Team characteristics beneficial for Open Innovation projects

This study discusses the importance of creating Open Innovation (OI) teams for optimizing costs of Research and Development (R&D), dividing risks and maximizing profits. The purpose of this study is to determine team characteristics beneficial for successful OI project, with the emphasis on the fact that such teams are formed of professionals belonging to different organizations, both private and state-owned, with different educational and professional backgrounds and personal qualities. This purpose is supported by three sub-objectives: to observe the phenomenon of OI and its implementation in emerging economies, particularly in Russia; to specify professional and personal competencies of OI team members essential for the successful collaboration; and to identify the role of the leader in OI teams. The theoretical part of this study consists of knowledge from academic literature related to OI, cross-functional and innovation teams and leadership in innovation. The practical part of the study is presented in the form of multiple case study, and the empirical research is based on six semistructured interviews collected in October 2014 from the CEOs, Innovation Managers and Technical Directors of innovation companies participating actively in OI projects. The findings of the study demonstrate that many of the necessary competencies are equal for innovation or cross-functional teams and OI teams, such as professionalism and communication skills. However, due to the specific nature of OI, additional personal characteristics were recognized as beneficial for OI teams, such as flexibility, empathy and success-orientation. The role of the leader is also considered as a critical success factor for OI teams, with the emphasis on flexibility and autonomy. The findings of the study contribute to understanding the connection between notions of team member, team climate and team leader, and its influence on OI project success. Thus, the main purpose of the study is providing support for existing knowledge on OI teams and developing new insights into this newly emerged topic.

Physicochemical characteristics of silica nanoparticles tailored for nanomedicine

Multifunktionella kiseldioxidnanopartiklar har en bred tillämpning inom nanomedicin. En attraktiv kombination är samtidig läkemedelstillförsel och spårning av nanopartiklarna, vilket är känt som ”teranostik”. Genom kontrollerad design av kiseldioxidnanopartiklarna kan terapi och diagnostik på detta sätt kombineras i samma partikel. För en lyckad användning av nanopartiklar inom nanomedicin måste deras fysikalisk-kemiska egenskaper vara välkontrollerade för att kunna förutspå deras beteende i biologiska system. I denna studie tillverkades kiseldioxidnanopartiklar med varierande storlek, form, yta och sammansättning med fokus på att utrusta nanopartiklarna med multifunktionalitet och på så sätt främja deras användning inom biomedicinska tillämpningar. Kiseldioxidnanopartiklar med sfäriska och stav-liknande former, porösa, icke-porösa och ihåliga strukturer tillverkades. De erhållna resultaten visade att nanopartiklarnas form har större inverkan på upptaget i celler jämfört med effekten av deras ytladdning. Nanopartiklarnas dispersionsstabilitet är en annan viktig aspekt för både diagnostiska och terapeutiska tillämpningar. Genom att ändra kiseldioxidnanopartiklarnas fysikalisk-kemiska ytegenskaper med ytfunktionalisering, bedömdes dispersionstabiliteten av nanopartiklarna. Nanopartiklarnas ytsammansättning justerades och skillnader i dispergerbarhet och dispersionsstabilitet undersöktes i biologiskt medium. Inom terapeutiska tillämpningar är målsökande läkemedelsfyllda nanopartiklar en lovande taktik som medför lägre läkemedelsdoser och minskar sidoeffekterna. I denna avhandling designades mesoporösa kiseldioxidnanopartiklar för användning som målsökande läkemedelsbärare. Dessa partiklar laddades med ett potentiellt anti-cancer läkemedel. En klart högre apoptotisk effekt kunde påvisas med de läkemedelsfyllda partiklarna jämfört med fri drog in vitro. En viktig egenskap för sådana multifunktionella nanopartiklar är också att kunna spåra dem under läkemedelsfrisättningen i biologisk miljö med olika bildåtergivningsmetoder. Detta kan uppnås genom att infoga en markör i kiseldioxidnätverket. Kiseldioxidnanopartiklarnas bildåtergivningsförmåga modifierades på olika sätt och inverkan på detekterbarheten analyserades med fluorescerande metoder och med magnetisk resonanstomografi. Denna avhandling lyfter fram de kritiska parametrarna vid syntes av kiseldioxidnanopartiklar för teranostiska tillämpningar. Olika metoder undersöktes för att erhålla skräddarsydda nanopartiklar. Detta arbete bidrar med en djup insikt i hur nanopartiklarnas fysikalisk-kemiska egenskaper påverkar deras beteende i biologisk miljö, och arbetet kan därför fungera som riktlinje för att designa säkra och effektiva nanomediciner.

Towards sustainable transport: A comparison of demographic and behavioural characteristics of Finnish and international car sharing users

Strong evidence suggests that the climate is changing and that these changes are largely caused by human activities. A consensus exists among researchers that human activity is causing global warming and that actions to mitigate global warming need to be taken swiftly. The transportation sector, which relies heavily on fossil fuel burning and primarily oil, is one of the big contributors to air pollution problems at local, regional and global levels. It is the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions and is estimated to be responsible for nearly a quarter of global energyrelated carbon dioxide emissions. Car sharing is a mobility solution encouraging its users to decrease private car usage in favour of communal transit and environmental goals. The idea of car sharing originates from the aspiration to decrease personal car ownership and to reduce vehicle distance travelled. This thesis seeks to complement the understanding of Finnish car sharing users and their usage through better categorization. Through better categorization and segmentation of Finnish car sharing users the thesis seeks to provide information for improved marketing insight. Research is done on the demographic and behavioural characteristics of Finnish car sharing users and they are compared with international findings about the characteristics of International car sharing users. The main research problem is Are Finnish car sharing users similar to international ones? A theoretical research framework on the determinants of individual car sharing usage is built based on international research about demographic and behaviouristic characteristics. After this a quantitative survey is performed to the customers of a Finnish car sharing organization. The data analysed in the thesis consist out of 532 answers received from the car sharing organizations customers. The data is analysed with descriptive and other exploratory methods, which create an understanding of Finnish car sharing users. At the end of the analysis the demographic and behavioural characteristics of Finnish car sharing users are compared with international ones. The research findings of the thesis indicate that the demographic and behavioural characteristics of Finnish car sharing usage largely follow those of their international counterparts. Thanks to the thesis results the car sharing organization is able to better target their customers through improved marketing insight.