Olof Zaring

Eco-Efficient Producer Services: What are they, how do they Benefit Customers and the Environment and how likely are they to Develop and be Extensively Utilised?

Abstract The potential environmental benefits of moving from a product-based economy to a functional economy involving greater use of services is a subject of increasing interest and debate in the field of eco-efficiency. This paper provides a typology and fuller analysis of eco-efficient producer services than hitherto reported. Three broad classes of service are described and assessed: product based including product results, product utility and product extension; electronic substitution and information based. Examples of each are drawn from a major study on the successes and barriers of eco-services in Europe. The paper concludes that while there are a number of areas of success, there are considerable barriers to wider development and uptake of such services, and that many of the more successful service applications are not necessarily driven by environmental considerations. The paper warns that the shift from products to services cannot be assumed to be eco-efficient and there are a number of rebound effects which need to be carefully analysed.

Capital budgeting for the unexpected

This study examines capital budgeting and decision making for large industrial projects, and the way unexpected costs are generated and handled. Incidents from decision making in the industry are examined. Results show that the capital budgeting process has to handle conflicting interests, leading to trade-offs, as well as decision processes characteristics (sequentiality), which may give rise unexpected costs.

Co-delivery of social innovations: exploring the university’s role in academic engagement with society

Abstract The paper provides a tripartite definition of social innovations, a type of public good involving collective action by multiple stakeholders. This public good can be regarded as a service, as it is co-delivered based on the development of multiple network and partner relationships. In explaining what social innovations are and how they are delivered, much research emphasises the role of NGOs and community-based collective action. This article starts by observing that universities can play various roles in social innovation, then theoretically explains how and why universities are involved in providing this public good. These roles have been neglected with the recent emphasis on university commercialisation, for example, via patents and start-ups. We use this insight to propose a conceptual framework for understanding how and why universities can organise the co-delivery of social innovations through education. This framework is illustrated with a case study, leading to propositions for later research.

Innovation Governance Nexuses: Mapping Local Governments' University–Industry Relations and Specialization in High Technology in Sweden

Abstract In this paper, we take as a point of departure an assumption that innovation governance matters as a local and regional policy instrument, and consequently we investigate whether local policy can be linked to local industry. To do this, we use Swedish survey data on policy and high-tech agglomeration at the level of municipalities and present evidence on innovation governance nexuses, i.e. locations with greater industrial specialization paired with stronger formalization of innovation governance. Theoretically, this paper follows the literature on regional advantage, but a novel approach is used in which innovation governance literature is linked to that advantage. The findings indicate that these types of policy instruments are useful by creating networks that channel and direct resource and knowledge flows, particularly at locations with higher education institutions.

Collaborative Strategies: How and Why Academic Spin-offs Interact with Engineering University Centers

This chapter follows the management and development of two KIE ventures that are academic spin-offs, in relation to collaborative strategies. The perspective is on how and why academic spin-offs continue to engage in collaborative strategies with engineering centers located at the university. The KIE ventures use the centers to access scientific and technological knowledge, as expected, but they also are interested in accessing other resources and networks to help further develop their research, product and market development. The key message is that networks with research centers at the university help shape the venture. Even after the founding phase, these KIE ventures can use collaborative strategies for research to access resources and ideas – involving scientific and technological knowledge but also market and business knowledge. The results of the chapter help us understand in particular how the venture needs to continue to access resources and ideas, even during the management and development phase of the KIE conceptual model. The KIE ventures are academic spin-offs, heavily involved in the development of technologies, and yet they greatly benefit from these university networks to access market knowledge from other, established firms, and to access business knowledge through the recruitment of experienced managers.

The evolution and embeddedness of knowledge-intensive entrepreneurial firms in creative industries: contrasting experienced and non-experienced entrepreneurs in the Swedish fashion industry

ABSTRACT This article focuses on the micro-level processes whereby knowledge-intensive entrepreneurs become embedded in networks to access resources, and in doing so help transform a region. Our analysis contributes to theoretical debates about how the entrepreneurs achieve this aim in order to develop their knowledge-intensive entrepreneurial ventures in creative industries. Our conceptualization specifies how entrepreneurs can use embeddedness in networks in order to access specific types of resources, during the pre-entry phase, the establishment phase, and the post-entry phase. The textiles and fashion industry is an interesting setting to explore these topics because of the rapid industrial transformation from mass production of textiles to large e-commerce firms. Our results suggest that pre-history of the individual entrepreneur has long-term effects upon access to unique resources within the industry, enabling this group to more quickly build their entrepreneurial ventures. Our qualitative case study contributes to theoretical discussions of how micro-processes of KIE entrepreneurship can renew regions and traditional industries, because our analysis shows the enduring impact of past industrial, regional and family ties.

The Internationalization of Innovation: Off-shoring Home base Innovative processes in Software to a Host Nation Innovation System

This chapter explores the strategies and experiences of a small European software firm. The case study covers three phases in the development of the firm and its innovative activities in software in relation to financing and markets. During the period covered, the firm shifts from being a Western based entrepreneurial venture started by software/engineering students, to a home based multinational enterprise with global links to a multinational enterprise with significant innovation in Sri Lanka. The perspective here is how, over time, the firm interacts with the national innovation system in the host-nation, in such a way as to change the location of innovative activities for reasons having to do with financing, markets and crisis. Based upon the analysis of the interwoven narrative of the development of technology, markets, financing and sourcing software development, the chapter proposes three distinct periods. They are: 1) The founding phase: building the domestic R&D base early 1980s to early 1990s. 2) The expansion phase: R&D internationalization through direct investments in early 1990s to late 2000. 3) The phase of consolidation, adaptation, and internationalization of innovative activities, 2000 to 2010. The case study illustrates how the internationalization of innovation processes can be used to maintain the competitive edge of a company as well as the necessity of having a host-nation innovation system which can provide relevant skilled labour and technological assets.