and personal characteristics influence the interest to engage in co-creation activities. Specifically, the microfoundations of the interest are built upon the need for improvements, the intrinsic rewards, and the personal adopter characteristics. Additionally, we find differing microfoundations of interest for energy consumers and prosumers. We further discuss managerial and theoretical implications of our findings and highlight avenues for future research.