Notes on Emerging Technologies

This dissertation considers the impact of technology foresight in innovation within the context of a technology driven development. The main hypothesis made was that by using different methods of foresight in the industry level significant value could be created. The question was approached through a case study in portable fuel cell technology. The theoretical background of the study draws from Innovation, Product Development, Management of Technology, and Technology Foresight. The connection within the topics is made by analyzing foresight, not in a policy view as often done in Europe, but in a micro-level. Focusing mostly on how a technology driven development scenario could be analyzed. The study is based on a bibliometric, extrapolation and patent analysis within the context of a case study. In addition, a large two-year Delphi study was conducted. The study was finalized with a scenario work on the future possibilities of the case study technology. Original publications also consider several methodological issues. In the context of the case study, the study questions the practicality of establishing a portable fuel cell technology in Finland showing several impractical assumptions has been made. In a more conceptual level, the study makes notions on two underlying factors: policy-push technologies and growth of data. Policy-push questions in which level a policy effort towards a single technology is practical. The European foresight effort is more directed towards policy decisions in contrast to US foresight, which is to some extent corporate driven. Although the policy-based foresight has produced significant results in the European context, policy led efforts towards a single technology are challenging. Growth of data argues on the challenges produced by the large-scale application of quantitative measures of foresight. Bibliometric studies and trend extrapolations have been taken advantage of the increasing number of databases made available, and used these as the basis for forecasts. However, the relationship with actual development and quantitative evidence is still unproven.

Production of a product similar to gelatin from chicken feet collagen

Chicken feet can be used as an alternative source of collagen for the development of new products. In this sense, the aim of this study was the production of a product similar to gelatin from collagen extracted from chicken feet and the evaluation of sensory quality. The products were produced in two distinct flavors, with grape flavor called GU and pineapple flavor called GA. Subsequently, we compared these formulations with gelatin of a trademark established in the market. We used in the verification of sensory acceptability of products a hedonic scale of 9 points and the availability of consuming the product by 30 untrained tasters. According to the results, all formulations showed good levels of acceptability, indicating the collagen from chicken feet as an alternative source of high quality in the production of gelatin.

Streamlining Launch Support Operations in a Product Platform

The new product development process is a massive investment to a company that aims to reduce their products’ time-to-market. Capability to shorter time-to market allows longer life-cycle to products which are introduced to market earlier but also give advantage to start product launch later while simultaneously learning from customer behavior and competitors. The product launch support operations are the last ramp-up activities before the product launching. This study defines what these operations mean in a product platform and how they can be streamlined to be more efficient. The methodology includes interviews, innovative group brainstorming and regular working group meetings. The challenges concerning the current situation of product launch support operations are allocated into four categories: General, Process, Project Resources and Project Management including altogether ten sub challenges. The challenges include issues related to technology and marketing management, branding strategy, organizing the global platform structure, harmonizing processes and clarifying handovers between shareholders in the process. The study makes a suggestion of a new Product Launch Support organization and clarification of its roles, responsibilities and tasks. In addition a new project management tool and Lessons Learned are suggested to improve the project management. The study can be seen as a pre-study when having an aim at combining technological and marketing know-how in the product ramp-up process before actual production. The future proceedings are suggested to include more detailed specifications and implementation in order to reach the long range target, reduced the time-to-market.

A global transport packaging guideline for selected business areas

In this Master’s Thesis a global transport packaging guideline for selected business areas was compiled for the Fiskars the company, which provides branded consumer goods for home, garden and outdoor use. The business areas included were Home and Garden business areas. The aim of the guideline was to be a comprehensive guide for the suppliers, product development, operations and external vendors of the company. The guideline consists of written instructions, tables and illustrations that provide useful information for players working with transport packages from sourcing through to shipments. As the role of corporate responsibility and sustainability has grown, a part of responsible manufacturing strategy includes using materials that are re-usable, recyclable or recoverable as energy or through composting. Hence packaging waste management implementations of different regions were also inspected. The resulting guide covers a range of topics concerning packaging and its transport. The topics include legal requirements, restricted materials and substances, preferred materials, markings, labeling of boxes, logistics and distribution center requirements, physical testing and an inspection checklist.

Importance of considering food waste in the development of sustainable food packaging systems

Meeting the needs of both present and future generations forms the foundation of sustainable development. Concern about food demand is increasing alongside the continuously growing population. In the pursuit of food security preventing food waste is one solution avoiding the negative environmental impacts that result from producing food unnecessarily. Packages offer one answer to preventing food waste, as they 1) preserve and protect food, 2) introduce the user to the correct way to handle and use the food and package and 3) allow the user to consume the food in its entirety. This thesis aims to enhance the sustainability of food packages by giving special emphasis to preventing food waste. The focus of this thesis is to assist the packaging designer in being able to take into account the requirements for the sustainability of food packages and to be able to integrate these requirements into the product development process. In addition, life cycle methods that can be used as a tool in the packaging design process or in assessing the sustainability of finished food-packaging combinations are evaluated. The methods of life cycle costing (LCC) and life cycle working environment (LCWE) are briefly discussed. The method of life cycle assessment (LCA) is examined more thoroughly through the lens of the literature review of food-package LCA case studies published in the 21st century in three relevant journals. Based on this review and on experiences learned from conducting LCAs, recommendations are given as to how the LCA practitioner should conduct a food packaging study to make most of the results. Two case studies are presented in this thesis. The first case study relates the results of a life cycle assessment conducted for three food items (cold cut (ham), sliced dark bread (rye) and Soygurt drink) and the alternative packaging options of each. Results of this study show that the packaging constitutes only 1–12 % of the total environmental impacts of the food-packaging combination. The greatest effect is derived from the food itself and the wasted food. Even just a small percentage of wasted food causes more environmental impacts than does the packaging. The second case study presents the results of LCC and LCWE analysis done for fruit and vegetable transport packages. In this thesis, the specific results of the study itself are not the focus, but rather the study methods and scope are analysed based on how these complement the sustainability assessment of food packages. This thesis presents reasons why prevention of food waste should be more thoroughly taken into account in food packaging design. In addition, the task of the packaging designer is facilitated by the requirements of sustainable food packaging, by the methods and step-by-step guidance on how to integrate sustainability issues into the design process, and by the recommendations on how to assess the sustainability of food packages. The intention of this thesis is to express the issues that are important in the field of the food packaging industry. Having recognised and implemented these issues, businesses can better manage the risks that could follow from neglecting these sustainability aspects.

UV-LED -lamppujen soveltuminen laivojen painolastivesien käsittelyyn

Painolastivesien mukana kulkeutuvien lajien leviäminen on yksi vakavimmista globaaleista ympäristöuhkista. Kansainvälinen merenkulkujärjestö IMO määritteli vuonna 2004 kansainvälisen painolastivesiyleissopimuksen, jonka tarkoituksena on ehkäistä laivojen painolastivesien mukana kulkeutuvien lajien leviämistä. Sopimus velvoittaa aluksia käsittelemään niiden painolastivedet ja se sisältää myös käsittelyjärjestelmiltä edellytetyt vaatimukset. Vaikka sopimus ei ole vielä astunut voimaan, painolastivesien käsittelyyn löytyy markkinoilta jo useita kymmeniä IMO:n hyväksymiä käsittelyjärjestelmiä, jotka hyödyntävät erilaisia mekaanisia, fysikaalisia ja kemiallisia menetelmiä. Yksi yleisimmin käytetyistä menetelmistä on UV-säteilytys. UV-säteily tuotetaan elohopealampuilla, jotka kuitenkin kuluttavat paljon energiaa ja sisältävät myrkyllistä elohopeaa. Tämän työn tarkoituksena oli selvittää, voisiko elohopealamput korvata lähitulevaisuudessa UV-LED -lampuilla. UV-LED –lamppujen etuja ovat muun muassa energiatehokkuus, kestävä rakenne ja myrkyttömyys. Työn tärkeimpänä tavoitteena oli tutkia laboratoriomittausten avulla, millainen UV-annosmäärä 10-50 µm kokoisten kasviplanktonien inaktivoimiseen tarvitaan. Mittausjärjestelyt vastasivat suurelta osin IMO:n vaatimuksia. Laboratoriomittauksissa käytettiin 265 nm:n aallonpituudella toimivia UV-LED -lamppuja. Näytteiden analysoinnissa käytettiin sekä PAM-fluorometriä että virtaussytometriä. Saatujen tulosten perusteella tutkimuksessa käytettyjen lajien Asterionellopsis glacialis ja Thalassiosira sp. täydelliseen inaktivoitumiseen tarvittiin noin 600 mJ/cm2 suuruinen UV-annos. Tulos vastasi ennakko-odotuksia ja se oli vertailukelpoinen muiden aiheesta tehtyjen tutkimusten kanssa. Koska nykyisten UV-LED –lamppujen teho on hyvin alhainen, ne eivät vielä sovellu painolastivesien käsittelyyn. UV-LED –lamppujen kehitystyö on kuitenkin käynnissä ja on arvioitu, että niitä voitaisiin käyttää suurten virtaamien käsittelyssä 5-10 vuoden kuluttua.

Julkiset luomu- ja lähiruokahankkeet toimitusketjunäkökulmasta tarkasteltuna

Luomu- ja lähiruokaliiketoiminta on vielä varsin marginaalista Suomessa, mutta alalla on selkeästi kasvupotentiaalia. Sektoria on pyritty kehittämään julkisten, muun muassa EU-rahoitettujen, hankkeiden avulla. Tässä työssä on tutkittu vuosina 2007 – 2013 toteutettuja luomu- ja lähiruokahankkeita toimitusketjunäkökulmasta käsin. Tutkimuksen kohteena ovat olleet hankkeisiin liittyvät toimitusketjun osaamisalueet sekä hankkeiden tavoitteet, kohderyhmät ja tulokset. Bechmarking-mielessä on luotu silmäys Ranskan, Italian ja Itävallan luomu- ja lähiruokaliiketoimintaan. Työn otoksen muodostavat 105 julkista luomu- ja lähiruokahanketta. Työssä muodostettiin teorialähtöisesti kuusi toimitusketjun osaamisaluetta, joiden avulla hankkeita kategorisoitiin ja analysoitiin. Osaamisalueet ovat yhteistyö-/verkosto-osaaminen, logistiikka-/jakeluosaaminen, markkinointi-/myyntiosaaminen, talous-/yrittäjyysosaaminen, tuote-/tuotekehitysosaaminen sekä tuotanto-osaaminen. Tutkittujen hankkeiden yleisin tavoite liittyy yhteistyö- ja verkosto-osaamisen kehittämiseen. Hankkeista voitiin osoittaa neljä erilaista yhteistyön muotoa. Yleisin kohderyhmä on luomu- ja lähiruoan tuottaja. Eurooppalaisissa esimerkeissä korostuvat kuluttajalähtöisyys, järjestäytyneet yhteistyömuodot sekä vähittäiskaupan merkittävä rooli luomu- ja lähiruoan jakelijana.

Kuluttajalähtöisiä ideoita palvelujen kehittämiseen eri kanavissa, Case Posti Oy

Tutkimuksen tavoitteena on löytää kehitysideoita Postin palveluiden kehittämiseksi kuluttajilta nousseiden kehitysideoiden kautta. Kehitysideoita voidaan hyödyntää palveluiden kehittämisessä eri kanavat huomioiden. Tutkimuksen tulokset käydään syvällisesti läpi, jotta niistä on konkreettista hyötyä Postille palvelujen ja nykyisen toiminnan kehittämisessä. Työn teoriaosa keskittyy monikanavaisuuden hyötyihin ja haittoihin sekä asiakaspalvelulähtöisen liiketoiminnan nykytilaan sekä tarpeisiin. Fountain Parkin ja Postin yhteistyössä tehdyssä tutkimuksessa oli kvalitatiivinen tutkimusote, koska tutkimuksen tarkoituksena on tutkia henkilöiden mielipiteiden kautta tutkittavissa olevaa ilmiötä. Tässä tutkimuksessa henkilöiden mielipidettä edustavat Postin kuluttaja-asiakkaat. Data kerättiin verkkoaivoriihen avulla, josta tutkimustulokset analysoitiin. Päätutkimuskysymyksenä on, mitkä palvelut helpottaisivat kuluttajien arjen sujumista. Nykypäivänä uusia tuoteideoita etsiessä tulee hyödyntää esimerkiksi asiakkailta tulevaa informaatiota. Tässä tutkimuksessa saatiin paljon asiakaslähtöisiä ideoita, joita voidaan käyttää Postin palvelujen kehittämiseen. Monet kehitysideat liittyivät olemassa oleviin palveluihin parannusehdotuksina mutta myös uusia palveluideoita nousi eri palvelujen osalta.

Customer involvement in lean startup principles: case of game development studio

The objective of this thesis is to better understand customer’s role in lean startup methodology. The aim is to find out how customers are involved in lean startup methodology implantation and increase the likelihood of new venture survival. This study emphasizes the usage of customers in shaping of new product development processes within companies, through iteration and constant communication. This communication facilitates the development of features that are requested by the customers and enhances the prospects of the new venture. The empirical part of the study is a single qualitative case study that uses action research to implement the lean startup methodology into a pre-revenue venture and examines its customer involvement processes. The studied case company is Karaoke d.o.o., developing a game called kParty. The study used the theory discussed in the literature review: customer involvement (in the survey and interviews conducted for the lean startup methodology), lean principles (through the implementation of lean startup methodology) and lean startup methodology, which are the central building parts of this thesis as a whole. The thesis contributes to the understanding of customer involvement in lean startup methodology, while giving practical implications of customer orientation and product market fitting.

Ideal sweetness of mixed juices from Amazon fruits

Ready-to-drink fruit juices represent a large share of the market and are an important target for product development. The mixture of fruits can bring about improvements to nutritional and sensory aspects of these beverages while making used of the wide variety of exotic fruits from the Amazon region. Therefore, it is necessary to select mixed fruits and determine their ideal sweetness according to consumer acceptance. Consumers in the city of Belém (Brazil) evaluated five different concentrations of sugar using the just-about-right scale in two blends selected by preference ranking. For the cupuassu-acerola-açai blend, the optimum concentration of sugar was 9.5 g/100 mL, and for the soursop-camucamu-yellow mombin blend, it was 10.7 g/100 mL.

Exploring the impact of celebrity endorsement and product class involvement on advertising effectiveness: an eye tracking approach

Celebrity endorsement has increased in popularity over the past decades and companies are willing to spend increasingly excessive amounts of money into it. Even though multiple studies support celebrity endorsement, further research on its impact on advertising effectiveness is called for. Fur-ther, the role of consumers’ product class involvement in advertising needs to be further studied. The purpose of this study is to explore if consumers’ product class involvement and exposure to celebrity endorsers affect consumers brand recall. Supported by earlier studies, brand recall was used as a measure for advertising effectiveness in this study. In general, a psychological approach was chosen for building the theoretical framework. Concept of classical conditioning was presented in order to understand why people act how they do. Balanced theory and meaning transfer model were presented in order to study how celebrities can be used effectively in advertising context. Further, the importance of product class involvement in advertising effectiveness was evaluated. Hypotheses were formulated based on a literature review of the existing research. Because of the versatility of the research design, a mixed methods approach for this study was adopted. Empirical part of the study was conducted in three stages. First, a pre-test was conducted in order to choose suitable product endorsers for the advertisement stimuli used in the experiment. Second, an eye-tracking experiment with 30 test subjects was conducted in order to study how people view advertisements and whether the familiarity of the product endorser and consumers’ product class involvement affects brand recall. For the experiment, a fictional brand was created in order to avoid bias on brand recall. Third, qualitative interviews for 15 test subjects were conducted in the post-experiment stage in order to gain deeper understating of the phenomenon and to make sense of the findings from the experiment. Findings from this study support celebrity endorsement by suggesting that a famous spokesperson does not steal attention from brand information more than a non-celebrity product endorser. As a result, the use of a celebrity endorser did not decrease brand recall. Results support earlier research as consumer’ higher product class involvement resulted in a better brand recall. Findings from the interviews suggest that consumers have positive perceptions of celebrity endorsement in general. However, the celebrity–brand congruence is a crucial factor when creating attitudes towards the advertisement. Future research ideas were presented based on the limitations and results of this study

Fostering product innovation by learning through exporting in Eastern Europe

This study discusses the importance of learning through the process of exporting, and more specifically how such a process can enhance the product innovativeness of a company. The purpose of this study is to investigate the appropriate sources of learning and to suggest an interactive framework for how new knowledge from exporting markets can materialize itself into product innovation. The theoretical background of the study was constructed from academic literature, which is related to concepts of learning by exporting, along with sources for learning in the market and new product development. The empirical research in the form of a qualitative case study was based on four semi-structured interviews and secondary data from the case company official site. The interview data was collected between March and April 2015 from case company employees who directly work in the department of exporting and product development. The method of thematic analysis was used to categorize and interpret the collected data. What was conclusively discovered, was that the knowledge from an exporting market can be an incentive for product innovation, especially an incremental one. Foreign customers and competitors as important sources for new knowledge contribute to the innovative process. Foreign market competitors’ influence on product improvements was high only when the competitor was a market leader or held a colossal market share, while the customers’ influence is always high. Therefore, involving a foreign customer in the development of a new product is vital to a company that is interested in benefiting from what is learned through exporting. The interactive framework, which is based on the theoretical background and findings of the study, suggests that exporting companies can raise their product innovativeness by utilizing newly gained knowledge from exporting markets. Except for input, in the form of sources of learning, and product innovation as an output, the framework contains a process of knowledge transfer, the absorptive capacity of a firm and a new product development process. In addition, the framework and the findings enhance the understanding of the disputed relationship between an exporting experience and product innovation. However, future research is needed in order to fully understand all the elements of the framework, such as the absorptive capacity of a firm as well as more case companies to be processed in order to increase the generalization of the framework

User Experience Patterns for/of Innovation by Design: A Survey on Design Practices in the Software Development and Innovation Lifecycle

The User Experience (UX) designers are undoubtedly aware of how many UX design methods currently exist and that sometimes it becomes a problem to choose an appropriate one. What are all of methods that designers have in their “arsenal”? When can they use them? This thesis presents the research on the design methods in the contemporary context of User Experience (UX) and Innovations by using a survey approach. The study is limited to cover the domain of consumer mobile services development and provider companies around the world. The study follows 2 clear objectives: (1) to understand what design methods are currently used in that context and to what extent they are used (2) to identify at what stage according to the UX design thinking process for creating innovations they are placed. The study contributes to the research in the field of UX design and Innovations and extends the knowledge in that field together with communities’ (UXPA, SIGCHI, SIGSOFT) members’ cooperation. The research is vital due to lack of information on design practices and their application in the chosen context.

Análisis del sector piscícola para la generación de estrategias enfocadas en la exportación a Estados Unidos de tilapia procesada producida en el Huila

El sector piscicultor en el Huila presenta un potencial para el departamento y el país que debe ser explotado, buscando el desarrollo de ventajas competitivas sostenibles que lleven al crecimiento, expansión y desarrollo en general del sector. El presente trabajo pretende explorar diferentes estrategias que pueden ayudar al desarrollo de estas ventajas competitivas. Realizando una evaluación de diferentes factores que influyen en el sector de acuerdo con el Diamante de la competitividad de Michael Porter y explorando la cadena de valor de las empresas del sector, generamos un análisis de Debilidades, Oportunidades, Fortalezas y Amenazas (análisis DOFA) para generar una visión de las estrategias a seguir en la generación de valor. Luego de explorar las posibles estrategias que podría seguir el sector, encontramos unos puntos que se vuelven común denominador: la generación de marca para el reconocimiento de los productos en los consumidores finales y el desarrollo valor agregado a través de nuevos productos o llegando a nuevos segmentos de mercado. Teniendo en cuenta las experiencias internacionales que han tenido otros sectores, es recomendable que las empresas del sector piscicultor del departamento del Huila generen espacios de cooperación (a manera de clúster) en los cuales se tengan objetivos enfocados en la generación ventajas competitivas para todo el sector y el fortalecimiento de una marca que sea reconocida internacionalmente.

Capacidades dinámicas; la fuente de sostenibilidad ante el cambio

Las capacidades dinámicas constituyen un aporte importante a la estrategia empresarial. De acuerdo con esta premisa se desarrolla el siguiente documento, al reconocer que la generación de competencias se consolida como la base teórica para el logro de sostenibilidad ante eventos de cambio que puedan afectar la estabilidad y la toma de decisiones de las organizaciones. Dada la falta de aplicación empírica del concepto se ha elaborado este paper, en el que se demuestran e identifican las herramientas que la aplicación empiríca puede dar a las organizaciones y los instrumentos que proveen para la generación de valor. A través del caso de estudio ASOS.COM se ejemplifica la necesidad de detección y aprovechamiento de oportunidades y amenazas, así como la reconfiguración, renovación y generación de competencias de segundo orden para enfrentar el cambio. De esta manera por medio de las habilidades creadas al interior de las empresas con enfoque en el aprendizaje e innovación se logra la comprensión del negocio y el afianzamiento de mejores escenarios futuros.