Supporting knowledge creation and sharing in the early phases of the strategic innovation process

The driving forces of technology and globalization continuously transform the business landscape in a way which undermines the existing strategies and innovations of organizations. The challenge for organizations is to establish such conditions where they are able to create new knowledge for innovative business ideas in interaction between other organizations and individuals. Innovation processes continuously need new external stimulations and seek new ideas, new information and knowledge locating more and more outside traditional organizational boundaries. In several studies, the early phases of the innovation process have been considered as the most critical ones. During these phases, the innovation process can emerge or conclude. External knowledge acquirement and utilization are noticed to be important at this stage of the innovation process giving information about the development of future markets and needs for new innovative businessideas. To make it possible, new methods and approaches to manage proactive knowledge creation and sharing activities are needed. In this study, knowledge creation and sharing in the early phases of the innovation process has been studied, and the understanding of knowledge management in the innovation process in an open and collaborative context advanced. Furthermore, the innovation management methods in this study are combined in a novel way to establish an open innovation process and tested in real-life cases. For these purposes two complementary and sequentially applied group work methods - the heuristic scenario method and the idea generation process - are examined by focusing the research on the support of the open knowledge creation and sharing process. The research objective of this thesis concerns two doctrines: the innovation management including the knowledge management, and the futures research concerning the scenario paradigm. This thesis also applies the group decision support system (GDSS) in the idea generation process to utilize the converged knowledge during the scenario process.

Technology selection and group decision support systems: Case studies on supporting strategic technology selection processes

The objective of the dissertation is to increase understanding and knowledge in the field where group decision support system (GDSS) and technology selection research overlap in the strategic sense. The purpose is to develop pragmatic, unique and competent management practices and processes for strategic technology assessment and selection from the whole company's point of view. The combination of the GDSS and technology selection is approached from the points of view of the core competence concept, the lead user -method, and different technology types. In this research the aim is to find out how the GDSS contributes to the technology selection process, what aspects should be considered when selecting technologies to be developed or acquired, and what advantages and restrictions the GDSS has in the selection processes. These research objectives are discussed on the basis of experiences and findings in real life selection meetings. The research has been mainly carried outwith constructive, case study research methods. The study contributes novel ideas to the present knowledge and prior literature on the GDSS and technology selection arena. Academic and pragmatic research has been conducted in four areas: 1) the potential benefits of the group support system with the lead user -method,where the need assessment process is positioned as information gathering for the selection of wireless technology development projects; 2) integrated technology selection and core competencies management processes both in theory and in practice; 3) potential benefits of the group decision support system in the technology selection processes of different technology types; and 4) linkages between technology selection and R&D project selection in innovative product development networks. New type of knowledge and understanding has been created on the practical utilization of the GDSS in technology selection decisions. The study demonstrates that technology selection requires close cooperation between differentdepartments, functions, and strategic business units in order to gather the best knowledge for the decision making. The GDSS is proved to be an effective way to promote communication and co-operation between the selectors. The constructs developed in this study have been tested in many industry fields, for example in information and communication, forest, telecommunication, metal, software, and miscellaneous industries, as well as in non-profit organizations. The pragmatic results in these organizations are some of the most relevant proofs that confirm the scientific contribution of the study, according to the principles of the constructive research approach.

MANAGING STRATEGIC CHANGE:New Business Models Applying Wireless Technology as a Source of Competitive Edge

The diffusion of mobile telephony began in 1971 in Finland, when the first car phones, called ARP1 were taken to use. Technologies changed from ARP to NMT and later to GSM. The main application of the technology, however, was voice transfer. The birth of the Internet created an open public data network and easy access to other types of computer-based services over networks. Telephones had been used as modems, but the development of the cellular technologies enabled automatic access from mobile phones to Internet. Also other wireless technologies, for instance Wireless LANs, were also introduced. Telephony had developed from analog to digital in fixed networks and allowed easy integration of fixed and mobile networks. This development opened a completely new functionality to computers and mobile phones. It also initiated the merger of the information technology (IT) and telecommunication (TC) industries. Despite the arising opportunity for firms' new competition the applications based on the new functionality were rare. Furthermore, technology development combined with innovation can be disruptive to industries. This research focuses on the new technology's impact on competition in the ICT industry through understanding the strategic needs and alternative futures of the industry's customers. The change speed inthe ICT industry is high and therefore it was valuable to integrate the DynamicCapability view of the firm in this research. Dynamic capabilities are an application of the Resource-Based View (RBV) of the firm. As is stated in the literature, strategic positioning complements RBV. This theoretical framework leads theresearch to focus on three areas: customer strategic innovation and business model development, external future analysis, and process development combining these two. The theoretical contribution of the research is in the development of methodology integrating theories of the RBV, dynamic capabilities and strategic positioning. The research approach has been constructive due to the actual managerial problems initiating the study. The requirement for iterative and innovative progress in the research supported the chosen research approach. The study applies known methods in product development, for instance, innovation process in theGroup Decision Support Systems (GDSS) laboratory and Quality Function Deployment (QFD), and combines them with known strategy analysis tools like industry analysis and scenario method. As the main result, the thesis presents the strategic innovation process, where new business concepts are used to describe the alternative resource configurations and scenarios as alternative competitive environments, which can be a new way for firms to achieve competitive advantage in high-velocity markets. In addition to the strategic innovation process as a result, thestudy has also resulted in approximately 250 new innovations for the participating firms, reduced technology uncertainty and helped strategic infrastructural decisions in the firms, and produced a knowledge-bank including data from 43 ICT and 19 paper industry firms between the years 1999 - 2004. The methods presentedin this research are also applicable to other industries.

Coping with Technology: A Study on Economic Methodology and Strategic Management of Technology

There is a broad consensus among economists that technologicalchange has been a major contributor to the productivity growth and, hence, to the growth of the material welfare in western industrialized countries at least over the last century. Paradoxically, this issue has not been the focal point of theoretical economics. At the same time, we have witnessed the rise of the importance of technological issues at the strategic management level of business firms. Interestingly, the research has not accurately responded to this challenge either. The tension between the overwhelming empirical evidence of the importance of technology and its relative omission in the research offers a challenging target for a methodological endeavor. This study deals with the question of how different theories cope with technology and explain technological change. The focusis at the firm level and the analysis concentrates on metatheoretical issues, except for the last two chapters, which examine the problems of strategic management of technology. Here the aim is to build a new evolutionary-based theoreticalframework to analyze innovation processes at the firm level. The study consistsof ten chapters. Chapter 1 poses the research problem and contrasts the two basic approaches, neoclassical and evolutionary, to be analyzed. Chapter 2 introduces the methodological framework which is based on the methodology of isolation. Methodological and ontoogical commitments of the rival approaches are revealed and basic questions concerning their ways of theorizing are elaborated. Chapters 3-6 deal with the so-called substantive isolative criteria. The aim is to examine how different approaches cope with such critical issues as inherent uncertainty and complexity of innovative activities (cognitive isolations, chapter 3), theboundedness of rationality of innovating agents (behavioral isolations, chapter4), the multidimensional nature of technology (chapter 5), and governance costsrelated to technology (chapter 6). Chapters 7 and 8 put all these things together and look at the explanatory structures used by the neoclassical and evolutionary approaches in the light of substantive isolations. The last two cpahters of the study utilize the methodological framework and tools to appraise different economics-based candidates in the context of strategic management of technology. The aim is to analyze how different approaches answer the fundamental question: How can firms gain competitive advantages through innovations and how can the rents appropriated from successful innovations be sustained? The last chapter introduces a new evolutionary-based technology management framework. Also the largely omitted issues of entrepreneurship are examined.

Strategic supply lead time management. Case Nokia Networks, Hardware Services

Teollisuuden palveluiden on huomattu olevan potentiaalinen lisätulojen lähde. Teollisuuden palveluiden dynaamisessa maailmassa räätälöinti ja kyky toimia nopeasti ovat kriittisiä asiakastyytyväisyyden ja kilpailuedun luomisprosessin osia. Toimitusketjussa käytetyn ajan lyhentämisellä voidaan saavuttaa sekä paremmat vasteajat, että alhaisemmat kokonaiskustannukset. Tutkielman tavoitteena on kuvata teollisuuden palveluiden dynaamista ympäristöä: asiakastarvetta, sekä mahdollisuuksia kaventaa pyydetyn ja saavutetun toimitusajan välistä eroa. Tämä toteutetaan pääosin strategisen toimitusajan hallinnan keinoin. Langattomien tietoliikenneverkkojen operaattorit haluavat vähentää ydinosaamiseensa kuulumatomiin toimintoihin, kuten ylläpitoon sitoutuneita pääomia. Tutkielman case osiossa varaosapalvelujen toimitusketjun kysyntä-, materiaali- ja informaatiovirtoja analysoidaan niin kvalitatiivisten haastatteluiden, sisäisten dokumenttien, kuin kvantitatiivisten tilastollisten menetelmienkin avulla. Löydöksiä peilataan vallitsevaa toimitusketjun ja ajanhallinnan paradigmaa vasten. Tulokset osoittavat, että vahvan palvelukulttuurin omaksuminen ja kokonaisvaltainen toimitusketjun tehokkuuden mittaaminen ovat ajanhallinnan lähtökohtia teollisuuden palveluissa.

Integrated Project Portfolio Management as a Tool for Strategic Steering and Business Control

Tutkielman päätavoitteena oli tutkia miten projektisalkun hallinnalla voidaan tukea organisaation strategista ohjausta ja liiketoimintaa. Tämän lisäksi avaintavoitteina oli kuvata projektisalkun hallinnan nykytilanne kohdeyrityksessä, paljastaa erityisiä kehitystarpeita ja lopulta luoda kohdeyrityksen projektisalkunhallinnalle tavoitetila. Kirjallisuuskatsauksessa pohdittiin projektisalkun hallinnan roolia ja tavoitteita, projektisalkun hallinnassa käyttävää prosessia, sekä menetelmiä ja tekniikoita, joilla salkkua hallitaan. Työn empiirisessä osassa syvennyttiin tutkimaan projektinsalkun hallintaan liittyviä erityispiirteitä kohdeyrityksessä. Tutkimustulosten huolellinen analysointi osoitti, että aikaisempi kirjallisuus ei riittävästi huomioi kokonaisvaltaisen, integroidun lähestymistavan tarvetta ja viestinnän tärkeyttä projektisalkun hallinnassa. Tutkimuksen johtopäätöksinä luotiin uusi integroitu projektisalkun hallintamalli ja määriteltiin kohdeyritykselle projektisalkun hallinnan tavoitetila sekä ne kehitysaskeleet, joita yrityksen tulisi lähitulevaisuudessa ottaa.

The Strategic Intent and Launching of a Knowledge Management Tool in a Complex Organisation, case Stora Enso Consumer Boards

Informaatiotulva ja organisaation monimutkaisuus luoneet tarpeen tietämyksen hallinnalle. Tämän tutkimuksen tavoitteena on tunnistaa muutostarpeet, jotka portaalin käyttöönotto tietämyksenhallintatyökaluna luo. Tutkimuksessa verrataan myös uusia työkaluja olemassa oleviin sekä arvioidaan organisaation kykyä siirtää tietämystä virtuaalisesti. Kirjallisuutta vastaavanlaisista projekteista ei ole ollut saatavilla, sillä käyttöönotettava teknologia on melko uutta. Samaa teknologiaa on käytössä hieman eri alueella, kuin tässä projektissa on tavoitteena. Tutkimus on tapaustutkimus, jonka pääasialliset lähteet ovat erilaisissa kokouksissa tuotettuja dokumentteja. Tutkija on osallistunut aktiivisesti projektityöhön, joten osa taustatiedoista perustuu tutkijan huomioihin sekä vielä keskusteluihin. Teoriaosassa käsitellään tietämyksen jakamista tietämyksen hallinnan ja virtuaalisuuden näkökulmasta. Muutoksen hallintaa on käsitelty lyhyesti tietämyksenhallintatyökalun käyttöönotossa. Tutkimus liittyy Stora Enso Consumer Boardsin tietämyksen hallintaprojektiin.

STRATEGIC-1: A multiple-lines, randomized, open-label GERCOR phase III study in patients with unresectable wild-type RAS metastatic colorectal cancer.

BACKGROUND: The management of unresectable metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) is a comprehensive treatment strategy involving several lines of therapy, maintenance, salvage surgery, and treatment-free intervals. Besides chemotherapy (fluoropyrimidine, oxaliplatin, irinotecan), molecular-targeted agents such as anti-angiogenic agents (bevacizumab, aflibercept, regorafenib) and anti-epidermal growth factor receptor agents (cetuximab, panitumumab) have become available. Ultimately, given the increasing cost of new active compounds, new strategy trials are needed to define the optimal use and the best sequencing of these agents. Such new clinical trials require alternative endpoints that can capture the effect of several treatment lines and be measured earlier than overall survival to help shorten the duration and reduce the size and cost of trials. METHODS/DESIGN: STRATEGIC-1 is an international, open-label, randomized, multicenter phase III trial designed to determine an optimally personalized treatment sequence of the available treatment modalities in patients with unresectable RAS wild-type mCRC. Two standard treatment strategies are compared: first-line FOLFIRI-cetuximab, followed by oxaliplatin-based second-line chemotherapy with bevacizumab (Arm A) vs. first-line OPTIMOX-bevacizumab, followed by irinotecan-based second-line chemotherapy with bevacizumab, and by an anti-epidermal growth factor receptor monoclonal antibody with or without irinotecan as third-line treatment (Arm B). The primary endpoint is duration of disease control. A total of 500 patients will be randomized in a 1:1 ratio to one of the two treatment strategies. DISCUSSION: The STRATEGIC-1 trial is designed to give global information on the therapeutic sequences in patients with unresectable RAS wild-type mCRC that in turn is likely to have a significant impact on the management of this patient population. The trial is open for inclusion since August 2013. TRIAL REGISTRATION: STRATEGIC-1 is registered at Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT01910610, 23 July, 2013. STRATEGIC-1 is registered at EudraCT-No.: 2013-001928-19, 25 April, 2013.

Diversification and its reflections on profitability - strategic change in pulp and paper industry in the years 1996 and 2006

The purpose of the thesis was to analyze diversification in pulp and paper industry (PPI), which is an industry facing enormous strategic challenges as many of the basic parameters of its operational environment are rapidly changing. The objective was to explore, how PPI companies have reacted to these changes by adjusting their strategies in terms of diversification and how the adjustments have affected their profitability. The study was statistical in nature. The results indicate that PPI companies in deed had reduced the degree of unrelated and related diversification , but the positive performance implications of the changes were debatable. In light of the data used in the study lower level of diversification did not lead to better profitability, in fact, the companies with the highest level of diversification had the best profitability. By contrast, reducing the level of unrelated diversification improved the profitability development; whereas reducing the level of related diversification deteriorated the profitability of the company. The results were not statistically significant and they cannot be generalized outside the data of the study.

Prices versus exams as strategic instruments for competing universities

In this paper we investigate the optimal choice of prices and/or exams by universities in the presence of credit constraints. We first compare the optimal behavior of a public, welfare maximizing, monopoly and a private, profit maximizing, monopoly. Then we model competition between a public and a private institution and investigate the new role of exams/prices in this environment. We find that, under certain circumstances, the public university may have an interest to raise tuition fees from minimum levels if it cares for global welfare. This will be the case provided that (i) the private institution has higher quality and uses only prices to select applicants, or (ii) the private institution has lower quality and uses also exams to select students. When this is the case, there are efficiency grounds for raising public prices

Comovement of stock price risk in strategic alliance — Case: mobile internet

The focus of this study has been comovement of stock price risk level between two companies as they form strategic alliance. Thus the main reason has been to shed more light to possible increased risk level that the stockholder confronts when a company he owns forms a strategic alliance with another company. This study has centralized to interfirm cooperation between mobile and internet companies, which have furthered the development of mobile internet. The study has been divided into theoretical and empirical part. In theoretical part the main concepts riskiness of a stock (volatility), comovement and strategic alliance have been run through. In empirical part seven strategic alliances formed by mobile internet companies have been examined. Based on this, strategic alliance seems to increase comovement of stock price risk in some degree. This comovement seems to be stronger when core businesses or operating environments of cooperating companies differ more from each other.

Strategic groups and performance: an empirical analysis of strategic groups in the wind energy industry in Europe

The strategic group theory provides an intermediate level of analysis between a single company and the whole industry for identifying issues about the company's competitive position and strategic choices. Strategic groups are companies within an industry with similar strategic characteristics or competing on similar bases. Strategic choices are aligned with the firms’ resources. The purpose of this study was to identify the strategic groups in the wind energy industry in Europe, and study, whether a certain group membership results in financial performance differences. Altogether 80 European wind energy companies were included in the study, which were clustered into four strategic groups according to their age and growth rate. Each group corresponds to a different strategy. The results show that the wind energy companies can be clustered according to the chosen strategic characteristics. Strategic decisions were investigated with characteristic variables. Performance variables were used in the analysis measuring profitability, liquidity and solvency of the groups. These strategic choices of the companies did not have a significant influence on the firms’ performance. The more mature and slower growing group proved to be the most successful. However, the differences between groups were generally not statistically significant. The only statistically significant difference found was in the solvency ratio between Mature Slow and Young Rapid groups. Measured with these variables, more mature and slower growing companies performed better. Therefore, a certain strategic group membership results in performance differences.

An analytic approach to distribution logistics strategic management

Logistics management is increasingly being recognised by many companies to be of critical concern. The logistics function includes directly or indirectly many of the new areas for achieving or maintaining competitive advantage that companies have been forced to develop due to increasing competitive pressures. The key to achieving a competitive advantage is to manage the logistics function strategically which involves determining the most cost effective method of providing the necessary customer service levels from the many combinations of operating procedures in the areas of transportation, warehousing, order processing and information systems, production, and inventory management. In this thesis, a comprehensive distribution logistics strategic management process is formed by integrating the periodic strategic planning process with a continuous strategic issues management process. Strategic planning is used for defining the basic objectives for a company and assuring co operation and synergy between the different functions of a company while strategic issues management is used on a continuous basis in order to deal with environmental and internal turbulence. The strategic planning subprocess consists of the following main phases: (1) situational analyses, (2) defining the vision and strategic goals for the logistics function, (3) determining objectives and strategies, (4) drawing up tactical action plans, and (5) evaluating the implementation of the plans and making the needed adjustments. The aim of the strategic issues management subprocess is to continuously scan the environment and the organisation for early identification of the issues having a significant impact on the logistics function using the following steps: (1) the identification of trends, (2) assessing the impact and urgency of the identified trends, (3) assigning priorities to the issues, and (4) planning responses to the, issues. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is a systematic procedure for structuring any problem. AHP is based on the following three principles: decomposition, comparative judgements, and synthesis of priorities. AHP starts by decomposing a complex, multicriteria problem into a hierarchy where each level consists of a few manageable elements which are then decomposed into another set of elements. The second step is to use a measurement methodology to establish priorities among the elements within each level of the hierarchy. The third step in using AHP is to synthesise the priorities of the elements to establish the overall priorities for the decision alternatives. In this thesis, decision support systems are developed for different areas of distribution logistics strategic management by applying the Analytic Hierarchy Process. The areas covered are: (1) logistics strategic issues management, (2) planning of logistic structure, (3) warehouse site selection, (4) inventory forecasting, (5) defining logistic action and development plans, (6) choosing a distribution logistics strategy, (7) analysing and selecting transport service providers, (8) defining the logistic vision and strategic goals, (9) benchmarking logistic performance, and (10) logistic service management. The thesis demonstrates the potential of AHP as a systematic and analytic approach to distribution logistics strategic management.