Browsing by Subject "innovation"

Now showing 1 - 13 of 13
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    Adopting Sustainable Innovations: A Case on Renewables' Integration into the Grid
    (2019-05) Allen, Barbara
    Disruptive changes are impacting the electric utility industry worldwide as an increasing amount of renewably generated electricity contributes to grid supply to combat negative environmental impacts of traditional electricity production. The U.S. utility companies are protected natural monopolies faced with an increasing power generation competition and decreasing revenue as a result. As the industry transitions over the coming decade, the ability to thrive will be dependent upon the incumbents’ ability to adapt while continuing to grow existing technological competencies. How to further promote renewable energies in the monopoly market and how can the U.S. electric utilities successfully adapt in such an environment are the main research questions this thesis attempts to answer. Based on literature review, five specific questions were developed and then investigated using the case study on a uniquely innovative leader in the utility industry--Green Mountain Power of Vermont. Results show that a natural monopoly can be effective in promoting sustainable innovations given the right environment. Among the many factors that influence the adoption of sustainable innovations in a natural monopoly market, regulation plays a critical role. Incumbents with a corporate culture which enables strategic change, and those able to incorporate sustainable innovations into their business model will be less likely to be disrupted by the changes occurring in the market. Monopoly incumbents recognizing and pursuing new market opportunities arising out of sustainable innovations, rather than viewing the change as disruptive, will be more likely to contribute to the successful diffusion of such innovation.
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    Borrow And Buy: Complementarity And Substitutability Of Acquirers’ Alliances And Technology Acquisitions
    (2019-01) Nary, Paul
    What is the relationship between a firm’s alliances and its acquisition choice and performance? In this dissertation, I argue that alliances may not only substitute for, but also be complementary to technology acquisitions. I also propose that acquirer’s alliances and how they relate to the target have an important effect on that acquirer’s acquisition performance. I highlight the role of distinct components of the acquirer’s alliance portfolio – its functional and technological alliances in, or outside of its core business – for that firm’s technology acquisition choice and performance. When it comes to choice, I show that a higher number of functional alliances is correlated with a higher number of technology acquisitions in same business segments, and with a lower number of technology acquisitions in other business segments where the firm may not have functional alliances. At the same time, technological alliances generally substitute for technology acquisitions, but may be complementary to technology acquisitions within strategically important markets outside of the acquirer’s core business. Building on my investigation into acquisition choice, I show that both functional and technological alliances are an important factor in performance outcomes of technology acquisitions following these strategic choices. I find evidence supporting my claims using a sample of 208 large, public, high-tech US firms from 1996-2010, with their 13,074 total unique alliances and 5,215 unique acquisitions, as well as over 1.4 million unique patents. I contribute to corporate strategy and technology and innovation management research by showing how firms’ boundary choices, specifically when it comes to technology acquisitions, as well as the performance outcomes of these choices, are influenced not only by internal, but also by external resources and capabilities accessible through their alliance portfolios. I also address the enduring puzzle of why firms engage in seemingly unrelated acquisitions by showing that sometimes, such transactions may in fact be indirectly related and complementary to the acquirer through its alliance portfolio.
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    Connect [Fall 2013]
    (University of Minnesota: College of Education and Human Development, 2013-09) University of Minnesota: College of Education and Human Development
    Smart space: Investments with attention to design, technology, and accessibility are paying off. Never lose hope: Opening this fall, the Cicchetti Child and Family Laboratory brings groundbreaking work to Minnesota. The principal difference: The Minnesota Principals Academy has a new home and enhanced curriculum. Leadership, state by state: Effective school leadership varies based on deep political culture.
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    Connect [Winter 2017]
    (University of Minnesota: College of Education and Human Development, 2016-12) University of Minnesota: College of Education and Human Development
    The gratitude factor: New findings on what works in addiction recovery. Motivation to move: A kinesiology lab explores how technology can help promote health. Launchpad for ideas that work: A new team is speeding up the transmission of knowledge and innovation to users and markets. First up - an online community for reading educators.
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    Design Thinking Collaboration: Changing How Companies Solve Problems
    (2014-08) Lund, Deanna R.
    Companies in office environments have a need for employees who are skilled in solving complex problems in order to develop innovative products and services to stay competitive in a global economy. This study investigates how three companies located in Minnesota are currently using the approach of design thinking to increase innovation. Interviews and observations of the companies are compiled into recommendations for other companies to use as a guide for incorporating design thinking into their organizational practices. Several skills emerged from the findings as critical to the design thinking approach; these skills could inform the type of training needed in the future for all levels of educational development.
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    Environmental Impact Assessment: Closing the Gap Between Scientists and Practitioners
    (2022-12) Rivera, Lloyd
    The environmental science community has worked to engage the private sector with sustainable business practices. In the business sector, impact assessment tools are key to embedding sustainable practices into the organization’s goals and performance metrics. The adoption of the proposed impact assessment tools falls below expectations. This dissertation looks at ways sustainable impact assessment can become more prevalent in lower income countries. The methodologies employed are Five forces analysis of the sugar industry structure, interviews with actors in the food sector, and a literature review and analysis based on the dynamic capabilities framework. I found that the sugar industry promotes expansion by existing actors and deters new actors as well as product differentiation, disincentivizing adoption of sustainable practices. The food sector in Costa Rica showed interest in tools that have the capacity to go beyond diagnosis and wants them to help find a path toward corrective measures. Also, these actors are interested in data that can inform the innovation process. A framework of the innovation process, based on the capacity to assess sustainable impact, is proposed, resulting from the impact assessment and business strategy literature review. In the context of low income countries, sustainable impact assessment is catalyzed by a healthy supply chain structure and its capacity to contribute to business growth. These are areas for future development.
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    Essays on Innovation in the Medical Device Industry
    (2021-07) Everhart, Alexander
    This dissertation includes three empirical papers on the development and adoption of medical devices in the United States. Economists attribute as much as half of recent gains in life expectancy in the United States to the use of new medical technologies. When developing medical technologies, manufacturers must consider the “total product lifecycle” of devices, spanning from development costs to regulatory approval to insurer coverage and ultimately patient and physician adoption. The three chapters of this dissertation examine different stages of the total product lifecycle for medical devices.In Chapter 1, I study how medical device firms change their investments in research and develop following external shocks to production costs. Using damage to device manufacturing facilities caused by Puerto Rican hurricanes as a natural experiment, I find that increases in storm exposure cause firms to spend less on research and development and bring fewer medical devices to market. I also find that devices brought to market following storms are cited in competitor regulatory submissions no more or less often than the average medical device. This suggests that device firms do not meaningfully target more or less scientifically innovative projects at the margin when reducing investments in research and development. In Chapter 2, I describe the availability of cost-effectiveness analyses for medical devices in the United States. Cost-effectiveness analyses are not consistently used by insurers when making coverage decisions in the United States. I find that one of the barriers to using cost-effectiveness analyses is the timing of when analyses become available. Cost-effectiveness analyses are not available until several years after regulatory approval. In Chapter 3, I examine the effect of industry payments on physicians’ adoption of Medtronic’s Micra leadless pacemaker in fee-for-service Medicare. Leadless pacemakers have lower complication rates but a higher cost compared to traditional leaded pacemakers. I find that physicians who receive more payments from pacemaker manufacturers are more likely to adopt leadless pacemakers. However, this relationship is not robust to either physician fixed effects or an instrumental variables analysis predicting receipt of manufacturer payments as a function of distance from Medtronic headquarters.
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    Knowmad Society
    (2013-06-11) Moravec, John W.; Cobo, Cristóbal; Besselink, Thieu; Hartkamp, Christel; Spinder, Pieter; de Bree, Edwin; Stokman, Bianca; Renaud, Christine; van den Hoff, Ronald
    Knowmad Society explores the future of learning, work, and how we relate with each other in a world driven by accelerating change, value networks, and the rise of knowmads. Knowmads are nomadic knowledge workers: Creative, imaginative, and innovative people who can work with almost anybody, anytime, and anywhere. The jobs associated with 21st century knowledge and innovation workers have become much less specific concerning task and place, but require more value-generative applications of what they know. The office as we know it is gone. Schools and other learning spaces will follow next. In this book, nine authors from three continents, ranging from academics to business leaders, share their visions for the future of learning and work. Educational and organizational implications are uncovered, experiences are shared, and the contributors explore what it’s going to take for individuals, organizations, and nations to succeed in Knowmad Society.
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    Leadership Styles and Physical Environments that Support and Advance Creativity and Innovation in the Workplace
    (2014-12) Kober, Erin
    In order to support the shift from the service economy to the experience economy, organizations must innovate. To create an innovative environment, organizations must motivate, lead and create a space that supports individuals based on organizational goals and the function of work. This customized approach to leadership and office design will encourage collaboration among employees and increase innovation.
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    Measuring Innovation in Carver County
    (Resilient Communities Project (RCP), University of Minnesota, 2016) Martens, Scott; Bawaskar, Prachi; Liang, Jack; Sawatzky, Jared; Wagle, David; Bell, Carly; Collins, Lindsey; Grant, Dan; Kinsella, Mike; Lonergan, Brendan; Mueller, Michaela; Schober, Marc; Blake, Katie; Daugherty, Molly; Halsch, Ryan; Kitchen, Ian; Lund, Jon; Shah, Rahul; White, Liz; Zimmermann, Katherine; Berghoff, Jeremy; Drott, D. Stephen; Haun, Trent; Lundstrom, Joel; Preston, Sean; Bowersock, Alyssa; Dunlap, Claire; Hektner, Michael; Korman, Daniel; Lusk, Jason; Reveland, Nick; Sohn, Garrett; Butskiy, Konstantin; Dyshaw, Brittany; Hinton, Sam; Kler, Param; Novosad, Alana; Saladi, Siddhartha; Tawfik, Daniel; El-Sawaf, Khaled; Hulke, Mandy; Lamuro, Margaret; Sansone, Rebecca; Byers, Russell; McCormick, Timothy; Daugherty, Laura; Hendrickson, Briana; Kyanam, Devi; Larson, Sam; Madetzke, Mike; Mcelhinny, Ryan; Saprygina, Polina; Thai, Thuong
    This project was completed as part of the 2015-2016 Resilient Communities Project (rcp.umn.edu) partnership with Carver County. Carver County staff had initiated continuous improvement and innovation workshops across a variety of departments. The goal of this project was to identify evaluation tools to assess the impact of these various continuous improvement efforts. Carver County project lead Lorraine Brady worked with nine teams of students in MBA 6220: Operations and Management to evaluate the initiatives, identify measurement tools and strategies, and develop recommendations for continuing improvement actions implemented during the workshops. The students' aggregated final report is available.
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    Recognizing and Disseminating Innovations in Scholarly Teaching and Learning to Support Curricular Change
    (University of Minnesota, College of Pharmacy, 2014) Janke, Kristin K.; Kolar, Claire
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    Towerside Innovation District: Building Equity and Economics for a Resilient Towerside
    (Resilient Communities Project (RCP), University of Minnesota, 2021) Christianson, Mark; Robb, Max; Stewart, Gustave; Zielinski, Jake; Beckner, Meyer; Paddock, Henry; Davis, Ruby; Siegel-Garcia, Diana; Shebesta, Timothy; Phan, Kevin; Lehman, Joseph; Turner, Anna; Boudlali, Jamila; Fransen, Elena; Lohse, Maxwell; Bergum, Maddy; Menke, Alex; Jacobs, Tia; Benson, Rachel; Franklin, Lila; Hesari, Elham; Bakken, Noelle; Bretheim, Laura; Flannery, Katlyn; Needham, Revee; Do, Don; King, Robbie; Krause, Laura; San Juan, Carmel; Harsch, Trey; Sheikh, Maya; Harrington, Ben; Berger, Jacob; Johnson, Isak; Paquin, Jarred; Trejo, Tristan
    This project was completed as part of a partnership between Towerside Innovation District and the University of Minnesota’s Resilient Communities Project (http://www.rcp.umn.edu). The goal of this project was to answer key questions around district assets and how Towerside can align with potential industry and partners’ goals to guide future strategic planning and attract further investment. Towerside Innovation District project lead Sabina Saksena collaborated with teams of students in Dr. Fernando Burga’s course PA 5211 to learn from other successful innovation districts, explore possible land use solutions and scenarios in Towerside, and consider climate change and racial justice implications. A final student report containing 10 posters is available.
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    Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Journalistic Disruption
    (Digital Journalism, 2017) Belair-Gagnon, Valerie; Holton, Avery; Owen, Taylor
    In recent years, there has been a surge in research on small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in news production and news audience engagement. Most of this research has focused on legal, ethical, and regulatory implications of UAVs in newsgathering, while paying less attention to the journalists’ perspectives. To fill this gap in the academic literature, this article explores the ethical principles that guide journalists who use UAVs, how they have worked within these ethical principles, and how they can serve as disruptive innovators. Semistructured interviews with 13 UAV early adopters reveal that legal and regulatory restraints on UAVs facilitated the emergence of a new form of norm entrepreneur inside journalistic institutions. These individuals were able to experiment on the fringes of acceptable practice. In so doing, they seeded their organizations with the skill set and institutional capacity to engage constructively with the use of UAVs once constraints were lifted.